[you watch your step, now, hoss.] - RainxHolliday

[Glowy]

Left, left, left-right-left. Time passed by to the chanting in Rain's mind, a dull pastime, but something to help him stay awake, at the very least. He could speed up and slow down the pace of the chant when need be, but it was always the same words, unchanging, much like the state of his mind. Left, left, left-right-left. Things just hadn't quite been the same since... since The Incident. Yes, that was a good name for it. It made it seem more dramatic than it actually was. Rain had left, and when he'd come back, his home had been filled with tire tracks and his best friend had been stolen along with his children. He kept having to remind himself that Analucia had not been his mate. She was his friend. He had not loved her, not in the way that she had loved him- nevertheless, his heart was broken. He supposed it was a natural reaction to losing one's entire life overnight. Oh, don't get me wrong, he had loved his children, but their mother... well, he would never be able to love her in the way that she needed. So he supposed it was for the best, really. Left, left, left-right-left. Just like a soldier. Except he wasn't a soldier. He was a cowboy. Or a knight, like Analucia had always said. He shook his head. No. It was time to banish such notions from his mind. He was a cowboy. He was a goddamn, honest to goodness, gen-you-ine, rough and tumble, leather boots and shining spurs cowboy. And all the best cowboys had issues. John Wayne had had a lot of messes to clean up, that Lone Ranger guy always had to go off and save the day, Wyatt Earp had had his big gun fiasco, and he was sure that Buffalo Bill had gotten into some pretty sticky situations with his... buffalos, whatever those were. He didn't notice the other tom until the two were practically on top of each other. Rain had been lost in his thoughts, and he assumed the same of the stranger. His legs flailed about wildly for a few seconds as he attempted to dislodge himself from the awkward and unwanted physical contact. Honestly, it was just as much the runt's fault as it was his! Little shrimp could have moved out of the way, but no. Oh, no, he had to keep walking and run his face into Rain's chest and get all tangled up in his legs. "You wanna watch where you're goin' next time, Tinkerbell?" His lip curled up as he eyed the smallish tom, shuddering. He'd touched him. He'd been touched. Nobody had touched him, literally, in months. MONTHS. It had been MONTHS since he'd even seen another cat, much less... rubbed fur. "Wouldn't want you to get your little pixie legs stuck in a place they don't belong." He smirked, pleased that he hadn't cowered away in his shock. He'd done a real cowboy thing and saddled up and faced his... well, just faced the awkwardness, and had laughed in its face! "Now, I ain't lookin' for no trouble, so you just move on out of my way and we can go our separate ways and just forget this ever happened. Sound good, Thumbelina?" The path suddenly seemed much narrower than it actually was, and that little speck of dust was blocking his way to freedom. So his jaw set and his shoulders squared, and he was ready to plow through that troublesome little rattlesnake. speaking [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Pyro]

'It's your fault. Father might not have the heart to tell you, but I sure do. And you've proved that you don't belong here, gringo.'. It was as though Damien was still in front of him, taking the words right out of his mouth. He could still see Essie as she was that day. Hurt. Betrayed. Angry...at him. But he coudn't be angry at any of them. What they had said was the truth. He'd been an idiot, and Raphael had paid for it with his life. But damn if Holliday didn't get the bastard who did him in. Raphael had been like a brother to him. And he knew that he owed it to him to make sure Ringo was sitting in hell where he belonged. Holliday remembered it like it was yesterday. The sun had been so hot and high that day he was surprised he hadn't been cooked alive. But he watched. And he waited. Until at last that wretch Ringo had deigned to show himself to the world, all puffed up like damned popinjay for having killed one of the Amaranto legacy and right under the nose of the Princess of Thieves. Just thinking about the triumphant smirk plastered on the face of that- "Son of a badger!" he cursed as some lackwit walked right into him. He took a few steps back to free himself of the stranger's fur before glaring up at the taller tom. From the way the stranger was talking, Holliday had run into him, nevermind the fact that the stranger obviously hadn't been paying much attention to where he was stepping. And Tinkerbell? Thumbelina? Someone was looking for trouble no matter how hard they denied it. "You don't want any trouble?" Holliday smiled. "Well ain't that a daisy. Cause I'm afraid I can't be bothered to move for someone who can't be bothered to look where they're goin'. O'course, I suppose it must be awful hard to see that you're the one runnin' into people from way up there." [bg=000000][atrb=width,428,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Glowy]

Rain's smirk grew into a grin. So, the little pipsqueak wanted to blame him? Oh, and he was going to try and insult him because of his height? How amusing. "Aw, come off it, hoss. We both know you're jes' jealous that I can see over some of the bushes in this here forest." Speaking of the bushes, they seemed to be creeping closer and closer to the large gray tom, choking off his breath and cutting him off from the light. The path was now more narrow than it had been a few moments ago, and Rain was kinda freaking out. He didn't want to get into a fight with this guy. He'd never fought anything before in his whole life. Judging from the scars the smaller tom bore, he knew how to handle himself in a battle. If you were scarred and you were still alive, that made you a formidable opponent in Rain's eyes. He could hijack a horse, but if you gave him a gun and told him to shoot at the man in pursuit, he'd be likely to bugger out. You know what I'm saying? You get it? Rain was just a puffed up little ball of bravado. Oh, he'd be able to wrestle his way out of most situations with his brute strength, this he knew, but... still, he'd much rather not get into any situations in the first place. Rain figured he'd try and force his way past his little shrimp of an opponent. Then at least he'd be able to say he tried when he was nursing his numerous wounds after the fact. "Now, before I step right on top of ya and leave ya in the dust, you oughta at least give me yer name. Y'know, for... posterity's sake," he said as he attempted to weasel his way past the smaller tom. Shoulders bumped, and Rain felt himself lodged very firmly between the dust's neck and a very large tree trunk. What an idiot. "You wanna scootch over a bit there, Tinks?" He shoved to the side with his shoulder, but, really, all that resulted in was him hurting his other shoulder when it hit the tree. This was not going to be one of Rain's shining moments. speaking [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Pyro]

"Fur like that I'm surprised you aren't one of those bushes." Holliday frowned at the way the large tom seemed to take up all the space. It seemed like only a few moments ago the path was wide as all get out, but with the appearance of an additional cat things seemed to get tighter. Or maybe it wasn't the fact that there was another cat on the path. Maybe it was the fact that this cat was on the path. He was certainly bigger than Holliday, now that he could get a good look at him, a real bear of a cat. And just like a bear he was prone to lumbering around and generally exhibiting a large presence. Yeah. That was it. It wasn't just the stranger's size. It was his large presence, the way he seemed to be carrying himself like he didn't know what to do with all his bulk and fur. Holliday allowed himself to be pushed as the stranger tried to get past. The gesture was a stubborn one, and the look on his face of 'Do you mind, partner?' couldn't have been more plain on his face than if he had actually said the words. He couldn't help the return of his devilish grin though as the stranger decided it was worth asking the name of the tom he'd nearly run over. "If it'll keep you from callin' me Tiny Tim next, why not? Name's Holliday." The dusty tom drew little patterns in the dirt with a claw, staring at the ground now as though it were the most interesting thing in the world. It added, somewhat, to the casualness of his tone as he remarked "And if you keep on shovin' me around like you're some kinda hotshot gunslinger, it's gonna be the last name you ever hear...if you'll excuse the cliche." It might have been his deteriorating mood that was causing Holliday to be itching for a fight...but really, trouble followed him like a little lost puppy. Covered in fleas. With worms. And rabies. On a good day he might have passed by the stranger without so much as a passing glance. But here was this wonderful opportunity to just let go and let loose. A beautiful opportunity to forget, if only for a little while, all that had gone down in Mexico. And here was this tom, who seemed to think he could push and shove his way up the road like a goddamn freight train. Why, Holliday was surprised that steam wasn't pouring out of the stranger's ears. He knew he should've been playing it safe, especially considering the tom was much larger than he...but something inside him kept itching and whispering 'Come on. Push me one more time. Just come at me bro and push me one more time. See what happens.' [bg=000000][atrb=width,428,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Glowy]

"Tiny Tim," Rain mused with a cheeky grin. "Yeah, that would work well. But I'll call ya Holliday anyway." At that point, he would have given Holliday a good-natured cuff on his ear, but, as you know, his leg was trapped between the smaller tom and the stupid, goddamn tree trunk. He gave a frustrated sigh, rolling his eyes. Why didn't Holliday just move and let him pass? Did he not understand such a simple request? "Hey, partner, didn't ya hear me the first time? Stand down. Step aside, hoss," he said, voice lowering ominously. He swore that if the stubborn little wretch didn't move, he'd move him himself! On second thought, he'd just skip the grace period and bowl him over. So he gave a mighty shove, lost his balance, and toppled over the fallen form of Holliday. Well. Whatever worked. He picked himself up, shook the dust out of his fur, and... well, what he should have done was walk away. He should have just up and bolted, left his adversary behind in a pile. But did he do that? No. No, of course not. He had to gloat about it. Rain's paws (not claws) pushed down on Holliday's shoulders, pinning him to the ground. He wriggled a bit with delight, very proud of himself for having pinned his first foe so easily. Being big was nice! "Next time, Holl, just get the hell out of my way. You get that?" That being said, Rain released Holliday and spun around to walk away. A self-satisfied smirk painted his face all shades of happiness, and he had a nice little bounce to his step as he began to saunter away. But... it's been said, "Never turn your back on your opponent." speaking [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Pyro]

Step aside? Holliday couldn't think of one instance in his life when he just 'stepped aside' when someone was pushing and prodding at him. He ran from his problems in life admittedly, but he beat problem cats to a bloody pulp. "Here's an idea, why don't you take your fat ass and go-" The tom's words were cut off by his surprised yowl as Rain tripped all over him, smooshing him into the ground. What. The. Freaking. Hell. Was this stranger sick in the head or something? Did he have some disease stupidity that kept him from thinking like every other godforsaken cat in the world? You know what. Screw it. Nothing cured stupidity a disease like that like a good ol' fashioned beating, and this tom was in dire need of just that. "Partner, I'm gonna teach you to watch where you put your goddamn-" WHAT. THE HELL. As Holliday began to rise to his feet he felt himself being pushed back down. The stranger was on his back, pinning him to the ground and...and gloating? A low growl sounded in Holliday's throat. M'kay so forget the lesson, he was just gonna beat the evalivin' out of Mr. Clumsystep. He might just even kill him afterward just to make sure the tom never made the same mistake twice. When the stranger finally let him up, he wasn't very quick to actually get up. He rose slowly, watching the large tom leave. Apparently he wanted to invent a new level of stupidity by turning his back on a cat he'd just pinned. Too bad for him. Without even a battle cry Holliday leaped forward, going straight for Rain's legs. Other cats might have gone for the back, but Holliday was in no mood to be rolled over on again. Maybe he'd slice right through the tendons in the stranger's legs and he'd never be able to blunder into cats again. [bg=000000][atrb=width,428,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Glowy]

Rain felt Holliday's breath hot on his tail before he felt the claws digging into his haunches. He should have known it was coming. Looking back on it, he recognized the determined set of Holliday's jaw, the fire burning in his eyes that was just looking for a fight, begging for one. It had been foolish of him not to see it and back down when he'd had the chance. A sensation like fire, and then Rain's first wound inflicted by another cat's claws tore down his flank. He sprawled forward, disoriented and confused. Why was Holliday doing this to him? It wasn't like he'd done anything too bad. He'd just shoved Holliday around a bit and called him names, and he did the latter to everybody he met. By some chance, he managed to keep his balance and not fall flat on his face, but that still left the annoying problem of Holliday's claws latched into his hind legs. How to get rid of him? ... he could always sit on him. Yeah. That would make him royally mad, which was the best idea in this situation. But what other options did he have? There was nobody there to save him (Ana would have), and all he had to his advantage was his size. Hollliday's scars hinted that he'd been in battles before, and had won them. Well, the victory was obvious, or he wouldn't have been alive. Duh. So Rain, wet behind the ears, was up against a seasoned fighter, with nothing but his size, muscle, and instincts to help him. So he could sit on him, he could smash him up against something, he could keep walking, or he could... ... do a highly unglamorous sideways roll after slipping on some grimy, wet leaves. Holliday's claws twisted in his legs, making him grimace, and he scrambled to get up again, not wishing to leave his belly bared. Whether Holliday still had a grip on him or not, Rain couldn't tell. All he wanted to do was get up. speaking [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Pyro]

Holliday could tell almost immediately that he was facing a fighter who was green as all get out. Hell, he might even go as far as to say that the cat wasn't a fighter, and that made things all the easier. He wasn't above shootin' down a tenderfoot that thought himself better than he ought to. After all, if the tenderfoot survived they'd be a little more wary of strange battle-scarred cats in the future. In any case, Holliday found it highly amusing that the stranger couldn't use his bulk in any skillful fashion to defend his cocky attitude. The little dust-colored tabby was just about ready to trip Rain and stop the idiot chase when Rain did that for him. Holliday pitched sideways, twisting his claws into the other cat's legs before untangling himself from the car wreck-esque affair. He got up and took a few steps back, watching the loner scramble rather ungracefully to his own feet. The smaller cat smiled. No daisy as much as the cat seemed to want to make out. He let out a slow hiss, hoping to bring to panic-y cat to attention. "Now hold on there, stranger. I was under the impression that you were a daisy of a cat." He took a step closer, his crooked smile growing as the distance closed. "I would think that someone of your stature would want to protect such a reputation...or is it that you're no daisy at all: just a yellow-bellied cur with more bulk than he knows what to do with." Another step brought him right up to Rain, staring him done just like the other had stared him down only moments before. His stance was easy, but his claws were out and digging into the ground. He wondered, absentmindedly, if the stranger had any notions of winning...or if he'd gotten too used to letting his mouth say thing his claws couldn't back up. He reckoned it was the second, seeing as he'd already pegged Rain for a tenderfoot. A lucky tenderfoot maybe. But luck had to run out some time. "Throw down, boy. It's next time already, just say when." [bg=000000][atrb=width,428,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Glowy]

Rain had really been about to just walk away from the fight. He really had. He wasn't a fighter- he'd been brought up to be a feeler, not a combatant idiot. And now he'd been in a scuffle and had wounds that needed to be tended to (really only a few pricks on his haunches, barely bleeding at all, but Rain's a softie though he might try to hide it), so the most logical option would really be to pick up what he had left of his dignity and leave. But there was Holliday, using RAIN'S PATENTED cocky, crooked grin. There was Holliday calling him a daisy. There was Holliday implying that he didn't know what to do with himself. Oh. Rain was not happy. His face was mutilated into a sneer, his ears went flat against his skull, his tails tarted lashing, and he began to circle around his opponent. "You wanna call me a flower again, Tinkerbell? Go ahead," he growled, highly insulted with the implication that he might be anything other than manly. "If it's show down time, let's go. We'll see if I don't get you yet, hoss." Definitely not the smartest move in the world, but when had Rain ever been praised for his intelligence? He would wait for Holliday to make the first move, though. Maybe if he waited it out, he'd be able to pick up a few things and use the fairy's own moves against him. [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Pyro]

"Oh..you don't like daisy? Would you rather pansy or petunia, then?" Holliday wasn't inclined to make himself dizzy, so he followed Rain with his ears and out of the corner of his eyes as the large tom circled him. Apparently he did have a mind to fight. The smaller tom wondered vaguely if he'd gotten into more than he could handle this time...Rain didn't appear to be any sort of fighter, but he was noticeably superior in size as Holliday had been so kind to point out to himself repeatedly. Perhaps there was a part of him that wanted to just leave. Make a break for it and forget the whole ordeal. But whatever the opinion of that small part, the rest of him couldn't ignore the infuriating sneer plastered on the stranger's face. As the circling continued, Holliday lowered into a crouch, preparing himself to attack. The best defense was a good offense, right? It had gotten him out of trouble with only a few new scars before, so he was confident it would do just fine this time. As Rain passed by him to the front again he launched himself forward, claws digging into the ground as he flew raced toward Rain. At the last second he veered away slightly from Rain to canon into his side rather than right at the larger tom's cocky face. "Come on then, son. If you're so ready to die." [bg=000000][atrb=width,428,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Glowy]

"Oh..you don't like daisy? Would you rather pansy or petunia, then?" Rain growled. This... Holliday character was really starting to get on his nerves. "NO!" He spat, thoroughly put off with Tiny Tim's suggestions that he was flowery. He was NOT a daisy, or a pansy, or a rose, or anything with leaves and a bunch of cursed petals. He was... hm. What was he? He wasn't particularly tough, so he couldn't say he was leather, he wasn't sharp and pointy, so he wasn't spurs... what in the name of sanity was he that was manly? That really just made him all the more frustrated. His claws began digging into the dirt as he circled Holliday, creating little divots in the forest floor. He really was trying very hard to work up his anger, but it wasn't working as quickly as he would have liked. Holliday was just standing there. He was standing, doing absolutely nothing. It was hard to be mad enough to attack somebody when all they did was insult you with words. The crouch helped a little bit, since it was more threatening. All Rain did was close his circle in a little bit, though, still uncertain of what to do. And then Holliday said something that made Rain freeze in his tracks. He recovered fairly quickly from the shock and kept walking, but, oh, how his blood ran cold. Did he have a death wish? What did he have left to live for? All he had in the world was himself anymore. It was a sobering thought, one that he'd been trying to keep out of his mind. His family was lost to him, and the search was all he had left. It took precedence even over himself in his mind. How did Holliday know that he had nothing left to live for but a truly vain cause? He knew that he would never find his family. Honor. He could live to defend what little honor he had left. He would not stoop down and let this shadow of a tom cat take away his dignity. "That's where you're mistaken, hoss. I ain't gonna die," he growled just before Holliday smashed into his side. It was lucky for Rain that he'd stopped walking to reply to his opponent, for he would have been flipped into his side otherwise, most likely with a sprained paw. As it was, he remained fairly still, just swayed a few times while he tried to regain his breath. He wasn't downed, but it hurt like nothing else, that burning in his chest. "You normally look to kill anybody who offends you, Tinks? Didn't your mama never teach you about honor?" A good swipe was aimed at Holliday's jaw. Unfortunately, Rain forgot that he possessed claws. Yep. He was swinging his paws around with claws sheathed. Intelligent, yeah? [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Pyro]

Oh so mister-fights-with-sheathed-claws wasn't going to die, huh? The thought was so silly Holliday was tempted to fall over laughing. But of course, he didn't because that wouldn't win him the fight, now would it? Rain's blow was easy enough to dodge: a simple duck took the smaller tom from the path of the larger's swung paw. "Honor is a luxury I can't afford to have." he gave a wry laugh. "And my mother was too busy dying to do much of anything." Someone had said once, that the most efficient way to get rid of an irritating person was to kill 'em. Who was this putz anyway, to be questioning his honor? He'd already been downgraded to less than dirt by Essie and her brother. He didn't need some wise-ass schmuck comin' up out of nowhere and trying to do the exact same thing. Holliday was perfectly aware of his capacity as a skinny asshat, but he wasn't a goddamn backshooter like Rain was implying. At the very least he had enough integrity balls to come at a cat straight on. At least he gave a cat ample warning. Sure, as the fight wore on he might resort to trickery, but he wasn't the type to slink around in the shadows and stab someone in the back as a means of getting rid of them. Only once had he done that, and the bastard had it comin' to him. But enough about that. With a quick jerk Holliday fell to the ground, landing on his back to pummel Rain's belly (with unsheathed claws of course) before flipping back up again to slip away from the cowboy. If Rain wanted to see dishonor then by God he was gonna see it and hard. [bg=d6d5ae][atrb=width,500,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Glowy]

Aaaaaaaaand a fire lit up in Rain's belly like that time he'd accidentally downed some whiskey. Hey, it had been in a puddle on the ground, okay? It wasn't like he'd gone looking for the bottle or anything. It had been a puddle, he'd been thirsty, and then all of a sudden everything had been on fire and the most disgusting scent had filled his nostrils and Analucia had been laughing that skinny little tail of hers off. Until he'd pushed her face into the puddle and made her drink it too. Then they'd both started laughing. His belly felt like his throat had felt, just worse, because his belly was leaking. What in the name of Sam Hill... how... who... what? Rain blinked a few times and regained his composure just in time to see Holliday slinking off into the trees. What a yeller-bellied, chicken-livered... oh, Rain was mad. That Holliday seemed mean enough to get into a fight with a rattler and give the first bite, but really he wasn't even man enough to finish the fight once he'd started! He had half a mind to yell after the coward. Rain didn't have nothin' to live for anymore. Might as well die half-decently and just get it all over with. "Hey!" He got up and stumbled ahead a few steps, ignoring the blood leaking from his belly. "Hey you! Not man enough to finish what ya started? Come on! Come get me! I ain't got nothin' left, so just come on and do me in!" He had meant for his speech to be more masculine than that, but his wound coupled with his memories of Analucia just made him depressed. "Or maybe you're scairt of a fair fight? First blood! Come on!" There, that was a little bit better. [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]