Ask to Join Staying Sharp

Petalsnap was extremely pleased about having the opportunity to train with Fallheart. She had taken him for being shy, and suspected herself guilty of having scared or annoyed him at some point—or several—as a young cat. In any case, his exclusive company was rare, and she relished it for its novelty. 

“That sounds good,” Petalsnap replied breezily as she trotted past him, tail upright and its tip bobbing with her steps. Once two tail-lengths separated them, she dropped into a stretch, where she remained for a beat, well-sharpened claws peeking from her flexed paws. She straightened and turned to face Fallheart, continuing, “I’ll be the attacker first. Do you want me to target a specific area, or should I surprise you?” 

Fallheart let out a slow breath as he got down into a crouch. He recalled everything both Aspenberry and Cloudflare had taught him, and tried not to imagine the grim reality wherein he'd have to use these skills. But in his chest, he knew it was better to be prepared than to be caught unaware. And he did not want to end up like the other victims.

"Surprise me."

Petalsnap understood the danger posed by the murderous rogue as well as she could, having never faced it directly, and it scared her as much as the next cat. This considered, Petalsnap found that having something to do with her paws kept fear at bay, and training was a part of her routine anyway, so to her, this session felt less like battle preparation and more a pleasant and mundane ritual. 

She nodded. “Alright,” She replied as she widened and lowered her stance slightly. 

“Three, two, one!” Petalsnap closed the distance between the two of them and executed a simple but quick and precise high strike with her left paw, aiming for Fallheart’s face. It was softpaw, of course—she wouldn’t dream of using claws on a clanmate.

Fallheart fought the urge to leap out of the way. He was already fine using his long legs to do that, this was about his defenses. If he were cornered, if he couldn’t run–that was what he needed to focus on.

He pulled his head out of the way of Petalsnap’s paw, only an ear’s breadth too late. As she struck, he attempted to strike back, aiming a blow at her open side toward her chest. If his claws had been out, it probably wouldn’t have been enough to truly hurt, but he was betting on it being close enough to the soft underbelly or throat to give his opponent a scare. But perhaps he was thinking too much.

Using her weight and momentum, Petalsnap pinned Fallheart’s paw to the ground a second after it made contact with her chest. She paused there and turned her face back up to his, ending the round. 

“I can do that again if you want to give it another try. If I had had my claws out, that could’ve messed up your face, even if you did hit me back,” She suggested matter-of-factly.

Fallheart nodded, knowing full well if he'd allowed himself to jump away, he could've avoided any blows all together. But he needed to pretend like he was cornered. He nodded at Petalsnap's suggestion, putting up imaginary walls of thorn bushes behind his body. 

"My goal's just going to be to protect myself," he repeated, mostly for his own sake. "Or at least try to fight you off somehow." He straightened himself out again, ready for a retry.

Petalsnap nodded to Fallheart encouragingly. She only hoped he didn’t think of her behavior as overbearing. It wasn’t like thought she was—in her own books she was acting perfectly reasonable and helpful—but even if she felt that way, Fallheart might not, and she wouldn’t like that as much as the alternative.

After readjusting her stance, Petalsnap threw out her paw in another high strike towards Fallheart’s face.