camp DEAD MAN WALKING ↟ CHALLENGE

[DOESPRING]

Doespring has never known how to lay low, so to say. The very concept itself goes against every fiber of her being; she's been loud and defiant in the face of pain and life's challenges; she's fought back with everything she's got, even when she shouldn't have, for better or for worse... and now, with Howlingstar's untimely demise and Skyclaw's unjust rise to power, Doespring is being asked the impossible. She sees the look in the lead warriors' eyes when the goons open their mouths and relentlessly antagonize: they silently plea for their Clanmates to just take it, to keep themselves from being ripped to shreds.

It gets more difficult, day by day, instead of becoming easier. Defiance is what best describes ThunderClan now; those who have not yet succumbed to this tyranny. Doespring gets the idea — the strong dictate and the weak falter. Perhaps if Skyclaw and his followers were not so pretentious, Doespring would have joined them already.

Instead, they sneer and chide and celebrate preemptively. Their attitudes annoy her to no end.

That is precisely why her patience snaps; just a little bit, probably not enough to get attacked on sight, but snap it does nevertheless. For once, that ever-frowning face aids her. It allows her to glare at everyone in disgust without being suspicious, considering she's looked like that even under Howlingstar's reign, and then before that.

"Skyclaw. I have a question for you," she says- demands, really, for his attention to turn to her and her alone. "I've noticed you favor your most loyal cats more than the others... I thought favoritism wasn't supposed to be a very Clan-like tradition. If you love them so much more, why not make a Clan of your own? Then you can make your own culture without warping ours."

Please wait for @skyclaw !

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[skyclaw]

Must he not have one moment alone? Howlingstar must've reveled in the attention, and in some ways he does too - but Skyclaw frowns as he's approached, with a tone so demanding from a she-cat he cares too-little for. Amber eyes flick to her, partially lidded with frustration, but he bends an ear towards her regardless. A leader must listen to the complaints of his subjects, he supposes. It's what she harps on about that digs beneath his skin. He supposes that he's not been so... quiet about his favoritism, but she needn't worry about it if she just... submitted.

Plus, why make a Clan of his own, when ThunderClan is his?

"Doespring," he addresses her firmly, pushing himself to stand. "Have you not noticed yourself which cats are benefiting the Clan - and which are favoriting the outcasts?" The tom bids her to look over the camp, to the crowds that cluster at the edges and to those who walk strictly in between them. "Why should I reward the cats who only feed those who are not aligned with ThunderClan's new being? Warriors walk into camp every day now, and instead of leaving what they catch on the pile for all to pick from, they divvy it amongst themselves. That isn't very Clan-like, is it?" His tail lashes. He watches the look in her eyes, waiting for her own inferno to blaze on or douse itself. He does not pick his words carefully - he cares not which side she ultimately chooses.

He will win in the end regardless.​

 

[DOESPRING]

Skyclaw appears equally as unhappy to interact with Doespring as she is to approach him... but then, maybe he should have reconsidered his scheming, if the attention of the entire Clan on him isn't satisfactory. She feels zero sympathy for the face that betrays his inner thoughts, at least on a surface level; he had felt zero sympathy for taking away a leader, a guardian, a parent, a grandparent.

"I have not," she admits. It has been a herculean task to just exist in ThunderClan, let alone focus on anybody in particular for long. A fleeting gaze here and a moment of judgment there... but ultimately, they all get forgotten in the name of survival. It's a lot more efficient to turn into something automatic rather than something wholly too perceptive — and thus receptive.

Just this once, she will humor him, courtesy of her bringing this to the table. Doespring follows his lead and sweeps her gaze over the camp's current inhabitants. His prisoners, his followers.

She levels Skyclaw with a thoughtful look then. He is no fool, and that makes it all considerably harder; wouldn't it be so much simpler to hate his guts for being incompetent? No, instead he has to have a way of words... enough to sway those of greater naivety than Doespring. "I'm sure they will come around, if they are given the chance to get... accustomed, to all these new rules." It is a delicate dance she does with him. Say too little, and he will reprimand her for daring to speak... say too much, and he will gain inspiration for more punishment to those who don't deserve it nearly as much as Skyclaw does. "You can't fault them for being a skeptic."
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