Rise Summer Event: Summer of Thorns

[aergia]

Writing Prompt!

Username: aergia
Clan Thread: OceanClan
Prompt Writing: 600 words


“The patrol found signs of stolen prey in the outskirts of the territory again. Nearby the hills.”

Sealstar signed as Dawnmask reported to her, she’d known this was coming.

“I guess I’ll have to call a clan meeting.” She said before leaping from the ground gracefully.

“Let all cats old enough to swim gather around HighStone.” She called, perched atop a large granite rock. From all surroundings cats began to appear, both young apprentices and senior warriors. Many looked confused but Sealstar could pick out the few individuals giving her a very knowing glance.

“Is this about the rogues?” Sedgefur asked quietly as he sat beside her.

“I’m afraid so. The clan needs to know. We don’t know how dangerous these cats are or what we should do about them.”

Turning to the small gathering below her, Sealstar bit back her discomfort and addressed them. “OceanClan, I fear our luck has not improved. Over the past few suns, border patrols to the HillEdge have come back with reports of prey interference and the lingering scent of other cats.” She paused for a moment, trying to gauge their reactions. Warriors hissed and apprentices fur stood on edge; she could even see a few wide-eyed kits staring out from the nursery.

“We need to make a stand, show these rogues that OceanClan defends its territory!” Batflight called out.

“Yeah! Show them who’s in charge.” Tansypaw yelled, a little too enthusiastic for Sealstar’s liking. Eaglefeather would have to make sure he monitored that behaviour, she wouldn’t have her apprentices engaging in reckless behaviour as she had done.

“Hold on, we don’t even know if they are hostile.” Smokefang called out, ever the pacifist.

“I agree with Smokefang.” Dacewhisker shouted. A series of agreements followed but the disdain present on some of her warriors’ faces was clear.

“We cannot act irrationally; we need to send a patrol to actually find them first. We know not their strength nor their intentions.” Sealstar said plainly, her voice silencing the bickering below her. They’ve had a tough start to life Sealstar thought, the abundance of torn ears and scarred fur among her clan was unmistakeable.

“I saw one of them.” A voice called out, it was Dawnmask. The molly sauntered to the front of the small crowd, shooting Sealstar a look she couldn’t quite comprehend. “I saw a heavily scarred dark brown tabby tom with broad shoulders. He didn’t see me.”

“Was he alone?” a cat called out.

“No, I could scent others although they were hidden from sight.”

The same unexplainable look came from the molly’s eyes, if looks could kill Sealstar would’ve been dead a moon ago.

“It’s clear we need to do something about this band of rogues, whether they are threatening or not.” Sedgefur stood up. “We cannot allow OceanClan to be endangered.”

Sealstar flicked Sedgefur with her tail, indicating for him to sit down and be quiet.

“I propose we send a patrol out, warriors only” she shot Tansypaw a firm look, “and speak with these cats to understand what they are doing here.” Pausing, she looked at the cats around her which felt more like a family than a clan. “And make them understand that they cannot stay. This clan meeting is over; I will be speaking to individuals about the patrol. No apprentices.” she said firmly for she knew a few of the older apprentices would try to approach her first.

With a swift leap she came down from HighStone, thinking hard about who would accompany her to deal with the problem, hoping it wouldn’t escalate to endangering the clan.

[Sunnyside]

Writing Prompt!
Username: Sunnyside
Clan Thread: Cliffclan
Prompt Writing; Write about the clan meeting called to discuss these intruders. What does your clan plan to do?:
"Otterstar! Otterstar!" Dapplepaw cried, racing into camp, her mentor, and the clan deputy, Rowanflame hot on her heels. Otterstar's head popped out of his den at the base of the Tall Rock at the sound of his clanmate's calls, a deeply concerned look on his face. Several other cats poked their heads out of their dens; it was just nearing dawn, so most of the clan was still asleep. "Dapplepaw? What is it?" Otterstar frowned, shaking the sleep from his pelt.The tired tom wasn’t too pleased about being woken up. This hadn’t been the first time an ‘emergency’ had been brought up by an apprentice, so he wasn’t exactly eager to listen. Nevertheless, the leader gave a stretch to greet the frantic dawn patrol
"What's all this racket about?" grumbled Rattlerfang, slipping from the warrior den, heading toward where Otterstar had moved to meet Rowanflame and Dapplepaw.
"The cats who have taken up residence on our western border are moving further and further into our territory" Rowanflame reported, clearly rattled. "Dapplepaw found the remains of a rabbit, and the scent of their group on the far side of the grasslands. Otterstar, they're stealing our food!"
"There's plenty to go around."
"But they're ignoring our scent markers! We know nothing about them, how long until they take over our entire territory. Then what'll we do? I won't lose another home." Rattlerfang growled.
"Rattlerfang is right" Rowanflame nodded. "Something has to be done, we can't let this continue"
The discussion had started to garner the attention of the other clan cats who had awoken to Dapplepaw's yowls, and a crowd had started to grow around them.
"Why haven't we pushed them out yet?" one of the cats in the crowd asked.
"We need to figure out why they're here" another piped in.
Otterstar looked around at his clanmates, all of them clearly wary of the intruders. He wasn't used to having so many lives depending on him, to defending a territory from intruders- to leading.
After a brief moment of reflection, he climbed up to the top of the Tall Rock, and looked down at his clan- it seemed the commotion had pulled everyone out of their dens. No need for the formal call to gather then, he assumed. "As you all know by now, a group of strange cats have taken up residence on the western side of our territory. It's time we did something about it." This was met by yowls of agreement. He waited for the noise to die down before continuing- "We'll split into four patrols- one to do some reckon, see what we're getting ourselves into. Patrol two will be a diplomatic one. We'll see if we can solve this without fighting first. If not, patrols one and three will take up offensive positions and come to patrol two's aid. Patrol number four will stay back and protect the camp, just in case." [486 words]

[Wileyfangs]

Writing Prompt!
Username: Wileyfangs
Clan Thread: Swampclan
Prompt Writing: "Owlstar, there's been more sightings of them again," came the annoyed calling from Heatherwillow as the dark point she'cat padded into camp with Roansplash's patrol. "They've gotten bolder too!"

Owlstar sighed feeling the beginnings of a migraine coming on. In the past few days since Guppypaw found them, the cats had been nothing but thorns in her side, stealing prey that was already caught, and taking to skirmishes with her clanmates. She'd wanted to do things peacefully but clearly this was not working. Peering out over her clan, the dark grey tabby nodded to Heatherwillow. "Thank you for scouting ahead. I think it's time something is to be done about these intruders."

The dark brown point nodded her head in agreement and Owlstar began to climb the Tall Tree, letting out a loud yowl.
"Let all those old enough to hunt the fish of the waters come to the Tall Tree for a clan meeting!"

Ears perked up, eyes gleamed as one by one her clanmates came to stand before her. Roansplash took his place at the roots of the tree as Owlstar gazed out at her clan.

"It has been brought to my attention that cats have been gathering in on our territory. Stealing our food and fighting with our clanmates. And I think enough is enough! I have tried to remain peaceful and give calming passage after all our clan is in the middle of a swamp. Not many wish to stay here who do not know this place, but things have gone on for too long!"

Yowls of agreement filled the air.
"Yes Owlstar, we need to get rid of them!"
"Chase em back to Twolegplace!"
"We'll get em Owlstar, we'll teach em!"

The dark grey she-cat smiled quietly at her clan's enthusiasm. They were a brave group of cats, perhaps reckless, maybe even foolish at times, but her clan made her chest swell with pride. She was honored to lead them.

"We will chase them out. However, we must be smart. We do not want them to come back, so we must send them a message they'll never forget. These Swamps are ours and we have fought long and hard for them. We cannot let these cats get the better of us."

The clan grew quiet as they began to think. How would they get rid of them well enough to never come back?

Finally, after a heartbeat or two of silence, a tiny voice spoke up. It was Possumpaw.

"Well maybe...maybe we could fool them into thinking the place is haunted like Ghost Hill. If we can scare them off badly enough to think they're angering "ghosts" in this area, then they won't want to be here!"

Mongoosepaw, her brother purred in agreement beside her. "Yeah and if we fight em good enough, they won't wanna be here at all!"

Owlstar thought for a moment, orange and yellow eyes gleaming with something akin to mischief. "Roansplash do we have any vines and leaves. I want you to take a patrol of cats to get some. Possumpaw, since this was your idea and you do happen to be best at camouflage, I want you to teach us how to best hide in plain sight. We're going to give these cats a 'proper' Swampclan welcome."

Perhaps Starclan would have to forgive them, but when a leader's whole clan sports the same Cheshire grin it can't be helped. Her eyes darkened with pleasure. Ah yes, this would be remembered for a long time.

"So it is agreed then? We'll make them regret setting a paw on Swampclan territory."

[[600 words]]


Art Prompt!
Username: Wileyfangs
Clan Thread: Swampclan
Prompt Art:

[Areater]

Art Prompt!
Username: Areater
Clan Thread: BlitheClan
Prompt Art: Who is she?

[clouds-move-on]

Writing Prompt!
Username: ☁Lady Raincloud☁
Clan Thread: NocturneClan
Prompt Writing:
"They've been lurking dangerous close to my herb supplies. I don't need a new threat to my life, especially now that we're a clan." Crimsonsparrow muttered. He sat across from Edgewalker, and both were perched upon The Disaster. Their collection of warriors was gathered below- with the exception of Ashclover, who had vanished a few days prior. It was concerning, especially to his friends, but they would have to deal with this new threat for now, and then try and figure out where their clanmate had gone.

"We gonna fight?" Luckypaw asked in a whisper, leaning closer to her mentor. Snowberry shot her an annoyed look, before covering the fluffy chinchilla cat's face with her own bushy white paw.

"Your perfectly safe." Edgewalker assured his friend, ignoring the new apprentice's side comment. "We'll just send Stick and a few others with you whenever you go herb hunting. If they try and do anything, we can easily rip them to shreds. Simple."

"No ripping people into shreds, brother." Tempestcloud interjected. He sat close to Edgewalker with his eyes half closed and a slightly bemused expression on his face. He was tired, and worried. They'd all been through a lot the past few moons, and finally it was spring, prey and herbs were returning in full abundance, but alas, they couldn't enjoy the bounty of their land; instead they had to fight off invaders! That is, if their overzealous leader had his way. "Maybe they are friendly!"

"Friendly?" Edgewalker shot back, his fur rising slightly. "fRIENDLY, Temp, they did try and attack Emberpaw only two days ago-"

"Emberpaw tells very tall tales, doesn't he?" Tempestcloud said with a slight purr.

"Hey!" The apprentice called up, his large paws propped up against the tree stump of the disaster. "You should have seen the height of that big guy! Taller than this dead tree was I guess!"

"Ashclover's also missing, what if they killed him?" Edgewalker suggested angrily, his tail lashing.

"Ashclover regularly goes missing. He still has a life outside the clan, we agreed upon that when he joined, I thought." Tempestcloud replied with a sigh, quickly looking upset again. Despite his positive words, it was evident he was worried about Ashclover.

"But still!"

"Stop trying to start an argument." Snowsight called up. She had been sharing a large, freshly caught fish with Firefern and Quietpaw. "I say we send a whole party after these cats! We need to interrogate them, find out what hey want and what they're doing! We attack only if we need to and with caution!"

"My point exactly, thank you, Snowsight." Tempestcloud said with a nod, while his younger brother let out a hiss of annoyance. "Admit it, Edge, she's right as always."

"I didn't say we'd attack straight on. When did I ever say that? I only said we should attack if they gave us any funny business and tried messing with our herb supply!" The leader pointed out, before going on with in a commanding tone. "We'll do as Snowsight suggests, however."

[Placebo]

Writing Prompt!
Username: Placebo
Clan Thread: Floodclan
Prompt Writing:

“We need to attack them.”

“I second that! Better yet, we should do it right now, actually.” Alderfang was quick to put in his two cents, and Canaryleap who sat beside him smacked the brown tom with his tail.

“We aren’t attacking any thing or any cat anytime soon,” Daystar shot Alderfang a withering look from his slightly raised position on the natural dais, and chuckles started up from Ghostmire and Ottersplash from the circle of ten individuals that made up their small clan. His former apprentice Alderfang, on the other hand, looked wholly unrepentant at his outburst, and writing it off as a lost cause, Daystar turned to his mate who spoke the first comment.

Like everyone else in the circle, Lightningsong lay prone on the springy grass of their meeting clearing, but Daystar could still see the tension coiled in his form despite how his face remained neutrally pensive. Daystar could definitely relate-- though the two as leader and deputy tried to keep a calm head, the underlying strain was palpable. And from the pinched faces of the youngest members of the clan, Daystar could tell the others could feel it too.

Lightningsong frowned almost imperceptibly, but the storm behind his eyes seemed to energize the air. “We can’t just take this slight sitting down, Damien. They know we’re here, and they know what they’re doing.”

“I know, Ramesh. But I saw the numbers they had, clear as day. No matter what advantage we have in skill and terrain, they still outmatch us in terms of sheer numbers. No matter the outcome, no benefit outweighs the potential cost, and I’m not willing to jump into a fight and risk any harm coming to my clan,” Daystar paused to look around the circle of the cats he’s come to love so dearly. “To any of you.”

Lightningsong’s eyes softened at the admission, and so he sighed in resignation, willing to accept defeat, at least for the moment. “Fair enough, Damien. My pledge is always to you and the clan first, and the territory second. But you know for a fact I won’t just stand idly by and watch anyone be attacked.”

Daystar smirked at that. “Trust me, I don’t expect you to. I’d like to see them try and go on the true offensive against Floodclan.” Low growls of assent echoed within the circle.

Ghostmire, ever the mediator, turned his sharp blue eyes up to his leader. “What do you propose we do then, Damien?”

Daystar paused for a small second to peer up into the branches and check one last thing. Their more feathered clanmate watched from the shadow of the leaves, and beady, raven eyes shown in an expectant light. With silent communication from Arek, the raven, Daystar decided. He stretched out his paws until claws popped from their sheaths in a faux show of nonchalance, and his maw stretched into a deceptively small grin. “Well, let’s do what we do best first-- kindly negotiate them off our turf. And if they don’t listen to words... we’ll feed them to the snakes.”

The raucous yowls, and caws, of his clanmates were like music to his ears.

{529}

[Neah]

Writing prompt 1 ends at 11:59 pm EST.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

Writing Prompt!
Username: TheSongOfTheStars
Clan Thread: Songclan
Prompt Writing:
469 words
"Alright," Sandclaw hissed as he watched the strangers milling around the edge of the forest "This had gone on long enough."
He turned and bounded through the treetops, back to Badgerhollow.


"They've completely wiped out the prey population on the east border," the deputy was surrounded by the entirety of Songclan, but his eyes where on Wildeyes "They'll begin moving deeper into the forest, depleting our reserves."
He sighed as Wildeyes continued looking at him calmly "Wild, this won't work. This peaceful acceptance won't hold. We'll end up being pushed around until we get chased right out of our forest. Our home."

He turned to the rest of the clan "We've tried talking to them, tried reason an patience but we've been ignored. We'll have to take action and show them who lives on this land."
There was an uneasy silence as the clan looked from their leader to their deputy.

"They'll move on soon enough," Wildeyes said finally "This isn't the first group of rogues to pass through. They never stay long Sandclaw.

"But they can be dangerous," interjected another voice and every eye turned to Redsparrow.
"There have been attempted kit-nappings and attacks on single cats before. It might not be unwise to move the youngsters, apprentices, elders and any who aren't well to a camp deeper in the forest."
"Agreed," Willowsun said "Just to be safe....y'know."
No one commented on the fact that Willowsun was possibly one of the most timid cats in the clan.
"We can't just leave them to run wild, they could follow us deeper, spring an ambush on our rear when we least expect it. Worst yet they could find our camp and massacre us in our sleep."
"Sandclaw has a point," Bearheart rumbled "Maybe Wildeyes should take th3 more vulnerable members of the clan to a safer location and leave a group of the more experienced warriors to deal with this situation."
"Oh Ancients no," Wildeyes gave her mate a look "Someone has to keep you hotheads in check. Redsparrow will lead those who feel unsafe deeper to Riverden. Those who want to stay can stay."

"I'm staying!" Piped up two voices instantly.
"No you're not!" Piped up two more voices.
Mousetoes and Nightlily turned from their mentors to Wildeyes with pleading eyes.
She flicked her whiskers "They can stay. They'll never learn to deal wit these sort of situations if you never teach them how.

Sandclaw scowled deeper and sent Nightlily a warning look. Wolfblaze just shrugged at Mousetoes.

It was decided that Wildeyes, Bearheart, Firedark, Wolfblaze, Firefly, and Ottercoat would stay along with Nightlily, Mousetoes and several oter young cats.
There was a bit of debate on whether or not Graystorm should stay, but eventually everyone agreed that being the only healer he should stay where it was safer.

[~HєуRєι~]

Writing Prompt!
Username: ~HєуRєι~
Clan Thread: Beamclan
Prompt Writing

Panicked murmurs in the camp started to stir, the small group of cats becoming tense and stressed, most pacing around the area while spreading rumors. The whispers being cold, almost nipping at their leader's senses as Doestar's large ears picked up the faintest voices as she passed by. These words had come at a bad time, with the dryer grasses having a chance to burst into flames under the hot sun, and the prey had been taking cooler, denser passages around the forest, mostly at night. The temperature had risen, though being mostly cooler around the mountain base as they head further north. As the mink female padded across camp, her lynx point deputy followed suit, arriving next to her in a quickened pace.

"Doestar what is our move, we can't let these strange sightings go unnoticed-" the deputy tom's nerves were on edge as they trotted quickly towards the Light's Ledge. The she-cat stopped to face her deputy, a determined and calm expression facing him.

"-And they won't. I won't let anything happen to this clan, but we can't confront this group aggressively. There could possibly be more than what we've seen."

With a quick pause following the discussion, she continued to move towards her destination. Her paws quickly touched the cold stone as she arrived towards the edge with a yowl of urgency. "All of those who can gaze at Starclan's given light, sit beneath the Light's Ledge for a clan meeting."

She watched as the anxious clanmates gathered under the lights between the trees, looking for a sign of hope in Doestar as her previously questioning deputy joined her side.

"We've come across a dilemma of this sudden group of lone cats around the edges of our territory. We all know we are rather short in numbers to be possibly taking them on in combat, and they don't seem to wish to speak to us on our terms. They've been hunting our prey, not giving their thanks to Starclan for the many lives they've taken within this fragile land. They've taken our herbs, slowly moving into sacred territory and spreading their scent deeper and closer to us. While this may not be what most of you want, I simply cannot possibly risk your lives in confronting this group further due to our small numbers." She paused for a moment, surveying the skeptical expressions of each of the clanmates before continuing to speak.

"As such, I've made the decision to have more frequent patrols closer to camp, and require that anyone leaving camp is to go with a second member for safety. We will wait to move until they either attack us up front or wish to converse with us on terms we can both agree on, or at least on what they plan to do here. Know I am trying my best to look out for each of you, though I wouldn't blame you if you believed me to be weak or a coward for this decision. Either way, this is my final decision on the current matter. Meeting dismissed." [Word Count: 513]

Art Prompt!
Username: ~HєуRєι~
Clan Thread: Beamclan
Prompt Art: xx

[NightWolf950]

Writing Prompt!
Username: NightWolf950
Clan Thread: WolfClan
Prompt Writing:
It had only been a few moons since the last sighting of the unknown cats. This time they seemed to have moved even farther into WolfClan territory. Leopardspots passed back and forth in the camp's clearing his fur standing on end. He didn't like this, nor did he like how calm Wolfstar seemed to be. "L-leopardspots... stop. Wolfstar will be back in a moment and then we can talk to him." Violetpetal meowed softly. The spotted tom paused for a moment before getting close to the she-cat. "Stop!? You tell me to stop. How can I when we might lose our home to those cats!" he snapped. Violetpetal flattened her hears and looked away, her body beginning to shake. Realizing he had frightened the already scared Violetpetal even more Leopardspots mood changed quickly. The spotted tom sat down next to the she-cat and leaned heavily against her. "I'm sorry Violetpetal..."

Violetpetal feeling the weight of her clan mate looked up from her paws and at the tom beside her. "I know..." she meowed softly. "All we can do is pray to StarClan and hope Wolfstar has some sort of plan." As if on cue Wolfstar padded through the camp entrance, a mouse dangling from the tom's jaws. "How was your walk?" Violetpetal asked, gently slipping away from Leopardspots to pad over to Wolfstar. Wolfstar dropped the mouse he caught onto the ground before speaking. "It was alright. I was thinking about that group from a few moons ago." he admitted. Violet petal gave a small nod, letting Wolfstar continue to speak.

"I can't help but wonder what drove them here in the first place. We are still a fairly new clan and can't risk losing our home to them. We may have to fight, but it could be useless in the end." Wolfstar explained. His head was swirling with thoughts about the strange cats. "I hope we have the chance to talk to them and get them to join rather than fighting a useless bloodshed battle." the large tabby tom added. "For now..." He paused to face Leopardspots and Violetpetal. "...We keep an eye on them. Report back if things seem to change."