Across Enemy Lines {open until Mosspelt posts}

Cinderpaw grumbled under her breath as she trampled over ShadowClan's nettled ground, tail whipping to and fro. Wolffang's message was unwanted, and further stoked the apprentice's temper. How dare some warrior from seasons before show up in her dream? Cinderpaw was perfectly capable of teaching herself how to be a medicine cat, so why was a warrior from generations ago telling her to go to ThunderClan? Tired, and grumpy, Cinderpaw awoke at sunset to find the clan milling about, bright eyed and bushy tailed, sporting a full-morning's sleep, something Cinderpaw envied greatly. Not only had she stayed up all dawn working on the ins and outs of herbs, but Wolffang had felt entitled to disturb her further, ruining any chance of slumber Cinderpaw had. StarClan wasn't all high and mighty, no. They'd forgotten the importance of a good sleep, all starry-pelted and righteous. And so now the massive she-cat found herself out on the territory at midnight, wandering towards the fabled Thunderpath to find Mossbloom.

She wouldn't have liked to admit it, but perhaps Wolffang was right. Perhaps another clan's medicine cat would be of use, but such a thing would be on Cinderpaw's terms. Unwilling to break the rules or endanger her clan, Cinderpaw made sure to let the camp guard know where she was going. Only one cat was aware, sure, but Cinderpaw had never been the type to admit her incompetence to an entire roster of cats. ShadowClan didn't need to know everything, did they? Even so, guilt pricked at the young cat's paws as she broke through the brambles to emerge onto the Thunderpath. The she-cat had only heard of such a thing, never once seeing it, and was disgusted by the smells and sounds. No monsters traveled the trail, but every bird's chirp and every fox's yelp could be heard from the black stone. And the stench was something else entirely. It would take Cinderpaw a good moon to remove the smell from her fur, if she ever found her way back to ShadowClan, that was.

Alas, the massive cat crossed the path in a whirl of fur and paws, and found herself amongst thicker brambles and far less greener pastures. Thorns and burrs clung to her fur as Cinderpaw forced her way into the undergrowth, now wishing she'd brought an escort who'd been to camp before. But the young cat would rather become a walking bush than admit to her clan, her father that she needed help. The darkness grew gloomier and the ferns grew heavier, but the cat kept wandering on, looking like a lost badger, cursing Wolffang under her breath.

The massive white tom walked along the brambles and the bushes, his mouth open for any prey scent around him. His patrol in the distance behind him, they had agreed to meet up at a certain spot once the sun sank a little lower in the sky. Though what the new apprentice found wasn't something he was expecting.

Instead of finding a prey scent he was expected, a completely different scent hit his nose.. He wasn't exactly the most pleasant but it wasn't something he had to get away from. It was certainly another cat.. Was there an intruder on their territory? Carefully the large white tom followed the scent tracking it as he would with prey. Once he saw the large cat moving through the brush with some difficulty. Who was this and why were they here?

A low rumbling growl was heard from the large tom before he made his attack on the stranger. His claws out as he tackled the cat to the ground trying to pin her so he could get answers.

Dovepaw used Run and Tackle dealing 6 + 3 damage, -10 SP

Dovepaw:
20/20 HP
70/80 SP (-10)

Cinderpaw:
11/20 HP
80/80 SP

ThunderClan's skill at navigation and silence wasn't lost on Cinderpaw as she was bowled over by a fast moving object. Usually, most forces of the like sparked little fear in the she-cat, as she was much larger than a good majority of her clanmates. However her new opponent threatened to rival her in size, and it only seemed to annoy Cinderpaw further. How dare they? She was too tired to deal with a scrappy shadowy cat trying to tear her fur off. Whatever fear the apprentice held quickly evaporated into raw anger, and she hissed against the pain of the newest lacerations across her muzzle. Blinking rapidly, Cinderpaw tried to locate her assailant, already aware that this was a feline. No other creature would be so brash as to attack her without warning. There was no honor in this fight, typical ThunderClanners. Aiming for damage instead of accurary, Cinderpaw catapulted a massive swipe through the brush, colliding into the side of a white ghostly-like figure. Her paw took leaves and brambles with it, tearing a rift into the undergrowth as it whapped her attacker on the side of the head.

"I don't have time for your maggot-ridden, sour-rotten, frog-brained self right now! I barely got any sleep, oh, no. You do not want to mess with me. I'll... I'll stain you red!!!" Delirious and thorn-sharp insults flew from the she-cat's maw as she backed farther into the surrounding thickets, their tug on her pelt almost worse than her bleeding muzzle wound. While Cinderpaw was thoroughly annoyed with the current situation, there was no way in StarClan she'd let this cat know that she was a healer. That was what kittypets and milk-drinkers did. A fight was a fight, no matter how inconvenient, but it wouldn't stop Cinderpaw from hating every minute of it. She launched another paw at the pale figure in the brush, hoping to pin them down long enough to find out who this carrion-breathed foxheart was.

Cinderpaw used Front Paw Strike on Dovepaw, dealing 6 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Cinderpaw
HP: 11/20
SP: 70/80 (-10)

Dovepaw
HP: 14/20 (-6)
SP: 70/80

Mossbloom had joined the sunset patrol at the last moment, having noticed they were seriously low on daisy and chamomile. Soon the herbs would be difficult to find, so she had gathered as much as she could now that greenleaf was drawing to an end. The patrol had fanned out around her, going their separate ways to hunt, a warrior in one direction, young Dovepaw in another, and a third warrior heading straight ahead, presumably to check the border briefly while they were out this way. Mossbloom lingered in place, scenting for the herbs that were hard to discern under the stench of the path, but soon she caught a slight whiff of... Something. It took her in a similar direction as Dovepaw, and soon she found what she had been searching for. A nice clump of daisy was growing tucked in the roots of a tree. Picking the stems neatly, a sudden caterwauling interrupted the quiet air.

The daisy still in her jaws, she sprinted in the direction the commotion had come from. Dovepaw.... Had something happened? That voice didn't belong to the apprentice though... In fact, Mossbloom didn't recognize that voice at all! Bursting in behind Dovepaw, she spat out her daisy and turned to the she-cat's opponent to see another cat pressed into thickets with a bleeding muzzle wound. Her eyes widened as she took in the situation, scenting ShadowClan scent on the she-cat. She didn't recognize the apprentice, and she regretted having missed the recent Gatherings while she recovered... But what was ShadowClan doing here? And alone, no less? "Dovepaw, wait. She's alone, at least as far as I can tell. What happened? Why are you here?" Her final question directed to the ShadowClan apprentice.

A metallic tang had dripped into Cinderpaw's mouth as she scowled at the newly arrived she-cat. The apprentice licked the blood from her lips and narrowed her eyes, looking at the calico from under her brows. "It's none of your business why I'm here." Cinderpaw muttered, "Just take me to ThunderClan's camp and I'll let you keep your pelt!" There was no anger in the massive cat's words, rather just a weary tinge of annoyance. Cinderpaw's gaze fell to the ground, head slumped between her shoulders as her muzzle wound dripped into the leaf mulch.

Dovepaw, as the new calico had called him - was far too headstrong, and stars did his claws hurt. But they did not sting nearly as much as the wound in Cinderpaw's dignity. She'd already had her nose ripped to shreds, there was no way she was going to tell these tree-dwellers that she'd gotten lost looking for ThunderClan's medicine cat. Oh, no. She'd rather fight more that lay down her ego.

Staining him red wasn't exactly accurate more so like staining him pink. Where her claws had hit him, his fur was starting to turn pink. The large fluffy tom stepped back as soon as Mossbloom told him too. He wasn't going to question his medicine cat but as soon as Cinderpaw made another threat the large fluffy tom bristled. "Watch your tongue Shadowclan scum, you are out numbered and that is no way to talk to my medicine cat." His voice came out in a low rumbling growl, meaning every bit of the threat he was presenting.

Mossbloom blinked in amusement at the ShadowClan she-cat's reaction, a low purr rumbling in her chest. I wonder if she's related to Thornstar in any way.... She mused to herself, her tail waving lightly. "I would certainly like to keep my pelt, as leaf-bare is fast approaching, and while thin this fur has been rather helpful in keeping me warm through it. If you insist, we will certainly accompany you to camp, however first I am taking a look at those wounds. Both of you." She emphasized, looking at Dovepaw as well before disappearing in the nearby bushes. When she returned just a few heartbeats later, there were cobwebs plastered carefully to her sides, her mouth carefully held a few cob nuts. Settling next to Dovepaw, she cracked open a cob nut with her teeth and chewed it rapidly, making a quick poultice before licking it into his wounds and covering it with cobwebs on steady paws. Then, she made her way over to the ShadowClan apprentice, doing the same. However, with the wounds on her muzzle..... Mossbloom searched for a wide leaf and found one quickly, carefully licking the poultice onto it instead of directly on the wound. "Here, I don't want to overstep, but we should really stop the bleeding. Use your paw to put the poultice on the scratches on your muzzle, then I can cover them with cobwebs. Once that's done, we'll take you to camp."

Cinderpaw had armed herself with a hiss as soon as Dovepaw spat hostile words into her vicinity. ShadowClan scum? Who did that puffed-up, over-sized, fluffy maggot-eater think he was? Before Cinderpaw could snap back at the tom, the new calico she-cat stepped in front of the apprentice, her voice much kinder but stern somehow, like a mother. Cinderpaw was reminded of Freckleface's scolding when Gravelkit had gotten stuck in a bush.

The calico disappeared into the undergrowth before returning moments later with leaves in her maw, green eyes twinkling. She was going to... look at Cinderpaw's wounds? And then... bring Cinderpaw to camp, just like that? The massive she-cat had imagined that her demands would be meant with much more force, but this small calico seemed to know something the apprentice didn't. Was she being played?

Although grumpy, Cinderpaw kept her manners and sat still with little protest as the she-cat pressed some poultice into Dovepaw's wounds first, before giving the ShadowClan cat some on a leaf. How does she know to do that...? The she-cat thought to herself, head cocked to one side with as much subtlety as she could muster. Perhaps this calico was Mossbloom's sister? Maybe she was sick once and spent a lot of time in the medicine den with the medicine cat? Head caught in some kind of strange fog, Cinderpaw obeyed the mysterious calico cat and used her oversized paw to apply the strange paste to her muzzle and nose, closing her eyes as she went through the motions. Dovepaw's earlier statement rang distantly through the cat's head. "...that is no way to talk to my medicine cat..."

"Are you...?" Cinderpaw lowered her paw from her face and cursed Wolffang under her breath for putting the she-cat in such an awkward situation. "You're Mossbloom, aren't you? Foxdung." It was the calico's business where Cinderpaw was going, because Cinderpaw was going to find her. "I don't need to go to ThunderClan's camp anymore... I'm... I'm here to see you. Mothglow's dead and some arrogant mange-pelt StarClan cat sent me to find you. You see... I'm..." It hadn't fully hit the she-cat until now. "Well I'm ShadowClan's new medicine cat."

Dovepaw froze. His face showed no change of emotion but on the inside he was afraid. He had attacked a medicine cat.. what would that mean for him? Would Starclan be mad at him? He didn't know.. how could he have known. She didn't have the herb scent like Mossbloom.. She crossed into their territory and was going through the undergrowth like a rogue.. he was right in attacking a trespasser right?

Green eyes glanced over to Mossbloom for a second, his eyes posing a question if everything was okay despite what had happened. He would have to ask her later when Cinderpaw wasn't here and couldn't pin him for feeling guilty or afraid of Starclan's wrath. For now he was going to act like the warrior in training he was meant to be.

Mossbloom blinked as the ShadowClan cat cursed, ears perking at the mention of her not needing to go to camp any longer. The she-cat was here to see her, apparently, and while her mind rushed through the possibilities (did Mothglow need some herbs, perhaps?) Cinderpaw broke the news. Mothglow was dead. Her eyes widened as she stared at the she-cat, ears flattening in grief and sorrow for the loss of the medicine cat that had once bowled her over. Her tail slowly lowered to the ground as she turned her gaze to the sky in a silent prayer for her friend before she pushed away the shock and grief to refocus, giving her head a quick shake as her gaze landed back on the apprentice in time to hear that she was StarClan's chosen medicine cat. Rather quick to get in a fight, but if she were to guess the she-cat had been training as a warrior before finding that her path had suddenly changed. Stars above, why couldn't StarClan be a little more considerate.... "I see. I'm sorry to hear about Mothglow, she was a good cat, and a better friend. She will be missed among all of the clans. I assume you're here because you need a mentor, then?" Mossbloom looked over her quickly - Dovepaw hadn't seemed injured more than the scratches, perhaps she hadn't been fully accepted as a medicine cat yet... Casting a glance over to the tom, she noted the question in his eyes and cast him a small smile. "Dovepaw, could you find the rest of the patrol and tell them I'll catch up later? It appears I have important matters to attend to, please advise Daisybloom that we will have a guest for a short time as well. We'll talk more later, I promise." She mewed, hoping the tom wouldn't argue with her too much. She didn't have all of the answers, but maybe once she had a better grasp of what was going on she would. Turning back to Cinderpaw, she nodded slightly. "If that is what you're here for, then I will be happy to do so. If you're sure this is what you want, of course - the stars make it hard to deny but it is still your choice. If it is not, then I can escort you back to ShadowClan, no further questions, but if it is then we'll go back to camp so we can discuss more, the half moon is tomorrow night so we might as well travel to it together." Mossbloom offered, sitting down and wrapping her tail over her paws, head tilting slightly as she awaited her answer.