CLOSED(TIME & EVENT SKIP) Where Things Happen

Petalsong, warrior of DewClan and sister to the absent Frostfire, had left to retrieve the leader-figures and literal leaders of the Clans within the Moonfall. She did so because of the two pseudo-Clan apprentices who had appeared in the night with a message from the pseudo-Clan leaders, and she and Foxclaw, fellow DewClan warrior, had felt it practical after hearing the two apprentices' message.
The message was as follows: Leafstar and the other leaders of the pseudo-Clans wanted to help the main Clans defeat MudbloodClan.
Now Petalsong had retrieved the leaders - being Maplejay, who lead those who defied Daystar, Ezziestar, new leader of TawnyClan (both perhaps having other cats with them), and a few cats from the DarkClan group (who had insisted upon being present.)
Petalsong joined Foxclaw again and looked at the two apprentices. Spirepaw and Nightpaw were their names, claiming to hail from RoseClan that was supposedly distantly related to the four main clans. If they were to be believed.

OOC: Plot relevant cats speaking only.

IC: Gorseclaw looked at the two foreign apprentices with curiosity. This was something new.
"You're from 'RoseClan,'" he spoke before anyone else. "Why would your Clan, RoseClan," because saying the name helped it gain some semblance of realism in his mind, "want to help us? Aside from the impending doom of all," he added with a very slight and nearly sour smirk. Oh, the times.
"The name seems a little familiar, yes, but only just, and I don't think that has anything to do with where DarkClan lives." He glanced at the cats of the other Clans, doubting that any Clan would be able to hide the existence of a whole other Clan from DarkClan - or could they? He couldn't rule it out, but for the sake of the moment...
Gorseclaw looked back at the apprentices, his amber eyes glowing in the night (a part of him that reminded his Clanmates of his father, he knew). "Where are they? Where is the proof?"

OOC: It's so awesome looking for RoseClan's motivation.
"We're entwined whether or do leave or we don't." AWESOME!

IC: Nightpaw spoke up boldly - "RoseClan doesn't want to be killed by that MudbloodClan any more than you do, that's why we want to help! We can fight together - together the Clans, yours and ours, will be stronger!"
Maplejay's (OOC: hi Loki, sorry Loki) ears flicked. "ClanS. More than one, Clans? What do you mean, Clans? Who's with RoseClan?"
Spirepaw and Nightpaw realized in the same moment that they had never brought up CoreClan and SearClan or the unity they had found through the tragedy. Spirepaw thought of her mother, Leafstar, and spoke over Nightpaw. "We are united with CoreClan and SearClan. But it's not enough to beat back the Mudbloods."
"And so you wish for the 'big Clans' to help you," Mistjay meowed from behind Maplejay, tilting her head at the apprentice.
Spirepaw didn't know who these two she-cats were but something in their tones bothered her, like they were mocking her somehow even if they weren't outright. She bit back a retort and said, "Yes. We can't stand alone. But if we all fight together we'll have an even better chance of defeating the Mudbloods!"
"Three Clans," Maplejay murmured to herself.
Mistjay took a few steps closer to the apprentices. They seemed to be alright enough - a little ragged from their journey, but that was their problem.

OOC: I am so, so, so sorry for how OOC I'm being with Spirepaw and Nightpaw. They're obviously complex cats with good backstories and character development, and here I am just winging it with minimal info. I am so sorry.

Ezziestar looked on the two young she-cats with a bit of pity. They seemed ragged and exhausted in her eyes, but then, so was everyone in the den behind her. The den of our ancestors - ours and RoseClan's - and maybe CoreClan and SearClan too? Can I turn away blood? Is this all it comes down to in the end of days, blood and, she searched for the word and found it quickly, Faith.

Gorseclaw shook his head. "I don't like it," he meowed, still having not received his answer on where the now THREE Clans were. He wanted to know where they were. "Where are the three Clans," he asked again, his eyes hard though he did not move.

Ezziestar glanced at the DarkClan warrior and was reminded of Thornstar when she saw him out of the corner of her green eyes. It was a little unnerving. Is he Thornstar's son? I don't know very much about the relations in his Clan... "Perhaps we need to have faith," she meowed with determination. "Faith will get us through this. We all know that we needed to unite to get past this dark night," she looked at the cats around her. "That's why we all came here, isn't it?" Ezziestar looked back at the apprentices. "I don't trust the Mudbloods any more than the rest of you, but I think StarClan may have sent these two to us." She stepped closer to them. "I am Ezziestar, leader of TawnyClan. The rest of my Clan is in there," she pointed to the Moonfall entrance with her lovely tail. "What is your Clan's plan against the Mudbloods?"

Gorseclaw could almost feel a yowl of frustration seeping up his throat when the TawnyClan leader spoke. Yes, she had seniority, he recognized and respected that, but he hadn't slept very much these past few days and he just wanted what was best for the cats that were with him. With a glance he could tell that Hollowstripe, young deputy of DarkClan, felt the same.

So long as she says nothing about DarkClan, was all Hollowstripe was thinking for a few moments, sharing a glance with Gorseclaw. Then she looked at the apprentices (they could be spies, couldn't they? StarClan, she felt way too nervous about the entire situation at paw) and scoffed in her head.
I doubt they know anything about any sort of battle plan. They're messengers, nothing more. If they're working with Mudblood then they might make something up - anything to get some of us to go out to wherever they have their trap waiting for us - or maybe they're planning to ambush the Bloodstones even as we speak... Hollowstripe rolled her eyes, though the notion still set her teeth on edge.

Spirepaw saw the tabby she-cat's sneer when Ezziestar asked her about the battleplan. She thinks we're stupid! she thought angrily. "We're in the hills beyond DewClan's territory," she said, sort of saying it to the pale tom who threatened and the tabby she-cat who sneered as well as Ezziestar. "Sort of in the direction of the high stones."

Nightpaw's eyes had widened. They want a battleplan? We don't have any battleplan - these cats are all bigger and stronger than us - what if that makes them angry? And not for the first time the she-cat found herself fearing for her life.

Spirepaw could see that Ezziestar was on their side even if Nightpaw couldn't. "We don't know a battleplan," she confessed. "The leaders of our Clans are working on one, but it kinda depends on whether or not you all join - let us join you in battle. Become allies - fight together, I mean. On the same team...?" Spirepaw's pelt flashed with embarrassment. It wasn't often she stumbled over her words - her mother was Clan leader, and she had an image to live up to.

"We could use the numbers," Maplejay inserted. "So long as they're not Mudbloods in disguise. If you were..." Her teeth glinted wickedly as lightning flickered silently above in the distant sky.
Alongside her Foxclaw, Petalsong and Mistjay suddenly took on a menacing aura. It was there, then it was gone, but Spirepaw and Nightpaw had been the same in a moment of sheer terror.  
This, of course, was all in the apprentices perception of the DewClan cats. In truth they were as they had been, curious and guarded but not outright threatening as Gorseclaw and Hollowstripe had chosen to be.
Everyone in the group was on alert, to be honest, but no one could blame them considering the circumstances.

On this wet and cold night nothing felt safe, not even the presence of their own Clanmates. Had fear turned them into rogues? Would it? Foxclaw considered this briefly, but only just briefly.

"We just came from DewClan territory," Foxclaw meowed quietly to Maplejay. "We can't go back so soon - the Mudbloods will surely have returned to our camp by now and they'll know what we've done!"
Maplejay nodded. "And I'm not keen to make such a long and dangerous journey by night," she said quietly.
"Sounds like a trap to me, if I didn't think that these two scraps didn't have a lick of treachery between them," Mistjay meowed drolly. "Do they even realize how dangerous that trek would be?"
"How did they even manage to get this far," Foxclaw wondered quietly (because the whole conversation had been quiet, just between the DewClanners.)
Maplejay shook her head in wonder. "I don't think they knew the danger as well as we do," she said finally.
"Are we supposed to go to your Clans," she asked the apprentices loud enough for all to hear. "Do they expect us to journey so close to Mudblood territory in the middle of a war?"

Spirepaw frowned. "No, I - I don't know. I don't think so," she decided. "We were supposed to bring you the message and go back." That was right, wasn't it? There and back? Tell her mother and the other leaders the Clans' choice?
"We just need to know if you'll let us join you!" Nightpaw burst out, almost loudly.

"Wish they'd stick to one sort of way of talking," Mistjay commented sharply. She was not taking any sh!t tonight. "Join you, join us, which way is it?" Mistjay looked at her boredly.

Spirepaw decided she really did not like that she-cat or her friends in the slightest. "It's what we need it to be to defeat the Mudbloods," she practically shouted - and then suddenly the DewClan cats were upon the two apprentices, slamming paws and tails over their mouths, hissing "SHHHHHHHH."

OOC: This scene be cray-cray!
EDIT: I hit 900 posts!

OOC: Dude I could really feel the tension building in that post!   

IC: Gorseclaw had nearly done the same thing as the DewClanners but they'd beaten him too it - and five cats would have been slightly overkill in his mind.
Ezziestar strode forwards and snarled, "Get off - now." Stone looked on with interest and wild amazement.

Gorseclaw looked at Hollowstripe. "Still not getting any answers," he half grumbled.

"Keep your mouths shut," Maplejay hissed, carefully stepping off of the apprentices - the other followed suit. Everyone was so on edge!
Spirepaw and Nightpaw stayed squashed on the ground for a few long moments after the DewClan cats retreated.
Foxclaw pursed his cat-lips and offered a helping tail on a second thought. Nightpaw hesitantly accepted but Spirepaw stood quickly. Yeah, she'd been loud, but they didn't need to JUMP on her. RUDE!
Mistjay cast a look Ezziestar's direction but said nothing to the TawnyClan leader.
"How many cats are in your Clans," Maplejay asked after a beat. Spirepaw looked at her uncertainly.
"Twenty in all." Would answering their questions and ultimately tolerating these cats get them moving? Were ALL of them so ridiculous?
Maplejay thought about the many cats inside of the Moonfall and compared their numbers to the Mudbloods. Even with these three Clans it still won't be enough, she thought. Her gaze flickered towards the direction she knew the AbyssClan hill would be, shrouded in shadow and hidden in the night. Daystar went there. But even if we had the rest of DewClan it wouldn't be enough. She looked up at Ezziestar. What does she think?
"It's not enough," Foxclaw said to Maplejay, beating Mistjay to the punch. Maplejay glanced at him and nodded.

OOC: For the love of god just make Ezziestar say, yeah, we'd like it if you'd join up with us, every cat counts! or somethong.

OOC: So rude!

IC: Ezziestar thought about the numbers. It's not much. But she had hope, and every cat counted. "Take the message back to your Clans - tell them we'll stand with you here at Bloodstones. We'll face the Mudbloods together."
Gorseclaw rolled his eyes. Hollowstripe was thinking hard about the situation. Somewhere Silverpaw was spying on them, wondering who the hell these apprentices were.
"They shouldn't go alone," Hollowstripe said finally. Ezziestar looked at the younger, smaller she-cat inquisitively then nodded.
"I agree. Who shall we send with them?"
"I'll go!" meowed Silverpaw from the Moonfall. Gorseclaw turned around to look at his apprentice. "No," he said firmly. Silverpaw's ears drooped and Hollowstripe nodded, saying,
"You know what Redstar said." Silverpaw nodded, looking more than a tad glum because she knew that Hollowstripe was right. (OOC: I'm keeping the DarkClan cats here so that DarkClan can retrieve them all for their counter-offense against the Mudbloods.)
"We can send one of mine." Ezziestar looked around at the cats present, thinking about who was and wasn't wounded. "Someone swift." Of course. "Swiftwind will run with you - time is of the essence," she told the apprentices.

Spirepaw and Nightpaw looked at Ezziestar, slightly flustered. "We don't need anyone to come back with us," Nightpaw objected.
"We got here," chimed in Spirepaw, "and we can get back! Thank you," she remembered her courtesies, "but we don't need someone to protect us. We know the way." Sort of. They'd never been this far out before.

OOC: Are we really going to send a cat who probably has never been around DewClan territory before?
Also, HI LOKI. I KNOW YOU ARE THERE I CAN SEE YOOOOOOOOOOUUU

IC: Foxclaw was torn between not wanting cats not from his Clan to tread in/near his own teritory and not wanting to have to go back so this "Swiftwind" wouldn't. But he said nothing, instead waiting for Maplejay to speak.
Petalsong looked on in interest (because I forgot about her).
Mistjay wondered if Swiftwind was one of the wounded cats she had seen. So many TawnyClan cats had seemed wounded to her. Not as though the new TawnyClan medicine cat (that one kit, what'shername) could have done anything about it... Could she do with some guidance?

OOC: You guys are great!
IC:

Swiftwind was prodded awake. He had curled up away from the talkative crowd, at some point falling into a deep sleep. He woke up to see a blur of grey hovering over him, his eyesight adjusted revealing Wolffang.

"What is it?" he asked tiredly, perking up, "I was dreaming of the most beautiful she-cat, she was_"
"_NO," Wolffang grimaced, "Ezziestar says she wants your..eh...skills... for a certain quest."

The larger tom pointed with his bottle tail toward the direction of Ezzistar and the circle of cats.

"That's nice," Swiftwind stretched and strolled over to the meeting.
"Hello, ladies!" He greeted.
"I hear you called my name!"
"We need someone swift," Maplejay pointed out, cynically.
"I was named Swiftwind for a reason," the short-haired, black tom boasted, puffing out his chest, "you can count on me."
Our existence relies on the paws of this womanizer, Wolffang concluded, a tired smile tugging at his lips.

Maplejay looked to the two messengers, a condescending look crossing her face.
"I think it would be best for this tom to go with you."

Ezziestar nodded sagely, agreeing with Maplejay's statement. The TawnyClan leader turned to Swiftwind and said, "Swiftwind. We need you to accompany these two RoseClan apprentices back to their territory, which is beyond DewClan territory, by the Frost Mountains. There you will find the Clans RoseClan, SearClan, and CoreClan, cats we hope will become our allies against the Mudbloods. These apprentices will tell their leader that we are with them. But you must go now, and go swiftly. The road is dangerous, but I have faith in your abilities, Swiftwind. May StarClan light your path and cover your pawprints. Goodbye." She looked at him, waiting for him to leave with the apprentices.

Spirepaw and Nightpaw looked at each other and looked at Swiftwind. Spirepaw sighed in exasperation.
"Great," she muttered. There was obviously no way around it. But gosh were these Clan cats so pushy! "Let's go..."

"I'll be back before you can twitch your fifth whisker," Swiftwind grinned at her, not at all taken aback with her abruptness. Everyone was so touchy nowadays.
He turned to the apprentices, casting over them what would appear to be a judgmental eye.
"Keep up, kitties!"

Ezziestar and Hollowstripe watched with pained expressions as Swiftwind padded away - in the wrong direction.
"Swiftwind," Ezziestar said tiredly. "DewClan and the mountains are in THAT direction," she pointed with her beautiful tail in the correct direction.
Gorseclaw rolled his eyes again.

OOC:   

IC: The two apprentices watched the tom incredulously. "Really?" Nightpaw mewed.

"Ah."
Swiftwind paused, offering a nervous twitch of his wiry whiskers.
He turned to the apprentices, cocking his head slightly away from the rough elements.
"Right. Now. This way then!" He turned and this time surely ran in the correct direction, slipping in his scurry before continuing on.

The apprentices looked back at the Clan cats then quickly followed Swiftwind.
We'll be home soon enough....
Mistjay and the DewClan cats watched them depart. Then she turned to the group. "Now what," the medicine cat asked.

Ezziestar inhaled. "We need to prepare."

OOC: Just adding this in as a last minute thing.

IC: Foxclaw thought of something. He bounded after the apprentices and the warrior and caught up to them.
"Don't go through DewClan territory," he warned.
Spirepaw frowned. "That's how we got here," she said, "and that's how we should get back."
The DewClan warrior shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "Take the pass beyond that hill," he pointed his nose in the direction of Eclipse's Hill. "Follow the border. It will take you back to your hills without passing where Mudbloods will see you." He was saying this to Swiftwind as well. "I know the area well. Trust me."
Nightpaw and Spirepaw stared at the orange warrior for a moment - they knew the area too, Spirepaw wanted to snap - but Spirepaw acquiesced and nodded. "We'll do that, I guess..." She looked in the TawnyClan warrior's direction.

((I iz back! And hopefully for good this time... Sorry my family. And thank you for taking care of Ezzie and Stone for me. ))

"Why couldn't I go with them?" Stone questioned Ezziestar, she turned to face him.
"Swiftwind is more than capable for this task." She replied calmly.
"But, I can fight! I'm quick! I'm prepared to take down any cat that challenged me! Why not me?" Stone's protesting rang in her ears. Ezziestar said nothing, instead she sat upright and watched the horizon.
"Why won't you say something?" Stone hissed in pure frustration, his hackles rising and teeth bared.
In a beat, Ezziestar spun around and pinned the younger tom to the ground. Her jaws rested on his throat.
"What are you doing?" Stone squeaked out.
"Where you prepared for that?" Ezziestar growled.
"What?"
"You said you were prepared."
"I didn't expect that." Stone muttered under his breath. In hearing that, Ezziestar released him, letting him slip out and scramble to his paws.
"It is that reason why I hadn't chosen you." Ezziestar meowed finally, her voice sent chills down his spine.

Stone sat up, and began to groom himself to calm down.
"You are quick, and smart," Ezziestar continued, "But please understand reasoning when I say this." She got to her paws, Stone watched her as she stared don at him, her eyes revealed how much she cared about him as a clanmate, "You're not the right cat for this... we need you to remain here."

Stone stared down at his paws as he thought over her words carefully, soon he got to his paws and returned into the depths of the cave to join the remainder of Tawnyclan.

Ezziestar then began to groom herself to also calm down from her demonstration. I do hope he understands now... Oh Starclan... We're going to need you.

((I hope this scene is appropriate. :/ I need to get into the habit again I think.))