Outmatched

Wisteriabloom, sporting her shiny new name and even more confidence than before, was strolling along the WindClan border. Her initial intentions had been to hunt, but she had been putting in fairly little effort. A rustle. Then WindClan scent. An intruder? she questioned. Even though she was more prone to question outsiders than attack them, an intruder from another clan might mean real danger. The cat-scent grew until she spotted a small, fluffy tom in what she thought was RiverClan territory. Despite his size, Wisteriabloom knew he was almost definitely older than her, but her larger size made her think she had the upper hand. 

She swiftly leapt onto his back and began to rake him with unsheathed claws. Caught by surprise, he could do little to escape. "Why are you on RiverClan territory?" she growled. Little did she know, it was her who was the trespasser. So caught on the scent of the tom, she had rushed past and ignored the scent markers.


Wisteriabloom used Leap-and-Hold on Smallbean using 10 SP and dealing 8 damage.


Wisteriabloom:
40/40
110/120


Smallbean:
52/60
200/200

(dice roll post)

The member 'khamosa khin' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 6

(OOC: and so the ptsd kicks in smh my head. Look what you've done! xDD)))

Smallbean wandered on through Windclan territory, breathing the the fresh Greenleaf scents. Normally the days were warm and humid, but a cool breeze had been rolling across the moors since sunrise, providing temporary relief to usually muggy weather. It felt nice to be out on a walk without a particular purpose in mind for once. He was always meeting Cedarheart, or trying to hunt, or clearing his thoughts- but not today. This time it was for the sheer enjoyment of taking a leisurely walk.

His paws led him down a rather familiar path, bringing him toward the Riverclan border. He could feel the ground beneath him begin to soften, but he knew he still had some distance between him and the border, as the scent of riverclan seemed a bit faint from where he was standing. Taking a moment to rest, the tom found a large, flat rock nearby that was perfect for sitting. Padding over to it, he laid down and tucked his paws beneath him. How wonderful it was to be in such a peaceful setting. It really was a relief, there was always some kind of commotion in camp. Letting out a soft sigh, he closed his eyes...



He wasn't sure how long it had been when he woke up. Eyes widened with worry, he turned his head to the sky to check the positioning of the sun. It was nearing sunset, but there was still time to spare. How would he make up for this? How about catching something really nice. Yeah, that should do. After making up his mind, Smallbean jumped off of the rock and stretched his legs before trotting off. He should come across something relatively easily, the prey shouldn't be hiding just yet. Oblivious to his surroundings, he shifted his walking pace into a run when he got a whiff of rabbit. Soon enough, the rodent was in sight. Perfect! Crouching low, he readied himself to tackle the rabbit. Creeping behind it, he waited a moment. He launched himself toward it, when suddenly something collided with him.


The Windclanner looked above him to see what- or who, rather, had attacked him. On top of him sat a she-cat who reeked of fish. Almost immediately, he noticed that he had been in this situation before. Panic filled the tom, flashbacks from one of his first fights flooding his mind. His heart began pounding as he remembered the torture he had endured, the long, painful wounds that Vixenpaw had left on him, the ones he still had scars from today. The unforgiving and cold look that resided in the she-cat's eyes as she slowly dragged her claws down his flank and tore at his ears was imprinted in his mind.

"N-no! Not again! I wasn't even on your territory, please! Let me go!" Smallbean yelled at the she-cat above him, hoping his desperate pleas would get through to her. He knew he was likely outmatched, even with all of the expereience he had gathered. This cat was so much larger than he was, as most cats were. Why did he have to be different! Why couldn't he be normal!? His breathing quickened as he clawed at the ground, trying to escape the Riverclanner. "Let me go!"


Smallbean is pinned!

Smallbean
52/60 HP
200/200 SP

Wisteriabloom
40/40 HP
120/120 SP

((OOC: noooo baby smol))

Wisteriabloom tried her best to keep hold of the tom, despite his efforts to escape. But he yelled something at her. Am I wrong? she questioned, He must be trespassing... right? Too self-confident to believe she was in the wrong, the tabby warrior dug her claws in harder. He's probably trying to trick me, she considered, as soon as I let go of him, he'll turn around and attack me. "No, I know your tricks, sly hare-chaser. As soon as I release you, you'll flee like a coward and not pay for your trespassing, or you'll turn around and attack me." That should do it, convince him that he was wrong.

But.. What else did he say? 'Not again.' she had never met him in her life. How old was he? She had heard the stories of the Righteous Few terrorising the forest, but they had always sounded like ghost storied to her. What had happened? Who had attacked him? Maybe another RiverClanner, she thought, we probably all smell the same to them. Still, her usual urge to question the trapped warrior grew second by second.

Wisteriabloom continued to use Leap-and-Hold on Smallbean dealing 8 more damage.

Wisteriabloom:
40/40
110/120

Smallbean:
44/60
200/200

Smallbean could feel tears start to well in his eyes as he continued to struggle, thrashing his limbs wherever they would reach. If only he could grab onto something- anything, he might be able to pry himself free. But everything was just out of reach from his grasp. Curse his short legs! "W-well what would you expect me t-to do! Of course I'm g-going to t-try running!" The statement came out more like gasps than words. The more the tom struggled, the more energy he lost, but he didn't care. If there was even a remote chance of him escaping this before Wisteriabloom let him go, he would try, though luck didn't seem to be on his side. What happened to the peaceful walk he was on only moments ago? Why couldn't he have just turned around and went home earlier in the day? Why did he have to be such a fool?

Then he remembered something. Maybe his experience would be helpful for once! In a moment of , he rolled over underneath of the Riverclanner and used what strength he had to kick her off with his hind legs. Yes! He was free! He scrambled up as soon as he could and backed away. Standing in a defensive position, he faced Wisteriabloom and tried to plan his next move. If he wanted to get away without awful wounds, he would have to be strategic.


Smallbean used Duck-and-twist, dealing 5 HP and costing 25 SP. Smallbean is free!

Smallbean
44/60
175/200 (-25)

Wisteriabloom
35/40 (-05)
110/120

Wisteriabloom felt herself being kicked backwards by the tom, and landed on the ground with a thud. Momentarily stunned with surprise, she realised he'd managed to escape her hold and was now preparing for his next move. She had been briefly winded by his attack, but recovered fairly quickly. "Wait," she said, before realising what was coming out her mouth, "If you promise to not run away or attack me yet, can we have a little chat?" There it was, her endless curiosity (that she had heard being called nosiness a few times before). It was the main reason she had a tendency to question instead of attack outsiders. "Okay, so you're WindClan, obviously, what's your name? Oh.. and I've never met before - why did you say 'not again'?" Probably too personal for a cat she had just seen as a trespasser, but ah well.

"Also why did you say that I was trespassing? This is RiverClan land right? Oh no.." she padded carefully back to where the actual scent line was. I'm so stupid, she thought, I was so distracted. What am I supposed to say now? She quickly sat down on her side of the border to continue their conversation. It was only a few tail-lengths away from where they had been earlier, but she had still attacked him for no good reason. "I'm so sorry! Ask me anything, I'll answer it, just please pretend like this never happened, ok?" If answers to questions was what she always wanted in payment, why would this tom be any different?

Smallbean wasn't expecting anything in particular from the she-cat, but what he got surely surprised him. "Why... Why should i listen t-to you?!" His soft cry echoed against the thin trees, apprehension apparent in the tone of his voice. Despite the uncertainty and hesitance to speak to the she-cat, deep down he knew he couldn't will himself to turn away. A conversation had already been engaged, after all, and it felt oddly rude to leave- even if the cat had attacked him. "Well... okay..." He was still a bit wary of the Riverclanner, but stepped forward anyways with his head lowered to show he mean no harm.

He sat down about a fox-length away from the Riverclanner, an unsettled look on his face. He would have to swallow his anxieties if he wanted to have a proper conversation with this cat, but that was a task difficult for even him to handle. Hopefully it wouldn't show through his voice too much. "My n-name is Smallbean, and..." He trailed off when he got to the part about what had happened before. Did he really say 'not again'? How could he be so stupid!? Why couldn't he just shut his mouth? Now this cat was going to think he was weird because he was stuttering words that didn't make sense! "Oh- uhm, it's just that something like that happened before, no b-big deal..." He flashed a quick glance to the scars on his flank before again averting his eyes.

The tom looked at Wisteriabloom with an almost puzzled look when she said something about why he called her a trespasser. "This... is Windclan land, the scent line is over there." He pointed to a spot a few tail-lengths away with his paw and watched as the Riverclanner walked back over to her side of the scent line. Was it bad that Smallbean felt... bad for this cat? She seemed pretty guilty, and it looked like it was merely an accident. Maybe he should forgive her. "Oh, you're okay, no need to worry, it was a simple misunderstanding." He softened his expression. He must admit, he felt much more comfortable around Wisteriabloom. He couldn't tell if he was drawn to her curiosity or if it was because of how kind she was being. Either way, he wouldn't mind talking to her now. "Alright, but I don't have many questions for you, i'm not very curious. I suppose normal talk would do though, right? How's your clan doing, have you gotten an apprentice yet?"

"Smallbean," she said with a smile, "The name's certainly fitting!" Wisteriabloom noticed how his eyes flashed to the scars that ran along his flank. It must of been a move similar to what she had used, judging by their positioning, but they didn't look like they came from a simple border skirmish. She was grateful that he was fine with her apology for attacking him - something that could easily get her into trouble. The warrior was perfectly fine with bending the rules a little, but usually backed out immediately when it seemed as if she might have to face any consequences. 

Not a curious cat... she wasn't very familiar with cats that called themselves that. How can you not want to question everything? she thought. But his next question, how is your clan doing, almost instantly answered her internal questions: he was probably a fair bit older than her, to be interested in such formal conversation. She couldn't be exact, but once she ignored his small size, she considered he could be older than Streamtail. Truthfully, her old mentor was one of her few friends, but she was still a real adult, just like the WindClan tom.

"Oh my clans fine I guess," she replied, "I mean, we would be doing better if it weren't for this hot Greenleaf weather messing up the river. But yes I do have an apprentice! She's called Lilypaw and she is very sweet. Our clan has a lot, and I mean a lot of apprentices and quite a full nursery; many of the warriors have two to train. That's why I got one so soon, even though I'm quite a young warrior," she gave the scent line an embarrassed glance, "as you have clearly seen."

"So what about you? Do you have an apprentice, or had one before? I could probably use some tips!"

"That's good to hear. Windclan doesn't have any specific disadvantages to the heat, but dear Starclan can it be unbearable, especially with my thick fur." He added the last part with a bit of a humorous tone, one could say it almost sounded like a chuckle. "More kits and apprentices means more strong warriors though. Even so, i can only imagine how crowded your dens must be." It was odd how comfortable he felt around Wisteriabloom now, given the fact that they had just been fighting. She wasn't as bad of a cat as he had thought she was.

"Well, i had an apprentice, but something... unfortunate... happened to her." He trailed off. Heatherpaw's death was so sudden, and there really wasn't anything they could do about it, but Smallbean couldn't help but feel guilty and blame himself for it. Maybe... if he had been with her, she wouldn't have fell into the gorge. It was his job as her mentor after all. A sadness overcame him for a moment, a sort of cloudy feeling surrounding him. He quickly tried shaking it away, but a certain fog still resided in his eyes. "I might be able to help you with advice though. Something i learned is that patience is key. I would consider myself patient as i am, but i found myself growing a bit aggravated a times. If your apprentice gets really stuck on something, maybe take a break from it for a bit before going back to it. It helped my apprentice at least, then again, every cat is different, so you may have to come up with your own tactics."

Crowded dens were never an unusual sight in the RiverClan camp. At this point she was surprised the apprentice's den hadn't fallen to pieces with so many young warriors-in-training sleeping in it. But the better she trained Lilypaw meant one less nest needed in her current den. Compared to the apprentices' den, the warriors' den was pitifully empty. "Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss," she said, truly meaning it. She had spent little time with Lilypaw so far, but she couldn't imagine how upset she'd feel if she passed onto StarClan. 

"Ah! Patience, not my strong suit. I'll try my best with her though. I am still working out what best to do, but your advice will be very helpful." Wisteriabloom swept her tail around her paws and glanced sat the border marker once again. "I-I'm just not sure if I deserve to train her. She should have a proper mentor, but so many of the warriors already have multiple apprentices. I just want to do what's best for her." The warrior couldn't help her other worries from tumbling out her mouth. Smallbean seemed understanding however, so maybe he could help her.

(OOC: i hope you don't mind if i go ahead and wrap this up)))

It was odd, finding a cat who shared the same worries as he did. When he was training Heatherpaw, he often wondered what she thought of him, and whether or not he should have been training her. There were many warriors who were far more qualified to train her, yet he was chosen. "Don't worry about things like that, you seem perfectly capable to train an apprentice. I had my doubts about Heatherpaw, and i would probably feel the same way about my next apprentice, but i'll tell you what i needed to hear. Don't be afraid, don't be nervous. That cat will look up to you for your whole life and beyond, regardless if you are the best mentor or not. You are her mentor, and as long as you're able to get her to warriorhood she'll be forever grateful for you." He really hoped what he was telling Wisteriabloom was true. That was the way he had felt toward Raventail, after all. He wouldn't have asked for any other cat to be his mentor. Maybe... maybe he should start trying to spend more time with him. Raventail seemed as though he could use a friend, and Smallbean himself could use someone to talk to.

Figuring it was getting late, Smallbean dipped his head in farewell to the Riverclanner. "I should be heading back to my clan, i would suggest you do the same. Then again, i've been out much longer than you have- at least to my knowledge...." He turned around and began to walk away. "And uh- thanks for showing me mercy. You could've ripped me to shreds if you wanted to. It was nice speaking with you." With that he broke into a sprint, heading toward the heart of Windclan territory.