Rugged Range

[panchiko]

// @Blitz @Rainquail @Slushie

beginning to follow goosefury, spiderpaw paused. finally! they could get going! it'd taken 'em long enough to decide to come along - she hoped the walk back over to camp would be fast, since her legs were starting to hurt. "alrighty then! come along, you two!" she exclaimed. "and, to be fair, we just met you too, and we're still giving you a chance! now hurry up. c'mon." letting out a little sigh as well, the apprentice continued to walk towards camp, ready to hurry this up. lionsrange would take a pretty long walk. might as well do it quickly. not caring to see if they followed, spiderpaw gave goosefury a tiny smile - ha! so something interesting was going to happen on this trip. she knew it!

[Abyssopelagic]

Bastet began padding after the clan cats, tail gently on Basil's side in encouragement for her to follow.
"Out of curiosity- what are your names?"
@Slushie @hope @Blitz
(I think once Blitz replies, this can be moved to reports)

[The Kitty.]

[ @Beau @gs29513 ]

Hazelpaw
__________

A russet-furred apprentice was trekking alongside her mentor, eyes trained absentmindedly on the groves of trees that surrounded her from ahead. The crinkling of the leaves beneath her pads resonated gently throughout the rocky outcropping they were hiking upon. Huffing, Hazelpaw kept her eyes narrowed, seemingly deep in thought, as she continued to stare vacantly ahead, ears flicking every now and again in concentration rather than alertness. There was one she-cat Hazelpaw couldn't seem to shake from her mind: Leopardjaw. Oh, how she hoped the cashmere bengal had learned her lesson the previous night. Oh, how she longed to rake her claws down the hell-resident's face one last time, perhaps to even sink her fangs into her throat as her agonized screams resonated throughout the mucky clearing, just like how the crunches of these leaves resounded throughout this area....

Hazelpaw shook her head to dismiss of the supposedly uneccesarily gruesome thoughts, and at last the young apprentice turned her attention to Rainydawn. She figured now would be a good time to relieve herself of her worries.

"Uhm, Rainydawn?" she whispered, that usual touch of anxiety returning to her voice. "I uh, there was something I was wanting to discuss with you, if that's alright?"

[gs29513]

Dark crept along the border, stalking a scrawny mouse. With a leap, he pinned and killed it, gulping it down quickly as there were cats in the area. @Corruptx @Beau

[dionysus]

[ @Corruptx @gs29513 ]

Hazelpaw seemed strangely off to Rainydawn and the warrior peered over at her young companion a few times during their walk, trying to gauge her mental state. The bengal mix didn’t want to push her apprentice or intrude into Hazelpaw’s personal issues, though, so she refrained from asking the -paw anything and instead waited for her to bring up what was bothering her. The younger molly did end up starting the conversation finally, just before Rainydawn decided to ask what was up and the warrior bit back her question to listen to Hazelpaw.

“Of course, Hazelpaw. You are always welcome to discuss anything that is bothering you with me. What is it?”

[The Kitty.]

[ @Beau @gs29513 ]

Hazelpaw
___________

Swallowing back the thickening lump that had formed from within the back of her pharynx, Hazelpaw halted in her tracks, tongue ravishing her jaws nervously as she studied her shuffling forefingers. "I uhm, something happened, back in the uhm, well, you see.... I-I trained in the Dark Forest for a couple nights. Eventually I stumbled upon this so-called 'Leopardjaw' cat, and at one point I almost ended up killing her just last night." Oh, great starcats, how was she even supposed to explain this? Wheezing in a sharp, relatively hurried breath, Hazelpaw peered briefly up at Rainydawn. "Some part of me, some part of me enjoyed the torture I was bringing upon Leopardjaw. And when Whitepaw - she had been there last night, too - dragged me off her I was demanding she let me kill her. Now, she wants nothing to do with me. I don't know what to do, I don't know why I was at all enjoying it and I-"

The russet-furred molly was stopped short as the crackling of what sounded like a bunch of leaves sounded from nearby. Ears pricking forward, Hazelpaw squatted steadily down into a crouch, fangs gritting together. An unfamiliar odor had touched her nostrils, the odor of a cat who certainly didn't smell of RiverClan. Tipping up her nose, the young apprentice flared her nostrils in an attempt to locate where the stench had drifted in from. Eyes constricting, she searched the vast but oh-so-rocky expanse of land till her attention eventually drew itself onto a tom who, by the looks of it, wasn't associated with the Clans whatsoever. And, to make matters worse, the tom had seemingly stepped over the border.

"Uhm, Rainydawn?" Hazelpaw whispered questioningly. "What uh, what is that rogue doing here in our territory?"

[gs29513]

Oh darn. The clan cats had seen him. With a quick leap, he bounded a few tail-lengths away, and paused, quivering in the brush. Don't let them hurt me, don't let them hurt me. ran through his mind, as he realized the trembling of his hiding place would give him away. @Beau @Corruptx

[Blitz]

[OOC]
I got nothing so we might aswell skip to the reports TvT.

@Slushie @Rainquail @hope

[dionysus]

[ @Corruptx @gs29513 ]

Whatever Rainydawn had been expecting that wasn’t it. The dark forest? How had Hazelpaw found it? The last thing any apprentice needed was to be corrupted by the cats of that place and Rainydawn shuddered at the thought of what they might have been teaching her, though she didn’t have to try too hard to think of it.

When Rainy had first returned to the clan she’d been tempted by the dark forest. A scared young cat who was sick of feeling like she couldn’t protect herself and who wanted to prove herself to the clan was easy prey but Rainypaw hadn’t lasted long there. She didn’t like the ruthless tactics and she still avoided them to this day. Now it was Hazelpaw’s turn.

“Hazelpaw... I need you to promise me you won’t go there. The dark forest is a dangerous place and it might seem like you can just go there and learn without becoming one of them- trick them into teaching you their ways but use them for good- but you can’t. They know what they are doing and it won’t work.
As for Leopardjaw... I don’t know. She was an evil cat but we must remember control even with those who wouldn’t do the same for us. That is why the warrior code tells us never to kill unless it can’t be helped- it is to keep us in control and stop us from going down the dark road that leads to the-”

Before Rainydawn could finish she became aware of a second presence. As Hazelpaw spoke, Rainydawn turned and caught sight of a loner on their territory. The bengal mix’s fur rose along her spine and she eyed the cat as he ran to a bush and she began to follow.

“Come with me, we have to make sure he leaves.”

[The Kitty.]

[ @Beau @gs29513 ]

Hazelpaw
__________

Hazelpaw was too distressed with the whole initiating spectacle to even realize the sensation of her upper canines worrying at her lips. Was... Was Rainydawn disappointed in her now? Disappointed that she had committed such an act of brutality? Well, if so, Hazelpaw had to admit - her mentor sure had a decent-enough reason.

Head bobbing down in a teeny nod - perhaps of submission - Hazelpaw straightened upward before inching warily forward, her attention now drawn more-so on this rogue rather than on the topic of Rainydawn's probable disappointment. "Hey, outsider!" she gritted, and tilted her in an effort to appear more assertive. "Wh-what are you doing on our turf, eh?"