Walk and Talk [Closed]

There was a calm in the air as Theron trotted through the forest territory, ears perked as she listened to the birds chirping in the trees above. A gentle breeze ruffled her fur, causing her to come to a halt as a gentle purr escaped her throat. This was...Nice. Very nice. Out of the territories she had seen, it was hard to pick a favorite - which one called to her in particular. They each had their quirks, all different from the life she had known but this...This wasn't that different. Shaded, cool...If she perked her ears and listened hard enough, she could hear the gentle babbling of water. Perhaps her home had been a little more open - it wasn't a forest, simply a sanctum for them to live in.

She blinked as she felt a pain in her heart...Home sickness. Her ears dropped, thinking of her family that she had left behind, of her newborn siblings who... How old would they be now? Six moons? Seven? ...Even more? How long had she been gone? She gave a shake of her head, trying to push those thoughts away. She would return home at some point - she would see them all again. She just... She had things she had to take care of first. With a deep breath, she pressed forward - trying to focus more on how...Nice the walk was instead of dwelling on her family.

All these endless patrols were getting boring.

Newtspring's tail lashed as he nosed away a brittle fern, shoving himself through the undergrowth. There was only so many times he could look at the same territory over and over, count the same warrens and burrows. No rogues, and he'd only personally run into a pawful of predators. Hunting was getting harder, too– he couldn't even do that to entertain himself.

If nothing else, it was easy for him to slip away from his partner. They'd regroup soon enough. Newtspring just needed a little bit of time to wander the territory on his own terms, to walk without another cat looming over his shoulder.

Pausing to rub his cheek against the bark of a tree, meant to deter any stray loners or Clan cats, Newtspring took the chance to pull in a deep breath. The cool smells of leaf-bare flooded his nose– dead leaves, cold air... and something unfamiliar. Cat scent, but none of the other four Clans.

Rogue scent.

Eyes narrowing and ears flattening, the mottled tom slipped forward in search of the source. Excitement prickled through his pelt as he padded onward; was there really an intruder? Was this his chance to do something instead of reporting back with nothing? A slight smile came across his features at the thought of getting to put his claws to work.

The scent was getting stronger, and sure enough, there was an unfamiliar cat strutting through their territory. Sinking low in the leaves, Newtspring watched as she unwittingly drew closer. She seemed... absent as she picked her way through the leaves. Was she looking for something? Just lost?

Really, it didn't matter. Newtspring was already gathering his weight in his haunches and shoving off, throwing his weight into the molly and bowling them both clumsily to the ground. "Whaddaya think you're doin', stalkin' around our territory?" Newtspring snarled, leaning in so their muzzles were only a whisker away.

Newtspring used Jumping Strike on Theron, dealing 7 (+3 unfocused) damage and costing 7 SP.

Newtspring
50/50 | 113/120

Theron
35/45 | 100/100

Theron's ears twitched at the sound of...Something, gaze snapping up to scourer the undergrowth around her. Her eyes sought for the simple answer - a squirrel poking at leaves, looking for last minute nuts. She had no plans to hunt - that was asking for even more trouble than she was willing but that didn't mean she didn't want to simply watch a squirrel for a few heartbeats. She only realized too late that she hadn't heard a squirrel at all when she barely spotted the brown blur that rammed into her side. They were both sent rolling - Theron trying to recover and roll back to her paws in a smooth motion but was stopped as paws pinned her, leaving her whiskers away from the face of a snarling tom. She simply blinked at him, giving him a soft frown.

"Stalking?" she repeated, scrunching up her muzzle at him. "I was simply taking a walk, y'know. Your territory happens to be very pretty and I wanted to stretch my legs," she retorted, before she let out a sigh and flopped back against the ground. There was a pause as she thought about her options, before she gave him a small smile. "Buuuuut, I guess there is more than one way to stretch my legs. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you," she teased as she suddenly swiped out with her paw, kicking out at his stomach at the same moment in an effort to throw him off so she could get the opportunity to rise to her paws and make it more of a fair fight.

Theron used Front Paw Strike, followed by Dirty Trick on Newtspring, dealing 10 (8+2) damage and costing 10 (7+3) stamina.

Theron:
35/45 HP
90/100 SP (-10)

Newtspring:
40/50 HP (-10)
113/120 SP

The rogue's suggestion that she was just taking a walk made Newtspring's lip curl, plenty of sharp retorts already working through his mind. But before any of them could slip past his teeth, she was grinning and saying something cocky about going easy on him. There was plenty more he could've said to that alone, but claws flashing by his face and paws jutting into his belly shut him up quickly.

Reeling off of her, the large tom let out a deep huff. Stars, he hated taking blows to the stomach– no matter how much energy he had left, they always left him winded. "Go easy on me? Yeah, 'kay," Newtspring jeered, returning a toothy smile of his own. "Go easy if ya wanna. Make it easier for me t'drag yer hairy hide back to camp." Even if his bad habit of chattering with his enemies gave the rogue a chance to get to her paws, it would make the fight more fun for him. With a barking laugh, Newtspring lunged in again, slashing claws aimed at her shoulder.

Newtspring used Front Paw Strike, dealing 9 damage and costing 7 SP.

Newtspring
40/50 | 106/120

Theron
26/45 | 90/100

As Theron scrambled to her paws, she took a moment to study the tom as they broke away from the battle. He was taunting back at her, her ears twitching as she heard the words but her attention was truly on how he was holding himself. For being so close, each of these different Clans had a strength, didn't they? She hadn't focused on learning their battle styles yet - but she tried to recall what she had heard. This had to be a SkyClan cat, but... She didn't know much about them. Her nose wrinkled in disappointment that her knowledge as failing her. Maybe she could pick something up here but that wouldn't be helpful now.

There was a sudden flash of movement that drew her from her thought, pulling back as the tom leapt towards her - wincing as claws sliced her shoulder. Right, bad moment to get distracted. The tom seemed confident in himself judging by his sneer. She couldn't risk actually being dragged back to their camp, that was just asking for trouble the moment her name came out and...It was easier to act casual to one cat, not an entire Clan. ...She had to hope she could either win or convince him that she wasn't worth it. ...Playful? Maybe playful was the move. She gave a shake of her head, finally settling on her course of action as she flashed him a smile. "Good hit! I haven't had this much fun in ages!" she purred right back, shifting on her paws as she darted to the side, slipping past him - slashing her claws down his side as she went, trying to find a better angle to approach from.

Theron used Front Paw Strike on Newtspring, dealing 8 damage and costing 7 stamina.

Theron:
26/45 HP
83/100 SP (-7)

Newtspring:
32/50 HP (-8)
106/120 SP

As his claws cut through her shoulder and Newtspring settled back onto his paws, he was certain the she-cat would be at least a little deterred. Sure, rogues were supposed to be vicious in a fight, supposed to play dirty, but it wasn't like they had any actual battle training. In his eyes, a bulky, leering cat with generations of skill passed down to him should have been at least a little frightening. Here she was, untrained and definitely less experienced than him, facing off against the best warrior in SkyClan– with a medicine cat to go home to, no less. And she–

She shot back with a smile of her own, and ducked back in to rake claws over his ribs right after commenting on how fun it was.

"This a game t'you?" The warrior barked as he wheeled around to face her again. There was a hint of a growl in his voice, but his own grin had turned wide and toothy, and amber eyes glittered with excitement. "You think we're havin' fun now? I'll really show ya a good time. Jus' stay still, 'kay?" Newtspring rumbled before barging back forward, teeth bared. There was no aim in it, but as he half-tripped back into Theron he was able to get a grip on her shoulder, biting down as hard as he could.

Newtspring used Snap on Theron, dealing 9 damage and costing 7 SP.

Newtspring
32/50 | 99/120 (-7)

Theron
17/45 (-9) | 106/120

Theron rocked on her back paws as the tom spun to face her, returning his grin as he sharply questioned if she thought of this as a game. "A game? No, this is more like practice," she returned, ready to say more but was cut off as the tom lunged at her, teeth sinking into her shoulder. She grimaced, her playful expression dropping for a moment as she once again ran through her options. She...She was far more out of practice then she had been expecting - it had been moons since she had trained with her siblings under their father's careful gaze and there was little he could have done to prepare her for how these cats fought.

She dug her claws into the ground before she lashed out with a paw, trying to knock Newtspring away from her before she spun and made a leap at him - front paws ramming into his shoulders as she tried to bring him to the ground. Pivoting on her front paws, she brought her back paws down on him - focusing all of the weight that she could to keep him pinned. "How 'bout you stay still, hm?" she teased - her voice perhaps a little shaky in keeping the friendliness up. If she was lucky, even if she did lose, he would be too tired to actually bring her back to his camp - or maybe her playful attitude had been working? With the fear that was pulsing in her veins, it was hard to focus on anything past her escape plans but if she could actually talk with this tom...

Well, making more friends would never hurt? Better than enemies, but it was impossible to tell what this tom would be...

Theron used Leap-and-Hold on Newtspring, dealing 8 damage and costing 15 stamina. Newtspring is stunned for 1 turn.

Theron:
17/45 HP
68/100 SP (-15)

Newtspring:
26/50 HP (-8)
99/120 SP

The member 'Honey Badger' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 3