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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Dec 19, 2019 18:52:37 GMT -5
Catchpaw grinned in spite of himself. “Story.” He said impulsively, then regretted it immediately. He was supposed to be finding details. Stay on target, Catch. Too late now though. And maybe he would hear some good details during the story....he sat down, fixing Redwhisker with an expectant stare. “Need to know these things if we’re going to stop this clan from being destroyed, right?” It was so easy to get along with this cat, he realized. And then he thought maybe that was because he was being manipulated. Or maybe Redwhisker was just a nice cat...how was he supposed to tell the difference, anyway? It wasn’t like he could read intentions on the short fur covering the newcomer’s face!
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Post by <Raintalon> on Dec 22, 2019 18:29:57 GMT -5
Redwhisker dipped his head, Crowfur being careful to hide the satisfied curl of his lip behind a mask of calm as the apprentice chose exactly the option he'd wanted him to. "Very well," he said, and sat a little further back on his haunches, settling in. "The story is not complicated. For a long time, we were strong. My Clan, back in its prime, was beautiful - full of healthy, strong warriors, apprentices eager to one day take their place, and many kits in the nursery with still more queens waiting to deliver more. Our leader was experienced and clever - he led us through many a battle with far fewer casualties and far greater spoils than we ever could have predicted." He paused, flicking his tail. "Perhaps we should have known that that was the beginning of the end. As our leader aged, his judgement began to fail - he became filled with a greed so intense it clouded his mind, and dulled his senses. He became obsessed with battle, and would provoke even those who had been our closest allies just to see blood on his claws. It wasn't long before his own deputy, desperate and battle-weary, killed him herself and took his place, vowing to lead us out of the dark times we'd fallen upon."
He took a breath, and grimaced slightly, allowing pain to seep onto Redwhisker's face now. "At first, it seemed that we would make it. Our new leader was young, but intelligent, and had no trace of her predecessor's bloodthirst. An ideal candidate for leadership...had it not been for the single trait that was her fatal flaw: kindness. She would not deny entry to anyone who crossed her path, whether it a stray Clan cat, a rogue, loner, or even a kittypet. She saw Clan strength as something beyond blood - as a bond formed by mutual respect and honor between cats who were sometimes relative strangers. In the end, her idealism is what destroyed her Clan two times over. We were attacked, rather suddenly, in the middle of the night, by a bordering Clan - and the timing and numbers were so accurate that I can only assume they had sent a spy to memorize our habits and changing of the guard. Even that might not have been enough to destroy a strong Clan, but by that point...I'm afraid we were far from strong. With a bloodline weakened by kittypets and a Clan full of cats of every experience level in background, we realized too late that were no longer whole, but instead a shattered distortion of the glory we'd once had. We were utterly defeated - the cats who had attacked us were after territory, not allies. I escaped simply because by some stroke of luck, the hiding place I chose was never discovered, and I was able to slip away."
He heaved a deep, shuddering sigh, unaffected by the story but needing to gain Catchpaw's sympathy. "As far as I know, I alone survived. There were...many bodies, and I was never able to find any living member of my Clan again."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Dec 22, 2019 18:53:01 GMT -5
Catchpaw listened, eyes wide, as the story was weaved right under his nose. He sucked in a breath when it was finished. He hadn’t known, hadn’t guessed that this cat could have come from something so terrible...hang on a second. He could be lying. But he didn’t look like he was lying, Catchpaw’s other side argued back. He hesitated, then offered the stranger a small smile. “I’m sorry.” He breathed, tone uncharacteristically soft. “I didn’t know.” He almost glanced behind him, willing the others to sense his need for a rescue, then gave up and focused on Redwhisker again. “So, is that why you’re here? Because you wanted to find another clan?”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Dec 29, 2019 18:30:11 GMT -5
"No need to apologize," said Redtail, with a resigned shrug. "And yes, I am here wishing to join your Clan - I've been wandering a long time, so when I caught the scent of other cats on the wind, following it wasn't even a question. Someone can only be alone so long before they start wishing for other cats like a starving cat wishes for a mouse."
"Pssssssssssst," came a sound, low and nearly silent, from a nearby bush. Redtail didn't appear to have heard it.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jan 2, 2020 11:28:57 GMT -5
Catchpaw nodded solemnly. “Yeah.” He agreed. “I think some cats can be alone better than others, but probably no one can be forever.” He tensed suddenly. What...he glanced over his shoulder at the place the noise had come from before he could stop himself, staring as though he thought he could make out what had made the noise Then he realized he was definitely not supposed to be doing that, and turned back to Redwhisker. “Thanks!” He yelped. “I uh. Have training and stuff, so I better go, but it was great talking to you! Bye!” Then he turned and walked away, not directly towards the spot he’d heard the whisper, but not away from it either. In a kind of...diagonally close line to it.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 1, 2020 18:16:33 GMT -5
"Goodbye," said Redwhisker simply, his whiskers twitching in amusement. Crowfur watched the young apprentice leave, his pale eyes narrowed as he began to walk in a crooked half-circle, making his way towards the cat who had hissed at him in a way he must've thought was inconspicuous.
"Well...that answers that," he muttered to himself, before slinking quietly away to mingle with the other warriors. Best to make a good first impression, especially if things were going to progress faster than he'd planned.
--
Sootpaw was waiting just around the corner to the leaders' den, hidden from sight by a thick bramble bush. As Catchpaw came within view, he shot to his feet, paws kneading the ground as he tried to calm his nerves.
"Well?" he asked, eyes wide. "Did you get anything?"
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Feb 3, 2020 14:54:13 GMT -5
Catchpaw let out a deep sigh as soon as he was out of sight. He wasn’t sure how badly that had gone, but he had some idea that it hadn’t exactly gone well. He winced a little at Sootpaw’s question, bracing himself for the other cat’s disappointment. “Well....sort of.” He offered. “We know some of his backstory now. Apparently he came from another clan that got destroyed, and he was the only one that got out. And he says it happened because they were too kind to strangers, which now that I think about it is a weird thing for someone who just got accepted into a nice clan to say. Not sure what that’s about.” Was that really all he’d gotten? “I think he might have gotten more out of me than I did him.” He blurred out in a rush, because this was Sootpaw and he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “If I’m honest. I think he might kind of sort of suspect we suspect him now.”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 3, 2020 16:33:58 GMT -5
Sootpaw blinked, concern in his gaze, and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Rainpaw slid out from behind him, fixing Catchpaw with a withering stare.
"We don't know anything," he said coldly, "except that I should've slipped my mentor earlier than this so I could talk to him myself."
"It's not his fault," said Sootpaw quickly, glancing nervously between the two of them.
"How much does he know?" said Rainpaw, ignoring Sootpaw to focus entirely on Catchpaw.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Feb 4, 2020 10:57:01 GMT -5
Catchpaw did a double take as Rainpaw appeared, his eyes widening in horror as he realized what the other cat had heard him say. “Right, like you could have done a better job.” He retorted stiffly, even more tense for both the fact that it was obvious he’d screwed up and the fact that Sootpaw was attempting to rescue him. Poor, heart-of-gold Soot. he fixed Rainpaw with a glare. “I don’t know.” He managed to get the words out through gritted teeth. “Why don’t you go and ask him yourself, since you’re a freaking ninja now.”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 4, 2020 20:17:05 GMT -5
"That would be even more stupid, since now he suspects something," retorted Rainpaw, flicking his ears back in obvious contempt for the other apprentice's blustering. "We have to back off for a while, or at the very least, you do. Hope he's either innocent or dumb enough to assume he was wrong to suspect you."
"Look, it doesn't matter whose fault it was," said Sootpaw desperately, switching tactics as his first attempt at peacemaking went ignored. "We know he might suspect us. So maybe we can use that somehow...right? We need to meet tonight. Really talk this through. We can't do it here - we're already risking a lot with this conversation."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Feb 5, 2020 17:06:24 GMT -5
Catchpaw flattened his ears. Rainpaw had officially gotten on his nerves, and he didn’t really know what to do about that. Besides give Rainpaw a good slap, of course, which he decided at the last minute not to go through with. It was a very good thing Sootpaw was there to keep his head straight, he decided. “It could have been worse.” He pointed out, attempting to sound cool and unconcerned. “He could have killed me or something. I mean, if he even if a Monster Demon Cat like you think he is, then it was really dangerous for me to talk to him at all. You should be thanking me for trying, not getting mad at me because it didn’t go perfectly.” He glanced at Sootpaw. Who wasn’t even pretending that it wasn’t entirely his fault. Yayyyyyyy. “Yeah, let’s talk about it later, Rainpaw.” He agreed pointedly. “Instead of in the middle of the clan. This is a secret mission, right?”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 5, 2020 23:01:16 GMT -5
(Small timeskip)
Sootpaw padded silently through the forest, shoulders hunched and tail held straight outward as he made his way through the blackness and towards the place they'd agreed to meet. It should be right around the corner...assuming he or one of the others didn't get grabbed by an owl before they could make it there. His ears were pricked forward, on the alert for any sound that might betray the presence of either a predator or other cat. If they were followed one day...well, he could say goodbye to any clan aspirations. Maybe, if he took responsibility, they'd just kick him out and let Firepaw and Catchpaw stay...
There it was, he realized, his train of thought interrupted as he spotted the little row of boulders that lined the edge of the small clearing that had become their unofficial meeting place. He slipped around the edges of the stones, relieved to be better hidden from any prying eyes that might be hidden just out of sight, and then realized that Rainpaw was already there, sitting only a few pawsteps away from where he'd ended up. One of his ears was angled towards him, indicating that he'd noticed his entry, but he didn't send a greeting, so Sootpaw stayed silent, settling in to wait for the others.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Feb 5, 2020 23:23:26 GMT -5
Firepaw slipped through the darkness, for once glad of her dark fur as it covered her. She didn’t usually think of herself as stealthy, but here she was, sneaking towards their little clearing like she was doing something wrong. Not that this felt wrong in any way. They were doing the right thing here, she argued with herself, they had to be. Otherwise what was the vision they’d all had about? Obviously they were trying to stop disaster before it struck. She was well enough acquainted with disaster to understand that preemptive moves were the best moves, and acting too late was worse than never acting at all. She stopped, peering out from under a bush at Rainpaw and Sootpaw, who were sitting with their backs to her. She wasn’t late, she told herself, or there would be more of them there already. She slipped out and silentLy joined Sootpaw, attempting to keep her expression neutral as she did. She didn’t want to look like how she felt: an excited kit, happy to be included.
Nightpaw approached them clearing and entered it, glancing around as he did to see who else was there. Three of the others. He hesitated, then went to sit next to his brother, despite his misgivings about Rainpaw wanting anything to do with him. He couldn’t just decide to sit by, say, Sootpaw, could he? No. No, his loyalty was harder to break than his ego, he reminded himself sternly as he settled in to wait.
Catchpaw was running late and he knew it. The woods had swallowed him up and seemed unwilling to show him their secrets, and he walked faster, anxiety shooting through him as he realized his situation. He was lost. Rats.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 6, 2020 9:40:48 GMT -5
Rainpaw glanced over at Nightpaw, taking in his hesitant expression and the way he crept over to join the others in the clearing, obviously uneasy. "Better hope those three are better at sneaking out than they are at stalking mice," he said mildly, taking his eyes off his brother to stare up into the sparse covering of the birch trees overhead. "I wouldn't envy you trying to explain to Blazeclaw why we're all here."
"Hey," said Sootpaw, inching a few pawsteps away from Rainpaw and Nightpaw to be closer to his sister. He glanced around the clearing, his tail tip twitching anxiously. "Have you seen Catchpaw yet?"
--
The forest wasn't thick - it was mostly tall grass, boulders, and a light covering of trees, mostly birch with a few scrawny pines mixed in here and there - but it was vast, and the limits of RoseClan's new territory were marked, but the in-between area between camp and the border was just starting to be mapped out, thanks to Rabbitsong's efforts. This meant, of course, that there were no scent markers to tell Catchpaw where he was, aside from that he was still somewhere inside RoseClan territory.
But then, when the moon was directly overhead, signaling that the others' meeting had gotten started already, a cat slipped across his path, picking out his pawsteps slowly and deliberately through the leaves that were beginning to coat the ground.
It was Redwhisker, his dark russet coat and broad shoulders unmistakeable in the dim moonlight. Occasionally, he would halt his progress across the forest floor to stop and smell the air, or examine the ground, carefully clawing leaves aside to sniff at whatever he found. He was looking for something.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Feb 7, 2020 12:34:33 GMT -5
Nightpaw shuddered at the idea of trying to explain of of his to his intimidating mentor. “Me too.” He agreed quietly, trying not to be heard by the others, who were in fact right there. “Has you mentor caught you skipping training at all yet?”
Firepaw looked up at him, then frowned and glanced around like she expected him to suddenly appear. “No,” she answered finally, eyes wide as she looked back at Sootpaw. “I thought he’d be here by now. Do you think he decided not to come without telling us?”
—
Well….this was a problem. Catchpaw stopped, huffing in frustration as he came again to the same tree he’d seen three times already. He thought. That was the problem with trees though, they all looked about the same to him. Why were there no landmarks in this wretched forest? “I bet I wouldn’t be lost if I’d actually been training like I’m supposed to.” He muttered sullenly. Truthfully, he had been training, but it had been more to appear normal and not at all suspicious than it had been to actually learn what he was being told. Not for the first time, annoyance with this whole adventure burned in him, and he had to swallow back a loud growl. It was a good thing he did, too, because at that moment he caught sight of another cat. His eyes widened and he hurriedly crouched out of sight, using what little training he did have to stay as unnoticeable as possible. It was Redwhisker. Catchpaw breathed a silent curse. Of course it was. He was either out on patrol, or Rainpaw & co. was right, he was a serial killer out hunting for his next victim. Catchpaw hesitated, agonizing over the option of turning to go the opposite way and pretending he never saw anything...then swore in his head and moved to follow Redwhisker as stealthily as he could.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 7, 2020 18:34:00 GMT -5
"Maybe," said Sootpaw, flicking his tail slowly as he scanned the entrance to the clearing, hoping to see a flash of orange or hear footfalls nearing them. But all was silent. He shook his head, returning his attention to Firepaw. "He never was really too interested in doing this. Maybe it's better he's out."
He didn't really feel that way. He wanted his best friend by his side for this. But if Catchpaw wasn't going to believe that they'd been given a prophecy, and if he didn't want to join them on this mission, maybe he'd at least be safe.
Rainpaw shook his head, expression unreadable. "I haven't been skipping training. On days where we met the previous night, I've just been doing it tired. I think Brackenstep's starting to notice when I'm not at my sharpest, though. I've been having to fake a cold to keep him off my back."
--
Redwhisker continued to pad silently through the forest, occasionally craning his neck upward to check the stars for a clue as to his location. Often, when he did, he'd stop and stare for a moment, as if taken by the sight of Silverpelt glowing far, far above them, his eyes wide before he finally ducked back down, continuing his search. It took a little while, but finally, he stopped, frozen, and sniffed the ground once, then twice, eyes suddenly catching the moonlight and alight with interest. He didn't speak, but he began to move in a straighter line, ears pinned forward in determination.
As Catchpaw followed in his footsteps, a certain smell became unmistakeable, drifting along the leaves and undergrowth, Redwhisker twisting and turning to follow it, pausing to get his bearings every time it started to taper out.
The scent of Nightpaw, Rainpaw, Firepaw, and Sootpaw lingered in the air.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Feb 9, 2020 18:47:58 GMT -5
Firepaw nodded, glancing away. She didn’t like the idea that Catchpaw had ditched them without saying anything, but maybe he’d tried and couldn’t find anyone to tell his decision. Or maybe he’d fallen asleep. “I’m here.” She said fiercely, looking back up and fixing Sootpaw with a determined stare. “I’m not going to back out.”
Nightpaw nodded, understanding all too well. “We’ll need to take breaks sometimes.” He mused. “So we don’t crash. If we’re keeping this a secret especially, but even if we did decide to tell the adults, we still need to have energy for stuff during the day. Training, and for emergencies.”
—
What are you looking for? Catchpaw wondered silently, freezing every time Redwhisker did. He waited for the other cat to move again, watching not the stars but the older tom, then moved as Redwhisker did, keeping his paws light on the ground. Then he smelled it. The familiar scent of his friends. And then Redwhisker was moving, following it, and Catchpaw was moving after him, paying less and less attention to his stealth as his horror grew. There was no need to panic yet, he didn’t even know that the older cat was a cold-blooded murderer, it was all speculation and no evidence, it was...oh Silverpelt was he about to murder them all. Catchpaw wanted to stop, wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t lose Redwhisker. He had to stop him before it was too late, but...how? He swerved and dashed forward, avoiding Redwhisker, and launched himself up a tree that stood in the middle of the path he knew the suspect would take. Then he waited, kneading the branch with his long claws.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 10, 2020 8:43:39 GMT -5
Rainpaw nodded thoughtfully, and then turned to the others, glancing over them all and immediately noting Catchpaw's absence. He flicked his tail, irritated. "Well, the one who had the most information to share seems to have decided we're not worth his time," he said scathingly, flicking an ear. "So, does anyone else have anything to share?"
"We need to figure out a plan," said Sootpaw immediately, shooting Firepaw a soft glance and trying to brush off his irritation with Rainpaw for the sake of the mission. At least the two of them wouldn't be fighting today. "The reason Catchpaw's mission went bad is that we're disorganized. We need structure - a solid way forward."
-- Redwhisker jerked his head up immediately at the sound, and stiffened, catching sight of an all-too-familiar orange coat as it streaked past him and up a tree.
"Adderpaw!" he called, white-hot rage behind his vision as he stalked his way, deadly and purposeful, towards the tree. "Come to finish what you've started, eh?" Memories burned in his brain - of an idiot apprentice, of a betrayal that had cost him precious time and so, so many RoseClan lives.
He reached the base of the tree and stared up into the shadowy branches, eyes burning with hate that could scorch a cat's pelt. "Well, then! Come face me on the ground, and we'll see who will win this in the end."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Feb 10, 2020 9:19:43 GMT -5
Firepaw stiffened as Rainpaw spoke, but for once there was no venomous comeback or half-muttered point. Rainpaw was right. If Catchpaw had decided not to come, it was a selfish move on his part and she wanted to yell at him and tell him what a dog-brain he was. But he wasn’t here, so she settled with glaring fiercely at the ground.
“Sootpaw’s right.” Nightpaw said quickly. Relief that there was a solid way forward flashed through his eyes, and he glanced sideways at Rainpaw, willing his brother not to make any more confrontational remarks. “It was out first attempt, it’s not surprising it when wrong. The only thing we can do is move forward and try to salvage the situation as best we can. Agreed?” Please agree with me, Rainpaw. But that part never escaped his head.
—
Catchpaw froze, his blood running cold as Redwhisker charged after him. Silverpelt, Silverpelt, Silverpelt...this was bad, this was really really bad. He pictured himself coming down and getting immediately torn to bloody shreds and decided that his best chance was staying exactly where he was, frozen in place. Wait. Adderpaw? He narrowed his eyes. How...how would Redwhisker have known Adderleaf when he was an apprentice? The possibility that there was another Adderpaw from Redwhisker’s other clan didn’t even occur to him, which for once got him exactly where he needed to go. “Was any of it true?” He called down after a moment, digging his claws into the wood underneath him. He was probably about to die. Since when was he afraid to die? I’m terrified! he snapped back at himself, and gritted his teeth against the fear of disappearing, of Soot and Fire finding his body, of him being just...gone. But if he was going to die, he was going to die saving them. “I’ll come down if you leave my friends out of it!” He shouted. “I didn’t tell them anything about you. How could I? I don’t trust them!” He didn’t want to die. “Promise to leave my friends alone!”
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 10, 2020 12:27:42 GMT -5
"Yes," said Rainpaw simply, without looking at Nightpaw directly. "We need a new plan of action. At the very least, we need to establish a rotating watch so Redwhisker is never left unattended. I would also like to bring Spiderpaw into it, if possible. He had the vision too, but his was different. It's possible his connection to Silverpelt is stronger than ours, in which case he could be helpful to us."
"Silverpelt hasn't spoken to you in lifetimes, right?" said Sootpaw, shifting his paws as he tried to figure out how much he could reasonably be expected to know about Clan life without revealing that he'd been from one. "I heard cats saying Cowstar doesn't even have nine lives."
--
Redwhisker froze, staring up into the tree, shock momentarily replacing his anger as the voice that shouted back at him was not Adderpaw's.
Burning rat pelts...
Immediately, options began to fly through his mind. He could play dumb. Pretend Adderpaw was a cat from his old clan. But he'd said his old clan was dead, and even if Catchpaw bought that for now, the apprentice was clearly highly suspicious of him now. How did he catch on so quickly? Had Adderpaw told the others about him in enough detail for them to know...no, that wasn't possible. He looked like an entirely different cat now, and he'd done nothing to link Redwhisker to Crowfur up until now. So with that option out...he could always just kill him, make it look like an accident.
No...that seemed like a waste, didn't it?
An idea slipped over him, his eyes reflecting the eerie light of the moon as he put his front paws on the trunk of the tree, peering into the shadows in an attempt to catch sight of the troublesome young apprentice.
"No," he answered simply, all traces of Redwhisker's warmth gone from his voice now. "None of it was true. Redwhisker is a fiction. But you and your friends have been suspicious of me for quite some time, haven't you?"
A cold, harsh laugh escaped him as Catchpaw, from his precarious position, began to attempt to bargain with him. "Noble, aren't we?" he scoffed, flicking his long, bushy tail. Redwhisker's tail. His tail. "Tell me, how much do your friends really know about me? And don't try to lie. You're very bad at it, and it's getting on my nerves."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Feb 10, 2020 14:18:05 GMT -5
Nightpaw smiled in spite of himself. He was right. Before, Rainpaw might have simply disagreed with him for the sake of disagreeing, and now he was siding with his brother again. They really were making progress. “Agreed.” He said, barely containing himself enough to appear serious and concerned. “I think it’ll be hard to get him to listen to us, but I think we can do it. Who should talk to him?” He glanced sideways at Sootpaw, surprised. “You’re a good listener.” He remarked, but otherwise he didn’t seem to take anything from the other apprentice’s comments. “And you’re right. Which makes this even more important if Spiderpaw is connected to Silverpelt.”
—
Catchpaw crouched, balancing on the branch carefully as he stared down at Redwhisker’s pelt. He could tell from the pause that he’d startled the older cat, and satisfaction zipped through him for just a moment before he remember the situation he was in. Right. Stay in target. He had one shot to do this right, and even if he didn’t survive this he wanted to leave his friends as safe as possible. That was the goal here. He leaned backwards, trying to stay out of sight as Redwhisker peered up at him. Maybe if he refused to come down? No, Redwhisker would just go after his friends again. He didn’t have the upper hand here at all, but there had to be something, anything he could use for leverage.
“Apparently you suck at this, if a bunch of apprentices caught you the moment you stuck your ugly face in camp.” He retorted, then shut his mouth quickly. Right. So maybe baiting the serial killer wasn’t the best play. Or maybe it was. Maybe he could make Redwhisker mad enough to do something stupid and give him the upper hand. He pulled back more, trying hard to stay completely out of sight, even though the leaves were far from thick enough to hide him. His blood went cold at the question. “Not much.” He said flatly. Would lying do any good? He didn’t know. “I didn’t tell them anything yet. I was going to, but I obviously hadn’t gotten to them yet, right? And we couldn’t talk at the camp. So no, they don’t know your secret.” There had to be a secret, right? He didn’t know what it was, but maybe if he acted like he did, it would look like he had leverage.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 12, 2020 10:03:19 GMT -5
Sootpaw's ears flicked back, surprised and a bit embarrassed to be receiving praise from an elder apprentice. "Oh no, I just like to know what's going on," he said, shifting his paws. "I'm no good at convincing people of stuff, or charisma, or anything like that." He flicked his tail, thinking. "But what about you? You've been here a long time, you know how the Clan works and what a connection to Silverpelt would mean. Maybe you should talk to him."
--
Crowfur listened to Catchpaw bluster calmly, ears flicked forward in indifference as he stared up into the tree, utterly unfazed by the young apprentice's insults. Finally, when he was done talking, he sat down, taking his paws off the tree and giving his claws an unconcerned lick. "Good, it would've been a pain to try and kill them all without arousing suspicion," he said, glancing back up into the tree as he spoke. "And I'd rather not kill you either, because the more cats I have to kill this early in the game, the more I have to step carefully. So instead, you're going to stay alive, and work for me. You see - I know your friends suspect me, even if they don't know my secret like you do. I don't really like cats sticking their tails where they don't belong, so I'm going to need you to convince them I'm no threat to your Clan." He flicked an ear, his tone flat and almost bored as he spoke. "If you can't, or if you try to spill my secret to anyone else in the Clan, I'll kill them all, and then I'll kill you."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Feb 16, 2020 9:11:40 GMT -5
Nightpaw tilted his head, honestly surprised to be thought of as someone who’d been there a long time and knew what they were doing. He supposed, compared to Sootpaw at least, that was true. He was still more used to being a kit that’s an apprentice, and he suspected he’d always feel like that, but he was still pleased by the thought. “Alright.” He agreed, dipping his head respectfully at Sootpaw. “I’ll do my best.”
—
“No way!” Catchpaw exhaled the single word in a gasp, panic clawing through his gut. No way was he going to be the kind of cat who worked for the murderer, that was not happening, not ever. He’d rather die than play that role. And for what? So Redwhisker didn’t have to get his paws dirty? This was just a way to get Catchpaw out of the way and into some mildly useful role that was more convenient than killing him. It was sick and horrible and Catchpaw had to swallow a scream. There was one more thing he could do to stop this. “What makes you think you shouldn’t just kill me now?” He challenged, eyes glittering at he stared down at Redwhisker. “It’ll be impossible to watch me all the time. Unless you’re going to ask Cowstar nicely if you could pretty please tag along on all my training outings?” He snorted, doing his best to sound cool and unconcerned, not seconds from throwing up because he was so scared. “That’s a plan I would make. Come on, show me how smart you are and think of a better solution to this!” If he could get Redwhisker to kill him, that would make his friends suspect him even more, right? Catchpaw didn’t want to die at all. He felt like he was falling, and there was nothing to hold onto, and all he could do was scream and beg the silent moon that someone would hear him.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 16, 2020 10:00:45 GMT -5
Crowfur's lip curled in satisfaction as Catchpaw grew more and more panicked, losing track of whatever bravado he'd had to hold onto at the beginning. This was too easy.
"Come on, you can't be that stupid," he said, his voice a loud drawl now as he stared up into the tree. "Do you really think I'd kill just you, and leave your friends alive? I know where they are. If you refuse to work for me, I'll kill you, and then I'll kill them. If I find out that you've gone to anyone about this, I'll kill them, and then I'll kill you." He flicked his tail, his claws digging into the bark of the tree as his stare grew more intense. "So? What's your decision? Tell me now - the night's growing short, and so is my patience."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Feb 16, 2020 10:15:43 GMT -5
And just like that, Catchpaw was pinned. Physically he still had options - leap on Redwhisker from above and hope to Silverpelt he wasn’t expecting that - but mentally, he was stuck. He dug his claws into the tree, seriously considering just leaping at him and clawing his face off, then let out a low, furious hiss. Then he dropped like a rock and hurtled towards Redwhisker, claws out and slashing the air even before he connected. He kicked out, aiming for Redwhisker’s back. He was going to flip and land a good distance away if it worked, then make a run for it and try to lose him in the trees. Barring that, he would have to see just how much his mom had actually managed to get through his thick skull, or so she would have said. He’d never told anyone he already knew how to fight. Mostly because, he only knew how to fight dirty.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 16, 2020 10:29:45 GMT -5
It was over in an instant.
There was a good chance that if Catchpaw had been facing a living warrior, experienced or not, he could've pulled off the maneuver. It was clever, and well thought out, especially considering the pressure he was under. But Crowfur was no living cat - not really - and underneath his new red coat, lying smooth on his unmarked skin, his soul bore the scars of nearly five lifetimes in Silverpelt.
As Catchpaw lunged at him, claws flashing in the moonlight, Crowfur flattened himself, then dove underneath him as he leapt in the air, flipping onto his back and sinking his claws into the smaller cat's chest, using the momentum of his jump to cut cleanly from his chest to his belly in one swift, deadly motion.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Feb 16, 2020 10:42:27 GMT -5
Catchpaw’s eyes went wide. He was dimly aware of hitting the ground with a thump like a piece of prey, not even rolling with the momentum, as though his body couldn’t even be bothered to do that. He wasn’t in any pain. Maybe that was the “shock. Or whatever that medicine cats always talked about. If so, that was probably a bad sign. Not that he could really think clearly enough to be afraid at the moment. No, wait, that wasn’t true, He was so scared it was a physical pain in his chest, the only thing he could still feel as his body turned numb and his heart struggled to best, pumping blood that was escaping faster than he could replace it. His brain was suddenly very quiet, like everything had just been turned way down, and he slowly managed to turn his head and meet Redwhisker’s eyes. “Told you...so…” he mumbled, confusion and fear blotting out the triumph that would have been in his tone. “What did you...what’s happ...where…” He didn’t even know what he was trying to ask. It just seemed important, though he couldn’t remember why. He didn’t look away from Redwhisker for a second, terrified that if he did, his eyes would close and never open again.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 16, 2020 10:48:50 GMT -5
Redwhisker watched Catchpaw, an expression of mild disdain, and perhaps disappointment, in his cold yellow eyes. Then, he glanced away from him, staring up at the moon, ears swiveling to catch a distant noise, growing closer by the second. A noise that would bring a stench and a bloodbath that together, would easily drown out any sign that he was ever here.
"Send my regards to Silverpelt," he said to Catchpaw, and then slipped away, vanishing into the forest with a flick of his long, bushy tail.
The moon was setting, and the shrieks and howls of foxes filled the air.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Feb 18, 2020 14:33:33 GMT -5
(The next morning)
"Rabbitsong."
Cowstar was standing at the entrance to the warriors' den, voice barely above a whisper to avoid waking the other warriors. "Lionstrike."
Lionstrike stirred, blinking sleepily and looking around to see who had said her name. "Hmm?" Then, she saw Cowstar, and straightened up, the sleep clearing instantly from her eyes. "Cowstar? What is it?"
"Come outside," she said, flicking her tail towards the den entrance. "I need to speak with both of you."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Feb 19, 2020 17:04:41 GMT -5
Rabbitsong’s head went up immediately, and their pale blue eyes landed on Cowstar, an openly curious expression on their face. They’d been half asleep, but they were wide awake now, and their attention was entirely in their leader. Anyone could have snuck up on them in that moment. Then they relaxed a little, as apparently it wasn’t an emergency. Or not one Cowstar planned to reveal to everyone. They followed wordlessly, tilting their head in a silent question.
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