blood like the river (rc/skc border clash)

tagged ,, alee , shanny , hallelujah , @tea , @rain , katnez , @hawkpaw , @dazed , @aftermath, tikker ♪ ♫, lord wolfscream✰
words ,, 406
notes ,, Okay, RiverClanners whenever you're ready! I have swapped the leader of the patrol to Ashenfang, however, given he's now the clan deputy!

Remember, this thread has no posting order, so try and reply as quickly as you can to whenever you have something to reply to. Let's do this fight and get this moving as fast as possible!

It wasn’t as if the large tom weren’t accustomed to leading patrols, he had spent his fair share of time directing his clanmates in action over the moons, but something about this day felt entirely off to the smoky tom. He had woken that morning with an ominous dread lingering about his thoughts, feeling as if something had woken him though nothing stirred to mark itself as the culprit. The warriors’ den had been as still as ever, but still the sense of something wrong remained. All morning, through the meal he shared with his littermate, and the brief statement from Magpiestar that he would be leading the patrol rather than Miststorm; all the way to the present moment which found him in an aggravated state.

Sticking toward the back of the patrol where he kept a watchful eye on the forest and the cats with him, Ashenfang tried to force some sort of reason to his troubled muse. He went over the cats he had chosen. Whitewolf: a senior warrior who was possibly the closest to himself in attitude, the pale tom was rarely the cause of dispute among the clan. Miststorm: a young warrior, but one who displayed a calmness beyond her moons. Sharpfrost: an apt warrior who was more than capable of handling herself in a fight. ’Sister of Hazelstream…’ Ashenfang’s ear twitched in irritated response to the sneering voice within his head reminding him of things he wished would remain at rest. His bright eyes flashed upon the patched tabby she-cat moving ahead of him, and he listed the reasons he had included her in this patrol. ’Her fighting ability. Her level headedness. Her…’ The list trailed away in the strain of his effort. He knew there was more to her presence than that! There had to be… He didn’t just add her to the patrol out of some invented likeness of her sister. Besides, Hazelstream’s death was long ago, he was over it. Yet… Something about the survived sibling pulled him in like a promise. It would be okay – wouldn’t it? – to pursue the femme despite her relation to his former apprentice, despite the differences in their age.

’Get it together, Ashenfang..’ The newly made deputy wrangled his thoughts and dumped those of more distracting content in a dark corner where he was unlikely to stumble across them again. Continuing on his patrol, he finished with the addition of two young apprentices: Foxpaw, and Rookpaw. Neither of which were proving to be very disciplined. He had watched them idly during the patrol, studying their behavior away from their mentors, and already he was deciding they weren’t taking their responsibilities as apprentices seriously enough. Even now, Rookpaw had somehow found herself at the head of the patrol, no doubt fancying herself some sort of leader. The tom frowned, his whiskers twitching in a hitch of disappointed frustration. His massive frame lurched into a higher gait, a single paw moving into a trot before his body shut the action down flat.

Something was wrong.

Electric energy tingled through his body, zipping through tightened muscles and clicking through his long fur like static. The ghostly trail of a scent lingered in the air, carried across the sensitive openings of his nose with offensive teasing. ’Skyclan.’ He bit back a growl, rushing forward with little more sound than the shadow he was. He snaked through the patrol as Rookpaw was just realizing the presence of the intruders. Mousedung.. Why was an apprentice in the font anyway? Why hadn’t an older warrior replaced her in such a position? ’Why weren’t you in the front deputy?’ The voice sneered his position as an insult, undertones of inadequacy and failure serving to further sour his mood. Whitewolf reached her next, signaling for the patrol to halt and giving a count; at least their numbers were similar. Miststorm was talking when Ashenfang reached them, massive paws barely stirring a whisper as he hunkered down to do his own recon of the intruding cats.

There were indeed six, four warriors it seemed and two apprentices if his assumptions were correct. ”They’re in our element, and if we just jump out..” One of them had already breached Riverclan soil with others in quick pursuit. It was the tom retreating from the water which had Ashenfang bristling, though. Stagstrider, brother to Pinestar, and a competent warrior – he should know better. ”…they won’t be coming running back.” A scowl crossed the tom’s face as Miststorm finished with, ”We need to act fast before they notice us.” No, they had time. They were downwind, and with the water and perceived peace of the moment the Skyclan cats would never expect to come across a patrol.

Ashenfang flicked his tail in a deliberate manner, silencing his patrol so that his orders would be heard. Turning a hard gaze upon Rookpaw, the tom’s graveled voice rumbled around them just loud enough to be heard by those in his immediate company. ”Rookpaw, get back behind the warriors and stay there.” He didn’t bother trying to hide the steely flint in his tone, she should have known better than to play at leading a patrol. ”You and Foxpaw stick together and pay close attention.” His eyes turned the other apprentice before finding Miststorm. ”This doesn’t need to turn into a fight. I expect everyone to keep their heads.” With a final glance spared for the she-cat that had him so off kilter, Ashenfang returned his eyes to the invading cats.

A brief moment of hesitation was all it took for Ashenfang to give a small flick of his tail and lead his patrol down upon the shore. He wouldn’t attack them out right, no, he would give them a chance to run back to their territory first. There was no reason for unnecessary bloodshed, and he had no desire to risk injury to the considerably young apprentices in their party. ”Skyclan cats!” His voice boomed across the water like boulders striking each other. Sparing a quick glance to Stagstrider, and the assumed apprentices across the choppy waters – ’What were you thinking?’ – the deputy continued. ”You are trespassing on Riverclan territory. You need to leave. Now. There was no waver, no questioning in his voice, simply the command of one with every intention to back his words should it become necessary. His fur remained smooth and unruffled, but there was an unmistakable beginning to an arch in the length of his spine, his tail stiff in affronted anger. Already he was sizing up the cats they might need to fight immediately. Three warriors were standing in the shallows, they would be the initial targets if a fight broke out. Hopefully it would take a fair amount of time for the rest of the party to cross the water and help, perhaps by that time the Riverclan cats could quell any idea of dispute.

The black masked tom watched the Skyclan cats with unfettered distaste. They should know better than to so blatantly cross into Riverclan territory. Regardless of the heat, they should know better.

tagged | gets a little snappish with (@aftermath ) rookpaw :: indirectly speaks to (@dazed ) miststorm :: basically tells all the skyclanners to scram
notes | sorry about sucky late reply >.<
words | 1186