Ask to Join Berry and Breeze

Without passion you don’t have energy, without energy you have nothing.

･ﾟ✧⭑🜼⭑✧･ﾟ

As it had been, he missed Cedarpaw, more than he thought he would have. But that was quickly covered with something a little more... careful? Not around his mentor of course. He was more worried about Beewhisker than Breezewing. Even in recent days, Beewhisker didn't do much but curl up in their nest and eat prey that Aspenberry and Cedarpaw used to eat with them. It was sad, Berrypaw tried to make them feel better, but it hadn't seemed to be working so far. Maybe he should try harder.

His thoughts had been completely blocking Breezewing's words out of his mind, whether that was intention or not. He didn't want to have a ceremony if it wasn't with Cedarpaw anyway. "Yeah... surroundings... disaster... something." He murmured, but his pupils dilated at the rustling in the bushes, while paying attention and listening wasn't quite his strong suit, he was certainly an excel at hunting. Just... kinda sucked that he didn't have anyone his age to hunt with anymore.

Berrypaw burst out of the tall-grass at the prey and ended up rolling face first into a bush of blueberries. Unsurprisingly, they squished under his weight and splashed purple across the classic tabby cream that coated his fur... Oh, and the prey had gotten away. "Fox-dung!" He huffed from the bush, trying to scramble out of the shrubbery. Doing so while covered in sticky juices.

Without passion you don’t have energy, without energy you have nothing.

･ﾟ✧⭑🜼⭑✧･ﾟ

With a shake of his cream coat, droplets of blueberry juice flew through the air, a few licks of his pelt gave a delicious taste on his tongue. He had heard Breezewing, but Cedarpaw was still not back, so he was determined to wait as long as possible until the two would be able to get their warrior names together. They promised!

"Yeah yeah I get it." Berrypaw rolled his eyes before darting at Breezewing's paws, in any other situation he would look to his paws and aim for his neck or shoulders, but there was a method to his failure, when Cedarpaw was back home, if she ever was, he would be back to his usual skill. But Breezewing didn't need to know this was on purpose.

He made where he was going to strike... very obvious, swiping his front paw at Breezewing's planted forepaws. An actual attempt at a fight would make it believable. Believable enough anyway...

Without passion you don’t have energy, without energy you have nothing.

･ﾟ✧⭑🜼⭑✧･ﾟ

Berrypaw was easily unbalanced with the whack to the space between his shoulders and landed just as his mentor had sent him. Just as he anticipated he would. The cream tabby tom grunted faintly at the impact but not any more than he should have.

The truth of his exhaustions from trying to constantly help Beewhisker cheer up... fruitlessly and the current training sessions focusing more on the physical bore on him as he stood and backed himself up, but his pale blue eyes narrowed at Breezewing. He was trying to fail, but that didn't mean he needed to make his mentor think so.

He didn't respond this time, just a nod. But deep down, there was a fume, a flame that latched itself onto a spark of anger. Who did he think he was? Teaching him about respect when he had stopped searching for Cedarpaw long ago. The whole clan had and it enraged him. But there was no need to show any of that. Yelling at his mentor wouldn't accomplish anything.

"I won't be disrespectful at gatherings." He stated with a soft sigh before positioning himself. "Come at me."

Without passion you don’t have energy, without energy you have nothing.

･ﾟ✧⭑🜼⭑✧･ﾟ

Berrypaw had a feeling he had known what Breezewing was doing before he did it, he knew that it would border on unbelieveable if he got everything wrong after he had been training for ten whole moons already, so he fumbled but eventually jumped to the side to avoid both feigned flank attack and true paw swipe before using his nimble paws to snap to the side of Breezewing and make an attempt to slide his paw along Breezewing's flank.

If his claws had been unsheathed, the hypothetical strike would have made a good, sizeable wound onto his mentor's side. But his only true way of displaying something like that would be in a real battle, and there was a deep hope that something like that never comes to pass. Anytime soon anyway...

After he made a 'strike' to Breezewing, Berrypaw, emotionally exhausted as he was, didn't follow through. He simply took a step back, his paws pressing down the smaller blades of lush grass. Soon it would dull with the season of leaf-bare, but for now, he was fine with it being as lush as it is. At least for now.

Without passion you don’t have energy, without energy you have nothing.

･ﾟ✧⭑🜼⭑✧･ﾟ

Berrypaw noticed Breezewing's look before his words came. He let out a sigh, almost ashamed of himself for the lack of effort in general today. But he knew it was on purpose, perhaps he felt bad for his mentor having to deal with all of this that he was putting on. But he was going to push back his ceremony, he couldn't keep it up forever but he didn't have to, he just needed to see if Cedarpaw was going to come back and have her ceremony too. Even if it took a little longer than a few moons.

"Sorry, I think there's just been a lot on my mind... with Cedarpaw and all." He gave part of his reason, in fact, most of it. But he neglected the purposeful mis-action. His mentor knowing what he was doing would ruin the whole plan. Getting by just enough, but falling behind enough to push back that ceremony that should belong to two cats.

With a heavy sigh, he gave a nod a Breezewing's suggestion. "Yeah, lets go back to camp. I think I just need to lay down for a bit." He added, lowering his tail as he turned to follow his mentor back to the camp, the camp with clanmates missing.