The Old Guards

Swiftheart sat in camp her tail twitched back and forth. She had heard rumors .. whispers that upset her very much. There was talk that certain dark forest cats were denying her father food or at least giving him very little.

These dark forest cats had no respect at all for elders or any of their way of life. She despised what they had done to the clan. She loved her father so much... she respected him too much for this to go uncontested.

The kind hearted molly wouldnt let anyone go hungry her father especially who she had held as her idol since kithood.

Grabbing the nicest freshest toad off the fresh kill pile

(OOC: it always feels so weird eating toads and frogs in Shadowclan... for me at least XD ... is that just a me thing or do others have that too lols... sorry standard Speedy thoughts when its way too late and way too little sleep XD... back to IC)

She went to the elders den peaking around before ducking in. She had been lucky in that there wasnt a df cat right there. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light and she made out the figure of her uncle batglow and her father mistyfalcon... who looked so frail and ... older since she had even last seen him.

The death of Murkystar had been hard on both her fathers... she considered batglow a second father / uncle.

She purred softly anouncing her arival and slowly approached them. Setting the food down in front of Mistyfalcon she nudged it towards him, hoping so much that he would accept and keep his strength up.

All her life growing up she had seen him as an indestructible warrior, the hero she always could rely on... now as age finally was setting in she noticed more and more the grey fur creeping up his muzzle.

It didnt change how she viewed him at all though, he was so special to her and she wanted him to know that. He had always been a bit confused on how to deal with her emotions that she let run loose ... and that was fine. He didnt always have to understand or have the answers... he was there for her, she had to try and do the same for him now.

Sitting between the pair she rested her head on uncle bat's shoulder... "I'm... so sorry you two" she said quietly ... Murkystar's death was hard on all of them and she hadnt really seen either of them since then. With starclan missing she had not come back from the kitting .... would she ever be back?? She hoped so much that she would be... she had to belive that would happen she knew she would be back... it was just a matter of when now she kept telling herself trying to convince.

Tears ran down her face... her mother was gone... she had watched once before Murkystar lose a life at the battle of the forgotten order and it made her sick and haunted her... now she was lost unable to rejoin with starclan.

Nightstalker was not far behind, carrying a lizard that was hopefully not too pungent in scent. They had to be careful, Nightstalker himself was not doing particularly well himself, still just as skinny as he had been in leaf-bare, but he was grateful for his long fur to keep his ribs hidden. This was a huge risk they were taking, and he knew it, making sure to have rolled in wild garlic himself on his last excursion, hoping that it'd hide any scent that may make any dark forest cat suspicious. He wasn't sure if he cared too much for the consequences if it only affected him, these cats were his family and if he had to give up the ghost he'd do it.

Even if he didn't have the healthiest relationship with his father. Driven sour by the constant questions and concerns about his mentor, a bond withered because he didn't even know how to properly communicate with his father, his father who to him, never really seemed to want anything to do with Nightstalker. He didn't really want to fix whatever they had going on, but the future was looking grim, and he didn't know if his father would make it, and Nightstalker didn't feel too hopeful about his own.

Nightstalker dropped his prey in front of the two toms before swiveling his ears back to the entrance, stony-faced and extremely aware and vigilant of any noises that may be an unexpected visitor.

Mistyfalcon's head rested on outstretched paws, seemingly half asleep as the night wore on. Being an elder, there was little for him to do beyond fret, something he was trying very hard not to do. Under Shadowclan's current circumstances, not fretting was proving to be exceedingly difficult. The scarred tom's tail twitched back and forth restlessly, and the tension in his thin shoulders signaled he was very much awake. Loudnose's death had been a blow, and Murkystar dying after kitting had been even more. She had lives, not that that seemed to matter right now. Mistyfalcon had always been a tom who cared little for his own safety, but family... What little of it there was left, he wanted to keep safe. He couldn't even do that. Swiftheart and Nightstalker were capable warriors, he knew, but that didn't stop him from worrying for them. Even Nightstalker's boneheaded stubbornness wouldn't stop that. For all their differences of opinion, Nightstalker was family. And in some ways maybe more similar to Mistyfalcon than either tom would've admitted out loud. Swiftheart could not have been more different, either to Mistyfalcon or her brother, and Mistyfalcon would've spared both of them the misery that the dark forest brought with them if he could.

When pawsteps sounded outside the den breaking into his thoughts, his head lifted, awake and alert despite his weariness and the hunger that gnawed painfully at his belly. "Hey, you two." A raspy purr sounded in his throat, but quickly died as he noticed they were carrying prey. Which Swiftheart and Nightstalker so helpfully brought right to him and Batglow. He tensed slightly, eyes immediately going towards the den entrance. Nobody was there, but that didn't mean Fawnpatch or one of her cronies couldn't come by. "You shouldn't have," The last thing Mistyfalcon wanted to do was bury another kit or see them suffer, "I'm an old tom, I don't need as much as a young warrior or apprentice does." Technically it was true... Though it was obvious from a single glance at his graying, thinning pelt and the visible bones beneath the medium-length fur that what the dark forest cats would let him have wasn't nearly enough, either. Still, he was far more worried about what would happen to them if they were found bringing prey to a cat that wasn't supposed to be eating. It was selfless... And foolish. And that worried him.

Swiftheart purred seeing her brother enter as well. It seemed him and mistyfalcon were finally getting along... or at least trying more than they had in the past, which she was very grateful for.


She looked up to her father and older brother both so much and always never understood why they ditn get along more. She smiled at Nightstalker warmly purring softly.


The siblings always had a very close relationship and always got along very well despite their many differences, they balanced each other quite nicely.

Mistyfalcon complained about how he was fine and they shouldn't have. She giggled softly "daddd" she sighed nudging him a little teasingly and playfully.

It was quite nice... then a voice she knew could only bring trouble from outside as Fawnpatch slowly entered.

Fawn smiled at her and her brother? which confused swiftheart a little, but everything about the dark forest cats confused her. Mostly how anyone could become this evil and cold hearted.

She sighed, she had been so careful about when she entered and she knew Nightstalker had been even more cautious than her... no it was likely fawnpatch was told by someone who ratted them out... she sighed hating to belive that one of her clanmates would do that but knowing it was very possible.

She listened as Fawnpatch explained how she had "broken the rules". she blinked a couple times tryitn to figure out what in the world she should even do. She naturally looked to nightstalker .... maybe he would have some solution to get them out of this... Hmm thinking about it more ...he had spoken out against the dark forest alot during their one meeting and she didnt want him to get hurt.... She could not and would not lose him too, not like she had lost loudnose.

She wanted so much to directly challange the dark forest cat... her tongue quivered wanting to spit back

and what if we dont!? she wanted to retort to the evil dark forest tormenter

Luckily however her judgment kicked in and she new that was not going to end well. These cats were crazy strong and she knew wht they were capible of.

hmm however at the same time she couldnt stand by and watch their father starve. Slowly withering away locked up as a prisoner was not how she wanted her father to be treated.

There didn't seem to be any obvious solution to this... hmm so what if she tried an unobvious solution?

she put on her best fake mask and smiled back just as politely at Fawnpatch. Oh she hated doing this but she would play this little... "game" if it meant no one would get hurt and maybe... just maybe Mistfalcon could also get a decent meal for once if she played this right.... She would just have to work a little southern charm perhaps... would this work ... she doubted it


"So good to see ya Fawnpatch" she lied but her usual energy and enthusisim were there and it wasnt obvious enterly that was the case at all.

"Why dont ya come on over make ya self at home? come eat with us" she offered warmly. It was fake ... all fake but she didnt have any other ideas and Nightstalker would probably say something similar to what he said at their meeting where he spoke out against them... at least that's what she thought he might do

"You can even say grace" she offered with a wink and grin. Her witty humorous comment obviously just meant as a joke to the dark forest cat. Relaxing tensions right now was what she was going for and humor seemed to always help with that.

She totally agreed with her brother but seeing as how 1 dark forest cat could kill so many it didnt seem like the right play to anger them unneccsarly.

She leaned in closer pretending to be very interested when Fawnpatch went into great detail about all the rules they were breaking.

She pretended to look oh so hurt by this.
"ohh now fawnpatch, I never took ya as for someone who clung so close to rules" she purred still holding a polite smile just as fawn was.

"Do you really care this much over one tiny little meal?" she inquired.

"Bold of you to assume I've ever listened to any authority figures, growing up. Much less rules." Nightstalker snarked, rolling his eyes as he watched his sister flounder, developing some weird tone to her voice in her nervousness and if he knew her well enough, her attempt at mind games. Nightstalker while he was trampling on his sister's attempt, he was directly defiant, though he did fear that if he left, his father would pay the price for his kindness, this he was not willing to let happen. He drew to his full height, in an attempt to intimidate while he may have the opportunity to do so. "You clearly do not know your new clan-mates all that well." He huffed, glowering down at her with his slitted amber eyes.

Fawnpatch, it seemed, had been alerted to what was going on. Either she'd seen it herself, or someone had taken it upon themselves to snitch like the coward they were. His tail lashed once as the dark she-cat pushed her way into the den, glaring icily at her as she spoke.

Swiftheart seemed to have ideas of dealing with her, though Mistyfalcon resisted rolling his eyes at her exaggerated manner of speech. Careful, my kit. He warned her silently, reaching out to flick his tail against her. Fawnpatch wasn't likely to entertain her antics, and he'd rather things not go more south than they already had.

Mistyfalcon's whiskers twitched at Nightstalker's words, "No, she doesn't." he agreed. With one paw, he nudged the fresh kill back toward his kits with a sigh. His stomach protested with an audible growl, which he ignored. Didn't want to make Fawnpatch believe he'd ever disobey her, after all. Several snide comments aimed at her were on the tip of his tongue, but Mistyfalcon refrained. Pushing Fawnpatch's buttons wasn't likely to help any of them, except maybe Fuzzypaw's training with Basilbloom.