stand up and fight back

Halfpaw flexed his claws impatiently, lurking, lounging outside the apprentices' den with a sour look on his face. He had pretty much mastered hunting at this point. At least, in his mind he had. Mapleglow had only touched on battling and that was what he was really interested in. The thought of fighting another cat for the honor of his clan, tearing fur from flesh and causing pain to his enemies...It gave him a spark of joy. The dark-furred apprentice gave a snort of laughter only for his ears to hear.

Tail lashing, he rose to his paws and went searching for his mentor, stark blue gaze sweeping around camp for the she-cat. Finally spotting her orange-and-black pelt, he padded over to her. "Mapleglow. Teach me how to fight, right now. You're not doing anything more important anyway." He sneered, puffing his chest out to make himself appear larger. The young tom was definitely filling out, becoming more bulky and muscular with each passing day.

The young warrior gazed across the camp, watching the everyday bustle of Shadowclan. Between her paws sat a swallow, a few bites taken out of it. The day so far seemed nice, there was little to no trouble among clanmates and the weather was great, especially for Greenleaf. It often got really hot throughout the day but it had stayed a warm, comfortable temperature since sunhigh.

Everything was peaceful, that was until she heard heavy footsteps approaching her. She looked up and saw her new apprentice, Halfpaw, walking toward her. The she-cat opened her mouth to greet the tom, only to be cut off by his demands. Were apprentices supposed to speak like that to their mentors? She knew that she surely wasn't able to. With a small shrug she brushed it off, making a mental note to tell him to respect his mentor next time. Besides, he did have some sort of point. She should be taking him out more. She quickly ate the rest of the bird and stood up. Ignoring his obvious attempt to appear larger, she walked passed Halfpaw and turned around halfway to the camp entrance. "What are you waiting for? Leaf-bare?" A small chuckle escaped her mouth as she turned back around and headed for the exit.

As soon as she exited the camp, she slowed down to walk alongside Halfpaw. "Soooo, anything specific you want me to teach you?" Mapleglow could tell that Halfpaw didn't enjoy her company much, but it wasn't as if he had a choice. He was stuck with her and she was stuck with him. The only thing she could really do was ignore his passive aggressiveness the best she could, even if it bothered her. She focused her attention back to where she was going, which brought a problem to her paws. She hadn't been paying attention to where she was going, and now she was down a path she didn't know well that was deep within the marshes of Shadowclan territory. At least she was still on the territory. The young warrior looked back and saw Halfpaw, reminding her of what she was there to do. She'd alost forgotten about battle training. They could always find their way back to camp, they couldn't be that far. Clearing her thoughts, she found a spot that seemed nice for battle training and turned to Halfpaw. "We're here!"

It seemed to take Mapleglow ages to finish her meal, but finally she was done and up on her paws, leading him out of camp. He scoffed at her attempt at a joke, irritated with how relaxed she seemed to take things. In his eyes, her only job was to train him, and she was doing a pretty scat-poor job at it so far. Anything specific? she asked, and Halfpaw's scowl deepened. Tail lashing, he retorted back, "I want you to teach me everything you know. That's your job, isn't it?" His voice held a note of venom, his irritation with his mentor obvious.

The pair eventually made it to a good spot and Halfpaw rounded to face Mapleglow. It was about time they stopped, his claws were just itching to be used. The apprentice fixated his chimera mentor with a piercing gaze, claws slipping out of their sheaths. "Let's get started, then."