loud and bright [hail]

Johnnyflame

Johnnyflame

"YES, SIR."
SkyClan Former Lead Warrior SkyClan 10K
Feb 14, 2023
413
88
28


LET'S GO OUT WITH A BANG​


It was a picturesque day in twoleg place- the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and there was a relative sense of tranquility that had settled over gardens facing out toward the woodland. Or at least, there had been a sense of tranquility overlooking things, until a raucus of yowling and spitting broke out in one of the yards. It went on for a few seconds, the sounds of a violent scuffle filling the air, and then it was over. A large brown tomcat lept the back fence of the yard and went tearing down the way, ear split open and bleeding and now missing a chunk of fur from their shoulder.

"AYE, THAT'S RIGHT YA BLOODY COWARD! AND DON'T COME BACK!" hollered Johnny as he lept up onto the fence to watch them run.

His fur was still puffed out and his amber eyes were gleaming, but there was a grin settled on his muzzle that spoke of a job well done, self-satisfaction coursing through the toms veins. He wasn't the largest cat out there, but what he lacked in height he made up for in tenacity and strength, his stocky frame well built and sturdy beneath a patchy coat.

His cheek was sporting a nice cut to it where the intruder had managed to snag a claw in him, but for the most part the tom seemed no worse for wear, standing proudly atop the back fence of his twolegged garden with ferocity burning in his eyes. It was then that he caught sight of another cat, and seeing the lack of a collar around their neck -unlike the fiery red one hanging around his own- he squared his shoulders before calling down to them, grin still plastered on his muzzle.

"What- ya wanna have a go of it as well?" he challenged, still hit with adrenaline.

If this stray cat thought they were going to get a free meal tearing his housefolks trashbin apart, they were sorely mistaken.
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"You'll Never Be Unloved By Me"​

The sun was out for once and its rays had caused the ground to become muddy and slushie. The birds though seemed to return for a day as their songs filtered through the air and it gave a sense of hope. A little hope that new leaf would be on the horizon soon now, and that prey would return to the forest. The prosperity of new kits, the growth of Skyclan and so forth. So to celebrate the peaceful morning, a blue tabby had decided to go out alone for a small hunt. He needed more practice with his hunting anyway and he also wanted to make sure to pass on his skillset to Termitepaw correctly.

Though the sound of yowling and spitting is what caught his attention as he neared the edge of the forest. Looking out into the grass that seperated the fences of the twolegplace and the forest itself. Ashenclaw tilted his head curiously as the idea of hunting slipped from his mind and he moved to approach the fence. Was someone in danger? Did they need help? It sounded like a nasty fight going on but as soon as it started it ended. The blue tabby blinked a few times in surprise and twitched his tail slightly, watching as a tom cat scrambled over the fence and bolted for the forest.

A maw opened to try to stop him, question what had happened, but the tom escaped too quickly. Then red and brown fur appeared on the top of the fence, a grin across his maw and there was a challenge that left his lips. A brow was furrowed and Ashenclaw looked behind him at the forest before back up to the bushy tomcat, did he mean him? Well there was obviously no one else here, but still did he pose that much of a thread?

The tom shook his head, remaining fairly calm in the face of a hissing cat, "I have no intention of fighitng you, no,." He responded out loud this time and twitched his ear slightly back.

Speech
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LET'S GO OUT WITH A BANG​


The other tom was larger than Johnny, a big gray tabby with thick fur who met his challenge with calm words, catching him a bit off guard. He was far more used to strays itching for a fight, and it was odd to him that this one wasn't looking to try and beat up on the ruffled kittypet sitting before him. He was quick to correct himself though, fur laying flat and the muscles in his broad shoulders relaxing a fraction as he registered the other wasn't looking for a fight.

Johnny may like a scrap, but he wasn't the sort of cat to start them with strangers who weren't looking for trouble.

"Ah. Good to hear." he mused as he seated himself on the fence above the other, his triumphant grin slipping he'd been wearing slipping into a relaxed smile as amber eyes observed the stranger. "Whatr brings you by my fence then, friend? I haven't lived here long, but I can't remember a big grey fella like you skulking around before."

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"You'll Never Be Unloved By Me"​

This cat was rather strange, wasn't he? Ashenclaw tilted his head to the side as the patch chimera continued onward with his words, "I am from Skyclan, I was out hunting," He responded rather lamely, that monotone voice hard to dischipher between tones. The feathery tail of the blue tabby tomcat flicked a bit before he did admit, "Ive never seen you around before either. Are you new? My humans aren't too far from you," Or what was his humans. They weren't anymore but this tomcat didn't need to know that.

"The name is Hai-Ashenclaw, who might you be?" The tom had to stop himself from rattling onward about his new name. It was still something he had to get use to still and would continue to make slip ups from time to time.

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LET'S GO OUT WITH A BANG​


The patchy bobcat seemed to perk up the second the word Skyclan slipped past their lips, amber eyes brightening and pointed ears flicking forward with immediate interest. He listened politely enough as they spoke of their twolegs, nodding along and making a mental note that this was likely a neighbor of his he hadn't met yet.

The details of their kittypet life weren't the focus of the kittypets attention though. No, he was analyzing this stranger in a new light now, comparing him to another piebald enigma who'd come from the forest not that long ago to show him the very place this cat now spoke of.

"You must be a Skyclan Warrior, then? he asked as he lept down from the fence to join them on the ground, an obvious look of admiration and interest shining in their eyes. "I know your Lead Warrior, Thistleback. Met him a few days ago while he was hunting along the treeline here."

Whatever uncertainties he'd held about Ashenclaw seemed to evaporate from his shoulders in that moment, seemingly already having made the decision that this cat was an ally rather than some hostile to be wary of.

"If it's prey your after, there's a house a few fences down that hangs a feeder out for the birds and squirrels. The woods across from it are probably filled with fat, lazy prey you could catch. Just, you know, don't go in any of the yards."

He offered the information up unprompted because he knew it was something that could be useful to Thistlebacks group and could help Ashen feed a few more mouths that night, but he still had his morals. While he was happy to help where he could, partial housepet or not, he wouldn't allow Ashenclaw to invade any of the yards and cause havoc in them. That lady liked the birds and squirrels she fed and she would be devastated if they stopped coming because wild cats had taken to hunting in her garden, a place that was traditionally safe for them in the past.

No, Ashen could hunt, but he'd have to remain in the woods while he did it.
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"You'll Never Be Unloved By Me"​

A brow furrowed, Ashenclaw looked back towards the fences at Johnny suggested the option of hunting food there. He perked up his ears at the idea, and he would have to remember that. Maybe it would make a good olive branch between him and Orangeblossom. She'd like a fat mouse right? Or a bird? Maybe. Ashenclaw didn't rightly know what on earth she'd like to have at the moment, he just wanted as reason to talk to her. Though as he processed the food option, a name stuck out and he looked back up the fence to the patched cat, "Thistleback?" The name echoed only his tongue, and he wasn't sure if it was confusion or something bitter.

Why was Thistleback out here? Was he looking for Deersong? Ashenclaw would have to ask the tomcat later about it, as they had become sort of friends with one another now a days. Also with Silversmoke and Slate, but that was besides the point and a very confusing subject to think about. The large blue tabby then bunched up his muscles in his back legs before leaping up onto the fence besides the bobbed tailed cat.

"I know him too, he's one of my- good friends?" He responded but his tone indicated uncertainty. Thistleback was a lead warrior, was someone he shared mutual murder with, but where they in fact friends? Ashenclaw wasn't sure and twitched an ear slightly, "Well- yeah- lead warrior and all. Kinda need to know him,"

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LET'S GO OUT WITH A BANG​


Ashen confirmed that he was, indeed, a friend of Thistlebacks, but even if it had turned out the two weren't close, Johnny still would have made sure to stay as hospitable as possible. After all- Thistleback had brought him to visit the camp already and given him permission to visit whenever he pleased, so it would have been pretty poor of him to act coldly toward Ashen regardless of their standing with the Lead Warrior.

"Well, tell him Johnny says 'Hi' next time you see him, will ya'?" the tom replied, curious to know how the other would react to finding out that Johnny was technically hanging out with his skyclan buddies during his free time. Would they be pleased to hear he was playing nice with his people? Would he offer up some playful comment about not getting too close to anyone but him? Praise or otherwise, the patched tabby was interested in finding out.

"So then, Ashenclaw, he began, smirking as the larger tom lept up to sit on the fence with him much like Thistleback had done not all that long ago. "Got any stories about being a warrior to regail me with? I'd happily listen. Be a damn liar to say I wasn't right taken with the life you all lead out there."

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"You'll Never Be Unloved By Me"​

Right, there had been talk of Johnny in camp. Ashenclaw had been out with Termitepaw at the time so he hadn't been around to greet the other at the time, but if Thistleback trusted this tom then why did Ashen have any reason to deny it? The patched cat then commented about liking the life style they head out here in the forest and he couldn't help but smile a little bit, "Oh a story huh? Well, Johnny, I'd be happy to share with you why I joined Skyclan," He offered in terms of what to tell the other. He hadn't had much excitement in the warrior deparment as say Thistleback or Blazestar or any of the other full time warriors. He was still rather new himself with the whole clan-life thing, espeically now with being in the forest all the time now.

"I was a kittypet too, not too long ago, and I gave up that life for Skyclan," Ashenclaw clarified with a small twitch of his tail in response to his own words. The blue tabby wasn't the best conversationalist by any means but he tried his best really. He glanced behind him at the forest for a moment in a solemn silence, "Living the life of the forest isn't easy. There is a lot of death and sorrow that comes with the job and what not," He specifically remembered the skirmish with Windclan at the border over catmint and how it nearly costed lives for Skyclan.

A soft sigh left the large tomcat as he looked back to Johnny beside him on the fence, "Though I do say, joining full time was the best choice I could've made. Living with a paw in each world is difficult and something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy," He continued onwards softly and looked down at his paws for a brief second. Ashenclaw had joined to be a better mentor, a better friend, and the tom that Orangeblossom deserved to have.

Orangeblossom.

The name was bitter to his ears and he flicked them back slightly, she hadn't spoken to him in days now. Patrolling him seperately from her and not even looking at him in some instances. Ashenclaw had probably messed up the one reason why he left his kittypet life for, and he would never forgive himself. He got too eager, his little white lie too big now, and he had to pay the price after all. The blue tabby shook his head slightly and cleared his throat softly, "I mentor a young apprentice now, Termitepaw, and my mother lives in Skyclan too- as does my sister," Well now she does he thought to himself after the fact, and he knew Moon was also very upset with him.

Ashenclaw was in a loose loose situation right there with his sister and this she-cat he couldn't quite place his feelings on. Orangeblossom had become so close to him, a presence he saught out for before his stupid actions derailed the whole thing. Even if the deputy was more on the prickly side- she understood Ashen in a way he couldn't quite explain. She was just a little light to his life that he had promptly snuffed out due to his own confused, uncertain nature.

"If you ever do decide to join us, you'd be welcomed with open arms," The blue tabby pointed out after a brief heart beat of silence as he had his interal monologue about his downfalls in life, "You can even walk back and forth between the two if you'd like? I did that for a good while," Ashenclaw offered an awkward, tight smile and flicked his feathery tail behind him. He was rambling now wasn't he? He felt like it. There was just so much he wanted to share about his pride with Skyclan, but yet there was a limit of what he could say to a total stranger.

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LET'S GO OUT WITH A BANG​


There was a lot to learn from Ashen, and Johnny listened with nothing short of rapt attention as the other tom went on to share pieces of their world with him. With every word the bobtail found himself more and more engrossed by it all, his admiration only growing. Johnny didn't consider his duty to his twolegs any small feat- he loved them, and his loyalty was always how he'd shown them that in the past- but there was something about what the forest cats were doing that felt important, like it was making a true change.

At the end of the day, did him guarding the fenceline really change anything?

He was doubting it more and more often, wondering if his time wouldn't be better spent doing something else, somewhere else. But the guilt was always quick to set in and chase those thoughts away, stilling his paws from wandering.

"If you ever do decide to join us, you'd be welcomed with open arms, You can even walk back and forth between the two if you'd like? I did that for a good while."

Once again he found himself face-to-face with the very conflict he'd been trying to avoid for the last few days. "Thislteback wants me to." he admitted, nervously chewing the inside of his cheek as he recalled the toms so casually spoken words.

To be honest, the mere fact that Thistleback had chosen him out of any of the other cats sitting in their gardens truly felt like an honor, and there was a huge part of Johnny that wanted to accept that invitation and rise to the challenge just to prove he could- that the decision hadn't been wasted and that he was worth the time. The fact that he was completely charmed by everything he'd seen and heard was just a nice bonus.

"You don't think my housefolk would find it... disloyal to go off during the days like that? I don't want them getting the impression I don't care about them anymore, but at the same time, I do want to go back to the forest. Been thinkin' about it ever since Thistleback showed it to me." he admitted, and it felt good to finally say it out loud, to admit to another cat even if he still had that nagging feeling he was doing something wrong.
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"You'll Never Be Unloved By Me"​

The large blue tabby looked at the other as he commented that Thistleback had wanted to him too, and he gave a soft look. He understood this stance in life. He had the same issue when he first was going to join Skyclan. When he found out about the clans and that his mother was in their midst. It was a hard decision, picking between the forest and the twolegs, and it would be no easy feat.

Johnny then voiced that he didn't want his humans to think he didn't care about them anymore. The large maine coon mix then moved to nudge his shoulder with his muzzle, "Twolegs- twolegs are trusting. They let you outside, so they know you will return to them when you want too," He pointed out to the chimera cat, "They never seem to see the bad in cats and I think if you give it a chance- you'd fine they'll never stop loving you. Mine still care about me, I know that, even though I left them a moon ago,"

Twolegs where strange creatures. but their love was unconditonal. Their pets mattered to them most, "Cause at the end of the day, you'll always return to them. They know that. How you spend your day though is up to you," Ashenclaw looked at Johnny with soft green eyes and gave a little chuckle in amusement, "I know Thistleback will make it so you can come home at sunset every day. I'll even walk you myself if you want[,"

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LET'S GO OUT WITH A BANG​


In a way, Johnny had always known that what Ashen was saying was the truth. When his people let him outside they weren't expecting anything of him, other than to maybe be there at the end of the day to greet them when they returned from whatever is was they went and did during the days. Choosing to stay and guard the place had always been a personal choice, something he did because he felt it was a good way of repaying them, a service done without any desire for repayment or acknowledgement. The only thing tying him there was himself, but for some reason, hearing someone else say it made it sound less selfish.

He chuckled, leaning to give the other a grateful nudge to the others shoulder in appreciation. "I suppose your right, and Thistle hasn't lied to me yet about anything. If he says I can go home each night, I trust that I can." he replied, the others offer to personally walk him home each night earning a grin. "A personal escort? Temptin'."

Stars, how he wanted to just go. He wished it didn't eat at him like this, but he supposed he'd be a pretty shitty guy if he didn't feel at least a little bad about making such a large decision.

"Maybe I'll give it a go." he decided after a moment. "I can just keep an eye on my twolegs every night, make sure they aren't actin' weird or anything, right?" he asked, unsure if he was trying to convince himself or the other. He knew what he was doing, building excuses to go, making up reasons that would make it acceptable- he just needed someone elses confirmation that it was okay, that he wasn't grasping at straws to try and make it work.
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