In the Heat of a Shadow [Closed]

The tip of his nose twitched, trying to pick out the scent he was after. With the acrid scent of the impending thunderpath, it was difficult. A foul tasted seemed to cause bile to rise in the back of his throat. Bearpaw tried to swallow it back but to no avail. It was stuck there. With a flick of his tail, the bulky tabby attempted to dismiss, or at least ignore the feeling so he could concentrate on his current mission. This was the young apprentice's first patrol. Marshstorm had been fighting off some hidden sickness since he had finished the naming ceremony. Because of this, other NPC warriors were assisting in his training. Not much had happened so far. Yet, here he was. Patrolling the Shadowclan border, momentarily by himself.

Coalfoot the NPC warrior had noticed Bearpaw scenting the squirrel that was nearby and encouraged him to go off in pursuit. Although it was strange to be off on his own, the stocky tom was determined to do this right. A squirrel couldn't be too different from practicing pouncing on Blizzardshine's tail, right? He hoped not. Slowly, he pushed towards the whisp of scent that almost threatened to be right behind the foliage ahead. Too close to the thunderpath.

With each step as he inched near the rancid, black path, Bearpaw took extra care not to allow his large paws to stir up the earth. It was painstakingly challenging to prevent the heavy, seven padded paws from thudding with every movement. He was partially convinced that was the reason the patrol leader had sent him off anyway, to save them from the racket he created. I'm going to bring them back this catch... then they'll like patrolling with me more. He had learned that eating on a patrol was okay, so with this, he would feed himself and the warriors. After another step, the tabby's nose poked just through the mess of brush and ferns that were only a taillength from the thunderpath. And there was his target, the squirrel. He didn't even think about the fact that it was rushing towards him in a frenzy. Another inch and he bunched his muscles and sprang, the effort to carry his mass making him slower than intended. The prey let out a soft scream as his hindlegs smashed down on it, unintentionally killing it. At the same moment, Bearpaw barrelled head first into another mass. As the scent hit his glands, a realization dawned on the new apprentice. Shadowclan.

Aspenpaw's vivid green eyes stared intensely ahead of him, in pursuit of a squirrel he had chased all the way across the Thunderpath.  He was fully aware that he had crossed over ThunderClan's scent marks, and that the squirrel was now technically ThunderClan prey, but he didn't hesitate even a moment as he continued the chase.  ThunderClan, that rats-nest of filth and impurity, led by a feckless excuse for a leader....they don't even deserve to stand on the ground beneath their paws; why should they even get a prime piece of prey?  As he raced through the ferns and farther into the tree cover, he lost sight of the squirrel but tracked it by the scent.  Almost there...just a little farther...

WHAM

Letting out a furiously shocked yowl, Aspenpaw bounced backward off of another furry body, landing sprawled awkwardly on his haunches a couple paces away, flattening a small fern.  For a moment confusion read on his angled tabby face, only to be quickly replaced with anger.  His fangs bared in a hostile snarl, the gray tabby apprentice raised his hackles at the younger cat who stood in front of him with the crushed squirrel between his paws, the fact that this cat distinctly scented of ThunderClan only registering after he no longer cared what words came out of his mouth.  "You idiot, watch where you're going ThunderClanner!  Now you're infected both that squirrel and my pelt with your filth!"  His nose quivering in disgust, his sharpened claws emerged from their sheaths as his eyes narrowed, both from anger and a twisted desire for retribution.   "You owe me a new piece of prey, kit!"

ooc: oops got carried away typing this haha after you get an attack in, i can deal the eye blow if you want. i just wanted to make sure we both get our requirements in before that ;)

He slammed into the other cat's chest with a soft 'thud'. Because of his solid build, it didn't cause him to stumble or to be unbalanced. Instead, it just left him momentarily dazed from the motion itself and the sheer unexpected nature of the whole ordeal. Bearpaw shook his head a couple times as he straightened up and shook his coat. After a moment, the realization of what had happened dawned on the young apprentice. This Shadowclan cat had chased the squirrel all the way across the border. And now that Bearpaw had caught it, he was yowling his head off. If it were one of Blizzardshine's kits or one of his own clan, the tabby might have been phased by the harsh words. But, he just narrowed his eyes and cocked his head slightly after glancing underneath him at the flattened squirrel.

Despite being unaffected by the enraged cries of the enemy cat, his heart still pounded in his chest. This was new. He had never faced another clan's cats before, and here he stood, alone. Bearpaw was unsure of himself. But he wasn't about to let the Shadowclanner know that. His paws planted firmly on the ground as he stood before the squirrel that he had caught within the confines of his own clan's territory. This was his first official catch and he was not about to let someone steal that from him. The patrol would be grateful for it, they would praise him. And they would praise him even more if he was able to do the very thing that he was training to do: defend the territory and protect the clan. That meant starting with this mousebrained tabby who happened to cross his path.

A low hiss was pushed out from the side's of the apprentice's maw, hiding the fact that he had never fought before. Making himself look stronger, more prepared, might mean he had more of a chance. Bearpaw never thought through any of this and just allowed his instincts to take over. His massive paws crushed the low-bearing plants that stood between him and Aspenpaw. Many claws slid from their sheaths and he closed the distance between them so that their noses were almost touching. Between the Thunderpath and the stench of Shadowclan, his nose did give in to the urge to twitch with disgust as he spoke, "I owe you nothing. Go back to your own territory." It wasn't much of a speech, rather a directive that he hoped was what he was supposed to say. At that moment, Bearpaw looked like a much older cat. He could have been a warrior.

With the blood pumping in his veins, Bearpaw was ready for a dance he had never learned. The art of controlling one's movements and actions to skillfully outmatch an opponent was lost on him. There was the carnal nature of a cat that took over when he finished speaking, hoping to defend his clan and the cats he loved. Letting out his own snarl, one of those awesome paws lashed out wildly and slammed into Aspenpaw's shoulder. Perhaps he could send the other cat off with just the warning blow. Perhaps, this would not turn into an unplanned battle over a measly squirrel. If Bearpaw had seen the blood that began to pour, the damage he had already done to that shoulder, he might have known this would immediately transform into something more. But, he didn't.

Bearpaw used front paw strike, using 10 stamina and dealing 6 damage.

Bearpaw
Health: 20/20
Stamina: 70/80

Aspenpaw
Health: 14/20
Stamina: 70/80

Aspenpaw stood his ground, a blithely self-confident smirk cracking his usually serious face, as the much bulkier tom-cat approached him, until they were standing nose-to-nose. The rancid musty scent of ThunderClan swirled around him; it flooded in waves from the cat's thick pelt, emanated from the ground and leaves as if they thrived on it alone. Despicable. Without a lick of hesitation, the ashy-gray tabby forced his forehead against the ThunderClanner's, his legs rigid as he pushed back with a wiry strength that had run in his clean bloodline for generations. "You owe me more than prey, you complacent piece of impure filth! Someday, the true clan cats will take this territory out from underneath your undeserving paws...but for now I'll settle to see you run off with your tail between your legs, like the dogs that you are!

Both apprentices lifted their paws at the same time, but Bearpaw's blow connected first. Aspenpaw had never been attacked before, so wouldn't have been prepared in the first place for how much a blow by unsheathed claws would hurt, but this pain was more than any cat could've been prepared for. Despite his best efforts to control the reaction, the tom couldn't hold back a shocked yowl as thick red blood began to flow from his injured shoulder, the pain burning. Clamping his jaws together, he managed to get himself under control and whip back around to counter. "You're going to regret that!" With full strength, he slammed his unsheathed paw across the apprentice's face.

Aspenpaw used Front paw strike, dealing 6 damage and costing 10 stamina

Aspenpaw
Health: 14/20
Stamina: 70/80

Bearpaw
Health: 14/20
Stamina: 70/80

Blood roared in his ears and rushed through his veins, simultaneously sharpening and dulling his senses in some strange adrenaline-fueled chaos. Scarlet drops scattered from Bearpaw's many claws and painted the ground a sickening crimson red. Yowls continued to erupt from the Shadowclan cat's maw. There were curses, he was sure of it, but any specifics flitted through his mind and disappeared on the soft wind that rustled both of their pelts and seemed to encourage the skirmish that was breaking out next to the thunderpath. As if reminding him how dangerously close they were to life-ending monsters, a deafening roar briefly rose up from the path. If it were any other time, the tom's fur likely would have bristled uncomfortably at the sound. Now, it just prickled with aggravation and the heat of battle.

Bearpaw was zeroed in on his target. Despite the pounding that seemed to echo throughout his whole body, fueled by only the one short action of his instinct to strike, the apprentice was ready to pad away after this intruder turned back. But as a paw connected with the side of his maw and raked across the fur of his face, the bulky tabby's line of vision seemed to blur. It wasn't from damage to his eyes. Rather as the sting set in, the red he saw came from the primal sense of battle instilled within him from generations of warriors who had fought for the same reason. Unlike them, he was not properly trained for this. Every ounce of him seemed to tense up in preparation to explode on this enemy cat. There was no specific target as he lashed out. This was the fastest the young cat had ever moved or needed to move in his life. And it was all driven by a wild response to attack.

There was a flurry of claws and an enraged hiss as Bearpaw lashed out with the full force of all of his bulk. The tom reared up on his hindlegs, allowing his elongated fangs to bare freely in the face of Aspenpaw. Between the unexplored and untamed rage and his incredible size, Bearpaw was a frightening sight. It was not until he connected with the soft flesh of the Shadowclan cat's face that his mind seemed to come back to him. A sickening sound, one signifying the unholy tearing of flesh seemed to reverberate through his ears. It vibrated the sensitive tufts of hair on the edges of his eardrum. And he watched in horror as the space where an eye once lived was replaced by a salty stream of red water. He fell back on all fours and stumbled slightly over his own paws. Bearpaw could not tear his bright green eyes, now alight with a torrent of emotions, away from the horror that was Aspenpaw's face.

His paws were stained, rather caked, with a reminder of the atrocity he had just committed. Later, he would likely rationalize it as defending the territory, but in the moment all he could do was swallow a lump of sand that seemed to coat his tongue and throat. The greenery that had been recently flattened by his paws was now rapidly disappearing under the splashes of crimson that spread with each little movement of his opponent's body. Bearpaw almost struggled to say something, but his tongue wouldn't move, he couldn't think. All he could do was stare on helplessly as he tried to conjure up some notion of how this was supposed to be handled. He drew a blank.

Bearpaw used front paw strike, dealing 6 damage and costing 10 stamina

Aspenpaw
Health: 8/20
Stamina: 70/80

Bearpaw
Health: 14/20
Stamina: 60/80

It happened so quickly, Aspenpaw didn't even have time to blink.

One moment he stood, his fangs bared in a smug growl, as Bearpaw took his blow; then the only thing he remembered next was total excruciating pain.  He had had no time to dodge, yet he seemed to have seen everything in slow motion.  The brutish tom lifting onto his hind legs, eyes gleaming with a cold aggression, his claws coming closer and closer to his face.  Those claws...  He realized just a moment too late that he had never seen a cat with claws like this tom had; seven toes adorned the outstretched paw...seven sharpened claws heading straight for his right eye.

StarClan...Lichenmask...I've failed you...this is the end...

A blood-curdling screech erupted from Aspenpaw's jaws as he fell to the ground, clasping one now sheathed paw over his eye...or at least, where his eye used to be.  Beneath his pad, he could only faintly feel the remains of once healthy flesh, replaced with a flood of blood that filled his eye socket.  For a moment, everything was dark, but as he opened his eyes everything became red.  His remaining eye was coated in blood...but on his right was only painful darkness.  His chest heaved as he barely managed to pull himself to his paws, facing the ThunderClan apprentice pathetically, his whole body trembling from shock.  He only just managed to choke out a last retort, his voice gravelly and stumbling over his tongue;  "Y..y..you.....h..have...n..no idea...h..how mad h..he'll b...be..." Blood was running into his mouth, making it even harder for Aspenpaw to speak clearly.  "W...watch...your...b.back!"

He was stunned from a different kind of shock. This one was not induced by a severe trauma to his physical being. It impressed itself on his psyche as the tom who only a few sunsets earlier snuggled innocently at the pure, white side of Blizzardshine. Now, he had to come to terms with the fact that in only a few short moments he had managed to slice away that pristine picture. Bearpaw, regardless of who he believed he was at his core, was no longer the same. To Thunderclan, he would likely still be seen as the same creature. But something had snapped inside of him now as he looked at the horrific damaged caused by his own claws. His gaze fixated on the glistening white of his claws that barely shone through the stains. Sticky, hot blood still itched at the skin of his toes and pads. Fur and flesh stuck to the mess of his strangely formed paws.

A shriek from the Shadowclan apprentice, followed by a choaked spewing of angered words. The tom was a bloody mess of Bearpaw's own unplanned design. There was no retracting past claws. This was what they were both stuck to deal with now. Bearpaw swallowed roughly and stood up, finding that by some miracle he could contain the shaky nature of his stance. Aspenpaw looked a pathetic wreck at best. Although Bearpaw should have owed nothing to this cat, their circumstance blossoming out of a violation of ancient rules, he could not help but feel a tugging in his chest. As he moved closer to Aspenpaw, his step was surprisingly confident for a cat who was forcing back a twisting sense of self-concept. There was a low rumble in the tabby's chest and the words were likely just loud enough to reach the other apprentice's ears, "Hold still." There was yet again some form of command behind it.

Taking advantage of Aspenpaw's muddled sense of reality, the tabby stepped to his side and sunk his teeth just into the scruff to get a firm grip of the stumbling mess of a cat. A sense of some duty, higher than that of to his clan, lead Bearpaw to drag his opponent of moment's earlier to the edge of the Thunderpath. Any protest from Aspenpaw was ignored and easily overturned. Bearpaw outweighed him and held somewhat more of a solid sense of reality at that point. As soon as a monster ran shakily past, the apprentice took off in an awkward gallop across the hard, foul stone as he dragged the Shadowclanner along. Once they were safely just inside the Shadowclan border, he spat out the scruff of Aspenpaw. Normally, he would have winced at the taste of the marsh-dwelling clan. Now he could only detect a faint metallic taste. After standing there awkwardly for a moment, Bearpaw finally hinted at his inability to process the moment, "What should we do now?"