this is fight club // open, sparring

[nuclear repository;]

  /ic opinions ahead + tw: brief mentions of murder and suicide

  Truthfully, she had expected the male's response to their concerns to be irreverent. This was, as far as she knew, the former ShadowClan leader; ShadowClan had been the most powerful of the groups prior to the war, so it was understandable that its leader would have little regard for anyone from the other groups. (Was that a petty assumption to make? Absolutely, but she'd been proven right about most of the large clans' leaders so far.) The male dismissing them as stupid and soft was no surprise, though the fact that he wouldn't even listen to the only medic there was rather concerning.

  "So while the rest of you are butchered are lambs, Rev and I will be the only survivors."

  Seija's eyes widened, a glint of panic reflecting off of their glassy surfaces. Those words, combined with the smug grin and the glare directed at her...

  He knew. He knew about all of it.

  How could he know? She had never met him before prior to this, and hadn't said anything to any of his colleagues about it. He hadn't been personally responsible for any of it, nor had anyone else here. Yet he somehow knew about what had happened, all the murders and suicides and disappearances and destruction, and now he was absolutely certain to use it against her.

  Before the panic could lapse into a full-on attack, however, the Utonagan snapped back to her senses and forced the anxiety to the back of her mind. What a dunce she was- there was no way he actually knew, he'd just been using cheap scare tactics that happened to strike a chord with her. Scare tactics that he now thought would work, granted, but he did not have any actual ammunition to use against her. All she had to do now was slip back into her emotionless facade, and everything would be okay again, at least for long enough that she could finish her mission. There would be time later on to let the facade go, to break down and give vent to everything she was suffering from, but now was not that time.

  Coughing, Seija shook her head. "Apologies, I haven't been getting enough sleep," she muttered, glancing off to the side. That was probably the most bald-faced lie she'd ever told- considering that she had once made it for a week with maybe a few hours of sleep a night, she probably didn't even need sleep anymore. Glancing over at the medic, she added in a similarly low voice, "I'll go looking. Anyone who wants to follow, speak now or hold your peace."

[bubbletea]

[align=center][div style="width: 400px; text-align: justify; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;"]the pup nodded at quietus’ explanation of the word, flashing him a small smile of thankfulness before he silently slipped into contemplation. sparring was akin to the types of little feuds he had with the other kids in the kingdom, which had often ended in bloody noses and crying and upset parents. actually, from the reaction of the majority, it seemed almost exactly like it. there was no claws sheathed, and you did whatever you could to make others run off. you didn’t chase them. he had learned to trip up and dizzy and confuse the other kids, but only once had he made it to the final four left.

as licoricetwist settled beside him, he looked up, recognizing him as one of the few medics. his face alight with excitement at the offer, he gave another short nod. ”okay!” he responded, his mind shuffling through the few herbs he knew. he turned his attention to lucifer. from what he could tell, he had been taunting the others for being weak. his gaze low towards the ground, he murmured, his voice descending into a whisper, ”i don’t think that anyone who comes across us will want to fight. they’ll most likely want to help?” pausing, his throat coated with fear, he added, ”i don’t know, maybe then you’ll find someone else who also likes to use up resources for fighting for no reason?” wary of his word choices, and terrified to extent his childish wit was erased, he became interested in the little dead grasses on the floor. had he reasoned correctly? was that how adults argued? his heartbeat picking up a faster rhythm, he barely reached out his paw to fumble with the blades, his arm visibly shaking.

[QUIETUS]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 550px; min-height: 9px; font-family:; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify; color: black; padding: 20px"]It was funny to know that this person had been an actual leader - he was a crude one, immaturity reeking from his pelt like the smell of rotten meat and the decay of what Quietus assumed was his brain (assuming he had one - but even that was a stretch in knowledge, he told himself coyly). He talked loudly and rudely, and Quietus had no idea who in his right mind would assume that this animal, right here, was fit to lead anyone. "Realizing that you were the ShadowClan leader makes me want to believe in another kind of God; it's the only explanation, after all, as to why a dumb bloke like you ever managed to get up there. I wonder, was it because of the skill you claim to possess, or because of sheer luck? You don't have any common sense to know the difference between healing the weak and teaching them when they are strong and able, than wasting herbs on scars you earned in a spar that won't serve us any good. Nobody will want to attack us. We're a large group. If our ugly asses don't intimidate them, then our size will, and the radiation will hold them back, too."

Quietus snorted, the only emotion he ever cared to show besides frowns and black stares. "If you want to make an actual training session to teach us, a spar isn't the way to go about it. I thought you'd know this - you were in charge of all that before shit hit the fan, yeah?" but then he was already jumping on that other idiot that decided to join them, and Quietus tossed his head and squared his shoulders, drawn over by Seija's voice. He backed up and padded over to join her. "I'll come. Do you want to join us, Bubblepup?" he asked, glancing at the child - it would be better for him to go with two adults than by himself.

/ic opinions

[LICORICE .]

[align=center][div style="width:420px; background: transparent; border: 0px;"][justify][tags] ✦ "I'll come," the young medic piped up, beginning to stand up. His gaze followed the woman, purple eyes piercing the back of her pelt with mild concern on his expression. He looked down at Bubblepup, prepared to invite him along for the scavenge when he spoke up. He held back a small, laughing gasp, reaching his paw up to cover his mouth for a moment. Damn, Bubblepup. "Good job, kid," he murmured, a gentle smirk plastered on his cheeks. He glanced at Quietus, thankful that he invited the child.

He turned to the so-called-warriors, assuming their battle stances. "You two, find me if you get injured after. If you end up with infections I'll have to waste more herbs." These two ego-maniacs were getting destroyed, frankly. They were going to need some comfrey root for that burn.

Licoricetwist glanced at Bubblepup once more as he leaped to Seija, offering a soft 'you okay?' as they departed.

[nuclear repository;]

  Behind her, the Utonagan could overhear the child laying into the two warriors, followed by the black shepard from earlier and the medic; in spite of the disturbance that the former ShadowClan leader's words had brought her, she couldn't help but crack a ghost of a smile. The kid had guts, certainly more so than she did, if he could stand up to someone so much larger and more aggressive than he was. She didn't dwell on the fact any further, though, lest the train of thought created by the pup lead to less pleasant memories.

  The neutral expression returning to her face, Seija glanced back at the three that had spoken up. Once again, she was in charge of keeping a group of individuals safe, though at least the two (or three) of them would be easy to keep an eye on. She'd wait for Bubblepup to give his answer, and then they'd leave, she figured.

  At Licorice's question, the canine initially furrowed her brows in confusion, then shrugged. "I misheard something he said," she answered, turning her head and eyeing the horizon- the stars weren't visible now, of course, but they knew why she was looking in their direction. "I'll be fine once we get going."

  /should I create a thread for the herb patrol?

[Lucifer]

Again, Lucifer sneered at the others. He wasn't going to justify himself to the others; he felt he had no need to explain to those who had not the ears to listen nor the brain to understand. He had to be content with Revolutionarywar, so he turned back to the other, his focus solely on him. Lucifer was still larger than the norwegian forest cat, but with Lucifer's current radiation burns, it would make maneuvering quickly a little more painful. He'd have to make do, and hope that the smaller cat wasn't as agile as he thought.

The lion nodded as he agreed with the other feline -- five blows with sheathed claws wouldn't make for much injury either, to pacify the other idiots in the clan. Perhaps a few bruises, but that didn't require medical attention. Most would probably let the other go first as they took up a ready stance, but not Lucifer. He hoped that catching him off guard would perhaps grant him the first point. "Body, head, and upper limbs count. Paws and tails do not. Got it?" He'd give Rev maybe a second to respond, then launched right into his first attack without warning or waiting any longer. He leapt forward and aimed a jab at Rev's chest.