Open Event Territory RiverClan There's moonlight on the river, saying my goodbyes... || Shadowclan Patrol

[Stoatpaw]

{$title} A Shadowclan patrol wanders into Riverclan territory trying to collect moss for the camp, running a Riverclan patrol. The Shadowclan cats for this are pre-picked, though any Riverclan cats are free to join and interact!

——————————————— Together, we'll make our way home ✦

Stoatpaw hummed to herself, trying to keep herself from losing focus as she walked near the warriors, yawning a little as she found sleep tugging at her eyes. A downside of her mentor messing up her sleep schedule with their nighttime training meant when she was dragged along for patrols. Though she was looking forward to seeing Fourtrees! She had never visited the place, she and her father had seen the grand things in their travels, but local cats warned them against it, since there was a colony living amidst them. It made sense knowing now that it was where Shadowclan and Thunderclan once lived as a collective, she always wondered what it was like when the clans lived as one.

The warriors seemed far less glad to be at Fourtrees, from what she knew all three had come from the colony, though thankfully with her best friend Fleapaw in tow, it felt a little less sombre thankfully. She was just curious, that was all! Knowing the history of before the clans felt important but getting a straight answer was like pulling teeth. Someday she would learn something, but for now, seeing the place was intriguing to her. Even if it was only to grab moss for the camp. She wouldn't be all too helpful in carrying the moss back, a mouthful or so yes, but she was carrying something far more important with her tail: another lovely shiny snail shell for her collection, one much larger than the rest.

Though as the patrol padded about the Fourtree area, something intriguing caught the apprentice's attention. A scent in the air she was familiar with, one she hadn't caught in a while, her eyes lighting up. She and her father had been about the territories around the area plenty, but she didn't realise how close the river was. They'd only passed by it, on their way to the area when she was tiny. But her eyes glittered, curious what the area was like. She was ever so fond of Shadowclan because of its cool and watery terrain, it felt safe. Though she had not gotten to see the river before. So, she had a thought.

"The moss here is all brittle and hard." She announced, it wasn't a lie, it would do fine for the bedding in camp sure, but she had an idea in mind. "I can smell water near here, the moss near a river would be softer!" The apprentice smiled, as she walked towards the scent of water with a smile. She found a wonderful upside to her poor hearing, she could announce an idea, so no one could say she was being rash, and trot off as she pleased, it wasn't as if someone could tell her otherwise. Their sounds of disagreement didn't exist if she couldn't see them talking. "Maybe we could even find some treasure." Stoatpaw hummed. She knew the cats of her clan well, figuring out just what to say to catch everyone's attention - or in the case of her friend Fleapaw, intrigue.

——— While you were sleeping,

Everything changed at once. ———

• Tagging: @GECKOFLAME @Jadethorn @Mothbite @F l e a p a w
  Like I said in the tags, please no other Shadowclan cats join, but any Riverclan cats are free to! :p
• 
  Stoatpaw
  ✦—Shadowclan apprentice | 7 Moons
  ✦—She/Her
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A slender white cat with faint lilac markings and blue eyes.
  #96d5f1
  ⤷ Written by Phoenix

 

[pineheart]

✦ Pineheart is padding through the undergrowth near the river, refreshing scent markers where needed– the rest of his patrol are close behind him, trodding along. The sun hangs high in the sky, hot on his back… he hears the rush of water and weaves through the reeds, large form doing so rather inelegantly, and approaches the river's edge. The water is cool on his tongue, and he spreads his paws, letting the water trickle between his pads.

Then, he freezes. An unfamiliar smell, sour and murky. Rustling in the reeds on the opposite side of the river. "Not Thunderclan," he murmurs, loud enough so that only his clan mates would hear, "smell different."

A cat appears, no more than a kit– a thin white thing. But guessing from the strength of the smell, others were close behind. Pineheart draws himself up to his full size, all 22 pounds of muscle taut and ready to pounce.

"Who are you?" He asks, voice booming over the rush of the river separating them.

haven't had a dream in a long time

see, the life i've had could make a good man go bad

• ooc: -
• 

  PINE, - 50 moons / riverclan + warrior
  large brown tabby town
  adopted guardian of Torrentpaw and Squidpaw / future mentor to Torrentpaw
  healing and peaceful powerplay allowed

 

[Mothbite]

Still so young, Desperate for attention!

indentttMothbite grunts halfheartedly in response to Stoatpaw's suggestion. This place gives him the heebie jeebies - or brings back bad memories, more like. Despite the clearing being decorated with new spring greenery, he can't get rid of the sight of blood upon the snow. Besides, there's nothing worth taking here anyways. "M' pretty sure i remember there being a river around here somewhere..." He hadn't done much exploring while in the colony, so he's not super familiar with the area. Hastily, he heads off towards to follow Stoatpaw.

indenttt"Shit!"

indenttt He nearly jumps out of his pelt when a massive tomcat rises from the bushes. "Who're you? Don't tell me Thunderclan's taken territory here to!" His black fur is raised along his spine, in an unsuccessful attempt to seem bigger than he really is. 'Maybe if we talk big enough, he'll just leave us alone. There's no way one cat can take on all of us, right?'

ababaugfbiufhufbdfduibabababa

Mothbite | 20 moons | Shadowclan Nightguardbababbnihfibnfdifdhfhabbabab

 

[scalepaw]

Scalepaw was getting accustomed to the new territory, and she was proud to say scent marking and patrols were starting to come easy. Well, at least when someone else was leading them.

Happily, she bounded after Pineheart, her fuzzy coat brushing against tall stalks of grass and thick budded bushes. Drinking in the whirlwind of scents around her, bulbous tail flicking with curiosity. Casually, they all began to zero in on the river that cradled their new territory. A place she had grown fond of. She loved new leaf weather even more, especially when the world exploded in bloom. Its vibrant colors painted the ground in a soft tapestry while the sun warmed her back.

A part of her wished it could be spent at the docks but Scalepaw did her best to focus on the task at paw.

Pineheart's voice cut clean through her dreamy thoughts. Forcing the young molly to come back to reality. Spotted paws slowed, as her pale gaze locked onto their brown back just ahead. Not Thunderclan? Suddenly the wind shifted, and the scent hit her like a wave. Sharp. Unfamiliar in a way she didn't like. Her heart skipped. Instincts kicked in she dropped low, huddling closer to the grass, ears flattening as nerves prickled along her spine.

Wide eyed, she listened as the older cats traded tense words. Her jaw clenched tight, anxiety buzzing under her pelt as she peered out at the strangers.

Please don't let this turn into something worse. She silently prayed as her wobbly yet sincere voice called out to answer the stranger. Frame half hidden by bush and Pineheart. "N-No we're Riverclan!" Humility crawled across her at the blatant nerves in her shout. Unsure why she felt the need to interject.

Albeit she managed to stay put, despite the urge to shrink away.​

 

[F l e a p a w]

-

Fleapaw was buzzing with energy. There was a spring in her step, each tip-tap of her paws filled with a little spark. She pulled up beside her friend, tail curled high and bobbing with her confident trot. It occurred to Fleapaw that this wasn't technically their first patrol, but it was their first official one.

Oh—and Jadethorn was with them too! She hadn't had a chance to hang out with Jade in forever. The last time they'd ventured this far from camp was when she took them past the Thunderpath. That'd been fun too but now they were out doing stuff as apprentices—even if it was just lame moss gathering.

What the others didn't know was that she'd been to Fourtrees before. Now and then, she got a hare up her backside and felt the itch to explore somewhere new. Once again, she stared up into the branches of Fourtrees. Sunlight trickled through the leaves, warm patches of fire dancing across her muddy pelt. The air here was clearer than what she was used to. Stuff like that made her realize just how well she'd adapted to ShadowClan. Everywhere else seemed different in its own way, but their territory was special.

She stopped to rake her claws against a thick root before poking at a patch of crumbly moss. Not as wet as the moss back in their territory, that was for sure. Not a problem, but it looked scratchy. Would it even be comfortable?

Her curled ears twitched as Stoatpaw told—more than suggested—that they should search near the river. Fleapaw pawed at the dirt, face scrunching with distaste. She'd been practicing camouflage and hiding her scent—and she was pretty sure some mushrooms were starting to grow on her pelt, and that was so cool! If she kept at it, maybe she could grow a little forest on her back. So, what if they fell in? The river would wash away all that hard work!

Fleapaw clenched her jaw, trying to muffle the less-than-thrilled noise bubbling up in her throat. She dragged her paws, pouting a little as she trudged after Stoatpaw. Of course she wouldn't let Stoatpaw go without her, but did they really have to—wait—treasure?

Her head snapped up. "Wait up Stoat!" She asks, suddenly a lot more eager as she pounces after the white apprentice. "You really think there'll be some?" She hadn't even thought about that, even after Stoatpaw found that cool snail shell. Yeah… maybe she could find something cool to take back too!

It wasn't long before the rushing sound of water greeted them. Fleapaw's nose twitched as she opened her jaw, filtering a host of unfamiliar scents. But they weren't alone.

Mothbite's reaction startled her more than the large tom. Fleapaw whipped her head around to shoot him an irritated glare before slowly panning back to the cats across the river. Were they seriously trying to give them a hard time?

Without hesitation, she sauntered forward, stopping a few tail-lengths from the water. Her tail gave one sharp flick. "Just 'cause you're built like a boulder doesn't make you tough. And it ain't polite to ask and not introduce yourself first." Fleapaw gave the she-cat beside him a passing glance. Smaller than the tom, bigger than her—well, everyone was bigger than her, as always, but Fleapaw had been training hard with her new mentor. She could easily take on that molly and give that big one a hard time at least.

"RiverClan?" She echoed, her lip curling slightly. She knew about ThunderClan but… Fleapaw glanced back toward the rest of the patrol and lowered her voice. "Since when was there another one? Are they copying us or something?"

My eyes are made of acid, and my tongue is sharp with spite

FLEAPAW

8 MOONS
SHE/HER
- Undersized cinnamon solid with folded ears. She's thin but stubby with very messy fur.
"SPEECH" - crimson | 'THOUGHTS/EMPHASIS' - crimson

Fleapaw values family the most with survival at a close second. In conversations, she is blunt, fun-loving, and clever. She is guided by her desires which often leads her astray. Despite her abrasive personality, she cares deeply for those she loves and will do anything to protect them. Due to her experiences, Fleapaw is corrupt and has minimalistic, if any, morals. She does not care for the warrior code and its restraints. Neither does she believe in StarClan. Growing up in a kitten mill, being separated from her mother, and ending up on the streets have deeply affected her view of the world.

Attention whore with too much pride, there's no one I wouldn't fight

 

[pineheart]

✦ More cats appear on the opposite shore, none of them particularly threatening, although they smell pretty bad. Scalepaw announces who they are, voice small but brave, and Pineheart wraps his tail around her from behind protectively, eyes narrowing slightly as he watches the others. A particularly scrawny brown kit appears, eyeing them up. Her words are venomous, but coming from someone with about the same threat level as a squirrel, Pineheart almost laughs. He remembers his soft hearted leader, Pikestar, and bites it back, scoffing instead and shaking his large head.

"I have no interest in being polite nor in being tough, kit," he says, not sparing the brown kit a second glance, instead resting his eyes on the white spotted tom, who appears to be the oldest there, although he looks… very young too. "My clanmate speaks the truth. We are of Riverclan, a name given to us by Starclan and no other. Our borders run alongside Thunderclan's from the bottom of the waterfall, and we have no quarrel with them, and will have no quarrel with you either, as long as you stay on the other side of this river."

haven't had a dream in a long time

see, the life i've had could make a good man go bad

• ooc: -
• 

  
  

  PINE, - 49 moons / riverclan + warrior
  large brown tabby town
  adopted guardian of Torrentpaw and Squidpaw / future mentor to Torrentpaw
  healing and peaceful powerplay allowed

  
  

 

[Stoatpaw]

——————————————— Together, we'll make our way home ✦

The apprentice couldn't believe how sweet the air was, with the warmth of the sun overhead, she held her tail high as she trotted towards the water, sniffing about. She really was looking for moss, honestly, but a nice trinket or flower to snatch up would be something she welcomed. To admit she was lost in a world of her own, especially with shells and shiny things near the banks. Her eyes often darted to the water, how fast it moved, how cool the water would be. Probably a lot more refreshing than the water of the pocosin...

Though her face crinkled in a smile as her eyes fell upon a shimmering green feather, the light caught it beautifully as she picked it up and gladly tucked it into the fluff of her tail for safekeeping, like Cicadabuzz always did. But. That's when she noticed everyone's faces. Mothbite seemed frazzled and Fleapaw like she was going to gnaw on someone, which in fairness wasn't really new. But who on earth had riled up the patrol like this? She went to speak, to ask what the matter was, until she followed the gaze of the rest of the cats across the river and-

Stoatpaw's eyes widened in surprise, as her gaze fell onto an enormous brown tabby, she'd never seen a cat that big before. What he was saying, she couldn't tell, but her blood ran cold at the sight of him, her fur bristling. But one thing she caught, from the enormous tom, was an utterance of familiarity. 'Riverclan... They're like us and Thunderclan...' She swallowed hard, she had quite literally dragged the patrol right into another clan's territory. 'Oh no... Oh, what would Sablestar do....' Stoatpaw was a little frantic, while she was only an apprentice on the patrol, she felt some kind of responsibility for it all. Sablestar wasn't here, so she would try her best instead.

She tried her best to steady herself, ignoring the burning embarrassment that she hadn't heard any of the commotion. Looking to the Riverclan patrol, not with the cutting words it seemed the warrior was trying to use, but with a smile. "We mean no harm..." Stoatpaw spoke carefully, calculated. She looked back at the rest of the patrol, a motley bunch, but as long as Flea didn't try and kill anyone, they should be okay. In theory. "We weren't aware of another clan here, we are from Shadowclan." She purred, hoping Jadethorn or Geckoflame might come to her help; there was only so much a tiny apprentice could do in the way of talking down this huge cat from lashing out at them. Or maybe someone from his own patrol might be more... reasonable...

At least the apprentice at his side seemed less aggressive about their presence, so she spoke to them too. "We were just looking for fresh moss for camp, we didn't mean to ruffle any feathers." She spoke, not apologetic per se, since they genuinely didn't know there would be even more cats about. But best to keep it amicable, lest they have another Thunderclan on their paws.

——— While you were sleeping,

Everything changed at once. ———

• 
  Stoatpaw
  ✦—Shadowclan apprentice | 7 Moons
  ✦—She/Her
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A slender white cat with faint lilac markings and blue eyes.
  #96d5f1
  ⤷ Written by Phoenix

 

[Frostmoth]

An unfamiliar scent of mire mixed with voices draws Frostmoth to the river's edge, just in time to hear the small apprentice-aged kit mouth off in his clanmates' direction. He bristles, mostly due to the unfamiliarity and their sheer numbers in opposition to the RiverClan presence. Whether or not you could call it luck that RiverClan had already learned- courtesy of SkyClan- that not all clans were as friendly as them was debatable. But it certainly seems to have served them well in this instance. Pineheart is resolute and sturdy. The bicolor steps up beside him with an even expression. It isn't lost on him that Pineheart might be the oldest there by a long shot.

"ShadowClan," Frostmoth echoes. His fur lies flat and he straightens up, feeling more confident thanks to Pineheart. "Well, I can't say it's been a pleasure to meet any of you, but Pineheart is right," the deputy attempts to exchange a glance with the lifeguard "So long as you keep to yourselves we don't care that you're here." He wills himself not to glance at the brown apprentice who seems eager for a fight, not wanting to egg her on. The lighter colored apprentice pipes up, and he does level his gaze with her. "You'll find more moss in shadier spots than on the banks of the river, by the way," he advises "You'll have better luck finding larger moss pads under trees, too."

OH, MY GOD ★ MAKE ME IN YOUR IMAGE

• "SPEECH"
• ★ FROST — he/him, riverclan deputy, 17 moons
  — penned by carat, feel free to ping or dm for plots!
  — longhair black and white bicolor with blue eyes
  — peaceful powerplay ok! all interactions ok!
  
• penned by carat!

 

[Mothbite]

Still so young, Desperate for attention!

indentttMothbite tenses himself, readying for a fight - only for Stoatpaw to pipe up. The apprentice seems apologetic, explaining that they hadn't been expecting another clan here. 'More like we weren't expecting any other clans at all. Is it really more than just us and Thunderclan now?'

indentttBizarrely, the two toms and their stripey little apprentice don't make any move to attack and drive them away. Instead, they seem to be ... giving advice?
"So you're just gonna let us stay?" Mothbite asks, incredulous. "No fighting, nothing?" He supposes he should be glad, but he's surprised more than anything. Didn't they know better than to let strange cats into their territory? What if, instead of moss, they decide they want to take prey?

ababaugfbiufhufbdfduibabababa

Mothbite | 20 moons | Shadowclan Nightguardbababbnihfibnfdifdhfhabbabab

 

[pineheart]

✦ Pineheart scoffs, actually letting out a snort of laughter now. What had made these cats so skittish and eager to fight? And what kind of warrior was this spotted tom that he needed a kit to do diplomacy for him? Besides, Pineheart saw no threat in them. He was a good fighter, and Frostmoth could hold his own too– and they weren't too far from their camp, and could easily have Scalepaw run back and fetch more cats if it came to it.

"Let you stay?" he says, bemused. "Cats of Shadowclan, as we have already told you– we have no reason to pick a fight with you. Why waste energy on squabbles for borders we have yet to fully establish? We have made no claim to the land which you stand on. Stay there, and you will come to no harm."

haven't had a dream in a long time

see, the life i've had could make a good man go bad

• ooc: -
• 

  PINE, - 49 moons / riverclan + warrior
  large brown tabby town
  adopted guardian of Torrentpaw and Squidpaw / future mentor to Torrentpaw
  healing and peaceful powerplay allowed

 

[F l e a p a w]

-

Fleapaw tossed her head back with a quiet scoff. "Guess that makes two of us," She muttered to herself.

Her nostrils flared as she glared at the big brute. Who even gave these guys permission to move out here anyway? Could anyone just park their asses on a piece of land and start calling themselves a clan?

She sucked in a breath and let it out through her teeth, shaking off the tension. Stoatpaw was a special sort—had to be, to have the patience to talk to them. She was better at it than most of the warriors they had brought with them, not that it mattered. Maybe Froststorm was onto something when he went off about ShadowClan going soft… Whatever though. Let Stoat do the talking—she was done wasting breath.

Her gaze sharpened, drifting between the 'RiverClan' cats. "Yeahhh, okay. Whatever." She snorted and gave them one last passing glance. "But just so you know, you guys got noooo problems with anyone wanting to cross." With a dismissive flick of her tail, Fleapaw turned her back on them, stalking off toward a patch of shade further down the river.

My eyes are made of acid, and my tongue is sharp with spite

FLEAPAW

8 MOONS
SHE/HER
- Undersized cinnamon solid with folded ears. She's thin but stubby with very messy fur.
"SPEECH" - crimson | 'THOUGHTS/EMPHASIS' - crimson

Fleapaw values family the most with survival at a close second. In conversations, she is blunt, fun-loving, and clever. She is guided by her desires which often leads her astray. Despite her abrasive personality, she cares deeply for those she loves and will do anything to protect them. Due to her experiences, Fleapaw is corrupt and has minimalistic, if any, morals. She does not care for the warrior code and its restraints. Neither does she believe in StarClan. Growing up in a kitten mill, being separated from her mother, and ending up on the streets have deeply affected her view of the world.

Attention whore with too much pride, there's no one I wouldn't fight