[Fawn]

Crowblaze
18 Moons. Loner. Ex-RainClan. Half-Clan.

---

There would be many who criticized his decision to leave RainClan, many who did not understand how he could turn his back on the Clan he had been born into. Crowblaze hadn't considered it a betrayal - at least not on the level that another cat with perfectly sound parentage might. You couldn't betray someone who never truly trusted you in the first place. He had never been fully RainClan born, his mother, Falconleap, had been the StoneClan deputy prior to his birth, and she had given up home, status and family to move into RainClan with her mate, Vultureback - a RainClan warrior. It was as if his life had been destined to be complicated from the moment his mother chose love above all, and even now he could not claim to fully understand her decision. His relationships were often reflective of his heritage, convoluted and with a great deal of denial from his end of things.

For someone who felt alone even when surrounded by so called Clanmates, the lifestyle of a loner wasn't as ill-fitting as one might imagine. The solitude was the same, the self-reliance was the same. He knew this made him a hypocrite, in the eyes of his brother whom he had often spat venomous words at for his decisions, but Crowblaze considered a difference in how they'd handled their Half-Clan nature. Crowblaze hadn't chosen another Clan over RainClan - he'd chosen to either be a part of them or not at all, Hawkfall, apparently, had chosen their mother's Clan over their father's, and Crowblaze to this day could not explain why that irked him so much.

Perhaps because he had originally thrown his chips in with RainClan, perhaps because he was born there, he felt a stronger kinship for the water-dwelling cats than those who covered themselves in mud and hunted birds of prey. He hated him a little less, lately. Crowblaze had somehow made peace with his brother's decision after he'd made his own, no longer thinking of him as a backstabber, but as a brother he had difficulty truly connecting with. That was Falconleap and Vultureback's punishment, most likely - one dead daughter, and two sons who couldn't see eye to eye over anything.

A dark striped pelt, as thickly pigmented as a tiger's was perfect camouflage in the newly thawed meadows at the edge of StoneClan's territory. A loose follower of the Code when it had still applied to him, he felt no qualms over stepping over the scent boundary, taking in the multicolored sights of flowers around him, enjoying the fragrant aroma that stirred with each soft breeze. It was beautiful here. And it was also full of mice. Crowblaze fell into a fluid crouch, having long ago made the adjustment from fishing to hunting land-prey, his versatility a survival skill he was quite proud of; it wasn't just mice he was on the lookout for, however.

Was it so hard to believe he was actually here for his brother? Well, not Hawkfall specifically, but news of his littermate was always welcome now that he was no longer permitted to attend gatherings. Oh how he'd mocked Hawkfall for being unable to obtain information about his family whenever he wanted to - Who's the sorry sod now, huh Crowblaze? A voice needled in the back of his head, and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes, keeping his senses keen for any straying creature he could either eat or interrogate.

Well, interrogate was the wrong word, depending on who showed up. Flirt with was more accurate if a she-cat just so happened to stumble right by him.

[Deleted]

Ivywhisker

---

The pale cream she-cat couldn't exactly say she'd been expecting company when she'd first set out earlier than morning in search of borage leaves. Although StoneClan was fairly healthy at the moment, the creamy ginger she-cat was rather paranoid and thought it best to stock up anyway.
Seeking these leaves which grew sparsely in the rocky, desolate StoneClan terrain had taken her almost to the border of her clan's territory. There'd she'd at last found the elusive plant as well as something that she hadn't quite been expecting.

The creamy ginger medicine cat froze where she was crouched, several borage leaves clamped tightly between her jaws and her green eyes focused intently on the meadows that sloped down before her. The dark brown tabby tom stood out like a hawk amongst sparrows and left Ivywhisker absolutely rigid with shock for a moment. Who is that? And what's he doing on StoneClan territory?

She didn't meet the trespasser with the reaction that some of her clanmates might; instead of feeling anger or bitterness, the medicine cat instead felt mild and somewhat unsettling concern. She couldn't think what a cat could be doing on StoneClan territory simply sitting there, doing... well, it looks like he's doing nothing. He's just sat there.

Struck with uncertainty, Ivywhisker simply watched him for a few moments, remaining totally silent and still. What do I do? Should I speak to him? What if he attacks or something? She let her green gaze wash over him for a moment more. He didn't seem to be particularly angry or showing any signs of aggression. Maybe I should go over.

Drawing in a deep breath, the StoneClan medicine cat set down her herbs by her paws and made a decision. With careful steps, the pale ginger she-cat cautiously made towards where the dark brown tabby tom was sat. The meadows in which the loner had made himself comfortable had only recently thawed and was subsequently bursting with life. Ivywhisker would normally have taken a moment to admire the wildflowers around her had she not been so nervous. This was a strange tom that she didn't know; if she made sure that she didn't show any signs of aggression, perhaps he would just up and leave.

When the creamy-coloured she-cat at last came to a halt before the dark brown tabby tom, she tried to disguise her inner fear. She was very much afraid that the tom would be able to hear how fast her heart was beating, but she swallowed the lump in her throat, meowing rather feebly, "Uh, hi."
Hesitating for a moment, the medicine cat shuffled her paws uncomfortably, not at all familiar with such a situation, "I'm Ivywhisker, StoneClan's medicine cat?"

For all she knew, the tom had never heard of the clans. Regardless, she continued anyway, not able to meet the dark orange eyes of the tom before her, "I'm not sure whether you know, but this is StoneClan territory," she let her tail curl around her paws, her whole body tense and ready for if she needed to suddenly make a run for it, "The border's just over there," she indicated with her tail towards the nearby border, "So if you could just sort of go away- I mean leave, that would be great," she tried adding on a smile to the end of her words, but she knew it wasn't very convincing and probably made her look rather like a nauseous rabbit. Ivywhisker could only hope that the tom would have some courtesy and leave politely, without any trouble.

---

Tag: Fawn
Word Count: 602
Notes: ---

[Fawn]

Crowblaze
18 Moons. Loner. Ex-RainClan. Half-Clan.

---

The wind dashed a female scent across the roof of the dark tom's mouth, and his head swiveled, spotting the source that was marked by the dry, sun-baked scent of StoneClan and of a multitude of herbs he could not properly identify. That didn't take long. A gaze of burning orange sought her out, and it didn't take him long to size up the approaching cream-furred she-cat, her posture presenting an image of cautiousness, not aggression. Though she'd been small-looking from a distance, her diminutive form didn't seem to grow very larger even with the gap between them closing at a fairly rapid rate, Crowblaze taking in the verdant shade of nervous eyes that stood out like emeralds in a very pale face. Perhaps she could give him the answers he'd come all this way for?

"I'm Ivywhisker, StoneClan's medicine cat?"

In that short and sweet introduction, the Clan-cat turned loner learned a pawful of important things; the first being that due to her status as a peacekeeper, she wasn't going to attack him whatsoever. This made the fight or flight drives lurking just beneath his pelt begin to cool, realizing there was no use for that here. Secondly, if any cat was going to know about the comings and goings of StoneClan, it was the healer standing right before him. Completely ignoring Ivywhisker's attempts to get him out of the territory, Crowblaze tried his best to exercise a few mental muscles that revolved around politeness, trying not to scare her away. "Crowblaze," his mew was strong, but not to the usual aggressive degree that he kept it at when meeting new cats; this time, there was pride, not defensiveness in the tone. Ivywhisker would probably recognize the name as that of a Clan-cat's, though he no longer carried any sort of distinguishing scent. A fierce, heavily marked face and burning eyes that reminded others of looking into a fire for too long, his tone was surprisingly non-confrontational. "I was hoping you could help me, actually. I'm looking for information about a friend of mine - my brother, Hawkfall. I just want to know if he's alive and well."

Of all the cats he could've come across, Crowblaze was thanking the stars that it was a pretty green-eyed healer who looked as if she'd try reasoning with a hawk rather than chase it off. Regarding her with a curious, appraising eye, after he got the information he'd come all this way for, Crowblaze decided, he would talk with her for a little while. He'd be the last cat to call himself socially-depraved, but the life of a loner didn't offer up too many chances to interact with others in a way that wasn't hostile and blood-shedding. She doesn't smell like sickness, StoneClan must be well off, if not thriving. Crowblaze didn't share enough of his birth Clan's arrogance and selfishness to not consider that good news; the forest finally seemed to be free of the greencough epidemic, and Crowblaze, who had lost so much in that plague, felt as though he could relax at last.

[Deleted]

Ivywhisker

---

Much to the pale ginger she-cat's intense relief, the stranger didn't show any hostility towards her. Ivywhisker was still in a state of unease though, which wasn't at all helped by the dark brown tabby tom stating his name.
"Crowblaze."
The StoneClan she-cat frowned, her pelt prickling, but not with anger, Crowblaze. That's a clan name. She let her eyes wander over the cat standing before her. She couldn't say she'd heard his name before so she couldn't begin to make a guess at which clan he came from.

Crowblaze. The name seemed to finally register in her head. Crows. All these visions; the crow's caw that had awoken her from her dream, the huge amount of crows that suddenly flew up from the trees in her vision. Have they all been about him? Was it a warning? Is he going to try and harm StoneClan?

Tasting the air, she tried to pick up any lingering clan scents, but all she got was an undistinguished wild scent, not like any of the clans. Why did he leave the clans? Was he exiled for a crime?
Green eyes widening, the pale cream she-cat took a few steps backwards, "You're not a murderer, are you? You weren't... exiled or anything," she swallowed, stumbling over her own words. She hardly knew this cat, how was she to know he hadn't been exiled from his clan for committing crimes? Great StarClan, what if he kills me?

However, the next words to leave the dark brown tabby tom's jaws put her a bit more at ease and she was able to relax a little more.
"I was hoping you could help me, actually. I'm looking for information about a friend of mine - my brother, Hawkfall. I just want to know if he's alive and well."

After the initial relief, the realisation of who this was finally sank in. This was Hawkfall's brother, the son of Vultureback of RiverClan and StoneClan's former deputy, Falconleap. Ivywhisker regarded the figure before her in a new light, blinking in disbelief.

There was something of a delay before she at last answered the dark tabby's question, stuttering on her words, "Oh, Hawkfall? Hawkfall's fine," she swallowed, her gaze flickering back over to the border behind him. If this was what StarClan had been warning her of in her visions, she needed to get him out of StoneClan territory.

Drawing in a gusty breath, she took a tentative step forward, being careful not to risk stirring up trouble with the tom, "Is that it? Because, if it is, I'd really a-appreciate it if you could leave our territory, Hawkstar won't be happy."
She wasn't sure if the dark brown tabby tom would accept her request this time or if he'd try his luck and attempt to outstay his welcome. Ivywhisker had been perfectly happy to offer him some information on his brother, but she didn't dare risk giving away any more information on her clan.

Maybe he hasn't really left RainClan? What if he's still working with them? What if he's trying to find out information about RainClan so they can attack? That deep rooted fear that grew from her clan being driven to the mountains by LightningClan and RainClan had never left the pale ginger she-cat. She let her green orbs regard the tom before her once more. Oh get yourself together, Ivywhisker, he clearly just wants to find out how his brother is.
The pale cream she-cat swallowed, Hopefully.

---

Tag: Fawn
Word Count: 587
Notes: ---

[Fawn]

Crowblaze
18 Moons. Loner. Ex-RainClan. Half-Clan.

---

    If Crowblaze had had any idea as to the paranoia and the (not completely irrational) fears plaguing the young healer's mind as they spoke, he probably would've laughed in disbelief, then fallen into stunned silence. Him? Spying for RainClan? Honestly, if he'd shown up at the RainClan border and started asking questions, they'd treat him as if he really were a spy; he would receive no love from his birth Clan, and didn't expect to. Crowblaze had made his decision, and there were very few cats in the forest who would respect that.

To keep her from turning tail and sprinting back to camp, Crowblaze answered her almost comical question (he really had thought it was a joke at first, but then one look in those deep green pools and he'd realized she was absolutely serious), a flick of his tail betraying some of his annoyance at her... slight accusation. "I left because I wanted to." No crimes had been committed - well, not by him personally, but he wasn't going to atone for the transgressions of his parents (i.e., him, Hawkfall, Heroncry, Gullpaw and Bitternpaw), not to RainClan and not to any cat who saw him differently because of his mixed blood. It took effort to tone down the flash of challenge in his eyes, as if daring Ivywhisker to say something negative about who he was (or, StarClan forbid, drag his mother into this). His heritage was a sensitive subject, and Crowblaze fought down the rising urge to say something rude, but this emotional surge was conveniently interrupted by the first reassuring thing Ivywhisker had said so far.

"Oh Hawkfall? Hawkfall's fine." In the absence left by his defensiveness receding, relief rushed in to take its place; good, he'd better stay that way. Crowblaze didn't want to have to bail his brother out of any trouble - but he would, if Hawkfall needed it, in a heartbeat. Just as long as they didn't talk about it afterwards; if there was one thing he hated almost as much as the idea of his littermate being in trouble, it was his littermate wanting to bond with him. Crowblaze may have slowly started the healing process of forgiving Hawkfall for his choices, but he wasn't yet at that point where he could speak with Hawkfall comfortably as if he'd never left.

Hawkfall was a different cat now, anyhow. Any actual glimpses and interactions with his brother were moons apart; every time he saw him, he'd been that much more different than the last encounter. The faint scent of Ivywhisker's fear drew Crowblaze out of his thoughts, orange eyes blinking back the irritated, nostalgic sense of loss that permeated much of his kithood memories. "Thanks," Crowblaze really did make an effort to sound grateful this time. Grateful enough that he'd get out of her fur without too much fuss, and he stood up, shaking any lingering bits of grass or sun-dried sedge from his pelt, prepared to go back the way he'd come, figuring he could always hunt near the Moon Tree if he got hungry enough.

Time to go before he really did upset Hawkstar, and unintentionally put Hawkfall in a compromising predicament involving Clan loyalties. "Take care of yourself, and keep an eye out for murderers." it was an uncharacteristic way of saying goodbye, but Crowblaze, his eyes glinting with a brief, fiery flicker of humor that passed like a spark, wasn't really the sort of cat who went around saying "May StarClan light your path" or "May StarClan go with you". As far as he was concerned - StarClan had a really annoying habit of trying to go everywhere with him, and he wasn't about to wish that on anycat.

Like now, for instance.

By happenstance, Crowblaze glanced beyond Ivywhisker, and noticed a pale shape with a golden-striped tail standing just to the left of the StoneClan healer, a celestial glow seeming to float outward from the cat's fur. Even in broad daylight, the ethereal aura was not lost. The StarClan cat's luminescent eyes seemed to pierce right through him, temporarily nailing him to the earth, his expression souring slightly as he took one look at the smile on Brightpath's face. Oh would you just shove off already? You fishbrains just don't know when to give up. Fourth time she'd appeared before him, and in Crowblaze's book, that was four times too many. The dark tabby's eyes darted from Brightpath's to Ivywhisker's; he was getting the strange sensation that Ivywhisker couldn't see what he saw...

Great. Now he was experiencing StarClan's special brand of unwanted attention.

---

Word Count: 754 Words
Tags: @littleflower

[Deleted]

Ivywhisker

---

It was both relief and surprise that swept through the StoneClan medicine cat, although she would admit that she found no amusement in his parting words, "Take care of yourself, and keep an eye out for murderers."
The pale cream she-cat rolled her eyes slightly, Geez, he could have been a murderer, it's nothing to joke about.

Ivywhisker's paws remained rooted to the ground for a while longer, her wide green orbs remaining focused upon the loner tom. Despite their conversation, the creamy-furred she-cat wasn't entirely comfortable around the dark brown tabby tom and wanted to ensure that he actually did leave their territory.
She offered him a soft motion of the head, her own farewell. And yet, after a few heartbeats, he still hadn't moved.

The former RainClan warrior seemed to be staring at something over her shoulder, his face reading what seemed to be annoyance. Ivywhisker's pelt prickled uncomfortably and she shot a glance behind her, What's he looking at? Is someone there?
Yet, when the creamy-furred she-cat let her eyes scour her surroundings, she found nothing out of the ordinary. A frown settled upon her features and she inclined her head, "What is it? What's wrong?"
Questioning her own sight, she looked again. Still nothing. Am I just missing something? Her green gaze flickered back and forth before at last coming to rest upon the dark brown tabby loner.

Unsettled by this, it finally occurred to Ivywhisker that perhaps Crowblaze was tricking her. Tail flicking restlessly from side to side in sharp, repetitive motions, the medicine cat swallowed, taking a step forward, "If you're trying to trick me into something, I won't fall for it," her words were somewhat weak and lacking the strength required to leave an impact upon the tom. Mouse-dung, why didn't I bring a warrior along with me? Perhaps then they could've chased him off?

She tried to mask her fear regardless, holding Crowblaze's dark amber gaze for several moments. The former RainClan warrior had seemed perfectly reasonable so far, the pale ginger she-cat couldn't decipher him well enough to recognise if he truly was seeing something that she couldn't or if he was just trying to lead her into a trap. And so, being the way she was, she assumed the worst.

---

Tag: Fawn
Word Count: 387
Notes: ---

[Fawn]

Crowblaze
18 Moons. Loner. Ex-RainClan. Half-Clan.

---

    Crowblaze ignored Ivywhisker's words - in fact, he didn't really notice her speaking to him, his gaze was locked on Brightpath in the background, giving the celestial she-cat a stare that could have scraped bark off a tree. What do you want? He was this close to growling, but Ivywhisker's unusual statement shocked him out of his stare-down with the StarClan cat.

"If you're trying to trick me into something, I won't fall for it,"

"What?" He blurted, realized he was still standing in front of her, and promptly shook his head to clear it, as though the visions would simply vanish like water on his fur if he shook it hard enough. "Nothing, it was nothing." The dark tabby murmured another hasty goodbye and turned, intending to put as much distance between himself and the irritating apparitions as he could; he'd asked them what felt like a dozen times why they kept singling him out, why they kept bothering him. At first, he'd mistaken it for some kind of weird curse, a side-effect of being Half-Clan meant you'd have StarClan to contend with, and their slow, overly cheerful attempts at driving you mad.

The sense of ease he'd been granted by Ivywhisker's rather short conformation on his brother's well-being had almost vanished, by the time he crossed the scent marker that delineated Clan territory from the unclaimed, his mood as dark as his pelt as he slipped into the surrounding vegetation. Forgetting about these strange occurrences seemed like the best course of action - confronting them didn't do anything - they kept dithering on about his destiny, about 'unfulfilled potential' and other such stupid phrasing that left him confused and feeling oddly on-the-spot. He didn't want a StarClan-chosen destiny; he didn't want... anything, really. Did he?

The problem with Brightpath's visits were, perhaps not that she kept hounding him about herbs, and 'answering the call', but because they caused him to look inwards, and he didn't always like what he found there. He knew leaving RainClan was going to continue to make life hard, and yet he was reluctant to go and join another Clan; he would be the outcast in all, his loyalty wouldn't even be worth a wad of soiled bedding in the eyes of some of these Clan leaders, and Crowblaze couldn't help but feel as though he'd... gotten himself stuck.

Stuck outside a world he hadn't thought he wanted to be a part of. Stuck, with no way back in. Unless he played into StarClan's paws like a good little follower...

Doing things their way, the idea of it left a bad taste in the dark tom's mouth.

[Deleted]

Apprentice of StoneClan || 6 Moons || Tom x profile x     When a Medicine Cat wandered out of the clan unattended it was usually something you noticed. Especially if you were Whitepaw who was observational to a point and prone to not knowing when to mind his own business or not. The apprentice eyed the cream flicker of fur as it slipped out of the camp and his mind his a sudden fork in the path of decision making. Did he follow Ivywhisker in some foolish bravado of acting as guardian or did he simply go and report her leaving to another warrior for them to properly give her an escort in her comings and goings.     Medicine cats were important to the clan and though he hardly doubted she didn't like to be coddled it was an unfortunate side-effect of her duties. Whitepaw found himself lapsing off into other mundane thoughts, the severity of the situation slipping away as his stomach rumbled and reminded him that food was of a pressing matter as well. But what of Ivywhisker? The white tom groaned inwardly, feeling both annoyed at her apprentice-like behavior and uncaring as she was a fully groan feline in her own right and could take care of herself. Decisions.   Building attachments to his clanmates was a tedious task for the young tom as he had never had such attachments before in his life. Neither mother nor father existed any longer though he hardly grieved their passing, he simply didn't know them enough to care outside losing precious warriors for their clan. Did that make him heartless? No. He liked to believe he was more of a realist than anything and realistically speaking he had no memories or moments that struck him at his core regarding his parents, as such they weren't worth his thoughts.  There he was, getting sidetracked again. Whitepaw shook his head as though the motion would clear his thoughts and then hastily rose to his paws to follow Ivywhisker's path out of the camp. Whether it was the smart thing to do he didn't care to linger on, but the longer he waited around the longer their medicine cat was unattended and at risk. Who was to know what rogue or wild predator would happen upon her and while he wasn't the best of fighters yet (having just started his apprenticeship) he was better than nothing. Which is what she would have gotten if he hadn't followed along. Whitepaw didn't bother to mask his steps or hide his scent as he followed, it wasn't as though he was spying of the she-cat, quite the opposite. He wanted his presence known and as he slowly got closer and another scent slammed into his senses he began to wonder if maybe stealth would have been the right idea. Still, it was a bit too late to take it all back. If he could scent them then they could scent him. Inching closer he finally caught sight of their cream medicine cat and smelled pungent odor in the air around the area. A loner? Ivywhisker seemed unharmed so his approach to her side wasn't one of barred teeth and clicking claws, rather he amicably took a seat next to the medicine cat with only the faintest nod of his head in greeting to her before glancing around. Well. Whatever had the scent was gone now. "How are you, Ivywhisker?" His tone was a pitched falsetto, strangely mature for a young cat but no less youthful in its ring. It was only after asking the question did he turn with quivering whiskers to the cream female and a polite tilt of the head was given before he spoke, "Some of the warriors saw you leave and asked if I'd come and help you with your herb gathering. They have informed me to have you back shortly or they'll be quite cross." This was, of course, a lie and Ivywhisker might realize that herself but it did two things regarding tact. It told anyone who might be listening nearby that others knew the medicine cat was out and about and that she was also needed back in the camp soon. Surely that would still any claws that might wish her harm.