The fight was brutal, that much Snowpaw could tell. Almost as nasty as the Gustclan battle, though she couldn't see any cats lying motionless yet, so that was a good sign.

The din in the Fieldclan camp was almost deafening. Dust and pine needles and fur kicked into the air from struggling combatants. Blood and anger and fear scent tainted the breeze.

She only had time to barely see Heronstar, now tangling with the rogue leader Sting, before she noticed a clanmate in need.

Snowpaw slammed into the side of a huge ginger tom that was bearing down on an injured Hedgewhisker, all but headbutting him to get him away from the senior warrior.

The two bulky cats when tumbling away, clawing and spitting at each other as other fighting cats had to leap out of their way.

This cat was stronger than her. For once she couldn't brute force her way through, so she tried to be more tactical. Snowpaw twisted about, a wriggling gecko hard to grab hold of. The rogue landed hits, but he couldn't pin her down as she landed her own right back.

It wasn't until their eyes met properly, having both backed off from each other a moment to catch their breath, that Snowpaw realized just which rogue this was. "You're…" It was the big red tom that had let her live back then…

He'd gotten in trouble at the gathering from her very much alive appearance, she remembered. It was clear the tom had been punished. His face and ears were a ruin of scars that weren't there the last time they'd met. One lip was torn, making the overlarge canine tooth that had already shown beneath his lips all the more prominent.

Fang stared back at her. "Blue-eyes." He grunted, eyeing her warily. "You're stronger now." Snowpaw wondered if he resented her for his suffering after showing her mercy.

"I guess so." She responded, equally as cautious in tone. Truthfully, she was nearly spent physically; it was taking a lot of will to not pant and show just how tired she was. The extra boost of energy from adrenaline was waning. She wasn't sure if she could beat Fang as it was now.

Perhaps it was worth trying to get him talking again then. She glanced at his scars. "I'm sorry…" And she was. She never wanted him to get hurt for helping her, no matter that he was a rogue. She got the impression he didn't like being one anyway.

Fang grunted. "It's done." He started to pad towards her in a circular motion; head held low, getting ready to pounce.

"You don't want to do this, do you?" She felt like she was echoing her desperate pleas from before.

"I'm doing what I have to in order to survive Blue-eyes." His claws slid out.

"You don't have to do this to survive!" Snowpaw began to move in a motion mirroring his to keep him at bay. She unsheathed her own claws for self-defense. "There are other ways!"

"If I mess up again, Sting and Graves will kill me." He tossed his damaged head, spitting, clearly upset. "This was getting off lightly, considering. Sting was furious I let you live once... I can't make that mistake again!"

"You could leave them! Don't let them control you anymore when you hate it there."

He considered her for just a moment. "…I can't do that."

The huge tom pounced suddenly, and Snowpaw wasn't fast enough. The force of his paws connecting with her side knocked the air out of her and sent her sprawling onto the ground.

Okay so talking her way out was probably not an option.

She twisted her neck away as bared teeth came for it, kicking her back legs with what might she had left in her tired body to try and push Fang off. She was just barely holding him back. His claws were causing her blood to flow. Snowpaw gritted her jaws together with the effort, internally panicking. Her heartbeat was heavy in her ears. Time seemed to slow.

What should she do? What technique would get her out of this? What could she do?

Let your instincts instruct you when this battle comes.

Snowpaw's eyes went wide as she remembered the wild cat in her dreams and its words. Don't let your head override it, huh? Let her mind go blank and let her instincts take over…?

She took a breath. Inhale. A sense of calm washed over the fear, despite tooth and claw being moments away from ripping life from her.

The Bengal cat's blood burned.

Exhale.

Fang let out a surprised sound as Snowpaw suddenly found new strength, and with a powerful sweep of her hind legs in a sideways motion, knocked the tom off balance by striking his own. Viper-quick, her teeth latched onto a front limb that had gone out close to her face to steady himself. Blood welled up to meet her tongue, but she didn't taste it.

In fact, there was nothing in the world right now but her, and her opponent. No noise, no other cats, no camp. Nothing. A purr of satisfaction that didn't belong to her ran through the back of her calm mind.

Snowpaw hauled herself to her feet between her own force and the momentum of Fang trying to pull his leg out of her grasp. Her body moved on its own, avoiding a swipe with a duck of her head and twisting. Her paws launched at his hind legs again, claws and teeth aiming for whatever they could reach; delicate groin, vulnerable thigh muscles, sensitive paws.

Fang was practically howling; frustrated and in pain, but he was top-heavy and inflexible. His front half couldn't twist properly to meet her as she danced away every time he tried to turn or kicked his back legs out, keeping on his hindquarters with rapid strikes and quickly shredding his back legs and what of his underbelly she could reach to bloody ruin.

The satisfied purr grew louder. It and Fang was all Snowpaw could hear.

Eventually, the rogue's injuries gave way to her victory. He could barely stand on his back legs anymore. His paws were damaged and bleeding; he couldn't support his weight properly. Snowpaw stood and watched him sink to the ground in front of her.

"Well." He said as he looked up at her, sounding more worn than any cat had ever sounded. His eyes were tired; filled with a fearful sort of acceptance. He'd given up. "I don't know where that came from, Blue-eyes, but you've won." Fang shut his eyes and bared his throat to her. "Finish it."

She stared, feeling oddly weightless. The purr was encouraging and savage.

"What are you waiting for kittypet!?" Spat Fang. "End this already!" She took a step forward, claws still removed and bloody. "Let me see Summer again, if such a thing waits for a rogue…"

The sorrow in the ginger tom's voice, the heartbreak etched on his expression drew her focus.

Wait.

The purr cut off with a startled, disappointed noise.

What was she doing?

The world around her rushed back.

She didn't want to kill anyone.

"No…" She mewed, feeling light-headed all of a sudden, a little confused. She was aware of how she'd gotten to this point, and yet it hadn't felt like her doing it. "No, I won't do it."

"You beat me." Fang sounded confused, as if this was how a fight was supposed to end. "What, are you going to just let me go?"

"No… And, even if I did, you can't walk." An idea had come to her, but then maybe it was just because she was addled right now. "You're staying right there…" She shook her head, causing her to stumble slightly. She needed to lie down…

"As a prisoner?" Fang huffed, perplexed. "Is that how you clan cats do things? We took Gustclan cats prisoner…"

"You'll be away from the other rogues this way." She tried to explain part of her reasoning through the fog, looking around. She needed someone to watch him, get him out of the way of action to stop her clanmates from attacking him again… She needed to find Heronstar. She had been fighting Sting… She needed to find her.

Fang blinked slowly. His eyes went wide. "You…" He understood. "I see. Then I thank you for my life, Blue-eyes."

"Sure…" The apprentice glanced around. Possumtail was passing with Needletail. As always, Possumtail seemed unhurt, but Needleclaw was clearly missing some fur and had new wounds to show off. "Hey!" She flagged them down.

The pair of toms approached, perplexed as they took in the injured rogue on the ground. "This one is our prisoner now. Can you look after him?"

They exchanged a glance. "Sure…?" The word had barely left Needleclaw's mouth before Snowpaw took off running. "Woah! Where are you going?!"

"I need to find Heronstar!"