A hasty skirmish (closed)

Having been on an evening hunting patrol, an unfamiliar scent hit the she-cat's nose and her fluffy hackles immediately rose. Creeping up to the Thunderpath, the white and ginger warrior scanned the area. "Who's there?" Tulipfang called out, teeth bared and ready to defend her territory at a moment's notice.

Wrenpaw had strayed away from his hunting patrol in pursuit of a squirrel that seemed intent on rooting around the thunderpath. He'd heard of this place but had yet to be blessed with it's acrid scent until this very moment. The apprentice had finally decided to chase his prey just as it darted through the brush. Diving through was when he discovered that just on the otherside was indeed the Thunderpath he'd heard of. Eyes widened in fright, he darted across the narrow path to avoid some monstrous beast that was hurtling down the lane, and nearly ended up running into an enemy warrior. Wrenpaw skidded to a halt next to Tulipfang and looked at her with still widened eyes, "What in Starclan's name...?"

Watching as a monster passed, Tulipfang was somewhat shocked at the appearance of the stranger cat, but that still didn't make up for the fact that they'd crossed the border and was on ShadowClan land. "You're a mousebrain for crossing the border," the she-cat growled before springing onto the SkyClanner and pinning him down.

Tulipfang used Leap and Hold, causing 9 damage and costing 10 stamina. Wrenpaw is pinned for 1 turn.

Tulipfang
HP: 45/45
SP: 150/160

Wrenpaw
HP: 11/20
SP: 80/80

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

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'Effect Dice' : 2

One moment he was looking up at the foreign warrior with big eyes, his side still heaving from the effort of sprinting across the Thunderpath, the next he was pinned. With as bold and brave as he was, still with a kit-like hope of the world, nothing could compare to the sensation of a monster breathing down your pelt. Confusion washed over him as she mentioned crossing the border. Wrenpaw glanced to both sides. Across the black stone was the lush, Thunderclan territory that he called home, even if he was still learning it. To the other side was an unfamiliar swath of muck-ladden marshes. Oh great Starclan, this was Shadowclan territory. The apprentice hardly knew how he had gotten here, much less how to fight. A half-hearted laugh left his maw as he tried to appeal to his attacker, "I think there's been a mix up here. I didn't mean to cross the border, so if you let me go, I'll just head back to where I came from, alright?"

Wrenpaw is no longer pinned.

That was odd; the tom didn't try and struggle free, even under her grasp. Listening as he spoke, she didn't know whether to believe him or not. How could some-cat not realize they crossed a border, especially when it was over the Thunderpath? Well, whatever his reasoning was... it was no excuse. But even so, as she looked down to the timid tom, he certainly didn't look or sound as if he was looking for a fight, and if he had been, he would've gotten up by now, or at least tried.

Meeting his gaze with her fiery, amber one, she let out a sigh. Daisyflame had taught her better than this. Attacking a cat who didn't have him in it to fight, even if he had crossed the border, wasn't an honorable thing to do, even if part of her itched to teach him a lesson. He was an apprentice, after all, so it wasn't like she would get much satisfaction from defeating him in battle anyway.

Stepping off of the tom, Tulipfang kept her head low and ears flat against her head. "You got lucky, this time," she hissed. "Watch where you're going next time, got it? 'Cause the next cat you run into might not be as merciful as me."

"Got it, uh, Shadowclanner. Thank you." Wrenpaw hesitated ever so slightly as he realized for the first time in his life he was addressing a cat whose name he did not know. As he scrambled up onto all four paws, the apprentice considered the fact that it was definitely inappropriate to ask what her name was in this moment. This wasn't a gathering, he'd crossed into another clan's territory! It was so early in his training too. The worst thing of all was the prey had been in pursuit of wouldn't be added to the fresh kill pile. His head dipped her her, hanging low as he turned back to the Thunderpath, and his tail dragged across the earth.

Inexperience was what lead him to bolt across the black stone once more. The sooner he was back into his own territory the better. Wrenpaw was only a few pawsteps away from feeling Thunderclan earth under his paws when the earth rumbled and shook. It seemed as if the monster appeared from nowhere. Panic bubbled up in his chest and his surged forward wildly. Midair, he watched his his paws almost touched the ground, but he was snapped backwards and slammed his chin into the ground. Fire roared in his tail and his jaw ached from where it had hit the stone. The roaring of the great beast faded away as quickly as it had come. He took a few deep breaths and scrambled forward.

Once he was no longer in the way of the monster path, his green gaze scanned his own pelt. Nothing seemed off other than the ruffled fur, which was normal, and a few scratches from his scuffled. A sigh of relief left his maw. For a brief second, the tom almost forgot the pain that had ripped through his tail and had disappeared underneath the momentary adrenaline and drive to seek safety. This was remembered the moment he thoughtlessly tried to flick his tail. Agony shot up from the point where it had been crushed on the Thunderpath. Wrenpaw gritted his teeth as an audible gasp escaped his maw. That probably wasn't good. He had to get back to his patrol; they had to know what happened.

He managed a few steps forward, slowly dragging the tail to try to avoid as much of the pain as possible. Relief washed over him as he saw a flash of russet fur, "Foxfire!"

Foxfire poked his head around a couple of bushes, a soft sigh of annoyance escaping him as he spared a glance around. He had been chasing a squirrel but had managed to lose track of it...And now was a bit further from his hunting spot then he had been expecting. He was a bit close to the ShadowClan border which... He couldn't deny the tingle of fear that rose in his heart, his tattered ears twitching. He had suffered a lot under ShadowClan's claws and while he knew they weren't all bad... It was still hard to forget the attack that had nearly taken his life and left him heavily scarred. He swallowed, taking a couple uneasy steps back before he turned, ready to sprint back to where he had started his hunt only to jump at the sound of his name being called out.

His fur bristled as he turned, baring his teeth in a moment of reflex before he saw Wrenpaw trudging toward him. "Oh, Wrenpaw!" he sighed in relief as he shook his pelt, trying to shake out his terror. He...Wasn't sure what he was expecting to be honest. He did suppose there would be a couple cats in ShadowClan who would know his name from when he was deputy but...Well, he could safety say he wasn't expecting to see Wrenpaw. ...What was he even doing out here by himself? It was dangerous, he knew that himself. He slowly took a couple steps forward before his eyes landed on Wrenpaw's tail, hanging limply behind the tom. Something was off, Foxfire recognized that in an instance even if he couldn't tell what. "A-Are you okay? What happened? Why are you even by the border?"

Wrenpaw grounded his paws, allowing the warrior to come up to him instead of straining forward. As a bombardment of questions filtered through his ears, they lowered slightly and burned with embarrassment. While he certainly hadn't meant for these events to unfold, it didn't change the fact he had been reckless. Already the tom had paid the price for his mistake. He glanced around to his rear, gritting his teeth once again as he looked over the crooked and broken thing. Finally bringing himself to look at the other tom, he let out a rather exasperated laugh, "I was chasing a squirrel and it crossed onto that black stone path. There was this huge beast and it almost ran me over so I ran and ended up on the Shadowclan side. Some warrior appeared out of nowhere and attacked. I told her what happened and as soon as she let me go, I ran back and, well, another one of those creatures showed up and attacked my tail." It was better to be honest. There was no reason to fluff the events that had just transpired. His eyes widened as he looked towards the Thunderpath, an innocent question in his tone, "What were those things, Foxfire? Why did they want my tail? It hurts now. And that Shadowclanner was crazy. She didn't even flinch as they roared past!" Only a short time into his apprenticeship, and the tom had already seen so much. Things were crazy outside of camp, and as much as he loved it, his tail really hurt.

Foxfire listened with perk ears, his eyes wide with horror as Wrenpaw described two near encounters with Monsters and a scuffle with a ShadowClan cat. But his tail... Foxfire knew how important a tail was to a SkyClan cat - it was something he had spent his whole life dealing with the trouble of balancing without one. They would need to get Sagelight and Honeypaw to check it out swiftly, there was little time to waste. "I...I see," he mumbled, finally pressing forward to circle the tom and check for any other injuries from the scuffle. "We should get you back to the camp and get your tail checked out. I-I can answer your questions on the way," he said, gently ushering Wrenpaw forward, pressing his shoulder to the tom's as he started to lead the two back. Once Wrenpaw was safe in the SkyClan camp, he could return to tell the rest of the patrol what had happened - for now, there wasn't time to alert them.

"Those...Things are called Monsters. They roam the black paths and never seem to leave them for one reason or another. They don't tend to pay us much mind unless we get in their way but if we do...They are rare from merciful. A single swipe can...Well, can kill a cat. You were lucky that they only went after your tail," he swallowed nervously, sparing a glance at the apprentice's tail. "And...I think ShadowClan is really only surrounded by Thunderpaths - they act as their border so I...Guess it would make sense that they are used to the sounds of their roars. But...Its best to stay away from the ShadowClan border if you can help it. They are rather...Vicious when it comes to fighting," he added, twitching the ear that had been tattered in that fight with a ShadowClan cat long ago. "N-Not to say that they are bad cats! I-I think Flintstar is rather...Er..." he paused, hesitating. He wanted to say 'nice' but...He hadn't seen much of the tom but got the feeling that the leader wasn't rather...Well, nice. Not mean but just...Not nice. "Well, Basildrop considers him a friend and I think that speaks enough volumes. But they just can be a bit...Much when it comes to fighting. We've had enough fights with them, its best to stay away if you can just to avoid trouble."

He missed the widened eyes of Foxfire, his own gaze cast away in hints of shame. But relief came when he found that he wasn't going to be howled at for his mistakes quite yet. As the russet warrior pressed into his side, it was like a sigh of relief after moments of such high intensity. His heart rate slowed tremendously. It was at that time he discovered he could almost feel his heart beat in his tail. Was that normal? Wrenpaw considered asking, but Foxfire was already addressing the many questions that had just spouted from his maw. He owed it to the elder cat to pay attention, especially after all of the trouble he'd caused so far. So, listening intently, he followed along, grinding his teeth together at every stick and every bump in the ground.

"Wow... has any other cat ever survived a monster attack before? Those things are horrible. I'll never cross into their path again as long as I live. I promise." Wrenpaw swore that was the end of his engagement with the Thunderpath. There would never be a good reason to visit Shadowclan territory, he was sure of it. As Foxfire continued on in his speech, he became more reassured in that. He recalled the fire in his opponent's gaze. It had been a question of whether or not she would allow him to escape over the simple slip up. From the sound of it, Wrenpaw had simply gotten lucky this time. But she had warned him. Between the monsters on the path and in the swamps, he was sure that he would not be going back near that border any time soon. As Flintstar was mentioned alongside his mother, the bicolored tom's ears perked, "She knows the Shadowclan leader? Woah..." His mother was small in stature but possessed the fearlessness that had been born into his heart as well. He'd always admired her for that. Knowing she'd actually befriended one of the vicious shadowstalkers was unreal.

Before he could press any further, they neared the medicine cat's den and he was reminded of the reason their hunting trip was cut short. Already his ears were lowered, anticipating a word or two from the medicine cats.

Foxfire blinked as Wrenpaw questioned if anybody had survived a monster attack, opening his mouth for a reply before he paused. He...Honestly wasn't sure. He didn't really know anybody who had even slain by one, just tales of warning of cats who had died from their vicious strikes and to look both ways before crossing a Thunderpath if you ever needed to for one reason or another. "I...I'm not sure. I've never known a cat lost to a Monster attack, only heard stories of warning but I imagine there may be a cat or two that were lucky enough not to get a killing blow and got help fast enough. A-And of course there are leaders who have lost a life to a Monster I imagine but had enough lives to...Well, come back. And...If you ever do need to cross a Thunderpath...Just be careful and wait until you are certain there isn't a Monster patrolling."

He fell silent as Wrenpaw 'awed' at the fact that his mother knew the ShadowClan leader as the two duck into the camp. Oh, right. He suppose it wasn't that much of a surprise that Basildrop might not have spoken about that matter with her kits. When she had decided to become a permanent queen had been quite a surprise... Barely leaving the camp other than to keep in shape and keep her hunting skills sharp just in case she decided that the queen life wasn't for her any more. She hadn't even been to Gatherings - Stars, when would the last time she and Flintstar had even spoken? Foxfire had been doing his best to keep her up to date on what was going on with ShadowClan and Flintstar... His ear twitched, suddenly wondering if Flintstar missed Basildrop as well. Their friendship had been...Weird from what he had heard from Basildrop's tales. She might have thought it was normal enough but...Well, he had a feeling that Flintstar wasn't great with others. It was hard to know how sided that friendship really was. But...His eyes fell onto Wrenpaw and the sheen in his eyes. Maybe it would mean a lot to both Basildrop and Flintstar if Wrenpaw kept that friendship alive. Not that he was going to outright tell the tom to try to befriend the leader but... "Y'know, you should ask Basildrop about him some time. I'm sure she would be ecstatic to get to talk about Flintstar to somebody other than me...But later. For now, lets get you checked out," he added, nosing Wrenpaw toward the medicine cat den.

He spared a glance behind him, remembering that he was planning to report back to the patrol but... Wrenpaw was the son of his best friend. He couldn't leave the tom by himself like this. No, he would make his report after he knew if Wrenpaw's tail was going to be okay. So with a soft nod, really only for himself, he turned and pressed after Wrenpaw. Hopefully the rest of the patrol wouldn't worry that much before he could get back to them.