frozen over

Flashlight would have reveled in the freedom that came with her warrior name, if not for the ever-present shadows of the Asylum. As it stood, she was drowning in the bitterness she felt toward her current predicament, knowing that she couldn't have the freedom promised to every well-trained apprentice. Honestly, it felt like the leaf-bare chill had frozen her over just as much as the land they called their home; torn between rage and depression she'd found herself in a place that was both and neither all at once.

For now, it was spite and loyalty and very little else that kept her going through the familiar motions of her day to day - the simple, unquestionable knowledge that RiverClan had to eat to survive, and that they had to survive. This would not be the time or place that they would fall, if she had any say in the matter, and so when she wasn't assigned to any task in particular she'd taken to joining any others that might be heading out to hunt.

Silky dark edges of wispy fur catching softly against the muted light of the chilly, wan afternoon sun, gentle ripples of pale light faintly haloed the slow, idly fluctuating, movements of Jayshriek; the familiar willowy currents of actions setting the beguiling illusion that he was fully at ease within the closely surveilled camp. Hard-cut lines of the cheekbones ridging sharply against the angular curves of his long face, the young tom's wide eyes were honey dark with the unusual reflection of purposeful aloofness, betraying little of the constricting undercurrent of unease that had so deeply embedded itself within his perpetually tense muscles.

Asylum had remained present before he had even earned his Warrior name, yet he couldn't shed the constant cloud of dreary outrage which clung to his being like a secondary skin. Coupled with the ever-widening rift with his mother, the past few sunrises had verged upon insufferable.

Barren reeds, purposely overlaid and carefully woven into an intricate webbing of finely-made knots, rattling softly under the sudden disruption of movement, the sleek smoky smudge of Jayshriek's lithe shape was the only immediate disruption to Flashlight's visible grousing as he suddenly drew to a halt beside her vaguely familiar being. Honeyed dark gaze fixed upon the other newly-named Warrior, several moments of lingering silence wreathed around the unusual pairing before he eventually cleared his throat. "Are you searching for something to do," He eventually inquired, low voice loftily weighted against the cool morning air, the faintest spark of interest evident in the dark depths of his focused stare, "or are you just... enjoying your own company?"

Though she was surprised at Jayshriek's approach, she tried not to let it show. The usual bite was gone from her voice when she spoke, though, and she was as surprised by that as she was by his own words. "If only I could. No, I've been waiting to see if anyone else is going hunting." The sharp edge was back, though, when she glanced to the edges of camp, shrouded in darkness. "...Anyone who's not them, anyway. They'll invite themselves along either way, so why bother asking?"

She didn't trust any of them in the least, and while her interactions with them hadn't ended badly thus far she remained apprehensive at the prospect of leaving camp alone with any of them. It was best to have someone who was at least slightly more trustworthy around. Not that it was difficult to be more trustworthy than those rats of cats than ran about wearing the pelts of dead things.

Impassive dark gaze, tight and terse with wine-like undercurrents, remained fixed upon Flashlight for several curious heartbeats, softly framed lashes ruffling gently under the cloying weight of the afternoon humidity; though it was not outwardly apparent, Jayshriek was shaded a tad bit surprised, unused to the strange display of deference from his peer. Prominently arched shoulder rolling in upon itself in the absent act of mild shuffling, the willowy dark tom remained silent for a few heartbeats longer, unsure of the fraught emotion touching such tired words. Idly drifting forward a pace or two, Jayshriek turned to gesture for the crouched she-cat to follow, evidently uncaring for the Asylum overseer that was now scrambling in their wake, steps hurried and fur ruffled. "I don't ask," he simply rumbled out, head peering out from above the winter-stiffened reeds that unfolded around the pair, "I just go where I like, and leave whatever Asylum guard I might have to their own devices. It's not much, but it's something.. I suppose."

Downy tufts of silky dark fur dragging softly against the cold mud of the riverbank, the young tom carried forth his signature reclusiveness as he settled against the softly sloping earth, carefully keeping his shadow angled away from the idling school of fish perched below the crumbling fingers of ice. Although he hadn't paid much attention to whether or not Flashlight had actually followed him, the sound of two distinct set of pawsteps - one soft with familiarity and one rushed with the signature heft of an Asylum cat - had offered a fairly decisive clue. The terse silence continuously peddled forward, a singular dark forepaw carefully raised in the ensuing heartbeats, Jayshriek's dark gaze intently trained upon the lazy currents of the somewhat low river.

However, an odd quaver of noise against the drowsy sounds of the river hovered insistently in the shaded reaches of Jayshriek's peripheral vision; a soft crown of cresting movements gradually heightening of sound that culminated in a distinct honk. Practiced and overly precise movements gradually slowing to a curious halt, the dark-furred tom fully turned to peer over at the suddenly trembling reeds just as the goose emerged from its hiding place deep within the foliage along the riverbed, striking out as it did so.

-

A battle encounter has been spawned!
The Goose used Wing Bluff on Jayshriek, Dealing -10 in Damage & Costing -20 in Stamina.

Jayshriek
30/40 [HP]
115/120 [SP] [-5 SP due to failed hunting roll]

Flashlight
40/40 [HP]
120/120 [SP]

GOOSE
40/40 [HP]
110/130 [SP]

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 10

She followed after him without a moment's hesitation - anything to escape the camp that felt more like a prison now, anything to get away for a while - falling into an easy silence. Easier, at least, than trying to fill it with words; when every word she wanted to say was jumbled and lost. The ice was a welcome sight, as were the fish just beneath the surface. She was distracted, though - everything was distracting, lately - by something she couldn't quite place. Something was wrong, certainly - she tried to brush it off, because so many things were wrong she'd started losing count, but the feeling only grew stronger when she realized it was a sound out of place.

The honk caught her by surprise, the attack slightly less so after that. She lashed out as it struck at Jayshriek, hoping to catch it distracted - she aimed to strike hard and slash deep, to leave a trail of blood behind when her paws left its body. If it were to die, let it be satisfaction - if it were to live, let it be a warning sign.

The rush of anger and bitterness that surged through her was refreshing, compared to everything she'd been feeling lately. For just a moment it was like her problems weren't just her own, like she could make the goose carry some of her burdens. It wouldn't keep, she knew - dealing with anger by picking a fight was a familiar thing to her indeed - but for now anger and adrenaline were enough. Stars, how long had it been since she felt so alive?

Flashlight used Rear-Up to Slash on the Goose, dealing 9 damage and costing 15 stamina.

Jayshriek
30/40 [HP]
115/120 [SP]

Flashlight
40/40 [HP]
105/120 [SP] (-15)

GOOSE
31/40 [HP] (-9)
110/130 [SP]

A downy storm of restless ice and dislodged underfeathers whirled softly around Jayshriek in the immediate aftermath of the sudden attack, the pallid light of the afternoon was gently blotted out by the soft storm of greys and whites. Dark gaze catching in the chilly molten light of the early afternoon, Jayshriek's new primary focus remained trained upon Flashlight and the blatantly enraged turtle she was currently engaging with, rapidly fluttering thoughts perpetually overshadowed by the familiar recollection of his first battle encounter- ruddy reds and browns heavily flashing behind his quickly closing eyelids. Lurching his weight backwards with a surprising abandon for a cat whom was precariously balanced upon a slippery riverbank, the dark-furred tom was quick to rise to his paws and close the miniscule tail-lengths of distance between himself and Flashlight, which had suddenly arisen during the moments he was left reeling from the unanticipated ambush.


"I hate geese," was the singular remark that revealed his sudden reappearance at Flashlight's side, dry irritation palpable in the flavorless assertion. At least his dissatisfaction and perpetual underscoring of festering rage seemed mirrored in the quick, aggressive movements lashed out on behalf of Flashlight. Sweeping forward in a silky rivulet of unkempt dark fur, the rampaging goose hardly had a second to process Jayshriek's reappearance beside it before receiving a particularly coarse greeting in the shape of a vicious strike to its undefended head.

-

The Goose used Wing Bluff on Flashlight, Dealing -10 in Damage & Costing -20 in Stamina.
Jayshriek used Rear-Up to Slash, Dealing -9 in Damage & Costing -15 in Stamina.

Jayshriek
30/40 [HP]
100/120 [SP]

Flashlight
30/40 [HP]
105/120 [SP]

GOOSE
22/40 [HP]
90/130 [SP]

"Awful, irritating things," she agreed as the offending beast struck out at her, glad that they could at least find some degree of common ground. "And they never seem to know when they're outclassed."

(Granted, she was aware that there were cats that certainly thought that of her; or thought that she thought that of most things. Either way, they were right and wrong at once, and she wasn't going to bother with them now; there was little need to concern herself with social intricacies in the midst of the battlefield.)

She was more than grateful that there was little need for words between them, beyond what had been said. That she was free to let her actions speak for themselves, to let go of everything she thought and felt for just a moment. Once more, she lashed out at the infuriating creature - aiming for one of its wings, hoping to incapacitate it somehow or at least cause it a great deal of pain.

(On a better day, perhaps she would have been showing off - today, she simply wanted it gone.)

Flashlight used Front Paw Strike on the Goose, dealing 8 damage and costing 10 SP.

Jayshriek
30/40 [HP]
100/120 [SP]

Flashlight
30/40 [HP]
95/120 [SP] (-10)

GOOSE
14/40 [HP] (-8)
110/130 [SP]

The faintest brush of downy, grey-speckled feathers wreathed across the narrow bridge of Jayshriek's muzzle in an irritating, entirely distracting flash of movement- winding carelessly against the overly tender divot of his sensitive nose, gently splintered feather spindles pricking lightly against his curled lips. Giving himself a rigorous shake in response to both the unwarranted stimulus of the goose feathers whirling about like a strange mimicry of a snowstorm, the tom was caught off guard at the sudden vicious jab from the squalling, enraged goose- the smooth jut of its beak colliding sharply with the thin flesh encapsulating his bony chest.

Awful creatures indeed. Reeling backwards, weight precariously lurching between the carefully tried and testing bands of muscles within his limbs, Jayshriek was left puffing and huff awkwardly for several thin-bleeding seconds, the force of the unanticipated blow temporarily knocking away his ability to breathe. Giving himself another rough shake in hopes of forcing away the stubborn stun of the collision, the dark-furred Warrior was quick to hurl himself at the goose once again, hopeful to end the conflict as quickly as possible.

-

The Goose used Beak Thrust on Jayshriek, Dealing -20 in Damage & Costing -40 in Stamina.
Jayshriek used Run & Tackle, Dealing -8 in Damage & Costing -10 in Stamina.

Jayshriek
10/40 [HP]
90/120 [SP]

Flashlight
30/40 [HP]
95/120 [SP]

GOOSE
6/40 [HP]
70/130 [SP]