Best Take Your Advice [Open]

Was she really doing this? Was she really going to return to clan life? Or at least try? She had gotten so used to being on her own, and rather enjoyed not having to worry about anything else. But the more she thought about Dewlight's offer, the more it just made sense. She wouldn't be able to survive leaf-bare all that well on her own. Other cats started to claim the territory she roamed as their own and she couldn't get into a fight. She didn't know how to heal herself. One infected wound and she was done for.

So will nerves alight she stepped onto Riverclan territory. Would a patrol find her? Or would she have to find their camp? She didn't know.. Maybe she could try to track someone down. If there was even a patrol at this time.. As she stepped further into the territory, she could smell the scent of Riverclan near by.. Oh.. She didn't quite know how to feel.. but it was better if a patrol found her before she got too far. They would be more friendly this way. "Hello?" Tornshadow called out, "I'm here to see Dewlight?"



ooc: (Using the dice to determine if she can find a patrol or if she gets closer to camp.)

The member 'Reaper King' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Invasion Dice' :

Perchfall's ears swiveled slightly as she heard unfamiliar footsteps approaching her. She hadn't assigned any other patrols to be out at this hour, so the sound of another cat was suspicious at best. Her nerves slightly on edge due to the recent skirmishes, the gray and white she-cat stalked slowly through the sparse undergrowth before appearing suddenly in front of the intruder. It was an intruder. She smelled... different. She couldn't place the smell of any Clan. Probably some variety of loner. If that was the case, then why would she be here, asking for Dewlight? This was strange, but she had no choice but to interact. She wasn't the attack first, ask questions later type of she-cat. Just my luck that I have to deal with these shenanigans every time I try to go fishing.

The deputy sighed. Yet another way in which she was unfit to take over the duties of the badly injured queen. Her claws stayed sheathed at the intruder, but her face was impassive and hardly welcoming. The light blue of her eyes pierced into the loner's, trying to read her. "Dewlight is no longer in charge," she said briefly. "I'm Perchfall, deputy of RiverClan. What business do you have with us?"

Birdsong had been assigned to patrol with the clan's deputy, and she dutifully followed her into the territory, offering the other she-cat a small smile in passing. Perchfall seemed quiet and not one given to conversation, and Birdsong might've been more uneasy with it had she not seen the new deputy be just as quiet around clanmates she'd known longer than a half-moon.

She slunk through the undergrowth after Perchfall, paws nearly silent as she carefully navigated the reeds. The deputy's ears swiveled, and a moment later Birdsong heard the steps as well. Silently she followed the deputy forward, tensing slightly. Riverclan seemed to handle intruders quite differently than Skyclan did... But it never hurt to keep her guard up, either.

"Tornshadow?" Birdsong couldn't really do much to hide her smile as the familiar white and gold she-cat became visible through the reeds, a stark contrast to the deputy's unwelcoming demeanor. "What brought you all the way out here, cousin?" Her posture relaxed. It was clear that she trusted her family member, and she was glad to see that Tornshadow was doing well... Although she wondered how long that would last if she was still out on her own. Perhaps...

No, best wait to see what Tornshadow had to say.

She halted at the deputy's cold demeanor. Her whole body standing frozen in front of the she-cat.. Her mind taking a moment to process that she was in fact a stranger on the territory and it was normal for cats to be hostile. She wasn't back in Skyclan. Though she couldn't help the slight fear that she had felt when the cat first spoke. She opened her mouth to speak, getting out a single noise before Birdsong had showed up.

With the presence of her cousin, she felt more at ease. Of course she was still on edge but at least now there was a familiar face she knew she could rely on. "I.. Well.. I ran into Dewlight at the River the other day. She and I fought off a fox together at the rivers edge once. When I spoke to her the other day about recent happenings.. she made me an offer. That she would vouch for me if I ever needed some help." Stars and thorns.. Why was it so hard to speak these words? Anxiety was bubbling up inside of her, it felt like it was nipping at the end of her whiskers and working its way to her tail.

"What I'm trying to say is.. I would like to speak with your leader.. and well you too about potentially joining Riverclan." There it was out in the open. As much as she wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, it wasn't over yet. Perchfall still had to agree to take her too... Well whoever was leader right now. If there was a new deputy that probably meant Ivystar wasn't around anymore.. Goodness she hadn't kept up with clan affairs in such a long time.

Perchfall was trying her best to seem unbothered by the intrusion, but even her normally stoic expression was broken by the widening of eyes at her Clanmate's words. Birdsong knew this loner? And the loner had a Clan name?... But why? Had they been exiled? Or was this like Jaystar and Ashpaw returning from faraway lands? Why can't cats just be normal and stay in one Clan without wandering off?

Well, either way, she still wouldn't pretend to approve of this. Any decision would ultimately be up to Jaystar. She didn't have much authority in the Clan... the leader got to make the calls. And given the unorthodox nature of their shadow leader, she guessed he might be open to the idea. Whatever. Eyes back to being narrowed, expression still blank but cold, Perchfall spoke once more after the loner had had her turn. "Well... Tornshadow. I make no promises, but it is not up to me. Follow me." Without further ado, the deputy turned and began to walk back towards camp, somewhat icy in her silence. It appeared she knew little to nothing about her Clanmates. It was a frustrating position to be in.

Once they walked through the camp entrance, she wasted no time. "Jaystar," she called out, voice just loud enough to carry through the clearing, "we have a visitor."

Birdsong could tell that Perchfall wasn't exactly... excited by Tornshadow's words, but she'd agreed to at least take her to camp. "I'll vouch for you." She mewed to Tornshadow, tail twitching. She was sure that Dewlight would too, if they'd fought off a fox together. "Dewlight was the one who accepted me, actually." She fell into step beside her as they began making their way towards camp. Jaystar was called for, and Birdsong shifted on her paws. She wanted Tornshadow to be accepted, though she knew the decision wasn't hers to make.

Robinpatch turned his head at the sound Perchfall's voice. Visitor? The tom scanned the familiar faces of the deputy and of their newest member before landing on the she-cat he knew nothing about. He already had very limited knowledge on Birdsong but from what he'd seen of her, he didn't mind her. He was curious to know more actually but didn't have the chance to speak with her yet.

The calico-furred tom got up from where he was relaxing after having come back from a solo hunt and padded over to them, a curious glint in his green eyes. "Perchfall?" he questioned out as he reached them. He wasn't expecting her to answer but he raised a brow and shrugged toward the 'visitor' to show her that he would be wanting to hear an explanation once Jaystar got there. The tom then nodded a brief greeting to Birdsong so she didn't feel like he was ignoring her. He wasn't normally this nosey but he couldn't help it when a stranger entered the camp.

Perchfall's voice fell on her ears, and Dewlight lifted her head slowly. The wounds were mostly healed, just very uncomfortable still, and seemed to itch with every movement. She peered at the group that had returned, trying to focus on the cats with Perchfall. There was Birdsong and... "Tornshadow?" She mewed softly in disbelief. Rising to her paws, she limped forward to get a closer look. It was Tornshadow! A purr rumbled in her throat as she drew closer, nodding in welcome. Had she come to accept her initial offer? If so... How would Jaystar react? She was no longer deputy, but... Hopefully he would honor it. If she wasn't here to join RiverClan... Had something happened?

The soft rustling of reeds as cats entered camp made Ashflight perk up his head from the small fish he had chosen as a meal, curious as to who was returning.  Alas, it seemed to be only the newly familiar forms of Perchfall and Birdsong, but right as the relaxed tom was about to look away from the seemingly ordinary scene a flash of gold caught his eye, and he felt his jaw drop.  Wait, I know that pelt!  A surprised laugh escaping him, the gray-furred warrior got to his paws and jogged over to meet the group, alongside Robinpatch and Dewlight, the latter of whom seemed to also know the she-cat.  "Tornshadow, hello!"  Ashflight's jovial voice cut through the slightly tense air, and he offered the wanderer a quick bow of the head.  "It's Ash, if you don't remember.  We met at the Hidden Outcropping?  It's good to see you again!"  His old name slipped off his tongue so naturally, he couldn't help but glance briefly at the other cats in the crowd, notably Perchfall.  He couldn't forget that he was still in the process of proving his loyalty, as well as earning trust.  "My name is Ashflight now though."

Jaystar's dark lids, unpleasantly sticky with the exhaustion and lingering grime often left clinging in the wake of cold and wet weather, were deprived of a moments reprieve at the sudden interjection of voices- Perchfall's rising above the indiscernible calamity of unease and sharp teeth against wry tongue. The guttural throes of a weary sigh rattled deep and sharp against the tensed confines of his lungs, his limited insight to the apparent situation unfolding still enough to stir up the addictively familiar remnants of adrenaline slipping beneath the pounding current of his circulatory system with all the grace of a starved river-otter.

There was only the faintest catching sound to herald the quiet interception of Jaystar, silky dark fur grating softly against wet and well-trodden sands, the poise and grace of a circling carrion bird shading his quick and quiet steps. Turning a wide, unblinking gaze upon the unusual spectacle of Perchfall guiding an unfamiliar cat into the soft and wet heart of camp, there was only the faintest subliminal flashing of pale teeth and bright tongue as though he were nothing more than a snake testing the air. There was an uncharacteristic detachedness evident in the fine muscles, an absence that bespoke to his not-quite-there quality, intrinsic bodily functions mechanic and innate. The entire situation already felt entirely too familiar, not too unlike where he had stood once before.

"I'm certain there is an explanation to be had about all of.. this," Jaystar suddenly began, practiced movements of minute fissions suddenly dissipating as though they hadn't occurred at all to start, low voice weighted with the usual thunderous splitting of an authoritarian tone, dark gaze drifting between Tornshadow and those who clearly recognized her.

Perchfall sat quietly during all the commotion of her Clanmates running around, interacting with the intruder, and introducing themselves. Words passed in one ear and out the other. Unremarkably, she felt somewhat left out by the fact that so many other RiverClan cats knew this loner who she had nearly made herself a fool in front of. However, that worry was beyond her. There was no reason to feel this way. Any decision was up to Jaystar... her input would mean little to nothing. Speak of the devil and he appears.

Finally, the leader emerged, unreadable gaze accompanied by an authoritative voice, subliminally demanding to know what all the fuss was about. That meant, unfortunately, it was her turn to speak. "This she-cat is 'Tornshadow,' a former Clan cat who Birdsong and Ashflight recognize," she began. Speaking this many words at once, in front of every cat, made her barely contain a nervous shiver. Calm down. You're just repeating information. Everyone's eyes were on her, but her tone remained quiet and netural, and her face showed no indication of her dislike of the situation. "She encountered Dewlight some time ago, who extended an invitation. She wishes to join RiverClan." There was much more she could say on the subject, but little of it was her place to say. Besides, she was most comfortable saying as few words as possible. The loner could make her own case. Perchfall had barely anything to do with this... here, the leader and the former deputy had the power. She remained sitting down, looking at Jaystar to communicate that she was done speaking.

This.. this was fine.. She hoped. It was all weighing on her now, and she didn't really know how to feel about it. She didn't like all the eyes on her, but at the same time she put herself in this situation. She could do this. "Well I.." She swallowed thickly before speaking again. "I was hoping to learn about Riverclan, and maybe potentially join." She glanced over to Birdsong, someone she wanted to protect with her life. "I have been on my own for a long time, and there is a couple things I want to make sure of before I join, that is if you will have me Jaystar." Tornshadow said.

"Like Birdsong I came from Skyclan. While my situation probably isn't as bad as hers, I had to leave Skyclan due to their own treatment of their own clan. I'm sure my appearance is very familiar to some of you, I'm sure you have heard stories of my father. Well Skyclan decided I must be as... cruel.. as him, and mistreated me. my whole life. Eventually it reached a point I couldn't take it anymore, and set out on my own." The she-cat said, her paws shifting slightly beneath her.

The soft flourish of a chill speaking voice rising above the gentle clamoring sent the fine atop Jaystar's nape into a semiconscious state of alert, the faintest webbing of a lingering shiver creeping through his disarrayed shape in the callous form of cool fingers- a finite warning from within his own being to leave the past within the past, and turn an eye upon the present. Still and unrelenting as he eyed the unfamiliar outline of Tornshadow, pale coat of woven gold sticking out as though as physical manifestation of all things different, the muddied tom's dark gaze narrowed a fraction at the varying names collected between Perchfall and Tornshadow's recollection of events.

"Eventually it reached a point I couldn't take it anymore, and set out on my own." Stubborn remembrance and thinly veiled disdain for such an intimately familiar situation curling together atop the unpleasantly chilly air in a disastrous symphony of complaint was the precursor to any true response on his behalf, thoughts and detachment warring hot and tight within his blood. "I've left my home in Thunderclan and have nowhere else to go." Ghostly intrigue crept across the perpetual shifting sands of his guarded features in the initial heartbeats of lapsing silence, dark gaze two wide puddles of reflective light made all the brighter by the pallid light of the dull sky- there was no reason to mistrust an offer extended at the helm of Dewlight, regardless of his own perpetually sour feelings.

"That is an unfortunate tale," Jaystar eventually conceded, liquid smoke of a passively poised, unblinking dark gaze fixed upon the loitering shape of Tornshadow, "preordained judgement on the standings of shared blood within one's veins is a marked failure of character." Too bad his mother seemed incapable of understanding such a sentiment at the time- although perhaps she would be more giving had Kitefire bore no visceral connection to him. "I intend to honor what was offered under the extension of Dewlight's supervision, though only upon the condition that you are willing to answer whatever questions I should have about you in return. Intentions and duration of stay aside, it is not you who carries the burden of risk in this situation- transparency must be subsumed upon both sides."