Daylight Dies (Open/Any)

He'd finished patrolling with Wolfcall for the day and had bedded down for sleep. Sleep however, did not come so quickly for Bloodpaw, as his brain buzzed with his thoughts and ideas to improve the outlook of his clan, even if it needed to be done in secrecy. It had been a few days since his last outing at the border of Shadowclan and Skyclan at Highpine. His talk with Flintstar had helped a lot. With the information given to him by the older tom, he intended to use it to further his own agenda. Once he was sure the night patrols had left camp, Bloodpaw carefully and quietly left his sleeping spot and crept out of the Skyclan camp. There were more cats he needed to talk to. He wanted to speak to a cat from each clan and show them his strength if necessary to further his goals and make them listen to him.

Bloodpaw slipped through bushes and undergrowth with skilled, practiced movements and in total silence. He enjoyed hunting during the day, with squirrels being his favorite quarry since they sometimes ran through the trees and gave him an opportunity to practice his balance. Bloodpaw's legs were thick and strong, yet he moved with the agility of the squirrels he pursued across tree branches. Tonight however, he was not hunting for prey. He was hoping to run into a Thunderclan cat or a few, though not for violence. He needed to talk. He needed to learn.

Being very cautious and looking behind him and all around him for predators, he made his way to the Fallen Oak. He wasn't about to cross it though, as that could anger the Thunderclan cats and make them less likely to talk. Bloodpaw simply crept up the trunk and waited, listening for paw steps, snapping twigs, voices, sneezing... anything that would signal to him that a Thunderclan patrol had arrived. He periodically inhaled deeply through his nose for scent too, even parting his maw to be sure that his nose hadn't missed anything. There in silence under the cover of night, he waited...

Beecloud sucked in a long, sweet breath, tracking the scent of flowers. His border patrol had splintered, taking up various routes along the edge of SkyClan's border to cover more ground. The patrol leader had assigned Beecloud, the youngest warrior, to walk along the Fallen Oak. Good! The blossoms that grew along the edge of the displaced tree were plentiful, especially dandelions. Bright, yellow dandelions were what he needed. He liked their mild scent and simple beauty. He had grown quite fond of them, and after donating the majority to the medicine cats, he planned to keep a few for his nest.

He lumbered through the forest with little thought of masking his presence. SkyClan tended to be a small bunch, given that they spent so much time hovering on branches, and they posed little threat, given that they were standoffish. Beecloud felt that his mother would make a good SkyClanner, being so small and so quietly content. He felt he was the opposite in every way, with enormous mass, snaggled teeth, and extra toes. He had trouble staying out of conflict. A very bad SkyClan cat he would make.

Something felt undoubtedly strange as he leaned down to snip dandelions at the root. His ears twitched nervously. Beecloud's amber eyes traveled back and forth across the border. He glanced upward, looking for movement in the branches above him. The young warrior swallowed hard, brow furrowing as he struggled to make sense of the bad feeling in his gut. The wind kicked up, a light gust from the northeast, rustling the trees and encouraging nearby birds to lift from their perches and fly elsewhere. Instinctually, as if he were hunting, the brown-and-white tom took another breath. His fears were realized, a mixture of pine and feathers hitting his olfactory center. The huge tom turned to face the SkyClan border. "How many of you are there?" he called out, taking two steps closer before hesitation kicked in. His tail flicked out behind him, a silent, if nervous, warning. "Are you just going to sit and watch?"

Bloodpaw definitely heard the Thunderclan cat coming way before he actually saw him. The rather large cat ambled on by, and if Bloodpaw could have shook his head without giving away his position, he would have. As soon as the wind blew by and tugged at his fur, he knew his scent would be carried to the other tom. Just one though... so far. How bad could this get? Bloodpaw smirked to himself when heard the Thunderclan warrior call him out.

"Just one, relax. I mean you no harm." At that moment, Bloodpaw leaped to the top of the fallen oak's mighty trunk and stared down at... a very fluffy cat. His fangs actually grew outside of his mouth... whoa. Still, his assumptions about Skyclan cats being small were about to be... very abruptly shattered. Bloodpaw was only 8 moons old and stood about two inches taller than the average adult cat and weighed a little bit more.... and he was not finished growing.

"I'm Bloodpaw. I didn't mean to put you on edge... Thunderclan... guy." He didn't know his name, so that was the best he could come up with. Bloodpaw reclined onto his haunches to show that he meant no threat, but the Thunderclan warrior would be very mistaken if he thought Bloodpaw was vulnerable to attack now. He was ready to spring off of his powerful, Skyclan trained hind legs and be gone if trouble arose. The more he eyed the warrior, the more he realized how young he was. He was barely out of apprentice stage himself probably.

"I actually would like to talk if you can spare a few minutes."

A brown tabby slunk out of the shadows of the SkyClan side, and Beecloud found himself reeling as he adjusted to the newcomer's odd looks... as if he were one to talk. The two were about equal in height, which took Beecloud aback, being one of the largest in ThunderClan since his father's death. The stranger's eyes retained some youthful gleam, tipping Beecloud off to his age. It only served to further confuse him. Bloodpaw, as the young warrior now knew him, was a juxtaposition of a cat: both youthful and gruff-voiced, both imposing and engaging. The SkyClan tom teemed with quiet awareness, inviting Beecloud to join him on neutral ground. Beecloud was not naive, nor particularly trusting, but he recognized the gentle rippling in the tom's eyes as cautious curiosity. They both took defensive stances. Beecloud shifted his jaw, feeling his exposed teeth run along his lip. To stay or to go? If he left, he would surely pass on Bloodpaw's queries to another cat in ThunderClan. Hostilities ran amok in the post-war forest. For a moment, Dacedream's battered body flashed in his mind. Her crime had been fishing. Not every cat would take kindly to a member of the clan who had abandoned the battle. Vixenpaw had attacked their own. She was unhinged. Nothing would stop her from tearing into Bloodpaw's throat if she got the chance.

It occurred to Beecloud, after a few seconds of silent tension passing between them, that he and this stranger were equals. Moreover, so long as they remained by the oak, they were equally innocent. Beecloud would, of course, not be the one to cast the first stone. He stepped over his own border marking and lowered his huge body to the ground, mirroring the SkyClan cat. He felt no need to hunch his shoulders or dip his huge maw, them being the same size. Beecloud's eyes shifted nervously from left to right, and then up, and then behind him. No ghosts were coming. Dacedream's dead eyes, nonetheless, haunted him. He sucked in a breath.

"Beecloud," he said simply, taking a closer look at Bloodpaw. "We lost someone dear to us to the Righteous Few. They took her at the river border. You'll have to forgive me for being a little flighty... old habits die hard." He pricked his ears up one last time, waiting for a sound, a smell, or a sight that would never come. "I've never heard of a leader sending a lone apprentice with a message, so that must mean this is personal, right?"

Bloodpaw watched the other cat carefully, as he had learned his lesson in the skirmish with the shadowclan apprentice. Never be too sure. Still, he remained friendly in demeanor. He watched curiously as Beecloud looked this way and that way and smelled and listened... hyper-vigilance. Bloodpaw would never call it paranoia, as it was wise to be hyper-vigilant on the border of a two clan territories. Beecloud finally spoke about why he was on edge and it made Bloodpaw nod in understanding. Thanks to Flintstar, he knew enough about the Righteous Few.

"I was lucky enough to have never met them. I wasn't born yet." Bloodpaw explained. Upon the question that flowed from Beecloud's lips, Bloodpaw laughed, albeit a bit nervously.

"Actually, I came here of my own accord. I don't think Spottedstar knows I am here, but that's fine. I actually came to talk with a Thunderclan cat, mostly for... insight I guess you could call it. I figured out at the last gathering I was at that not too many cats actually like Skyclan. I want to know why so that maybe I could find a way to improve clan relations. All within the restrictions my leader puts on me, of course. So... does Thunderclan hold grudges against us? I didn't do much talking. The last gathering was... tense and that was my first one."

Bloodpaw's eyes glanced over the tell-tale signs in Beecloud's body that might suggest he was about to pounce or strike, but for the time being things seemed to be fine. If at any point Beecloud wanted him gone, Bloodpaw would oblige and try a different Thunderclan cat later.

Mistpaw padded quietly around the SkyClan border near ThunderClan, when suddenly, she heard voices. Curious and a little frightened, the gray and cream tabby dove into a nearby bush, before sticking her head out a little to see who was talking. A familiar pointed pelt caught her eye. Mistpaw froze in horror and a bit of curiosity. Bloodpaw? What are you doing here? With a...ThunderClan cat? For all the little apprentice knew, this could end on a skirmish. With Bloodpaw being an apprentice and all, Mistpaw wanted to be with him when the ThunderClan warrior attacked. So, she did the only thing she could. She hid, she listened and she waited.

Beecloud relaxed into the discussion, chuckling lightly at Bloodpaw's frank explanation of SkyClan's standoffishness. He couldn't judge. To each his own, he liked to think, and to each clan what they deemed best. Oakstar was a trustworthy and amicable leader for ThunderClan, but he wouldn't fare well in a reclusive, stoic clan like SkyClan. Bloodpaw seemed stoic, for certain. It was enough to make Beecloud question his posture, the way his tail swept across his paws, and the burrs caught in his thick pelt. He tried not to let his eyes flicker away from Bloodpaw's intensity.

"I think mistrust is natural between the clans," he sighed. "We're all so different. I don't trust WindClan, I think. Something about them feels really disingenuous. Like they're talking down to you. I dunno. Your clan is a special case. I think that ever since the war ended, at least in my clan, everyone is wondering if you'll run away next time something threatens us all. You're apparently not known for returning favors."

There was something different than when he first started speaking. The large tom's fur began to prickle in ebbing waves of panic, flightiness afflicting his paws with the urge to leap. He satiated the urge by flexing his claws in the ground, churning up dirt as he stared just past Bloodpaw's shoulders, hunting for shadows. He returned to the SkyClan tom's face and cleared his throat, shoving the thoughts to the back of his head, where they belonged. "I'm sure your clanmates must think I'm nosy and self-righteous, though," he said, grinning with deformed teeth. "I'll admit, sharing tongues is a riot after Gatherings. But, generally, SkyClan is reclusive and uncompromising. You have your morals and you won’t waver on them. Which, really, isn’t the worst thing you could be.”

This interaction was... not what Bloodpaw expected. Beecloud was turning out to be very reasonable and easy to talk to. The cat may have been a bit odd-looking, but even though their conversation hadn't been going on for very long, Bloodpaw was thinking he'd like this Thunderclan cat. At the mention of not trusting Windclan, Bloodpaw immediately became intrigued. He remembered Redfall and Crowspirit having a verbal tussle, but he never thought that maybe Windclan was just untrustworthy. If Beecloud knew anything about Windclan, then this could be very beneficial. Getting to the Windclan border was going to be a challenge anyway, and Bloodpaw had a feeling he'd have to take the dreaded thunderpath the whole way.

Bloodpaw noticed the sudden change in Beecloud's behavior. Clawing at the dirt, suddenly on edge... Bloodpaw forced himself to look unfazed, but oh boy was he ready to spring into action... Then just like that, Beecloud was fine again. ...What? He wondered to himself.

"I'm not sure what my clan mates would think of you. You've never been brought up... or do you mean your clan? As for how my clan has been acting... well, I'm still new to it myself, only being an apprentice and all. I would like to fix things, but as far as I know it all starts with gathering information and at least being somewhat knowledgeable." He gave a shrug.

"Has Thunderclan had negative experiences with Windclan? I don't think I like them, from the one that I remember, but I try to keep an open mind. One bad clan mate shouldn't represent all of a clan." Bloodpaw thought he heard something behind him just then. His ears swiveled backward and he listened, though he still didn't quite want to take his eyes off of an unknown cat. Was there something back there that had spooked Beecloud earlier?

(Does anyone want to discover Mistpaw now? She means no harm.)

Mistpaw had heard everything now. With a small sigh of relief, she tried to sneak off without her brother or the ThunderClan cat. Bloodpaw just wanted to ask how to solve the tension of SkyClan and the other Clans. Mistpaw froze as something cracked underneath her forepaw and she cringed. Not good... Mistpaw thought, freezing. What would the ThunderClan warrior think? She was not spying on them...well, she was, but she only wanted what was better for her brother...

Beecloud considered the notion of ThunderClan's official standing with WindClan. What could he say about them? "Oakstar had only good things to say about Finchstar when he was alive," Beecloud reasoned. "So, I suppose we could consider them our allies. He was a little bit of a radical. He spoke against StarClan and welcomed runaway clan cats into his ranks. I heard that some of them were from SkyClan. He had... big ideas, and not all of them went over well. It was as if the forest wasn't big enough for him. Even though Ravenstar is leader now, I think they all follow Finchstar's lead, and that's what rubs me the wrong way. But when the going gets tough, they'll usually stand with ThunderClan."

The forest suddenly felt very large, and very beautiful. Even if he didn't like it, he was glad cats like Finchstar stuck around. He believed it made life more interesting, the contrasting views and clashing that went along with it. Bloodpaw sought unity, it seemed. It was a lofty goal, a valiant one, and though Beecloud didn't think it possible (tabbies don't often change their stripes), he supported the young tom's goal of expanding his mind to encompass every society in their midst. "Of all the clans, you'll have the most trouble with WindClan, guaranteed," he laughed.

Snap. Beecloud's eyes returned past Bloodpaw's shoulder. His theory was confirmed. Rising slowly and hesitantly to his paws, he began to back up from the border. "We're not alone," he said frankly. "Is that a friend of yours?"

Bloodpaw drank in the information that Beecloud gave him and logged it away for future reference. All of this was going to plan... he was actually gathering information he needed! Whether or not he could pull of his plan to put Skyclan in a better light with the other clans was yet to be seen, but this had to be a good enough start. Still... he couldn't imagine why someone would abandon their clan to begin with. At the mention of Skyclan cats joining Windclan.... he wasn't sure exactly how he felt about that, but it wasn't good. He'd like to find out who these cats were and have them explain their reasoning behind leaving, though he doubted any of it would make logical sense.

"They definitely appeared to be... challenging during the last gathering." Bloodpaw agreed with a smirk. A twig snapped behind him and Bloodpaw was on his feet in an instant. He spun and faced where the noise last came from, his pupils as round as full moons. He crouched down low and waited.

"...Maybe... or a predator. I promise I came here alone." Bloodpaw trusted Beecloud enough with his back turned that he felt no need to keep one ear on him. He seemed like a pretty cool cat. Bloodpaw inhaled deeply through his nose and parted his jaws when he couldn't pick out a single, definitive scent.... then it hit him.

"Mistpaw!" He growled, though more out of annoyance than true aggression. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" He said to her in a lowered voice. Then again, so should he... but whatever. He was a mix of annoyed that she had followed him and relieved that it wasn't Spottedstar or Wolfcall. Bloodpaw straightened up and cast an apologetic look at Beecloud.

"Just my sister. She's pretty harmless." He tried to reassure the Thunderclan warrior. Well.... he knew he'd be caught one day. Maybe he could convince her not to tell anyone if he just calmed down and talked with her.

"Mistpaw, you may as well come out and talk with us." He resigned.

Freezing, Mistpaw slowly turned around to face her brother, and the ThunderClan warrior. “I—I’m sorry, I was bored and...decided to check the borders but...” When Bloodpaw states that she was “pretty harmless”, Mistpaw rolled her eyes. Lowering her voice, the gray tabby whispered, “Bloodpaw, what happens if Dad or...Spottedstar finds out? You’ll be in big trouble.” Mistpaw suddenly remembered that there was another cat listening. Mistpaw’s mouth immediately closed up and her pelt burned with embarrassment.

Beecloud watched the bushes as a little grey tabby emerged, head tucked low and voice soft as kit-fur. His sister, the other tom explained, and not really a threat. The ThunderClan cat stifled a chuckle as she rolled her hazel eyes. She reminded him of Cedarheart. Bloodpaw and Mistpaw leered at each other in a way only littermates could. Now, Harefoot was important to him, but he'd never fear his judgement on the same level as his leader's... so perhaps their father was Wolfcall. It would've been rude to confirm it.

"Maybe it's time we go, then," he said cautiously. "Even if we're on neutral ground, I probably shouldn't be hanging around while I'm on patrol." Beecloud scented the air. His clanmates were near, but not coming their way. He would have to go home soon, to share tongues with his clanmates and prepare for his dusk hunt. "I hope I could give you what you're looking for, Bloodpaw. You're a smart tom. It was nice to meet you, Mistpaw, and I'm very sorry for the trouble. You'll both have a friendly face in ThunderClan, should you ever need it."

Upon Mistpaw mentioning dad and Spottedstar, Bloodpaw sighed.

"I think dad has already caught on to what I'm doing anyway. He hasn't sent guards to stop me so... here I am. As for Spottedstar... well he can punish me as he sees fit if he finds out." Bloodpaw gave his sister a long look that meant if she didn't tell him, he'd never know. Beecloud spoke next and Bloodpaw managed to keep the disappointment he felt off of his face at least. He was right though, he was on patrol and probably needed to get going.

"Alright Beecloud, thanks for talking with me. Be safe and good luck to you and your clan." Bloodpaw hoped that sounded right. He jumped off of the oak tree and back onto Skyclan's side of it. He looked at his sister and shrugged.

"Well... we're out here together so now what?" He asked her. He was willing to walk back to camp with her and nodded his ears in that direction before he started walking.

OOC: We can either end it here or have them walk to camp for a bit. Whatever you want to do is fine with me :)

OOC: I think they can talk a bit then go back.

Mistpaw nodded at the ThunderClan warrior—Beecloud, was it?—and started walking back towards camp with Bloodpaw. “Sooo...brother...why did you decide to sneak out of camp in the middle of the night talking to a warrior at the border about...WindClan?” The gray tabby hit her brother with a sheathed paw lightly. Okay, maybe it was more than a light hit. More of a smack but Bloodpaw could take it.