It's Good to be Home (Closed Patrol for Grey and Ink)

Pansyface emerged from the warrior's den, the sun dappling her gray and white patched pelt.  Gazing around, she smiled and twitched her tail, before walking out into the clearing.  She had missed this place so badly while she was in the Barn, and the familiar feeling of sand under her paws, and seeing all her clanmates sharing prey lifted her heart.  Gazing at the prey pile, she noticed they were running a bit low, and raised her voice; "I'm going hunting, who wants to come with me?"

Lilyheart padded from the medicine cat den, having visited Hawkstrike briefly before she grabbed something to eat. But seeing Pansyface pulling together a hunting patrol, she quickly discarded the idea to eat and padding towards the recently freed she-cat. "I'll come with you Pansyface." Lilyheart stated quickly as she stood at a stand still next to her.

It had been quite some time since he slept on a warriors den, and it felt incredible. Hawkstripe was clearly happy to not be stuck in the Medicine cat’s den anymore, the only thing dampening his mood a bit being that though most his injuries healed perfectly, there was an ugly, irregular scar that now went all the way from his upper right side of his forehead, over his right eye and ended right on top of his muzzle, on his nose. Well…that and the death of his friends, that is…he still couldn’t get over such loss and it still haunted him on his dreams.

He could’ve just enjoyed the den all day, but as soon as the sound of someone calling for a patrol reached his ears, he almost jumped to his paws, rushing out from the den. Finally, FINALLY, he wasn’t an injured cat trying not to die anymore, he was back to his paws, he could go back to the warrior duties he missed so much, and he wouldn’t let the opportunity pass.

He quickly arrived to the other two cats’ side, greeting them with a couple of quick respectful nods “Mind if I join you?” Even if he tried his best be polite and ask if he was allowed to join, it was clear by his way of speaking that he wouldn’t take a No as an answer.

Turning, Pansyface shot Lilyheart a friendly smile, before nodding; she hadn't spent much time with the kind she-cat in the past, but she would always remember and respect her efforts to defend Rippedsky when Breezewhisker had confronted him. Hmm...If Lilyheart is Crowstar's daughter that would make her my...step-aunt? Pansyface almost laughed; was there anyone in SkyClan she wasn't related to? As if her thoughts summoned him, Pansyface turned to face Hawkstrike with narrowed eyes, examining the newcomer critically. The tom had been accepted into the clan while she had been captured, so she had not yet had the chance to speak with him. Though he seemed fine, she couldn't help but be a little wary of the outsider. "Sure, lets go." Leading the way, she began to walk over to the camp entrance.

Lilyhearts head turned to look at Hawkstrike, blinking in surprise and stiffening up before giving a smile and relaxing once more. Purring softly she piped up, "I don't mind." Before looking to Pansyface and following her lead. Lilyhearts crystalline blue eyes flicked back to look at Hawkstrike with a bit of concern edging her brow before looking back at Pansyface and in an attempt to shrug away her concern since Hawkstrike seemed to be fine she lowly mewed in Pansyface's ear, hopefully low enough to prevent Hawkstrikes hearing. "You know... Hawkstrike is a very handsome tom, very strong too. I think you and him would be good together." She purred softly, her mouth flickering into a mischievous grin but not quite getting there.

Hawkstrike padded out of camp after the two she-cats, smiling like a moron the whole way. He was just so glad to be doing warrior duties once more, and though he wasn’t doing the thing he loved the most, which was fighting, he still felt a million times better.

He did managed to hear some whispering between Lilyheart and the second she-cat he still didn’t know the name of, but he couldn’t really hear what words were being shared between the two, causing him to tilt his head as he walking, wondering what kind of conversation they could be having, given that they didn’t want him to hear.

What!?  Pansyface stopped dead, staring at Lilyheart with wide, shocked eyes.  For a moment she didn't know what to say, she just stood there with her jaws hanging open.  After a second she composed herself, and she began to whisper back defensively.  "Pfft, are you serious?  He only just got here, I barely know him!  Plus, I-"  Snapping her jaws shut just in time, she managed not to say the name of her former lover, but his name lingered in her mind.  Bouncepaw....I miss him so much.  No cat could ever take his place  On the outside, she remained collected, and rolled her eyes in exasperation.  "Come on, let's keep moving."  Starting off again, she tried to focus on hunting but, she couldn't help but steal a quick glance back at the brown tabby tom.  He is pretty attractive...

"You aren't denying it~" Lilyheart purred her walk turning into a chipper bounce as they walked, fluffy black tail high in the air as they made their way through the territory. Looking back at Hawkstrike she decided to strike up a conversation. "Nice to see you out and about Hawkstrike, it's good to see your wounds have healed up nicely." Lilyheart stated softly, her eyes roving over him clinically and with a nod looked back up her eyes catching sight of a squirrel on a branch from a tree a couple dozen tail-lengths from her.

"One moment please, Pansyface this is Hawkstrike, Hawkstrike this is Pansyface. I've got this." Dropping into a crouch as the patrol stopped she started moving forwards her claws digging into the dirt as powerful muscles rippled under her white and black pelt. Lilyhearts eyes tracked the squirrel as it scurried and stopped, and continued to do this along the tree branch. Lilyheart was at the tree's roots, the squirrel having luckily not noticing her yet until she started climbing up the trunk.

Lilyheart fired up the tree trunk as the squirrel shot up the trunk and onto another branch only to leap onto another tree, but Lilyheart was hot on its bushy tail and followed suit. Lilyheart was gaining on it fast and met up with it as it shot into another tree, but due to a power leap thanks to blood purity she snatched it in the air, her claws clamping around its head and neck messily as she crushed it. Skidding onto the tree branch she sent bark showering down, her eyes following as she searched out Pansyface and Hawkstrike with pride in her gaze.

Pansyface shot Lilyheart a irked glare in response to her teasing little remark; but at the same time she could feel herself blush. What the heck are you doing Pansyface? You don't even know him! Sighing, she kept silent as her friend struck up a conversation with the tom, looking straight ahead. Trying to focus on scenting prey, the bi-color she-cat looked around for a moment before she was snapped out of her examination of the area. Lilyheart had shot away from her side, and up a tree after a squirrel, leaving the two cats alone on the ground. For a second she wanted to chase after the black and white she-cat and drag her back, but she settled with a burning glare up the tree after her. Turning, she forced a smile and meowed awkwardly to the tom, who's name apparently was Hawkstrike; "Well, I would introduce myself...but it looks like someone else already did."

Hawkstrike flicked his ear a bit as he had to contempt himself by having to guess what in the world could the two she-cats be talking about. He, however, was taken completely off guard when Lilyheart decided to just turn to him and speak.

He did his best to hide his confusion and smile at her “Heh, you have no idea of how much I missed to go out on patrols” He was about to mention his scar when he mentioned his wounds, but in the end decided against it, not wanting to seem ungrateful for the work the Medicine cat had done on him. After all, one scar was better than death…even if the scar was so awfully obvious.

If he was confused before, he was left completely dumfounded when Lilyheart darted off after introducing him to Pansyface and vice versa, lowering his ears at the sight of her climbing up the tree after the squirrel. Now, that was something he hoped they wouldn’t expect him to do. He was already bad at jumping, there was no need to mention climbing, it wasn’t something he needed to learn at ShadowClan after all.

His gaze went from the she-cat chasing the squirrels above their heads to the one at his side, shuffling his paws awkwardly and grateful that she was the one that broke the silence “Well…I guess we are on the same spot…I think I didn’t see you around camp before, then again I was stuck in the medicine Cat’s den until recently so I shouldn’t be surprised”.

Pansyface smiled a bit, not the forced smile from before but this one was more authentic.  Seating herself, she licked her paw and began to clean her ears as she talked; "That's because I wasn't in camp until a few sunrises ago.  You know the whole situation with that rouge Bear?  Yea, I got caught up in all that.  My sister Cherrymist and I were in the Abandoned Barn for around a moon, maybe more.  I kinda lost track."  With a short laugh, she lowered her paw and glanced at Hawkstrike with a more attentive eye.  The first thing she noticed was the scar on his face, that looked like it had just finished healing.  Not really one for being subtle, the patched she-cat twitched an ear curiously and asked "How'd you get your scar?"

Hawkstrike nodded as Pansyface spoke “I heard about the rogue, though I’m not exactly well-informed of the subject. I came back to SkyClan not that long ago and since then…well…you know already” She chuckled a bit as he spoke, the returning to SkyClan tale was starting to become natural to him, to the point of speaking about it without thinking, like if it was actually real. However, when he was asked about his scar, he flicnched and looked down with a frown.

“I...found my way back to the forest not long ago, as I already told you, but instead of arriving to SkyClan I was unlucky enough to end in ShadowClan. A warrior called Mudfoot attacked me, and I was in a state that wouldn’t really allow me to fight back, and he knew it. He would’ve killed me if I didn’t get away at t ever last second…Crowstar found, recognized and brought me back not long after that. This scar was caused by that warrior” His words were low, and though his tone was mostly neutral, if enough attention was paid resentment and even a lint of hate could be noticed.

Surprisingly, the normally cool, collected she-cat burst into a crescendo of laughter, her murky green eyes closing as she hunched over; she knew it probably looked stupid, and was quite rude, but the she-cat's ironic memories took over her common sense. The laughter begining to ease off a bit, she caught her breath before purring out an explanation for her outburst. "Hahaha!I'm so sorry Hawkstrike, I don't mean to insult or offend you but..." Looking up, she met his gaze and smiled; "I was attacked by Mudfoot as well, when I was an apprentice." Letting out a few leftover giggles, the patched she-cat began to grow a bit more serious, and continued with a normal, but slightly amused tone. "That jerk caught me by the Thunderpath, and attacked me for nothing! Seriously, I didn't step over the border, or anything! He just dashed across the path to attack a seven moon old apprentice." Waving her tail back in the direction of the camp, she meowed "Thankfully, our deputy Rippedsky - he was Rippedpaw then- saved me. I wouldn't want to know what would've happened if he hadn't been nearby."

Hawkstrike was clearly surprised and felt sincerely offended by the sudden burst of laughter coming from Pansyface, his eyes narrowing a bit and the fur on the back of his neck raising slightly even in his best attempts to keep his cool. He simply couldn’t help it, even he wouldn’t laugh at other cat being attacked and almost killed…most of the cases at least, there were some certain cats he wouldn’t mind being told about such occurrence.

He let out a soft snort before Pansyface started to explain the reason behind her unexpected and rude behavior. Her words, however, took him off guard and sparkled something inside him. So the deputy had more than enough reason to consider Mudfoot as a potential dangerous enemy to the clan already. This wasn’t in his plans, but it would surely work on his favor if he could put that tension to a good use “You were lucky to have friends to defend you, really. If he did this to a fully grown cat like me I don’t want to think what he could’ve done to you if you had crossed paths with him on your own like myself” He meowed, almost forgetting completely about his previous indignation “I wonder what’s up with him though, attacking starved cats and apprentices instead of a warrior that could properly fight”.

Pansyface nodded in agreement to his statement with narrowed eyes; she had never again interacted with Mudfoot since that day he attacked her, but hearing about the other crimes he had committed flared the fire of hatred that had once burned bright within her. What honorable warrior would attack defenseless cats? He is deliberately disobeying to warrior code, and no one even cares!

With an annoyed huff, the gray and white she-cat gazed back up at Hawkstrike, and smiled slightly as she spoke. "Yea, I was really lucky to have Rippedsky there." Flushing a bit under her fur, she flashed a mischievous smile the tabby's way as she continued. "Hey, wanna know something? After he saved me, for a while I had quite the crush on him. It obviously didn't work out, but everything turned out fine in the end. He and my sister Cherrymist became mates, and they are so happy together. So, I'm happy for them."

"I have no clue why any cat would act like that...." Murky eyes flashing furiously, the young warrior continued to answer him. "The look in his eyes when he attacked...was so heartless and cruel, as if he was fighting for his very life. Like, he thought that I, an extremely young apprentice, was about to go wipe out his entire clan. Please!"
Her voice tinged with a slight growl, she gazed off towards the direction of the Thunderpath as she hissed out her final words; "Maybe the cold winds really do chill the ShadowClan cat's hearts...."