[KARAZHAL]

It was hard to think with rain soaking her pelt. All evening, rain fell on NightClan's mountainside, sending rivulets flowing down the stone face and churning up mud. She was bogged down by water and mud, but she didn't dare find some place to wash it off. They didn't howl but to the young she-cat, the rogues may as well have been a pack of wolves on her tail and she didn't dare pause to look back and check how far off they were.

She ran until she was in the foothills. She smelled the pine-fresh scent of NightClan territory; cones were littered all over the place, and tall firs spread all over. The evergreens nearly concealed a nondescript cave from view. Pebble climbed up the ledges until she reached the opening of a tunnel. The cave itself was nondescript, but her stomach rumbled at the familiar scent of bats within. Pebble scrambled in, leaving behind small muddy pawprints that were quickly becoming watery and fading away.

Her paws squished on bat guano. Despite herself, she looked around for Spottedhawk. "I wish I was strong enough to rescue you myself, mother," Pebble whispered. If she found NightClan, then everything would be right again.

Pebble waited in the shelter of the cave until the bats stirred, and she leapt up skillfully to snatch one from the air. They swarmed like insects on their way out, seemingly undeterred by the rain. Pebble followed them to the exit. Water pooled at the cave mouth and trickled out, going downhill. From where she stood, she saw much of the valley below. Pebble blinked in awe. The rogues had no qualms with hunting on borderline Clan territory but Pebble had never been able to witness the grandeur for herself. A sudden hot rush of hatred pulsed through her veins. She bit hard enough into the bat that its bones crunched. If only the rogues had let her mother go, she could have traveled around the valley with her and marveled at it together. Spottedhawk had taught her about the five Clans, but NightClan featured in all of her stories so of course they were the most important.

Her mother said that camp was in a cavern much grander than their jail cell. Better than this too, I bet, Pebble thought, looking at the small cave that served as her temporary camp. She finished her fresh-kill and took up guard herself. Thankfully she didn't see the rogues. Instead, movement stirred from downhill, and she saw the shapes of cats appear between the pine trees. Pebble tensed and prepared herself for a challenge.

tagging Taxx for cinderfur and Ghost the Undead Goddess for graywolf + buckfur, as well as anyone who wants to be part of a NightClan patrol. somebody will have to go let darkstar and rainfur know before they cross the mountain border in pursuit of rogues.

current weather: Leaf-bare 2 - Grayish-white skies obscure the sun throughout the day, and rain falls in the evening.

[Taxx]

CINDERFUR

NIGHTCLAN

we are who we are
don't stop burning

A trip to the bat cave for prey was always an adventure. Cinderfur padded at the lead, his ears full of the rush of wings as the healthy ones took to the sky for their nightly hunt. They'd missed that wave, but there might be others. Late risers, some with young they had to feed first. Or they could return later, when dawn turned the horizon pink, for the returning waves.

Either way. Cinderfur padded along, his gaze lifting toward the cave, and paused at the sight of the small half-grown cat sitting at the top of the slope, looking down at him and his companions. "And who might you be?" he asked, moving forward again and sniffing at her lean body. "You're not NightClan. But you've been taking NightClan prey." His eyes dropped to the tiny bones at her paws that smelled of bat; there was no reason to jump her for something she'd already done. The prey was killed and eaten, the most he and the others in the patrol could do now was to make sure she took no more.

"What's your name, kit? I'm Cinderfur, and these are my companions." He nodded to them, giving them the chance to introduce themselves if they chose, his posture remaining relaxed. There was no threat in this little she-cat, and no need to throw his weight around to prove anything.

KARAZHAL Ghost the Undead Goddess || Notes

[KARAZHAL]

Pebble gulped, and she closed her bright light-green eyes to keep the moonlight from hitting her tapetum and mirroring out into the night. She knew she was too late. They'd seen her. The tortoiseshell puffed up as the brown-black tom approached her and spoke. He spoke matter-of-factly, not in that condescending way done by the other toms she knew. More than anything she wished her mother was standing right beside her.

She smelled other cats with him, but with each of his steps forward, she backed up an equal amount into the small tunnel. Pebble hissed defensively, and the small tortoiseshell's tail bushed out, trembling slightly. "I am NightClan," she replied sharply. Despite her fear, she felt no shame in being proud of what her mother represented. She'd hunted on her own, not stolen it from their mouths. Who were they anyway?! He mentioned companions; she craned her head to look for them, but quickly she yanked her head back on Cinderfur. The cornered young she-cat wasn't sure she wanted to answer. Her mother had taught her not to offer up information to a stranger freely. However, she couldn't help but feel relief; if she was taking NightClan prey, that must mean NightClan camp--and thus help--was within reach.

Still, the fluffy tomcat had given his name so she would give him a name in return. "I am Spottedhawk's daughter. I'm trying to get us both to home and safety." They weren't rogues, thankfully; Pebble would've recognized the smell if they'd been comrades to the leader somehow. "I-I know how to fight. Don't try anything, okay?" she stammered. Pebble tried to make herself look big, but she'd hardly grown into her legs. She was barely out of apprenticeship age and covered in fleas, dirt, and nicks.

Taxx Ghost the Undead Goddess

current weather: Leaf-bare 2 - Grayish-white skies obscure the sun throughout the day, and rain falls in the evening.