Wait for no cat [open!]

[willow]

"Shouldn't we have a battle plan first, Breezestar?" the tom's voice interjected softly, stepping forward from the apprentices den where he had been getting a nap. Owlflash had come and got him in the morning for training but then had other matters to attend to and left his apprentice to his own designs. So what better way than to get some extra sleep?

Gorsepaw hadn't been eavesdropping long at all, just enough to hear Breezepaw and Mintpaw, the newest apprentices, propose an attack on Shadowclan. A shudder rippled down his spine at the thought of the dark cats, mind woven with the memories of death-wails, dark stinky places, and being carried back to a place he had not been born to. Often times he wondered if he was truly considered a Windclan cat when he wasn't born on the moorland...Morningflower assured him that he was Windclan because of what was in his blood, not where he was born.

The ginger and white tom came up beside Mintpaw, feeling a pang of sympathy for her lost tail but also having confidence she would be a great warrior despite it...even if she didn't really seem to want to be a warrior. He had been a small excuse for a kit when born into exile, but look at him now. Gorsepaw was almost as tall as the older apprentices and had the lean muscular frame of many moons of training. With bright, green eyes he looked expectantly at the 'leader', waiting to hear what 'battle-plan' she had in mind.

[talltale]

“Do t-“ Mintpaw was cut off my the appearance of the ginger tiger-tom, “Good morning Grosepaw.” She purred softly putting their game on hold then giggled as he so effortlessly joined into their game, “Breezestar, what should this warrior’s name be? Grousefeather?” She asked, after all if Grousepaw was going to play he needed a warrior name, he was older than the sisters and would therefore have a warrior name long before these two did.

“Either way, he’s right.” She giggled, “We can’t just bound into shadowclan territory, they’ll hear us coming a mile away! If we want to save those kits that they stole we need a plan.” Mintpaw said, adding in the kit stealing part just to add a little drama to their lovely little horror story. They were brave cats and if brave cats were rescuing little kits… it was a whole lot easier to play it brave. Shesh, deputy, Mintpaw knew THAT day would never come. But then again in the world of pretend they could do whatever they want. They could be a stinky old skunk if they wanted too.

[Moli]

Breezepaw stood up from her stalking crouch when she noticed that it was just Gorsepaw walking out of the apprentice's den. Well that wasn't as fun! It could have been ShadowClan, or her mentor! Then she would have something to do.

Though, she had something to do right now, too. She had a game to play!

"Gorsefeather? I think his name should be Gorsefang! That's a cool name." Breeze'star' decided, nodding her head. Now she had to think of a battle plan for ShadowClan. She didn't know much of anything about ShadowClan, other than the kit-tales she had been told in the nursery.

"Errr, well. We should find a patrol on the territory!" She decided. This way, she wouldn't have to worry about where their patrol was. "We could wait in the tunnels and ambush them! That would teach them to use the tunnels against us!" She declared, nodding as if she knew what she was doing.

She really didn't, but that was the point of playing, wasn't it? She glanced at Gorsepaw, waiting for him to tell them to grow up. But he was willing to play at the moment, maybe it would stick until their mentors came back.

[talltale]

Mintpaw thought about the name, it sounded silly to her, “But flowers don’t have fangs, nor are their fangs of that color.” She pointed out, “But some birds have yellow feathers.” She figured it was best to drop the name though, her sister was stubborn, “What about Gorseroot? Gorsethorn?” As soon as she had said that she realized that the plant did have thorns and that made Gorsefang make sense, “Now that I say that…I do like Gorsefang.” She laughed.

Mintpaw once again saw flaw in her sister’s logic, “Shadowclan would smell us in their tunnel and they are better at fighting in closed spaces than we are. I think it’s better to draw them into our territory, and then we can claim our fight was in self defense. That could make the other clans align with us over shadowclan.” The grey-spotted she-cat suggested her whiskers twitching the way they always did when she was thinking.

[willow]

"Good morning, Mintpaw." He smiled, then almost frowned at her suggestion of his warrior name. Gorsefeather? That didn't sound incredibly intimidating at all. It sounded more like a medicine cat's name, if anything. He knew he wouldn't be able to choose his name when his real ceremony came, but he did hope he'd get a name that would make rotten Shadowclan cat's tremble.

It took him a moment to notice that Breezepaw had been crouching at the entrance to the den, waiting for someone to come out. What stopped her from ambushing him was beyond him. In fact, he would have enjoyed a good-natured tussle with the black and white apprentice. The game was still going on...there was chance for a tackling yet.

"Gorsefang. Now that's more like it!" Gorsepaw mused, puffing out his chest and tilting his chin up proudly. That actually wasn't a bad choice for a name; It was strong and told just how fierce he hoped to be. Though there would be countless other possibilities, that was going in as a favorite of his."Shadowclanners beware, Gorsefang is on the prowl!" The tabby couldn't resist chuckling with Mintpaw as she finally decided on liking his warrior name before turning to listen with interest to 'Breezestar's' plan of action.

A look of seriousness and doubt wrinkled his expression at the apprentice's plan, instead nodding to agree with Mintpaw's plan. It would be like trapping yourself by going down into the tunnels without knowing if Shadowclan cats were down there already waiting in the shadows, just waiting to pounce on some unsuspecting Windclan cat...

He had to admire the way Mintpaw thought. She was a very smart cat for her age and seemed to think things through more carefully than her sister. Not saying that Breezepaw wasn't smart, no of course not. It was just the gray and white she-cat slowed down to think stuff through while Breezepaw was more...action!

"I have to agree. It'd be better to bring Shadowclan out onto Windclan. They've been using the tunnels and probably have a feel for how to get around by now. But we know the moor land far better than they ever will." Gorsepaw kneaded the ground with his white paws, feeling a rush of excitement. This game may not be real, but the amount of planning going into it was making it feel like it was real.