Smallpines

[spade]

Ah, so this was the she-cat she had heard much about. Not necessarily a name - none of her Clanmates who had gone to the Gathering remember hearing one. "What is your name, if you don't mind me asking? No one who was at the Gathering seemed to know," Briarfrost chuckled, lighthearted and doing her best to keep the tension at bay. So far to her, there was no need for raise hackles or unsheathed claws. "My name is Briarfrost." the brown furred molly added as an afterthought; if she was asking for a name, it was only fair the ThunderClan leader knew hers.

Her head tipped to the side in thought as she pondered the question. "Pretty well, though I'm sure that won't be the case once leaf-fall saunters in, followed by its biting cousin leaf-bare. The rivers tend to freeze over at times," she replied in thought, glancing at the trickling stream that divided their territory. It was pretty shallow here, the scent markers strong from each Clan on either side.

Lifting her nose, she caught wind of a rather musty scent, and on ThunderClan's side of the border a tuft of a squirrel's tail poked out before it was gone again. Briarfrost stifled a mrrow of laughter. "I see it's running well for you," she commented with a warm glance.

// @poppy.

[poppy]

- @spade

A soft chuckle escaped her, and she relaxed slightly. ''Yes, I assumed not many cats would know me. I was never the most social cat when it came to the other Clans. I'm still not, but at this point, I'm required to talk with other Clans. My name is Aspenstar... It's nice to meet you.'' It honestly was nice to meet her. She had a good head on her shoulders and was willing to have a civilized conversation. Aspenstar had been quick to categorize every RiverClan cat into the group of hardly better than rogues... but she should have guessed there was a couple good eggs amongst the rotten ones.

''It does seem as though there would be more difficulty finding food once the river was frozen and all the water animals went away. It's hard for us too, I must admit, but probably not as hard as it is for us. We can dig our prey out of their dens when they're hibernating... Breaking ice must be considerably more difficult.'' She didn't add how the ground was frozen, making it hard for them to dig. She didn't trust this... Briarfire, but she didn't have a reason not to, other than the general hesitance that came with socializing with your enemy.

Briarfire's attention was briefly directed away from Aspenstar and to something behind her. Curiosity getting the best of her, she saw the waving bush leaves and grass stalks from where a small animal must've popped out, before spotting the two she-cats and running back to safety. Turning back to the other cat, she nodded, smiling a little. ''Er... yes. Leaf-fall, I have noticed, is better for hunting. More animals are out, trying to gather food and stuff themselves for winter. That means they're fatter, too. But later leaf-fall means less animals, so it doesn't last long, unfortunately.''

Briefly, she wondered if she should be worried. Worried about sharing too much with this cat. Worried about being so close to the border, when the two previous leaders had met their demise at the paws of RiverClan... and she was speaking with a RiverClan cat. Was this an ambush? Glancing around edgily, she hoped that this cat's friendliness was as sincere as it seemed to be. Trying to alleviate the tensions between ThunderClan and RiverClan wouldn't be helped by her being murdered.

Wait... no. That was silly. She wouldn't be attacked, or killed. She had a full nine lives, and was actually expecting an attack. She wanted to trust Briarfire... she wanted to have a peaceful conversation with this cat. So she straightened her spine, a little more than before, and smiled warily at the brown warrior. ''Do you have an apprentice?''

[spade]

Watching the ThunderClan leader through thoughtful blue eyes, Briarfrost easily picked out the anxiety that rolled off her. It was warranted after all - sure, ThunderClan had essentially escalated this conflict by not only allowing their warriors free reign to harm RiverClan cats at the border and then subsequently not owning up to it (from what she had heard), but RiverClan must've put them on edge with the raid. She hadn't participated, instead staying back to guard the nursery in case of a counter attack.

"It can be. Most of them time we just have to resort to other prey that's on land. Breaking through the ice and taking an unexpected swim is never fun, even for us," she chuckled, recalling a time from her apprenticeship where she had fallen through and taken a rather icy bath. Cold, and shocking for sure. Not fun.

The brown and white flecked molly gave a nod. Though her senses were still up, her muscles were relaxed; she didn't have a worry of being attacked. If the new ThunderClan leader was as sensible as she was appearing to be, any ThunderClan cat that tried to harm Briarfrost would certainly get a talking to. "Unfortunately, I do not. I've trained a pawful of warriors in my day though. Swimming is always the hardest, believe it or not. Not all who are born have the same love for the water," the senior warrior added with another chuckle.

Time had been slipping out from underpaw, though Briarfrost wasn't too worried. Not that she would ever speak on it to a cat of another Clan, but with Kestrelstar gone things were a bit more... relaxed back at camp. "Hopefully this coming leaf-bare doesn't bring with it more hardship than necessary," the warrior finally added, touching briefly, though vaguely, on the sensitive topic of the heightened tensions. She was curious what the new leaders thoughts were on it, though expected to get an answer back that was just as vague.

// @poppy. [ it's Briarfrost by the way ^^ ]

[Courage]

~Froststrike~

Froststrike stalked through the undergrowth. Her Thunderclan mangepelt sister Eternalember was on the other side of the Riverclan border. Oh how shewanted to sink her teeth into that cats neck. But no she would wait it was not the right time but later... Eternalember would die.

~Eternalember~
Eternalember sat at the Thunderclan border she was a Thunderclan cat. Her sister was Riverclan and she wanted to fight her.

[elswhere]

Acornpatch stalked along the border, his green eyes shining in the dim light. Oh, how would those fish-eating scums pay for what they've done. The short abyssinian's fur stood up as he watched the border.


He heard a rustle across the border, but to close to the ThunderClan's side to be unnoticable. Nostrils flaring, he took a step towards the bush. It reeked of fish and RiverClan. So it had to be one of them.


Growling, he squared up to the rustling bush. Though, how much damage could a short gay guy do?

[Rapid]

Originally Posted by kalor

Acornpatch stalked along the border, his green eyes shining in the dim light. Oh, how would those fish-eating scums pay for what they've done. The short abyssinian's fur stood up as he watched the border.


He heard a rustle across the border, but to close to the ThunderClan's side to be unnoticable. Nostrils flaring, he took a step towards the bush. It reeked of fish and RiverClan. So it had to be one of them.


Growling, he squared up to the rustling bush. Though, how much damage could a short gay guy do?

~HoneyBadger~
Looking around he knew he was in Thunderclan territory but he just couldn't leave yet. Making his way thru the shrubbery and overgrown grass he stopped, coming from behind the bush he smelt a Thunderclan cat nearby. Standing still he waited to attack not knowing that a cat would jump on him.
@kalor

[elswhere]

-@shalloweyes please do not mention AND quote me, just one or the other, it gives me double notifs

Acronpatch sniffed, snarling. "Stop toying with me! Come out!" Venom dripped form his voice like bitter honey as he burned a hole through the bush with his glare. The small cat stood his ground as he waited for a response.

[poppy]

//: @spade
\\: whoops, haha, so sorry)

It was... difficult to tell what Briarfrost wanted to gain from this conversation. Aspenstar wasn't even sure what she wanted to gain. A better understanding of the Clan she had villainized in her mind? Perhpaps. But understanding them wouldn't do much help if she didn't protect her Clan from them. But the cat in front of her was nothing those she had met before, at Gatherings, during battle (though there were hardly ever any civil conversations or proper introductions during a fight) She refrained herself from asking the RiverClan she-cat if she was really a RiverClan cat, or a ThunderClanner she had never met before. Actually... no. Briarfrost was way too polite and respectful to be a ThunderClan cat.

"Land prey would be hibernating, I assume? They're easier to catch when they're asleep, but only if you can dig them out with the ground frozen solid. Especially with all the moisture that is in the ground with how wet the earth is in your territory, it must be challenging. " In her younger days, Aspenstar had tried to dig a nest of voles up, when the ground was frozen. She hadn't made a scratch in the rock-heard earth, and went home sore and frustrated. And the funniest part was, she looked back on that like it was so long ago, when really it was simply last leaf-bare. Hopefully she had matured more since then. She liked to think so.

At Briarfrost's mention of a freezing dunk in the ice, Aspenstar shivered slightly, merely at the thought. Stars, that would be horribly uncomfortable. And cold... "I can't imagine that being fun for anyone. Except maybe some apprentices." Apprentice's and their logic and lack thereof were confusing things to think about, really. What was the point of some of the things they did, she had no clue. Like digging a hole in the middle of the territory with the intent of catching a Clanmate... Cornpaw. Sighing softly at the thought of the troublesome apprentice, she felt sorry for his mentor, all that energy and... bright ideas would be hard to manage. Thankfully her own apprentice was more... mellow.

She could hardly believe that the hardest lesson to teach in RiverClan was swimming. She thought the cats were... half fish or something like that. "Really." She said, marveling at the thought. Maybe because swimming was a fun pastime for apprentices, and they didn't want to be forced to do anything, even if it was something they typically enjoyed. "Well, for ThunderClan, one of the harder lessons to teach is tree climbing. Lot's of falling, and panicking... and apprentices getting stuck in trees." It was actually hilarious, as long as she wasn't the mentor or the apprentice. She had fallen out of a tree her first lesson. Nearly taken her mentor down, too.

It was ironic how both Clan's signature moves or skills were the least popular. The majority of apprentices looked forward to battle training, and as much as they needed it, they also didn't need battle-hungry young cats begging and thirsting for violence. The youth should be kept as vaguely informed with drama and chaos as possible, instead they should be able to focus on training, not on gossiping or daydreaming of being hero of battle.

Shooting Briarfrost a side eye at her comment. Didn't look like she was asking for trouble... "Yes, hopefully we can get everything together before leaf-bare, so we can focus on staying healthy as possible." She chose her words carfully, as in responding to the vague reference to the tensions currently, but also trying not to let the other warrior get upset in any way.

[Shade.]

@Dirtfur
@Ravensong

Lizardfrost often took the initiative on patrols, on account of doing whatever she was told by the leader and ignoring whoever was with her. So cats usually tended to follow along. She immediately went into a quick walk and made her way to Smallpines, not even turning once to see if anyone else was coming.
Once she reached the border, the she-cat began marking it diligently. She could mark the whole border by herself if need be.

[Pitou]

Originally Posted by Shade.

@Dirtfur
@Ravensong

Lizardfrost often took the initiative on patrols, on account of doing whatever she was told by the leader and ignoring whoever was with her. So cats usually tended to follow along. She immediately went into a quick walk and made her way to Smallpines, not even turning once to see if anyone else was coming.
Once she reached the border, the she-cat began marking it diligently. She could mark the whole border by herself if need be.

**Codpaw**

Codpaw nearly ran out of camp, reminding himself to keep himself behind Lizardfrost. It'd be no use to get himself into trouble on his first patrol. He bounced every few steps, trying vainly to keep his cool. He followed Lizardfrost's lead as she started refreshing the scent markers. "What makes Thunderclan cats so different from us? Or are they even all that different at all?" He asked to whoever would answer. He hadn't particularly intended for that to be said aloud but if one of the warrior's had an answer maybe it could put rest to some of his endless questions rotating constantly through his mind.

@Dirtfur @Shade.