expedition of the ordinary sort [open border patrol!]

ooc; im maxing this as two other people for the sake of speediness. goal is to get a battle req in for this^^ open to anyone

Fawnstep was leading the dawn patrol. As he'd grown, the tom was quickly learning the delicate art of not overworking himself. Resting his limbs and eating proper made him leaner and more deadly. No longer did it take a while to shake the weariness from his paws. The handsome warrior was poised and ready to lead his patrol. Flickering his tail behind him, the tom called the patrol onwards. Early morning dew still clung to the grass in delicate droplets. Racing forward too quickly was a rabbitbrained idea, unless one of them wanted to lose their footing. Instead, he kept a steady pace with glaring blue eyes raking the open lands. Underneath the pale morning sun, his coat was a shadowy contrast, more so than usual. Fracturing the still air, he finally spoke a direction, "We will go past Fourtrees before checking the Riverclan border. You can never be too careful with them."

Muddyleap bounced on his paws, eyes glimmering at a chance to finally get to hang out with his father. He knew that Sunnyskip had spent time with him but the chance had never really seemed to appear for the warrior - until now. His energy died a little when it was mentioned that they were going to be checking the borders, as it was one of his least favorite things. It was...Hard to check them when he couldn't even smell them but... "Right, sounds good!" he meowed, trying to keep up his energy nonetheless. It was still his greatest shame, his inability to smell...He would have to pretend to be useful he suppose.

Meanwhile, Goldenpaw could not keep still. She was awake early as usual, and perhaps slightly delirious from lack of sleep, and had bolted to Fawnstep’s side when she saw him preparing to leave. She trotted next to him, eager to hurry forward despite the slippery conditions. “Oh, are we gonna get to fight today? Show me some advanced fighting moves, please?!” She chirped, blue eyes gleaming with anticipation and perhaps a spark of malevolence.

One of his eldest kits had joined him on patrol, along with a young apprentice. It seemed to be a decent group. Goldenpaw had enough energy for an entire clan of cats, which was something he noted with interest. As Muddyleap affirmed the direction, Fawnstep offered him a nod of gratitude. Both seemed hopeful and eager to please despite the fact this was such an early, sunrise endeavor. When the apprentice piped up with her question, a grin flickered across the tom's maw and he glanced at her, "If it comes to a battle, you can be certain I'll show you a thing or two. Has your mentor taught you much?" While he asked, curious enough, the tom bit his tongue just before remarking that regardless, they would both learn more from him. Being affiliated with a former Asylum cat, and previously being under their claws, Fawnstep had learned to be ruthless and relentless in his pursuits; it showed in battle. As he thought over these things, the brown and white warrior considered that he'd seen very little of Muddyleap during the other tom's apprentice days. It was never too late to learn something, regardless.

Muddyleap perked up as Goldenpaw questioned if they were going to fight, eyes glimmering at the idea as he glanced over his shoulder to look at the apprentice with a grin. "Oh, I can show you some moves as well!" he added, although he knew the question was more directed at Fawnstep instead of him. He was a pretty new warrior himself but that didn't mean he didn't know how to fight! "I love fighting, its just fun and..." he suddenly drifted off, ears flicking back as he suddenly remembered that he...Really shouldn't fight. He had promised Lilacstar that he wouldn't go out of his way to get hurt but he really liked the idea of fighting and...It wasn't fair. He glanced down at his paws as they walked, tail lashing. He...He knew she was right. It was dangerous when he couldn't feel pain or anything but he was a warrior! Fighting was what they were suppose to do! It wasn't... He took in a deep breath, quickly trying to cover up his doubt as he flashed Goldenpaw another smile. "I'll be happy to show you what I learned from Amberfluff whenever you want, Goldenpaw!"

The young she-cat giggled in delight at the chance to learn from both of the warriors. “Honeyheart showed me the basics, but I wanna rip off tails ‘n things like that.” Goldenpaw had never fought an enemy, let alone another cat, but she was confident that she could do some real damage if it came down to it. Her tail lashed behind her as she trotted along. “Yeah, that’d be great, Muddyleap! What’s it like? Is it more fun than stalking prey? I get so bored just looking for things. Chasing’s fun, though!” She meowed, feeling a burst of energy budding in her chest at the thought of chasing down an enemy.

The other warrior volunteered his skills as well, it one again brought the hints of a smile to Fawnstep's maw. He glanced back at the tom, something flickering in the depths of his gaze. There was an interest there, perhaps a mild one, at the fact that this kit was his son. How much of him was in Muddyleap? How much was Hayglow? Regardless, it was obvious which parent he'd taken after when it came to an interest in battle. There was some doubt, a hint of it, which he noted with a soft frown. Perhaps some other cat had instilled that in him. A low snort came from Fawnstep as he remarked, "The biggest mistake a cat can make in battle is hesitation. Keep that in mind while fawning over fancy moves."

At this rate, they had journeyed just beyond fourtrees. With the early morning breeze, Fawnstep could pick up the faint scents of the other clan's mixing together with their own. He sought to snuff it out quickly by marking the border. That settled, he turned his gaze back to the borders and territory ahead. Goldenpaw caused him to laugh lowly, "Let me know what Lilacstar says when you try to being the tails of your enemies back to camp. I like the determination, though. We'll have you tearing down enemy cats in no time with that attitude." Ahead, he saw a flicker of movement at the border. Underneath the pale light, he was just able to pick out the shadow of a cat quite a few paces ahead.

"Looks like this might be your chance, Goldenpaw. Stay on guard, the both of you, I'll handle this."

Tarot was still scoping out the wilderness, somehow he had made it at a few clan's borders unnoticed, recently he had taken an interest in Riverclan, and had been observing their patrolling schedule with sharp eyes. He had gauged their dawn patrols enough to know when he could safely pass. He always made sure to leave the territory before the next one would come along, so even if they caught his scent, they would have to wonder if it was worth it to travel past their adorable invisible boundaries to find him.

The moors though, he hadn't predicted perfectly, and he'd admit that his itching curiosity about clan cats had gotten the better of him and made him dare to step a paw in their 'Windclan' land without any plan. He was also looking for food, a rabbit because his favourite meal was rather sparse, and he needed to make sure he didn't drain the resource so quickly.

That was his excuse for crossing to the hare-abundant land without preparation, but he wasn't one to fool himself, it was, quite plainly, an impulse to see what these societal cats were like. If their social constructs made them any less savage than many loners were.

He had gotten a good few foxlengths into the land when he scented the patrol, well, mostly he heard them, their chatter, while he wished he could've listened to, had been hard to understand at such a distance, a true pity. Head rising, he turned, looking at the approaching cats calmly, feathery tail waving slightly in the breeze. His posture was lax and non-threatening, claws sheathed and intended to only be used if forced to. His eyes were sharp though.

He always made sure his body language was in perfect check, one wrong move and a cat could view him as the one to attack first, and he never attacked first unless a feline crosses him on a bad day. Despite this he was no fool, he was prepared to spring into action, but it was hidden under his mask of calm apathy he wore for situations like this.

Head tilting, tall ears perked, he observed the trio of cats, noting their lithe frames, and making the rather safe judgment that these particular clan cats used swiftness to their advantage. It made sense, living in such an open place with birds of prey looking for easy meals. The only things one could adapt to survive in such an environment would be speed and agility, and perhaps the ability to hide under the ground as quickly as a weasel.

Two cats seemed to be fully grown and held themselves with the air of experienced adults, one seemed younger, eyes still glinting with hints of youth carried over from kithood.

He noted his observations for later.

Tarot gauged the atmosphere and decided it best not to speak nor act first. Instead, he let them make the first move, luckily he had honed his reaction time to a rather effective point, one had to when they lived in a place where monsters, dogs, or twolegs could come out of nowhere and try to harm or kill you. He had seen far too many cats struck on the streets by those steel beasts due to their inability to react, freezing in place was a common mistake when iron monsters were barreling toward your face with sounds as loud as thunder.

He slowly settled onto his haunches, ear twitching in reserved greeting.

Muddyleap winced as his father let out a snort, making a mention of hesitation. His fur bristled as he glanced at Fawnstep, a sharp frown tugging at his lips. I-It wasn't like that! He wasn't about to hesitate in the middle of battle - for as much as he made that promise to Lilacstar, he still liked fighting and he would rather get hurt that anybody else but... He was just worried of what the others would think. How they would react. He already had enough eyes on him - even if it seemed only a few cats truly knew about his inability to feel pain - the fact that he never was allowed to leave camp on his own had to raise a few questions but he tried not to make a public deal with it. He huffed, gaze remaining settled on his paws as Fawnstep spoke to Goldenpaw before suddenly he requested that they remain on guard. That caused Muddyleap to lift his head, jolting a little at the sight of a cat not far from them.

He hadn't even... His pelt ran hot, fur bristling in embarrassment. Of course he hadn't noticed - it wasn't like he could smell anything. They were close to the border, weren't they? As he stepped back to let Fawnstep take the lead, he leaned over to whisper to Goldenpaw. "That has to be a RiverClan cat, right?" he questioned, before suddenly realizing his error. There was no doubt that they should have been able to catch at least a hint of the cat's scent...Right? He didn't really  know how smelling worked but it seemed like they could smell things from quite a distance. "I, uh..." he gave snort of his nose, rubbing it with his paw. "I still got the smell of my meal I ate before we left stuck in my nose so I can't really tell..."

She opened her mouth to try and pick up a scent as they neared the stranger. She could certainly pick up a smell, but... “I dunno. I haven’t met a RiverClan cat before.” Goldenpaw shrugged, thinking nothing of his question. Instead, she was wholly entranced by the tomcat - his mottled pelt, his observing eyes, the way he sat so still and calm. Who crossed a border and acted so relaxed about it, even with a patrol nearing? Goldenpaw was flooded with questions but remembered Fawnstep’s insistence that he would handle the situation. Well, no doubt the warrior would know what to do and what to say. Her eyes flicked to Fawnstep with a hungry curiosity, burning to know what he would say, or if he would say anything at all. Warriors could tell her what to do all day but she’d only ever remember their actions.

The lack of response from Muddyleap did not go unnoticed. Eventually, he planned to talk to the kit. Even if he had hardly raised a paw to bring up the kit, as per his agreement with Hayglow, there was a mild sense of duty to the tom he'd sired. It wasn't particularly driven by their shared blood or a feeling of kinship but rather a desire to see the young warrior's strength bolstered rather than harnessed. Stifling such potential did little more than squander what could be a creature of great resilience. Whatever the matter was, that would be a discussion for later. Now required action.

Fawnstep had already parted his maw and tasted the foreign scent. Being prepared for such confrontations was second nature. The handsome warrior had been prepared surge forward. His paws hesitated as he caught whispering between the pair. Shooting them a quizzical look for a mere second, the tom let out a low huff before turning back to his target. That loner had the audacity to just linger at their border as if he was not a mere whisker away from territory owned by the clans of the moor. Windclan was known for their propensity to accept all types of cats into their patchwork clan. But Fawnstep was not about to take any risks.

Racing forward, he closed the distance between them quickly, perhaps faster than this odd cat had seen before. Within a few moments, Fawnstep had pinned him to the ground. A hiss released from the sides of his maw, "From the look of it, you know that you've come across owned territory. So tell me... what is your name and why are you here, you piece of foxdung?" He waited for the rest of the patrol to catch up. Once he could sense their presence, his continued speech was directed to them, "Listen up! It's easier to assure your safety and the safety of others when you're staring at at cat under your paws, rather than being under theirs." There was a flicker of a grin across his maw before he spat down at Tarot.

Fawnstep used leap and hold, dealing 11 damage and using 10 stamina. Tarot is held for 2 turn(s).

Fawnstep
HP: 60/60
SP: 190/200

Tarot
HP: 34/45
SP: 140/140

ooc;; after holding tarot, fawn is going to jump off to give the others a chance to attack so everyone can get a hit in. then they'll give tarot a chance to run because while fawn is a meanie he doesn't want to lose his job.

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

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'Effect Dice' : 5

Being bowled over by a brute was never a fun time, even a quick one was hardly impressive. He looked for civility, the ability of self-control in cats, not skill. It had happened to Tarot before, of course, but he wasn't inclined to like such an annoying experience. Irritation flickered in his violet hues as he stared into the Rude cat's eyes, flashing with something dangerous as he marked them down as a future meal whenever he got the chance.

His words were as fowl as his disrespect, and he snarled slightly, eyes lidding in a blank deadpan. Obviously, he was not intimidated, and despite being pinned he still held the aura of elegance from before.

"'Tis customary to giveth one's nameth bef're asking f'r anoth'r, brute.  I bethought thee clan cats wouldst has't m're civility then the savages thee deem below thee." His way of speaking was odd but just as elegant as he looked. Though it would likely be hard to decipher to those with no patience. "'I loath hypocrites like thee."

His gaze remained intense as his obviously superior way of speaking disappeared into the distance as if waiting for the savage to step off him.

Muddyleap felt his stomach twist as Fawnstep raced forward and leapt upon the unknown tom rather quickly. That wasn't...! It wasn't nice! He slowly approached along with Goldenpaw, ears pricking to hear everything that Fawnstep was saying before the stranger opened his mouth and... Um...What...? The warrior's ears slicked back as he found a lot of words he almost recognized be spat at them, struggling to follow along and make sense of it. His eyes flickered back and forth in confusion between Fawnstep and the outsider. "I-I'm sorry," he meowed - not an apologize for his father's action but his confusionment for whatever the tom was trying to say. "I-I'm not used to how you are speaking... Do you want to fight or not?" he asked, leaning forward slightly. He was certain the tom had said something about fighting - also might have insulted them, he wasn't sure. But...Hayglow had made him promise not to fight cats who didn't want to. "I'm not suppose to fight unless..." he suddenly drifted off, pulling back as he felt his cheeks flush and looked up at his father - suddenly aware of how...How much Fawnstep had to be judging him for that. Fawnstep had said that a warrior didn't hesitate but it wasn't like...He... He took a small step back, suddenly feeling very conflicted on what to do - torn between what his parents would want from him.

Goldenpaw caught up with Fawnstep alongside Muddyleap, approaching in time to catch the stranger’s words. She stared blankly. She was too busy trying to decipher his first few sentences and missed the rest of whatever garbled words he spoke. Names and... savages... and hypocrites? The ‘paw even missed the tension that was growing between Fawnstep and Muddyleap. For one, she didn’t recognize the hidden meaning of the words exchanged; and second, she didn’t even know the pair were related. It passed over her without a second thought. Instead her focus shifted completely to the odd tomcat, her eyes tracing his every movement. Fawnstep released him. Why? Was that part of the code? Goldenpaw wordlessly glanced back at the warriors. She’d follow their lead. Now was the time to see warriors in action.