Originally Posted by Beau (Post 26081) Seapaw looked up when the last brambles had been woven tightly together. While Hickorypaw was distracted with what she presumed to be thoughts of the badger, the ginger apprentice grabbed one of the least thorny strands of bramble in her teeth and tugged, trying to ascertain just how tightly they clung to each other. The brambles gave way slightly before stopping and Seapaw dropped the prickly plant with a triumphant snort. The sheet of thorns may not have been as tightly woven as some used in camp, but it was definitely enough to hurt a badger. Shaking out her fur in apprehension, Seapaw swiped her tongue over her paw pads a few times to clean them, wincing at the tang of her blood as well as the taste of dirt. Sticking out her tongue in disgust and gagging slightly, Seapaw lashed her tail and placed her paw tenderly on the green carpeted ground. Her paw still stung slightly, but she was able to stand on it and move it. Unfortunately, there was a stubborn thorn lodged in her left paw pad, the pain of which brought tears to her eyes as it supported the entire front half of her body while she cleaned her right paw. Checking her left paw, the apprentice winced at the sight. Her pad was puffy and a few sticky drops of crimson seeped out from beneath the head of a rather large brown thorn. Sniffing at it, Seapaw groaned and realized it would need to be checked out by a medicine cat. Glad she wasn't the distraction, Seapaw placed her paw upon the ground once more, finding she could support her weight with a slight limp. Seapaw followed Hickorypaw to check on the badger, noting the short distance it had wandered. At Hickorypaw's exclamation, Seapaw laughed. "Yes, I'm ready." She purred, bumping her shoulder against his. "Just let me get the brambles closer to where I'll need to move them." With that, she disappeared back on the other side of the rise and leaned down to grasp the smoothest part of the bramble sheet in her teeth once more. Dragging th brambles with some difficulty, Seapaw managed to get them over the rise and under a small bush within range of the badger, where she stayed as well. Due to her proximity to the beast, Seapaw waved her tail to Hickorypaw, signaling that she was ready and that the badger was in prime position.

Kneading restlessly at the ground and paying little attention to Seapaw, he couldn't stop flexing his claws into the ground, tensing and relaxing his muscles as if testing them, stretching them out individually, making himself limber because he would have to be quick with the big beast, it may be slow, but should that creature manage to land a hit on him, he would be in serious danger and he most certainly did not feel like taking a visit to Geckoleaf today. Only when the two ventured back down near the badger and he had questioned if Seapaw was ready, did he notice the smell of blood in the air, that metallic scent he knew all too well. It was coming from Seapaw and his excitement vanished for a moment as he looked over his friend with quiet worry before noticing it was coming from her paw, she likely pricked it when weaving that thorn mat, no thanks to him. Frowning, he was about to ask if she was okay before she was scampering off to get into a better position to place the thorns for when he started his distraction. Watching her go, he shuffled a paw and couldn't help but feel guilty for her minor injury, if he had helped more with the weaving, she likely wouldn't have gotten hurt.

The ginger and white apprentice forced himself to shake his head and clear his thoughts, he would apologize to her later and see if she was okay, but for now, he needed to have a clear mind because he was about to go up against a badger. Excitement flooded back into him but he kept it under control, for the most part. He needed to be clear headed when he was doing this because one small mistake could make for a huge injury for him.

Eyes focused on his ginger best friend, he waited for her signal, a flick of a tail, and he was off. It was almost surreal as he went bounding out of the brush towards the large, black and white beast, yowling at the top of his lungs, time seeming to slow. He could hear his heartbeat, the sound of his paws individually thundering against the ground, the sound of leaves and ferns being flattened beneath him, the badgers head slowly turning. And then he slammed into it's side, tearing at it with his claws before dipping down, things speeding up now as the large mammal thundered out a roar, swiping and stumbling sideways and Hickorypaw ducking beneath it's underside and popping out on the other side, clawing at it's flank, tearing off some clumps of fur before darting away, feeling the gust of air as the beast swiped again with it's large paw, the long claws glinting at the sun as they nearly grazed him, but then he was zipping around, attacking another side, always dodging just in the nick of time, a wild grin on his muzzle, the apprentice racing this way and that, dancing beneath its paws, barely avoiding it's teeth, having a blast.

Originally Posted by Robin-chan (Post 24546) It didn’t matter to the dark-furred tom if Swallowstorm was a warrior or not. He could be a clan leader and Ripplewhisker would still worry for him. The warrior hurried after his mate, his orange-tipped tail twitching worryingly. Something about this didn’t seem right and right now, he just wanted to go relax with his mate. “This doesn’t seem safe.” Ripplewhisker warned, calling after the white and grey tom-cat.