Arriving in an Unknown Place

[Longstorm]

OOC: Well, team, we finally made it. If you feel that you wanted to do some more character building along the journey over the Indigo Mountains you can go back to that board and post some past topics.

IC: Icepaw, apprentice of Darkclan, was clawing his way up and icy rock/hill deal. His claws were being nearly wrenched out their places and he knew teensy spots of blood were left wherever he had walked - same for the other cats, as they'd all recently had the misfortune of sliding into a jagged icy patch.
He finally reached the top, breathing out harsh breaths of steamy air, looked around - and gaped.
The moon was rising, but everything was visible - everything was just snow, rocks, ice - near mountain tops (the Questers were very high up), a dark forest below, a distant valley, and the utter lack of sounds, even with the whistling wind, was incredible.
He breathed, "Wow," and slowly began to make his way down towards the close mountain-tops.

Jace, Cityclanner, really hated the cold. I mean, really really REALLY hated the cold. He'd had to sharpen his claws recently with the other warrior cats so he would be able to fare better in the strange terrain. His claws felt so unnatural, less bulky, and a little bit dangerous.
Well, he mused, just like our guest. He cleared the top and did a cat-whistle. "There's an eye opener." He made his way down. "What's this place called," he called over the wind.

[Loki]

Joyless had made her way back to the front, along the way, stopped to take in the view.
The moon shone brightly on her silver tabby fur and the large she-cat made to back up and ended up treading on Sinewpaw.
"Whoa! Wa'chit!" He snapped from underneath her.
"You watch it!" She retorted irritably, knowing full and truly that-that was her fault.
Sinewpaw dodged warily to the side and stopped to look at the view.
Joyless had half the mind to push him down but shrugged off the temptation for another time...
"This makes you appreciate life," He said to himself and the larger more refined she-cat rolled her eyes; carrying on tentatively down the slope.

[Runfast]

Cold, with his reinforced back claws, was having a much easier time with the icy hill. He made it up in half the time it took Icepaw, and he looked over the great expanse, interest sparking in his cold green eyes.
"Hm."

Mosspaw, close behind Jace and Cold, stopped to see what everyone else was looking at. "Wow." She made her way after Jace, mewing "Wait up!" to him and not paying attention to Sinewpaw's and Joyless's spat.

OOC: It's not that she's ignoring him, she's just got another tom on her mind... ugh, I hate explaining girly logic...

[Longstorm]

OOC: I have this loner charrie that (I now realize) I want to have joined the group only a few hours earlier...
I'm making a little past topic...

IC: Icepaw slid the rest of the way down the hill and into a soft pile of snow - though his paws made contact with hard ice a foot beneath it. "What is WITH this place," he spat, licking his smarting paws. He'd been unhappy since losing Bluepaw.

Jace grinned over his shoulder at Mosspaw, slowing slightly as he made his way down the hill. "Well," he mewed dryly to Icepaw, "Now I know where not to tread..."

[Loki]

Sinewpaw, now dearly hurt by Mosspaw's cold shoulder began to sulk. (again)
Joy jumped down to a small ledge and unsheaved her claws, suddenly realizing that this ledge was quite unstable- "Umm... I wouldn't come this way..." She mewed to the others.
warily, she hopped elsewhere and flickered her back paws.

Sinewpaw made to follow but slipped on landing and went straight through into the deep snow.
Joyless creased and went off, He can learn to fend for himself.

[Meany]

Jazz, glad to be at the top of the hill, whistled like Jace had. "Nice - not like a City, mind, and a bit cold, but it's still pretty." Following the instruction of all of the cats that had gone before him, he slowly made his way down.

Blackfire, keeping a distance between himself and Snowfeather, made his way down.

Snowfeather slid down the hill, laughing as she hit a pile of snow, rolling just so and did not hit her paws like Icepaw had. "Oh, I blend in perfectly here," she purred.

[Longstorm]

Icepaw snapped at Jace and hissed, lashing his tail.
Jace, on the other paw, just rolled his eyes, winking Mosspaw's direction.

Sassypelt, the Quester's 'guest', was close behind. "Oh - I've never been this far into the Indigo Mountains," she breathed.
Jace flicked his ears - he found it fascinating that the matted she-cat had a name for the different mountain ranges. "Tell me, Sassypelt," he mewed up the hill, "does anyone else call the mountains the same names as you?"
The lilac she-cat looked over at him. "Oh, I don't know - maybe the cats I've met in my travel do, maybe they don't. I don't stay anywhere for too long..."
Jace nodded amicably, sidling so he was standing next to Mosspaw again. He looked up at the 'warriors' and called, "Where to from here, oh great warriors?"
In truth, he wasn't being sarcastic or anything of the sort. He'd been going over the strange dream in his mind many times over, but there was nothing about when they'd reached the same scene the dream ended with.

Icepaw scented the air - and regretted it. "The air burns the insides of my nose it's so cold," he spat. "I don't see how any Clan could survive out here."

[Loki]

"Why don't we head to the bottom?" Sinewpaw mewed as he made his way out of the snow.
"Cos' that would make a lot of sense," Joy added point-blank sarcastically.
Sinewpaw hissed, he was having a hard time already without her...

[Meany]

Blackfire slipped a moment but caught his balance quickly. "I think," he mewed slowly, "That we would have been told to take the burial grounds to get here instead of the mountains if whoever sent the dream meant for us to head down there..." He looked down at the faint smudge of the valley. Something about it's friendliness set his teeth on edge.
Snowfeather looked over at him, staring at him. "You mean there was an easier way to get here all along?"
Blackfire looked at her. "It wasn't in the dream so I didn't think it important - besides, everyone knows there's bears further into that land - and Tawnyclan would have spotted us."
Snowfeather rolled her eyes and turned away from him.
Jazz sighed as he reached the bottom of the hill. "I'm glad it's not snowing - and the wind's not so bad either, I think," he mewed to Cold.

[Longstorm]

Icepaw, who'd never been in Darkclan territory before (he joined Darkclan via Rebellion), was partially confused, the rest of him fuming. "Is it true," he strode up to Blackfire, bristling, "there was an easier path?" All of his thoughts flashed back to Bluepaw.
Jace, on the other paw, didn't seem to mind either way. "I think," he drawled, "either way is just as.. complicated. We're here, aren't we?"
Sassypelt was listening to the cats with interest, fascinated by the different attitudes of the different Clans.

[Meany]

Blackfire nodded gratefully to the young tom. "We're..." He sighed. "I don't know what we're here for. Whoever it was that sent the message - because I don't think it was Starclan." He looked at the cats he knew shared the same religion. "Starclan was addressed in the dream, and we didn't see them. Not for a second."
Snowfeather nodded - she was in agreement with that.
"But whatever it is we're looking for - the fallen moon - we'd better find it quick or, I think, Mudblood will do something terrible..." Even as he'd spoken the words 'fallen moon', a glimmer of interest sparked in his eyes. "No," he whispered. "No, that's too easy..." Blackfire looked around at each of the cats. "Fallen moon... What if it's-"
"More than Moonfall," Snowfeather finished for him. "I've thought so, too."
Jazz looked interested. "Hehe - sounds like an old story I once heard. A moony group of cats and all that..."
"They vanished," Blackfire finished. "...But that's just a story!"

[Longstorm]

Icepaw, who didn't know Clan lore, was lost. "Wait - what? You're saying there's a Moonclan?" Without all the other Clan lore in his head, the answer was obvious.
Jace looked over at him. "Of course - it's a story Cityclan knows well. The group of small, pale cats who dwelled on the tallest hill in the lowlands." He smirked. "Looks like we're bringing back a Clan.. no pressure."

[Runfast]

Cold wasn't surprised - of course, the cats of Abyssclan had it figured out in the beginning of everything.
He simply nodded, looking out over the mountains.

Mosspaw's jaw dropped. "...Moonclan?" She looked out over the mountains with Cold, awe shining in her eyes. "Wow... Moonclan..." She snapped out of it, looking back at Blackfire. "But what's so special about them? I mean, no offense, but they haven't been around in forever," she'd readily accepted the idea of a lost Clan being very real, "there's no place waiting for them - Abyssclan lives in their old place," she glanced at the Abyssclannians, "and it just... seems a bit much... for just one Clan..." Mosspaw looked at each and every cat before her. "There's our own four back home - and those little Clans that loners and rogues make..."
She fell silent.
Silence was heavy in the air until a soft, unexpected voice broke it. "Everything happens for a reason."
Cold had spoken publicly.

[Meany]

The three eldest cats looked at the small, yet intimidating cat in surprise.
"That it does," Jazz finally mewed. He straightened up, setting his shoulders. "So," he gingerly padded forward, looking out, "where would a Clan like Moonyclan put themselves? I mean - I know they had long fur and all - would they go to the trees?" He pointed to the dark valley below.
Snowfeather followed him. "I dunno," she mewed uncertainly, "they weren't the tree type, if I remember the stories right."
Blackfire joined them, looking out with them. "Yeah - my mother told me that they liked the chill of the top of their hill..." He looked around. "But everywhere here is chilled... That one word is the final description of this entire place!" The black tom clawed the ground irritably.

OOC: Suppose they found the Meeting?

[Longstorm]

OOC: That's what we're going for.

IC: Jace, while he looked bored, was actually looking with the others. "...maybe they live below the cloud line?"
It was true - the Questers weren't quite at the top of the mountain, though close.
Icepaw scrabbled around, looking around quickly. "..." He saw what looked like a thin path leading a loop like trail down the mountainside to what looked to be a large ledge, but he was too far up to tell exactly.
"Hey - this looks like a path!"
Jace padded over, not putting much stake in the tom's words. His eyes widened. "...You... may be right."

[Meany]

OOC: Awesome.

IC: Blackfire followed, slipping slightly on the ice as he came. "Ugh," he sank his claws into the snow for better traction. "Hmm," he looked over the edge and smelled, wincing as the air burned his nose. "It's..." He opened his mouth and inhaled. There. "It may be a week old or a year, scents are known to survive in the cold - but cats have definitely come this way."
Snowfeather sighed. "Anything to get in the lower, more fulfilling air." The air was thin up in the mountains, and Snowfeather (while her name said otherwise) was a lowlands cat all the way. "I'm game."
Jazz carefully followed, "Me too."

[Longstorm]

Icepaw grinned, flashing a smug look Jace's way (who rolled his eyes). "Who first?" It was a steep path.
"You, forest tom," Jace pushed Icepaw partway down the first turn. The Darkclan apprentice spat fiercely.

[Runfast]

Mosspaw stifled a purr but was sobered when Cold walked past, his reinforced back claws giving him perfect traction in the ice and snow.
The gray tom followed Icepaw, and while he wasn't as nimble as a Darkclanner, he was Abyssclannian. That was more than enough when it came to balance. Mosspaw quickly followed, wondering what they would find below. "Coming, Joy," she mewed over her shoulder - she could feel ice in her stomache when she realized she'd addressed the disconcerting she-cat by name.

[Meany]

Blackfire hissed at the Cityclanner as he followed, but was butted in the hind leg by Jazz.
Blackfire looked back at the ginger tom who mewed, "No harm done."
Snowfeather sighed - toms - and followed, looking back at the Tawnyclanner and Abyssclannian. "If I didn't know better, I'd say those two are in love."

[Longstorm]

Sassypelt, padding with them, looked on. "Wonder why the two eldest get to lead," she murmured to Icepaw. "Doesn't mean their smarter..."
Icepaw looked up at her. "Well, Blackfire is older - he has more experience."
The knotted she-cat looked at him. "But you lived by yourself for a time, didn't you? Doesn't that mean you aren't as... dependent as he is? More self-sufficient? Maybe things would be smoother if we were more like you..."
Icepaw didn't reply, but he was most certainly thinking about what the loner was saying.

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