MoonClan (1x1, Closed)

Rattlesnake seemed willing enough to stop where the two she-cats stopped and wait as well. He found his paws shifting nervously under him and his pelt bristling up around him - which looked very impressive thanks to his long fur and tail. Due to his body language, it was very clear that he wasn't completely sure if he could trust his old friend either. There was a lot of ... internal politics in the group which might affect how this would go.
But he was hopeful. He was willing to trust that things would be okay. It wasn't like there was much of a choice on any of their parts. The only other thing they could do would be to go back to Mockingstar and send a patrol to fight. Rattlesnake knew that wouldn't go well. Not well at all.
The sun continued to move across the sky, tracing a path that it had traced many times before. Rattlesnake watched it, waiting.
It must have been getting close to dusk when the same black cat padded around one of the nearby rocks. Their movements were slow and hesitant, glancing around even know there was no hint they'd been followed.
And yes, there was a kit grasped in their jaws.

Rattlesnake got to his own feet, pelt prickling in relief. Hopefully this was it. He nodded to Dappleshine, confirming that, to his knowledge, it was okay.
The black cat noticed the movement and approached, pelt bristling a bit as they got closer to the medicine cat. The small kit looked tired, but the rogue set it down without responding to any of the watching cats. They flicked there ear and then nodded at the kit. Then they slowly turned away, glancing over their shoulder as they went, as if double checking that the kit was indeed where it needed to be.
There was probably going to be backlash, Rattlesnake knew, but he wasn't sure what to make of it. Either the kit being with them or what Permafrost might do now that it was clear that MoonClan had their small offspring back.
"Is it okay?" he asked Dappleshine softly.

Rattlesnake looked between Dappleshine, Motheye, and the rogue. Then he hurriedly nodded and turned away. The rogue took this as their cue to leave, bolting away, black tail held high as they disappeared back to wherever this group of rogues was staying.
"Alright," said Rattlesnake.
He had no idea what this meant. For him, that was. He knew full well that the kit being returned to them would cause problems, but he wasn't sure what. So since there wasn't a better option, he turned away and started heading back toward the MoonClan camp.

(Potentially! If you think that'd be fun!)

(Heh heh heh.)

Rattlesnake was worried about the for now. He helped get the kit back to MoonClan camp, but there was the distinct feeling in his chest that Permafrost would be back. It just seemed likely that the rogue wouldn't stand for such a slight.
Rattlesnakes own motivations were in question too. His ears angled backwards and forwards as he slowly walked after the two she-cats.
Mockingstar would hopefully be pleased, but that didn't mean that the MoonClan leader would know the full story. There was a lot to it. A lot to the rogues being here - to why Rattlesnake was helping - than he really wanted to explain.
So hopefully he wouldn't. Hopefully, there wasn't a need. Hopefully, he wouldn't even be asked.
With that, he glanced over at Dappleshine.
"What are you thinking?" he asked, long tail tip twitching as he walked. His ears angled back a bit as he did. He wanted to know what she thought might happen. After all, it was apparently her StarClan who had decided to trust him.
For some reason.

(No worries what so ever. <3 )

There was a small glance to the side from Rattlesnake. He knew it wasn't the best look. He also knew that he wasn't going to be the best at explaining if it came down to it. So he didn't address it. He'd gotten his answer about what Dappleshine was thinking and he didn't particularly feel inclined to unnerve Motheyes either.
So he just picked up his pace ever so slightly, still walking near Dappleshine, but now slightly ahead.
Eventually - but likely not soon enough for Rattlesnake - what he recognized as the entrance of the MoonClan camp came into view. A tension that he hadn't known he'd been carrying in his shoulders slowly started to drift away from his shoulders. It felt a lot better to know he was nearing Dream. He'd been worried. A lot.
He was still worried.

There was a cat waiting at the entrance. The crash of the waterfall was reassuring, but this still meant Darkclaw was the first to see the cats come back. She stood, tail bristling out.
"Is everything okay?"

"Would you like help?" Darkclaw asked stiffly, eyes getting a bit wider as she saw that Motheye was struggling with carrying the kit.
"I can carry your kit for a bit."
Admittedly the she-cat would understand if the she-cat would want to keep ahold of the kit that she had only just gotten back.

Rattlesnake continued inside, ignoring the fact that Mockingstar seemed to be waiting fairly near the entrance when he walked in. Instead he continued right passed the leader, heading for where Dream was being held. In response, Mockingstar bristled, but pulled in some of the annoyance and glancing at Dappleshine.
"Did it go well?"

(No worries. <3 )

Darkclaw was a bit surprised to have the kit passed off to her, but nodded her head slowly and carefully as she picked up the small thing. Then she very slowly headed away from the rogues toward where the kit belonged.
Not to her surprise, Mockingstar had already posted a nearby cat as a guard. How the other rogues had gotten in to steal the kit was a bit of an unknown, but MoonClan didn't want any other missing kits.

Since Mockingstar was busy, the words from the medicine cat were still needed. It didn't seem to cause as much calm as Rattlesnake would have liked, but he would take what he could get. The leader growled, but stepped back, letting Rattlesnake return to the den where his mate was staying. This left Mockingstar time to walk over to Dappleshine and ask, "Weirdly?" in a soft voice. "What do you mean, weirdly?"

Mockingstar's fur lay flat, but it looked forced. It was hard to tell what the black and white cat was thinking, but all and all, it seemed like there was a vague and grudging satisfaction with the response.
Albeit a wary one.
It was plainly obvious that a lot of MoonClan cats - at least the ones familiar with the situation, were wary.
It was too easy.
It was far, far too easy.
With that in mind, it seemed like Mockingstar was done though, stalking away and retreating to far away den.
This left few cats behind.
Waiting for what happened next.

(Should we have a baaaaaad thing occur? I think we were thinking that the rogues attack?)

It took several days for things to go south. It was almost impressive, all things considered. That MoonClan had gotten so much time only to be foiled by a lack of planning.
Rattlesnake and Dream had remained, but there had been no change in their demeanor or how Mockingstar treated them - in this case with wary distrust. It seemed, however, that the rogues had different plans. Different than just letting the kits go.
It was a cloudy night when Dream's head rose. His ears twitched. He thought he'd smelled something. A familiar scent around mountains and mud. But he wasn't completely sure. He poked a paw at Rattlesnake and then stood, darting toward the entrance of their little den.
He only managed a sharp yowl before something - a black and grey form - barreled him over.

(boop)

Well, Mockingstar was awake and furious. Bolting out of the leader's den, the white cat hissed at the nearest intruder, claws digging into the earth. It was clear, just from the look of betrayal in Mockingstar's eyes that a betrayal by Rattlesnake and Dream was the first thing which had come to mind. There was zero hesitation in the look, zero fear … just fury.
With a yowl, Mockingstar clawed at the nearest intruder's ear, clearly blind to the fact that Rattlesnake and Dream were being attacked just as much as the rest of MoonClan. In fact, while Mockingstar was clearly starting to combat a rogue, so was Rattlesnake. He seemed to have a disadvantage and maybe even a hesitation toward the conflict. Pity his combatants had no such reservations. Rattlesnake bolted from a white one-car, his paws up kicking dirt as he did. He made a dash for Eaglefur, maybe because at least that seemed like a clear enemy, and threw himself at the rogue's side.

This whole situation had Rattlesnake's heart beating abnormally fast. He wasn't sure there was any solution to the chaos or any way to drive these cats away. They were his cats. Had been his cats. So what could he do? He held no control over them. He had no way to prevent this abhorrent show of power.
"Stop!" he yowled.
But his words weren't headed, as he knew they wouldn't be. No one cared about his weakness. His lack of control.
He'd made things too difficult. The group had gotten too large. And the decenters had gotten too vocal. There was nothing to be done about this. Nothing but the fact that he was facing this, seemingly, alone.
Dream was fighting with zero hesitation where Rattlesnake seemed to be pausing at every turn. Former friends (or maybe existing friends) were clawed as mercilessly as enemies. Even still, the rogues only seemed a bit inclined to retreat, a couple of them a bit more wary to pounce at MoonClan cats.