[lone]

Originally Posted by RedHead

Quailpaw had heard of Thrushflight and Carmelblood- and she admired them. Not over the top, but enough to give them the respect they deserved. Something the tabby feline didn't dish out too often. "Sometimes having a family like that is what makes you stronger." She herself had come from a pretty screwed of family. With a mother who could be the whole Dark Forest herself, and siblings who did nothing but taunt and tease her. The only cat she had loved from her family was her father. And now he was dead, killed by a Dusk Syndicate cat. And Quailpaw knew that she would never forgive that cat or their relatives for what they did. Her father had been the only happiness she had left, and they ripped him away from her. And her adoptive mother was dead too, killed a few moons ago by a horrible sickness. She didn't know where her adoptive brother was, she hadn't seen him recently. The two were growing apart anyways. Sure enough, Quailpaw knew full well what it was like to come from a screwed up family.

At his comment about her "ambition" Quailpaw made no response, simply just nodded her head in silence. She wasn't the gloating type. Sure, she did it here and there, but what was the point of it? But as he advised her about her statement, she stared at him for a moment. Is a kit giving me advice? But she did agree with him. If she said things like that too loud, then the clan would start to question her loyalty. Not that she had any real loyalty. It was all fake, a facade that she put on so she could hold on to the protection of the clan until she was old enough and strong enough to go live on her own.

"Yes, I was only a newborn kit when Singenight was leader, but I know that he was a very respected leader among cats with minds of ambition and strength." But I wouldn't have pledged my loyalty to him. That was Quailpaw's policy. if she didn't trust anyone, she wouldn't have to fear the thought of getting that trust broken. Because there was no trust to break in the first place. Plus, if she didn't trust anyone, then she wouldn't get particularly close to anyone, and they wouldn't be able to use that as a weakness. Quailpaw had found out ways throughout her kithood and apprenticeship to find ways to eliminate any weakness own her own she found.

At his last piece of advice, Quailpaw thought about his words for a moment, rolling them around in her mind. She got two things out of it. One, Mercurykit was wise beyond his years, and two, maybe he could become some sort of... Ally to her. The tabby had never known there were still more cats with her mindset in Windclan. While he may not have her exact mindset, she figured his views were at least somewhat similar to her own. "I'll have to keep that in mind."

~~~~~~~~~~
@starfall
{Cloudedkit and Scorchingkit}

A small cream-colored pelt could be spotted curled up near the edge of the clearing. Cloudedkit's pale blue eyes were open wide, the only indication that he was not sleeping. Otherwise, the kit lay completely motionless, curled up in a tight ball. Ever since his mother, Searwhisper, had disappeared, Cloudedkit had become more and more closed off to the world. Sure, he still talked to others, but he never went up and initiated a conversation anymore. He wanted to make sure that the cats currently in his life wanted to stay there, and to do that, he had decided that he would sit at the edge of the clearing, and see who makes an effort to approach him and come talk to him. Those who did, he could start to trust. And those who didn't? Well... They would be losing a valuable friend.
Uncurling from his ball to stretch a bit, Cloudedkit closed his eyes for a moment as he let out a large yawn. An older kit, he was about the size of an apprentice. Cloudedkit wasn't larger or smaller, he was completely an average-sized tomcat. But then again, average size seemed to run in his family. His very... different family. With his father off being a rogue and doing who knows what, and his mother disappearing, Cloudedkit felt like his already small family was shrinking and becoming even more unstable. But Cloudedkit wasn't sure what to do to hold it together. He just hoped one of his littermates knew how.

Mercurykit would have to agree with her on that. Family was a strength - but it was also a weakness. Love was a weakness, for him - it wasn't strength. Some cats would argue against him, but he would stick firm to his beliefs. Love was - and always would be - the worst. Now, he wasn't against it, oh no - he had seen his parents together and knew that they had their own type of love. He understood it - at a young age, yes, Mercurykit was fully aware of what love was, what it meant, and what falling in it meant, but he was far too young to actually experience it. That might have been part of the reason that he called it a weakness, and he was so hasty to do that that he forgot his own rule: NEVER assume ANYTHING until you're ABSOLUTELY SURE of ALL the facts. The tom looked up at Quailpaw, his own eyes serious and calm, remaining unaggressive. It seemed the best way to form an alliance with this she cat was the more sophisticated approach.

Mercurykit had been watching other cats, mimicking their behaviors and he had split them up into groups... sort of like stereotyping, and then there were the cats who fit into several of those groups. There were cats who put up a happy facade in front of others, but showed signs of sadness - there were cats who acted angry, but then when they were around certain cats they were sweet and kind - and there were cats who looked the loneliest, but were so happy when someone came to spend time with them. Mercurykit didn't try to copy any of them, guessing they were manipulators like himself and he knew all too well what it was like to have to try and perfect multiple personalities to charm cats. He had to be careful. At the mention of Singenight, there was a hungry gleam in Mercurykit's eyes and he moved slightly closer to Quailpaw.

"Ah, our greatest leader. He changed WindClan for the better; made us stronger, wiped out the weak and disloyal." His voice was kept low, so that only she could hear it - like he had said, you should keep your voice low when speaking of things like that. Voice low and head down. Now, there was no mistaking that Mercurykit was a loyal cat. He was, in fact, quite obsessed with staying loyal. To his family and Clan, that was. His leader? Blazingstar might have been a clanmate, but to Mercurykit, he was no leader. Onyxwhisper was no deputy. They had been in charge for far too long already, and Dapplestar had been a fool to leave a joker in charge. Who did the tom think he was, pretending to lead the glorious Clan of WindClan?

Who did the tom think he was, acting like he was "so good?" Mercurykit wished that Thrushflight or Caramelblood were in charge of the Clan. The two toms would make WindClan strong again, because if there was one thing he had learned, it was that size wasn't everything. Thrushflight might have been small, but he had killed before and he was powerful. "Good." Was all the tom said, before his eyes returned to scanning the clearing. Today... today was a great day to be alive.



Morningpaw entered the clearing, a smile on her maw as always, and her golden fur neatly groomed. She generally didn't take the time to groom it - but now that she was getting older, it seemed that she cared more and more about her appearance every day. There was still a pleasant expression on her maw and she was still as sweet as ever. I hope I get some training done soon. I'm really- A yawn cut off her thoughts, and everything seemed to freeze for just a minute before she shook her head lightly and settled down, her tail curled around her paws. -tired. The recent battle had taken a toll on Morningpaw, as it had on all the members of the Clans, and she was hoping that ThunderClan would settle down some. She was no expert, but for her, she thought the leaders were acting a lot like bitter apprentices at the moment. Not that she would ever say that out loud. Still, it was hard to maintain a positive attitude at this time. Whoever was completely positive right now was either completely insane, lying, or they lived in their own little world where nothing could hurt them. Whatever it was, Morningpaw was pretty sure that was the type of cat you wanted to stick with. Some positivity was much-needed in these hard times. Her soft eyes glanced around the clearing, looking for a potential cat that she could speak with - perhaps a friend of hers? It'd be nice to have someone to talk to right now. Maybe Tawnypaw, Morningpaw distinctly remembered meeting the young cat before, and had very much enjoyed her company - or maybe someone else. Either someone that she didn't know, or someone that she hadn't seen in a while would be her preferred company.
@Queenie