WindClan Warrior Games

Lilacsong was tense as she made her way to her position. It was well known that the young she cat hated fighting. But she wasn't really fighting, was she? This would be no different than a kit playing with their litter mates, right? Like how she played with Amberfluff? No cat would be hurt.

At least that's what she told herself. It didn't relieve her nerves much. If it was up to her, she would not be taking place in this at all. But it was better than causing conflict with the Asylum.

Downtuft wasn't particularly looking forward to this. With a sigh, he padded up to Maplewhisker. "Would you like to spar?"

"This is so exciting, Lexine!" Roe murmured, leaning to the side to speak to his companion. Roe was the Asylum cat over-seeing the WindClan games - Theron had made it clear that she had no desire to partake...And that she knew her presence wouldn't help the idea that the message of the games was just to get along. So, Roe was sent in her stead - with Lexine with him as normal.

She rolled her eyes from where she sat ridged at his side, shrugging her shoulders. "Whatever you say. I personally don't think that this will help but Theron said to be here..."

"Of course it will help," he defended, ears slicking back a little as he glanced out at the small crowd of gathering WindClan cats - waiting for the good-natured sparring to start. "They just need to be reminded that we are all cats - we just want to help and its for a good cause. Besides, this could be a learning opportunity - maybe show them how we fight a little and we can learn from them, eh?" he added, bumping his shoulder against Lexine's.

"I don't even know how you got to being a Nightstriker. You are a soft-claw," she retorted, but there was a softness and friendliness to her tone as she glanced over at him. "But you do have a point there - learning fighting styles is always a good thing, but I just don't think this is going to help ease the tensions - not after what Theron has already done."

Roe pouted, squaring his shoulder. "Theron only did what she had to d-"

"Hey, I'm not questioning her, Roe. You know I am all for fighting and bloodshed - I respect what she did...But I'm also not an idiot to not see how that is going to harm the entire idea that we seem to be going for by Eris' orders."

The calico sighed, gaze falling away before he looked up to scan the crowd of cats for his Asylum ones - hoping that things had been alright with them. He almost felt...A little jealous - he wanted to see how the Clan cats lived but Theron had ordered that her pack remain in the Asylum camp - always better to be at each others side where they could protect one another.

Thalia was feeling quite cheerful as she approached Roe and Lexine - a change of pace as of late, to be sure - having left her fox pelt in the burrow in which she slept. She didn't need the illusion of confidence today, nor did she want to appear even weaker before WindClan than they must have already believed her to be. Still, even if she had been upset, it was hard not to be at peace around Roe. For as long as she could remember, he'd been a reassuring presence in her life. A reminder that while she was a Nightstriker, that didn't have to be a bad thing. That she had her place here, as everyone did.

"Roe!" The first-rank Nightstriker's voice wasn't loud, exactly, but it was plain to see that she was excited. "Lexine," she added after a moment, nodding politely.

Today was, ideally, going to be a good day. It was a chance for the Clan cats to see that the Asylum wasn't as bad as they thought, anyway, and she wasn't going to worry about their difficult history today. It made sense, didn't it, to take it all one step at a time?

---

Zinnia was trying her best to focus on the positives today. Certainly, WindClan was still under the Asylum's rock-solid paws, but a celebration was a celebration - and this one, in particular, reminded her of home. The timing wasn't quite right - the Garden's competitions were held under the heat of the blazing sun; when the flowers bloomed their best, as far as they could be from the cover of snowfall - but it seemed that the spirit was the same.

(It was just as important, she supposed, to make sure that spirit remained despite the cold.)

It was a gesture of good-will, if nothing else, and the very least she could do was not approach it with hostility. Though it was curiosity that kept her in place, wondering which of her clanmates might view her as a worthy opponent.

At the sight of Thalia, Roe perked up and his tail-nub started to wag. "Thalia!" he greeted back, dipping his head to her as he motioning with a paw for her to take a seat near him. "How are you doing? Has WindClan been treating you well?" he questioned, whiskers twitching as he looked her over. A lot of the younger Asylum cats had been dear to him - mostly those, like Thalia, had had been unsure on their place after being taken in. He knew the feeling all to well and was happy to be there for them - it truthfully made having Asylum split up over the five Clans much harder to stand, wishing he could see them more often.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been able to visit you and the others - Theron has kept me busy with planning and making sure the camp itself stays safe," he meowed, ears slicking back. It had been...Tiring and a little boring, only getting to see some of his friends when they would stop by the camp for one reason or another. "But...Maybe I can speak with Theron with letting me and Lexine visit a bit more, right Lexine?"


The brown she-cat jolted a little at the mention of her naming, having been ignoring the conversation between the two as she didn't have much care for it - she didn't know Thalia that much and it was clear that the little Nightstriker hadn't been wishing to speak to her. Her eyes fell onto the two, meeting Roe's hopefully gaze and she sighed a little, tilting her head with the tiniest smile. "...Maybe. It would prove useful if we were her eyes and ears and she didn't just have to wait for reports," she acknowledged, before she blinked and glanced at Thalia. "...Oh, and its nice to see you again, Thalia. Making us proud, I expect."

"Oh, um... Not really," Thalia admitted in response to Roe's query, ears flattening and shrinking in on herself for just a moment. "They still really don't like us. Especially their healer, I thought she was actually going to claw my face off, just because I asked if she needed any help. I... May have spent the day on the moor after that. It's been nice having Pyrik around, at least..." For once, though, she bounced back just as quickly, sitting happily in the offered spot. "Still, that's what all this is for, right? To try and make things a little less... Um, tense, is that the right word?"

She tilted her head. "Well... You've got important things to do, right? But, um... If you could visit more... It'd be nice to see you more often." She turned her attention to Lexine last, nodding. "Well, I've been doing my best, anyway..."

(She chose to leave out the details that were implied by her earlier words. Namely, that her best had seemingly still wound up with WindClan's healer one step away from clawing her face off.)

Roe's ears slicked back as Thalia admitted that she had received a fair share of the hatred from WindClan - and it was their healer that was the worse. Were the Clans truly that bad? Did they hold no sympathy for the cats who truly wanted to help? ...Had Theron's actions truly painted them so badly. He leaned over, resting his cheek on Thalia's head as he offered gentle purrs to try to raise her spirits. "I am so sorry to hear that, Thalia - I wish they could see how amazing you are and treat you with the respect you deserve. I will most certainly talk with Theron about letting me visit more often! Maybe I can help change their option on us... But you are right, that is the reason for these games!" he said, straightening up a little. "Hopefully this will allow them to see that we are all just cats trying to survive - that we don't mean any ill-will past what has already been done."

Lexine bared her teeth as a snort escaped her, eyes scanning over the gathered cats. "Not that we expected this to be easy - these are a cats whose entire lives are build around their beliefs, their traditions. It was easy enough to bring cats like Roe's birth group to heel because they were all about strength and surviving. Theses cats?" She let out a laugh - short and sharp as she shook her head. "Cats who are raised to live and die for their beliefs are bound to fight to keep it even if it means turning their back on cats who just want to help - no matter how many times their own religion turns on them apparently," she added.

Spotlake wearingly padded out, her fur on end at the sight of so many Asylum cats. Her ears perked up when she saw Zinnia, and padded over to the she-cat. "Hey, would you like to spar?" She asked.

Mishka was undoubtably nervous at the games to come. She was so small, it was difficult to pin anything, even a rabbit. Still, she timidly padded over to Lilacsong, one of the warriors who she had begun to form somewhat of a friendship with. It was nowhere near how she felt about Violetpaw, but at least the tabby she-cat tolerated her. It wouldn't be too embarrassing if she lost against her, right? "Hey, Lilacsong?" She asked as she approached the larger she-cat, "Do you want to spar? I'm only little, so it shouldn't be too difficult to pin me."

She should have expected to be challenged, but she still jumped when Mishka approached her. Although it was nice that a friendly cat had approached her to spar. It would help it seem like play. "Er, yeah! I'll spar with you!" She purred as she padded away to create distance.

Turning back around, she charged at Mishka, although none too threateningly, and wrapped around her shoulders in an attempt to bring her down. Despite what Mishka had said, this was not going to be an easy pin.

Lilacsong: 2
Mishka:

The member 'Karuna' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 2

Mishka was taken aback by the force Lilacsong came out her with, but managed to slip out the way, using her small size to her advantage. Even thought she escaped the warrior's pin, she still wasn't in a good enough position to pin her back, and needed to wait for a better moment.

Mishka: 2
Lilacsong: 2

The member 'khamosa' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 2

Lilacsong chuckled a little. "Hey, you said you would be an easy pin. You're not supposed to be good!" She joked in her own way of a compliment. Despite her earlier doubts, she was actually having a lot of fun. She supposed it all depended on the cat she was sparring with. She didn't doubt cats would use this opportunity to take out their anger, so it was a good thing Lilacsong and Mishka had no quarrel.

Going in for another attack, Lilacsong attempted to use her weight against Mishka. While she was a light cat, as WindClan cats commonly were, Mishka was, as she said, small. Maybe she could use this to her advantage?

Lilacsong: 2, 5
Mishka: 2