When Eyes Meet [Closed|Pre-April Gathering]

Swanpaw regarded the other apprentice with a look that fell somewhere between confusion and irritation. On the side of confusion, why was a ThunderClan cat stupid enough to cross onto RiverClan's territory? On the irritation side, why was she backing away now? Even if crossing was a mistake, it was best to make even a mistake look completely intentional. Going on first impressions alone, this apprentice was a disgrace.

"Who are you, trespasser?" she asked, trying her best to convey her superiority in both voice and posture. This was her territory - well, her Clan's, anyway. She had her old confidence back at long last, and her intention was to make sure any cat who set foot on RiverClan's territory knew who she was - and that RiverClan was the best Clan in all the territories.

Mosspaw loved patrols!

Silverfang always told him he had to be productive when he left camp, and frowned upon him just "wandering around like some useless mousebrain." Wandering around to play was "for kits," now that he was an apprentice. Honestly, Mosspaw didn't really get it -- though he didn't tell his stern mentor that -- but when a patrol came along, it felt perfect!

Mosspaw could explore Riverclan's territory and be "productive"! (Whatever that meant, anyway.)

But Mosspaw liked it. He padded alongside his clanmates, chattering about all the interesting leaves, and streams, and rocks and wondering what it would be like to climb trees. It was all very exciting for the apprentice -- even if he thought the other cats might be ignoring him.

And Mosspaw had been doing a good job sticking with his clanmates and patrolling, too -- until he saw the Sunningrocks, that is.

They were beautiful! The little black tom hadn't seen anything like them! The stones were smooth and flat -- unlike the jagged ones Mosspaw was used to -- and they shimmered in the sun like thousands of little rays cast off of them. Tinytip had told him about them -- how nice it was to lay across the rocks during cold days, warmed by the sun. But could they really be that comfortable?

It only took a second for Mosspaw to leap into the river -- and less than a minute for the enthusiastic tom to cross it, resurfacing on the bed off pebbles and sand. Wow! The rocks really were smoother up close!

But were they comfortable?

Mosspaw gingerly hopped on one of the flat stones, feeling that it was actually warm under his paws -- heated up by the sun! He pawed at them a little, though -- and they were still pretty hard. But as he investigated them for their possible use as a bed, Mosspaw's wet pads nearly slipped off the smooth rock!

"Whoa, it's pretty slippery," Mosspaw mewed, shaking his head with a smile as he righted himself. But then an idea crept into his mind... Slippery could be fun.

With a mischievous grin, Mosspaw leaped for a smooth rock on the end -- intentionally turning his heels so he'd slide. And he wasn't disappointed -- only a little momentum carried him far, sending him sliding on his paws!

He laughed at the sensation -- keeping his legs locked so as not to fall -- when he suddenly saw Swanpaw there. Oh! His patrol! They were here, too--

Mosspaw opened his mouth -- ready to yowl out a greeting -- when suddenly Mosspaw felt the stone slide to air under his paws. The little apprentice's heart jumped but before he could even try to break his fall, he was flying -- and then crashing into something solid!

The tom was little, but not little enough -- he slid off the rock with enough momentum to send him careening and, with a crash against a furry obstacle, send him tumbling!

OOC: I wasn't notified of this topic being posted. I'm assuming that I'm using both Nut and Swoop?

IC: Nutfur liked being out of camp again. Being cooped up in camp for two moons had been tough, and now she was appreciating the wind in her fur even more than usual. The other cats on the patrol weren't on her mind at the moment, and she didn't even realize the situation until she happened to look up. Had Mosspaw attacked a ThunderClanner? It didn't seem like him, but she supposed it was possible. Now that she thought about it, Swanpaw had accused the same ThunderClan apprentice of trespassing. Opening her mouth, she was about to say something when she closed it again. Hopefully they could sort this out by themselves.
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"Cherrypaw, what are you doing?" Swoopnose called, but it was too late. Two RiverClanners were already on top of Cherrypaw, one of them in a literal sense. Though he wanted to protect his niece the best that he could, fear stopped him from approaching the river. What if his fighting problem took over again? He didn't want to accidentally maim or kill a RiverClanner. That might send them into another war.

(I was told to break posting order and post so-)

Featherheart had been following the border at a casual pace. Flanked by Marshpaw who kept on course until he spotted the peach coloured fur of Cherrypaw ahead of them on sunningrocks. He was about to yowl a warning as she was knocked down and immediately plunged down after her towards the bank. The scent of RiverClan made him cringe with the fishy odor but he resisted growling at Swanpaw. Instead he stared at her with his amber eyes as he stalked forward.
"Is tackling harmless apprentices what Riverclan does for sport now?" Marshpaw meowed, eyeing Mosspaw with a firm gaze. The fact that he was clearly much larger than a technical apprentice evident as he stood among them.

The orange tom stood at the edge of the Thunderclan border before he glanced at Swoopnose, then made a couple steps in.
"We don't mean any harm! Please, just send her back with Marshpaw. I swear on Starclan, we're not looking to start a fight." Featherheart pleaded. His heart pounded at the fearful idea that Riverclan would take away another Thunderclan cat.

Spotfur approached, eyes narrowed. "Mosspaw, get away. We'll fight them if they trespass or land an attack but," He shot a glance at Marshpaw, "We don't want to needlessly provoke or make friends with Thunderclanners. And by the way, Marshpaw, the silly apprentice over here was, in fact, trespassing and it's against the Warrior code to trespass, I might remind you, so I suppose it's on Thunderclan this time."

Mosspaw rolled -- head over paws in a tangle of limbs and fur. The dizziness hit him like a wave, but it only made his grin wider when the ball of apprentices fell onto the sand with a smack! Before the little black tom knew what he was doing, he was on top of a cat -- paws splayed across her shoulders!

"Oh..." Mosspaw mewed, dizziness hitting him and making him see double. The two she-cats below him were little like him, and red -- faces Mosspaw didn't recognize -- but the tom's muzzle was so close... enough for all of their whiskers to brush, tickling!

Normally, cats Mosspaw bowled over were furious -- ticked off and yowling. But the she-cat smelling of trees wasn't doing either of those things. She was... giggling? His vision focused once again, giving the little tom a clearer view... "Whoa... your eyes are pretty."

Like shiny little pebbles -- glistening brightly in the sun.

"Prettier than the Sunningrocks," Mosspaw decided, with a small, confident grin. He couldn't help but giggle a little as their whiskers brushed again, sensitive!

The she-cat's chest was warm, and fluffy -- her pelt much softer than Mosspaw's -- but before the little apprentice could say so, he heard Spotfur's voice. The warrior was calling him!

Eyes flicking away from the she-cat, Mosspaw glanced around them -- and saw all these cats! Nutfur and Spotfur had caught up, too -- but there were also several other unfamiliar cats... That smelled a lot like trees.

It took a moment for Spotfur's order to reach the apprentice. Oh! "Sorry, Spotfur!"

"Sorry to you, too," the little apprentice told to the she-cat beneath him, remembering Tinytip's insistence on being polite -- and he'd slid off the rocks right into her! Not really having to lean in to tell the she-cat, his eyes sparkled. "But you were really nice about it! Thank you!"

Mosspaw could feel Spotfur's gaze on him, and realized he hadn't done what the tom asked, yet. Although Mosspaw didn't really get what the warrior was saying at the end, there -- what was that about trespassing? And Thunderclan?

Oh! Was that who these cats were?

Not wanting to keep Chillpaw's dad waiting, Mosspaw rolled off of the red-colored she-cat, landing with a little bounce on the sand. Was she Thunderclan? Was that why she didn't smell like the river?

Swanpaw watched her Clanmate with curiosity as he fell onto the ThunderClan apprentice, but disregarded them and remained silent - at least, on that front. Instead, she turned to Nutfur. Maybe her friend had some idea as to how common this was. "Has ThunderClan gotten mouse-brained? Moreso than usual, I mean." Really, not just hovering around the border, but actively crossing it? Honestly. Well, at least one of the warriors seemed to have the right idea in declaring their intentions, rather than insinuating that RiverClan made a point of tackling apprentices.

"I'm not sure what those ThunderClanners think. We should probably leave, because even though the ThunderClan apprentice crossed the border, Mosspaw was the one who tackled her," Nutfur replied to Swanpaw, than looked at the rest of her patrol. Thankfully, Mosspaw seemed to have gained some sense and gotten off of the ThunderClan apprentice, though Spotfur seemed to be looking for a fight. Good grief. Padding over to her mate, she gently tapped her tail against his shoulder. "I think it's time we should be going. These ThunderClanners don't seem like they want to fight, and neither do we." After murmuring those words, she turned to in the direction of the apprentice. "Mosspaw! We're going to start heading back now."
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"Cherrypaw, let's keep going. You did a good job of making up for your mistake, but just be extra careful next time. Ready to keep going?" Swoopnose mewed to his patrol, glad that they were all being reasonable. Marshpaw could have acted more maturely for someone his age, but he hoped that wouldn't cause a fight to break out. Wincing at the RiverClan tom's words, he began gesturing onward with his tail and ears. Though his last words had been phrased as a question, he meant them as a urging.