Her eyes flickered back and forth as she inspected the camp ground, many of the TigerClan cats had already resumed the scuffling that was happening before they had come. Learning that Thunderstep was Darkstar's son had amazed her, but their was a more sinister assemnet was appearing on the horizon of her thoughts. What would happen if they could not pass this "test" that had been convirsed about? All of these cat's seemed to just like to practice battling, it seemed habitude to them. Is this really what TigerClan spent all their time doing? She knew practice does make perfect, but this was really something. Petaldancer's eyes held a befuddled look on her face, as to lock away her own personal thoughts. The she-cat gave a slight groan of complete confussion as she watched the camp proceeded on through the day.
Cliffheart's mind raced at everything that had just happened. They weren't dead! He'd brought this patrol to LionClan's sworn enemy, and they were all still alive! That had to count for something, right? The chocolate tom immadiately wiped the smile off his face. He watched the way the TigerClan cats fought each other. This wasn't any practice bout, this was real. Claws, teeth, everything. He suppressed a shudder as the reality of the situation gripped him. It was hard for the tom to look to the future. He was a more take life one day at a time kind of guy, but he knew that the future wasn't going to be pretty. What on earth had he gotten his clan into?
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I am Jaggedpine. Just thought I should let you know.
Fawntail smiled at her eager apprentice. It had been much easier than she had expected to become close with a such young cat, and she enjoyed training her very much, though she wasn't always certain if she was doing the correct thing. Still, she nodded her head. "Great idea," she said. "I'm hungry. Let's move this way," (she gestured with her tail towards a fern-filled direction) "and see what we can catch. As we hunt, remember to keep your senses completely alert- particulary smell, but don't close off your other ones because you're too focused on one alone." Did that make sense? Maybe she confused Gingerpaw; the words sounded foreign rolling off her tongue. Assuring herself everything was alright, Fawntail began padding into the direction she had chosen.
Gingerpaw followed her mentor eagerly, soaking in everything she had told her, and remembering everything she taught her in the past. She was eager to impress her. She opened her jaws slightly, taking in everything she smelled, but trying hard to keep her mind open, and not focus on only the certain scents. "A fox passed through here!" She exclaimed, "But it's stale. I'm not sure how old..." She trailed off. Should she be able to tell how long ago the fox was here? "There is also a rabbit, and a mouse close by." She purred and looked at her mentor expectantly. Then, she heard a rustling in the bushes and dropped instinctively into a crouch. She stalked forward to see the mouse she had smelt. But she waited a tad too long, the mouse felt the vibrations of her paws and took off a second before she pounced. "Mouse-brain!" She hissed to herself. And she stood and shuffled her paws in embarrassment. Heat flushed through her fur. "Sorry Fawntail." She mumbled. "I'll get it next time! I promise!"
"Great job on the smells, Gingerpaw," Fawntail said, impressed with her apprentice's quick learning. "As for the mouse, not bad. Only your timing was off. You can't wait more than a few seconds becuse our pray is not eager to become pray and is always alert for hungry cats." She cuffed Gingerpaw playfully on the ear. "Let's try again. Use that great smell power of yours!" She walked a little further through the ferns.
Gingerpaw felt a warm sensation rise in her chest and she walked alongside her mentor a bit more proudly than she did before. Even though she messed up and missed the fresh-kill, Fawntail didn't get angry with her, she didn't scold her, all she did was compliment her sense of smell and told her to try again. She breathed in the scents around her, determined even more so this time around. She breathed in the scent of a rabbit, a few fox lengths away from them. Without a word, she dropped and circled around the rabbit, remembering to get downwind. With a single graceful leap, she landed on the rabbit and killed it swiftly. She purred, and looked up at her mentor. "I got it!" She smiled and scraped some earth over it. Her eyes locked with Fawntail's, and she was tempted to ask her about the Lionclan cats. She couldn't help but feel like there was more to it. But she was still young, only nine moons. But then, her and Fawntail talked a lot, and she trusted her mentor. She knew she wouldn't get angry with her for asking. "Fawntail? Why were you with Thunderstep when he brought the Lionclan cats with him? And why do they want to join our clan? I mean...are they as bloodthirsty as the rest of them?" She would never voice the fact that she hated how much Tigerclan was driven by fighting, by bloodshed. Although Fawntail didn't like her talking about it, she just couldn't understand why Lionclan cats would want to join with them.
Fawntail sighed. She had exspected this at some point during the lesson; she knew her apprentice's inquisitive mind all too well. Even though the entire dilemma was a probably bit mature for Gingerpaw, Fawntail felt no guilt in answering a few of her understandably curious questions. "I was with Thunderstep because we have all agreed that TigerClan alone is no place for a wild cat," she began. Thunderstep knew far more about the issue than she did, but she was trying her best for her apprentice. "At the same time, it is also not ideal to drive out an entire Clan, nor is it ideal to try and change a Clan's entire being and how they live and grow up. What would be the best solution would be to actually work together as one giant family and merge both our Clans. This is because the LionClan cats do not live the same way we do, all bloodthirsty and power-hungry. They work as a unit, one single family, and it shows. I went with Thunderstep because that is what I want in a Clan, and obviously, others agree too." She didn't know what else to say, so she simply stopped talking, letting the sudden silence fill the gaps in the air.
Gingerpaw listened to her intently. Letting her words soak into her mind and intertwine with her thought process. "It's what I want too." She said softly. Her mind flashed back to the image of the male cat comforting his clan-mate. Signs of such affection were not often found in TigerClan, if ever. So they were infiltrating TigerClan. She could see the clever idea inside it all. Gingerpaw did not want to wipe out an entire clan, battling for territory or life and death was different than needless war and bloodshed. She dipped her head to her mentor. "Thank you for explaining it to me, Fawntail." She knew most cats would have deemed her far too young to be told all of this, and she knew part of the reasoning for Fawntail telling her was simply because of the bond the two shared, but also because she knew Gingerpaw should know. She heard Thunderstep's words in her head again, "Stay young as long as you can." She still had the glee and joy of a young cat, but also the burning fire to protect those she was close too, and to stand for what was right. She always admired the old tales of the Four Clans, part of her wished it was that way again, she felt like that's where her heart belonged. But she is the now. And she will do whatever she felt is right. Her eyes glowed with happiness, "I wonder if we'll actually win this! I want in you know, I want to help you guys any way I can!" She bounced up on her paws, as if waiting for Fawntail to give her an order to obey.
As the group of Lionclan cats sat in the Tigerclan camp, the warriors of Tigerclan went about their day. Nightdang felt foreign and alien amongst these cats. However, she did notice that quiet a few of the cats were being called by names that weren't that of warriors. She quirked her head to the side as a long furred white she-cat was called the name 'Fluffy'. She flattened her ears at such an horrid name. Certainly these were the rogues Thunderstep was talking about. Not to long afterward the deputy, a cat she didn't recognize stepped forward. "Alright you pieces of fox-dung, step up!" His hateful amber eyes glowing at each Lionclan cat. He fixed his eyes upon Cliffheart and sneered, "You're training under Stormfoot." Then he turned to Bearfur, "You'll train under Shadstreak." From there he turned to Nightfang, "You'll train under Whitewhisker." Then he inspected Wolfheart and muttered, "You'll train with Owlclaw." He turned to Silvermist and spat, "You'll train with Applepelt." Lastly he looked at Petaldancer, he eyes lighting for a moment with less then honorable intentions. She was a pretty she-cat to be sure, "You gonna train with Sunheart." The wiry dark tabby moved forward, liking his jowls with delight. "I look forward to seeing your progress."
Thunderstep watched as his former deputy called out role. He listened to each of their mentors. Most of them were decent enough cats, though they were loyal to Darkstar. He caught the light in Sharpfang's eyes and felt himself bristle. Sharpfang was notorious for being unkind to she-cats. He stormed forward as the despicable tom inched closer to Petaldancer. Thunderstep thrust his way between the deputy and the she-cat. He wasn't sure if Petaldancer would appreciate the intervention, but someone from Tigerclan needed to speak up. "Watch your tongue Sharpfang," he snarled, looking just as dangerous as his father, "Or you won't have a tongue left." "You watch it Thunderstep! You're a traitor!" The deputy turned and stalked away, "This isn't over gorgeous." Thunderstep snorted in disgust before turning apologetic eyes to Petaldancer. "Sorry about that," he chuckled softly, "The tom just doesn't know when to quite."
Ooc: This is just a poem I made that is extreamly related to this roleplay.
River will flood
Lightning will strike
Lion and Tiger will begin their fight
And through the battle the sun will dissapear
And when it comes back peace will be here
I'll mention it in the post but will we get a new TigerClan name. I think it will be kind of cool if we all start out as new named apprentices.
Ic: Wolfheart shuddered. Would they get new names. Would they become apprentices again. She remembered being teased by everyone as an apprentice. She has always been disliked. Then she told herself "You remember Firestar. He was disliked and he came to greatness." She would never believe it was a bad clan but she would belive it was an evil leader. Brokenstar, Tigerstar, and Leopardstar weren't good leaders. Onestar destroyed WindClan. Leopardstar was let Tigerstar rule her clan. Tigerstar was just plain evil. And Brokenstar trained kits to early. Was Darkstar like these leaders?
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This wonderful siggie was made by Twigie! Thanks Twigstorm! :D