Can I stay? [Open to TC]

Ever since the gathering, the prey hunter had been interested in Thunderclan. Even if they had said something about not giving her tribe assistance she wanted to try to get into the clan. While she loved her tribe dearly she needed a change. She felt that the tribe brought bad luck, and the way the two healers- leader were arguing trying to get them on their side she felt it was only going to continue. Honestly she regretted speaking up at the gathering now..

She watched the clan leave the gathering figuring out where their territory was, and once she did she made her move the next day. Well she ended up getting kind of lost in the territory. It wasn't hard for her to move around in, but it was confusing seeing how she didn't have a guide. She let out a small sigh, not knowing what to do. She didn't even know what she was looking for. Hopefully someone would find her soon.

Blacktwig was vetting the territory, when he just happened to catch Shadow of the Dancing Leaf, who managed to wean her way out of the Tribe and play quidnunc her in ThunderClan's territory. He decided to be respectful, at least. "Oh... um, hello." Blacktwig mewed, sleuthing around her. "Are you lost?" His words were no cajolery, but at least they were worried and truthful. He cleared his throat faintly.

Owlpaw followed behind Blacktwig. This is one of her first patrols so she was extremely excited but jumpy at everything. She heard rather then smelled Blacktwig talking to somebody. Making her way over to the warrior she saw it was a cat, a cat she did not recognize. She instantly darted forward hissing at the strange new cat, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

OOC:hope you don't mind Owlpaw butting in!

Clearpaw had lost track of his mentor--he was meant to be learning some hunting techniques during this patrol, but he kept getting distracted and running off. And now, he couldn't find Blacktwig. He had a sneaking suspicion that his mentor had given up on him for the day, and was perhaps going hunting so they actually had something to bring back to camp. He decided to try as well, and was now wandering through the forest with a mouse in his jaws that he had caught in a pure stroke of luck.
He caught a strange scent, despite the scent of the prey--he quickly abandoned the mouse and began following the scent, which, as he got closer, he realized was mingling with Blacktwig's scent. "Blacktwig!" He ran up, seeming relieved, only to notice a strange cat standing nearby, and a rather bristled Owlpaw. Realizing that he must have interrupted them, he bit back the many questions that rose to his mind; He was working on being more polite, but he wasn't terribly good at it yet.

Shadowleaf nodded. "I am lost.. or rather I was looking for you or your tribe er.. clan." The gray and white she-cat looked a the apprentice's approaching her. "I'm Shadow of the Dancing Leaf, and I came from the Tribe. Though I don't really want to stick with them. Neither of the clans that offered to take us in seemed appealing to me.. Rather your clan caught my attention, and I was wondering if I could join your ranks. I am a very skilled hunter." She hoped she was speaking the right words. She didn't really want to go back to the tribe, or make another journey back to the mountains.

Owlpaw didn't know if she should trust this strange cat, she did seem like she was telling the truth. Wait 'tribe'? She has heard about these tribes from the other apprentice's. Her fur flattened and her eyes grew wide. If this cat was from the tribe she would have fantastic stories! "Your from the tribe?" She asked in shock. She was about to step toward her but she stopped thinking better about it she looked to Blacktwig on what to do.

"Of course she's from the tribe! Smell her Owlpaw, she smells of the mountains and reeks of illness over that! Not to mention look at how scraggly and thin she is, she might as well be a walking corpse!" Specklepaw snorted, rolling her eyes and she gestured to each feature of the tribe-cat before circling around her. The dark brown she-cats tail lashed and her long fur bristled, "But are you deaf? Darkstar said that you aren't welcome in Thunderclan!" Specklepaw snapped, claws unsheathing as the gigantic she-cat sized up the tribe cat.

Owlpaw shrieked away from the other apprentice comments, "Well I am so sorry I recently became an apprentice! I don`t know the different smells outside of camp!" But she did what Specklepaw said anyways and sniffed the cat from a distance there was a weird smell coming from this she-cat. And she did look very thin and fragile almost like the wind could blow her away. She stood back as Specklepaw stood forward hissing at this tribe cat.

Blizzardshine was in one of her usual walks around the territory, mumbling to herself as she thought about Ploverheart and Palegaze. Both warriors had returned right after the other and only Darkstar was old enough to be able to confirm or deny their stories ‘What a time to fall ill again, Darkstar…’ She let out a long sigh, she really wished she had the experience to deal with this kind of situations more effectively, or at least have the leader at her side to learn from her instead of having to walk this path on her own. What this some kind of trial StarClan set for her? Was this nothing more than a coincidence?

She was forced out from her thoughts by the voice of Sparkpaw, which sounded awfully close to her position. The white deputy tilted her head, wondering what could’ve caused the apprentice to snap and speak loud enough for her voice to reach her, before turning towards its direction and making her way through the thick underbrush of the territory to reach the group of cats. Her jaw almost dropped when she recognized one of the Tribe cats she had seen during the gathering not long ago, she was definitely not expecting to see any of them around after Ashstar and Crowstar were the only ones to offer the Tribe a spot in their clans.

Shaking her head to get rid of her dumbfounded expression, she quickly made her way towards her clanmates and the Tribe cat “What is going on here?” She meowed softly, her usual gentle and almost motherly tone mixed with that of curiosity and confusion. Even if the question was directed to all the cats around her, her gaze was locked on Shadow of the Dancing Leaf.

Clearpaw listened to the exchange between the other apprentices in nice, but something about the way Specklepaw talked about the tribe cat simply didn't sit right with him. Was Specklepaw angry because they had an outsider on their territory? It hardly seemed fair to treat someone so poorly just because they weren't a clan cat... He hadn't been born in the clans, himself, and oftentimes felt like an outsider still. But he was trying, and so was Shadow of the Dancing Leaf. Wasn't that enough of a reason to give her a chance? "Specklepaw, calm down." He newer, waving his tail, "What're you so worked up about? Outsiders have come into he clans before, it's not something to be angry about." He turned his pale yellowish eyes to Shadow of the Dancing Leaf. "How come you want to join ThunderClan?" He asked curiously, "Did you come by yourself? Do your clanmates know you're here?" Clearpaw suddenly remembered his mouse from earlier--the visiting cat certainly did look thin as a rail, perhaps she would be in a better state to stand up for herself with some food in her belly. He dashed off, returning a short moment later with a mouse in his jaws. "They're right about you being thin though, you should eat." He mewed after he had set it in front of her.

Blacktwig turned towards Blizzardshine. "A Tribe cat, is what's going on," he mewed. "Says she wants to join our Clan." Blacktwig was very circumspect in his actions around this odd new she-cat. He glanced at Clearpaw. "Greetings, Clearpaw," he meowed to his apprentice. His flocculent tail arced at the tip, narrowing his eyes premeditatedly at Shadow of the Dancing Leaf.

"Yes I would like to join. I am an excellent hunter. I can hunt in any terrain, and basically any prey. You want to eat a hawk? I can get you one." She was called a prey hunter for a reason. Though she hoped they didn't ask her about her fighting skills. She didn't really have any cause that wasn't her job in the tribe. Granted she had to know about it somewhat to protect herself when numbers became small.

"In all honestly I don't really trust either Skyclan or Windclan.. I saw you guys at the gathering, and you really caught my interest.. I feel like I would be at home with you guys, if you will have me." Shadowleaf said. She really wanted in the clan. She didn't know what she would do if she got rejected. Maybe ask one of the others but she doubted they would take her in if this one rejected her. They seemed the nicer of the three anyway.

"How come I'm always asleep whenever these things happen?" Darkstar muttered to herself as she wandered about the territory. Earlier she'd woken up - a rare occurrence nowadays - and had the strangest feeling. A feeling that something was a bit off in the territory. So she'd checked the various dens, listing who was missing in her mind.

'Blacktwig, Blizzardshine, Owlpaw, Clearpaw... Specklepaw.' Well, if her granddaughter, as well as her deputy and most senior warrior were gone, that meant something was surely up. So the leader set out into the territory, following the scents of his missing Clanmates until she came upon them. Or rather, she heard Specklepaw screaming her head off again. The she-cat stood back for a moment, listening before she pushed to the front. It was always a tad more efficient to listen in than to ask a question that had already been answered. So far she understood that this tribe cat here wanted to join ThunderClan. Why? Hadn't she turned them away at the Gathering? Not to mention that she was also the third cat to ask to come to ThunderClan.

"Hello, Shadow of the Dancing Leaf." Her voice was a bit soft from disuse. She looked to her Clanmates for a moment, sparing her granddaughter from the irritated look she wanted to give, seeing as she'd put words in the leader's mouth.

"I will allow you to stay, but I must warn you that several among us have had encounters with outsiders that may make them aggressive towards you." She almost gave a look to Specklepaw when she said that. There were other obstacles that would face the Tribe Prey-Hunter if she decided to stay with the Clan.

“Hmmm….” Blizzardshine narrowed her eyes as she took a deep dive in her thoughts. The tribe cat’s words sounded sincere and if what she was saying was true, the main concern of Darkstar would no longer be an issue with her, given that she would help feed the clan and not become just a mouth to feed. It was true that their numbers were low at the time and that combined with what had happened to the clans not that long ago made Blizzardshine was way more cautious than usual, but even with the added wariness she was sill the kind-hearted cat that couldn’t leave an outsider on their own when they approached to her with problems or asking to join so politely.

Sighing deeply, the white deputy nodded lightly, as a way to convince herself that the choice she was making was the right one, and started to prepare herself mentally if things took a turn for the worst and Darkstar took her actions as a challenge to her own words once she saw Shadow of the Dancing Leaf between the rest of the cats of the clan. As always, she was willing to take the responsibility and act as a shield between the newcomer and the ones against her so she had the chance to earn the rest of the clan’s trust on their own, she just hoped Darkstar would give her that chance as well.

However, just as she was about to give her answer to Shadow of the Dancing Leaf, the well/known voice of the leader reached her ears, causing her to turn around quickly before giving a polite smile “Greetings, Darkstar” Her meow tried to be as calm as always, though a hint of nervousness managed to slip her grasp. She was sincerely nervous about what she was going to say, as given how ambiguous her position about Tribe cats was she couldn’t help but wonder if she had given a wrong step and accidentally challenged her orders.

Like a cool breeze during a hot Greenleaf day, relief instantly rushed through her mind and body with Darkstar’s words, her insecure yet polite grin growing to a whole hearted smile as she turned to look at the tribe cat “If you encounter any trouble or have any questions about clan life, feel free to speak to me regardless of the time or what I may be doing. I’m always willing to help a clanmate”.

"Oh really? I can stay? Thank you so much Dark of the Stars! I mean Darkstar." The gray and white she-cat was excited. She didn't care if others treated her badly. Nothing can compare to the moons she spent traveling here, she was happy to be among a stable clan. It was going to take her a while to get used to their way of talking.

Shadow of the Dancing Leaf glanced to the others around her for a moment. These would be the cats she would be living with. It was so exciting to the she-cat. She would have to catch something nice for them as a thank you.

Though if someone did try to talk down to her, then they would soon discover the prey hunter was not at weak as she seemed, nor as sweet.