Some Grow Young, Some Grow Cold [c]

The sunset was low over the forest, casting long shadows over each and every cat. Normally, stars would shine down upon them. But the night sky was devoid of their light, only a sliver of a moon to illuminate the path. But, it was just enough for Owlshriek.

His dark pelt seemingly merged with the shadows. Yellow eyes reflected the minute light like stars--if the stars were dangerous and had an intent to kill--that is. The young warrior was not certain why he persisted to leave camp before the sun fully set, just to sit by the river for hours at a time. He had been waiting for many sunsets. For a cat who had hurt many of his clan out of pure hatred. Poppyshine. Fury built up his spine again. She was the reason he waited out here. Certainly, she would not want him to do this. But, she was never the sort of cat to seek revenge. If she could not seek justice, Owlshriek will for her.

The scent of ThunderClan approached, and the tom slowly rose from his spot by the river and migrated towards a nearby clump of reeds. Just in front of him, stepping stones to cross with ease.

Softfall was somewhat near the riverclan border, he knew he was not supposed to go any closer than he currently was due to Stoatstar's orders. He made sure he was inside Thunderclan territory as he finished up his end of the day hunting. He had spoken with Minnowfin beforehand (beforepaw??) about coming out here.

So far the hunt had been decent but not great, he would have loved to get one or two more in before returning. His focus was fully centered on finding more prey that he did not even notice anything or anyone else around him. What did he have to fear? He was in Thunderclan territory afterall and soon he would return home with a nice amount of dinner for his hungry clanmates.

Spotting a mouse a ways out he stalked towards it all his focus on it and not at all on anything else that could be approaching him.

(OOC: Feel free to like give him some scars or something. Nothing too brutal cause I still need to do stuff with him but hmm like a cool scar would be fun for any artwork I do with him later. You can pick where just not the eyes is the only limit XD , other than that have creative fun with it)

Poppyshine's description of the cat was on point.

A grey tom that appeared to hold the hatred of all the stars on his shoulders. Yellow eyes glinted in fury, imagining a small Poppypaw under his claws with no pitty for the cat's life. How dare he? How dare he get away with hurting her with no consequences! When the other cat's head turned away, Owlshriek stealthily crossed the water, pushing off the rocks and gliding silently through the water. His fluffy fur went slick against his flank, making him much more difficult for the other cat to grab. Once at the edge of the water, Owlshriek waited for a moment. His form melted into the dark water, his yellow eyes reflecting the minute light.

A small bit of him remembered Poppyshine insisting they went forward with kindness. At the thought, the warrior's paws rooted in place like a tree. Poppyshine would not be pleased with him. He would hurt her in a similar way. With a frown, he took a step back to eye Softfall with hate. But, if no one punishes him for the lack of restraint, what would happen to any of their apprentices in the future? With a cat like this around...

At some unknown signal, the warrior charged forward, barreling into the other tom's side, knocking the air out of him. Claws unsheathed, the tom buried them deep into the other warrior's pelt. With a heave of effort, he pulled. Claws raked down from the back of the grey cat's shoulder, towards his lower belly. The first blow was devastating, but Owlshriek wasn't done yet. With a rush back, he gripped Softfall's grey tail in his mouth and pulled hard enough to stun him.

Putting a paw onto his prone neck, Owlshreik leaned in, making sure the moon was to his back. A dark shadow cast over Softfall's face. Yellow eyes stared down at him and a low growl grew from the tom's throat. "I will show you the pitty you should have shown the cats of RiverClan." Claws dipped into the scruff, dangerously close to his throat. "No cat will hurt RiverClan and get away with it unpunished, foxheart." He continued, lowering his maw towards the tom. "We had no issues with you. Until you went after our apprentices."

Softfall was caught completely off guard.  One moment he was standing in his territory looking around for food the next he had the wind knocked out of him and was pushed hard to the ground seeing stars.

Blinking rapidly he tried to figure out what in the world just smacked him so hard... Then sharp claws dug into his shoulder and sliced down to his belly opening up a nasty wound.

It stung and hurt alot and he whimpered in pain.  He thrashed about still unsure what was going on. His attacker was all soakign wet too wich made him super slippery.

The smell of riverclan reeked off him... Softfall instintuclally growled at this ... Riverclan was very far into their land to be attacking him here very bold of them.

Rage flowed through him as he tried to free himself but couldnt and he kicked up at his attacker trying to shake him.

"Funny! You Riverclan cats always cross the border and never seem to learn!" he hissed angerly.

He tried to break free but Owl was holding him in a very strong pin and Soft's wounds were bleeding heavily already he could feel the wound from his shoulder to his belly oozing blood staining his grey pelt a darker shade than naturally was.

"You leave us to starve and act like I have a choice when your apprentices hunt on our land" he retorted clawing up at owl trying to catch his face to shake him off for good.

Softfall saw owlsheiks claws glimmer in the little moonlight that there was and hover over his throat.  He flinced trying to squirm away and cover up his vulnerable throat but couldnt as owl held him too tight.

He closed his eyes tight knowing owl could kill him here.

He cursed himself silently... he should have known riverclan would do this and now he was going to die to a Riverclanner... waht a disgrace... he should have never let his gaurd down.

Owlshriek could, certainly, kill him right there.

In all honesty, he was. Leave the tom there for his clan to find. But certainly, he was already going too far and attacking a cat. While he didn't wholly believe in the warrior code after his conversation with Whitesnake...it didn't mean the others wouldn't use it to apply it to him. Considering it his singular rebellion, Owlshreik leaned closer, letting his claws dig in further. "Starve?" Owlshriek echoed, his cruel tone slightly amused. "Your poor hunting skills are not a problem of RiverClan. Our issue is that you try to kill cats rather than chase them off your territory." It all was too tempting, surely.

"So, tonight, know you will return to your clan alive." He mewed, leaning back but keeping a heavy paw in place. "A luxury you did not give to other cats, surely. But, know this, Softfall." The warrior began, eyes gleaming with deep hatred. "If you say more than a word about what happened here tonight, next time I see you, you will not live to see the next sunrise." Owlshriek promised, adding pressure to the neck, drawing out a small amount of blood as he spoke. For emphasis, obviously. Not at all because he was struggling with restraint. "It is in your best interest to associate the scent of RiverClan with your death."

With a heave, Owl stepped off of the tom. He eyed his handiwork for a moment before hearing another cat in the distance. "It's a promise, Softfall."

Hidden by the deep shadows, Owlshriek returned to the border after a swift sprint. It was there where he bathed in the water for a decent time, washing the blood and fur from his claws. To anyone else, he had simply been hunting. With a confident flick of his tail, Owlshriek dug up a trout he had caught not too long before and returned to camp. Certainly, his actions would come back. But he was ready.

The apprentices he had hurt were avenged. Poppyshine was avenged.

With that, Owlshriek purred.

Softfall hissed at the other toms words. They both had so much hate for each other and for each others clans. It was the first time Softfall ran into a riverclan cat that hated him just as much as he hated them.

Softfall felt claws digging into his neck clawing him further up as blood continued to run out of his wounds. He struggled to get free but couldnt as Owl kept talking about how riverclan would be the death of him... He snorted at this ... yeah right... he thought angerly in his head.

To his luck and surprise Owlsherik got off him and left him there as he bolted back toward the riverclan border. Softfall lay there defeated gasping for air as he fought to stay conscious and awake.

His patrol partner who was off hunting kinda nearby but far enough to be off no help when he actually needed it

(Some npc thunderclan warrior that was approved to babysit him when he was grounded XD)

Found him bleeding on the ground and gasped. The npc picked him up and half carried half dragged his bloodied up body back to camp.