Murder In My Mind | RiverClan Patrol

[Cindershade]

Willowroot's words linger within the head of the rosetted molly as she trails down the path she had walked so many times before. Her steps are as silent as ever, her mouth clasped closed as if under lock and key as the heavy scent of musk and oak trailed over the river and violate her nose. Now, be civil. don't try to start any fights. there is bad blood between our two clans, but we will be as courteous as we can. Had it been anyone else that had told her such a thing, Cindershade would've met them with a defiant look within her glowing depths and sharp rebuttal; but, the lead warrior held Willowroot on a higher pedestal than the rest. She respected the smoke warrior, and she would respect her wishes as well—if she wasn't provoked, that is. She couldn't necessarily stop her clanmates in the rest of her patrol from saying what they wished, for she could only advise them to keep their mouth shut.
The large and towering stones soon come into view from across the river and she halts, her gaze first lingering upon her apprentice and then flitting to the others before speaking. "Alright, fan out." The woman declares, her tone cold but not at anyone in particular. She hated this, hated not having the stones for their benefit. She mostly hated how much ThunderClan gloated about them and their entitlement. It pricked at her like claws in delicate flesh, ripping and tearing at viscera and muscle. "If ThunderClan decides to poke their heads about like moles they are, ignore them, though I won't hold it against you if you're provoked." A twinge of a smile pushes against her cheeks then, a grim mischief glittering within her irises. "Let's get this done and head home." She turns then, brushing against the reeds and cat tails to leave her scent among them.

@Sablepaw @WOLFGLADE @lichentail @Crawlingroach

No need to wait for them to post!


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[ SILENCE IS DEAFENING ]​

 

[lichenstar]

They had kind of wondered as a passing thought if they were sent out this way as an unspoken punishment for the way their communication lacked any sort of thoughtful inhibitor. Beating around the truth and discarding emotions for a more convenient time just didn't make sense, it was a burden largely unnecessary and at the end of the road, benefitted no one. Last time they'd been pretty eager to point out the sheer stupid hypocrisy that ThunderClan couldn't help but blurt out like it possessed them. Hunting at Sunningrocks because they were better at it... but then why did they even need the snake-ridden pile of stones for extra prey when they had an entire damn forest to look through? Seemed a bit counterintuitive stupid... just plain stupid mostly.

Looking at Cindershade with a small nod of affirmation, Lichentail found no reason to hold their tongue if they were actively provoked. Some others might've come home battered but the blue point would rather die than let this mange-pelts think they'd struck a cord of fear in RiverClans' hearts. A single lost skirmish did not decide the war... and this was not a friendly spar to say the least. This was a grudge held by enemies that had stolen lives from them.

"We'll be fine," they mewed, mostly as an assurance to any of the more skittish party members present.​

 

[nightbird]

"riverclan," the lead warrior greeted them coolly, lips twitching upwards ever so slightly. how beautiful of a sight it was, them on their side of the border for once. perhaps they had finally gotten the fact that this was no longer their land through those water-logged brains. it was wishful thinking, but a girl could dream. "behave, but don't take their shit. wouldn't want our fishy friends to believe we have lost our edge," she hummed only loud enough for her apprentice's to hear. although she looked at them both, her gaze lingered on the pale tom longer. she believed duskpaw would heed her words, but lightpaw seemed to have a knack for keeping her on her toes.

nightbird moved to the very edge of the river, careful with her paws so she wouldn't slip in. she marked their side as she glanced across the patrol, eyes landing on one that she had recognized from the skirmish not long ago. he had threatened to drag her to a watery grave, was it? her eyes glinted at the memory, fixing on wolfglade's dark form. "perhaps we should introduce ourselves? just so i know who to find if i ever desire a watery death," her head tilted innocently, tail twitching slowly behind her as she pressed her flank alongside the face of a rock.

// app tags: @LIGHTPAW . @DUSKPAW ​

 

[Crawlingroach]

SKY HIGH —Confrontation wasn't exactly Crawlingroach's strong suit, he much preferred a leisurely patrol or hunt without any of the nastiness being blown back and forth from opposite sides of the border. However, even he could accept that ThunderClan had truly pushed things too far as of late, Sunningrocks did not belong to them.

The black furred tom bounced his way along the intended route, pausing only when he came across a log which was begging for a solid scent marking. Roach brushed his cheeks against one of the branch nubs extending from the log's body, even going as far as to gnaw on it for good measure. Though he paused in his enthusiastic activity when he spied the first of the ThunderClanners across the way. It put him on edge almost immediately but he opted to say nothing towards their unfriendly neighbours. If they dared to start something then he would respond in kind, but he refused to be the guy being pointed out as being the instigator in the whole affair.​

 

[Flamestar]

( ★ ) Why was it that every time she found herself here, there were always Riverclanners? She had been planning on a hunting mice, but she knew it was hopeless to even try while they were along the border. Even if she found one, they would just carry on and scare away all the prey. Her pelt begged to twitch irritatedly, but she forced it smooth. She noticed Wolfglade right away, one of the members from the last border skirmish. Nightbird had too obviously, and she found herself wanting to chuckle at her 'innocent' words.

The red tabby remained silent for now. She would pad a litter further away, marking one of the stones along the riverbed. Now that there was a lot going on, she had no real business here, but she would remain here until the river-rats left just in case they forgot where the border was. ​

( WHEN I FIND MYSELF ; I'MA BRING IT ON HOME )

 

[WOLFGLADE]

જ➶ They slip along the outskirts of the river, allowing pale paws to slightly become damp. Amusement twinkles in olivine toned eyes as they match Lichentail. They keep close, eyes half open to the world and thoroughly ignoring Thunderclan. One of them speaks but they say nothing. Their names, their identity doesn't mean much to them given that they are just mere thieves and only that. With a low huff they slide into the water and wade, agile and swift he moves and he seems to be heading to the rocks. But with a sudden dive into the waves he disappears and surfaces a bit away with a fish in their maw. A good catch and they bring it back to the shore. "The kits will love this..." They mutter after dropping the catch upon the ground. Knowing the rest of the patrol the border will surely be marked. ​

 

[Flycatcher]

Close on the heel of his clanmates, Flycatcher follows. The deputy is in mid chatter with his apprentice, further plans for the day ahead being discussed between them. When the scent of RiverClan hits his nose he stiffens but Flycatcher keeps his composure for now. As much as he detested RiverClan goading them over these rocks, he knew it was inevitable they would encounter them frequently on their patrol.
Like his mate, he found himself wanting to chuckle at Nightbird's words but kept his expression neutral for the sake of civility. "RiverClan," He addresses the cats across the river coolly. It's not his usual polite greeting, just a stiff neutral tone of acknowledgment. He has no desire to snap at them without due cause. To be quite honest, he's getting quite tired of constantly walking on eggshells on this specific border.

"Come Burnpaw, let's mark the border over here," He mews, summoning his dark-furred apprentice with a flick of his tail.

apprentice tag @BURNPAW ! ​

 

[Cindershade]

With a nod, the lead warrior begins marking along the reeds once more. She finds another water-logged trunk, laying about against the shore and she pushes her body against the rotting wood. All seemed quiet, and for once she was grateful for the peace. Perhaps ThunderClan didn't find a need to hover at the border for them anymore, always watching and ready. Of course, she was partially to blame for this considering she had trespassed upon Sunningrocks with her first patrol before, deliberately scenting over ThunderClan's own with a smile upon her maw. But now she wore no smile, only held a steely gaze and a locked jaw as she would try to heed her clanmate's wishes.
That peace before had long diminished now as a willowy black molly emerged from the dense forest. Cindershade cast a verdant gaze over towards the delicate warrior, noting on how similar her and Willowroot had looked except this ThunderClanner was a bit more petite. She whiskers something to the two apprentices that accompany her, though the lead warrior can't seem to catch her words over the roar of the falls in the distance. She does, however, overhear the passive aggressive comment noted for Wolfglade and in her steps she pauses, her gaze narrowing at Nightbird in hopes to meet her eye. Here her patrol was, attempting to mark the borders in a quiet manner but she should've known better. ThunderClan just couldn't help themselves, could they? Her eyes flit towards the larger warrior, tensing as they emerged into the water without a word and her jaw slacks to bark an order at them, but then they dive and soon return with a fish from the river. A humorous glint glitters in her blazing eyes and she smiles briefly, though her attention is dragged back as more oakland cats emerge like roaches.
She catches the sight of a red pelt and emerald eyes, and she recognizes her from the Gathering. The rosetted warrior says nothing, but her gaze does flick back to Nightbird with an overwhelming urge of a retort. She just couldn't stop her tongue—and this counted as provoking in her eyes.
"You'll soon be seeing a watery grave in your future closer than you realize, if you're not careful." She calls out lightly, her own shadowed face glinting in the rays of sunlight that shined upon her scarred face. She'll return Nightbird's own saccharine smile with own of her own, though a glooming darkness resided behind it. Cindershade never made idle threats. Soon, she echoes in her mind and it's then that she sees Flycatcher amongst them too. He greets them cooly, but she will return no such greeting. She held no respect for him, as he was no more important than the worms residing underground. They all were. "Make sure to mark along the shore as well." She orders her patrol with a restrained tongue, returning back to her task and her jaw clenches. Soon.
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[ SILENCE IS DEAFENING ]​

 

[nightbird]

nightbird is mostly unaffected by her teasing being ignored. amused even, she watches as wolfglade descends into the water, wading in the direction of thunderclan territory. a brief moment of worry threatens to cross her mind, but she remembered the beating that badgerstrike had blessed her opponent with. they appeared to be the bloodiest on the battlefield, surely he wasn't crazy enough to return for seconds.

wolfglade didn't want to play, that was fine considering she felt the glare of another boring into her. not as much as a glance would be sent in cindershade's direction, not until her voice ran across the water. nightbird turned her head, giving the rosetted molly and up and down look before meeting her eyes. "so i've been told," she replies, expression remaining the same despite the promise of death. "no need to fret about me though, i am always careful."

the lead warrior continues her plight across the edge of the river taking extra time to mark her scent. the patrol was spread evenly, with flycatcher and flamewhisker helping to make sure no part remained untouched. once finished, she glanced back across the border once more to she the riverclanners doing the same. and while she could retreat back and wait idly to move on, she always struggled with antsy paws. "do me a favor, yeah? next time you're crossing into our territory, bring along that auburn molly. i fear our time together was cut short by your retreat and i hate to leave a fight unfinished." her tone was light as she hurled ice across the deep water. speaking of none other than emberflower, she was ironically unaware of her former opponents relation to the dark furred warrior across the border.

turning to let her comment fester, she looked at flycatcher as she moved closer in the deputy's direction. she sat, letting her jaws part in a yawn as she waited for the signal that they were ready to depart.​

 

[LIGHTSTRIKE .]

❝ WE HAVE YET TO CRASH ✧°.☀ —————————————————————————————
Oh, joy. A RiverClan border patrol. Just the sight he wanted to see. He could already smell their fish-stink permeating the air, scaring away their prey. Even so, it brought a smirk to his face to see them finally staying out of ThunderClan territory.

The words of Nightbird has him giving her the side-eye, but Lightpaw says nothing, only offering a huff of breath. "Don't worry," he muttered back to her. "The little fish-eaters seem like they're being good today." For now, at least.

No sooner were the words telling him to behave out of her mouth did Nightbird offer words that made him scoff at the hypocrisy. Alright, then it was free game, he noted as the RiverClanners jumped at the opportunity to spit back. Even so, the outright threat of the dark rosetted feline brought the beginnings of a scowl to his face.

"Just because you think you're a fish doesn't mean you are one," the golden apprentice snapped, taking a step forward as if to defend his mentor. "That watery grave could very well be your own if you don't watch it." His tail lashed once, slitted green stare fixated on the dark molly.

[penned by its_oliverr - ☀]

——————————— ☀.°✧ BUT WE STILL MAY AS WELL ENJOY IT ❞ ​

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[lichenstar]

StarClan... did they ever shut the hell up?

Letting out an extremely long, overly loud, excessive sigh, Lichentail waved her tail to express just how truly bored she was of their exhaustingly predictive behavior. It seemed they knew no other skills to pass on than bad come backs.... Was it even a comeback if you just... said the exact same thing back at who you were arguing with?

"Dear StarClan, please teach ThunderClan how to do anything other than repeat others so the rest of the forest can actually communicate with them," she meowed, eyes lifting towards the sky in an earnest display of prayer. Careful to keep her clan-mates in her line of sight, the blue point wanted to ensure that they didn't try anything funny while Wolfglade caught something to eat later.

Of all of the useless bodies across the shore, only one of them had half a braincell to actually keep it short and sweet. Casting a curious gaze to Flycatcher, the molly's tail tip twitched as she thought about whether it was worth trying to extend a olive branch to that single non-idiot in their ranks.

"Thank you," she shouted, drowning out whatever dumb retort Nightbird had in mind- she hoped the deputy's bare-minimum neutral attitude would catch on sooner rather than later. It was clear that all that dark-furred girl over there wanted was to start something and Lichentail thought stubbornly to herself that even if that mouse-brain could pull her head out of her tail for five seconds to swipe at anyone, she'd make sure she'd regret it.

Glancing over to Cindershade as she advanced the patrol, the description that the other ThunderClanner had listed did bother her a bit. If anything was going to agitate the more.... emotionally charged lead warrior, it would be threatening her family (or that's what she assumed since... she'd also be kind of mad if someone taunted her about Ripplesnap being hurt). Hurrying to catch up with the head of their patrol, she offered a bright smile as a sure-fire distraction.

"Don't listen to her goading," she encouraged softly, low enough to avoid being overheard by those loud-mouths across the way. "When we get the chance some other time, I'd be happy to help you make her eat those words. Besides... everyone knows it's not a good idea to lean over the river like that. Who knows what might jump out and grab you."​

 

[Sparkwing]

"Tch...."

Sparkpaw wasn't one to show aggression or negativity to his neighbors, much like Rabbitnose. And much like Rabbitnose, that has changed. He had no reason to like Riverclan. He had not been there for the fire, so all he has known of them is their ire and their refusal to defend their own territory.

He glared across the river at them as he strode along, leaving his mark on the rocks.

"I don't know why Rabbitnose ever respected them...." He said to no one in particular. "They only helped us during that fire so they could hold it over our heads."

As he continued walking along the rocks he listened to the others speak. Threats were shared as usual and he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

He looks to his clanmates. "They want Sunningrocks back for now, but when leafbare comes they're suddenly our problem." He said.

(( @WOLFWIND mentor tag! ))​

 

[Sablemist]

In every situation you give me peace

Sablepaw moved alongside her clan mates, keeping a careful eye on those that resided on the opposite side of their river. Insults and harsh glares fly back and forth as per usual and the girl can do little more but sigh at the display shown on both sides. At Cindershade's command to mark along the shore the bicolored apprentice moves on to do just that. The ivory tresses of her spine brush against a few rigid reeds before moving on to another dense patch. After Lichentail is done speaking Sablepaw chimes in softly. "I don't know why you guys waste your breath going back and forth with them. What is bickering going to do?" She asks earnestly. The clan leaders did enough of that during the gathering to last them until the next one. ​

Don't gotta be afraid because you're in the lead​

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[WOLFWIND]

Wolfwind lifts her brows at Nightbird's outspokenness, barely stifling a smile as she trods alongside Sparkpaw. As annoying as she could be, she and Raccoonstripe do pretty damn well to offset the more good - natured higherups of ThunderClan. Flycatcher was cool about the bad blood between them, opting to pick out an easy reason to ignore them rather than engage in any back and forth. Wolfwind mostly keeps to herself for once, though she isn't above smiling about it.

Wolfwind turns an ear to Sparkpaw's grumblings. the guy suddenly seems to have mellowed out some. Sometimes it took a second to find that delicate balance. I don't know why Rabbitnose ever respected them... Wolfwind hums in acknowledgement, letting her apprentice know that she's listening. They only helped us during that fire so they could hold it over our heads. Well, she isn't so sure about that one. She thinks about her sister across the river. " They're not all foxes, Sparky. " She adds with a snort, " Though Cicadastar definitely is. "

They want Sunningrocks back for now, but when leafbare comes they're suddenly our problem Not a lie spoken, really. " E - yup. " She shakes out her fur and moseys on.​