Whatever It Takes, Part II [Closed]

There was more hissing and struggling, but still not a single word fell from the ThunderClan she-cat's mouth. She wasn't going to give up easily.

Artemis was shocked that the she-cat was quick enough to dart behind him. He'd been prepared to strike once more, another blow or two to the head, to knock her out, and then end this. But, Sweetheart was tugging at his tail within moments. The prick of her teeth into the sensitive skin underneath caused a sharp his to escape from his throat. While the tom wanted to break free, the option of tearing his tail away was just not appealing. He wriggled slightly in a frantic attempt, but to no avail.

Artemis is no longer stunned!

As soon as Artemis recovered from the attack and stood back up, Sweetheart twisted underneath him to claw at his belly before landing back on her paws in front of him, spinning around to meet his next attack head on.

Sweetheart used Half-Turn Belly Rake on Artemis, dealing 11 damage and costing 20 stamina.

Sweetheart
27/60 HP
70/100 SP

Artemis
39/55 HP
140/170 SP

"You rotten little-" Whatever Leafstorm was going to say next was cut off as he was pushed once more below the water. A few moments later he surfaced again, spluttering indignantly. "Does honor mean nothing to you? When I get my paws on you..." He struggled through the water, clawing his way back onto shore, shivering. He shook his head back and forth like a dog, sending droplets of water flying.

Leafstorm is no longer stunned.

"Honour? Where was your honour when you trespassed onto our lands to take it? I'm just showing you the same courtesy." The she-cat scoffed. Unlike Leafstorm, her fur seemed to repel the water, it slipped off her in fat droplets as she used her webbed feet to propel her out of the water. She pounced at the tom, rearing up onto her hindlegs to smash her sodden paws against him. Her claws raked through skin, drawing blood that splattered into the water.

Minnowslip used Upright Front Paws.
-11 HP
-20 SP

Minnowslip:
30/45 HP
120/160 SP

Leafstorm:
46/80 HP
220/240 SP

[OOC: it's been over 24 hours, that means Reaper is out of the fight, right?]

(OOC: Perhaps Reaper is super busy or something. Try shooting a reminder via PM or waiting a little longer. :3)

[OOC: It's what the rules say. "Taking longer than 24 hours after your opponent posts is an auto-lose for you. This includes minor clan skirmishes to full-fledged battles."]

(OOC: Ohhh. Well, in that case, I suppose so. All the better for ThunderClan!)

Lionspark had been curled up in the corner of the cavern, softly snoozing with little worry. Her eyes flickered open at the sound of pawsteps, voices...She raised her head at Viperstorm's voice, ordering her to remain behind her. "What?" she gasped, trying to shake off the clutches of sleep when the yowling started. The sound of combat quickly shook her awake as her eyes widen, throwing herself to her paws as she took a step back and pressed herself against the far side. Her single useful eye scanned as shouting echoed throughout the tight tunnel, some of the voices familiar as tried to pick out the pelts and the scents.

It was...Her Clanmates? The familiar scent of ThunderClan washed over her as her breath caught in her throat. She didn't...She didn't want this! "Stop!" she cried as the battle waged, her voice being lost in the din. Her breath came fast as she fought down the urge to panic. She didn't anybody being hurt for her sake, she wasn't worth it. She was stuck with horror as she watched the RiverClan cats she had grown fond of fight her own Clanmates, her claws sinking into the ground before a yowl escaped her lungs.

"STOP IT!"

She pushed off of the ground, charging into the fray as she tackled a tom she didn't recognize that was locked in combat with Sweetheart. All of her weight went into knocking him to the ground, before she drew backwards with a shake of her head as she raised her voice even higher. "I o-order you all to stop fighting!" She knew it wasn't her place to make the order but she didn't have a doubt that this battle wasn't for her sake. She bared her teeth, her ears flat on her head as she struggled to remain as calm as she could as she spun to stare at the cats who had come to 'save' her. "What is the meaning of this?"

Leafstorm hissed roughly and knocked the Riverclanner onto her back with a quick push, pressing one large paw to her throat with frightening speed, his other paw on her chest. His whiskers twitched and water dripped from his ice-cold fur as he leaned over the young warrior, his eyes narrowed and his sides heaving. He felt a savage need to attack, to dig his claws into her fur. He wanted to cause her as much pain as her clan had caused him. She deserved it, he knew she did... Her whole clan did.
One small bite and it would all be over. The light would leave Minnowslip's eyes, and soon they'd be as still and frozen as the icy water. His hot breath fanned her face as he leaned over her, his whiskers trembling. Just one bite...

With a jolt, Leafstorm realized that his fangs were bared. He jumped and nearly let go of his pinned opponent, swinging his head around as he tried to get his bearings. "Lionspark...?" He mewed, his heart thundering. He felt... rotten. dangerous. Like a piece of Fresh-Kill filled with maggots. He had thought that. He had actually considered -it hurt him just to think it- killing. Leafstorm swallowed and turned back to Minnowslip, his breathing slowing and his head beginning to clear. He didn't dare take his eyes off of the Riverclan she-cat, lest she tried any tricks, but he felt sick. "Lionspark, what are you doing?" Drops of water fell off of his whiskers steadily.
Leafstorm felt a sudden cooling sensation, his whirring mind slowing, blocking out everything but the necessary. What did he know?
Lionspark was insane, probably. Driven mad by her capture.
He needed to talk her off the ledge before she did something they'd all regret.
Lionspark was a mother.
Taking a shaky breath, Leafstorm's ears flattened. "That... that's treason. After everything we've risked..." He let his disappointment in Lionspark, in himself, creep into his voice. "You're risking your clanmates for cats who were just holding you captive... you're helping the cats who murdered my daughter." He pressed Minnowslip harder into the mud as he said those last few words, wincing as their sour taste burned his tongue. Hopefully Artemis would step in and get the situation under control again.

Underneath the experienced warrior, Minnowslip hissed aggressively, her ears flat against her skull as she wriggled furiously. "She said for you to stop, not for you to join RiverClan. Is your brain that addled from age, Elder?"

Wriggling like a worm, she hooked her legs under the tom's belly, pushing him off and wriggling free. Patches of fur was missing, and her pelt was now slick with mud as she ran over to stand by Lionspark. She wasn't a big fan of the ThunderClan she-cat, but she didn't like how he spoke to her. It reminded her too much of how Otterleap was treated and berated by his clanmates. She stood facing the ThunderClanners, unwittingly stepping to protect Lionspark as she'd done for Otterleap.

As soon as Lionspark demanded her to stop, Viperstorm stood up off of the Thunderclan warrior and moved back. Did she truly want to go home? The Riverclan warrior backed off, to the point where if fighting did continue she couldn't join in it again, unless it was a fight to the death. Her blue eyes looked over to Lionspark. Though she couldn't help but growl at the Thunderclan warrior. "Oh yes all of us as a clan got together and murdered an apprentice. Every single cat in Riverclan wanted her dead including the kits and queens and Elders." The warrior had her ears flattened against her head. How stupid was Thunderclan?

Viperstorm looked at Lionspark, she didn't move to challenge the Thunderclan cats again. She waited to see what the Thunderclan warrior wanted to say about all of this.

Emberheart leapt back after being released from the other warrior's grip, but focused her eyes on Lionspark - the anger that had been her very being for the past few minutes replaced with confusion. She had shouted for everything to stop, but... Why? They were doing a good thing, right? Trying to bring her home?

Lionspark felt a flood of relief as the battle stopped, before her eyes fell onto Leafstorm and she winced at the stare she got her return. "Treason?" she echoed, an honest confusion in her voice as it shook. She had just...She had wanted the fighting to stop. She...She didn't even know the tom she had tackled, her gaze shifting over to him. But then her ears twitched at his words. "Wait..." His daughter...Dead? She felt her blood run cold, terror gripping her chest as she spun to stare at the tom. She wanted to ask who had died - she hadn't known that anybody had...She shook her head, not wanting to face which one of her grandkits had perished as Minnowslip and Viperstorm spoke up, both taking her side as she swallowed. "I-I just...What is going on?" she asked quickly but quietly as her ears flickered back. "Why are you risking this for me?" She closed her eyes, before she spun to stare at Leafstorm. "And I wouldn't be risking our Clanmates if you weren't doing thi-This mouse brained rescue attempt! Ivystar made a deal! I would be returned to ThunderClan at the end of Leafbare and RiverClan has been treating me just fine! Honeyspark had been returned as a sign of good faith so why are you risking yourselves to save me when I am in no danger at all?"