One Humongous Border Patrol

The tom nodded his head several times to all of the apprentice's answers, his whisker's twitching in amusement at Darkpaw. He shot Nightwing a curious look with her reluctance to fight with WindClan, though it was understandable why - he was still wary of their new leader, and things couldn't stay peaceful forever. "That's right." He meowed in agreement with his deputy, "You must also remember that they have the advantage of their own land. They know it better than we do - Still, I'd say in that situation with even numbers, it'd be difficult to gain the upper paw."
He, unlike the apprentices, had been talking rather quietly. His ear flicked in surprise at the approaching WindClan leader. Speak of the devil. "Raccoonstar." The gray tabby returned the greeting in a guarded monotone. What was she doing here? "I am. You're out awful late for a patrol." He observed. The sun was already down and ShadowClan were the only ones who moved during the night. The tom tried to tell if there were others with her, but it was difficult to tell when they were upwind at the moment.

Darkpaw glared at the older cat. "You're not my mentor. You aren't even in my clan. I don't have to do what you say, and besides, I'm a new apprentice. I wouldn't have known what to ask would I?" She bristled a bit; like she would be bossed around by someone she didn't know! Why don't you come over here and let me flay you're skin, you frogbrain? Darkpaw longed to challenge the weird-smelling cat but refrained. She new deep down, she had no chance fighting. "Besides, I'm just stating rumors I've heard. Now was just the perfect time to confirm them." Out of instinct, Darkpaw stood next to her sisters, still glaring daggers at -as she just heard Sagestar say- Raccoonstar. What in the name of Starclan is a raccoon? Some sort of prey, a medicine?

The leader blinked, and thought for a moment. "I am just making sure there are no more foxes in the territory. A patrol of mine ran into one the other day, and I couldn't sleep without making sure." The leader mewed to the other leader. The leader shot a glare at the apprentice. "Well you should listen to me because I am the cat that can tear your fur off." The leader then turned to Sagestar again, "Sagestar, you should teach that apprentice some respect."

Smokepaw glanced nervously between the leader, and Darkpaw. She slowly made her way over to Darkpaw, and nudged her away from the leader. "Darkpaw you don't know what you are getting yourself into.. The apprentice whispered nervously trying to take away Darkpaw's glare.

Nightwing flicked her tail in greetings to Racconstar, her blue eyes going between her apprentice and the WindClan leader. Her ears twitching with annoyance at the apprentice's sharp words. Finally deciding that the deputy had enough, Nightwing's ice blue gaze shot over to Darkpaw. "Darkpaw! Watch your mouth. We are not looking for a fight. " The she-cat scolded. She was expecting better attitude from the small cat. Slowly, she let her eyes go back to the leader that stood across the border. Her nose told her that their scent was wafting toward the WindClan cat, also that they won't be able to get a good sniff until the wind changes course. She glanced back at her apprentice, in case she decided to make another comment.

"My, my Raccoonstar." The tom mused coyly, flicking the twitch of his tail. "Threatening cats the night after they leave the nursery." He chuckled silently, as if the whole ordeal amused him. "You've got quite the temper to snap back at an apprentice like that. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, though." The tom lashed his tail, signaling for the patrol to start to turn back. "Darkpaw has plenty of bravery and spirit. She'll make for a great warrior, but she does have some things to learn, yes." He said this as casually as if he were only talking to his deputy before starting to turn away, though pausing. "We'll watch out own borders closely from now on," Sagestar said firmly, a sharp edge to his passive tone. "For the fox, of course. You needn't come so close to our border. Unless you had anything else you'd like to discuss?"

Shadepaw's fur spiked up at the Windclan leader, and he hesitated before following the patrol to turn around. He shot a glare at Raccoonstar, not liking her attitude. Suddenly the tom paused. "You're Windclan's leader, right?" He asked curiously, glancing back over his shoulder. "I heard nursery tails about the Deomilipedes or something like that, but whenever I heard about them, the name Stormstar always came up and how he was leader of Windclan. What happened to him?" He tilted his head, forgetting a moment that this was an enemy.

Occ: D= Stop posting without me!

Ic: Nightpaw was silent as she watched Raccoonstar. She had been surprised when the WindClan leader showed up, and was now watching the leader with interest. Part of her wanted to snap at the leader for threatening her sister; but knowing it would only cause trouble she said nothing. She frowned when Shadepaw spoke. It was true; she had heard of Stormstar being leader of WindClan; what had happened to him?

The look Darkpaw was giving Raccoonstar was fnull of pure anger and hate. She stalked to her sister, fur bristling as she tried to control her temper. "How dare she tell me to shut up for asking a question?" the apprentice snarled, digging her claws into the ground. "I'd attack her for a couple of frog legs!" she said to Nightpaw, a growl rumbling in her throat. The only reason she wasn't giving the leader something to chew on was because she didn't know how to fight of herthe deputy. "The nerve, wanting me to respect her after she threatens to tear me apart!"

Raccoonstar glared at the other leader, "There is nothing else to discuss, can't blame me for trying to make sure a fox left clan territory." The leader said as she started to move away. She wanted to get away before her paranoia caused her to be crazy again. She was about to move on when she heard a smaller voice speak up. She turned back, and looked at the apprentice her blue eyes still like ice. "Yes.. I am the leader. As what happened to Stormeye he retired. As for a reason why is clan matters." The leader started walking along the border again, and turning a corner as if she was following an invisible wall. She raised her head and called out, "Sagestar, I would watch that apprentice. That attitude of hers will get her into a whole heap of trouble." The leader turned her head back to forward, then broke a small dash, stopping to check something then moving on.

Smokepaw watched as the leader went away kinda appalled by the leader's behavior to the new apprentices. She looked towards Darkpaw who had caused this uneasiness. She looked at Sagestar, and asked, "Will we have to fight her one day?" She asked nervous for the fight, but one day she would be able to fight with no problem.

Sagestar would've liked to snap back something along the lines of "I know how to take care of my own clan - being in the leader buiz a lot longer than you have, ktnx", but the WindClan cat as already swiftly running back. The tom sniffed and continued to turn, casting a glance down at Smokepaw. "Something is telling me so." He meowed honestly, unafraid to hide his thoughts from his apprentices before smiling reassuringly, a crooked grin on his face. "Don't worry, though. When that day comes, you'll be prepared." The tom started to walk off again. "Darkpaw, you must also remember you represent the face of ShadowClan. I don't want my apprentices looking uncontrollable in the future." He scolded the she-cat quietly, though this served as a lesson for them all.

A few minutes later with the walking patrol, he paused again, casting a glance across the road. "If you look carefully now, you can see Fourtrees." He meowed.

Shadepaw flicked his tail, tip following Sagestar quickly. Stormey? Retired? Not that any of it was his business but he was curious. But now he was distracted by his leader's statement about Fourtrees. "Fourtrees? The four great oaks? We can see it from here?!" He gasped, excitement flooding through his paws. Shadepaw raced forward to Sagestar's side, trying to stand up as tall as he could to see where he was seeing.

Nightpaw glanced at her sister with a sad sigh. Why did Darkpaw have to have such a sharp tounge? She shook her head and followed after Sagestar. Her mind wandered onto the whole 'Stormeye retired thing' but she didn't dwell on it for long as it was WindClan's matter; not ShadowClan's. She paused when they had reached the Thunderpath; her eyes wide. She had never seen such a thing before! It was...It was huge! The black path peaked her interest; but she didn't dare take another step forward. She had heard what the monsters that traveled these roads could do to a cat...Glaring at Darkpaw; she swallowed. Hopefully her sister wouldn't be mouse-brained enough to try to step on it.

Ooc: ...Well, though I wanted to give others a chance to post, I also don't want this to disappear from existence in people's minds...

Ic: The tabby tom backed up after squinting to see the distant Four Great Oaks. He padded over to the Thunderpath and sniffed at it, recoiling almost instantly. "Gross! It smells terrible!" He exclaimed, gagging a little dramatically. "Why would Twolegs want to put something like this down? And for death-bringers nonetheless?" He growled, referring to the monsters. "Twolegs are insane!"

Sagestar laughed lightly under his breath as he watched the apprentices with amusement. "Well, perhaps not tonight, but you will all certainly see it when the next gathering comes." The leader mused, flicking his tail as he noticed Shadepaw's nose scrunch up, thanks to the sharp, horrible stench of the Thunderpath. He shrugged. "Who can understand twolegs? They built these stone paths for their monsters to run on." Sagestar explained, "It takes caution to cross this place. Many cats have died on this path and its not wise to get so close." The gray tabby padded over and nudged Shadepaw back over to the patrol with his forehead.

"Come on. The moon is rising quickly and I'd like to show you ThunderClan land." He roused his patrol, starting to walk and then pausing for a few moments. "I also have an idea. Who would like to play a game?"

"I would love to play a game!" Smokepaw squeaked with joy at the mention of a game seeing how she was still a kit in some ways. Then a question poped in her mind. "Is Thunderclan as bad as I have heard?" She asked her leader.