Gingerflame
What? Gingerflame stood there, watching in surprise as the tom did something strange, something completely adverse to what she had been expecting. He was... cowering? The she-cat had been so ready to take him down, to batter him with her hormone-induced fury. She had expected the tom to yowl at her, to stand his ground and meet her challenge head on. But no. It wasn’t to be. Instead, she got a tom who started to whimper like a young kit. A cat who seemed to melt away at her rage, like delicate snow against the blazing sun.
Gingerflame stopped hissing and backed away, a sickening feeling aching through her stomach. What in StarClan’s name did she do? She turned away slightly, releasing the tension in her muscles. It would have been so easy if he had just done what she expected, if he’d reflected her anger and given her a fight. She would have known what to do, how to swing her claws just at the right time, where to aim and how hard. She knew how to fight, fighting was easy and straight-forward. But this? It caught her off-guard, shaking her mentally. She didn’t plan this, she didn’t know what to do.
In her confusion, the only option available to her was to stop and watch. And she did, she watched as his mouth opened and closed, stuttered words jolting out, his face frantic. But she did not listen. His words were drowned out by her own chaotic mess, how ill-prepared for his reaction she was, was so glaringly obvious.
He continued to stumble over his words, spurting out things her mind was too disordered to hear. She wanted him to stop, to shut up just for a moment.
“Frost-” She paused, staring at him, uncertain that he could even hear her. “Shut up, please...”