then let my heart be hardened [RC/TC vs SKC BATTLE TOPIC]

Vipershade figured that he shouldn't have been surprised that Mottlestar brought him into the fight, even if he did not have all of his strength just yet. He was a free body- expendable, with battle experience and a blood thirst that would be invaluable. He had to give it to Mottlestar, if he was in her paws he'd do just the same without a second thought and a small sense of glee. Sharp amber eyes, burning with vitriol scoured over the Skyclan's patrol, his hackles rising as he met all the glares and looks he could catch. He had a target on his back, he knew that any cat he had bothered to put simply in his time as leader would be out for his blood. He couldn't blame them.

At least, at the very least he would do his best to prove every cat right after this battle, he'd rip and gore and maim the opposition bloody, because there was nothing else he did best than make other cats hate him. He looked at the Skyclan patrol and pulled back his lips into a wide, antagonistic grin.

If not for the tension thick enough to be sliced with a claw, it could have been a perfectly beautiful leaf-bare day. The winds had been smelling more and more like newleaf lately. Sunlight gleamed a richer golden than ever as the minutes passed, and even the frigid air did not feel too cold. Of course, none of these details bore the sense of impending doom that could not be shaken. Perchstar did not want war. She never had. But when given the choice she had been--to be walked on top of, or to stand up for the lives of her Clanmates--she'd had very little choice. So her nerves were steeled with a resolve that did not shake, despite her worries. Despite the love for Poppyshine and Cindersky and Littlesplash and Mottlestar. Yes... Mottlestar. The RiverClan leader was far too gone within her mask of responsibility and justice to truly react, but hearing the word "beloved" put next to the shortening of her name caused some sort of internal cascade failure that she would no doubt have to deal with once her warlike seriousness could be put away. But, her good friend and fellow leader was right. This was not a day that RiverClan or ThunderClan would fall. Their strength would not falter. They would stand and fight, and they would leave victorious--either by a traditional victory, or by the death of Beechfang.

Speak of the devil and she appears.

There, between the trees. A bulky silver tabby whose fur had lain between the claws of Cloverheart's deceased body. A pair of eyes gleaming with... acceptance? Grief, perhaps? Surely not remorse. If Beechfang had ever truly repented of her crime, then she would not have returned when she knew it would bring war. She would have offered her own hide to save those she cared for after the ultimatum--if there was anyone she cared for. Birdchaser and Wolfblossom were her daughters, but could she really feel motherly love if she was causing strife among the Clans like this? How selfish could one cat be? Words were being spoken around her, but Perchstar no longer heard them. She simply met the gaze of the one and only cat who caused this, and the one and only cat who therefore should have had to suffer. Ice-blue eyes showed no hint of emotion--neither of the swirling rage from Birdchaser's betrayal that had lain dormant, nor of the unhappiness that she'd had to bring a war patrol here when their only target could have avoided all of this. You, and me. We will settle this the only way it can be settled. You have denied peace, and so you shall have claws and fangs. If she'd been paying more attention to the rest of the patrol, she might have noticed a tom that looked exactly like Dawnhawk looming up in a tree. But he was irrelevant to this confrontation, as was every other cat present. SkyClan could not possibly prove themselves worse in her eyes. There was no point in outward expressions of emotion; Perchstar knew this by now. Not a single muscle twitched out of place. Perfect stillness. Perfect readiness. Perfect silence.

But inside, a storm. Betrayal from a cat she'd called her friend. Nauseating sorrow from a corpse floating down the river. Concern for those that she loved. Something stronger, something harder, a cold sharpness instilled by her leader ceremony that her responsibilities would not let her shirk. If she did not defend her Clanmates and keep her Clan unassailable, then who would? And then, of course, the fact that her paws had been forced to war despite her moons of doing her best to cultivate peace. Innocent cats, medicine cats, adolescent cats were all at stake. In her peripheral vision she could see two young she-cats trembling together on SkyClan's side, obviously of Cindersky and Littlesplash's same caliber. They should not have had to be involved, none of them. If Birdchaser had just been able to put away her stubborn pride... But no. She insisted that she was the victim. That she, the liar, the hypocrite, was the one being hurt. As if her pain was not all entirely self-inflicted. As if she had not done the betraying. And all for what? Was it even worth it? Perchstar glanced for a single moment away from her target just when she saw her former friend come into view. The SkyClan leader, as unworthy as she was of the title, sitting so self-confident in her tree, was not even worthy of a glare from Perchstar. Freezing light blue eyes simply acknowledged her presence, stared hard as if to remind her of the words that had been spoken, before returning to her opponent. Birdstar could have stayed home for all she cared. She had nothing else to say. Words meant nothing now. This entire patrol was just to ensure that while Perchstar fought Beechfang, she would not be interrupted. This battle would end in one way, and one way only--the sinking of her fangs into the murderer's throat.

Justice would not be denied. And since her words had been stomped into the ground, since she had been disregarded no matter how hard she tried, she would have to make herself heard with her claws. It had come down to this.

Beechfang would die. SkyClan was staking their lives on an unwinnable battle, all for the unfounded pride of one. They were nothing before the tide of justice--dirt beneath her and Mottlestar's paws. They chose to give up their life for this murderer, then so be it. She had no empathy left to spare for those who closed their eyes to reality.


OOC: Since the dice rolled a Failure, SKYCLAN MOVES FIRST. Every SkyClan warrior has 36 hours in which to post and fight an opponent. Their opponent's 36 hour timer will start when they are attacked. Good luck.

Defending Buff active! All SkyClan cats start with +3 HP.
Offensive Buff active! All RiverClan/ThunderClan cats use 1 less SP for all moves.

Also, please do not attack Perchstar unless your name is Beechfang, thank you very much.

The member 'Ash' has done the following action : Dice roll

---

'Invasion Dice' :

Waiting, waiting, waiting. How long were they going to stand here and stare at each other? Every moment that passed made Sunfire more and more agitated, and he paced until the snow beneath his paws disappeared and melted into mud. His eyes never left the silhouette of grouped cats, though oftentime he lost sight of Mottlestar as they moved about. He’d noticed the other she-cat, too, the one who had fought his sister in that skirmish over the Fallen Oak. Graywind wasn’t here this time, but maybe once he was finished with Mottlestar… he’d introduce himself to her, too.

The sudden shift in atmosphere made the yellow tom pause his incessant pacing, and he jerked his head towards Birdstar, practically trembling with anticipation… then she gave the signal.

Sunfire wasted no time, immediately turning on a heel to close the distance that separated the two parties. He charged, silent, eyes flicking from one cat to the next until he found the ThunderClan leader, again. He angled towards her, taking a deep breath in the moment before he leaped, and exhaling as he slammed into the she-cat. He struck, sinking teeth into the back of her neck just as he’d done to Softpaw. Come to think of it, the leader wasn’t far off the same size the large apprentice had been. Maybe she would die just as easily.

Sunfire used Teeth Grip on Mottlestar, dealing 10 damage at the cost of 10 stamina. Mottlestar is gripped for 2 turns.    

Sunfire:
73/73 HP (+3 defending buff)
150/160 SP (-10)

Mottlestar:
70/80 HP
170/170 SP

Falconmoon pushed off of the ground and bolted straight for Nightstalker. Underneath the silky pale fur was lean muscle, his power obvious as he slapped the ground with his paws and announced his presence and his lethal intentions. A growl ripped from his throat as he closed the distance between himself and the old black cat. He leaped, completely looking like he was about to collide directly into Nightstalker with a typical run-of-the-mill, brainless young tom strategy, or lack thereof.

At the last moment, likely when Nightstalker prepared a perfect counter to such a foolish, brain-dead move, Falconmoon’s tail whipped around in a circle and put his trajectory off-center. With a toss of his head and a bend in his spine, off to the side of his opponent he went. He landed, then grabbed a mouthful of that black plume tail and yanked it sharply back. Falconmoon had some hope that he could dislocate something and compromise his opponent’s balance for the rest of their scuffle, if not life.

Falconmoon used Tail Yank on Nightstalker, dealing 10 damage and -15SP
+3HP to Falconmoon due to meddie buff!

Falconmoon
73HP / 145SP (-15SP)

Vipershade
Stunned for 1 Turn
50HP / 140SP (-10HP)

The member 'JJ' has done the following action : Dice roll

---

'Effect Dice' : 6

Stormwatcher sighed as he felt his heart beating a mile a minute. Sunfire charged followed right behind by Falconmoon. The big tom watched his two friends charge into battle. How were they so brave like this?!

He shook his head trying to use the pounding adrenaline to some sort of advantage to himself. "gha!! Curses" he muttered under his breath and followed after his two tom friends right on their tails.

He split off from them eyes narrowing as he spotted the riverclan deputy. He hissed angerly, so it was not just perchstar in riverclan who was crazy enough to want to have so many have to be hurt today? Her deputy thought the same thing too? All riverclanners should have known better than to mess with their clan!


"scum, you would have everyone here die for a med cat no one even remembers?" he hissed raking claws down towards her and darting around to catch her tail yanking it as hard as he could. There was no fair in war and he intended to deal with this riverclan cat quickly as he could to go help his friends, as much as sunfire boasted, storm knew no one was immortal. He didnt wanna lose his friends as odd as they could sometimes be.

Stormwatcher uses Tail Yank on Poppyshine! for 10 dmg and 15 sp
Poppyshine is stunned! 1 turn

+3 hp for stormwatcher defending bonus

Poppyshine stunned:
60 / 70 hp (-10)
160 / 160 sp

Stormwatcher
73 / 73 hp
145 / 160 (-15)

Briarthorn’s eyes slipped shut for just a moment as she took in a deep breath, the anticipation of what was to come bubbling beneath the surface of her slightly unkempt pelt. The stress of this war had been gnawing at her for days, so her usually well-maintained appearance wasn’t present today. As much as she hated trying to decipher exactly what she and Beechfang’s relationship was, she didn’t want the molly dead. Or exiled, to be very honest, but she did what she had to do in order to protect the Clan at the time. Nevermind that now, it was in the past.

At Birdstar’s discreet signal, Sunfire was off, and then Falconmoon, and immediately, things were in disarray. The metallic scent of blood already permeated the air, and Briatthorn rushed forward in lock step with her Clanmates, eyes the nearest cat she could get her teeth and claws on. RiverClan, ThunderClan, it didn’t matter. This wasn’t about them. It was about protecting her Clan. She skidded past a molly that smelled of ThunderClan and, quickly on her paws, turned around and snapped at her tail, jaws latching shut as she yanked with all her might. It wasn’t hard to do, considering her size… And it seemed the other she-cat might have slipped a little too easily. Mottlestar really brought an injured or disabled warrior to this fight? They truly must’ve been hurting for forces if that was the case. No matter, Briarthorn could tell she was old enough to have experience, and her work was very likely to be cut out for her. She would fight til the end if she had to.

Briarthorn used Tail Yank on Comfreyheart, dealing -10 damage and using -15 stamina points. Comfreyheart is stunned for one turn.

Briarthorn:
73/70 HP
145/160 SP [-15]

Comfreyheart:
60/65 HP [-10]
130/130 SP

Birdstar was above her in the trees, and Beechfang's head lifted, gazing up at her daughter for nothing but a moment. The consequences of her decision might have been wearing at her, but it was far too late to turn back time. Far too late to undo what had been done.

I'm sorry, my child. I should have never put you in this position. Her gaze returned to Perchstar.

Perchstar's gaze found her own, and Beechfang's expression remained stoic. But for her silent acceptance of the knowledge that Perchstar would be after her, the older warrior's face gave away nothing. In the moment, her regret was for the clanmates who stood beside her and crouched within the trees. For Wolfblossom and Harepaw. Falconmoon, who was trying so desperately to change. Briarthorn, who had done what was right for the clan and had to watch it all crumble.

Was Wrenspring, who had only ever championed her in life even at her most undeserving, watching her in disappointment from the stars?The words left unspoken between them still made themselves known from the recesses of he mind where she'd tried to keep them. Was Dovefrost, who she had sworn to be better for only to turn and make the mistake that led them all here today? Birdsong, the gentlest of her kits, so unlike her mother, would want nothing at all to do with her, she knew. Surely even Wolfstar and Mossbloom could find no defense to her actions, not when she had put the clans they so dearly loved into danger. Foxfire, Flowerthorn... So many apologies gone unsaid, more regrets than the combined cats of these patrols had sank their claws into her heart.

She had failed so many more than just the living cats who stood beside her. Her wrath, her self-righteousness had destroyed lives, and there was one more left for it to destroy. And far too many that might become collateral. The knowledge that she likely would not see any of them when the day was over gnawed at her, but it was knowledge that she accepted with a heavy heart.

“Perchstar wants me. Don't sacrifice yourselves to stand in her way. I'm... Sorry, that our selfishness has led to this, Skyclan.” Her voice was quiet, hardly carrying past her clanmates. “You've led them well, Birdstar. I'm proud of you. Sunfire, Falconmoon...” The hard lump in her throat made speaking difficult. “There are better pawsteps to follow than mine.”

The Riverclan and Thunderclan patrol drew closer, and Beechfang's gaze settled on Perchstar once more. Like looking into the surface of the creek, a younger version of herself reflecting back at her, full of fire and vengeance. Justice, she had called it, and Beechfang would not disagree. It was both, and they each knew it.

Skyclan moved first, and Beechfang's paws followed the lead of her clanmates, angling toward the fate she had known she would not avoid. Her focus had narrowed to a fine point, the gray and white pelt and burning blue eyes of Riverclan's leader all she would allow herself to focus on. Perchstar would not harm anyone else but her, not if she could help it.

Before she reached the leader, Beechfang abruptly stepped to the side, slamming into the shorter she-cat. Resigned as she was to the inevitable, the leader would stay occupied. She was old, the silver hairs on her scarred muzzle having lost even what color they had. Beechfang had walked away from many things with a still-beating heart that she should not have. Dawnhawk, the wrath of the stars themselves, justice after injustice. So much of her life spent fighting, and today would be no different.

Sharp fangs snapped at Perchstar's shoulder. She had no chance against a leader who was younger, who was more fit and healthy than she was. That would not stop her from making it difficult for her.

Beechfang used Dishonorable Charge for -20 sp, dealing -10 damage. Perchstar is stunned for TWO turns. Stun cannot be overcome using Random Recall.

Beechfang
68 / 65 hp
110 / 130 sp (130 - 20)

Perchstar
70 / 80 hp (80 - 10)
170 / 170 sp

Don't forget your clan passives!
Skyclan - Climber's Grasp: +1 to the higher success chance to stun ou pin an opponent.
Riverclan - Slippery Coat: When rolling to use the move Duck and Twist, your chances for success become 3-6, and the roll to fail is a 1-2.
Thunderclan - Stormy Strength: Thunderclan cats cannot be pinned or stunned for more than 1 round.
Shadowclan - Night Finesse: It is not night, no bonus damage for Vipershade or Briarthorn.