An Owl's Mask [Open]

Owlstrike walked around the camp, doing any warrior duties he could without leaving it. It was sincerely boring, to say the least, but it wasn’t like if he could just decide to go out and hunt or patrol the borders, not with Leopardfang’s order of them staying until Thrushstar could recover from the fight and judge them for being loyal to the Dark Forest while they ruled over the clans.

Deep inside, the newly appointed warrior wished that the old leader would succumb to his injuries and join those stupid starry cats that flooded the last gathering, kicking out the Dark Forest of their rightful territory. He was still really angry for that fact, and wished that those cats would at least had the courage to face the Dark Forest in a fair fight instead of just flooding the whole place until they doubled or maybe even tripled their numbers…what a bunch of cowards. He was sure that if that wasn’t the case, the Dark Forest would’ve crushed those weak cowards.

But then, he had heard of Thrushstar slow but sure health improvement, and if he knew him well enough and the stories of the elders were true, any Dark Forest loyalist would be immediately exiled from the clan. He couldn’t allow that to happen, not if he wanted to fulfill his dreams one day.

Consequently he had been masking his true self and his real loyalties, his dark intentions and desires. He had been constantly visiting the medicine cat den, asking about Thrushstar’s health, faking relief and happiness each time he was told that he was getting better, sharing tongues with the rest of the clan cats, visiting the nursery and playing with the kits, listening to the elders whenever they felt like telling a story…overall acting like a cat that had been finally convinced by the StarClan loyalists and slowly becoming one himself, leaving his dark past behind.

His act had successfully convinced a lot of the cats in the clan so far, and the few that still doubted him were starting to fall for it as well, he wasn’t aware that a few cats weren’t falling for it though.

With a bored yawn, Owlstrike padded towards a dry patch of grass and sat calmly, grooming his fur for what could be the third or fourth time that day. It wasn’t like if he could do anything else after all. Maybe later he would go to the nursery to play with the kits or the elders den to listen to more stories if nobody wanted to share tongues with him, just to try to get rid of his boredom.

OOC: If you want your cat to be one of the cats not falling for his act, please go to Owl’s plot thread and sign up your cat after stating why your cat isn’t being fooled.

Falconpaw walked through camp with his ever present cockiness, his head help high as he glanced down towards the camp, walking into weird circles around the clearing. He was really looking like he had gone crazy, probably from the other cats' perspective, but Falconpaw was always sure he was the best.

Maybe he had held his head a bit to high.

He literally bumped into Owlstrike, tripping over and rolling onto the ground like a kit play-fighting. He lifted his head with a dumb-struck expression and narrowed his eyes at the warrior, padding towards him with an amusingly furious and tense style. He hissed a warning that sounded like the scurry of a squirrel eating a nut onto the branch of a tree.

"Watch it!"  he spat at the young warrior and took a self venerating position in front of the warrior, trying to look deadly and dangerous, as well as styled, ending up to look goofy. Well, not to himself.

Owlstrike was taken off guard by the younger cat, and though the strength of the bump wasn’t enough to make the chocolate tabby fall it was more than enough to make him unsheathe his claws, burying them in the dirt under him to avoid losing his balance as he quickly looked at the apprentice.

He raised an eyebrow at Falconpaw’s prideful behavior, especially when he was the one that had bumped into the static warrior and not the other way around. He had to bite his tongue to not laugh at the pose of the apprentice, trying to hold back a smile that fought to make its way to his muzzle, trying his best to keep a neutral expression. He had seen Falcompaw around the camp several times before, taking notice of his cocky personality, but it wasn’t until now that he had finally crossed paths with him, realizing how big his ego was.

“Hum…Sorry?” In any other situation, Owlstrike probably would’ve forced the younger cat to realize that the fault was his and then to apologize, but in his current act he had to try to be more tolerant, swallow his own pride regardless of how awful that could be.

Falconpaw held back a mock reply after he realized Owlstrike was already a warrior, which set the young tom aa bit stunned about what he had said to a warrior. "Uh... I'm sorry I... thought you were... Foxpaw. Yeah, Foxpaw." he quickly made up an excuse. He had heard words about the tom, that he had been with the Dark Forest, but now he was different., which somehow fascinated the cocky apprentice.



"I... I heard about you. I just wanted to say you seem pretty cool." the young tom said, somehow gulping with fear as he looked at the very peaceful looking tom before him.

Frostedgaze had been sitting by the fresh-kill pile, her amber eyes focusing on the frog she had been eating. Her black and white tail was straight out behind her and it was swishing across the ground. The ShadowClan cat glanced around at the cats that were actively moving about the camp clearing. She then noticed Falconpaw and Owlstrike speaking with each other. Her eyes glazed over with emotion and they narrowed, but she quickly closed her eyes and shook her head, chasing the thought away. She rose from where she had been peacefully sitting, letting her paws guide her over to the two.

She didn't bother to put on a fake smile or a positive and happy demeanor, her face was just dull and she gave off a negative vibe. She looked as if she hadn't slept in days as she approached Falconpaw and Owlstrike, even though she had literally just came back from a nap not long ago. She stopped beside the two, turning to face them in hopes of entering their conversation. Well, it didn't seem like a conversation at all.
"Well, look at you two speaking together. And to think it all started because Falconpaw was klutz." She said, shrugging.

The new warrior faked a small chuckle with the apprentice’s words, he had faked so many chuckles by now that it sounded natural and sincere, so he wasn’t afraid of it sounding forced and giving his peaceful act away. Falconpaw still had a long way to go if he wanted his excuses or lie to sound believable though “Don’t worry about it, I was distracted as well” The apprentice’s next words made him raise his ears, a flash of alert going through his eyes as he quickly thought on what to say to the apprentice.

He quickly lowered his ears and shuffled his paws, trying to improvise something to avoid suspicions from the younger cat “Oh…hum…thanks. I hope…the things you heard of me, how bad they were?” He tried to look sincerely ashamed, avoiding Falconpaw’s gaze the best he could “I know I did some terrible things in my past, things I’m not proud of…” His voice had a tint of regret in it, and Owlstrike’s main worry was for it to sound sincere, the last thing he needed was to have a cat suspecting that he wasn’t loyal to StarClan now.

Frostedgaze voice almost startled him, making him raise his head and look at the older warrior, nodding respectfully as a greeting “It’s not his fault, both of us weren’t really paying attention”.

Webtail had kept an eye on the younger warrior, he had started to do that since the beginning of the Dark Forest's reign. He had feared that the tom's spirit would be crushed. The older tried helping him by him giving his own deputy to learn from. That was a wise decision. He had become a well conditioned warrior. Amberclaw had also filled his head with pride of the Dark Forest but, at the time, he had nothing to lose for it. Unlike Webtail, there seemed to be no judgment towards him for his actions.

It didn't matter what he believed in to Webtail though, his determination was something that others could learn from. Something that Webtail wanted to learn.  When Owlstrike had appeared uncomfortable in his situation with Falconpaw and Frostedgaze, Webtail understood the feeling. He got up from the shade under some branches of a pine and padded over with a smile. "How are you Owlstrike?" He asked, bringing the topic away from the Dark Forest. "Have you gone in the apprentice den by accident yet?" There was humor in his voice, trying to brighten the mood.


Mobiile]

Redpaw had nothing to do.

It was unusual for the grandiose and loud tom. He was usually busy patrolling, or talking or helping others out and giving them his....well, advice, whether they wanted it or not. He wasn't quite sure what he would do now. He spotted Owlstrike, and a few others, and thought he may as well go over to them and talk. He knew Owlstrike had been a Dark Forest loyalist, and he seemed to have changed face - all too soon. He had always had his suspicions, and even though he had been saying how loyal he was to StarClan, he couldn't help but feel something was...off - and he trusted in his instincts. He was going to prove it.
Redpaw strode over to Owlstrike and the others.
"What would you all be doing now?" he asked, genuinely curious. "I don't suppose you would mind myself being here, anyways." While Redpaw usually spoke in a semi-formal, and semi-arrogant tone, it felt heavier here, almost slightly mockingly.

Owlstrike smiled at Webtail and nodded politely at him as he approached “Greetings, Webtail” His voice held a polite tone in it that he rarely used with other cats. During almost all his time as an apprentice the older warrior had been ShadowClan’s leader, and even if StarClan had stripped him of the position he still couldn’t help but see him as such. In all honesty, in his eyes Webtail deserved the title more than Thrushstar ever would. With his question the chocolate tabby couldn’t help but laugh a bit, a truly honest laugh as his tension vanished “Not even once” He was really proud of his new title of warrior, a title he had dreamed with since he was only a kit, and sleeping in the warrior’s den felt like a dream come true for him. He obviously wasn’t willing to stop there, as he had the bar set fairly higher, but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t enjoy his current position.

Redpaw’s voice made him turn his head to look at him, another proud cat whose ego could be big enough to compete with Falconaw’s, that’s for sure “Just sharing tongues” He answered calmly, taking a couple of small steps to the side to give Redpaw enough room to join the group of cats comfortably “Of course not” He was actually interested on what the younger tom had to say, he usually seemed to be kind of distant, at least from him.

Redpaw began sharing tongues with the others. Owlstrike's attitude had taken him by surprise, with it's calmness, but he was still sceptical. He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"I don't suppose you've been up to much lately? I certainly haven't, though I am to be a warrior soon." He spoke more calmly now, though he kept the slightest hint of mockery in his voice, barely detectable unless you were listening closely.

Frostedgaze looked at Redpaw putting on as much of a grin as she could muster.
"Yes, Redpaw, we all know that, and you certainly do deserve your title." She said.
Unlike some cats. She aimed that silent thought at Owlstrike.
It was the truth that Redpaw would make quite a fine warrior, but she also shot Owlstrike a look that showed nothing but mockery and anger. But, she quickly covered up that look before any cat could notice with a calm gaze that didn't betray any emotions. She wrapped her black and white tail around her black and white paws, quite the group was forming, and some Frostedgaze was worried about. Obviously Owlstrike, then Falconpaw, the rude and boisterous apprentice, and Webtail, the former leader until the Dark Forest.