A Flickering Inferno of Moss {CLOSED}

Oh, how she admired the rolling moors.
It was her home, how could she not?
The mauve heather fields that sprinkled the territory added contrast and variety to the consistent pale and dried moor, like violet clouds against the dried olive grass. Mosspaw trotted light-heartedly through her land, a fresh, typical buoyant beam plastered on her dappled face. Brindlestar, her mentor, wasn't aware yet that she had adventured beyond the gorse wall by herself yet. She didn't want to disturb the leader, so she decided to venture out of camp unaccompanied. It was a pleasant day, besides the blazing heat that scorched her unusually thick, fluffy pelt. It was an odd rarity that she had been born with such long fur, but the apprentice didn't mind it too much.
The naive she-cat bounced along, her large eyes drifting absently around. It truly was a lovely day to frolic in the heather fields!
Chuckling to herself, Mosspaw dived into the large area of purple flowers, lying ,content, for a while. It wasn't until the scent of rabbit wafted through the air that the tortoiseshell jumped in excitement, and jogged towards the delightful smell. There it was - a plump rabbit, too occupied in hopping around to notice the cat that was practically looming over it. Shivering in glee, Mosspaw leaped. Alerted by her shadow, her prey squeaked as if it was screaming*, and scurried away from her claws. Mosspaw's ear twitched in frustration, she had been a whisker away, but now came the fun part.
The chase.
With her adrenaline surging through her veins, the she-cat began to trail after the rabbit in pursuit. Although her pelt was incredibly fluffy which decreased her speed, this apprentice wasn't one to easily give up. Pushing powerfully against the packed ground, Mosspaw darted after her prey.
Distracted by the cat chasing it, the rabbit continued to squeal in dismay as it neared, dangerously close, to the Gorge. It veered sharply at the last moment, and turned to run alongside the steep cliff. Skidding and hissing, Mosspaw changed her direction too, continuing to bolt closer and closer to her potential food.
The rabbit seemed to finally get tired, but so did Mosspaw, and both of their speeds lowered. The rabbit, after running a long distance along the Gorge, found a narrow ledge to the other side. Taking its chance, the rabbit turned sharply once again, and continued onto the lane. Mosspaw chased it, legs beginning to slow, and beginning to puff and pant.
Her prey now seemed to think it was safe, and gradually came to a halt. Then, it rotated its head slowly and, with a frightened whimper, saw Mosspaw lunging towards it.

Smiling with fluffs of fur in her jaw, the inexperienced apprentice spun. She blinked in utter confusion. This wasn't WindClan..

---

ooc: *yes, according to the spruce pets rabbits can scream when chased by a predator xd
pROOF

Ooc: ...because i did need to know that
._.

Ic: Flamepaw stopped walking and swiveled her ears. Prey. As she looked towards it, she found it dead in a tortiseshell's jaws. Not another trespasser. She'd have to tell Jaystar. This was the second Windclan apprentice trespasser she'd fought and they had to stop coming here. Silently, she crept closer and sniffed. Not rogue. Her suspicions proved correct. After a moment of waiting to see if they would realise and leave, she only saw the apprentice look around, probably for more prey. Looks like she had to fight. She ran and tackled the shecat, hissing. "Stay off Riverclan territory, featherface!"

Flamepaw used Run and Tackle, dealing 9 damage and using 10 stamina!
Flame
20/70

Moss
11/80

ooc: haha, everyone totally needs to know rabbits can scream xD
sorry I had to ;p

ic:
"Stay off Riverclan territory, featherface!"

Her deep emerald eyes widening in dismayed shock and her maw opening with, startled and unsettled, Mosspaw whipped around swiftly just in time to witness a flash of murky jade and a blur of vivid ginger fur slamming forcefully into her. Her rabbit flew out of her mouth as the impact sent her flying. Instinctively, she unsheathed her claws, flung them forward to make contact with a flame-colored pelt, and slashed them at her attacker's left side as she was tackled.
Hastily scrambling up, pants escaping her mouth, she stared at her opponent in shock - a RiverClan cat, who looked old enough to be a warrior.
"W-wh-what was that for..?" she squeaked, her eyes large with terror. "Where am I? Why did you a-attack me? Why do you smell like fish?"
She cautiously slid backwards, not wanting to involve herself in a fight.

Mosspaw used Front Paw Strike, dealing 6 damage and costing 10 stamina

MOSSPAW
  11/20 HP
  70/80 SP | [-10]

FLAMEPAW
  14/20 HP | [-6]
  70/80 SP

Flamepaw suddenly was unsure. Oh no.... did she overreact? She didn't want to cause a useless fight... she checked around for a moment and determined she was right. Both cats were in Riverclan territory. "You- You broke the warrior Code! You're trespassing and hunting on rightful Riverclan land!" She sent another attack back at the Windclan cat. "And I am a Riverclan apprentice!" She hissed. Yet another Windclan trespasser, thinking they were right all the time. Disgusting. Well, they were wrong. And she would beat this one, unlike her humiliating defeat by Barleypaw.

Flamepaw used Front Paw Strike, dealing 6 damage and using 10 stamina!

MOSSPAW
5/20 HP [-6]
70/80 SP

FLAMEPAW
14/20 HP
60/80 SP | [-10]


ooc: yeah so they can just resolve their differences and b friends if you want, since we used the System it counts. I checked.

ooc: oof it would totally be moss' character to be friends with her opponent ;)
so the fight stops?
and where is the wound flamepaw caused?

Mosspaw was puzzled for a moment when she noticed Flamepaw's eyes darting to survey the surrounding area. The obvious suddenly clicked in her head, and her worry had been confirmed when the RiverClan cat hissed a response. She had unknowingly trespassed in another clan's territory. What would Brindlestar think when she discovered that she had broken the Warrior Code? Would she regret selecting herself as her mentor? The anxious thoughts were shoved roughtly to the back of her mind as the other apprentice raked her with her claws. The strike caused Mosspaw to wail with alarm, as she quickly inspected her wound. She didn't want to continue this fight!

Staring apologetically and desperately at Flamepaw, Mosspaw backed away, her fluffy pelt bristling.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know! The-the rabbit ran all the way here, and I w-wasn't paying attention to the scent markers! H-here! You c-can have the rabbit, if you w-want! It's my fault, but I don't want to continue f-fighting!" she cried, feeling, for the first time in her life, truly scared.
She didn't care if she looked cowardly.
What was the need for battling one another and holding useless grudges?
"I-I'l leave! C-can't we all just be f-f-friends..?"

ooc: left foreleg, but just a scratch

ic: A small gasp escaped Flamepaw's throat. She sheathed her claws and pressed her paw on the wound she had caused. "N- No, you can have it, you're the one who caught it and Windclan probably needs it more. I'm sorry too! We can totally just be friends instead! D- Don't cry!" She pawed some cobwebs off a bush and clumped them on the leg. "H- Here, I watched Fallowpaw, Goldeneye, and Mapleleaf do this... Cobwebs stop bleeding." She reasoned. She sat back and blinked at the cat before her. "So... What's your name? I'm Flamepaw."

A part of her didn't believe that her opponent had actually attended to her shrill, helpless exclamations, but there was no way she would complain. Mosspaw forced her maw upwards in an awkward, but grateful, smile, hoping she could look more sincere. She truly felt relieved and thankful, but the sudden switch in moods had been too abrupt and the apprentice still felt frozen with shock.
"T-thank you! I'm sorry I was so foolish," she breathed with a shaky voice, attempting to include the joy she felt that they had stopped the battle. She examined her leg closely, the silky, sticky clump of cobwebs soothing her scratch with its coolness, although the sting still pained it.
The tortoiseshell met the RiverClanner's eyes with her own, a twinkle of delight shining in them. "My name's Mosspaw! Thank you for this cobweb.. !"

Flamepaw smiled. "Nice to meet you, Mosspaw! ... It- It's nothing! A cat should always help her fellow cats, no matter their loyalties." She looked down. "Before we become too good friends, there's... There's something you should know about me. I... I wasn't always Riverclan. I was born and mostly raised in Thunderclan, and... then I was taken hostage into Riverclan and at the end of Newleaf I became an apprentice in Riverclan. And the reason I was taken hostage..." She looked somberly into Mosspaw's eyes. "I'm the cat that killed Fawnsong. You might've heard of me as Flickerpaw." Her old name felt wrong on her tongue. This thing she did would haunt her forever, surely.

"It's nice to meet ya too, Flamepaw!" the tortoiseshell warmly chirped, steadily recovering from the fright she received before, "You're.. you're right! Sometimes, I don't understand why some cats wouldn't consider doin' so, even for former friends."
The she-cat was quite startled when the RiverClan apprentice began another sentence, warning Mosspaw and claiming there was a fact that she needed to know. Nodding slowly, her face abruptly turning solemn, the apprentice tilted her head, an odd action she often did, to gesture for Flamepaw to resume. She attentively listened, her face displaying her emotions and reactions to the other apprentice's explanation - shock, then curiousity, then she appeared shook and distraught. This cat, who seemed peaceful and friendly, had murdered once? Maybe that was the reason why her features indicated she was warrior-age. Had her ceremony been delayed?
"Oh.. that's.. new," she awkwardly started, "Well.. I can see that you've improved, you've changed. I never would have imagined you would.. do that.. but that means that you've altered yourself, into a better cat." she offered an encouraging smile.
"I'd still be glad to call you my friend."

Flamepaw couldn't help but smile. "Really, the only thing I have to do during battles is strike carefully. I was looking to see how my brother was doing and then... suddenly, there was this Riverclan cat, dying beneath my paws. I was so scared that I would go to the dark forest... and I kind of still am." her voice had began to shake. She took a deep breath and continued. "A lot of them hate me because of it,
Even though that all happened a long time ago. So I wanted to make sure we could be friends even though my past is... questionable."

The apprentice blinked her eyes, the dazzling, rich depths shimmering with empathy. She knew that if such a horrifying, accidental event occurred in her life, she'd never forgive herself. Her new friend seemed distinctly regretful, and seemed genuinely sincere, and Mosspaw strongly believed that a cat that displayed true remorse deserved to go to StarClan.
"Of course we can still be friends! You've expressed your regret, and I can tell you've done something to improve your ways. It's forgive and forget, right? Everyone makes mistakes - no one is perfect. If RiverClan can't see that, than they deserve to be sent to the Dark Forest, not you!" The last sentence was unusually scornful for the tortoiseshell, but she pronounced every syllable of it meaningfully and clearly.

"Well.. I suppose I'd best be goin', now. I don't want any of your clanmates to discover us talkin' to each other! That'd be a bit odd for them, wouldn't it? They don't understand that just because someone is from another clan, they aren't instantly enemies.
Maybe we'll meet again at the next gathering!" Smiling light-heartedly at Flamepaw, Mosspaw flicked her tail once, and bounced away, once picking up her caught prey. With one last friendly glance, she sprinted off, calling one last word.

"Bye!"

ooc: tanks for helping with moss' requirement! <3