The tom's, Torrentpaw, presence was reassuring in a way; he wasn't tense. Instead, she seemed to listen intently even as Stoatpaw stumbled over her words. The longer they both lingered here, the more she genuinely believed he held no ill will. Her eyes trained on him as he spoke, trying to tell what he was saying, she was glad he spoke clearly, though. The more she interacted with cats of other clans more obvious it was that the speech patterns differed. Riverclan cats didn't mumble much, thankfully, but her bleary eyes did make it more difficult.
Though it was hard to miss the worry as he questioned if she had come from Riverclan territory. Immediately, her face fell as she was quick to defend herself.
"No, no no, I would never lay paw in your territory again, I was picking flowers for my nest, I wouldn't go near again, I- Not after what your warriors said to me." She shook her head, debating if she should tell him the truth of what they had warned her about, if he would get upset at his own clan for it, then it would be painfully obvious they had been talking. Though Torrentpaw seemed collected, it'd be out of her paws what she admitted, so it would be up to him what he did.
"Some of your warriors - and your leader found the patrol and recognised me from when I passed the very edge of your territory, on the side of the river closest to us now." Her tail flicked behind Torrent, back to his home.
"I guess they assumed I brought my clanmates there to try and... Scope out the area? I-I just wanted better moss for my friends and family, cause it's been hard to find any in the pocosin now...." Her voice trailed off for a moment, the wet season had really begun to cause issues for the clan, the rain logging the mud worse and worse, some of the ponds flooding making good moss dislodge from trees and rocks or just unreachable unless she tried to swim through. Though her father warned against it since the muggy water might hold debris she could be tangled in.
She shook her head, trying not to lose track of what Torrent asked her.
"Some of your clanmates warned us before, but it was... Frostmoth and... And someone else, it was he who said I wouldn't be spared, he told all the other cats what to do so... I guessed he was like Sablestar to you all, your leader?" Her ears pinned back, shuffling uncomfortably as the weight of the threat wouldn't lift from her shoulders, maybe to the warriors it was a thinly veiled threat, but she couldn't shake the fear that gripped her.
She had been able to bury her fear for the last few moons but it was after those awful ongoings in Shadowclan in leafbare that first made Stoatpaw so
terrified of death, let alone her own, it was something she was being forced to grapple with the idea her life could be on the line for something she was brought along for.
"It's not just your clanmates I'm scared of..." The words tumbled from her mouth, an admission she hadn't vocalised at all in the last days.
"I, uhm. Sablestar's really not happy, I've never seen him so upset and- And well, he's my mentor and I don't think he was warned what happened the other night." She swallowed hard, bringing her tail close around her paws, a feeble sense of safety.
"A-and he's not even looked at me, but it was meant to be one of my assessments tonight, and I'm terrified." It was an accident, but she laughed, like this was all some nightmare, like the rising blood or the brutal fight she witnessed. She couldn't even hide behind lidded eyes as flying claws and running blood, the shadowed figures in her mind replaced by her clanmates. She didn't know how the fight went, but seeing Hollowmist's gashes was enough for her to know it was brutal.
It was so much to admit, to a stranger nonetheless, but it felt better to tell a cat she barely knew than her friends or kin. She didn't feel like they would take her seriously, that she shouldn't be scared, cause a warrior doesn't fear a fight. And that she shouldn't feel guilty for stealing, cause it was to the benefit of the clan. Or that she was
scared of her own mentor because, well, that was everyone's leader, and it wasn't like they could say anything against him.
It was his last question that caught her off guard, it was one thing admitting her own fears, but it was a whole other detailling what happened. For a moment, Stoatpaw had to glance around, holding her head up to sniff the air to ensure there was no one sneaking about or would catch her telling this all to Torrentpaw, River or Shadow alike. She let out a shuddered breath, bright eyes meeting gold.
"I think I'd get in so much trouble telling you this so... Try not to let everyone know I told you it, okay?" She knew Torrent would tell someone, she just hoped her name would be kept out of the equation; she had no idea how much more trouble she might get into for all of this if it came out she was telling an "enemy" clan information.
"Well.. Cicadabuzz came searching for help for something we weren't told about, got a bunch of warriors, and I guess I got roped in cause it was late and I was awake already?" She shrugged, it was what she still didn't get, why she, of all cats, had been told to join.
"I- Uhm. I guess it makes more sense if you know I'm deaf, and my clan didn't until we came back." Stoataw admitted, begrudgingly, it seemed it was far more important than she liked it to be, but, again, she likely wouldn't see much of Torrentpaw after this, so there weren't too many qualms.
"We walked to Fourtrees, not far from where we are now, and Cicadabuzz told us the plan, to sneak into your territory and collect three specific herbs we can't get at home." She recounted, glancing to where they had all settled, it was closer to the territory boundary, near the bushes between the neutral ground and the river.
"I think that's why the whole heist happened, but I don't know much cause I don't get told a lot of things directly and well... My clan didn't know I was deaf until my father got upset that I was brought on a stealth mission." She chuckled dryly, just at the sheer absurdity of it all.
"I'm not sure why Cicadabuzz didn't ask your medicine cat. So instead we split into groups and me and Hollowmist went to collect some willow branches since I saw one the last time I was around here." She admitted, but Torrent had been told she was here for moss the last time.
"And well, I guess I must have made some noise, alerted someone or something, cause cats showed up and started threatening us, Frostmoth, a brownish tabby and the biggest cat I think I've ever seen." Stoatpaw huffed. If everything wasn't so awful, she would have liked to politely ask him some questions; a cat that big seemed surreal.
"He was there when we met at the border a few moons ago, I can't remember his name, but he didn't seem happy to see me then either...." Her voice trailed off, if only for a moment, she couldn't linger on the past, trying to be strong.
"Well, Hollowmist tried to get me to leave, and I couldn't hear it tell me to. Cicadabuzz warned us to flee if a fight might start, even if it meant leaving herbs. But because Hollow and even Coalstrike came to stop the cats from getting close to me I was able to get back to camp." She motioned from the bushes near Riverclan and across the stretch of Fourtrees back to the Thunderpath.
"I, uhm, didn't check the Thunderpath when I crossed. I nearly ran into a monster... But don't tell anyone that part-" She squeaked out, somehow being what she was most nervous for anyone to hear, she was coddled enough if anyone overheard she nearly got struck by a monster then she would have no freedom all over again.
Stoatpaw slumped, with a sigh, she wasn't distressed anymore, but rather frustrated.
"That's all I know, really, we got back to camp and Sablestar was so upset and then so was my dad and I just wanted to fall into the mud and disappear cause everything is terrible!" She groaned, before looking to Torrentpaw and feeling sheepish, as if her clan wasn't the instigator in all this.
"Look, I.. I didn't get a choice in this; we had made it to Fourtrees before I heard about the plan. I never would have if it wasn't already too late for me to leave. I'm not proud of being part of it, and honestly, I hate Cicadabuzz right now for doing something so stupid to put cats in danger and not even tell our leader."
Her tail unfurled from around her, sighing with a sudden exhaustion.
"I'm sorry I sorta... Rambled I guess. But does that help at all? I wanna fix this as much as I can because it's not my fault alone, but I didn't do enough to stop this happening." The apprentice added, resolve lacing her voice. She had an idea, a plan of her own, but she didn't think it would be a good idea to tell anyone that, not yet, at least.
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Stoatpaw
✦—Shadowclan apprentice | 9 Moons
✦—She/Her
✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK, PAWSPEAK
✦—A slender white cat with faint lilac markings and blue eyes.
#96d5f1/#50BBF0
⤷ Written by Phoenix
Hello and welcome to Purrgatory! We are an 18+ Warrior Cat Roleplay set in an AU where the clans were unable to leave the forest territories and perished!
It has been 100 or more years since then, the clans of the forest are but distant memories to any cats still alive, stories passed down to kits of strangely named wild warriors and leaders with nine lives but the time of the clans is upon us once more and the stars shine yet again.
