BADGERLAND

[rey skywalker]

xxxx𝟎𝟎𝟐. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑

xxx
xxx
xxx
xxx
xxx

[rey skywalker]

xxxx𝟎𝟎𝟑. 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓

[rey skywalker]

x

[rey skywalker]

xxxx𝟎𝟎𝟓. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆

dawndream can hardly focus as the thought of her sister's life slipping from her paws. the warm blood numbs her concentration as it seeps through her pawpads and the defeaning silence of her kin's yowls are exhausted in the medicine den air.
"i told you," dawndream's familiar voice comes to her in a memory, "duskfang's head is too big not to give you kits that will rip you right open." the molly's throat rumbles with a chuckle, her sister appearing to sweep her tail as an act of shy blushing in response.
the memory abandons her, leaving her with the slow drawing breath of the very cat she can't live without, fading under her paws.
"no!" dawndream yowls, her voice raw and thick from the emotion of witnessing her sister's former delight cast in a tense silence under the burden of the kits in her belly. the dark fluid from her belly continues to stain her paws.
"dawndream." her leader calls to her. dawndream can't hear him over the roar of memories surging through her.
"venomstrike," dawndream grits her teeth, hissing her sister's name with love, "wakeup." she presses harder on the wound, soaking further blood in the cobwebs. the amount barley diminishes at the effort. "venomstrike, you silly shrew." she continues, words raking against her throat that feels too raw to manage words.
familiar to her name, venomstrike seems to partially stir at her sister. her tail flick limply before hanging in the air, her head lifted as though clenching onto words. "you haven't even asked me about the kits." her heart hammers in her chest. "ask me about the kits. your kits." the words burn along her tongue with a soft hiss.
"....kits..." venomstrike seems to whisper, "....m-my....my....kitssss." a whispy question raises from her fangs.
"yes, shrewstrike, the kits....they''re almost here." dawndream continues to apply gentle pressure to the wound.
"....my kits....." the molly whispers even breathier than before. silence envelops the den as the words weave with smoke. dawndreaem looks down with tears blurring her vision as she feels her kin's heart begin to slow.

three bundles of lifeless fur huddle nearby the queen's head.

"lick them!" dawndream snaps at duskfang who stares motionlessly at his mate. "now!" the medicine cat demands. moved by the anger in the molly's voice, duskfang rips himself from the fog and begins to pull the kits towards him, licking furiously.


"come here moonling....you can't run out into the wild without a name." venomstrike purrs, coaxing the dark molly into her larger paws. the young she-kit mewls in protest, her gaze remaining veiled from young age.
"then name me!" the molly cries, striking out with a paw before curling within herself, fur bristling, "and let me run free!" a rumble of amusement soothes through the warriors throat as she gently laps at her kitten's fur.
"so spirited." venomstrike's mate says upon entrance to the queen's den. he gazes fondly over the molly, her dark tail curled around her kits. "you remind me of your mother." venomstrike warms at the compliment, the exhaustion drawing around her bright eyes.

[rey skywalker]

"it is for your selfless bravery, that your receive your warrior name."
the molly's chest tightens, every ounce and fiber of her heart coiled around the stale breathe fading from her lungs. a shuddered breathe lances through her, the pain splintering though her being.

[rey skywalker]

"tundrakit!" the voice echos through the clan.

the golden eyed molly's gaze widens upon the clear ringing in her ears. the clan turns, their attention slowly drifting to the kit in the back, nestled against her mother's silver fur.

"tundrakit," her mother says with a lick of love at the edge of her ear, "get on up there. froststar is calling you."

rooted paws weakly rise from the ground, a dry mouth stammers a soft protest. "nuh-uh." her mothers voice chuckles. the motion of the world seems to slow, and it takes a shared looked between sterlingdusk and a nearby warrior, for tundrakit to feel gravity fall away from her pink paws. grasped around her scruff, the shy molly fakes a scratch at the air to disarm the warrior walking her through the flickering meadow of cats surrounding her, their eyes piercing and prickling over her fur.

"let me go!" she squeaks out, an ember of protest swelling in her small voice, which now broadcast sharply across the almost fully silent clan .

"and let you run away from your future?" comes the amused honeyed and smokey voice of the warrior stagstep behind her. "good luck." for all the trouble that tundrakit had come to acquaint between the dark furred tom and the course of his life, she never felt so small within his presence. even at two moons old, her unique friendship with stagstep was defined by her desire to prove the warrior wrong.

however, it seemed, with his fangs buried gently into her neck fur, the fire within her weakly flickered under the intimdating presence of froststar's intense gaze. tundrakit felt the odds against her. two against one, was a violation of the fairness to which she watched the world.

"what happened to your declaration, huh?" stagstep remarks through his fangs, placing the kit at the foot of the ledge. "you can't chase me off if you can't catch up to me." his ember gaze sparkles with mischief.

the mirage of a soft kit disappears under a snarky response from tundrakit who whirls to the warrior, furring ruffling under the words of his smart remark, "there's no point chasing shadows!" her voice squeaks, chest of blue fur puffing, eyes bright as she stares up to stagstep who stares back, amusement ablaze within his dark ember visionaries. his gaze eventually rises above her head, to which she follows his direction.

"that's more like it." he comments, nudging her forward, "now off you go."

the amassed crowd of cats flanks behind tundrakit as she finds herself turning towards the route leading to her leader, froststar who seems to be watching the exchange with interest. with the exception of following stagstep into some of the territory beyond fractusclan's camp, tundrakit only knew froststar from stories. froststar seemed to regard the kitten with the same amusement to which he gazed upon stagstep antics. still, her paw steps had not advanced any further.

a single, shallow breathe separated her paws from one another as she hesitantly began to trace the pawsteps of her ancestors towards their own names. pausing to glance down at her footing, tundrakit gazes at the smoothness outlined in some of the stone ledge rising towards the cat with more stars to his life, than she could imagine.

barley any distance between them, tundrakit's ears flick back at stagsteps yowling voice, "that's it, one paw in front of the other. you remember how to walk right? need me to carry-,"

"let her alone, stagstep!" comes a light hearted voice of a tom close to the front of the row of cats, watching with ethusiasm. "let the kit walk!" a murmur of amusement seems to bubble among the felines, a soft melody as her small figure rose higher to meet the cat at the edge of the ledge.

at the top of the rock, a roughness met her soft pawpads to which she hesitated over, her body seeming to freeze at the strange sensation. from below, fractusclan watches tundrakit's liquid stride, shudder with a ragged shiver from her hackles to her tail tip.
something sparkles in froststar's gaze as he witnesses tundrakit become familiar with the highest point in their camp.

"sensitive, you are." froststar's voice reveals itself to her, low and private. "i felt the difference too when i was your age, kit." tundrakit's ear flicks back and forward at froststar's words, uncertainty staining her large eyes. he leans forward to add, "most cat's can't feel it, but it's there." a whisker-length away from their leader, tundrakit's whiskers shudder at the light contact. meeting froststar's gaze with less hesitation, tundrakit finds the depths swirling with familiar expressions: the familiar expectations of her mother, kindness of her father, amusement from stagstep, the knowledge from her aunts and others. c

a color that rippled with the same intensity as the strength lingering beneath froststar's stormy textured fur, welcome and invites tundrakit closer.

"you ready, moonling?"

knowing better than to mimic stagstep's vocabulary, tundrakit nods.

beckoned forward by the silence quivering from below, froststar steps forward to the edge of the ledge. gaze sweeping over the clan below, the tom begins with a nod. "we come together as glazeclan, under the presence of our ancestors, to recognize the first step in every cats path, from kit to apprentice." the words ring out stoically and reverberate with a trembling ripple through tundrakit's ears, and trace over her frame. "at six moons old, you leave behind the nursery to join your fellow clan mates as warriors in training."

close enough to the ledge to peer over without compromising her footing, tundrakit curiously gazes down to meet familiar and unfamiliar faces of her clan: crimson, russet, snow, silver and sterling, to eyes of burgundy, emerald, gold and azure; the clan gazes back. a sharp shiver races through her silver-blue fur.

"tundrakit," froststar begins, his gaze sweeping back to acknowledge her, "from this day forth until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as tundrapaw." froststar steps forward to lightly touch noses with tundrapaw.

from below, tundrapaw can feel the pride radiating from her family as they gaze towards her. drawing back a paw step, froststar addresses the clan again. any residual murmurs of excitement, hush below the address. "i summon oakleaf to the rock."

tracing the movement weaving through a few warriors, a russet furred cat approaches and ascends the stone to reach the pair.

"from this day on tundrapaw, i entrust your training to oakleaf."

unlike stagheart's impish eyes, oakleaf receives tundrapaw with azulian pools of warmth. having observed her clan mates's ceremonies, tundrapaw steps forward to reach and faintly brush oakleaf's nose.

from below, stagstep is the first to step forward and call out her name. "tundrapaw!"

her name ripples along the clan with the added voice of every other clan member, some raising to their paws to welcome her.
"tundrapaw! tundrapaw! tundrapaw!"

[rey skywalker]

xxxx𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐀𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒

"wake." oakleaf prods at the silver bathed pelt of the blue molly.

"i wasn't asleep." tundrapaw replies, head twisting to reach the darkened blue gaze of her mentor. surrounding tundrapaw, the dark furred bodies of the glazeclan apprentices stir lightly at the murmuring between them, yet none rouse properly from their slumber.

wide gaze trembling softly, tundrapaw inquires, "did you ask?"

oakleaf blinks slowly. "i did."

"and?"

oakleaf chuckles. "come kitten," tundrapaw's ears flick back at the name, annoyance flickering across her eyes. "before lupinslash changes his mind."

together, the pair cross the heart of the camp to the space between the medicine cat and leader's den. passing by, a shiver of movement and the image of a pair of eyes from it's depths, distracts the apprentices steps. a huff rises from oakleaf's muzzle as tundrapaw presses into her flank mindlessly.

"just keep your eyes forward."

tundrapaw obeys wordlessly, advancing deeper into the surrounding forest after oakleaf's striped figure. a small slope rises beneath her paws, lifting her higher above the camp. tundrapaw steals a glance over her shoulder to watch the cascading shadows grow longer along her home.

"quickly now." oakleaf's voice sounds before her, an undertone of impatience sounding in her words. tracing her mentor's careful and silent paw steps through the unfamiliar territory of ferns and cedar, shadowy figures eventually emerge in the distance. tundrapaw counts manages five cats at the edges of what she considers, familiar territory. a few steps forward and she is a show lost to the land.

lupinslash. jackdawchaser, [name] larkspurpaw. and afrosmosiapaw, all cats to which possess a pelt saturated in night. in the fractured moonlight broken by the foliage above, tundrapaw's silver fur appears to sparkle. a look of disdain crosses the black tom's muzzle.

"an element of stealth and silence is required for this night." lupinslash explains shortly, his gaze only briefly regarding oakleaf's apprentice. he makes to move past her, "you're here for observations. a single paw out of line, and they, will be the least of your worries." tundrapaw seeks out oakleaf's gaze, but finds her mentor's attention devoted to the dark furred tom.

a huff rises across her muzzle at the male warrior’s attitude, and thorough disregard for her company. she has half a mind to announce herself properly, when a tail upon her shoulder causes her parted lips to softly close,

“he’s like that, you get used to it.” jackdawchaser informs her with a kinder voice. “play shadow and you can return to your den soon.” glancing at the other apprentices, they seem to an even icier reception than lupinslash could issue. sterlingdusk's daughter watches the cats with flickers of hesitation surfacing in her timid gaze, uncertain if her voice would be received well by the hunting patrol.

"this is not a meet and greet," lupinslash hisses above a whisper, adopting a quieter voice for the distance from the clan, "unless you wish for a meeting with starclan, i advise," the tom whirls on his paws to regard a glare at tundrapaw more formally, "you shut the hell up."

[rey skywalker]

"morning deerspot."

gaze fluttering open to reveal soft azure visionaries, the nested fawn-pelted molly's curled tail unfurls from around her frame to swish along the den flooring with a gentle stroke upon venomstrike's approach.

eyeing the meal clamped between the molly's jaws, the rested queen questions with a gentle tease. "is that all for yourself, dear?" despite her swollen belly, venomstrike carried the large hare with a grace that deerspot could only admire.

"i had to fend off three apprentices for it." the warrior chuckles with a shake of her head.

"isn't that how it always is?"

coming to settle beside deerspot on the heather bed infused with leaves and soft moss, venomstrike grimaces at a sudden contraction, dropping the prey.

"venomstrike!"the queen gasps sharply, struggling to rise to her swollen paws. she noses under the pregnant molly's stomach, sniffing for tenderness

"no, sit." the calico waves her off quickly. eased only by the fierce nature of the warriors' bright gaze, does deerspot strength slowly fade from her figure. with a huff, she lands on her tufted elbows. the image causes a spark of laughter from venomstrike's muzzle.

"have you given any thought to the names?" deerspot eventually asks after examining the calico for signs of distress and discomfort. her tail flicks more comfortably in the company of the molly beside her.

licking at her paws, tasting the iron from the hare's body, venomstrike glances to her swollen sides. "it's a secret."

[rey skywalker]

.𝐈𝐕𝐘𝐏𝐀𝐖
ＣＬＡＮ | 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐧
ＧＥＮＤＥＲ 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲
ＲＡＮＫ 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞
ＡＧＥ 𝟕 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐬
----------------

x

ivypaw* m, ratpaw* t gorsefoot*t (streamclan)
leiothrixjaw*m tigerpaw*m, sakerpaw* m, amberpaw* t (fractusclan)

ears craned to the subtle rustle emanating from beneath a patch of overgrown fern, ivypaw slinks into a deeper crouch, her belly almost flush with the forest flooring. blades of grass gently brush at her white stomach, the growth faintly framing her distinct pelt. the emerald surrounding flickers with mysterious secrets that softly serenade the apprentice. the thrill of the unknown teases just beyond her reach, a coveted restlessness stirring just beneath her pawsteps.

maw parted to scent the air, ivypaw's dual-toned gaze rises to the height of the spruce trees as she follows the distinct sound of movement above her. buried in the dense branches above, ivypaw's ear flicks at the certain echo of chittering birds beyond.

far from her mentors watch, ivypaw glances over her shoulder back at the last place she could recall the very warrior who moved as freely as water through the woodlands around her. an exhale softens over the young feline's muzzle as she returns her gaze to the tree, continuing to spy upon the tall limber shielding the possible prey.

casting herself in the same pawsteps she witnessed her mentor do: as they sank their claws into the firm bark, ivypaw stretches her paw as high as she can manage, while kicking off from the ground with her back paws.

her mentor's voice surfaces in her mind. "kick up, not out."

claws scratch rapidly against the bark, ivypaw strengthens the grip of her back paws scrabbling against the length of the tree, while leaning her weight forward in her front, hooked and raised paws. the muscles rippling under her fur burn with the effort.

"bite the tree if you have to."

at her attempt to copy her mentor's instructions, a soft growl laces through ivypaw's voice as she tastes the splintering nature of the spruce along her tongue. the tree presses into her belly and chest as the apprentice draws a tender breathe. the buzzing trill of the forest weakens as her grip lightens, her figure finding flexibility and anchorage in her well placed paws.

"now climb."

as ivypaw climbs higher, the ragged nature of the bark beneath her paws blurs into a soft hiss under her tenderpaw pads. keeping pace with her momentum, she reaches halfway to the tree's height.

"wow." she remarks, golden gaze viewing her previously location. "just keep going, right?" she asks herself, gazing back up at the remaining distance to the crossing branches at the peak of the tree.

"ivypaw!" a voice calls out from below. "ivypaw!"

glancing down at the shuddering bushes, a dark tuxedo furred tom emerges, his dark figure stark within the setting. gaze whisking around, the tom's steps lead him into a tight circle around his tail as ivypaw's scent smells strong around him, but an image of her remains ellusive. ivypaw suffocates her giggle into her arm, watching her friend trip over his white-tipped paws in confusion. the apprentice detects the unlocated sound faintly and freezes, his legs splayed outwards, body rigid, black feathered tail rising up. "i-ivypaw?" ratpaw calls out with a weaker voice.

"ratpaw, up here!"

orbs of golden rising to find ivypaw three fox-lengths up a tree, the tom's fur burns with warm and he sheepishly cries out to ivypaw with an faintly indignant lash of his beautiful tail as he steps forward. "don't do that ivypaw! it wasn't funny! i thought you were a sharptooth!"

"a sharptooth? don't be a bird brain. sharpteeth have been missing in this area for moons."

"still! how am i supposed to know the difference?" ratpaw defends weakly, voice almost squeaking with embarrassment, "dangerous things live out here ivypaw."

the amusement sparkling in ivypaw's dual-tone gaze flashes with annoyance. "i know that ratpaw. i'm not stupid."

ratpaw's ears flick back. "i'm sorry, i - i didn't -,"

"-it doesn't matter," the molly interrupts, her briefly pinned ears flicking up at the sound of prey higher in the tree. "just...just stay there, and quiet ok?" not caring to watch the tom make up his mind, ivypaw continues to claw at the tree while rising higher and higher, ignoring the burn aching in her muscles. abandoning ratpaw to the ground, with his timid gaze watching her fluid figure gain height quickly by scraping paws carefully branch, to branch, the tom slinks closer to the base of the tree, his maw parted at the ivypaw's natural talent.

with her front right paw making contact with the broad body of a thickening brand weeding from the center of the spruce and it's spreading emerald crown of branches and spindles of the same material, ivypaw kicks high up and heaves the remainder of her body to the apex of the tree. the bristle radiating in her muscles, recedes while she catches her breath.

at her vantage point, ivypaw's carefully placed gaze could rise to be level with the thicket of branches spreading from the center of the tree, the winding limbs weaving and lengthening in all directions. a mere glance down the length of the tree, catching ratpaw's gaze as he watches her from below, causes a tingle to trace down her back.

despite herself and all her training since her naming ceremony, a yowl rises from her muzzle. "i did it ratpaw! i did it!" the flutter of wings sounds weakly, ivypaw's excitement casting a shadow over their prescence. from below, ratpaw joins in with an equally disruptive celebration, tail whisking in the air with a flutter of joy at his fellow clanmate, ignorant of any prey within a 30-fox length radius.

"you're going to be a warrior in no time ivypaw!"

"an apprentice playing games in the forest, have no right to a warrior's name." a weary, singed with indifferent voice remarks through the clearing.

heads whisking to the strange voice, ivypaw and ratpaw come to recognize an unfamiliar tom, fur the color of sand, face, paws and tail tip dipped in shadows, emerging from the very ferns that had brushed over the apprentices own head when they sought out this very area.

ears flicking nervously, the ratpaw steps forward and assumes a weak defensive pose. "stop there, rogue." the black apprentice warns with a uncertain voice, "this is streamclan territory."

"oh, i know." the tom replies smoothly. neglecting the threat of ratpaw, the siamese looks up to meet ivypaw. the intense bright hue of his gaze causes a current of nervous energy to shock through her multi-splotched frame. something flashes across his visionaries. "oh relax, kit. i wouldn't dare harm a young moonling like yourself." he calls up to her, his body assuming no rigidity or fear in the face of either apprentice.

"the names, ivypaw." ivypaw growls, baring her fangs at the strange tom. "not kit." too far from his reach, she fails to locate the strange felines's origin by scent, something in his movement gnaws at a familiar nerve in her memory. she continues to glare and bare her fangs.

"for streamclan apprentices, you surely are slow to defend one another." still coiling from nerves and shock, ivypaw pelt prickles at the cat's words, to which a knot pools in her stomach as she reflects on the veiled threat. eyes having never leaving the sudden intruder, ivypaw watches the larger tom abandon interest in her to steal a long glance at ratpaw's unguarded frame. paws ablaze with fear, ivypaw quickly forgets her feat and launches herself down the body of the spruce, claws gripping weakly at the bark, descending figure landing heavily on her paws, she springs forward to cover the distance between her and ratpaw.

"ratpaw, move!" ivypaw calls out.

in a fluid, almost slow manner, the strange cat who turned to ratpaw with misplaced interest, suddenly leans away from the black apprentice as ivypaw reaches him first.

it takes a long second before the tom's words intercept the roaring in her ears, "so feisty." he remarks, a smirk hooked in his maw. the tom's bright colored orbs that ivypaw couldn't make out from above, now sharpen into visionaries of piercing gold, saturated with amusement. still managing a glare of her own sapphire and gold eyes, albeit weakened by the effort to guard ratpaw, ivypaw pins her ears.

a large rustle disturbs the encounter, as a dark furred tabby appears, lean figure framed and scented by the streamclan territory. suddenly alarm rises in the tom's sun-colord gaze as he spies the imposing tom just a few mouse-lengths from a defensive ivypaw, and a shaking ratpaw.

"leiothrixjaw," gorsefoot bristles and growls as he bounds forward to block ivypaw and ratpaw behind his obsidian, flaring pelt, "starclan so help me--,"

leiothrixjaw flicks his striped tail at gorsefoot, with the air of settling a kit back to a calm state. "gorsefoot, gorsefoot," he says, voice as smooth as rippling water, "you worry too much. how will your apprentices ever become reliable warriors if they can't handle me on their own?" despite her mentor obscuring her sight, leiothrixjaw's gaze flicks around the streamclan warrior's shielding frame, golden gaze issuing the same piercing shock as when in the tree. "come now, gorsefoot, cool your fur. i'm not doing anything against the code."

"you're on breezeclan territory, not to mention harassing my apprentice with your idea of fun." gorsefoot exclaims.

"incorrect." the tom sighs. as though bored already with the encounter, leiothrixjaw, licks a strip of his own chest, "i have more important things to do than watch kits play warrior for a world they won't understand." the words don't make sense to ivypaw, but she mirrors her mentors attitude, fur bristling. if there was anything critical to understand between the two warriors, it was a boundaries of streamclan's territory being violated, ignored and the act of amusement for the strange cat. licking his fur lightly, the tom puffs out his sleek fur,"if these are the cats that fractusclan should come to fear in time, i shall let rusastar know there's no imminent threat on the horizon."

ah-ha, a clan! fractusclan.

ivypaw and ratpaw hadn't been beyond the streamclan borders, but the stale, almost musty scent of the tom now infused the air around him clearly. fragmented tales of fractusclan surface in their minds, a clan known for the current clan's oldest leader of 168 moons, rusastar. as a kit, ivypaw had heard their medicine cat dawndream remark nice things of rusastar. the relaxed, and imposing image of leiothrixjaw casually nested on his paws in streamclan territory, caused ivypaw to question rusastar's judgement with a narrowed gaze and scowling maw of such an unsettling cat.

"once you get your own apprentice leiothrixjaw," gorsefoot glares, "then you'll understand why i might need to chase you with your tail between your legs, out of our land!" the streamclan warrior declares the exclamation with a lash of his black tail.

flashing his claws in response, the silky-spoken tom seems to gleam under gorsefoots threat. "oh i'm not sure about all that." tail tip flicking to the direction he came from, leiothrixjaw calls to the emerald growth, "tigerpaw."

ratpaw watches with a baited breath as the ferns rattle and tremble, the scent of fractusclan intensifying as a dark bodied molly with midnight colored stripes emerges, flanked by a bi-colored copper-white tom and uniquely, white bodied, black striped molly who mirrors the dark striped cat's expression.

despite her dry tone, when she speaks, ivypaw finds the first emerging cat's voice soothing: "there's nothing to eat out here, why did you insist on coming this far?"

[rey skywalker]

troutgleam's hearty laughter caused a shiver down arecashine's spine. in two paw steps, the brown furred tabby comes into view.

"wow." he exclaims, bronze orbs widening upon sizing up the badger at her paws. "i didn't expect you to escape that on your own." his teeth gleam menacingly even though his words are embedded with a rare compliment. "just wait everyone else see's what you're really capable if you try hard." something about the words, are ice in her veins. unable to look away, arecashine continues staring at her former bully, chest heaving as raggedly as when she fought the creature. did the surprise framing troutgleam's crul orbs suggest he heard her crying for help this whole time? the molly grits her teeth as she steps back, moving her injured shoulder against better judgement to create a comfortable distance from the tom as he neared.

fur never lying flat, arecashine's hammering heart pulses don't cease even after troutgleam and his troop haul away the predator's body, staining the forest floor with it's blood, a crimson scar left behind for her to follow back. gaze barley lifted above the trail, the silver warrior listens intently with ears perked forward at the humorous commentary the tom exchanges with the other cats, none offering to ask her about her wounds, or the definite bruise she bared when the badger pinned her against a stone with such force, she could trace it's hard touch from memory alone.

eventually, the beaten trail path cascades into the pine-lined entrance of their camp. ducking underneathe, something like relief glimpes over the molly's frame.

crowheart's familiar black pelt comes into view, reedtail and rowanflare's focus raising to meet the returning cats. relief ripples under his coat, as he watches her flank the larger tom.

turning on his paw, troutgleam catches arecashine with his own shoulder, blocking the path. he cares little for the stagger she performs at the force of their collision, an almost exasperated sigh curling over his fangs.

"really, arecashine." his gaze flashes the familiar color of amusement. "you'd think you would learn what personal space is after all those moons chasing after me." the ice that the molly forced to warm that was flooding through her veins, returns. "i just wanted to say," troutgleam explains, coming to stand at her side more formally, no longer blocking her, but placing his body for more mobility, "you were brave. to fight off a badger. all on your own." his face nears hers, the color of his bronze gaze almost a clear amber at the closing distance.

something like a small breeze ghosts over her ear, an instant flinch rippling through her silver frame. "no one expected you to --."

a yowl rips through the air, and the faint shadow that lingered over her ear, disappears in a blaze of streaking black.

arecashine registers the image of troutgleam's face covered by a slender paw, claws glinting with their unsheathed length, warriors gathered around at the edge of the camp, each wearing a face similar to hers.

"don't you dare touch her." crowheart's snarl rips through the air. troutgleam, bristling with a fury, retaliates with a flailed swipe at the lithe tom, his attempt compromised at his body being partially pinned in the ground. arecashine can only imagine the strain on his backpaw at the position of his leg. "you don't get to lay a paw on her, not after everything you did to her." crowheart's glare is sharp and penetrating with anger as he bares down harder upon the striped tabby.

arecashine stammers, moving a paw forward to intervene, "i-t-t-t's ok c-crowheart." the warmth of her words struggle against the ice in her frame. "get-get off him."

"arecashine isn't just an apprentice anymore." crowheart continues, unphased to her attempts, "i'd go to starclan before i ever let you hurt her again."