We are Allies No More [Closed/Solo]

Frostedgaze

Frostedgaze had been hunting by the border. She usually hunted best when she was alone, it helped her concentrate more and she didn't feel like she needed to impress everybody else who was apart of the patrol. Her nose lifted when she scented a mouse. She looked around for it, but she sighed when she realized it was on SkyClan's side of the birds. The last thing ShadowClan and SkyClan needed was a riot over stolen prey that Frostedgaze had started, not right after the whole Dark Forest dilemma. She began to pad away from the birder and head deeper in ShadowClan territory, when she heard the squeak of a mouse. She turned around curious as to what it could be. There was a tiny bundle of gray fur streaking towards her. She smashed her paws on it, hearing a faint cracking noise of a broken spine, and then looked down to see the same mouse she had seen over the border. She looked up. Why had it come straight in her direction? Mice were stupid, yes, but not that stupid...
Her amber gaze immediately locked with another pair of familiar amber eyes. The black and white she-cat flicked her tail, tilting her head. The she-cat in front of her was ginger and white, just like one of the exiles from Twolegplace.

"Vixenheart?" She asked. She didn't dare to cross the border. She knew that rules were still rules even if the two felines used to be friends. What she did though, was pad closer to the actual border, sitting down right by the scent markings. She continued to stare at Vixenheart. The she-cat seemed to not have changed at all since Frostedgaze had last seen her at the Gathering. The ShadowClan warrior put on a smile, a real one. She had lost Wrenpaw, one of her close friends, and it had pained her even after the Gathering ended, but seeing another exile made her actually smile. Not some fake excuse for a small grin. Hopefully Vixenheart remembered her.
Well, of course she would, the Gathering hadn't even been a week ago.

Vixenheart

The ginger and white she-cat had also decided to hunt near Highpine, at the same exact time as Frostedgaze. It had to of been some sort of coincidence. Vixenheart had spotted the mouse the second she had rounded a bush and got into clear sight of the border, but when she dropped into the crouch, her back flank brushed a bush, startling the little creature and sending it streaking towards ShadowClan's territory. She hissed, irritated that she had lost a mouse that could've been used to help fill SkyClan's fresh-kill pile. She rose from the crouch, lashing her tail, still frustrated, before she spotted a familiar black and white pelt. She blinked, not needing to think it over anymore. The cat over there was obviously Frostedgaze...Vixenheart could remember her from when she was an exile which wasn't even that long ago.

She didn't bother to even say hello, she just stared down at the mouse that Frostedgaze had caught. That should've been Vixenheart's mouse. She narrowed her eyes.
"That was going to be mine." She simply stated.
She didn't blame Frostedgaze at all for catching the mouse, it was instinct for a cat to catch prey when it came to them, but she blamed herself for scaring it away.
She stared at Frostedgaze as she came closer to the border. Was she planning on crossing it? She blinked once again, lifting her eyes to meet Frostedgaze's amber gaze.
"Yes...I'm Vixenheart...Do you not remember me?"

Frostedgaze

Frostedgaze blinked, worry glittering in her amber eyes.
"O-oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to catch it. It was just-" She broke off suddenly, shuffling her paws and tilting her head to the side, letting her gaze fall to stare at the mouse on the ground. She looked up once again at Vixenheart.
"Do you want it?" She asked.
After asking her question, Frostedgaze laughed at the SkyClan she-cat's next comment.
"Yes I remember you! How could I not?" She said, her tail flicking.
The black and white she-cat had not a thought in her mind telling her that she shouldn't be speaking with Vixenheart like they were the best of pals anymore. Things had gone back to normal after the Gathering. That meant that the exiles returned home, StarClan once again looked over the Clans, and...borders and rivalries were set back in place. That included how the exiles felt about each other. But how could they forget all that they had been through for two moons together? Even if the others dropped it like it had never happened, Frostedgaze would never forget.

"So how's SkyClan? Is it good? What's been happening? What's going to happen to the cats that are still loyal to the Dark Forest?" She began spitting out questions, curious to know. Yet, her brain still never told her that asking questions about what was going on with a rival Clan outside of a Gathering was not very wise.

Vixenheart

Vixenheart's eyes widened as soon as Frostedgaze began shooting questions at her on rapid fire. She couldn't just tell another Clan cat 'what's been happening.'
She sighed, lowering her head for a moment, before meeting Frostedgaze's amber eyes.
"Listen, Frostedgaze, I can't answer a lot of those questions. I know the Clans were united during the battle for StarClan, and I know the exiles were all buddy buddy, but your loyalty should be to ShadowClan and to ShadowClan alone. Not to me or to any exile that isn't from your Clan."
She tried to break the news to the black and white she-cat as calmly and softly as she could. She still had no clue why she was even here. She should've just dismissed herself and left the border before any conversations broke out, but alas, here she was. She then shook her head, blinking.
"No, keep the mouse, it went onto your territory, so it's yours." She said, trying to sound as polite as possible, yet her thoughts were bitter.
It would've been mine if I hadn't of been so stupid. She thought, but she refrained from frowning or revealing any negative emotions.

She wondered how to get out of this situation, imagine how awkward it would be of a patrol from either Clan came by, they certainly would both be questioned. She rose from where she sat, flicking her tail and stretching, acting like she had somewhere to be. Hopefully Frostedgaze would get the message, drop the conversation, and they'd part ways. How would Frostedgaze react if ShadowClan and SkyClan ended up having to battle each other? Would she fight for ShadowClan or not even fight at all?

Frostedgaze tilted her head to the side, her tail flicking.
"I am loyal to ShadowClan..." She said. She stood from where she had been sitting down, right beside the border, "I just miss the exiles, is that so wrong? I've learned to depend on them, and now I just have to get used to things being back to normal. I'm not asking anything too serious, right? You don't have to respond with anything that will give away...SkyClan stuff..." Frostedgaze told Vixenheart.
She hadn't realized that she had crossed the border and was now in front of Vixenheart. The two she-cats were no longer allies, they were separated by Clans. The border was a physical example of that. One cat stays on their side, while the other stays on the other side. The entire thought of crossing the border wen't over Frostedgaze's head, ignoring the rules, all she wanted to do was catch up with Vixenheart.

Was that so wrong?
Was it...?

Vixenheart listened to Frostedgaze, staying silent. Could she really, honestly, refer to Frostedgaze as a friend anymore? If she did would it be a lie? It was the truth that none of the exiles could possibly forget about their time away for their Clans with the other exiles, but it was mandatory for their loyalties to remain to their Clans. And to Vixenheart, she had been more than eager to have life go back to normal, and wasn't Frostedgaze excited to do so as well? She had seen Frostedgaze looking out from the fence in Twolegplace into ShadowClan territory, and she'd be there for long periods of time, so why was she so eager to reconnect with Vixenheart now? The ginger she-cat wasn't upset or disappointed, she was just confused. She was so lost in her thoughts that when she regained her focus only then did she notice that Frostedgaze had strayed across the border. Vixenheart had already been uncertain and nervous about talking to the ShadowClan in the first place, but now she had crossed the border. Her once emotionless gaze changed to anger.
"Everything that you just asked me would be giving away 'SkyClan stuff' which I shouldn't be telling you about! That's our business not yours! I thought you were eager to go back to ShadowClan, go reunite with your family! Go see your friends! Go see this 'Rainpaw' that you used to tell me about! Of all the cats you could choose to speak to after being exiled for two moons, you choose me?" She asked, nudging Frostedgaze back across the border.
"This conversation doesn't give you the privilege to just cross the border like rules don't matter!" She hissed.

Frostedgaze was startled by Vixenheart's sudden change of emotion, and her first few words made her scowl and growl at the same time.
"That's so easy for you to say. You don't understand! I have no family left! They're all dead! Rainpaw. Dead. My parents. Dead..." She paused, her eyes glazing over with emotion as the thought of another cat popped up in her mind, and as she spoke again her voice was tainted with sadness and nostalgia, "Wrenpaw...d-dead..." She murmured, attempting to hold back a sob that was threatening to escape. Her mind began wandering elsewhere, thinking about Wrenpaw and how she could've been a warrior by now. Even though they were from different Clans, they could've met at Gatherings, and maybe even in secret...
She then looked up, blinking, realizing that what Vixenheart had been saying may have all made sense. Was Frostedgaze really truly loyal to ShadowClan anymore? It was hard to feel like she even belonged there if everyone that she had loved was taken away from her. Her tail drooped and her ears flattened against her head.

Then, almost out of nowhere, she was forcefully nudged back across the border to the ShadowClan side. Since she had been thinking and not paying attention, she stumbled over her paws and tripped, falling back onto ShadowClan territory. She looked up at Vixenheart with a cold glare that could pierce someone's heart. And yet, even though she seemed like daggers could come darting out of her eyes at any moment, tears were still building up around the bottom of her eyes.
"You are not the cat I used to know! Where did you go? Why are you gone?" She asked, her voice raising with anger, "Bring her back!" She yowled.
She had just wanted to talk to Vixenheart, possibly consult her friend about losing almost everyone she cared about. Possibly even tell her that she was now a mother, but apparently Vixenheart didn't care anymore. Frostedgaze was already emotionally scarred, and now the one friend from the past that she thought she still had was turning on her.

"I'm sorry Frosted-" Vixenheart began but was cut off by Frostedgaze who began yelling at her. She saw her tears, yet she couldn't understand her sadness, but only one thing stood out to her.
You are not the cat I used to know! Where did you go? Why are you gone? Bring her back!
As if it was a painful physical blow, Vixenheart stumbled backwards, her amber eyes stretched open wide with shock. Those words, the yelling from Frostedgaze, triggered a memory in the young deputy's head. She was at the fence in Twolegplace...with Cinnamonstep, realizing things that she had never realized before, hating herself for changing into someone much worse, and now it was all coming back again. She had shed tears back at the fence, but would she shed tears again now? She felt her eyes growing wet, but she just growled, fighting them back and swallowing away a sob that was threatening to escape. Frostedgaze had just pulled some tender emotional strings in Vixenheart, and apparently Vixenheart had done the same to Frostedgaze. Defense with words was her first reaction.

"Save your sad sob story for the cats of ShadowClan! If you're even still loyal to them!" She hissed, her tail lashing.

The black and white she-cat leapt to her paws, her tail lashing as well.
"I told you I am loyal! I just wanted to talk to you like friends for one last time! We used to be allies, we used to talk to each other all the time, what happened to us?" She asked, her voice still raised.
She stalked forwards once again, crossing the border and shoving her muzzle angrily towards Vixenheart's face. Her eyes were ablaze and even her claws were unsheathed. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt someone she thought she could be a friend to and trust, but that was no longer going to happen apparently, and if a physical fight broke out, Frostedgaze would forget all about their friendship and defend herself. It wouldn't be a crime to forget, apparently Vixenheart had already been a mouse brain and forgot.

She narrowed her eyes, tilting her head to the left, "Tell me!"

Vixenheart had had just about enough of Frostedgaze, the cat who had called her a friend. It was alright to have friendships with other Clan cats, but Frostedgaze's loyalty had to remain with ShadowClan, not with her or any of the exiles anymore. When Frostedgaze crossed the border again, even after Vixenheart had warned her, the ginger and white warrior's eyes stretched wide as another muzzle was shoved into her face. She swatted it away with her claws, leaving a nasty scratch. When Frostedgaze was stunned by the blow, the young deputy roughly shoved the ShadowClan warrior across the border.
"Loyalties happened. We are allies no more, accept it and move on. Wrenpaw was from WindClan. If she was still alive, and you were loyal to her and not fully to ShadowClan, you would've been breaking the warrior code, which I can't help but think you're doing now. I've learned to accept change...have you?" She asked, her voice tainted with harshness. With that, she whirled around, before darting off away from the border, away from Highpine, away from Frostedgaze, and away from the anger and negative vibes that hung in their air from their argument.

Was she too harsh on Frostedgaze? She paused to think about it. Poor Frostedgaze had lost almost everyone that was important to her in her life...Vixenheart would hate it if someone acted so rudely to her after going through so much. The ginger and white she-cat signed. Frostedgaze was probably already gone and it was too late to apologize. With a heavy heart, she continued on through SkyClan territory. Perhaps if she ever saw Frostedgaze again, like at the next Gathering, or by chance at the border during a patrol or a solo hunting trip, she'd apologize. The memory of this event would quite possibly haunt Vixenheart until she was able to talk to the cat who's heart she had just broken again. Frostedgaze must have felt betrayed...
What have you done?
She didn't hear her own voice, she heard the voice of herself when she was just an apprentice with a shy little voice and a fear of speaking her mind. Vixenheart shivered, it was the same voice she had heard at the border with Cinnamonstep. She dipped her head, pausing again, before continuing on back to camp.

Frostedgaze was dazed. Crimson blood stained her once pure white muzzle and the horrible fumes of blood flooded her nostrils as Vixenheart's incredibly sharp claws pierced her muzzle. She was immediately dazed and shocked, shutting her eyes tight and trying to block out the pain and promptly retaliate, but before she could, she felt a cat shove her forcefully backwards, right back across the border. Frostedgaze stumbled moved her black and white paws, falling to the ground on ShadowClan territory. She lifted her head to look at Vixenheart. Her expression was enough to melt a heart, nothing but sadness, and her claws sank into the ground to hold back anger. She didn't answer Vixenheart's question. More tears were beginning to flow freely. Did Vixenheart even know how it felt? She shook her head, one of her tears being flung a few mouse-lengths away. Her muzzle was still stinging. When she returned to camp, she would certainly be asked what happened to her, and Frostedgaze would have to explain.
Another one down...who else will I lose? She thought, her tail drooping and her ears flattening against her head.

She hesitated to head back to camp, she didn't feel like speaking to anyone or explaining anything, she didn't want to receive sideways glances or stares, she just wanted to sink into her nest and fall asleep by herself, alone, that's what she was after all. Lonely, with nobody. While any other cat may have called her depressed or an attention seeker, they didn't know how she felt. She didn't care about how anyone felt about her, she only cared about herself because that's all she had. She began heading through the marshy territory that she called home, in the opposite direection as Vixenheart, her former friend, the one who had given her the bleeding scratch on her muzzle, the one who called her unloyal and left her there.

She was loyal wasn't she?

The tears she had been crying had stopped, but at the thought, they began to form again.
No...no! Crying shows weakness...don't...cry... She thought.
The word 'cry' just echoed in her head over and over again, until one tear escaped. What was the point of holding the rest in anymore? Her tears began flowing freely again, and she let a violent sob wrack her body. She lowered her head, glancing back.  There was no more looking back, she had to keep her face ahead, or else she would just be proving Vixenheart right in the fact that she wasn't loyal. She was, she always would be, too.

Time to see what challenges she was going to face as she trudged through life like she was trudging through ShadowClan territory.

Solo end.
R.I.P Frostedgaze's heart 2016-2016
Cause of death: Murdered by Vixenheart's words.