Mousestar stood on the highest boulder. that circled the battle field. "We are gathered here today for Coalpaw's apprentice trial," he dipped his head to his clanmates. "As you all know, Coalpaw's warrior ceremony was delayed a couple moons due to his injury by the cliffs. We pray that StarClan gives him the strength to pass his trial so he may be allowed to earn his warrior name."
***
Coalpaw wheezed as the prisoner apprentice scrambled to stand over him. The black she-cat pinned his chest with her paws, driving her claws into his fur. Coalpaw let out a yowl. She craned her body to hiss into his ear. "It's over. You lost."
There was a murmur that rippled through the crowd that surrounded them.
"Is he going to pass?" A tom asked nervously.
The charcoal tom let out a growl and twisted his body so his paws were beneath her belly. He drove his claws into her soft skin and pushed with his legs, forcing her upward. Her paws left his chest to dangle in the air. Sharp talons swiped down at him, but couldn't reach. Coalpaw's face twisted and his teeth bared into a snarl. The tom heaved her body with all of his force. Desperately he scrambled over the snow to climb to his paws. Blood painted the white and glistened in the sun's warmth.
(if anyone would like to take over the captive apprentice, you are welcome to.)
Yeah sorry! We can continue if you're still up for it
(Does this chat even exist anymore?)
(I agree!)
Smoke turned her head, looking back one more time. A gentle smile spread across her face. She found it rather sweet seeing the newly found warrior with his mother like that. It made her think of her own mother, she was a bit envious of him for being able to see his kin everyday but kept her smile nonetheless.
(I think we need to rp these too together more c: we'll need to add her to the page.)
Coalbreeze watched as she went. His breath was still heavy with exhaustion, and now that the adrenaline was leaving his veins, he could feel his wounds stinging. He turned as pawsteps crunched in the snow behind him, and his mother met him with a lick.
"You did it," she sighed with relief. Twigleg's voice held a hint of worry. She didn't dare voice her concerns about him not winning the battle. "I'm proud of you, Coalbreeze."
Coalbreeze couldn't help but give the captive a smile. He dipped his head to the she-cat. "In that case, I look forward to the day we meet again in battle."
She sat up and turned to him, her expression softening, surprised by his words. "Yeah, well I went easy on you" She said rolling her one open eye., but looking back with a small smile. "you fought very impressively, I thought that injury of yours would have held you back a lot more" she meowed to him, still squinting from the pain. "Don't worry though, I'll beat you next time" she warned
Coalpaw released his grip on her and took a step back as she swung at him. He sat down. Somewhere inside of the tom, he felt some pity for the she-cat. It wasn't often that the medicine cat would help the prisoners with herbs. "So, it's over," he sighed, relieved. Coalpaw glanced up at his leader with a nod.
Mousestar blinked down at the two. "We will have their wounds looked at. You both did well. And Coalpaw will earn his warrior name." The small tom's look of disappointment was replaced by satisfaction. "Coalpaw, from this moment forward, you will be known as Coalbreeze."
The new warrior glanced around as he heard his new name being called. The pain from his wounds seemed to ebb slightly while pride swelled in his chest. I'm finally a warrior. He looked at Smoke. "I guess I should thank you."
Smoke lay there panting, too preoccupied with her eye to care about Coalpaw on top of her. She vigorously rubbed her eye but only seemed to make it worse. "I- I can't see" She meowed aloud. She shook her head and began to rub her face into the snow, turning its natural white to a corrupted red. She desperately tried to get the burning to stop and began to flail her limbs in every direction, repeatedly hitting Coalpaw in the sides and forelimbs
The tom had to take advantage of her injury. He knew she was strong, and if he couldn't defeat her this time, Mousestar would call off the trial. The tom lunged toward the she-cat. He ducked beneath her, feeling her belly fur brush against his back. Coalpaw bit down on her hind leg and drove his body upward so that he would flip her onto her side. The tom let go and padded to stand over her. The apprentice placed his paws onto her flank and pressed her down into the snow. His chest heaved and he panted. It took all his energy just to hold her there. "Are you done yet?"
Smoke looks up to see claws coming right for her. Before she can react, she felt claws catch her brow, making her release immediately. She let out a yowl of pain and backed up off of him. Warm blood trickled down her face and into her left eye, temporarily blinding her. She rubbed it aggressively with her paw, trying desperately to relieve her pain. She looks up trying to test her sight, but only sees charcoal fur barreling towards her
Coalpaw looked like a bit of fur and paws as he flailed in surprise. The tom tried to lash out with his paws, but each clawhold slipped through her fur. He was starting to get tired again. The adrenaline still pumped through his veins, but its affects were wearing off slowly. He inhaled deeply and balled up, using as much strength as he had to fling his hind paws over his head to kick her, hoping to pry her off.
Smoke let out a hiss of pain but held her ground. "Yeah? Well this 'crowfood' is about to send you running back into the nursery, sweetheart..." She growled. She swung her head around in order to grab whatever she could of his scruff, not daring to go anywhere near his throat. Even she, a former loner has enough respect for herself, and even the clan cats to make such a move. She gripped the numb skin on the back of his neck and she heaved him upwards, flipping him onto his back, facing away from her, dragging him backwards
He swung, but got nothing. The tom became frustrated as he stared into her eyes. "Yeah!" The senior apprentice sunk his claws into the shoulder that she held toward him to push him away. He fell back, bringing her with him to once again hold her over his body with his hind legs pushed into her belly. He met her gaze with a scowl. "I'll make you into crowfood," he told her in a hushed voice. He couldn't help but admit to himself that the liked the rush of testing his skills with the captive. A small grin spread across his lips. He sunk his claws into her belly.
"Call you what, sweetheart?" Smoke teased. She jumped backwards and laughed at him playfully, surprisingly getting a lot more fun out of this than she previously expected. She wiggled her haunches and held her tail high in the air, taunting him. A smile spread across her her face and she hissed. The hits from his sheathed claws did sting a bit, but she simply placed a paw on his forehead, preventing him from getting any closer.
(Lol I do too)
Coalpaw groaned as he hit the ground. His stomach twisted with pain from her strength. The snow was enough to offer some padding, but it was easily flattened under his weight. The she-cat's words brought him back to the present and he clambered to his paws. "Stop calling me that!" He growled as he whipped around to face her. Out of frustration, the tom sprang toward her and began to bat at her figure with his paws. He offered the she-cat as many blows as he could manage, some missing while others managing to land against fur.
(I love their energy lol)
Smoke snarled aggressively and dove straight for him, then dipping down last minute. She jumped up beneath him, knocking him off balance in mid air. She stood facing forward, then turns around only when she hears the loud "thud!" against the snow. She panted and hung her head a bit from exhaustion. "Had enough yet, sweetheart?" She growled to him, making fun of his clumsy fall.
The tom's balance staggered as he was pushed to the side. His paws were fighting to catch a grip on the snow before he was finally able to plant his claws into the earth beneath the white surface. Coalpaw padded around the she-cat in circles, each around getting slightly closer. He was determining which angle was his best bet, but he could tell she was highly guarded. He took a chance. The tom kicked himself from the ground to jump at her with his paws guarding his front and his claws prepared to sink into her skin.
The weight from the older tom surprised her, and she was knocked onto her belly. She felt her stomach twist in a knot from the panic of feeling restrained. She quickly rolled and knocked him off of her. She jumped backwards and tensed her haunches, preparing for a possible attack. *What in the world was that?!* She thought, impressed with the apprentice's seemingly impeccable skills. She was completely caught off guard but kept her intense glare locked on him
Coalpaw watched her. His ears were angled to follow her pawsteps and his eyes never left her. He noted her movements carefully. The tom's heart skipped a beat as she lunged, and in a moment of panic, he leapt toward the sky. The tom felt his weight being driven down and he found his paws plunge down on the she-cats back clumsily. What was that? He thought to himself with a growl. It worked, at least, but it wasn't the move he initially thought out.
"We'll see about that" Smoke growled at him. She bounded back to the arena and circled around him, lashing her tail. Her short pitch black fur fluffed up from her neck down to her tail. Her pale amber eyes flashed and she bared her teeth. A growl rumbled deep in her throat. Turned her body and yowled. "You want to go? Okay. Let's go!" Smoke, lunged for him, her claws outstretched
The charcoal tom gritted his teeth at her and his green eyes turned to slits. There was a hint of playfulness that flashed in his orbs that lasted all but a second. "I want this," he reassured her. "And once this is over, you'll be back to picking the scraps off of my prey's bones." He took a step back and tensed his muscles in preparation. They burned, but he had to ignore it for the sake of earning his warrior name.
Smoke's ears perked and she froze in place. She turned her head and swished her tail a tad, only a bit surprised at his demands. A smirk planted itself across her face and she turned around. "Sweetie I think you've humiliated yourself enough. You want to do this right now?" She meowed. She couldn't help but admire his courage though. The fire inside him was clear and it honestly caught her a bit off guard, she involuntarily shifted her paws and the fur on her neck pricked up a bit.
Coalpaw heaved himself onto his stomach once again. His legs shook as he forced himself onto his paws. He stared into the blood stained snow. Droplets dripped from his fear to join the pool of blood that glistened in the sunlight. Before he could even think to speak, he turned toward her and yowled. "I want a retrial!" His voice carried anger but wavered a bit with his heavy breathing.
Smoke stood up, but not before she leaned down to give Coalpaw a lick on the side of his neck. "Better luck next time sweetheart" She growled into his ear. She let out a mrrrow of laughter and got off him, sitting by his side and thanked Mousestar for her award. However as much as she enjoyed making fun on the senior apprentice, she felt a twinge of guilt for her mocks and insults to him. She attempted to make no excuse for him, even in her mind but somehow she understood his frustration. She was completely aware of his accident and felt rather bad, knowing how much he longed to be a warrior. She caught herself in the middle of the sympathy for him and shook it out of her head, a bit angry with herself for feeling such "weak" emotions. She walked back to her guard to be escorted back to her den.
He lay on the ground when all of Smoke's weight bore onto him. All of his motivation to try to get back up had just seemed to drain from him completely. His chest heaved and his stomach was beginning to prickle. Not from sickness, but from humiliation. His mother was seeing it unfold, his mentor was watching, and Doepaw... She must have thought he was so weak. "I didn't... I..." Coalpaw failed to find words. His body was still weak from recovering from the rockfall accident. He was fourteen moons old and still wasn't ready. Was she just trying to get into his head?
Their leader let out a sigh and gave a shake of his head. Another promising warrior had been lost. "Thank you, Smoke," Mousestar gave the she-cat a nod. "You will be awarded with fresh kill for your assistance."
The words stung Coalpaw. It felt like claws had just dug into his chest and ripped his heart out. "No," he whispered, his voice shaking.
Smoke barreled into him and knocked him onto his side. She stomped a paw onto his head and held him there, standing proudly above him. "You even had extra time to train, how can you even think to call yourself a warrior?" She mocked him. She found it rather cute how he squirmed beneath her and just wanted to take it a bit further. She plopped down, laying all of her weight on top of him and laughed at the sight of him unable to move.
He was just beginning to regain himself when the felt the force of Smoke's blow drive him back to the ground once again with a loud thud. The air was forced from his lungs and his cheek began to sting from his competitors claws. He struggled for a breath. Coalpaw wriggled around onto his belly and scraped at the snow to try to escape, but he didn't get anywhere.
(Alrighty, totally get it!) Smoke jumped off of him and out of the way, lashing her tail as she whipped back around to face him. Her head hung low and her ears stayed flattened against her head, every muscle in her body tensed. The snow beneath her made her paws ache from the cold. She hated every bit of She backed up a single pawstep and she stretched herself to lunge at Coalpaw with a swipe of her outstretched claw.
(He loses the first time. Coalpaw demands a rematch ;) He will win the second time since he is loong overdue for his warrior ceremony.)
(Sure, I'll take over as the captive for now. Will she win or lose?)