@Dolomedes
(Just.......using this as the starter for these two)
Brindlepaw was getting really bored of standing around, waiting for Bumblestar to get moving. The leader was many things, but she was not getting things done right now. They had been waiting an age to get moving, and having been one of the first ones there (he was motivated by the desire for trinkets, little else) Brindlepaw was terribly bored. He too was looking for someone to harass, and spotted Morningpaw. Prepared with a few more insults after his discussion with that Shadowclan stranger at the gathering, he approached his clanmate. What're you looking for? he inquired, in as polite a tone as he could manage. If there was one thing Marshypaw had taught him, it was that a fake tone could be just as hurtful as any word. Hoping some opportunity is going to spring up to prove you're worth keeping around in the clan? None of his words were warranted, but Brindlepaw had been crabby to begin with (he always was nowadays) and the waiting had not made him happier.
Morningpaw’s green eyes lifted from the crowd and towards the irritating voice that just managed to dig further into his brain with each word. What’s that? Someone hurt this poor kit’s feeling and now they are playing playground bully? Hah! Imagine that- Morningpaw was annoyed and rude often but going out of his way to pick a fight just because was something else. Again, something that he’s done, but he did it with the want to learn more about his target’s triggers. What could this cat possibly gain from trying to get him mad? Morningpaw sneered, an icy glint in his eyes as he leveled the other apprentice with a glaring look. “What? Someone hurt your feelings and now you got to be a nursery bully? Talk about a waste of space, what're you even trying to achieve?” Honestly some of the cats in his clan were straight laughable. “What’s your name? Uselesspaw? Failurepaw? Oh please, enlighten me, this is quite the opportunity to let me know just who isn’t worth keeping around.”
His eyes went past the apprentice and towards his leader as she began to lead the group out into the territory. He shot a smile at Uselesspaw, “Actually, I don’t care. I have things to be doing rather than wasting air on useless words.” Morningpaw made his way with the group and only spared one last glance towards the company he found himself so lucky to have. Riverclan’s territory was a right mess though, the scents were off and the environment too. He understood Riverclan were fish but this was disgusting. The air was damp even. How annoying. The first place they were reached didn’t have anything too important to note. Though the apprentice walked away slightly from the group to get a general look around. Start building notes to bring up in the case they have another ( more so a when they have another ) fight with the fish-breaths.
Mudhound
Thunderclan Hornet | They/them | 35 Moons
Bilingual T2 | Flock Together T3 | Rapid Recovery | Beefed up T3
Ooooh the hornets new apprentice was trying to get them in trouble for sure but the idea was so tempting~ Dropping volume a furtive look was sent towards the leader, the overgrown child whispering "Ooooooh Bumble-sis would loose her mind if I brought back something to leave in her nest~ Scratchy sand or a sharp but pretty shell... But if we really wanna prank her we'd bring a crab. Ive seen them at the seastones theyre like really big pinchy bugs but oooooh she'd kill me." So why did that sound so tempting.
IGNORE TEMPTATION AND TEACH THE KID TO WALK! YOUR EARS ARE ON THE LINE.
With the group moving out and Wolfpaw slowly giving the hang of it Mudhound would stick by him, acting as a crutch and slowly teaching jumping on a single back leg (which really looked more like a rear and scramble with front paws for little ones or coiling like a spring to hop in a rather less controlled then normal manner) . Rambling on about momentum as they did. So far the trip wasnt that bad or difficult, and soon enough they reached the first landmark the group breaking up a bit to look around.
Sadly though, Mudhound did not like this place.
The tripods instincts were SCREAMING that the group wasnt alone, that something dangerous was here and watching them and ears pinned as the hornets ridge spiked and puffed in cation. Something was up here and even as they poked around Wolfpaw was given a quiet "Stick close to me ok" and tucked against his mentors side with a puffed up tail.
It was just.... Weird here, almost too quiet and peaceful and nothing was wrong with that because it looked normal but for the...... the stones. The too deliberately placed stones. "Uuuuuuuuh everyone! I think this is riverclans graveyard! Im finding markers and stuff."
Stuff meaning too dense patches of foliage over a cat sized patch of dirt and claw marks and riverstones/shells over these spots. Thunderclan did similar with willows rise though not with shells or river stones, mostly Mudhound saw feather trinket gifts.
It'd also explain the creepy feeling, the spirits of the riverclan cats here watching the snooping clan unhappy with their presence and wanting them to leave, knowing- DEAR GOD WAS THAT A HEADLESS CAT?!?!??!?!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!!!!!!"
Of course the damn ghost was gone as soon as anyone turned to look at it, vanished into the trees but Mudhound knew what they saw!!! That thing was real and it was there and dear god there was a dead headless ghost haunting them now!!!!! "There was a headless cat!! There just right there!!! Did you see it!?!"
Risingstorm nearly jumped from his skin when he heard mudhounds scream rising whipped his head around to look at the three legged hornet "what the-" rising was confused none the less maybe a bit frightened "a headless cat?" the warrior muttered yeah it the place did feel weird now that he thought of it maybe even a bit cold or was his minds playing tricks on him or was it just Mud-hound getting into his head he didn't know but stayed on edge "Hey Mud-hound I'm sure it was nothing" he said with a slight shiver in his voice DARN STARCLAN he hissed in his mind he was spooked now he could hear it in his own voice
Huh, a graveyard... Bumblestar moved over to where Mudhound stood, surveying the apparent grave markers. She'd have to tuck this spot away for later; might make for better leverage instead of a regroup spot if anything were to happen and she needed a hold over the fish. Not like they could complain, they'd stolen graves before.
She'd just bent down to inspect one of the graves when Mudhound SCREAMED, and she whirled around to stare at the trees and then her sibling before scowling.
"For stars sakes!" she snapped. "Don't just scream like that! There's no such thing as a headless cat. You'll freak us all out for no good reason."
Sure, she'd seen one dead cat in the living world before, but the only thing wrong with that one had been that irritating voice and super-inflated ego. Nothing headless.
Hehe, this little romp through fish territory sure was fun! Nightgaze was literally skipping after the group, glancing around frantically, briefly taking in the unfamiliar sights and scents in one big go! 'Running, running through Riverclan! Finding all the fishies secrets! Conquering their clearing and sniffing out their...their..umm' her internal chant ended quite quickly due to a lack of ideas...she should just stick to claws and leave the words to more creative cats. Ironically, Nightgaze was really loud so she would not, in fact, just stick to claws...anyways-!
The black mollie's tail lashed as they arrived, and without any precautions taken, got straight to bounding off to explore this new place, kicking up a flurry of silt sand behind her. What was that? What was this? So many things to discover!? Nosing the undergrowth with undisguised curiously, Nightgaze was only snapped of her frenzied scouting by a screaming Mudhound.
A HEADLESS CAT!?
Nightgaze had to see this! As fast as a hare, she leapt over shrubs and bushes until she finally skidded to a halt near the panicked hornet. Ebony fur fluffed out and covered in leaves, the Thunderclanner was instantly on the scene with unbreakable inquisitiveness. "A headless ghost?! Where!?" Excitedly scanning the area was all Nightgaze could do at the moment. She'd never seen a ghost before! No way she could miss this opportunity!
Glancing distractedly at Bumblestar, a whine rose in her throat. "But, Boss! If there's a headless ghost running around here then we need to hunt it down!" Ghost hunting, she liked the sound of that! Besides, she was too wrapped up in enthusiasm to actually think about this. But it would be fun right! Bright hues glowed eagerly, barley resisting descending deeper into the unknown territory and trying her luck at finding the ghost herself.
Creepingpaw's ears perked at the familiar voice of Kestralpaw. Sweeping his gaze over to her, he mischievously smirked at her echoing remark. If there’s one thing Creepingpaw enjoyed, it’s a little back-and-forth banter and competition. Which was, of course, how he tries to make friends. The 6 moon old tom bounded closer to his mentor and paused beside her, flashing Kestrelpaw a playfully pouty face at her nickname for him. Oh, how original…
Lavendersong stifled a small giggle with her long feathery tail before laughing sweetly at Kestrelpaw’s humorous jabs at her apprentice. Her voice certainly lived up to her name; dancing through the air like spring petals. The young pitch black maine coone tipped her head to Kestrelpaw as a greeting, ”Kestrelpaw, so nice to meet your funny self… I’m Lavendersong.” Lavendersong purred warmly before waving her long tail in Creepingpaw’s face, ”Please excuse my apprentice, Kestrelpaw… he’s worried we’ll be ambushed by RiverClan during our expedition.”
Creepingpaw’s nose twitched before he jerked his face away from his mentor’s fluffy tail. He lifted his paw and rubbed his nose to ease the tickle before tilting then shaking his head at Lavendersong. ”Worried? Nah… I’m itching for a fight!” He exclaimed with his chest, his toothy smile proudly beaming at the thought of running into trouble so he can show off his skills.
Kestrelpaw stared at the two felines for a long moment. Were they pulling her leg? Had she not just told them that RiverClan had been driven out by the other three Clans? . . .Eh, she wouldn't judge them, maybe they were-
'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!!!!!!'
Kestrelpaw jumped two feet in the air at Mudhound's yowl, letting out her own yelp of alarm as she landed on the ground, fur bristled, spiked up, head whipping in the tripod's direction with panic as they continued to yell.
'There was a headless cat!! There just right there!!! Did you see it!?!'
Headless cat?!?! Her thoughts were running panicked laps around her brain, turquoise eyes flitting between Mudhound and Bumblestar as the leader scolded their sibling. Kestrelpaw's pupils were blown wide, claws digging into the ground, bushy tail up in the air and bristled. She was, in short, a puffed-up furball.
Sunpaw I'm chasing dreams since I left the womb + she/her + no purrks
They were already on the move; naturally, their first stop was the graveyard the exiled clan had. Of course, on the way there she hopped in the damp parts of the territory to splash herself and any nearby cats with mud. It never hurt anyone to get a little dirty while on a field trip, mud wouldn't be bad for the fur either! The orange puff ball looked around at the desolate place, it felt so spooky and eerie! "You bet that these old dead cats would one day rise from their graves to eat us?" amber eyes turned to make eye contact with the nearest cat to her. "If they do I bet they'd go for you first! " she cackled. Sunpaw took the moment to bunny hop in circles around the cat with a gleam in her eyes, "better get running or you'll be their next meal!" was her last words before her attention turned to one of the hornets. "HEADLESS GHOST?!WHERE!!" she wanted to go see one with her own two eyes. If it was real she was so totally going to tell both Elkpaw and Swanpaw all about it, they wouldn't be left out.
At first, his presence was simple - a shadowy figure along the treeline, barely visible save for the unfortunate souls that glimpsed him.
Hawkstar bunched his muscles as he observed the squirrel squad panic, unaccustomed to such a display. Most cats had never seen a ghost, even less so a headless one.
Being headless in this case was mostly an illusion - taking the form of the end of his life, when a group of ThunderClan cats had invaded his camp and savagely murdered and mutilated him. Hawkstar was aware, very much, that none of these cats would stoop so low - but it didn’t change the fact he wanted them gone.
These burial grounds might not be as ancient as he, but they carried the remains of countless Clan-mates and he would not permit their rest disturbed.
He burst from the shadows, ghostly blood spurting from the gaping wound where his head once was, and made a lunge forward. At first, it might look like he was rushing toward Mudhound, but in reality he was aiming for Bumblestar. Be it coincidence or something supernatural, a gust of breeze followed his movement - whipping the branches overhead, the leaves whispering.
It was as if the thicket had come alive with the voices of the dead, saying one thing: LEAVE!
Risingstorm felt the anger and fear from the forest around them the tom wanted to leave he wanted to LEAVE NOW but he didn't move he didn't want to be seen as a coward afraid of ghost or what ever was in here he gulped as he felt his heart beat low and heavy as he felt cold he walked over to wolfhive his friend who would definitely say something about his fear "Wolf I don't like this...Dont laugh at me a please." he said his voice had a quiver to it but was quiet enough so others didn't hear
Re: Beyond Enemy Lines
