Dusk Syndicate Clearing

[AbsurdJinx]

Pride shone on Augustus' face when Rook gave him permission to travel alongside him. He knew Renn would be proud of him, if he were here. Unfortunately, for now, he could only imagine the delight on Renn's face. He offered Rook an appreciative look, and then stepped back when Patchy launched herself forward, placing herself beside Rook. Augustus nearly laughed at Rook's expression, but even he felt annoyed at Patchy's actions. The tall, gaunt tomcat rocked back on his haunches, his rat-like tail curled at his right flank. He still carried his impressive posture, his head raised high, and his spine straight. He watched the scene before him unfold. He found Rook's vague response to be amusing, but he revealed little to no emotion. Augustus didn't exactly approve of Patchy's speech of her life story, and he certainly didn't recall Renn walking in just now and approving Patchy of this journey. From the edge of his vision, he noticed Shale nearing, but he didn't act upon this sighting. His blank gaze was locked upon Rook and Patchy before him.

[vos]

Originally Posted by narwhalgirliv

"Why can't I come?" Patchy tried to stay calm but she instinctively bristled and unsheathed her claws. "I'm supporting you! I must go! Renn knew I was ready to join, and just Because I used to be ThunderClan, doesn't mean I don't get certain privileges! I fought and killed to get into the syndicate! I killed my mentor and blinded Maximum just to get where I am! I left because they didn't like me, I dont want the same here!" Her eyes glazed over in sadness. She sensed a spirit behind her as Orangeheart walked up. She didn't think the others could see her dead mates spirit, but him being there made her feel more confident. "They won't get rid of you, don't worry" Orangeheart nuzzled her on the cheek then faded away.

"I hadn't asked you for a story, but thank you." the syllables slip from Rook like velvet, a trickle of disinterest as he struggles to keep himself from touching Patchy's flank with his own. Those pale, pale eyes flick over her form, disdainful. "I hadn't realized that's what you'd requested. I shut you out once you made the decision that I'd be your makeshift leader for the time being."


"For the future...as much as I appreciate it," he doesn't. "I'd find myself more thankful if you didn't try to force me into positions." Gratitude is as hollow as his tone, he allows his attention to slip onto the cats gradually gravitating towards the mound he stands upon. Shale's presence is easiest to pick out, his voice reaching Rook's ears only when the tom lowers his head. He makes no attempt to address Shale just yet, instead speaking to Patchy -- he refuses to fully shift his gaze onto the she-cat, however. Apparently, he'd lost interest in the secret she'd revealed, and she herself.

"To answer you, you're free to come. Just don't cause any issue." He neglects to inject a threat into his leaving sentence, the urge to shove her away from his pedestal still itching at his muscles. "If you inconvenience anyone, you'll be sent home without hesitation. Do you understand?"

[BEAR.]

Observing the congregation, Locus kept his distance. With the loss of a third commander in only the span of a few moons, it seemed the home he had been raised in was crumbling; the shadow Neomora left unfilled by her predecessors. It would have been unfortunate, but the steel colored tom hadn't expected much to come from the fall of his friend's empire.

As Rook spoke about Renn's abandonment and investigating the clans, the fighter questionably looked at the other male. Since Neomora, the gang had been instructed to abstain from interacting with the clans, and he'd be lying if the thought of joining the patrol wasn't appealing. The last time he had gotten some action was when he tag-teamed that kittypet with Neo, and he'd been itching to go out - to do something worthwhile.

Guarding the rare hunting patrol had nothing on watching the clans burn.

It was amusing to hear a lesser-known cat declare Rook should be leader, and even more so when her words were shot down by the tom himself. Commanders hadn't improved the Syndicate lifestyle in ages, and throwing a cat that did not want the authority would not help their situation. Neither was her whining about her background - like that mattered when it came to selecting their leader.

Pushing himself to his feet, the powerful male took the few tail-lengths he needed to join the crowd. "I'll come," he all but growled, voice a low and deep rumble as he regarded Rook. "When do you intend on heading out?"

[Gusty]

Shale's ears perked as he heard another fighter join onto the patrol, and suddenly, without another doubt in his mind, his voice raised once more. "May I join as well?" He said.
Now, Shale wasn't the type to be polite; he often was sarcastic and didn't much care about others that were below him in rank. But this time was different. He knew he was in a lesser position... even though Rook had stated that he wouldn't want to be the next Commander, he did seem to be in unofficially in charge as of right now. And because of that, he would have to strangle his inner selfishness and do the best for his Syndicate.
Nonetheless, the black-pelted tom was a bit afraid that the roles for the journey would be taken up by the time Rook even put his gaze upon the fighter, and so he put forth his statement in high hopes. If Rook rejected him- which would be quite a shame to Shale, but he'd respect it nonetheless- it would be better than never speaking at all.
He waited for Rook's response, swiveling his ears at the felines around him and hearing his heart beat at each second.

[vos]

"As soon as possible," Rook confirms, a nod of acknowledgment directed down towards Locus. He raises his head to count the cats before him, deeming the collection he has appropriate enough to begin a journey towards the clans fairly quickly. "If everyone's fed, we could likely head out by the next crow's caw and arrive by sundown."

Patchy's presence, so close to him, has finally made his skin crawl for long enough. Swinging his hip to the side -- not hard enough to hurt her, mind you -- he shoves her back down to the bottom of the mound. He clears his throat like he hadn't done anything at all.

"...?" Questioning, Rook looks back down to Shale, listening to the tom speak oh-so-politely, oh-so-fake. He finds himself appreciating the effort, regardless. His stance as leader, currently, is only as a means to force the syndicate back into action. His decline to Patchy setting the commander title upon him was done so because this cat, this mouthy she-cat, is in no position to do so. Besides, he's not too keen on being the one bossed around, is he?

"Yes," back to matters at hand, "you're free to participate. I only request that you remain close until given orders to disperse. We'll be investigating the whereabouts of the aforementioned fires before taking any other actions."

[Autumnblaze]

Originally Posted by mirefern

"I hadn't asked you for a story, but thank you." the syllables slip from Rook like velvet, a trickle of disinterest as he struggles to keep himself from touching Patchy's flank with his own. Those pale, pale eyes flick over her form, disdainful. "I hadn't realized that's what you'd requested. I shut you out once you made the decision that I'd be your makeshift leader for the time being."


"For the future...as much as I appreciate it," he doesn't. "I'd find myself more thankful if you didn't try to force me into positions." Gratitude is as hollow as his tone, he allows his attention to slip onto the cats gradually gravitating towards the mound he stands upon. Shale's presence is easiest to pick out, his voice reaching Rook's ears only when the tom lowers his head. He makes no attempt to address Shale just yet, instead speaking to Patchy -- he refuses to fully shift his gaze onto the she-cat, however. Apparently, he'd lost interest in the secret she'd revealed, and she herself.

"To answer you, you're free to come. Just don't cause any issue." He neglects to inject a threat into his leaving sentence, the urge to shove her away from his pedestal still itching at his muscles. "If you inconvenience anyone, you'll be sent home without hesitation. Do you understand?"

Patchy sheathed her claws back in and nodded. Though a growl rose in her throat as Rook threw her off. She wanted power, and she wasn't going to give up trying to rule this group of cats. She'd teach her kits to be powerful. Hopefully no one could see into the pale tortoiseshell's thoughts. She would kill to become leader, kill cats until they were scared into following her. A few more moons of training with Orangeheart and she'd receive her power. She'd take over the forest, well, kill off ThunderClan, the clan that betrayed her. She'd take their place. They'ed be the ruthless DuskClan, and worship the Place Of No Stars as the others do StarClan. Just the thought of that pleased her. She wanted a commander that agreed with her, then she'd kill them when no one was around and say they were found dead, and if someone found it was her, she'd kill them.

[Fel]

@mirefern;
[I hate makin' choices, so this is up to rook c;]

After Renn had been absent from the Syndicate for quite some time, Lucifren hadn't exactly known what to do without their love by their own side, the guard feeling lost in their own paws as they wandered around the group- catching sight of the Commander's brother, Augustus, for a second, the cat immediately looked away in despair. Every day they hoped he'd come back, that he'd go visit them, to walk with them and have dinner with them like Renn used to do. If you come back, I'll let you call me 'Just Luci'- all you want- please, I'm sorry if I did anything. Just... come back, Renn. I'm head-over heeds in love with you. Their face dropped at Rook's announcement suddenly, but it was true- maybe they could find their love in the clans, despite how the cat around them tried to dispose of the Commander's policies. Maybe he's not coming back, maybe he left us for dead- but he could still be out there, into the mess that was the groups of cats who call themselves 'clans', who live life stuck on a code of honor, an idea that us Syndicate cats have in mind, but don't keep as close to our hearts. They'd made one friend in the absence of their best one, and that was a young healer, one who'd just recently graduated. They both lost a lot, but it was nice to see Hamlet walking up towards them as well, the young tom stopping by the non-binary guard quietly, with a smile.

Listening to Rook's speech himself, Hamlet silently agreed with it- but didn't exactly say anything, the tom's fur ruffling with excitement as he stood. He had been trained under Arrow, and he'd grown from when he was the simple son of Fracture, a cat who was gone by now. His siblings, Wren and Bellatrix- they were gone as well, and though he could keep them in his heart, life was nicer without them around. His father, however? He was amazing, and his disappearance was shocking to the then-younger cat at the time. Fracture encouraged him to be who he was, and after learning about one of the few guards, Lucifren, knew they they might have similar feelings about Renn. Not exactly like the father-son relationship he had with Fracture, or the romantic one Lucifren had with Renn- but they'd both lost their very best friends. They might want to use healing on that journey, or maybe even Luci's protection as well. "We should go." He nudged the guard, but the older cat shook their head in sullen silence for a moment before responding. "One of us should stay, I think."

"Why, Luce? Y'know, we're both useful."

"And that's why one of us should stay here."

That's correct. But... who'll go? It was almost like Lucifren knew what he was thinking, though it was quite obvious to somebody a bit older than he was, at only twelve or thirteen moons. "Whoever he needs most." The non-binary cat stated, with a sliver of hope in their voice, the most that Hamlet had seen since Renn had gone missing. "Hey- one of us can go!" Hamlet proceeded to call out to Rook, gesturing to both himself and the guard. "Whoever... you need most." He smiled, looking back at their new friend as Lucifren nodded. "That's correct."

[judas]

Elric sat in the clearing the cat had some if, almost as much experience as a hunter with fighting. Considering he was a healer, made his chest swell with pride. But with the news that Renn had left them for dead, made him back down. Didn't Renn have a mate? He thought. A she cat named, what was it? Lucy? Lilly? No it wasn't his mate, more like a crush Elric thought. The poor cat would be in tears by now. No Renn couldn't just have left them to die, could he? The whole thing was bugging him. Maybe he should give up healing, he was better at fighting anyway. The yellow tom sighed, moving his head until it looked at the ground. What would Twig think? Would she still talk to him? Elric paused for a moment, maybe he could become a fighter, yeah there we go. Become a fighter, he would become a fighter and fight for his respect. Now, who could he fight? Maybe start with a hunter then work his way up. Okay, now he had a plan. Elric let his chest swell with pride once again.

[Fel]

Originally Posted by Moonfur

Elric sat in the clearing the cat had some if, almost as much experience as a hunter with fighting. Considering he was a healer, made his chest swell with pride. But with the news that Renn had left them for dead, made him back down. Didn't Renn have a mate? He thought. A she cat named, what was it? Lucy? Lilly? No it wasn't his mate, more like a crush Elric thought. The poor she cat would be in tears by now. No Renn couldn't just have left them to die, could he? The whole thing was bugging him. Maybe he should give up healing, he was better at fighting anyway. The yellow tom sighed, moving his head until it looked at the ground. What would Twig think? Would she still talk to him? Elric paused for a moment, maybe he could become a fighter, yeah there we go. Become a fighter, he would become a fighter and fight for his respect. Now, who could he fight? Maybe start with a hunter then work his way up. Okay, now he had a plan. Elric let his chest swell with pride once again.

[heh, luce isn't a girl ^^]

[Gusty]

(Oh my gosh I noticed the background of the site changed yayay)

Shale felt happiness spread all over him, as Rook's words were said. Oh, he was accepted! Well, being accepted to go on the journey wasn't the best part. He most likely would've gone whether he was accepted or not. But the real reason was that everyone could see his success. The crowd would see that Shale was being accepted, and that he would become even more known among his fellow syndicate partners. Even so, he coyly smiled at the crowd, and felt his paws twitch in anticipation. Things were working out right so far. It didn't matter to Shale that Rook had accepted everyone so far- and liked some more than others.
Unfortunately, Shale was a bit wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice how Rook pushed Patchy down, although he did see a flash of fur in the corner of his eye. Once the tom interpreted the scene, though, he quickly abandoned his thoughts.
It was a delightful sight, in the fighter's eyes, and he couldn't help but give a mocking smile. His smugly cold expression was flashed towards Patchy, although it was highly unlikely that the molly would see it as of right now. Anyways, there was so much tension going on between her and Rook, that she probably wouldn't pay any attention to the black-pelted fighter at all.
His gaze then turned over towards the two new cats that spoke up, and were debating, sort of. He'd seen both of them around the Syndicate sometimes, but never got to talk. He did remember that one of them- Lucifren, he believed her name was- often hanged around Renn, for reasons Shale didn't know.