Gaslight Gatekeep Girlboss [CHALLENGE]

Goldenfang’s fur raised as the disgusting scent of fish from RiverClan’s territory markers filled her nose. Swiftspirit had reported a few days earlier that RiverClan moved their borders to WindClan’s side of the Gorge, and she had assembled her patrol to correct that mistake. “Why those greedy fish-lickers think they can claim our land when they can’t even reach it without traveling a long way around is beyond me. After we let them hunt on our land, too! They’ll regret it. This will be a warning. Stay alert.” The deputy snarled to her patrol, kicking dust over some of the rocks a male RiverClan warrior had marked. She’d mark it with badger blood next time around.

WindClan is challenging RiverClan for the Gorge!

Patrol:
Goldenfang (T4 deputy)
Ashfall (T4 warrior)
Swiftspirit (T5 warrior)
Hentooth (T2 MC)

WindClan has disadvantaged stats.

Ashfall remained silent as she limped to the gorge. She had to force her fur to lie flat the whole walk there. This was where her mother had died, she just hoped that her body wouldn't be anywhere nearby. The warrior had to be alert, she had to reclaim this territory for her clan. At least those she traveled with, she knew well. Every single one she trusted with her life, and Hentooth would be there as well. If any Riverclan cat put a paw on the medicine cat, they'd be answering to the full ferocity that Ashfall held. Maybe that's just what was necessariy.

Swiftspirit said nothing as Goldenfang spoke. She knew why Riverclan had claimed the area... Why Bearspirit had claimed the area. But Windclan needed it far more than Riverclan did at the moment, and Goldenfang was right. They could stay on their own foxing side of the gorge. Prey had been scarcer lately, and Swiftspirit had found herself moody and annoyed. It had nothing to do with Bearspirit's revelation.

Her lip curled at the stench of Riverclan, and she glared across the border, stepping up beside her clanmates. She felt for Bearspirit, she did, but her clan came first.

Ooc: since the gorge was claimed by RC WindClan has -1 to stamina costs!

Hentooth was… spitting mad would be both an understatement and quite literal. The bristling she-cat spat in the direction of RiverClan, claws unsheathing. “This is completely hare-brained of them. Do they think they can fish in that?” She flicked her tail at the crashing waters far below. Certain death… as Sunnyskip had unfortunately learned. The medicine cat fell back a bit, brushing her tail gently over Ashfall’s back.

“Greedy fish-breaths. They have the entire river and the Twolegs have left, what more do they want?” She asked the wind coming off the Gorge. A rhetorical question if there ever was one. Ptcha. Them fox-dunged sons of rottin’ vixens. If they happened across a patrol with more cats than them… well, Hentooth wasn’t adverse to sinking her claws into the pelt of a young warrior.

Bearspirit was on patrol, and made it a point to check the borders now. The sight of a Windclan patrol where they absolutely should not be drew a deep, gutteral growl from the large marbled tom. To see Swiftspirit among them put a bad taste in his mouth. He'd already told her... and she came back with reinforcements? Fine. She was clearly here to fight and a fight she would get.

He charged forward, barreling toward the patrol like his namesake, muscles flexing beneath his sleek pelt the whole way. "This is Riverclan territory! Windclan is not welcome here!" He bellowed out a furious yowl right before he leaped directly for Swiftspirit. He hoped other Riverclanners would have heard his battle cry and come quickly.

Bearspirit used Jumping Strike on Swiftspirit, dealing 11 damage (-1 for Moor Runner, +3 to unfocused)

Bearspirit
70HP / 153SP (-7SP)

Swiftspirit
Disadvantaged Stats in Effect
54HP / 130SP (-11HP)

Bearspirit's yowl reached Dewlight's ears, and she spurred herself forward, racing towards the gorge. That had been a yowl of anger, what was going on? As she neared him, she saw him locked in combat with a WindClan she-cat, and she quickly pieced what was going on. She braced herself as she collided with the WindClan deputy she recognized from the Gathering, rolling with the impact to get back to her paws. "You're trespassing. Jaystar long ago agreed to make the gorge neutral, but with leaf-bare swiftly approaching, RiverClan has revoked that agreement. Besides, both leaders it was made between are long dead. Leave now and I will call off our warriors." She hissed, tail lashing. She wasn't fully back to her old self, carrying and birthing her and Bearspirit's kits had taken a lot out of her, but she refused to stand by and let WindClan stake claim to territory that wasn't theirs to begin with. "Besides, if one of you fell into the gorge chasing a rabbit, it would mean certain death." She added, trying to get the she-cat to see the danger that roared only a few tail lengths away, and many cat lengths down.

Dewlight used Jumping Strike, dealing 9 (+3 not focused) damage and costing 7 SP.

Dewlight:
80/80 HP
163/170 SP (-7)

Goldenfang:
59/70 HP (-11)
150/150 SP

Swiftspirit's ears flattened in dismay as a very familiar tom came barreled towards her. She sidestepped, avoiding being completely bowled over by his muscular frame but still absorbing the force of his blow with a grimace. She didn't want to fight him, why did it have to be him?

"I won't apologize for putting my clan first." She hissed at him, though a flicker of regret crept into her expression as their gazes met. I won't apologize for putting my clan above your kits, she almost said it aloud, but refrained. Instead, she lunged for him, aiming to land on his back and claw at his flanks.

Regardless of their friendship, Windclan needed the territory.

Swiftspirit used Leap and Hold on Bearspirit for -15 sp, dealing -10 damage. Bearspirit is pinned for TWO turns.
Disadvantaged stats in effect.
Moor Runner in effect, damage taken reduced by -1.

Bearspirit pinned 1/2
60 / 70 hp (70 - 10)
153 / 160 sp

Swiftspirit
54 / 65 hp
115 / 130 sp (130 - 15)

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

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'Effect Dice' : 5

Bearspirit's energy was different this time. Before, when they had fought, his dismay at fighting her was at least a little obvious. Now.. there was a darkness. There was a rage that hadn't been there before. His eyes flashed dangerously as Swiftspirit sat on top of him, promising her vengeance for coming here again. This wasn't Bearspirit. Even he knew he wasn't acting like himself and on some level it scared him. He usually only felt this particular kind of wrath for dogs... but a cat had been responsible for...

I can't think about that right now... I have to focus!

Bearspirit hoped his slippery fur would come through for him today. He wrenched his body to the side in an attempt to throw the Windclan she-cat off of him and rise to his feet. Regardless of what happened and no matter how he felt about her... Riverclan would hold this territory! He willed it! He threw Swiftpsirit off of him and whirled to face her, lips peeled back to reveal sharp teeth and claws unsheathed.

"Go fight Shadowclan for your Hidden Outcropping! Leave the Gorge alone!" He yowled threateningly, his tail lashing behind him.

Bearspirit used Duck and Twist! -5SP The result was Successful! Dealing 4 damage (-1 damage due to Moor Runner)
Slippery Coat is being utilized! When using the move Duck-and-Twist to break out of a pin, the rolls to fail are 1-2 instead of 1-3, and rolls of success are 3-6 instead of 4-6.

Bearspirit
Duck and Twist Successful! No longer pinned!
60HP / 148SP (-5SP)

Swiftspirit
50HP / 115SP (-4HP)

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

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'Effect Dice' : 6

The tilting world continuously streaked by in a molten blur of twisting afternoon light underscored by the occasional swathing of drab cloud-cover, a flock of idly resting starlings sent scattering skywards at the frenetic pace adopted by Jayshriek; wilting foliage and muddied earth stirring sharply in the wake of his current mad-dash for the ever looming wound of the Gorge. In a manner remarkably similar to the last instance that drew him towards the Gorge, he had once again been alerted to some misgiving or another by the challenging howl left aloud by Bearspirit. Though the current stacking of events just discernible above the continuous bellowing of the rapids certainly seemed a bit more precarious than the last happening. Just as well, then. It wasn't as though Kitefire or Ivystar were present to scold him for throwing himself headlong into any semblance of available conflict.

A frantic flutter of relief pulsed through the winding, intricate map of Jayshriek's circulatory system at the realization of another Clanmate leaping into the fray alongside Bearspirit, the smoky wraith of Dewlight just faintly visible through the lingering curtain of mist hanging heavily against the staunchly terse air.

Without breaking smooth stride, and officially abandoning any pretense of an amicable patrol far behind, the dark-furred tom easily launched himself across the terrible maw of the Gorge, floundering in the horribly damp air for just a heartbeat too long, dark coat awash with the silvery spray of the rumbling currents. A sharp spray of torn grasses, sodden earth, and sharp stones went lurching into the air all around his sudden explosion onto the impromptu battlefield, a sharp snarl resonating within the fathoms of his throat as Jayshriek collided with the nearest unoccupied cat within his vicinity. "So eager for the opportunity of misfortune?" Jayshriek snarled, wild eyes fixed upon the dissimilar shape of Ashfall, "perhaps feasting upon rabbit bones and rocks will drive you into even the most pointless conflicts?"

---

Jayshriek used Jumping Strike, Dealing -10 in Damage & Costing -7 in Stamina!
+3 in Damage due to Unfocused Opponent!
-1 in Damage to opponent due to Moor Runner in Effect.

JAYSHRIEK
50/50 [HP]
113/120 [SP]

ASHFALL
46/55 [HP]
110/110 [SP]

Ashfall hardly saw the blur of Riverclanners beginning to leap toward the patrol. Only for a moment was she able to position herself in front of Hentooth, opening her maw to say something along the lines of stay behind me. It never came out as she was knocked to the ground, air taken from her lungs for a moment. Then a Riverclan warrior, shouting in her face. Rolling to three paws, a sharp retort came quickly from her mouth as she watched her opponent's demeanor. "You don't even have a modicum of knowledge that would let you hunt this land if that's what you say. If Riverclan retreats, you will not be harmed," Finding her opportunity, she lunged forward with the swiftness that ran through her blood, bringing the tom down to the rocks and grass beneath. "more."

With that, her claws dug into the tom's shoulders, and Ashfall pushed her weight down as much as she could on her dud paw. She could tell it drew blood, but nothing more. She had no interest in maiming another warrior, simply teaching him a lesson. Windclan wasn't as weak as everyone thought. Maybe this skirmish would get that through their fish brains.

Ashfall used Leap-and-Hold, dealing 10 damage and using 15 stamina! Jayshriek is pinned for 2 turns!
Disadvantaged Stats in effect!
Moor runner is active, -1 damage to Ashfall!
-1 SP to Windclan, Hentooth exists!

Ashfall
46/55 HP
86/100 SP (-14)

Jayshriek (Pinned, 2)
40/50 HP (-10)
113/120 SP

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

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'Effect Dice' : 6

Greypaw did not expect the patrol to fall into chaos today.

Every other patrol he'd been on, most with his mentor at his side, had been without hassle, well, other than the walking part, or when he had to cross the river and felt a paralyzing sense of fear each time he did. Otherwise, they had largely been uneventful.

When his clan had decided to claim the other side of the gorge he had been mildly confused, 'why waste more resources on keeping a larger territory safe?' He had wondered. Then he remembered that rivers froze in leafbare, so his hated task of fishing for prey would be rendered largely null (Admittedly he had been ecstatic about that realization) so he'd have to hunt land prey during leaf-bare instead.

Of course, he took into consideration that their charming, moor-running neighbours wouldn't take kindly to this, but the thought of not having to dip a paw into the river for moons had overcome that mild worry.

So while he sat and watched the battle for a few moments, trying to peer through the mist to do so, he mused that he probably knew what both clans were thinking at the moment (no thanks to Bearspirit's excessively loud yowl about it)...

'Our clan needs it more than your clan'

Ah yes, a fight for survival was behind all this, they could shout all the clan-biased insults at each other they wanted, but Greypaw had the brains to know the core of the issue. That thought made him wonder, 'Why were clans fighting for disputed lands instead of the unclaimed lands that, you know, weren't bordering another clan? Why were they so intent on keeping the outermost barriers where they were?

An interesting question, he'd ask his mentor about it later, but his mentor was currently stressed to Starclan and back, and he really hated putting more pressure on her for even menial questions. She needed to take a break, but it was hard to do that when your leader was MIA.

The apprentice sighed, how troublesome. She was in no good shape to fight either, she had kits to worry about, but they were short on warriors... Greypaw really needed to get promoted, maybe he could pick up some of the slack then....

The mere thought made him want to bury himself alive in the ground and hibernate for eternity. More work? The very thought was sacrilegious to him.

There was also the problem of this little fight going on at that very moment he supposed... good Starclan did he have to fight as well? He was just an apprentice!

He glanced at the current 1 on 1 scuffles going on... both sides were even right then, did they really need his help? H could just say he sprained his ankle and leave it to the experience warriors, couldn't he? They wouldn't hold it against him... right?

...
.....

The young tom let out a long, exasperated sigh. He had said it himself, their deputy was overworked and tired, even a little help could mean the tides turning in this fight... hopefully him simply being involved wouldn't stress his poor teach even more.

Well, he supposed he'd just have to try his absolute best to not get mutilated for life.

"Starclan above this is the most troublesome day of my life." He groaned, "Why do I have to be so logical? I swear I can argue myself out of slacking off even when I really don't want to." He ran one ivory paw down his muzzle, rounded ears flat with the sheer amount of 'no thank you' he was experiencing.

"Fine, fine! I'll help." He said as if he was arguing with anyone other than himself. "The higher chance of me not having to fish thanks to this stretch of territory, the better." He tried to justify going against his base instinct on not having to do work the best he could, it wasn't successful.

Geeze what did his clanmates think he ran on? Pure loyalty and epic gallantry? Troublesome, the lot of 'em.

On another note, did they have to be so friggn' loud? He was going to go deaf at this rate.

Grumbling complaints to himself he scanned the battlegrounds. His mentor was fighting a golden-furred cat he's pretty sure he saw at the gathering sitting in the deputy spot. Deputy versus deputy made sense, he wasn't sure he'd be able to go up against a deputy... if he saw his mentor flagged he'd jump in and help though.

Jayshriek just barreled across the whole friggn' gorge and slammed into a cat who seemed to be blind in one eye. Bit excited much there? Bearspirit seemed to be in quite the scuffle with a very competent-looking Windclanner in the meantime. Perhaps he could help him? He did seem to be handling himself ok but everyone else seemed to be handling themselves even better...

His eye then caught sight of another cat who seemed to be younger than the current warriors... were they an apprentice? The young tom blinked, and slowly crept forward to try and gauge what their scent was, just to be sure...

Herbs. Wait were they a medicine cat? What were they doing here? Medicine cats usually didn't fight, were they here to heal? Was he allowed to attack them?

Greypaw was not prepared for such a situation. At a loss for what to do, he just stood there, expression confused and tired. Should he attack them? Should he wait to see if they attack first? Should he just go and assist Bearspirit?

What a drag, why did this random medicine cat have to make things even more troublesome for him? He didn't want to get in trouble for striking a medicine cat... he really should brush up on the warrior code more often, geez.

His claws were already unsheathed just for preparation, striking first with such uncertainty would do him no good anyways... ins situations like these... the best option was just to bluntly ask.

Ah, yes, much more simple than all this internal debating.  Much less troublesome.

He walked closer to the outlier, skirting around the flurry of violent cats. His stroll was oddly casual despite him having his claws bared, and his expression was terribly unenthusiastic and apathetic for him being in the middle of a battle. This apprentice was not killed with firey clan pride, in fact, he looked like he wanted to just flop on the ground and sleep it all away.

When he got close enough to be in earshot of the random medicine cat he spoke. Raising his head up but still subtly keeping his vulnerable spots concealed, he shot the interloper a mildly confused look. "So... uh. Do we fight... or... did you actually come here to fight?"

He internally winced... yeah he knew his unenthusiastic words could be taken the wrong way, he wasn't sure if medicine cats were fine with the stigma of them just being there to heal, after all, well, he wasn't a medicine cat. "Look, it's just sorta my job to help my clan, I'm not here to waste my breath throwing insults at other clan cats just because they aren't riverclan, and we all know this is just a matter of surviving the upcoming leafbare. So, if you're here to fight can we... uh... make it quick and maybe? Also, ya know, just possibly not try to mar each other for life?" Was that too much to ask of an enemy?... Yeah probably, but he couldn't take it back now.

He was so out of his element, he like strategizing for possible future fights, not actually fighting. Fighting made him tired, and he was already in a constant state of exhaustion. Of course, he'd fight when he had to, he was loyal to his clan... he just wasn't a fanatic like some clan cats seemed to be.

"Starclan above this is troublesome." He muttered, mentally preparing for a fight.

What a drag, so tiresome, so troublesome, why did clans have to be so troublesome? All their high-strung-ness and excessive energy was exhausting to even just look at.

He wanted to sleep.

Hentooth tensed as yowls broke out, breaking away from Ashfall and surveying the chaos. Ash and Golden looked in stable positions, Swift might need some help, but she would hold her ground for a tad longer- Ah, good thing she did. Some apprentice came up… said a few things… yeah, yeah yeah.

“Duh,” she responded, assenting to pretty much everything he’d said. She wanted to fight… she hadn’t sparred in far too long, and this cat seemed the reasonable type, not about to kill someone he didn’t so much as know. “Run if ya want to, I’m not gonna chase ya.” The young medicine cat tensed her muscles, tuning out the scuffling around her. A flick of the tail… her eyes darted to his left shoulder, then, with true WindClan speed, she feinted to the left and swiftly maneuvered to the right, knocking the apprentice off his paws and pinning him to the ground.

“How do you expect to fish in the Gorge?” She queried, making sure they were both away from the edge. “You still have Sunnin’ Rocks.”

Hentooth used Leap-and-Hold, dealing 7 damage and costing 14 stamina. Greypaw is pinned for 1 turn.
Pin your opponent. Exhausts stamina for all turns used.
-1 to WindClan SP costs
Moor Runner is in effect. WindClan cats take -1 damage.


Hentooth
30/30 HP
64/80 SP (-14 due to Leap-and-Hold)

Greypaw pinned
13/20 HP (-7 due to Leap-and-Hold)
60/60 SP