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Post by » Sacrifice on Mar 15, 2010 22:38:59 GMT -5
”So, you two wish to travel to the Rogue Canyons once more, only this time to visit the darker side of them? Perhaps to meet your relations such as the tom Pyre that I hear about, maybe even Renegade himself?” There was a lazy purr to the young cat’s voice, her intense pale blue eyes focused on the two apprentices standing above her. Ex-MapleClan apprentices, looking for a thrill were they? Well, the black and gold kit thought with a mental grin, they had come to the right cat.
”Tell me though, why should I risk my own tail when you have already made it obvious that you are capable of finding your own way out there, as you proved when you arrived here late, hrmm?” Lazing in the sun, Adderkit was watching the two older toms, her eyes glittering coldly. Daughter of Havoccrypt and Depthvision, she had once been as stubborn as her parents in a good way, and as hot tempered as her father. That had all changed though; having spent moons with Renegade, training under him, Adderkit was the same, but at the same time, corrupted, toward the face of darkness. The adults all knew that, oh but how easy it was to look away, especially when it came to an ‘innocent kit.’
Hah, when was the last time she had been ‘innocent?’ Before Goldstar went insane, that was all she could tell.
PewterClan was made up of a lot of interesting cats these days. There were the rogues that had been forced upon them, the ex-MapleClanners, and everyone else whom she failed to bother remembering at the moment. It had been hilarious watching everyone squabble over everything the first few moons, and it had been a lot of fun to report to Renegade about it, but now that things had died down, she was bored with everything here.
She had been meaning to take a trip into the canyons anyway; maybe this could be just another excuse to get into them. Although she was under protection with Renegade, that didn’t mean all the rogues followed it; it would be good to have some muscle to back her up if she got into a fight…as well as some more speed. Sitting up, fur twitching away some of the dirt that had attached itself to her otherwise shimmering pelt, Adderkit stood up, her critical gaze flicking over the two brothers. Didn’t they also have a sister somewhere..? A Medicine Cat Apprentice maybe, she wasn’t too sure about that though, she’d have to look into it in the future.
Provided there was a future for her, she amended after a moment’s thought.
The first of the toms was a blue-gray color, ginger toes, and an auburn gaze surrounded by a black mask. He had a lean, wiry look to him, and judging from the way he stood in front, he was the one who did the most speaking. A smaller cat, his build was not bulky, he didn’t even look that threatening…to those who didn’t notice the way he stood, always on the lookout for an attack that is. The tom behind the sleek blue-gray cat was much, much larger in appearance, and what seemed to be pure muscle. He had a distant look in his gaze, but one couldn’t doubt the keen intelligence glittering in their depths—for either of them. Very able warriors, Talonstar’s sons she had learned, and without a doubt would be able to face the true rogues, not those pansies who called themselves rogues, without much difficulty as long as they were with each other. Strength made up for lack of strength, speed for lack of speed, all and all, it was very impressive. But without each other, they were sure to fail, the large cat, Badgerpaw, wouldn’t be able to keep with the faster of the rogues, and the smaller one, Gyrpaw, wouldn’t be able to handle the devastating blows long enough to even get the idea to flee.
”It is said to be you know the canyons inside and out, and have even been in the tunnels that Masquerade once walked. If there is one who knows how to find who we look to find, it would be you and you alone.” Gyrpaw said softly, very aware of what they were doing was very wrong. They had already been into the canyon once, but having failed to meet any of their relatives, it had been rather unsuccessful, and when he had gotten the burning urge to go back in him, mostly when being shunned by PewterClan apprentices, the young cat had decided it was time to go, and had been relieved to find Badgerpaw agreed. And where had they needed to turn when it had come to directions? The only cat who would take them out there—no other apprentice was willing to do it, all too afraid of getting in trouble, such boring cats. No, he had heard the stories of Adderkit, daughter of the deputy and Depthvision, daughter of Goldstar, and about what had happened to her. He knew the risks of associating with her, especially of asking this, but there was nobody else better than her that he knew of. It was a risk that he would have to pay.
Grinning a grin, the young cat gave one brief nod.
”Very well, I shall take you out. I will take you to where I know Pyre often hangs around, and after that, you’re on your own. I have much better things to do then trying to keep you out of trouble.” And with that, Adderkit was done, and trotted out of camp, sights fixed on the rogue border. She would visit a few friends while she was out, those two could find their own way back. She wasn’t going to be anyone’s babysitter.
Grinning at his brother, Gyrpaw scoffed.
”Told you it’d be easy enough. Hopefully we’ll actually be able to meet some of our relative this time, no?” Padding after the she-cat with long, ground covering strides, Gyrpaw’s ears swiveled forward, auburn gaze bright with enthusiasm. Dad would know where they had gone; Gyrpaw hadn’t gone out of his way to be all secretive about it.
He only hoped that the tom would understand about the whole forbidden meeting of the relatives’ thing.
Oh well. He could pay later, once he got back.
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Post by H-a-w-k-i-e on Mar 16, 2010 19:07:16 GMT -5
Appearances really weren't everything. Sitting in the sun, Badgerpaw's figure projected an immense shadow on the ground. But as intimidating the tan tom's build was, he really wasn't that scary. In fact, he was likely one of the more mellow and mild cats in the clan, expecially now, given the diversity of Pewterclan. It had been rare, the first few months, that a cat could go through camp without hearing even a single argument erupt over the most trivial of matters. The apprentice almost glowed with pride at the thought of his father being able to handle it all with such grace. It wasn't easy, being a leader. Not to mention being a leader of a clan that he himself had not been raised in, and that was home to both rogues, cats from Mapleclan, and cats from Pewterclan.
Things had certainly died down since then though, now, Badgerpaw noted dully, his steely gray gaze sweeping the camp, all the while still listening carefully to Adderkit. When things go smoothly, yes, that's supposed to be good, but it really took away the imagination too. Sighing quietly, the tom turned back to the black and gold kit. Adderkit too, a few moons ago, had gone off on her own, and it was said that she'd seen anything and everything there was to see down in the canyons. Last time he and Gyrpaw had gone and stayed, they had been unable to located any of their rogue kin, and disappointed, they'd returned to Mapleclan to see their family. To their surprise, their father, mother and sister had all gone to Pewterclan, Talonstar having been chosen by Goldstar to watch Pewterclan as leader. Badgerpaw didn't mind; Mapleclan had been getting a little dull anyhow.
While Gyrpaw listened intently to Adderkit, Badgerpaw remained quiet and calm, even though he was every bit just as eager as his brother was, and still, save the periodic twitch of his tail. When the deal was done, the tom got to his large paws and shook himself out, trying to spread the warmth from the sun out a bit and glanced at Gyrpaw and nodded.
"Let's hope so. Last time was just too bad. Can't say we didn't learn anything though."
Badgerpaw gave a quick grin. Now that was what he called paws-on-learning. You just didn't learn as much when you didn't have an incentive...like say...life or death.
((Sorry...I'm rusty at playing an animal now...>_>)) |
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Post by » Sacrifice on Mar 21, 2010 23:08:47 GMT -5
"It was flat out boring, but boring in a good way. Plus I must say, it added a certain...element, that isn't found in normal training." Gyrpaw agreed, head nodding as he padded through PewterClan territory, still rather unfamiliar with it, so he was not able to walk with the same haunting grace as the young cat in front of him.
This was going to be amazing. Last time they had been out in the canyon, they had met a lot of cats, and learned tales of some of their kin, relatives of Hawktalon--as far as Grypaw had been able to figure out, there were very few cats related to Wolfpelt; which made him wonder exactly what had happened.
Or maybe Hawktalon had just got around a lot; whatever the reason was it didn't bother the sleek tom. Not when they were so close to what they had been waiting for; he could almost see the border between clan-life and freedom, the border between normality and being a rogue.
It was enough to make him want to jump for joy; though he kept it contained, he had to look professional here, with such an...odd guide. There really was no other word for the small kit in front of them.
"Do you think Dad will mind?"
That was bothering him slightly; he didn't want to somehow manage to disgrace their family name, they needed all they could gather here in a new territory, a new life. It wasn't as though they had been forbidden from going; but it had been obvious that he had been relieved that they hadn't met any of their family out there. Gyrpaw could understand the whole-you-could-be-killed thing, but did he really think they couldn't handle themselves? Or was it something else entirely? Or was he over thinking everything again? Snorting to himself, the young tom rolled his gaze, knowing that he was making a fool of himself with his worry, and that he should just go with the flow. Being back in clan life was really getting to him it seemed.
Ears swiveling forward, he wasn't aware they had folded back, Grypaw's gaze brightened as they entered rogue lands; past the Loner Lands finally. The loners were OK and all, but they tended to be fairly boring cats, nothing ever actually happened there.
Deeper and deeper they wound into the canyon, the sky slowly fading away. Scents bombed the trio, smells of agony, pain, and horror; it was enough to make his pelt bristle in anger. Whoever had done this to those cats...he could only hope that they had died a painful death. Nobody deserved to be tortured, especially not by the way he was reading in the scents. Tail lashing rapidly, it took nearly all of his self control not to seek out the cats who had done this and senselessly attack them; had he been any younger he probably would have done so.
"I blame Renegade."
He muttered quietly; the scent of the tom was everywhere. He knew not to fear that word, as many PewterClan cats did, he only knew that the tom was basically a monster nowadays, having lost a lot of his looks in the fight. Shaking his head, hoping to clear his mind, Gyrpaw halted as their guide stopped, her expression obviously amused at him.
"There is still a chance to retreat." She purred, pale blue gaze daring him to back out; daring him to run away, as so many had done in the past, while gesturing at a clearing.
"He should be around there somewhere. If not, wait a while, and if he wishes to meet you, you'll meet him." Adder, she had lost the ending as soon as she had crossed the border, meowed softly, before turning and vanishing into the shadows; a nifty trick when one felt like showing off. She was going to report to Renegade and learn what he chose to tell her, maybe lounge around a while before returning to camp. What was the worst that could happen to her? She was already pretty sure she wouldn't become an apprentice soon, and in all honesty, nothing really scared her aside from the rogues who had earned that fear.
Let the punishment come, she thought with a laugh.
Looking back over his shoulder, Gyrpaw grinned at Badgerpaw.
"Well, lets go see if our kin is in." He said, chuckling, mood sky-high. Padding forward, he entered the canyon, instantly sobering up. They were in dangerous territory here, it would be on fool's luck if they managed to escape, and that meant not making any mistakes; mistakes could and most often would get you killed.
There really wasn't much to do today, the black tom thought with a snort. He was usually breaking up fights, solving quarrels, doing something other than wondering what he should be doing. Looking at the fresh kill pile—which was full, despite the friction having the extra warriors was nice, especially since they had lost so many to Renegade, so there was no reason to go hunting.
His apprentice was off somewhere right now, having been given the day off, and Havoccypt was bored out of his mind. Maybe he would visit the Rogue lands; it had been a while since he had been there…
No. That wouldn’t be a good idea. Too much had happened last time for him to be comfortable in the canyons really, and loner lands was just another painful memory really. He and Ace were still tense, and recent little bits really hadn’t helped any. It was enough to make him want to lash out at someone, at anything; when he was alone, usually in the dead of night, he did. Fighting cats who thought they could sneak through the territory since it was night, but it wasn’t as though that solved anything.
Not that he would ever admit that.
Padding through the camp, looking as he usually did, rebellious and plotting, Havoccrypt grinned faintly as he watched the kits play, his own were getting ready to become apprentices. Watching them for a moment, he wondered what that would be like, having kits as apprentices, and then warriors. Would that mean he was getting on, or was time simply speeding up around him? It seemed like such a long time ago, sneaking out to see Adito, falling for her, and then having his heart broken. It wasn’t as though time hadn’t somewhat healed that wound—he had found a mate after all, but it still hurt to think of the past. The past was of happier times, times when he hadn’t had to worry about life. Apprentices always wanted to become warriors, something that he had felt as well, though now he wondered…what was the rush? You could do so much more as an apprentice and not get in trouble for it. When you were a warrior, it was all rules, following the warrior code, something he had been reminded of not too long ago, he thought with a bitter smile. Ace was happy though, that was all that mattered. He had a mate, Ballad she was called, who was expecting kits someday, from the look in their gazes.
Speaking of kits…where was Adderkit? Fiery gaze narrowing, Havoccrypt scanned the outside, and didn’t see the gold and black kit anywhere.
Uh-oh. This was not good.
Adderkit had proved to be a handful beyond the normal expectations he had had for this litter; there had been a tinge to her since coming back that he hadn’t trusted. Another swift gaze around the camp told him that Badgerpaw and Gyrpaw were missing; their scents held the tinge of those departing on an adventure, a tinge he knew very well.
Adderkit, what have you done now?
The thought was a despairing one, horror flickering through on the edges. They had departed recently though, there was still time to catch them. If he hurried with his meeting with Talonstar, that is. Head snapping up, the black tom dashed up to where the leader’s den was, not bothering to ask for entrance. Sure, he had manners, but they were pushed to the side when every second counted.
”Talonstar.” Havoccrypt called, making it know he was there; something that came automatically, he had done it since apprentice age.
”Adderkit has taken your two sons out into the rogue canyon.” He informed the other cat, tail lashing with his annoyance.
”If I know her, she will be taking them deep within the canyon, to where Sacrifice, Pyre, and even Renegade live.” Maw pulling into a silent snarl, Havoccrypt rose and started to pace, tail still lashing.
”If I hurry I can catch them hopefully before anything bad happens to them.” There was a request in his tone; once upon a time there wouldn’t have been one. But since he had needed to grow up it seemed, he had, for better or for worse. Yes, his fire was still down in him, it just wasn’t as visible as say, when he had bitten the other warrior as an apprentice.
There was no doubting his intentions though; with or without permission, he was going to the rogue canyon, and he was going to get the young cats back.
[Bleh, I’m sorry. Haha, it is hard playing a somber Havoc, and I haven’t played these guys in so long. xP]
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Post by H-a-w-k-i-e on Mar 24, 2010 0:02:42 GMT -5
”I dunno. But he didn’t seem to mind too much when we wandered out that time when we were kits.”
Maybe it had something to do with their parentage, but the brothers had never really been content with being confined, always rushing to the call of adventure. Even at an early age, Badgerpaw and Gyrpaw had snuck out of camp and were almost over the border, if their father hadn’t caught up with them. Talonstar hadn’t exactly reacted as most parents would’ve; he actually seemed mildly amused by his sons’ antics, and while he did scold them a bit, he did not threathen tell Honeystar...too bad the late Mapleclan leader had shown up anyhow, and Badgerpaw had been scared out of his fur by the explosive she-cat, though he did try to put on a brave face. Honeystar had been quite anal about some things, not to mention incredibly hot-tempered and quite arrogant. Not that she hadn’t been a decent leader. The tan tom personally thought that his own father did a way better job. But again, he was probably biased. Badgerpaw did miss Mapleclan sometimes though; the ground here was rock hard, literally, and he missed the soft feeling of undergrowth under his large paws. At first, his pawpads had always been painful from all the cracks in them. Good thing his sister Covepaw was a medicine cat apprentice. Fogberry was such a grump.
Badgerpaw understood Gyrpaw’s concern; there were a few cats, though not many, seeing as Talonstar has time and time again proven himself to be a warrior worthy of respect, which did not approve of their heritage. Even though Talonstar had been born in Mapleclan. Perhaps it was just the fact that the rogue that they shared blood with was the late rogue deputy of the Masked One himself, Hawktalon. The blue-gray tom had been, directly or indirectly, involved in big fights between the clans and the rogues.
The tan tom stiffened slightly as they went deeper and deeper, sensing all the signs of fear and pain. Jaw tightening, he padded on. Things weren’t nearly as bad the last time they were here ... Badgerpaw shook his head. As bad as things were, he wasn’t about to be easily distracted. They were here to find their kin. That was exactly what they would do. Glancing briefly at Adderpaw (he really didn’t like the look that was in her pale blue eyes) , he nodded and followed right after his brother, ears twitching at every noise.
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Talonfang sighed quietly, settling into his nest. Even after these moons, the scent of Goldstar was still present in the den. If you sniffed carefully enough, you could even find a trace of the leader before him, Ravenstar. As warm and comfy as the little den was, it just couldn’t beat the old warrior den in Mapleclan. Yes, he had the entire den to himself here, but being cramped up with other cats was really warm, especially during leafbare. And the fact that Mountainbrook was not by his side every night either.
The silvery black tom’s ears perked up before he heard his deputy’s voice call out. Havoccrypt was a bold one, but no doubt he’d been a good choice to lead alongside him. He’d considered Fangslash, but his best friend was about as acquainted with Pewterclan as he himself was. Havoccrypt, though sometimes rash and impulsive, had a certain air to him that made the other cats listen. Perhaps it was his passion, Talonstar wasn’t sure. But it sure did provide a nice contrast to his own casual, cool way of handling things.
When he heard the news, the leader frowned slightly, tail twitching. Sitting up, and inviting his deputy to do the same, his tail lashed a single time, but other than that, he was alot calmer than most fathers whose kits had just wandered off into dangerous land.
”It’s dangerous to be out there at times like this. The rogues are in chaos, after Renegade’s reappearance.”
At the sound of Pyre, his kin’s name, Talonstar’s ears flicked with disapproval. While he didn’t particularly judge the rogues and his kin, he had a dislike for the Clan traitor. He was truly heartless and merciless, not to mention utterly unpredictable. The stag-pelted tom still held a grudge against the clans too, for having been exiled after showing his true colours during a battle, and siding with the rogues. Once known as Stagfire, the tom was intelligent yes, and a genius as a kit, but this was one cat that Talonstar wouldn’t mind not being related to.
”We do not want to risk losing cats at this time, when Renegade is once again in the power. I’ll send a party down. Preferably those who know their way around the canyons.”
They did have ex-rogues here in the camp, but the one worry was that they’d encounter troubles should they re-enter the canyons. They’d be labelled traitors to the rogues and harm would likely befall them. Maybe Eaglewing? Glancing at Havoccrypt, he checked if there was anyone he had in mind. Normally, he’d send Aceslash, his brother, with him, but things were tense between the two lately...not to mention sending Aceslash would mean sending Ballad, who too, once was a rogue.
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Post by » Sacrifice on Apr 6, 2010 20:31:30 GMT -5
She had never promised the two cats that they would be safe; all she had told them was that she would get them into the canyon. She had found and reported to Renegade, and now it was time to simply sit back and watch the show. Perching on one of the ledges that were only seen if one knew about them, Adderkit crossed her paws, blinking her pale blue eyes. She had nothing else better to do—and besides, it had been a while since she had seen Pyre interact with someone outside of the rogues. There were other rogues gathering around as well, they were well within the ‘darker’ part of the canyon, and she could only grin. Whatever the two toms had been expecting, she was willing to be that this hadn’t been it. Ears swiveling toward the toms, Adder was as silent as the snake that was her name.
This was going to be a good show. Especially if the clan cats got here soon enough—she loved a good bloodbath.
[skipping Gyrpaw for now. =3]
For a moment or so, the explosive tom sat, but it wasn’t long until he was back up and pacing, eyes glittering brightly in the darkness of the den. There was something very bad going on, something that they needed to stop; he didn’t know how, but it was something he just couldn’t question. Ears pulling back until they were flat on his head, agitation clear with every somewhat jerky movement as he paced the den, the black tom was quiet as the older tom spoke, half listening to him, half sorting out the thoughts in his own mind.
Adderkit was tainted; there was no way he could doubt it, not after this.
Gyrpaw and Badgerpaw had snuck out before; Talonstar’s lack of surprise told him this much,
They were looking for Pyre; Adderkit probably knew where he lived and was taking him there.
The rogues would be interested in the toms; but maybe wouldn’t start a bloodbath until later.
If too many cats came, there would be a bloodbath.
Cats true to the clan and old rogues couldn’t go; they would be very obvious as outsiders.
But who did that leave to come? Havoccrypt would have gone alone if it had been a lesser rogue, but infamous names were that way for a reason, and he doubted he would get any help from the other rogues; why would they care?
”Cats that are dead should stay dead.” Havoccrypt growled, pelt bristling slightly, hate glittering in his eyes. If he ever got the chance, he would kill the tom who had dared to take over PewterClan, who had ripped from him one of the few true friends the tom had made. He hadn’t always been a strong follower in Warrior Code for some aspects, especially the whole ‘do not kill’ bit; but weren’t there exceptions for every rule? Still pacing around, the sleek black tom nodded.
”I wouldn’t even ask for help from Zane’s band, and aside from them, all that are left who wouldn’t kill us on sight are hiding—most probably joined up with the clans in order to escape the sickness. It would be foolish to try to trust one at the moment."
But that wasn’t saying that he wouldn’t trust some of them—at the moment it was just easier not to take any chances. They couldn’t risk losing warriors at the moment; everything was still a little unstable. The old known rogues could go out, they would be killed, and most warriors would be as well, not knowing the canyons as he, and probably Talonstar, did.
Abruptly, the tom shook his head.
”A party…unless it was at max three cats…would attract unwanted attention. The rogues are looking for any reason to fight right now; we can’t risk losing warriors when we have so few left at the moment. If too large of a party is presented, then they will think we are looking for a bloodbath, which to my understanding is something we are trying to avoid, but I doubt they’d see it that way.” Looking outside for a moment, gaze tracking the position of the sun, Havoccrypt flicked his ears, pale colored gaze glowing brightly.
”I know the canyons as well as anyone who doesn’t live there…what about maybe Fangslash? He has an air about him that makes me think he knows more then he ever lets on. I don’t know if he was one of the rogues though. Eaglewing, I don’t think he was too well known there either, could work as well. We wouldn’t look like rogues—but we could avoid being so easily detected and killed.”
Aceslash…but that would mean bringing his mate who was a rogue once upon a time.
Of course, Havoccrypt wasn’t going to suggest bringing Aceslash at the moment anyway, that would make everything a little more difficult then he was willing to deal with right now.
Tail flicking slightly, Havoccrypt sat down suddenly with a sigh, head shaking slightly.
”Adderkit will have to be punished for this—there is no way to get around it. She didn’t use to be tainted though, she followed Goldstar into the canyons and was influenced, and I imagine trained, by Renegade. That is no excuse for what she has done, or is doing, but this isn’t all her fault.” It was recited in a weary way, as though it hurt him to say so. But, there was no way that this could go unnoticed, simply looked over.
He only hoped she wouldn’t get banished—something he would do, but found it hard to think about. She was dangerous, but wouldn’t it be better to keep that where someone could watch her, instead of out in the open?
He could only wonder.
”Do you have any other ideas of who would work? I don’t know some of the warriors as well as you do.” Havoccrypt said suddenly; jumping back to the original conversation. He was getting antsy though; time was ticking and the urge to move was just getting stronger.
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