She watched with careful eyes as Wolfpaw slowly but surely scaled his way up the tree to settle next to her. She shuffled to the side a little, giving him room, and peered down at the ground. The branch they both perched on was one of the tree's lower-hanigng ones, yes, but they were still a ways up.
Perfect.
"That was decent for your first go," she quipped. "There's not much else to it, except for practice, so just keep at it. The next step is getting down, which is a little trickier. But while I have you up here..." Bumblebreak tilted her head at him. "You mind telling me where you went off to after everyone else settled into the new camp, and why you didn't notify anyone you'd gotten back?"
GENTLEDOE
messy-furred brown she-cat with heterochromia. she/her
[ CW: Depictions of Murder ]
Gentledoe was, quite honestly, very worried for the Clan's safety. Sure, she worried a lot, but this was... a rather necessary worry.
After hearing about Sundust falling into a hole, the tabby she-cat had carefully made her way out into the territory to check it out. If there were more sinkholes, then were they truly safe where they had settled? No more deaths needed to occur. Enough death and destruction had befallen their Clan these past moons, and Gentledoe was growing tired of it. Really, really tired. She sighed, bicolored eyes passing over the territory while she walked- watching for anything out of the ordinary. Really, it wasn't the best idea to go out alone given the dangers already presented, but she hadn't wanted to wait to call anyone to come with her. It would be quicker if she had gone alone, so that was what she did.
Soft paws bounded across the forest floor, each step holding a caution to it. If the ground began to shift even slightly, she'd turn tail and flee. There was no need for more risks to be taken than she already had being out here alone. Ears perked, ready to detect even the smallest sound. Nostrils flaring, the stale scent of ThunderClan causing her to let out a quiet sigh. Her claws unsheathed and ready to defend herself if necessary. She didn't like having to fight, but she would if she had to. It had clearly been a long time since this area had been patrolled, and Gentledoe wasn't about to take any chances. Who knew what dangers lurked out here.
Her tail twitched as she thought back, perusing her memories to recall if ThunderClan had ever been... good. Stable. Without worries about leadership, safety, or whether they would be, well... okay. And as far back as she could remember, she couldn't. From the moment she had been born twenty-seven moons ago, the Clan was in shambles. So many events, so many leaders, so much disappointment. Gentledoe's frown deepened. Thrushstar was only following in the others' pawsteps it seemed. Stars, Bumblebreak was the deputy and she was practically carrying the Clan! Sundust had apparently disappeared into a hole, Cinderpaw was only ever seen worrying about the kits and apprentices of the Clan, and their leader didn't seem to care.
Gentledoe was really, really tired.
She looked up, noticing the Mossy Den in the distance. The scent of ThunderClan was so stale, it was as though nobody had been here in moons. Stars, this was awful. Anyone could just waltz right on into ThunderClan territory if they very well pleased, and nobody would know! Gentledoe picked up her pace, bounding towards the Mossy Den on light paws. The overgrown den practically had outsider scent pouring out of it, which caused her nose to wrinkle in disgust. Quite the vile scent, really. She did not enjoy it. Not one bit. Still, she crouched down and entered the Mossy Den, keeping her eyes peeled for outsiders.
There only appeared to be one, though. A grey and white tom with scarred ears. Gentledoe quirked a brow, watching the tom feast on a mouse. He didn't appear to notice her, allowing the messy-furred she-cat to rise to her paws and approach him.
"I suggest you leave," she started, causing the tom to whip around and face her, "This is ThunderClan territory."
The outsider's eyes narrowed, lips pulling into a snarl. Gentledoe remained still, however, staring at the tom.
"I ain't seen no ThunderClan kitters 'round here. Git outta here wit' that. Yer jus' wantin' to take me den. Well I ain't givin' it to ya!" he hissed. Without waiting for a response, he lunged at her, torn-up claws outstretched and attempting to claw at her face. Gentledoe stifled a sigh. Alright, guess she had to fight.
She darted to the side, paw swiping out to claw at his shoulder and knock him off balance. The tom stumbled, turning towards her and lunging again. This time, his claws managed to catch Gentledoe's cheek, causing her to wince in pain. Damn, she was rusty. Maybe she needed to start practicing more. He jumped up, attempting to pin the she-cat down, but she took the opportunity to slip beneath his body and rake at his belly. He fell to the side with a yelp, scrambling away from her to create some distance.
Gentledoe shook her head, feeling droplets of blood fly away from her cheek. She crouched down once again, readying herself to lunge at him if needed.
"I don't want to fight, love. I am giving you a chance to leave now," she warned, her tone serious. If he didn't leave, she'd have to resort to... less desirable ways of ridding the territory of an outsider presence. Though, as his expression hardened into determination, Gentledoe had a feeling that was where she'd have to take this. Damn.
He didn't speak, not this time. Instead, he pounced with a yowl. But his form was weak, sloppy. Off balance. It was clear he had never been trained to fight. As bad as Gentledoe felt about taking advantage of his lack of knowledge, she had to get this over with. She didn't want to focus on this any longer, lest the guilt set in.
So, as he lunged, Gentledoe did as well. However, she had dodged to the side before lunging toward him, catching the tom off guard. In a panic, his paws flailed out, claws scratching at the she-cat's chest and front legs. She ignored the pain, gripping his scruff in her jaws and raising her paw to slice a claw across his neck. He sputtered for multiple moments, then soon fell still, the scent of blood fresh in the air. Once he was done, Gentledoe released him with a sigh, shaking her head in disappointment. She hated doing fighting, really. Hated blood. Hated being the cause of others' injuries. Really, why would she want to cause injury when she could help avoid it?
But... she had to protect her Clan. If one outsider was allowed to stay, then multiple would follow. Then more. And more. The Clan was already unstable- they didn't need more to worry about.
Gentledoe winced as the claw marks on her front stung. Ouch.
Quickly, she buried the tom, sitting for a moment on the grave. Although he died at her paws, she could still pay her respects. Death was such an awful thing, really. Once she was finished, she took a lap around the area to be sure nobody else had made it their home, then turned around and made her way back to camp.
Bah! This was getting annoying fast. Shimmerbeak stretched and looked around the territory before looking back at Echopaw. The silver and black cat circled around the paw. An plan forming in their mind.
"I wanna get this over and done with soooo.. you continue practicing and ill go hunt a few things and we'll pretend we both caught them? Alright? And you can get all the praise or whatever and I dont have to waste anymore time."
Shimmerbeak ranted before stopping infront of the apprentice.
"I'm sure youll get a better mentor the next meeting."
Wolfpaw settled on the branch, looking to Bumblebreak for the next instructions. He was pleased to hear that he seemed to do okay on his, but surprised to hear her question. He didn’t realize anyone had even notice his absence of a couple days - it felt like he went days without seeing some of his clanmates all the time, even the important ones. Now that it had been recognized though, he felt his stomach drop a bit. Was he in trouble? He knew apprentices weren’t supposed to leave camp alone, but he didn’t mean to.
His tail curled up to rest on top of his paws. “I didn’t know anyone realized.” No one had said anything to him when he showed back up. “When the camp.. collapsed. I was at the end of the group leaving. I didn’t see my friend, um, Pebblepaw?” He didn’t know like he was saying it like Bumblebreak might not know who Pebblepaw was, apparently she knew everyone. “I backtracked to make sure she got out okay, but then I couldn’t find the ground again. I, um, don’t know the whole territory very well - my mentor never took me to all the places.” He knew she was supposed to, but he wasn’t sure what happened with that. He knew some of the territory from where other warriors had taken him out, but this area - near RiverClan, he thought? - he wasn’t as familiar with. “It took me a while to find the new camp. Am I in trouble?” The question was genuine. He hadn’t done anything wrong before, and the thought of being in trouble was a little frightening.
[ just a side note that i didn’t forget how to write dialogue, wolfpaw just has a bit of a weird cadence dfjkns
@dino. ]
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“when you're with the right person, every place is a right place.”
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The meeting was just beginning to make Shimmerbeak annoyed. All the yelling back and forth blah blah blah! The silvery gray cat had stood up and slipped out of camp before the meeting ended. Now the warrior was making their way around the territory trying to kill time before it would be forced back to the new camp. Maybe they could get some more hunting done! No apprentice who had a horrible mentor or no mentor at all could hold them back!
Her eyes flickered over him as he spoke, then nodded and answered without looking at him.
"Well, whoever your mentor was, they did a real crappy job. I'll take you around what remains later 'n make sure to hook you up with someone better. You're not in trouble for this, no. Just be careful wanderin' off in the future, yeah?"
With that out of the way, she stood up on the branch. "Now. Getting down. Just do what you did goin' up, but reversed. You're in front of me, so you'll have to go first. You fall... try not to break anything. We're not super high up, anyways."
Wolfpaw's ears twitched back a millimeter at Bumblebreak's harsh words. He wanted to defend his mentor, but he couldn't really say she taught him a lot. It made him feel bad regardless, considering he wouldn't even be in ThunderClan if it weren't for Orchidbriar, as well as the fact she seemed like a nice cat in general, but maybe she wasn't supposed to be a mentor. It seemed like cats were made for certain things, but they didn't always end up where they were supposed to fit - Wolfpaw hoped he never ended up in the wrong job.
The change of subject back to the climbing lesson was appreciated, and Wolfpaw listened closely as Bumblebreak explained. He didn't really like that he'd be going first, but she was right that they weren't very high up. He might even be able to just jump down, but he wasn't gonna try that now. Instead, he listened to the older cat's instructions and began slowly making his way down the tree, one paw at a time, until he reached the grass at the base. "Are we gonna try again or is that it for today?"
~Velvet
Velvet trots across the land to escape her world of destruction. She needs to clear her mind of all that happened. First red had died and now ice fallen ill. what would she become without her brothers? She blinks her tears away and hurries off.
action: velvet is crying and runs away. Ooc notes: fyi she’s a kit. Health good, emotional state bad, defence bad
~Velvet
Velvet trots across the land to escape her world of destruction. She needs to clear her mind of all that happened. First red had died and now ice fallen ill. what would she become without her brothers? She blinks her tears away and hurries off.
action: velvet is crying and runs away. Ooc notes: fyi she’s a kit. Health good, emotional state bad, defence bad
GENTLEDOE
messy-furred brown she-cat with heterochromia. she/her
Gentledoe was out in the territory, patrolling the area. Bicolored eyes passed back and forth as she walked, keeping watch for anything out of the ordinary. Hearing the sound of movement, her attention turned to the source. By the time she made it over, however, whoever had made the noise already ran off. An unfamiliar scent lingered in their wake. Hm. She'd have to report this, tell the Clan to keep watch for outsiders in the territory. Turning around, Gentledoe made her way back to camp.
Darkpetal was casually walking through ThunderClan territory. Maybe he could pick some flowers? He scented the air before he smelled... Somecat... but who? They smell of blood, maybe they're injured. He approached the cat, who had bloodstains on her face. The cat was a brown tabby, and her green eyes scanned the area. "Who are you?" Darkpetal asked, "What are you doing in-" The tabby lunged at him, catching Darkpetal off guard. She ripped a chunk of flesh out of his neck. The tabby took another charge, tearing into Darkpetal's underbelly, leaving the senior warrior to drown in his own blood as the light faded from his pale yellow eyes.
Cactus smiled. Another foolish victim, she thought, her bloodstained teeth glittering in the sun. She ripped some flesh out of the dark grey tabby, relishing the taste of cat flesh. She ate and ate, leaving his half eaten body when she was satisfied, slinking away.
Re: Giant's Rest
