After a few more months of training, Firepaw was now stronger than he was originally. He went on a hunting mission during the night, alongside Ravenpaw, Greypaw, Lionheart and Tigerclaw.
This time, he was ready: he will prove Tigerclaw that he is more than a "City cat". He spotted a deer. No Cursed spirits nearby. This will be easy. Crawling towards the deer, he raised his hunting knife, ready to flash step to the prey's throat and-
And the sound of a twig snapping scares the deer away.
Why can't he have ONE hunt without something scaring away his targets? Is the universe conspiring against him?!
But this time he was ready, one second after the deer started running, Firepaw threw his knife at the deer's leg, making the creature trip to the ground. Taking the opportunity, he launched himself in top of the critter, holding it's neck and, enchancing his claws with cursed energy, he teared it's throat open, blood gushing out of the wound and staining firepaw's face.
Firepaw got up, getting back his knife from the prey's leg. He heard footsteps slowly retreating from behind him. Quickly turning his head, he saw a silhouette hiding in the bushes. It had. . . a low cursed energy.
The figure noticed Firepaw saw him, and started running
Oh no, he thought. No trespassers will leave from my territory unscratched!
Firepaw quickly pierced the deer's torso with a knife and pursued the invader. That's when he noticed that he was. . . slow. He was catching up too fast. Was the invader a weak city cat? he sighs in disappointment.
As espected, Firepaw quickly catched up to the cat, using his foot to make the invader trip. I'm just gonna scare him a bit.
Firepaw sat on top of the intruder to imobilize him, turning him so they can meet face to face-
"Wait. . . Smudge?" Firepaw asked, surprised as he recognized the black and white fur of the feline below him
"H-how do you know m-my name?" the cat questioned, trembling in fear
Firepaw was confused for a bit, before remembering that he was drenched in blood from killing the deer.
"It's me!" he said, cleaning the blood off his face so smudge could see him more clearly. "Rusty!"
Smudge looked at him for a few seconds, realization hitting him when he recognized the face of his old friend "R-rusty! You ARE alive! Why didn't you return my calls you-" Smudge's face then turned red as he noticed the position they where in "c-can you please get out of me?" he whispered, looking at the side
"O-oh yes! Sorry!" Firepaw got up, and helped Smudge back to his feet "What are you doing here?"
"A-as i said! You weren't answering my calls!" He said, with slight anger in his voice
"S-sorry, smudge. . .There's no signal in the forest. I tried to call you, i really did." He lowered his ears, sadness in his voice. "Also, my name is Firepaw now! I got into the clan!"
Smudge grunted, looking down "Congratulations, i guess." He said in annoyance, wich took Firepaw by surprise "Well . . . it doesn't matter!" the cat then smiled, looking at Firepaw with happiness "At least we can be together now!"
Firepaw looked at him with sadness, lowering his ears "Smudge. . . You can't come with me. You know why."
Smudge's smile slowly turned into a frown.
Both cats gazed at each other for a long while in awkward silence as the soft winds of the forest caressed their fur
"No, i don't. Why?" Smudge asked, with a cold tone that didn't fit the cheerful cat he knew
Firepaw stuttered "Y-you need actual training to be part of a clan! Also you n-need to be strong!" he started, Smudge's expression slowly turning into one of anger "Also the forest is full of dangerous beast! You remember the one that almost killed us, i also found some weird bats and-"
"It's because i'm weak, right?"
Firepaw stopped, looking confused at his best friend "N-No! It's just-"
"You don't want me here because i'm not interesting enough, right?!" Smudge confronted him, taking a step foward.
Firepaw was confused at this sudden outburst. Smudge was not like this "Smudge list-"
"I can't throw fire from my hands, or- or i don't know, fly! Call thunder or move things with my mind, so you want to swap me for friends that can!" The monochrome cat continued to advance against the Ginger tom, who was backing away
"You must be making so much friends,'Firepaw'!" he spat the word with irony "everyone must be so interesting! Did. . . Did you get a girlfriend yet?? Someone must be fallen for you aready, since y-you are so handsome, incredible and so kind!" the last words had na uncertain tone in them
.
.
.
Smudge was as confused as Firepaw was. What was happening? Was he really saying those things? Is as if something is speaking for him!
Or rather. . . something is giving him courage to tell what was bottled up until now.
Firepaw's back hit a tree, with smudge staying only a few inches away from his face "Loki was right! You don't want boring friends like me, you said yourself that you don't want a boring life! So you must throw away everything from your past, e-even. . .even your father, your mother! Even me, your best friend!"
"I-"
"You would rather live with random forest cats that you met ONCE instead of staying by the side of your friends and family that you spent your entire life with???"
"Smu-"
"DON'T. ANSWER." Smudge yelled, tears streaming from his eyes as he punched the side of the tree. His fingers hurt. It didn't matter. His heart was worse. "I DON'T WANT YOU TO ANSWER! YOU. . .YOU WILL JUST FIND EXCUSES TO DEFEND THAT RIDICULOUS LIFE YOU'RE HAVING! A LIFE. . . a life without me. . ." He raised his head, looking at Rusty's eyes. He was scared. He shoudn't be scared. Smudge saw he savagely killing that deer easily. He could probably push him away if he wanted to. Why wasn't him?
. . .
Rusty was always pretty. His red fur was beautiful.
His body moved on his own. He felt a warm pair of lips brushing against his. His face was touching Rusty's. They where Kissing. Rusty's eyes were shot open in shock.
Smudge felt the ginger grab him by his side- But he didn't push away. He was not enjoying it. He was just shocked. Confused. Maybe scared.
Smudge quickly broke the kiss, turning away in shame as he held his face. He wanted to pull his face out, bleed and die. This wasn't supposed to be like this. This was harassment. It was supposed to be a romantic moment.
It was all Smudge's fault.
He ruined everything.
"I-it wasn't supposed to be like this. . ." he sniffed, cleaning his tears. Rusty said nothing.
Smudge did not wanted to hear anything, either
Smudge was worthless.
"T-THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" he cried, clawing at his own cheeks. The burning sensation on his face eased the pain on his heart a bit, but it was still too much "W-why. . . YOU ARE THE WORST FRIEND EVER!" Smudge yelled, running away from the forest. He did not wanted to come back home. His father would never want him back if he knew what he did.
. . .
He went to the park.
.
.
.
.
Firepaw was frozen in shock. He heard someone call out to him. But he coudn't understand. Everything was spinning.
"----paw? Fi----w!" he heard again. A hand on his shoulder.
Why? Why did smudge told him those things?
Was that really smudge?
Why did Smudge kissed him?
Did Smudge loved him?
That's what he meant when saying 'i love you?'
Did. . . did Firepaw do something wrong? Smudge was crying. . .
Did he made Smudge cry?
Someone slowly made him sit on the ground. His thoughts cleared for a second. Blinking a bit, he saw Lionheart's face looking at him in concern in the middle of all the mist.
"Firepaw, breath. You're having a panic attack. Easy, now, breath slowly." The golden tabby said, Kneeling by Firepaw's side
Hearing those words, Firepaw suddently realized the state he was in. He was hyperventilating. It felt as if he was in an ocean, Slowly suffocating. His chest was burning, like his heart was going to explode. Firepaw put a hand on his chest, wincing from the suddent pain as his face contorted, tears rolling down from his eyes
"Firepaw- Look at me, please." Lionheart said, gently cupping the younger feline's cheeks with his hands "Look into my eyes. Don't avert your attention. Now, breath with me; In" He said, taking a deep, slow breath "and out" Lionheart exaled slowly, nodding for Firepaw to do the same
Firepaw gazed at him, closing his eyes for a few seconds before nodding. He tried to follow his mentor's commands. Taking a deep, slow breath, he felt a hard, painful weigh of his lungs. And then exaled slowly. He repeated this a few times, mimicking Lionheart. Soon enough, he felt his breathing slowly returning to normal
"Great; Now, close your eyes. Empty your mind. Focus on my voice." Firepaw instantly complied, closing his eyes. He felt Lionheart gently hugging him, laying the ginger's head on the golden tabby's furry chest. It was not a strong hold; Lionheart was gentle and caring. It was conforting. . . "Don't worry, i am here now. You are not alone."
Firepaw hugs him back. He still felt tears streaming down from his eyes, but at least he was . . . a bit better. "Thank you. . ." he whispered in a weak voice, stayin still in the strong sorcerer's embrace.
"I am not going to ask questions. Just that you remain. . . focused in the future. Your City cat life is in the past now; you must focus on what is in front of you."
He shivered. He knew that Lionheart wanted to confort him. . . but this only made him remember Smudge's words.
You want to throw away everything from your past, your father, your mother, even me, your best friend!
Did Firepaw made a mistake by joining the clans?
In a sense, Smudge was right. He had fallen head first into this word, without even thinking twice.
He abandoned all his friends for people he barely knew.
Greypaw and Ravenpaw were great cats, he loved them a lot. But was that really fair with his friends from the city?
Are they wondering where the Red cat went?
"Let's go back to camp, You clearly aren't in condition to do this." Lionheart said, helping the ginger get up
"N-no!" Firepaw protested. He aready fucked up one exam, he did not want to fuck up another one and make them reconsider his apprendiceship!
Lionheart blinked, worried "Are you sure?"
The ginger gulped, nodding "Y-yes." Maybe hunting will help him clear his mind.
The golden tabby nodded "Don't push yourself too much." And with that, Lionheart walked away. Firepaw composed himself, gently slapping himself in the face. He needed to focus. Get as many prey as he can.
.
.
.
.
There he was. In the park.
Smudge was filled with so many emotions that he didn't understood most of them.
Rage. Betrayal. Envy. Sadness
Love. . .
Even after all this, he still loved Rusty. . . He still loved Firepaw.
Yet it seems the world is conspiring against him: something wanted him to be the 'weak, forgotten friend.'
A few weeks ago, Smudge received the news that Rusty had been in a car accident.
He remember feeling confused. Was everything he saw in the forest a dream? Was he going crazy for some reason?
He remembers entering the hospital. Entering the room and seeing Rusty – His best friend, the one that supposely entered the forest to join wild cats – in a hospital bed with lots of machines connected to his body. He felt confused, scared. Jake was there too. Jake heard him when he started to whimper in confusion. The older cat had took Smudge to a separate room and explained everything. Apparently Jake had a friend that could, somehow, make perfect replicas of people, and he wanted to fake his death for Rusty to be happy in the forest.
Away from them.
Jake was okay with losing his son.
He could always make another one.
But he could not make another Rusty.
No one could Replace his best friend.
His first and only love.
. . .
Smudge, however, could easily be replaced.
Smudge felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking at his side, he saw the same stranger he met when he was in the park a few weeks ago. Loki. He had a conforting smile on his face, as he gently caressed the small one's head
"I warned you, he can't see your potential, little one." Loki said, gently hugging the younger cat.
Smudge felt confort in his embrace. As if his father was there. He closed his eyes, hugging the grey cat back, as he let the tears continue flowing.
Loki cleaned the tears from Smudge's cheek, raising the younger one's chin so that they can stare at each other's eyes "So, what do you think now? I can give purpose to your wrath. You are special, smudge. But that 'friend' of yours cannot see that. I can help you become strong, so no one looks down on you again."
WRATH
Smudge was still a bit hesitant. . . but he did not want anyone else to see him as weak. Rusty always seemed to think he was useless, that he could not fend for himself. He would show him the contrary.
Smudge nodded, determination on his eyes "I. . . I want to become stronger. Please. . . make me stronger."
Loki's smile grew, as he let go of ther smaller tom
The seed was blossoming.
"Come with me." He said, walking towards the city. "I will introduce you to the others."
Smudge Gulped. He felt as if he was doing a mistake. But what choice did he have?
He wanted to make them pay.
With no further thinking, He took a step foward, following loki into the city.
.
.
.
Firepaw was feeling a little better aready. Hunting helped aliviate the tension a bit, he managed to hunt a lot of prey to the clan.
Luckly, Lionheart did not mention the. . . Incident to anyone. Wich he was grateful for; He did not want to know what kind of things Tigerclaw, Sandpaw, Dustpaw, Darkstripe or longtail would tease him with if they found out.
Firepaw shook his head, taking a deep breath. He had to focus on his current objective:
Hunt a curse.
That part of the exam was to test their individual battle capabilities, on how they would fare against somethin that actually wanted to kill them.
Naturally, Lionheart or Tigerclaw would be there in case something happens. This eased him a bit. Firepaw closed his eyes, trying to remember the lessions about curses they had before.
Basically, curses were divided into five grades, each one representing their danger level and how much sorcerers or apprendices where recommended to fight one:
Grade 4 was the weakest. Even unexperienced sorcerers could take them with ease, Fists only. Normally, they were used to train New apprendices.
Grade 3 was slightly more problematic. They were bigger, stronger, and a bit smarter; they could make ambushes, move in herds or use hostages sometimes. Firepaw thinks that a Pistol would be useful against one. Two or more experienced apprendices were recomended.
Grade 2 (and Semi grade 2) was even more problematic. It was in that level that Cursed techniques could be encountered, thus so even more caution was taken; patrols of three, with at least one Sorcerer, only with experienced apprendices are reccomended. In city terms, a shotgun would be needed.
Grade 1 (and semi grade 1) was where things got really messy. It was common for curses of this level to display intelligence compared to a full grown cat. They could make tactics, strategies, and use the terrain to their advantage. The curses of that level could also use reverse cursed technique at ease, healing most wounds. A full patroll of sorcerers was a must. Again, in city terms, even a tank might be useless against one.
And finally, Special grade. As the name sugests, they are 'special'; one of a kind. Special grades were rare, and when they appeared, many sorcerers and unattended apprendices may die or go missing before the curse gets discovered; it is a miracle if they can be identified before a tragedy occurs. Special grades could also use one of the strongest jujutsu techniques: Domain expansion. Due to that fact, when a special grade is discovered, Patrols must be organized constantly, until the curse is exorcised. Patrols should always have either the Deputy or leader, and sorcerers that could also perform a domain expansion would be of great help. And, in city terms. . . Explosives such as missiles and cluster bombs Might work.
Luckly for the apprendices, Lionheart and Tigerclaw scouted the area and they confirmed that there were, at best, semi-grade 2. Firepaw felt confident, but he also knew his limits: His best bet right now was against a grade 3 curse.
Firepaw started to look around for any curse traces. The only trace he could feel was from Greypaw and Ravenpaw. His ears moved: He could hear sounds of battle. His friends where aready started without him!
He quickly rushed around, jumping on top of a tree and moving between the branches. Soon enough, he felt the familiar spike of cursed energy. Firepaw smiled- There it was, his prey!
Standing on top of a treebranch, he saw from the distance a curse. It looked a bit like a she-cat, wich his mentors warned that it was not a good signal. It had slender limbs with ugly, green skin with open tears exposing the creature's muscles. Long, straight hair that fell to the gound, hiding the monster's facial features, and it wore a ragged bride's vest with a long skirt. What caugh his attention was the curse's belly- it was bloated, almost as if it could burst at any moment.
Firepaw was distracted by the disgusting sight he saw, before hearing someone cough. He quickly turned his head, and he noticed a pair of eyes looking at him, hidden from the vegetation. Lionheart, he tranquilized himself. However, he caugh something on his peripheral vision. Something small and deformed was stalking him. Firepaw quickly dodged on instinct, as the small creature jumped at his direction, almost grabbing the ginger. The cat looked at what tried to attack him: It looked like a fetus. It had na umbilical cord loose on its belly, smooth green skin and a deformed face. Another curse? But this one had so little cursed energy he almost didn't noticed it!
He was thankful Lionheart alerted him, even if he felt a bit annoyed by the help.
Before he could react, he felt a pain at his leg. Looking down, another fetus was grabbing his leg, biting it with small sharp teeth and pulling hard. He kicked a tree, smashing the small infant on the wood.
Firepaw then heard a high piched, distorted scream. Covering his ears, he looked towards the source of the scream, and he saw the bloated woman looking at him in rage, her face still obscured by her hair "MY BABY. . . HOW DARE YOU HURT MY BABY!!!!" the scream was so loud firepaw felt his eardrums almost explode. One of the infants then launched himself against Firepaw, hitting the small apprendice in the chest strong enough to send him flying away. He almost hit a hard tree, when he felt someone quickly grabbing him
"Are you ok, firepaw?" He hears Lionheart's voice "Seems like you found a strong one. . . Semi-grade 2." The golden tom said, jumping off the tree and putting firepaw on the ground. The golden tom then quickly grabbed his Shortsword in one hand, and in the other, Brass knuckles. "That's too much for you, let me deal with it. Go search for another curse."
"No!" Firepaw intervened, holding the older cat's arm "I can deal with it! Let me try"
Lionheart gazed at him with interest "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I can deal with her, trust me!" He asked, hopefully
Lionheart sighs "all right." He smiled, defeated "But let's make this another lession. First: Do you see anything weird with the curse?" The deputy asked, looking at the green woman that was slowly following them. The infants all around the place, crawling on the trees like spiders.
Firepaw nodded, entering a battle stance. He looked at the curse and the deformed infants that were swarming him from all directions ". . . The small ones have very little Cursed energy. I can barely sense them."
"Correct;" lionheart started: "It seems this curse has a Shikigami cursed technique. Now, second question: What is different about the babies?"
Firepaw tried to look at the infants, doing his best to try and sense any kind of abnormality: as much as their energy was faint, he could tell they were indeed shikigami, as their cursed energy was the same as the woman's. But he could not tell anything different.
That is, until one of the babies launched himself at Lionheart at incredible speed. The Deputy dodged to the side effortlessly, with firepaw blinking surprised at the display of skill. He quickly rushed towards the small curse that was stunned on the ground, grabbing it with one hand. He tried to inspect the baby, until he felt the baby simply. . . exploding on his hand. He got scared at first, thinking this was some kind of suicide bombing technique, until he realized that the baby exploded because he. . . gripped them too hard. "Wait. . . they are. . . they are quick, but extremely fragile." Firepaw realized, looking at the swarm of babies all around them
"Correct yet again!" Lionheart smiled, nodding "It seems they have a binding vow. By lowering their resistance, Cursed energy output and strenght, they can archieve great speeds. I can tell it because the one that hit your chest exploded at the impact."
Firepaw nodded. So, those weird baby things where extremely fast, but not so resistant. Maybe the main body was also weak?
He heard a few of the infants jumping towards him. He used cursed energy to strenghten his body, and turned around to punch two of them that tried to get the ginger by surprise. The curses instantly exploded from his punches- As lionheart said, they where fragile.
The golden tabby was simply dodging the shikigami swarm, nodding to Firepaw. He would not directly assist him, after all, this was a test. "Remember what i told you, Firepaw: Try to deal with the user first. Ignore the shikigami."
Firepaw nodded, dodging the swarm of many small curses that tried to bite him. He covered his arms and legs with his fire enchantment, careful to not use too much energy, remembering Bluestar's warning.
"Don't forget the Curtain, Firepaw. We don't want the curse to flee and give us problems in the future."
Crap, he almost forgot! Curtains where massive barriers used mostly to trap cursed spirits to certify their exorcism. It can also have other enchantments to further it's use, but that's the basic usage in the forest.
The apprendice quickly raised two fingers and muttered: "Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."
A giant barrier then fromed in the sky, falling slowly around the felines and the curse swarm as if it was ink poured into a canvas, forming a spherical dome around them. Lionheart nodded, proud.
Looking up in the sky, he saw one other curtain distant from his own. Must be either Greypaw or Ravenpaw's. He hopes his friends are okay. For some reason, he didn't trust Tigerclaw.
Returning his attention to the semi-grade 2 curse, Firepaw flash stepped towards her, unsheating his hunting knife and delivering a slash towards her head. However the spirit was quick, and dodged in the blink of an eye, surprising Firepaw. He felt something fall on his back, with three of the babies grasping him and biting his shoulders and neck. He managed to use cursed energy to tank the blows, but it still did damage to him. Luckly the wounds on his neck weren't too deep, just some bite marks on the skin. He touched his shoulder, creating a small explosion of fire that destroyed the shikigami. He grunted, taking deep breaths.
So that's a high grade curse. He thought. I don't think i can catch up to it.
But if Lionheart was right, and it had a binding vow that sacrificed endurance and strenght for absurd speeds, then all i need is to hit it only once.
Firepaw had na idea in his mind. Earlier this morning, he saw that the village's craftsman loved to create personalized clothing for new apprendices. He gave firepaw a light tunic with a cape. He could use a cape to his advantage.
For the plan to work, the spirit must try and attack him directly. He turned his back to the woman, smiling "Since you like to throw your babies at me so much, i think i will just keep kiling them, over and over! I am finding this pretty fun!" he said, with irony on his voice, smiling
He heard a gasp of indignation "YOU- WHAT KIND OF MONSTER ARE YOU!? DON'T YOU DARE HURT MY BEAUTIFUL BABIES!"
Bait set! He quickly rushed to the little ones, Cutting them with his hunting knife while kicking and punching the rest. The deformed cries would definitely give him nightmares, but in a world with disturbing creatures like this one, it seemed only the beginning.
Firepaw was slowly feeling exaustion get over him. He was not Thunderclan born, so he did not had their innate technique. He was slowing down. The babies started to stick to him like ticks, but for his plan to work he should not stop killing them. He activated his enchantment trough his body, hoping that he woudn't burn out (he still didn't start the exercises to control his cursed energy output) burning the babies to cinders.
That's when he heard a screech, feeling the curse's energy quickly approaching him. She took the bait; The woman was rushing towards him, aiming to attack from the back. He was, however, waiting for this.
Firepaw used his cape to hide his finger, as he pointed at her with two fingers in a gun motion.
While training with Ravenpaw, he though that having long range attacks would be useful, as it would be both safer, and he could save up his energy by not using his enchantments defensively. This way, he started to train on a new enchantment.
By concentrating the flames at the tip of his finger, he could compress them in a small bullet. However he could not make them consistently yet; compressing the fire that way required much of his focus and energy. In the future, maybe he could do more.
Luckly, one will do for now.
"Flame pistol!" He yelled, smiling, as he shot the projectile towards the curse, burning a hole through his cape. The curse did not had time to react, as she was blinded with rage- the bullet hit her on the chest, opening a big hole. She fell to the ground beside Firepaw, screeching loudly. It appears she was still alive. The curse's bloated stomach exploded, sending millions of disfigured infants towards Firepaw.
The ginger was caught by surprise, a few of them sticking to his arms and legs, biting and scratching with strenght. At the corner of his eye, he saw Lionheart's muscles tense, preparing to interveine
He didn't want help! He could deal with this curse!
Firepaw had another idea, a risk he wanted to take: another bullet, bigger and stronger. Hopefully this does not burn out his remaining energy.
Pointing at the infinite swarm of creatures, he created a thicker, brighter bullet, about the size of an arrow. He grit his teeth, concentrating himself: and then he shot.
The bullet pierced the shikigami stampede, destroying every individual creature, until it managed to reach the source: the fallen woman. It pierced her in the head, and instantly, it all stopped. The shikigami disappeared in the air in a clust of dark smoke. The wailing and cries stopped: everything was quiet.
He took a deep breath, glad it was over. He, however, was completely exausted, his body trembling from tiredness.
He heard the sound of applause. Lionheart was smiling, applauding him "Great work, Firepaw. Let's go meet the others, you did well today. I must admit, i am impressed. You certainly are a prodigy."
Firepaw smiled, getting up with a wince of pain. His body was filled with bite marks and scratches. He made a motion with his arm, dispelling the curtain.
"Let's go, now." He commanded, Firepaw follwing behind. He closed his eyes for a moment. Maybe he should go to the city? He needs to apologize to smudge. . .
Lionheart and Firepaw were the first ones to reach the meeting point. Lionheart, while not a healer, helped firepaw with a few makeshift bandages using banana leaves. They waited for a few moments, before Tigerclaw returned with Greypaw, who, just like himself, was covered in wounds.
"Firepaw! You look like shit, heh." The grey apprendice joked, smiling despide his bleeding
"You also aren't looking pretty yourself." Firepaw retorted, chuckling. He looked behind the two "Where's Ravenpaw?"
"He also finished his hunt." Tigerclaw mentioned, rolling his eyes "A grade 3, altough it was just as weak as a grade four. He is resting for a bit before coming here."
"Hey, give him more credit! Ravenpaw's strong!" Greypaw objected, only to be silenced by Tigerclaw's stern gaze "He should be coming at any moment now."
"Right. . ." Firepaw sat on the ground, with Greypaw sitting on his side, waiting for their friend.
. . .
A few minutes pass, and nothing.
"He's taking a while. . ."
"He will be here at any moment, i'm sure. Unless he manages to pass out from exaustion." Tigerclaw said in a mocking tone. But this only made Firepaw's concern rise
"Im gonna search for him" The ginger said, getting up. Tigerclaw looked at him with a bit of anger
"If he can't make a simple walk through our territory, he's not fit to be a sorcerer."
Firepaw looked at him with rage, about to say something, but he decided to ignore and run after Ravenpaw
"Be with you soon, Firepaw! I just . . . need to rest a bit." He heard Greypaw behind him, while he rushed to search for the black cat.
.
.
.
If Firepaw remembers, Ravenpaw was supposed to hunt in snakerocks. For some reason Tigerclaw really liked to send the apprendice to this location.
He decided not to think much about it now, he had to find Ravenpaw. After a few minutes of walking, Firepaw has found something. . . Weird.
A big black sphere. He could tell it was made for cursed energy, but he did not know what it was. Firepaw went closer to investigate, touching it . . . it felt like glass, in a way. Strange, where was Ravenpaw?
The ginger scratched his ear for a few times. Did their mentors mention any kind of black sphere?
He thinks and thinks. . .
. . .
OH, fuck.
He suddently remembers something that could make this kind of sphere: Domain expansions.
A domain was, in a lazy term, a pocket dimension. A manifestation of one's internal energy in the form if an 'alternate dimension' that could be summoned in a space. That's more or less how Firepaw understood.
In order to make a domain, you must first construct one inside a barrier – The black sphere – creating a separate space where the innate domain is constructed with cursed energy and imbued with the user's cursed technique.
It was a trump card, as expanding a domain burned a lot of energy, so it was ultimately used as a last resort. However the benefits often overshadows the cost. For instance, the enviroment inside the domain is normally one that benefits the user in some way. However, the scariest part was that, while inside the domain, the user's main technique was always guaranteed to hit.
It was impossible to dodge, as the attacks are inexistent until they hit. You could block the attacks inside a domain, but dodging was impossible. That's why domains are often seen as a "Certain victory move".
For example, if one's cursed technique needed them to touch their opponent, while inside the domain, their opponent would be, in a way, always at the palm of the user's hands, regardless of distance.
This means that during the time Firepaw was having this internal monologue his friend could be aready dead.
Without a second though, Firepaw punched the barrier of the domain, shattering it instantly, as the ginger rushed inside. Domains are techniques made to imprison others. Their barriers, as much as they are durable from the inside, are normally fragile from the outside, thus allowing others to easily invade.
Because there's no benefit in doing so.
Entering the foreign domain, Firepaw finds himself in front of a giant, Stone wall marked with bullet wounds. The ground was made of red dirt, dead trees, bushes, and cactus around the place, with many skeletons kneeling on the ground, wearing army clothings, with their hands tied to their back and black blindfolds. Looking around, he did not see the curse. However, he saw Ravenpaw, on the groun, bleeding from his body covered in bullet wounds. Many of his insects where laying dead on the ground, while his defense beetles where close to his body, aiming to protect him from any attacks.
"RAVENPAW!" Firepaw yelled, rushing to his friend
Ravenpaw's eyes shot open, in panic, as he saw his friend coming to his side "NO! FIREPAW! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! YOU NEED TO RUN!" He said with clear panic on his voice.
Then everything went dark.
Firepaw looked around, confused, as he felt panick building up inside him. What was that?? Was that the sure hit effect? It made him blind?!
"READY!"
The ginger heard a voice far away from him, as he turned to try and face whoever was yelling. He threw a knife at the voice's direction, but he only heard the sound of metal hitting stone
"THE BLINDFOLD! TAKE OUT THE BLINDFOLD!!" Firepaw heard his friend yelling at him, wich made him confused. A blindfold?
"AIM!"
Firepaw put his hands on his head, and he felt some kind of fabric brushing against his fingers. So that's what it was happening! He was blindfolded! he tried to remove the piece, but it was stuck to his face- he felt as if the fabric has melded into his skin!
"FIRE!"
Firepaw suddently felt pain through all his body. The sound of shots all around him, as he felt bullet wounds opening in his entire body. He raised his arms to defend his head- Dodging was useless as long as he was inside the domain, so he tried to defend the hits with his cursed energy.
Then, he felt something hit his forehead- and he could see again. He panted, his body covered in blood as he coughed, pain burning from all sides. Looking at the ground, he saw a small ladybug fallen on the ground, unmoving. Ravenpaw had saved him, by destroying the blindfold. Firepaw felt a chill and the sudden feeling someone- No, something was watching him. He turned his head slowly, and the figure was there.
The curse.
It looked like a man wearing military clothing, skin black and dry, black gloves, and a face with only one big eye at the center of its face, no mouth. The creature raised a hand, and in the palm there was a grinning mouth, laughing at them.
The presence was suffocating; without a doubt, it was a special grade. Firepaw had his pride, but he was no fool. There was no way they could win this fight. But he did not want to give up so soon.
Firepaw grunted. His body burned in pain, but he would not allow the curse to hurt Ravenpaw anymore.
Throwing two knives at the creature, he rushed to try and wound it, any damage would be sufficient, anything to slow it down- but the curse only slapped the knives away with it's hand, as if slapping away two bugs that were annoying it. When firepaw got close, the curse quickly dodged to the side, delivering a strike on his back, making him fall to the ground. Biting his lip, Firepaw tried to get up, but his arms failed him, as he fell once more to the ground. He could hear the curse laughing beside him, amused at his futile attempts. The ginger rolled on the ground, moving his leg to try and kick the creature's face, but the creature grabbed his foot in a strong grip, throwing him like a broken toy at the wall, the impact almost breaking his ribs.
Firepaw got up once more, slowly. . . It was useless. He was too weak. . .
He stumbled towards Ravenpaw, sitting beside the apprendice's side, panting.
"W-why did you come here?" Ravenpaw asked, his voice weak, tears on his eyes
"You were in danger. . . I had to help." Firepaw said, hugging his friend. The curse was slowly making its way towards them
"Y-you are stupid! At least i would have died alone, you. . .you did not had to die. . ." Ravenpaw yelled, closing his eyes in fear.
Firepaw hated to see his friends cry. This reminded him of Smudge.
YOU ARE THE WORST FRIEND EVER!
Firepaw hugged Ravenpaw with all his strenght, altough with care to not hurt him too much "I would never let you die alone. You are my friend. . ." He said, gently cressing the black tom's back.
Ravenpaw only stood here, sniffing, as he returned the hug.
"Firepaw. . . Thank you for being my friend. . ."
"No, thank you. . . for being an amazing friend, better than i could ever be. . ."
The curse was now only a few feet, summoning a luger pistol and pointing at both of them. All while the hand mouth grinned.
Firepaw closed his eyes.
Then, the domain's wall was shattered once more.
"GREYPAW GET THE TWO AND GO!" they heard the strong sound of Tigerclaw's voice
"RIGHT!" and then, something touched them. In the blink of an eye, both of them were in the forest again.
Firepaw looked around, confused, until he felt someone hit him right in the head
"ARE YOU STUPID!? YOU COULD HAVE DIED THERE! ENTERING A DOMAIN WITHOUT A DEPUTY OR LEADER!" Greypaw yelled with anger, tears falling trough his eyes "I THOUGH YOU HAD DIED!"
Huh. . . Firepaw was a horrible friend, he made another of his friends cry. "I-i'm sorry, i wasn't thinking-"
"I know!" Greypaw interrupted him, hugging both of them vigorously "Please. . . dont do this again! I don't want to lose you guys!"
Ravenpaw sniffed, hugging back "D-don't cry! We are here now. . ."
"S-sorry. . ." Firepaw whispered, embracing the hug warmly. They were safe now.
But. . .
"Is Lionheart and Tigerclaw going to be okay?" the ginger asked, looking at the domain beside them
Greypaw cleaned the tears off his face, regaining his composture and smiling "You should feel worry for the curse. They are two of the best Sorcerers. But we should probably get reinforcements." He said, suddently holding his knees, as he panted out of breath "Damn, i'm not used to teleport more than two people at once." He said, taking a few deep breaths to regain his composture
"Now, come here, i am not a healer but Lionheart showed me a few tricks to stop bleeding. . ."
.
.
.
Lionheart gazed at the special grade, up and down, with hatred. That creature dared to try and kill two of their apprendices. It was the special grade they sensed for months: Luckly, they managed to find it before it could kill someone.
"So, what do you think, Lionheart? Let's go all out?" He heard Tigerclaw mutter beside him, anger on his voice. Tigerclaw hated curses with all of his soul. His axe, 'Late reaper', was a special grade cursed tool. It could turn 'Missed' and 'blocked' attacks into 'Minor or medium wounds', meaning that even if their enemy tried to avoid his blows, they would receive at least minimal damage. A truly terrifying weapon in the hands of a strong Sorcerer such as Tigerclaw.
Lionheart also had his own tools. While his shortsword was a simple grade 3 weapon with enchanced cut, his Brass knuckle, 'Wind fist' was a grade 1 tool that lowered the weigh of his arms while maitaining the strenght of his hits. The sword was just a distraction; Lionheart's true strenght laid on his powerful, speed punches.
Suddently, both of their visions went dark.
"READY!"
Tigerclaw put a hand on his face, feeling the fabric of the blindfold "So, that's the sure hit effect of the domain? The blindfold is reinforced with cursed energy; Taking it off is not easy."
Lionheart chuckled. He had aready understood the effects: the sure hit started with the blindfold. The voice probably commanded their execution alongside an artillery squad, and attacked for all sides once the conditions were met.
Unlucky for the curse, however, both of them were experienced sorcerers. It was not the first domain they faced.
"Let us show him the true power of Thunderclan." Lionheart said, smiling. Surely, they had a great disadvantage while being in this curse's domain. The sure-hit was annoying and dangerous, but there were ways to counter it.
The most effective way was expanding your own domain.
"AIM!"
Lionheart raised his fingers, making a sign with both his hands. He closed his eyes for a second, gathering his cursed energy.
"Domain Expansion: Glorious Morning."
A white energy emanated from Lionheart, destroying their blindfolds and covering half of the special grade's domain. The area suffered a strong distortion, and then it was divided into two sides: the first side was the curse's domain, a desert with an execution wall. The second side was Lionheart's own domain:
A grassy pride land with clear, orange skies. In the far horizon, an eternal rising sun was basking the domain with a beautiful amber illumination. The light illuminated Lionheart's own fur, exposing his beautiful features and highlighing his powerful muscles. In his domain, he was a true Lion.
Tigerclaw scoffed "Show-off. . ." he muttered, while readying himself in a battle stance. He flash stepped behind the curse, cornering it from the other side.
The curse quickly summoned an automatic riffle, and started shooting towards the Brown tabby.
But Tigerclaw quickly dodged the bullets.
When two domains are open in the same space, a domain clash begins.
Normally, the more refined and polished one prevails, but in the case that both domains share the same level, they both clash. In this case, the sure-hits cancel each other, and anyone inside the domain is allowed to dodge once more. Once one of the two users either dies, Burns out his cursed energy, or if one domain manages to overhelm the other, the losing one is instantly dispelled, and the winner can fill the entire space and regains the sure-hit.
"My technique is 'A path to glory'," Lionheart started. Since they were dealing with a special curse, any bonuses and advantages were needed "It allows me to forcefully create a path in my destiny where i shall be the ultimate victor; altough the path is not certain or instant. I need to first understand the cues given to me by my enchantments." He explained, and instantly looked around. The cues were always subtle, often something one would miss. Years practicing allowed Lionheart to quickly catch up to the smallest of hints-
For example, the dust on the ground that seemed to form a path between him and the curse.
Lionheart rushed foward, following the path of dust. The curse summoned a missile launcher, shooting various homing missiles at his direction. The golden tom kept his movement steady; dodging all missiles as he closed the gap between them. Thanks to the hint summoned by his technique, he was advancing in a way that he could easily avoid the attacks. He needed just an inch before he could hit the bastard right on the face- And then, a small twig on a nearby tree suddently snapped, appearing to curve itself.
Lionheart followed the subtle tip, rolling on the ground. In a heartbeat, the missiles that turned to hit him from the back hit the curse instead, exploding and throwing the spirit towards Tigerclaw.
Time appeared to slow down, as the brown tabby pointed his hand towards the oncoming curse
"My technique is called 'Imaginary arsenal', it simply allows me to manifest my imagination in the form of invisible tools and weapons that i can manipulate at will." He said, with a neutral face, as the curse found himself impaled in a wall of invisible spikes. "For a special grade, you seem pretty weak." He commented, looking at the impaled creature with suspicion
The spirit only smiled, not bothered by the spikes. Then, suddently, various automated rifles appeared floating right behind Tigerclaw
"Tigerclaw! Behind you!"
The brown tabby quickly reacted, turning around and pointing at the guns. When they started shooting, Tigerclaw had aready created an invisible barrier, defending the hits.
Those weren't normal bullets. . . They were improved with cursed energy.
Suddently, Tigerclaw felt a pain on his back as the curse had kicked him on his spine. Before he could be sent flying, the special grade grabbed him by the foot, pulling him close and punching the cat two times on the face, producing a shotgun and aiming right at the Sorcerer's head. Tigerclaw quickly reacted, putting his hand between them and covering the shotgun as he created an invisible barrier against the weapon, blocking the hit. He then wielded his axe, striking against the curse, wich flash stepped away, standing on top of a cactus. Thanks to the axe's enchantment, a large cut appeared in the creature's shoulder, surprising it as purple blood started to gush out.
"Be careful, Tigerclaw. Remember that it is a special grade; and you can only have one creation at a time." Lionheart reminded, appearing beside him
Tigerclaw spat blood on the ground, getting back on his feet "He got lucky, that's all. How much time can you keep your domain up?"
"Enough time. We just need to survive until Greystripe and the others arrive with more sorcerers."
"With that in mind, try to spare your energy. I don't want his domain overwhelming yours in the middle of the battle."
"Don't worry, Tigerclaw." Lionheart said, reassuringly "Thunderclan shall never know defeat again."