Dew Shine's on Flickering Hopes (Open)

The she-cat's eyes kept narrowed, with a slight tone of arrogance in her expression as she looked at the other warrior. She was not being aggressive anymore but her expression obviously showed her displease. "She won't drown if she stays in camp just like she is supposed to do by our leader's orders. I understand you want to be compassionate but there's no danger here. And there's a simple reason why we shouldn't let her swim: she is not a Riverclan cat. She's not one of us. Flickerpaw is a ThunderClanner trapped here. Teaching her how to swim would mean that she would be like us and that can't happen because this apprentice is a prisoner." She stated, firmly as a rock. Silverfang was stubborn on matters that included her family. What Flickerpaw did was a crime to the ones she loved and she brought pain to her grieving father. She didn't deserve to be defended.

And she knew that. When Flickerpaw spoke after Scorchclaw appeared by Dewshine's side, her odd eyes glanced at her, not angered but serious. "At least you're smarter than I thought, ThunderClanner. You know your place here and I hope you stay like that if you want any sympathy for me in the future. Why can you understand like she does, Dewshine? Flickerpaw knows her crime and wants to pay for it the way Ivystar's ordered. That's the best thing she can do in honour of my sister's death. I think we should respect that, don't you think?" She mewed serious as ever, stepping closer to the orange-tabby she-cat.

Her tears didn't soften her heart. They didn't make her angry either. She just didn't care. With a flick of her tail, she called Darkpaw to come to her side as well. "You're right, Darkpaw. We must go back to camp. Would you be so kind to guide Flickerpaw back?" She mewed for the first time with a little of kindness.

Then, she turned her body to the two warriors. Her odd eyes fixed on Scorchclaw, the newcomer. "Nothing to worry too much, Scorchclaw. Dewshine and I have a disagreement about Flickerpaw learning to swim. I think she shouldn't while she believes that she must since she might "drown" in the camp she's confined. As you might, it's not a realistic view of the facts." Flickerpaw shouldn't be welcomed but the other she-cat insisted in every way possible. It upset her.

Dewshine looked down pointedly at Flickerpaw when she spoke. Her eyes showed care and compassion as she stepped forward to nudge the apprentice calmly.
"You're wrong if you believe that you're worthless." She murmured softly into the orange apprentice's ear, then backed away as Silverfang ordered her daughter to return her to the heart of camp. Her eyes hardened once more as she stood her ground, but allowed it. Whether she liked it or not, she was outnumbered.

The silver she-cat took a deep breath to steady herself as she prepared for retaliation from Scorchclaw as well. Sometimes, her clanmates were terribly stubborn.
"It's a waste of a perfectly good set of paws to keep her stuck here." She pointed out. "She's not injured, she hasn't threatened any cat recently or shown even an ounce of aggressive behaviour this whole time. Your obsession with being stuck in the past does us all a great disservice." Dewshine meowed coldly, then looked at Scorchclaw.

"Look at that she-cat, and tell me what you see." She stepped aside so Scorchclaw could see the retreating back of Flickerpaw. "I see an apprentice who made her mistake, paid her price, and now is being chained to camp simply because some cats can't be bothered to think rationally." She turned back to Silverfang. "I'm sure she'd be an asset to the clan if given a chance. If we took the time to raise her as our own kin instead of thinking of her as worthless prisoner. I'm sure Starclan is real happy with us doing that." Dewshine spat bitterly, her blue eyes narrowed at Silverfang.

"If I thought she was still a danger, or a threat, I wouldn't bother giving her the time of day. But I'm sick of seeing the poor she-cat look so pathetic and lost, so..." Dewshine clenched her teeth together as she swallowed back an ounce of fear that ran through her at the thought. The silver tabby was bigger than her... but... she wanted to prove how much this meant to her. "If Ivystar or Jaystream approve, I will challenge you. In camp. One on one in a fight."

Now that he had heard both Silverfang's and Dewshine's explanations from different points of view, the fluffy warrior had a rough idea of the situation he had walked in on. As he understood, a wave of annoyance swept through him. If only he could just turn away and pretend that he hadn't heard all of that. But it was too late for that now. He had never told anyone what had happened during his meeting with StarClan. Once or twice, he had considered telling Flickerpaw about it, but he had always pushed the idea away before long. In his opinion, it would not have made much of a difference. It did not change the fact that Flickerpaw had broken the warrior code and needed to be punished for her crime. The fact that he had not wanted to talk to the ThunderClan captive certainly gave him further reason not to say anything. However, it seemed the time had come when he could no longer keep quiet about Fawnsong's words.

Scorchclaw did not really disagree with Silverfang. He did not think that Flickerpaw was going to drown anytime soon. She was a prisoner, a ThunderClanner, not one of their clanmates. Of course he did not approve of teaching an outsider RiverClan's techniques for swimming. Dewshine's challenge towards Silverfang was pure foolishness. There was no way Ivystar or Jaystream would ever allow them to fight. Flickerpaw would probably be fine as long as she followed instructions and stayed within camp. However, it wasn't as if Scorchclaw didn't have any kindness within him. He did, even if he did not have many opportunities to show it. When Dewshine stepped aside to let him see Flickerpaw, the fluffy warrior had to admit that the ThunderClan apprentice did not look anything like a cold-hearted murderer. She looked miserable, even if it wasn't quite enough to evoke his pity for her.

"Wait, Flickerpaw." Scorchclaw called out to the retreating cat, gesturing that he wanted her to remain a little longer. He wanted her to hear what he was about to say. Inhaling sharply, he began to speak in a calm tone of voice. "Silverfang, I know you haven't forgiven for Flickerpaw for murdering your sister. In fact, there are probably many cats in this camp that haven't. However, when I went on my Moonstone journey as an apprentice, I spoke to Fawnsong, and she told me that she was not angry with Flickerpaw and had completely forgiven her the moment her eyes opened in StarClan." As he spoke those lines, he shot the ThunderClan apprentice a quick glance. "Your sister... is a surprisingly kind cat. I don't think I would have been able to say those lines if I were in her place. I certainly don't agree with what Dewshine is saying about treating Flickerpaw as one of us, but with Fawnsong being such a cat, what would she think about this situation?" It wasn't as if Fawnsong had specifically told him to pass on a message, but Scorchclaw just wouldn't feel right if he walked away without saying anything after hearing Flickerpaw's outburst. To him, it felt irresponsible. He disliked Flickerpaw, and he disliked having to stand up for her, but that was more because she was a ThunderClanner than because she had murdered Fawnsong. Did he really have the right to condemn Flickerpaw for murder when Fawnsong had forgiven her?

Flickerpaw trudged away. But, as to Scorchclaw's words, she stopped and turned around, wincing at the word 'murder'. She was surprised that Fawnsong had forgiven her. Why? Did Fawnsong understand? She couldn't have.

So many things were happening. The apprentice found herself wishing that she had stayed resting comfortably within the camp's walls. Her head and tail both fell as bit as she padded over to Flickerpaw after giving her mother a respectful nod. Shooting the older cat a blank look, the she-cat padded to stand in front of her clan's captive. Darkpaw's shoulders hunched forwards a bit. Her whole demeanor showed off how defeated she was by the confusion. Thinking about it made her head and her heart hurt. Seeing her clanmates in conflict, her mother versus clanmates, and this cat caught in between. Glancing at Flickerpaw only complicated the feelings. Murder? That... was pretty bad. But, the ginger cat didn't seem all that bad. And she thought that no one should fight either. But, Silverfang was a brilliant cat.

Her eyes were dark as her name portrayed. The split-faced apprentice was set on just getting back to camp and letting this all roll away. Although, they barely made it far at all. In fact, Flickerpaw passed her. Darkpaw paused in her tracks as she listened to the argument behind her. Her ear twitched and her fur stood on end. A fight? Would Ivystar allow that? Their leader was too wise to allow fighting among clanmates, she had to be. Despite being told to accompany Flickerpaw, and partially having done so due to her mother's wishes, she turned back. Her eyes glossed over as she stared at the two warriors that faced each other. The tension was heavy in the air and it made her want to squirm as uncomfortably as the reason behind it did. Why did none of these things make sense to her? There was so much conflict in the young cat as she anxiously waited to see what would happen next.

The she-cat anger only rose. She hissed back at Dewshine, her odd eyes flaming with rage. She? The one who had done everything for her clan causing a disservice to her clanmates? Nonsense. She was only respecting her leader's words, which was the Warrior Code for Starclan's sake. "How dare you? I'm not causing a trouble to anyone by respecting our leader's law! You're the one who wants to disrespect her clear orders of keeping Flickerpaw as a prisoner in the camp, not me." She lashed her tail violently, almost wanting to unsheath her claws.

"Are you really that blinded to consider a murderer of a clanmate a cat that could be part of our clan?! Even if she's not going to murder again, should we just pretend she's one of us and just forgets about the fact that she killed my sister?! You little piece of...!" She wanted to keep raging against Dewshine but Scorchclaw's intervention stopped her. Her eyes widened up as he spoke, surprised by the reveal of her sister's decision. Her angered look softened a bit when he talked about Fawnsong and his thoughts... he agreed with her about Dewshine's being wrong but he had been more rational than herself. With a sigh, the she-cat lowered her tail and turned her gaze away. "She was surely a really kind cat... but I'm not like her. I can't forgive this apprentice for taking away from me part of my family. Thank you for your words, Scorchclaw."

After that, Silverfang turned her body toward the younger she-cat with a severe look in her eyes. "Fawnsong might have forgiven her and I respect that, but I won't. Just like Scorchclaw's stated, what you're doing is not right under the orders of Ivystar and even if a battle is pointless in my opinion, I'll fight against you outside the camp, as you wish. If I win, you'll never teach Flickerpaw our ways. If I lose, I won't interfere in any relationship between you and her, agreed?"

"I never said to forget what she did." Dewshine meowed steadily, her attention was drawn over to Scorchclaw as he began to speak. She felt relief to know that Fawnsong, at least, had forgiven the poor pitiful she-cat. Though her relief was short lived as he made it clear he didn't support her reasoning. She frowned down at the dirt at her paws. None of this was right. Even the war didn't feel completely right to her, though she justified it as a nessecary evil. Fear helped her make the decision to fight for her clan.

This whole situation made her feel torn. As if her very being was being tested and battered in a raging river that she could only navigate by clinging onto a nearby log for support, or to ground herself in shallower waters. She felt the decision weigh heavily upon her heart. If she gave in, all of this would have been for nothing. The she-cat would sit in camp for more moons, dejected and lonely, branded a murderer and left to simply age and die in the camp. Her reputation would be safe though, she could turn around now, into the fold of the clan's common mind and the open shores.

As comforting as the appeal was, she knew in her heart what she needed to do. It would be a bumpy ride, she knew that. Accepted it with a steady blink as she stared down Silverfang with a jaw that clenched with her heart as she fought over her own words.
"Why outside camp?" She meowed steadily. A deep breath as she considered it. Outside of camp, they could be interrupted. Worse, they could frighten the whole camp into thinking there was some kind of attack. The thought wasn't terribly appealing, but Silverfang was an uncompromising cat. Irrational, brash, and she had the distinct impression that half of her words were flying over the other she-cat's head. "Fine." She backed away from Silverfang slowly. Her gaze fell on Scorchclaw calmly. "Scorchclaw, would you witness?" She suggested, her blue eyes trained on Silverfang once she spoke. "Make sure no cat interferes."

(OOC: How shall we determine who goes first? Random roll with Higher number?)

Flickerpaw's heart dropped. Impossible. Dewshine and Silverfang were fighting! "No! You can't fight! You're Clanmates!" She blurted. "Much less over something silly like this!" She had to stop this. Dewshine stood no chance. Silverfang was obviously a talented fighter. Nobody seemed to listen. How could this happen?

Scorchclaw had done his duty. He had said what he felt needed to be said. Now it was up to how the listening cats chose to react. Not unsurprisingly, Silverfang still refused to forgive Flickerpaw. Fawnsong might have forgiven the ThunderClan apprentice, but the silver-furred warrior would not do the same so easily. The tabby tom had expected that; he roughly knew her personality, after all. However, he couldn't quite read Flickerpaw's response. Maybe it really had been pointless to tell them what he had been told on his moonstone journey. Maybe his silence would not have made a difference. However, he was not to be the judge of that, and he didn't regret his choice. Right now, the more pressing issue was the battle that was about to take place between Silverfang and Dewshine.

He sighed roughly before stepping between the two she-cats, paying no attention to Flickerpaw as he did so. "Are you both fish-brained?" He hissed. "Your willingness to fight for what you believe in is commendable, but this is a pointless battle." Scorchclaw glanced at Silverfang before turning to fix Dewshine with a long, hard stare. "Ivystar will have the last word in how the prisoner is treated. Whoever wins or loses changes nothing. If you are dissatisfied with her treatment, I suggest you go have a word with our leader.  You do understand how furious Ivystar is going to be when she finds out that you fought each other, right?" He really didn't care whether the two she-cats fought or not, but they were not the only ones who would be affected if they fought. "Are you really going to selfishly waste RiverClan's precious herbs for the sake of your own self-satisfaction?"

She watched on, considering how wise Scorchclaw was. The apprentice longed to step up and join him, however, her paws would not move. They were planted firmly in the middle between the retreating prisoner and where the trio of warriors face each other, her mother and Dewshine staring at each other with bristling fur. Prior to today, the she-cat assumed that disagreements only truly happened with other clans. Riverclan was supposed to have all the same goals of caring for one another. But, this went against all of that and caused the preconceived notions in her head to die away. Half of the split-faced calico was tugged towards the group, with a sense of longing to preserve that kit-like belief in clan peace, the other half longed to slink back to her nest and pretend this was not happening.

"I can't." Darkpaw whispered softly, silently pleading the issue to resolve itself. Her fur ruffled slightly as her head whipped around and stared after Flickerpaw. Almost all of her hoped Ivystar would come and resolved this. Never before had she questioned her mother, but deep inside that was there now and she did not know what to do with the conflict. So she settled for just standing there, watching... and waiting.

Goldeneye had heard angered voices come from outside of camp, reeds bent and torn from where the mob of cats had left. Goldeneye with a sigh of exhaustion followed the voices, once they became clear rage raised its ugly head in Goldeneyes head. Angrily shoving aside the reeds and crossing the water barrier she stormed her way towards the group with bristled fur. Baring her pearly whites the she-cat passed Darkpaw and Scorchclaw, her paws angrily slamming against the dirt as she shoved herself between the two quarreling she-cats.

Ivystar nor Jaystream were there to settle the dispute so she would have to do. "How dare you talk of this apprentice like a scrap of meat. Do you talk about knowing her health without knowing the intricacy of medicine? Put down your arms! You talk of herb wastage when this is the very fox-dung I have to deal with!" Goldeneye roared, practically frothing in her anger. "What Ivystar wants and what Flickerpaw needs as a basic need are two very different things but are able to correspond. You may hate to hear it, Silverfang but Dewshine is right. Flickerpaw needs the exercise, it will keep her bones and muscles healthy. It'll keep her body running as it should so I don't have to fix her up after she trips and snaps her leg in half." Goldeneye spat, pushing herself towards Silverfang, increasing the distance between the two parties.

"It's beneficial to everyone to let Flickerpaw get the exercise she needs, it may even help her mental health. So end your feud here and now, the both of you. I won't stand for it. Ivystar will certainly agree with her medicine cat." Goldeneye ended with a pointed snort before she turned to Dewshine with fiery amber eyes. "Continue what you were doing but do it under the supervision of a senior warrior, perhaps Silverfang would be a good companion for you. Scorchclaw, Darkpaw, you two can continue whatever it is you were doing previously." Goldeneye ordered seamlessly. Turning back to the two she-cats she wrinkled her nose, "Maybe the next time you both have a spat, you consider your medicine cat? Ivystar and Jaystream are both very busy cats." Goldeneye stood there, waiting for a response from either she-cat.

"Kits shouldn't see violence in the camp and none of our clanmates has to deal with our issues. That's why it's going to be outside the camp." She stated seriously and with a slight tone of arrogance in her voice like she was speaking to a dumb kit.

However, before she could even leave to fight against that dumb she-cat, Scorchclaw talked and then Goldeneye's appeared. She hissed softly at both of them. First, she looked at Scorchclaw. "I never asked for this battle but Dewshine seems eager to show her point on a stupid battle, so don't you blame this mess on me." She spat giving the young she-cat a poisonous glare from the corner of her blue eye.

Then, Silverfang fixed her eyes on the medicine she-cat. The older warrior stepped toward her, with an annoyed expression. "Thank you for your words, Goldeneye, but if she really needs exercise, then she can run inside the camp and maybe train hunting skills but I won't allow her to learn how to swim when she isn't part of our clan and I'm sure Ivystar will agree with me on this as well. Swimming is a privilege that she can't have because of obvious reasons: she's a prisoner paying her debt to our clan and my family." The scarred warrior spoke with confidence to the medicine cat. She knew some things about healing and had a special rank but that didn't mean she was better than her. After all, she was an experienced warrior who had fought to defend and feed her clan while the golden-furred cat stayed in camp almost all day. It wasn't that she didn't respect her duty, but the warrior didn't believe it was more relevant than the warrior's duty.