[i]'Like a Fire Flower...'[/i] Open rp - Jump In!

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    'I'm glad I could love you from the start' is what I'll sing to the sky.'


    Now, Ripplefur was a loyal ThunderClan cat, always had been and always would, but when your sister lives in another Clan, sometimes things get bigger than they need to be. This was definitely one of those times.


    The blue she-cat had sat on the right side of the border chatting away to Shiningpoppy, her RiverClan sister, who was also on the correct side. Nobody was trespassing, nobody was stealing prey, nobody was doing anything wrong. But, there will always be cats that don't necessarily agree with the obvious.


    Ripplefur had been chased by a bunch of younger male warriors from her own Clan. She was currently sitting in a pine tree that they hadn't managed to climb, but that did not mean they were going to give up. No, even after it had gone from noon to evening, they still sat at the bottom of the tree shouting 'Traitor! Get down here and we'll give you what you deserve!'. She had already been cut on the shoulder and her tail was bleeding from a bite one of the larger toms had given her.


    'Shut up, mouse brains!' Ripplefur yelled at the group. 'Go and do something worthwhile, would you?'


    Of course, being older, more experienced and stronger than every one of them, it would be common sense to just go and show them who they're messing with, right? Well, not exactly... After her mother was killed, the blue she-cat had promised never to fight another cat, no exceptions whatsoever. So far, that promise had been kept, and she wasn't going to go and break it now!


    'Oh, yes, how mature...' she told them sarcastically as one cat flung a small piece of crowfood at her. 'Grow up, for StarClan's sake!'

    [font=georgia][size=10]Coppercloud couldn't control a little snigger at that last little outburst of Ripplefur's. His aim, though pretty bad, was better than most of his companions', and that little scrap of rotten meat (mouse, perhaps?) had passed fairly close to its target. It would have been amazing if it had hit her, but he figured she'd gotten the message.


    "Grow up?" he sneered, glancing at his companions. "She said 'grow up.' Now that's really something, coming from the most useless cat in ThunderClan." He dug his claws into the bark of the tree, heaving himself up for yet another futile attempt at climbing. "Why don't you just go back to RiverClan?" he jeered, nodding at the others to get them to join in. "You'd probably be happier there. Everyone in RiverClan is just as harebrained as you are."


    His insults, of course, made absolutely no sense and had no grounding in reality, but at this point, neither he nor anyone else in the little circle cared. This was just an afternoon's entertainment for them.


    Still, it was starting to get a little old... how long had they been there? Several hours? But at this point, they couldn't just leave; that would have looked too much like they were giving up, and no bully likes to give that impression. And so Coppercloud stayed down there, calling up whatever fresh mockeries he could think of: "Get down here, and I promise we won't tell your mother about this. Oh, wait, she's probably in RiverClan, isn't she? You're probably a whole family of traitors, aren't you?" Yet all the while, he was wishing he could think of some way to gracefully end this.


    [hr]
    [font=georgia]{ Oh, hi Jay! :) Long time no see. }

    OOC- Hi, Belle! :)


    'I'm a ThunderClan cat! It was my sister that chose to move to RiverClan!' Ripplefur hissed, starting to get angry, now.


    The blue she-cat sighed in frustration. Why wouldn't these idiots just leave? Weren't they getting bored yet? The sun was slowly sinking away, and the forest would only have a few more hours of light. Surely they'd leave before the moon rose. But, then again, they had been there for a very long time, and she doubted any of the group was going to give up soon.


    Trying to ignore the insults thrown at her, she wondered if Shiningpoppy was treated like this often. It was obvious that it happened every once in a while, sometimes she would have a scratch or two, or she'd seem very upset. Unfortunately, Ripplefur was never allowed to talk about it, or her sister would somewhat awkwardly change the subject.


    'Get lost!' she told them. 'Seriously, guys, this isn't funny anymore!'

    [font=georgia][size=10]"What, are you scared of us?" the russet warrior sneered, clawing at the base of the tree yet again, then beginning to slowly circle it. "Why don't you just come down? You know that we would never hurt another member of ThunderClan." He pierced a small acorn with his claw, and gave it a quick backwards flick, sheathing the claw at just the right time to send it flying toward her---a trick he had taught himself last moon, and very helpful for his bullying hobby. His aim was pretty poor, but his luck was good: the small projectile hit a branch that was several inches from where Ripplefur was sitting. "Of course, you're not a member of ThunderClan, so all bets are off!" That drew a few snickers from the group.


    And then a new voice pierced the group. "Ah, for crying out loud." It was female, and it was quite exasperated---as though she were a mother rounding up some rowdy kits.


    Coppercloud's eyes snapped over in her direction, then widened a little: he took a quick step back from the base of the tree. And then his features hardened, and he spat, "Get out of here, Echolight! This isn't your business!"


    She was not a large cat. Small, orange, short-furred, with a deep-set, sarcastic face, she had the appearance of a good hunter, but not a good fighter, and certainly not one to take on the whole group under the tree.


    Yet she appeared completely unfazed, and her voice was bright, not low or threatening. "All right, I'm going to count out loud to ten, and I expect you to find some more productive use of your time before I'm finished counting. 'Kay?" She smiled, then cleared her throat. "One."


    Coppercloud was growling. "If you expect us to let this traitor off the hook---" "Two." She took a step forward, and he took an instinctive step back. "I'm warning you, Echolight! This isn't your fight! Back off!" "Three." "We'll rip you up right along with her! Won't we?" "Four." The smile on her face was dying, replaced with an expression of sheer blank intensity, and her voice was no longer bright or cheery. Coppercloud continued to spit, "We're not afraid of a little scrap of fur like---" "Five." "---you! Bring it on! Come on!" His claws were unsheathed, and yet still she advanced, and still he retreated. The smile was completely gone from her face, and the look in her eyes could have started a forest fire. "Six." "I'm warning you! This is your last warning, she-cat!" "Seven." Her ears lay completely flat and her fur was bristling. He was stumbling backwards now; she had reached the base of the tree. "Well, we'll be back, won't we? See if we aren't!" "Eight." And they were beating an inglorious retreat.


    The she-cat finally paused, then let out a long breath, looked up in the tree, and smiled. "How nice. I didn't even have to get all the way to ten." And she began to lick her fluffed-out fur back down again.

    'Wow, I guess counting to ten isn't just for kits!' Ripplefur replied, climbing quickly down the wet bark. 'Thanks for scaring them off, by the way. I thought they'd never leave!'


    The blue warrior felt rather embarrassed and somewhat guilty for having Echolight chase the group away, especially when Ripplefur could have easily done the 'One-Two-Three...' approach. But then again, the way the orange she-cat had made herself look... there was no way she'd be able to pull that off! The fire in Echolights eyes had almost matched her fur, so bright in the fog from the thunderstorms, just like real flames. And her voice, it had been like smoke. Get too close and it'll hurt you!


    'Sorry for wasting your time with that... It was very kind of you to help me out,' Ripplefur apologised.


    Even after apologising to Echolight, the blue warrior still felt awkward and embarrassed. A cat of her age, nearly 24 moons old, should be able to defend herself, right? Of course, the whole 'fighting is against my beliefs' thing made self-defense more difficult than it needed to be, but surely she should be able to use a sharp tongue? Unfortunately, Ripplefur was a pretty friendly cat, so her insults and threats weren't exactly up to standards. The best offensive name she could think of was 'mouse brain'...


    'Um, if there's anything I can do for you, you know, as a thank you, just ask and I'll be glad to help out.'

    [font=georgia][size=10]The look on Echolight's face and in her eyes was the brightest, friendliest, most cheerful look imaginable; it was hard to believe that she had been a bristling, snarling monster a few seconds ago. "Don't you worry about it, hon!" she replied merrily, taking a seat on the leafy forest floor. "Yeah, if they're gonna act like kits, then I'm gonna treat 'em like kits. Seems only fair, doesn't it? But it really wasn't a waste of time at all... I was coming by here anyway."


    She turned aside to give her shoulder a few quick licks; the fur was still sticking up a little there from her little show of force a moment ago. When this was finished, she turned her now-curious eyes back to the other warrior, and remarked, "You're Ripplefur, right? The one with the RiverClan sister?"

    'Yes, that's me,' Ripplefur confirmed.


    The calm and friendly expression on Echolight's face almost made the blue she-cat wonder if it was a completely different cat that had scared of the group of bullies. There were still tiny patches of orange fur standing on end, like little flames, reminding her of the fire Echolight had shown Coppercloud less than a few moments ago. It was crazy the way she'd brought so much hostility into what seemed like a usually warm personality in just a second or two, and how quickly she'd gone back to being friendly after the incident was equally as amazing, if not more. Ripplefur had never been able to act hostile, or even slightly angry, to anyone except her kits, and for what was most likely the first time ever, the blue warrior admitted to herself that she was... jealous!


    Jealousy was not something that Ripplefur felt often, only when another cat could do something absolutely brilliant, something worth being jealous of. But, that jealousy was usually just a wish to learn how to become as skilled as somebody else, or on a few occasions, simply a way of telling a cat that they're talent really was a thing to be proud of. Unfortunately, this kind of jealousy did not seem as friendly as any of above descriptions.


    Ripplefur wanted to be like Echolight.
    And she wanted it to happen now.


    Now of course, the blue she-cat was shocked at the thoughts running through her head, but she couldn't stop them. It felt like fog was filling her mind, it just kept getting thicker and thicker until she felt lost and couldn't think clearly anymore. This was not who she was. No, Ripplefur wasn't like some of those other she-cats that would anything to be better than somebody else, so why were these awful thoughts clogging her brain?

    [font=georgia][size=10]Echolight seemed happily oblivious to whatever unpleasantness might have been running through Ripplefur's mind. She simply turned her head over to the other side, reaching around to smooth down the rest of the fur. Although her pelt was short, it had an unfortunate tendency to stick up and stay up, so she had to spend a lot of time keeping it flat and smooth.


    The fiery-orange she-cat always loved to follow the various relationships and dynamics that took place in and around ThunderClan, but in this case, it was more than that. It was bullying, and that was something she really couldn't stand. Whenever she saw something like bullying or depression or grief or rejection or even boredom---any sort of negative state, really---she just had to do what she could to make it better, and if Ripplefur was experiencing this sort of thing regularly, then they would have to figure out some sort of solution.


    At Ripplefur's response, she gave a nod. "I thought so, yeah. So you get that sort of thing often?" She gestured over in the direction where the little group of bullies had retreated. "Or was this just an exception?" The look in her eyes was one of pure, bright, focused interest; Ripplefur had her full attention at the moment, and there was not a single stray thought currently competing for the she-cat's focus.

    'It's happened once or twice before, but never as bad as this,' Ripplefur replied, her voice casual. 'It isn't a regular thing. Every so often, someone'll ask which Clan I'd rather be loyal to, or somebody'll let out a couple of mean jokes about it, but really, I wouldn't worry about it.'


    The jelous thoughts were slowly being replaced with concerned thoughts about her sister's situation. At gatherings, no RiverClan cats ever sat down beside her, or spoke to her, and sometimes, they even refused to acknowledge her presence. There were only few in ThunderClan that didn't like Ripplefur because of Shiningpoppy's decision, so in RiverClan, her sister must be detested! Oh, Ripplefur wanted desperately to ask her about it, but Shiningpoppy was one of those personalities that would do anything to avoid worrying others, even if those 'others' were your own family. It would be impossible to get answers from her sister.


    The blue warrior almost jumped when she suddenly realised all her worry was being shown very, very clearly on her face. Awkwardly, she looked at her paws as they kneaded the ground in embarrassment. Echolight probably would have noticed her concern ages ago. and Ripplefur had an awful feeling that nothing was going to stop her thoughts from bursting out.


    'I, um, I guess I do have a few things on my mind... Sorry, I won't bore you, I'm sure you have much more productive things to do than listen to me whine all day!' she smiled gently, trying maybe too hard to seem like she really didn't mind.

    [font=georgia][size=10]Echolight gave an understanding nod. "Well, I don't reckon that gang will be back to mess with you for a while. They were being a bunch of kits, and they knew it, and I think we cowed 'em pretty good."


    But the look of smug amusement on her face slowly died down, to be slowly replaced with a look that mirrored Ripplefur's worried expression. Several emotions have a tendency to be contagious---anger, laughter, and depression, to list a few common ones---and for Echolight, worry was one of them. The worry of anybody else quickly became her own as well.


    Well, that wasn't precisely true. She wasn't really worried right now... just concerned. Greatly concerned about the well-being of her Clanmate.


    It was clear that Ripplefur desperately needed to share her troubles with someone else... but it was also clear that she wasn't going to share them without a little encouragement. Communicating emotions was undoubtedly Echolight's strongest talent; she now gave Ripplefur the warmest, most caring smile that she could give, and said, "Actually, I don't mind at all. What are you thinking about?"

    [color=lime]The Green Post Project has been set up to remember and respect cancer victims, and to celebrate all the times we've kicked cancer's backside! Joining in is simple, just begin posting in green. My posts will be green until Sunday, 26th May.
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    [color=lime]'I'm just a little worried about my sister...' Ripplefur sighed. 'If I get teased in my birth Clan, I can't imagine what things must be like for Shiningpoppy! Unfortunately, she's the type that won't talk about her troubles. It isn't good for her to keep all the emotions she has inside, but no matter what I do, there's no way she'll tell me what's been going on.'


    Ripplefur had tried many times to find out how her sister was getting on in RiverClan, but the reply was always the same sort of thing: Fine, fine. Things here are pretty good for everyone. We got some new kits the other day, but apart from that, nothing interesting. How about you? The most annoying part was that Shingingpoppy made her lies often so transparent, as though she was actually asking for somebody to notice her distress and push for some information they would never be given.


    'She looks so upset sometimes, but she just won't talk about it. I want to help her, but there doesn't seem to be anything I can do,' the blue warrior said to Echolight.


    Of course, Ripplefur's tendency to stress way too much probably didn't help in this situation. Maybe she was completely overreacting? But then again, it was obvious something was wrong. Why couldn't she turn into Shiningpoppy for a day and find out what was going on? Life would be so much simpler if that was possible! Anyways, it wasn't possible, and fantasising about definitely wouldn't help anyone. There are never easy ways around problems like that. Never.

    [font=georgia][size=10]Echolight's head was tilted to the side a bit, and she gave a thoughtful frown and slow nod. "I hadn't thought about that," she admitted.


    So there was the crux of the matter: Ripplefur wasn't really bothered by the malice from her own Clanmates. She was just worried that if it was bad here in ThunderClan, it would be worse over in RiverClan, and her sister would be having a terrible time dealing with it.


    How could a problem like that be dealt with? The biggest part of it was just a lack of information. Perhaps her sister was living a perfectly happy, content life, and the upsetness had been a misinterpretation. Or perhaps her sister was struggling through a hellish existence, too fearful or broken to share it even with her sister.


    But there were pieces of this puzzle that were still missing for Echolight. Important pieces. "Why did your sister join RiverClan to begin with?" she asked. "You were both born here, right?"


    Most of the Clan-changes that Echolight had heard about had involved inter-Clan romances, and if a she-cat were to defect to be with a tom, then he would be the one to protect her. But from the sound of it, Ripplefur's sister didn't have someone like that... or was she mistaken? What was going on?