on the edge of infinity - thunderclan patrol

[emberstar]

IT WENT FROM A SPARK TO AN OPEN FLAME ⋆⁺₊⋆ Emberstar led her patrol across the Riverclan border in silence. With the loss of Morningpaw still fresh, Howling Wind still healing from her injury, and leafbare in full swing, spirits in Thunderclan were low. At the start of the patrol she had tried to keep spirits high with conversation, but now they had all lapsed into silence.

She shivered against the cold, missing the warmth of her own den. The leaders den was lonely, and she was certain she would be warmer with someone by her side, but it was at least some shelter from the weather.

"Almost done everyone." She called back to the rest of the patrol encouragingly. "Just a little further and we can head home for the day."

// @RACCOONSTRIPE @Rabbitnose ​

 

[LIGHTNINGSTONE]

// @koipaw

Lightningstone is crouched at the river's edge, eyes focused on the water's surface. He's murmuring quiet instructions to his apprentice beside him, the rest of their patrol somewhere nearby. Soon, a fish will come in the icy current. However, at the sound of a peppy voice, he becomes distracted. His eyes flick upwards, noting the ThunderClan patrol that is approaching on the other side of the river. He flicks his tail against Koipaw's shoulder before pushing himself to his paws. A nod is sent their way, a terse, "ThunderClan," offered in greeting. "I'm sorry to hear the news of that apprentice. May she hunt with StarClan now." He'd been shocked to hear about the event at the Gathering a quarter-moon ago. That is exactly why he is teaching Koipaw as he is. She will not fall in some silly border skirmish, he will make sure of that.​

 

[CICADASTAR]

GUTTA CAVAT LAPIDEM : perhaps it was due to the skirmish. perhaps due to the gathering, perhaps due to the potential threat of windclan vying for their runaway youth. for whichever reason, the long - legged leader was traversing the shoreline with features steely, just slightly pinched from the cold, raw pain of ice underpaw. as the days got nippier so did the waves, freezing to the point of a physical ache upon contact and yet cicadastar walks, claws extended to break up the brittle ice there as he does. the sky is a hazy blue - grey above, a heavy mist hovering low over the slow moving waters and he just barely sees them through it — wouldn’t, should the woman have been any less vibrant ginger. should she be able to see him, he figures he would be nothing more than a hazy, ink-muddled ghost, mimicked by his reflection below. river phantom, indeed. he approaches lightningstone, seeing him through the low haze just before his low voice rings over the waters.

im sorry about that apprentice. the man lowers his ears just slightly, the terse form of his relaxing just so in sympathy, “ yes. “ his maw is moving but he does not feel the words, does not feel beyond the rumble of his aching stomach and biting winds, the icy bitterness of water lapping over sharp knuckles, “ my deepest condolences to her family, to you all. “ awful business. smokethroat’s wounds flit over his minds eye and he swallows hard, fights the urge to look away. it’d been so close, but stars above — they’d been granted a second chance. but morningpaw had been only a child, and she now lies deep underpaw, food for dandelions and wildflower. the man wanted to go back to camp, to curl close to his . . his. and rest. but his stomach rolls again and icy luminaries cut to the side, finding little else to say. leafbare was clear upon them, and he does not ask how their prey is running — they’re both better off keeping it to themself.

− ♱ information visual reference out of character translations ♱ −

• ˖ ⁺ ｡ ˚ ⠀ CICADASTAR⠀⠀−−−−−−−⠀⠀king of the rivers.
  m. he / him. black smoke & tortoiseshell chimera with intense salt - blue eyes. a handsome, looming tom bearing patchwork black - silver curls that fall over his slim figure in loose, shining rivulets, broken with white and glossy from his fish diet. descending from a heritage of overtyped oriental shorthairs, cicadastar is unusually tall amongst his peers, and holds himself with a tragic grace, poised and prim and ever - aware of how he is being perceived.
  
  ᨒ gay, courting smokethroat. smells like wet stone & moss.
  ᨒ speaks with a german accent. 40 moons, ages on the eighth.
  
  penned by antlers​
  
  
• 
• none.

​

​

 

[BURNSTORM]

The young black furred apprentice doesn’t understand how he is expected to carry on as if nothing has happened. Does not understand how Emberstar or his mother expect him to do anything now that she’s gone. Morningpaw should be there with him. She should be training and hunting and patrolling with him. He is constantly plagued by a little voice in his head that whispers that it is his fault that she is gone. If he had been stronger, if he had been paying more attention and focused on keeping her safe rather than the glory he would achieve from sinking his claws into another cats flesh. He had been there, he could’ve stopped it. It’s what he tells himself as he begrudgingly follows his mentor out to the River Clan border.

Occasionally, the flame point she cat tries to speak to him, to interrupt his self loathing with random snippets of conversation. How can he be expected to care? He grunts in response and after a while the patrol is quiet again.

Until they reach River Clan.

He stops when unfamiliar voices pipe up, offering their condolences, saying how sorry they are. Why are they sorry? It’s not as if they were the ones who had killed her. He flicks his ears back in annoyance. “Sorry won’t bring me my sister back” he grumbles irritably. ​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

( ☄. *. ⋆ ) Raccoonstripe is frustrated by the silence. He tries to engage Emberstar, even his little brat of a nephew, but the patrol is plagued by sorrow, by hunger, and all attempts at conversation soon halt. His own mood is dampened by the anchor that trails after him. @Sloepaw has surely improved, being mentored by his own mother, but Raccoonstripe can't let himself forget where the boy's origins are.

It's the same way he feels when he looks at Burnpaw, though at least the black tom is forest-born with wild blood. It would help him, surely, but it couldn't do all the work. The tabby thinks to himself that, like Sloepaw, Burnpaw will have to work twice as hard as any other apprentice to prove he's a loyal ThunderClan cat. The SkyClan side does him few favors.

He prepares himself to speak to the big gray tom who offers them condolences when Cicadastar himself appears through the reeds. Tall, magnificent, his strangely-accented voice tuned with sorrow. Raccoonstripe eyes the man curiously, but before he can respond, Burnpaw says, "Sorry won't bring my sister back."

Raccoonstripe does feel for his nephew. He does. If he'd lost on of his littermates so young, he doesn't know if he would have borne that pain with any more dignity. But Burnpaw won't ruin ThunderClan relations with RiverClan. Not if he has anything to say about it! "That's a Clan leader," he says to Burnpaw, his tone sharper than intended. "Show some respect." It's his firm belief that coddling the boy will only lead to his ruin. He's always been the moodiest of his sister's kits, and moodiness can lead to trouble -- especially if he's pushed further into that darkness in the wake of a tragedy.

He flicks his dark eyes to the RiverClan cats with a nod of apology. "Forgive him. He's grieving." He wants to accept their condolences as a member of Morningpaw's family, but he waits for Emberstar instead.​

( I CAN SEE THE SKY LIGHT UP , AND THE GROUND EXPLODE )

 

[Rabbitnose]

Rabbitnose was still nervous about the river. Not so much anymore, but the thought was still in the back of his head....What if it surged again? He would surely die from freezing this time. But when normally he would stay back, he was looking at the frozen shore that chilled his feet.

"Hello!" He greeted the riverclan cats.

He frowned at Burnpaw, but said nothing. He understood how he felt. Sorry wouldn't bring his daughter back, either....

He would look to his apprentice who could do no wrong whatsoever. "Patchpaw, can you smell them? That's Riverclans scent. And that tall one there is Cicadastar!" He said to her in a chipper tone.

He would never forget Riverclans hospitality. He may have had a.... Rough time in their camp, but he was still thankful.

He hoped their clan relations wouldn't crumble like with Skyclan

@Patchpaw
​

 

[BONERIPPLE]

Quiet and silent she is as she follows the other Riverclanners. Content to keep moving and helping as much as she can despite how heavy she is getting. It's the work that keeps her mind busy and she doesn't find herself having to worry. There are other reasons as to why she picked Riverclan. Farther and farther away from them the better. Clans between. It helps her to try and maintain herself for who she is. She knows where her loyalties lie now and she can damn well prove it. For the safety of her kits and her family that will prosper here on the river. Even as she steps she finds it easy enough to remain just as silent and quiet as she always did. Eyes shifting from one cat to another. Of course she says nothing. Not even when the Thunderclan patrol happens upon them. Her maw turns into a thin line then as she sees Emberstar. Something she wants to say. Something.

A warning maybe. She is not sure. Everything is a jumbled mess and she knows that word has spread after the Gathering. A lot of things have been said. The fight between Thunder and Sky. One between Wind and River. Exhaling she also dips her head in condolences for the kids loss, for all of their loss. She knows how it feels. But then her eyes go back to Emberstar and she parts her jaws once again. "Emberstar...I, I'm sorry for what happened with Cinderfrost. I never wanted her exiled. I didn't want..." Trying to put into words her feelings is hard, always has been but she will force it out. "It was not a will of mine to cause anymore trouble but it seems I can't stop it following me. All I can say is be cautious of Shadowclan..."​

 

[Patchpaw [in.]]

THERE'S A WORLD THAT WAS MEANT FOR OUR EYES TO SEE​

---

Only a few steps behind Rabbitnose walking on the ice, Patchpaw was following after him, trying to keep up with the patrol--she would not lose sight of another border patrol, not like this! Unfortunately, the sheet of ice below her white toes had a much different plan as she struggled to remain standing. Her legs wanted to go in separate directions and her front legs were sliding forwards and backwards and out from beneath her, even with her claws unsheathed to grip the ice. This was the first time she's properly been out on ice like this, and already, she hates it! It's only frozen water, why was she slipping all over the place?!
She attempts to take a step forwards, but as if the ice wanted to mock her even further, she trips over her own paws and is sent skidding face-first onto the ice in front of both patrols.

...Ugh.

With a wince, Patchpaw sits up, faintly hearing her mentor's voice telling her what that strange fishy scent belongs to. She wrinkles her nose as she sits up properly, facing towards the RiverClan patrol with a puzzled look. That tall one there is Cicadastar...! It takes her a second before this new information fully sets in, and it dawns clearly.
She was meeting the leader of RiverClan.

She scrambles to her feet, quickly trying to back off the ice to avoid further, utter humiliation. Not only her ears burned but her whole face burned red hot in embarrassment, and even though she's trying to laugh it off, she can't help the bit of shame that followed.
"Sorry, Emberstar, heh." Patchpaw mumbles to her with a forced chuckle after backing up onto the snow so her feet could find solid ground again and rejoin the rest of her patrol, and she turns to look back at the rest of the RiverClan patrol and awkwardly waves her tail in a greeting. "Good to meet you at least, Cicadastar...!"

Patchpaw gives an apologetic look to Emberstar and shuts up after that, peeking past the rest of the ThunderClan . She really hadn't meant to slip and fall when there was already so much tension between the two patrols. While she didn't have a clue who this 'Cinderfrost' was or what Bonejaw was talking about, it did worry Patchpaw that she was warning them not to trust ShadowClan.
Then, an awful realization hits her and she jerks her head to look over at Rabbitnose, dilated pupils full of dread.

She never told him. ​

 

[koispots]

Koi's by her mentors side, silent and watching as Lightning gives pointers here and there. The fish are slowing due to the cold, bellies are empty, cats are going without food more often than not and she puffs out an inaudible sigh. Shes too lost in her head to notice the approaching patrol until Lightning flicks his tail against her, causing her to look up.

Death was apart of life and she stays silent as her mentor offers Rivers condolences. It happened, nothing anyone can do to change it, she knew this very well. Her own mother, Peachpaw, she wrinkles her nose. Most of all she does not like the fact the river is half frozen and she watches Patchpaw slip and slide on it. She does not care for Bonejaws words, doesn’t care for anyone elses words in fact. Her eyes were trained on Patch as if she were daring her to go further.

Riverclan is not as guarded as it once was.​

"speech"​