broken-hearted [open, joining]

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    Applenose plodded through the mountains of Darkclan's territory, her paws heavy. The sound of moving water cascading down the sides of nearby cliff drops caused the femme's triangular ears to rotate and swivel frantically, and as she tilted her gaze towards the sky, she heaved a sigh. Cloudy. With the lack of sunlight, her normally granny-smith luminaries just seemed dull, turning an dirty shade of mucky, grimy green.


    For a moment, the athletic vixen thought her caramel colored ears had ensnared a strained sound, somewhere in the distance. Her tail shot straight out; could it be? Had she finally arrived after he long, arduous trek? The marbled ginger tabby slinked along the soggy earth, keeping low. Her short fur, silky as could be, was heavy with the water-saturated air. However, her soul felt light as a feather.


    "Hello?"


    Applenose was in pursuit of something... better. She knew she deserved better. She had been abused for so long that not too long ago, escape didn't seem possible. But when the opportunity presented itself, she took it. The she-cat was on the run for days now; but hopefully, Darkclan would be a safe refuge.


    "Welcome to Darkclan. State your name and business," materializing from the darkness, despite the impossibility considering it was an open moorland, the living shadow that was Twilightrise was the first to greet the apple-colored female. Lifting her chin, she looked down upon the female. Her black and white speckled fur rippled like a fragment of torn sky in the breeze. She stood regal and proud before the stranger.

    Though she didn't often approve of loners in her clan, those loners were typically only of suspicious background. There was no rule in the code that stated allowing loners was a bad thing, especially considering it was a good way to keep clan blood fresh. Still though, she would not go easy on this molly, even if she looked so tired and scuffed up.


    (c)trexgirl

    Applenose suppressed a couple of exhausted heaves, and straightened herself out. Like a puppet pulled upright, she fixed her posture and assumed a more composed expression. The fear, the anger, the betray, still lurked under the brightness of her gaze. Looking the black and white femme head-on, Applenose began to address her inquiry. "My name is Applenose." Pausing, she steadied herself. The journey had been... exhausting, to say the least. "I'd like to join." Her voice rung out with new determination, and her gaze could burn holes through walls of steel. She was ready for a change. This was the first step she would take as a free female, the first choice that she could own as truly hers.

    ◞♖ first wolfsbane, and now this. it seemed it was only a matter of moons before the newcomers outnumbered rookpaw's true clanmates, and that thought made rookpaw cold. the tom had thought he would be safe here in darkclan, but it seemed things were changing.


    "lilystar will see about that," rookpaw said, a businesslike flick of his long, thin tail accentuating tjhe briskness of his words. "in the meantime... why do you want to join? interesting timing, considering a bloodclanner just joined." rookpaw spat the word 'bloodclanner' as if it burnt his very tongue to say it.

    Applenose almost flinched at his question, but steeled herself. Staring boldly at the apprentice, she forced herself to stay calm and level-headed. She answered his question in a monotone voice. "I am running from an abusive tom." At his mention of blood clan, Applenose bared her teeth slightly, maw pulling back to reveal pearly white fangs. She retorted boldly. "And for your information I'm no bloodclanner." And how dare he make such a comparison? "I'm sorry, I thought Darkclan was an amicable and formidable clan. I didn't realize they'd feel so frightened by a... oh what's the word?" Taking several paces forward, fur bristling on end, she finished her sentence. "Loner." Let alone a battered female. Given their relatively hostile welcome and the nastiness of Rookpaw's tone, it did seem as though fear was what fueled their unfriendly salutations.

    The post was edited 5 times, last by ruffian. ().

    i'll be a better man today, i'll be good,

    i'll be good, and i'll love the world like i should — tags


    Oh who was this? She seemed okay, and lynxpaw opened her mouth to say a cheery little greeting when she realized everyone else was being rude and wary. Oh, was she supposed to do that to? Conflicted, she'd pause, eyes flicking back and forth, before she shivered and decided to simply shut her mouth, rather than make anyone angry at her. she really didn't want to be alone no more, so she could let them catch on to how worthless and useless she was, else they'd prob' hate her an' kick 'er out. She was so caught up in her own thoughts, that she didn't even realize she was trembling slightly and her eyes looked glazed.


    "speech."


    Solitaire padded up to the situation a fish within her jaws from the ravine having heard the commotion on her way back to camp from fishing, which was one of the styles of hunting she was most efficient with. Upon joining the former blood clanner had been assigned a guard, but she was routinely seen without her guard, yet she never seemed to be sneaking around. Most of the time? Soli was just seen going back and forth from the ravine or another location she had grown skilled at hunting within bringing back several prey items per day for the clan. Obviously, there seemed to be no purposeful attempts at slipping away from her guard, it just seemed repeatedly the apprentice aged she-cat was preforming hard work and it didn't seem to line up with the other cats schedule, that she really simply walked out of camp and her guard just didn't notice for some reason.


    RookPaw this being the first time she ever saw him instantly rubbed her the wrong way considering he only mentioned one Blood Clanner it showed he didn't keep track of his clan and also that he held too tightly to prejudgments. Three former member's of blood clan had joined, former member's, thus she was going to avoid RookPaw in the future. However, right now the only reason she approached and did not instantly keep moving back towards camp was named LynxPaw, optics narrowed slightly as the brown tabby came up right beside the younger female. "Are you alright LynxPaw? Did someone do something to you, because you don't look too happy and you didn't even greet her, you were very friendly when I came, so seeing you like this, it alarmed me a bit." Did she have to rip someone's throat out? The collared female looked from LynxPaw to the other cats gathered trying to figure out if anything had happened.


    "Also, I can promise you, this she-cat has never been a Blood Clanner, I would know her if she was." her history was clear the golden eyed she-cat had never shed her collar to date, the plaid object laying firmly against her neck with it's trophies. "I'm sorry for the less than friendly greeting you've received, my name is Solitaire. Is there any chance he followed you? If there is, I would suggest staying with a clan-mate whenever you leave camp for a while when and if LilyStar accepts you, just to keep you safe." it was truly a sad day when the former blood clanner who still held her collar, seemed to be able to be friendlier than the clan native felines, at least in Soli's opinion it was sad. "What is your name? I wasn't close enough when you told them, so I didn't overhear it." She would be kind until LynxPaw started acting normally again, than she would go silent again, slip away so she could take her caught fish back to camp. Normally this was not her thing, but she had been worried about LynxPaw and the other dark clan cat's were presenting an image of the clan opposite from what she had come to understand the clan standing for. "Apart from that, is anyone going to go get LilyStar? I'm pretty sure she can't just know when someone wanting to join arrives unless someone lets her know." couldn't the other cats do this right? The leader couldn't read their mind, unless someone told LilyStar about this, it could be sunset before the leader knew.

    ◞♖ rookpaw's eyes became slits at applenose's words. the she-cat didn't smell of darkclan... but that could be one of her ruses. "what do you think, lynx?" the tom said at last, pale yellow eyes searching his sister's face for any sign that she agreed with him. only then did he perceive the she-cat's state - she was shaking, almost imperceptibly, like a leaf in the wind, and her eyes were somewhere else altogether. "lynx...are you okay?"


    rookpaw took several, small but quick steps back when solitaire mentioned the fact she would know if applenose was a bloodclanner. the fur along his spine lifting, he ground out, "i'll tell lilystar."


    he really didn't want to leave lynxcry here with applenose and solitaire - his sister, of all cats - but someone would have to warn the leader. hopefully lilystar would listen to reason.


    rookpaw ran towards camp, paws stumbling over the not completely familiar terrain, eyes watering against the wind. it was with relief when he entered the forest, the foliage shielding him from the sharp rush of air that accompanied every run. he darted through the trees, ignoring the branches that clung stubborn to his coat, ignoring the mist that shrouded his surroundings, ignoring the pain jabbing fierce and fast at his stomach.


    he was breathing heavily by the time he reached the camp. with a lash of his tail, as if impatient with his own lack of stamina, he ran up to lilystar, yellow eyes pained.

    "there's a... loner... who wants to... join. name's... applenose," he got out. "she's suspicious, but she says she's... running from... someone."


    Lilystar

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    LILYSTAR

    cursed darkclan leader ⍟ tags


    Whenever a cat runs up to her in camp, it usually means bad news. She focuses on Rookpaws words, seeing how tired he is. Really he should rest in camp. "Stay here, rest up." She commands, following Rookpaws scent trail back to where the commotion began.


    The femme looks exhausted, like Rookpaw but a hundred times worse. Suspiscious? Well if she has been abused then why should she be friendly and open, not when her trust could be ripped away again. Coming up beside Solitare, still with that blasted collar, she waits to listen. "Applenose. My name is Lilystar. Please, come to our camp to rest. Its not far from here but it is still a journey."

    Applenose watched the she-cat known as Lynxpaw gently; she seemed... troubled. If things went well, the caramel marbled tabby would like to check in on her again some time. Relieved at Solitare's reassurance, she eyed the former Bloodclanner, a bit embarrassed. Solitare was clearly from that neck of the woods, and here she was, spitting on the cat that defended her. Applenose was going to need to re-evaluate. She wasn't fond of the clan's practices or moral code, but obviously not everyone was bad.


    Upon Lilystar's approach, the femme nodded in thanks. Her tail dragged on the ground, the bags under her eyes were more than just noticeable, and her fur was disheveled. Applenose was not in a pretty state. "Thank you, Lilystar." Looking at the troupe of darkclanners, she gave a soft mew. "So... shall we head to camp? If that's alright?"

    Sometimes she was not the most well worded feline, she had little need growing up to become good at genuinely getting along with other's, considering she was TigerScar's daughter and was dotted on by her siblings a good deal growing up due to her once fragile condition. Instead of learning how to genuinely love other's and get along? She had learned how to manipulate other's atop a heart built for empathy and perception, quiet the dangerous combination. The only reason Solitaire had not turned into the complete monster she was viewed to be by some cats like RookPaw for example, was the time she had spent in River Clan being required to adjust her way of living so she could follow father no matter where he decided to live and relatively fit in. Sadly, she had a few cracks in what mostly turned out as a relatively nice cat, due to her need to make sure she fit somewhere no matter where she was. Right now, she was still in the phrase where she needed to carve out some small corner for herself in Dark Clan and RookPaw was slowly stepping on the wrong side of that path she had to keep walking down. If that tom stepped in Solitaire's path? She would get rid of him in whatever way she needed to, the tabby didn't care, the important thing was being able to remain with her father and if he made fitting in too hard, than RookPaw could become a threat to one of the only things she cared about.


    Luckily? The she-cat was not predisposed towards the option of going to war right away, unlike most of her relatives. If Solitaire could solve her problem without lifting her claws, she often would, knowing how dangerous fights could become to herself. Battle, served as a strain on one's body and if she strained hers too far the tabby already knew she could become ill, she didn't want that, not here, not anymore. "LilyStar." the female spoke her voice up softly, while she honestly considered the leader nothing high and mighty yet, she did understand the other female's place in this new home of hers. "I know I'm new, so I apologize if I'm wrong, but to me the way RookPaw greeted and treated AppleNose was nearly against what I've come to believe our clan stands for. The second I was close enough to gauge the interactions, he simply seemed to be treating her as if she was some threat, even I was not treated with the level of suspicion he treated her with in spite of my background and appearance." she looked reluctant to be speaking the words coming out of her maw, back bowed slightly and head lowered softly, large golden eyes looking up at LilyStar for a few moments, avoiding gaze after a few seconds. "It simply confused me and worried me to see someone who should have been greeted with sympathy from my understanding being treated as some threat." the female than took a few paw steps away, as if she was somewhat scared of the leader's response.


    "Here." to top everything off, the former blood clanner slipped up beside AppleNose offering her own body as something for the she-cat to lean against. "Your strong, but you don't have to be so alone anymore, so let me help you back so you can recover quicker." she had to play the part, because she so desperately wanted to remain with her father.