Sibling Speak [for Raven siblings]

Ravenclaw was lying in the middle of camp, taking in the two beams of sunlight that were able to get through the trees. Her eyes gazed over the camp, seeing the rogue cats watching over them from a distance, slinking around in the shadows. She frowned and bared her fangs, her tail twitching angrily. Those rat-faced rogues, thinking they could just come into their camp and take it for themselves. It was inconceivable! They were interlopers, and any cat who conspired with them were dead to her. That was likely happening with the weaklings in the other clans, but not them. SkyClan was strong and pure, and they would chase out those rogues without anyone even considering having an illicit relationship with them.

With nothing to do, she just laid there and felt annoyed at the whole situation. She hated the feeling of all those foreign eyes upon them: when they were in camp, when they were out in the forest. They never had any private time to themselves, and she was going to explode if she didn't have enough time to talk trash about them. At least there were her siblings, milling around various parts of the camp. She had told herself she wanted to spend more time with them, as her focus on becoming a warrior made her feel disconnected with them. The takeover only made things worse. Who to talk to first, though...

Ashstorm was walking through the trees, attempting to find prey for herself, but quickly realizing that in leaf-bare it would be way harder.  So, this time she decided to just go back to camp.  She liked the cat Dawnhawk had to watch her, although it did make her feel like her privacy had been invaded even more than it had been.  Ashstorm did not like to act too hostile to the new cats, unlike some of the other cats in her tribe because of this thought that came into her head may times a day.  What if it were Skyclan?  What if Wolfstar, or some other future leader, begin to feel like Skyclan is strong enough to take over other tribes and ordered us to?  It would be good for Skclan and if the warriors did not help they would be seen as a traitor so we all would probably do it.  So, anyone who would not and would be fine to be seen as a traitor, go ahead and complain.  She constantly thought about saying that to everyone, but knew it would only cause more fighting.

Ashstorm spotted Ravenclaw sitting alone between too trees.  That was one of her siblings that she wished she saw more.  And one of the few who probably doesn't hate me at the moment. She thought bitterly.  She told Himbo Bob to stay in the trees, she did not want to cause any fighting today, especially with one of her few siblings that were not in the argument.  She walked up to Ravenclaw and smiled.  "Hello, Ravenclaw," she said happily.  "What are you doing?"

To say Beechface was unhappy about the Asylum's presence would be like saying that the fire from greenleaf had singed a few trees. It was a gross understatement. With a huff, the large she-cat stepped out of the medicine den, sparing an icy glare for the guards sitting just outside of the entrance to it.

Yellow-green eyes swept the clearing, surveying the cats around camp, unhappily taking note of the rogues scattered around camp. A dark form had settled in the clearing, and Beechface recognized Ravenclaw, looking just as annoyed as Beechface felt about the rogues. Ravenclaw was a sensible she-cat.

"Hey, sis." Beechface padded over to her dark-furred sibling, settling beside her with a soft huff. Ashstorm had also approached, and Beechface gave her a wary nod. They'd... Sort of patched things up, kind of. Apologies had been made, but Beechface couldn't help the discomfort she felt knowing that Ashstorm had a guard trailing her that seemed to be rather... friendly. It was the same tom that had attempted to chastise her during their argument, the one who had insulted Primroselight, and if Beechface wasn't mistaken, had been overly friendly with Smokefeather (much to her mother's dismay). If he tried anything with Ashstorm, she would not be pleased.

“Ashstorm, Beechface.” Ravenclaw nodded to each in turn, thankful for the company. And hey, it meant she didn’t need to seek out her family: they came to her of their own volition. She glanced at each she-cat, realizing that she didn’t know what to say. When was the last time she and Ashstorm had spoken more than a few words? She hadn’t really seen Beechface since she had her StarClan dream. It felt like it was her fault for not reaching out. “Is everything going okay?” Considering her struggles to fully connect to her big family, it made sense that she had little idea of what had happened recently. “Any...” She didn’t know how to properly say that she wanted to know if they had a plan to get those intruders out of their camp. Instead, she dropped her voice and grumbled, “Those ratfaces need to go...”

"Hello!"

Vulturepaw's feathery chirp gently granted a much needed disruption to the blatantly tense discussion transpiring between Ravenclaw, Beechface, and Ashstorm. The cheery skip in the speckled molly's unhurried gait was a stark contrast to the agitated movements of her sisters, easily crossing the short distance to where the little trio resided with confident steps, unwitting to the depths of the apparent danger currently entangled within the lifeblood of their home. Asylum's initial arrival had certainly been terrifying enough, but the eventual realization of how little her actual day-to-day life had changed did well to soothe her apprehension. The restricted access to the freedom of the territory wasn't very alien to her anyways, considering how infrequently she was able to tag along with other patrols or pairings in the absence of Adderflare. Though, she did have enough of a mind to generally avoid the sullen visitors who frequently fringed the outskirts of the clearing. Softly rounded curve of her cheek bone connecting with the protruding ridges of Beechface's spine in a gentle greeting, Vulturepaw snaked herself around the incredibly familiar shape of her elder sibling, turning a twin pair of pale eyes upon the stiff conversation being shared on behalf of Ravenclaw. "It feels like its been moons since I've seen everyone together! What are we talking about?"

"Everything is fine Ravenclaw," Ashstorm said smiling.  "I just wanted to hang out with you."  Standing next to Beechface still felt weird to her.  They had... spoken before this and... kind of agreed on some things, but it was still strange.  Why did one fight tear most of her family apart?  Ashstorm was pretty sure that her family were strong and skilled warriors, so how could these strong warriors be so weak as to not use logic and just insult each other?  Ashstorm admired those skilled in fight, but thought it was as important to be skilled in talking your argument.  That was the only way to be a real good warrior.

Of course, Ravenclaw needed to bring up the Asylum.  A moment of anger filled up in her and her claws dug into the earth.  For a reason unknown to her, she felt like she needed to stand up for Himbo Bob.  Like she must do that for him like he did for her when she was crying during the fight.  He was not crying.  He was not even there.  So, why do I feel like this? She thought.

Thankfully, Vulturepaw came in to break the tension.  "Hello," She happily replied back to her sister.  She paused for Vulturepaw to talk again.  "Yeah it's been a long time!  We are talking about-" a moment passed as she began to think about exactly what they were talking about.  "Life?  And the Asylum."  She looked at Beechface for an uncomfortable second, then turned her gaze back to Vuturepaw, hoping none of them realized that, after the Asylum was mentioned, she put on the fake smile that Dawnhawk taught her.

"If I could get away with cracking skulls..." Beechface muttered to Ravenclaw darkly, very much in agreement with the dark-furred warrior's dislike of the Asylum. "I dislike how that one pale-furred rogue looks at mom and Blossomstep. And what feels like half the she-cats in the clan. I am sick and tired of having guards follow my every movement." She complained, uncaring of the flash of irritation she could see across Ashstorm's face as the rogues were brought up by Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw was a smart, loyal warrior. She at least understood Beechface's point of view.

Beechface purred as Vulturepaw approached and laid her cheek against her back, affectionately pressing against the fluffy apprentice in return. The warmth of her fur and presence was welcome, even if the cold didn't particularly bother Beechface.

"Hey, Vulturepaw." She mewed, "How's training going?"

"He's a pile of foxdung." Primroselight said as she padded over to sit beside Beechface. She had heard the rouge tom's insult to her, even if he hadn't realised. She may've been upset in that moment, but she had still listened to the rest of their conversation, even if it had been from a distance. It had been a while since she had chatted with Ravenclaw as well, and, much to her delight, Vulturepaw also joined the conversation around the same time as her. However, her lip curled slightly as she heard Ashstorm's voice. I should forgive her a little I guess, the warrior thought, but she's so easily influenced by Dawnhawk.

As she didn't want to interrupt Vulturepaw, she decided that she would save her apology to Ashstorm for later. Out of the three 'family members' that she had now disowned, her little sister was the only one she was willing to forgive in any way: she was young, and Dawnhawk had put all kinds of thoughts in her head that made her think the rouges were great.

Ravenclaw hummed in thought, lying down but having her entire body on alert. That was a natural reaction to the Asylum cats hanging around, but there was also something going on between her siblings. She could sense tension settling over them, so thick she could carve shapes out of it with her claws. Had something happened when she wasn't looking? It made her frown deeply, realizing just how out of touch she had become with her siblings. She wanted to ask, but her question was left hanging on her tongue as more of her siblings approached. That was likely fine, since she wasn't sure she wanted to put it out there in front of everyone. If there was truly something wrong, then the last thing she wanted was the Asylum cats sensing more weakness from them. This was a threat they all had to stand together against.

"They do what?" Hearing what Beechface said caught Ravenclaw off guard. One of those ratfaces was looking at their mother in such a way? She let her claws come out, digging into the dirt. She wanted to tear his face off right then and there, but she had to hold back. The opportunity wasn't there, and her life was worth more than one measly rogue's. "There has to be something we can do..." Her voice lapsed off after that, her body settling down as she started to think. What could they do? There had to be something...

Weight gently pitching and shifting between the various points of her narrow forelimbs, Vulturepaw was quick to softly lurch backwards onto her haunches- allowing the responding course of movements on behalf of Beechface to help coax her into some futile mimicry of a seating position. Pale gaze drifting idly between the various shapes of her littermates sprawled out and about, pupils shrinking just a fraction at the realization of the uncomfortable and unfamiliar undercurrent of tension currently bearing down upon the quietly chatting group, she did little more than trill softly in response to Beechface's warm greeting, tufted ears twitching softly at Ashstorm's explanation.

"Training is good," She simply mewed, unwilling to divulge too much about the admittedly disastrous affair of her training, especially whenever her sisters seemed to be speaking about something she evidently missed- whether that was intentional on their behalf or not, it still kicked up her heart a notch or two, a steady pulse of interest flickering to life. "It's a little boring, but at least that hasn't changed all things considered."

Gently rounded point of the chin bowing forward softly, Vulturepaw leaned in a touch closer, big pale gaze wide and earnest as she peered at the various shapes of her littermates - first to Primroselight, then to Ashstorm, before flicking between Ravenclaw and Beechface in rapid succession - as she attempted to discern the trivial points of conversation currently happening. Evidently quite a bit had occurred between her sisters without her knowledge, which wasn't entirely too surprising considering everything that had transpired following the unsavory arrival of Asylum. "Who did what?" Vulturepaw inquired, voice hushed as she watched Ravenclaw score irritably at the soft earth underpaw.

Ashstorm hated how easily the tension grew between them.  "One of the Asylum cats did something that was not the best," she whispered to Vulturepaw.  She tried to think of something to say they would get them away from the subject of the Asylum.  "Is it okay if we don't talk about the Asylum today?" she said in a soft and kind voice, not really portraying the emotion she felt.  "Ravenclaw and Vulturepaw, how have you two been?  I feel like we haven't talked in a while."

Not talking about the interlopers? Huh... Well, it was hard not to talk about them, considering the ugly presence they had in their camp life, but maybe a distraction would be best for now. At least until they could come up with a proper plan to get rid of them. "Things aren't so bad. I'm a warrior after all." She puffed out her chest proudly, tail held high. "With me as a warrior, nobody stands a chance at defeating us!"

"They all are." Beechface stretched her paws, playfully batting at Primroselight as her littermate sat beside her before settling back against the warmth of Vulturepaw's side. Being surrounded by family felt... nice.

"How've you been, Prim? I think Wolfstar might've been right, I do miss having your company in my den." The words were said with a cheery laugh despite the reference to the argument and her own consternation with their grandfather. If there was one sibling that Beechface had always gotten along with, no matter the circumstances, it was Primroselight.

Naturally, Ashstorm didn't want to talk about the Asylum. Beechface was at least gratified that Ravenclaw was as angry as she was over the situation. There was a petty part of Beechface that didn't quite want to let the topic go, but she had to try. Picking a fight wouldn't do any of them any good, and... She was trying to do better. That didn't mean her anger had subsided, but she was trying to at least be civil.

"Boring is probably a good thing, as far as training goes." She sighed. Stars knew her own warrior training had been rather eventful. Beechface could admit that said eventfulness had seldom been a good thing, if not for the sanity of her mentor and parents, then for the health of the clan.