SINS IN OUR WAKE — thunderclan patrol

RACCOONSTRIPE

RACCOONSTRIPE

let it burn beneath the rain
ThunderClan 10K Wolves [TC ’24] Winter Prompts [TC ‘23] Yellowcough [Sitewide Event '23] Boar Migration [TC '23] Spring Prompts [TC '23] ThunderClan Lead Warrior Sunningrocks [TC '23]
Dec 17, 2022
435
113
43
The Thunderpath fumes stinging his eyes tell him and the rest of the patrol their shared border with ShadowClan is both. Chilledstar's ascension does not appease his hatred of ShadowClan thieves. He does not know the dark feline, but anyone who'd been chosen by Pitchstar couldn't be in their right mind, couldn't have any sort of real moral code.

The word code sends his jaw clenching. "Start marking," he orders the other cats. "And stay alert. We want to make sure our scent is never weak here." He waves his tail to punctuate his words before leaning to rub against a clump of foliage.

He can scent the ShadowClan marker, and it causes his nose bridge to wrinkle with distaste. He mutters, "I don't see how Emberstar was able to handle taking a ShadowClan mate. Their smell is harder to get rid of than a skunk's."

@KINDLEHEART @Rabbitnose @Patchpaw @Moonpaw. @WILDPAW​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​
​
 
She had given an unofficial promise half a moon ago that she would be back to greet ThunderClan at the path that divided them, with a shiny new rank and more motive to eye the road in search of food, Ferndance had made good on her word. The ticked tabby poked her head out from between the pine trees, emerald eyes glinting dangerously as they caught the remnants of light from the low sun. She stepped out further, the tips of her claws touching the gravel of the Thunderpath and a smile placating the ill temptations that danced within the lead warrior's head. It seemed she was the first to recognise their neighbour's patrol, but she would not be the last either, for she swore she heard the rummaging of ferns and weeds behind her and had to remind herself that it was likely just a clanmate - likely. She didn't want to turn and display doubt before these enemies of her own choosing. There wasn't much the raggedy tabby took pride in, her strength perhaps, which manifested in nonchalance and deserved to be shown to the other cats. They had not earned her caution, she had to tell them, despite her defeat at a ThunderClan's paws mere moons prior.

Her eyes suddenly bolted to the sky, the Abyssinian-esque feline arching her back and puffing out her tail. "Oh StarClan, hawk! Hawk! Run for your lives!" Panic set in the lead warrior's voice, but through her horrified expression, the corners of her mouth kept on threatening to tilt upwards. She changed the pitch of her voice, setting it to a hoarse whisper, distant, but not distant enough to be totally unheard by the strangers. "Caw... caw... caw... hmm, no wait that's a crow. Uh, shit. Screee. Scree." A mockingbird, Ferndance wasn't. Her voice was too soft to sound hawkish, and objectively, she hadn't bothered to put much effort in outside of her original freak-out. Like clockwork, her limbs and face reset, leaving naught behind but an impudent smile of someone too unashamed to feel guilt about being caught for their hubris. She wasn't sure how many ThunderClanners she'd fooled (if any), but if she'd made them feel fear for at least a second, then she'd done her job. "Made you look." She beamed, her tail lashing behind her.

​
 

So I walk alone down the darkest roads​
To appear next was the much more serious Ravenwatcher, dark blue eyes flashing towards the lead warrior with a bored look as she decided to put on a little show for the Thunderclanners on their side of the border. With a twitch of her tail she came to stand next to the lead warrior calmly while her fluffy tail flicked slightly as she shook her head, she guess it was a well needed thing, to have a jest such as Ferndance on their team to brighten the mood despite their jokes being...lackluster in the eyes of Ravenwatcher. The ebony she-cat looked over at the others in front deciding to play along a bit to what Ferndance did despite being the one to hold a more serious face.

"If you fell for it, you owe us a mouse, small price to pay for a good show such as the one our precious lead warrior gave" she called out wondering if the taunt would anger the thunderclanners or would they fall amuse to the trickery that the shadowclanners placed on display today for them to see yet not for free that is for sure, they must pay... surely they understood. A slight smirk danced on the serious she-cat's face, something so rare and yet so small that she'd doubt any one would notice.​
"speak""Thoughts"​
 
❪ TAGS ❫ — Roosterstrut hadn't been to this side of the territory in quite some time. In fact, the last time he had touched these lands was when he'd been rushing his hunting patrol back to the safety of camp. His nerves would not settle as the young warrior approached the border, secretly hoping that this would go smoothly and that he could be on his way.

He watches with bated breath as a ThunderClan patrol opposite the Thunderpath lifts their gazes toward Roosterstrut and the others, their eyes seeming to bore into his soul. The guilt washes over him like a wave as he recognizes one of the toms from that night; Raccoon... that had been his name in the Marsh Group, right? He wonders what his warrior name is now. Not that he would dare open his maw and ask, especially at this moment.

A soft, regretful frown pulls on his maw as Roosterstrut quickly averts his eyes. Ferndance's sudden outburst had prompted him to stiffen and crane his neck upward for a moment, scanning the skies for a bird of prey. He can recall the dangerous situation with Halfshade; hawks were not avians to turn your back on. Roosterstrut is confused, if only for a moment, before the quirky she-cat begins mimicking bird calls. His shoulders relax. Of all the times for Ferndance to joke around, he doesn't find himself appreciating it now.

He gives a side glance to Ravenwatcher, slightly wincing at her choice of words. To even jest about ThunderClanners owing them anything after they led multiple failed attempts to steal their prey was in bad taste, in his opinion. Roosterstrut knew that other ShadowClanners felt differently about the situation, that they ought to have a share of the lands that they hunted in long before ThunderClan. The orange tabby agrees to an extent, though invading their territory still felt wrong. Roosterstrut had been beyond mortified when his own patrol got caught and chased off. He was an honorable warrior, and stealing never felt quite right to him.​
 

Like Roosterstrut she is not very fond of the call of 'hawk' given her previous altercation with one that nearly ended in her getting more than she bargained for over some eggs. Those talons were wicked, sharp, dangerous, something she had no desire to be on the recieving end of so when she heard the call her presence was not there as quickly as it might've been otherwise. Taking a moment to scan the skies before ushering her new little apprentice forward with her as she went along the two would approach the Thunderpath to the usual squawk and squabble.
"Ferndance I have half a mind to push you onto this." She threatened, still smiling because this wasn't the first time she had told the molly she'd shove her in front of a speeding monster. At this point it was tradition.
A shoulder bumped into the tabby tom in a friendly greeting and she hardly paid the dark she-cat much mind as her focus drifted to their supposed enemies. ThunderClan is righteous as always, but the tom at the front was a new face at least. A handsome new face too, what a surprise. She'd found most of their clan to be extremely unsightly so she could handle staring at this one while they had a delightful chat, "Oh, stop with your silly little comments on scent, darling. If you had half the nose you claim you might not have lost such a wonderfully plump little rabbit before~"
To the victors go the spoils and such.
"Loampaw, take a nice good look at this border and give it a wide berth. Not because of the thunderpath, but because a ThunderClanner might bore you to tears in passing."
[Ooc]
-Apprentice Tag: @loam
​
 


Rainecho is not a cat who plays pretend. She is not so disillusioned to believe that ThunderClan was their friends, that they owed them anything but Ferndance and Ravenwatcher might be. She watches them, unamused as she comes to stand next to Roosterstrut who, judging by the look on his face, feels the same.

Still, she cannot help but laugh at Halfshades comment, her thinly veiled insult drawing out a small snicker from her lips. She ducks her head to avoid the thunder clan patrol seeing it and pretends like she was coughing. "oh what I would give to have a couple more toms on our side of the border that look like him" she says quietly to Halfshade indicating to Raccoonstripe with her tail, he was of course a familiar face but one she hadn’t known well, before the split "Though I suppose you don’t have that problem" a sigh escapes her then. Halfshade has Smogmaw now, of course.

She bumps Roosterstrut lightly, tall limbs bringing her to stand next to him. "c’mon Roo, I think I smelled some rotting cat flesh that way, we should see if we can get a bite" it’s a joke of course, but one meant to lead her friend who looks uncomfortable away from the situation. She says it loudly enough for the ThunderClan patrol to hear though and finds herself looking over her shoulder to see if any of them had a horrified look on their face.
​
 
"I-eee-uh can always find w-wuh-ways t-tuh-to stay enter-tuh-tained. 'Could always sharpen m-mm-my t-tuh-teeth on one oh-of them."

Loam doesn't look at Halfshade as she speaks, instead peering around her to stare openly at the ThunderClan patrol. Flashes them her teeth even, a not-quite-smile that stretches her whole face. It's the business with the pretend hawk that bores her; if Loam's supposed to believe that these ThunderClanners are ShadowClan's enemies — rivals? — then why settle for petty pranks when there are a whole host of threats and insults that are right there?

But then Rainecho needs to gossip with Halfshade and Loam's whole face wrinkles. That tom? The one whose only interesting feature is his scars? Loam rolls her eyes at Rainecho, believing her to have no standards. Loam's personally never seen a tom that interested her, but she's certain she'll know it when she sees it.​
tags ∘ shadowclan apprentice ∘ solid black with hazel eyes ∘ curled front foot ∘ 9 moons​
 

Rabbitnose trailed after his patrol with a bounce in his step as usual. He set to work marking the border as he always did, rubbing his face on trees. He listened to the others talk. He was still bitter about Shadowclan stealing their prey even if he understood why they did it. He was glad they made it, but still.... If they tried again he would lose his patience.

Ferndance's performance ALMOST got him. Almost! His eyes widened in surprise at her, until he heard her try to imitate a hawks call. Rather than be irritated, he smiled and chuckled. "At least someone over there looks like fun!" He said. Shadowclanners were always so grumpy!

He looked to Halfshade as she chose to argue with Raccoonstripe, wondering how that would go. He wouldn't touch that one, nope.

"Oh come now, we aren't that boring~" He called to her as she beckoned her apprentice to follow. At least they didn't live in a muddy swamp.

He then looks to Rainecho, who longs for more toms as good looking as Raccoonstripe on their territory. Sure, everyone always gave Shadowclan a hard time about being smelly... But they weren't THAT ugly... Some of them looked quite good, in his opinion! Nobody was as perfect as Sunfreckle, though.

"Surely you have a few good looking cats over there... Some of you look quite nice!" He said. He...Willfully ignored the comment about rotting cat!

He flashed the Shadowclan patrol a smile before getting back to work securing the border.
​
 
THERE'S A WORLD THAT WAS MEANT FOR OUR EYES TO SEE​
Patchpaw had been following along quite close to Rabbitnose’s hindquarters, for while the ThunderClan patrol concerned themselves over the stolen rabbit and the breaking of trust between clans, her mind was preoccupied with something much more vicious lurking amongst the shadows.
She kept unnaturally quiet, keeping an eye on her surroundings at all times—twice she whipped in the direction of a rustling branch, and once she even jumped when Rabbitnose’s tail brushed over the back of her neck unexpectedly. Her claws dug into the ground and her head hung low, ears perked and alert for any kind of unknown voice to come from the dark forage of the undergrowth, or the sound of footsteps crunching over grass and twigs. The snow had long melted, to which Patchpaw was grateful for; no one could sneak up as easily without snow to muffle the noise.

Hearing the foliage shift and creak on the other side of the Thunderpath, it quickly snaps her attention to and she watches it with wary until an ashen-sand colored molly pushes out from the break of the tree line. Oh, it’s just Ferndance and her patrol.

He could be there with them.

Patchpaw swallows thickly, muscles tense with apprehension. Her leg was still incredibly sore, but at least she could walk on it now…

Just as she turns away, Ferndance’s screech of a hawk startles her right out of her bones, and Patchpaw shoots her head up to look at the sky in fright—but there was no bird in sight, not even a little crow spared from the winter, and immediately, shame and humiliation washed over her. Her heart pounded against her chest and her limbs had stiffened all for a stupid, cruel prank—as if death was any fucking laughing matter.
She was much too tense, she knew—but she couldn’t control it in the slightest, no matter how hard she struggled to slow her racing heartbeat, and Ferndance was only making it worse.

"Can we please just get out of here?" Patchpaw hisses to her mentor with strain, stepping around him so that Rabbitnose stood between her and the ShadowClan patrol—both so that he wouldn’t be able to see her if he was there, and so that the patrol couldn’t see her flushed, panicked expression and puffed fur.
And she certainly did not want to owe a mouse to them now.​
 

"LITTLE HELLIONS, KIDS FEELIN' REBELLIOUS"​
Wildpaw rolled his eyes when the ShadowClanners kicked off with their little bird call attempts. "Really? Tch! Pathetic." He huffed with a sneer as he continued to follow Raccoonstripe along the patrol route as he laid down scent markers. At least he was actually out on a patrol. It had been too long, far too long. The fluffy stump that made up the very last shred of his tail wiggled about as the remnant urge to lash his tail remained, even though he could no longer carry out the full action.

His gaze soon found it's way to that of Patchpaw and he felt a prickle of protectiveness in that moment towards her. Bloody ShadowClanners, how dare they make her stiffen in response to a cruel prank. A low rumbling growl formed in his throat as he moved away from his mentor so he could draw closer to her and Rabbitnose. "Don't let the VerminClan get to you, nothing will hurt you whilst I'm around."
​
★ ​
 
DON'T YOU GIVE ME UP, PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP​
"boring."

the leader yawned rather dramatically, stretching their body as they stood with a small, yet smug, grin on their face for a moment. they watched the thunderclanners and how they walked upon thorns around the border, as if they're scared that either they will bite, or the thundepath would.

"come up with new insults, mouse munchers. we've hears it all before."

they remind cooly, a brow raising as they look over at their clanmates who insist on taunting them back. good. thunderclan needed to realize just how much they hated them.

"oh yes, don't let us keep you. wouldn't want you getting your paws getting scuffed for once. must be so hard doing such a big task for real warriors. but you wouldn't know anything about those, now would you? such a shame."​
 

She scoffed, tail flicked upward haughtily at Rainecho's remark but a smile played across her maw, "I've no idea what you're implying dear." Perhaps a little too blatantly coy, yes, but she would continue to play the fool all the same. She was not shy about her sudden closeness with Smogmaw and certainly not denying it but the fun of it was waiting to see which cat was just going to blatantly ask the question first and get laughed at. A little meanspirited, but it suited ShadowClan just fine.

Halfshade ignores the ThunderClannners talking, even if the spotty blue one seemed strangely cheerful and polite; must be something in the water perhaps! Drank from one too many dirty puddles did he?
Chilledstar arrives and promptly sasses back at ThunderClan and she wonders if this is the end of niceties. Were they now fully in opposition and not merely playing the part of neutrality now? Not that she much cared for being an ally with the pine forest cats but it was a little blatant for her and she considered herself tactically subtle in her banter generally. It was classy in a way. Well, no matter, this patrol was getting quite bothersome now and she turned to her apprentice with a dipped head and a smile. "I do love a cat able to find their own fun, suppose we get going then and see what prey we can hunt up~?"

​
 

Of all the borders to patrol, he thinks this one is among the worst.

The slimy prey-stealers that were ShadowClan, an ever-posed threat against ThunderClan. Kindleheart would rather not go near them, would rather not look at them. Yet, he knows the importance of these sorts of patrols, and knows protesting would be pointless. Besides, what if he was never put on another patrol again? He'll just keep quiet for now, enjoy the trek to an unfortunate border.

And he tries to enjoy it, really, he does. He tries to ignore the stench of the thunderpath, tries to do the job he's been brought here to do. But, of course, the marsh-dwellers have to ruin everything.

It's a shout from the other side of the border that startles him. Hawk! They shout, they taunt. Kindleheart practically leaps in the air at the alert, olive gaze searching the sky. A hawk, a hawk. Where was this hawk?

And oh, of course. Of course, they lie. Why would he expect anything different from ShadowClan? He shakes his head as the rest of his patrol interacts with them, as they throw their insults at once another. Kindleheart takes no part in it, working on marking the border instead so that they can leave quicker.
​
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back