Willow's Rise

[poppy]

Taking walks in the woods were the prime way Aspenstar relieved her stress. How she removed herself from the painful memories and suffocating stress of daily life. She decided on a whim to go to the weeping tree, because she hadn't been there in a while and it sounded like an interesting excursion. Maybe she would even work on hunting, or socializing, should she meet someone there.

Like Fallowsky.

She noticed the molly quite quickly, as it was never a struggle to notice someone for Aspenstar. Being noticed and not being awkward when talking with someone was an issue. Until, at least for the first one, she became leader. Now being noticed wasn't a problem. It in itself was a problem, and an irritating one at that. Nodding in a courteous greeting to the other she-cat, the leader smiled tiredly.

"Good day, Fallowsky." She said politely, not sure how to approach this conversation starter. Luckily, the warrior took care of that for her, inviting her to reflect under the tree. After a moments hesitation, she nodded. "Sure, why not?" She said lightly, sitting down beside the she-cat, self-consciously licking her chest fur.
@tulle

[taillow]

Cindersky
Something in her eyes betrayed the tiredness Aspenstar must've been attempting to hide from her Clan. With Icicleripple still missing, it was no wonder; Cindersky was sure the leaders' nest was barren in favor of searching for ThunderClan's medicine cat. Sympathy struck her hard, realizing that while the weight of Clan responsibilities fell on the honey colored leaders shoulders, she now also had the extra worry weight of Icicieripple's disappearance. It was not something the warrior envied, that was for certain. For her, warrior duties were pretty cut and dry, her path laid out clearly before her each day. Aspenstars, less so.

But that was a sobering spectacle, and Cindersky figured she'd spoken on it enough times to warrant no more questions. "I wish we could've caught whoever did this," she murmured, gesturing with a slender paw to the destroyed markings. "You don't think it was RiverClan, do you?" A question poised with no hidden agenda other than to see what Aspenstar's thoughts were. It had never been spoken about in a Clan meeting that she could recall - maybe it was best to let it float by, unscathed by the judgements of some warriors (who, in Cindersky's mind, tended to lean towards harsher words).

The fire that had raged through camp was easy to recollect, the memories from that day murky like the smoke that had filled her lungs and choked her in fear. Scrambling to get kits, queens, and elders out of camp, pushing long past the barrier of what strength Cindersky had thought she had. It had been moons since then, and the heather colored warrior sent up a silent thanks to StarClan that ThunderClan's forest hadn't perished like that again.

@poppy.

[poppy]

Unfortunately for Aspenstar, Cindersky seemed to see right through her facade of everything being okay. Polite mask falling, and only a weak, unsure smile remaining, the leader allowed a somewhat defeated sigh to escaped her. It was a long, awkward silence after she sat beside the warrior, and she shuffled her paws, wondering if she should speak up. Cindersky took care of that, too. Her smile fell away as the other she-cat mentioned the markings. Aspenstar didn't remember much from that disastrous time. She had done her best to block it out. Smoke, flames. Fear. Death. She self consciously rubbed the burn-scar on the inside of her leg, staring unblinkingly at the ruined markings.

''Yes, I wish we could find whoever did this.'' She murmured, eyes dull with hr chaotic thoughts slowing. ''They would be going through life with two less ears if I got my paws on them.'' Her voice was soft, adding that last part on for herself.

Did she think it was RiverClan who did it? Wondering if she should stay neutral or allow her prideful bias to slide in. Figuring that the warrior would most likely agree with her, which was a big rick since she hardly know her, the maple-colored cat simply shrugged. ''Could've been.'' She stretched out a paw, sliding out her claws and dragging a single talon through the rightful mark, ears flattening. ''Stealing graveyards, poisoning their claws, killing queens and mangling kits, I wouldn't put it past them.'' Her words came out more bitter than she intended, and she winced.

Her expression turned venomous as she recalled everything that had happened, and she strained to reign her emotions in. No, this wasn't the time for anger or hateful words. That was what her nest was for, to hiss horrible things about her enemies and to sob her fears into it. It proved to be quite efficient.

@tulle

[taillow]

Cindersky
While the gray furred warrior wished circumstances were better for Aspenstar, it was nice to see that she let her guard down. Mask falling to reveal a soulful leader, one who wasn't just a robot going about leading her Clan. Emotional, intuitive, all the things a good leader needed to be. StarClan had done right by ThunderClan when they had appointed her and Dogbark to the crown, and Cindersky only hoped that time would serve them well and aide them on their long journey ahead to rebuilding ThunderClan.

The threat of sending claws to the ears of whatever vile creature had defiled the once memorialized marks stirred a laugh. Cindersky couldn't say she disagreed; whoever was the culprit for such a heinous crime should almost certainly be brought to justice. But it had taken quite a time for the Clan, for herself, to notice. Another notch of shame, she supposed.

"RiverClan has done our Clan much harm. Despite all the times they've been there for us, like after this very fire," Cindersky began, keeping her tone relatively neutral with some cracks of irritation poping up here and there, "they ruined all of that goodwill the moment they decided to lace their claws with poison and slaughter us in our own camp." Rage burned hot against Cindersky's chest, but just like her conversation with Dogbark, she couldn't bring herself to hate their neighbors. She was angry, sure, but could never hate them. She didn't fault those who did, though.

Turning inquisitive blue eyes to Aspenstar, Cindersky studied her leader for a moment. She was still young, as Cindersky had about ten or so moons on her age-wise. But already she cared more for ThunderClan than the leaders who had come before her did. "You don't have to hide your emotions from your Clanmates. I understand the reason behind it, but with everything I've seen in all my moons as a ThunderClan warrior, I think there is little you could say or do that would shock me - unless you were somehow consorting with RiverClan, which I find highly unlikely." There was a certain lighthearted tone to her words that Cindersky hoped would travel across to touch Aspenstar. She needed to know that Dogbark wasn't the only senior warrior who was here for her to lean on if she needed it.

@poppy.

[plum]

[ @NinjaBloss would you wanna say this is before or after they went to the cliffs? ]

Though she was pleased that the deputy had finally taken that crucial step of sending out his second ever patrols (or was it third?) Nectarflame puzzled over his choice in where to send her. The Weeping Tree, aptly named of course as a memorial site, though the memorial was destroyed by some cat long ago.

The Bengal pads along at a leisurely pace with the other she-cat, silence settling between them comfortably. They would hunt- Dogbark had not specified anything else, so she had to assume that she was meant to hunt. But hunting came easily to the cat, so time was on their side today.

[Ian]

[We can say it hapened after! @implimm]

Shiningskies followed along after Nectarflame, pleased that Dogbark had finally sent out patrols. Hopefully this development would start ThunderClan back on the path to greatness that she had heard so much about from elders when she was only a small kit.

As she walked the warrior scented the air for a whiff of prey-- she was assuming they were hunting since the deputy hadn't told them otherwise-- and glanced at Nectarflame out of the corner of her eye. The other molly might be brash and ambitious, but Shiningskies knew it came only from her desire to make ThunderClan better than it was now.

[plum]

[ @NinjaBloss ]

"It almost feels... Blasphemous to hunt here, in a way," Nectarflame breaks the silence to say. Letting out a quiet laugh, she glances towards her companion and clocks her head. "Though perhaps we ought not to consider it blasphemy, and say blessing instead? Our ancestors shall bless us with prey from this site, glad it will fill the bellies of kits and elders." She did not wish to weigh down the atmosphere between them, nor did she feel Shiningskies particularly cared to either. While she was not very familiar with the other she-cat, they did not give off any particularly alarming or troublesome vibes. Not like herself at least, Nectarflame decided humorously.

[Ian]

Shiningskies hummed softly in thought about what Nectarflame said. "I like to think of it as a blessing. If let ourselves be weighed down by all the negativity in the world then how we manage to go on? I prefer to enjoy the positive sides of things whenever possible."

The molly was quietly glad that her patrol-mate hadn't kept her words on that negative track for long. She knew that Nectarflame was often very opionated, not that she minded, but sometimes that could lead cats into a spiral of mindless anger and negativity. It seemed, however, that this was not the case for her fellow warrior. At least, she hoped it wasn't.

@implimm

[plum]

[ @NinjaBloss - I know the patrol is meant to be in on the 14th, so in my next post I will have Nectarflame catch prey and if it's very close/the day of, simply send her back home with it and maybe say smth or glance at Shining! ^^ ]

The golden Bengal smiles as the other cat responds, nodding in agreement. She would say something like "Amen," if there was an equivalent for the faith of StarClan. "A smart code of conduct indeed," she says instead before lifting her head to scent the air. "Now for hunting. I shall go in that direction, as to not get in your way. Let us show that deputy of ours just how much two cats can haul back, hm?" A wry smile twitches at the corner of her mouth as she glances sideways at Shiningskies.

Without waiting for a response, though not simply evading one (if Shiningskies needed to call out to reject the idea, or add anything she certainly could), Nectarflame pads away from her companion. Already, she was focused wholly on the hunt- Head low, eyes keeping note of what was before her, nose twitching as she de-tangles the scents of the earth from those of the wanderers upon it. She could taste a wandering rabbit on her tongue, but noticed some bird tracks in the thin layer of snow as well. Doing her best to follow them (these tracks got pretty loopy) she does indeed find the bird at the end of the line; A large bluejay, its plumage bright and vibrant in contrast to the dull and dreary hues of leafbare.

[Ian]

[ @implimm sounds good ]

Shiningskies grinned slightly at Nectarflame's agreement with her statement and then gave a nod when the warrior suggester her plan for hunting, it was what they had been sent on this patrol for after all. "Let's," she said simply before turning and heading in the direction Nectarflame had indicated for her.

The warrior stalked close to the ground, pawsteps light on the snow to make as little noise as possible. Tasting the air Shiningskies scented a squirrel and adjusted her course accordingly. She saw no tracks so it must be a little ways off, or it traveled through the trees and the wind was blowing it down to her. Whatever the case it didn't matter because she would catch it.

It took a few minutes of silent stalking and pauses to make sure she remained on the right course before she finally came upon the creature scavenging for any last nuts from leaf-fall at the bottom of an oak, unaware that its life would soon be ended by her claws.