when the judge comes

( OOC: this thread directly follows this one! )

Half-lidded eyes closed every so often as Mozart, "Flame", leaned heavily against Webshadow, limping on one lame leg as if he had twisted his paw. It wasn't actually injured, of course, so his excellent acting was accidentally putting a strain on his other limbs. Mozart winced, real this time, and raised his gaze to see where the patrol was in the marshes. They were nearing a group of brambles, prickly and sharp, and the young tom grit his teeth at the thought of passing through them. It must have been important, or else the ShadowClanners wouldn't be so stupid as to walk right into them. ...Or would they?

He closed his eyes tightly shut as they passed through an opening in the brush, opening them again when he sensed a light shift behind his eyelids. A damp, dark clearing stretched before him, lined with brambles and similar openings in the brush to hide what he assumed to be dens. His heart leaped with excitement. Finally, ShadowClan camp! Phase 2 of his plan was complete. The warrior he was leaning against stopped walking, and Mozart, caught off-guard in his excitement, slid off of him and into the mud with a grunt. The mud stung in his scratches and he hissed involuntarily with genuine pain.

"I-Is this it? Are we here...?" His question hung in the cold night air, floating where Webshadow, Frostgaze, or Jasminepaw to answer. Or for whoever else may be listening. Mozart took a moment to lay in the mud, then slowly climbed back to his paws, holding his "injured" one off of the ground. The dense stench of the place was overwhelming, and it took every bit of his strength to not sneeze to rid his nose of the smell.

The walk back to camp was quiet, the air tense as the patrol lead the little rogue home. As they went, Webshadow was careful to keep his steps slow, not to let his long stride get the better of Flame, and he kept his sharp eyes trained on the cat the entire time. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for, staring at the newcomer like that, but his gaze only drifted to be sure Frostgaze and Jasminepaw were still there. Perhaps if he stared long enough some sort of answer would come to him.

Pushing through the thorn tunnel meant less time for thinking of answers, though Webshadow's focus was rewarded when Flame lost his balance and tumbled into the mud. Webshadow tipped his head, wondering if the kit would rise on his own. He spoke instead, and lingered on the ground for a moment. The warrior blinked slowly, as if he was waiting, then gave a satisfied nod as he regathered his paws.

"Flintstar. Murkystrike." He called out, whiskers twitching. It was less a question of where were they, and it wasn't at all come here, now– it was simply a statement, as if he'd been introducing them instead of calling for their assistance. In the space between waiting for them to appear, Webshadow swished his tail against Flame's side, humming, "This is ShadowClan camp. You will be safe here."

Ratpaw sniffed, raising his head from his meal. The frog — in hindsight — might’ve been too much for him on his own; half still remained. It wasn’t the pretty half, either: mostly the guts, and half the back, from where he tried to hack off manageable bites. It didn’t help that it was cold (caught the night before) and made chewier for it. He glanced down at it again: it was still not any more appetizing than a second ago. Maybe I can find someone to finish it?

And then, as if answering his prayers, he heard a slight rustle of the thorn tunnel. It was led by a familiar scent, too — maybe his mentor liked chewy, stiff frog? (Or... frog guts?) He hadn’t ever asked. Pleased, though, just by the tom’s presence, Ratpaw immediately abandoned his meal to greet him.

It wasn’t unusual, for any cat to enter with others. Clanmates went out together all the time. But it was unusual for said clanmates to return with... a not-clanmate. The young apprentice flicked an ear, then looked to Webshadow, who was speaking to the... kit, beside him?

”Webshadow?” he mewed in question, curious and hesitant all in one. His mentor seemed a little... worn, and so were the other clanmates with him, but they weren’t moving much. ”Should I get someone?”

That strange-smelling cat, too — he didn’t look too good.

Flintstar sat curled in his nest, rolling his mother's stone along the ground as his eyes were narrowed in thought. His mind was focused at the situations that seemed to be nipping at the heels of his Clan... His ears twitched as the sound of a voice caught his ear - Webshadow, calling out for both him and his deputy. He glanced up, a huff escaping him as he carefully tucked the stone away into his nest once more before he pushed himself to his paws and padded from the den. It wasn't hard to locate the warrior - along with the...Stranger that he had brought with him. The sight of the cat caused Flintstar's fur to curl, eyes narrowing. It was one thing for his warriors to bring in rogue kits... It was another to bring in a proper rogue. "Webshadow, who is this?" he meowed, his voice carrying a hint of a growl as he narrowed his eyes at his warrior. Vea's cats were a thorn in their side - he had to hope that his warrior had thought this through.

"This young loner was found in the territory, he claimed to be attacked by a fox. It appears he has no connection to any rogue groups... but in all fairness, we cannot be sure of that necessarily. I would request that I can take Webshadow with me after we have dealt with Flame here so that we may get that fox off of Shadowclan territory." Frostgaze entered later than the rest, coming into earshot as Flintstar requested information. He trotted over quickly, unwilling to slowly pad over when there was serious discussion to be done.

"So Flintstar, what would you have us do with Flame?" The warrior's tone was curious, and his head cocked gently to the side. "On one paw, he is a young, injured loner on Shadowclan territory. If we left him, there was a fair possibility of his death. On the other paw, he is still a loner, and old enough to understand hunting, we could set him out on his own once more, with or without an injured leg." Tail gently sweeping against the ground, Frostgaze watched the cats who had gathered with interest. What would they think of bringing in an older rogue? Even Frostgaze had to admit, it was certainly strange,.

An absolutely enormous tom exited a den and approached them, and Mozart could only guess that this was Flintstar, the ShadowClan leader. He ducked his gaze away from the dark cat respectfully, a chill of genuine apprehension shuddering down his spine. Clan cats were stupid brutes, he didn't expect them to actually have a scary, imposing leader!

He opened his maw to reply to Flintstar when that white tom from earlier spoke up behind him. Frosteyes, or whatever his name was. The warrior gave a sufficient enough explanation, so once he was finished, Mozart nodded, raising his gaze to peer up at the leader with a pitiful expression. "I-I don't want to cause any trouble, Flintstar, believe me...If, if I'm not wanted here, I-I understand, I can...make my leave. But what your warrior here says is true. M-My parents, they..." His voice broke, sparking the waterworks again. "The fox to-took them...I honestly don't know where the fox went, I ran, b-but it still could be on your territory... It was near the road the last time I saw it," He remembered the Clan cats didn't know what a "road" was. He assumed they had another name for it, but what that name happened to be, he had no idea. It was probably something stupid.

Murkystrike padded up in time to hear the young rogue tom mention a fox that had taken his parents. Her eyes narrowed as she looked him over carefully, noting the way he carried himself as if his leg hurt. If his story was true... Perhaps it was injured along the way. She stepped forward to stand next to Flintstar, mewing softly to him. "I'll send out a patrol immediately, to track the fox. I'll send enough that they'll be able to chase it off, should it still be in the territory." She mewed, tail flicking as she looked to the rogue once more. Kits were one thing, older cats were a totally different one... She would support what Flintstar decided, but she would be keeping a close eye on the tom.

Ratpaw soon saw there was no need for him to look for Murkystrike or Flintstar: both of them appeared before long, and the little tom stepped out of the way, quietly. He listened, whiskers still, ears canted carefully to the sides, and then glanced toward the young loner tom. Frostgaze’s descriptions made him... cold. It made his chest squeeze, too, ever so slightly. Ratpaw knew such tragedies happened, but... What if that were my mom? It made him shuffle, uncomfortably.

Dusktail was... she was his mom. Of course he loved her. And because of that, he’d also never thought of something happening to her, either — she hunted like a lioness and laughed at things he didn’t understand and fussed over him (relentlessly), spent her days living in and out of his world. Ratpaw, who only thought of this now, realized he’d never seen her defend herself. Did Flame’s parents? Or was it... did it happen too quickly?

Ratpaw’s eyes were drawn to Murkystrike — the deputy warrior who had made him an apprentice. The imposing molly seemed serious, focused on the situation. Before he could think twice, at the mention of a patrol, he interrupted, ”Could I be on the patrol, too?”

It seemed... urgent, and Ratpaw was here. He had no other place to be. Webshadow would be going — he could stay close, couldn’t he? And... he tried not to look at Flame, because maybe Ratpaw didn’t want to be here with that loss, either. It was unnervingly more emotion than Ratpaw felt truly comfortable with.

Flintstar glanced between the two cats, tail lashing before finally a heavy sigh escaped him. He didn't like this - things were to stressful to allow this... Flame in... But as he stared at the young tom, he also knew he couldn't turn him away. He closed his eyes, thinking through it for a few heartbeats before he flickered open his gaze, glancing over at his deputy. "Do that - we have enough on our tail with Vea's group, I don't want this fox causing trouble," he meowed as he gave Murkystrike a nod, before he glanced between Frostgaze and Flame. "...As for you - Frostgaze, take him to Basilpaw's den. Have her give him a check-up and get that leg looked at. Flame, I'll allow you to stay for now - but you will be treated as an apprentice to this Clan. Once you are recovered enough, you will start training - help support this Clan while we are caring for you if you wish to stay - or you may choose to leave on your own once you have recovered enough," he finished before he turned to glance back at Murkystrike, motioning for her to start gathering a patrol to take care of that fox before he turned to pad back to the Jaggedrock - taking a seat beneath it to watch what his Clan would do now.

Murkystrike nodded as Flintstar agreed with her, slipping away as he nodded to gather the patrol to go after the fox. When she looked back to Flintstar their eyes briefly met, and she gave the order for the patrol to go ahead and be on their way. The patrol made their way out of camp, heading towards where they had been told Flame had been found, as she turned to arrange another smaller patrol to keep guard around camp until the other one returned with news. They would also want to increase the number of guards for the night, just in case, at least until they knew what had happened with the fox.