kung fu fighting [C]

RiverClan seemed to be in a kind of stasis ever since Perchstar's passing. Life continued as normal, of course--except with Poppystar and Cindersky as their higher ranks, and the position of medicine cat conspicuously empty. Every time he thought about that, Dovetail felt his fur prickling with discomfort. What if some disaster were to take place? What if one of his siblings or Murkyriver got injured, and they just had to beg some other Clan to save them? He hated that thought, so he did his best to push it away. Life continued as normal. He had to hunt, he had to work, he had to stop thinking about Starlingflare and the lack of medicine cats and the inescapable, illogical worry that Poppystar would for some reason decide to toss them out of RiverClan at the slightest notice.

Pigeonpounce's attack distraction came at a good time. Though he was not quite fast enough to dodge her usual paw strike bapping the top of his head, he at least managed to nudge her with his tail as he whirled around. Pigeonpounce... Pidge, his sister. Stars, how long had it been since they'd really spent time together like this? Was it his fault for neglecting her? The strange conversation he'd had with Scarletflare had been torn from his mind ages ago, but he remembered it now, seeing the anxious undertone to his sister's energy. He half-wanted to ask what the problem was... but honestly, a spar didn't sound bad. They could do that first. If she wanted to tell him about her problems, she would. When had anything ever stopped her before? Dovetail raised one shoulder in a half-shrug. "Sure, I wasn't doing anything important," he said easily. "I guess I can tear myself away from my thoughts and beat you in a spar."

Stars. How did Pidge stay so enthusiastic? Though she was so much larger now--they both were, he realized with a slight prickle of dread--she still jumped around with a kittish kind of energy she must have never lost. He'd never been that happy-go-lucky, even as a kid. How did she manage to keep that kind of spirit? And yet... and yet, it wasn't quite the same. There was a slight edge to the set of her teeth, a squint in the corner of her sparkling eyes. What was weighing her down? It couldn't be the exact same jumble of anxieties and concerns that he'd been ruminating just moments prior. Maybe she was worried about Starlingflare, or grieving Perchstar's death--though neither of them had been exceedingly close to the stoic leader. Well, Dovetail suddenly found himself without much more time to think on Pigeonpounce's state of mind, because she lunged at him to batter the top of his head.

All right. Get your head in the spar, and out of the clouds. The stocky warrior took the blow, then used the opportunity to dart forward and stick a paw between Pigeonpounce's skittishly retreating legs. Hopefully the movement would trip her, sending her crashing headfirst to the ground. "Well, you're certainly not going to win a spar fighting like that, Pidge," he teased her good-naturedly. He didn't really care about winning; thinking about that spar versus Larkspring some moons ago almost made him nauseous just to remember. But he wouldn't mind engaging in a little bit of well-mannered trash talk with someone as sturdy as his sister. She could probably do with being knocked down a peg, anyway. "Besides, I seem to recall getting pretty far in that sparring tournament last greenleaf. How many rounds did you get through, again?"

Dovetail used Trip, dealing 7 damage and costing 15 EP. Pigeonpounce is stunned for 1 turn.

Dovetail:
45/50 HP
115/130 EP

Pigeonpounce (stunned 0/1):
33/40 HP
95/100 EP