A Ponderance of Mice

"Ow, ow ow ow, my paw hurts!" Lichenpaw exclaimed, feigning a limp as he made his way towards the medicine den. Asylum eyes seemed to be everywhere, the apprentice knew, and he needed an excuse to talk to his sister. Out of all his older siblings, Beechface was the one he liked the most. Not that he disliked Primroselight, but he would not speak of the cat he used to call his older brother. Screwing up his face in a pained expression, Lichenpaw padded pitifully towards the den, poking his head in once he reached the entrance.

"Beechface? I, uh, got a "thorn" in my paw," he called, holding up his "injured" paw and waving it around a little. "Can I come in?" Without waiting for her answer, he slipped inside, shooting a glance over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed. Now he lowered his voice, a devilish grin spreading across his face. "I don't actually have a thorn, I just wanted to talk to you. I have an idea."

Beechface lifted her head at the sound of her name being called, eyes landing on her brother as he made his way into the den. Lichenpaw was loud and boisterous, but she loved her little brother. He had never frustrated her in the way that Dawnhawk had, and they often found themselves getting along despite having wildly different personalities.

So when he lowered his voice to ask if he could talk to her, Beechface immediately nodded. He shouldn't have to use a trick to be able to do that, but that was what they had to work with as those filthy rogues infested the camp. Beechface very much wished that she could drive them all out of Skyclan's territory, but she couldn't. She hated the feeling of them watching her every movement, and hated them even more for what they'd done to her father. Most of all, she hated feeling useless and being powerless to stop them.

"Hey, Lichenpaw." She mewed, affectionately bumping her head against his shoulder in greeting. "What's up? An idea?"

He leaned into his older sister's touch, rumbling a brief purr before he pulled away. "Yeah! I was gonna bring it up to Grandpa--, uh, I mean Wolfstar, but I wanted to run it by ya first. You or Dad, really. But Dad is, y'know...healing. Anyway, listen, hear me out." Lichenpaw sat back on his haunches, leaving his front paws free to gesture. "You know mouse bile? How it smells so bad? What if we get all of SkyClan to secretly roll in it, so it gets in our fur, and then when those Asylum squirrelbrains ask why we all smell so bad, we just go like, 'What do you mean? We always smell like this during Leafbare, didn't you know?'" As he talked, he gestured wildly with his paws, a wicked grin on his face. He looked very pleased with himself. "Although, I know somecats won't like this at all...Mouse bile is pretty disgusting but I think if we all do it, they will want to leave to escape those weird, nasty SkyClanners...Whaddya think? I think this is promising!"

"If there was any way to get rid of them I'd take it immediately." Beechface allowed a quiet laugh as she sat next to her brother, affectionately pressing her shoulder against his.

"The cold air would kill the scent faster, we'd need a lot of mice." She mewed, not at all phased by the fact that she was considering the idea in the first place. In greenleaf the plan would have genuine merit, scents were stronger. But she also didn't want to wait for seasons just to get rid of the rogues, she'd rather they were gone yesterday.

"Mom would blow our cover immediately." She smirked at the thought, though. Smokefeather wasn't as nauseated by strong smells as Bloodstrike, but stars forbid she get her pelt dirty. She had to be the cleanest cat in Skyclan, her fur always looked like it was groomed within an inch of its' life.