antagonizing [c]

Despite hating the Asylum occupants, Shrikefrost had come to accept them. That didn’t mean he was willing to part with Clan traditions. It was just a recognition that he was helpless. The gray tabby sat at the edge of camp with his tail twitching. He felt like a whiny kit, but he didn’t want to go hunting with a stupid rogue again. That said, he had to. Shrikefrost flicked his tail at the cat nearest to him, the gray one with some commotion revolving around the name Ashpaw. Shrikefrost had never met Ashpaw, or Duran now, but he seemed like one of the friendlier cats.

“Duran, if they’re calling you that,” the sigh was clear in his voice, “Come on. I’m patrolling, or maybe hunting, it shouldn’t matter to you, but I need a watchdog.” Shrikefrost wasn’t actually intending to annoy Duran. It was a welcome side effect.

Duran had been pawing through the prey-pile, his face downcast yet you couldn't quite call it sad.  It was a strange emotion he had been feeling the last few days since his identity had been revealed, something standing between relief, uncertainty, and nostalgia.  No matter what may come of it, he was glad that his time of hiding was over; this flurry of emotions was preferable to blind, sickening paranoia.  He was also glad that he could finally walk around without wearing his fox skin; the tom had fully groomed his long gray fur back to its usual smoothness, and in the sunlight silver-tipped fur shone like darting minnows in the stream.  Duran finally felt...normal.

Not for long though, as an abrasive voice quickly reminded him of his duty.  Looking up from the pretty pathetic fresh-kill pile, the short tom met displeasure with friendliness as he smiled back at the dark-pelted tabby warrior, and nodded in agreement.  "That's fine by me, I was about to go out hunting anyway.  We'll need more prey than that to feed us all before nightfall."  Despite the Asylum not typically adhering to such customs, Duran had always retained Clan morales when it came to feeding others in the group; if the kits, queens, and elders weren't fed, he wouldn't eat.  Such as today, with leaf-bare arriving in full force prey was starting to become scarcer, and the Scout hadn't eaten since the night before.  One day without a meal was nothing though compared to his younger moons.

Duran recognized this young tom from the takeover; he had seemed prepared to take on the entire invading force in defense of the tom Lyralei had pinned, who he was assuming was this cat's brother.  He didn't recognize any of them from back in the day, so he guessed they had been born after he and his own siblings had been captured.  Despite his youth though, Duran had found himself impressed by the tom's strong loyalty...yet also fearing for his ultimate fate with such a reckless show of aggression.  Now though he seemed to have calmed down to at least a grudging sense of normalcy, for which he was glad.  Watching such a passionate young cat struck down by the Nightstrikers would've been...hard to accept, to say the least.  "I've seen you around camp but I haven't been able to catch your name?"  Duran hoped that his genuine curiosity would show through his eyes; he would someday be one with these new RiverClan cats in the Asylum, and he was hoping they could at least be on civil terms in the present.

Intentionally or not, the tom had ignored his words of hunting or patrolling. Shrikefrost took offense to it. “I said patrolling or hunting, but I suppose I'm hunting now. I guess since you're in such a place above me, I have to listen now? I guess we're going hunting.” Technically, Duran had said he was about to go out hunting, but Shrikefrost assumed he had to tag along for it.

The tom led the way out of camp, ignoring whatever Duran's reaction was to his previous words. He would hunt if prey stumbled along his paws, but just to spite the gray tom, he was going to check the borders. Are there any at this point? Duran didn't say there weren't, so I'm saying there are. Shrikefrost walked at a fast pace towards the river. He forced his mind to ignore the tom beside him. He might be nicer than most of them, but he's still one of them. And he betrayed RiverClan by leaving us, didn't he? He didn't want to speak much, but his ear twitched and he caught Duran's last words. 'Catch your name?'. “...Shrikefrost,” and a moment later, spinning around to fully face the tom, “look, I don't like you and your friends and I definitely don't like that you used to be a RiverClan cat. Why don't you make it easier for the both of us and not try to be friendly?”

Just during the end of his words, as he was turning back to stare at the river, a wing slammed across his face with such force it knocked him into Duran. There was a tangle of limbs and fur and pelt for a moment, and then Shrikefrost rolled away, reflexes kicking in. No words were necessary as the light gray and white feathered bird stretched two large wings out, as if daring them to attack. Shrikefrost would be fine from the earlier wing smack, but he let Duran attack first anyway. Well... he hoped the goose would attack the rogue instead of him, that was the real reason.

Goose uses Wing Buff on Shrikefrost, dealing 10 damage for 20 stamina. The next attack on the goose will hit.

Shrikefrost
35/45 hp [-10]
160/160 sp

Goose
40/40 hp
110/130 sp [-20]

The member 'Sal' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

'Effect Dice' : 3

Duran stood wide-eyed for a moment, taken aback by the younger tom's snappy reaction to his relatively simple statement. "Uh, wait, hold on, I didn't mean it like that!  I was just saying that-"  Too late, the warrior was already heading towards the entrance.  Ears flattening anxiously, Duran was left to simply follow him, his optimistic view of this outing fading very quickly.  I mean, I really should've expected it with his reaction to every other Asylum cat...just because I used to live here before he was born doesn't mean he'd automatically want to be friends.  Stars, when did I gain such an ego?

As the two left camp and headed out towards the river, Duran fell back a pace behind the dark-pelted tom, letting him lead the way.  No need to make him even more irritated by trying to 'take control', as he would probably put it.  Instead, Duran took the moment to gaze at their surroundings, the grassy ground blanketed in a thin layer of frosted snow.  It gave everything a shimmering appearance; the willow trees especially were beautiful, their barren tendrils crystalized and gleaming in the sunlight.  Taking a deep breath, a small puff of cloudy air drifted from his nose; however, it seemed his companion was finally ready to introduce himself.

"I-It's nice to meet you Shrikefrost -"  However, he got cut off very quickly and found himself taking an instinctive step back as the smokey warrior whipped around to face him, very clearly annoyed.  Oh man, I've done it now...  Duran's face reflected more and more regret as Shrikefrost hissed at him, and he could feel himself begin to shrink back, looking ever smaller than he already was.  I was right...it still hurts to hear though.  Try not to be friendly?  What does he want me to do, act like a Nightstriker and push him around?  No, of course not...I don't think I can win this fight...  "Look, I - hey, Shrikefrost watch out!!"  

Suddenly, a goose of all things seemed to appear out of nowhere on the bank, rushing up to Shrikefrost and hitting him with its wings hard enough to send the warrior flying backward...right into Duran.  "Ahhh!"  Stumbling to the ground under the other tom's weight, he was unable to get up as quickly as Shrikefrost and for a moment stared up at the large, very angry waterbird, fear reflected in his green eyes.  He had never faced a goose before, though their calls were a well-known aspect of the territory.  Maybe they had stumbled upon this one's nest?  Regardless, they would at least have to chase it away in order to hunt; from his position on the ground, Duran was able to scoot underneath the bird and unsheathed his claws to scratch at its feathered belly.  At first, he only succeeded in pulling out soft white feathers, but after a moment he hit the skin, and a few droplets of blood fell onto the snowy ground.

Duran used Belly Rake, dealing 14 damage and costing 10 stamina

Duran
75/75
190/200

Shrikefrost
35/45
160/160

Goose
26/40
110/130

If he had faced, and won against, two turtles as an apprentice, a goose should be easy. This time, though, there wasn’t a group of apprentices at his side. There was someone in a pelt who he didn’t trust. Duran slid under the bird, drawing blood. The goose didn’t seem to care. It shook itself out, feathers and some blood falling onto the ground, eyes fixed on Shrikefrost. I can’t show fear.

That thought in mind, Shrikefrost charged the bird, feinting to the left and right before rearing up and aiming his unsheathed claws at the bird’s head and shoulders. He rained blows down, some drawing blood, others hitting nothing but feathers, before the goose caught on and reacted in kind. An orange beak slammed into Shrikefrost’s shoulder before the goose retracted its head to stand tall again. Shrikefrost gritted his teeth and avoided whimpering a little. The beak was sharp, and had drawn a diagonal line across his right shoulder that was bleeding. Why couldn’t the large waterbird attack Duran instead?

Shrikefrost used Rear-Up to Slash, dealing 11 damage for 15 stamina.
Goose used Beaked Thrust, dealing 20 damage for 40 stamina.

Duran
75/75
190/200

Shrikefrost
15/45 [-20]
145/160 [-15]

Goose
15/40 [-11]
70/130 [-40]

Duran quickly scooted out from under the goose just in time before Shrikefrost came in for the attack, watching the younger tom's vicious fighting skills with a look of awe; I definitely wouldn't want to end up on the wrong side of his claws, that's for sure.  However, the surprisingly aggressive waterfowl didn't seem scared one bit, and lunged out with its sharp-toothed beak into the RiverClan warrior's shoulder.  Before it had time to realize he was there, Duran whipped around and kicked out hard with his hind legs, making the goose stumble a bit.  From there he managed to at least partially pin it, but right before he was about to bite into its neck for the killing blow he hesitated.  Using this moment of weakness, the goose bucked him off and shrieked before fluttering awkwardly back into the river and taking off with the current.  Chest rising and falling as Duran caught his breath, he watched the bird go before turning to Shrikefrost, a somewhat sheepish look on his face.  "S-Sorry about that, we could've feasted tonight if I'd killed it.  Are you...okay?"  Remembering their earlier argument Duran's eyes suddenly grew wider and darted away from the dark-pelted warrior.  Shrikefrost had definitely taken the brunt of the attack, he probably wouldn't be grateful to him for offering aid...or as he would put it, kindness.

Duran used Back Kick, dealing 15 damage and costing 15 stamina.
The Goose is defeated.

Duran
75/75
175/200

Shrikefrost
15/45
145/160

Goose
0/40
70/130

Though the edges of his vision were blurred, Shrikefrost could see Duran delivering a kick to the oversized bird. His Asylum counterpart had half-pinned the goose, so he expected for him to kill it. The bite never came. The goose ran away. The tabby snorted. Weak. We could have used that goose with leaf-bare coming. Why do I waste the energy paying attention with these cats; they’re either rude or incompetent.

A sheepish Duran came up to him, actually apologizing... hm. Natural decency he hadn’t expected. Shrikefrost nearly rolled his eyes as Duran scrambled away. “You don’t need to run away like that. I don’t hate you. Oh, wait, you’re with a bunch of cats that invaded our home and threatened to kill us. Out of those cats, you are the single one I’ve met with any decency. So, as much as I don’t hate you specifically, I really do because of who you’re with.” How he got from RiverClan to here must be an interesting story. The warrior turned his back and started to walk back to the camp. His shoulder would need to be taken care of. The adrenaline had faded, and the pain was not dulled by it any longer. Fatigue set in, though he did his best not to show it to Duran.