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Post by Fate Admin on Aug 8, 2014 19:35:37 GMT -5
Ravenstar saw Oakpaw to the medicine cat’s den, carried awkwardly on his mentor’s back. Her tail lashed constantly, a clear sign of her anger. She stayed only long enough to see the young tom settled into a nest, still unconscious though no one was quite sure why, before turning and padding back out into the center of the cavern NightClan called home. Blackwolf had apparently already deposited Halfmask’s body and others were pressing forward to see their mangled Clanmate, her throat torn out and her head twisted unnaturally. She had been a promising young warrior. Ravenstar’s claws scraped stone as she stood staring at the broken she-cat.
She had been leading a border patrol, heading for RainClan. Hollowcry and Darkice had been with her. She had never expected to encounter a battle, nor a dead Clanmate. She’d been told what had happened, more or less. Oakpaw had chased a squirrel over the border and the rest of the patrol had come upon him lying unconscious at the paws of a RainClan patrol. The battle that had ensued had been needless and cost NightClan a good warrior. But Blackwolf had not let her death go unpunished, and that at least calmed some of her fury. Sandstar was dead. She could almost consider it a fair trade. One of NightClan’s warriors was worth so much more than any of RainClan’s. She could never have been satisfied if Blackwolf had taken the life of a single warrior. Instead he had taken RainClan’s leader from them.
Her tail ceased its lashing momentarily to lift triumphantly behind her at the thought. She turned and raced for the Boulder Ledge, leaping up in one swift motion and turning to let her voice echo down into the cavern, “Let all cats able to walk on their own four paws gather beneath the Boulder Ledge for a Clan meeting!” She waited impatiently for her Clan to appear around her, standing at the very edge of the ledge, her claws gripping the stone as she leered down at the gathering cats. Luckily everyone was fairly interested in just why a dead Clanmate now lay in the middle of camp and she didn’t have to wait long, “RainClan attacked Oakpaw after he accidentally chased prey over the border. When the rest of his patrol leapt to defend him they killed Halfmask!” Her tail was once again lashing behind her as she paused to let her Clan give voice to their anger and grief at this news.
“Warriors do not need to kill to win their battles, so says the Code! And yet this RainClan pond scum took the life of one of our own over a simple misunderstanding!” She snarled, her amber gaze seeking Blackwolf in the crowd as she lifted her head, “RainClan did not go unpunished for this crime!” Her eyes glinted with satisfaction as she let her gaze sweep the rest of her Clanmates, “Sandstar himself was among the RainClan patrol. After they killed Halfmask, Blackwolf took his life to avenge her!” Her whiskers twitched as the rage burning in her eyes began to lessen, imagining those frogbrains' reactions after Sandstar died and did not rise to live out another life. “Razorfang will likely be Razorstar when next we meet him.” Her tail flicked as if dismissing the idea. It didn’t matter who led RainClan. “RainClan will be angry over the loss of their leader. We shall patrol their border diligently for the next several days to make sure they don’t get any ideas.” She quieted at last to hear what her Clanmates would say to this news.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2014 22:01:48 GMT -5
Roused by Ravenstar's call, Nettlefur paused only long enough to shake the moss from his fur as he exited the warrior's den. The tortoiseshell warrior made his way to the base of the boulder slowly, weaving through the gathering cats as she spoke. RainClan attacked Oakpaw? He nearly tripped over a tail, recovering as his leader announced Halfmask's death. But as his gaze beheld her mangled body, his breath caught in horror. Killed? She was mutilated! Had this been Razorfang's doing? He stared for a moment before looking up to NightClan's leader. Her tail was lashing, and there was anger in her amber eyes.
As the hisses and murmurs around him died out, she spoke once more. His eyes darted to Blackwolf. He'd killed Sandstar? His ears flicked back. What in StarClan's name had taken place? It was barely a border skirmish! A misunderstanding...
Still, he was reluctant to jump to sides. He knew not what had taken place.
His eyes slid over to Featherpaw as the young medicine cat approached, holding what must have been herbs in her small maw. The young she-cat looked troubled. Twice he'd seen her to the Moon Tree and back. Her expression wasn't due to nervousness or trepidation about prepping Halfmask's body for burial. The tom looked back to Ravenstar, raising his voice so that she could hear as he asked, "What warrior did this?" Character; Nettlefur Word count; 231 Notes; Featherpaw post to follow once some more people have a chance to post.
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Post by Insidious on Aug 9, 2014 12:37:49 GMT -5
H O L L O W C R Y As royally irritated hisses evolved into that of triumphant praise for the one and only, the glorious and nefarious Blackwolf himself, a pair of apprehensible holes burned straight through his fur and into the skull from a position a ways farther back into the fuming crowd.
Was it even fuming anymore after Sandstar was declared dead? Perhaps he was speaking only for himself.
It seemed that no matter what he did, no matter how, everything fell perfectly into place for Ravenstar’s favourite little warrior. She might as well have made him deputy by now. He was fairly certain that in the upcoming moons she’d be out of ways to give him new praise, and then what would become of his precious ego? He cared not to count how many she-cat’s sickeningly swooned over his brand new accomplishment. Next thing he knew a golden platter would be carried out from behind the Boulder Ledge with his name on it.
When he wasn’t looking, Hollowcry would scratch it out until his paws bled.
For the sake of Ravenstar’s eyes roaming over his face in the crowd, or even Blackwolf turning to glance over his shoulder when the gaping hole being dug into his head became too much to bear, he forced a convincing smile. A sneer being a far more fitted term. One of these days something would go terribly wrong for him, and on that day Hollowcry would be the one leaping for joy and thanking StarClan. It wasn’t fair for him to be hogging all the attention for himself, and looking so completely satisfied while he did it. Maybe it was about time that he tried his luck at deputy so that, for once, he outranked that rotten piece of crowfood he was so lucky to call his best friend. Once all of this was said and done with maybe they could go out and celebrate? Surely Blackwolf would like another chance to milk this great tragedy that he’d pinned on RainClan - why not into the one set of ears that had no such desire to hear about it? But, hey . . .
What were best friends for?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2014 13:22:05 GMT -5
Blackwolf and Ravenstar decided that Nightpaw needed to stay behind from this new patrol. She did not object, instead she started to clean the Elder's dens and change nests in the Elder's Den, Medicine Cat Den, and Nursery. She was about to start changing her own nest when Ravenstar came bursting back into the camp with Oakpaw unconscious. She looked behind her and saw the rest of the patrol start to arrive, and that Halfmask was being carried back as well. But she was not moving. Nightpaw looked up at Ravenstar as she called for a clan meeting and she walked over to the ledge.
Her ears perked as she heard everything that Ravenstar was saying and she felt anger build in her belly. What in StarClan's name was RainClan doing? Attacking over a simple misunderstanding. Nightpaw looked at her mentor though when Ravenstar said the Blackwolf had killed Sandstar. She smiled lightly and she walked over to her mentor then and she sat down next to him.
She did not speak for she knew that Blackwolf was still angry, and Nightpaw did not blame him at all. She finally looked at Blackwolf then. "Blackwolf, what are we to do? Is there going to be a war between the clans now?" Her voice was shaky a little from her slight fear of a war. She was only six moons and she was barely trained.She was not ready for a war between two clans.
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Post by Fawn on Aug 9, 2014 22:07:23 GMT -5
18 Moons | NightClan | Tom | Warrior
Confusion. Anger. Blood.
That was all Thornflame could define NightClan by, for the first few moments in which Halfmask's body had been returned to camp. It was the sight of his brother carried upon Ratfur's back that had made him sick to his stomach, his claws digging into the earth as he stalked after the struggling warrior towards the Medicine Cat's den. "Oakpaw! Ratfur--What in the name of the Dark Forest happened?" He growled at the skinny brown feline to whom Oakpaw had been unfortunately assigned.
For the briefest of moments, his heart stabbing painfully against his ribcage, that his brother had somehow died in the disaster that had been the border patrol - but a hard stare at Oakpaw's flanks confirmed that the tom was indeed still breathing. As if given permission to finally do so himself, Thornflame let out an angry, shaken breath - the loud summons of Ravenstar the only thing that could pull him away from Featherpaw's den and into the open.
“RainClan attacked Oakpaw after he accidentally chased prey over the border. When the rest of his patrol leapt to defend him they killed Halfmask!”
Pale ginger ears pinned back and he openly hissed, feeling a protective rage bubble up inside of him at the notion of an entire patrol attacking Oakpaw - it had just been a stupid accident! He tuned out to the rest of Ravenstar's speech, until there was mention of Sandstar's death and he looked numbly to the tom that had apparently been the cause of it. Thornflame would admit to begrudgingly respect the warrior at a later date, for now he let his fury wash over him, both chilling his blood and heating his skin in the same motion, feeling some small sense of satisfaction for RainClan's grievances, though not due to Halfmask's death.
The state her body was in was enough to send a shudder down his spine, but it was not as though he had known her well. He could not claim to feel some sort of wrathful, righteous sense of injustice against his Clan because of her death.
Though it had been, as any one here could agree, unnecessary.
The buff colored tom's tail twitched, and his eyes narrowed into lethal points, but he kept quiet.
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The scene kept replaying before his eyes, and he still had the iron tang of blood on his tongue, and on his pelt, and clogging up his nose. An irritated flick of the tail, as though to swat flies, was all the gesture he made once Ravenstar started speaking; it wasn't until she made mention of Razorfang and of Halfmask's death that he openly sneered, letting his teeth show in a lethal expression, silent confirmation that he had ripped out Sandstar's throat and done so with obvious glee.
To him, it felt wholly deserved.
Blackwolf was a strong believer in eye for an eye, and if you somehow came off worse because of it, then you obviously weren't doing it right.
Though he'd been caught up in the visceral images of Halfmask's neck snapping and his pelt being sprayed with blood, he managed to blink these away in time to answer Nightpaw's question, his latest apprentice having sidled up beside him. "War? Doubt it." Why would RainClan have the gall to risk war? Yes he'd killed their leader, but no cat on either side could say it was undeserved. "Don't go on any border patrols unless there are senior warriors present." He mewed after a moment, not wanting Nightpaw to get killed in case RainClan did try anything. "If anyone has something to say about that, tell 'em it was Blackwolf's orders." If they had a problem with the way he did things, they could take it up with him.
As it had happened so many times in the past, all eyes were coming to rest upon him at their petite leader's mention of his name; the jet black tom radiated a kind of cool satisfaction, pleased with himself and feeling his actions were wholly deserved. There wouldn't be too much gloating, of course; Halfmask was dead, and he was not so disrespectful a Clanmate as to brag about his accomplishments when they had come at the cost of NightClan life.
Instead, he lifted his jaw, mismatched eyes blinking once, his brief moment of wrath paying off in unexpected ways. If anyone asked, he'd have to spout some nonsense about only doing what any cat in his position would have done - but they all knew that was a lie. It had taken a lot of mettle to attack Sandstar as he'd had, with Razorfang right there and that monstrous wretched she-cat that had mutilated Halfmask.
But he'd done it.
And there wasn't a damn thing RainClan could do about it.
Blackwolf was aware that he had made a powerful enemy in Razorfang, perhaps Razorstar now, but apart from some apprehension, he did not allow this thought to dominate him. If RainClan's new King of Fools wanted to come after him, he'd be ready. Those teeth were reason to worry, but Blackwolf had teeth too. His didn't look like they'd been stolen out of the mouth of a nightmare-dog and fused to Razorfang's gums, but they were still sharp.
They'd still hurt when he went for the throat.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2014 22:29:59 GMT -5
Ghostlight The Ghost In Your Mind Be still my heart 'cause it's freaking out, it's freaking out, right now Shining like stars 'cause we're beautiful, we're beautiful, right now
The black she-cat hadn't been on the patrol that Blackwolf and their clanmates had been on when they had visited the Rainclan border. And from what Ravenstar had said, she figured her more aggressive clanmates had jumped into a conclusion that most likely didn't happen. Her paws padded over from the edge of the camp as the brooding black tom entered with Halfmask's lifeless body and Oakpaw's unconscious body.
Ghostlight listened to Ravenstar's call, and the screech of several clanmates with rage at one of their owns death. Her ghostly blue eyes burned with silent emotions as she kept her calm as to not cause a fight with the tom now in-front of her. She let her plume tail flicker behind her as she tried to find the right words to not make the already moody tomcat even more moodier. He could be worse than a she-cat with a broken heart and it was best to tread lightly around him, even if he was prideful at the moment.
"You shouldn't have taken Sandstar's life..." She stared, her voice rather calm for how irritated she was at the moment, at the tip of her tail could clearly show how much she was. Her ears flickered as Thornflame's outburst rang against them before she decided to continue. "I agree what the Rainclan cat did was wrong, but killing a leader wasn't the smartest thing to do."
She had to admit though, him killing a leader was pretty impressive and a good display of power, but she was sure Razorstar would want revenge and now she had to worry about a big target that would be painted on Blackwolf's chest from now on. She was worried how many cats would try to take his life, and if she would to see him to Starclan far before his time.
"Be careful..." She said softly.
You're all I see in all these places You're all I see in all these faces So let's pretend we're running out of time, of time
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2014 23:25:11 GMT -5
Featherpaw made her way to where Halfmask's body lay in the central part of NightClan's cavernous camp. She was silent, not making eye contact with her clanmates. She dropped the pungent herbs she held in her small maw, pausing for a moment before thoughtfully using her paws to gently move the she-cat's head to a more natural position. She stared at the gory wound on Halfmask's neck, then to her exposed side, where she could see where a RainClan warrior had raked their claws across her ribcage. Then, again, to Halfmask's claws... they were free of any blood or fur. She'd never even landed a blow. Whatever cat had done this had acted out of desperation, or perhaps sheer bloodlust. The young medicine cat didn't know which.
Still, as Ravenstar spoke, she grew more and more uneasy. Not long ago, Oakpaw had been delivered to her den, unconscious. After he'd been settled in to a nest, she'd done a thorough examination. Try as she might, she could find no sign that the apprentice had been attacked. Instead it appeared as if he'd... well, run in to something. With the announcement of Sandstar's death, her blood ran cold. Finishing with Halfmask's body, she straightened, flicking her ears back, eyes darting to Blackwolf. They were praising that frogbrain?
"Enough," she yowled, her voice filled with authority, tail lashing. Turning to face Ravenstar, she met the she-cat's amber gaze, ignoring any protest that might be found there. She allowed her voice to resonate through the camp, waiting for silence before she continued, "Oakpaw was not attacked."
Character; Featherpaw Word count; 263 Notes; ~
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2014 0:15:42 GMT -5
they say pride comes before the fall but i am pride, and i am the fall
Poisonleaf sat near the middle of the camp, lazily grooming her calico pelt to perfection and then some. The repetitive motions soothed her mind, pale green eyes half-closed and relaxed.
Ravenstar burst into the camp, bringing with her an air of rage that permeated the entire cavern. Poisonleaf flicked her eyes up, her body straightening completely as Halfmask's body was lowered to the ground. The calico warrior watched as Ravenstar leapt to the boulder ledge in a single bound, and Poisonleaf couldn't help but wonder if it was her anger that made the jump look so easy.
Cries of outrage echoed in the cave as Ravenstar spoke of Oakpaw's mistake sparking a battle, one that claimed two lives. At the mention of Sandstar's death, Poisonleaf sought out the black-hued tom responsible. Licking a paw to give her head a few final strokes to finish off her grooming, she rose and skirted the crowd. With an elegant, smooth gait she approached Blackwolf, a slight smile on her face, eyes narrowed.
His apprentice was sitting beside him, and she saw Ghostlight pad up to his other side. At the sight of the black she-cat, her eyes hardened. Her disdain for the she-cat and her brother wasn't a secret, and she surely didn't feel like having her around, especially not with Blackwolf involved.
Ghostlight was speaking, but Poisonleaf only managed to catch the last words as she walked up.
"...wasn't the smartest thing to do. Be careful."
Poisonleaf fixed Ghostlight with a hard stare. "I'm sure he can take care of himself, Ghostlight. He doesn't need someone telling him what to do." Her gaze shifted to Blackwolf, and her expression changed to one of proud admiration. She squeezed between Blackwolf and Ghostlight, letting her fur brush his. "Avenging Halfmask was the right thing to do; an eye for an eye, a life for a life. So what if the lives mean more to one than another?"
She sat down beside Blackwolf, eyes on Ghostlight a moment longer. With a dismissive flick of her tail, she wrapped it around her paws and turned away from the she-cat. Her head dipped and twisted, and she ran her tongue over Blackwolf's pelt, coaxing the dried blood away from the dark, dense strands of fur.
P O I S O N L E A F
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Post by Fawn on Aug 10, 2014 18:09:50 GMT -5
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Ghostlight's chastisement had been unexpected, he had to admit; stubbornness had flooded him then, a snort his only response to her words until he caught the very last thing she spoke to him. "Be careful..." So she was worried, was that it? Normally Blackwolf would have rolled his eyes at the idea of anyone worrying about him (had he not already proven to the Clan that he was fully capable of handling himself?), but his memory was good. He had not misplaced that moment where she'd helped him back to the Clan after that piece of filth Adderstrike and the TreeClan patrol had messed up his shoulder.
"I'm always careful," he mewed back, his words an arrogant tease that told her not to worry about him. Yeah so what if RainClan had their claws unsheathed at the very mention of his name? He felt justified in what he'd done, and he'd have done it again if the situation presented itself. Razorstar was going to be a pain in the neck, but it wasn't as if he was above the code; that was always going to be the Achilles Heel for some of these other Clans.
Some of them would prefer a death go unavenged if avenging it meant breaking their precious set of rules.
But they were more like guidelines, anyway.
At Poisonleaf's arrival, the distinctively marked tortoiseshell feline spitting a few poisonous words in Ghostlight's direction, Blackwolf's fur had bristled and then relaxed. It wasn't news to him, that these two had never seen eye to eye; they both had volatile natures, strong personalities and didn't exactly have a booming social circle.
He likely would have said something to Poisonleaf, having not seen much of the she-cat lately, but Featherpaw's words had wholly ensnared his attention, causing his ears to prick forward and a narrowing of the eyes in concentration. Oakpaw wasn't attacked? That would mean that he had started an unnecessary fight; oh well. He hadn't killed Halfmask, it had been that psycho RainClan she-cat who had taken things much further than they should've gone. Blackwolf hadn't planned on killing anyone until he'd been sprayed with NightClan blood; there was no forgiving that.
It didn't matter that the fight had been started over something so stupid. What mattered was that he'd finished it.
And what kind of an apprentice knocks himself unconscious? A scornful eye was cast in Oakpaw's direction, feeling as though Ravenstar outcasting the little idiot on incompetency alone would have been wholeheartedly supported. So he'd single-handedly caused the deaths of two cats just by bashing his head into a rock? Well praise StarClan. If we ever have to battle another Clan, we should all stand back and let Oakpaw go first. It'd surely be NightClan's victory, with such a skillful apprentice leading them.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2014 1:35:13 GMT -5
"War? Doubt it." Those were the comforting words of her mentor upon her question. She did not mind that short answer, for it mad her feel better not matter what. She was just happy to know that there was little chance for a war. At least, she hoped that was the case. Her ears perked back to her mentor though when he spoke once more. "Don't go on any border patrols unless there are senior warriors present. If anyone has something to say about that, tell 'em it was Blackwolf's orders."
Upon hearing that, she looked at Blackwolf a little worried. Was he telling her this just to make sure that she stays safe no matter what? Or was there the slightest thought in his mind that there might be a war or battle between the two clans. She was starting to get worried once more and then Featherpaw spoke up. "Oakpaw was not attacked."
If he was not attacked, what did that mean for Blackwolf? What did that mean about Halfmask losing her life? Did the she-cat lose her life over nothing? If so, what was going to happen now?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2014 3:41:08 GMT -5
Ghostlight The Ghost In Your Mind Be still my heart 'cause it's freaking out, it's freaking out, right now Shining like stars 'cause we're beautiful, we're beautiful, right now
The dark hued she-cat narrowed her ghostly blue eyes as Poisonleaf pushed her way in-between where she was sitting and where Blackwolf was beside her. The pretty calico she-cat had strong feelings for the her, but they were strong feelings of hatred, and the black she-cat held Posionleaf in the same regards. The green eyed Nightclan warrior was lucky that Ravenstar had them in a clan meeting, or else she might have a couple of ivory claws down her back.
Flicking her ears in annoyance, Ghostlight pulled herself to her paws and narrowed her eyes. "Poisonleaf, if your nose gets any farther up Blackwolf's tail, you'll be able to talk for him." She said in a low voice, turning to pad off to find another place to sit, but first. She turned her head back over her shoulder to spout out one last insult, "Then maybe you could try to get him to like a pathetic she-cat like you."
The black she-cat flicked her plume tail as she slipped away, picking her way between clanmates before she found a spot next to her former apprentice, Sunpulse. She took her seat next to him and flickered an ear, turning her attention to Featherpaw as the medicine cat spewed the true of Halfmask and Sandstar's death as well as Oakpaw's misfortune.
So Blackwolf started a fight that led to two deaths. Ghostlight's ears laid against her head. Oh Blackwolf, what have you done?
You're all I see in all these places You're all I see in all these faces So let's pretend we're running out of time, of time
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