expedition of the ordinary sort [open border patrol!]

The strange words that left his opponent's maw caused him to blink, and invoked deeper fury. Fawnstep glared at the loner. It was better to not respond, not to play whatever convoluted game the other tom was playing. A desire to tear into the handsome pelt was briefly sated - due to the obtrusion of his patrol mate. I'm not supposed to fight unless... He wondered what down-brained nonsense had been impressed into the mind of his kit, his clanmate. Gritting his teeth, Fawnstep turned to call over his shoulder, eyes not leaving that of his target, "Muddyleap, Goldenpaw... show this foxdung how Windclan cats can fight." With that, he stepped off of the loner.

Fawnstep released Tarot. Tarot is no longer held.

Tarot had glanced at the other older-seeming cat as they responded to him with blatant confusion. The young one seemed just as confused, but neither seemed in a rush to attack him, so perhaps the one standing on him was the only one lacking civility. When he was released he immediately stood upright, somehow seeming graceful even as he stood at the ready.

His response to the less rude warrior was instead directed to the one that had immediately tackled him. Who obviously hadn't comprehended his higher language and had still responded with insulted anger.

"Let me dumb it down for you." the loner said in an unimpressed, dry tone that still held that elegant note that had been present in his more educated words from before. "I find it amusing that you clan cats call any loner or rogue you come across 'savages' or, in more hair-brained terms 'foxdung' and then immediately attack us on sight like rabid strays." He paused, staring at the tom who seemed to be the leader of this group with an expression of pure, uncaring apathy. "By definition, wouldn't those actions be the ones of a true savage? Then, that means, you're a hypocrite, and forcing these two cats to fight a battle is rather rude, don't you think? You put them in harm's way because you're too mouse-brained to actually speak before committing to an action." He smirked. Turning to the other two cats.

"So this is what a clan is like, dragging each other into fights that only one cat originally started? It seemed about as structured as a pack of brainless dogs. I will spar with him, you will join by your own choice. In the end, you are your own cats." He shifted to the patrol leader, calmly unsheathing his claws, eyes narrowing. "I do not intend to leave this tom unmarred after he decided that blood was the solution to this encounter. It's much better to... discipline, such feral behaviour. I applaud you two for not following immediately in his paw steps, at the least." He snorted.

"You wanted blood, savage? Then who am I to tell you no?" He purred darkly.

Violet hues seeming to blaze to life as he coiled his muscles, the loner lurched toward the tom that had tackled him, covering the short distance only to rear up on his hind legs and slash at the warrior's face with both forepaws. A snarl twisting his muzzle. The bloodlust he usually kept restrained showed itself in his attack. A glint of sadism shone in his eyes as he tried to rend the flesh of the one who dared to strike him.

Such uncivilty would never go unnoticed by Tarot, and he'd never endorse it in any way, so, he always strikes back. Still, he had a well enough grip on reality during battles to know when it was time to retreat, and if asked he likely would've left their territory. Instead, he had been pinned down without a thought, and he'd never retreat after that... he'd always give the attacker something to remember him by.

Muddyleap's ears slicked back as the loner offered to 'dumb down' his words, fur bristling a little. I-It wasn't his fault that he didn't understand all of those fancy words that the tom used! W-Who actually talked like that?!? But he felt his heart sink a little at the tom's harsh words directed toward Fawnstep, thinking back to his mother's request of him...Her plead to never pull a cat into a fight that didn't desire it. Part of wanted to back off - try to apologize for his father's actions but he also didn't want to disappoint Fawnstep. He felt caught, torn between what to do as he spared a nervous glance at Goldenpaw as if the apprentice would have a better sense of things.

But then, Tarot stuck out at Fawnstep. Blood was scattered across the moor and Muddyleap leapt forward. "N-No! Leave him alone!" he gasped, fur fluffed in fear. He didn't know how badly an injury felt - he didn't know pain but he had seen his sister break into tears after being attacked, he didn't want anybody else to go through that feeling! But...He also didn't want the loner to feel that pain. He slide to a stop next to Tarot, eyes widening for a second before he stuck out with a paw, whacking the tom in the side of the head...But as Muddyleap drew back, he realized with a start that he had forgotten his claws. He felt hot shame flash through him, thinking back at how Fawnleap had scolded him just a few heartbeats before about not hesitating in battle...

He swallowed, before he met Tarot's gaze. "Go away...Please," he murmured. "I don't want to fight you if you really don't wanna."


Muddyleap used Front Paw Blow on Tarot, dealing 6 damage and costing 5 stamina.

Muddyleap:
40/40 HP
115/120 SP (-5)

Tarot:
28/45 HP (-6)
125/140 SP

The apprentice’s ears flattened. She wasn’t going to disobey Fawnstep’s order to attack, but the stranger’s retaliation against the warrior was an extra prod to intervene. Muddyleap seemed unwilling. It was odd, but she didn’t have time to think much about it. She needed to peel the attacker off of her clanmate. She charged and yowled a wordless battlecry, slamming into Tarot’s side with quite a bit of force for such a young cat.

Goldenpaw used Run-and-Tackle on Tarot, dealing 6(+3) damage and using 10 stamina.

Muddyleap:
40/40 HP
115/120 SP

Tarot:
19/45 HP
125/140 SP

Fawnstep:
51/60 HP
190/200 SP

Goldenpaw:
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

To add further insult to injury, the loner reared up to rake him with claws. The warrior snarled and leaped back. A stinging sensation welled up on his maw, something that was dashed away by the growing anger and adrenaline. Fawnstep twisted his neck to shake away the blood, scattering scarlet droplets. Such silken speech, dulled to appease the warrior, was purely infuriating. He wanted to tear into the tom, shred him to pieces too small to even be fit for a rabbit's nest. Between the three of them, perhaps this pile of rabbit droppings would learn not to mess with clan cats.

"Do not confuse strength with savagery. If you weren't looking for a fight, you should have wandered near a land that wasn't claimed. Perhaps I could introduce you to the gorge, a fitting resting place for something like you." The hiss was low, fueled by rage. His tail flickered, stalling but only because he wanted to see Muddyleap - to watch his son thrive and dash away the mild praise given to his patrolmates, "Fight him, Muddyleap! Show this tom what you can do! And you too, Goldenpaw. His pads don't deserve to touch our territory."

Fawnstep chose to yell instead of fight.

His attack hit, and he smiled darkly at his handiwork. It wasn't as strong as he wished it to be, but that would come with time. Swiftly he had danced back from the enraged top, landing near the same spot he had been before. His ear swivelled as he heard someone move two blows in quick succession, one slapped him with a sheathed paw, dealing blunt damage that wouldn't've bothered him much had the next attack not forced him to skid back a few inches. That on top of the enraged one's blow made him pause in the brief moment of stillness.

Idly he brought his bloodied claws to his muzzle, licking them clean along with his dirtied muzzle, before lowering one after the other to the ground and sheathing his weapons. He idly shook his head, ears ringing after the youngest's, ahem, 'battle cry'.

He glanced to the second tackler, brow raised, face still unimpressed. "You know, battle cries are actually a hindrance, they waste precious breath needed to keep your muscles ready for action. I suggest forgoing them, they especially ruin surprise attacks." He grimaced, "Troublesome." He turned his attention to the youngest, eyes glinting inquisitively.

Tarot's head tilted slightly in musing. "Your claws were sheathed." His eyes lidded slightly, a moment of silence. "Tell me, what do you fight for?" A pause, then he gestured to the tom he had clawed, "Him? He seems to treat you as nothing more than a tool to be used then disposed of, it seems. He is hardly worth fighting for. He's simply a tom who can't quell his anger in the face of something who does not face his precious 'expectations'."

He padded a bit closer, posture relaxed, claws not seen. The frightening glee as he marred the rude one's face was gone as if it never existed. "Do you not have friends? Family, that truly cares for you? That would give you advice instead of forcing you to blindly rush towards danger?..." The loner questioned. His hues seemed softer in that moment, his next words level. "If you truly wish to be a 'warrior' you need to stop living for him, and live for yourself, your own beliefs. Strive to become your own cat, and if you wish for strength, then build it up with the mindset of protecting those you care about, and who care about you."

His face became serious once more, violet eyes unyeilding. "And next time, in the face of a possible danger where you are forced to attack, strike with claws. It is survival of the fittest in this world. Giving mercy to those that could endanger the life of your loved ones or yourself is a fool's ideal and will end in tragedy."

He sharply turned back to his spot, suddenly lax once more, his personality switching on a dime. His voice was idly amused, a glips of the mask he would soon show a curious molly in the future. "Of course, if my offhand observations are incorrect then what I said to you likely means nothing. The ramblings of a loner, perhaps." A light chuckle.

He then responded to Fawn, looking and the angered warrior without a hint of being intimidated. His voice became mocking, another disturbance in his apparent character. "As for you. You seem to forget that strength without strategy is nothing other than useless flailing that wastes everyone's time. True strength is knowing when to attack, when to speak... and of course, when to retreat He snorted, ad padded closer to the border as he spoke, abruptly leaping over it, retreating while still seeming perfectly dignified. I did not come here looking for a fight. I came here to seek knowledge about the new world I've found myself in. I wanted to learn about the clans, to quell my curiosity. He huffed as if the mere thought bored him "I have fought my share of cats, it hardly interests me and longer."

He looked at the injured tom with a likely infuriating smirk and chuckled. "Do try to remember that the world is far, far larger than your little clan. There are things that you will never see in your lifetime that would make you seem pitifully insignificant, just like the rest of the creatures that share this world with you." He cocked his head brow raised "In the end, your death would have no impact on the grandeur of our reality. This world will not remember you. Even those you've impacted will eventually die, leaving you forgotten in time. A second death, some say, and one everyone will inevitably face.

He sneered, before easing into an apathetic expression, tone cold. "You are nothing. Just like the rest of us, you bend to life's whims, nature's passing thoughts. So, perhaps you should stop thinking that you are actually important... and realize that we loners have seen far more in our lifetime than you ever will, and as a result, we will never care about your scrap of territory in our fight for survival. The clans are simply a drop in the lake of our world, a curiosity and nothing more."

He let out a melodic chuckle, feeling amusement at the situation. Hopefully, his words would get through the tom's thick skull. It seems some clan cats needed their illusions of majesty shattered. The fact of the matter was that they are no better than cats who struggle to survive in the vast world, nor were they are any better than the cats when have secured their safety in the arms of twolegs.

He paused and smirked... it was far too fun to mess with such a hotheaded cat. "Tomorrow a dog could devour you, or sickness could strike you dead, and I would never notice nor care. I have far more important things to focus on than you're delusions of superiority, oh mighty clan cat." Tarot said the last part in a rather patronizing tone, a sneer on his muzzle.

Tarot then straightened, turning around with his tail waving slightly in farewell leisurely strolling away. "I bid thee adieu. Perhaps if we ever meet again I can properly fight you and quell your apparent craving for violence, brute... That is, of course, if you don't perish in some foolish fit of bravado." He paused to glance back at Muddyleap, face impassive. "And farewell to you, the one who refused to draw blood. Live a life you will be proud of as an elder... and do not hesitate if we meet in battle again."

With that, the odd loner darted into the thick grass and out of sight into unclaimed lands, back into a world far different from the one he briefly stood in.

Muddyleap winced as his father shouted at him to fight, feeling his paws rooted in place as his pelt flashed with hot shame. His heart felt torn between pleasing his parents - fighting like how he desired to appease Fawnstep or keeping the promise he had made to a tearful Hayglow. He only drew back as Tarot approached, pressing that he not fight for Fawnstep, but instead live for his own beliefs. His eyes shined as tears started to build, unsure what his own beliefs even were. He wanted to fight so badly, but not out of anger, just because it seemed...Fun! But he also believed in his momma's belief - to not fight a cat who didn't want to, so they wouldn't feel the fear of being backed into a corner. He fell onto his haunches as Tarot slipped away to say some - well, a lot - of words to Fawnstep, hearing none of it as he simply stared at his paws and tried to hold back the tears.

Finally, Tarot was gone and Muddyleap was starting to lose his fight with his tears. "I-I'm sorry," he hiccuped, ears slicking back as he refused to meet the gaze of either of his Clanmates. "Y-You told me not to hesitate and I did and I-I thought I was better then that, that I would be..." he swallowed, wrapping his tail around his paws as he hunched forward and tried to make himself as small as possible. "I'm sorry - I'm sorry. I-I just made a promise to momma n-not to fight a cat who wa-who didn't want to fight and promise L-Lilacstar I wouldn't get hurt and..." He raised a paw, scrubbing at his face. "...I wanna go home. Can we go home?"

OOC: aaaaaaaaa I’m sorry

The ‘paw’s nostrils flared. She hadn’t meant to make her attack a surprise, she wanted to overwhelm the weirdo and get him to leave! She could barely let out a hiss between all his yammering. Then, after a thorough tongue-lashing (or so she assumed, as she had no real way of knowing what he was trying to say), he was gone in a not-so-courageous flash. “What a creep!” Goldenpaw exclaimed, regrouping with Fawnstep and Muddyleap. She shook her coat out as if she could shed the stress of listening to his mad ravings. “I thought he’d never shut up. That cat’s loony.”

Muddyleap’s hiccup surprised her, and she glanced at him with curiosity tinged with concern. Then it all came spilling out. She pressed her nose into his shoulder for lack of a better idea of how to handle this unexpected gush of feelings. Fawnstep wouldn’t approve… but obviously the young warrior had a lot on his mind and had some serious conflict between his parents’ wishes. Briarthorn and Hollyhock never chased these problems for Goldenpaw, though to be fair, Hollyhock gave her away without a second thought and Briarthorn was never around, so… she basically didn’t have parents to get caught between. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.” She meowed through his fur, feeling a bit defeated.