RiverClan Territory

[Captain]

Ripplewhisker rolled his eyes. “If I was a fish, then I would have gills.” He protested, “It deserved what it got.” The dark-furred tom pouted like a kit, his ears flattening slightly. He watched intently as Swallowstorm swam around in the river near him. “You look so stunning..the water makes your fur shine like the full moon.” He said, his green gaze fixed on his mate with interest. The white-and-grey tom never failed to impress and captivate Ripplewhisker, ever since they had met. “I suppose it isn’t that bad. It’s quite a heated day anyhow.” He mentioned, turning his head to look up at the sun that bared down on them from the cloudless sky.

[Starfall]

Swallowstorm giggled as he saw ripplewiskers face as he pouted,then felt the heat rise to his fur once again, his green eyes shifted to the side and bis ears flattned against his head, the silver warrior didnt know how to respond to his mates emberassing statement. Glancing back the warrior on the shore he smiled as the dark colored tom contimplated about the water and smiled "hmm its very cool in here." He said, trying to pursuade his mate on coming in and swimming with him. The warriors attention turned elsewhere as he heard a twig snap on the other side of the river. Swallowstorm decided to go and take a look to see what the sound was, unaware of the dangers that lied ahead.

[Captain]

“Alright, alright.” Ripplewhisker sighed, “I’ll come in, but just because you look so irresistible in the water.” He commented with a chuckle as he slid into the chilling waters. His eye’s followed Swallowstorm as he heard an abrupt sound and immediately going to investigate. “Uhhh..Maybe you should stay over here with me.” He said, worry in his tone, “I don’t want you getting hurt!” The dark tom-cat swam over to join his mate, wanting to protect him.

[Starfall]

Swallowstorm snorted "im a warrior now too you know, i can fend for myself, tho is is sweet that you wanr to protect me." He purred as he continued to swim twards the direcrion that the sound came from. Finally reaching the bank on the opposite side of the river. Shaking himself off the silver warrior looked around, his green eyes scanned the open space. Suddenly her heard multiple twigs snap and leaves crackle, his head turning twards the direcrions of the sound, the tom gave chase to the figure that just ran off, his adrenalin kicking in as his paws pounded against the ground.

[Captain]

It didn’t matter to the dark-furred tom if Swallowstorm was a warrior or not. He could be a clan leader and Ripplewhisker would still worry for him. The warrior hurried after his mate, his orange-tipped tail twitching worryingly. Something about this didn’t seem right and right now, he just wanted to go relax with his mate. “This doesn’t seem safe.” Ripplewhisker warned, calling after the white and grey tom-cat.

[BEAR.]

@Raywood

If there was one clanmate Bucknight didn't mind slacking off when it came to their duties, it was Cakeless. It was possible he was biased in this decision, as Cakeless was one of the few constants in his life, one of his few true friends, and he didn't want to see that change. Being around Cakeless in any form was a welcomed change from the rabble he normally dealt with. Whereas conversing with others often left Bucknight feeling frustrated and exhausted, Cakeless brought with him a sense of peace and warmth.

Which may have been unorthodox given his friend's sarcastic approach, but there weren't many cats that could genuinely bring a laugh to the tabby. Eternalstar's influence notwithstanding. Whenever he felt the itch of his former life, the young leader wanted to curl up beside Cakeless and hide from his destiny. Being the reincarnation of a psychopath left him feeling caged, torn between wanting to continue what was an innocent life, and indulging in the urges that tugged at his paws.

It kinda sucked.

"Hardly an excuse when it's the truth," he retorted, his muzzle twisted in a sort of grin. "How can I avoid tripping when my eyes are always on you, darling?" Bucknight flicked his tail, playfully smacking Cakeless's flank. "When is anything ever too low for me? My clumsy nature always has me on the ground. Can't get much lower than that."

He was glad to find Cakeless held interest in providing judgement. It wasn't often he went to his friend and former apprentice for feedback, but this time he felt it necessary given they would be playing with an unpredictable element. "Well," Bucknight murmured, "the plan is rather simple. Our next target is ThunderClan, as you know, and we're going to be bringing in the Dusk Syndicate for assistance. Our neighbors to the north haven't been very, ah, active around the clans since Neomora left, and their participation should catch quite a handful of the senior cats off guard. They won't be expecting the return of a dead gang. What we've intended for the Dusk Syndicate to do is to steal fire from Twolegs; to ignite ThunderClan's precious forest and let the blaze send them into a panic. During the hysteria, they should be easy pickings for a force of ShadowClan and RiverClan cats, yeah?"

[Fawn]

@Lunacross

Despite ruining what otherwise would have been another day of nothingness, or perhaps joking around the camp (the standard, loyalist warrior's equivalent to nothingness), Cakeless supposed he wasn't too terribly upset by the change of plans. Mostly because it was Bucknight, not anybody else; had a different cat tried to drag him out on patrol, they would have been met with a sharp-tongued response usually heard from elders. But it wasn't that he meant anything rude by it, as sarcasm was purely his means of expressing himself.

He was fortunate that Bucknight spoke his language and seemed to understand him better than his clanmates, though to be fair he rarely gave them a chance to. His circles consisted of his adoptive family--long since forgotten the key aspect, adoptive--and Bucknight, and he was perfectly content with that.

The term of endearment elicited a short bark of laughter; he was truly too much of a romantic for his own good, a trait not many would guess about the fearless leader of RiverClan with high ambitions and questionable morals. "You ought to put them on something worthwhile," Cakeless responded with his usual form of self-deprecating humor, hiding the smirk on his muzzle. Really, there was no place he'd rather have Bucknight's gaze, but watching the path in front of him was important. "Only I can get away with staring at you the whole day and dodging my duties as a warrior, remember?"

Allowing the subject to drop, Cakeless listened to the plan and processed it carefully, a critical perspective examining each piece of the idea and analyzing it. The mention of the Dusk Syndicate had him ill at ease--although it wasn't outwardly reflected, the uncertainty clawed at him after countless tales of his father's history with them, and his grandmother's involvement in the gang. Briefly, he wondered if he should ask if Bucknight had someone lined up to manage ThunderClan's remains when it fell, if not himself, but decided against it, for it felt almost insulting to inquire. "Definitely," he agreed easily, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know why you think you need my approval. It sounds as if you're ready to take over the forest as it is. ..What did you have in mind for WindClan?" Dapplestar didn't seem like the type who would simply surrender, but maybe if she knew it was a battle she couldn't win without major losses..

[Hexict]

Originally Posted by koer

daisypaw passively grinned after a groan of pain from the kick in the stomach. "no worries.- you don't look like your having much fun. maybe a different activity will be fun for you?" the molly felt guilty for her unsatisfied attitude, but smiled to her anyways. "lets see, there's always battle, hunting, racing, climbing- what do you want to do?"

Willowpaw was taken aback by the other molly's passive reaction to her impulsive actions. She had a look of guilt on her face while Daisypaw pointed out her lack of enjoyment for their current activity, she didn't want to ruin this for the white apprentice and was actually trying to have fun with her. She closed her pale orbs and took a deep breath. "No, I want to swim," she forced the words out. The apprentice knew that she would have to swim eventually, and would hate to act like this in front of her mentor - she'd much rather learn now and get that done with for now. "The problem is; I don't know how to swim. It might sound dumb from a Riverclanner, but... I haven't gotten out much so haven't gotten the chance to learn," the birman hoped that was convincing enough. She honestly wasn't looking forward to get involved with water due to the big storm - but she was aware how much Riverclan had to do with water, and she did love this clan, mostly her adopted mother; Sunbreeze.

[The Cannibal]

@Beau

It had taken a little while for the both of them to weave enough brambles to create the contraption that they wished the badger to step on, but eventually they had finished it, Seapaw having done quite a bit more work that Hickorypaw had, it seemed the tom was distracted with his thoughts on what they were going to do after they were done weaving, when he would be put to good use and distracting that badger. Of course he meant to be helping his best friend as best as he could, but his thoughts were unfortunately elsewhere at the time.
When the two were done weaving and had crept back down to where they were before, the badger hadn't moved but a couple of paces to the west, still lumbering and snuffling and searching for food. The ginger and white tom was literally quivering with his excitement of what he was about to do, his pupils dilated and a solid, excited grin stuck on his muzzle.

"Alright, you ready? Cause I'm ready.. Oh man I was born ready."

Hickorypaw had looked at her when he spoke before quickly looking back at where the badger was hunched over, clawing at the ground with it's huge paws, the dull claws of it glinting in the sunlight and causing the male apprentice to quiver even more in his excitement. This is what he lived for, the adrenaline, the excitement, it wasn't very often you were about to drive a badger out of it's den and likely, out of the territory, especially if you were an apprentice! Should his mentor have known what he was up to, he likely would have been reprimanded, actually, if any adult cat knew what they were up to, they would be reprimanded, aside from perhaps a select few.
But that didn't matter to him currently, in fact.. It never actually occurred to him until after the fact, when then it was of course too late and he would simply have to get an earful from which ever warrior caught him doing the dangerous act.

Licking his lips, his claws unsheathed, he looked back at Seapaw, his body tense and quivering with energy as be basically waited for his bestfriend to give the go ahead for him to go out and create a distraction so that she could place the contraption behind the badger and so on and so forth. He wouldn't leave a second before she gave him a sign to go, because she always knew when it was the right time to do something, she had good judgement and, a lot of times, that kept him out of harms way.

[dionysus]

Originally Posted by Duskflight

@Beau

It had taken a little while for the both of them to weave enough brambles to create the contraption that they wished the badger to step on, but eventually they had finished it, Seapaw having done quite a bit more work that Hickorypaw had, it seemed the tom was distracted with his thoughts on what they were going to do after they were done weaving, when he would be put to good use and distracting that badger. Of course he meant to be helping his best friend as best as he could, but his thoughts were unfortunately elsewhere at the time.
When the two were done weaving and had crept back down to where they were before, the badger hadn't moved but a couple of paces to the west, still lumbering and snuffling and searching for food. The ginger and white tom was literally quivering with his excitement of what he was about to do, his pupils dilated and a solid, excited grin stuck on his muzzle.

"Alright, you ready? Cause I'm ready.. Oh man I was born ready."

Hickorypaw had looked at her when he spoke before quickly looking back at where the badger was hunched over, clawing at the ground with it's huge paws, the dull claws of it glinting in the sunlight and causing the male apprentice to quiver even more in his excitement. This is what he lived for, the adrenaline, the excitement, it wasn't very often you were about to drive a badger out of it's den and likely, out of the territory, especially if you were an apprentice! Should his mentor have known what he was up to, he likely would have been reprimanded, actually, if any adult cat knew what they were up to, they would be reprimanded, aside from perhaps a select few.
But that didn't matter to him currently, in fact.. It never actually occurred to him until after the fact, when then it was of course too late and he would simply have to get an earful from which ever warrior caught him doing the dangerous act.

Licking his lips, his claws unsheathed, he looked back at Seapaw, his body tense and quivering with energy as be basically waited for his bestfriend to give the go ahead for him to go out and create a distraction so that she could place the contraption behind the badger and so on and so forth. He wouldn't leave a second before she gave him a sign to go, because she always knew when it was the right time to do something, she had good judgement and, a lot of times, that kept him out of harms way.

Seapaw looked up when the last brambles had been woven tightly together. While Hickorypaw was distracted with what she presumed to be thoughts of the badger, the ginger apprentice grabbed one of the least thorny strands of bramble in her teeth and tugged, trying to ascertain just how tightly they clung to each other. The brambles gave way slightly before stopping and Seapaw dropped the prickly plant with a triumphant snort. The sheet of thorns may not have been as tightly woven as some used in camp, but it was definitely enough to hurt a badger. Shaking out her fur in apprehension, Seapaw swiped her tongue over her paw pads a few times to clean them, wincing at the tang of her blood as well as the taste of dirt. Sticking out her tongue in disgust and gagging slightly, Seapaw lashed her tail and placed her paw tenderly on the green carpeted ground. Her paw still stung slightly, but she was able to stand on it and move it. Unfortunately, there was a stubborn thorn lodged in her left paw pad, the pain of which brought tears to her eyes as it supported the entire front half of her body while she cleaned her right paw.

Checking her left paw, the apprentice winced at the sight. Her pad was puffy and a few sticky drops of crimson seeped out from beneath the head of a rather large brown thorn. Sniffing at it, Seapaw groaned and realized it would need to be checked out by a medicine cat. Glad she wasn't the distraction, Seapaw placed her paw upon the ground once more, finding she could support her weight with a slight limp.

Seapaw followed Hickorypaw to check on the badger, noting the short distance it had wandered. At Hickorypaw's exclamation, Seapaw laughed. "Yes, I'm ready." She purred, bumping her shoulder against his. "Just let me get the brambles closer to where I'll need to move them." With that, she disappeared back on the other side of the rise and leaned down to grasp the smoothest part of the bramble sheet in her teeth once more. Dragging th brambles with some difficulty, Seapaw managed to get them over the rise and under a small bush within range of the badger, where she stayed as well. Due to her proximity to the beast, Seapaw waved her tail to Hickorypaw, signaling that she was ready and that the badger was in prime position.