~Make it or Break it, it's Dust~[CedarxDust]

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Oh, dear. Now it seemed it was the apprentice who was daydreaming. Well, he couldn't do that. Cedarstar chuckled inwardly. No, that was only if you'd earned the time to daydream. Oh, who cared. He could make excuses for himself, couldn't he?

Besides, the mottled MeadowClanner was just getting warmed up. There was so much more to do, and Dustpaw was going to stay on track if he had to make the gray and white tom stay on track.

So, with typical Cedarstar confidence, he whapped the apprentice (fairly lightly) on the nose with his right paw.

"Concentrate, Dustpaw! Use that pain and anger to hit me!"

It was a technique that Elkstar had used, when he had been unwilling to train. And he was slightly ashamed to say that it had often worked, if only to get him to clumsily lash out, to keep on going and learning.

He crouched, tail twitching, eyes warily watching the apprentice. The leader would be ready for Dustpaw's next attack, though hopefully he wouldn't too mad that he wouldn't remember to sheath his claws.

[wild]

Dustpaw had been drifting in his thoughts for... not very long actually, until he felt a presence on his nose. Like all cats, Dustpaw had a sensitive nose. The sudden- albeit very light- blow was enough to make him jump. His soft gray kitten fur fluffed out and his eyes darted around in confusion. "What?" he yowled. Then he saw his mentor. The tom's nose burned with embarrassment. "Oh, oops," he muttered sheepishly. Dustpaw turned his back to the forest to face his mentor. His tail-tip twitched as he stared at his mentor, quite vacantly. He was not thinking. Dustpaw knew that it would be dangerous to keep thinking, so he decided to do rather than think.

Suddenly, Dustpaw sprang forward. He raced towards his mentor. He raised both of his paws and leaped for Cedarstar's shoulders, attempting to knock him over. It wasn't really a strike, but more of a tackle, although Dustpaw wasn't exactly thinking about that. He pretty much forgot the whole objective of the lesson, and was just beginning to forget technique.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

OOC: Apologies for the shortness.

Cedarstar rolled his eyes. Did Dustpaw think anything of using technique at all? Or even of their obvious difference in size and weight? He aimed a blow at the apprentice, catching him in the chest and pushing him backwards while jumping forward, pinning him to the ground.

"Now, how are you going to get out of this? Think of where I am weak, and think about what you would do with your claws. If you aim a claws-sheathed blow in the right place, I will treat it as a real one and let you up."

[wild]

Dustpaw regretted his lack of thinking as he was knocked to the ground. Now he was looking foolish, and that was never a good thing. He felt a little discouraged because he felt as though he wasn't learning much, even though he was actually learning quite a bit. He learned that thinking is required. One must have an equal amount of brawn and brain in order to be a good fighter.

Dustpaw had no idea where to hit Cedarstar to get him off, so he just went with an obvious place. Dustpaw batted at his mentor's soft underbelly with his back paws and tried to squirm out of his grasp.

ooc; Sorry for the wait on both posts, and the shortness of this one. There's really not much else to write.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

The gray apprentice's blow didn't have nearly the power that was needed to hurt an opponent, but that was fine. It wasn't like he was supposed to be that strong yet. And he's picked a good spot to hit, thought the long-furred tabby.

Of course, a leg or his chest would also have been good places, but Cedarstar could tell him later. For now he merely nodded in approval and, pretending to have been hit, lurched backwards off of the smaller tom. The mottled brown tom would feign injury as if it was combat, but he would also stop giving Dustpaw instructions and see how thee apprentice worked from instinct and the basic skills he'd already been taught.

The MeadowClan leader would also calculate what Dustpaw most needed to work on in their mock-fight.