A Spark Ignites (O)

[Lionpaw]

"Yes, well," Lionkit said, smiling to dispel the sudden air of seriousness, "let's hope it's sooner rather than later, eh?" Looking down, the tom realized he had neglected his meal; in several quick gulps, he finished the rest of the squirrel. Once he'd finished chewing, he stood and stretched once again; sitting in one spot for too long wasn't something he was used to, and his legs were begging for some exercise. "So, Sparkkit," he said with a smirk, "care for a game of tag?"

[Sparkpaw]

At the sound of tag, Sparkkit's serious face twisted into a grin. "Game on," he said, giving Lionkit a head start. His veins coursed with energy as he got onto his paws, and down into a starting crouch. He watched Lionkit closely, watched the way his paws hit the ground, his form. That wound give Spark the advantage.

[Lionpaw]

Lionkit sucked in a great breath, then bolted, heading for the opposite side of the camp. As he reached the center of the hollow, the lithe golden tom unsheathed his claws and dug them into the ground, spinning his body around faster than he would normally be able to while sacrificing his momentum. As soon as he had reoriented himself, he took off again, legs pumping furiously. He took stock of his surroundings quickly and, upon noticing a large stump close to him and right in front of the camp wall, he leapt toward it, putting as much strength as he had into his hind legs, which, thanks to his TreeClan lineage, were naturally strong. He sailed over the stump with a mouse length to spare, and kept on going toward the wall. CloudClan, I hope this works. As his front paws neared the wall, time seemed to slow, and he prepared for the inevitable impact. As his paws made contact with the wall, he bunched the muscles in his front legs and turned his paws to the left. With a heave, and mere moments before the momentum of the rest of his body made what he wished to do impossible, he pushed himself away from the wall again, angling toward the nursery once more. He stumbled as he landed, but the mere fact that he'd succeeded made his heart soar. Now let's see if I can keep the advantage, he thought, and began his mad dash once more.

[Sparkpaw]

Even with Lionkit's head start, Sparkkit managed to catch up to him. The kit in front of him seemed to know what to do, though, taking in his surroundings quickly, planning and executing ideas fast, just like Arrowkit. As Lionkit soared over the tree stump, Sparkkit faltered in his steps and almost fell. The small tree stump was nearing closer and closer; there were only two choices, stop and loose Lionkit or jump and possibly not even clear the top of the stump. With Sparkkit's speed, he would probably be able to make it. With just a few more steps to go, he gave a burst of speed and leaped, landing on top of the stump, before quickly leaping again, into the air, and landing lightly on his paws, giving his momentum to burst forward. The chase continued to the far side of the nursery, where Sparkkit watched Lionkit bounce off a wall with skill. Oh, boy, here goes... he thought as the wall neared. He tried to copy Lionkit's maneuvering, but ended up smacking hard into it instead. Sparkkit had to stop, momentarily dizzy, before darting off again. He felt like he was going the speed of sound as he made a mad dash after Lionkit.

[Lionpaw]

After executing his daring wall jump, Lionkit felt as though he were invincible. But logic quickly overcame his emotions, and he knew that Sparkkit would still be hot on his tail, whether he had been able to adapt to his maneuver or not. So, once again, the tom set his quick mind to work; he formulated and discarded half a dozen ideas in as many heartbeats, all while taking into account another half a dozen geographical features of the camp, looking for any areas that could give him an advantage. His stamina was flagging, and if he did not divert the kit behind him soon, he would lose quickly. He spotted a hollow log several foxlengths away, and a plan took root, which he cultivated and adapted until it was as close to perfect as it was going to get. He feinted to the left, then cut back hard, pushing himself to an all out sprint as he neared the log. He shot up into the log without missing a beat, his fiery golden pelt disappearing into the shadows. Just as he'd hoped, there was more than one exit; a small hole, invisible from the outside, provided an alternate escape route, though the exit at the far end of the log was the easier choice. Lionkit came to a halt; timing was, as always, crucial, and so he waited until he figured Sparkkit was close enough for this to work. Standing on his hind legs, he reached for the opening and, with a heave and a curse, managed to pull himself up and out of the log. Once on top, he didn't spare the time for even a glance, instead heading off toward the fresh kill pile once more.

[Sparkpaw]

Sparkkit was hot on Lionkit's tail as the two sped across the clearing. When Spark saw Lionkit bank to the left, he noticed the log, that was where he was headed. If only Spark could throw him off.. He slowed his pace a few heartbeats and watched as the orange kit raced into the hollow log, before jumping on top of it himself. Just as he expected, Lionkit squeezed through a hole in the side and was on top of the log as well. "What's up," he said with a grin before tagging the kit and speeding off. Lionkit was slower, but quicker with his surroundings. Sparkkit needed him on his tail to throw him off again. Slowing his pace once more, he let Lionkit catch up. Now, for the fun part. Sparkkit waited for the kit to be right on his heels.

[Lionpaw]

Lionkit growled as Sparkkit jumped from the log, though he couldn't help but smile as well; he wasn't happy he'd been caught, but this was still a lot of fun. Mustering up everything he had left, the tom leapt after the other tom. As he drew closer, he became hesitant; it would be so easy to reach out and tag Sparkkit, but there was no way he'd been able to catch up on his own. The tom must have a plan, but he didn't know what, and that made him wary. So, instead of pulling right up behind the other tom, Lionkit turned to the side, still quite close to Sparkkit, but far enough away that he would see any changes in how the tan kit moved.

[Sparkpaw]

Sparkkit noticed, from the corner of his eye, that the other kit wavered. He was still close enough that the plan would work. He sped up his pace, bit by bit, until he was close to full speed again. He ran in a circle, then shot off after the dust storm he made had formed. The dust should temporarily confuse Lionkit, but not for long. Sparkkit scanned his surroundings, which were somewhat of a blur around him. There, in the corner, was a large rock. That could be a diversion to make Lionkit confused. Sparkkit sped up to it, and jumped on top. Then, leaping high into the air, he dove behind it into a clump of ferns. He pulled a few out of the ground with his teeth, grabbing them tight as he darted to a hollow tree stump. As he leaped over the low walls of the stump, he stuck the ferns in the tiny crevices in the rotting bark. Once Spark landed, he leaped over the other wall of the stump and raced off at full speed again, his stamina never wavering.

[Lionpaw]

Lionkit was beginning to think that Sparkkit didn't actually have a plan, and was simply tired, when he spun, kicking up a cloud of dust. Cursing, he spun around as quickly as he could, escaping the diversion and focusing on the retreating form of Sparkkit. The slower pace he'd been running at had aloud him to gain a second wind, and he sped after the other kit once again. As usual, his mind went to work analyzing the terrain, picking out likely distraction points. There was a rock just ahead, and that seemed a likely place to outmaneuver him; beyond that, a tree stump and a patch of ferns were positioned right next to each other, and there were several other clumps of plants nearby; he stopped running, conserving his energy for what he was almost certain would happen. Sparkkit executed several leaps, all rather extravagant, and still he did not move; only when the other tom was clear of the tree stump did Lionkit bolt forward once more, but he did not move straight for Sparkkit. Instead, he took off at an all out sprint along a path diagonal to the one Sparkkit was running along, his fatigued muscles working in overdrive to execute his plan accordingly. As he'd expected, he was on a collision course with Sparkkit, and as he drew closer, he prepared his hind legs to leap. When the time came, his coiled muscles propelled him forward like a jackrabbit; he barreled directly toward the tan kit, his path as unerring as a striking adder.

[Sparkpaw]

As Sparkkit was running, he saw a blurry flash of fur beside his, and turned his head to see the whirling form of Lionkit, darting straight toward him, about to take him down. Three choices, keep running and get barreled, speed up to a pace that I've never gone before, or completely stop and hope he crashes in front of you instead. The only choice that seemed right to Sparkkit at the moment was, hope you can get faster. He directed his gaze forward again, fixing the distant wall in a glare that could kill and bird, and pushed himself to sprint, harder, faster, bolder than he'd ever gone before. He could hear the wind whistling in his ears, loud, like a monster that the elders speak of. He prepared for a low that would knock him off his paws, but it never happened. Instead, he ran head-first into the wall. Knocking himself to the floor, dazed.

[Lionpaw]

Wonderful, was the word that came to mind as Lionkit missed Sparkkit by less than a mouselength, and then he slammed into the ground. He stood up quickly, gasping in huge breaths of air as he tried to regain the wind that had been knocked from him. As he gazed around, trying to get his bearings, he noticed that Sparkkit had practically concussed himself. He staggered his way over to the tom and patted his shoulder. "You're it," he gasped, and then sat back down. When he'd gained his breath, he looked at Sparkkit again, concern blossoming in his emerald eyes. "That was certainly a good game, my friend, but are you all right?" he asked, standing and examining his head for any signs of a bump or, worse, blood.

[Sparkpaw]

"I guess," Sparkkit moaned as he plopped onto his chin. Then, a grin crossed his face. "That was amazing!" He explained, before squinting his eyes shut, a headache starting. "Know anything that could cure a headache?" He asked Lionkit. That was an absolutely amazing game of tag. Why had he not met Lionkit sooner? The tan tom looked at the Orange kit, in awe of who this cat really was. He was growing up in a generation of extraordinary kits. He himself was faster than the average kit, Arrowkit could take in any situation and turn it into his advantage, just like Lionkit. They were amazing. Sparkkit smiled.

((Autocorrect is not my friend

Signing off for the night))

[Lionpaw]

Lionkit grinned; Sparkkit was talking, which meant he hadn't caused himself any serious trauma. He had to agree with the tom, the game was rather fantastic. He'd never pushed himself quite so hard as that before, and though he was a bit sore, and his muscles would be screaming at him by sundown, he'd never had that much fun. The tom couldn't help but marvel at his friend's stamina and speed, and with his own quick mind, and the talents of others, he was excited about the future of his clan. He laughed at Sparkkit's question, amusement lighting his emerald eyes from within. "Afraid not, though with a head as hard as yours, you should be fine with enough time," he said teasingly, swatting the other tom's ear with his tail.

(I don't think autocorrect is anybody's friend)

[Sparkpaw]

"Oh, I see how it is." Sparkkit laughed and sat up, shaking his head and putting a paw on it, checking for blood. None, that was good, that meant he'd be okay. "So what next?" He asked, returning the orange kit's playful swat by flicking his tail on Lionkit's nose, hopefully making him sneeze.

[Lionpaw]

Lionkit shrugged, unsure as to what they could do next, but before he could start voicing options, Sparkkit swatted his nose, and he sneezed. Shaking his head, he shot the other tom what he hoped was a glare, but what he felt was likely just a look filled with mild annoyance mixed with amusement. "Well," he began, "I suppose we could try and practice some hunting crouches, or maybe some fighting moves. I've seen apprentices practicing before, and I think I have a couple down."