No One Knows, How Far It Goes [closed]

The muddy, grass-less ground that surrounded the length of the Thunderpath was frozen into a cracked, rough mass that scraped Shadewillow's pads uncomfortably, but he continued nonetheless. The dead foliage that provided shelter from the constant noise of the Thunderpath crunched loudly underpaw, and some of the remaining low-hanging branches probed his fur roughly as he cleared a path in front of him. Shadowclan routinely required that at least one cat checked upon the border every day, just to keep an eye on the rather troublesome place that seemed to produce endless skirmishes. Swinging his head around to sniff at the air, he was relived to find that the only scents that hung in the air were those of Shadowclan- and not the faintest trace of any out of place scents.

Thick snow flakes began to dot the air, and Shadewillow let out a low groan at how heavily they fell- there was no sense in trying to go back to camp in this cold mini-storm, so he gazed around once more, searching for a spot to shelter out the worst of the small storm. After searching for a few heartbeats, he was able to spot a dead bush who's half frozen leaves could offer some sort of shelter, so he quickly darted over to the lifeless plant. He settled under the barren branches of a dead bush, cursing slightly at the way the stiff branches poked and prodded him. Huffing slightly, he crouched down awkwardly as he attempted to make his large form fit fully under the puny plant. After squirming awkwardly for a few moments, he found that by tucking his forepaws underneath him, and wrapping his tail around his crouching form, he was finally comfortable enough to relax. Redirecting his attention towards the unusually quiet Thunderpath, he continued to gaze out from his shelter at the surrounding world.

ooc) too lazy to come up with a better name, sorry

All she'd ever known in her life was snow, the coldness that penetrated her bones, leaving her aching for the warmth of her denmates. Newleaf, Greenleaf, they all felt like abstract ideas that barely connected in her head, she could hardly feel something she'd never experienced before. While others complained about snowstorms, Acornpaw embraced the chill, slinking through the territory while being pelted by snowflakes that left her fur slightly damp. She was on the trail of a hare, it was weak, sickly, clearly struggling from the lack of vegetation, she could tell from how short it's strides were.

And when her opal-like eyes finally locked onto her target, she sprang into action, paws cutting through the white beds to give chase.

An apprentice yet to become a warrior-grown, she was still slight in size, but she used that to her advantage. She didn't sink down like some of her larger boned clanmates, gracefully pouncing from spot to spot till she was just behind it.

When she finally shifted into a pounce, the hare was on the Thunderpath, and that was where she made her kill. Jumping on it's back, she twisted to sever it's spine with her teeth, not noticing the monster coming towards her.

ooc: lol it's a rehash of the previous topic

Shadewillow's billowing breath nearly hid Acornpaw from his sight as she finally emerged, but her fishy scent alerted him of her presence long before she actually arrived. He remained within his hiding spot, watching as the Riverclan cat gave chase to the small hare, easily bringing down the obviously sickly creature. Tailing tip twitching warily, he watched with narrowed eyes at Acornpaw merely hovered above her catch; didn't Riverclan teach their apprentices about the dangers of the Thunderpath? He continued to warily observed the pale she-cat, watching her movements with a spark of interest.The rumbling of an approaching monster shook the dead derbies that were piled up at his paws and snapped him from the odd little daydream he was having, and he watched with wide eyes as a Monster steadily closed the distance between itself and the Riverclan cat- and yet the she-cat wasn't moving!

Cursing, he leaped from his well-sheltered little nook, pads scraping painfully against the frozen mud and the hard surface of the Thunderpath as he scrambled onto the sticky road and towards Acornpaw. The Monster was nearly upon them, so close that Shadewillow could feel the scorching heat that it radiated and smell the strange creatures horribly foul breath, but he forced himself to not succumb to the wild rush of fear that nearly rooted his paws in place. Jumping forward in a flurried panic, he wrapped his paws around the Riverclan she-cat, dragging her with him as he went tumbling head over heals over the side of Thunderpath and into the dead, prickly grass on the side- leaving the little hare to be squashed beneath the Monster's massive paws. Once the flurry of waving paws and tails subsided, Shadewillow found himself sitting on top of the pale she-cat, glaring at her ruefully as he remained seated upon her heaving form. "Are Riverclan cats really as stupid as they are fat? Didn't anyone ever educate you about what happens if you stray onto the Thunderpath for as long as you did?" He growled, although his words lacked any true malice.

The rumbling of the monster finally caught her attention, but by the time she noticed, it was too late. The brightness of the ilghts coupled with the noxious fumes had her blindly frozen in sheer terror, poised awkwardly in a crouch over her kill. Logic should have dictated that she ran for cover, but her legs refused to cooperate, leaving her an easy kill for the thundering beast that sped closer and closer.

Then everything changed in an instant, she tumbled across the Thunderpath, not even aware of what was happening beyond the dizzying spinning of the world around her. She smelt something familiar, the scent of another clan, but she could hardly focus on it when her side ached from gravel rash and the world wouldn't hold still. When she finally came to a stop, she was pinned beneath something heavy. Acornpaw nearly panicked, thinking she was under attack, pinned beneath the monster that had been racing towards her. But then the monster spoke, it's voice distinctly like a cat, a very angry cat.

Startled, she almost didn't catch the first half, but then she placed the scent from before to ShadowClan and everything clicked. "I'd heard about monsters, but never seen them before." She began, voice shaky from shock. "T- Thank you for saving me. Though I could have done without the insults."

Shadewillow let out a slight grunt as the roar of the monster finally died away, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure that the terrifying creature had actually gone. Ear twitching, his head snapped back around to face Acornpaw as she struggle slightly and began to speak- clearly she hadn't been roughed up enough to the point where she couldn't verbally respond. A sigh escaped his lips as he started down at the wide eyes that stared up at him, shock evident in the shrunken pupils- obviously being that close to death was a stern enough warning without having to lash out verbally.

Nodding at her words, he quickly clambered to his paws and hauled himself off of the much smaller cat, stopping a short distance away from her, only to frown at her final words. "I'm a Shadowclan cat, not a Kittypet, did you really believe that you could endure your first interaction with a Shadowclan warrior without a friendly jibe or two?" He mewed, whiskers twitching as he assessed Acornpaw's disheveled state. Shaking out his fur to free it of anything that he picked up during their tumble, Shadewillow sat down to gaze more intently at Acornpaw, while also beginning to briskly groom his thick chest fur to rid it of any Riverclan stench. "But thanks to my gallantry, you've now survived your first encounter with a monster! It would of been a shame to see such a pretty cat run down the first time she put a paw on the Thunderpath." He added nocholantly, raising a forepaw to gingerly rasp at his sore pads as he watched the Riverclan she-cat.

Usually, she would have piped up more, but considering the fact it had been her supreme foolishness that lead to them being all tangled up here nearby Fourtrees, she could hardly complain about his manners further. Acornpaw kept her mouth shut for once, demurely grooming her fur for debris and chasing away the stench of the Thunderpath as he continued on. She grimaced at the bitter taste of the black tarmac against her fur, roughly licking at sooty spots to try rid herself of any evidence of her foolishness. It was a calming act too, something to ground her in reality again, until she heard his last few words.

Before she could restrain herself, the apprentice flicked up her gaze, looking over at the tom in surprise before she ducked down her head, going back to intently grooming herself. He was playing it so calmly, she doubted if she'd even heard him right, though she was pretty certain that her hearing wasn't off. Though she'd already screwed up, the dilute tabby tried to maintain a similar attitude of nonchalance as she replied in turn. "Do you often gaze out onto the Thunderpath looking for pretty she-cats to save? I thought ShadowClanners kept to themselves."

"Oh believe me, normally us Shadowclanners do whatever stereotypical thing you believe that we do- sulk about in the mud, howl at the moon, raid other Clan's camps- the whole nine yards really," Shadewillow mewed, shrugging his shoulders as he continued to gaze at Acornpaw, ear twitching slightly as she mentioned her belief that Shadowclan isolated themselves from the rest of the Clans, "But it seems that as of late, I have grown rather tiresome of keeping up the whole angst-related isolation phase and decided that it would be interesting to see if some unlucky rogue or Thunderclan cat met their fate today, although it seems I was treated to an unexpected delight instead. Most she-cat's usually don't always have the most flattering look upon their faces when a Monster is bearing down upon them- but yours remained somewhat enjoyable to look at. " He continued, delighted with the surprised look in Acornpaw's eyes as she gazed briefly at him. He had gone out of his way to save her, so surely he could have a bit of fun at her expense without bending her to far out of shape.

Continuing to lap at his scraped  pads and tug any bits of dirt or frozen mud free of the soft fur that grew between his pads, Shadewillow gazed down at the Riverclan apprentice with amused eyes. Allowing his forepaw to finally drop to the ground and gingerly press against the gritty soil, he was relieved to realize that his begrudging lapping had nearly erased all of the previous tenderness.  "Shouldn't you be back on your little island gorging on fish? The Thunderpath is a big step up for any Riverclan cat, let alone an unsupervised apprentice." A frown tugged at the edge of his lips as he continued to gaze at Acornpaw, curiosity evident in his more serious tone.