Tense Training
“What the hell do you think you’re playing at, old man?” Jasper hissed, muscles aching from how tense they were. His tail whipped around behind him, his irritability obvious on his face. Who did this guy think he was, fighting back like this?
Ashflower seemed to take no notice of the harshness in Jasper’s tone, instead planting his paws more steadily onto the ground and flicking an ear. “I…” The tom took a deep breath, his chest already fluttering with anxiety. “You wanna be prepared, right? You said yourself how… How the fire made you feel usele—”
“Shut the fuck up!” Jasper screamed, charging at the other tom and swiping blindly at him. Although he tended to talk-the-talk in the past, when it came down to genuine fighting ability… Well, he always closed his eyes and hoped for the best. Even now, with anger pulsing fiercely through his veins, his bad habits were returning. It didn’t help matters that Ashflower seemed so pathetic to him, never having hit him back as hard as he could’ve. Why did the herbalist not even seem to be trying, yet was still managing to beat him?
The herbalist paused, though Jasper heard a light scuffling of paws coming from his direction. He tried not to snarl at the noise, and instead, shame began to fill him as his ears pulled back. Why couldn’t he even win against a healer for fuck’s sake? Moons ago, it would’ve been likely that Jasper’s chin would’ve begun to wobble and he’d flee the scene, but he had grown from that sort of behaviour. Living as a rogue meant facing his problems, even if he desperately didn’t want to.
How would he survive if he couldn’t fight? Pretending to be tough had worked so far, but he needed some skill to at least back it up. What if he got caught in a less-than-desirable situation that he couldn’t talk his way out of? He needed to be able to protect himself or to tell his opponent that he wasn’t one to be messed with.
A sigh reached his ears before soft paw steps made his way over to him. “Why don’t we try again, eh? Next time focus on my paws and try to predict where they’ll go. You rely too much on overwhelming your opponent, which can work, but has too much risk.” It would seem that Ashflower was growing tired of letting the dark-striped rogue come to his own conclusions— If he wasn’t going to take initiative, then he’d have to spell the damn thing out.
Jasper grumbled to himself, though he wasn’t filled with anger like before. It didn’t help in the slightest that the stupid tom had a point. He sighed quietly, pulling his ears back. Maybe I should’ve listened more during my apprentice training. Irritation tingled across his skin, though he didn’t voice it. As much as he hated his time as a member of LynxClan, the clan was known for its ferociousness in battle. It would’ve been helpful to at least keep that trait from the group he despised most, but there wasn’t anything he could do it change that.
Unless there was.
Setting his paws apart and getting back into a more stable position, Jasper flashed his gaze back up to Ashflower. He pushed aside all of his self-doubt, replacing it with a newfound false confidence— It didn’t matter that he wasn’t truthfully full of certainty, as determination seemed to be enough. He would become stronger, even if it meant getting beat up by some frail old man.
“Come on then! I’m ready.” His claws, naturally unsheathed, sunk into the ground once more and his tail no longer lashed behind him. Jasper glared at Ashflower with a coldness he wasn’t entirely adapted to, usually full of hot anger at the unfairness of the world. Yet, he felt a little more secure now.
He tried not to feel too grateful towards Ashflower as the tom shouldered into him once more.