Shrewstep did his best to look sort of moderately intimidating as Hawkbite announced the terms of the fight. Nothing surprising, honestly. Claws had always been on the table, that was no surprise. What sort of warrior were you if you couldn't fight with claws? He was sort of enjoying the Main Character Moment, if he was being honest. Even if he might end up getting his ass handed to him by Foggymask. Actually, that wasn't going to happen. He was slippery as a little eel, and certainly wasn't going to go down without a fight. Shrewstep certainly couldn't hope to win this on brawn alone, but he had the brains.
Though generally disguised in his perhaps overly goofy packaging, Shrewstep did have a mean bite to back up his occasional bark. Speed was his friend, and while his balance was perhaps a bit weakened by his lack of a tail, it did mean he couldn't be seized by that delicate limb. On the contrary, he planned to do his best to get at Foggymask's tail, as it had often proved a means of inflicting significant pain if not longterm damage on larger cats. As annoying as Foggymask was (unfit to bear the prefix he regarded as one of the best) and as much as he was hoping to do a good job of this, he shouldn't be trying to maim the other permanently. That would just be cruel, and likely to land him in hot water.
Whether the other tom felt the same remained to be seen, but Shrewstep was thinking more along the lines of 'how can I convince him this isn't worth the trouble' than 'how can I beat him to a pulp'. Not that he had the mass to do any pulping anyway.
His ears were turned toward Hawkbite as the Commander outlined the rules and cautioned spectators away, but his eyes remained trained on his temporary foe. Then, the final word from the commander, and his ears were pointed at Foggymask as well. Immediately, Shrewstep dropped his stance lower. Shorter than usual even, he was a lithe little thing, darting forward immediately. He had no plans of giving Foggymask time to get set and anticipate his intentions. No, he would be rushing in immediately, head on until he was a few mouselengths in front of Foggymask's nose.
A drop of the shoulder carried him slightly to the right (hopefully along with Foggymask's attention) before his left paw came up, swiping behind him across the visage of his opponent. If Foggymask didn't pull his nose back quickly he would be in danger of getting a clawed paw across the face, though probably too low to pose any risk to his eyes. Both because Shrewstep didn't want to hit his eyes, and because he was rather short. Shrewstep didn't tarry about to see if his blow landed, instead carrying on to the right and (hopefully) out of range before pivoting slightly in an effort to ensure he was facing Foggymask fully, rather than risking an attack from the side. @
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