late nights. [ open ]

[nightclaw.]

nightclaw.
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Large yellow eyes opened and scanned the dark den of the warriors. The moonlight shone down onto her nest through a hole in the roof, catching the shine in her eyes and illuminating the world for her. Nightclaw raised herself up off her nest and slunk outside of the den quietly. She sat outside and licked down her fur. Catching a thorn in her side, she quickly swiped her rough tounge around it, using her fangs to pull it free. She held it in her mouth, spitting it out to the side of the warriors den where usually no one went through. 'If a kit stick's itself, that's its own mousebrained fault..' she thought to herself. The burnt orange she-cat moved from her place and slunk to the entrance, not making a noise she passed the gaurds almost unnoticed, giving only a flick of her tail in greeting but nothing more.

Nightclaw ventured into the forest where the tall pines grew. Their shadows helping her blend in almost perfectly. The dead leaves from the non pine trees on the ground were the same color as her pelt, and the dark color of her stripes and spots portrayed shadows from the tree's. Nothing would ever be able to see her coming. After venturing a bit away from the camp, the she-cat completly opened her senses. Wondering if anyone else would be out at this time.. it was still a few hours away from sunrise after all. Looking out through the tree's, she could see the lake and the moon's shimmering reflection. Something about the lake drew her there that night. And she changed direction to follow the untraveled path.

All the while she was listening for sounds of the forest, listening for any night creatures that might be about. She had been coming out on these nightly escursions for awhile, now because Hawkstar had not given her an apprentice to train yet. She was still loyal to all her patrols during the day, but since she was young she had been coming out to the pine forest during the night. The ground underneath changed to a soft sandy feeling as she emerged from the Shadowclan forest. She walked to the shoreline of the lake and sat down, staring around the lake for sources of movement. Flicking her ears she also made sure to keeptrack of her own surroundings.

[starlingpaw.]

Cold, frightening blue eyes stared out into the darkness of the apprentice den. The night air was bitter, making the newly appointed apprentice want to stay in her nest of warm moss and bracken. But her paws itched for adventure, inviting her into the frosty fields outside of the RiverClan camp. She shifted uncomfortably in the bedding. Now that she was awake, she couldn't fall back to sleep. Tomorrow would be her first day as an apprentice, her mentor being Stagshadow, an older, powerful tabby tom. She wasn't really happy to get him as her mentor, but at least she was an apprentice now instead of being cooped up all day in the nursery with her mother. Starlingpaw would have much rather had Crimsonstar, the new RiverClan leader, as her mentor. Then she wouldn't get picked on and teased with the leader to train her. But she was stuck with Stagshadow. She didn't mind the foggy-eyed tom, especially since he was older than her, otherwise there would be some problems. But she was just disappointed with Crimsonstar's choice. Now that she was an apprentice, she would need more sleep. She wasn't surprised that she was having trouble sleeping; excitement pulsed through her veins like a rabbit rapidly escaping the claws of a warrior. And now that she could actually leave the camp without being sent back and put into trouble, the dark pelted she-cat decided to take that in her paws.

Starlingpaw quickly slipped past her denmates, Firepaw, Airpaw, and Ripplepaw. The black she-cat was careful not to step on any body parts in the process. Although she was an apprentice now, it would be frowned upon for her to leave in the middle of the night, especially since she wasn't trained at all. She was afraid yet felt respectful toward authorities, and would hate to get caught by Duskmist, Mossfeather, Dreampool, or Crimsonstar herself. Plus there were other cats from the three Clan that she had to watch out for... so she just had to be careful. Starlingpaw kept to the shadows even though it wasn't even necessary due to her black pelt. She narrowed her bright eyes so that they would be harder to see in the distance. Then the apprentice headed toward the exit. Once out of camp, she ran like she'd never run before. Starlingpaw bolted away from RiverClan territory until her lungs ached for breath and her legs screamed for rest. Slowing herself, Starlingpaw looked around. Where she was she didn't understand. She'd never been out of camp before, so everything was new. A couple tail lengths away, there were some foul smelling scent markers. From the stories that elders told her, she guessed that she was nearing ShadowClan territory. Should I go in? Being ignorant like always, the RiverClan apprentice strutted forward with her belly brushing the grass, tail directly out like a banner.

She walked along the edge of the bank for her love of water. As she just strolled along the edge, Starlingpaw wondered if there would be any ShadowClan cats out and about in the pine forest and on the shore. Probably not. They were all in their nest, sleeping like a kit, while a RiverClan cat was in their territory! She was chuckling at heart so much that she didn't smell the new cat until it was too late. She almost pumped into a ShadowClan warrior. Immediately she dropped herself to the ground, hoping that the warrior hadn't seen her nearly invisible pelt. To keep from being seen, she closed her shining blue eyes. What if they take me as their prisoner, and RiverClan doesn't want to rescue me? Or if they do rescue me, they make me stay a kit forever?

[nightclaw.]

nightclaw.
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The water threatened to touch the she-cat's paws as she sat there. It caressed the sand in front of her, back and fourth. Overhead an owl called out into the night, causing Nightclaw to look up as the owl took flight from a nearby pine tree and set off, soring across the large lake. The she-cat flicked her tail and watched it untill it dissapeared into more tree's, although its haunting call could still be heard. Back at camp, she knew no one would really be awake to enjoy this. 'They don't need to anyway.. this is my time.' she thought to herself. The wind picked up, bringing the scents of new clans her way. The slight woosh sound was calming, that was until the orange bengal she-cat caught the scent of something new, something fresh.

She smelled the apprentice before she caught sight of it. Although she made no move like she had found it, she waited. 'Is there more?' she wondered, flicking her ear and looking out at the moons reflection, shimmering in the lake. 'Have they found me and are using a weakling new apprentice to distract me? ... No, Riverclan aren't that smart..' she thought and flicked her tail. As the apprentice got closer, it was obvious that it had not seen her yet, which told Nightclaw that it was a new apprentice, very new indeed. As it got even closer, Nightclaw was starting to wonder if the black cat would actually run into her. The she-cat yawned, her shiny fangs glinting in the moonlight. The apprentice had finally stopped. 'Mousebrain..' she thought.

Nightclaw stood up and shook the sand off her pelt before turning, her yellow eyes glaring straight at the black pelted Riverclan apprentice. She noticed that she seemed scared, she had her eyes shut tight, but it wouldnt help her. Nightclaw moved forward and in a few bounds was right next to her. "Open your eyes and sit up kit, don't try and run either. Your on Shadowclan territory.. and don't tell me you can't use your nose." she snapped, holding herself up high. The warrior slid out her sharpened claws, ready to dig them into the much smaller cat's backside if she tried to run. Nightclaw wouldn't let her leave that easily after all.

"What are you doing here at this time of the night kit?" she asked, her voice serious and threatening. Her pupils were only just slits as her large yellow eyes stared at the black apprentice, who didn't look much older than a kit anyway. "Your soft kit fur is the only thing keeping you warm in this growing leaf-fall wind.. What's your name?" she asked, squinting her eyes a bit, still ready to pounce on her. Nightclaw planned on taking her back to Shadowclan camp if she felt she needed to teach the apprentice a lesson.. or if another Shadowclan cat showed up, not that she couldn't take care of the small intruder on her own.

[Stagshadow]

[bg=2a5d41][atrb=width,448,true][atrb=border,0,true] The massive marbled tomcat lurched from his nest early on in the night, as he was unable to sleep. This happened frequently to the proud warrior: he hated doing nothing, and sleeping was considered to be doing nothing in his mind. The Clan could always use food or maybe an extra eye out there, and he was confident that he could take care of himself quite well in case somebody came along and tried to do something… less than cordial. After stepping into the moonlit clearing of the camp, the large cat stretched and yawned, then padded out past the tired looking guard, a younger warrior who sat up straight when Stagshadow’s keen green glare burned into the younger cat’s very flesh. That was always how it seemed to be, the younger cats growing arrogant and thinking themselves better, good enough to almost doze off while on duty. Well, Stagshadow was going to have none of it. The ignorant fools needed to get a good cuffing before they would learn. And he had a new apprentice! Starlingpaw, the black she-kit whose mother had the dirtiest reputation. Stagshadow did not want to get involved with any silly, frivolous family dramas, just as Starlingpaw would not want to be involved in any of her mentor’s. As if Stagshadow knew if any of them were alive. Trotting along RiverClan territory soothed the big tom, who was calmed by the scents of his home. The water, the calmness, even the fish smell made him relax slightly, to grow comfortably tired. It was only outside of the camp, away from those social codes to which he himself stuck so strictly, that he could feel truly wonderful and happy. Perhaps it was something of the influence from his family leaving, perhaps not, but something about being in camp make Stagshadow feel inadequate. StarClan, that kitten had no idea what she got when she received Stagshadow as a mentor. And it wasn’t that he had always been a restless crazy because he hadn’t been nearly as bad as he was now before. His former apprentice did not have to deal with a mentor that had been awake the entire night before , prowling ShadowClan’s borders. That was the one the dark marbled cat worried about most, ShadowClan, since they were always known to be more aggressive than passive, silly WindClan. Some time passed, and Stagshadow realized that he must have fallen asleep briefly near one of the many streams in RiverClan’s territory. The massive warrior caught himself glancing at the sky for the time, but the moon was not nearly as easy to read as the sun, and so he simply assumed that it was some time in the middle of the night, unidentified and unimportant. After licking his chest so his fur wasn’t as strange looking, he turned to leave when something caught his attention. There was a distinct scent that he had only breathed in how long ago? “Starlingpaw, by StarClan,” he hissed under his breath. What was she doing out? She was an apprentice. She should not have been doing anything but sleeping! Lashing his tail once, Stagshadow turned and began to follow her specific, and frighteningly fresh, scent. She didn’t know how to do anything, and she probably would not be lucky if she ran into a ShadowClan cat. Even a RiverClan cat could be defeated when that cat happened to be a completely untrained 6-moon-old apprentice, foolish and naïve. There was a point when the scent hit the ShadowClan border. Growling lowly, Stagshadow’s brilliant green eyes flashed as he stared into the darkness. The lake looked the same from all sides, but the fact that it belonged to ShadowClan in a few pawsteps, the marshy, filthy cats, made bile rise in Stagshadow’s throat. If they lived around a lake, why wouldn’t the most water-affiliated Clan rule? It was just silly; the cats could learn so much from RiverClan, even if they were unworthy in all aspects of their lives. Taking a breath, he figured that a silly apprentice (his own, no less!) would need rescuing and scolding more than a territory marker needed to be strictly followed. Stepping up his pace, Stagshadow leapt across the boundary and bound after her scent when the stench of ShadowClan became even thicker. A she-cat, older, probably intending to hurt Starlingpaw. It was not compassion or fear for Starlingpaw herself, per say, that rushed through the massive tom, but rather angered pride and protectiveness of his Clan. He could see something not too far off, and so he lashed his tail and hissed under his breath. Slowing down, the RiverClan cat began to utilize his hunting abilities to sneak toward them. If it was possible not to alert the ShadowClan cat – or cats – then Stagshadow would do that until the last possible moment. The RiverClan tom was confident that Starlingpaw would not die tonight, not with him there, not when it was just stupid, scrawny ShadowClan cats they were facing.

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OOC: Sorry, hope it was okay that I hopped in! ^^'' (Sorry if the post seems long. >_> I just love my Staggy boy<333)

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[starlingpaw.]

You aren't a kit anymore, Starlingpaw. The RiverClan apprentice knew that the ShadowClan warrior had caught wind of her. Even still, she wished that the cat would hurry up and find her. Were they that stupid? RiverClan was the only intelligent Clan. They knew how to hunt fish for StarClan's sake! With a small shake of her head, Starlingpaw slightly peeked open her blue eyes. She felt tension in the air when she heard an owl squawk in the night. Starlingpaw pressed herself deeper into the shadows, desperately clinging onto what was there. She hoped her black pelt would disguise her, but would her foreign RiverClan scent? She quickly closed her eye when she felt a fierce yellow gaze turn her way. That was when she knew ShadowClan had her in their claws. So what? You're just going to sling in the dark like a yellow-belly WindClan kit? No! Get up and face that scrawny excuse of a warrior! So Starlingpaw did... or was, until the new cat spoke to her. She uncurled her legs and stood up at her full length, which wasn't much compared to this russet tabby she-cat that stood before her. She looked up at her with confidence down, blue eyes dancing with cleverness. A snide grin grew on her face until she was beaming delightfully. "Of course I have a nose, fish-brain," Starlingpaw mocked, paws tingling with her smugness. "I use it all of the time. I meant to go on ShadowClan land..." So I can beat you and your idiotic cats, is what she would have liked to add, but decided not to. There was no such thing as being too bratty, but Starlingpaw didn't want to over do it and look like a fool. She didn't want to look too confident of herself either, especially since it was obvious that she was a newly-appointed apprentice due to her soft kitten fur. Bristling her pelt to make herself look more frightening and larger, Starlingpaw narrowed her bright eyes. This she-cat was so questioning on this fine night!

"First off, I'm not a kit. I'm an apprentice now, and I'd like to be addressed like so. Second, the question should be turned around: what are you doing up at this time of night?" Starlingpaw growled loudly. She could be arrogant and stupid at times, and she knew it. She liked that she had those personality traits, and didn't frown upon them unlike most cats. Personally, she loved being smug. She didn't get respect from cats because of it, but so what? Apprentices weren't supposed to earn it until they were older warriors. It was very uncommon for an apprentice to be respected by even one cat - especially if that cat is older. Maybe she would be looked up at when she was older, but right now she sure as heck wasn't. She didn't want to be, either. With a quiet snarl, Starlingpaw flicked an ear out of bad habit. It wasn't because she was nervous or anything... it was just something that happened a lot of times when facing someone new. "My name is none of your business," she snapped with a pointing growl aimed toward the tabby she-cat. She made sure that the ShadowClan cat saw the annoyed wave of her tail, which was lifted confidently in the air. Starlingpaw was sure that Nightclaw - who she didn't even know her name as of now - wouldn't attack her. It wasn't like she was harming anyone or trying to claim ShadowClan land... yet. That could soon change, she realized as her talons flexed themselves. Her shoulder muscles rippled in the starlight, not caring if the she-cat was watching her or not. Even though she wasn't trained, she was itching for the the taste of a wild battle. She hoped it would be against a cat from another Clan and be real instead of being against Stagshadow from her own Clan. It would be fake, too, since it would most likely be in training tomorrow.

[nightclaw.]

nightclaw.
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Nightclaw glared down at the apprentice who did not seem afraid. 'Foolish.' she thought to herself. Although a bit surprised when the other she-cat dd not want to back down. Although her surprise did not show, instead the warrior looked rather angry. She stood up to her full height as well, completly towering over the 'apprentice'. Who in her own eyes, she still saw as a kit. Amusement then shown in Nightclaws own eyes. "You ment to? .. Ha. And here I am the one who thought that Riverclan might of had SOME kind of brain. If anything, I should be the one calling you a 'fish-brain' you ignorant kit. You can't even get your insults right!" Nightclaw laughed and then cut herself off with a lash of her own tail. The 'kit' bristled her fur and tried to make herself look larger. "You look like a large rabbit." she sneered, seeing no threat in this apprentice at all. It's growl even sounded squeaky!

Nightclaw listen to this 'kits' demands and surpressed a smirk. The bengal she-cat took a step foward, pulling her lips back some to reveal her shiny, razor-sharp white teeth. "First off, .." she began, as a mockery. "You are a kit, if I say you are a kit. Ignorance is side to side with mouse-brained. And at the moment, you seem to have the brain a size of a mouse and the ignorance of a young kit to be wondering in places you don't belong." Nightclaw flicked her tail and flicked her ears. "Wether I am out at night is none of a Riverclan kit's buisness." she told her, making sure the use of 'kit' was well used in their little conversation. The smell of another cat caught her nose, but at the moment she paid no attention. The sight of the other cat was more important, she had seen the tom creep around. Waiting, to see if she would do anythng to the apprentice. Nightclaw payed him no mind and turned to the black apprentice. She sat down, curling her tail around herself and raised a paw, shething all claws but one, in which she groomed. All the while keeping her eyes on the apprentice. Then her eyes flickered to where the warrior was hiding.

"Tell me, Have you come to claim something that wondered off?" Nightclaw asked the tom, taking another lick on her claw before bringing it down quickly, almost hitting the apprentices ear. Nightclaw stood up, taking a step back from the apprentice. "She isn't the brightest one.. but then again neither are you for following her in here alone.." Nightclaw said, her yellow eyes glaring at the tom who's name she did not know. Nightclaw wasent a short she-cat, she was actually rather tall. And her heavy apprentice training showed in her now toned muscles and scared pelt. She had asked her mentor to use claws, as she would not train otherwise. She was use to the pain of battles and war. And often times it would take a lot to phase the battle hungry she-cat. "I suggest you both leave, the wind is in Shadowclan's favor. It is up to you to guess if I am alone or not." she mewed, her claws slowly unsheathing again, digging into the ground.

[Stagshadow]

[bg=2a5d41][atrb=width,448,true][atrb=border,0,true] Ah, so he was found out. Well, then, that was fine by him. The winds had obviously changed from when he was tracking his foolish apprentice. Raising his head proudly, he stood tall and strode forward confidently until he was standing next to the small black she-cat apprentice of his. Starlingpaw was just out of official kithood and was already out and in trouble, ugh. Of course it was Stagshadow there to rescue her. If this was going to become a trend, though, the massive marbled cat was going to have none of it. As a young and impressionable cat, though, Stagshadow wanted to be sure that he was a presence in her life so that she would not walk down a horrible path, such as finding passion in another Clan or letting loyalties slip. There was a sliver of a feeling in his gut that the black apprentice was in the same situation as he regarding family in that Clan was far, far more important than any silly little family mistakes because they were unreliable. Lifting a brow slightly, Stagshadow stared at the shadowed enemy she-cat, his green eyes flashing and reflected in the moonlight. “You think to threaten me. You think to threaten RiverClan. In this manner, you think not at all,” Stagshadow meowed calmly, his deep voice finding a perfect position in the crisp night. It was true, Stagshadow could be seen as arrogant, but his confidence was a great asset to him, he found, together with his stature and appearance. Scars did not impress him; rather, it was the opposite. If you had scars, then it was because you have failed as a fighter multiple times. Perfection was not achieved, and for other Clans, that was a sin that came as naturally as breathing. With a twitch of his ear, he added, “And you are alone, ShadowClanner. You all are not nearly as stealthy as you might think.”

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During this time, the large tomcat paid no heed to his new apprentice, who was miniscule to and compared to him. Starlingpaw was darker than even he, with her black fur, and she blended well into the shadows. If he were in charge of any night attacks, and if she had any fighting experience, then the big tom would absolutely use her. Probably, he’d use himself, too, since his fur was also dark unless he stretched greatly. However, he would not send her into any fight in her current state. Honestly, he was considering postponing her training at this point and setting her to work with elders or Duskmist. Duskmist would probably be worse, since the old medicine cat was an ornery creature who gained quite a bit of pleasure from random insults and meanness. Starlingpaw deserved it at that moment in Stagshadow’s mind, although she might be able to redeem herself in his eyes, depending how she acted.

Then again, the massive cat needed to ask himself a question: would he put teaching Starlingpaw a lesson before teaching her useful skills to care for the Clan? Letting her get away with something so serious could lead her down the wrong path, but this encounter would not be nearly as dangerous if Starlingpaw knew something about caring for the Clan, even if it was just hunting. Of course, with knowledge, she’d probably grow arrogant and proud and feel that she could take on anything and go specifically looking for trouble, and that would bring pain and death upon the Clan. So, which was more valuable? He was still mulling over it, although he would probably end up deciding that teaching a lesson would be a better idea, since there were plenty of other warriors and apprentices. But he wouldn’t just do something regular, oh no, Stagshadow was a much harsher mentor than that. He would find Starlingpaw’s limits and push them, and that included social ones; there needed to be public retribution for this, and she would get it. All of this swept through the back of his mind in only a couple of silent seconds while his main focus was on the ShadowClan warrior. Once the fleeting ideas dissipated fully into the darkness of his un-thoughts, he returned his absolute attention to the other older cat.
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[* r.edpaw]

Redpaw hated this. He seriously, extremely, whatever-ly hated not being able to sleep. With a short sigh, he sat up from his nest. His cold amber gaze flicked to the sleeping body of the grey and white cat nearby. Asleep. Well, better see if I can walk myself to sleep. Heaving his lithe russet body out of his nest, he stretched himself as far as he could before padding out of the dark den. With a glance to the moonlit sky the medicine cat apprentice padded towards the camp entrance and into the pine forest. The ginger tom pricked his ears as the trees caused the moonlight to rain on his pelt in dapples, turning his fur silver. If there was any prey out at this time, hopefully he'd be able to catch it and bring it back to camp with his head held high and tail waving in the air. Hopefully.

His pawsteps made almost no sound on the soft pine cones, his eyes, ears, and nose on full alert for the satisfying tang of food. A sudden movement caught his attention and a whiff of the air told him that he was near the lake, near enemy territory. Although he was training to be a medicine cat, that still didn't stop him from wanting to fight. Yeah, he was a fighting medicine cat but who cared?The sound of voices was swept towards him by a faint breeze nearby. What in StarClan's name.. Curiosity overwhelmed him and he padded forward silently, thanking his warrior ancestors that the breeze was against him, carrying his scent away from the party. A new, stronger scent made Redpaw curl his lips in hatred and disgust. RiverClan? In SHADOWCLAN territory? As he neared the voices, he caught a glimpse of three cats, RiverClan scent intermingled with ShadowClan. On a closer inspection, he saw a ShadowClan warrior, Nightclaw, surrounded by two RiverClan scum. Enemies. He lay low in the shadows for a while, listening to the conversation.

With a smirk, the apprentice rose to his paws and casually padded forward after a RiverClan warrior spoke. "I believe she has a right to threaten you, RiverClan. You are in our territory after all. I'd stuff a mouse in it before I made another comment that showed how little sense I had if I were you. But thankfully, I'm not." Redpaw meowed coldly as he stepped into the moonlight, his gaze flashing from the bigger tom to the smaller she-cat. "As for threatening RiverClan, are you two the only cats in RiverClan that you can accuse someone of threatening your Clan?" the arrogant tom smirked. "Great StarClan, did you not scent me as you spoke those words? 'And you are alone, ShadowClanner.'" Redpaw repeated with a sneer. "Hmm. If I yowled at the top of my voice right now, my Clan would come to see the two of you standing in our territory. And I wonder what they'd do, seeing to stink-pelts who had as much sense as shrews?" the apprentice snarled, his head titled to the side as if considering of doing what he had just said.

OOC; Hope you don't mind me tossing Redpaw in (:

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[starlingpaw.]

Smug little cheek! Starlingpaw thought with a furious lash of her bristling tail. Her whole body was starting to static up with anger, her cold blue eyes glistening with frustration. Even though she was alone, she wasn't even frightened. She completely ignored the other cat call her a fish-brain. It was an idol threat to her, even though she pinned it on other cats. But she wanted to claw the russet tabby warrior right then and there for looking so arrogant and for calling her a rabbit. "Well, maybe you have no nose," she replied back coolly, making sure she couldn't see a flash of emotion through her bright eyes, "because I don't smell like prey. It was a wonder how you could scent me trespassing. Does the rest of your Clan have bad noses? No wonder why you guys are pitifully thin! That's why the other three Clans can beat you easily. Once we unsheathe a claw, your Clanmates would be shaking in their flea-bitten pelts!" Starlingpaw's eyes sparkled and a sly cackle escaped through her lips. But her teeth were clenched together. She didn't want to catch herself attacking this mouse-brained she-cat, even if she was a ShadowClan cat. Forgetting her pride, she knew she was much weaker than this warrior. But she could still put up a great fight! She heard the she-cat talk, but was barely listening. Why was she arguing with this stupid cat? It was like quarreling with a newborn kit! Pointless! What she did notice, however, was that the tabby was looking over Starlingpaw's shoulder. The black apprentice looked over with the corner of an eye, keeping the other on Nightclaw. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary with her keen eyes. The warrior was probably just trying to scare her, which was something that couldn't be done. When Starlingpaw sniffed the air, she smelled a cat she knew. It was a RiverClan cat... warrior... tom... She smelled him very closely on the day of her ceremony. Stagshadow! She groaned inwardly. I'm going to be in huge trouble... Even though she knew her mentor was now watching, she didn't improve her behavior, even when Stagshadow stepped up to her and speak with the older warrior.

She was bored, so she ignored the other two and concentrated on the first land she knew besides RiverClan's camp. There were deep, dark shadows stretching away and out of view and tall, lanky pine trees. It was so dark that Starlingpaw could only see in a tree length in front of her from every side. She was used to open fields and running streams, so this new territory was completely different from her home. But it brought excitement rushing to her heart. She was paying so much attention to ShadowClan's land that she scented another one before her mentor did. The black apprentice was too curious to warn Stagshadow. She was just about to call out to the newcomer when she saw it. Him, actually. It was a red tabby tom who smelled of fresh herbs. Great. A medicine cat. He was too small to be a regular one, so she knew he must have been the apprentice. She sneered openly at him, who she would later call Redpaw. The tabby spoke badly about her mentor and her Clan, but she wasn't loyal enough to speak up for them. Instead, her angry eyes were replaced with terrified mockery. "Oh great StarClan! Another one! Staggie, I'm so frightened!" She pretended to shrink down beneath her mentor's paws, but immediately jumped back onto her own hard feet. "What are you going to do, medicine cat? Choke me to death with your herbs? I should go running away to my momma now, I'm sooo scared!" Starlingpaw curled her soft pink lips back to show her moon-white teeth. With a sneer and a soft snort, the apprentice took a threatening step toward Redpaw. At any second now she would leap on one of them, most likely the arrogant apprentice in front of her. With another lash of her tail, she paused uncertainly. Wouldn't Stagshadow be interested in attacking them? They were dissing her, himself, and their Clan! They deserved a good lickin'.

[nightclaw.]

nightclaw.
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Nightclaw watched the tom approach, the 'kits' words in front of her not even making it to her ears, for words ment little to Nightclaw for sure. The muscular she-cat flicked her ears back for a moment, before forward to catch the green-eyed toms words. She flicked her tail, almost as if she was impaitent with these cats. As she was, they continued to tromp on Shadowclan's territory as if they owned it. She would show them, her intense training as an apprentice gave her the strength to take on a warrior and an untrained apprentice. The tom spoke again, something about being alone. This is where Nightclaw laughed, cackled even, "You don't know how wrong you are Riverclan brat." she hissed, softly though, her voice scary cold and had a soft tone to it.

The she-cat seemed to move like liquid grace, powerful muscles rippling under her pelt as she turned quickly, glancing into the trees as she watched the orange, almost redish pelt in the moonlight emerge from the trees. The she-cat turned back to face the two opposing clan cats, speaking her own thoughts out loud after Redpaw finished his own words, "You Riverclan cats are so oblivious to your surroundings it seems. If you learned to use their senses, instead of waiting around for a fish to flop into your paws, you would think before you said something." she spoke, lifting her head up some, her coat shining in the moonlight. She noticed that both cat's seemed a bit off into their own place, she glanced at Redpaw, "And scatter-brained as well!" She flashed a toothy smirk at the two cats, flicking her tail strongly in one direction.

Nightclaw knew that both her and Redpaw had the upperhand in the situation. That apprentice could do nothing in battle, even Redpaw was trained to fight, while all she was doing was getting herself into more and more trouble. And even though the tom was slightly bigger than herself, Nightclaw was older and more experienced by far. She knew all the moves by now, and how to counter them, she knew almost every trick in the book, some even written by herself, so to speak. 'Although you must admire their courage.' she thought to herself, 'Then again, ignorance is borderlining courage as well.' The Shadowclan warrior's ears flicked back and her claws slid out a little deeper into the dirt.

The apprentices words made it to her ears this time, and she looked down at the silly, fresh from the nursery kit. Her words were suppose to be taunting, but Nightclaw smirked. "You sound rather mouse-brained you know. Threating a medicine cat is not something to be boasting about." The she-cats glowing yellow eyes narrowed when the black apprentice pulled back her lips. One faulty move and Nightclaw would be on her in a snap. The mouse-brained apprentice had taken a step forward and Nightclaw tensed, in the second the apprentice paused Nightclaw launched herself at her. She grabbed the apprentice with ease, slipping her paw under her belly when she launched herself over the black furry RIverclanned apprentice. Using momentum the she-cat let gravity pull her to the ground and she rolled across her back, in the same movement using her paw that was under the apprentices belly to lauch her into the air, away from her mentor and most likly hard into the ground. Maybe even knocking her breath out of her. Nightclaw used the same momentum to sling herself back a bit and slide into a standing position, claws our and fangs flashing in the moonlight as she glared fercely at the Riverclan warrior, she knew that Redpaw could easily take care of the black apprentice, so she would let him have some fun. "You Riverclan cat's think you are so big and bad, but when a battle springs you aren't even ready!" she snarled at Stagshadow, lashng her tail back and fourth, her yellow eyes daring the Riverclan tom to attack her or her clanmate, for he would be met with tooth and claws, ready to defend her clan at all costs.

Never back down.

[Stagshadow]

[bg=2a5d41][atrb=width,448,true][atrb=border,0,true] As soon as Stagshadow felt the words slide off his tongue, he noticed the red tabby nearby and mentally cursed himself. In his pride, he had spoken too soon, and was now feeling the regrets and pain of it. However, it was just the medicine cat apprentice, and medicine cats were not meant to fight, not even in stupid little night-time skirmish things, as this could turn out to be. Out of the corner of his brilliantly green eyes, the marbled tomcat noticed the black apprentice upping her aggressive energy, and it was angering him. If she started a war because of something as stupid as this, then he would personally whack her upside the head. She was bragging, and she was just out of the nursery. Lifting a brow ever so slightly, Stagshadow glanced at Redpaw when he entered. It was something Stagshadow made a business of, knowing of the high ranking cats of the other Clans. He had yet to become familiar with all of the current best warriors, especially since of the strange wave of high ranking cats disappearing. With a smirk that the massive tom had meant to prevent, Stagshadow meowed calmly, his voice cold and stony, “I didn’t consider you to be anything. A medicine cat apprentice is hardly worth a kit without your mentor and your swamp-stained herbs.” The majority of the deputy’s attention was on the older she-cat, but now he returned her to the entirety of his focus. Although he was addressing the ShadowClanners, the meaning of his words were for Starlingpaw, even if she didn’t entirely hear because she was so wrapped up in the words she was about to let loose. “It’s not as if medicine cats can engage in battle, if this comes to that. You are on your own.”

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In a flash, Nightclaw was before him and Starlingpaw was not in his sight. It wasn’t as if the black apprentice would die, though; if anything, the medicine cat apprentice would help her. Medicine cats were supposed to be politically neutral, right? If ShadowClan broke that rule, then it could result in all-out war. Of course, it would only be because of two mouse-brained apprentices getting full of themselves and thinking themselves better than all others. Stagshadow lifted his chin proudly and felt his body tense, his muscles practically protruding from his skin. It’s true, Stagshadow was very muscular, but he was also a skilled fighter. He did not rely on brute strength, but from looking at the gruesome scars on Nightclaw, he knew that she had been through a lot more than he. Although Stagshadow was a firm believer in the power of RiverClan and its superiority, he was not prepared to through lives away or to start wars. With a lash of his tail, he narrowed his eyes at the ShadowClan warrior and actually kept his claws sheathed, although it was extremely difficult.

The huge tomcat took a deep breath and spoke words that would, he hoped, convey strength and wisdom to the she-cat. There was no reason to fight in the middle of the night, not when it was because of a dumb, unlucky apprentice who was going to get punished soon enough. “Come, ShadowClanner, you would shed blood because of the antics of one foolish apprentice and a mentor gone to fetch her? She is nigh out of the nursery, but you would blame her of such crimes worth pain? You can trust in me and know that she will get what she deserves rightfully, but would you punish a kit as you would a senior warrior? I would not.”[/color] He was very formal in his speech, but that was often how Stagshadow was anyway. A bundle of tenseness and formality, that was the dark-furred RiverClan tomcat. It was his hope that these words, and his deep and resonating voice, would be a sign of courage and strength to the aggressive she-cat. Sometimes it took more to stop a fight than to continue blindly, and he was honestly sort of tired. He needed to begin thinking more wisely than before; just moon before, Stagshadow might have leapt into battle, but absolutely not now. Even since then, he had grown, and he hoped there would be a similar effect on the ShadowClan warrior. It was not at the point where he felt he would need to pray to StarClan on the off-chance that they could help him, at least.
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[starlingpaw.]

Starlingpaw chucked through clenched teeth. How much Howlingsong and Darkthorn would laugh at her when she got home when they heard this story! It would go down to the elders, and they then would tell her mother's kits when they are birthed. But she remembered that her parents hated her, so she felt herself shrink closer to the ground. She didn't know that her father would soon love her like normal, and she would be at peace. Right now she couldn't think about him or Howlingsong - just the battle that was about to occur. Her first battle on her first day as an apprentice! Starlingpaw gaped in awe, then turned her attention back to the two ShadowClan cats. They were bound to attack at any moment, and it looked as if Nightclaw was loosing her 'cool'. She was about to tell the tabby to cool herself down, but she caught herself just in time. She was already in a heap of trouble and would only make the situation much worse. But she said something instead, "Us, scatter-brained? Why I never!" She pretended to be surprised, and she cast a quick glance at Stagshadow with a hearty, good-natured wink. Wow. ShadowClan cats were dumb.

A couple moments later, when she was in the middle of just staring at Nightclaw while she complained her tail off, she saw the tabby she-cat shoot forward. Her face slammed down into the mud all of the sudden, causing pain to shoot up her left cheek. She heard the next meow of Nightclaw followed by Stagshadow. She decided to back her mentor up, shaking the attack off like it was a tick. The RiverClan apprentice got to her paws slowly and glared at Nightclaw, gold meeting bright blue. "How noble of you, she-cat of ShadowClan," she meowed, shoving her head to the ground and lifting her rump up in the air into a mocking bow, "to attack a RiverClan apprentice. Your Clan will now think very highly of you. After all, attacking an apprentice is nearly as great as winning a battle against a Clan leader!" Her voice was rude and smug, and she knew it. Imagine how it sounded to the ears of the tabby she-cat. She returned to her normal posture, forgetting the red tabby medicine cat apprentice in front of her. Starlingpaw stood next to her mentor, blue eyes furious, shoulders tense and locked for battle.


OOC: Sorry for the shortness :c