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Knowing what he did now, Steepfall found his name prophetic. While no cat doubted the coupling of his parents - Foxbane and Dragonguard - was an incredibly poor choice on their part, it didn't change the fact that he was born with the blood of leaders. He was destined to be great... or something like that. But WaterClan was gone, SunClan wanted him dead, and the little family he had left had nothing to show for themselves. Or so he thought.
Even among the distant unclaimed rogue-lands, rumors spread fast. It turned out his Uncle Chimerahunt had pulled through the flood and formed a rag-tag Clan with the Survival Clan's survivors - huh, guess they had a prophetic name, too - and anyone else who wanted to join. It hadn't been Steepfall's intention to hunt Chimerahunt - ha - but his pawsteps led him to WaterClan territory which eventually brought him here, alongside the mountains. Seemed like this Clan really was nomadic. He kind of hated that.
"Hell-o? This is SwiftClan, right?" Steepfall hadn't been very sneaky in his approach but no one had paid him any mind. He must be close to their camp now, if this wasn't it, and still no one had approached him, "Am I in DayClan or something?" He murmured to himself, getting irritated, then raised his voice, "Is anyone going to.. Oh, I don't know... check me in or something?"
Lamb watched this new cat as he approached. She remained silent, sniffing the air and picking up a new scent. This one wasn't mingled with the strange one that their ragtag clan was beginning to form. It was fresh. As the tom called out and mentioned DayClan, the white she-cat looked around, expecting another cat to greet this one. It was going to get awkward if he just stood there yelling like that, so Lamb gritted her teeth and raised herself to her paws, forcing each one forward toward the newcomer. "Hi," she said warily, still a good distance away but close enough to speak at a normal volume. "If you're here to join SwiftClan, I can show you to the den. Just make yourself a bed there."
"And do try to keep your voice down," added another she-cat, her calico pelt fluffed against the slight breeze as she stepped out of a hollowed-out dead tree, eyes narrowed. "I just got the kits to sleep - the last thing I need is some tom hollering down the place." Heathersong shook her head at Steepfall as she approached, her expression that of an exasperated mother chastising her kits. "What did you say your name was? Well, it doesn't matter. Lamb is right, just grab some moss and make a bed over there - " She flicked her tail towards the accumulation of nests, "- and you're good to go. I would suggest meeting with Chimerastar when you get a chance just to let him know you're here, but don't worry if you can't get to it today. He's a busy tom, after all."
"Something tells me he's not busy at all." Steepfall's fur bristled although purely out of annoyance, not aggression, which would have been clear to the two she-cats that had greeted him. The first she-cat - Lamb, it seemed - looked like she couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag and the other one was a queen with kits very nearby. The fact that neither of them were even remotely defensive - in fact, they couldn't be more welcoming - made him feel like his pelt had been brushed the wrong way, "Your kits have bigger problems than losing a wink of sleep if this is all SwiftClan can offer in the lines of defense." He swished his tail and raised his voice again, "CHIMERASTAR, don't tell me this is your guard?!"
Lamb cocked her head at the stranger. He already knew Chimerastar? She didn't feel very threatened by the tom, so her own pelt stayed flat against her. Still, she felt herself shift over to Heathersong protectively. Lamb wasn't sure why. After all, the two weren't actually friends. But she was learning that being in a clan meant you protected it, and perhaps this was the correct move. "You're so quick to insult us, stranger. I think you underestimate just how defensive a threatened queen can be."
"I know exactly how powerful a queen can be, especially when her kits are threatened. My point is that you should't have to sleep why one eye open..." His emerald eyes met Heathersong's, "... or deal with intruders in camp. Ever. The reason you live in this Clan should be for protection and support. If that's not the case then why are you even here?" His gaze hardened and swept Lamb's eyes, "The minute a new group is established, a target is put on its back. The more cats that live here the bigger that target becomes. You may get away with lax defensive measures now but by the time your kits have kits that will not be the case. Someone isn't pulling their weight. I intend to find out just who that cat is before blood is shed because they wanted to sleep in instead of guard camp... CHIMERASTAR! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME. Get out here!"
'Cause you're a villainous thing / And we can't have you living a lie
635 posts
Post by eventide on Jun 6, 2020 1:06:33 GMT -5
Heathersong raised and paw and before even she knew exactly what she was doing she reached out and cuffed Steepfall as one might cuff an extra-disobedient kit. "I said, lower your voice," she mewed sternly, though her eyes betrayed her embarrassment and guard rising because of her involuntary action. "Tempestkit has been in a right mood the last moon or so and I don't need some new guy walking into camp and disrupting almost an hour's worth of lullabies." She did step back after her cuff, her posture growing more defensive as she waited for his response. What had she done? He was a strange tom new to the clan. He seemed to have SwiftClan's best interest in mind, but for all she knew he was a kit killer.
"Mama, what's all the commotion?" Mistralpaw stepped out of the make-shift medicine cat den, the scent of herbs clinging to her. Her fluffy white pelt was clean but messy, all ruffled up from the tight quarters she worked in and the rush of patients that morning. "Oh? A new clanmate, huh?" She blinked up at Steepfall, offering him a sympathetic wince when she figured out what all the ruckus leading up had been about. "She packs a punch, huh?" she asked, shaking her head as she turned to Heathersong. "You need to be a little more gentle, Mama. Chimerastar is gonna claim you're the reason no one is joining us anymore."
Lamb watched in surprise as Heathersong reached out and smacked the tom, but her surprise quickly faded. She had warned him, after all. As the medicine apprentice entered the scene, Lamb began to back away. These two could deal with the situation on their own. But Lamb left slowly, keeping an eye trained on the newcomer in case he retaliated.
Steepfall didn't flinch or make a move toward Heathersong, which was perhaps scarier then if he had, as now the look on his face looked every bit as feral as to be expected of a rogue. What was he going to do next? His emerald eyes cut right into Heathersong's but still he did not so much as lift a paw, hell, he didn't even look like he was breathing. He let the silence hang in the air for what felt like decades. It was eerie in the same way a jade sky was before a storm.
Mistralpaw broke that silence. Steepfall tore his eyes away from Heathersong and instead focused on the new cat. Another cream puff. Three on one put odds in their favor but Steepfall had survived worse, not that he was worried about any of them actually attacking him, not after the queen's stunt just now. Heathersong's response only served to further prove his point. His eyes were on Mistralpaw but his words were for her mother, "In a different time a move like that would have warranted death, you know. You are lucky I have no pride left. The same cannot be said for the next rogue who says something you don't like." He paused and then locked eyes with the small queen once more, "Do not test my patience again. If you want me to shut up then bring me Chimerastar."
"Oh for the love of Starclan- as much of a mousebrain as he is, please don't beat up my nephew, Heathersong."
A familiar voice rang out across the camp, followed shortly after by the first familiar face Steepfall had probably seen in moons. A petite, almost apprentice-sized she-cat strided across the field with an annoyed huff, the sun glistening on her glossy short fur, which was the exact same charcoal shade as Steepfall's...and the tom's father before him. However, there was certainly something different about Tinybreath; she carried herself with a self-confidence that was almost alien compared to the cold, solitary young warrior he remembered from before the plague. And he certainly couldn't remember the last time he had ever seen his aunt smile. With a sparkle in her green eyes and a genuine grin on her muzzle, she stopped right in front of her nephew...before immediately cuffing him over the head in the exact same way Heathersong had. "Seriously, Steepfall?! You disappear for seasons, and the first thing you do is try and intimidate your new clanmates! Honestly, you're just like your uncle!"
She paused, stopping her rant short before gently touching her nose to his forehead with a soft laugh. "You're lucky I've missed you, you mousebrain. I'm glad you're alright."
'Cause you're a villainous thing / And we can't have you living a lie
635 posts
Post by eventide on Jun 6, 2020 13:33:18 GMT -5
"You've gotta be mighty bold to threaten me with death in my own camp," laughed Heathersong, much more relaxed when Tinybreath appeared and broke the tension. She didn't care for the tom's bravado and didn't trust it much either. "Anyway, I feel confident you're in good paws if you're related to Tinybreath. She really knows how to crack the whip, after all. My Mistralpaw can attest to that!" She laughed as she recalled Tinybreath pinning Mistralpaw - then Mistralkit - at their first gathering for fighting.
"Tinybreath." He said solemnly. His tone subtly shifted and his shoulders relaxed when he met her gaze. Steepfall had of course expected to run into some of his family here but the only one he knew of with certainty was Chimerastar. One of the last cats he expected to survive the plague, the flood and the rumored war of NovaClan was Tinybreath. She was always a tough little thing but her body had a hard time keeping up with her. The cat that stood before him, though, was it really his aunt? He'd never seen her smile let that, she'd never been this expressive. Then again, he'd changed, too. A couple new scars, a little thinner, more unruly. He didn't even smell faintly of WaterClan anymore. He was all rogue.
The charcoal black tom did flinch when this paw came his way. He had let his guard down for just a second. A scowl quickly returned to his face, "I'm not trying to intimidate anyone. It's always come easy for me," A ghost of a grin teased at his muzzle, though, and he rubbed his cheek against hers, "Who else is here? Hopefully some cats with more sense than the ones I've meant so far."
For one stupid, naive moment, he saw his older brother in his camp. His mouse dropped to his paws as he hurried through the entrance to greet him, a pleased rumble in his throat that abruptly died away when he fully recognized Steepfall. Any joy he should have felt at the arrival of his kin was drowned out by disappointed and the leader slowed to a halt a few paces away. His face settled back into a still mask and he nodded once to welcome him.
"It's been a while, Steepfall. Are you going to be staying with us? Tinybreath can make you a nest."
Chim looked different than before too, though the changes were much more marginal. His stressful life had left his face lined from an early age and his eye had been disfigured since Steepfall was born. He was going grey now, the stress draining away the color and vitality from his bony frame, but even as leader of his clan Chim was as unhealthy as ever.
"Wow, you look like hell." Steepfall said bluntly, approaching his uncle with a steely expression on his face. He had of course always known Chimerastar to be monocular, but he hadn't expected him to look so, well, aged. Gray, boney. If he didn't know better he would have assumed he had joined Vulcan as one of those pesky ghosts that just wouldn't go away. Anyway, just seeing the ginger tom explained a lot to Steepfall, but he wasn't one to soften his blows. Always straight to the point, so much for a proper reunion, "Explain to me how a rogue such as myself was able to walk into the heart of your Clan without so much as hitting one border marker or patrol? And don't feed me that nomadic crap, you should still have something in place for the safety of your queens and kits."
Chim shrugged. "We don't lay down borders anymore. They're a hassle to defend, and if we put them down, we have to stay within them. Easier to just explore where we like and try to keep close to camp." It had been a strange change to stop sending out official border patrols, but it freed up their warriors for hunting, and that was more important. Many cats stayed close to camp anyway. He tilted his head a little as he considered.
"Our queens are safe. They have claws, and so do all the other cats in camp. You didn't make it here without meeting any of them," he reminded him, "and if you were going to try and hurt someone, they would chase you off. Who is going to wander into the middle of our camp and try and hurt cats, anyway?"
"Long argument cut short - it's still a bit of a work in progress, but we would probably maul you before you pulled anything," Tinybreath remarked with a smirk, playfully nudging her brother. Honestly, seeing Steepfall and Chim interact was like watching a cat talk to their own reflection in a river, though perhaps sarcasm and brooding just ran in their family; Starclan knows she was just as bad when she was younger. "Nevertheless, Starclan and everyone else has officially recognized Swiftclan as an independent clan, so I guess we're pretty legit. Chimerastar's been doing a great job so far, too. He's really a natural leader...whether he likes it or not."
"A fox, a badger, a dog, a twoleg." Steepfall grew more and more angry at his uncle as he continued to list potential security hazards, but few would guess it, he sort of always appeared the same level of consternated when happy or furious. He just had one of those faces, "Even if you don't mark borders you must still have regular patrols that aren't just hunting." He would have said more but then Tinybreath cut him off. He wasn't so sure he liked this new version of his aunt, in the past she definitely would have picked his side, or so he liked to think so. She was trying to play peacekeeper and worst part was that some of what she was saying made sense. If StarClan recognized SwiftClan in its current state, then, according to the Warrior Code, he would have to respect his leader's words... but didn't the Warrior Code say something about keeping borders too...? When did he start caring about that stupid old thing anyway? And just when did Chimerastar become his leader? Steepfall's stomach grumbled, which distracted him long enough to realize he was only going to talk himself in circles at this rate. He sighed a bit too dramatically, "Every leader has a deputy that does most of the work. I'll try talking to whoever that poor cat is in the morning, since I'm getting nowhere with you... And I can make my own nest..."
"I wouldn't call it a natural leader," he muttered, thinking of the disastrous end of his first leadership. He ignored Steepfall's list of concerns. The argument wasn't worth continuing: his plan was essential the same no matter the predator. If any creature was dumb enough to walk into their camp, they would fight it off or run, simple as that. Border markers didn't deter dogs, after all, so he didn't see the point of sending out a patrol just to look for predators.
"His name is Beestripe," Chim paused before he said the name as if it took a great effort to recall it, "and you can argue with him all you want, but he still takes my orders." He turned his half-gaze on the queen outside of the den. "Lamb, what do you think? Would your mate listen to my arrogant cousin over his own leader?"
@pao / cookie whoever wants lamb in this thread cx
Steepfall's vibrant green eyes settled on Lamb and he sighed, swishing his tail slightly, "Don't answer him, Lamb. As much as he complains about gossip, you'll find most of it links right back to him. It's an ego boost. First he wants you to talk about him, then he'll have Beetstrike or whatever his name is do the same thing, and I'm the biggest fool of them all because I'm feeding right into it right now."
