Black Moon [Darkspirit]

Moonpaw prowled along the thunderpath, lip curled in disgust at the acrid, foul scent of the monsters that ran along it. Iceheart had said that the monsters who ran along the path never left it, but that she was never to cross it alone and that they were still extremely dangerous. With how swiftly they moved, Moonpaw could believe it, albeit reluctantly.

That warning didn't however, prevent her from gazing across the thunderpath curiously. On the other side were trees and bushes and the scent of another clan - Iceheart had told her this particular section of woods it bordered was Thunderclan's. And Moonpaw was curious about Shadowclan's neighbors. Not because they were worthy, of course, no clan was as great as Shadowclan, but she wanted to know those that were beneath them, wanted to know what lurked on Shadowclan's border.

Movement caught her eye across the thunderpath, and the dark silvery tabby stood still, shoulders back and head lifted, green eyes wide as another cat stepped into view.

Darkspirit had willingly gone out in the dark this time. He needed time away from Thunderclan, mostly because his brother had returned mostly blind and then needed and elder ceremony shortly after. The tabby the color of ashes and daylight didn't handle emotional shock as well as he'd liked. Sure, he was good at keeping most emotions from surfacing if he really tried (an ability he inherited from his Skyclan blood no doubt), but when he was alone, they tended to surface.

Tonight... he was being suffocated by a heavy, terrible fury. Darkspirit plowed through the brush of Thunderclan territory, seeing red on the edges of his vision. There was something satisfying about plowing through strong vines and bushes covered in thorns. It was satisfying to feel them snap, despite their best efforts to hold him back. The duo-toned tom rarely allowed his emotions to run away with him, but tonight was different. Tonight was when he let moons upon moons of fear, anger, frustration and hopelessness break free from their psychological bindings.

The chimera tabby suddenly found himself on the Thunderpath... and a monster swerved and screeched as it came barreling toward him. Darkspirit's burning rage was gone in an instant and replaced with a shock of ice cold terror. The monster's eyes nearly blinded him, but Darkspirit had been fighting things long enough to know when to dodge.

He leaped out of the way of an incoming monster paw and the monster itself ran passed him. He spun on it as it kept running away, hissing and spitting and fluffed up to more than twice his real size. That had been close... too close. Darkspirit stood for a moment, panting... until he turned his mismatched eyes of fire and ice onto another cat.

Shadowclan for sure... but an apprentice by herself? At least that's what he assumed with her being so young.

"What are you looking at?" He growled, still waiting for the adrenaline to settle. His tail was lashing nearly uncontrollably. He needed to calm down...

Moonpaw's eyes widened, ears flattening as the monster barely missed the cat who jumped out of the way of it. He was clearly scared of it, so he wasn't totally brainless... But Moonpaw thought he must still be lacking in that department if he'd stepped paw onto the thunderpath at all. "Weren't you paying attention at all? Are Thunderclan warriors not taught to stay off the thunderpath?" Moonpaw questioned, hardly caring at all that perhaps her sharp tone was a big overstep, and very likely not something an older warrior would take from an apprentice. Despite the haughtiness to her tone, her paws remained firmly on Shadowclan's side of the border and she made no move toward the tom. She wasn't foolish, after all. Trespassing wouldn't paint Shadowclan in a good light. And the tom had a pelt almost as pretty as hers, who would dare ruin either with bloodshed?

Darkspirit glowered at the apprentice and he felt his claws twitch inside his paws. He wouldn't attack an apprentice, he wasn't that low, but he certainly wouldn't mind scaring her off if it came to that.

"Does Shadowclan not teach their young to hold their tongues when speaking to warriors that could easily shred them?" He growled. His tail slowly stopped lashing back and forth as he calmed down. Apparently he wasn't allowed to release his anger in any way, shape or form.

"What is an apprentice doing all by herself anyway? Are you Shadowclanners so arrogantly stupid that you just let your apprentices wander off by themselves at night?" Was he actually arguing with a child? Yes, yes he was. He wouldn't claw her into oblivion but he was quite finished with watching his mouth. He had done it for moons with no outlet... so here he was... arguing with an apprentice.

"You think the night is dangerous to a Shadowclanner? We learn in it, we're not taught to be afraid of the dark." Moonpaw scoffed.

"Trespassing is frowned upon, you know. So is attacking apprentices. And my paws are on our side of the border." She reasoned, her tone was almost flippant, said with the ease and a certain arrogance that only youth could muster. Surely the tom would see her logic, right? And if he didn't... "And I don't think attacking a deputy's daughter would go over too well, don't you?"