looking for trouble (open!)

[gray]

The foul stench of one dismal place mixed with the sour smell of another miserable location. The sticky hard surface of the Thunderpath produced one such undesirable odor, while the foul reek of ShadowClan was another stink entirely. It was as though the entire world existed inside that unpleasant smell, and as though the smell leeched the entire world of color. One might ask why anyone would have a desire to go there. It was obvious that nothing good would come from an excursion there. Nothing grew and the prey hid, terrified of the reek and rumbling of Twoleg monsters. The only time cats ever ventured out there was to mark the border. But the lithe gray tom most certainly was not on any form of patrol, border or otherwise.

Venturing out here alone was a rash move and he knew it. A lone WindClanner padded out of the underbrush. He was wiry and agile, with long muscled legs and a lean body. He had large pointed ears and wide, pale eyes. Everything about him, from his paw pads to his pelt to his moist little nose and the very tips of his whiskers was the same, even shade of ash gray, hence the name ‘Cinder’. The suffix was a little more difficult to figure out, but anyone who knew the gray tom’s story would understand it. Left to die alone in the snow, he was convinced that his paws had nearly frozen off, giving him the suffix ‘foot’. Cinder and foot, both appearance and history. His name explained him and told his story, all at once, without anyone realizing it.

Now, Cinderfoot was no gentle creature. He was brutal and merciless, cruel and prone to violent bursts of temper. His position within the Clan came as a shock to, well, the entirety of the Clans. In the distinguished position of medicine cat apprentice, Cinderfoot was preparing to take over for Barkface once he retired. Although trained as a warrior, Cinderfoot had seen the error of his ways and had found truth, solace, and oneness in the healing path and in StarClan.

Ha, as if! He traded his warrior path for his life, becoming the medicine cat apprentice in return for StarClan not taking him that fateful day. However, he could hardly be considered a reformed warrior. If anything, he desperately clung to any vestiges of his warrior days—which led to here, and now. He stood close to the edge of the Thunderpath on the WindClan-ShadowClan border.

One could easily say the gray tom was looking for trouble.

word count // 429
ooc comments // none
tags // open!

[talltale]

WRENSHADOW
She-cat || 36 Moons || Warrior

The stench of death, no, the sent of man. The thunderpath wreaked more than death, and trust a shadowclan warrior to know. She did know. Her life had been filled with the scent, sight, sounds and terrors of death. Her mother, her sister, her clanmates. Who cared? She certainly didn't. This clan and this land meant nothing to her, just a place that she resided and even saying that was stretching the point. Wrenshadow was not a fan of other cats, she wasn't a fan of cowards or warriors or mouse-brains. They were all the same to her, filthy liars.

The roar of a nearby monster ruffled the she-cat's fur but it didn't stop her from emerging onto the road's shoulder. There was grass here, but it wasn't doing well. It was a dusty green-brown and it was hard like blades beneath her paws. She ignored the feeling and padded ever closer to the edge of the thunderpath. Another monster. Still she didn't flinch. Her feelings were numb and she often felt comforted coming here. The fact that her fur stood on end and her tail twitched in alert meat that she was still alive. She was still feeling something. Hunting was the same way. The only thrill the beautiful lilac tabby could get, aside from boxing the ears of her clanmates when they came all too close to her personal bubble.

She was beautiful with eyes like glittering dusk skies and fur like silk, but she was a wolf in sheep's clothing. She was cruel and hated almost everything. Her story was a twisted and cruel one that she shared with no one and yet everyone knew. Gossiping rat-tails! She sat down only a couple of tail lengths from the edge of the Thunderpath, she could faintly smell the edge of Thunderclan territory, the snobbish brutes that they were.

Another monster roared by ruffling the she-cat's fur in it's wake, causing her tail to wave like a flag about her body. Then there was silence. No monsters. No birds. No life. And there across the way was a sleek grey shape, a cat, a Windclan cat. She didn't know him, she didn't know any of them since she never went to Gatherings. No matter how many times she was invited she did not go. She didn't like socializing, what didn't her clan get about that. Whatever, they didn't matter. She swivled her ears forwards first then back again almost flat as her blue almost violate eyes focused like an owl on the tom and narrowed.

_{Tag// Gray (Cinderfoot).}

thanks Rach from HEREdelusional

[gray]

Trouble might come in the form of an enemy, thinking that he was attempting to test the boundaries and the limits of patience from other Clans. It also was a possibility that a Twoleg monster would, for some reason, finally leave its strange sticky hard surface path and veer onto the unhealthy grass to the side, and crush him beneath its stinking great black paws. A rogue may wander in and decide that Cinderfoot’s very presence was completely unbearable. Really, the possibilities were endless. It was that very sense of endless possibility—albeit negative ones –that he reveled in right now. A monster roared by, the gray tom’s whiskers twitched and his pale eyes tracked its path. It stayed unwaveringly along its sticky hard river, never once glancing to either side.

Feeling someone’s gaze intent upon him, Cinderfoot sat down and calmly glanced around him. He finally spotted his silent watcher on the other side of the Thunderpath. It was a ShadowClanner, the stinking cats. Brokenstar was ridiculous. He had no diplomacy, no honor of any sort. His Clan, well, most of them were just the same. It was pathetic, really, that one Clan could have fallen so far… not that ThunderClan was much better. Who did Tigerstar think he was, bringing in a huge group of rogues into this? They didn’t belong in this conflict, and none of them had any sense of morality either.

He couldn’t catch the ShadowClan cat’s individual scent over the stench of the Thunderpath and the general ShadowClan reek that hung about the area. Yet, somehow Cinderfoot thought that he didn’t recognize her—the cat definitely was a ‘her’, judging by the slender outline of her figure from across the sticky hard surface. She was staring directly at him with a gaze that he felt certain would be absolutely captivating up close. Did he dare cross the Thunderpath? Did he dare intrude on the enemy? He decided it would be far more entertaining to taunt her to come to him. Then, he would have an excuse to attack her. That might be fun, he mused with a smirk.

Calling across the path once there was a lull, Cinderfoot said, “Like what you see? There is no need to stare; staring is just so rude.” His tone was languid and nonchalant, and he swiped a paw over his face to indicate just how indifferent he was to her presence. She must not go to Gatherings… ever. He was at practically every single one of them as medicine cat apprentice, so he could recognize just about everyone even if he didn’t know their name. However, this cat was just plain old unfamiliar. Or she might be a passing loner or rogue, he figured. Either way, getting into a little confrontation would do him good.

word count // 468
ooc comments // none
tags // talltale and open

[talltale]

WRENSHADOW
She-cat || 36 Moons || Warrior

Wrenshadow's eyes narrowed more as the slender gray tom turned to face her and the heckles along her spine began to bristle. The look on his smug little fat-face just made her irritable. Then again there were few cats in her own clan that she liked, never mind from other clans. HA, he was so oblivious to danger that she would have marked him as a kitty-pet if he hadn't stunk like Windclan. What had he been doing all day rolling around in the heather all day like a soft-hearted kit? Probably.

She didn't like Windclanners, but she suposed they weren't the worst cats out there. Riverclanners were just arrogant and stubborn and Thunderclanners were just stuck up jerks hidding behind a vail of rouge so-called warriors. It was pathetic, but then again Windclan was allied with them which made them all the more naive. Such submissive cats, they were nothing but skin and bone. They thought their quick feet could save them? HA, as if they were the only twinkle-toes int he forest.

"Hardly" She spat back at him, "You're nothing more than a skinny little lump of dust, no better than a kitty-pet. I'm just staring because you're obviously oh-so-very lost!" She said and her ears flattened to her head. What an arrogant prick.

_{Tag// Gray (Cinderfoot).}

thanks Rach from HEREdelusional

[gray]

Nope, definitely not a loner or rogue; the she-cat spat an oh-so-obviously Clan-based insult that only an idiot would have continued to think she was a no-Clanner. “Hardly!”

[/I] she snapped. “You’re nothing more than a skinny little lump of dust—”[/I] Really now? Was that the best she had? Cinderfoot’s pale yellow eyes gleamed in malicious amusement… until he heard the rest of her little tirade. “—no better than a kittypet.”[/I] That was more than enough. Abruptly rising to his feet and snarling, the fur along his neck and spine fluffed up and he lashed his tail. Did she have no idea who he was? Surely, she must—everyone in the forest knew the brutal warrior-turned-healer. Even if they didn’t respect him now, they had most definitely feared him before. “I’m just staring because you’re oh-so-obviously lost!”[/I] Her ears flattened against her head.

Taking a stiff-legged pace forward, Cinderfoot struggled to retain some semblance of his mind. With a blank mind, he would be unable to form a suitable retort, and this she-cat was in dire need of a little bumping back down into her place. “Oh? And what is little miss bat-ears going to do? Listen to me? Hardly threatening!” He spat after taking in her overly large ears. On a cat as dainty in stature as her, the ears surely drew attention. “I’m afraid to say that you’re oh-so-obviously a fool!” She better not even continue to speak. She better just come bounding across the Thunderpath. He desperately wanted to tear into her like he had to so many others who crossed him, the borders, or his Clan. The other Clans needed a reminded of Cinderfoot the warrior, since they seemed to be so caught up in mocking Cinderfoot the medicine cat.

He bared his teeth and felt his claws sink into the rank earth beneath his paws. His tail, as though with a mind of its own, lashed continuously as a flood of rage poured into his veins. It was like no other feeling in the world; this was the feeling he had been trained with and on, the feeling that had carried him through battle and through confrontations. Yes, he had gone looking for trouble, and now he had it. That little bat-eared she-cat had better watch her tongue; she obviously had no clue what she had just provoked. Despite the fury rising in his chest, Cinderfoot felt alive in the way he had been missing since StarClan spared his life. This was the drug that had the only true effect on the violent gray tom.

Bloodshed. Mayhem. Conflict. Without it, there was no purpose, and without purpose, there was no life. If she continued to bandy words with him, he would have to go and wipe that unpleasant look off her face. Someone needed to claw her pelt. And put a good-sized nick in one of those ears. The moment felt suspended, as though defying the very laws of time and nature and the very fabric of existence.

Welcome back.

word count // 504
ooc comments // none
tags // talltale and open

[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[talltale]

WRENSHADOW
She-cat || 36 Moons || Warrior

Wrenshadow watched the tom and suddenly there was a change, like a coil that was rung too tight and just collapsed in on itself breaking in two and being flung all about. He was on his feet and his tail lashed violently, any faster and he'd create a whip-crack with nothing but his tail. Oh but this didn't intimidate her, no, not at all, it only furthered her enjoyment. Her ears came forwards and it was her turn to lick her paw nonchalantly as if he was no threat. Slowly she got up on her pretty round paws and paced back and forth, her movements all exaggerated and taunting. Her tail flicked back and forth slowly as if daring him to come get her. HA the clans on the other side of the Thunderpath were cowards they never crossed the border. Too soft-hearted for that.

"Ooo Sticks and stones dust-bunny, sticks and stones." She purred pacing close to the thunderpath like a tiger in a cage, after 3 years of being mocked by her clan words really had very little effect on her rage level. But of course she was a great manipulator of such words. "That the best I got? You're the one who couldn't think of anything more original than bat-ears. Think you're clever? Think that's the first time I've heard that?" She scoffed, "Not to mention your so unintelligent that you can't make your own insults just gotta fire mine right back at me eh tough guy?" She meowed her voice rolling into the stiff still air lined with sarcasm and venom.

She examined him as fury radiated from him and she ceased her pacing. He flashed his teeth at her and she just smirked her eyes illuminated with taunting cruelty. After so many moons of being bullied, she had now become the bully. "Oh? What's this? The cool cat is losing his temper over little old me?" She meowed her ears flicking back again and her tail ticking to a more rapid rhythm as she sat down opposite to him, "Then come get me tough-guy. Lets see what a flea-bitten little dust-bunny can do" She taunted. He wasn't coming over, there was no way a oh-so-loyal Windclanner would abandon his post just to get revenge for a few less than friendly words?

Clearly she didn't know him very well.

_{Tag// Gray (Cinderfoot).}

thanks Rach from HEREdelusional

[gray]

When she threw his own ploy against him—so very mature –and licked her paw casually, Cinderfoot figured there was no way she was ever going to cross the border. She was too secure in her own standings, too cocky and arrogant to ever expect someone else to break the rules. She was, clearly, a coward; her only attack was words thrown across several fox-lengths with no real power behind them. Dust-bunny. What a dumb name to call someone. That didn’t bother him, it actually went in his favor when someone underestimated him. Several had done it before. They didn’t live to ever do it again. Once his reputation preceded him, however, well… They all knew to stay out of his way. He could, however, always rely on the few idiots who decided to push their luck. Her mocking purr was too much; Cinderfoot took another step closer, fully emerged from any last bits of undergrowth now. His lanky form was in full relief, the ash and cinder monochrome of his body like a pale shadow against the dying, sickly green of the Thunderpath growth. “…not to mention you’re too unintelligent… tough guy…”

[/I] Only bits and pieces reached Cinderfoot, some of her tirade hitting dead ears and dropping to the ground unheard while other parts set fire to his blood, to his very being.

The she-cat’s ears flicked and her tail lashed in an off-beat rhythm with his, her movements mimicking every one of his with sardonic cruelty. Although he was unaware of it, Cinderfoot had met the female incarnation of himself. She sat down opposite him. “Then come and get me, tough guy. Let’s see what a flea-bitten little dust bunny can do.”[/I] A peculiar silence fell over his ears. Suddenly, with no warning and no sound and no preparation, the gray tom flashed across the Thunderpath. He threw himself under the monster that screamed by, racing out from under it just heartbeats before its great black paws crushed him underfoot. His blood sang and he could hear every pulse pounding like thunder in his ear. His pawpads tore on the rough, sticky, hot surface of the Thunderpath. Its burning stench filled his nose and then, suddenly, there was the she-cat.

“Learn your place!” he screeched as his paws pounded onto the ShadowClan side of the Thunderpath. He launched himself at her, springing forward with his paws outstretched and his teeth bared in a vicious, face-twisting snarl. Hatred and brutality flared like fire in his eyes. He readied himself for the jarring impact that was surely about to come…

word count // 430
ooc comments // I left it open for however you want this to go. I’ll leave all of them open like that. These’ll probably be quick-whip power-posts, so excuse the lack of length and finesse(:
tags // talltale and open

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[talltale]

WRENSHADOW
She-cat || 36 Moons || Warrior

Wrenshadow's eyes were glowing in the dim light around the thunderpath, she had dared the stone-gray tom to come and get him. She had encouraged him and sealed their own fates.

The moments after he launched himself forwards were moments of silence and stillness. The Thunderpath roared and the monster screamed as it coasted over the tom but wrenshadow heard none of it, nothing but the drumming of her heart in her ears. When he came streaking out from beneath the monster she was in near shock but her reflexes made her move. His claws and teeth outstretched she leapt to the side like a streak of grey-brown lightning turning herself on her haunches to launch her own counter attack. Her mouth open she came backaround poised and aimed directly at his ear or throat.

Learn her place?! He was on her territory! He had underestimated her... and so the war of two began.

_{Tag// Gray (Cinderfoot).
Ooc// That's fine, I'm probably going to be the same}

thanks Rach from HEREdelusional

[gray]

She was quick, that much was certain; stepping neatly past his barreling attack, she countered. Her teeth tore his ear. Feeling the sting of pain in the sensitive skin and nerves of his ears, he traced the blood that trickled slowly out of it. The blood was hot and it whispered of death and chaos—both of which the gray-furred tom would gladly deliver without a second thought. He landed on his paws, all four of them slamming into the rank ground of ShadowClan territory. Even the very earth felt different over here. He hated the feeling of ShadowClan dirt. Those stinking vile cats had hearts full of evil. They had no sense of direction, no distinction between right and wrong. He, at least, did.

Flicking his torn ear, Cinderfoot let out a low, rumbling growl that gathered volume deep in his chest. He circled the she-cat, whom he now saw was a pale grayish-lilac tabby with the strangest bluish eyes. She had a face that should have been open and sweet, almost like Mintpaw’s, but instead was fixed with a sneer of spite. Her small oval paws looked like kitten’s paws. He didn’t recognize her.

But now, he would. He didn’t need to know her name to know this burning hatred in his chest.

Cinderfoot screeched wordlessly, hurling himself at her again, determined to bowl her over onto her back. He wanted her back pressed into the ground, he wanted his nose pressed up against hers, and he wanted to rip his claws into her stomach and tear. According to the warrior code, a warrior doesn’t need to kill to win his battle.

According to his training, a real warrior had the right to decide what to do with the life between his paws.

word count // 295
ooc comments // open-ended(:
tags // talltale and open

[talltale]

WRENSHADOW
She-cat || 36 Moons || Warrior

Wrenshadow leapt to the side again but it was too late, his forepaws crashed into her flank but instead of trying to stay up right she rolled with the momentum flipping on her back. this didn't mean, however, that she was completely defeated, she brought her back paws up in front of her and unsheathed her claws kicking at the tom's stomach, hopping to either do damage or get him off, while swatting her front paws and small but sharp claws at his whiskers and face willing to take whatever hits she could get.

Her ears were pressed flat on her head and she spat angry hisses at him as her tail lashed in the dirt. What a crazy little man-man he was! What was he thinking? He had no finesse! A cat without control was a cat who was going to lose. She disregarded the warrior code. Only if he ran back to the other side of the thunderpath would she stop trying to skin the fur off of his tail!

_{Tag// Gray (Cinderfoot).
Ooc// She's like "oh hey he caught me... wtf?!"}

thanks Rach from HEREdelusional

[gray]

Each fractured moment was a moment of sheer rush and dark pleasure. Things clicked into place snapshot by snapshot, like blinking rapidly while moving your eyes all around—it produced an image of the surroundings, but a sloppy patchwork one. Some details were missed, other brought forward until they were massive, larger than life. In this particular moment, nothing was in sharper focus and more detail than the snapshot of his paws going where they wanted. Then slamming full-force into the tabby she-cat’s chest. The she-cat rolling and pushed onto her back. Time sped up again as she brought her hind paws up to pummel his stomach, a tactic that, of course, he knew. So many had done it; it was practically the oldest trick in the book. Contorting his body so that he was splayed oddly to the side, pretty much out of the cramped and awkward reach of the hind paws, only the odd swipe hit him. He ignored the claws shredding at his face and felt a long cut open up on his muzzle.

The ShadowClan she-cat’s tail lashed with wild fury and her ears were pinned completely flat against her head. Her muzzle was contorted in a perpetual hiss. It was very clear that, until someone landed a killing blow, this fight would last until the day StarClan descended from the sky to walk among their offspring—which, by the way, was perfectly fine with Cinderfoot. She had insulted his very being, mistaken him for one of the useless fools he always had to patch up in the medicine den. She had called him a kittypet, something no one would ever get away with. He was WindClan raised and WindClan at heart, and judging by his physique, WindClan born.

Cinderfoot rained sharp blows down at the she-cat’s face and neck, not caring how many of them—if any –landed. His eyes fixed on hers and he moved over his hind leg, exposing his stomach to a few of those vicious blows from her hind paws. He lifted his hind leg slightly and prepared to roll her over onto her stomach, shifting so that one hind paw was underneath her and ready to heave.

word count // 367
ooc comments // lol I love this. we’re gonna have to recruit someone else eventually to come break them up, otherwise they’ll never stop. open-ended(:
tags // talltale and open

[talltale]

WRENSHADOW
She-cat || 36 Moons || Warrior

The lilac she cat hissed as the tom's teeth tried to sink in somewhere that they weren't supposed to. They were digging into flesh, but she was sure to keep her chin tucked down where he couldn't grab anything fatal. She knew he was far away and that her back claws only kit so often but it was still something and so she kept at it. Her front paws were making his face turn a bit red but he seemed to ignore those blows too. Such a nasty little wild dirty thing he was! She didn't like him at all. No class!

As the tom dug his paw into her side to flip her she decided this was a good opportunity. She turned her head and aimed to sink her teeth deep into his closest leg, once there he would flip her and rip his own flesh. further more the moment she was on her stomach she used all the force she could muster to stand up right beneath him and hopefully shake him loose. As soon as she felt her paws touch the hard crusty grass of the thunderpath again she forced herself up and forwards... Perhaps she could break free. If not she'd find something else she could do.

_{Tag// Gray (Cinderfoot).
Ooc// They're very amusing. I'm waiting for the first time she goes to the gathering and they see each other and have that "YOU!!" moment. xD}

thanks Rach from HEREdelusional

[gray]

The violent hisses became the song that his blood pulsed in time with, the irregular impact of her hind paws on his underbelly the rhythm he hit in contrast to. The tabby she-cat tucked her chin down to avoid any fatal grabs to the throat, a fact that the ash-colored tom cared very little about at the moment. Her front paws continued to batter his face—StarClan only knew how she hadn’t yet gouged out an eye. Speaking of, Cinderfoot narrowed his eyes. Her teeth dug into his front leg as he flipped her onto her stomach, and he let out a small screech. She used all the force in her little body and pushed herself partially to her paws, with him still on top of her. A tremor ran through her body, but Cinderfoot let his muscles go fluid and dug his claws in to her flanks to avoid being thrown from his position.

Snarling, he knew that, unless she could throw him off of her, she was practically defenseless. He was a bigger cat (obviously, since he was the male), but she had compact bulk since he was leaner from life on the moors. All in all, they were about evenly matched once all the advantages and disadvantages of each of them were taken into account. The only difference was that she was older and colder, and he was younger and much, much more prone to unleashing anger in the form of extreme physical violence.

Cinderfoot kept his front paws embedded in her flanks, feeling muscles move beneath his paw pads. It was a weird feeling that had made him queasy the first time, but it had become a sensation he was more than familiar with. He learned to love the feeling, treasure it like a lover’s caress. He went to sink his teeth in her scruff…

word count // 309
ooc comments // here, you can decide whether she throws him off or if he manages to cling on still
tags // talltale and open