pafp one little road rage reason | rta / spar

[Cherryblossom]

"StarClan's kits, how is it, like, still this hot?" Cherryblossom comments as she strides into the Sandy Ravine, delicately shaking her pelt out. She swipes a tongue over the roughness of her pad, then carefully draws it over her patchwork crown. "Well," she huffs, turning over their surroundings with half-lidded yellows. "It's not like I'm sleeping any time soon in this weather anyway."

The air remains stubbornly shrouded in heat despite the coolness that nighttime promises, though it's only been half a nap's worth of time since the sun set. Cicadas drone in the surrounding pines, whose branches remain devoid of even the slightest breeze. She turns to her companion, digging her toes ever so slightly into the sand. Cherryblossom's alabster is a clearer shot than Bobbie in the dark, but the other's mousy pelt is no camoflague either. Good thing Ricepaw was a daylighter; her apprentice wouldn't be able to see a thing, not that the tortoiseshell particularly enjoyed being scrutinized by the youth either.

The once-again new warrior squints at her opponent. A pale paw lightly, peacably stretches out towards her, a few soft taps against wiry shoulders to discern the distance, and then she quietly announces, "'kay, be ready." To be honest, Bobbie always seems ready. These days, at least. She's all tight shoulders and controlled glances. The younger molly has to wonder if her demotion ever came as a shock to her, or whether she still even cared now.

She leads aggressively, as always. Cherryblossom launches a hard few shock-factor jabs with both paws towards the smaller warrior's front, sand flying from her half-leap.

ooc: please wait for @DOEBLAZE !
hp: 16 / 16
rolled an 8 to attack!​

 

[DOEBLAZE]

" I have no idea, " Doeblaze remarks with a bemused shake of the head and a chuff at Cherryblossom's creative choice of words: StarClan's kits is a new one to her. Privately, she adds it to her repertoire of invocations, trailing the younger warrior into the Sandy Ravine with a swish of her half - tail as if it might dissuade the stagnant heat hanging in the air. The tortoiseshell drags a paw over her already immaculate fur, and in a paling imitation, the tabby gives her own scruffy, lived - in lilac pelt a quick shake to dislodge any stray needles. It feels slightly pointless, given she'll no doubt be slammed into the sand at somepoint over the course of their spar, rendering her already - mussed pelt even more rumpled.

She blinks her lone eye at Cherryblossom's ivory - dipped pelt in the dark. The dim lighting is doing wonders for her already - impaired depth perception, she notes, opting to swivel her torn ears forward and part her jaws slightly, hoping sound and scent can bolster her cut - off field of vision. Cherryblossom seems to be following much the same line of thought, as her white paw taps Doeblaze squarely on her sinewy shoulders before she proclaims that she should be ready. The tabby goes to nod, and then corrects herself with a raspy meow in the darkness, " Gotcha. "

Tightly wound shoulders square into an approximation of a combat stance, her forelimbs braced securely—as many of her Clanmates, Cherryblossom easily outranks her in height. One of her first lessons in battle had been that she has to be slippery, because it's easy for larger cats to pin her down; hence, she sets her strongest limbs square. Briefly, she wonders how Cherryblossom's taken her demotion—the tortoiseshell's demeanor has been unwavering, though Doeblaze supposes she'd paid equally little ( visible ) mind to her own resignation. Then again, Cherryblossom is much more . . . more than she's ever really been . . .

Just in time, she reminds herself that now is probably not when to ruminate on this issue—for Cherryblossom's lunging forwards in a half - leap, both paws jabbing at Doeblaze with considerable force. For once, her body complies with her mind's strategies—she skirts the warrior's hits narrowly, feeling the whoosh of air as the last strike blows just past her darting form. Unfortunately, instinct begins to fall away with her return, her paws clumsy as she aims to deal a clawless blow to the hollow of Cherryblossom's neck with one paw.

OOC : HP – 16 / 16
Rolled an 8 to defend; took no damage!
Rolled a 2 to attack.

✦

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[Springshine]

There is something to be gleamed, watching others fight. She knows this is true, but for her, at least, it is difficult to keep her attention solely on the fight in front of her. At the flash of teeth she winces, and in the brief moments her eyes are closed, or that she looks away, something else has happened. The first time she had ever been made to spar, she had gotten one scrape and immediately had started sobbing. At least, if nothing else, her enemies might take pity on her she thinks with equal ammounts of amusement and self-loathing. She has come a long way from then, of course, but pain was not something she found herself seeking out easily. The idea of fighting did not appeal to her the way it might some others.

The two she-cats she wath, however... There is no small amount of envy in her eyes as she watches. Cherryblossom and Doeblaze had both gone to the mountains, and Springpaw had heard that the journey had been diffocult and perilous, to have survived such a thing, they were both strong cats indeed. Much stronger than she would ever be, that was for certain. "I would not want to be on the other end of either of their claws" she murmurs softly to whatever spectator is nearby.

( ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ ) my heart I surrender

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  SPRINGPAW SKYCLAN APPRENTICE ; SHE / HER ; SISTER TO PUMPKINPAW
  

  A small she-cat with fluffy black and white fur and bright blue eyes

  ✦ Easy in battle + has little to no formal battle training
  

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[Cherryblossom]

Doeblaze slips out right from under her; not even the wispy long hairs lining her back catch on outstretched toes. The calico takes the landing in stride, forepaws whumpfing wrist-deep into the sands, still glowingly warm with daytime heat. Maybe with StarClan's blessing, she sees the jab coming from a tree-length away. It's sloppy and half-thought-out, perhaps a stretch too far out of the smaller warrior's good eye. In one sharp flick, Cherryblossom just tilts herself out of the way.

Springpaw's ebony pelt is difficult to cut from the night, but the jut of her white chin catches her eye. She's saying something (as she should, for someone so close to warriorhood should have a few thoughts of her own on this by now), but she can't make it out over the din of focus. Cherryblossom lashes out with a hind leg, aiming to kick at least one of Doeblaze's paws out of the sand.

ooc: hp: 16 / 16
rolled an 8 to defend, took no damage!
rolled a 7 to attack!​

 

[DOEBLAZE]

Cherryblossom dips herself easily away from Doeblaze's fumbling strike, not that she'd expected any less. Say what she might about Slate, his training methods are obviously effective; the tortoiseshell moves deftly despite the dregs of the day's heat and the weight of her long, well - kept fur. In fact, the younger warrior's motions carry the kind of effortless, instinct - guided forethought she wishes her own did. Experience will be the best teacher, she supposes, which is why she continually embrasses herself with these sparring rituals.

On that note, she doesn't dodge Cherryblossom's next strike quite so deftly; moving a heartbeat too late, she misses the brunt of the swing, but not quite all of it—a white paw connects with one of her own. Although it doesn't meet any more, and she doesn't quite go down, the ache in her right hind paw announces itself immediately, temporarily hobbling her efforts to return it to its place on the sand as she darts away. Unfortunately, in her inexpertise, she's placed Cherryblossom mostly on her blind side, darkness cleaving half her opponent's tortoiseshell face away.

Much like her sparring partner, she's focused enough on the match that she misses on Springpaw's murmuring amongst the spectators, though she can catch the motion of the apprentice's jaws. Lacking the correct guidance of instinct to tell her otherwise, she makes an effort at an offense despite her unfortunate position, ducking lower to aim a fumbling upward strike with her forepaw at the larger cat's stomach. As is common with her maneuvers, it has good bones of strategy, but lacking execution.

OOC : HP – 15 / 16
Rolled a 7 to defend; took 1 damage!
Rolled a 3 to attack.

✦

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[KITESTORM]

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Regretfully, Kite must admit Eggbounce has not been the best mentor. The tom was sweet and slightly perplexing to the soft-spoken Kite and they really did not mind him and preferred the space he gave them anyways, but they've not practiced much combat. In fact none at all. Kite is sure they do not need to be training to fight, the black tabby doubts many of the young warriors have seen the violence they have. It does not stop Kite from lingering on the sidelines of the spar between Cherryblossom and Doeblaze, it would do them some good to see how a fair fight may pan out. Kite would not want to be accused of unnecessary violence.

Kite stands next to Springpaw, neck careening forward to watch each dodge and attack. They are increasingly more excited to see who will be the victor. Kite's ears careen downwards as Springpaw comments on the spar and they reply, "Mhm... Neither would..." Kite's breathy voice trails away as their nose scrunches into a wince as Cherryblossom positions themself into Doeblaze's blindspot. Though they do not know if this is purposeful but Kite takes note of this. It's an effective tactic truthfully. Kite makes a 'chirping' sound and shakes their small head, settling down onto their haunches. "...I'd like to spar someday..." Kite mews, tail lashing excitedly at the prospect of being able to show they are just as equipped to protect the clan as anybody else.

✦ ╔═══《✧》═══╗

•  
• — black tabby with a small stature and compact muscles ; TAGS
  — 39, ages every 21st
  — they/them
  — speech
  — peaceful powerplay allowed

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[Cherryblossom]

Something shifts besides Springpaw, twin slits of cold sunlight cracking open in an unfamiliar face—ah, Eggbounce's shadow. What their mother was thinking, assigning him of all cats as a guide, she has only the faintest idea. Maybe it was for the best, considering this one was well into adulthood and out of their impressionable years, and if he didn't fumble himself into death, Eggbounce would have to be a mentor eventually. Had she paid more attention, she'd find it funny given that Kite was pretty much apprentice-sized anyway.

Doeblaze isn't someone she spars with often, but with Slate out of commission and Emberpaw otherwise preoccupied with the other aspects of soon-to-be-warriorhood, she's not left with many regulars. Cherryblossom hadn't meant to end up fully on her blind side, but she relishes in the temporary advantage, even if it was partly just her opponent's mistake. The tawny feline aims a swipe upwards (where most of her swipes go anyway), but it's once again half-hearted. She hops away to dodge, landing just a whisker-length from the other.

A moment of breather passes in stagnant heat, growing hotter with each rankling exhale past pale jaws. Her untorn ear flicks away a passing gnat. Doeblaze doesn't look too bothered yet; she supposes nothing compares to losing the love of her life. The thought brings up Edenberry. Their heartwarming return. The next strike she makes is a little rougher around the edges, a messy skirt back towards Doeblaze's blind spot and a wide swing towards the muscle in her flank.

ooc: hp: 16 / 16
rolled a 6 to defend, took no damage!
rolled a 6 to attack!​

 

[DOEBLAZE]

Regrettably, Kite's words are as lost to wind and the whoosh of curving paws and moving bodies as Springpaw's had been. Vaguely, she's aware of their dark tabby shape flanking Springpaw at the corner of her limited vision, but they're quickly dismissed in favor of more urgent attention -grabbers. Namely, Cherryblossom, who swings wide towards the shaggy drape of fur over taut muscle in her flank; the strike is a little messier than her last, but effective enough—more than that, in fact.

All the air seems to drain out of her in a heavy oof as the tortoiseshell's hit lands, sinking hard into muscle and knocking some of the wind out of her. She's not near ready to concede—not yet—but the strike rapidly makes itself known in a dull, spreading ache that promises a grim soreness on the horizon for the next dawn. Cherryblossom's in her blind spot, her mind—unused to battle and lacking a natural finesse—finally registers, and she grabs the last of the force frantically and twists it to her advantage, lunging sidelong so she's head - on with the young warrior again.

Her flank throbs protestingly, but she rounds on the tortoiseshell anew. What she lacks in expertise and flair, she appears to be making up for in raw determination—Cherryblossom's powerful strike only drives her away for a moment. The hit she throws out is a rough, unrefined attempt to lunge forward and strike hard at the other warrior's chest, a front - facing grappling move that keeps the she - cat firmly in her sights—for now.

OOC : HP – 10 / 16
Rolled a 1 to defend; took 5 damage!
Rolled a 6 to attack.

✦

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