WARNING SIGNS [✦] windclan patrol

[Bluepool]

The gorge. It is a place that, honestly, the blue coated warrior tries her best to avoid. If she could help it, she would never go near the damn thing again but, as luck would have it Badgermoon had assigned her to take a patrol out and ensure the edge hadn't been eroded by the recent storms. "If I didn't know better I would say the fool is trying to kill me" she had grumbled to herself, making sure that no one could hear her before she spoke. It was not his fault though for how could he or anyone know of the constant nightmares that plagued her? The ones where she is free-falling down into those perilous depths, unable to stop it and knowing she would die. She wakes in the middle of the night with a quiet gasp for air, claws scrambling and digging into the sand, desperate to feel solid ground. The idea of plummeting to her death terrifies her beyond belief. But still, it is better then being confined to the tunnels.

She is just glad that her sister and her niece were here. She draws comfort in their familiar shadowy pelts, though she knows that both of them must be suffering in the green-leaf heat so she would do her best to make this quick. Her eyes find her apprentices gray-pelt next to her "Juniperpaw" she says, her tone uncharacteristically serious, there was no room for fooling around today "When we get close to the gorge I want you and Moorpaw to stay with Mintshade and Spiderbloom. Don't go anywhere near the edge you understand? It's very dangerous you could fall to your death if you went over the edge" she knows its a scary sentence, but she did not want to lie about the dangers of the gorge to her apprentice or anyone else. "Do you understand?" she asks, her voice soft.

When they draw closer, the sound of the river can be heard. It is raging against some unknown force, swollen from the recent rain they had just gotten. It roars like some ancient beast from the past and it makes Bluepool feel nauseous. If she fell over the edge that was it. She was done. She did not want her patrol to see her fear though, and she had an assignment to carry out so, despite her paws reluctance, she forces herself to walk to the edge. "Wait here" she says to the others, a growl tinting her voice. It is the only hint of her fear as she makes her way to the ledge. As she draws closer, she reaches out with one foot and tests the ground, making sure it is not crumbling away. When she is satisfied that the recent storms had not, in fact, claimed a part of their territory she pulls away, eager to get away from that cursed place.

She lifts her head and looks across the borders, yellow eyes scanning for any sign of a RiverClan patrol. They always seemed to be there, nothing better to do with their lives she supposes. If there are any, however, she wouldn't bother trying to speak to them. The roar of the river below was too loud, too great. Her insults would just be drowned out by the noise. She would, however, shoot them a glare before returning to the rest of her patrol.

"Drink in the air and tell me what you smell, Juniperpaw" she instructs. Because of her injuries they had not gotten a chance to see the other clans yet but later today she would take him to ShadowClan and ThunderClan's border as well. SkyClan he would have to learn at a gathering.

// @Mintshade @Juniperpaw @Spiderbloom @MOORPAW

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[Juniperpaw]

There's something off about Bluepool. Juniperpaw can't put his paw on it, but something just isn't right. He glanced about, carefully observing how the terrain changed the closer they got to the steadily growing sound of roaring water. For a moment, he thought his mentor might've muttered something to him, but whatever words she had spoken were lost in the wind. No matter. The youth is easily distracted by the novelty of the unknown sights and smells around him. Although he is rapidly sprouting into a large, lanky tomcat, there is no denying that Juniperpaw is still quite young. He is similar to Bluepool in that he keeps much of his emotions within, yet his pallid green eyes still sparkle with wonder.

Juniperpaw is playing with a stone, kicking it along with him as he walks, when Bluepool turns to him with the full intensity of her gaze. Don't go anywhere near the edge. The gravity in her tone freezes the apprentice in his tracks and he nods in acknowledgement. "Yes, Bluepool," he replies, tone serious. Curiosity prickles at the corners of his consciousness like an itch but his utmost trust in his mentor gives him the strength to resist. He fidgets in place, gaze darting from Bluepool to the gorge beyond. If only he could just take a quick peek... He believes that it's dangerous, but the fear is just as tantalizing as his curiosity. No. He shakes away the thoughts and steps closer to Spiderbloom.

"Mmm," he says, filling in the empty space so he has time to process his mentor's instructions over the sound of the river below. "I smell...dampness..." obviously. "And something kind of smelly...." Juniperpaw pauses, trying to figure out the strange scent. "Is it fish? Fish and wet soil and damp air." He's only guessing, trying to fill in his lack of personal knowledge with what seems to him to be the most reasonable conclusions.​

 

[Spiderbloom]

Spiderbloom was no fan of the gorge either. She knew it's dangers, was always acutely aware of the roaring river below. She couldn't blame bluepool for her wariness, and was actually quite glad she was careful. Juniperpaw followed her obediently, and she couldn't help but smile softly.

He would be safe with Bluepool. Her nerves relaxed and she cast her gaze across the gorge, into Riverclan territory.... She searched the willows for them. She was unaware of Hyacinthbreath's fate, still believing her to be among the river cats ranks. Her gaze hardened as she thought about what she had done. She still thirsted for blood.

Juniperpaw steps closer to her, and she is distracted from her brooding silence. She looks down at him as he answers Bluepool's question.

"That would be Riverclan's scent..." She says. "Fish isn't a very pleasant smell. Just wait until you smell dead fish." Now THAT is a disgusting smell.

Riverclan must be noseblind.​

 

[Mintshade]

Dark fur was not very welcome in this head, she was sweating into a puddle as they trekked and swearing revenge the entire time while her sister swore it in silence; they were both unhappy for different reasons. "That badger blockhead wants me to melt, we couldn't have gotten a patrol near a treeline?" She huffed unhappily but regardless nothing their dingbat deputy ever did would be good enough for her.
"They smell like carrion left in the sun." The black shade of a cat snorts, tail twitching behind her as she stalks along behind her sister and Spiderbloom, pausing only occasionally to make sure Moorpaw's fool little head hadn't run off ahead-apparently being a thickheaded idiot ran in her sister's bloodline and she was willing to blame Weaselclaw for it since she and her siblings were perfectly sensible; mostly. Long limbs carried her along forward but not to the edge, she wasn't wary of it but she was wary of the apprentice's attempting to mimic her behavior and she had enough awareness to not want her recklessness passed on so easily. Maybe in combat, but not when it came to peering into plummeting drops into the abyss.
A quiet nod was given to Spiderbloom's son, she was glad to see her sister with a proper apprentice and it was a shame the kit's father wasn't around to witness them grow. Unknowing to Juniperpaw, Juniperfrost had lost his life not to much further down toward the bridge that connected the two territory but she wasn't going to give him said lesson right now; that was for Bluepool to do. Instead she turned to Moorpaw with her ears pricked upward and her teeth flashing dangerously white in the sun.
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[MOORBLOSSOM]

Moseying along on milk-kissed paws, Moorpaw suffers the same strife as her aunt-slash-mentor. She teethes hard on her lower lip, finding the sharp twinge to be a diversion - albeit a comfortless one - from the heavy sun above. Greenleaf's heat bled the energy straight from her system, a reality which she wore right on the sleeve; head slung low, and her tail mirroring the posture, the glossy black apprentice lagged behind at a snail's pace.

A weighty sigh parts from her maw once the patrol draws on the gorge. They've made it to their destination, meaning another long walk lay just a whiskey's length ahead of them. The stars must be shining on her today, though, because it seemed as though her patrolmates were in silent agreement about taking a break. Her mouth became graced by the smallest of smiles, then, and it only stretches wider when the rank stench of RiverClan surfaces in conversation. "It smells better when I make dirt!" Moorpaw crudely remarks, before breaking into a snickering fit whilst flitting her focus to Mintshade for any sign of validation. That was a good one.

When the giggles subside, her emerald eyes roam to the gorge's gaping maw. She hadn't been paying close heed to her surroundings before, owing to her heat-induced drowsiness—the fatigue in her gaze is washed over with startled awe as she beholds the vastness of it all. Bluepool wasn't kidding about. In her very veins could she register the danger looming nearby. "If we pushed someone down there, they would die?" the girl asks innocently enough, now gawking at her mentor. "That sounds cool! If I ever go to fight RiverClan, I want to capture one of them and bring them here!"​

 

[RAVENSONG]

Ravensong avoids the gorge when he can—knowing that it had nearly claimed his life and had evidently claimed his mentor's. That stretch of deep wound in the earth was their greatest defense against the cats that belonged to WindClan. Ravensong could not think of an instance where a cat came up against it and survived.

The RiverClan medicine cat slunk through the undergrowth, ears angled as he caught wind of one WindClan cat's voice, then another, and another, and yet another. Normally he would not bother interacting with any sort of border patrol, but he was annoyed enough to turn his paws away from his search for chamomile and peer out at the group.

"Do you really have nothing better or more productive to do than gossip about bad smells... be a little more original please." His throat rasped from his purr. "Or maybe talk about something pleasant, like the weather." He tipped his head to the side, irony dripping from his teeth.

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[Bluepool]

For a second, she feels irritation. Spiderbloom was, indeed, Juniperpaw's mother but she was his mentor. She tampers it down though, the molly had good intentions but they would not be bringing her on the rest of the tour if this is how it was going to be. A shame too, it might have been fun. Without missing a beat or letting her irritation show she nods her head. "Spiderbloom and Mintshade are correct, that disgusting smell is RiverClan. That smell comes from their diet, which mainly consists of fish. They are a clan full of traitors and if you ask me, they act no better than rogues. They steal young apprentices from the border and ah... well.. you probably saw what happened to Cottonpaw." It was safe to say that Bluepool held no love in her heart for their fish-breathed neighbors. "Just stay away from them okay?" she concluded.

Her niece is saying something now and the striped molly turns to look at her with one eyebrow raised. When she says her dirt smells better than the clan across the way, Bluepool tips her head back and laughs. More like a cackle really. When had her niece become so cool, so funny? Perhaps she was picking up more than simple training from her sister. "Ha! That was a good one kiddo." she says, reaching out with one paw to ruffle the top of Moorpaw's head gently. She then continues on to a more grim topic, but Bluepool leaves her questions for her mentor to answer.

Instead, she turns her attention across the way where a flash of black fur catches her eye. She squints and just there, vaguely in the distance she thinks maybe..? Just maybe she can make out the figure of RiverClan's medicine cat. Through the roar of the gorge she can only hear a faint sound, and she can see the toms mouth moving so it's her guess that he is trying to speak to them. "WHAT?!" She screeches back as loud as she can, trying to make herself heard over the river below "WE CANT HEAR YOU!! DID YOU SAY WINDCLAN IS THE GREATEST AND RIVERCLAN SMELLS?!" That must be it.

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