RiverClan Territory

[Fawn]

Grateful to leave Lionstorm behind steeping in the fury of his own insecurities, Fawnpaw's stress levels gradually lowered while they walked in the territory. It was ironic for the cat who cared so deeply about ThunderClan -- he'd be off shredding leaves and angrily jumping on sticks in a temper tantrum.. meanwhile Fawnpaw was the one doing the legwork, the thought of it putting a lopsided smile on his face. Intentions aside, helping ThunderClan was a worthy endeavor. The guilt from witnessing the fire continued to claw at him, and he could merely hope that assisting them would lessen the sting.

The familiar state of being trapped in his daydreams was only broken when he noticed Eagleflight dropping behind the patrol to fall in line beside him, prompting a quizzical glance from Fawnpaw that was more than a little doubtful. "I was kind of wondering when the whole... 'keeping an eye on me' extravaganza would begin," he commented wryly. But when asked if he was okay, it caught him off guard, and he blinked. "Yeah, uh..." A sudden self-conscious swept over him, a breathless laugh escaping as he scuffed a paw at the ground and tried to gather his thoughts. Fawnpaw assumed the concern was a product of the confrontation itself, a veiled variation of 'are you insane?' since he had stupidly caused a scene. "I'm fine. I didn't mean for it to be a big thing." It'd simply ... sort of happened, and in hindsight, Fawnpaw could see with clarity that he was a major contributor to the problem. Trying to derail the subject as uneasiness pooled in him, he shrugged and said, "With Windystar dead, someone's gotta step up and ruffle the golden bird's feathers once and a while."


@Dust ; @Rosemew ; @CasperCreates ; @PokeCat

[PokeCat]

@Dust @Rosemew @CasperCreates @Dipper
to be honest, littlepaw had no clue what exactly had happened between the other apprentice and the deputy, but it seemed to put a damper on everyone else’s moods, which in turn made her mood go back to what it was originally, nervous. the rise and fall of emotions almost made her feel more nervous. she felt like a kit again, looking up to the older people around her for guidance because she felt purely lost. she shut her mouth to listen- not that she was talking much- so that she could try and understand everything that was going on around her.
when the patrol stepped out of the camp, littlepaw’s heart jumped. it was so much better than the stories she had heard! The trees that lay around were as tall as a hundred cats, and the river stretched farther than she could have ever imagined. she paused for a moment to take it in, but was soon very aware of the face that her patrol was leaving without her. she leaped back into her place, not wanting others to think she was that inexperienced. she wondered if they had felt like this the first time they had been outside of camp; the feeling of being so small but at the same time feeling like you could do anything.
as cats around broke into small conversations around her, she continued to take in her surroundings. being social was never her strong suit. if she was approached, then, of course, she would talk, but very rarely she would initiate a conversation. she would much rather memorize the territory than people’s names. if she was by herself- her mind could take her infinite places. with other people? she could only go places with her paws. in this situation she is okay with it, as she was itching to get out of camp anyway.
why the apprentice, who was only so in name, was chosen for the patrol was beyond her knowledge. to get her out of camp? maybe. to teach her about the territory? doubtful. she thought that she was chosen because maybe she was special and deputy of the clan knew that. whatever the cause, she was ready.

[pidgeon]

@Dust @Rosemew @Dipper @PokeCat

"For the record, I don't think you really need me to keep an eye on you," The russet tom confessed. He trusted the apprentice, and he knew that Lionstorm must have only said that to get on the younger cat's nerves. Fawnpaw was fully capable of taking care of himself.
"And as for what happened back there, yeah, it may have been a little uncalled for, but I get where you're coming from, I think." He could sense that the apprentice didn't really want to talk about it, so he chose his words carefully. Hearing his apprehension, he wondered briefly if he should even bring this up at all, or whether it would be too much for right now. But his thoughts were like maggots eating away at him. He had to talk.

"And I've...I've been meaning to talk to you, about the last patrol we were on with Lionstorm. Not here, of course. But once we get a chance; I don't know who else to turn to and I haven't had a single restful night since. Gentlethunder wouldn't be caught dead talking to me now." He spoke quietly, being vague, so as not to alert the other cats traveling with them. He figured they either weren't listening, or would take it as idle gossip that didn't concern them.
He had thought about the cats who had been on that fateful patrol with him that night, and Fawnpaw was the only one who Eagleflight thought would stand a chance at discussing it with him. He had to know he wasn't alone in his fear. The nightmares rang out in his head at night--the flames eating away at pine needles, the cries of helpless cats as the fire ravaged their territory, the barren, soot-coated ground...
The guilt was overwhelming. It was all his fault. Or was it? He was just following orders, after all. The troubled warrior kept arguing back and forth with himself in his head. He had no idea what to think. He tried as hard as he could to focus on the task at hand, to think about helping ThunderClan, but there was just too much going on. He would have to get a hold of himself, for his own sake and for the sake of the cats who were depending on him. He would do right by them, at least.
He continued pacing forward, keeping his expression guarded and nonchalant as he followed Frostflight's lead, noticing that other small conversations were also happening around them.

[Fawn]

Well, Lionstorm does, he wanted to say, and everyone always listens to Lionstorm. He swallowed a sigh and his bitterness in one hefty gulp, swiftly reminding himself not to dwell on this when the patrol's goals were unrelated to his disappointment in Lionstorm's behavior. Shrugging it off, he said, "If you're sure you want to take that chance with a traitor like me." Ah, there he went with that sarcasm again that was more of a dig at Lionstorm's overreactive judgment than a factual statement, so he flippantly tossed out, "I'm probably planning on taking down the whole hierarchy and Clan system." Under different circumstances, Fawnpaw's mood wouldn't be soured enough to influence his lack of conversational interest, but his thoughts were bogged down. It was difficult to escape that headspace, even if he did want to be at the top of his game for rendering aid to ThunderClan.

Eagleflight's commentary on his interaction with Lionstorm was the underscore on his self-consciousness over the ordeal. It was the reality of the others' presence catching up with him, because in the moment, it'd felt like a personal exchange over personal matters... when it had been in front of the entire clearing to spectate. "Oh, I'm.... glad," Fawnpaw replied, semi-forced, uncertain. Fretting over the possibility of Eagleflight telling him that purely for indulgent and placating purposes, he clarified "You don't need to side with me just because I'm here, y'know."

Fawnpaw was hesitant, watching Eagleflight's expression shift while he contemplated carefully. "You-- actually want to talk about that?" he inquired, the surprise evident in his meow. More perplexing yet was the stipulation, "With me?" Yeah, he didn't know if he was really the cat for it but nevertheless nodded, his agreement lukewarm. "Sure, I guess-- okay." Whatever it was, he sounded increasingly troubled, and he couldn't help but worry he was in over his head with this if it was as bad as he described.

Gentlethunder wouldn't be caught dead talking to me now.

Whatever it was, Fawnpaw could decipher from his vagaries that he was uncomfortable speaking about it. Guilt, disgust-- he couldn't place it precisely but already determined it wasn't a chat to relish in their victory together. Fawnpaw peeked at him, curious. "Wait, are you under the impression that's a bad thing?" Regarding Gentlethunder, of course. "I mean, the rest of that sounds pretty bad, but I don't know if the Gentlethunder thing should be lumped in with the others..." Fawnpaw inwardly rolled his eyes at himself for such an unhelpful remark, then tried again more seriously, "Look, if... if you really want to talk about it sometime, we can." But first, they needed to focus on ThunderClan.

@Dust ; @Rosemew ; @CasperCreates ; @PokeCat

[Dust]

@Rosemew @Dipper @PokeCat @CasperCreates

They hadn't made it far out of camp when Frostflight became increasing aware of the hushed voices mingling with the natural sounds of the forest. Thankfully it was nice out. It had been so awfully humid and sticky the past few days, so the break in weather was always graciously accepted. As the deputy picked carefully through the marshy terrain, he threw a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure everyone was still in line. Eagleflight and Fawnpaw seemed wrapped up in conversation - he could only imagine it was about what happened in the clearing. Littlepaw was shuffling along as well, though it was painfully obvious that this was her first time out. He'd have to keep her attention up here with him so she didn't wander off and get lost. Frostflight knew he wouldn't hear the end of it from Lionstorm if that happened... squawking his ears off about traitor this, irresponsible that. Speaking of attention though... Frostflight was surprised to find Oakflame padding alongside him.

"I don't know," He meowed with a hushed tone - the last thing he wanted was to upset Fawnpaw even more, "Fawnpaw was quite harsh as well. They're both at fault... I think." Of course, he didn't know the full story or what was even getting underneath both their pelts. It could be over something stupid, everything was up in the air right now. Needless to say, he didn't want to speak further about it. This wasn't meant to be a gossip patrol, they had a duty to complete.

"Littlepaw," his raised voice called back to the apprentice, "Come up here with Oakflame and myself." Was one of the cats on patrol her mentor? "Who's your mentor?" Frostflight questioned gently, as soon as he was able to see her in his peripheral vision.

[PokeCat]

@Dust @Rosemew @CasperCreates @Dipper
trees and grasses passed by as the patrol continued through the territory. littlepaw, continuing to make mental notes of little things around the area, such as a weird twist in a tree or a patch of pretty flowers. aside from that, she was mostly oblivious to what was happening. her mind was swarming with other things- at the moment it was a story about a kit that had snuck out of the nursery and away from her mother. she incorporated the monuments she marked down into the story. the kit was now crawling up a small tree that had exactly fifteen leaves, but one fell off as the kit climbed up. but oh no! the kit was stuck! how ever would-
her train of thought was cut off by her name being called by frostflight. the she-cat looked up from the very interesting ground and trodded up to where the deputy and warrior were. she tripped over her own paws and almost fell face first. her pelt flushed but she picked herself up and continued until she was keeping pace with the older cats. this was difficult because the other warriors' legs were much longer than hers were. she listened to the question with big eyes, taking in the way that the words were spoken.
“m-my mentor?” she thought for a second, the name of the warrior that had been assigned to teach her how to be a warrior. oh! how stupid she must look to forget her own mentor! she took a breath to calm down before continuing.
“risingsun.” she said softly, looking back up to where the deputy was walking. “i have only met him once or twice. he seems nice. he promised to take me out and show me around the territory tomorrow.” she scowled for a second, probably thinking too much again. “i hope he doesn’t mind i went out without him.”

[pidgeon]

@Dust @Rosemew @PokeCat @Dipper

"Thank you," Eagleflight sighed, a bit relieved. "I'm sorry to bring this up now; I can guess you'd rather not be talking about it." He felt bad for adding to the things Fawnpaw was already troubled about. But he was grateful that he was willing to talk with him later on. Just knowing that he wouldn't have to leave the nightmarish situation unspoken of, the thought of knowing his discontented feelings might be valid after all, was enough to ease his tension a bit. Taking in a deep breath of fresh morning air, he steadied his pace to catch up with the rest, trying to focus on the task at hand.

He took comfort in seeing how excited Littlepaw was to be going on such an important mission, even if he was a bit confused as to why she was without her mentor.
"You look as if this is your first time out of camp," Eagleflight chirped, whiskers twitching with amusement. It was only a jest, but he was a little perturbed at how new this all seemed to be for the tiny cat. This wouldn't actually be her first outing, would it? Surely her mentor would want to show
her around for the first time? He shook his head. That couldn't possibly be it.

He looked to Frostflight and Oakflame.
"What sort of condition do you think we'll find them in?" He asked, not knowing how bad the fire had been. All he knew was that their leader had lost his last life because of it, so surely that must mean things were not looking up for ThunderClan. If nothing else, it was easy to make small talk about it. "At least the fires are out now; thank StarClan for the rain."

[Starfall]

Originally Posted by Fuzzyfeline

(This is so late RiP)

Moment by moment Petunia felt a little more at ease that the tom wasn't going to kill her. He seemed nice and asked about her flowers. Even if they did remind her of her deceased family. She still loved the flowers. They were the only thing that was always there. You could find them almost everywhere.
At the blurry tom's question the patchy kit began to nod yet stoped as he mentioned Jasper looking for her. She washed. If he was looking for her that ment he cared and was alive. But he didn't want to look for her when he was alive, he hates her for killing their mother. "No, he... he can't." She explained loosening her grip on the flowers. Her head dropping a bit she was quiet unsure what to do next. This was the first new car she's met, the first cat she's told anything to. Only because he asked. "My mum and my brother Jasper died." She sniffled looking up at the black tom. Her eyes were misty but she held back tears. She wasn't going to cry here.

Swallowing hard she listened to the large tom's statement. Why would he want her to stay with him? He wasn't kin nor did he know her. What was a Clan anyhow. Calming herself with a few breaths Petunia decided it was best to just trust the monster of a cat. "I don't know what a Clan is." She admitted looking at him with her wise amber eyes. She didn't have to explain that no one was looking for her. They were all died. "My name is Petunia." Rubbing her face with a paw she'd tell him.

"...I see..." he said awkwardly. He looked to the side, avoiding eye contact with the little kit, unsure of what to say, what to do. She was so fragile, terrified he would break her by just poking her. He already made her cry and they had only just met. He thought of going to fetch a queen, they would know how to deal with a little molly. However that thought quickly left his mind as he internally scolded himself. He couldn't leave a kit alone in the territory like this, how stupid was he?

"Ah..well a uh... A clan is like a big family really. We're all very close. There's many other kits you could talk to, and there's Queens, they're the care taker's of the kits, and they could take care of you as you settle in." he explained. "I'm Fallenstar...and it's decided, I can't leave a little kit like you out here all by yourself. You'll be someplace warm with a bed. Follow me." he ordered. But seconds later he realized he shouldn't be using quite a stern voice and gave Petunia a soft apologetic look. "...please." it was barely audable, just under his breath. His way of apologizing for practially yelling at a frail kit.

Originally Posted by Delta

@Starfall

Zinniaspark padded along one of the well-walked paths through the territory with Fallenstar, looking for anything that might catch her eye. The RiverClan leader had come up to her the day before and told her that she'd have to change her name. He had explained that he didn't know what 'Zinnia' meant, and though the former kittypet had tried to explain that it was a flower and the name her parents had given her, she didn't really feel like arguing, so she had just agreed to change her name. He had suggested walking with her through the territory to find something she would want to name herself after, and she had agreed. She tried to look on the bright side and see this as a fun experience. How many cats got to name themselves?

She paused and turned to her leader when a question popped into her mind. "If you were to choose my name, what would you call me?" she asked. She was curious to hear his answer, because every cat knows that you can pretty much guess what someone is like based on their name choices. Plus, it might give her some ideas.

Leaves crunched beneath the pairs of paws as they strolled through the territory. The leaves were begining to change color, many were already wilting on the ground, becoming a chorus of crisp crunches. Like an alarm system for the prey. Luckily, their whole territory didn't have trees, he sometimes felt bad for Thunderclan. They were too stupid to adapt and change. "Aa, uhm. Not quite sure. A flower surely...maybe....uh Poppy?" he suggested. He'd never actually...named anyone. Never really thought about it either. They were just...well they were just what they were. "Do you want to stick with the flower theme?"

[versailles]

@CasperCreates @Dipper @Dust @PokeCat
____

Oakflame gave a nod. He could see that the deputy wouldn't like to talk about it. He guessed it was better not to.
He looked back as Frostflight called up Littlepaw , asking about her mentor. Risingsun...he didn't think he knew the warrior, but would shrug it off. "I dont think he'll mind if he knows it's for helping another clan." he chimed in a reassuring tone. No mentor would disapprove of helping another right? Right!

He turned his amber gaze to Eagleflight, who spoke up. The question was one that made him think for a moment. Thunderclan had to br in bad condition from the fire. He could only imagine how devastated they were. "I don't think the conditions will be so good. Hopefully not too bad though, I'm sure they can push through it with our help." He replied.

[Leucos]

Originally Posted by hope

"hmm... mr positive. that doesn't sound all too bad, but it's missing something, y'know? a little more creativity, a touch more pizzazz! it has to capture my glory, and mr. positive only catches part of my personality," flipheart responded after a moment of thoughtful thinking. a bad mood, hm... what to do, what to do. flipheart gave no mind to the fact that this tom, wolfmask, was shaming starclan for something they probably didn't partake in. "well, my day hasn't been great, but it's been okay. i've been bored lately, even though so much has been going on," he responded, looking down at his paws after spotting a speck of dirt out of place in his little resting area. "aha! i caught you redhanded!" he exclaimed, gently pawing the dirt away and going back to his relaxed position on the well-made flipheart-approved territory. "do you want to talk about it?"

his head shook with an eye roll dork.... then he smiled" I feel ya on that part.....nothing but drama and politics ! I'm just itching for a battle right now. To show my worth......" he meowed and almost mumbled the last part. Then he perked his head up only to have a confused look once he saw what was going on "all of that for a speck of dirt? Dirts everywhere ...." . His eyebrows furrowed "what good will talking do? All I feel like doing is ripping her pelt apart! " he somewhat growled before sighing . stupid blackberrypelt.....stupid mom! Stupid .....EVERYTHING ! hello anger my old friend .....