an unexpected meeting (c)

Bird had decided to take a walk in the Twolegplace, just so he could avoid Copper for a day. His mother had been getting more and more overwhelming by the day, pushing him to hunt until his paws fell off one day then completely ignoring him the next. Some days she's hold him close at night, curling herself around him as if to shield him from the rest of the world. She'd cry silently when she thought he had fallen asleep, and Bird would listen to her heartbeat and feel the shake of her body as she sobbed away. Other says, she'd go out the whole day, and only return home at moonhigh with haunted eyes and not a bite for him to eat. On days like those, Bird would hunt for both of them, which brought him to the Twolegplace today.

The tortoiseshell tom froze as he spotted another cat ahead. She had seen him too, and stayed shock still as their gazes met. She was much larger than him, but then again, he was no more than six moons old, and nearly every cat was bigger than him. A sparrow hung from her jaws. Bird thought about fighting her for it-- he had been hunting all day but had only found a single mouse, which he had left in their den for Copper. He might be able to take her in a fight, though she was bigger. Violence came to him far more easily than he would have liked.

Bird took a deep breath, and pushed the thoughts away for now. "Hey," He mewed, starring at the she-cat without moving. What was he doing? Truth to be told, he didn't know.

Bird froze as the she-cat approached him. He starred at the sparrow that she had nudged towards him. Why did she give it to him? Was it sick? Did it smell? Was that why she no longer wanted it? Amber eyes flickered upwards as she called out. Pity. It was out of pity, for him, that she gave him her catch. Because she didn't think he could catch his own. Shame churned inside him, and his throat tightened with rage. It was as if the she-cat, Rose, had taken away everything he had ever done to survive, and everything he was ever proud of. As if his improvement in hunting was all a waste, because he'll never be good enough. Was that how Copper saw him? Nothing more than a "cub" that couldn't even feed itself? Emotions that he couldn't begin to name were churning inside him like a storm, and before he knew it they had come out of him in the form of claws slashing across the she-cat's muzzle. "Don't come near me!" The words were spat out like venom, though what he meant by them was completely lost to even him.

Bird used Front Paw Strike, dealing 7dmg and -7SP

Bird
40/40 HP
93/100 SP

Rose
28/35 HP(-7)
70/70 SP