the clean up crew [slate]

[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

OOC - as per Marqs suggestion, these two are making sure the dog is gone :)

As Johnnyflame made his way out of camp alongside Slate, it was still ith bloodied paws stained red from Duskpools injuries. Tension sung throughout the muscles in his shoulders and jaws, but it wasn't apprehension that roiled in his gut as the collared tomcat set out for the scene of the fight. No, Johnny was burning with that same unbreakable determination he'd felt the night he'd broken into the shelter.

"Whatever mousebrained twoleg was stupid enough to let their dog run wild like this deserves to be clawed ten ways til next moon!" the bobtail growled as he padded alongside the larger tomcat, spitting the words gruffly in his irritation.

It wasn't hard to follow the trail seeing as their was blood leading off into the pines around them, and Johnnys fur bristled at the sight. "We should kick some dirt over the bloodtrail on the way back. No point leaving a trail for a hungry fox or badger to follow."

His first encounter with a fox had been fighting alongside Deersong to protect Thistleback, and he wasn't keen on leading one of those things right into camp where their queens and kits were.

---

​

 

[SLATESNARL]

❪ TAGS ❫ — Slate had not stepped up to assist his clanmates while they were being beaten and battered by a stray canine. Still feeling pathetic and inadequate after the fact, he figured that this patrol could be a chance for Slate to get off his ass and contribute something. His deep-rooted fear of dogs was crippling, so much so that the very sight of one caused him to freeze up — neither fight nor flight. The Maine Coon hadn't wanted to simply just be a sitting duck, waiting for that beast to come tear his head off, so he had remained behind in camp.

The hulking tom cat walked with Johnnyflame now, though surprisingly Slate didn't take as much issue with it. His mind was much more focused on staying vigilant and looking out for more dogs. "I could get behind that." Slate grunted at Johnnyflame's suggestion. A dog on the territory was alarming enough; a dog in camp might as well be the nail in his coffin.

The lead warrior could not help the twisting discomfort that accompanied his inquiry, but Slate's own curiosity hungered to be sated. "Your twolegs... they got dogs?" It didn't seem that the tom was very afraid of them... or perhaps he was simply better at hiding his apprehension than Slate was. As kittypet, Johnnyflame likely dealt with dogs a lot whether they shared a nest with him or neighbored him. Slate vaguely remembers seeing one or two dogs in his kittenhood; he hadn't liked them, clearly, but they weren't nearly as big as the dogs that SkyClan tended to deal with. ​

 

[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

Despite his clear agitation, it was also obvious that Johnnyflame worked exceptionally well under pressure when given a clear goal. Whatever emotions that may have been storming within the shorter tomcat right then were still taking a backseat to the mission at hand, and he stalked along swiftly with eyes and ears alert.

"Negative." the koi tabby replied in that light accent of his. "Dogs are too needy, and my twolegs aren't home enough for that." he explained, also revealing just why he had so much freedom when it came to spending the entirely of his days there.

Johnny kept to a tight routine, waking just before dawn with his twolegs and then heading out the door shortly after as they went off to do whatever it was twolegs did for the majority of their day. Usually his people returned sometime in the early evening, but they never seemed to have an issue with him returning just after dusk. He always knew he wasn't too late if the lights inside the nest were still on, and he'd just slip through his cat door and join them for the night.

"Grew up around them though." he added after a moment, glancing toward the taller tomcat before fixing his gaze back on their surroundings. "Back where I was born the neighbor had a big old beast of one. Friendly, though! Just stupid, and clumsy. If I did have a tail that thing would have trampled it a thousand times over." he chuckled with an almost fond shake of his head.

"Of course, I can't say that's true about all of 'em." he snorted, expression turning grimmer at the thought of what had just happened to their clanmates. "Clearly"

---

​