Jaw-dropping heights [Closed;;Jawbreaker Plot]

The rapids flowed quickly past the sheer drop that made up the gorge. The white waters were merciless in their flow, anything that had the misfortune of being caught were either battered by the water or smashed to bits by the rocks that jutted out like sentinels from out of the river. However, the serene moors that juxtaposed the cliff-face looked almost amusingly calm and beautifully lush as leaf-fall turned the grasses to gold. The thick reedy lands to the other side of the river looked peaceful as well, a chill breeze weaving through the reeds and stirring the pools and streams.

For this brief period, there was peace.

That was, until the patrol came.

Peering down the heights, fear lanced through Fallowpaw's stomach, almost as the flow of the water itself. Her stunning pale blue eyes were wide, the drop carrying slicking water down the rocks. They stumbled and tumbled, roaring like a warning not to slip and fall down. Fallowpaw stepped back a bit, tail swishing as if attempting to steady herself.

She looked over her shoulder at the rest of the patrol, mainly focusing her blue gaze on Frogpaw. His jaws were defective, and were rarely used for hunting. Fallowpaw sighed, glad that this was a mere border patrol. "C'mon, guys!" Fallowpaw cried, the she-cat's tone uplifting. She cast a weird glance down at the falls once more, guts tightening. She made sure that she was far enough to have at least a slight chance at surviving.

Small white waves lapped at the fur on Fallowpaw's base, yet the apprentice was used to it. Her RiverClan heritage was always something to be proud of, and she'd never let any other clan forget it. Cats came up in the distance like the sun over a horizon, supplementary to the rise of a brand new day. The feline's silky brown fur was afflicted by the current of the wind, nearly as harsh and violent as the rushing of the water.

Fallowpaw waited, while keeping a heedful watch on the side expanding before her. WindClan cats were particularly possible at times such as these, and she didn't want inessential conflict to break out.

"Fallowpaw get away from there!" Thistleblaze shouted, knowing the dangers of the gorge herself. It was how she ended up with her broken and twisted paw. The gray and white tabby walked up and nudged the apprentice away from the edge, peering back at the edge nervously for a moment before both of them were a safe distance away.

"The gorge isn't to be taken lightly." The warrior said to the apprentice. Even if they were Riverclan they didn't stand a chance in those rapids. The warrior looked back to Sootwhisper for a moment, hoping he would help her on this. He was there when she got welcomed into Riverclan so he would know the damage that the gorge caused her. She didn't need the other apprentices getting the idea that they could play near the gorge just because Fallowpaw had the stupid idea to as well.

Fallowpaw was curious that Thistleblaze was even the slightest bit concerned for her needs, yet stepped back some more. She gave a nod to the grey-and-white tabby she-cat, and waited for the rest of the patrol.

Petalpaw followed the patrol, staying quiet but about to burst with energy. The cream colored she cat was extremely excited to be patrolling with her clan and although she wanted to let all her words and thoughts out into the open air, she knew that patrols were a time to be serious and wasn't going to let her clan-mates down. The she-cat's gaze snapped around when Thistleblaze's panicked meow filled the air and was glad to see that Fallowpaw was alright. "You're crazy for going that close to the edge!" the she-cat meowed cheerfully, making her way to the others. She didn't know Fallowpaw or the other apprentices besides her siblings very well, but hoped to become good friends with her den-mate, because when she thought about it, one could never have too many friends right?

~~~

Not far away, a WindClan patrol lead by Smokepelt made their way towards a shallow part of the gorge. There, they'd be able to reach the bone chilling water and grab a drink before moving on with their day...

It took his breath away.

White water tumbled over the rocks a dizzying distance below, and just edging close to the cliff-face was enough to make his head swim. He was RiverClan, and he was at home in water as much as he was in camp, but he'd be swept away like a kit in a flood if he tried to push through that current. That was, if he didn't dash himself against the rocks first. Sleetpaw couldn't help but shudder, a raw mix of awe and something like fear that shivered through his body witnessing the river's power this far upstream. The river he knew was powerful, but nourishing, fierce and gentle as a queen. Up here, down in the gorge... No one could stand up against that. It was an unrelenting force of nature, a gaping slice in the earth, like some great cat had raked a claw through the earth. On the other side... WindClan. He stared across, across the rolling moors that seemed to stretch on forever, to where Highstones rose in the distance, just a faint black line on the horizon.

Sleetpaw barely heard Thistleblaze's sharp warning over the roar of the wind in his ears, the roar of the river echoing through the ravine. "Amazing..." he breathed, just under his breath. A refreshing spray rose up from the water below, a cool mist that collected in his wind-ruffled fur. WindClan was just a fox-length away. He lashed his tail with a taunting glance toward Thistleblaze, Petalpaw, and the others. "That's nothing. Bet you a minnow that I could jump across?" he joked.

Sootwhisper walked at Thistleblaze’s side, something really odd for the tom that usually liked to stay a couple tail-lengths behind the patrols to avoid feeling uncomfortable with the other cats. He simply liked to have Thistleblaze around, even if having her around meant having to tolerate the other cats’ proximity as well.

Sootwhisper looked at Fallowpaw as soon as Thistleblaze spotted him going too close to the gorge, though said nothing and instead just nodded with Thistleblaze's warning, supporting it. He still could remember the day she arrived to the clan after almost losing her life there, something that made the odd eyed tom’s respect for the dangerous border between WindClan and RiverClan grow even more.

However, as soon as he heard Sleetpaw's words he narrowed his eyes as he glared at him in a scolding manner “Even some of our most skilled swimmers had drowned in those dangerous waters, Sleetpaw” His already deep voice getting more serious with those words. "If you dare to go on and somehow survive, I'll tell Fishstar and your mentor about it" His tone made clear that he was being serious, and knowing the dangers of the Gorge he assumed that the sole thought of the scolding and punishment that could be in store for anyone that tried to carry on such dare would be enough to dissuade them in the act.

Frogpaw, similar to Sleetpaw, was transfixed by the fast moving waters, his green eyes looking down with fascination at how the waters thundered against the rocks, wearing away at them slowly. He could imagine a cat being dashed against them and never waking up again, now that Sootwhisper put that image in his head, however, he couldn't help stick out his head a littler further while the two warriors were focused on the others.

Or he was doing that, until the earth crumbled beneath his forepaws, startling him into rearing into Petalpaw. The tom yelped his apologises, "Ah, sorry Petalpaw." His heart was thumping a mile an hour as he looked at the patch of dirt that had once been grass. It was bone chillingly frightening to think that one misstep would have been his death right then. Thank StarClan that nothing interested ever seemed to happen in RiverClan, even Sleetpaw's brawl with ThunderClan came to nothing in the end. Everything was right in the world, as usual. They'd go up and down this stretch and go home a little more afraid of the gorge.

ooc: WC is welcome to get in on the fun now.

Being the deputy, it was his duty to over see most of the patrols, which also meant being a part of them. Padding along the edge of the water, the grey and white tom waited for the patrol to finish marking the territory. "We should keep moving," he meowed to the patrol, seeing that they'd finished. It wasn't that he didn't want to hang out and bask in the sun, but they had a job to do and didn't have all day.

Making his way along the border, a strong and fresh scent of RiverClan hit his nose and he perked his ears. There were definitely RiverClan cats close by. Flicking his tail to tell everyone to quiet down, Smokepelt kept walking until he finally caught sight of the RiverClan patrol. Walking through the reeds that clung to his pelt, the WindClan cat let out a hiss, unsheathing his claws and standing directly across from the other patrol, although on the other side of the river from them.

~~~

Surprised by someone humping into her, Petalpaw let out a surprised meow and turned around to see Frogpaw. "It's okay," she replied with a smile. It was an accident and accidents happened, so no hard feelings. Looking around, the she-cat peered through the tall grass on the other side of the river and saw that there was a group of cats staring in their direction. "Uh, Sootwhisper?" the cream colored cat asked softly, looking to the warrior. What were those WindClan cats doing so close to them and why did they look so angry?

Starlingpaw followed after the Windclan deputy. She was the only one in Windclan she had grown to trust after the events at Thunderclan occurred. While Ashstar was nice, Smokepelt was nice to them from the very beginning and she really looked up to the gray tom. Though to see him silence the patrol after the scent of Riverclan crossed their noses she got slightly tense. She didn't want to fight so soon after her brother's death but she had to help her new clan. She just sat silently in the back of the patrol and just waited to see what happened. She wanted to avoid a fight if she could.

---

Thistleblaze stepped in front of the apprentices near her ready to defend them if necessary. She didn't want to fight her old clan but she would if they attacked. Her amber eyes glared them down. They were just patrols. Both of them should move along soon. Neither of them were doing anything against the code nor were they crossing territories. She just hoped if there were apprentices they wouldn't open their big mouths, and she hoped the ones she was leading around would do the same, and just stay silent.

Robinpaw stood there ears flattened silent. She looked at the other cats in the patrol waiting for an order of some kind. She kind of wanted this to turn into a fight as she had never realy been in one before and she wanted some leverage over the other apprentices. Still she wasn't going to be the one to start a fight as even Robinpaw knew that that was a realy bad idea.

Falconstone had reluctantly taken the patrol with Smokepelt. He silently detested the cat who had basically caused his father's death. If Ashstar had only made Kestrelstorm her deputy instead of this quiet warrior, he would still be alive. Nevertheless, he dutifully completed his duties and treated Smokepelt with respect, keeping his hating thoughts to himself and himself only. As they neared the patrol, Smokepelt hissed. It was unnecessary and Falconstone bit his tongue to snap a sarcastic remark. He did have Kestrelstorm in him, but Sablestar usually won. "Hello over there!" he called, padding to the edge of the territory. No use of being rude, right?

Sootwhisper frowned slightly as he quickly took a spot at Thistleblaze’s side. His different colored eyes landed on the rival clan’s patrol, serene at their aggression, just like if he was looking at the empty moorlands instead of the cats that were clearly hissing at the other side, like if they weren’t there. Oh, but he was keeping a close eye on them, studying their every move and waiting for their next action to know if they were just taunting them or if they were indeed going to attack them, narrowing his eyes. However, Falconstone’s voice broke his concentration, making him look at the tom with his usual neutral expression before nodding politely as a reply to his greeting. Any cat that didn’t know him well enough would probably think that he was mute.

Kestrelpaw stood besides Falconstone, standing her ground and glancing over the gorge. The RiverClanners were only a fox-leap's away from where they stood, and the tension between the two clans were almost palpable. She watched carefully with her yellow eyes gleaming as she already picked out who she would fight if this turned out into a brawl. The cream RiverClan apprentice looked soft, gentle, and like the sort that a good clawing would send running for the reeds, mewling for her mother. Outwardly, however, she followed Falconstone in looking serene and diplomatic.

Frogpaw wrinkled his nose at the smell of the WindClan patrol, recognising only the deputy, Smokepelt. He disliked the way that they all smelt of grass and hare-dung, it was off-putting to say the least. He hoped that they would be quick to move along, he didn't like the way they were all so freakishly tall.

Yeah, yeah, couldn't Sootwhisper take a joke? He wasn't trying to die. Sleetpaw was about to cuff Frogpaw over the ears for his near tumble into the gorge when the soft scent of WindClan wafted in on the breeze and another patrol snuck into view, cats he'd never seen before. The one in the lead, a gray tom with a splash of white on his chest, was staring at them like they were a pack of foxes, even while another did his best to raise a friendly tone of greeting. So this was WindClan. He raised his nose, meeting the hostile cat's gaze from across the border. "What ruffled your friend's fur?" That was no way to talk to an older warrior, but they weren't his clanmates, so those rules didn't count, and he didn't like how he was glaring. "You look like you got a hare caught in your throat."