! crash * you're going down ] meadow&stream OPEN

[[ hardyrex ]]

ooc; Okay, here is what's going to happen:

MeadowClan is just trucking along, when StreamClan comes up.
And then we're just going make it all up from there, because that's what Crow said. c: Any Stream/Meadow cat can join, by the way. Just try and keep the numbers even, k?

It was raining.

Mother nature had the worst timing. The border scent lines needed to the renewed with StreamClan, but the clouds wanted to make sure the trip was as miserable as possible for the patrol Rabbitstep had put together. Just as soon as he set paw out of camp, a small sprinkle had started. But now that they were at the border, it was pouring. It would be easier if he was a StreamClan cat. Maybe he would enjoy the feeling of being wet then.

...nah.

The rain wasn't so bad. It was cold, but that made everything else warmer. Like Dappledflower. Or his nest. Mainly Dappledflower. But he really wished they would move a little faster. He could only take so much rain. The tabby tabby opened his mouth, drinking the scents. Maybe a StreamClan patrol would come by and renew their side.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Palepaw

The hateful rain. When she was in a nice, dry forest it wasn't so bad, but NO, their territory was mostly big dumb hills and...meadows...and whatnot. The spotted apprentice sighed. And of course, she was on patrol with THE MOST STIFF-NECKED CAT IN THE CLAN, so she couldn't even goof around to forget about it. Why did the borders even need to be checked today? Unless some StreamClanner was severely mouse-brained, they weren't going out in this. Then again, those weirdos did like water. Bleh. Fish tasted funny and swimming was disgusting. (She'd tried it only once when she was a kit, and had vowed never to touch water with more than her mouth again.) It boggled her mind how any ForestClanners could have ever joined it. She didn't know of any that had, but if they had, well, she wished them the best of luck, poor things.

....annnnnd she realized she should really pay attention, because intimidating and annoying though Rabbitstep was, she should at least try to look like she was being active and just sulking along with her tail and head down. La la la...was it getting better? No. That was her imagination. She glared up at the clouds. The deputy must not be liking this much either; that was the only good thing about it. Then she felt ashamed. Sure, he might be bossy and commanding, but that was his job, for StarClan's sake. She was just an apprentice, it wasn't her place to feel resentful and irritated. Even if she really, really, wanted to.

Even if she really really wanted to and needed to vent her stress on something.

Because...truth be told, she had other things stressing her. Darker things that just some rain and a deputy. Crowclaw. Molewhisker. Maybe even her friends.

That kind of stuff.

The scary black tom, her worries that she would never be able to please him...her heart ached whenever she thought of Molewhisker and his predicament, all alone...and Swiftpaw and Peachpaw...she wanted them all to be friends but didn't know how to do it...

Then her huge yellow eyes widened and she stopped dead in her tracks, trembling as she looked over the border through a haze of rain. A big - no, a rather large ginger tom was just sitting there, like he'd dropped from the sky. Hunched and looking at them through slitted amber eyes that (in her fanciful imagination) seemed to glow with malice.

Or maybe he was just bored or hated the rain as much as she did.

She almost unconsciously inched closer to Rabbitstep, tensing for a fight. She definitely didn't one - oh how she prayed there wouldn't be one! But better safe than sorry, and that tom looked like he could break her back with one swipe of his paw.

Redtail

All this and now rain too? Although he liked it better than his apprentice. Heck, he liked almost anything better than his apprentice. He liked MEADOWCLAN better than his apprentice.

Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. But still. Gingerpaw was pissing him off. And he wasn't about to get over it.

That's when he realized said cats from said hated Clan were before him. Only two of them, but that was enough. Even the scent would have been enough to arouse his hatred of the Clan who dwelled underground and in their stupid fields. The ones who had stolen his brother from him. His love. His one and only - okay he was sounding stupid now. Even to himself. So things must be bad. If he were another cat guessing what he'd be feeling, he'd be snorting right now.

See? Said a voice in his head. See what this has reduced you too? A pitiful wreck. Forget your brother. Forget his name. Forget he ever existed. Forget you love him.

Forget your past, Redtail. You were never Hiss. Hiss was a dream, a fantasy, a lie, a -

No!

Memories. I still have memories, the ginger tom rebelled furiously. I won't let them go, no matter how evil they are.

He remembered the MeadowClanners, remembered his apprentice beside him. And he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to fight.

Yes, it would get him in trouble. Yes, Cloudstar would kill him. He didn't care. He just wanted revenege, sweet, sweet, revenge. Revenge on the cats who had done this to him. Revenge for his pain. Revenge for injustice done to him.

"Who are you, and why are you crossing our line, trespassers?" He hissed softly but menacingly. Technically, they weren't. But hey, who could tell? The rain blurred the scents, which were old anyway.

And his blood was boiling hotter than the sun in greenleaf, just waiting to fry something.

[Pyro]

Clearly Cloudstar had it out for him. He knew Rabbitheart hated the rain. He knew that he and the annoyingly surly Redtail were on terms that bordered on being war-like in nature. And yet still he had sent the silver ticked tabby out on patrol.

Rabbitheart's fur was darkened by now with water. The stripes along his legs and tail seemed blacker than normal...He was dripping. Soaking wet right to the skin, to his bones probably. Pale, almost silver eyes glanced to the side at his clanmates. They hadn't gotten as wet as he had-yet. But then, their coats were not near as short as his. The lanky warrior held back a discontented sigh. Of all days to be sent on patrol surely this was the worst. And it was about to get even more suck-tastic.

He could not stop the sigh, almost groan, from escaping his muzzle as Redtail challenged a MeadowClan patrol. They probably wouldn't have even had to pay attention to each other, the patrols that is, if Redtail hadn't opened his mouth. "I have an idea Redtail: Let's not start a fight when it's fricking pouring rain." he muttered.

Louder he said, "Calm down, Redtail. How can you be sure they're even crossing the line?""

[[ hardyrex ]]

Rabbitstep glanced back at Palepaw, expecting her to be off in her own little world. He was right ( When was he not? ), but she wasn't acting like he expected her too. Head down with her tail dragging along behind her like a piece of grass stuck to her pelt. He frowned. "Something wrong, Palepaw? I know most cats don't like the rain, but surely--" His question was cut off by a hiss from over the border. A ginger tom, Redtail, he believed, was glaring through the rain at Palepaw and himself. But why? They weren't over the Stream/Meadow line as the tom claimed, were they? Sure, the scent was old, but not that old. A fight should be avoided in all costs; One so close to the start of Leaf-Fall wouldn't be a very good idea.

And Palepaw was scared. Or nervous. Hard to tell. But there was no way some StreamClanner was just going to waltz right over to the border and accuse him of going over the scent line. "We aren't over the border." He slide out his claws, feeling them sink into the damp earth. "Nor do we want any trouble."

More StreamClan cats, lead by a gray tom, came into view. The tabby didn't like where this was going, at all. One angry cat could make more angry cats, and they would just make angry MeadowClan cats, and that would make an angry Rabbitstep cat. And that's when the heads would role. But obviously the gray tom didn't want to fight with is comment. "You should listen to your Clanmate. We're just hear to renew the line and then go back to camp. Nothing more, nothing less."

ooc; Palepaw acts like Rabbitstep did ( minus the evil mento-- no wait, he had that too. ) when Rabbitstep was a -paw. O:

[Whiskers]

Mistystream

Mistystream was not a very good Meadowclan warrior but she was a fantastic hunter and an obedient servant, so it was natural that, though a year had gone by and she had made next to no connections in Meadowclan, she went on patrols like everyone else. She still felt like a stranger, though everyone knew her name now, but she was aching inside, wishing for the family she could never see again. And since she could never see her family, the least she wanted was to feel loyal to Meadowclan, instead of this weak obligation toward them for housing her.

So here she was, on just another patrol, when out of the blue, her loyalty was being tested for the first time. And Mistystream was surprised with how she reacted when she saw the Streamclan patrol on what might be Meadowclan's border (through the rain it was hard to tell and it had not been renewed in a lifetime). She felt...defensive. And offended when Redtail sneered. Her blue eyes narrowed into slits and she tensed, though did not move or say somethingback, though part of her-- a part long thought dead-- wanted to.

She calmed herself by moving close to Palepaw, carefully and subtly giving comfort and support to the young apprentice. The brief bout of anger had faded from her face, and she stared at Redtail without expression, though that was perhaps her warning.
--

Goosefur

Goosefur loved the rain. She could splash in puddles and as a Streamclan cat, she was used to getting wet. And Goosefur, over all, loved patrols, because they were usually pretty chill and she never had to lead one. And she had fun with the cats on it.

But today she hated the rain and she hated this patrol and it was all Redtail's fault-- the minute he sneered at Meadowclan was the minute Goosefur felt ice run in her veins. Suddenly, the rain was a whole lot colder and a lot more unpleasant.

She was lucky that Rabbitheart was here. Goosefur would have no idea what to do or how to handle Redtail. Seeing him so angry though made her upset and she wished he'd just crack a smile or something. How she wished she could make Redtail smile! Just once! Maybe a tiny giggle or something! Was that too much to ask?

Goosefur shivered, but managed to grin at Rabbitstep, the deputy of Meadowclan. "Sounds good to me, right guys?" She looked around at her fellow warriors, but they barely reacted. "Who wants to be in this rain anyway, we'll be sneezing like a kitty rolled in catnip in no time if we just stay out here chatting. So see you Meadowclanners around!" She turned on her heel and began to prance back, but no one followed her.

You're not the patrol leader, you dimwit, her thoughts chastised her. She turned back around and slid back into place among her peers. "Oooor not...." she whispered to herself. Her eyes went back down to her toes.

[/size]

[Cloud of Diamonds]

OOC: Because Puddy's gone (again) we're pretending Gingerpaw isn't there. Also, I feel sorry for Goosefur. Redtail would no more smile out of joy than the moon would fall.

BIC: All this only made him seethe more. He knew it was irrational. He knew it went against all his principles. He just wanted blood. He wanted to make someone feel the pain he had carried - and would carry - for the rest of his life.

He stared freshly sharpened, serrated daggers at Goosefur, the stupid little bouncy cat who reminded him of his own stupid apprentice, who was...somewhere. Gone, it seemed. He didn't really care.

And then it hit him like a flying boulder. He COULDN'T attack. Not when he had no solid reason. It was so very, very disappointing. It made him want to groan in agony. For once in his life, he wanted to hunt. The ginger-striped warrior really, really wanted to kill something.

Something that would give him satisfaction before it took its final breath. He snarled at Rabbitstep - and the other two, he was so angry. It didn't matter if they hadn't offended him personally. They were MeadowClanners, that was all that mattered. Redtail barely felt the rain; his anger was hotter. Much hotter. But first he must attend to his IDIOTIC Clanmate.

"Oh really, Rabbitheart? You would have us all be cowards, like you? Like your very name." He laughed cruelly. "And Goosefur, please try not to be even more mouse-brained than you already are."

Then he switched his baleful look at the little weakling, her fluffy bodyguard, and the tabby tom.

"So you claim. But MeadowClanners lie as easily as they breathe; I know one personally." He sneered. Tigertail was the biggest liar ever. "So here's my take on it; you either back off a few paces, or we attack."

Of course, he was completely forgetting that patrol leader though he might be, he had no right to order an attack.

Palepaw

She shivered, and kept on shivering. More StreamClanners. Who knew what they might do? Well, at least the silver tabby seemed okay...and the little brown tabby and white she-cat. The light gray she-cat smiled for a moment as she glanced at the warrior, because the little she-cat was so funny. She reminded the spotted apprentice of herself, a little bit.

She drew back, pressing into the soft gray fur that was Mistystream. Never had she been so glad of the rogues and kittypets that had joined her Clan. Sure, she'd been resentful of them once, but now she didn't care. They were all one in the rain, facing this strange, hostile tom.

And then she got angry. How dare he insult them like that!? HE was the one who was lying! Palepaw, timid Palepaw, scared, wet Palepaw, bared her fangs at the ginger tom. And then that anger was immediately replaced by fear. Who knew what he might do? Oh, her foolish recklessness! He might attack them just for her moment of anger...

The yellow-eyed she-cat gulped audibly.

[Pyro]

The large tom laughed off Redtail's petty attempts at ruffling his fur. There wasn't a way in hell he'd be coerced into fighting, at least not by him again. "Well Redtail, the rabbit that runs away lives another day." Rabbitheart said with a chuckle. He looked sharply at the other tom as his insulting moved on to Goosefur. Now, insults directed toward him he could bear, but toward another clanmate? And one that had never done anything to warrant such animosity? Well, he couldn't really stand for that.

But Redtail wasn't done. Oh no. The enraged warrior went on to insult MeadowClan as well. Rabbitheart had never seen a cat so intent on starting trouble. Trouble StreamClan didn't need. Who was he, in any case, to start a battle? Redtail may have been patrol leader, but he wasn't clan leader. And he certainly wasn't a cat who's orders the silver tabby was likely to obey.

"Put a rock in it, Redtail." he hissed. "The only one here who's mousebrained, is you. You can attack on your own. I'm not going to follow you into trouble's den. Not now, not ever. This whole thing is absolutely ridiculous. And maybe if you weren't so damned intent on starting something you'd see that."

[Whiskers]

Mistystream

This red-furred Streamclanner was infuriating. Every time he opened his mouth, some new piece of crowfood came out of it. It was already raining. Did this idiot have to go and make the day worse by spewing trash and insulting them with his stupidity? Even his own clanmates did not appreciate his behavior-- yet he did not stop. He kept going. And though Mistystream, for the most part, had a level head, this tom was rubbing her the wrong way.

What was stranger was that Mistystream was, in a twisted way, enjoying it. That is, the feeling of... loyalty. She felt tied to Meadowclan, personally insulted when he called Meadowclan a clan of liars. It was new and...and welcome, thinking of herself as part of the clan, something that had taken her almost a full turn of the seasons to do.

However, these feelings of loyalty were giving her a hot head too. She was always a proud cat and never one to let a tom cat push her around (her grandmother taught her better than that). So when Mistystream spoke, she spoke with the voice and the spirit of Anka-- her younger self, a self that Meadowclan was not used to.

"Or you can put your tail between your legs and run the other way, little kit," Mistystream taunted. "We do not have time for your foolishness."
--

Goosefur

Ouch. Her feelings were definitely hurt, Goosefur couldn't help it. Her eyes, which had been wide and, for the most part, optimistic, were now only wide with hurt. Her own clanmate said that to her! Sure, she was a mousebrain; she wasn't so mousebrained that she didn't know that. But it wasn't something you said. Rabbitheart, for instance, never would have called her that, but that's because he was a gentletom and he knew it wasn't a nice thing to say.

She wished she could summon up some crafty comeback, but she wasn't very clever. She only manage to gape and blink and choke out a "Hey!" and in the end, decided it was best to just ignore that big ol' grumpy pelt. He was doing nothing to help and he didn't even want to be helped. All he wanted was to fight.

"Y'know, I think we'd all feel much better if we just got out of the rain," she muttered, kicking at a rock with her front paw, only to slide on the mud gathering underneath her paws. She nearly fell on her chin, but quickly regained composure-- glancing around at the others, she didn't think anyone saw. No one was paying attention to her anyway.

[/size]

[Cloud of Diamonds]

This was it. This was the last straw. He'd tried. He'd exerted every ounce of self-control he possessed. (Which admittedly wasn't much, when it came down to the wire.) But he didn't care anymore. Let them punish him. Let them sentence him to whatever menial jobs they would. He would unleash the fury that so longed to exert itself in his claws and rip, slash, wound...

With a yowl, he leapt upon the fluffy gray she-cat, forcing her and the apprentice on her into the wet, cold dirt. He could hear their gasps of breath, see the fury - and on the little one's face - shock and fear in their filthy eyes. He pressed his claws into the mottled fur beneath him, delighting in the pain he caused, the pain that had been inflicted upon so many moons ago urging him to take revenge on something, anything.

His amber eyes were filled with madness, his drenched classic tabby pelt bushed out, his grin a terrible grin of power, of lust for revenge.

Snarling now, he swiped four shallow red lines in the gray she-cat's fur, and bit the apprentice's ear, then laughed, a creepy, tortured laugh that spoke of a cat driven to the edge - and possibly beyond - of insanity.

"Come get me! Hurt me back! I don't care. One of your cats has hurt me beyond repair already. There's nothing more you can do to me. I could use a fight. And tell Sna...Tigertail that his brother says hello."

Still he crouched, pinning the smaller she-cats with his heavy size, waiting for their companion to fight him.

Palepaw

Suffocation.

Well, she could still breathe, but it wasn't easy. It must be even harder for Mistystream - she was under this abominable tom and herself.

This abominable, mouse-brained, idiotic, horrible, insane, nasty, piece of foxdung StreamClanner.

The apprentice didn't pray much, but she was sending all her thoughts to StarClan, taking back everything unpleasant she'd ever thought about Rabbitstep (although, it wasn't that much) and fervently begging that they let him kick the tail end of this odious tom.

Who had just bitten her ear.

Rage and pain burned through her paralyzation and fear, but she was so thoroughly disabled and had had the wind knocked out of her that it was all she could do to writhe under him weakly.

[[ hardyrex ]]

This was going nowhere. His pelt was wet, the rain was wet, the ground was wet, and he was pretty sure his Clanmates were wet. At this rate, they would all have a nasty cold before this pointless argument was over. Mistystream wasn't helping the problem at all. The best thing to do in this current situation is to swallow their pride and just leave. After all, Palepaw would have a hard time standing against Warriors, and there were only himself and Mistystream that would be able to put up a good fight. MeadowClan can wait to renew its borders another day.

He hadn't even started to tell his patrol to stand down before a yowl hit the air, and Redtail launched himself over to Mistystream and Palepaw, pinning them both. It only took mere moments for Rabbistep's fur to fluff out and for him to dash over to his pinned Clanmates. The thrill of battle, after so many moons of peaces, came rushing back as the tan tabby leaped toward the red tom, grabbing onto the tom's fur with his claws and flipped both of them over onto the ground. It wasn't a very effective move in terms of damage, but it prevented Redtail from hurting himself and his clanmates even more. "Have you got crazy?" Rabbitstep hissed, scrambling to his paws and lashing his tail.

ooc; This is my first ever cat fight. Huh.