pafp I WON'T BREAK THIS SILENCE — prompt

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

The hunting patrol has little to show for their efforts today, and as they walk and mutter quietly to one another about various failed catches, their breath expands into thick clouds between them. The wind is brisk today, latching onto flesh with needling teeth. The ground underpaw turns stony and pebbly, and soon enough they’re looking out into Sunningrocks, into the shining expanse of the river that separates them from RiverClan. Raccoonstripe’s dark eyes sweep over it, looking for signs of the season upon the water—ice edging the bank, lacing the surface—but sees nothing.

“A pity,” he remarks quietly to the patrol. He flicks his tail, whiskers stiff. “If we’re lucky, the river will freeze over soon enough. Maybe RiverClan will be driven out of their camp again.” There’s nothing vicious in his tone or his expression, nothing to say he would savor the pain their rival Clan would experience upon fleeing their camp again. But he speaks flatly, logically, and he turns toward the other cats with a shrug. “Perhaps when it gets colder, we’ll see less of them at our border. It will save us from having to defend our territory so soon.” He knows Smokestar only a little, but all of RiverClan hungered for Sunningrocks—he assumes it will only be a matter of time before they attempt to claim them again.

[ please wait for @FALCONHEART ]

, ”​

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[FALCONHEART]

Falconheart blames his lack of a catch today on the cold. It’s surprising, how the wind blowing over the river bites at his skin even through the fluff of his pelt. The patrol approaches Sunningrocks, looking out into the river that keeps their water-dwelling neighbors away from them. Raccoonstripe speaks quietly at first, and the cream tabby thinks he’s going to comment on their unlucky patrol, but instead he speaks about RiverClan. Falconheart tenses as the older tom’s words register in his head, ears flickering backward slightly. How would the other clan eat, if their food course froze over? And he doesn’t want Riverclan to be driven out of their camp, either—hadn’t every clan been through enough already? They’d all had their homes taken over by rogues, and spent so long reclaiming their lands. Why would Raccoonstripe want their neighbors to suffer again so soon? Especially in winter, when it’s already hard for all the clans to survive. He frowns. He doesn’t hope the river freezes over at all. "Uh… I-" he catches himself, muzzle clicking shut abruptly.

Raccoonstripe is a warrior, and a lead warrior at that. Howlingstar trusts him, just as she trusts Flamewhisker, to look out for the clan’s best interests. He holds authority that Falconheart can only hope to touch someday. And he’s kind of right, isn’t he? RiverClan is busy with their camp flooding like it did last time it got cold, then they won’t have any reason to attack ThunderClan, right? "Yeah," he finally says, hesitation clinging to his words like frost. He doesn’t agree with the older tom’s hope, but he doesn’t know how to disagree. He trusts Raccoonstripe just like he trusts Burnstorm and Sunfreckle. "Hopefully it will freeze soon."​

[ find me way out there ]​

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[Marigoldpaw]

It only starts to hit Marigoldpaw on this patrol that prey will indeed be harder to find, their catches pitifully low. It isn’t even that far into Leaf-bare, and yet the trouble was already showing itself. How bad would these next few moons truly be if this is all they’ll have to eat at the end of the day? It can’t possibly be that bad if ThunderClan continues to stand. He’ll have to ask one of the elder cats about how the last Leaf-bare faired, when they return.

When they arrive at Sunningrocks, Marigoldpaw stares at the body of water that separates them and RiverClan. Raccoonstripe does the same, although scanning for something specific, and then comments on how the other clan were driven out of camp once. He’s heard about how the river overflowed, leading to them camping in a much less comfortable place in their string of territory. He doesn’t hate RiverClan that much though, so he finds himself not entirely agreeing with the lead warrior’s sentiment.

It seems that Falconheart agrees, the way he hesitates as he formulates an answer, but decides against complaining. Well, Marigoldpaw’s the last one to not insert his opinion. “I wouldn’t say I want them driven from their home, but I do hope they won’t take advantage of us going through a hard time.” Maybe then his neutrality on the rival clan would be challenged. Not that he wants tensions boil to that degree, however. The more peaceful of a time all the clans have, the better.​