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

Getting close enough to hear the two ThunderClan warriors' taunts, Graysky flicked Stonestrike's flank with his tail, snorting and letting his muzzle twist up into a smirk. "Watch this," he said quietly, padding over closer to the group (there was a ShadowClan tom here now, too? what an unusual day) and spraying a clump of bushes that laid smack on the line that would just overstep into ThunderClan territory, staring directly into the eyes of the gray she-cat with long fur who was talking to the stocky RiverClanner.

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

- - - - -

Orange eyes glanced dismissively down at her untidy, mud-splattered fur before flicking back up again to meet the gazes of both young ThunderClanners. Charredleaf's eyes narrowed---

---then she abruptly shrugged, forcibly nonchalant.

"This one---" she pointed a blunt tail tip at the female ThunderClanner (Batswift), "---is a bit more polite than that one---" and she glared pointedly at the ticked tabby tom (Squallswift). "But it all amounts to same ignorance. And rudeness, which I have come to expect from ThunderClan. -I, Charredleaf, care less about my looks than about my prowess as a warrior."

The stout she-cat's words were brusque, her tone, direct; yet she spoke evenly, not even consciously trying to insult the other Clanners. Charredleaf was being very matter-of-fact.

Her maw remained open, about to lecture further, when she checked herself. The calico cat---though the only white parts of her body were plastered with mud, so that she looked entirely tortoiseshell right now---reconsidered explaining to these outsiders exactly why her pelt was so mussed-up. If they didn't know by now that wading got ones paws wet, and that water plus splashes of mud equaled camouflage AND concealed scent---well! All the better for RiverClan. She wasn't going to try to make it easy for the other three clans, after all.

So instead, she gave another shrug, resisting the urge to curl her lip with derision. "Besides, I didn't know that there was a beauty competition in the Forest today." You namby-pambies, she added silently. Charredleaf was actually treading with care, for Charredleaf; she did not exactly want to start anything that she couldn't finish. She was aware that she was the only one physically representing RiverClan at this mini "Gathering", and didn't want to unnecessarily endanger her Clan.

Thus she held her tongue---though barely---when the ThunderClan tom insulted her by spreading his arid reek too near to her border. Instead of unleashing a torrent of threats, like her gut instinct demanded that she do, Charredleaf stepped forward resolutely.

She felt her newest scar, the one the rogue "Caesar" had given to her shoulder, pull against the still shiny skin as she moved. Charredleaf stretched her lips just enough to give the apprentice-looking ThunderClanners a glimpse of white fang-tips. Then with unsheathed claws she carefully scratched the bark of the shrub next to the TC-reeking ferns, reinforcing the marks on RiverClan territory.

"Yep," she grunted in greeting to the ShadowClan tom (Crescentglow). Typical swamp-diplomat. "Nice of you to join us. Now we-" she paused to swipe her claws deeper into the shrub's little trunk. "---have all---Four Clans." Charredleaf was glad for the newcomer; though he wasn't RiverClan, he'd likely be much more tactful, if Elmstar were any influence on this youth.

Hard to believe that these insolent ThunderClanners were of the same Clan that had saved her as a kit from certain death by drowning.

Charredleaf had been ignoring the silent WindClanners. That is, up until the larger of the two toms, a gray bi-color (Graysky) did to ThunderClan exactly what the tom of that Clan had down to her Clan: the Windclanner sprayed very near ThunderClan territory.

Ha! See how he likes it! She felt both triumphant, amused, and wary. Satisfied that she'd protected RC side of things enough, Charredleaf stepped back to give the other cats space. No need for her to be too close in case a fight broke out.

- - - - -

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

Batswift flicked her tail when Charredleaf said she was more polite than Squallstrike, but snorted disparagingly at her when she started insulting ThunderClan. "You're lucky there's not," Batswift replied to the beauty competition comment. "You'd never be able to compete."

She looked over when the ShadowClan tom approached. "It might," Batswift replied before she fully saw what the younger WindClan tom was doing. When she did, she lashed her tail and padded over there. "Or it might not," she hissed, glaring at the grey cat.

Batswift sprayed the bush to re-cover it in ThunderClan scent, then found some bushes that did not sit fully within ThunderClan's border or WindClan's. She sprayed the entire section that was on ThunderClan's side. Outside of glancing to see where she was going, Batswift didn't stop glaring at him until she had finished.