Chapter 113: The Blood War Part 2

No words needed to be spoken between us. We both knew exactly how this was going to go. Scourge leapt over Firestar's body to meet me below. Slowly, we began to circle one another, both silent as we assessed for even the slightest weakness in the other's form. Fighting him would be the ultimate challenge. There was no point in devoting even the smallest bit of focus on feelings. The cold enveloped me completely, like my bones were made of ice and my blood was made of liquid nitrogen.

At an unspoken cue, we both began the fight, lashing out, trying to bait the other into a compromised position. While I could have been noting how Scourge moved, I instead focused on his eyes, noting what he was focusing on. He was watching my paws and forelegs. He was clearly trying to map out my reach. For that purpose, I deliberately shortened my range, appearing as if my reach was smaller. I threw a carefully constructed barrage to sell the deception. Scourge weaved through the barrage like a phantom, finishing off with a horizontal strike that he leaned back to dodge. My claws touched his fur in that dodge. My trap had potential, but I'd need to sell it a bit longer as I learned him.

Scourge, now more confident that he had a read on me, began his attack. My larger mass meant I couldn't just dodge like he could, but that also meant I could block his strikes if I do it correctly. Instead of backing off to dodge, I moved into the attack, parrying his strikes by hitting his forelegs with my forelegs. This way his claw extensions could not play a factor. Of course, Scourge was faster than me. He was constantly trying to make a bit more room to force me into the effective range of his claws. I wouldn't let him have it as I pursued him.

Now that Scourge was trying to find a way to make his own attacks more effective, I had time to trip my trap. I began my barrage again, ensuring it followed the same pattern as last time. Scourge, recognizing the pattern, began to dodge the exact same way he had last time. This is where I briefly caught him. My reach was just a bit longer, and he caught the deception at the last moment, bringing his head down to act as a shield for his neck. I did end up leaving a scratch that left blood leaking into his eye, but I knew this would not slow him down in the slightest.

This time, Scourge pressed the assault knowing he couldn't land a direct attack on my neck, face, or chest. He instead reached past that and dug his claws into my side and pulled. It left long and deep scratches, and they weren't easy to counter since I'd have bad leverage on the parry. I needed him to make some room again. Thus, when he charged again, I lunged forward as well, clipping him with my shoulder to offset him and attempting to land a lethal bite. This was not meant to be since Scourge corrected his balance too quickly and jumped back to avoid the bite. I did come from that with a mouthful of fluff.

Some outsider attempted to take the opportunity to assassinate Scourge. Of course, Scourge being a perfect being, detected the attack before it was even launched. Scourge backstepped, forcing the potential assassin to miss, caught them by their shoulders, and flipped them forward onto their back. I attempted to utilize that moment to land an attack on Scourge. Unfortunately, Scourge was far too quick, slitting the throat on what I now identified as a golden tom. Irrelevant information at the time, it did leave the faintest spark of feeling upon me. Scourge landed that lethal blow, only trading it for a solid scratch on his right front leg.

The duel raged on. I dared not remove my focus from this fight to assess the battle overall, but from Ashfur's description, there were a fair number of cats just watching Scourge and I fight, knowing our duel was the real decider. It was almost like an RPG how we pretty much took turns leaving scratches on each other. Both of us were getting wise to the other's tactics. This was beginning to shift from a speedy, one hit to win, duel to an endurance match. I was better fed than Scourge. I was using less energy than Scourge. We both knew how this would end, but logic dictates to attempt any means of victory despite a probable outcome. By my estimates, I'd win in about fifteen minutes, an extremely lengthy time for any sort of bout. The duel continued on.

We were moving into what I'd roughly call round four when something pierced my intense focus, putting a sliver of heat in the all consuming cold I'd let engulf me. It was a voice, one I knew well, and it was in distress. Like a lighter in a puddle of expensive alcohol, the heat of emotion and reality consumed me, melting my ice bones and setting my blood boiling. That voice… It was Ravenfeather, and he needed me.

Now awakened from my logic driven state, I could see what had Ravenfeather distressed. A large tom had Ravenfeather pinned behind enemy lines. None of our cats could break the line in time. The only saving grace seemed to be that the vile rogue was taunting Ravenfeather, buying precious time. I needed to break away from Scourge. I needed to do something Scourge would never expect, take a bad trade. He likely hadn't yet become alerted to the fact that I'd woken up. I had very little time to execute my escape.

It was time to go with the classic. I set my shoulder and lowered my head in a charge. Scourge responded by attempting a neck swipe, expecting this attack to have just been a bait. It was not. I Scourge's eyes briefly expanded in shock before he attempted another counter in whatever time he had left. He latched his front paws onto my shoulders and bit into my ear hard. This would not stop me. Ravenfeather needed me. I kept running. I could feel intense pain in my ear as I was beginning to run Scourge over. I could feel the holes in my ear where Scourge's teeth bit through ripping and expanding. In a final moment to free me from this enemy, I caught Scourge in the chest as I ran him over, forcing a drastic pull on my ear and ripping it free. Scourge had the wind knocked out of him and still had my ear in his mouth, but I was free to save Ravenfeather.

I counted the steps to reach him. One. Shock and silence greeted me. Two. Scourge's allies sensed something amiss. Three. He was just a pounce away. Four. My teeth met the assailant's neck, tearing our a large chunk I could briefly see the enemy's vertebrae before his body rolled, freeing Ravenfeather, my most precious mate.

My timing couldn't have been more coincidentally perfect. Scourge was able to be felled because I chose something he thought impossible. In the end, Scourge was felled by two logical impossibilities. One, a logical enemy would make an imperfect move, and two, something dead did not stay dead. While I helped right Ravenfeather onto his paws, a familiar voice let out a yowl that broke our enemies' will and ended the battle.

"Scourge is dead!" Firestar announced, his muzzle wet with blood and a visible pink scar present upon his neck. He held up Scourge's collar as proof of our victory. Bloodclan fled on the spot. They were now leaderless. They'd lost.

"Hey." I mewed gently, still on the adrenaline high from fighting so fiercely.

"Hey." Ravenfeather answered, a gentle smile upon his face realizing neither of us would lose out lives today. He nuzzled up against me briefly before the blood leaking from my nub of an ear dripped onto his muzzle. His eyes filled with concern. "Your ear…" He mewed, gently reaching up to feel if it missing was real.

I leaned into the touch, confirming the wound. I couldn't help throwing a quip to soften the moment. "Eh. I wasn't really using it anyways."

Around us, Thunderclan began to let out a yowl of victory. Ravenfeather and I soon joined the cacophony. The day was won. The forest survived.

Before I left to get my wounds treated, there was one last thing I needed to do. I found Scourge's corpse, his eyes still widened in shock and the faintest bit of fear. I gently closed his eyes, whispering a wish into his ear. "Wherever you go next, I hope you never need to feel the cold again."