[ the best part of believe is the LIE ]

[glowlynose]

Dovepaw sat down and looked at her paws, utterly defeated. Had anyone listened to what she had said? Did her opinion count at all? Nobody paid her the least attention, not even the very cats whose honor she had stuck out her neck to try and preserve. Well, that would be the last time she tried to help Brightnose with anything. For such an "honorable" and "virtuous" cat, she sure had a great way of showing her appreciation. Not even a nod of appreciation or the smallest glance was given to the little white apprentice. Perhaps her cries of indignation were drowned out by the majority, or perhaps her white pelt camouflaged her so well up against the snow that nobody knew she was there. I bet Brightnose doesn't even know I'm out here. I wish Mousenose was here. He'd listen to me. He's the only one who ever listens. Nobody cares about me except for him. Maybe we should run away, leave this pack of bickering idiots while we live our lives in peace. But she needed to find Mousenose first, and when she scanned the meeting he was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was in the warriors den.

She had a stop to make first, though. There was a certain cat who needed to be scolded. Dovepaw did not particularly care if she offended Brightnose. An eye for an eye, right? Besides, she and Mousenose would be long gone soon. There would be no pressure to maintain a reputation after they left. They could be free. Nobody would notice that they were gone, most likely. Maybe they should join PineClan just to make a point. Or maybe they could go and live on the farm with the loners. It would all depend on what Mousenose wanted. Dovepaw couldn't do anything without him. He was all she had left.

"Brightnose,"

[/color] she murmured, for these words were for Brightnose and Brightnose only, "Is this how you thank people? I stuck my neck out to defend YOUR honor because I thought you might appreciate it. Thank you for treating me after the fox; my debt to you has been repayed. But expect nothing from me in the future. I only take risks for those who will appreciate them."[/color] A wicked sneer contorted Dovepaw's face. How could Brightnose live with herself? How could her clanmates live with themselves? Couldn't they see how foolish they were all being? All the snow-pelted she-cat wanted was a little bit of respect. She couldn't get that here; everyone was so wrapped up in their own arguments and problems that they couldn't bring themselves to see anybody else. She whipped around and stalked off to the warriors den to talk to Mousenose. He'd see. He'd understand exactly how she felt. He'd leave with her. Of course he would. Of course he would.

Wouldn't he?

"Mousenose, are you in here?"[/color] she mewed in to the darkness of the den. If Mousenose was here, she could not distinguish his huddled form from the others trying to keep warm. Her breathing sped up. He was here, wasn't he? He would go with her? Of course he would. She was being ridiculous. It was just the cold getting to her. Of course, that was it. The cold...

Tawnywhisker watched with a curious gaze as Dovepaw approached the medicine cat and muttered something to her. What had passed between the two she-cats? Something private, that was for sure, and probably intended to stay private. Nevertheless, her curiosity was piqued. Dovepaw had whirled around in disgust. Had Brightnose said something to offend her? Vice versa? She raised a paw to go talk to the medicine cat... then set it back down and stayed put. Privacy was important, and Brightnose would probably say nothing as it were. For now, she was content to simply sit and watch as the true leader of FogClan rose to power.
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[Cloud of Diamonds]

Falconpaw

Oh, who even cared about all this pointless discussion? Mistpelt would triumph in the end, he knew. It was the only thing that could happen, because StarClan willed it.

That seemed like a good thing to yowl, to encourage those in the right and spread doubt in the minds of every cat who had trouble grasping the truth.

But then...HOW DARE BLACKPAW! HE WOULD PAY FOR THIS!

"You will pay for this insult, Blackpaw you piece of foxdung!" He hissed.

He stomped right up to him and said, "How dare you insult me and my Clan's honor!" The brown tabby meowed to that hated face, which once had been he had been so fond of...but he could have no friendship with Blackpaw now. He'd shown himself to be an Owlstar suck-up, and one blind to Mistpelt's brilliance. There could be no middle ground of friendship or even neutrality with him.

[Pyro]

Otterclaw glanced around angrily. This was ridiculous. Was it really going to get down to belief? Was everyone really going to stoop so low as to begin to use another clan's name as an insult? Was anyone even thinking? How would they feel if right at this moment, PineClanners were calling each other FogClanners as a means of insulting one another? If he knew his clanmates, they'd not take too kindly to it. They'd shout about respect and dignity.

And another thing: this shouting. It wasn't getting anyone anywhere. They were all a bunch of bickering kits. Huh. What a day when Otterclaw was among the more mature of the clan.

Well. He could raise his voice too. "Will you all just stop this folly?! What the hell are you doing? YOU, Willowpaw. That's no way to speak to someone who outranks you. And in any case, what role does belief have to do with a cats honor? Does not believing in StarClan make them bad?" He growled a low rumbling that vibrated in his throat. It was completely...un-him. The bubbliest cat in the clan growling. Anyone who had any doubt that he could even get angry surely had them wiped aside now. "You don't have to believe in StarClan to do good for your clan. If you could just open your eyes for a second and look at PineClan as something other than a supposed disgrace, you’d know that…And that goes for you too, Blackpaw. I‘m very disappointed that you would say something so…ignorant.” The warriors eyes grew softer, more stern than angry as he turned to Blackpaw. ”We must show respect for our neighbors, no matter how different from us they may be.”

Otterclaw flicked his gaze to Falconpaw. ”And I think it goes without saying that you are way out of line Falconpaw...I repeat, you all just need to calm down so this matter can be worked out peacefully. We're getting no where by yelling at each other.”

Reedfoot's eyes sorrowed as she looked at her brother. He was very close to suggesting that StarClan didn't matter. How could he? And that stubborn little apprentice of his...HE could be considered just as bad for even suggesting that FogClan was akin to PineClan...And for Otterclaw to suggest there was nothing wrong with those atheists...the only clan who had completely turned away from StarClan's light...Perhaps he was too far gone to help.

[Whiskers]

Finchpaw

The snow fell gently and beautifully to the ground. It was so incongruous with the scene around him, which consisted of cats with their hackles raised and fangs bared. There was so much arguing, so much hissing, so much chaos, and Finchpaw could smell the anger like it was a piece of rotting prey. What was going on with his clan? Fogclan, while it had its faults, had always been a clan he was proud of. Now, he was seeing that respected clan melt away right before his eyes, despite the frozen air.

Unfortunately, Finchpaw was having a hard time actually following the clan meeting. He was lost in the back of the crowd and he couldn’t see anything past the bodies of his clanmates. He wasn’t a short cat—he was actually getting taller, though he was still skinny as a twig—but his father was beside him, so Finchpaw didn’t dare to even try and look up, not when his father was still seething from his previous actions at the beginning of the clan meeting. No, no, he kept his eyes glued to the ground. Finchpaw had been lucky that Rowanheart had only forced him to the back and not all the way to the medicine cat den. That was thanks to Brightnose, who had defended him the instant she had heard Rownaheart’s furious whisper.

“Fine,” his father had spat at the medicine cat. “But he will not be participating in this meeting anymore.”

Now Finchpaw strained his ears to pick up any words said at all. What he managed to hear all sounded the same, if Finchpaw was to be completely honest. Either the cats were saying “No, no, the dream is real!” or they were saying “A dream’s a dream and why are you guys arguing otherwise?” Back and forth, the argument went, and even when Otterclaw tried to redirect the conversation back to the actual problem, his efforts were in vain. No one cared about who went on patrols anymore. That was long forgotten. This supposed “dream” was the cause of the entire ruckus. And the longer the argument was going, the further it went off track.

Finchpaw’s ears pricked as voices raised and the responses came quicker, more heated, and more passionate. It was getting worse. They were just yelling insults at each other now! That’s what enemy clans would do to one another! They weren’t supposed to be acting like enemies, they were supposed to be working through the problem diligently, focusing on one thing at a time—

Firepaw’s voice lifted above the others and his reply was just as angry and aggravated as his clanmates. His response followed that of Otterclaw, and it came quick. Finchpaw didn’t even think his brother had bothered to let the tom take a breath after he had finished.

“Oh, please! You’re yelling too, Otterclaw!” exclaimed Firepaw. “’Sides, who are you to tell us to “calm down?” I think that’s our leader’s job, isn’t it? Ohhhhh, Owlstar?” Firepaw said in a sing-song, mocking tone. His head jerked in the direction of the leader. “Gonna get control of your clan?”

He didn’t wait for the black-and-white she-cat to open her mouth. He barreled on, his words spoken as if they were poison in his mouth. “Are you even capable of doing something as simple as that? Probably not, since you can’t manage to drag your tail out of your den—”

“Firepaw!” Rowanheart’s voice growled in a warning tone as he abandoned his current post by Finchpaw’s side. This time he was racing toward Firepaw, who was completely ignoring his father’s growl.

“—to take me out training for just an hour! Just one hour, it's not like I want a whole day from you! It’s like you think I have better things to do than train with my own stupid mentor, despite the fact I'm an apprentice and training is what we bleedin' do! You haven’t even bothered to ask me if I WANTED to go out in the last moon! It's like you just forgot that I even exist—“

“Firepaw!” Rowanheart hissed one more time. Surprisingly enough, Firepaw fell silent. His eyes were still on Owlstar, a tumultuous storm raging within his yellow gaze. Finchpaw had often seen Firepaw throw tantrums. He would blow up at the slightest things. But he had never though that Firepaw would go off at the leader of Fogclan. And he never thought that Firepaw would look at Owlstar with so much hatred

But there was a first time for everything. Finchpaw's body shivered as he waited desperately for someone to say something to fill the empty silence that followed his brother's outburst. Anything would do-- an insult, a joke, a awkward cough. Finchpaw just wanted his attention diverted from his brother's eyes, and the malice that they contained.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Birchtail just stood there, looking pleadingly at Mistpelt to get things back on track and ORGANIZED. Everything had just spiraled out of control. Even she could not master the tumult here. Only StarClan's chosen could.

Brightnose

This was...disgusting. No one would listen. No one would care. A cold hazel gaze watched over the endlessly fighting, insulting, mouse-brained cats she had ever seen. If it were her choice, she would happily sit back and contemptuously watch these idiots fight, taking notes on the stronger and weaker arguers.

But this was her Clan. And she was bound by duty to it, no matter stupid it got.

Oh...but...Dovepaw! She felt a rush of guilt as she realized she really should have replied to the white apprentice's support of her. Brightnose, you fool. Turning to the snow-pelted she-cat, she mewed softly in an apologetic tone,

"I...I am sorry, Dovepaw. You are right, I should have thanked you for your support. I beg forgiveness for my distraction from the logical course. It seems even I have been caught up in this storm."

The calico was surprised that she really did feel sorry. It was unusual for her to feel sorry for any cat, yet Dovepaw seemed to beg that from her. Yet she also did not. Still, it had been the logical thing to do to apologize - no good came from a cat who had a grudge against you.

The whole patrols thing was silly...frankly, she could care less, as it didn't affect her. Well, maybe it did, considering it might have an impact on the amount of prey brought back, and she did need to eat. Maybe she should say something...but she had to be careful. Be too contemptuous and descend to these warriors' level. Be too nice and they would probably take no notice. Perhaps...

Speaking in a loud, coaxing tone, she meowed,

"I see we've descended to the level of throwing blind hate remarks at our leader. Haven't we, Firepaw?" She looked haughtily at the cat she could barely believe was Finchpaw's brother. "And Otterclaw has a point. PineClan are simply another Clan with different values. While we may be stronger for our belief in StarClan, it is not such a huge thing as to set us apart as better, dreams or no. We're all cats with feelings, judgment, and morals, aren't we? And patrols are a small matter, and they don't deserve this much fuss." The medicine cat yawned, trying to appear casual and offhand.

The truth was that though speaking those words felt strangely liberating, her heart was beating like the paws of a fleeing rabbit against the ground.

Falconpaw

"Settle down my tail, Otterclaw. You're the one who needs to get your brain in gear." He looked arrogantly at the warrior whose pathetic sentiments about PineClan would soon be corrected by the power of Mistpelt and StarClan. He turned back to Blackpaw. "And you! I thought you were a good cat! I respected you! But you insulted me. No cat gets away with insulting ME and doesn't pay for it." He bared his fangs, practically shoving his face into Blackpaw's, glaring with his hostile amber eyes.

[Spec]

Mistpelt at first seemed quite content to allow her clan to talk it out and see if they would settle this dispute in a mature, professional fashion. Apparently not...After outcry after outcry, the fur on the tips of her hackles sparked with the heat that her previous mild annoyance had created. Those with weak blood protested against this increasing aggression, but as far as she was concerned, such lowlives such as Brightnose, Otterclaw, Blackpaw, Frostpaw, even poor Willowpaw. On the other side, yowled Volepelt, Firepaw, Rowanheart, Falconpaw, and others who had shed their itchy skins of sin and turned towards the grace of Starclan. It would appear that Fogclan could do nothing right without her. This, however, wasn't enough alone to deliver the yowl of silence that would soon follow from her own lips. Falconpaw, the strong willed fool, had decided to take the matter in his own paws. Just a tail's inch away from practically pouncing upon Blackpaw, hostile and deadly, claws unsheathed and gleaming for the apprentice's blood.

Straightening up with a stonelike affirmation, Mistpelt opened her maw, fangs shining as her eyes washed over the crowd of cats below. “Peace!” The sound was near ear shattering, hackles raised a fraction of an inch merely by the sound of her own voice. Once she had concluded that her first speech was enough to shut them up, she spoke again, this time in more subdued, yet very stern voice. “Shealth your claws, Falconpaw! Shun this discord that has suddenly came upon you – all you you!” She added with a wave of her lashing tail. “Bickering Pineclanners indeed...Look at what you all have been reduced to – filthy Pineclanners – Who do NOT share our morals, do NOT share our superiority, and certainly are nothing BUT disgrace! Starclan has made that very clear that they aren't worthy for such a blessing, but I still have hope for the rest of you. All is not lost! With Starclan, we shall prevail over the obstacles that challenge us, threaten to divide us. That is your sin speaking, not you!” Clear as crystal and as domineering as a mountain, she stood firm against all who opposed both her and her beloved Starclan. “Faith and organization is a key factor in preserving this clan, something we are sorely lacking. The prey shortage, the water shortage, all of this could have been prevented under the right kind of leadership.”

[[ooc: Again, hope this is okay.]]

[Kelly]

And there's nothing I can say ~

Owlstar fretted. At this moment, the worry she held for FogClan bubbled and boiled under her fur like it was a hot Green-Leaf day, rather than this cold, gloomy one. Never before had she felt so out of control of her clan mates. Rarely before did she feel that everything had slipped out of her paws and into the paws of another cat. This was one of those rare times, she supposed. The only difference was that there was no cat to grab control. No other cat was waiting for the situation to fall into their lap so that they may gather it back together. There was no friend at the bottom of the tree, no mentor across the river, not even an enemy to gloat that they had succeeded where she had failed. If anything, that would be preferable than having no control. Everything was all over the place. Cats were bickering, arguing about dreams and the warrior code. Apprentices were forgetting their place, insults were being tossed around, and not a single sided cat seemed to voice reason. The leader glanced toward her deputy, wondering what Mistpelt meant by all of this. The ivory she-cat... was she grasping for control? Did she realize how out of control this situation had gotten? Owlstar hoped so with all her heart. Controlling a clan was difficult, at times more so than this, and if Mistpelt could not grasp this situation, than there was no hope for the pious deputy. Oddly enough, that comforted Owlstar more than anything that had transpired so far.

Step by step. She thought to herself, drowning out the sounds of her clan mates until they were nothing but soft buzzes in her ears. The situation. Cats were angry, they didn't like how she decided things to go about. That could be remedied. If cats were so strongly against the separation, then she would send out mixed patrols. Perhaps if they saw why she meant only large cats to go out, they would feel bad about what happened. It was a sickly thought, but it was one of the clearer ones in her head right now. Regardless, the patrol problem could be remedied later. Now it was the argument that needed tending. It was getting out of paw. Cats were accusing others of not being pure, of not believing, of sinning. StarClan surely was ashamed of this whole thing. Owlstar knew that, if she didn't know anything else. The clan seemed cleanly divided, though. There were those who claimed that she had done wrong, that she was lazy. They seemed to be the ones with “StarClan” on their side, and they all seemed to be allied with Mistpelt. Then there were the ones on “her” side. The ones who defended her under the warrior code and loyalties. She was grateful for them, yes, but she rather their not be such clean sides. Naturally, there were those who did not side. Frostpaw being the most obvious, but Otterclaw stood out as well. These two cats, they seemed to be making the most sense.

Slowly she nodded, finally feeling the situation was in reach. Without a sound she stood taller, pleased to see that she was large than most of these cats. Or perhaps it was just her mind. She was the leader, she felt strong, and therefore, she was stronger. “Cats of FogClan,” the leader began, her green eyes flashing with too much emotion, but at the same time, being devoid of clear feeling. “This has gone too far. Close your muzzles and think about what you are doing. You are accusing your clan mates, your friends, your family of sinning, of breaking the warrior code. You are throwing insults at them. Some of you without thinking, some of you with the full intent of hurting the cats you should call family.” Hopefully all were listening now. She would address them. But first, Firepaw. “Firepaw, I am admitting that I have neglected in training you. I'm sorry for that, whether you believe me or not. But we have all been busy lately. Blackpaw isn't being trained either, does that make Otterclaw a bad mentor? Willowpaw is the same, will you call Duskheart a failure as a warrior? And Mistpelt, what of your very own Cinderpaw?” No more picking names, now. They should get the point. “We are all busy, this Leaf-Bare is a tough one. Everyone, myself included, has been focusing on keeping the clan strong by hunting and repairing camp. I know you all realize this. And it is not the time for us all to be fighting, just because we feel someone is doing something wrong. I take back my order of the patrols, you may go out however you wish. Please do not go out alone, and please do not take any risks. I don't want to lose any of you to this snow.” She sighed, feeling tired and weary to the bone. “I'm sure many of you have things to say. So say them, but say them kindly, and keep your head as you say them.”

~ Nothing I can do now

OOC:

Now, um, I know some of the apprentice examples I used are results of the players being too busy to actually role play. Please don't hate me for that! xD I just think it's a little unfair, because I'm not around enough to carry out a decent role play with Firepaw, and Owlstar's switched hands so many times. I just wanted to make that clear, so no one gets upset or anything. Also, sorry for the massive post. And the lyrics are credit to Goodnight, Travel Well by The Killers.

[ZEBRA ! [used to be toasty]]

Mousenose

Mousenose sat in his den, slowly breathing. He loved the sound of himself giving a sign of survival, even though he wasn't in any danger. After his painful history, and feared present, he liked to reassure himself like that. Mousenose shook his head, such a strange way of entertaining himself. His mouth widened to a yawn. He jumped up, and stretched every one of his limbs. He sat down again, and began to lick his soft grey fur.

He lay down again, and just sat there. There was no noise in the air, until a lovely voice ruined the silence. He felt a surge of joy run through his body. Dovepaw! He tried to get up. He was way too tired, which slowed him down. He grunted, and heaved. He took a deep breath, to find that Dovepaw walked away. Mousenose sighed, and trotted out. He looked around, to see a white tail disappear in the Medicine Den. He padded over to her, and mewed "Dovepaw! I am here. Sorry I was late."

He stood up straight, and purred.


Sorry, I probably missed something. I kinda spaced out when I was reading this. And it is short. Sorry.

[glowlynose]

Dovepaw's pelt tingled with anticipation. Was Mousenose here, or wasn't he? She paced, she bounced on her paws, she even spun in circles for a little bit. Anxiety wore at her nerves in a manner not unlike a teenager waiting for their first date to arrive. Then, oh joy of joys, Mousenose appeared out of the dark vortex of the warriors den! But... but wait. He padded right past her! The nerve! He either ignored her on purpose or really hadn't seen her standing RIGHT FREAKING IN FRONT OF HIM. Dovepaw had every stinking right to be offended, but surprisingly, she wasn't. Somewhere, buried deep in the furthest reaches of her consciousness, she knew that Mousenose would never ever do anything like that to her. Look, he was over by the medicine den trying to cheer her up, only she wasn't there. Ah, silly Mousenose.

"Mousenose, look behind you, you fluffball," she teased her mentor, grinning. She couldn't believe that he'd totally missed her back there! He was so totally oblivious sometimes. Dovepaw sauntered up next to him and licked his ear, flashing him a glimmering smile. Now she could be happy. She always got the attention she deserved when she was around him. The little white apprentice shot a quick glare at Brightnose for good measure. Yes, she had apologized, but the apology had come too late to be much good.

"You're so silly sometimes, you know that?"

[/color] Dovepaw took a deep breath. She would need to be really careful about what she did next. If she did something even the tiniest bit wrong, she risked losing Mousenose. If she bungled this up, he wouldn't leave with her. That would be absolutely horrible.

Dovepaw was losing her nerve.

Tawnywhisker's tail twitched. How had she managed to pass over Willowpaw's comment? He'd compared them to bloody PineClanners, for StarClan's sake! That was just about as insulting as the little twit could get. Somebody needed to put him back in his place. Thankfully, others got to it before she could. There would be no use in repeating what her clanmates had already said. All that would accomplish was what had already been accomplished: nothing.
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[Rolo]

Volepelt couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was so... mind-consumingly shocking that he could barely internalise what had been said. Owlstar... Owlstar baffled him, it was baffling how a cat with so many counting on her, a leader, could act so without fault, knowing how many problems there were around her. The leader had practically pointed out their whole set of problems, blaming circumstance and other cats for the issues at hand, taking no responsibility herself. It was a laughable situation, but one that was utterly frightening. If Owlstar could not admit her weaknesses, or even see how badly the warrior code was being bent in her own clan, how could she be a suitable leader?

Volepelt's determination swelled within him again. Loyalty to Mistpelt and Starclan had made him oppose Owlstar originally, simply because it was Starclan's will and Mistpelt was meant to lead Fogclan to a purer future, but now he could not help but feel a large dislike for Owlstar. She was practically unable to lead properly, Fogclan could not go on under her leadership.

"Owlstar, you have just suggested that you are not the only cat who has not been training your apprentice, so it is fine for you to be lax. Are you not supposed to be the one setting an example to the rest of the clan?" He asked bravely, his voice blunt and eyes cold, "And... and it's not just that. You're supposed to be organising us, you're supposed to be making sure all apprentices are trained. The lack of training by the actual mentors does not neccessarily make a cat a bad mentor, but the lack of organisation in the entire process, as it is now, does not reflect well upon you. If you know there are other apprentices whose training is suffering, why have you not done something about it?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly, sending the leader a skeptical glance, before continuing.

"Mistpelt is right, we need a strong leader, someone tougher and with keen organisation skills. We cannot afford to let this clan fall apart and, looking at the divide within the clan, your leadership, Owlstar, is not doing much to stop that. I appreciate that this leaf-bare is hard, but irradicating weakness, in all members of the clan, at such a time is needed if we are to survive."