Sneaky Sneks [Closed]

Every cat had busied themselves in preparation for leaf-bare. It had finally come. That was undeniable. And the apprentice had worked himself until his paws ached and his mind could no longer handle another numbing patrol. Without a mentor, it was easier to slip off. As he made his way to the edge of Riverclan territory, his paws only hesitated for a moment. Leaving the clan's territory didn't mean he was leaving forever, Sparkpaw merely hoped to get away for a moment, to take some time to find solace in the calm of leaf-bare's drifting snow. The flakes clung to his disheveled fur. It caused a lopsided smile to cross his maw as he skirted the other clan's territory, carefully picking his trail.

Eventually, the thunderpath came in sight. Immediate curiosity caused his dull, green eyes to shine with curiosity. Starlord could be out here somewhere. But his break would not be thwarted with thoughts of a mission. The dilute calico knew his free-spirited adoptive father would understand. As he approached, a massive thing roared past, darting wildly back and forth across the black stone. He had to leap back to avoid being too close. It only tossed his wild pelt even further. As terrifying as it could seem, Sparkpaw was more intrigued than terrified, in a similar manner to the instance with Lichenmask. His paws carried him along, just avoiding the borders until... his paw was no longer underneath him. The tom fell ungracefully into a break in the earth. After the brief shock wore off, his eyes blinked slowly to adjust to the darkness he found himself peering into. It was a tunnel!

"What is this?" He breathed, something between a mixture of curiosity and wonder. There were no tunnels within Riverclan territory. Padding slowly through, there was an eventual light that only furthered his excitement. This had done exactly what he hoped, given him a well-earned break from the occasional overwhelming nature of clan life. When his head poked out the other side, the tom stared up into Shadowclan territory, "Woah..."

Piercing amber-green eyes connected with Sparkpaw's own, her eyes widened as she looked in shock at the Riverclan apprentice intruding on her territory. Her claws unsheathed as she narrowed her eyes, Froststone had prepared her for this, well, as little as he had done before he got sick. "You're trespassing on Shadowclan territory!" She screeched, though she wasn't feeling very confident. But there was one thing going for her, she was smaller than her opponent and he was bigger, so while she drove him back into the tunnel he would have less maneuverability. Sliding her way onto his back she fastened herself to him, her teeth sinking into his scruff, using the ceiling of the tunnel to push against and to force him onto the ground.

"I'll show you not to mess with Shadowclan! Or me!" If there is one thing she learned, it was that cats feared her lineage, so perhaps she could use it to her advantage? She might not win against a more experienced apprentice after-all. "For I am the daughter of Lichenmask and Brushgaze! I'll tear you to shreds!" She yowled through fur, trying not to choke on the fluff of it.

Littlepaw used Leap-and-Hold, Costing 6 damage and 10 stamina! Sparkpaw is stunned for 2 turn(s)!

Littlepaw:
20/20
70/80

Sparkpaw:
14/20
80/80

The member 'Grey' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 6

Somewhere in the back of his aloof consciousness, there was a memory of the knowledge that Shadowclan cats dwelled at night. But it had been forgotten on this particular escapade. His green gaze had been trained on the marvel that was the marshlands, something he was seeing for the very first time in what he found to be the sanctuary of the night. Whiskers and nose poked just barely through the tunnel. Never once did he consider that this could be deemed as trespassing. All along the way, his paws had merely skirted the edges of other clans territories in some half-attempt at not causing any issues. Sparkpaw never meant to get in trouble. He just wanted to get away for a moment. A purr had mounted in the back of his throat, a mixture of content and awe. And it was cut off by the shriek of another cat.

The dilute calico barely had any time to react as the other apprentice was on him. With her smaller size and his unadulterated shock, it was easy for Littlepaw to overpower him back into the confines of the tunnel. There was a brief trembling that reverberated throughout the tunnel as a single monster roared overhead. Sparkpaw blinked up at the screeching apprentice. Finally, it hit him. Nothing about trespassing, nothing about a battle against Shadowclan. No, the words that caught in the tom's ears were a name. Lichenmask. Any bit of shock that wrought his expression was twisted into something akin to excitement, speckled with hints of genuine curiosity. He didn't even attempt to fight back as she pinned him to the hollowed out earth. The words bubbled up from his mouth without a thought, similar to the fashion in which he had faced her father a couple moons prior, "You're related to Lichenmask? I didn't know he had kits. It's not surprising though, he was a cat."

There was a brief pause as he sifted through all of the many questions he had, the things that had plagued him for so long, the haunting gaze of this apprentice's father. None of it seemed to pull together into something comprehensible or right to say at the moment, so he merely asked, "What's your name?"

Sparkfrost does not do a fight.

Littlepaw blinked as the tom didn't fight back, and just had to strike up a conversation with her. It was confusing to say simply, but doing what she did best was ignore the problem and continue what she was doing. Her claws still tore at him, her brows furrowing in frustration. Wait, hold up- Did he just ask her name? Sputtering the she-cat meowed, "I'm Littlepaw. Though mom and dad called me Redkit. After the red moon. But I wanted to honour the leader my dad killed, Littlestar. Also, there was another Red- in my clan so that would have been confusing." Littlepaw wasn't sure why she gave him her name, perhaps it was the fact that he had thrown her so far off she might as well have been flying off and out of the earth's stratosphere though. Making sure Sparkpaw was fixed to the ground she then spoke again, "What's your name then? I suppose it's only polite to ask, y'know, while I'm tearing out your fur for trespassing." It was odd, having such a civil conversation while she tore him a new one, but rules were rules after all.

Leap-and-Hold does another 6 health damage.

Littlepaw:
20/20
70/80

Sparkpaw:
8/20
80/80

As he stared up at the she-cat, his eyes were unblinking, growing wide with anticipation. The fact that the apprentice whose claws dug into his coat was Lichenmask's kit was unbelievable. Instead of tensing as Littlepaw spoke, the Riverclan cat relaxed and listened to every word that left her maw. When she mentioned the former Shadowclan leader, he reflected her sadness and nodded slightly. It made sense to want to honor the fallen leader, "I only saw her speak at one gathering but she seemed like a great cat." Sparkpaw slid out from underneath his attacker, shaking her off just enough to slip out. Once he had escaped her claws the calico merely sat across from her. For once, his mouth had managed to stay shut for a moment as he repositioned himself.

"Well, since we're under the Thunderpath now, am I still trespassing? We can move further back. I don't want to cause any trouble." His whiskers twitched slightly as he spoke. It wasn't a blatant attempt at humor, but his voice was light and casual, "My name is Sparkpaw. I'm from Riverclan but sometimes being an apprentice is a lot, you know? I thought exploring for a night wouldn't be so bad. It's beautiful out here but being out here makes me miss the territory now. Despite being rogue born, I guess it is my home after all." Sparkpaw's tail flickered behind him as he spoke. Already more questions budded up behind his tongue to ask the she-cat but the minimal amounts of restraint he possessed held them back.

Sparkpaw is no longer held.

"I still consider it trespassing, and I will until you move out of it, Sparkpaw." Littlepaw meowed, gently pushing Sparkpaw out of the tunnel. "You're rogue-born? You don't look it! You're plenty big and strong like a Riverclan cat!" Littlepaw mewed, suddenly reaching forwards with rapt attention as she snagged one of his paws, "And look! You have webbed toes, like, really webbed! Like me! I hear that pure Riverclan cats and some Shadowclan cats have webbed toes y'know? For swimming and us cause our marshes are so wet! Lichenmask was a pure Riverclan cat and my ma, Brushgaze, was a pure Shadowclan cat! Cats that don't share Riverclan or Shadowclan blood just don't have webbed toes, isn't that really neat? So maybe you got some Riverclan blood in ya after all oh! Or Shadowclan! That's really cool don't you think? I believe that rogue-born cats are much smaller than us, and aren't so catered to our surroundings. Like uh- like Windclan! They're tall and thin with biiiiig ears and long tails, they can run super fast on the moors. Thunderclan cats are HUGE and BIG, perfect for blundering through the forest like badgers!" Littlepaw's tail seemed to wag as she vibrated with her enthusiasm.

"Stories say that my dad like... picked you up! It was you right, cause if it was is that true? Cause I think that if he like, picked you up and didn't kill you like he was slaughtering all the impure cats - not that I support it - but maybe he knew about you! I have no idea though, I think it's kinda odd for my dad to not kill you - no offense - but he was always preaching about saving us from impurity and saving all the pure cats. So ah- sorry! I didn't mean to ramble. But you know how it is right? Thoughts just kinda spill out and you start spiralling with cool ideas that you just have to get out! It's all speculation though, you could probably just be a super weird rogue-born." Littlepaw meowed, a wide grin on her face in her excitement.

Sparkpaw allowed himself to be forced back out of the tunnel as the Shadowclan cat moved closer and pushed him back onto the whisker-thin space between the entrance and Thunderclan's territory. Their paws crushed down the freshly fallen snow. As she picked up one of forepaws, the calico tom fell back on his haunches. Littlepaw seemed to study his pad curiously. He tilted his head to the side ever so slightly as she explained the difference between each clan. Without realizing it, the apprentice's maw had parted slightly in awe. Prior to their conversation, Sparkpaw had known that each clan had their specialties like swimming, climbing, or hunting throughout the night but the biological differences were something he'd never quite noticed. As she talked about Shadowclan and Riverclan traits, his dull green gaze also took up the task of staring incredulously at his paws. Flexing the appendages, the webbing traveled with it, "Huh."

Despite it being a part of him, the young tom hadn't ever really considered their presence before now. It was simply what his paws looked like. When he finally looked back up, Sparkpaw offered her a grin, "Do you really think I could be Shadowclan like you? Does this mean I have to stay awake all night now? Sleep is nice. I don't think I could do that. Besides, it's very bright all day which would make it hard to sleep." The tom pondered over all of this as he set his paw back down onto the earth and felt the cold snow against his pads. It was something he would have done mindlessly before but now he considered the feeling. Could these really be clan paws? Regardless, the notion didn't bother him too much. Clan or rogue, Sparkpaw knew who he was. Bigger questions were ones that relentlessly plagued his mind, even if he gave little merit to them.

"Lichenmask probably knew something, you're right. He knew a lot of things." Sparkpaw could still picture the handsome tom's expression, the depth of his eyes, that entire moment was perfectly clear in his memory to this day. Part of him wished that in the she-cat's place, her father stood. So many thoughts that ran through his mind, all of them he was sure of could be answered by the former exile leader. Something occurred to him and in an instant, the tom snapped back to reality and stared at the Shadowclan cat before him. The words fell from his mouth as he mindlessly asked, "What was he like? Lichenmask. When you were a kit?"