Between Sunset and Midnight || Tagged!

[Carotius]

Tags/Characters involved: Babylonranger [Nettletooth], Trickle [Kinkpaw], Myself [Sparkleap, Rowanpaw]
Setting: Dusk; beginning from LeafClan camp, to patrol the borders; weather is a little chilly
OOC: I'm contemplating if this happens before or after Varuin's attack, since the report phase hasn't exactly been made.

---

Another warm greenleaf day was coming to an end. LeafClan was serenely nestled in its camp, surrounded by the trees they had lovingly associated themselves with for many generations, its inhabitants contentedly moving about its interior. While it had been strangely humid that day, which made the felines uncomfortable regardless of their fur types, they welcome the chilling breeze that swooped in from the outer edges of their camp, caressing and comforting the living beings and giving them a reprieve from the heat.

Rowanpaw had just finished changing out the moss beddings in the apprentices' den, several balls of the old ones rolled up and chucked out the entrance, ready to be disposed of. The ginger she-cat hardly wanted to think about clearing the moss in the nursery or the elders' den; it might be a nightmare for all she knew, and she's rather keep the thought away and instead have a rather clear mind on her task. As she clawed up the remaining patches of old bedding from one of her denmates' nest, she heard pawsteps at the entrance, blocking part of the dark orange sunlight that had glared into the den. She was irritated for the sudden gloom, but thankful at the same time that the heaty ray was no longer blazing on her pelt.

"Let's go on a border patrol. It's a better way of letting you see the territory, especially after that bout with Aspenfall and the others," Sparkleap's voice echoed in the empty den, causing Rowanpaw to flick her ears, half in acknowledgement, the other half in slight annoyance. "Finish off the bedding first. If Kinkpaw's snoozing his head off in there, wake him and tell him he's coming along too."

Stop telling me to do so many things at once! The she-cat curled her lips in the beginnings of a snarl, chucking the final rolled ball of moss out the opening, purring with satisfaction at hearing it make contact with her mentor. Snorting, she padded over to the other nests, inspecting if all the bedding was changed, and to see if the curly-furred apprentice mentioned was, in fact, sleeping in the den.

"Kinkpaw! Sparkleap wants us on a patrol!" she called out, the echo bouncing back into her ears. Don't make me pounce on you...

---

Sparkleap turned to check his golden pelt one last time. It was only slightly scruffy-looking, bits of fur still missing from his lower half of his body from the comical collision with thorns and helpful claws. He'd been reassured that the fur would grow back soon, just needs some time. Sighing, he let his amber eyes rove over his Clanmates, wondering if he could take anyone with him.

[Babylonranger]

Cold amber eyes stared passively at the goings on in Leafclan's camp before closing. The owner of those eyes, a large, muscular tom, lay on his side in a patch of shade not far from the apprentices' den. Flicking a dark gray ear, the senior warrior heaved a heavy sigh. The silver gray tabby was bored. Or maybe put out would be the better choice of words.

Nettletooth stretched, arching his back and extending his limbs, front paw claws unsheathed. Yes, put out fit well enough. He hadn't had an opportunity to fight off an intruder in a good moon. For a moment, only a moment, mind, he considered what it would be like to really finish off an opponent. To rip and tear and bite until their lifeblood stained his fur and the ground below. To watch their eyes dim and fade with death. Oh, how exhilarating, how glorious it would feel; to know he'd held the life of a cat in his claws and taken it. but no, it could not be.

Nettletooth knew himself. If he had a taste, just a taste, of what it would be like to kill, he would not stop until he was killed himself. The silver gray tom was not clever enough to hide such actions from the whole of Leafclan, and he'd certainly be caught and then there'd be only two options: death, or exile (which was simply death at a later date, most likely to be dealt by the first outsider he came across whom he'd fought in his lifetime). No, he sighed. He was safer if he kept that fantasy a fantasy and stayed in Leafclan, where he could at least be sure his clanmates would watch his back.

[Trickle]

Kinkpaw was sleeping, in fact, he had just gotten to sleep. He was even able to sleep through all the noise someone was making in the apprentice den. It really wasn’t a hard thing to do for the tom. The den was warm and the sound of the clan was dying down as the sun sank lower towards the horizon. That mixed with the hard training the past few days had worn out the curly furred cat that was now curled up in his nest. His front paws twitched around as he dreamed, although when he woke he would not remember it. Odds are he was just having some dumb dream about flying from the tree again. He remembered it the first time, it was inspired by that flying leap he took.

Anyways, his lovely slumber was suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice. Kinkpaw curled up in a tighter ball and grumbled something that made no sense at all. but, after a few seconds he inhaled deeply and then sprawled out on his side with a big yawn before rolling over to see who had disturbed him. His half opened eyes settled on an apprentice he knew quite well, ”Rowanpaw…” He rumbled, trying to sound dangerous. ”You don’t need to shout. The den echoes just fine if you were to whisper.” The young tomcat was still sprawled out, making it obvious he was taking his time on getting up. In fact, he could probably just spring right up because they were going on a patrol with Sparkleap, but no. He would rather draw things out just to poke at Rowanpaws nerves.

”Having fun cleaning the nests?” He asked nonchalantly before reaching a paw in to his own nest, flinging a ball of moss at her.

[Carotius]

OOC: Just for your knowledge Bab, in case you didn't know, Sparkleap is becoming a bit kookoo, but it's usually when he's under a lot of stress.

---

Sparkleap, having recovered from the indignant collision of used moss ball against his face, padded restlessly at the camp entrance, waiting for his two apprentices to be ready to head out by first leaving the apprentices' den. He'd heard some shuffling and a sleepy mew, but that was about it - the sounds afterwards were all muffled, as if smothered by some soundproof shield that the golden tom couldn't penetrate with his ears. Huh? He looked up around the camp, amber eyes wide when he saw nothing warm and friendly; it was all cold, cruel, bleak... Clanmates were sneering in disdain at him. Not again... Why?!

He stopped pacing, shaking his head furiously to clear his vision. When he opened his oculars again, the dreary vision was gone, returning back to the dusky shade of day. What was he doing again? Oh, right! Border patrol... He glanced around the clearing, wondering whom he could take on a patrol that evening. He'd love to be with his siblings, but there hadn't been a wink of them for a while, and he'd be starting to feel lonely had he not been given the active Kinkpaw as an apprentice. And now that Rowanpaw, the she-cat with the sharp tongue, was under his tutelage as well, Sparkleap didn't really have a cause of worry to be totally alone.

"Nettletooth? You wanna go on patrol with us? Y'know, in case that...rogue is lurking about again," the golden warrior softened into a murmur towards the end. He hadn't liked what he heard about a patrol being ambushed earlier that week. "We'll make sure SunsetClan and MidnightClan don't do anything s-stupid, and it'll help Kinkpaw and Rowanpaw know our territory better."

No later had he mentioned his apprentices did the ginger she-cat appear, an annoyed snarl gracing her features. Sparkleap moaned. Why...!

---

The moss in the face was an insult to Rowanpaw. With a growl, she flung it back at the red-masked tom, ears flat against her head as she lashed her cream-tipped tail in irritation. The nerve of her denmate to mess up the den she worked so hard to clean! If he'd had helped with the work, that'd have been fine, but no! NO! He decided to just sleep it off today!

"Count yourself lucky Sparkleap didn't put you on bedding duty today. He's putting the tick duty to you tomorrow morning when we get back!" she hissed, already making her way out of the den. Stupid furball!

[Babylonranger]

Ooc: I'll keep that in mind, Carot ;-)

A trepid voice interrupted Nettletooth's musings and he opened an amber eye to see the speaker. A younger tom, with golden tabby pelt, scruffy and patchy for some reason. The warrior's name was slow to come to the silver-gray tom, but that was hardly unusual. Nettletooth didn't often remember names anyway, unless it involved leaders and deputies, or some cat he needed to be in contact with for an extended period of time.

A border patrol, though, that would help with his boredom. The senior warrior shifted to his paws, remembering that day Willowbranch and the rest of her patrol had come limping back to camp with stories of two rogues (one and a half if he went with the Leafclan deputy's description, and knowing her view on not-yet-apprentice-aged cats, he would leave the counting to someone more realistic) attacking them and some Sunsetclan cats by that border. Nettletooth stifled a growl of disdain. It truly boggled the mind, that a single pair of rogues could best half a dozen cats who had supposedly gone through battle-training. Honestly, the only good thing about two rogues driving off a Leafclan patrol while some Sunsetters watched, was that the rogues had also sent the Sunsetclan cats running, so both clans looked about equally weak. Though that wouldn't help Leafclan if Willowbranch did become leader.

Nettletooth was brought back to the present as a young, snarling she-cat joined them. One of the apprentices, likely, he thought, before returning his amber gaze to the golden tom. The silver-gray tabby realized he hadn't yet answered the earlier question. "I'll come with," he said.

[Trickle]

The moss he had flung earlier came hurtling back towards him, smacking him in the shoulder. A short grunt escaped him from the impact, but so did a little snort of laughter. Rowanpaw was such a bitter she-cat. Kinkpaw was sure he had never met another like that yet in his life. It only made him thankful that he didn’t know more like her. He could handle one Rowanpaw, but a whole group? Count him out. He would probably lose his ears before he even became a warrior. Luckily that wasn’t the case. For now there was one Rowanpaw, who was now storming out of the den. The curly furred tom let out a little sigh before finally standing up and walking out in to the dimming sunlight too.

Unlike the she-cat ahead of him, Kinkpaw came striding out with an excited expression. His eyes fell on to Sparkleap, who was still scruffy in appearance due to their training. It made him smile to see the older tom like that, partially because there were good memories connected to it. It seemed as though he was inviting Nettletooth to the patrol also. Kinkpaw didn’t know the solver tom very well, but the more the merrier. When it had seemed as though Sparkleap was done speaking to the other warrior, Kinkpaw piped up, ”So we are going on a patrol, yea?” He asked, making sure that the ginger she-cat hadn’t woken him up just to get on his nerves.

[Carotius]

"Great! We'll stop by the SunsetClan border first," Sparkleap nodded, turning to face his scowling apprentice. He sighed. "What's the matter?"

The ginger she-cat turned a furious pair of green eyes on him. One could almost imagine steam coming out from her ears, like how we humans see when water in a kettle was boiling. All this apprentice was lacking was some sort of whistling noise, a hiss of irritation, maybe. Then again, Sparkleap didn't want to hear it, especially not after... Stop thinking about it. He blinked. Was that a faint shade of grey at the corner of his vision? Or was it just the trick of the light?

Rowanpaw had padded up to him, tail lashing. "Kinkpaw slept through the moss-changing duty, and he messed up the apprentices' den when I just had it cleaned! It's not fair when that lazy lump of curly fur doesn't have to do anything!"

"It's fine, Rowanpaw, calm down... I'll put Kinkpaw to the elders tomorrow, I promise," Sparkleap resisted a sigh, watching as his female apprentice sniffed in contempt and slight approval. At that very moment, Kinkpaw made his lovely way out, his ever curly fur messy like the usual tom he was. "Yes, we're heading on patrol. You, me, Nettletooth, and Miss S-Sassymouth here," Sparkleap purred when Rowanpaw swiped a sheathed paw at his face, her ears twitching in fury, before he resumed his focus on Kinkpaw. "Not tired enough from training, bud? Well, that's good, because you're on elder duty tomorrow."

---

Miss Sassymouth.

Rowanpaw had no clue what to think of the nickname. It was...nice. but annoying. but perfect for her. Someone said she was a ginger version of Willowbranch the deputy, and was even joked that Rowanpaw could succeed her, just because of her sharp-tongue and short temper. Okay, maybe not too much of the short temper. Uh.

For now, the young LeafClan apprentice held he tail and chin high, a proud smile blazing across her lips. "If I could sass your ears off, I probably would do that right now."

Who's this Nettletooth character anyway? Her green eyes roamed towards the large grey tabby, who by now was getting up to his paws with a wide yawn. The green-eyed apprentice watched him curiously, as if compelled by some force... Did mother tell me about him? Probably not. It didn't matter anyway. What mattered now was that they could explore the territory in the dying light of day. The thought excited Rowanpaw.

"Where are we headed to first?" she meowed, her tone lighter now.

Sparkleap's eyes grew a little dark, and he seemed to throw a knowing glance at the grey tabby. "The SunsetClan border, then we'll circle to the Skyfield and to...MidnightClan.." His amber eyes clouded over for a moment, as if by some frightened memory, but it cleared up as quickly as it had arrived. "Afterwards, we'll make sure there aren't any trespassers where the rogues roam, and head back to camp. Maybe we'll catch a mouse or two."

The young she-cat tilted her head, blinking her twin orbs of sight. She had only known Sparkleap for a short while as mentor-apprentice, and she'd seen him once in a while around camp when she was but a kit... but that didn't mean she'd notice that strange distracted look in his bright amber eyes; it wasn't natural, and she knew it. 

Did Kinkpaw know? Or notice it, at the very least? Rowanpaw looked towards the orange-masked tom, her ears flicking. Do you know anything?

[Babylonranger]

Nettletooth nodded once at the golden tom's words. The Sunsetclan border was a sensible place to start, given the recent trouble there. The silver-gray tom flicked his cool amber gaze to the she-cat apprentice - Rowanpaw - as she spat and hissed over the other apprentice who would join the patrol. The senior warrior yawned, not from tiredness or boredom (well, perhaps slightly from boredom) but to stretch his jaws. Feeling Rowanpaw's stare, Nettletooth returned a blank look of his own before blinking and watching the second apprentice's - Kinkpaw - approach.

The tabby warrior noticed the golden tom's hesitance at the mention of Midnightclan but shrugged it aside. The younger warrior seemed jumpy in general, and so long as he didn't get them all killed, Nettletooth found no issue with patrolling with him.

[Trickle]

Kinkpaw stretched again, his ears angled towards Sparkleap as he spoke. A snicker erupted from his being as Rowanpaw was dubbed Miss Sassymouth, but that snicker was short lived and replaced with an unhappy complaint as his mentor set him on elder duty. "Come oooooon, Sparkleap. I didn't mess up the den that much." He scowled at the older tom and shot a look at Rowanpaw, but it was only a look of play. Of course he couldn't blame her for being a little touchy. Having to clean the nests was not a fun task, but he couldn't say he felt bad. He switched his gaze from the she-cat to the other warrior that was coming along again. Nettletooth, a warrior that seemed like one to not be reckoned with.

His thought was cut off as Sparkleap spoke up again, mapping out the route they were going to take. Kinkpaw felt himself growing excited for the adventure. "Sounds great, when are we going? Now?" He tilted his head and offered a smile to the others, "Or are we going to let enough time pass for the mice to grow in ranks?" The apprentice vaguely wondered if any weird stuff would happen with the golden cat again. Kinkpaw would be a fool if he hadn't noticed Sparkleap zone out for a moment, he seemed to be doing that more often.

[Carotius]

OOC: Sorry for the bad post - really sleepy.

---

Rowanpaw read the expression on Kinkpaw's face as he looked at Sparkleap, and it was a response that seemed to respond in the positive. So you do know something. She thought of asking the curly tom in private when they could be alone and out of earshot of the others. but for now, they had a patrol to do.

~~~~~Time skip~~~~~

The patrol had arrived at the purported border with SunsetClan, where the recent trouble of a skirmish had fallen upon Willowbranch and some other cats who had been with her at the time. While there didn't seem to be a sign of said skirmish at a first glance, the golden warrior spotted the smaller unnoticeable indications, such as a rumpled grass patch, and maybe broken branch in a bush here and there.

"Any signs of intruders?" he was surprised to hear himself ask that question.

The ginger apprentice raised her nose into the air, whiskers twitching. "Stale scent of rogue, I think. No one has been here but the previous patrol."

[Babylonranger]

The silver-gray tabby sniffed the air as well. The young apprentice was correct; the rogues had not returned. It seemed they had contented themselves with maiming clan cats and had not been looking to take over territory, at this point in time at least.

Nettletooth glanced around, seeing what remained of the bloody aftermath. Not much blood, for one. Those traces would have washed away first, leaving only displaced grass and trampled underbrush. And even those signs were slowly being concealed by the passage of time. "Let's mark and move on then," he said, thinking of the other borders and hoping he'd have a chance to run something out of Leafclan.

[Trickle]

Kinkpaw inhaled deeply before they trudged out of camp. By now their small discussion had cut short on their daylight time. For some reason, this excited the apprentice. Being outside at night was one of his favorite things. The patrol had arrived at the border in to time. His ears twitched as Sparkleap spoke up and he had just parted his jaws to answer just as Rowanpaw piped up. He shot her a frustrated glance but started to look elsewhere. The tom was unsure what exactly he was looking for, just something interesting he supposed. Something that would provide some adventure, anything at all. but, there was nothing there. At least, not anything super notable. When Nettletooth spoke up, Kinkpaw quickly voiced his agreement, ”Yea, no point in standin around.” His tone was brisk and airy, unlike Nettletooth, whose voice held impatience.

OOC: SCCReeeee, sorry for the little post.

[Carotius]

Tags: Babylonranger Trickle
OOC: DELAAAYYYYYS QAQ Also, it's actually going to take them until the next morning to reach the MidnightClan border, so... Who's up for a surprise attack from a fox?

---

"I guess that's best..." Sparkleap mewed, moving towards one of the bushes to mark it. He spotted a patch of grass that seemed trampled and partially clawed out, the sight of which made him swallow thickly. "We're gonna have to mark the entire border just so S-SunsetClan knows we don't take pity on them."

The golden tabby was about to continue speaking when his ginger apprentice shot out from beside him, bounding through the undergrowth with mutterings about needing to make dirt. He blinked his amber eyes in confusion at where Rowanpaw had zoomed off. It wasn't often that the laser-mouthed apprentice said something as truthfully embarrassing as needing an emergency session for dirt-making, but the golden-furred warrior let it pass, supposing that maybe Rowanpaw had eaten something bad from the fresh-kill pile. After all, someone had forgotten to clean out the stale pieces of fresh-kill, especially since leaf-fall was here.

He turned a half-smile towards Kinkpaw, shoulders shrugging. She'll be training with you a while, and if she gets to be a warrior alongside you... He didn't know how to continue that thought. Would that mean he was good, having two simultaneous apprentices and subsequently getting both up to warrior status despite their vastly different periods of training? Was that a sign of greatness? I wish it were. To have such an achievement would most definitely earn him Hawkfeather's praise. Sparkleap closed his eyes, quietly wishing for approval from his father again. Ah, what it would feel like to hear the words-

"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX!!!!!!

Sparkleap's eyes snapped open in alarm, his heart flying to his throat. "Rowanpaw, no!! I'm coming!"

[Babylonranger]

((Ooc: You won't hear any complaints from this corner; this tabby has been itching for a fight since I made the asocial jerk.))

The large silver tabby moved along the border, marking and keeping watch to try and see if any cats from Sunsetclan (or otherwise) were watching the Leafclan patrol. He did not want to be caught off guard if there was an attempted ambush. Nettletooth noticed the she-cat apprentice run off somewhere, though as she had notified her mentor, he did not pay her actions much mind. That changed abruptly when he heard Rowanpaw's shout.

The senior warrior's head snapped up, his mind and heart racing. A fox! Finally, something to pit his strength against! Patience, he forced himself to think, even as he sped to where the ginger she-cat's call had come from. Observe the situation, deduce the outcomes, make your decision. If the apprentice had stumbled upon a live fox and not just a scent trail, then Nettletooth needed to make sure anything he did didn't make the situation worse . . . for him, at the very least. He supposed he should also try and make sure Rowanpaw didn't get herself and the rest of the patrol killed.

[Trickle]

OOC: -screaming intensifies- I AM BACK. And I have no problem with a fox attack. oh my gosh sorry for being gone so long.

Kinkpaw watched as Rowanpaw suddenly scampered off to go makes dirt. A short chortling sound erupted from his throat, he didn’t really think she had to announce it. The other apprentice had disappeared before the sound escaped him, so he didn’t have to worry about being attacked when she came back. He switched his gaze to face his mentor, as he smiled a bit, shrugging nonchalantly. The curly coated tom shrugged to match Sparkleap and then started trotting a little ways away, scenting the air as if he would find something. He had inhaled deeply and almost choked on an alarming scent. Kinkpaw whipped around to alert Sparkleap and Nettletooth, but a shrill call beat him to it.

The voice had belonged to Rowanpaw. His stomach twisted and his heart flew to his throat. The young tom had never seen a fox before, but he had heard that they were vicious and would attack anything that got to close. And from the sound of it Rowanpaw was about to be one of those things that stepped a little too far in a foxes direction. Sparkleap sprung past him in a whirl of golden fur and then came the silver fur of Nettletooth. He had almost forgot to run after them, but began a dead sprint just as the senior warriors tall disappeared in to the brush.

Even as he peddled through the foliage behind the two warriors, he couldn’t battle back the feeling of intense fear. It threatened to overwhelm him and freeze his legs. It wasn’t the fox that he was completely afraid of, it was the thought that Rowanpaw could be dead if they didn’t reach her in time. He was ready to throw himself on to a fox to protect his friends. Even the grumpy Nettletooth.