|:| A Tiger's Stripes |:|

Tigerkit was in the center of camp, his small striped auburn body tense, waiting. His heart was beating quickly, his adrenaline pulsing and large yellow eyes narrowed. His tail lashed back and forth across the tough dirt.

In front of him, large and hulking, casting a long shadow across the ground, was a red-brown leaf.

With a snarl, he leapt onto the leaf and began viciously tearing it apart. His small claws were unsheathed and his growls slightly muffled by the dead stem. It crinkled easily. The small tom was so engrossed in his fighting for his clan that he didn't hear the sound of pawsteps behind him.

Eaglekit yowled and launched himself onto the other, unsuspecting kit. He nipped at his ear before bounding off and smirking.
"I got ya!" He proclaimed proudly.

Tigerkit let out a surprised yowl, tumbling down to the hard-packed earth below. Within a heartbeat he had popped back up on his small paws again, yellow eyes narrowed as he stared around. When he finally caught sight of Eaglekit's back legs bounding off, Tiger waved his tail, kneading his claws into the ground.
"Attack Tigerstar if you dare!" the small striped tom screeched, almost bouncing up and down. "I have destroyed all of your clan!"
He gave a small glance to the crumpled leaf a few tail-lengths away.

The brown and white kit snorted with laughter, "You? A clan leader? Scrap like you is nowhere near that. Maybe someday I'll be up there, but you? I don't know. Tigerstar" He almost sneered. His tone was proud and taunting, but not as harsh as the words sounded. Eaglekit was full of himself. Despite being only slightly bigger than the other kit, the knowledge that he was born only seconds before gave him an entitled sense. He looked at his litter mate with narrow eyes, waiting for his reply.

"That's not very nice." Leafpaw said to his brother. "Besides you don't know if I might become leader one day!" Leafstar such a good name... Leafpaw thought. He felt sorry for his two other brothers since they were not made apprentices with himself and Squirrelpaw.

Tigerkit let out a small growl at his slightly larger brother.
"Just you see," he retorted, fur bristling. "When I become leader, Leafpaw will be my deputy, not you." And with that, he scooted closer to his torn-up leaf, and licked his ruffled chest fur, yellow eyes still glaring at Eaglekit.

"Oh, come on, Tigerkit. I was just teasing," He smirked and shot an annoyed glance at Leafpaw. Sometimes the tom was a little bit harsher than he intended. He didn't want his littermates to hate him, but he also didn't want to appear weak.
Eaglekit softened up a bit, yet kept his bold tone when he asked, "How bout a battle between, clan leaders?". He crouched down, hackles raised for a mock fight.

The auburn-striped tabby turned, a small huff escaping him as his brother crouched down. But he looked away from the leaf, letting a playful snarl erupt from his throat.
"Tigerstar will rip you to shreds!" he cried dramatically, bounding forward and leaping onto his littermate, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Eaglekit let the weight of his brother knock him down and rolled into it. He wriggled out from under him and landed a playful blow to the side of his head, "It will take more than that to defeat, Eaglestar!" He yowled in response.

OOC: Sorry for posting late! I'm just really shaken up after the election…

Tigerkit's eyes glinted happily as they rolled, littermate and littermate, on the tough, steady dirt beneath them.
He yelped, scrambling to his paws, at the first hit. Within a heartbeat, he was back on his paws, circling his slightly older brother, snarling. But his yellowish eyes were wide and playful.
With a kit-like yelp, he sprang onto the tom, scraping near his eyes with sheathed small paws.
"You're dying! You're dying!" he squealed, clutching onto the back of his brother with his hind legs, pawing spastically at his closed eyelids. "You're bleeding! I'm killing you!"

OCC: Totally fine friend. I get it.

Eaglekit crouched down and let himself go limp as Tigerkit playfully clawed at him. He gave the other kit a moment of victory before he sprang up and headbutted him in his underbelly lightly. The brown and white tom felt a little bad for making fun of his younger brother earlier. The kinder part of him wanted to let up and be nicer, but his competitive edge kept the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

Leafpaw watched not really wanting to be part of a kit's fight.


OOC: I was banned from computer until Saturday so sorry for late and short post.

The smaller tabby tom tumbled to the ground, head ringing. He popped back onto his feet, shaking out his fur again. He huffed, staring at his brother for a while.
"Surrender now before I kill your whole clan!" he declared, tail up. "Or fight to your DEATH! Two choices! Which one do you choose?" His small striped paws scuffed clouds of hard dirt beneath them, making him sneeze.

"I'll take fight," He hissed before launching himself at the kit again. This time he retracted his claws and just batted at his brother with soft paws.

Tigerkit was taken by surprise by the attack, falling over onto his back with his brother hovering above him. His body went slack and he whimpered, yellow eyes wide. His nose twitched.
The small tabby tom let out another pitiful whimper, gazing at Eaglekit forlornly.