Closed Border Patrol

Leopardstar stretched as he exited his den at dusk. The moon was still rising into the night and the last light of the sun had yet to fade, leaving the sky in pink streaks dotted with the faint glimmer of the first stars. The spotted tomcat felt rather disconnected from his clan after Olivepaw's disappearance, and although he was reluctant to let any more clanmates leave the camp whatsoever, he knew life had to continue and the mist had to be ignored or dealt with properly; he wasn't sure how to go about doing either. The leader peered into the apprentices' den and nudged Willowpaw before trotting to the camp entrance and awaiting any other warriors or apprentices that wanted to join the patrol.

Leafkit saw the clan leader, Leopardstar, waiting at the entrance to the camp. She ran over to the leader.

"Are you waiting for a patrol? Oh! Can I come?" Her eyes gleamed and her tail swished back and forth excitedly.

OOC: aww Leafkit is so cute! XD

Badgerstorm was busy eating a well-caught newt until the sun went down. The tom gazed at the pinkish hues of the sky, watching the birds fly in freedom as he noticed a single star finally appearing with the approach of night. At least StarClan will be watching, he thought to himself as he noticed Leopardstar waiting at the camp entrance. Finishing his meal, Badgerstorm figured that he could join for another round outside of the camp. Finding Leopardstar's gaze, Badgerstorm respectfully nodded in greeting. "May I join?" he asked, already expecting a 'yes' for an answer.

Badgerstorm noticed the little she-kit Leafkit, begging to join the patrol. The tom admired her determination, but he waited for the leader's response as Badgerstorm turned his gaze away from the pleading kit. He had no time for kits who wanted to mess around as the new warrior showed great disrespect for his youngsters.

Flint paw padded towards the other cats, smiling broadly. She looked at Leafkit, remembering how she was a lot only a moon ago. Her ears were perked up, and her pelt was groomed. "Are you going on a patrol? Can I join?" she asked, eagerly waiting for a response from Leapordstar.

To Ashpaw, everything was black.

His mind was constantly clouded with dark thoughts and whenever it rained the sky seemed to mock him. The young tom's normally happy-go-lucky attitude had been shot down, beaten till there was nothing left but a grain of sand of what he'd used to be. He stayed around, faked smiles for the sake of his father and littermates, but inside he was a wreck. He was crumbling, falling into pieces before everyone's eyes. Another thing, a sort of hideous rage, at the mist, at Starclan—wherever they were—at his own beating heart…seemed to pull him down deeper; though it may have been the one thing he was living for. 

Revenge.

The feelings were as though he'd felt them only heartbeats ago: confessing his feelings to her as the scent of the marshes swamped his nose; bumping into her as a kit and meeting her green eyes for the very first time; running out of camp alone, together; walking side-by-side into their first Gathering; and now, as he lifted his heavy head and spotted Leopardstar. The sight of the tom and his resemblance to his daughter sparked a new throbbing hole in his chest, though the apprentice forced himself to stand, to move forward. He hadn't been out of camp for so long. He would find Olivepaw, wherever she was, if he had to travel the forest—or further—to find her. What he needed now—what his clan needed—was his help.

"I'll come." his head was bowed as he spoke, barely even noticing the small kit. Ashpaw's voice had turned somber, his bright green eyes dull. He didn't meet the gaze of his leader. He was afraid his eyes would remind him too much of her...

Lizardtail laid there, feeling empty after Olivepaw had disappeared. He missed his sister and hoped nobody would bother him while he mourned.

While Leafkit was waiting for the Leader's response, she noticed Ashpaw padding up toward the growing party. His eyes were oddly dull. She decided not to say anything, but couldn't keep herself from staring at the tom.

Flintpaw looked at Ashpaw, concern spreading across her face. Recently the glow in his eyes had dulled, and his voice had become quiet and serious. She never could figure out what was going on, and it troubled her. "Hey Ashpaw! What's up?" she said in the brightest voice she could. She sighed, knowing that her attempts to cheer up her fellow apprentice would never work. She wasn't the best at that sort of thing. As much as she tried to understand what was going on inside the other cats head, she failed every time. It never made sense to her how somebody could suddenly become so dark and sullen.

Willowpaw sighed and stretched, a slightly bemused grin on her face as she saw a small crowd gathered around Leopardstar.
She turned to Leafkit. "Sorry Leafkit- you'll have to wait to become an apprentice first." She mewed gently.
She padded towards her mentor, pausing to give her brother a gentle nudge. She wanted to take a portion of Ashpaw's pain away- to take it and bear it herself.
She shook herself, looking up at Leopardstar with excitement. "What are we doing today, Leopardstar?"

OOC; sorry for the wait. Life and all that.

IC: Leopardstar looked down at the small kit, an ear twitching. Although he was amused, he wondered where the young one's mother was and glanced around the camp for a few seconds. "Someday, small one. Until then, it is safest for you in camp." He meowed, then shifted his attention to the gathering patrol. It would be large and possibly unruly, filled with apprentices and new warriors, but he could manage them. He saw Lizardtail and Ashpaw's gloom, and guessing at the source of his son's pain, his own gaze flickered with grief. He wasn't sure what Ashpaw was worried about. Still, he had a job to do, and he would do it.

"Lizardtail, get up and get over here. The rest of you, come along. We'll be marking and checking the borders tonight." He said in answer to Willowpaw's question and started out into the territory. "We'll probably only check the ThunderClan and SkyClan borders during this patrol." Leopardstar added, trying to sound as strong as ever.

Badgerstorm felt slightly excited for the patrol as they were going to venture through the borders between ThunderClan and SkyClan. The tom never went near those Clans as he mostly found himself venturing near WindClan with the Thunderpath safely separating the two territories. Waiting for all the cats to gather, Badgerstorm was fully ready to follow Leopardstar's lead. The sun continued to lower as he noticed more stars appearing in the violet-hued sky.

Leafkit's face fell in a pout for a few seconds, before scampering off to the nursery.

Flintpaw moved closer to the group of cats that had formed. She smiled. She hadn't gone on many patrols before, and was always excited to further her training. She looked at the cats that would be joining her, recognizing most of them. Her tail flicked impatiently as she waited for the patrol to start. She looked at the other cats, none of whom seemed to be near as excited as Flintpaw was.'I guess,' she thought 'that maybe patrols aren't exciting when you've done so many of them.'

Willowpaw grinned. "Great!" She mewed, kneading the ground with her paws. "Did you know that Thunderclan cats accept rouges? Isn't that weird? I don't think it's a very good idea. What if they attacked? Windclan doesn't have any trees! And they don't have dens or anything, and they eat mostly rabbits and-"
She stopped, embarrassed. Judging the rest of the cat's expressions, they weren't in the mood for Willowpaw's comments and questions today.
She felt a wave of guilt as she noticed Lizardtail and Ashpaw's solemn expressions and stepped closer to Leopardstar, licking her shoulder a couple times.
"So." She squeaked, trying to sound like a warrior. "Shall we go then?"