[Fawn]

Originally Posted by Constellation

When the battle had concluded, Passionblaze taken his time to ask cautious questions to his clan mates. Were they okay? Were they scarred, far worse than by physical means? Then he would compliment them greatly, boasting about how brave they were out there. A little surprised attack, and they still managed to beat their opponents. In that treasuring moment, Passionblaze was proud to be a Thunderclan cat. The scars that were earned, they were far from being sore. The scratch along his flank was pink flesh, covered by the thickness of his ginger pelt. Occasionally, he found himself a little limped, butnafter numerous times of putting tough pressure to feel that irritation, following the expression that he hated the soreness which contradicted that he actually liked the pain. All was good, in his opinion. After the battle, he managed to bounce right back up with much eager versatile, that of much that came from the resilience of a kit. It was a battle that would be remembered greatly. Especially, upon the discretion of Shadowclan. At first, Passionblaze didn’t think Goldenstar would want to be involved in a conflict that did not concern him. The battle alone was supposed to be between Thunderclan and Windclan. To this day the flamed tom feel that Windclan was too debilitated to handle their own battle. If they needed extra help, then the warriors should had stayed back and trained frequently instead of recruiting more members to sabotage another clan. Thunderclan had won, forever grateful to the warriors of Riverclan for their help. Yet, Passionblaze still felt a little bitter and an unquenched desire for a fight again. That was only his reckless side buttering up his thoughts, hoping to force him to commit a heinous crime. Passionblaze was not at all a violent cat. He may have thought on impulsiveness, but that was only when another life needed protection.

On top of that, after the battle, there had been warriors reporting the scent of a fox. Concerned, Passionblaze had thought frequently whether to check out the borders himself because maybe these warriors were being immature and just wanted something to do. Then again, why would a Thunderclanner lie about scenting trouble? Knowing that he was the type of cat to rush into the fray, Passionblaze had taken his time to breathe and talk to Snowstar about it. Maybe she would have a plan about how to handle such, but the leader of thunderclan had been busy with recovering, so that left Passionblaze to tend to the marks. For the last few days, he had been brushing it aside, hoping that whatever the warriors that ‘called wolf’ would realize that foxes had more important things to do instead torment clan cats. In his mind, he hoped at least. Per usual, whenever lost in his thoughts, he used a claw to draw aimlessly in the dirt. They didn’t make any type of finely thin shaped two dimensional objects. They were simply long, zig-zaggy lines caused by the uniqueness and clarity of a cat’s claws. Too caught up in a daydream, Passionblaze didn’t see the outline of another cat. Instead, he was met by the soft impact (more like a brush) under his chin. Passionblaze was startled himself, the hairs on his neck on end from his skittish trait. Quickly, he regained a smooth recovery. It would had been embarrassed to know that he had been startled as well when he was supposed to be observant. Maybe the Molly didn’t notice since she seemed to be heated at her own clumsiness. Passionblaze gave a respective bow of his head to her, “Ah, no need to be sorry.” Maybe she was wandering in her thoughts as much as he was. A bit clumsy, eh? Passionblaze felt his whiskers wiggling at the humorous thought. The tom himself usually tripped over his own paws, being quite the clownish clumsy feline he was. He gave her a softened smile, and vigorously shook his head at her question. “Nope! Pretty sure I’m all in one piece.” He flicked his tail comically behind him. “Don’t beat yourself up about it.” He replied, coolly, courteous as the tom he was.

Following afterwards, the sheepishness that was etched on her face dissipated into one of a thoughtful one. That’s when Passionblaze imitated her expression, knowing fully well that she may had questions for him. The supposed fox sightings...of course. His broad shoulders rolled to comfort them from becoming too stiff. Instead, cool and collected, Passionblaze nodded. “Just to be sure we're on the same level, you are inferring to the scent of fox?” Passionblaze questioned. That was the only problem Thunderclan currently had, besides the tension between Windclan and Shadowclan. Oh, boy! Couldn’t he wait for the next gathering? Passionblaze felt s confident smile glowing on his features because he knew the molly was right. Thunderclan can handle absolutely anything and everything! Suddenly, the smile was replaced by a scrunch of his nose. He had lifted himself to his paws. “Yeah...I know what you mean. I’ve been meaning to talk it over with Snowstar, but uh - yeah...” Passionblaze knew that it couldn’t be held off any longer. The longer they waited, the worst the problem would become. Clearing his throat, he blinked curiously at her. “I’m interested to know what you think we should do to go about this?” Hearing the input of his clan mates was always a big deal to him. Each cat had their own opinions that were wild and sane to believe. The deputy may not always agree in matters, but he was an open cat that catered to the mindful emotions that many possessed.

Blinking at him, Sheepcloud was stunned for a second or two as she stared at him, trying to measure if he was upset while hoping he was not. He didn’t seem injured, thank StarClan. That would have been terrible; she had no intention of harming her own clanmates, though it seemed her clumsiness sometimes had alternative motives. “Are you sure?” she questioned, looking a tad skeptical. “I’m still sorry,” Sheepcloud wanted to smack her paw into her own head since Passionblaze had just told her there was no need to be sorry a moment ago. “I mean--” she fumbled to correct her error, “I’m.. not sorry?” Way to make things worse. The heat under her pelt only seemed to be getting hotter, and she averted her gaze. A frustrated huff of air escaped her at her own verbal incompetence, Sheepcloud gave up on fixing the blunder. “I guess my paws aren't the only thing I'm clumsy with. I’m kind of clumsy with my words too, huh?” She wasn’t known for having a way with smooth talking nor a golden tongue, but she did have a heart of gold. The softened smile that Passionblaze flashed at her was relaxing, and she could feel the embarrassed heat of her pelt melting away, allowing her to return the smile.

“I don’t think ThunderClan would be very happy with me if you weren’t in one piece,” Sheepcloud commented, her whiskers twitching in amusement, “and I don’t suppose that’d make me a great warrior, either. Bringing down the deputy in one swoop.” Despite her upbeat tone, she was genuinely glad he was okay and expressed this with a sigh of relief and soft smile on her muzzle. Even more reassuring, Passionblaze didn’t seem to be upset about the incident. “You know, for a moment I was afraid I was about to be sentenced to become a ‘paw once again,” her eyes widened in mock terror, “or worst case scenario, be exiled and probably have to join the ranks of WindClan.” Sheepcloud joked, but she knew she’d never join them; she saw WindClan as a bunch of traitors and cowards for attacking their camp. If they wanted a battle, they could have asked for one, but surprising them had been dishonorable. “So thank you,” she finished, gratefully touching the tip of her tail to his shoulder briefly. The fact that he’d been so calm and polite about it had helped her feel more at ease. “To be honest, I really didn’t want to live the rest of my days as one of those rabbit-chasers.”

When the conversation moved on to the patrol’s reporting the scent of fox in the territory, she nodded in confirmation to his question. “Right,” Sheepcloud meowed, “the fox scents.” A shudder of horror passed through her at the mere idea of one stalking around the territory, making itself at home and hoping for a kit-snack to fill its belly. The fox--or foxes, but she hoped not--definitely had to go before any ThunderClanner fell victim to it. Although it was concerning that the leader and deputy hadn’t been given an opportunity to discuss this threat to ThunderClan’s safety, Sheepcloud understood why it may not have been possible and didn’t blame Passionblaze or Snowstar. When he trailed off, she tried to offer a reassuring, “I’m sure you and Snowstar have been too busy with WindClan and ShadowClan to get a chance to talk in-depth about anything.” The state of the tensions between them were not a mystery or secret, after all -- those two Clans were probably their most pressing and serious problem after the attack that’d been launched.

A pinch of alarm flooded her as she realized Passionblaze was specifically asking for her opinion on the issue, and her face showed her surprise. She'd been unprepared for that, but didn't mind him asking. “You’d be interested in what I think?” Sheepcloud inquired, too shocked to feel flattered. “That’s kind of you to ask, but I can’t say I’m too wonderful at ..you know, making plans or giving advice. I usually end up winging it.” Her impatience and recklessness sometimes combined to create a terrible storm of impulsive behavior, whether that turned out making things better or worse was dependent, and she tended to find herself veering off track often. Plans weren’t her strong suit. “But I’ll try,” she resolved, determined to do her best since Passionblaze was generous enough to at least ask for her thoughts. “If I had to choose a course of action, I think I’d want a patrol of a couple warriors to scout out where the scents have appeared. Maybe they’ll be able to pinpoint how many foxes ThunderClan is dealing with, though it’s probably one. It’s mostly just a precaution, since sending warriors into battle could easily go awry if they’re ambushed by multiple.” Taking another moment to collect her ideas, Sheepcloud continued, “And then after the scouting patrol comes back with information, a battle patrol could be sent to eradicate the issue by driving the fox off.” Once she was done detailing her makeshift plan, her teal eyes settled onto Passionblaze’s yellow-green ones, “..What would you propose?” She’d been given the spotlight long enough, she was curious if Passionblaze had formulated something different.