Shadow of a greater Shadow

[Firestripe]

OOC: Just so you know, it would quite impossible for her to knee him in the chest at that point seeing as how his chest wasn't facing her. See, when she jabbed at him with her dagger (right pawed I'm guessing), he grabbed her dagger arm with his right paw and spun on his right footpaw, which was leading, thus effectively pulling her arm forward which would throw her off balance and while bringing his left footpaw coming towards her from her left, his right.

[Scarlet]

[OOC: Ooh, okay, I got a different mental picture, lol. I'm gonna go back and redo that post instead of posting a new one, k?]

[Firestripe]

*Jaazer's paw stung a bit from the blow but he was way to far into fight mode to notice something like that. As his kick failed and Scarlet's dagger arm was freed from his grasp, he knew he only had a few seconds to attack or retreat before he could expect a slash from Scarlet. That being said, he opted for both. Jaazer shifted his body so that he was fully facing her, hopped backwards a little off his right footpaw and brought it up lightning quick as a kick towards her jaw as he brought his left leg back down and landed on it skillfully, effectively putting distance between them while attacking at the same time*

*What Jaazer was not quite expecting was for an ubsurdly strong grip to take hold of his leg, stopping the kick aimed for Scarlet. His eyes flicked over to a shadow with not so happy looking eyes that stood beside the dueling pair, a shadow that had a hold of his ankle.*

"What's going on out here, if I may ask?" *The shadow, a.k.a. Firestsripe, asked*[/color]

[Scarlet]

Scarlet was just about to hop back from the kick when she saw two black paws come down on Jaazar's leg, stopping the kick. She looked up at Firestripe, for it was him, a look of fury on her face. What the heck does he think he is doing? She thought, as he asked "What's going on out here, if I may ask?"

" Well," Scarlet started, an undertone of anger in her voice, " It just so happens I am in the middle of something at the moment, so if you would please...." She gestured to Jaazer, as if saying Just let me finish the fight.

[Firestripe]

*Firestripe deflated the instant he saw the look on Scarlet's face. Heck, he thought he'd been helping out seeing as how she was being attacked and generally beasts don't like being attacked. Besides, after all the time he wasn't there and how much he'd hurt her, he wanted to do everything he could to protect her. Apparently that wasn't in her agenda. The light in his eyes dimmed at the anger in her voice. He put a blank look upon his face to hide whatever other expressions might have made an appearance and released Jaazer's leg.*

"Oh, ok"

*With that, he turned on his heel and made his exit back to Scarlet's cabin. He dropped back into the chair at the table and just kinda sat there, mentally berating himself for make her even more mad at him than she already was.*

OOC:This is seen from Firestripe's perspective so he made some assumptions himself that might not be quite accurate since he didn't really know what was going on.

[Scarlet]

Scarlet felt a wave of remorse crash over her like a foam-tipped wave of salty ocean water, the taste bitter in her mouth. She sheathed her blade before Jaazar could make another move of attack. " Look," She started, " You're a good fighter." Her face was serious, but her eyes were a bit distant, because clearly she wasn't thinking of Jaazer. " See that rat over there?" She pointed to the helmsbeast, who helped generally give rundowns to new crewmembers. " You'll recieve a full information briefing from him. Go!" She ended the conversation with a barked order, walking with a wide stride past him and to her cabin, stopping herself from giving in to the overwhelming urge to punch something. More than likely that something would have been herself if she would have.

She stepped inside her cabin, the familiar smell of rust and oak greeting her, and found Firestripe, sitting at the table. She walked up and stood there on the other side of the table, her ears flattened against her head shamefully. " Firestripe, I... I didn't mean to be so.. I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you at all, don't think I am..." She glanced up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears, tears that she tryed her best to surpress.

[Firestripe]

*Jaazer looked on as Scarlet made her leave. He was still balanced on one leg with the other in a position to kick again because he was just a little surprised by the happenings of the past few seconds. Jaazer lowered his leg and left his fighting stance with a sigh. Things hadn't gone exactly according to plan but even so he somehow managed to get himself a spot on the ship. He turned, spotted the crewbeast tha Scarlet had pointed out, and made his way towards him.*

---------Perspective shift to Firestripe---------

*Scarlet's words sounded sincere and she probably believed them to be true, but Firestripe knew better. That outburst back there was, well, an outburst. A loss of control. The control that was usually used to keep emotions in check. What happened back there was a glimpse at one of the emotions that Scarlet was truly feeling that maybe she herself didn't want to believe she felt.*

*Firestripe looked at Scarlet with sad but serious eyes.* "No, you are mad at me, I knew that already but I don't hold it against you. You have avery right to be angry and keeping it held in like that is only going to do bad things for you, making you snap when you don't really want to. You've got something on your chest to say that you're trying to hide. Say it, I want to know just what I've done." *Firestripe knew that after that litle speech, he should be prepared for a whole lot of hurt heading his way soon, and not necessarily hurt of the physical sort.*[/color]

[Scarlet]

Scarlet didn't know what to say at first. She gulped back her tears, collecting herself. Even if she felt terrible, she couldn't let herself cry, let herself seem weak. Her pride was too big to let that happen. She sat down across from Firestripe at the table. Looking him in the eyes, she couldn't hold back her emotions any longer.
" Oh Firestripe, you don't even know... How could I be mad at you? You thought I was dead, you thought that the ship had... " She couldn't stop the tears as they streaked her face. She wasn't really crying exactly, there were no whimpers or faces that she made. The tears just, well, fell.

She wiped at them with the back of her paw. " I'm just... overwhelmed. I mean, one day you're gone and then the next..." She looked back up at him, her big blue eyes wide, full of sadness and another, stronger emotion. " Even if you don't believe it.... even if you expect me to be mad at you... I'm.. I'm happy. I'm just happy that you're back, because.... I love you... You have to know that I do..." She looked down, staring at her paws that lay on the table. She knew it wasn't what Firestripe expected. She knew that he felt terrible. But she also knew that what she just said was true, so true. How can he expect me to do that to him? I just got him back... I just got him back.

[Firestripe]

*Firestripe wasn't real sure what to make of that, it wasn't the response he was expecting. To some degree, it would have actually been easier if she had gotten mad and started screaming bloody murder into his face because he felt that's what he deserved. But this, this care and love that he was getting from her, it just killed him. He didn't deserve that from her, not at all.*

*Firestripelooked down and studied his paws that lay on the table* "I just don't understand it, you should be all sorts of angry with me; goodness knows I am. Why do you even give a crap about me anymore?" *It was almost like Firestripe wanted her to be mad at him. He felt he deserved it, and all creatures to some degree want what they feel they deserve and if they don't get said thing they think they deserve, they may feel cheated or confused. The later being Firestripe's current state. It obviously wasn't something he literally wanted, he just felt that's what he deserved.*[/color]

[Scarlet]

Scarlet thought about what he said. I can't believe he is saying this... I... I can't possibly be mad at him.... it wasn't his fault.... it wasn't his fault, yet, he feels like it is,,, I guess... No, but I couldn't.... But he needs me too.... Her train of thought wandered over the idea of getting angry at him, shouting and yelling and cursing all sorts or curses at him. Even though she didn't think he did anything to deserve it, it could be what he needs. It could be what is best for him, even if it might hurt Scarlet to do so.
She looked up from where she was staring blankly at her paws. I... I can do this.... I need to... for him.... She dried up the last of her tears and willed her eyes to grow cold with anger, as she could quite easily and convincingly do.
" You're right." She stood up abruptly, her figure rigid. " You're absolutely right." She repeated " I shouldn't give a crap about you anymore. How could you do somethiing like that to me?" Her voice rose like the rising heat on a midsummers day, "After all we had been through, after everything you said? How could you just give up?" She forced her words out with a sharp hatred, lashing out at Firestripe's feelings like a metal-tipped whip. In the back of her mind, she was telling herself that this is what he needed, but a small portion of her mind was worried about how he would react. She was sure though, he couldn't see through her ruse; He believed so much that she should be angry with him that she doubted he would guess she was faking.