ᴍᴀʀʀᴏᴡ ʀᴏᴛᴛɪɴɢ [warrior cat fanfiction]

II

"Hey, I'll have you know this is pure muscle!" Firepaw retorted.

"Save it for the battlefield, you two," Brackenstep chided, not bothering to hide the amusement in his tone.

"Oh, let the toms have their fun," Fennelpool purred indulgently. "Though I suppose we should get going if we want to start training before sunhigh. Shall we head to the Amber Glen?"

"My thoughts exactly," Brackenstep agreed.

"We'll take the shore of the river then," Grasshawk decided. "I want to see what Breezepaw and Palepaw can do in the water."

The group made their way up the rocky slope that let them in and out of camp. Cedarpaw darted ahead with Firepaw, looking forward to the day's activities.

***

The Amber Glen was a cluster of trees surrounded by grasses that were always some shade of golden-brown regardless of the season. Firepaw was definitely taller than him, so Cedarpaw hoped he could somehow use ducking down into the foliage to his advantage. Battles were only fun if you had a level playing field, which sometimes meant getting creative.

"Alright, why don't you two show us what you've got and we'll decide what to work on from there?" Fennelpool suggested. She shot Brackenstep an inquisitive look, and he nodded approvingly.

"That sounds fine," he meowed. "Now remember you two; sheathed claws. And no tricks!"

Cedarpaw kept light on his toes as he and Firepaw circled the clearing, eyes locked. Firepaw finally pounced, prompting Cedarpaw to roll out of the way. He kept himself low to the ground as he lifted himself back to his paws.

"Hey! Where'd you go?" Firepaw demanded, pausing to taste the air.

I've got you now!

That was exactly the opening Cedarpaw had been hoping for. Darting like a snake, he charged into Firepaw's legs to topple him. He clambered on top of a bewildered Firepaw with a triumphant purr.

Firepaw, of course, immediately retaliated by easily shaking Cedarpaw off. He landed with an oof but was too happy that his idea had worked to care.

"I thought Brackenstep said no tricks," Firepaw pointed out, although he didn't seem annoyed at all, mostly teasing.

"That wasn't a trick," Cedarpaw purred. "I let you throw me off afterwards. That was called strategy."

"Oh, so hiding like a rabbit is a strategy now?" Firepaw laughed.

"Okay, maybe it was a little tricky," Cedarpaw admitted. "It worked though, didn't it?"

"It certainly did," Brackenstep chuckled. "RiftClan cats usually prefer to fight head-on, but I suppose it might be good practice in case we ever end up in a war with SpiderClan."

"That's true," Fennelpool agreed. "SpiderClan cats are smaller than us. It's interesting, getting a small taste of how they might think."

"I'm not that small," Cedarpaw protested hotly. "I just didn't think we'd have a fair match going head-on."

"I thought your move was great," Firepaw assured him, running his tail down Cedarpaw's spine. "Think you could show me how to do something like that?"