Listening To The River [Open]

Jester huffed as he shook the cold water droplets from his fur before they could either reach his skin underneath or freeze over him. He wasn’t used to the territories of the wild cats, which was made obvious by his lack of skill at swimming like most cats from this clan seemed to have…he probably would need to try and fix that soon. Even during leafbare, this territory proved to be fairly treacherous for outsiders, having to watch his step constantly to avoid falling on random bodies of water…each one of these wild territories seemed to pose a different challenge.

During normal circumstances, the black tabby would’ve voided crossing the borders of wild cat territories, even less allow himself to wander deep into them as he was doing now. However, the news of the sudden hit the clans had suffered to their numbers after some mysterious event spread like wildfire across the filthy streets of the twolegplace he reluctantly called home. Many rogues had taken upon this chance to try and snatch better quality prey from the clans that lived there, some bolder ones even had tried to claim some territory of their own and settle right under their noses.

He?

He was looking for food, yes, but more important than food itself, he was carefully looking for these clans of fierce territorial cats.

The information about them was scarce, their motives unknown, their society a mystery. Few rogues had been daring enough to try and find out more, and very few returned…and those that did only brought back some new scars. If he wanted to know what made these clans so special, their secrets, he was going to need to be careful.

His ears twitched as he scanned the damp, half-frozen terrain. Each territory birthed new rumors, some more widespread than others. This specific section of the territories spoke of graceful cats that had mastered the art of swimming like fish, thriving in the very same element most cats seemed to want to avoid more than anything else. Tales of rogues being pulled underwater by them to never again surface were plentiful, which caused him to try and stay as far as possible from large, deep bodies of water he could meet his own demise in.Listeni

Violetpaw had woken up to a pleasant surprise; Willowshade wasn't around. Which meant she had a free day! She had had elder duty yesterday, so she was fine to do as she pleased. Nodding to her mother, Ivyfeather, she padded out of camp, making a beeline towards the river. The apprentice decided she'd do some hunting for the Clan, as in leaf-bare, they needed all they could get.

Suddenly a strange scent hit her nostrils and she blinked in surprise. This wasn't any Clan scent she knew, and it definitely wasn't RiverClan! Hissing, she sprang forward.

"Hey!" She loudly mewed from nearby as the pale cream she-cat stepped foot into the open. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her voice unfriendly. Her green eyes invited challenge, pale tabby stripes rippling as if they threatened to jump out at him. "What are you doing here?" She demanded, wasting no time in small talk. This was an intruder. He must be dealt with.

Wolfpaw has been out practicing hunting when he heard a loud mew. He knew it was Violetpaw by her voice. He made his way over to the the she-cat, trying to figure out what was happening. He to saw the outsider. ”What’s going on?” he asked, tensing up, ready for a possible battle. This stranger had to be dealt with, in any way possible. ”Get out of our territory!” he hissed, and let a low growl come from his throat.

Jester stumbled lightly away from the sudden voice that reached his ears. He looked down, his green gaze landing on the younger cat as he quickly tried to return to a more stable footing. At least the wild cats of these wet territories took the time to talk before pouncing on him, that was a plus on his eyes.

One thing he had to admit is that he was surprised to always find more young cats than adult cats. Had the mysterious blow that these wild cats received mainly affected adults? Or were the adults simply somewhere else and allowing their young to wander on their own during leafbare?

Before he could answer, a second cat, who he could tell was of a somewhat similar age to the first one, approached hissing and growling as well. No wonder the adult wild cats used to be so violent and quick to attack on the many tales he had hears if they were conditioned to be so intolerant to outsiders from day one…

He took a deep breath, keeping an elegant and calm posture before talking “Calm down, I’m not here to pose any threat or cause any trouble to you or anyone else. I’m doing what any cat would do during this specific harsh season, looking for food. You wild cats might not have noticed, but the twolegplace isn’t a prey-filled paradise”.

Now, not a complete lie, but neither the full truth. He wanted to try and pick up some extra personality traits from these two young cats to use on his favor, even if by doing so he had to push his luck.

Violetpaw flashed a grateful look at Wolfpaw as he approached. Her paw still hurt from the twoleg trap, and a visible scar remained on it, despite the lost fur having grown back. She wasn't sure how well she would've done against this tom on her own, and was relieved to have her friend show up. When the tom tried to explain himself, she felt rage grow in the pit of her stomach. "Yeah? Well this is our territory! The Warrior Code says we have the right to challenge all trespassers!" The young she-cat retorted, neck fur bristling.

Violetpaw still hadn't wrapped her paw around the fact outsiders had never heard of the Warrior Code or StarClan before. "You simply cannot hunt here. You must leave, now." she mewed, a threat concealed in her words. No rogue would hunt in RiverClan territory while she was around! "So, what are you waiting for? Go! Shoo!" When the tom still remained where he was, she growled. "This is RiverClan territory! You can't hunt here! Go someplace else and bother a different cat!" She hissed, standing her ground, yet, she couldn't fight this tom unless he attacked first. But she'd stand her ground. She flashed Wolfpaw a brief look. Don''t attack just yet..

Wolfpaw hissed, listening to Violetpaw’s words. All thoughtful the cobbefrstaion, he nodded. His fur on his pelt was stuck straight up. And he tried to make himself look as big and threatening as he could. As Violetpaw shot him a look, he nodded to her. ”If you want to keep yourself uninjured, I’d suggest leaving. Right. Now.” he growled menacingly.

Jester’s ear twitched lightly at the words from the first cat. So…a code, uh? Wild cats actually followed some kind of set rules, it seemed, and they encouraged the attack of cats not belonging to their groups. Sheesh, and they claimed they were the uncivilized ones.

“I have no knowledge of this code you are talking about, young one. What exactly is it and how does it grant your kind any kind of power over we outsider at all? Sounds like telling a bird it can’t fly just because a random cat decided it wasn’t allowed in their territory” He smiled a bit at the last part of his sentence. It was honestly a bit of mockery on his behalf, which most likely would be a bad idea on most situations. He, however, wanted to get more information on this whole thing, and it seemed that wild cats usually allowed their tongues to loosen up if their ways were questioned and their already fiery spirits fueled a bit more.

His eyes then landed on the clearly more aggressive tom, green eyes carefully watching his every move. He was half expecting a fight to break out at this point, but he was still willing to push his luck a bit more for the sake of finding out a bit more…