Training with Stormcloud

[Payphone]

Mintblossom walked outof camp with Stormcloud. She asked Dipperstar if she could train him for a bit. She couldn't stop staring at him. Those greenish-yellow eyes just captured her attention. Bad Mintblossom! This is no time to think about how handsome he is! Just relax, look away, and be calmed. Mintblossom turned away, and meowed, "You know, this is kind of wierd. I have never trained a Medicine Cat to fight, but hey, it's a valuable lesson. So, I might also teach you some hunting techniques. I know the hunter's crouch, and the downwind method. I also know the death by claw, but we shouldn't discuss that. I know how to fight underwater, even, for Moonclan battles." She purred. Then she paused and looked in the sky. She sighed very loudly.

[hailstorm]

"I'm sure I won't be too different from a regular apprentice, just a bit bigger." He looked forward to the training session with Mintblossom. "I know a few moves already, so it wont be like talking to a daft kit, but I wouldn't last long in battle. Good thing no clan honors a medicine cat kill."
He purred as the sun touched his fur with its warm rays. He looked at her, sheer joy in his eyes.
As the field approached he felt excitement fluffing up his fur and stirring in his spine.

[Payphone]

Mintblossom started walking to the field. When they arrived there, she stopped. "Today I am going to teach you a unique battle skill from my ThunderClan days. It is called the Lightning Strike. I will demonstrate. This patch of grass will be the cats that we want to beat. Mintblossom crouched behind the grass patch, pretending it was a Stormclan patrol. She made sure she was unseen. "Now, this is when the leader would give the attack signal." Then she sprand onto the enemy grass, and scratched it by the top. "You would scratch the cats by the ears. Now, when Stormclan is caught by surprise, it makes them easy targets." As soon as she attacked, she raced behind a large weed. "Now, when the enemy is calm, repeat what I did over and over. Stormclan will think they are outnumbered, then they will retreat. It works better when there is unddergrowth, though... Do you want to try it now?"

[hailstorm]

Stormcloud watched with interest as she preformed the move. He wondered if he actually could pull it of, but it was better to try and fail than not to try at all. Carefully he crouched the same way she had done it. He fixed his eyes at the top of the grass, as he had learned sometime as an apprentice, and flung himself over the grass. He ripped of the tips of some blades with his claws, but the landing was clumsy and he didn't get to repeat the move as soon as he would have needed to.
"I think that went pretty well for a first try," he meowed. "But maybe i should try it again?" He waited patiently to see if she had some advice for the next go.

[Payphone]

"Stormcloud, that was actually very impressive. Not all cats actually do it on their first try. However, there is one thing I would like to tell you about the move. The landing was a little clumsy. I know how we can fix it though. Let me show you." Mintblossom got into a hunter's crouch, and lashed her tail. She kept her eyes on the grass, and pounced on the grass like it was a mouse. "Sometimes some cats just need to try it in a different form. If the hunter's form doesn't work for you, you probably just need practice. But I will tell you, it is a hard move to master. You know, it was harder for me, considering that the only way I could practice a few moons ago was pouncing on a fake cat with fluffy white stuff in it. I have practiced the move ever since I was a kit and watched a warrior do it. I still haven't mastered it yet. However, you are already as far as I was on my 4th moon of practice."

[hailstorm]

"It was that good? Then maybe this is one move made just for me," he joked with a smile. Once again he tried the move with the hunter's crouch. He didn't have much more luck this time around, but he started to feel where he had failed. "It just takes practice," he said to himself.
He gave it another go and tried to straighten up the mistake, but noticed how he lacked strength to complete the full turn.
"I guess I'll just have to practice more," he said to Mintblossom, all out of breath. "I think I'm out of shape."

[Payphone]

Mintblossom meowed, "I don't think you are. But seriously, it was that good. This is a great move for you. Do you want to learn a few new ones? If you do, the one I have in mind is over our border. We would have to ask Dipperstar if we could go over there. In case you're wondering, I think you should learn some Water Combat moves. We would have to go to MoonClan territory. Do you want to do that, or do you want to learn how to fight in the open?"

[hailstorm]

"I think regular moves will do for now," he said, still trying to catch his breath. He sat down for a moments rest.
"I've been wondering," he began. "When you lived in your old clan, were you called Mintpaw back then? Or were you called something else?" He tilted his head, looking at her with an interested look.

[Payphone]

Mintblossom sat by Stormcloud. "I actually wasn't, back then. In my ThunderClan days, I was known as Riverpaw. The leader was known as Firestar. He had a secret, and said he would've named me Riversong. Then I got captured by twolegs. They named me Mint, and it just stuck. Oh, and if you're wondering, the leader is now Bramblestar. Firestar lost his last life at the end of leaf-bare. Herbfeather back then, was known as Windpaw. She was actually training to be a warrior. Firestar said he would've named her Windbreeze. Herbfeather told me that after I was captured, she ran away. She learned about herbs for survival, and liked herbs so much, she named herself Herb. She stumbled across StormClan a moon before I escaped the twoleg nest. I am not sure if this is true, since it has never been comfirmed by anyone except Herbfeather."

[hailstorm]

"But I thought you were called Colt. Did you have many names?" Stormcloud had heard of cats with many names before and cats who had been with several two-legs and gotten different names from all of them. "And, yes, I met Herbfeather the other day. I forgot to tell you. She seems really nice, but she wouldn't stop talking," he purred, meaning it well. "I bet she just wanted to find you." He touched her cheek with his nose to show her he really believed it.