Singed Feathers and Fowl Flames. (Falcon+Fire)

[Whiskers]

Firepaw smiled as he finished off the last of the vole with his new friend. He was looking forward to when Mistpelt could finally be in power, and this nightmare would go away. His life would be the way it should be again. Well, sort of. At least he finally had a friend he could train with, though his warrior ceremony was approaching very quickly and Falconpaw's apprenticeship was just beginning. It was really too bad, Firepaw thought. If only Falconpaw could have been born sooner. He would have been a fun kit to play with too.

"Haha, you got that right. Though with her attitude, I don't know if the dark forest will take her," Firepaw continued to joke. "Who wants a cat like HER chatting away for all eternity?" He snickered and lashed his tail. His anger was still there, ruffling his pelt up. He could joke all he wanted, but deep inside, all he really wanted to do was send Frostpaw to the Dark Forest himself.

"I don't even know what my brother sees in her," he blurted out. Once again, he felt the need to express every thought, every complaint. If not, he would certainly explode and Falconpaw would definitely agree, right? "Can you imagine padding after a she-cat like her? And he's a medicine cat..."

Now, Firepaw would never admit it-- never, ever-- but he was actually jealous of Frostpaw, and that's where most (not all, but most) of his fury was coming from. He wanted Finchpaw to be so "interested" in him too, like in the old days, when Finchpaw stuck to his side.

"But hmph...nothing to do but save him from his crazy self. Should we go tell Mistpelt now or...when?"

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[Cloud of Diamonds]

Falconpaw laughed cruelly as the tom imagined Frostpaw's fate. He didn't know her that well, even. But he knew she opposed StarClan and was cynical and bad and Firepaw didn't like her. So who cared about the details? That was all that mattered. (Ogeez Finch would hate him for this.)

His dark-striped face split into a grin as he said, "Yeah. She should be tossed into some noiseless void or something."

Yet Firepaw seemed more than just happy at mocking the pale she-cat...he seemed angry, almost. Perhaps he just thinking of how sinful she was, and like him, could not wait for her to be punished by Mistpelt.

He nodded, mischief in his amber eyes as the apprentice said, "Yeah. There are loadsa other she-cats besides her." Falconpaw was surprised by his slight speaking slip. How unusual.

Once the ginger tom had asked him the question, he replied, "Yeah, it's kinda forbidden, isn't it? And yeah, if he were normal, he wouldn't do it." This was quite entertaining, poking fun at filthy non-believers. Another speaking slip, though...was this becoming a habit?

He was jolted by the older cat's last statement. Tell Mistpelt? But of course...he'd suggested telling somecat in the first place. It was a good idea, to speak now, so that when the time came punishment would be waiting for Frostpaw by the claws of StarClan and their future leader.

"Yes. Now, I think. That way Frostpaw's punishment can be immediate when Mistpelt takes over."

The tabby smirked. How cunning he was not becoming.

OOC: Apologies for shortness.

[Whiskers]

"Probably will be too," Firepaw replied lazily. "I don't see Mistpelt wasting time with all those sinners. Frostpaw will be number one on the list. It's too bad we have to wait so long though, huh?"

If anything, Firepaw just wanted it to be done with now. Have Frostpaw put into place so Finchpaw could return to his senses. How would Mistpelt do it, Firepaw thought. Huh. He had never actually envisioned the punishments. Would she make her guard the camp for nights on end? That would be torture in this cold weather. He grinned a bit, featuring Frostpaw shivering her tail off. But was that enough to get her to repent?

A lot of the times, she didn't even do the punishments administered. She didn't get mouse bile for the elders, didn't remove their ticks. Didn't help the medicine cats get herbs-- and that was really dull for sure, but with her precious Finchpaw, Firepaw would have thought that she would have done that one. So what was to keep her from skipping out on that too?

Hmmph, whatever. Mistpelt would find a way to enforce her punishment or Frostpaw would just have to pay more. He turned his attention back to Falconpaw and decided to get his opinion on the matter.

"How do you think Mistpelt will do it? Punish Frostpaw I mean-- or, well, Finchpaw or any other sinners?"

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[Cloud of Diamonds]

The question took him by surprise. He'd been going along smoothly, not having to think too much, just nodding and agreeing with what the older apprentice said. The tom had replied "yeah" when Firepaw said it was too bad they had to wait so long.

His natural instinct was to snap and say he didn't know, but things were different now. Now, he merely looked away and began to think, suppressing his initial reaction.

Birchtail's son tried to imagine himself as the ivory deputy. If he were her, in that position, with that power, with those goals...what would he do? Purity, cleanliness of soul, acceptance of faith, and redemption. The four pillars on the pathway to spiritual relief, or so his mother had said. How to cover all four with one punishment? And of course, there was also the matter of making it painful for Frostpaw, making her not just want to endure it, but want to turn her back on her heathen ways...

The apprentice blinked and drew back as if considering whether to jump into the river. He was not, but in a sense he was hesitant to plunge into the river of his mind. He fully appreciated now what a difficult job Mistpelt must have.

But slowly the wisps of thought started to form themselves into tendrils of ideas...and thus those became possible ideas for punishment. He thought for minutes, and finally felt like he had a good enough punishment for the she-cat, a plan almost worthy of Mistpelt herself.

Beginning to grin as he said it, Falconpaw spoke.

"I think...I think the best way to punish Frostpaw would be to have Finchpaw be forced to watch it all. Double torture. Frostpaw would be made to gather moss all of one day, then clear out all the Clan's bedding the next. Then, she would have to sit outside all of one night. After that, she would be forced to hunt under supervision, which would be Finchpaw and Rowanheart, isn't that perfect? So that way Finchpaw would have to watch her do all the hunting and he wouldn't get to do any, and if either of them slipped up or tried to conspire together or escape, he could stop them."

By the end of his little speech, the brown-striped FogClanner was smiling like a demented fox.

[Whiskers]

Huh. Firepaw had to hand it to Falconpaw for one thing-- that Finchpaw idea. Firepaw hadn't even thought about his brother, forgot all about his punishment. It was probably better that way, better to ignore the fact that Finchpaw would eventually have to suffer to. Firepaw shifted, so uncomfortable with that. It was...his brother. His brother! Finchpaw! That little old tyke that used to ask why he killed beetles and butterflies, the tiny one who went along with all his antics! Okay, not all of them. Most of their shenanigans had been a joint effort.

So it was sort of weird imagining his brother in a different light, grouping him with cats Firepaw considered evil. He wasn't evil, wasn't...bad. Just a sinner. Always was a sinner. But wait, didn't that make him bad? Awrgh, that kind of thinking was confusing the fiery apprentice's brain. Finchpaw was too harmless, too soft. It didn't add up.

Buuut, he was a sinner and he did need to get punished and Firepaw happened to like the idea of getting Finchpaw to watch Frostpaw's punishment. That could work for both of them. But Firepaw didn't like the actual punishment Falconpaw had come up for her. She wouldn't do it, she would just skip out on it like everything else.

"I like part of it, but Frostpaw never does those sort of punishments. She just ignores the order and does her own thing. Maybe... hey," An idea sprung into Firepaw's mind. He was initially against it, because of Finchpaw again, but he just swallowed those annoying brotherly urges. "You know how you said Finchpaw would watch Frostpaw? And I know, this might be a lil' crazy, but what if we switch it? Would Frostpaw do stuff then? I don't know how much she like...cares about my brother-- she might still be putting on some kind of act, trying to worm her way into his head-- but if she at least cares for him a tiny bit, she might actually do it. She has a heart, even if it's corrupted."

"Of course, we wouldn't HAVE to switch the roles. We could just threaten-- i mean, not we, but uh, Mistpelt-- could just threaten Finchpaw if Frostpaw didn't do her punishment. And also, I think sitting out in the cold is the worst punishment. All that other stuff isn't so bad. She should have to sit in the cold for three nights instead."

There. His thoughts weren't the most organized, true, and he could probably have said it better. But overall Firepaw thought that might actually work. Now if only the guilt would go away...

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[Cloud of Diamonds]

It was genius! Brilliance. Perhaps, if they tweaked it a bit and told it to Mistpelt, she might actually accept it and use it on Frostpaw and if she did... oh, he'd be ever so proud of himself and Birchtail would be proud of him too...

Of course, he was a little let down by Firepaw's information about Frostpaw. Not that he was surprised, it was just like her to slack off vital duties. HE did all hid duties perfectly (by his standards) even if it was cleaning out the elders' den, because it was service to his Clan nonetheless and there was HONOR in it.

So not only was Frostpaw disgustingly flouting the warrior code, she was displaying how morally inept she was because of her beliefs.

It made sense, though...all cats had a heart to begin with, even if it was bound with sin and slackness and corrupt.

And pulled a pure cat into the pits of evil.

And oh, the cleverness...it was almost a little frightening how Firepaw could talk like this about his brother, but then...it was the right thing to do. Kinship could be put aside if something was the good thing to do...right? He wondered, idly, what would ever happen if something happened to Cinderpaw's beliefs...but that was too troubling to give much thought to. Moving on.

"You know what, Firepaw? It might need a little fine-tuning, but if we put your and my ideas together we could totally present them as one idea to Mistpelt, and she'd probably use it on Frostpaw when the time comes. Oh, we should tell your dad too. What do you think?"

He smiled in a satisfied way, tail twitching slightly and amber eyes half-closed.

[Whiskers]

Firepaw smirked. He was a little proud of himself-- okay, he was a lot proud of himself. He had come up with a good idea, one that would solve everything. Granted, it was a little mean to his brother, but yet again, Firepaw just tried to forget this. He focused on the aftermath. When the punishment was dished out, his brother would return to him, as wonderful as he had been before Frostpaw had sucked any intelligible thought out of his head.

But should he tell his father? It was an issue he was a little divided on, now that he thought about it a little more. Rowanheart was Finchpaw's father too, and so his first thought would be to protect his son. Firepaw didn't think that Rowanheart would be all too supportive of the idea, since it did involve punishing his perfect, wonderful, Starclan-sent son. Ugh.

If he told him... would Rowanheart just cover for Finchpaw? Would he just leave Finchpaw out of the conversation, decide not to tell Mistpelt about his indiscretions? How unfair that would be! They would even lose their leverage on Frostpaw!

Firepaw decided to share the dilemma with his friend. "I dunno if we should tell my dad anymore. I mean... he might just cover for my brother, you know? I'd like to think he wouldn't, he is a Starclan-fearing cat..."

Yes, he was Starclan-fearing. He was honest, he always did what was best for his children. So maybe he would realize that punishment WAS the best thing for Finchpaw? Firepaw didn't know what his father would do.

"We could risk it I guess, and since we're going to tell Mistpelt anyway I guess it doesn't really matter what my father thinks. But I think we should wait to tell Mistpelt until...after...you know...after Owlstar leaves," his tone became hushed and his eyes glanced toward the entrance into the den. They had been lucky so far and no one had come in.

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[Cloud of Diamonds]

OOC: Sorry it's kinda short and fail.

Well, it was a little disappointing, but it did make sense. Finchpaw was Rowanheart's son, too. Huh. Familial loyalty. True, he did love his sister and his mother, but he'd like to think he would put their best interests before their feelings.

He would like to think that, but it wouldn't quite be true. Not yet, at any rate.

But fatherly affection was something he knew little of and understood even less. He felt twinge of jealousy that Firepaw had a father who cared for his kits like that. Birchtail told him that toms who cared for their kits and had an active part in their lives were rare; after all, she'd said that her father, had only ever seen her three times.

Still, there was that want of some tom who had that connection to him, whom he could confide in...

But hey, he had Firepaw now. And Firepaw was almost like a big brother to him, which was almost as good. He could settle for that.

He shrugged his broad shoulders. It was true, after all. Though the ginger warrior was a devout believer, his power was almost nothing compared to the deputy's. After Owlstar left...

Hah. Good riddance.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. You probably know more about this stuff than I do."