Here we go again (closed)

OOC: takes place before the gathering

Having been on a border patrol, Sunflower made his way around the edges of the territory. His sky-pelt had managed to stay on him even after his battle with the ThunderClanner, and though it was stained brown with blood, he was glad it had served him well all this time. It was an odd object and not one that was welcomed by any-cat, but it provided him warmth in the harsh Leaf-bare season, which was more than a blessing for the short pelted tom.

Dacedream moved as quietly as she could through ThunderClan’s forest along the SkyClan border, but no amount of careful stepping could stop the crunching of snow underpaw. As she paused to mark a tree trunk, the tortoiseshell queen was surprised to hear that nearby the sound continued. The fur on her shoulders bristled as she saw a bizarre blue pelted cat with a white head suddenly appeared, and she lashed out a paw reflexively, catching the stranger against the head. For a moment Dacedream was horrified, and stunned. Her stomach clenched suddenly at the thought of her kits at home, though, and before she realized what she was doing Dacedream boomed out, arching her back, Hey! I don’t know what you’re doing, but you and your weird pelt need to stay clear of this border! Our Clans have enough trouble!”

Dacedream used Front Paw Strike on Sunflower, using 10 stamina and dealing 9 damage.

Dacedream
45/45 HP
150/160 SP (-10)

Sunflower
36/45 HP (-9)
160/160 SP

Letting out a surprised yowl as some-cat jumped out from the brush and slashed at his face, Sunflower stumbled backwards in shock. He didn't know the she-cat personally, but knew she was a ThunderClanner from her mousy scent. Why in StarClan's name had this cat jumped him? He hadn't been doing anything wrong, had he?  

"I wasn't d-doing anything w-wrong!" the panicked warrior honked. Lifting a paw, he swatted back at the she-cat, his heart racing and legs quivering with fear.

Sunflower used Front Paw Strike, causing 9 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Sunflower
HP: 36/45
SP: 150/160

Dacedream
HP: 36/45
SP: 150/160

The lanky tom's white face grew red lines, and as he scrabbled back with a bizarre-sounding honk of terror, Dacedream stopped short for a moment, her whiskers quivering. For a moment she wondered if perhaps she was being a paranoid mother; however, the instant his claws flashed back at her the idea of taking a second look at the situation flitted from her mind. Her teeth clacked together with the force of the blow. The tortoiseshell queen whipped her head back around, spitting, "There's something wrong with you! Normal cats don't have sky pelts!" She jumped at him again, pushing them both back against the rock in a scramble. She was unaware for a moment of the net of sky-pelt that had unraveled and wrapped around her paw.

Dacedream used Jumping Strike, using 20 stamina and dealing 12 damage. Dacedream is snagged in Sunflower's sweater; he will have a hard time leaving with his sweater without an angry ThunderClan queen attached...

Dacedream
36/45 HP
130/160 SP (-20)

Sunflower
24/45 HP (-12)
150/160 SP

"It-it keeps m-me warm!" Sunflower yowled, trying his best to get away from the she-cat, but for whatever reason, he couldn't back up. Putting all four paws down, Sunflower jumped and flailed about, until a fur-raising 'tear' sound filled the air around him. Falling backwards onto his back, the lengthy tom looked up to see the sky-pelt in Dacedream's paws.

"G-give that b-back!" he honked, slashing a paw at his attacker. He couldn't believe that he even thought about attacking back, but that source of warmth and comfort belonged to him more than any cat in the forest, and he wasn't going to leave without it, or so he hoped...

Sunflower used Front Paw Strike, causing 9 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Sunflower
HP: 24/45
SP: 140/160

Dacedream
HP: 27/45
SP: 130/160

The white cat continued to protest, but this time as he tried to back away from her Dacedream felt the swath of blue tighten around her foreleg. Her green-hazel eyes widened as she tried to jerk her own leg away from him to no avail. The panic of realization seemed to hit them both at once; whatever his weird pelt-thing was, she was caught in it. The SkyClan tom was quick to duck and begin scrabbling. Dacedream felt her claw snag and yowled in protest, yanked by his bounding, "Ouch! Hey, quit it!" She tried to plant her hind legs into the snowy earth and haul herself backwards, but with the other warrior's bucking she was sure he was going to yank her leg right off! "Let go!" Dacedream squeaked, and then the clearing was filled with a resounding tearing sound as the pressure on her leg was released and she went stumbling backwards.

When she recovered, she looked up to see the white tom - now fully white-coated - looking frantic, honking to "give that back". Dacedream's confusion as she looked down to the soft ground beneath her feet gave way to horror as she saw that the tom's weird sky-pelt had come off under her paws. She screamed just an instant before he struck her, and she scrambled back away from him; a few threads clung to her claws, and the sky-pelt rolled and hopped in the snow towards her as a result, like a possessed piece of fresh-kill reanimating to give chase. Dacedream squealed and cried desperately to the honky tom as she retreated in a panic, "W-Well take it! Get it off, I don't even want it! Oh my stars get it away!" Oh StarClan, I took a cat's weird pelt! Oh no, oh gosh! What in silverpelt am I going to tell Oakstar? she fretted as the threads began to slip from her leg, the sweater's chase slowing.

Dacedream has not attacked this turn.

Dacedream
27/45 HP
130/160 SP

Sunflower
24/45 HP
140/160 SP

Watching in horror as the she-cat stumbled and flailed about with his sky-pelt stuck to her sharp claws, part of him wanted to simply run and be done with the whole ordeal, but as he stood there, shivering once again like he used to, he knew he had to get the sky-pelt back and couldn't leave without it, or so he hoped.

"C-calm down!" he yowled. Great StarClan, he never thought that he'd be the one to say that, ever. Well, there was a first for everything, and whatever was happening now had surely never happened in the history of the forest before.

Taking a few steps towards her, he waited for a moment when the ThunderClanner stopped jumping and screaming. Finding a window to do so, Sunflower lunged forward and grabbed the sky-pelt with his teeth. Pulling back, a horrible ripping sound filled the air once more, until the sky-pelt released itself from Dacedream's paws, sending Sunflower falling backwards.

Standing up and giving his pelt a shake, the abnormally lean warrior looked down, a defeated look on his face. The blue pelt that he'd once worn had almost been ripped completely to shreds, though luckily there was still enough of it to salvage.

"The sk-sky-pelt is w-warm, that's a-all," he mumbled, peering down to the strange twoleg item as tears began to well in his eyes. Though odd and unwelcomed, it had done him such a service and he was truly going to miss it's comforting hug.

Sunflower has not attacked this turn.

Sunflower
HP: 24/45
SP: 140/160

Dacedream
HP: 27/45
SP: 130/160

Dacedream almost missed the lanky warrior's command for calm over the sounds of her own panic. That's easy for you to say! she wanted to protest, and yet hadn't he just been wearing the sky-pelt? Perhaps he had tamed it and that was why it hadn't been attacking him, or perhaps the sky-pelt was even defending its companion now. The thought was both horrifying and bewildering, but it was also a faint relief; Dacedream skidded to a halt, flinching as the sky-pelt bounced towards her. It stopped a pawstep away, motionless. Dacedream's thick frame was trembling like a kit with a cold as she stared with wide green-hazel eyes at the approaching SkyClan cat. He rushed at the sky-pelt and grasped it, pulling backwards with what honestly looked like all the strength of StarClan.

She pulled back as well, feeling the strange material grip tighter around some spots before breaking of sliding off in others. With their combined efforts, it was freed; the white tom fell with a poof into the snow, the odd blue pelt misshapen and battered and half-buried with him. Dacedream herself skidded back, and when she looked down there were thin blue hairs caught in her frayed claws. Her ears flicked back as she looked up with vague horror and clear concern. The tom was looking down at his prize now, dejected and disappointed. "I... I-I..." Dacedream stammered, feeling unusually at a loss for words. She didn't have any idea what the make of the situation: one moment she's minding her business, the next a weird blue-and-white tom appears, and then the blue fur turns out to be a strange sky-pelt that the white cat enjoyed! "Sorry...?" Dacedream squeaked, her eyes wide as she tried to glean some understanding of what she had just done.

Dacedream has surrendered the battle. She will not attack anymore unless provoked.

"It... it's o-okay," Sunflower mumbled, his gaze still fixed on the sky-pelt that laid motionless at his paws. "None of th-this sh-should've have happened a-anyway," the lengthy tom mewed, his tone filled with defeat. On top of this being a problem to begin with, he'd managed to drag yet another cat into his little "situation." Great StarClan, could things have gone any worse? Well, at least now the sky-pelt was off of him, which he supposed was a blessing in disguise.

"I-I'm sorry," Sunflower sniffled, afraid to meet the ThunderClanner's gaze.

The tom muttered dejectedly and Dacedream frowned more, looking at his for some explanation or guidance. His response provided little of either, but it did inflict more guilt on the tortoiseshell queen. Immediately she was forced to wonder again if she'd overreacted. She had been startled at first when she struck, but she knew she hadn't really assessed the situation very well; out of the heat of the moment she was certain the poor SkyClan cat hadn't crossed the border when she swatted at him. As the tom stammered an apology, Dacedream felt her heart grow sad for him. She definitely overreacted. "N-No, I'm sorry. I... you were doing okay and I just got scared and I - I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to take your pelt," Dacedream apologized awkwardly.

Not daring to raise his gaze to meet the she-cat's, Sunflower tucked his tail firmly under his rump. Why did she keep apologizing, couldn't she just leave? The more the two of them stood around together, the more he wanted to shrink into a little ball and disappear, but even that most likely wouldn't help. So... if he wanted for this predicament to end, he'd just have to put an end to it him. Great Silverpelt, give him strength.

"I-I've gotta g-go," Sunflower stammered, his body trembling. Leaning down, he picked up the deceased sky-pelt within his jaws and whipping around without another look at the ThunderClanner, he bounded off through the territory and back to camp, hoping to get as far away from the Fallen Oak as quickly as possible. Hopefully, after he got back, he could curl up in his nest and forget about this whole ordeal.

The tom-cat wouldn't meet her gaze anymore, and Dacedream hesitated, stopping in place and staring with a faintly stricken expression. He seemed almost terrified, and certainly heart-broken, with his tail tucked beneath him like some poor straggling kittypet. Dacedream's bushy tail waved over the snow as her tufted ears flattened back slightly. He didn't accept her apology; the SkyClan tom instead muttered that he needed to leave. "But..." But I said I was sorry! she wanted to whine as she watched him stoop to scoop up the blue material. Without another sound or even a glance, the lanky white tom had turned swiftly and begun to bound away, dragging the coat of blue behind him. Dacedream took two or three steps after him then paused, staring helplessly. In no time he was gone, and Dacedream frowned at where he'd disappeared before turning to finish her walk, feeling uneasy.