strife [semi-open, @ me on Discord first tho]

Bearpaw

She dug her claws deeper into Sunfire’s skull as he seemed to look out and see just what he had done. Mottlestar was not particularly a cat to act in the name of vengeance, but this had been the exception. He had prompted this. He had been the one to cause such unnecessary pain. As she looked onto the battle herself, her amber gaze that usually was soft filled with a blazing flame that had only ever come out once before, her chest seized. It was an odd conflict of both pride and pain that she felt as she looked towards Crocuspaw and the opponent that she had left behind. Youth reverberated from the blue apprentice’s pelt, as did terror. She saw the red that tricked down her face and felt the motherly part of her heart pang. Though as fast as it had arrived, it left. Sunfire had caused this pain.

Her cry also reached Mottlestar’s ears, as did Nightdancer’s. A look of surprise whirled on her features, but in that very moment of distraction, Sunfire took his opportunity. A loud yowl called from the tortoiseshell as he attacked that bad leg of hers, injuries ripping open, the copper tang of her blood becoming strong enough that even she could scent it. Everything felt fuzzy at once as one of his teeth punctured a particular spot of her leg. Like the ground suddenly being ripped out from underneath her, Mottlestar felt a blazing hot fury in her pelt at the same time…

Before that flame was finally snuffed out.

Her body hit the ground with a thud, a strangled hissing-gasp erupting from her chest as she attempted to spit venom one last time before her body fully gave way. She was left in a puddle of her own blood, still flowing from the wounds that had been produced, staining the Fallen Oak. Even as she felt every one of her senses slip away, her eyes remained open: full of anger, full of hate, before her breaths gave out.

---

Disgraceful. To profess alliance, and then this? A border skirmish when neither could afford it? Pride causing permanent scars? The loss of life? Pricklebush was fuming. If only those starry fools would allow him a fraction of influence, just a single strike of lightning, he could ensure that mouse-hearts like these would never mess with ThunderClan again. But of course, just like they had in life, the stars hated him. And so Pricklebush was left to fight for those he cared about completely alone. Just as it always had been. He had not been expecting to see Mottlestar again, but he would certainly not squander the opportunity. He had much to speak with his favorite little leader about. There was much she needed to hear.

When Mottlestar regained consciousness, she would find herself once more in the starry fields, with a familiar face in front of her. The mountain of spiky tan fur was inspecting her closely, his sage-green eyes set in a terrible scowl of deep, hot anger. But she would know it was not directed at her. His sharply pointed ears were pricked up as he saw her amber eyes open. Unsurprisingly, it did not take the tortoiseshell long to understand just where she had gone. The moment she opened her eyes, the flaming blaze of fury would meet the gaze of sage green that seemed to reflect how she felt herself.

”So you’ve been betrayed,” Pricklebush said shortly. ”I’ve never liked SkyClan anyway, but they’ve somehow hit new lows. Killing a leader at a border skirmish? An allied leader, no less? What a joke.” His voice was terse as he looked at her wounds. Stars, there were a lot of them. Didn’t these brutes care about the injuries they were dealing? At least there was one cat on her side. As he spoke, she watched as he seemed to scan her over. Truth be told, the tortoiseshell had been far more concerned with ending the battle that she had hardly noticed just how many wounds he had inflicted upon her. A glance down had her grimacing as she saw just how much her tortoiseshell pelt was marred, but no more than a heartbeat later was Pricklebush there to aid her. Completing the tasks a medicine cat was assigned to do, just as they had been in life. ”They had their chance to flee. I gave them the chance. They brought this upon themselves.” She hissed, concurring with just what the Starclan tom had to say. The familiar gruffness of his medicine cat nest-side bearing came to him easily, and he stalked around the fields, able to find every herb that he needed. StarClan cats were in charge of mending the wounds of a leader who had lost a life. He was no magician, and he felt most comfortable tending to injuries in the only way he knew how. Soon enough, soothing poultices were plastered to the painful wounds on Mottlestar’s legs, face, and sides.

The tortoiseshell leader made no effort to stop him as he worked on her wounds. If anything, she appreciated the momentary silence as he assisted her. That red-hot fury had been blazing strong enough for her to have burned as hot as a star herself, strong enough that she could have probably set the forest on fire had she been given the chance to spit on it. But with every wound that he mended, her anger simmered. It did not leave her, not in the slightest, but it at least cooled to something that would be much more productive. As much as she wanted to give the tom more than just the crown of scars she had adorned him with, it would do no use for her to simply act out of pure venom and spite… even if she had a feeling that the prickled tom attending to her would have been quite in favor of it. ”Fox-loving dungheart… only a fool like him would give such wounds it takes a Starclan medicine cat to mend them.”

If only he could go down there himself--! He’d show that Sunfire a thing or two. His warrior training hadn’t been for nothing. ”That piece of crowfood ought to pick on somebody his own size, yeah? And yet you really gave him a run for it. He had to resort to shameful tactics in order to win. What a loser.” Pricklebush spat to the side and scoffed. ”Just means it makes it that much more shameful. Surprising, the sun is supposed to shine on an alliance, not bring it down.” Her tail flicked as the humorous remark left her maw, even if its humor didn’t quite reach her amber gaze. His slanted eyes found Mottlestar’s. Though they did not soften, there was less harshness in his voice when he spoke again. ”It hurts. Not just the wounds on the outside. I understand. I’ve been betrayed by those that I thought were close to me, too. And I’ve certainly been on the wrong side of SkyClan’s selfishness before.” He shook his head. ”And at a time like this, too! What fox-hearts. I’m just as mad as you about this whole forest famine, by the way. I want to tell you all what to do, but they won’t let me! I’d send a million squirrels to your forests if I could. I’d drop an owl in your fresh-kill pile. But these fools, these--” He descended into inaudible grumbling, words that he was not allowed to say and therefore Mottlestar could not quite make out. He grabbed a few cobwebs and continued patching her wounds. There was no more blood. The wounds were more metaphorical than physical anyway; she would find herself mostly rejuvenated when she awoke. But there was much to say before then.

The pain was felt in her heart, certainly. Sunfire’s actions had caused much more than what would have otherwise been a typical fight over territory. She could feel the betrayal chipping away at her chest, a wound that was quickly beginning to fester as she opted to continue watching Pricklebush work. It was a thankful side-effect of existing beyond the mortal plane that she did not feel the pain of the wounds as she should have been. Unfortunately, the one wound that still burned was that betrayal. The knowledge that Birdstar’s warriors had not been instilled with enough faith in the alliance to actually have some shred of thought to preserve it, rather than to fight for it at the drop of a feather. Sure, she could have simply continued on and not been the first to attack. She could have. But that was not the life that Pricklebush had given her, nor was it the life of dignity and resilience. Mottlestar would not tolerate such a slander against her Clan, or her rank, alliance or not.

Sure, there was something to be said about acting for the clan’s best interest. But to so outwardly slander a leader in doing so? She felt little regret at unsheathing her claws. She had a feeling that it was the stars that had reduced her Starclan guide to grumbling, which added a lash of annoyance for the tom to her tail. ”At least someone in this forest is on my side. I had such high hopes, too, for how this alliance would continue. It provided at least some type of security in this Dark Forest of a… forest.” She shook her head. Her mind couldn’t help but wander to the other part of her alliance at that moment. Would Riverclan do the same thing to her? She had ensured that her Clan respected the hunting rights of Sunningrocks, treating it under the neutral ground they had agreed upon. What if that changed?

”Anyway. I’m going to do the only thing that I’m allowed to do, and that’s give you advice. But I sure am going to give you advice. And how! If they let me start talking I’ll never stop.” There was a ferocity, a bellicosity in the way that Pricklebush turned to face her, a stern look on his face. ”Do you remember the life I gave you, so long ago? Justice. I’d call it irony that your life should come into use now, but it seems all too fitting to be a coincidence. Not that I would ever engineer such a farce, but you know how it is with these idiots, they all have sticks stuck so far up their--” Once again he was cut off, and he snarled in frustration. ”Whatever. Idiots. But you don’t have to deal with the idiots who are dead, only the ones who are alive. You got me? Your current problems are not up here. They are down there, with that golden-furred fool who thought his ego could carry him to victory. You’ll soon find that more of SkyClan is like that than you think... and some of them in the highest places, too. But no matter, because if I start on that then they’ll wake you up before I’m finished patching up the sloppy job of wounds that mud-crusted slimeball gave you. SkyClan has broken their word, and for that they must pay.”

The stinging of Mottlestar’s wounds would be mostly soothed now. Still Pricklebush slid a few poppy seeds her way, more out of habit than anything else. Nothing she ingested in this starry half-spirit state would matter. Still, even then, she lapped the seeds into her maw. Even if they did not have any true effect, the simple physical maneuver of chewing on them still managed to provide a soothing effect. Perhaps it was simply because it gave her something to do other than seethe in her fury, because at the moment, her mind was working overtime in formulating just what she was about to go tell the Skyclan leader. As if he had read her mind, Pricklebush continued. ”I don’t care that it wasn’t that Bird-brain’s direct order. I don’t care that they’re starving. I don’t care that now is an inconvenient time to make enemies, because they started this. And if they are allowed to get away with it, then you will never see the end of this again. I promise you, give them a rat’s tail and they’ll take a grouse.” His enormous spiky tail lashed angrily behind him. ”So don’t give them even that. They wanted claws? Give them claws in return. Give them claws and fangs and a snarling vow that the help they shunned you will return as agony tenfold. It doesn’t matter if you somehow end up, I don’t know, together in a way that would lead you to be unable to wage real war.” He said the last part quickly, as if trying to hurriedly spit every word out before it could be artificially halted. Then he sighed and continued. ”Find a way. Find a way to make them pay. If they treat you like this, they’ll do it to others, too. Their selfishness knows no bounds. They think they’re the only ones in the forest. Well, show them they aren’t! Show them that ThunderClan is nothing to mess with! Show them what happens if they break the most generous offer of alliance they’ve ever been given, with the greatest Clan to ever rule the forests! Give them no quarter! No pity, nothing soft like mercy or forgiveness, nothing! Justice, Mottlestar, justice. I’ve given it to you before and I’ll give it to you now--but you have it already. Seize it and use it to protect your Clan. No one can do it but you. You know that, right?” For a moment his facial lines softened. Not quite into a smile, but something else. ”You’ve done well, kid. I’m real proud. You’ve protected ThunderClan through thick and thin and few have ever done it like you. I know that Echosong and all the rest of ‘em will be safe in your paws. So don’t let me down, all right?” One of his ears flicked. ”Incidentally... this new deputy of yours. Acornstem. I like her far better. Good choice. I still think you should live every life to its fullest--you better not be in a hurry to come live with me! I promise I’ll be a bore if you do--but if anything bad does happen, I feel better knowing that someone other than that previous weasel will be in charge of our Clan.”

Though there had been a lot to take in with his words, the tortoiseshell leader had not made any move to stop him in his tangent. He had been there to soothe her wounds, to act as her guide when she needed him the most. So she let him speak, the passion in her own gaze reflecting his own in many moments. As much as she wished to act without striking her claws, there were times it was necessary. They had been blessed with them for a reason. As he mentioned the life he had bestowed onto her, she felt that seething fury again. But this time, it did not feel as if it was the untamed forest fire it had once been. Instead, it had been shaped. Shaped into a lethal adder, ready to strike at its foe, ready to bring down its target with the venom it held inside. Sitting a bit taller, Mottlestar nodded. She still was nowhere near the height of Pricklebush, but the pride still burned the same. ”The alliance with Skyclan was severed the moment he spat that word.” Her words spoke with a finality that was not unlike words that had been spoken by the tom in front of her. Though, truthfully, it hurt to say. She had enjoyed the Skyclan leader’s company, remembered fondly how she had always been there to serve in her defense. But if this was how her Clan treated their allies? It did not matter how much she liked Birdstar as a cat. If she could not control her clanmates? Could not keep her warriors in line? The bitter thought slipped out without her consent. ”Birdstar is hardly a leader if this is how her warriors act.”

As he had brought up her deputy, she couldn’t help but release a terse laugh. ”I had not seen Darkspirit’s shortcomings, but yes, I am glad that Acornstem is with me, too.”

Pricklebush stopped short. His fur stood on end for a moment, as if he sensed a threat. He whipped his head around, then returned his eyes to Mottlestar’s. ”I’m running out of time,” he said urgently. It made the tortoiseshell’s heart sink. ”You know what to do. You’re strong, you’re independent. Your Clan doesn’t need allies, you’ll survive no matter what! Though if you want to take it from me, I’ve got nothing against RiverClan. Mistlebright--I mean. She’s not alive any more and neither am I. But I think that Fish-brain has a better heart in her chest than Bird-brain does. Everything’s up to you, and you’ve got a better head than the lot of them anyway. Nothing can keep you down for long. So don’t stay down, all right? Unsheathe your claws, let out that snarl, and give them a piece of your mind. You hear me?” She sensed the urgency in his voice. Had she not known him better, she would have thought it was desperation for her to listen and understand. But she did understand. So, she gave him a firm nod.

For the first time during this conversation, Pricklebush smiled, though it was a threatening expression with the sharpness of his fangs. Though once again, Mottlestar could tell the threat was not directed at her. ”Make ‘em pay, kid.”

”For you, Pricklebush? Always.”

---

As the stars had slipped away from her and she returned back to the forest below, Mottlestar had fully anticipated pain to be the very first sensation for her to feel. Instead, it was the ringing in her ears, accompanied by that driving burn in her chest. Her first instinct would have been to find a cold stream to jump into to attempt to quell it, but it was a different type of burn. A burn that pushed her to rise, to open her gaze and survey just how much the battlescape had changed before her. She did not feel any pain, no. She could feel the press of cobwebs on the parts of her body that had been most bloodied, and for a moment, the tortoiseshell wondered if somehow Pricklebush’s work had slipped beyond the stars and with her below.

To say that anger burned in her gaze was an understatement as she looked about. Had she the power, her look alone would have razed the forest to ashes. But instead, she found the apprentice of Skyclan who had taken to attempting to heal her wounds. His name was lost on her mind and tongue, but recognition instantly flickered. Bear.

Rising to her paws in silent threat, her head stayed low as she looked at him. ”Thank you.” The dichotomy of the sincerity in her tone to the predatory look her body exuded was startling at best, even as her gaze had softened towards him. As her gaze slid towards the warrior that was now leaping towards Crocuspaw, though, the tortoiseshell let out a loud snarl. Her claws itched to bound her forward and strike yet again, to deliver the harsh primal justice of battle that had been imbued in all of them. She was not typically a cat to fight, but at the moment? That was all she wanted to do. Fight for her Clan, for the justice that they deserved.

”This is your final warning. Leave.” Her snarl was directed right at the warrior who now tangled with her apprentice. Though she would have been quick to strike, she needed time to finish recovering. Her body no longer bled, but the fact remained that she had lost quite a bit of blood. Pricklebush’s work had healed her wounds, yet the damage still had remained. Small as she was, she still needed to catch up to all of the trauma that had happened. She could assess her final wounds later, having Fawnshine complete any extra work that would be necessary.

Mottlestar’s war call was the final opportunity for them to back down. She had made the mental note to not attack the apprentice that had aided her, but the warrior was still fair game. If they left, though, and listened to her chance? Then she would not give chase.

Mottlestar used Resurrection! She recovered 30 HP and used 30 stamina.
Mottlestar
30 / 80 HP [+30]
92 / 170 SP [-30]