Madhukar only had time to register the words that Kalama was spitting and come up with one single memory before she was thrown off.

'WHAT ARE YOU?! WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?!?' Twisted. Or, well, The Cat that called itself that idiotic name. Madhukar immediately regretted her moves, immediately regretted how, if you played back the two films, you could see the two creatures mirror each other.

Were they really not so different?

Aaaaaaand she was off. Okay! Alright! Madhukar's upper body was kicked into the air, scraped by chicken talons. She lurched back, struggling to stabilize herself. " 'M OFF, 'M OFF!" she spat. That hurt. That hurt a lot! Madhukar hissed as she backed away; lashed her tail, bent head head down, fluffed her fur out. She narrowed her eyes at the hen, feeling as though nothing she could say would help her situation. She'd shown Kalama the threat she posed. There was no easy way to show her that she wasn't an assassin.

Running could imply failure. Hurting Kalama too bad would definitely reinforce the false notion. She could either throw the match... or she could win without killing Kalama. But what did it mean to 'win' this match anyways? What game was she playing anymore? She'd wanted to learn. Now she was just being screamed at by a chicken she was beginning to relate to.

Maybe she could make Kalama be quiet just by being... louder. That was a game she could challenge the chicken to and possibly win. "KALAMA! LISTEN!" She shouted, queuing up a thunderclap to crash down upon the both of them. Maybe the noise would make Kalama too bewildered or disoriented to keep attacking or shouting ungrounded accusations at her. If it worked.

Round: 5/5
Attempt: Out-loud Kalama (possibly hurt or disorient with noise)
Defense: Head lowered, hackles raised, eyes narrowed
Injuries: Scratched underside, unbalanced

@Kalama

Kalama stood on shaky legs. She shook out her neck, feeling the burn on her neck."HA! I'll show you!"It'd be a good lesson for Kalaziel to see how they dealt with spies and assassins. Kalama, honestly, didn't know--she hadn't encountered one before. But it'd be a good learning experience for the both of them!

Her first assassin, if that was an accomplishment! She'd have a million others before too long! She hoped they all weren't this...powerful. She took a step forward to intercept Madhukar. A harsh thunderclap reverberated. Kalama shot up with a loud cluck. Like a surprised cat. The boom left her ears ringing. Madhukar's voice came muffled to the chicken. Muffled, but still parsable.

"Ow! Ow ow, what!" She said. Even louder, from not being able to hear herself. She ducked her head, rubbing at her ears with wing fingers. "Whaaat, what do you want!? You've got ten seconds before I come over there and whap you, catssassin!" She was kind of scared of charging into a cat that powerful again. But she'd hope to intimidate the cat.
think "speak"

ROUND: 5/5
Attempt: recovery!
Defense: Covering ears
Injuries:hit head on ground, electrified neck, ringing ears
@Madhukar

Character: Madhukar Age: +3 (3 Cycles) Magic Level: +3 (Pupil) ROUND 1 Attempt: +12 Penalties: -0 ROUND 2 Attempt: +19 Penalties: -0 ROUND 3 Attempt: +14 Penalties: -0 ROUND 4 Attempt: +19 Penalties: -0 ROUND 5 Attempt: +10 Penalties: -0 Total: 94

Character: Kalama (the Terrible) Age: +18 (18 Cycles) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: +2 Penalties: -0 ROUND 2 Attempt: +3 Penalties: -0 ROUND 3 Attempt: +6 Penalties: -0 ROUND 4 Attempt: +20 Penalties: -0 ROUND 5 Attempt: +5 Penalties: -0 Total: 55

WINNER: Madhukar

(Someone ought make a consolation prize for getting beat up by an actual baby.)
@Madhukar @Kalama

It seemed as though her plan to get the chicken to listen had worked. She had ten seconds before-- wait, what? What kinda word was 'catsassin'? Okay, whatever, back to the matter at hand (paw)! "I. AM NO. C... CAT-- WHA' EVER YO' SAID." Madhukar was speaking very loudly, and very slowly, practically spelling it out for the crazy bird. "I USE MAGIC. TO SHOW YO'. THA' I NEED IH." She hated talking. Oh my gosh she hated talking, talking was SO STUPID, how did ANYBODY DO IT THIS MUCH?!?!

She simmered down a bit, seeming to slump. Maybe it was the exhaustion of fighting. Or talking. It could very likely be either. " 'm no very goo' fighter." There. The admittance! Kalama would probably not believe her, especially now, but if Kalama did... then there was a chance for a few things to happen. Really just two that Madhukar could visualize.

1.) She'd have to explain 'Twisted The Cat'.

2.) Kalama might... might -- and this was a BIG IMPROBABILITY -- might just train her in physical combat. MAYBE! Probably not. Madhukar was not getting her hopes up.

She wasn't even sure she wanted the second option to happen. She'd just beaten the chicken! But maybe it had just been a bad day for Kalama. Madhukar was willing to believe that. It had certainly been a bad day for Madhukar when she'd gotten clobbered by an actual baby. Besides, if Kalama wasn't a possible teacher for her, where else could she go? Who else could she approach? She really wanted to be able to punch idiots whenever she pleased, and physical combat (believe it or not) was a weakness for her! A pretty big one! Getting beaten by a 15 minute old hatchling and a 3 cycle old Madhukar were two very different things!!!

Madhukar would just have to hold out and see what the fate of this interaction would be. She expected the worst.

@Kalama (the Terrible, who needs a compensation award for getting beaten by a baby)

The gears were churning in Kalama's head. This cat was...not a fighter? She listened to Madhukar, thoroughly confused. This cat wasn't making any sense. "No! You're wrong! Or-or lying! Either or! You...you're just saying that to get my guard down again." Kalama began to backpedal. Slow steps, orange eyes focused on the cat. She could barely hear her own footsteps after that boom.

"I dont trust you. Or your magic. Or your shifty, green eyes, cat. I'm not stupid enough to fall for your lies again!" She clucked at the end of her chatter, an angry sound. Her eyes darted away from Madhukar, searching for the fastest route away from this hulk cat. "I see you again cat, I'll be ready. I just went easy on you cause you're pretty small for an assassin." She said. Yeah, she hadn't been beaten by a child! She'd just been going easy on them! And they were an assassin! A very strong one.

"I see you again, you'll have another thing coming assassin!" Kalama spat in Madhukar's general direction, kicking up a plume of dust. She turned, trotting away, tail swaying behind her. She was dunking her neck in the first pool of water she saw. Caves, this hurt.

think "speak"

@Madhukar
;exit unless stopped

AAAAAAAAAnd neither option happened. Kalama didn't believe her one way or the other, and Madhukar had gotten absolutely nothing out of this experience besides another enemy. effervescent.

The kitten (NOT CAT!!!) stared, mostly just perplexed at the retreating chicken. Blinked a few times to affirm that what had just happened had actually, indeed, very much just happened. Had... had Madhukar acted like this when she'd gotten beaten by The (Actual) Cat?? No, she couldn't have looked that ridiculous, could she have? Well, Madhukar supposed getting beaten by a minutes-old hatchling was, in and of itself, pretty ridiculous.

Alright, theory(?) though: wasn't it kind of... weird that this chicken was so insecure, it ran from a child that it was assuming was a whole entire assassin??? 'Just WHO are your enemies, Kalama?' Whatever the story was there, Madhukar suddenly felt like she had not the time nor the patience to think about it anymore. Remind her to never seek out shady deals by the Spire offered by crazy radical chickens again.

Madhukar out! (In a different direction.)

- exit -