The Burnt Sycamore (Shadowclan Training)

(This is where Shadowclan's apprentice and battle training takes place.)

Snowlily padded through the densely packed pine trees in absolute silence as she easily avoided fallen branches and pools of mud and water. She looked back to make sure that Bloodpaw had actually been able to keep up. The clearing was empty for the time being, she noted, peering through the leaves and pine needles in the underbrush. She padded out into the clearing and sat beneath the old sycamore tree, tucking her paws under her tail. Her pelt still surprisingly clean and glossy.

Bloodpaw ducked under branches and leaped over puddles, trying not to dirty her clean white pelt. She missed, and landed in the middle of a mud puddle, squeaking with surprise. Scrambling out of the mud, she ran to catch up, arriving in the clearing in front of her mentor completely covered in mud. She squealed in dismay and shook her fur out, mud flying everywhere.

Snowlily looked over the apprentice thoroughly, doing her best not to make fun of her misstep into the mud. Instead she let out a small sigh and shook her head in amusement. "Well we can work on that." She paused to look around the clearing more thoroughly now. "Do you know where we are, Bloodpaw?"

Bloodpaw looked up from busily cleaning her pelt. "Uhm..... the Old Sycamore? This is the training grounds, right Snowlily?" She made an odd noise and stuck her tongue out. "Bleh. This mud tastes nasty." She finished washing her fur, and shook it out again, removing any last speck of mud. Wiping her tongue on her paw to dispose of the taste, she padded up to her mentor, and said, "We're doing battle training, riiiight?"

She looked down at the young apprentice. "We will be." She nodded in agreement. "However, you will have to learn the basics first. Now what do you know so far about Shadowclan's hunting and fighting style. Start by telling me everything you can think of that might be important." The tip of her tail flicked a bit as she awaited a response from Bloodpaw.

She sighed, impatient. "We're all about stealth and sneaking through the shadows, right? Strike first, ask questions later." She bounced around a bit, trying to get rid of her excess energy. Turning back to Snowlily, she said, "We hunt by night mostly, yes?" The apprentice licked her paw and began smoothing down her fur, obsessively cleaning herself as she answered her mentor.

Snowlily nodded back. "Well it appears that you have a brief understanding at the least of how Shadowclan cats fight and hunt. Now lets see you put what you know to use then." She stared at Bloodpaw without blinking, carefully mulling over her words and weighing her options. "Hm. We'll start with basic stalking then. I want you to try to sneak up on me as best as you can. If you land a blow then we will move on."

Bloodpaw crouched down to the ground, waiting for an opportunity. After a few seconds, she stepped quietly forward, dashing behind the other cat and pouncing, but missing and falling to a heap on the ground. She quickly stood up and shook the sticks and dirt out of her fur, steeping back into the shadows and prowling around.

Snowlily purred loudly, refraining from laughter. "Well that was a...first attempt." She teased unable to come up with the words she was hoping for to encourage Bloodpaw. "Keep yourself completely aware of your surroundings. When you are hunting or fightings, ever stick and every leaf becomes your enemy."

Bloodpaw prowled around the clearing. She continued to lurk in the shadows, padding almost silently up behind Snowlily, and launching herself high into the air, aiming to land on the other cat's back.

Snowliy turned around swiftly and swatted her paw at Bloodpaws flank attempting to knock her to the ground. "I suppose I also should have mentioned that the sneak attack from behind is a bit predictable. Remember that if you attack another clan on patrol or fight one in battle, that there will be more than one cat present. And it will be much more difficult to catch them off guard." Snowlily said calmly.

Bloodpaw fell to the ground, squeaking on impact. "Ow....." She slowly stood up, checking to make sure her fur was still clean. She sighed. "So, which way should I attack from? My pelt is white, so if I attack from the front it will be easy to see me probably. And they might see me from the side. Wait a second!" She noticed a hole between the roots of the tree, and crawled into it.

"Awhile pelt should not be taken for granted. Do you think a big fiery red pelt will be any good hunting in the winter when the snow is covering the ground? Or what about in the fog? Is a black pelt going to do any good there? Be patient. Listen to everything going on around you. You know what your strengths are so play by them. The greatest asset to a Shadowclan warrior is their stealth. That should give you ample time to chose your battles. Give yourself the upper hand." Snowlily took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she sighed. Her eyes flicked back and forth and though she was out in the open she didn't move.

Waiting in the hole, she slowed her breathing. Listening to Snowlily's lecture, she blinked in acknowledgement and crouched down, preparing to launch herself. She thought, 'I hope this works...' and shot out of the hole quickly, running close to the ground right past her mentor, reaching out to swat her with a paw.

Snowlily lifted her paw quickly, avoiding the swat entirely. She seems to be catching on... she thought to herself. "It's getting better. But your flank is white as you so bluntly pointed out. So how will you compensate for that? What else can you use?"

Bloodpaw winced. "Uhm...... attacking before they can notice me?" She thought unhappily, 'Please please please dont say I have to be dirty!' She quickly mewed, "Or since my pelt is visible I can lead them into traps? Like...... I could lead them into a old den and hide in the shadows and attack while they're figuring out where I went!"

"Well yes, you could do all of those things. But right now we're between leaf bare and new leaf. So there is still the snow you can use to your advantage. It's difficult to see a white cat in the snow or in the fog so use your surroundings to hide yourself." Snowlily watched Bloodpaw with a patient experession. "Just remember that there will be times when you do have to get dirty. One of your clan mates lives could one day depend on it."

"I know..." she noticed a large drift of snow. Most of the rest had half-melted, but here was a huge pile! Bloodpaw stalked over to the snow and buried herself in it. 'Brrrr.... cold!' she thought, but she knew this would make good camouflage. She waited patiently, hoping that Snowlily would drop her guard, and then she would have a chance.

Snowlily padded around the clearing, already aware that Bloodpaw was in the snow waiting to pounce at her, after she watched her hiding. Well she seems to be getting the idea anyway she thought to herself as she looked at the underbrush and sat down.

Bloodpaw smirked to herself, watching out of the snow drift. She saw Snowlily sit down and face the other way, so she quietly crept out of the snow, moving slowly and silenty, sneaking up on her. She got a few mouse-lengths behind the other cat, then pounced like she was catching prey.

Snowlily let out a small chuffing sound when Bloodpaw pounced on her. She was fully aware where the apprentice was the whole time but figured a few small victories through her training would do her some good and it seemed as though she was really beginning to understand how to work to her advantage.

Bloodpaw jumped off of Snowlily and cheered. "I did it!" She smiled happily, thinking, 'Finally! I wonder what we'll do next!' She bounced up and down excitedly, the last traces of snow on her pelt flying everywhere. "What are we gonna learn next, Snowlily?!" Before the other cat had a chance to answer, Bloodpaw started spinning in circles. When she stopped, she fell down, dizzy. "Waaaaah..... the clearing is spinning....."

Snowlily purred in amusement and shook out her pelt before sitting down, waiting for her apprentice to calm down. She watched silently as she fell over then padded over and picked Bloodpaw up by her scruff and lifted her back onto her paws. "Ready for the next task?"

(does this count for medi apprentice? aka Tigerkit/paw?)

(((Well, its the training hollow, so its implied that it would be used for battle training. However, the medicine cat could take the medicine cat apprentice here to search for herbs, among other places in the territory. The hollow could also be used for the memorization of herbs and their uses, sort of like a classroom)))