Thorn In My Side (o p e n)

Rage.

That was all Thornpaw knew. It was the sole source of her determination. Her only reason for survival.

Rage drove her.

Rage sustained her.

And rage was what guided her home.

Scarred, battered, and fueled by a fire that had still yet to be snuffed out by the cruelties of the world (not for a lack of trying), Thornpaw stalked through the barren swampland she'd called home many moons ago. Her remaining green eye swept over the mud and murk laden territory with a cold, sharp gaze. Would this land still welcome her back into it's barbed embrace? Once upon a time, her loyalty to the clan that had birthed her would have screamed 'Yes!' without hesitation. But that time had passed. She had no interest in pledging her undying loyalty to a clan riddled with weakness and failure.

That being said, she had nowhere else to go. Hers was the life of a Shadowclan warrior, and for now that was how it would stay. Regardless of Littlestar's choices in how she lead the clan, Thornpaw needed to return. The she-cat quite simply had nothing left, but that didn't mean she'd simply accept how things were. Her little escapade through twoleg territory had taught her a valuable lesson about camaraderie.

It didn't exist.

The twolegs had done things to her. Changed her, and over her countless moons of captivity she remembered very little. Fighting for her life, swiping, biting, screeching in fury as they grabbed and pinned her... then nothing. Her scars were different now. When she'd awoken next her right eye, the one that had been destroyed such a long time ago, felt hollow and strange. She'd gotten used to seeing with only one eye a very long time ago, but now the skin around the area felt taut... alien. Her eyelid had been sealed shut, and a portion her other scars seemed to have vanished under the twolegs' careful manipulations.

She hated it.

Her world had been altered dramatically after that. She was disoriented, taken to faraway places, confined in cramped little boxes within deafening monsters. Her escape had been a one in a million chance... and she knew it.

Her gaze narrowed as she the Shadowclan camp came into sight. She'd yet to run into a single sentry or patrol, leading her to question what exactly it was that those mouse-brained fools were thinking... She'd encountered more rogues and loners on her journey home than clan cats.

A piercing screech was the only warning Thornpaw had before she slammed into the ground and the breath was ripped from her lungs. Her assailant, whether intentionally or not, had seemingly taken advantage of her blind spot and charged her full force. Fury building, Thornpaw rolled to blindly kick at the opposing cat. She managed to knock them away long enough to focus her gaze on them and register that, not only was it a cat she didn't recognize, she was an apprentice. A Shadowclan apprentice.

Why in Starclan's name were they attacking her??

Thornpaw rolled to her paws and lowered herself into a crouch to protect her underbelly just as the realization dawned on her. She'd been gone for moons. She likely didn't carry the scent of Shadowclan, and hadn't for some time now. Thornpaw clenched her jaw in irritation. This was juuuust what she needed. Some hotshot apprentice trying to prove their worth by protecting the clan from the big scary intruder.

The irony most definitely wasn't lost on her.

She chose to speak then, voice rough with aggravation. "Back off, kit. I'm in no mood to play games." Narrowing her good eye threateningly, she promptly followed that with, "Where's Littlestar, ratbreath?"

The news of Littlestar's death only mildly surprised her, but in the end it only proved Thornpaw right in doubting the half-pint she-cat's ability to lead. Dying that quickly after gaining her nine lives was evidence enough for her. But if Littlestar was gone, then that begged the question... who had taken her place? She wracked her brain to try and recall who had served as her deputy last but the name continued to elude her. That information was irrelevant at the moment however. Thornpaw was rapidly getting angrier. Who did this pathetic excuse for an apprentice think she was? Did she not realize that she was about two heartbeats away from being torn to shreds? Then again, if the muse-brained kit had a death wish who was she to argue? Violence was most definitely Thornpaw's forte... and she'd been itching for a brawl anyways. The large tabby she-cat flexed her claws, sinking them deep into the marshy soil as the fur rose along her spine. Her green gaze pierced through the little rat. She could practically hear her agonized wailing already. She wasn't exactly known for being able to hold her temper... or her tongue.

"Listen here you little waste of space, I don't particularly care if you want to act tough and try to play hero. If you want me to flay you where you stand I'll happily oblige, otherwise I suggest you get out of my way." Thornpaw loomed over the smaller she-cat threateningly, fully prepared to act on her words should the apprentice refuse to back down when a somewhat familiar, distinctly feminine voice halted her in her tracks.

"Thornpaw?"

The dark tabby cut her sharp gaze to the black pelt of Tansyheart. Her quickly growing rage faltered somewhat at the sight of the cat she'd once hunted alongside. As Tansyheart cut between the two, (presumably to stop Thornpaw from ending the cocky little kit's irritating existence... who she now knew to be named Frogpaw) slight amusement flickered somewhere deep inside her. This wasn't the first time the warrior had tried to diffuse her anger in such a way.

Scorchstar was now leader? Well... at least that made some semblance of sense.

Just as she was about to speak, she was stopped a second time by yet another familiar voice. Wildpaw. Or was it still Wildkit? It'd been moons... he'd likely gotten his warrior name by now, but despite everything she doubted she'd ever let him live that particular event down. The two new arrivals promptly began to ask questions. She should have expected as much but... still. She had returned to a neutral state, her temper fading as quickly as it'd flared. Fixing Wildpaw with a glare to stop his babbling, she answered their mutual question in as few words as possible. "Twolegs. They caught me patrolling the Thunderpath alone. They caught me and... I was imprisoned within a Monster." She adverted her gaze, forcing down the anger that threatened to well up again. Now was not the time. Taking a ragged breath, she looked back at them. "I escaped. One of the brainless fools had left an exit open in one of their many white rooms. I attacked one. They fear us, you know. They have some sort of... power. It forces you into a dark, dreamless sleep. That's how they moved me about for moons..." She snarled, wiry fur bristling again, "I tore one of those spineless, furless beasts' forepaws to shreds as it tried to put me to sleep again and got away."

Thornpaw tactfully left out the bit about scorning Starclan daily for abandoning her. Bitterness began to swell inside of her. Her former clanmates just presumed her dead. Did they even bother looking for her? The she-cat grit her fangs. Just as she'd thought earlier... camaraderie was a lie.

"Where is Scorchstar then?"