"Pathetic!" Brambleberry snarled as Sorrypaw slammed into the ground on his side and rolled onto his stomach, shaking his head to clear the stars from his vision. He got to his paws unsteadily and wobbled, trying to blink his eyes to focus his vision as everything blurred. The massive tabby growled and lashed his tail before charging at the small tom again, easily hooking the apprentice's paws from under him and sending him back to the ground again. He pinned the ginger tom and bared his fangs at him, fury blazing in his amber eyes. "You'd be dead if this were a real battle!"
"I-I'm sorry Brambleberry!" Sorrypaw whimpered, finally getting his vision back to normal as the large warrior got off of him and stalked away. "I-I couldn't see-"
"Don't make pitiful excuses!" Brambleberry spat at him, turning back around and crouching in an offensive state. "In battle, you need to be quicker and stronger than your enemies. If you can't get up fast enough, you're as good as crow-food. You won't survive long in battle like that."
"S-sorry..." Sorrypaw whispered, trying to keep the tears back in his eyes. He didn't want to cry in front of Brambleberry. He didn't want his mentor to think he was weaker than he already believed.
"Again," Brambleberry's gruff mew commanded, and Sorrypaw crouched defensively, gritting his teeth in concentration as he awaited his mentor's attack. The massive tabby paused before barreling straight for the small apprentice, and right before he could slam into Sorrypaw, the tom ducked and rolled out of the way, shooting to his paws and moving to swipe Brambleberry's paws from underneath him. He wasn't strong enough, and when Brambleberry whipped around to slash at Sorrypaw, he leapt into the air and onto the massive warrior's back, digging his teeth into his mentor's scruff as he tried to maintain a secure pawhold on the tom's back without unsheathing his claws.
Brambleberry snarled and dropped to the ground, rolling over onto his back and crushing Sorrypaw underneath him. He rolled off the apprentice and got to his paws, glaring down at the small ginger tom as he gasped for breath, winded from the impact of the ground and the weight that had been crushing him previously.
"Sloppy!" Brambleberry snapped, lashing his tail and pacing impatiently beside his downed apprentice. "Your moves were horribly executed! An inexperienced kit could do better!" Sorrypaw wheezed and looked up at Brambleberry with disheartened hazel eyes, and the massive tom narrowed his eyes at the apprentice. "Get up and try again," he growled lowly, returning to his starting place. 'At this rate, we'll be training all day!' he thought bitterly.
'I have to do better!' Sorrypaw thought with determination and panic as he got to his paws shakily, disregarding the dust that coated his soft pelt. 'I have to prove to Brambleberry that I can do better! I have to show him that I can be strong!' He crouched defensively and took a deep breath, waiting for the massive tom to charge.
Brambleberry shot through the air at Sorrypaw, and the small tom let his instincts take control immediately. He ducked and rolled out of the way before headbutting his mentor in the rib cage, knocking him off balance. He swiped the massive tom's paws from under him and stood triumphantly when the warrior crashed to the ground. His pride was only short-lived, for as soon as Brambleberry hit the ground, he rolled over and got back to his paws and launching himself at the apprentice again. Sorrypaw leapt out of the way before he jumped onto the massive tabby's back blindly, sinking his teeth into the warrior's scruff and his claws imbedded into his mentor's shoulderblades, scraping against his bones. Brambleberry let out a loud yowl of pain before he snarled and moved to slam his back into the ground.
Sorrypaw immediately leapt off his mentor upon realizing his intentions, slashing his claws down the warrior's side as he jumped off, and landed in a defensive crouch before Brambleberry, panting heavily with his fur fluffed up in alarm. Brambleberry stared at him with a cold glare before he straightened up and his eyes slightly softened, pride flickering through the amber oculars of the massive warrior.
"Impressive," Brambleberry mewed, sitting down and craning his head to survey the damage Sorrypaw had done. There were slightly deep claw marks on his back that were bleeding, paired with a long scratch down his side, and he began to lap at his wounds, flicking his tail. "Better than Leopardclaw did as an apprentice."
"Oh dear Starclan, I-I'm so sorry!" Sorrypaw exclaimed when he saw the wounds he had inflicted on his mentor. He glanced down at his paws in horror and sheathed his bloody claws immediately, quaking with terror when he looked back at his mentor. He hadn't meant to use his claws! He didn't want to hurt his mentor!
"You did excellent," Brambleberry dismissed the tom's apology, flicking his tail and staring at him sternly. Sorrypaw gave him an incredulous look when the massive warrior stood to his paws and turned away from him. "I'm proud of you. You've obviously learned from your earlier mistake, and you actually had the gall to use your claws. Well done, Sorrypaw."
"I-I'm sorry, what-?" the ginger apprentice murmured in horrified confusion, flattening his ears against his head.
"Let's get back to camp. It's nearly sundown, and Hawkwing will get worried about you if we stay and train for much longer." Brambleberry began padding towards camp and Sorrypaw hesitantly followed, staring at the massive tabby with incredulous hazel eyes.
'He's never said anything like that before...' Sorrypaw thought to himself. 'He's never said positive things during training... and he's never told me that he was proud of me...'. Joy surged through the apprentice's chest, and he grinned happily, feeling as if he was walking on clouds. He had impressed Brambleberry! He had done it! He trotted to get to Brambleberry's side and looked up at him with bright hazel eyes, his tail held high. He saw Brambleberry glance at him from the corner of his eye briefly before looking back ahead.
"What?" he asked in a gruff voice.
"You're pretty close with my mother, right?" Sorrypaw asked curiously, and Brambleberry slowed before stopping. He looked at Sorrypaw with narrowed eyes and lashed his tail.
"Why do you think that?"
"Well, she talks to you every day," Sorrypaw mewed, and Brambleberry fought back the urge to roll his eyes. 'She only talks to me every day to see how you're progress in training is, not to actually chat with me,' he thought bitterly. "And I've heard her mention you a couple of times when she was telling Fawnpaw stories about when she was an apprentice."
"Oh?" Brambleberry felt his heart skip a beat in his chest and hope rose inside of him. 'Does he really think Hawkwing and I are close?' he thought curiously. 'Is she finally warming up to me? My plan is working?' He forced back a purr at the delightful thought and looked down at Sorrypaw with a curious look. "What does she say about me?"
"She talked about how you two used to play with each other all the time when you were kits. And she mentioned how you've had a hard life because of your brother and father," Sorrypaw responded absentmindedly. "Hawkwing looked really sad when she was talking about your kin." Brambleberry felt his heart clench painfully at the same time warmth spread through his chest. The mention of his kin always would remain a sore spot for him, but the knowledge that Hawkwing seemed to care a lot about them touched Brambleberry. 'She still cares, if only a little bit. I can tell,' he thought fondly.
"Hawkwing always did make me feel better about my kin," Brambleberry confessed, his tail waving slightly behind him as the two began walking again. "She was always there for me."
"What was it like back then?" Sorrypaw asked quietly. "What was she like?" There was a pause before he glanced up at the dark tabby meekly. "What were you like?"
"What it was like back then..." Brambleberry echoed, letting out a deep sigh as the painful memories came flooding back. "Both of us have changed so much since we were kits. Hawkwing... she used to be so happy all the time and was full of energy. She was... very playful..." Brambleberry purred as he remembered the many times the she-cat used to pounce on him and play with his ears and tail. He couldn't turn his back for even a heartbeat with her around.
"She was?" Sorrypaw asked, eyes widening. "What about you?"
"I suppose I was, too," Brambleberry mewed thoughtfully after a while. "We played together often, and we were always with each other. I don't recall playing with anyone besides Hawkwing. Not even my own brother." He sighed and looked at his paws.
"What happened...?" Sorrypaw asked quietly. "Sorry for asking..." he added a couple of seconds later.
"A lot of things," Brambleberry responded bitterly, his expression hardening. "A lot of bad things."
"Bad things?"
"Yes," Brambleberry confirmed. "Bad things." The warrior stopped when they reached the lake and the ginger apprentice stopped beside him, water lapping at their paws.
"What kind of bad things?" Sorrypaw asked curiously, and Brambleberry gave him a scrutinizing look before he looked ahead at the camp.
"I'll tell you soon," he responded vaguely. "I think I've shared enough for now." He waded into the water and began swimming, ignoring the sigh of disappointment Sorrypaw made and the splashes of the ginger tom following after him as they swam back to camp. Brambleberry shook the water from his fur when they reached the dry land and his expression turned dark once more as his thoughts stole all of his attention.
'I'll ensure that you learn the role you disgusting kits and your fish-brained father play in keeping Hawkwing from me.'