You decide to go watch Redpaw and Lilypaw's training tomorrow. You owe it to them after what happened today...and Starclan will probably be fine with it. Brambleberry did want you to make friends after all. You nod.
"I'll be there bright and early. And nothing will get in my way this time, I promise." Lilypaw smiles, although Redpaw just sits, twitching his tail. Well, he may not believe you, but you'll prove it tomorrow morning. You decide to finish your mouse quickly and head back to your den for a good night's rest, hopefully giving Lilypaw and Redpaw some time to talk together since he wouldn't talk to you yet. After your long trek today though, you don't have any trouble falling asleep.
You wake up the next morning, rushing out into the clearing before the sun has even begun to rise...maybe that was too early. Still, it gives you time to sort a couple of dried herbs and redress Thorntail and Swallowfrost's wounds before it's time to head out. You'll need to collect new ones very soon; two days without focusing on medicine cat things does take its tole. As soon you see warm yellow light filtering in through the entrance you go back out into the clearing just in time to see Redpaw and Lilypaw doing the same, along with their mentors, Splashheart and Petalbreeze. You meet in the center of the clearing, where you were about to say a greeting when Petalbreeze silences you with a flick of her tail, instead motioning towards the entrance of camp. Lilypaw and Redpaw immediately begin walking and you increase your pace to catch up with him. Soon you arrive at the battle clearing. Dust covers the ground with a few bushes on each side to mark the edges of the battle area.
"Alright. Today we will be working on a very complicated move. It's called the upright lock. Splashheart, would you help me demonstrate?" Petalbreeze's brisk meow cuts of the slow ringing of silence in your ears as you arrive. Splashheart nods and they make their way to the center of the clearing. Redpaw and Lilypaw are sitting by the edge, and you quickly trot over to sit beside Lilypaw before turning to look at the pair of warriors. Splashheart appears to be very tired...maybe this wasn't the best time for battle training. Splashheart quickly flicked her tail with a chuckle and you realize she's actually trying to be weak. This must be about fighting a weak cat...or being the weak cat. Petalbreeze raced towards Splashheart, rearing up on her back legs at the last second and coming down with what looked like a push, crushing Splashheart underneath.
"Wow!" Redpaw called as the two warriors stood up again.
Lilypaw tipped her head. "Impressive...but how is it difficult? Splashheart was weakened and you didn't have to do much to push her down." Petalbreeze dipped her head to her apprentice with a smile.
"Exactly right, but there are three ways it's a difficult move. Firstly, you have to learn to balance on your hind legs for just long enough to push down with your full weight onto your opponent. Second, there is always the chance that, even if your opponent is weakened, they will try to counterattack with the same move and you will have to wrestle for control. Third, is the most important. When I brought my weight down onto Splashheart, I left something unguarded. Do you know what it is?" Petalbreeze finished, sitting down beside Splashheart while she waited for one of the apprentices to figure it out.
Redpaw and Lilypaw looked stumped. They had obviously been paying more attention to how much danger Splashheart was in rather than any dangers for Petalbreeze. You think back to the move, slowly going through the move in your head. Maybe you could figure this out...after all, not getting hit is about the only part of combat you might be good at. She raced towards Splashheart...reared up...oh! You get an idea.
"Did you expose your belly when you went on your hind legs?" You ask quietly. Petalbreeze seemed surprised, but nods, smiling.
"Yes, that is exactly right Stormpaw. If Splashheart had acted quick enough, she could end the battle right then and thereby giving me a substantial wound. This move requires both strength and speed, and most importantly, you can't give away ahead of time that you plan to use this move. Let's try it. We'll start with you both using the move on us, and when we feel you have the technique down, we will try to scratch your bellies if you are too slow or give away your intent ahead of time."
You watch as the other apprentices move to the center of the clearing and begin to practice the move on their mentors, each time getting a small critique. It seems like Redpaw is really good at being fast, but he gives away his plans through his facial expressions and doesn't yet have much strength behind his push. Lilypaw, on the other hand, has an unreadable expression and quite a bit of strength, but she's not fast enough to run forward, rear up, and come down before her mentor has time to scratch her belly. Still, they both look like amazing fighters to you, and you find yourself cheering them on whenever they got something right. Redpaw really seems to enjoy the praise. You guess he likes feeling like he has other cats behind him when he fights.
Before you know it it's almost sundown, and the apprentices have practiced the move enough to master it. Lilypaw is still stronger than her brother and Redpaw is still faster than his sister but they've gotten much better, and even tried the move on each other so they could practice scratching an opponent's belly if they were the weak one. They had certainly done well that day, and it was all you three could talk about on the way back to camp.
"Did you see when I made that last hit on Splashheart?!" Redpaw meows in excitement. "I went as fast as a marlin!" You and Lilypaw nod.
"And I almost knocked all the wind out of Petalbreeze!" Lilypaw exclaimed, her voice squeaking a little for the first time you could remember. She was always so calm...
"You both did amazingly! I never knew you were such good fighters!" You say with a little bounce. Riverclan is definitely going to be safe when these two become warriors, even as they're apprentices. You pad into camp, picking up a big trout for the three of you to share by the apprentice den. It's a little heavy, but both apprentices rush to help you with smiles on their faces. After sitting down and taking a few bites, you begin chatting with them, first about the day but soon the conversation moves to other things...primarily Ripplepaw.
"We don't really see her much. Even in the evenings, she's never in camp, or not that we see at least. Plus she leaves really early in the morning for training. Beechtail must work her pretty hard." Redpaw murmurs.
You pause. Beechtail didn't seem like the type to care enough about Ripplepaw's training to get up early and come back late every night like that. Not to mention that number of times you've seen Ripplepaw going out late or coming in late alone, with Beechtail nowhere in sight. Maybe she wasn't actually training then? What could she be doing? She was obviously a very solitary cat, not seeming to be close to anyone even her mentors, parents, denmates, or most of all her sister. Maybe she just liked getting away? Who knows. For now, at least, you've made a few friends.
You finish up your meal and chat with your newest friends and make your way back to the medicine cat den, where you see a glowing white, black spotted she-cat in the back. Brambleberry is finally back. "I see you've been taking some time off." She meows.
You nod slowly, your excitement stopped immediately from her even tone.
"So you've bonded with Thorntail, Dawncloud, Stonepelt, Lilypaw, and even Redpaw. But do you remember why you started wanting to make friends in the first place?" She asks.
You think back to a couple of days ago when you first chose to talk to Thorntail...you had tried talking to Ripplepaw about not fighting in the Sunningrocks battle, but she had just gotten upset and left.
"...Because Ripplepaw wasn't talking to me?" You answer carefully. Brambleberry nodded.
"Yes. Now having friends within your clan will have many advantages I'm sure, but there's a more pressing issue you can solve with their information...You may have been able to solve it earlier, or at least had more to work off of if you had found what Starclan wanted you to yesterday, but we can't fix past mistakes. We can only move on. So, with that in mind, I want to know why you think Ripplepaw didn't participate in the battle."
You widen your eyes in shock. How can you just guess something like this? Well...Brambleberry said your friends had told you all you needed to know...so maybe it's time to think back to your conversations and see if they have any hints. Why would Ripplepaw...a strong and fearless fighter who presumably wanted to impress her clan, run away from her first battle?
This one doesn't have any voting. Much like the time where we accused someone of killing Featherstar, it's time to put your heads together within this thread and make guesses. If you can come to a consensus on one choice, we will proceed with that answer, whether it is right or wrong. For helpful reference, I'm linking back to every post with information on Ripplepaw in or after the battle.
During Battle Info:
warriorscatsgame.proboards.com/thread/2145/choose-own-adventure-2?page=27warriorscatsgame.proboards.com/thread/2145/choose-own-adventure-2?page=28warriorscatsgame.proboards.com/thread/2145/choose-own-adventure-2?page=29warriorscatsgame.proboards.com/thread/2145/choose-own-adventure-2?page=30 (Just the first post)
warriorscatsgame.proboards.com/thread/2145/choose-own-adventure-2?page=32 (Just the last post)
About Ripplepaw Info:
warriorscatsgame.proboards.com/thread/2145/choose-own-adventure-2?page=33warriorscatsgame.proboards.com/thread/2145/choose-own-adventure-2?page=34warriorscatsgame.proboards.com/thread/2145/choose-own-adventure-2?page=35