I wanted to Fight! [Open]

Viperpaw let out a huff as she stared at the entrance of the camp. She could have only imagined what the battle was like. She knew that everyone came back injured but she really really wanted to fight. She could do it! She wanted to prove her worth to the clan, and show Thunderclan who the best clan in the forest was.

The gray blue cat let out another huff as she rolled over to her back still staring at the entrance. "I wanted to fight.. I could have taken them.. I just want to shred off their fur even now." She said to no one, more so musing to herself. The she-cat kept her blue eyes on the entrance. Finchstream hadn't done much training with her, and she couldn't leave the camp without someone hovering over her.. Why was everyone so worried about her? She didn't understand it.. She didn't get it one bit.. The only one that didn't pay her any mind was Silverfang. Her sister didn't seem to pay attention to her or ignore her either... What to do?

Dewpaw limped towards the apprentices' den. Her little body was battered and weary, full of scratches and spaces where fur had been torn in her scuffle. Tail low to the ground, she noticed Viperpaw's words and growled softly. An unusual sound from the typically soft and quiet apprentice. This war was justice, but it didn't seem fair... the skinny Thunderclan cats didn't stand a chance. At least she could hold on to the memory of Ivystar's words. That they could have invaded camp if they didn't fight, that apprentices and kits would die.

"It wasn't as great as you think it was." She told Viperpaw. With a grimace, she settled herself down on the ground nearby. Her tail curled around her. "Did you see the prisoners? Do they look like strong cats?" Dewpaw gestured towards where the prisoners were lead through the camp. A shudder ran down her spine, a feeling of cold... but she didn't dare go see Cloudstone. There were enough injured cats that needed attention.

Smokepaw saw Viperpaw looking upset, so she padded over, just about catching her words. I wanted to fight. Smokepaw moved closer. "They didn't let me fight, either. I don't know why. Everyone else went out to war, risking their lives, and I got to sit in the apprentice den, doing nothing." She wasn't really complaining, she didn't fancy any of those nasty-looking injuries for sure. She just wanted Viperpaw to know she wasn't alone.

Spotpaw heard the other apprentices and made his way over to them. "Dewpaw's right." He said. "Some mange-pelt Thunderclan warrior came and knocked me out of the fight right after I had defeated someone. Even Ivystar is stronger than Blizzardstar. Did you hear she lost a life during of the battle? And Jaystream killed someone! I'm sure they won't be back to take our land in a hurry. Actually it was pretty awesome now that I think about it. Look at this cool scar I got!
" He gestured with his paw to the eye scar Birchpaw had given him.

Viperpaw let out a small hiss at Dewpaw's words. "Well at least you got to fight for your clan! I was kept back in camp for no reason. I don't care if they don't look strong, I had something to prove." She said with her ears flat against her head.
"Sitting here doing nothing while everyone fights isn't fun. It was unfair that others got to go while I was stuck with my hovering father.." She wanted to fight for her clan. Her and Smokepaw could have taken on Thunderclan themselves.

"Smokepaw it seems like they doubt us.." She hissed lowly. She was the grand daughter of Ivystar herself! Why wasn't she allowed to fight? Her attention turned over to Spotpaw, first the apprentice agreed with Dewpaw then changed his mind. "See! Even Spotpaw says it was awesome. I should have been there fighting along side Ivystar. I would have love to see her taking a life from Blizzardstar!" Viperpaw's eyes shined at the news. At least Ivystar could do something..

Her blue eyes narrowed at Viperpaw's hiss. She blinked gratefully at Spotpaw when he agreed, but soon changed her tone and left Dewpaw a bit dismayed. Why did they enjoy fighting so much? Was the pain worth it? She shook her head, thoughts chasing themselves miserably inside her.
"You can have my spot in the next battle then. I'll even tell Ivystar herself next time." Dewpaw mewed firmly. Her ears flattened as she shuffled her paws and stood with a wince. Her wounds ached and felt fresh again once she took them out of the snow. "I just want to hunt and provide for my clanmates. You can both have the battles"

”Camp gets boring when you’re not allowed out of it. They treat us like kits!” Smokepaw complained. She didn’t care how hurt she would get. If her Clan went into battle, she should be able to defend it with the others. Not sit in camp with others telling her wild stories about it.

OOC: Um, 10 Cany Cays, Spotpaw is a tom.

Wolfpaw who had been sitting on 'his' rock, grooming himself jumped down from it and decided to join the conversation "I didn't get to fight either, it's like they dosen't want us to become strong warriors, I mean fighting against Thunderclan would be like an easy training" he said and looked at them.

"I will gladly take your spot then. Being a warrior isn't just about hunting you know! If we just hunted then we wouldn't have any land to keep the clan fed! Fighting provides safety." Viperpaw growled settling down onto the ground. If this kept up she might just out right attack Dewpaw for not willing to protect her clan.

The gray apprentice looked over at Wolfpaw. "Maybe it's because Ivystar wants it to be fair for the other clans.. If we became great warriors then the other clan's couldn't stop us." Well she was going to become a great warrior anyway.

"Fighting with other clans just makes us vulnerable." Dewpaw growled back, the darker grey fur on her back bristled slightly as Viperpaw argued with her. "We can't hunt as well when we're injured, that makes us worse off." She continued, staring down the other she-cat. For once, not dipping her head and backing down like she usually would. Instead, the shy apprentice twitched her tail and turned her eyes to Wolfpaw, then looked back at Viperpaw and Smokepaw.

"Once your in a battle, you'll get it. " She nodded firmly, content that she had made her point clear and began to lick at a stinging cut on her foreleg. Her guard lowered as she thought about what she had just said. Her throat felt dry as she imagined the disapproval Lilytail might have felt towards her if she had heard.

Duckpaw, who had been listening to the entire conversation, slowly hobbled over. She was now interested in what the other apprentices were saying despite that fact that she had been listening in for a while. Her broken leg which was being held in a splint was the most evident thing about her, and the apprentice hated it. She couldn't hunt, she couldn't leave camp, she couldn't really do anything that a normal apprentice would do. Well, she could... to an extent, she just didn't want to. She was too afraid that the splint would become loose, or that she'd hurt herself even more. While she didn't want her to injure her broken leg more than it already was, she also wanted to contribute to the Clan right after a battle. She didn't understand why some of the apprentices wanted to fight so much. There were plenty other ways to help the Clan, like hunting. At least they were able to hunt. Fighting in a battle wasn't fun. It was gory, exhausting, saddening, and scary.

"I-I don't mean to interrupt," Duckpaw began after Dewpaw finished speaking, "But battles shouldn't be romanticized. They're horrifying, gory, and overall a terrible thing. Cats get injured, and some injuries are so bad that cats can't do anything afterward. I mean, do you think I want to be stuck in camp because a ThunderClan warrior broke my leg? Be grateful that you aren't injured, and be lucky that you're fresh. A good Clan cat needs to learn that fighting isn't always the answer."

Wolfpaw rolled his eyes "Well if we can fight, we learn how to doge the attacks and then our clan will be the best clan in the forest" he said. "We won't learn how to be better without training" he continued.

Smokepaw stopped her argument when Duckpaw came to make her point. She sighed. ”I suppose you’re right. I should be glad I’m not hurt.” Smokepaw had had enough arguing with these apprentices. She wrapped her tail over her front paws as she sat herself down in the snow. ”I should probably be hunting for the Clan, if that’s what you think I should do.” She muttered. With that, Smokepaw stood up and walked out of camp. She would not be useless when almost her entire Clan was weak. She would find a way to fight, even if she wasn’t physically hurting any cat. Perhaps this was the only way to do so.

Sticky swathes of herbs were carefully pasted along several of the shallow wounds that spanned Splashwillow's flank, the herbs drying into painfully tight clumps of fur that made it difficult for the calico to stretch out or move properly. Since the battle, she had resigned herself to only the simplest of tasks while she did her best to speedily recover from the various injuries that she had received during the chaos of the battle. Plus, after fighting as hard as she did, she was finding it a bit difficult to recover all of her expended energy. Splashwillow's ear twitched as she caught wind of the soft bickering and complaints being tossed about among a small gaggle of apprentices and her head slowly lifted so that she could watch them more closely.

After listening to the younger cats for several moments longer, Splashwillow eventually stiffly hauled herself to her paws with a soft grunt of effort and slowly tottered towards Viperpaw, Wolfpaw, and the others. Bending over slightly, the calico gave Wolfpaw an affectionate nuzzle in greeting before returning her attention to the other apprentices. There was a heavy feeling in her gut at the thought of the apprentices being so eager to fight, but she knew that it simply in their nature to crave an opportunity such as that. "Don't worry too much about missing this battle- there will always be another one to take its place. Whenever the time does come for you to join us in battle, the other Clans won't know what hit them." Splashwillow advised, her cheerful demeanor disguising the rather anxious edge to her voice.