ϟ ThunderClan ϟ The Fierce and Caring ϟ |☾ ☼ ϟ ≈ ☁| ϟ

Lightningstar stayed relaxed, not wanting to be openly hostile.. yet at least. This didn’t seem to be a battle patrol, being very out numbered. “Diamondheart!” The Thunderclan leader greeted, voice even but friendly. “Why have you come? I hope all is well in Riverclan?”

Ghostscreech eyed the RiverClan patrol warily, but chose to follow Lightningstar’s example and not show any outward hostility towards them.

Lionkit huffed as he and his siblings were pushed back into the nursery, not wanting to go back in already.

Squirreltail swept her kits closer to her with her tail, bristling at the scent of RiverClan in their camp.

Hollowpaw sat outside the apprentice’s den, her mouth opening slightly to take in the new scents. Her nose wrinkled at the fishy scent of RiverClan, but it didn’t seem like they were planning on attacking them.

River:

Diamondheart dipped his head to Lightningstar and Ghostscreech, recognizing the cries of the kits towards them. It was both humorous and a bit surprising, though he knew Riverclan’s kits would do the same. Instead, the deputy kept a relaxed tone, mewing out.

“Thank you for allowing us to speak with you. It would be best if all of Thunderclan heard this. Earlier today, two of our Warriors came in contact with strange fur that seemed to come from some sort of animal… the only issue, is that none of us could recognize the scent nor the kind of fur that it was. What we did see was that this old scent trail may have found its way into Thunderclan’s territory. We tracked it near the border, all the way up where our territories start to extend back in the direction of twolegplace, and the unclaimed land next to it.” The deputy started.

“Earthstar thought it imperative that we try to warn of a possible threat, and perhaps see if Thunderclan has come in contact with an unfamiliar scent or fur?”


Thunder:

Hornetstrike’s eyes widened as he listed to his brother. Odd fur? An unidentified animal? That was the last thing he would have expected to be hearing from Riverclan.

“So some new magical animal is prancing around? Are we sure Riverclan hasn’t been eating some bad fish?” Scarletpaw muttered, suspicion in her eyes as she watched the Riverclan patrol.

Peachdapple slipped from the medicine den quickly as Aspenfall called for her, her eyes flickering with concern at what she was hearing.

Tinypool gave Scarletpaw an unimpressed gaze, she had seen the apprentice make a fuss at the last gathering, her mentor must have their paws full with that one.

Tansykit huffed, settling down beside Squirreltail and pouting up at her mother, "Why can't we be out there? Who are those cats mama?"

Twilightkit had puffed up his fur, the small kit looking more like an fuzzy apprentice with his thick leafbare coat. "I'm gonna protect you mama, don't worry."

Willowsong frowned, glancing at Ghostscreech and then the riverclan patrol. She hadn't heard anything about unfamiliar scents or weird scraps of fur had she?

River:

For a moment, Diamondheart looked a bit concerned. It seemed that Thunderclan had not been in contact with whatever it had been. Either that, or they were not telling him the truth. He doubted it was the latter, having known Lightningstar long enough to know the tom would not lie about something like this, even if Thunderclan and Riverclan were at odds. Diamondheart explained further.

“So far, the closest we can come to an answer is that the fur was similar to a dog’s, though different enough in scent and touch to actually be a dog. We ruled out Twoleg pelts due to the natural scent of something wild, not the sharp unnatural scent that comes across twoleg pelts. The only lead we had was that one of our Warriors, who was formerly a loner many moons ago, recalls perhaps scenting the same thing back in twolegplace many moons ago… the only problem being that he never was able to locate what the scent was coming from.”


Thunder:

Featherfoot listened carefully, trying to recall if he had ever scented such a thing in his time in Twolegplace. He realized that Diamondheart must have been talking about Owlwhisker. There was no denying that the tom was vastly different to his larger, thick-pelted Clanmates. The only issue being that Owlwhisker had once been a cat that had been with one of the rouge groups that had attacked Thunderclan long ago, or so he had been told.

Peachdapple kept silent at the mention of twolegplace, praying that her clanmates would not let the Riverclan cats know anything about their new alliance with Skyclan.

“Maybe they’re lying to make us lose our composure.” Sootclaw rumbled tightly as he sat beside Snowstorm, whispering to his mate with critical eyes on the Riverclan patrol.

Snowflower watched as the Thunderclan cats questioned her deputy, admiring how put together Diamondheart remained, even with the pressure. Despite the aggression of some of the cats, she recognized the proceedings were going well and carefully paid attention. She only hope the potential threat had moved on. Given how battered Thunderclan looked, they certainly didn’t need another problem so soon.

“That is very strange.” Lightningstar spoke, going quiet for a moment. Something similar to a dog was loose in the territory. “Thank you for the warning Diamondheart, we will certainly keep our eyes open for this creature.” He glanced at Ghostscreech. “Would you mind showing a patrol of our warriors where you lost this scent?” He asked the Riverclan deputy. “So we can have an idea of this scent?”

Ghostscreech flicked his ear and looked at the surrounding warriors, “Sunthroat’s border patrol is due to leave soon. I’m sure he won’t mind the detour back to RiverClan’s border to check this strange scent.” He said. The twolegplace patrol should have left by now, and he didn’t want to keep SkyClan waiting any longer. This alliance with the other clan was still fresh and shaky, he couldn’t risk upsetting them when they haven’t even started the first hunting patrol with them.

Sunthroat stood as his name was called, the senior warrior flicking his tail for Redtooth, Plumfur and Dawnpaw to follow him. “We’re ready to go whenever you are.” He said to Diamondheart, giving him a nod.

Lionkit scampered over to the nursery entrance, poking his head out before his mother could pull him back into the safety of the nursery. He wanted to see the rival clan before they could leave. Lionkit let out a squeak when Squirreltail picked him up by the scruff and set him back in the nest, pouting that he had only caught a glimpse of the RiverClan warriors.

Diamondheart waited for Ghostscreech to call over the patrol, and it was pleasant to see Sunthroat again. All the moons that Diamondheart had sat with the former deputy at gatherings were fresh in the tom's mind. He took note of Redtooth, Plumfur and Dawnpaw as well. "We won't keep you waiting then. We'll be on our way. Thank you, Lightningstar." Diamondheart dipped his head again, before stepping back to allow Sunthroat the courtesy of leading the way out of the camp. He knew better than to try and rush out headfirst, lest he make the Thunderclan cats unnerved.

Dawnpaw padded quickly to Sunthroat's side, a hint of excitement in his eyes as he greeted the Riverclan cats with a polite smile. "Hello!" He looked at Snowflower, Shellstream and Tinypool. "I think I remember you all from the last gathering. I'm Dawnpaw, if you haven't met me."

Scarletpaw felt a flash of anger that once again it seemed that Dawnpaw would be tasked with an important task or patrol. Of course he would, and he was already acting so infuriatingly chatty with the Riverclan cats. She huffed sharply, turning to go find Tigerpaw.

Diamondheart nodded once more. “Of course, Lightningstar. That would be appreciated.” He waved his tail in response as he felt a flicker of relief. This was good. While he could certainly feel the looks of the Thunderclan cats, he looked once more at Hornetstrike, who had risen to his paws. For a few seconds, they looked at eachother, as though conversing without saying a word. Finally, Hornetstrike waved his tail slowly with a soft smile. Diamondheart returned the soft smile, hoping that there would be time to speak at the next gathering. He turned back around to pad back with the now enlarged patrol.

“I bet you could have just spoken to him.” Frostmoon mutteted sourly. “Though I’m still not sure why, after you’ve fought battles against him.”

“Not the time or place. He has an important task to do right now anyway, I wouldn’t want to ruin that.” Hornetstrike lowered his head to groom between his daughter’s ears, able to tell what she was thinking. “Diamondheart’s knocked me off of Sunningrocks plenty of times, and I’ve sent him flying over his own paws in return as well. It‘s what we do for our Clans. My little moon.” He sighed out the nickname with a soft voice.

“You are so hard on yourself.”


Featherfoot looked down at Tigerpaw, a small look of understanding filling him as he mewed. “I know it must look enticing, but I actually have a good feeling that you and I will be doing something else important today.” He admitted, glancing at where Ghostscreech was about to leave Lightningstar’s side.

Sunthroat flicked his tail, signaling to his patrol to surround the RiverClan patrol while he walked alongside Diamondheart. He pushed through the camp entrance and back out into the forest. Looking at Diamondheart, he gave a nod, “Alright, which part of the border are we going to?” He asked, moving in the direction of the RiverClan border.

Ghostscreech gave a sharp nod and moved off to gather his patrol, approaching Featherfoot first, “I want you and Tigerpaw on the Twolegplace patrol. Meet me at the camp entrance, I’ll go gather the others.” He said.

Tigerpaw looked at his mentor with wide eyes. “Scarletpaw is gonna be so jealous!” He laughed happily and scurried towards the camp entrance. He was getting to go on the first patrol with the deputy! This was his chance to impress him!

Shellstream gave a quick greeting to the ThunderClan cats and followed Diamondheart out of camp.

Plumfur felt her heart drop as Sunthroat called her name. She didn't really want anything to do with the RiverClan cats, even though they seemed friendly. She gave Dapplenight a concerned look before meeting with the others. Maybe they would ignore her if she stayed quiet enough?

Slatesight watched Hornetstrike and Diamondheart acknowledge each other curiously. He couldn't imagine having a brother be the deputy of another Clan.

Wait, Plumfur is going on the RiverClan patrol, sorry for the confusion ^.^’ the twolegplace patrol is going to be Ghostscreech, Willowsong, Featherfoot and Tigerpaw.)

Sunthroat gave a nod and turned in the direction of the border Diamondheart spoke of, “Hmm.. if it was near the river, then perhaps the water washed away any trace of it on our side.” Sunthroat said thoughtfully, flicking his ear. Ghostscreech had been right when he had said that the patrols hadn’t picked up any new scents lately. “It’s been awhile since we’ve talked, how are things in RiverClan?” The former deputy asked, looking back at Diamondheart.

Ghostscreech moved off to look for Willowsong, thinking he had seen her near the warrior’s den. Once he finds her, the patrol would be ready to go. Ghostscreech just hoped the SkyClan patrol wouldn’t be too upset with the delay.