Forum - I'm not touching you (12FG09) - OPEN

Of course he'd brought it up. He'd had to bring it up. His sister and he hadn't been yet, and it was a general well-known consensus throughout the clans that every apprentice had to go to the trespass point at least once before they were made a warrior!

So what if they were late? They were barely warriors, anyway. He felt like there were butterflies swarming in his stomach as he scented River and WindClan, and he pranced around his sister in half-circles, acting just like he had when they'd been in the nursery all those moons ago.

"... I want to say ThunderClan. We're the best, after all. But not including us? Probably... RiverClan. They're all really lazy, anyway. They have the time to come up here a lot." He had a smug little smile on his face as he said so.

Batswift laughed. "Yeah," she replied. "WindClan probably doesn't come down here a lot unless they're going to Fourtrees or looking for trouble, and then ShadowClan..." She paused as they arrived at the actual point and scented the air. "I don't think I've ever heard of ShadowClan coming this far outside of traveling to a Gathering," Batswift mewed after, "Do the other Clans even know what it's like to fight them?"

Squallstrike snorted, and then shook his head. "ShadowClan are weak. Elmstar's going to ruin them, I really think he is." He lashed his tail smartly, and looked around the actual place they'd been talking about. Nothing seemed really special about it, save for the mingling of many scents. "Should we hunt here, for a little bit? Because I don't think there's really much to do."

"As long as he keeps his warriors away from ThunderClan, I don't care what Elmstar does," Batswift decided. When Squallstrike suggested hunting, she looked around as her fluffy tail's swishing confined itself to the tip.

"Sure, but first..."' Batswift trailed off and sprayed a nearby bush to increase ThunderClan's scent around them.

"Come on," she told her brother as she found another spot to mark. "It'll be faster if we both do it. We should make the whole point smell like ThunderClan."

The dark tabby wasn't even sure why he found himself at the trespass point of all places that day. He had never taken much interest in it, and the scent of all the mingled Clans made him wrinkle his nose in frustration. The last time Stonestrike could recall coming down there was when he attended the previous Gathering, and on a couple of other occasions when he was dared as an apprentice.

But that day, his yellow eyes showed mostly disinterest and indifference. He had merely thought he could've found prey further south. He gave Graysky, whom he was out on patrol with, an absentminded look. "Had any luck?"

His fur stiffened slightly when he noticed that the ThunderClan scent seemed to be the most prominent of all four. His ears flicked as they picked up the voices of other cats. His bright eyes, narrowed in arising suspicion, scanned the trespass point until he noticed the source of all the ThunderClan stench.

Quickly spotting a pair of cats, he mused that the pair were most likely at the end of their apprenticeship. Stonestrike didn't think much of the ThunderClanners; he didn't find their presence offending as long as they remained on their side of the territory, and he remained on his. He paused only to mark a nearby stretch of grass with fresh WindClan scent.

Graysky shook his head towards Stonestrike, grumbling under his breath. He didn't know why they were close to the trespass point (though he had vague memories of fooling around there with his sister as an apprentice), but he hadn't caught anything all day. He snapped his head up when he heard voices from across the moor, and recognized the two cats -- or at least the darker colored of the two -- to be ThunderClan's leader's children. The scent of the forests was overwhelming, and he narrowed his eyes towards them. As long as they stayed on their side of the border, things would be fine.

who's to say what's impossible
and can't be found

- - - - -

A mottled tortoiseshell pelt slowly neared the Trespass Point, coming from the direction of the River Copse.

It was a good thing that Charredleaf hadn't been within earshot to hear the "RiverClan is lazy" comment; her hot-blooded core may just have erupted at that insolence.

But as it was, the twenty-six-moon-old warrior's pace was steady. Her orange eyes were deceptively sedate, and didn't show the excitement bubbled up within her.

Large, muddy paws - mud and dust plastered parts of her short pelt, aiding in both concealing scent and in camouflage - halted on the RiverClan side, some distance away from the gathered cats.

Curiosity sparked in the scarred RiverClanner's eyes. Well, well! A pair of ThunderClan cats, either old apprentices or new warriors. She scrutinized them condescendingly. I pity you for the misfortune of being born in that clan. Charredleaf wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or relieved that their clanmate, one fluffy red-and-white thief wasn't present. She was still nursing that grudge, though her ire against him had cooled somewhat.

The two WindClanners she felt much less animosity towards. Though, the dark brown tabby tom, as the oldest cat present, might prove to be the one she must watch out for.

She nonchalantly marked the bush on RiverClan territory. Then, tail tip twitching, Charredleaf raised her voice and hailed the strangers.

"Is it ShadowClan we're waiting for, then, 'fore we can get this Gathering started!" Her tone was business-like, in a rather cheery way. Perhaps it had been her recent encounter with that "Caesar" rogue, but she had been reminded that in the end, the Clans had to stick together.

- - - - -

as my mind begins to spread its wings
there's no stopping curiousity

The freshly renewed scent of WindClan sent interest and emotion shooting down Batswift's spine and buzzing in her brain. It brought Bloodstar's death to the forefront of her mind and made her want to hiss and spit. She lashed her tail when she saw the two toms, but she stayed on the ThunderClan side of border.

Had she ever met either of them? Batswift scrutinized them, but could not if she had seen them before by the time the RiverClan she-cat's voice and smell hit Batswift's senses. She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen this warrior either.

Batswift flicked her tail from side to side as the RiverClan warrior spoke of ShadowClan. "Yeah, maybe we are," the blue she-cat replied. Batswift ignored the WindClan toms for now, but purposely went to a bush close to their border and sprayed it.

Batswift tried to keep her tone even but not too friendly as she looked the RiverClan cat over and meowed, "Are you gonna wash yourself before they show up?"

Squallstrike was about to say something to Batswift, but he snapped his head up when he scented the odd, airy scent of the moors, and he narrowed his eyes at the two toms a few foxlengths away -- he didn't recognize either of them, but he sprayed a bush close to their side of the border, keeping eye contact with the larger of the two before padding over more closely to his sister -- and what luck! She was talking to a RiverClan warrior. She was about the same size as him, but she was obviously much older, and she had the scars to prove it -- he wished he and Batswift could seem more intimidating, but he puffed his chest out and stood next to her, spraying a small clump of ferns near the she-cat's side of the border arrogantly. "I was just about to ask that -- I thought RiverClan cats valued their looks just a little bit more than what we're seeing right now... " he trailed off, a little bit of sing song in his voice.

Y.e.a.h. w.e. a.l.l. s.h.i.n.e. o.n.

A black and white shape approached the foliage that lined the edge of Trespass Point. His shape moved through the bushes with the training of his apprenticeship, his own mere moons behind him. He remembered what it was like at his own ceremony standing alongside his denmates.

Crescentglow pressed on, his nostrils lifting at the passing scent of other cats. All the clans were represented; Thunderclan, Riverclan, and even Windclan from across the moors. The Shadowclanner approached the bushes along his side of his territory, spraying purposefully as his head remained turned towards the gathered cats.

[b]"Well isn't this a surprise? Let's hope it remains a pleasant one."[/b]

F.r.o.m. t.h.e. g.l.o.w. t.h.a.t. i.l.l.u.m.i.n.a.t.e.s.