Warrior Cat Clans 2 (WCC2 aka Classic) is a roleplay site inspired by the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. Whether you are a fan of the books or new to the Warrior cats world, WCC2 offers a diverse environment with over a decade’s worth of lore for you - and your characters - to explore. Join us today and become a part of our ongoing story!
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11.06.2022 The site has been transformed into an archive. Thank you for all the memories here!
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The blue spruce shivered in the wind and as she lay in its dancing shadow Aconiteleap fluffed up her cream tabby fur against the chill. It early spring, and the sun was warm and strong, but the sharp bite of the breeze was almost enough to make her regret choosing to stay in the shade. She had wanted to stay hidden, and the only low brush on this side of the border was beneath the branches of the spruce, so she had little choice in the matter. It was quiet, though, and out of the way, where most of her clanmates would not come near. It was morning besides, so most of them would be sleeping; she should be as well, but she refused to come back empty-pawed (or on time, that was not her way, and now that she was a warrior she could do as she liked) so she settled down here to wait. It was not so bad, the patches of undergrowth here were dotted over grass cracked yellow from the long leafbare, and the color suited her fur better for blending in. All she needed was a target.
Her quick blue eyes raised at the sound of something nearby, and caught on the shape of a tom, but her interest moved off from him as quick as it had come. Far more interesting was the scampering mouse paws she heard coming from near him -- perhaps he had been chasing it, and it had escaped him -- and she rose and slunk forward, closer to the border, waiting for the prey to appear. As soon as it crossed, she lunged.
It had taken him a long time, but his little charge was finally ready for a life outside of the confines of the den that he had shared with his mother. After all he had just been promoted, and there was no way that he would be able to hide his little friend in the apprentice's den. Someone would eventually get hungry enough, and sniff out Ser Squeakers hiding spot and make a meal of him. The thought made him sick, and so there was only one course of action left to him, he had to set him free.
It had taken a lot of effort to catch ser squeakers without hurting him, and it had been even harder to sneak him out of camp without anyone noticing. Fortunatly he had asked skipstep for advice and had given the mouse a sedative to make him sleepy for the journey. Most of the cats just assumed Lionpaw was carrying the mouse to one of the patrols that were not able to stop to come back and get a meal. By the time he had reached the boarder, it was wide awake and wiggeling between his teeth. He sat it down, teary eyed watching as it scampered off into the foliage. It was like loosing a best friend, for he doubted that he would ever see ser squeakers again... He was just turning to leave when movement caught his eye, he turned to see ser squeakers scampering right towards the waiting huntress.
A heart wrenching wail filled the air, as he pushed himself forward to tackled the unsuspecting she-cat, not caring who she was or where she was from. No one was going to hurt ser squeakers.
She was nearly upon it, forepaws outstretched and ready, when he hit her. She noticed him coming a moment before, knew something was wrong, that she should have been paying more attention -- but the fleeting thoughts took too long to process, and by the time she had realized she was in danger he had already hit her and sent them sprawling. She hit the ground with a hard hiss and tumbled, her forepaws grasping his shoulders and dragging him with her. She twisted and thrush him down beneath her, then stood above the pinning tom with her eyes narrowed and lip curled.
For a moment she was silent, her sides heaving for breath, glaring down at him; then she huffed and stepped away, standing beside the downed tom and checking for her prey in vain. It had escaped. "That mouse crossed the border. It was my prey." Aconiteleap shot the apprentice another hard look, but her tone was equally incredulous and angry. "The hell do you think you're doing?"
His attack had been sloopy, but he didn't care. It didn't need to perfect, it just needed to make he stop long enough for ser squeakers to escape. He threw in his full weight behind the attack, his powerful back legs propelling him forwards. He felt the impact, as they were both sent sprawling through he air. Instead of his target, his eyes were scanning for his little friend, when he felt claws dig into his shoulders as he was drug into a tumble.. He let out a startled yelp, having never been in a real fight before. He struggled, but soon found himself staring up into the eyes of the stranger.. He ceased his struggles, as silence settled in between them.
Then as suddenly as the attack had begun it ended, and he managed to scramble to his paws. "I should be asking you the same question" He licked his wounded shoulder, returning her glare with his own. "That wasn't just any mouse, that was ser squeakers. I have been taking care of him for a few moons now, and the moment I let him go you think you could just make a meal of him" though his tone was more hurt than angry
Lionpaw was normally light hearted and joyful, but he considered ser squeakres as part of his family, and you didn't mess with Lionpaw's family.
Of all the answers she had been expecting, that would not have even made the list. Ser Sqeakers? Aconiteleap stared at him a few moments longer before she broke out laughing, the tension slipping from her shoulders as she shifted her stance and surveyed the tom with new eyes, shaking her head slightly in mirth. Their little scuffle had quickly made it clear he wasn't a threat to her, he was too young to defeat a trained warrior, and his crazy response just confirmed that.
"And how was I supposed to know that? You let him go right in front of me, what did you expect me to do, watch a nice meal waltz past me and do nothing?" She shook her head. "You could at least mark him with some those markings you SunClan cats love so much." She remembered seeing them when they had come to visit the other clan for an execution -- painted colors swirling over the pelts of their leader and some of the others, strange patterns that looked like they'd make blending in to hunt far more difficult. This apprentice didn't seem to be wearing any, though, so maybe it was just for special occasions or cats.
Lionpaw felt his face become heated, as he laughter filled the air. She had almost killed his friend, and now she thought it was funny. "It's not funny" he insisted, even though he knew that she had a point. How was she supposed to know that it wasn't just some random mouse.
"I didn't see you, and if I hadn't let him go he was going to hurt himself on my teeth" he sighed a little, but he wasn't really mad now that his friend had made it off to safety. "And besides I couldn't paint ser squeakers. That would just be silly. You can only were paint if you are a member of SunClan, not to mention that the paints would make it easier for others to hunt him"
He chuckled a little at the thought of a bright red mouse trying to hide in the leaves "Sorry for attacking you... I just didn't want you to hurt my friend"
She didn't laugh again, but a smile played along her lips at his anger. It was cute. "If I say a brightly colored mouse, the last thing I'd want to do is eat it," she pointed out. "I'd be too worried what was wrong with it to make it look like that." He had a point, though - not every cat would be as cautious as she was, and they might decide it just needed a good washing first. A hawk certainly would not be deterred. She paused, then dipped her head to him slightly, accepting the apology.
"Sorry for attacking your... friend. Why did you have a mouse, anyway? You know they're prey, right? You're supposed to catch them, not let them go." Were all SunClan cats so strange? She imagined they couldn't be, or the clan would have starved to death moons ago, but she couldn't imagine where a cat would get the idea to save a mouse's life instead of killing it. If her apprentice had tried to pull anything like that she'd probably eat it in front of them, just to prove her point. Aconiteleap twitched her whiskers. She still couldn't get used to the idea that Echopaw was her apprentice; she had become a warrior the day they'd been paired together, right after she had escaped training with her partner Blazepaw, only to be saddled down with another young cat. She was still learning to be a warrior herself, having an apprentice made it much harder.
"Well it's kind of a long story... but If you really want to know, I suppose I could tell it to you" he smiled slightly, as he backed up and sat down just on SunClan's side of the boarder, an open invitation for he to join him if she wished. He wasn't big on breaking rules, even though most SunClan cats had little respect for boundaries and often ventured onto other clan's territory.
"and yes I know that mice are prey, but this mouse was special. I have been taking care of him since I was three moons old. Really, it's kind of a long story, so I understand if you are to busy to hear it" it really was hard for him to explain the whole story, but he would tell his tale if she wanted to take the time to listen.
The cream tabby considered. She ought to be getting on with her hunt so she could head back to camp and get some rest, but the sun was growing warm and she longed to enjoy it for a while. Just a quick break won't hurt, she decided, and she really was curious about this strange little cat and the story of the mouse. "How about the short version, then?" Aconiteleap suggested. She padded closer to the border and sat down, curling her tail around her paws and looking down at the younger cat. "How did you find him?"
Lionpaw chuckled, "Ok if your sure, but the short version is going to leave out a lot of the important details" he winked, only sort of kidding, settleing down into the soft ground so that he could rest while they spoke.
"It all started when I was playing hide and seek in the den that we share with my mom and FoxStar. Fernpaw couldn't find me, so she starting searching for me in other places in our camp. Well while I was hiding I saw this little mouse sneaking out of a small crack and nibbling on momma's herbs. I was going to try to catch it, but it ran back in the crack. Well I kept seeing the mouse as it would sneak out at night, and I felt bad for it... So I started giving it little peices of food in the crack so that it wouldn't have to come out. I'm sure if momma or Foxstar had saw it they would have ate it.
I did tell papa about the mouse... he caught me putting food in the crack, and convinced me that I had fed him something dangerous... Well papa said that I could keep feeding him, but that eventually he would get to big to stay there. So when I became an apprentice, that I would have to sneak him out of camp and let him go. I just had my apprentice ceremony yesterday, so today I snuck out to make sure that no one else caught him" he replied proudly. Strange, yes... But It was part of who Lionpaw was. A sweet cat with a heart of gold
Aconiteleap listened to his story with a gradually furrowing brow. It was strange that he shared a den with the leader, but she didn't have time to focus on the implications before he moved on, so she let it go. The story just got more confusing from there. Why hadn't anyone else seen the mouse and tried to catch it? Surely they noticed the damaged herbs? Surely his father would have eaten it instead of letting him keep it... hers certainly would have. Gravity was a soft cat, but he was a former League hunter, and he could be as strict and cold as any. She'd seen glimpses of how harsh he could be and it terrified her.
He was her adopted father, because she had never known her true parents, and their lack of blood had been painfully apparent. They had tried to be inclusive to an extent, but she had always been keenly aware she was not one of their trueborn kits, and her adopted parents would always love the others more than her. They would never have let her keep a mouse as pet.
She shook her head slowly as he finished. "You're crazy," she told him with a little laugh. "Absolutely harebrained."
The young tom only chuckled "Perhaps, but sometimes you have to be a little crazy. It's what makes you different from everyone else" he paused looking off in the directiion the the mouse had disappered into "Yes as cats we are predators. We have to kill to live, but that doesn't mean that we have to be cruel. What chance did a little mouse stand against a cat? I know that life isn't always fair and that bad things happen sometimes, but why not show mercy when we can? It's not like SunClan was going to miss the food this one mouse would have given us. Our prey gives their lives so that we may live, so the least we can do is respect that life"
"I haven't thought about it that way," she mewed, but was unconvinced. She wasn't about to start thinking about letting her prey go, that was a dangerous hill to slide down and there was no guarantee it wouldn't inhibit her hunting abilities later on. Aconiteleap shook her creamy head as she lifted it to look around them, trying to see the world from his eyes. How did he look at his prey and see something vulnerable and in need of respect and mercy instead of an easy meal to catch? Was the problem with him, or with her?
"I bet your clan wouldn't appreciate you letting their prey go, though."
Lionpaw shrugged "I don't really care what they think. I made a decision to save a life, and I stand by that. My dad knows, and understood why I decided to do so. I think my sister and mother know to, but they never said anything"
He paused "besides, I have brought in enough prey to make up for the one mouse I let go and I will continue to do so for many more moons to come. I think one small mouse was a small price to pay for my conscious to remain clear" he didn't expect her to understand his choice, most wouldn't. He held himself to higher standard of morality. He playfully batted at her shoulder
"I don't really expect you to understand it. I'm different, I know that. But there is no reason we can't be friends"
"I think all of you SunClan cats have bees for brains," she told him with a hint of affection. "I don't know if I can be friends with someone so crazy, what will you do next? Maybe you'll save the life of a fox or StarClan forbid, a skunk! Your whole clan will stink for moons." She wrinkled her muzzle, a little exaggerated so he knew she was joking, and nudged him back. "Or rather, more than you already do."
Oblivious to the fact that she was kidding "What's wrong with saving a fox or a skunk? They have feelings to" he protested shaking his head. "I bet that if you saved a baby fox, one day you could make it into a good friend." He didn't realize that his statement made it very obvious that he had yet to meet a fox or a skunk...
He laughed a little nudging her back "What do you say? How about we go on a fox hunt?"
