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Post by speckledcrow on Jun 4, 2015 19:26:21 GMT -5
Hawkstar’s call for the Clan to wake up and resume their travels woke Speckledcrow from a fitful sleep. It didn’t occur to him that the leader’s voice was too clear, clearer than any cat’s had been for moons. Pushing himself from his nest, he slunk out of his shelter and into the opening of camp. Wait, camp? The old tom looked around. No cat was stirring but a single apprentice who rushed to meet their mentor for training. At once the realization hit him: Hawkstar was dead, the journey was over. and he was in their new home. He berated himself for his foolishness as he walked into the clearing to pick over the fresh-kill. There were a couple good pieces, but he wasn’t quite awake enough to be hungry. Maybe he needed to work up an appetite? A quick walk across the territory would probably do it.
Stretching himself out and feeling joints and bones shift into place, he left the caves and wandered out into the open. Even the sun wasn't quite yet awake and the sky was just starting to lighten on the horizon. The thought of the rising sun of his fur sounded good, so he set out in that direction. The dawn patrol would be out soon, Silvertooth would see to that. No not Silvertooth, the new deputy. What was their name? Ugh, how was an old cat supposed to keep track with four new sets of cats to try and remember?
Though he'd come out with his Clanmates several times, Speckledcrow had never been in the territory by himself and nothing seemed immediately familiar. Even the scents of his Clanmates were faint on the grass, as though a heavy dew might wash them away entirely. The thought unsettled him and he subconsciously picked up his pace. As he walked he took care to look around him and test the wind often to compensate for his hearing loss. It was safest just to stick with the younger cats who came out, but he wasn’t exactly helpless on his own.
There was a wiff of fox nearby, but it was stale as moon-old mouse bile. The fresher scent of squirrel tickled his appetite and he followed that for a bit, but the wind whipped up and blew his scent right to it, sending it skittering off and up some tree to yell abuse at him. Good riddance.
The sun was finally starting to rise properly when the terrain turned hilly beneath his paws. The sun filtering through the trees lit the forest beautifully and he was disappointed to see it wasn’t nearly as mossy as the other cats made it out to be. “‘Forest as soft as a nest’ my tail,” Speckledcrow grumbled under his breath as dried leaves crackled under his paws. The smell of prey hung in the air, but something else too that he’d begun to smell a while back. It was familiar, but just barely. It didn’t smell dangerous, at any rate, so the tom kept his eyes peeled and continued walking. He’d make his way back to camp once the sun started to climb, but stretching his paws was making him feel a little younger just now.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2015 20:25:00 GMT -5
WHITEPAW.
sell your soul, not your whole self.
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ She was immediately alerted by the foreign scent - a scent which had once been unfamiliar. Yet six moons of warming up - no, tolerating - had made it a little more recognizable. Skyclan. She could almost feel her whiskers curling and withering at the very thought. Who were they to think they could just waltz into their home and demand a place under that stars?! Admittedy, Whitepaw had only been four moons when the invasion happened. Yet her apprenticeship had been in the prime of the struggles between the arrival of this new, strange clan. Whitepaw hated everything about them. She didn't care about their morals, ideologies, overall character, anything. All that mattered was their very presence - an unwanted presence at that. They threatened the homeland and took away from what should have been Thunderclan's.
Pale peach ears pinned to the flat of her skull as Whitepaw lowered herself closer to the forest floor. Intruder! Was Skyclan invading? Making a grapple for more land?! Thunderclan had already been generous enough! A wiser feline might have made straight for camp to alert a patrol or escort. But we were talking about Whitepaw here - the fearless, the invincible. Needle point claws slid out of their sheathes and sunk into the earthen floor. Despite the hot adrenaline that pumped through her veins, the dainty apprentice more forward with ginger caution - so as not to alert her victim, of course.
The breeze carried his foul scent and as the shrubs shuddered at the wind, blue eyes were able to glimpse the shadow-like figure that was the Skyclan intruder. Whitepaw felt her chest tighten and every muscle in her body tense like an adder about to strike. She wanted to let out a fearsome battle cry and scare the fox-hearted fiend right out of his fur! But that would let him off too easy. Skyclan needed to learn their lesson and stay on their land. She slithered forward one step, two, and a third.
Finally, "Intruder!" Her yowled pierced the harmony of the forest, and as she called out, Whitepaw leaped at the Skyclan tom's rear haunches with extended claws. ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
if you leave me then i'll be afraid of everything. |
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Post by speckledcrow on Jun 9, 2015 17:34:50 GMT -5
The sound of a crow waking up somewhere nearby jumped the elder as the loud cawing disturbed the otherwise serene forest. “Feathered rodent,” Speckledcrow muttered balefully. Just because they shared a name didn’t mean he had to like them. He remembered Softstep catching one on a hunting patrol with the help of one of her kits. She’d offered some to him and he’d found the meat unpleasant. He preferred the smaller birds himself, maybe a mouse or two.
Thinking of food was starting to make him hungry and the scent of prey wasn’t helping. Maybe it was time to go back to camp. He felt like he’d been walking for a long time, longer than he’d initially planned. Shouldn’t he have met the border by…
Speckledcrow froze. His old mind be damned, that strange scent! ThunderClan! At least it wasn’t WindClan. SkyClan and ThunderClan were allies, however tenuously. Hopefully they’d get over his mistake. What would they do? Accuse Mothstar of sending an old fleabag like him to spy? Make her punish him? He’d just have to send his apologies out with the next patrol, he supposed, and apologize to his leader while he was at it. She had enough to worry about without him stirring up tensions.
Being so caught up in his mistake, he didn’t realize he was being watched until he heard something and looked back over his shoulder to notice a streak of light fur heading towards him. The realization that he was being attacked caught him off guard and he didn’t have much time to think. He would have made a run for SkyClan and hoped the ThunderClan cat would let him go, but the piece of mouse-dung had cut him off from his escape route. Instead he chose to dig in his front claws and kick out his back legs as his attacker closed in in hopes of getting a lucky hit while protecting his face. Even as he struck out he could feel claws hook into his thin skin and yowled in pain.
“I don’t want to fight you, mouse-brain!” He growled. “Lay off and I’ll go back!”
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2015 18:08:42 GMT -5
WHITEPAW.
sell your soul, not your whole self.
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ The dark tom twisted just in time to catch the apprentice's descent, though Whitepaw was already committed in her actions. As she leaped forward, he buck out his hind paws - there was no going back. She felt her claws connect, but so did his. Whitepaw felt the the impact on her chest and the air force from her lungs. She was thrown back and forced to release the intruder. Her hind legs took the blunt of the blow from the earth.
Whitepaw scrambled to her paws, spitting fury slurs at the Skyclan tom. She arched her back, ears slick to her skull and lips peeled back to reveal predatory pearly whites. "You should have thought about that before trespassing!" The she-cat snarled, revealing no sympathy for her foreigner-made-enemy. If the trespasser thought he could get away so easy, he had another thing coming! (Whitepaw certainly didn't hesitate to challenge the borders - but Starclan forbid someone did the same!)
Her eyes narrowed venomously as Whitepaw squared up to the old tom. It was only now that the light gave way to his older age. That changed nothing. "You're an intruder and now you have to answer to Thunderclan - why are you here? Give me a good reason why I shouldn't add some fresh scars to that old fur." She had no mercy nor sympathy for outsiders (cause she's a jerk). ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
if you leave me then i'll be afraid of everything. |
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Post by speckledcrow on Jun 10, 2015 18:43:43 GMT -5
Feisty little furball. Speckledcrow spat back a wordless cuss as his hackles rose in response to the threat. It’d been so long since he’d really tasted adrenaline that he didn’t quite know how to feel. He was too old to be picking fights, especially with what couldn’t have been more than an apprentice, but maybe some part of him missed the excitement of Clan life outside the camp.
Her approach gave him a chance to really look at her: young, pretty if she didn’t look bent on ripping his fur off, mouthy as a startled squirrel, and definitely not keen on letting him go. Apparently his trespass overreached any supposed agreement between her leader and his, but he understood. He’d be suspicious of her if the places were reversed. Though probably not so quick to be attacking!
“I have scars older than your parents, little paw. Now I crossed your border, but I didn’t take any prey and I plan on heading on back to my side without causing any trouble. You’ve challenged me like a good apprentice, now act like a warrior and know when a fight’s not worth having, alright?” But StarClan be damned if somewhere, deep inside the elder’s heart, some ember of the rebellious young tom he once was didn’t still glow. It was this that made him unsheathe his claws and dig them menacingly into the ground. “And it would be embarrassing to tell your denmates that some old SkyClan mangepelt beat you silly.”
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2015 15:44:27 GMT -5
WHITEPAW.
sell your soul, not your whole self.
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ "... little paw." His words were like acid - though he was probably right in saying he'd been around before even her parents' time. Blue eyes narrowed, she resisted the urge to snap at him. The elder's words felt like a low blow to her pride; condescending and off-putting to say in the least. Whitepaw knew she was an apprentice, and obviously he did too. But she was only two moons away - no need to remind her of the excruciating wait! She lashed her tail, her only wait of releasing the steam that sizzled her in her veins and frustrations. "An elder should know better than anyone how important it is to keep to your side." The apprentice sneered venomously.
"Act like a warrior? It's our duty to fend our borders from mouse-brain, fox-hearted intruders. Trespassing is simply an open invitation, a challenge - I'm merely defending my clan. I have no way of knowing if some old fool can think he can take what isn't his." Her words oozed with smug sincerity toward the end, which was accompanied by a daisy-sweet smirk.
Whitepaw watched as the larger tom unsheathed those veteran talons and bury them into the earthen floor. Her chest tightened as the adrenaline flared up like white fire in her blood. It was a challenge, and anyone her knew Whitepaw would know she never backed down from challenges. Was there honour in fighting an elder? Probably not. Should she be worried? Potentially a little. There was no doubt that Speckledcrow was probably very seasoned - his experience far outweighed the she-cat's. In the end, it would come down to his physical ability. Would that experience take him to victory? Would it be enough to take down agile, young blood?
Whitepaw's maw twisted into an amused grin. She lowered her head and hackles raised. Needle white claws sunk into the soil to mirror the tom's before her. "Those old bones couldn't keep up!" It was personal now. Screw Thunderclan formalities and politics - she wasn't about to be outdone by an old crow. ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
if you leave me then i'll be afraid of everything. |
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Post by speckledcrow on Jun 13, 2015 9:42:46 GMT -5
His eyes widened. What a mouth! Did Foxstar teach apprentices any manners?
He wanted to bat the she-cat over the ears. If he went back looking a bloody mess then SkyClan would have a pretty good excuse to confront ThunderClan if they were looking for it. Had she even thought about consequences of attacking? As it was he would just be causing problems for Mothstar because SkyClan couldn’t afford to make any new enemies. It was ThunderClan who would have the better grievance. Even an elder crossing the border was against the warrior code and Foxstar could accuse them of snooping, using it as an excuse to attack. Speckledcrow retracted his claws and his bony shoulders slumped with a big sigh. He’d already put his Clan in jeopardy and giving in to this apprentice’s taunts would disgrace him as a warrior and further endanger his Clan.
With his bluff called, the black tom looked the apprentice square in the eyes with a serious expression. “It’s in your right to rip me apart, but I’m not going to fight you. I’m going back to my Clan.” With his head held high Speckledcrow approached the she-cat and the border behind her. His claws were withdrawn, but his muscles remained tense. If she decided to stop him he would have to try to run and hope he could put on enough speed to reach the border first, if the border would be enough to protect him.
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coalgaze
ThunderClan
Posts: 10 
Rank: Deputy
Age: 32 Moons
Gender: Tom
Crush: Open
Apprentice: Open
Played By: Boggs
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Post by coalgaze on Jun 18, 2015 19:29:10 GMT -5
There were many days when Coalgaze was less fond of his heightened sense of awareness than anyone else he knew, and today was one of them. He had finally worked out the patrols so that he would see if there was any merit to the claims about Shadowclan and stolen prey, or perhaps to catch the loner that kept leaving half eaten carcasses about the territories, and his mind was buzzing. Already his head was filled with too much. The words his clan mates said to him upon waking, the way the feathers of a bird's wing splayed as it took flight from a branch high above their camp site, and now-- the smell of a rowdy apprentice and a Skyclan cat wafting up his nostrils while he tried to clear his head.
Furrowing his brow, the compact little tom was quick to roll to his paws from where he had been meditating to briskly trot in the direction. There was no way that it would be a good combination-- and he didn't recognize that Skyclanner's scent. There were many of them that he had yet to meet. He wouldn't trust the life of one of his apprentices to another clan-- allied or not.
Voices filtered through the trees, and Coalgaze's pawsteps slowed and grew silent as he prowled forward in the shadows of the trees and ferns. What he saw both relieved him as well as infuriated him. An elder had wandered over the border. It had happened before, mostly with ones that had cobwebs in their minds. Perhaps this one was the same. He was turned back towards Skyclan's border and heading in that direction, but Whitepaw still looked poised and ready to attack, and he had heard enough of the last bit of their exchange to understand the intent.
"Allow the elder to return to his clan in peace, Whitepaw." Coalgaze's voice nipped out from the shade as he prowled out from behind the trunk of a tree to glare sternly at the two other cats. "Skyclanner- my apologies for this apprentice's misplaced... bravado. It appears lessons of honor and good sense were slow in coming. Her training will be adjusted." His eyes cut to Whitepaw and narrowed into tiny slits. If an elder returned to another clan's camp injured at the paw's of Thunderclan-- it would be war.
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mothstar
SkyClan
Posts: 17 
Rank: leader
Age: 39 moons
Gender: female
Played By: riptide
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Post by mothstar on Jun 19, 2015 21:28:07 GMT -5
mothstar had given into herself, letting a few moments of relaxation seep into her bones. she laid at the mouth of her own den, carved into one of the cave walls. from her high vantage point, she could watch over the main gathering place in the camp, as well as the entrance. after resting her head on her paws, the leader felt her eyelids droop, the weight of her bones pulling her under. the last thing she was aware of was a hunting patrol returning with mouthfuls of freshkill.
it couldn't have been more than a few minutes, but suddenly, mothstar was jolted awake by the yowl of a kit mid-tantrum. his mother scolded him, glancing around the camp with a guilty expression. the cream leader stood and shook herself, quickly taking attendance of the cats in the camp. cedarstorm had arrived with the hunting patrol only moments ago, and the medicine cat was busying about their den. liontooth rested by ivorypetal, and beetlewing was flirting with some older she-cat.
she leapt out of her den, grabbing a rabbit from the freshkill pile with the intent of feeding it to the elders. when she walked in, though, only rowanface sat comfortably. a question built in her eyes, but she sat the rabbit down next to the elder with a dip of her head. padding out, mothstar caught speckledcrow's scent and followed it to the mouth of the camp. apparently he had taken a walk. she wasn't sure what, but something spurred her to follow his trail.
she was getting dangerously close to the thunderclan border, she realized. perhaps speckledcrow had no idea where he was going. he wasn't used to living around other clans. she wasn't, either, but borders still needed to be respected. she picked up her pace before more scents filled her nose. oh, there were definitely thunderclan cats there.
mothstar padded through the undergrowth until she reached speckledcrow, who looked quite flustered. across from him was a dark tom she recognized from gatherings as coalgaze and a white and ginger apprentice who was looking angrily at the old skyclan tom. mothstar stalked closer, her head raised as she appraised the situation. she decided to fix her icy glare on the apprentice, but aimed her question at the thunderclan deputy. "is there a problem here?" she asked coolly.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2015 1:39:26 GMT -5
WHITEPAW.
sell your soul, not your whole self.
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ There was a moment of sheer tension and Whitepaw thought perhaps the silly elder was weighing his chances. Finally, his claws retracted. "It is in your right to rip me apart.." Whitepaw wanted to sneer at the tom - of course it was! But the Skyclan elder was essentially backing down from the confrontation. He wasn't going to hold his own, he was going to run like a kit was a badger on his heels. She felt a twinge of disappointment deflate in her chest.
The elder slowly moved forward, though he kept his head high and dignified. Whitepaw felt her muscles twitch anxiously at his movements and she weighed her options. There would be nothing more satisfying than teaching this Skyclan mouse-brain a lesson he'd never forget. Maybe he'd think twice about straying from the elder's den next time. Before she could confirm her actions, a familiar voice lurked from the shade.
Whitepaw ear's swivelled in the deputy's direction and a hot fire of frustration ignited in her chest. Of course! Right when she had everything under control the big dogs had to show up and rain on her parade! The words that followed Coalgaze's arrival was no more satisfying. Blue eyes tore from the intruder to meet the deputy. He stared her down with an icy glare, Whitepaw - stubborn as ever - was determined to meet his match. Her whisker's quivered at his words and eyes betrayed her desire to pull back her lips and snarl in fury.
Whitepaw was the apprentice. Whitepaw was the inferior, the naive, the daft, whatever name you could fit under the sky. Apprentices always got the short end of the straw. She'd show Coalgaze that she was just as capable as any warrior! She'd show the elder too that she wasn't a force to reckon with!
Anyone who knew Whitepaw knew she held her tongue for no one. Just as she inhaled to call the deputy out on his superiority complex (or how she saw it) another voice called out. Whitepaw's head whipped around to see Mothstar - poised and confident in her approach. The leader's blue eyes burned into the apprentice's pelt and though she mostly addressed her older clan mate, Whitepaw had no hesitation with chipping in. "Actually, there is. You Skyclan fox-hearts call yourselves a clan yet the concept of border illudes you. We've done enough by allowing you a home here and all you do is make problems for the rest of us." It was very unlike Whitepaw to ever filter herself - the presence of her deputy, or even Mothstar, would demand no exceptions to that. ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
if you leave me then i'll be afraid of everything. , mothstar, coalgaze |
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Post by speckledcrow on Jun 24, 2015 14:33:20 GMT -5
Speckledcrow stopped when he saw the apprentice’s attention divert. He paused to be sure it wasn’t a ruse, then followed her gaze. Yes, this cat he knew. The ThunderClan deputy, Coalgaze. He fully turned and dipped his head to the higher-ranking tom. StarClan followed us all this way. I should have known they wouldn’t abandon me just because I crossed a border. The divisions of the forest changed constantly, but none was an obstacle to his ancestors. If he breathed deeply enough, he swore he could smell Softstep beside him. No, no that wasn’t his imagination. There was a SkyClan cat around, one he knew.
Mothstar’s appearance caused him to bow his head again, much lower than he had to the deputy. He hadn’t felt the shame of disobedience since he was an apprentice himself, still new to the ways of a Clan and blindly resentful towards the cats who saved his life. “I’m sorry, Mothstar,” he apologized as he raised his head, not letting himself say more in front of the ThunderClan cats. With the SkyClan leader and ThunderClan deputy present, his mistake had grown into an incident. He glanced at Whitepaw, expecting a contrite young cat. She was anything but, looking resentful and as angry as ever. You’ll have a hard path of it in life, he thought, and it’ll be your own doing.
The haughty words pricked at Speckledcrow’s pride as a Clan cat, but he refused to let his fur be ruffled. In enemy territory he was happy to let Mothstar speak for them both, though he did lash his tail and give a disapproving snort. He looked toward Coalgaze, interested to see how he would respond. It was a good chance to observe this Clan who claimed to be their allies.
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coalgaze
ThunderClan
Posts: 10
Rank: Deputy
Age: 32 Moons
Gender: Tom
Crush: Open
Apprentice: Open
Played By: Boggs
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Post by coalgaze on Jun 24, 2015 19:23:28 GMT -5
He smelled her before he heard her—and her heard her paw steps before he saw her.
Mothstar’s appearance only served to increase the urgency of the tightly wound coils that twisted inside of his stomach. This couldn’t get out of hand. They had worked far too long and too hard to acquire some semblance of peace, and he wasn’t going to let a youthful mind that had no way of knowing better ruin it. On the outside, however, Thunderclan’s deputy appeared as stoic and impassive as ever, and in response to the Skyclan leader’s line of questioning, Coalgaze merely stepped farther out of the ferns that had shielded him previously.
His gaze fixated itself on Whitepaw, and he saw the tendons in her neck tightening just before she opened her mouth, back-sassing a cat well above her station within the clan. Even still, Coalgaze showed no reaction beyond a stern furrowing of his brow. Whitepaw would pay for her insolence at a later time—Coalgaze never did let a slight go unpunished, and the swift and terrible nature of his vengeful personality was widely known—but reacting to her outburst and causing a further disruption would only disgrace his clan and embarrass himself. Instead, the smoky furred tom-cat padded forward and sat back on his haunches just behind Whitepaw, reaching out a forepaw to let it hover threatening close to one of her back legs.
”Pay her no mind, her tongue will eventually teach the lesson her mind is slow in learning,” Coalgaze started, shifting his dark eyes back to the two Skyclan cats, as well as the border not far along behind them. ”I see no reason for this… incident…” his tail swept low between his back ankles as his eyes cut from Speckledcrow to Whitepaw, ”to cause undue trouble . If you had no business with Foxstar, perhaps it would be best if we were to part ways.”
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mothstar
SkyClan
Posts: 17
Rank: leader
Age: 39 moons
Gender: female
Played By: riptide
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Post by mothstar on Jun 25, 2015 19:16:43 GMT -5
mothstar's glare hardened at the young she-cat as she ran her mouth. who did this little kit think she was? it would have been comical, the way she got so worked up over the borders, if it hadn't made the cream leader want to cuff the foxdung out of her. she poised herself--the picture of indifference--and glanced over to speckledcrow. she knew he hadn't meant to cross any lines, which is why she held no anger towards him. it was a new land, confusing to any warrior, let alone an elder that hadn't taken many strolls around the territory beforehand. however, this needed to end here before it became something it wasn't. her blue gaze met coalgaze's, and was relieved to see no real anger. perhaps he wanted this to be over as much as she.
"pay her no mind, her tongue will eventually teach the lesson her mind is slow in learning,”
good. the apprentice needed more time to tame that tongue of hers. she had no respect whatsoever. it hadn't really surprised mothstar that the white apprentice had called her out, but to ignore her own deputy was something else. she silently wished good luck to whichever unlucky soul had to train this little unruly cat.
"if you had no business with foxstar, perhaps it would be best if we were to part ways.”
mothstar shook her head in response. "i think we can all move on. it was clearly a mistake. there will be no more border crossings in the future, coalgaze," she spoke confidently, glancing one more time at the young she-cat. the leader turned and padded back over their border, now standing in skyclan territory. just the thought eased her muscles a bit. "let's go, speckledcrow," she spoke quietly.
ooc // not sure if this is over? i'll let it sit for a few days and let you guys decide.
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