What Once Was [p]

[Zee]

[ @Stardust~ ]
[ @spade - for reading purposes ]

Whitewolf watched as Pigeon fled, her expression grim while she considered the presence of outsiders near ThunderClan amidst the RiverClan conflict. It wasn't like she cared whether or not they became caught in the crossfire. That wasn't any of her business, but she'd seen and heard reports of several loners trespassing over the past few moons. There wasn't a chance their appearances were related...was there?

She turned to Mistyshade with a sneer following the Warrior's question. How dare she possess the audacity required of her to feign innocence following Whitewolf's scolding? If she'd expected a good talking-to from the senior Warrior instead, she'd have prepared herself more for this conversation.

"Perhaps you can tell me first what's wrong with challenging an opponent that's already occupied," she snapped, matted fur bristling. Whitewolf wasn't about to engage in a physical battle with her own clanmate but that didn't mean she wasn't pissed. Whitewolf took these things almost as seriously as she'd a standard violation of the Warrior Code. Mistyshade could give her a legitimate answer or the senior Warrior would send her home with her tail between her legs.

What almost bothered her more was the fact that Mistyshade's question possessed so much...validity. Given Whitewolf had lost her family members at young ages, respectively, she held onto the memories of them during her kithood and apprenticeship. And from her apprenticeship--well--she remembered Pigeonkit.

It was no wonder those jade eyes felt so familiar. The way they burned into Whitewolf's had been so different, though, (albeit Whitewolf's eyes hated most of what they saw lately and that was never the case in her youth) despite the fact that the senior Warrior had sworn she recognized that stripy, fluffy pelt. Pigeon was more than just a little bird after all...

...she was the little bird that Whitewolf never found herself without.

At least until she'd suddenly gone missing.

[starry]

@OhZeeWolf
---
Mistyshade sighed as she looked at Whitewolf. What had happened to her? She remembered White as caring and passionate for her clan, and not like this. It nearly felt awkward.

"I'm sorry," she meowed."I didn't mean to do something stupid. I thought it would be disloyal to leave you alone with Pigeon if she was in ThunderClan territory. I didn't want to abandon a clanmate in a fight."

Mistyshade hoped that answer had been enough for Whitewolf, but probably not, so she decided to keep going. "The loner seemed rather hostile..."

Okay, so now what was she supposed to say? "Umm... and then I thought Pigeon might attack back, so I didn't want to leave you alone... I would rather die than do something disloyal, and in that moment, my mind was set that that was the most loyal thing to do."

Mistyshade did try to come to the point swiftly and quickly, but she somehow always had things to add. At least she hoped that was enough explanation for her acts.

[Zee]

[ @Stardust~ ]

Mistyshade had an awful lot to say. She was lucky Whitewolf wasn't angrier about it the way she'd have been if her opponent were a Clan cat, given loners like Pigeon lived outside of the Warrior Code. It wasn't pride that made her lash out but something she'd been taught when she was very young--that anything other than a one-on-one skirmish was dishonorable.

"You could have given the situation time or you could have gone back home to report it. You could have closed your big mouth instead of agitating the loner," the senior Warrior shot back. Clearly unhappy with Mistyshade's actions, she went from rounding on her to giving her something like the cold shoulder. Mistyshade had misunderstood what loyalty meant. "Don't get being loyal and having integrity confused. You need the latter to practice the former."

While she looked to the trees, the tops illuminated by bright sunlight, fragments of memories came back to her. They weren't floods but rather small drops of water in what felt like a pond--Pigeonkit following her everywhere and wanting to make her proud. Those memories made her feel something; something similar to the way thinking about her brother Springpaw did. But why was she thinking about that now?

Whitewolf turned to Mistyshade, eyes regaining their frigidity. "You can stay here or follow me home. We have to report this incident."

[starry]

@Zee

Mistyshade sighed. She had done something bad, right? Was it really that horrible? Closed her big mouth? That was kind of... unfriendly, but she wasn't about to mention that. She had already messed up enough.

"I will come with you, Whitewolf," Mistyshade meowed, now ready to go and report the incident. But to who? Eveningstar wasn't there, he had disappeared to somewhere.