You Feel Your Sins Crawling Down Your Back (OPEN - Ivystar needed)

Wolfpaw walked towards the cats that had gatherd around, he glared at Ivystar for a second and then looked at Swanpaw "Who's the new cat?" he asked and looked around at every cat except for Ivystar, him being really mad at his leader.

Scorchpaw sat a little distance away from the crowd of cats that had gathered around the stranger called Swanpaw, his eyes narrowed slightly with mistrust. Who was she, and why were his clanmates so friendly and accepting towards her? Her name was Swanpaw, so she must have been a Clan cat, but--he wrinkled his nose at the stench--she smelt completely different from the RiverClan cats. The word 'twoleg' was being tossed around, and Scorchpaw heard it more than once. Was she saying that she had been captured by twolegs? He was full of questions that he wanted answered, but he continued to observe Swanpaw without saying anything.

Swanpaw paused, surrounded by cats she didn't know aside from her leader and her mentor, until spotting a familiar face - Nutpaw! Or, from her words, Nutfur. She smiled and nodded at the now-warrior, wishing she had tried harder to be a friend at all. Oh, and there was Cloudstone - it was good to know some things remained the same.

And then there was the apprentice bombarding her with questions, who she had gathered was named Spotpaw. She tried to tackle each of his questions as clearly as possible. "I was a RiverClan apprentice before I was captured, yes. And as for your other question, older than you."

Spotpaw's eyes stayed narrowed until her last comment. HEY! Rude! He yelled in his head. Calm down, Spotpaw. On the outside, he kept his cool, no matter what she said. "Of course I knew THAT," He sneered. "I think I'd know you if you weren't. Plus,
I can tell how much you've lost your youth. I'm not blind." The minute he said this he regretted it. Ivystar, Cloudstone, and Nutfur all obviously knew this cat well, and Swanpaw would obviously have been a warrior had it not been for Twolegs. Inside he braced himself. Punishment was sure to come. Ivystar would yell, and punish him for being so rude, especially to a former Clanmate who had gone on a hard journey and returned much worse for wear.

Snailbelly shot Spotpaw a harsh glare. It had special intensity as he rarely did such a thing. Nobody insulted his apprentice!

The medicine cat nudged the berries towards the white she-cat. "Eat these, you'll need your strength." Cloudstone glanced at Spotpaw, raising a nonexistent eyebrow at the younger tom before whacking him with his tail. "Very few cats come back from Twolegplace, Spotpaw. Show some respect." The black tomcat shook out his fur and then proceeded to search Swanpaw for any injuries he could take care of.

Spotpaw huffed, glaring back at Snailbelly and Cloudstone. "If she was smart enough to deserve respect she wouldn't have gotten caught in the first place." He mumbled to himself.

"Alright, now, Spotpaw, that'll do," Sweetheart gently chided with a warning look, then she nuzzled behind his ears.

Goldenpaw watched from the medicine cat den, her amber eyes narrowed, glowering at Spotpaw. Fur bristling the apprentice strode forwards and slammed the back of her sheathed paw against the apprentice's muzzle. "You're being absurdly stupid, Spotpaw. Right now you're acting like a spoilt kit. Grow up. Do not underestimate two-legs, they take a lot of strong and noble warriors constantly. They have traps and sticks that make loud noises and cause grievous injury - or so I've heard - the thing is; two-legs are dangerous, those that get captured by them are not always 'stupid'. Riverclan cats are for noble, great cats, it's obvious you aren't fitting the bill. " Goldenpaw turned to Swanpaw.

"Come on, Cloudstone and I have to check you over for injuries." Goldenpaw meowed, beckoning to her den.

Brightpaw saw a huge group of cats, which obviously made him curious. The grey tabby tom strolled towards them, recognising Spotpaw. He heard the insult and gently thwacked his brother with one of his paws. "Come, Spotpaw, be nice." he gently scolded. His oddly coloured eyes found Swanpaw. One of his eyes was a bright, fiery amber, the other an icy, shocking blue. It easily unnerved most cats. He recognised that this she-cat seemed to be the center of attention, and Brightpaw had heard her story from where he was before. He sat himself down, watching the others with a thoughtful expression.

Spotpaw angrily hissed at both apprentices that hit him. I thought you were a medicine cat! And you,
my brother. Spoilt kit, ha! At least I have the honor to respect my real clanmates and not harm them.
Fox-hearts. He stalked away to the edges of camp, keeping himself from attacking his Clanmates.

Swanpaw accepted the berries, and nodded to the medicine cat apprentice. "Alright. Can someone fill me in on what I've missed?"

Snailbelly had tried, but he wasn't the most alert cat all the time, as much as she had come to care for him. It would be nice to hear about things from the rest of her Clanmates, too - besides, there had to have been events Snailbelly missed explaining.

"It sounds like you've been through a lot, Swanpaw. You should reconnect with your clanmates and rest. I will be sure to announce your return formally once most of the clan is back in camp. All you must know is that there is bad blood with ThunderClan over Sunningrocks right now, and you'd be best to steer clear of ThunderClan till the feud is settled." Though Ivystar didn't comment on Spotpaw's little outburst as it seemed her medicine cats had done the job for her, she made a note to herself to make it clear that Swanpaw was to be welcomed and embraced back into the clan. They did not turn away their clanmates, especially ones that had endured such an ordeal to get back home.

"Sweetheart, go take some prey to our guests by the cavern. And take Snailbelly with you to relieve the current guards." The leader meowed to the warriors, tail flicking to dismiss them before she padded over to speak with little Minnowpaw regarding her training.

Ravenpaw padded closer to Swanpaw. She was curious about the newcomer, especially about her time in the twolegplace. How did a cat go about escaping from twolegs? "Hi, Swanpaw," she said. "Welcome back. I'm Ravenpaw."

"Hello, Ravenpaw," Swanpaw nodded cheerfully. As Ivystar left, giving a warrior she didn't recognize and her mentor instructions to bring food to 'guests by the cavern', she asked the apprentice in hopes of a clearer answer. "Do you know what I've missed? Everything seems... Different. Bad blood with ThunderClan over Sunningrocks isn't new, but..."