Locked and loaded (closed)

Alright, she wasn’t supposed to be out this late. Well, she wasn’t supposed to be out at all, considering she was alone. Goldenpaw trotted along the thunderpath, several tail-lengths away to keep the stench off her fur. She was too jumpy to sleep that night so she’d slipped away from camp. It was not easy, but she figured getting back in would be better. For now she was content to wander the borders and pretend she was a full warrior. It would happen soon; she was tall and muscular and mature and soon she’d have her name! Any day now. Aaaaany day now…

Rookfire had been grabbing herbs for ShadowClan. Unlike most cats, who normally slept in the night and rose in the day, ShadowClan was usually more active at night than the day. Eventually, he strayed closer to the Thunderpath. There were less monsters at night, so the medicine cat didn't realize that he was straying close to the Thunderpath until he saw it. The lack of monsters on the Thunderpath probably meant that they also most likely were diurnal like the other Clans were.

Actually, there is the possibility that monsters were not actually alive. They moved, but usually only two specific directions on the Thunderpath. They could kill cats, but it seemed to just be a result of their movement, like how the river killed cats. Twolegs riding in its belly... it didn't make sense for a living being to have windows to its own belly. No cat had something like that. Now, assuming that the monsters weren't actually alive... then they needed to be controlled by something to move. Perhaps that was the role of the Twolegs, to control the monsters and make them move. It made him feel a little better about monsters, though he still wouldn't trust his life to Twolegs controlling monsters on the Thunderpath.

Noticing a sprig on the other side of the Thunderpath, the black tuxedo dashed to WindClan's side of the Thunderpath to grab the plant. As he got closer, he could see that the plant was burnet. I probably shouldn't take it without Smallbean's permission. Well, he couldn't exactly ask right now. It was nighttime, which meant that the other four clans were sleeping. He decided that one herb wouldn't hurt, and nipped at the burnet before beginning to carry it away in his mouth. The burnet almost looked like a pair of rabbit ears in his mouth, which made him chuckle inside. From now on, I'm not gonna take WindClan's herbs without permission from Smallbean. I promise.

What he didn't notice was the cat on WindClan's side of the border watching him.

Was that…? Was that?? ’An intruder! And they’re stealing our prey!’ The shadowed figure in the distance was accompanied by the obvious silhouette of rabbit ears, and it was heading towards the thunderpath as though it thought would escape with its prize so easily. ’No, not on my watch!’ The next thing Goldenpaw knew, she was sailing through the air with her paws extended and claws sinking into the shadow before her - clearly another cat. A huff alerted her to the success of her powerful leap meeting its mark. She bent down and hissed in the face of the stranger she’d just forced to the ground. ”Explain yourself you prey-stealing, territory-trespassing, erm… night-sneaking… stealer! You’re in WindClan territory!” She added an extra slap on top of it, her sheathed paw glancing off the back of his head.

Goldenpaw used Run-and-Tackle on Rookfire, dealing 6 (+3) damage and using 10 stamina, and Swift Strike, dealing 2 damage and using 10 stamina. -5 HP for StarClan’s Judgement.

Goldenpaw:
15/20 HP
60/80 SP

Rookfire:
39/40 HP
120/120 SP

Rookfire did not expect to be attacked. All he was really doing was grabbing a herb. Instinctively, the black tuxedo slashed at the WindClan she-cat. He could fight due to his training by Asylum, and he would use his skills whenever he was attacked. Of course, after everything began clicking, he realized that it was the wrong decision. "I'm not stealing your prey!" the medicine cat shouted, getting into a more solid position to face the cat who attacked him. She seemed like either a younger warrior or an older apprentice, which explained her aggressiveness.

It seemed like the blow that he dealt to the she-cat seemed to incapacitate her for the time being, which allowed him time to explain himself. "I'm just grabbing herbs for ShadowClan. The thing in my mouth that you thought looked like rabbit ears is actually an herb called burnet. It helps give stamina to those who eat it, and it's frequently used in traveling herbs." At least he could explain himself to the now-dazed she-cat. "It's not a rabbit's ears, though I can see why you'd think that."

Rookfire used Sanctum Strike on Goldenpaw, dealing 15 damage and costing 20 stamina. Goldenpaw is KO'd.

Rookfire:
HP: 29/40
SP: 100/120

Goldenpaw:
HP: 0/20
SP: 60/80

The responding hit was shocking both because she thought she’d scared the dirt out of him and also because it stung like the wrath of StarClan. She stumbled back onto her rump, eyes beginning to water in pain. Goldenpaw huffed, fighting back the tears and feeling hot with embarrassment as the stranger explained that he was holding a plant and not a rabbit and he must be a medicine cat and oh stars she was a total moron- ”I knew that!” Goldenpaw protested with a scowl, unable to stop the words from leaving her mouth. ”I just- I was trying to… I thought you might be an Asylum cat coming back to spy on WindClan, so I had to be certain!” She settled on her excuse with a triumphant nod. The Asylum occupation was a shadowed story that most warriors and elders refused to speak of. Surely by bringing them into her excuse, this older tom would be cowed into silence. Then he couldn’t blame her for attacking him! Bingo! She licked her paw and drew it over her nose in a display of grooming her face, though she was obviously wiping away the unwelcome water in her eyes.

Rookfire chuckled. Asylum was no more, and any remaining members became part of the Oasis, choosing to never harm the clans again. It meant that the WindClan she-cat didn’t know a lot about Asylum, which confirmed the she-cat’s younger age to the black tuxedo. ”If Asylum was trying to spy on the clans, why would they choose to grab herbs like I did? Wouldn’t that just make them look more noticeable?” Rookfire knew that she was just trying to make up something on the spot, and the black tuxedo got her in a less comfortable spot. The black tuxedo felt that she would get over it soon. She just seemed like that kind of cat. Trying to open up discussion, the black tuxedo decided introduced himself. In the chaos of being attacked and defending himself, he hadn’t introduced himself to this she-cat yet. ”The name’s Rookfire. What’s your name?”

She stared, thinking about his words. ”Well… yeah, ‘guess you’re right.” Goldenpaw shrugged, an embarrassed smile beginning to spread across her face. This medicine cat - Rookfire, he said - was interesting. And it even though warriors weren’t supposed to fraternize with warriors from other clans, medicine cats were outside that rule. ”Goldenpaw, but that’ll change soon!” she meowed, a purr rising in her chest. ”I’ll be a warrior tomorrow! Or the next day. I’m not sure when but I know it’s coming.”

Rookfire nodded at Goldenpaw. As she had a beautiful golden pelt sparkling in the moonlight, her name did make a lot of sense. ”It’s just a matter of time, isn’t it?” he said, giving the she-cat a smirk. Well, maybe now that the conversation had seemed to slow down, now would be a good time to give her compliments on her appearance. ”Your pelt is very pretty, Goldenpaw. I’d think the toms would be swooning over you in WindClan.” Probably not all of them, but at least some of them.

”Careful!” She gasped, seemingly scandalized by his compliment, but her mischievous grin quickly revealed that it was a joke. ”With words like that, you might swoon over me as well. Besides, most WindClan toms prefer to say ‘beautiful’ and ‘stunning’ rather than just ‘pretty.’” Goldenpaw spun on her heel in a mock gesture of offense. The truth was that she was briefly allowing a giddy look to cross her face before forcing it into a neutral expression and turning back around. The WindClan toms didn’t actually say anything of the sort to her; they barely noticed she was a she-cat, though to be fair, she didn’t say anything similar to her denmates. This flirting thing was actually pretty exciting. She decided to give it her own go: ”You’d be pretty easy to miss in the shadows if it weren’t for those white bits of fur. Although I think it’s those lovely green eyes that give you away the most.” Goldenpaw purred smoothly. ”I’m sure the she-cats visit your den quite often.”