[Mousenose & Dovepaw]

[glowlynose]

Dovepaw, by some strange miracle, managed to see Mousenose's hind legs as they came straight toward her. A smirk drew her lips back a bit as she sidestepped the lash. She ducked down and batted at Mousenose's exposed underbelly while his legs were still raised and then cuffed him a few times on the ear.

With a half-smile of satisfaction she found herself thinking that perhaps she wasn't so bad at this whole fighting thing after all. She'd caught Mousenose by surprise for the first time in her entire life! Ha, what would her siblings say now? They wouldn't be laughing at her for being fluffy right now, would they? They'd probably be scared out of their pathetic, kittypet pelts! This thought brought a smile to Dovepaw's face, and a satisfied purr rumbled in her chest.

She wondered what her mother and father would think about her right now. Her pelt was unkempt and scruffy looking, the light of battle was sparkling in her eyes, and to the observer who was unfamiliar with Clan ways, it would look like she was beating up on a cat for no good reason. They would probably be apalled that the daughter who they had raised to be so proper had sunk to this level of barbarism. Well, sorry Mom 'n' Dad, she thought with a shrug.

"Mousenose, do you have any different battle moves that you can teach me? I see some of the other apprentices doing some pretty cool stuff,"

[/b] she asked with a smile. Dovepaw let herself relax so that she was no longer in a battle stance, hoping to signify that she was done with this particular fight.
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[ZEBRA ! [used to be toasty]]

The suprise attack scared him. He felt the small paws of an apprentice kick at his belly, and a thought ran threw his head

What if somebody saw that? Yes, Dovepaw did a great job. An amazing job. Something that needed practice. And.. She never got any practice. Mousenose sighed and looked up at the whie cat. Mousenose looked into the small face. This was her apprentice. And Mousenose was bursting with pride even if he was scared if anybody saw him. Mousenose rubbed aganist the small body.

"Great job." he purred.

Then a question flooded into his head.

"Mousenose, do you have any different battle moves that you can teach me? I see some of the other apprentices doing some pretty cool stuff,"

Yes, he did have other moves. But.. The other apprentices where doing pretty cool stuff and not her? Guilt pressed down on his shoulders. Now he had to teach her new things. Unlike just.. Fighting.

"Yes yes. There is alot more stuff to be taught. I am really sorry. Um, how about-"

He really didn't know where to start.

"What do you want to learn? What do you need practice on? There are way too many fighting moves. I don't know where to start."

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[glowlynose]

Dovepaw sat down, her face melting from a smile into a serious expression. Her brows knit together in thought. What would she like to learn? There was so much to learn and so little time before she became a full warrior of FogClan. She knew that she needed a lot more practice in battle-related areas, but doing what exactly? Mousenose was supposed to know! He was the mentor in the situation.

"Well, I heard Blackpaw talking about this sort of flip move that his mentor was teaching him. It's like..."

[/b] her mew trailed off and her jaw gaped open. She couldn't explain the move. Dovepaw flicked her still throbbing ear once or twice to try and stop the annoying pulses of blood. Much to her dismay, all she succeeded in doing was aggravating the ear again. It appeared that Mousenoses's nip had been a little harder than she'd thought it was at the time.

"Oh, I don't know. You pick a move to teach me. You're the mentor, after all."[/b] Dovepaw licked her paw and swiped it over the pulsing ear, but that did no good either. So start acting like one, she added as a bitter afterthought. Mentors were supposed to help their apprentices get better at what they were bad at, right? Dovepaw hadn't shown much improvement in her battle skills, in her opinion at least, since she'd gotten Mousenose as a mentor.

"Maybe pick a move that you've never seen me use before, or modify one I have used to make it cooler,"[/b] the white she-cat suggested with a small smile. Sometimes Mousenose needed a little help to figure stuff out, but that was fine with her. As she thought about this, the realization of how differently she acted around Mousenose than the rest of her clanmates was shocking. She was so much more tolerant with him; she barely ever lost her temper. I wonder why that is? This epiphany was puzzling and even frightening to Dovepaw. She couldn't be two-faced. It would ruin her reputation.
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[ZEBRA ! [used to be toasty]]

Mousenose nodded. A flip.. ? Maybe.. Twirl around in a flip kinda way, and swipe. He didn't know. He never really.. Flipped. He looked at the young apprentice. Whatever that might help, was the goal. His thoughts stopped when he saw her ear twitch. Mousenose froze. Was it really throbbing so much. Mousenose felt more guilt wash over him. He didn't mean for it to hurt. Mousenose decided not to say anything though. Talking about something that hurt made him hurt more, so why wouldn't it hurt Dovepaw?

"A flip.. Watch this and try to do it." He mewed.

He looked around for something he could swipe at. A tree was the only thing he could see. He padded over to it, and licked his paw before hitting it on a tree. In one, swift and graceful move, he jumped a bit back, and twirled around so he faced the tree. Fear pricked inside of him. Don't make it hurt! Don't make it hurt!

He smacked his pad over the bark. Pulling away quickly, he realized a huge pain in his paw. Like a claw stabbing it. He winced as he brought it to his face to see what it was. It was a small splinter. A small amount of blood trickled down his pink pad. Mousenose sighed and looked up.

"Only a splinter. You can do your move and I will say what you need to improve on. Then we can go back and on the way, you can catch some prey."

The words pierced him. Throbbing, he gently laid put his paw on the ground and fell to his belly.

[glowlynose]

Dovepaw watched Mousenose complete the move with a skeptical and even slightly confused expression. She was supposed to do what now? How was beating up on a tree going to help her in battle? What had he even done? Whatever it was, it sure wasn't a flip. Ah well, he was doing his best. That was all that mattered to her.

Her ear flicked and she winced. Choosing a tree that big probably hadn't been the best idea for Mousenose. He was in obvious pain. It was lucky for him that it hadn't broken his paw. Dovepaw looked at the ground in remorse. This was her fault. She'd wanted to do battle training today, and she'd asked him to show her a new move. Mousenose's pain was completely on her head. The guilt was overwhelming. Her mentor was such a gentle cat; he deserved as little pain as possible.

"Here, let me look at it."

[/b] Dovepaw crouched down infront of the injured paw and started to look at the wound. If Mousenose looked at her then, he'd notice something unusual. Dovepaw's guard was down. There was an actual feeling showing in her eyes, though what it was specifically was unclear. Her head tilted to the side a little bit. "Ah, doesn't look too bad. I'll get it out for you."[/b] In the time before she'd come to the clans, Dovepaw had become quite skilled in removing thorns and splinters and other things of the sort. She'd had no one to take them out when she'd gotten them stuck in her own paws, so she'd been forced to learn for herself. It was a relatively easy removal, as the splinter was pretty broad.
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[ZEBRA ! [used to be toasty]]

The ear twitched again. Mousenose was know ready to go up to Dovepaw and lick her to death, licking clean of any dirt, and just being affectionate. He bit back to urge not to, though.

Then, thinking about Dovepaw's pain made him think of his own. The little tiny splinter was a huge, horrible pain. He raised the paw to his mouth and licked around it. It hurt alot now; and the pain was actually worse. Could it be so? Then a thougth popped in his head.

Your being a fool of your self. Toughen up. No. Grow up.

Though they where Mousenose's own words, they where awfully sad. They where right, and he needed to realize it. So he sat up, his chest puffed out, and his paw on the ground, splinter side in the air.

I can do this. I can do this...

His thought's where interrupted by Dovepaw.

She offered to help, and you know. Why not?

Mousenose purred a loving purr, and nodded.

"Oh yes. I would love that."

He thought about growing up, but the thought went away. Who needed grown cats?

[glowlynose]

Dovepaw chuckled. Mousenose hadn't even noticed it when she'd taken out the splinter! That made her day just a little bit brighter. She must be very skilled in splinter removal. Despite how very pathetic it is, she felt prideful with the way she deftly handled the situation. Mousenose had probably been paralyzed by fear or pain or something of the sort. Now he was all better!

"All better now?" She teased good-naturedly, her whiskers twitching in amusement. A smile even tweaked the corners of her mouth, which did something incredible to her eyes; the smile gave them life. She let her cold mask slip away completely, and there was actual emotion in her eyes. They sparkled. Her clanmates would have been absolutely shocked had they been there to see it. In fact, it would shock Dovepaw if Mousenose did not pick up on it or react in the slightest way.

[ZEBRA ! [used to be toasty]]

Mousenose purred. It was out. Though the pain was still lodged in his paw, it was much better. He licked where it used to be. The pain slowly went away, still leaving a tiny trace of it.

"Oh yes. Thank you so much!

Then he paused.

"I guess you don't want to smack a tree... Do you just want to go back and hunt on the way?"

The thought was relaxing. No fighting. No more stupid splinters. He purred some more.

Then the same thought about growing up came to his thoughts.

No!

He didn't want to grow up. Maybe a bit tougher.. No. Even that was too much for him.



/fail

[glowlynose]

Dovepaw drew herself up a bit, trying to make herself seem more powerful. It was not for Mousenose's benefit, but her own, and she was certainly not trying to intimidate him. The feeling in her eyes was dying out now. It was dawning on her for the first time how dependent Mousenose was on the strength of others. He'd needed her to pull out the splinter, he'd needed her to switch up the training routine, and he'd needed her to come battle training in the first place! It was an intriguing thought to Dovepaw, being needed by someone. She'd never felt needed by anyone before, and she'd certainly never needed someone less passionate to keep her in check. Yes, just like Mousenose needed her, or so she thought, she needed him. A shocked expression crossed her face for a moment before she smiled warmly at her mentor... and newfound crush.

"Sure, hunting sounds alright. Anything specific you wanna do?" Dovepaw glanced down shyly at her paws. It enraged her how she couldn't keep eye contact with him for more than a few heartbeats. That was a sign of weakness, but it was a weakness that she could do nothing about.

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[ZEBRA ! [used to be toasty]]

Mousenose looked at the young cat. Her expressions where... Weird. Smiling, then changing quickly.

Mousenose paused at her question. Was there a choice? Anything that comes up, really. He turned to look at his paws. Could a cat really choose what to eat? Soon, he remembered his kitty-pet life. How cats would just not eat a certain flavored treat, spit at it and wait for the other kind. Now Mousenose was a warrior. He couldn't do that now, and he had to teach his apprentice.

"Um.. No. Whatever comes. Not like those kitty-pets, where they choose! No. We are warriors. As long as it is big enough to feed a cat, then we don't want to waste time on looking for one animal."


He looked at Dovepaw. She wasn't looking at him. Why? Was he ugly? Or.. Was he attractive?

He froze, and studied Dovepaw.

Did she like him?