Battle for the Herbs on Territory Line!

Gingerpaw trotted out of camp, looking for Sweet Clover to cure some bellies and sore throats. She walked out of the camp entrance and torweds Sunning-Rocks. her paws made a CRUNCH! on the forest floor. Soon enough, Gingerpaw's dazzling blue eyes spotted a patch of the light green herb. She ran over and as she put her head to the ground to pick it up, she scented RiverClan. Can I take it? she wondered.

Rainfall padded beside his apprentice, alert for the sounds of any other Clan cats. When the scent of RiverClan hit his nose, his green eyes sweeped the territory swiftly. The habits of a warrior died hard. "Stay close to me." he ordered his apprentice, tail tip resting on her shoulder. His frame tightly muscled and slender with long legs. Built for running.

Brightstar was padding along the shore when the stench of ThunderClan hit her on the nose like a brick wall. She bristled, a snarl instinctively coming to her lips. Staying silent however, she motioned for her apprentice, (idk, random) Reedpaw to come forward. Her muscles tense, and she peered out from the reeds. ThunderClan! Stealing herbs! How dare they! She glanced behind her, and Reedpaw stared back, his green eyes shining with pride and anger: they had remained unnoticed by the cats... Brightstar stood decidedly, and strode forward, head held high, her blue eyes cold and expressionless. "What is this?" she meowed, Reedpaw trotting at her side. "ThunderClan stealing herbs? On RiverClan territory?"

"I apologize, Brightstar. My apprentice is quite careless. I've had yet to show her the borders so she unknowingly crossed them. Please forgive me." the gray tabby tom bowed his head apologetically. His green gaze shifted to his apprentice then. "Gingerpaw, give them the stalk and come back over the border." Rainfall's voice was stern yet calm and soft. His eyes held a hint of unease. "I assure you this won't happen again, Brightstar." he mewed, offering her a small smile full of guilt for letting his apprentice cross the border. Lightningstar would be furious!

(posting for my son )

Brightstar nodded, demeanor calm. "Thank you, Rainfall." Her eyes flicked toward Gingerpaw, and mewed with slight interest. "Has she just become an apprentice?" Reedpaw hissed softly at Gingerpaw as she passed him, hackles rising. Without taking her eyes off the ThunderClan border, Brightstar cuffed him lightly with a paw. "Shush, Reedpaw. It was a mistake." We have to make sure this doesn't happen again! Hmph! "I don't remember Echosong saying anything about a new ThunderClan medicine cat apprentice."

Gingerpaw bent her head. "No..No one has...has heard, but we are going to the Moonstone soon." she stammered. What will Rainfall do to me! she wailed inside her head. Gingerpaw swiveled her ears around and heard a mouse scuffling beneath a pine. She dashed over, swiftly caught it and gave it to Brightstar. " My apologies, Brightstar!" she said.

Brightstar looked mildly suprised. "Its alright. You can keep it." She nudged the mouse back to Gingerpaw and raised her head slightly. "It isn't quarter moon today," she noted. "Why? Does ThunderClan have trouble?" Reedpaw sat up, eyes gleaming,clearly interested in what the medicine cat would say.

Gingerpaw looked stunned at the mouse, but picked it up and put it to her side. "Reedpaw, ThunderClan is fine, if you want to know, you can come back with us!" she scoffed. her blue gazed fixed on Reedpaw's.

Reedpaw's lips curled into a sneer. "Why would I want to go with you to ThunderClan?" His green eyes drilled back into the other apprentices', cold, and filled with contempt. Reedpaw was known for his expressive eyes and quick-to-anger personality. "RiverClan is way better than you squirrel-chasers!" he spat. Brightstar narrowed her eyes and waved her tail at her apprentice to step back. The broad-shouldered black tom obeyed, but his eyes still simmered with anger.

Gingerpaw was stunned. "Oh I'm sure you would be...." she answered surprisingly calm. "And for your information, not that you have any brainspace, mouse-brain, RiverCaln might be the squir-FISH chasers. I would like to see YOU catch a fish." Gingerpaw took Reedpaw's comment as nothing had hit her. She smiled. "I'd like to see you try." Her eyes still locked with his, and Reedpaw looked about to spring, but the Medicine stayed stationary.

"Oh sure, the most important thing for me is to prove myself to stuck-up ThunderClan losers!" Reedpaw said sarcastically. "And there's no such thing has squir-fish or whatever you said, rockhead." Rolling his eyes, Reedpaw stood. "Enough," Brightstar snarled. Ears flat, she turned to Gingerpaw, a low growl rumbling in her chest. "Go back home, medicine cat apprentice. And pray that RiverClan doesn't find you here again, stealing herbs!" She shooed Reedpaw back into the tall grass with her tail, and the black apprentice reluctantly vanished deeper into their territory. The RiverClan leader turned back to Rainfall and his apprentice, her eyes steady and the fur along her fur spiked.

~Can anyone post on this RP?~

Hmmm. I think only RiverClan and ThunderClan, since the problem is basically between these two Clans.

Maplestream emerged from the reeds. Seeing her leader so angry, she dropped her two fish in surprise. "Whoa Brightstar, what's going on?" she asked, bewildered. Then she sniffed and her eyes narrowed. "No wait... I smell... ThunderClan? What?"

Brightstar glanced briefly at Maplestream. "Nothing, Maplestream. Just a ThunderClan apprentice," she turned to her warrior, ears flicking back to Gingerpaw. "Let's go back to camp. I'm sending Mistflower and Splashpaw to patrol this border for awhile." Tasting the air, she suddenly stiffened and called out, "Splashpaw!" The gray-and-white she-cat poked her head out of the surrounding reeds. "Yes, Brightstar?" Brightstar padded over to her and spoke in an undertone, explaining the situation. Splashpaw nodded, eyes wide. "Okay."

Rainfall sighed. His eyes looked sharply at his apprentice. "Gingerpaw, not another word. I'll make sure Lightningstar knows about this right when we get home." his usual calm voice was almost a growl. Looking at the RiverClan cats, his eyes hardened. "I suggest you keep your apprentices on your side of the border as well, Brightstar. My mother may be your good friend and lenient, but she won't stand for any cat crossing our border. I'll make sure RiverClan's border goes uncrossed from now on. My deepest apologies for my apprentice's foolishness. Have a nice day." he meowed coldly.

"And you too," Brightstar returned, her eyes chilly. "May I remind you though, none of my apprentices or warriors crossed your borders recently. I, like Lightningstar, will not tolerate border crossings, or prey/herb stealing." She dipped her head. "A fair warning, Rainfall." Flicking her tail, she led Maplestream away into the reeds. As soon as they were out of sight and out of earshot, she turned to her sister. "That shouldn't have happened. What apprentice doesn't know about borders? Everyone says we smell of fish, and ThunderClan obviously doesn't eat fish, and that apprentice clearly crossed our border." She shook her head, whiskers twitching. "We'll do nothing now, but increase a bit of patrol activity on that border. And then we'll wait."

"I know, right?" Maplestream replied. "And that's a good idea, though we can't be lenient on the other borders either. I wonder if ThunderClan has some kind of problem...?" She flattened her ears. "And that wasn't fair," she growled. "None of US crossed the border, yet Rainfall's acting like we were the ones who did something wrong." Then she added, "Don't worry Brightstar, we'll make sure they don't get away with any of our supplies." Maplestream got up and started padding back to the camp. Then she spun around, remembering, "Oh right, my fish!" Maplestream trotted back to the border where she left the fish she caught.
But they were gone.

~I know, very dramatic ~

~But isn't that kind of god-modding that ThunderClan took the fish?~

~I'm not saying that anyone took the fish, I just want to add a bit of drama. You never know, it could have been some other predator, but that line was just meant to raise the tension. I can edit if if you want~

~Nah, its okay I guess.~

Brightstar frowned, looking over her shoulder. The fish were gone. She trotted over and shoved her nose into the surrounding reeds, searching for any suspicious scent, but the smell of silt and trout covered any traces that would've been left over. Sighing, the RiverClan leader raised her head and flicked her tail at Maplestream. "Take care of your fresh-kill next time," she muttered, her eyes peering into the now empty side of ThunderClan territory, a glint of suspicion in her blue eyes. "Nevermind, we'll figure it out later. But let's hunt right now."

"Sorry," Maplestream meowed. "Hey, I found this really good fishing spot..." She led her sister through the reeds until they reached a place where the shore curved more inland a bit, leaving a water-filled semicircle in the reeds that had a diameter of about a tail-length. "The fish just crowd around here all the time. I guess the minnows like to eat all that algae, then te bigger fish come in for the minnows," she explained.

~Haha, I just made all that up, have no idea how fish behave ~

Brightstar flicked her ears dismissively. "The algae is a good place for freshwater shrimp to live in. The fish come here to eat the shrimp." She leaned across the water, sitting so the sun cast her shadow straight out behind. her. Her forepaw raised, preparing for the strike, Brightstar's keen blue eyes caught sight of the biggest fish of the bunch. Its scales were a strange black and silver snakeskin pattern, dappled like the pebbles on the stream bed. Without hesitation, her paw shot out in a blur, scooping the creature out from the water. Brightstar dumped it on the pebbles beside her and gave a swift blow to its head, ceasing its struggles. "Mhm. I might go swimming for carp later. Or maybe a couple of voles?" She shook the water from her claws and watched as the water droplets splashed onto Maplestream's pelt. "Oops, sorry," she purred, amused. Brightstar returned to her task of hunting, and soon caught another fish for her troubles. Then, she turned her attention to the pebbly beach and began raking it away with her claws so she had a more comfortable place to sit on. This time, Brightstar didn't concentrate upon the fish. Instead, she mused about territories, and other Clans' activities.

Maplestream slid into the water quietly, trying not to be noticed by both the fish and Brightstar. She snagged a trout in her claws then bit it until it stopped moving. She then laid it on the mud and swam farther out and tried the same tactic. After catching a good number of fish, she swam back to the shore and splashed Brightstar.

-hi-