Army Ants [c]

It had been just a few sunrises since she’d returned to SkyClan, but the harsh season made it necessary for everyone to be hunting, border patrolling, fighting predators. Dawnfeather was currently on a patrol- her patrolmate had split off to look for prey. Bloodstrike’s orders to stay together were hard to follow, especially when prey was scarce. To find any, they had to split up.

The golden-pelted warrior suddenly found herself at Highpine. She craned her neck, gazing up at the pine, shrouded in snow. It looked much different from how she’d seen it last… blood clouding her vision and heart hammering…

She looked around, pelt bristling at the memories. Nothing… she should go… but… she needed to talk. To Cicadapaw. She’d broken the trust he’d placed in her. No excuses.

She knew he most likely wouldn’t be here, but she rose onto her hind legs all the same, glancing around. No, he wouldn’t be here. Night hadn’t yet spread her starry wings over the Clans.

Still…

He shouldn't be here.

This wasn't his territory. Not anymore. Not after his terrible blunder when he was still an apprentice. He was learning, but it cost his clan valuable territory they could have used during leaf-bare, especially since it seemed to be hitting harder than usual. No one was catching anything, the snow was thick and made it hard to hide from any prey a cat did find, it was horrible. So... he needed to take more drastic measures. It wasn't like he had Starclan to impress anymore...

Once he had gotten his name, he started patroling whenever he had free time, whether the moon was shining on him or not. The white blanket of snow that covered anything ruined stealth anyway, the day would do nothing but make him sleepy and hurt his eyes. Hunting made him feel like more of use to the clan and took his mind off his racing thoughts, so he didn't mind losing sleep to offer help that no cat would appreciate. No cat liked when he or Burningwing tried to benefit the clan.

He was focused on finding prey when a familiar scent caught his nose. Not of sleepy lizards trying to find warmth in the sun, but a cat. His gaze shifted upward, scanning the landscape to find the golden she-cat. Dawnfeather. The cat that ruined everything.

"You!" he snarled, not caring he was on the wrong side of the border to be yelling. All he felt was his anger flare, both at Dawnfeather for daring to exist and himself for being so furious about it. She thought she was about to die, her reaction was justified, but he had just fixed it! If she had just surrendered, then Burningwing would have been fine and they could have secured the territory together. He wouldn't have had to knock her out. He wouldn't have gotten his mentor hurt.

His fur bristled as he took a step forward, his tail lashing behind him and kicking up snow. "If you know what's good for you, you'll just leave. But you're not good with that, are you?"

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

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'Invasion Dice' :

Beechfang had been happy to tag along hunting with Dawnfeather. The last time they'd really interacted had been much too long ago as she'd been taken from the clan. She was back now, and a good thing as Skyclan needed every able-bodied hunter they could get. They'd split to hunt, the prey far too scarce to make staying close the best of decisions.

She'd managed to catch a scrawny squirrel and bury it when the sound of voices on the wind caught her attention. Curious, and slightly alarmed at not recognizing one of the voices, the warrior turned towards the sound, paws surprisingly light as she darted through the snow. When the cats were in sight, Beechfang slowed, coming to a stop next to her niece. The other cat reeked of Shadowclan, and wasn't one she recognized.

"Bit early for you to be up and about, Shadowclanner." Beechfang's growl was low and menacing, not at all friendly in the slightest as she stared at the tortoiseshell tom. Her ears twitched, jaws parting slightly, but he was the only Shadowclanner she could sense in the area.

Her ears stood straight up at a not-quite-familiar voice. The basic thread was there, but the tone changed, deepened, angry, like a bird with different plumage. Ci-Cicadapaw?!? For a moment, joy flared in her heart, but then his tone and words hit her like a river, crashing, spilling over the edge to quench the flame of happiness.

She took a step back as he advanced, ears flattened and eyes wide. She- she’d known- or she’d thought- he was angry. Not just angry, furious, wrathful. Her maw moved silently, inwardly stuttering, a feeling of betrayal flooding her mind.

She wasn’t the betrayed. She was the traitor.

She could feel it- a cold snake slithering into her mind, loosing the strings that held her heart in place and sending it down into her paws. Guilt. The mistakes of the whole forest seemed to settle upon her back, draping itself heavily across her. She couldn’t think- her mind seemed frozen-

Thankfully, thankfully, Beechaunt came to her rescue. Those few curt words gave the younger molly enough time to get her thoughts in some semblance of order.

And then as soon as she opened her maw it all fell apart.

“Cicadapaw, I’m so so sorry, that’s my fault, I wasn’t thinking, I’m so sorry, I’m- how’s Burningwing?” Her teeth were slightly gritted, the smile obviously strained. It was… odd to ask about a cat who’d tried to kill her.

She took another step back, standing next to Beechaunt, feeling safe in her shadow.

That was the face he was expecting, the fear and betrayal. It was supposed to make him feel better, but it didn't. It just made the pit in his stomach grow deeper and darker. Empty.. and that only made him more frustrated. He had yelled at cats before and it made him feel better, why wasn't it working now?!

And then another cat appeared. A cat he recognized as once sitting by the medicine cats during gathering, but nothing about her character. It was hard to overlook a face like that... or rather the lack of it. He was debating whether or not to give her comment any attention at all when Dawnfeather spoke again, settling his decision. She was the cat she was interested in, not the rotten companion who could barely hold her pelt together.

"It's Cicadashriek now, late, probably because of you too," he corrected, though the complete truth of his statement was debatable. However, perhaps if he sapped more gilt out of Dawnfeather it would be more satisfactory. Perhaps there just wasn't enough. If not, shifting the blame of his own incompetence onto someone else would. "I wouldn't be surprised if Burningwing told about the stunt you pulled and delayed my ceremony! I was trying to help you, you know! I stuck my neck out for you!"

Beechfang's gaze shifted between the two, ears flicking back though for the moment she said nothing. She threw Dawnfeather a disbelieving look at the apology. From what she knew of that border skirmish, Dawnfeather had come back to camp battered and unconscious. What in the void was she apologizing for?

"It was a fight, not fighting practice." She scoffed, "If being hurt troubles you that much you shouldn't have been there at all." A shrug. The former medicine cat was only being pragmatic, after all. A soft laugh escaped her at the Shadowclanner's - Cicadashriek's - words. "I thought Shadowclanners were some of our less naïve neighbors. Perhaps I was being overly generous. Don't blame her for your own shortcomings."

Cicadashriek? It seemed to fit him very well at the moment- Dawnfeather shook her head to get rid of that thought, but it clung to her ears like mud. Late? Because of her? Oh deer- oh no- had she really- oh, stars above, Dawnfeather, think of someone other than yourself for once.

“I- I know,” she stuttered, ears flattened. Maybe- maybe the Warrior Code was right- if friendships from other Clans always turned out this way- then Beechaunt stepped up and said something she didn’t quite understand but it warmed her heart a little bit. Maybe- maybe-

“Oh, no Beechaunt, that was my fault- Cicadapaw- Cicadashriek- I’m sorry, I really am- I don’t know how to make it up-” She was confused, overwhelmed, even a bit frustrated. Nothing compared to the calico tom, though. Then he mentioned Burningwing, and the memories of blood and a hammering heart flooded back, survival instinct reawakening her family’s temper for a moment, her tail lashing.

“If Burningwing likes to go around murdering cats maybe he isn’t the best mentor!” she shot back, eyes narrowed, surprised at herself even as the words flew out of her mouth like bullets. “That’s the truth. I’m sorry that I delayed your ceremony, but I’m sure you can more than make up for it, and that you earned your name.” She took another step back, spark of anger extinguished instantly by her nature. Keen blue eyes looked up at her aunt for a moment, seeking an opinion.

A growl rose in his throat as the silver cat continued to speak. Couldn't she see that this didn't concern her? "Naive?! Is it kittish of me to expect a little more of a thanks for saving her life than scaring my mentor's face? I got him to stop! It would have been fine!"

At least Dawnfeather continued to follow the steps he had assigned to her in his head. Apologizing and apologizing until... there was an error. "Burningwing is a great mentor!" He snapped, the words falling out of his mouth on impulse. He was so tired of no one trusting his mentor without any evidence... though even he could tell Dawnfeather had the best reason to be distrustful. "He made a mistake, a bad one, but I stopped it and you clawed him! What if he doesn't listen next time? What if he doesn't stop now because of you!" Fear briefly tinted his voice, diluting a bit of his jurisdiction. No one would believe Burningwing is good if he killed someone in the next battle. He wouldn't be able to defend him. He would be wrong. He can't be wrong.

His fur fluffed up defensively, firey amber gaze flicking between the two cats in front of him. Perhap he may have said a bit much, but he could backpedal. "Burningwing is a loyal cat. I don't know what pushed him to do that to you, but you must have done something."

"Awfully defensive about your mentor." Beechfang scoffed, "From everything I've seen and heard I can't imagine why. The only time I've seen something sensible was when he got into it with those filthy Windclan and Riverclanners at the gathering." Windclan and Riverclan deserved every ounce of scorn that came their way, as far as Beechfang was concerned. Especially Windclan.

Her eye rolled as Dawnfeather apologized and Cicadashriek continued, "Quit blaming her for someone else's decision. It was a border skirmish, things happen. Why is this so important to you two?"

Cicadapaw talked, then Beechaunt talked, and she finally seized onto something that made sense- two somethings. A question, and a statement that it was, truly, all her fault. What if- what if Burningwing didn’t stop next time? What if some defenseless apprentice was slaughtered in cold blood because of her? It would be her fault… her fault… her claws would be sullied in blood that was not rightfully drawn.

Question- question- she could deal with a question. “I caught a lizard in my own territory, a fox-length from the border, and Burningwing tried to murder me.” She surprised herself with the way it came from her mouth, falling slowly out like mud. No, stones. They landed and disturbed the calm surface.

She would have to talk to Beechaunt, later, about caution near the border, about a cat she had tipped over the edge into fury. The blood would be on her claws… she glanced swiftly down, half expecting her paws to be smudged with red- they were- her heart pounded- oh, but no, it was the thin dove she’d caught earlier. No reason to fear… her gaze returned from her paws and locked dully onto Cicadapaw’s.

What had she done?

Cicadashriek faltered. Was that really what happened? Dawnfeather made the reason for the attack sound so... benign... Both of them were making it seem like his anger was misplaced when he knew it wasn't.

"Whatever, what's done is done. It's not like you can take the claw marks out of Burningwing's face. Last time I try to do something for another clan, it only brought me a pain in the hide." He huffed, taking a step back. A part of him wanted to mark her the same, tear lines through her face, but the other didn't. None of this had made him feel better and he doubted escalating into a fight would patch any holes either, especially since he doubted he could win against two.

"And you need to learn to keep your nose out of where it doesn't belong. I know it's the last thing that functions of what's left of your face, but that doesn't mean you have to use it all the time." He snarled to the silver she-cat before attempting to exit the scene with the last word. He was done here.

Dawnfeather's words were enough to surprise even Beechfang, who had thought the pretty golden she-cat couldn't possibly surprise her further. It was, perhaps, the closest to angry she'd ever heard her niece.

"She's my clanmate, we were patrolling together. It very much is my business when some snakedung-smelling cur is sniffing around our borders and throwing stones where none are needed." Beechfang growled, tail lashing once. Foxdung, but talking to him was clearly useless. As was trying to get Dawnfeather to be any less naïve, it seemed. Beechfang kept her gaze focused on Cicadashriek's retreating form, there was no need to chase him down and claw his ears off if he was already leaving. Only when the tom was out of sight would she turn her attention towards Dawnfeather.

"Niece..." She sighed, "You know better than to be so careless around our borders. And you cannot let him blame you for the faults of his own clanmate." She needed to grow a spine and start acting like the Skyclan warrior she was, even Primroselight had never been so naïve or a pushover as an apprentice... And Beechfang had no clue how to make her see that.

Dawnfeather’s ears flattened until she almost resembled a snake as the calico tom disappeared in the marshes. He insulted her aunt, but had- had a good concern. What was she supposed to do here? She couldn’t take the scars off Burningwing’s face- and then a scary thought presented itself.

Do you even want to?

Yes. Yes, she did. Maybe Beechaunt knew something- one look at her aunt speedily convinced the golden molly that this wasn’t the time to ask.

“I don’t think I was being careless,” she mewed slowly, shoulders slumped. “I always challenge trespassers- even Mr. Tarot, even though he was very nice I still asked him to leave! … The first time me and- Cicadapaw and I- met we- sparred, almost, and we both enjoyed it. The second- it didn’t go so well- but he’s my friend, Beechaunt!” She looked up, brilliant blue eyes pleading for some reassurance that yes, the calico tom was her friend. That they just had a little misunderstanding.

“Maybe I should apologize for what I said- I didn’t say very nice things-“ She looked out at the marshes, tail flicking anxiously at just the thought of following anyone into the darkness- no, she wouldn’t- couldn’t-. At the Gathering, then. She’d been rude, and- and uncaring, and insensitive- and she felt bad about it. It was obvious he really cared about Burningwing, and also obvious that she’d said some not nice things- was that gossiping?

Beechfang let out an unamused snort, whiskers twitching as Dawnfeather spoke. "Tarot... That one should've been killed instead of allowed to leave the territory at all." Outsiders, with the rare exception, were always trouble. Tarot had been the aggressor, and to make matters even worse, he knew her stars-cursed littermate. That was just another reason Skyclan would be much better off if he was dead. Beechfang was sure he still skulked around the clan territories somewhere, and she thought they wouldn't like whenever he next appeared. Dawnhawk never brought good with him. Death and destruction followed wherever he went.

Her thoughts were returned to the present as Dawnfeather continued, and Beechfang huffed. "He's not your friend, Dawnfeather! No outsider or other clan cat is! He's not Skyclan, and Shadowclan will want this territory soon enough." She snapped, "There's no room for cross-clan friendships as a warrior, you of all cats should know this by now. Did I not tell you your friendliness would lead to someone getting hurt?"

"Worry about Skyclan, niece, not some Shadowclanner's feelings."