GO MY OWN WAY // loner on territory

[TWIG]

The sun basked down on the wetlands today making the bugs around the river quite happy. Loudly they buzzed, cicadas, crickets, flies, and other insects alike. Unknown to the she-cat known as "Twig", a spawn of tadpoles had just hatched just a few more minutes to the west in the heat... but her eyes were on a trout that she could see in the dark river water. The fish currently rested between a couple of reeds... unassuming about the paws that stood frozen in the water.

Twig had learned that sometimes when fishing it was best to wade ride in and patiently wait... Unfortunately for her "patience" was not her strong suit. Today it appears she got lucky with this trout swimming along after waiting mere minutes.

Alright- I got this... I can do it...
She hesitates before drawing in a big breath, one, two, THREE!
With a splash, she dunks herself completely underwater, silver claws gracefully hooking into the fish's gills. In their wrestle, they kick up waves, but the water turns red as blood pours from scales. Twig resurfaces with a gasp... and a floating dead fish. Now above water, she finds she is no longer alone... a couple of cats look at her, eyes narrowed with hostility. Awkwardly, Twig uses a paw to stop the fish from floating away and from her place in the water and looks at the felines. "Look- I told you guys! I'm not bothering you, I've always kept away... I don't go nearby your camp or whatever... I thought we were good! I haven't done nothin', I've just been fishing, swear it!"

//Twig is unwilling to join and in retro will have been adamant about this to RiverClan cats in the past. Under Cicada's orders with loners, I'd like for her to be chased out. She will fight back at the beginning I think but will eventually flee with some average wounds to ThunderClan land :) ​

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[CLAYFUR]

He feels terrible about this situation, he truly does. RiverClan are not the first cats to claim this land as their own, and it feels wrong, it almost feels evil to force them from their territory. Clay has been lucky enough not to have come across any more of the scattered loners and outsiders until now, but he’d known that eventually he would stumble upon someone who had refused to join, someone who should be chased from the territory. And as much as he hates it, Cicadastar knows what he’s doing. Cicadastar is their badass leader for a good reason. And Clay is—what is he? A half-witted warrior who can’t even swim. He doesn’t know what’s best for anyone; he’s better off just following the orders that he’s been given.

So when the brown and white tabby spots a somewhat unfamiliar figure in the water, he stops in his tracks. A fish seems to be her catch, and she’s clearly not meant to be here judging by her reaction to their presence. He’s not going in after her unless he has to—but that doesn’t mean he won’t do what he can to drive her out. "Just fishing," he echoes dully, glancing to the clanmates at his side. "Eating RiverClan prey, on RiverClan territory." He doesn’t cut much of an imposing figure, tall and scrawny as he is, but he drops his head, allows the fur along his back to bristle. "You should leave. Now, preferably. Or we’ll make you."
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[ PENNED BY FOXLORE ]​

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[Foxpaw—]

Fox trails beside the brown warrior without thought, until she hears the distinctive splash of a cat surfacing from the river. She pauses beside Clay, curiosity holding her still. A tortoiseshell with a floating fish meets their gazes with pleading defiance.

Who is she to chase these cats from their lands? Fox was born in an unknown place, raised in marshes. The river didn't belong to her. But Cicadastar is their leader now, blessed by StarClan, and... Dewdrop lives in StarClan now. So she would know what was right more than Fox herself, wouldn't she?

The calico bristles superficially. With her small, rounded stature, she appears less than threatening. There's determination in the set of her jaw, but her eyes are uncertain, gleaming and pleading for understanding. "This is RiverClan's territory now. Cicadastar doesn't want strangers here." She inhales sharply and gives her big orange tail a single lash. "He's right. We'll chase you out if we have to!"
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PENNED BY MARQUETTE​

 

[TWIG]

"...RiverClan Tuh-Territory...?" She sputters out, the concept foreign to her. Surely they didn't mean they were laying claim to this land? Twig's lived her all of her life! This land had been no one, shared peacefully by passing by loners and the occasional permanent resident. Were these cats really going to put this to an end?

The second and younger cat spells it out for her even clearer. RiverClan's territory now.
We'll chase you out.

You had to be joking?! Anger burns bright inside her, she feels her claws sink into the rocky bottom of the river. Her mind races a million fox-lengths a second, without thinking clearly she grabs her fish, cranes her neck sideways, and furiously aims to throw it at high speed in the direction of Fox or Clay. In the same instance, she's clambering out of the water, "Going to take more than just threats to make me leave! I'm not going nowhere!" With that, Twig takes off in a sprint, not as swift as she could be due to her pelt being weighted by water. Through the reeds and foliage, she heads further into RiverClan territory, it was foolishness. What would she do? Escape and hide in this land forever? Sneaking around patrols, rolling in dung to cover her scent? Ew! She could never do that to her beautiful, soft fur.

Skidding to a halt, she turns around to face her (likely) pursuers—a final stand-off.
"I'll take both you minnow-brains on! Then you'll think twice next time you threaten me!" Faux over-confident seeps in her tone, it's blatant she's sweating under her fur.​

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[CLAYFUR]

Yeah. He feels horrible about this. At least he’s not alone in this, though, as Fox is swift to back him up. He sets his jaw as the loner—the outsider—echoes their words back to them in stutters, and his eyes flick to the youngster at his side. Then she’s moving and there’s something flying toward him and Fox, so of course he ducks to dodge it. And catches a fish straight to the side of his face, not hard, but it sure makes his eyes tear up. "Ow, what the…" he grumbles, lifting a paw to rub at his cheek. That stings. Note to self: don’t get smacked with a fish again.

The calico darts from the river while Clay is still blinking rapidly to clear his eyes, and he had to shake his head before taking off after her. Ugh. This sucks. She’s really making Clay engage in his least favorite activity: running. He almost manages to keep up with her, but he’s not made for running and it shows. He’s falling behind and for a moment he fears that she’ll get away from them, but then she does something shocking. She turns and faces them, challenging them. "Come on, you’re just gonna lose. There’s more of us than you," he says in return, hoping she’ll back down even if he’s unconvincing. Maybe he should just let his more eloquent clanmate do the talking here.

He isn’t worried about her putting up too much of a fight for them to handle; he may not be that strong, but RiverClan has numbers on their side. He doesn’t want to make the first move, but she isn’t backing down. In fact, she’s openly defying them. He doesn’t want to be the one to attack her first, but if he doesn’t, who will? She’s clearly waiting for them to make the first move. He won’t ask any of his clanmates to throw themselves into danger first.

He stalks closer to where the dappled she-cat has planted her paws, allows his claws to show. She seems nervous. He can’t blame her for that—even if he and Fox aren’t exactly a duo that strikes fear into the hearts of their enemies. And for all he talks about being just like his father, he’s never won a fight in his life. That doesn’t matter, though. With one final deep inhale, he rushes blindly at Twig, hoping to ram his shoulder into her. It’s a reckless charge, one that leaves him open to any counterattack as he attempts to tackle her into the dirt.
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[ PENNED BY FOXLORE ]​

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