Keeping the Clans Alive {An Advanced Warriors RP} discussion

{Roleplay}
Not as dense as woods, the forest contains tall trees and thick undergrowth and covers almost all of ThunderClan's territory.

Flamewhisker bounded into the forest, though kept an ear pricked for any sounds and her nose sniffing to detect any hint of a scent of a different Clan. Finding nothing, she turned to her hunting patrol, and flicked her tail side-to-side. "Tigerpool, Sparrowtail, I'd like you both to keep a look out. Scorchpaw, Sparrow-wing, hunt, but stick close by us. If you go too far and find any fresh scents or hear any other cats, call for us immediately," she mewed, not used to giving orders, but trying to feign confidence, especially in front of Tigerpool and Sparrow-wing. I will keep look out as well, and then Sparrowtail and I can swap with you. We need as much prey as possible!"

Scorchpaw let them spread out, and started searching for any prey scents. Soon he found a mouse at the bottom of a tree and got downwind He crouched down and slowly moved toward it, pouncing when he was a couple tail-lengths away. Swiftly killing it, he buried it where it had been and began looking again.

Tiger pool's shoulder was getting sore, so he mewed, "I'll take that back for you, Scorchpaw. It's feeling a little sore anyway." He padded over to where the mouse had been hidden, and dug it up. He bent down, feeling stupid, and began to walk back. Mouse-brain! he thought, stopping in his tracks. You need to keep lookout! He shook his head, buried the mouse again, and bounded back to Flamespirit. "Sorry about that," he meowed. "Where should I stand?"

Sparrowtail nodded at Flamespirit's word, happy to keep watch for any threats to her clanmates. She saw Tigerpool angling towards Scorchpaw, knowing that her brother would be able to keep the young apprentice safe. So she just stayed in relatively the middle of the hunting patrol, her ears pricked, all her senses alert.

Sparrow-wing nodded at Flamespirit and padded away, he searched for a while then found a crow pecking at a bush. He snuck up on the crow and pounced on it. He slit it's throat with his claw. He dug a hole and buried his crow he quickly padded of, but didn't find anything.

"I'll keep watch from above," Tigerpool said. He dug his claws into a tree and hauled himself up. He stood on the lowest bough. He was a large warrior, but kept his balance and kept the branch relatively steady. He leapt to the next tree, following the patrol. "Up here!" he mewed,flicking his tail. "I'll stay up here, so as not to alert prey."

Flamewhisker sat a way away from Sparrowtail and where Tigerpool lurked in the trees, her nose raised to the air to sniff for scents. Watching Sparrow-wing's catch, she flicked her tail, containing her happiness that he was joining her on the patrol, and then returned to her duty of keeping look-out. They needed as much prey as possible - and as much safety as possible.

Crow scuttled as quietly as he could across the forest floor. He was really risk-taking here. Usually, when he entered the Clan territories in search for food, he was with a group. That didn't guarantee his victory of course, or ensure he was getting food... but he had always felt safety in numbers rather than by himself when it came to the Clan cats. Sure some were friendlier than what kittypets predicted... but that didn't mean they were pleasant to rogues.

However, his ribs were beginning to poke out of his sleek pelt and there seemed to be no food no matter where he looked... at least none that didn't get stolen by bigger cats. Drastic times called for drastic measures and he decided to hunt in ThunderClan, finding it the easiest place to hunt. He wasn't in the open like in WindClan, wasn't in nasty marshy ground like in ShadowClan, and wasn't required to swim like in RiverClan. It was perfect for him.

Spotting a mouse, he immediately perked up. He would be in and out faster than he first believed. Going into an expert hunting crouch, he silently approached the mouse, making sure to blend in with the shadows of the trees... waited a few heartbeats before he struck. With a sharp nip to the neck, the mouse was dead and Crow was ready to take his leave.

"Hey!" Tigerpool called, spotting a skinny black rogue hidden among the trees. "What do you think you're doing?" Growling softly, he slid his claws out and began to pad closer to the cat. As he neared he could smell prey-scent. "Hey!'' he called again, more to the other cats. "It's stealing our prey!"

' Mouse-dung' Crow thought, muscles tightening. Glancing at the tom on his side, he could tell by his size it was a trained warrior... and he probably had friends. Noticing he was still a few paces away, Crow decided to take his luck. Tightening his jaws around the catch, he streaked off, weaving around trees in an unpredictable pattern in the hopes to leave them, his heart pounding.

Flamewhisker (previously Flamespirit, I've edited her name!) heard Tigerpool's call and looked towards him, confused until he explained. Bounding over, she sniffed the air for a scent before she spotted the lurking cat fleeing. "Tigerpool, stay there!" she called, though really wanting the wounded warrior's help, giving chase to the unidentified cat.

Tigerpool was ready to leap at the shadow, muscles bound, claws unsheathed. Flamewhisker called to him, and he sighed. A little scratch and they think you're an elder, he thought sadly, though he knew deep down that his shoulder wound was not just a scratch. Even now he could feel it burn, realizing that he must have strained it too hard. "Sparrowtail!" he called to his sister. "I'm going to head back to camp. My shoulder's starting to hurt again, and I'll need to get back to report to Featherpelt."

Sparrowtail tensed when she heard the yowls of her clanmates, her thoughts instantly going to Tigerpool. She opened her mouth to call out to him in panic just as she heard her name called. He's okay, she thought with a sigh of relief. "Sounds good," she called back, scenting the air for a trace of Scorchpaw. She didn't want to leave the young tom out in the forest on his own, knowing that Flamewhisker would be able to handle a mangy little rogue on her own.

Crow glanced back at the she-cat chasing him, cursing his rotten luck. He continued to weave along, the mouse in his jaws becoming increasingly hard to hold onto, but he refused to let go. Deciding to take his chances, he latched onto a tree branch and began to scramble up. He knew that some of the cats in the forest still haven't mastered the art of tree-climbing and he hoped she was one of them. Even if she was, she wouldn't risk falling down and fighting him just to get a mouse, right?

Flamewhisker raced after the unknown cat, skidding to a halt when she spotted the black cat climb a tree. She paused only for a moment before deciding not to try it. She had climbed trees in the past, but she didn't feel safe attempting to fight a cat when off of the ground. "Get off our territory!" she yowled up at him, "The prey that runs in this part of the forest belongs to ThunderClan!"

Gently setting the mouse down on the thick part of the tree branch he was on, he glared down at her, tail swishing. Honestly, how arrogant were these cats? Sure, they knew how to fight, but does that give them the right to all of the forest. Snarling down at her, he spat, "You think you cats are the only ones hungry or starving? Other cats got to eat, you know. You Clan cats have a plethora of food all around, yet you only share it with yourselves." He knew that their was minimal food for Clan cats as well... but they didn't have to scrape around in garbage like he did.

"This is our territory - get your own territory if you want to stake a claim to prey," Flamewhisker responded. She disliked confrontations, but she needed to defend ThunderClan's territory to the last heartbeat. She did prefer this though - attempting to educate the intruder rather than fight him off. "ThunderClan fought for the right to hunt on this territory for so many moons. There is plenty more land away from the Clans!"

"Pray to tell me how you half of the Clans got their members in the past? Right. Rogues and loners. Without us, the Clans wouldn't have been able to even stand on their feet. Your survival tactics would be nothing," Crow said smugly, his eyes crinkling as he leered down at her. He knew the stories of the Clans. When he had been a kit, several cats had passed by the farm, including a few banished warriors. They told him and his siblings all the stories, and while he had been impressed, he was convinced some of it was mouse-dung. Starry dead cats visiting? Really? Nine lives? Feh. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't throw it back in this she-cats face, "Who says we don't get a part in this forest like the rest of you? And pray tell where the other land is? Have you seen land not dominated by Twolegs? I would love to know."

"The Clans were brought together from rogues and loners, and that was many, many moons ago," Flamewhisker replied, "We are separate from them now through our hard work, our teamwork, and our defending of our territory. "Clans need larger areas of territory than single cats. If you want territory, you'll find it, big enough for you, big enough for a whole family. Past the Twolegplace. A sunrise's journey in any direction will find you free territory," she called up to him, recalling the words of the elders. Twolegplaces were large and horrifying, but there were always places left untouched.

"How honorable," Crow said cynically. He had to admit, he was impressed by the she-cats witty argument but that didn't mean he couldn't fight back, "Pray tell me how you believe we rogues who have no cats to support us would SURVIVE such a trip? Our ribs poke out of our pelt! We have no stamina, no means of survival. Prey is not good in the Twolegplace."

The flame-pelted she-cat considered his question, and shook her head to get rid of the image of starving cats making that journey. "I don't know. My duty is to ThunderClan," she meowed, though an edge of sadness leaked into her voice. "I cannot help you. I can only suggest alternatives to intruding on Clan territories and picking fights with our warriors."

He heard the sadness in her mew and his look softened a bit. After all, this she-cat had never known any different from what she was taught. He couldn't fault her too much for that. In her world, he was being a thief, so he could emphasize a bit, but he meowed, "No, you don't understand what it is like. I understand your codes, but I refuse to let my catch go. I will wait up here all night if I have too." He realized how frustrating he was being, but he refused to give up his hard earned catch just because it disagreed with Clan cat rules.

Flamewhisker hesitated. She could continue plaguing the intruder until he left, but by then the prey would be useless, too stale to sustain any cat's hunger. But if she let him go, was she betraying the warrior code? She ran through the code. Challenge all trespassing cats. She was challenging the tom. Prey was to be eaten. But he would not give thanks to StarClan. It would be a waste though. Conflicted on whether she was truly challenging the tom, Flamewhisker finally called, "If you will leave our territory now, I will walk away. You can keep your prey, but do not hunt on ThunderClan's territory again."

Crow blinked in surprise at that, not expecting this she-cat to be so diplomatic. He grimaced at her words and said, "We rouges and loners have some honor in us to... and one of those codes is to not make promises we can't keep. However, since you are being fair and diplomatic, I will do something for you in return, that is, if you want it."

Flamewhisker considered his words, scuffing a paw at the earth as she kept her ears pricked for the noise of any of her Clanmates. "I don't know what I could want in return," she mewed, "Do you have anything in mind?" All she truly wanted was to solve the dispute before any of her Clanmates were injured when it was not necessary. She wasn't sure how the Clan would react to her letting him go.

Twitching his whiskers, he slowly made his way down, mouse still in his jaws. He wanted to show he was willing to be level with her. Trying his best to match her size (despite still being scrawnier and smaller than her), he set the mouse down and said, "As a loner and/or rogue, I move around a lot... see a lot of cats, hear a lot of things... and it so happens I have tabs on the rogue band that you guys hate so much. HOWEVER, I want unrestricted hunting rights to part of this territory without having to worry about getting my pelt ripped off by your Clanmates. After all, I am risking my life to give you this info, surely you could be fair back?" His tail formed a question mark as he said this, eyes glinting mischeviously.

((You got it. I deleted the above, asides your comment there, to keep it tidy :) ))

Flamewhisker remained still, her muscles tensing as he descended down the tree, prepared to defend herself if he attacked her. When he set the mouse down, she only partially relaxed. "No," she mewed, the moment he stopped talking. "I cannot agree to that, and I don't think ThunderClan will agree either," she told him, as much as she wanted the information to help her Clan.

((That is fine!))

Crow felt his whiskers twitch, a little peeved his oh-so-brilliant plot did not end the way he did. He supposed he would still have to face harassment if he wanted to eat, but at least he didn't lose anything. Things were the same as always. In fact, he should be happy this she-cat was being cordial enough to let him go... and he could see the loyalty in her eyes.

He was about to pick up the mouse, but before he did, he looked the she-cat in the eyes and said, "I thank you for this, and while my words may not mean much, you are very loyal to your Clan. You were what I envisioned as a kit when I heard of honorable warriors. Good luck..."

Then he picked up his mouse, and with a swish of his tail bolted off.

Flamewhisker watched him, unsure of whether she had truly done the right thing. Listening to his words, she brightened visibly, swishing her tail happily. "Thank you," she mewed, about to ask his name when he ran off, leaving only his scent trail. Keen not to scare him away, hoping that perhaps their meeting might help her Clan if he ever ended up in a confrontation, Flamewhisker stayed where she was, and after a while raced back to her Clanmates.