by CarrieVS » Fri Mar 02, 2018 1:13 am
Baozi's opponent growls again, fur on end and back arched. It doesn't scare him, but the threat clearly shows how much larger and stronger this cat is than he, and he cannot risk taking his eyes off the defender.
With his typical boldness Baozi makes a swift attack, seizing the larger tomcat's foreleg in his teeth. He does not inflict a significant wound, rather shakes him off-balance. The enemy responds by rearing onto his hind legs, using his greater size in an attempt to throw the attacker over onto his back, but Baozi's rush has left him too uncertain of his footing to make good the advantage, and the smaller cat slips away before he can be pinned.
Baozi's next attack is fended off, and then the big tom makes a sudden leap for a plank of wood balanced on a discarded crate. Baozi reacts instantly, leaping to the same plank before he can make use of it to attack from the high ground. The wood is sent flying, and both cats hiss and spit as they scramble to regain their footing, back where they started.
This is not going to be an easy fight by any means. It's now Baozi's turn to try to outmanoeuvre his adversary. Circling and feinting, he manages to back him into a corner, but the big cat with a powerful leap springs over one of the obstacles he had meant to hem him in by. Baozi is forced to spin around to defend as he comes in to try to use his weight again.
Baozi sidesteps and manages to slip past - barely, and has no chance to draw breath as his foe presses him closely. He manages to claw the bigger cat's flank with one forepaw before springing away. But he has misjudged, and finds himself bowled over as his opponent once more leaps at him with all of his considerable strength.
This time, Baozi is firmly held. He struggles, but cannot free himself, nor can he prevent his tormentor from both biting and bringing his hindclaws up to rake Baozi's underside. Fur protects him from the worst, and he succeeds in twisting so that the fangs only meet his ear. But he is still firmly pinned.
The fight loses its intensity after that, and finally tails off into the hissing and spitting of insults. Neither is incapacitated, but fighting on is not worth the risks, for either of them. Baozi knows he is beaten, and the big tom knows it, and so will the other cats in the area. He leaves, frustration gnawing at his gut. He has not done his best tonight, and has been defeated and humiliated by a big thug who could not match him in either skill or wit.
That would not do, normally, but as the army only expects to stay here for a day there will scarcely be time to think of revenge, let alone of claiming these dilapidated streets for his own, after such a setback. He does not stay out much longer before returning to the camp and to his own shape. It is certainly no matter what the feral cats of Xiadu think. But he is not happy.
He bathes his ear, which is bleeding a little. The scratch is of no more consequence than the bruises on his belly where he was clawed, but it will be noticeable, and how can he explain it?
A Combustible Lemon wrote:Death is an archaic concept for simpleminded commonfolk, not Victorian scientist whales.