Let Me In [Closed]

“Awake enough for a patrol?” Rippedsky grunted as he nudged Addergaze. There was no doubt she would be less than pleased with the early wakeup. However, if he ever wanted the time to patrol with her, there was no other chance to do so. As the deputy straightened up, he stifled a yawn. Sleep still had not come easy. Occasionally, the black and white tom would simply become so exhausted there was no option but to pass out. Other than that, he struggled with forcing himself to rest. It was as if he were to close his eyes the clan would descend into chaos. There had already been problems with the tribe. Some already questioned his ability to lead well despite the fact he overexerted himself for the cause. Any moment not spent running their group felt wrong. But he needed to take some time off.

“Sorry it’s so early.” He remarked as he turned away. The burly she-cat most likely would still be displeased with the explanation. Rippedsky vowed to do what he could to make it up to her later. Somehow. Addergaze had already been through so much lately. It was no wonder she was as hostile and bitter as she had been. The fact did not shock him at all. Even though she had tried to mask her sadness, Eagleheart’s death had been rough on her. Afterwards, the majority of her kits had gone to join Starclan. Only Aspenkit was left, and he had been horribly injured. His tail tip twitched as he felt a pang of sadness for her. He had wanted to be there for the prickly warrior, but duties had kept him away. This would finally be their chance to talk. Rippedsky padded over towards the camp entrance and settled down to wait for her to fully wake up and join him.

A stifled groan rumbled through Addergaze's chest as Rippedsky began to hiss in her ear and nudge her, one eye cracking open to stare at the Deputy with disdain. How could it be morning already? Forcing her sleep heavy eyes fully open, she was able to judge that, due to the lack of early morning light, it hardly qualified as actual morning. Rolling to her paws the best she could in the limited space, Addergaze let out a soft, irritated grunt as she hauled herself to her paws and away from the warmth of her nest. Pausing for a few brief moments to yawn and blink the remaining tendrils of sleep away from her heavy-lidded eyes, the she-cat simply stood there for a few heartbeats in a bleary fog before eventually following suit after Rippedsky.

Trailing after the black and white tom sleepily, not even pausing to give a halfhearted grooming to her sleep-rumpled fur. "We could of just as easily gone out on an evening patrol instead." Addergaze barely managed to remark through a wide yawn, casting a slightly mutinous glance towards Rippedsky as she did so. "You do know that, right?" She added, a hint of complaint evident in her slightly raspy words. What was the fuss with early morning patrols such as this one- nothing was ever going anywhere, so why couldn't they just catch a tad bit more sleep? Without waiting for a reply, she brushed through the undergrowth that marked the entrance of camp, fur prickling as the early morning dew caught her fur.

It was too early for this.

"We needed a dawn patrol. Besides, I don't exactly have all the free time I'd like to go on any patrol of the day." The black and white deputy meowed back mildly. He was used to her sharp-tongue and had certainly anticipated the displeased response. Thankfully, she was up on her paws fairly quickly though. In fact, the burly she-cat was making her way out of the entrance in front of him. Rippedsky picked up his pace to catch up to her. A patrol with Addergaze was the last thing most cats wanted to do these days; she seemed aggravated enough to claw someone's ears off any any moment. Although, Rippedsky knew a lot of it had to do with all of the pain she was keeping so tightly locked up inside. He was looking forwards to patrolling with the long-furred tabby. While her mate had hated the former Windclan cat, Addergaze had always been good to him. He considered her one of his good friends, whether or not she shared the sentiment.

"How have things been, Addergaze? We haven't had the time to patrol together in so long." He couldn't even remember if they had ever patrolled together. Most likely at least once in all of the moons he'd been here. Rippedsky's eyes glanced over to attempt to read her expression. His question had been a stupid one. There was no doubt she was not doing well. But there seemed like there was no other way to bring it up. If she wanted to share on her own, she would. If not, Rippedsky would push her to speak. The deputy stayed silent as he continued through the forest. Instead of heading straight for the borders, he cut through the territory. They could start at the farthest border and work their way back. Besides, that was not really the point of the patrol anyways.

Conversations in the morning were definitely not Addergaze's favorite thing- in fact she despised them almost as much as she despised dawn patrols. A small huff escaped her mouth as she hit back a groan, her nose wrinkling at his words. "I'm sure that you could find the time now that Stoneteller is also apparently in charge." She returned his mild tone, her brows falling into a heavy frown as she continued making her way through the forest, only flashing an occasional glance down towards Rippedsky. The next words he spoke made her bristle slightly, but she forced her fur to remain smooth as she continued to pad forward, although her muscles tensed further underneath her fur. There was no point in snapping at him for a simple question such as that, not when she had more important issues on her mind.

"I'm fine," Addergaze rumbled lowly, pausing for a brief moment to shake out her thick fur before continuing, "But I'll probably sleep a bit more soundly once our...visitors head on home." The statement was intended to come across as harsh and unwelcoming, but in reality she was simply just curious to see just why Rippedsky and Crowstar wanted to keep the Tribe. All they ever did was eat all the prey that they never could bring it- so what if they had 'pureblood'? It was her Clanmates ancestors that had managed to hold and defend SkyClan's territory and not the disgraced ancestors of the Tribe! This whole situation was just absurd in her mind, but apparently hardly any other cat saw a problem what had transpired since Crowstar had let the Tribe into his Clan. Addergaze swung to send a scathing glare towards Rippedsky after she finished speaking, intently waiting for whatever potential speech the black and white tom would throw her way.

Her disdain for the tribe was evident in both her manner of speech and the words that left her maw. Rippedsky narrowed his eyes as she spoke. There were several cats in the clan who shared a similar opinion to that of Addergaze. But Crowstar had made the decision, and his deputy agreed, the tribe was to become a part of the clan. They were as much, if not more, Skyclan than anyone else in the clan. Both groups had to become one. If it weren't for the fact that Rippedsky valued Addergaze's thoughts and opinions, he would have snapped back at her. However, the black and white tom held his tongue. He would not scold her. No. But he also would make it known that the tribe was staying. His deep blue eyes glanced up to meet hers before speaking.

"I don't recall the clan taking in any visitors." He meowed evenly. His pawsteps were light as they continued briskly through the forest. Rippedsky's thoughts raced as he tried to pick through the best way to respond to his prickly warrior. He had no intention of telling her off for her opinions, but there was also no way he could allow her to think that the tribe was not a part of the clan. Suddenly, he stopped and fixed her with an intense stare, "I understand you do not take kindly to outsiders... but these cats are a part of the clan now, Addergaze. Besides, not all outsiders are a detriment to the clan." As soon as he finished speaking, the deputy turned to continue on. There was a slight undertone to the words, but instead of dwelling on the idea, he preferred to keep going.

It was a pleasant early morning in Skyclan's camp. Stoneteller blinked awake gently as Rippedsky poked his head in to fetch Addergaze. At first, the tom wasn't concerned about it. Cats entered and exited the dens at all times of the day. However, after the two exited, Stoneteller sat quietly thinking on the recent events, and the whole thing just wasn't quite sitting right with the Healer. After taking a deep breath, the tom stood up and exited the den himself, shaking out his pelt and quietly followed behind the two cats who were casually on their way out of the camp. He had some questions for the she-cat and figured the best place to do it was in the presence of both herself and Rippedsky as a mediator in case, although he hoped he could settle her issues with his tribe peacefully. As he walked behind him, it didn't take long for him to catch up and hear the last few comments that each cat said to each other, particularly about Addergaze wanting the tribe to leave and Rippedsky kindly but firmly telling her otherwise.

"Um, excuse me," he called out to the two of them, hoping to catch their attention. "I hope you don't mind if I intrude. May I join you on your patrol? I don't think I've seen all of your clan's territory and its beauty." He paused a moment, his eyes settling on the she-cat. "So long as I am welcome as a Skyclan cat." It was only meant as a harmless jab, but the venom on his tongue made come off worse than it was supposed to. Instantly, he tried softening his expression, hoping that would somewhat counteract the tone in his voice.

"Ah yes they really are part of our Clan. Between walking all over our customs and refusing to take a true name, trying to put their Leader in charge, and blatantly threatening Hawkstrike and I, they've really settled in well, haven't they?" Addergaze retorted, eyes wide with faint disbelief as she looked at Rippedsky once more. Was he really siding with the Tribe after what had happened in Camp? 'Did he not see how quick the Tribe was in immediately turning on us?' The thought rattled within her head and made her fur prickle in irritation as she recalled the events that had taken place a few sunrises earlier- perhaps Rippedsky had attended a different Clan meeting than she had. It was like she was talking to herself at this rate; everything she said to him went over his head! Perhaps speaking of the devil really did summon him, because shortly after her own complaint, Stoneteller himself was suddenly there with them, obviously aware of everything she said.

Addergaze drew herself to her full height as she gazed down at Stoneteller, vague undertones of contempt and disgust subtly evident within her frosty glance. This was the first time she had seen Stoneteller actually leave camp by himself and he only did so to intrude on a private discussion? She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the Tribe cat and settled for a soft, passive aggressive scoff as she switched her gaze back to Rippedsky. She could already hear the tantrum that Rippedsky would pitch if she sent the Tribe Healer away, so she swallowed back a low hiss before looking at Stoneteller with slightly narrowed eyes. "If you must." She finally sniffed, hardly giving Stoneteller a second glance as she began to walk once more, "It's about time you actually started pulling your weight around here- if you want to be co-Leader, then you can't just sit around all day in camp." Addergaze quickly pulled ahead of the two toms after she quipped out a brief agreement, unwilling to walk beside the two sources of her current irritation.

Rippedsky's gaze hardened as Addergaze shot back a sarcastic remark. Words had built up beneath his tongue and threatened to spill out, but then a voice caused his head to whip around. Stoneteller. A part of him was relieved to see the older tom. Another part of him was afraid how the warrior would react. She clearly was not a fan of the tribe at all. While he did agree that the integration process had been slow, due to faults on both the clan and tribe sides, there was no reason to treat them like enemies. They should not be enemies. The tribe and clan were supposed to become one. At least, that was the goal. His ear flicked as the familiar thought ran through his head, They will never truly become clan... For so long, the deputy had given the tribe the benefit of the doubt. But the longer they stayed, it seemed the tribe cats had no will to leave their old life behind. This was not the life they wanted. Only Lionpaw had taken on a clan name and begun training.

Someday it will get better, he tried to reassure himself for what seemed like the thousandth time. Rippedsky genuinely cared for the tribe cats and longed for it to work out. He also enjoyed Stoneteller's presence. The tribe tom seemed to be the most willing of them all to change. Hopefully that would rub off on the rest of the group. He glanced at Stoneteller, managing a warm smile, "You're always welcome. As a clanmate." The deputy ignored the words that almost came across as a jab. Even if it was meant, they were justified. Addergaze had not spoken well of the tribe. A slight feeling of discomfort made his fur prickle as he fell into step next to the brown cat. There was an obvious tension here. He only hoped that this wouldn't turn into another yowling match.

The Healer narrowed his eyes at the former queen but still chose to hold his tongue for the moment. He knew that it wasn't a good time to argue, but he had had just about enough of the insults. Even now, as he tried his best to contribute in a part of the clan life he had zero experience in, she was finding a way to strike him down. Instead, he chose to turn to Rippedsky, dipping his head respectfully. "Thank you, Rippedsky," he meowed, also a little excited to get out to see the territory. However, despite that, he could't keep his thoughts entirely to himself. "It would be much easier to do this more often if there were those who wanted us here and showed us the way-- invited us out more. As for myself, my duties have always lain elsewhere, but medicine seems to be in very capable paws in Skyclan. I almost feel redundant." It wasn't a jab at anyone in particular, except it more than likely was the more that Stoneteller thought back on what he said. There were only a few cats in Skyclan who seemed to try to integrate the two groups and Stoneteller was all for it... mostly.