losing strength ❖ closed

Duckpuddle narrowed her eyes as the tom spoke, but she didn't expect his next move. She let out a gasp of shock as she was headbutted directly in the chest. Usually, she may have been able to use her back legs to keep her from ungracefully falling, but the lack of strength made it difficult for her to do so. The brown warrior fell backward with a thud and a slight grunt. She wasn't a kit... she couldn't just retreat from a fight with her tail between her legs. Besides, even if she did lose, she'd be sure to let Ivystar or Jaystream know about this lousy ThunderClanner who had such a stupid amount of audacity. Attempting to rebalance herself, Duckpuddle hauled herself to her paws and smashed her paws against Newttounge's forehead in an attempt to stun him.

The impact of both paws on his forehead sent him smacking his jaw on the ground. It rattled his skull and made everything hurt. The tom gritted his teeth and lifted his head with a low groan. He staggered along the edge of Sunningrocks, feeling the river water dampen his hind paws. Bunching his legs up, he launched forward once more and threw his full weight at her. Neither of them was willing to use their claws in this battle. Deep in his mind, he knew the skirmish was stupid and unnecessary but, he wasn't going to just quit now. It was good practice. From his findings, she had weak balance or at least a weak leg. He'd spent his free time climbing trees, particularly the one with the large hollow up high where he retracted to marvel at his collection of forest treasures. There, that was his advantage.

Duckpuddle crouched low and prepared herself for another round of attacks and blows as Newttounge stepped towards the edge of Sunningrocks. When the tom flung himself at the she-cat, she let out a yowl of protest and shock. Why, out of all the times that she had to find herself in a skirmish, did she have a weak leg? Would she ever just have some time in the river to let her leg fully heal without cats from other Clans getting in her way? When she had discussed the idea of swimming in the river with Spotfur, the two of them had agreed that ThunderClan probably wouldn't end up attacking.

It was disappointing to see how wrong they were.

The she-cat attempted to fiercely shove the tom off of her with her front paws, but her tries were practically as useless as a kit trying to fight off a badger.
"You mousebrain!" The brown warrior shouted, "Get off of me!"

The tom huffed and looked down at her. This was a pointless fight now. They were just bruising each other and wasting daylight. The wounds of grief were still open among his clanmates. Wildfire was reduced to numbness during her warrior ceremony without Flickerpaw there. A broken Lionspark. His already tiny amount of trust in Blizzardstar grew smaller as she traded lives. This wasn't how he'd keep his promise. Intimidation wasn't what they needed right now. Stepping off of her, he stood off to the side and groomed his chest fur and looked into the forest.

Once the ThunderClan tom stepped off of her, Duckpuddle slowly hauled herself to her paws and tried her best to hide the shocked expression that threatened to break through once she accidentally shifted her weight to her back, weak leg. Almost instantly, she made sure that her weight was evenly distributed amongst all four of her legs.
"Great, at least you have some sort of courtesy."
The she-cat knew that she probably should head back before her leg ended up becoming an even bigger burden to her. She began to edge backward, which was the direction of RiverClan's camp from Sunningrocks. However, she wasn't going to end up sprinting off like some sort of coward while this ThunderClan cat stayed here.
"Obviously, after that little spectacle, fighting has proved itself to be useless," Duckpuddle inhaled, slowly, "Now, I'm going to ask you again, politely. Please, leave RiverClan's territory. If it was some other cat, besides me, they may have tried to kill you. A patrol with more than one cat may end up coming, soon. No more blood has to be shed here unless it is necessary."

He shrugged and began padding off. "Attempt murder over a border skirmish? Hypocritical but, not something I'd be surprised to see from your clan. Neither of us drew blood here, do not preach to me." The tom sucked in a breath. "Good luck with that leg, try using your tail for balance more, it'll serve you well." He waved his fluffy tail and shot her a smugly cheery smile her way and pushed through the ferns back to ThunderClan territory.

eugh, short, it's hard to write him sometimes when he's doing impulsive things like this]

Duckpuddle couldn't find any words to shoot back at the tom. All she could do was stand there with wide green eyes and a slight frown on her muzzle. After the ThunderClan tom disappeared into the ferns and headed back to the territory that his Clan owned, the brown warrior stared at where he had left. It was all she could do, after all. Glancing back at the river where she had been swimming, Duckpuddle shook herself out of the shock and padded back towards it. She didn't feel like continuing her exercises. She'd just do it later. The she-cat gave herself a mental reminder to warn Jaystream and Ivystar about what had occurred, and it would certainly provide quite the story to share when her Clan shared tongues. Wading across the river, the she-cat glanced back at Sunningrocks one more time with a look of both confusion and surprise before bounding back towards camp.