Ashwings legacy

Chapter 12

"I challenge you to a duel!"
Ashwing made sure his voice rang out for all to hear. He heard gasps and whispers break out, but he didn't care. Beta blinked at him, her face remaining ice cold. "If I win, you take half of the food like normal. If I lose, you can take all of it."
Scarlett yowled at him. "Are you insane! She is Alphas second in command, the strongest they have!" She yelled, her tail lashing.
Ashwing ignored her and continued to stare at Beta. "What do you say?"
She narrowed her eyes before speaking. "Alright, I accept your challenge." She says. "I'll allow you to choose the rules."
Ashwing thought for a moment before responding. "First to pin their opponent wins, and no outside interference from either side."
knowing that he wouldn't be killed in this fight made him a little more confident. Beta nodded. "I can agree to that." She said, motioning for her allies to stand back. The cats watching formed a large circle around them, and Ashwing dropped into a ready stance, his eyes never leaving his opponent, who was now staring at him with her eyes narrowed into slits and her face twisted into a menacing half snarl-half smile. "You might finally give me some entertainment... ready when you are, Ashwing..."
Ashwing saw her ready herself, and he had to quickly decide what to do. I'll bolt in and swipe at her rig-
Before he could even finish his thought, he saw a flash of movement, and Beta was a tail length away, her foreleg already above her head ready to swipe his face with her claws. His body moved on its own, throwing himself out of the way of her lightning quick attack. He kept his eyes on her as he rolled out of the way and saw her move in for a follow up attack. He regained his footing and charged her, dodging to the side and swiping upward towards her chin. He was suprised when he felt nothing but air hit his paw, and looked over his shoulder, realizing she had ducked underneath his raised foreleg, into his blindspot and was already lunging at his flank. He knew he didn't have time to turn or dodge, so he leapt strait into the air, twisting his body to dive at her with his claws extended. He locked eyes with her mid-fall as she skidded to a halt right underneath him, there was something about her that felt familiar, but he didn't know what.
She leapt backwards and he landed on his paws in front of her. What's her deal? Shes just a rogue but somehow she's as skilled as me!
He bolted at her, hoping to overwhelm her with a flurry of attacks. He swiped at her with his left paw, then his right. He spun on his paw, turning his body to kick with his back leg, but nothing he threw connected. I can't let up! Keep going!
He let out a furious yowl as he continued his assault. He reared up on his hind legs to swipe her from above, but before he could bring his paws down, he felt a something heavy hit his belly. Realizing she had tackled him, he let himself roll with her to avoid being pinned. They rolled until Ashwing planted his hind legs under her belly and kicked out with as much force as he could, launching her over him. He rolled back onto his paws just in time to see her gracefully twist her body, just as he had, to land square on her paws. He readied himself again but could feel himself getting tired. He knew he couldn't keep this up for long. He had to find a way through her defenses. But I've tried everything! No matter what I do, I can't land a hit!
One solid hit could be the difference between winning and losing. He kept his eyes on her and realized she was also panting. She was getting tired as well. This gave him hope, and suddenly, he had an idea. He gritted his teeth and charged at her, bringing his paw up to swipe at her. He saw her get ready to dodge and predicted that she'd most likely duck into his blindspot again just like last time, but Instead of going through with his swipe, he brought his paw down early, spinning on his foreleg and swinging his hind legs out to catch her off guard. To his surprise, and relief, it worked, and he felt his back leg connect with her face. She was sent sprawling back, completely blindsided by his fake attack. He couldn't help but smirk as he lunged after her, aiming to pin her. As he moved in he caught her smirking just before he saw a flash of brown. Next thing he knew, his eyes were burning and he couldn't see. He stopped in his tracks, screwing his eyes shut and pawing at his face before feeling that familiar feeling of Beta tackling him, knocking him over and pinning him. He squinted his eyes to see her figure standing over him, smirking. "You lose." She said coldly.
Ashwing was still reeling. What happened? I couldn't tell...
He heard yowls of outrage from Firesoul, Owlnose, Scarlett, and others.
"That's not fair!"
"You cheated!"
Scarlett's voice rang out louder than the others "Damn you, filthy mange pelt! Resorting to throwing dirt in your opponent's eyes to win!"
He could hear the rage in her voice. So that's what happened...
All he could do was lay there underneath Betas claws as she responded. "If you recall, I let him make the rules! And he made no rule against such tactics." She yelled, silencing the onlookers.
He felt her get off of him and he rolled over, rubbing his eyes with his paws until it was bearable to open them. "Shes right... I never said you couldn't do that..." he said, hanging his head. "I... lost..."
The entire camp fell silent. He couldn't bear to look anyone in the eye right now. I've essentially caused their deaths... if we can't find enough food, we'll die. Either from starvation or facing Alphas wrath...
"I'm sorry..." he whispered.
"Hey."
He heard Betas flat voice and looked up at her. Her gaze had softened, if only a little, and she dipped her head. "I do apologize for resorting to such a crude method of assuring my victory, but I'm not one to leave an opportunity hanging." She started. "I will say, you are a formidable opponent, I was getting desperate, and for a moment I believed my loss was all but certain. In short, you have earned my respect, Ashwing of the clans. As a show of said respect, I will only be taking half of the pile."
His eyes widened. He could hardly believe his ears. Gasps of suprise and yowls of celebration broke out in the camp. "Beta! Y-you can't be serious!"
He heard the voice of one of Betas lackeys, Shay, who had bounded up beside her. "We won completely fairly! We earned that food!"
Beta turned on her and gave her a burning  glare "I earned that food, and as such it is my choice what to do with it."
Shay shrunk back, looking down. "Y-yes Beta..."
The other cat on Betas patrol, a tom, stepped foward on her other side. "What about alpha? He certainly won't be happy about this..." he said softly, almost as if he was afraid to ask.
"Let me worry about him." She said, turning away. Her patrol picked up half of the pile and started walking towards the entrance. Ashwings ears perked up as he heard Betas voice once more. "Next time we meet, Ashwing, hopefully it will be under better circumstances." She said, leaving without another word.
   He rubbed his eyes some more before again feeling something crash into him. He was knocked over again, and looked up to see Scarlett standing over him, her eyes burning with fury. "You idiot! Not only was that plan of yours reckless, it was beyond stupid! What were you thinking?" She spat at him, hackles raised and her claws digging into the ground.
   Firesoul quickly bounded forward, shoving Scarlett back. "Hey! Leave him alone! Hasn't he been roughed up enough already?" She said, standing between him and the angry she-cat.
   Owlnose joined her but spoke more calmly. "Shes right, that was totally uncalled for..." he said.
   Ashwing couldn't help but smile. I'm so lucky to have friends like them... he thought to himself.
   Scarlett huffed and turned, stomping angrily away. Ashwing couldn't help but feel bad, after all he had put everyone's wellbeing in jeopardy. He got lucky this time but it was still a reckless thing to do. Maybe I should go talk to her later after she's had time to cool off... Ashwing thought, getting up and shaking his fur out.
   Kade walked up to him and bowed his head. "Ashwing, what you did was very brave, no matter what Scarlett says. Thank you for standing up for us." He said.
   Ashwing was a little suprised. "Oh, I really don't believe I deserve thanks... Scarlett was right, what I did was reckless and could have caused more problems for you."
   "Nonsense. It may have been risky, but it worked out didn't it? The difference between me and Scarlett is that I focus on what is, not what would have been." He said with a small smile.
   Ashwing contemplated his word, letting them sink in. Before he could respond, Kade spoke again. "Come, let's get Osa to take a look at you."