pafp COUNTERFEIT PHANTOM | spar

[BLOODWING]

Out in the territory and by the sycamore tree, two siblings stood parallel. Bloodpaw was not sure who had suggested they go to war first, maybe it was Smogstar, maybe it Bloodpaw herself, but the logistics did not matter as much as the outcome. Her tail practically oscillated with excitement as she entered a crouch, flashing a too-toothy grin toward her sibling. Shadepaw was, in the cinnamon tabby's opinion, tall, with lanky limbs well suited to traversing the swampland in search of food. She was like a stork, twice as sleek and twice as gentle in tone, but seldom had they trained enough together for Bloodpaw to know whether the similarities ended there. Would she be just as good of a fighter as she anticipated giant birds to be? Or would she flop like a fish? More than fighting itself, the cinnamon tabby was eager to see just how far Shadepaw had come since they were kittens playfighting and giving the other Queens headaches.

She wanted Shadepaw to be a good fighter, to be able to defend herself in a way that an older sibling might want a younger sibling to do well, but she also didn't want to lose to him - after all, it was lame having to admit a sibling was better than you at something, lamer than lame itself. Even in jest, there was competition to be had, and Bloodpaw didn't want to be the loser. Her russet belly close to the ground, the large apprentice began her circling, inviting them to mirror her. "I'm gonna send you back to the Nursery!" She jeered in good faith, wriggling her haunches. Then, as soon as her hips stopped, she propelled herself forward, aiming to dive under Shadepaw and kick at her belly with strong paws.

@SHADEPAW


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[SHADEPAW]

Shadepaw echoed Bloodpaw's crouch, moss-green eyes latched onto his littermate. His muzzle quirked in reaction to Bloodpaw's grin, but concentration prevented anything else from breaking through. While Bloodpaw was nearly vibrating, Shadepaw was still. Bloodpaw's assessment of Shadepaw as stork-like was accurate. She moved with the same intentionality to her steps, attacked frogs with the same quick strikes that they did, even had the same webbed feet that made it so easy to move through the marsh. Like the birds, she had more leg than bulk, and it usually served her well. To Shadepaw, Bloodpaw was something different. Not a stork, for sure, not even a bird. She was big, not just tall. He knew what she was to him, in the abstract sense- pine sap, sunset-lit skies. A toothy maw gnawing on him when they were kits and being much harder to dislodge than Bonepaw or Snowypaw- despite not having witnessed her fighting ability in a while, he had a feeling that was still the case.

As Bloodpaw began circling, so did Shadepaw, gaze still unwavering. "Go ahead and try!" He chirped back at Bloodpaw. Bloodpaw wiggled her haunches. Shadepaw braced himself. A blur of orangey fur shot toward him, and Bloodpaw found her mark. She kicked at the soft skin of his belly, and Shadepaw was reminded that that was a target enemies were not supposed to get to. Bloodpaw wasn't an enemy, but spars were supposed to prepare them for battle. She needed to move. She aimed a hurried swipe at Bloodpaw's face, and tried to take advantage of the force of Bloodpaw's pummeling kicks and leap backward, falling into a crouch. Not much more she could do with the wind knocked out of her.​

 

[BLOODWING]

Triumph filled her thoughts as her first move was a success, feeling a stomach above her paws and briefly seeing now a sibling, but competition She could end the fight right now if she wanted to, but with it came an injury to a loved one beyond her comprehension - before that point, a billion reminders had to enter her head not to take it too far. Her teeth were stronger than before, claws sharper, both could cause real damage if they wanted to and only the cinnamon tabby herself could control them. Something smacked at her face and she blinked profusely, trying to shift her head away from the attack and squinting as short hairs threatened to poke her eyeballs. Bloodpaw rolled onto her own stomach as soon as Shadepaw's disappeared, grinning from ear to ear. She enjoyed sparring with a sibling, but more than that, she enjoyed sparring in general.

It had always been her favourite lesson with Smogstar, more than hunting, more than culture, more than tracking. Perhaps that separated her from her family of hunters, but someone had to be big and tough amongst them lest danger find them.

She was happy to take on that burden and call it a blessing.

Pushing her from her crouched position, Bloodpaw chased after her sibling with one long leap, aiming unrelenting swipe after unrelenting swipe at Shadepaw's face. Though her claws were sheathed, were paws were like clubs all the same, slower than the others, but perhaps harder hitting. She figured she could afford to be inaccurate, if just one would be enough to spin the fight in her favour.


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