Keeping the Clans Alive {An Advanced Warriors RP} discussion

{Roleplay}
Thicker than the ThunderClan forest, the trees are shorter here, mostly pine, and grow thick and close. The ground is often covered in moss and undergrowth and is shadowed by the tree branches and leaves above.

Padding into the woods, Spiderpaw looked around for any small collections of fresh moss, easily slipping into the shadows with his black pelt, searching without much concern for Pricklepaw. He was used to exploring with Sootpaw, and they had always looked out for themselves. There was an unspoken rule: if caught, run for your life back to the nursery. Apprentices' den now, he reminded himself.

This was Pricklepaw's first time truly being out in the forest, her eyes flicking left to right and back again, trying to take it all in. Her pelt helped her blend in with her surroundings, but her paws kept breaking twigs, and sending leaves into a wild crackle. She stood still for a moment, watching the way Spiderpaw moved before carrying on, placing her paws much more carefully this time.

Spiderpaw sighed as he heard a leaf crackle under Pricklepaw's paws, and turned around to face her, hissing quietly, "You need to step around and keep your paws to the dirt. Use your paws as you lift them up to brush leaves and twigs aside to clear space." Remembering Deadfeather's advice to him, he echoed it, proud that he had remembered it, and had taught his less-stealthy sister the trick.

Pricklepaw bit back a retort, knowing her brother was only trying to help her. Its my first time you mouse brain! she thought angrily, glaring at the tip of Spiderpaw's tail. Even though she was angry, she still heeded his advice. Her progress became slower, her steps and movements more calculated as she became comfortable with this way of slinking through the forest.

Searching, Spiderpaw crept up on a bundle of moss, scraping it off with his small claws, until he had collected it into a small heap. "Would this be enough?" he asked Pricklepaw quietly.

Pricklepaw padded up beside him, looking down at the moss he had collected. "Are we getting it just for us? Or for Sootpaw too?" she asked. The cruel part of her wanting to leave Sootpaw out.

"We should get some for Sootpaw," Spiderpaw said, turning the moss over to look for any bugs that might nip at them in their sleep. "She might thank us," he added, pointedly. While he had often fallen out with both of his sisters over his temper, he had learned exactly how to make it up to them. Sootpaw liked to be the centre of attention, and Pricklepaw simply seemed to like his company. They would be closer now, as apprentices, curled up together. Until he ruined that again.

Pricklepaw rolled her eyes, she knew that Spiderpaw was going to say that. She began scraping some more moss into the pile, letting Spiderpaw deal with the bugs and such. "I think that should be enough," she said, looking down at the pile of moss with pride. It felt good to actually be doing something to help the Clan, even if in this case it was really only to help her and her litter mates.

"You realise you might even train with Sootpaw," Spiderpaw mewed, checking around them for any stray ShadowClan cats that might catch them. "Though.. Do leaders and deputies usually stay out of camp at the same time?" he questioned, trying to remember.

Rowanheart walked over to where the dirtplace tunnel ended and was immediately was hit by the scent. He backed away and soon found the one's he had been searching for: Pricklepaw and Spiderpaw. He followed their scents and soon faintly heard talking. They hadn't strayed far from the camp, but still had left without permission. Slowly edging closer, he started looking for trees with low hanging branches. Once he found a sturdy branch a few fox-lengths from the siblings, but within hearing distance, he quietly jumped up and crouched in wait.

"I'll probably always be training with Sootpaw," Pricklepaw replied, her voice carrying a hint of anger, "Rainstar and Rowanheart have to take care of the Clan, that's their first priority, so I bet we'll get passed along to other warriors pretty often. And if Rowanheart's taking me out, Rainstar will probably ask to have Sootpaw join us and the other way around too."

Spiderpaw considered it, utterly unaware of Rowanheart's presence as he pawed at the moss. "Sootpaw isn't terrible," he mewed, deliberating - he had always been the meaner of the two, but Sootpaw was so caught up in her dreams and curiosity that she often forgot that she even had littermates. Even him. "Deadfeather might be able to get you to join us for training."

Rowanheart narrowed his eyes as he watched. They were collecting moss. He considered letting them get back to camp unaware that he was ever there, but quickly sent the thought away. They needed to learn not to be out of camp without supervision or protection, should danger find them. Rowanheart then thought about what Pricklepaw was saying. She was right, he supposed. There was always something to be done in the Clan, and he would often have to get someone else to help train her. That cat would preferably be Rainstar, but he could tell that Pricklepaw was not much of a fan of her sister Sootpaw. She would have to learn to get along with her, but he also understood the need to stay away from cats that could potentially set your temper off, too. When it seemed they were about ready to head back, another thought flashed into his head. At this, he quickly jumped down from the tree he had been hiding in, purposely making noise. But before they could turn around, he silently made his way back to the camp without detection.

Pricklepaw's tail flicked with annoyance when Spiderpaw defended Sootpaw, she'd never been close with Sootpaw and now felt it was too late to build that bridge. "She's not terrible. But... I don't know, she's a bit much for me sometimes," she admitted with a shrug, "And I don't want to take away from your training Spiderpaw." Her head spun around, all her senses on alert to try to figure who or what had just made the noise behind them. "What was that?" she hissed, her fur on edge.

"According to her, she'll be leader one day - then she really will be too much for you," Spiderpaw purred, amused, collecting up as much moss as possible, before his ears pricked and his hackles raised. "I'm not sure.. Let's get back to camp. Quickly!" he mewed, picking up the moss, trotting around where the noise had originated, in case it was.. well, he was unsure of what it was, but he felt a need to avoid it.

Pricklepaw cringed at the idea of Sootpaw being leader, that would be unbearable. I'd have to become a loner or join another Clan if that ever happens, she thought glumly, picking up the rest of the moss. She trotted after Spiderpaw, alert for any more sounds that would the return of whatever had been watching them.

((I'll post in camp.))

"So, what do you know about ThunderClan?" Rowanheart asked as he stepped over a twig. He didn't want to waste time going over information they already knew.

"Who's their leader?" Spiderpaw asked, his tone gloomy but intrigued - knowing about your enemies was the start of defeating them. Deadfeather had told his kits that when he and Sootpaw had been pretending to fight.

Deadfeather padded after Rowanheart, keeping a close eye on the two apprentices to ensure that they did not fall behind, and so that they would pay attention to what the deputy said. Pricklepaw would do her best, he was sure of that, mostly since she was Rowanheart's own apprentice.

"Thornstar. Anything else you want to know before you answer my question?" Didn't these apprentices listen? He had asked them a question, not given them an invitation to ask one. But he tried not to get too worked up, knowing he had probably done the same thing.

Pricklepaw padded along beside Spiderpaw, listening intently, not wanting to miss anything. "They hunt squirrels and mice more often then any of the other clans," she offered, hoping this information was correct. She knew from asking the elders that RiverClan ate fish, WindClan ate hares, and ThunderClan ate squirrels and mice.

"Yes they do. That's about the only thing there is to catch on their side of the stream, besides birds and the occasional rabbit." Rowanheart tried to slow his pace to the apprentices' so that they wouldn't fall behind.

Pricklepaw's tail swished happily, her day made by the fact that she'd been right. "They also aren't good fighting in the open, right? Because their so used to being surrounded by brush?" Not as confident in these statements so she posed them as more of questions. Although she seemed to dislike having to spend time with the elders, she secretly loved hearing their gossip and stories because they knew so much about everything.

"I only wanted to check," Spiderpaw grumbled beneath his breath, earning a swift thwack over the ears, for his attitude towards the deputy, from his mentor. He could feel Deadfeather's eyes glaring into the back of his head. "Acornbelly said that they are the Clan of kittypets and climbing," he mewed, "Because they used to take a lot of kittypets in, and their trees are better to climb than ours," he added, looking at Rowanheart.

Deadfeather nudged Pricklepaw on the back, pleased with her contribution and knowledge - he was pleased that his kits listened to the elders, or at least these two did.

"Actually," Rowanheart started, "they fight just as well in the open, but probably feel a lot more comfortable in the woods. And they are definitely not a group of kittypets. They are a very respectable clan, and although they do tend to take in kittypets and loners, they still stick to the warrior code and for the most part try to be friendly to all the clans. They are also very loyal and fierce. But you are right about climbing. Their trees have more branches and they will sometimes use them in an attack." Rowanheart was silently impressed with what Pricklepaw knew about ThunderClan. He had not expected either of them to know much.

Pricklepaw shot a quick glance back at Deadfeather, glad that she had impressed both of the older toms. "I was wondering too," she softly murmured to Spiderpaw, wanting to make him feel better.

Spiderpaw huffed, but said no more, watching his paws crackle leaves beneath his feet to calm himself down. Why are my sisters always so much better than me? he wondered, envious, and boiling with some resentment.

Deadfeather nodded to Pricklepaw, proud, and then looked to Rowanheart, "I think that is all that they have heard," he mewed, nudging Spiderpaw to make him catch up as he began lagging behind.

Rowanheart noticed that Spiderpaw was dragging behind a bit. "Alright. What are some things you'd like to know about ThunderClan?" He tried to wrap things up, knowing that they were getting close to the border.

"Is it true that they usually lose to us in fights?" Spiderpaw asked - his primary focus was knowing if he could win in a fight against other Clans, for ShadowClan, of course. His sisters were less fierce and fight-obsessed than him, but he took after his father in his pride for his Clan, to the extent of confrontation.

Rowanheart thought about the question before answering. "It all depends. Sometimes we win and other times ThunderClan does. They might have more warriors during one battle, causing them to win, or we might have a better battle strategy, causing them to lose." He thought it wasn't the best question to ask. It didn't really matter how many times they had won in the past, but how they were going to do in the seasons to come.

Spiderpaw dipped his head, thinking about other questions that he could ask, but struggled. "Are they a big Clan?" he finally asked, becoming a little less gloomy as he ran to catch up with the deputy, padding alongside him to hear him better.

"No, not really. They're about the same as us." Both ThunderClan and ShadowClan had many warriors and apprentices. Neither was quite as big as WindClan, but both were larger than RiverClan. Most of the Clans were almost equal in the number of cats.

"Oh. I doubt they have as many apprentices as us," Spiderpaw mewed - ShadowClan did have quite a few apprentices - it was crowded, he was already aware from one night, in the apprentices' den. "Will we see them at the border often on patrols?" Then he quickly added, "Do they come into our territory much?"

Pricklepaw let her brother do the talking, noticing that the attention he was receiving was brightening his mood. She was okay with a taking a backseat on this one. She'd have all the time in the world to ask Rowanheart questions about not only ThunderClan, but WindClan and RiverClan too.

"No, they definitely don't have as many apprentices as us." Rowanheart could almost see the border in the distance. The trees were starting to change from pine to spruce and maple.

"There's so much more light here," Pricklepaw murmured, not used to so much sunlight coming through the canopy of trees. She decided she didn't like, she preferred the darkness of the pine trees to the airy, openness of whatever kinds of tree these were. "What kind of trees are these?" she asked Rowanheart.

Spiderpaw looked around at the trees, wondering if he could answer Pricklepaw's question, but he could not recognise them on sight, nor scent. It was new for him, having never gone out this far into the forest, but at the same time it was familiar. "We have a lot of apprentices," he observed, deciding not to embarrass himself.

"Mainly maple, oak, and birch. Their leaves fall off the trees during leaf-fall, while most of ours stay on."

Larkstorm slipped into the piney forest, grateful for a reprieve from clan life, even if for a moment. She lifted her head with her eyes closed and inhaled the scent of pine needles and bark.
It's a gorgeous day. I wonder what the other clans are doing?
She set off at a trot, scenting the air from prey. A cool breeze curled around her paws and ruffled her fur in a pleasant way. Larkstorm spotted a frog and crouched down instantly, but it was too aware of its surroundings and swam away into a creek. Larkstorm muttered a curse under her breath but refused to let that spoil her good mood.

Larkstorm padded through the trees until she reached the edge of the tree line. She sat down on the pebbly shore and wrapped her tail around her paws, watching the lake birds wheeling high above the lake. She spotted a squirrel in the corner of her eye creeping along the edge, probably searching for hazelnuts. Larkstorm slid into a crouch and pulled herself along the ground towards it. She was grateful that her multicolored pelt blended into the rocks. With a leap, she landed on the squirrel and sank her teeth into its neck, killing it instantly. Larkstorm sat up satisfactorily.

Spotting Larkstorm, Sootpaw waited for the warrior to make the kill before she padded over, trying to sneak up on her, though the wind curled her scent to drift towards the she-cat. Not realising that the direction of the wind in its gentle breeze, the young apprentice took a quiet step forward, and then pounced.

Lakrstorm sidestepped with ease and playfully rolled the apprentice over.
"Stalking skills need some improvement if you can't stay downwind," she teased as she let Sootpaw up. She buried her squirrel and sag back on her haunches.
"Would you like a lesson?"

Sootpaw rolled onto her back, then quickly got to her paws to hide her vulnerable belly. "I thought I was downwind," she mewed, confused as she tilted her head and tried to work out the direction. "Yes, please!" she enthusiastically said, wanting to learn how to perfect her techniques.

Larkstorm purred at her enthusiasm.
"Well, I don't want to encroach on your mentor' teaching, but I guess a little lesson couldn't hurt, right?" She tilted her head and tasted the air.
"First off, you need to know upwind from downwind. Can you tell me the difference?"

Mistshadow slipped through the brush, his ears pricking as the she-cat's voices reached him. But he kept his attention on the scent of prey, his tail tip flicking back and forth. Can those two keep it down a little? he thought with slight annoyance as all the prey he'd been smelling seemed to disappear.

"Rainstar is busy - and I want to learn everything, from every cat!" Sootpaw mewed, swatting a paw over her muzzle to get rid of a few pieces of leaf. "We are downwind now, so.. upwind is.." she paused, staying still and feeling the breeze in her pelt. "That way," she pointed with her nose, not realising that Mistshadow was near yet.

Larkstorm purred.
"Good! Imagine the wind is at your back. There is a rabbit a few paces away in the direction you are facing. Are you in a good position?"
She noticed Mishshadow in the corner of her eye but ignored him, focusing on her charge.