More than admiring - OPEN

[Loki]

Joy stomped heavily along the Dewclan border, her eyes were half-moons, glinting furiously. Whiskers twitching before she pounced heavily on a leaf and shredded it with the pure rage of a she-cat unjustly dumped. Her muscles were tight and she raked her claws at anything in reach, hissing furiously into the dirt.
"I hope a bird flies passed and fouls on you, flea ridden, egotistical, son of a_____!"
Her words were lost in more shouts, leaves and guiltless shreds of grass.

She calmed after a while, energy spent and sides heaving. Her dusty, grey eyes focusing sourly on a ladybug as it struggled its way up a leaf.

When she returned. It was with welcome, well... once they explained the prophecy which the powerfuls backed with as much enthusiasm as one can generate when getting out of a warm nest on a rainy day. Though she felt heartbroken that she had missed everything!

She was pleased to see Loveless, newly named Angharad (A name recommended by Despairingcall) and apparently he was a prince now, that was cool. He deserved the new respect. He said something about wanting to talk with her but so did Switchblade and that went along the lines of:

"Oh, hey"
"I need to talk to you... I have greater things to aspire to. It would be unbecoming of me to waste my precious time pleasing you. It wasn't love anyway. It's not you, it's me."

Okay, so it wasn't quite like that. He was more respectful then that but he may as well have shortened it down.

The large she-cat rolled onto her back and stretched revealing a belly full of creamy fur. She sighed with a deep sense of self-reflection. It was dumb. Being so unfair. He was right, there was no love. It was just a nice convenience of his open welcome and "I'll protect you" dramatic monologues on a miserable night... but the thing that she loved most was that he knew she was sullied. He knew, he understood and he... didn't seem bothered.

She sighed, long and suffering. Thinking about the ageing kits at the camp. Fresh was a Protector. Bark was very intelligent, Thistle was as cute as a spring berry and Torn was keen in becoming a strong warrior being both brave and level headed.

She was proud of her offspring but there was a feeling that felt missing. She wasn't sure if it was the loss of them when they were so young or whether it was a result of coming to terms with how they were conceived. The fact that they had imprinted on an... an agreeable she-cat other that herself, felt positive.  Joy was no longer their mother. She never would be and she didn't think she would come in the way of the relationship formed between the small family. When Terra looked at them, her eyes danced with love.

Joy didn't look at them with love any more. It was something. something... Just not love.

She rolled onto her belly and sprung upon the ladybug, crooking her neck to sniff at her paws before picking at the scrabbling body. There was a brief fowl taste that made her eyes close momentarily before it was gone and replaced by a salty, bitter taste that was welcome after such a wet season.

Stretching her limbs, she stalked forward before a horrifying smell caught her attention. She froze, looking around herself, panic flooding within, blood pulsing with a new hot vigour.

"Big sister," came a purr from her left.
Joy flung herself at the she-cat without hesitation; her razor claws finding flesh under the downy fur of her sister: Defenceless a small long-furred classic tabby she-cat with green eyes.
"YOU!" Joy clawed with more determination, hot temper pricking her ears.
"OH, LIFE, LIFE DON'T LET HER KILL ME!"

As if on cue the large, tabby Abyssclanner was thrown from the smaller she-cat.

Joy was surrounded by the last surviving platoon of Mudbloodclan. She stumbled to her paws, glowering at the tabby tom that watched her back with interest.
"You slimy, slithering worm," Joy snarled viciously, "I should have known you would have wriggled your way from death."
Smugness crossed his features and he stood with a raised tail, padding around the angry queen, almost like he was surveying her.
"How are my kits Abyssclan queen?"
"Not yours," Joy spat twice, saliva flicking from her lips in shock, "never yours, they'll never be yours."
The tom sat, looking at her grumpily, "But... they are my kits, dear."
"Not by the will of Those Above," Joy replied, her voice raw.
"No," Life returned, his eyes becoming large with the pleasure of the next sentence, "by the will of Those Bellow."
He paused to smile excitedly at her trembling form, "Where were those Above, Joy, when you most needed them?"

Silence. Joy shook with images and scents frittering like sparks in front of her eyes.

Two cats pounced at her and she had a moment of breathlessness as they attempted to pin her. She rolled over with her paws coming upwards as fast as a striking snake. A screech of shock occurred and the tom lurched away, blood drooling from his torn ear.

After a brief scuffle, the she-cat was over powered and retorted with spitting threats before long wails of terror.

"Kill her now," Came the voice of Defenceless, her voice was strained with... something.
"Hush, Honey," Life said with brief annoyance, "I just want a bit of fun."
He came forward to the pinned cat and flinched for a moment as she struggled to get her claws at him.
"Those kits are as tainted as you Joy. I wonder what it would be like for them to know their mother was weak and useless and so... pathetic."

"YOU'RE PATHETIC YOU MEWLING, HEARTLESS PIECE OF_"
She gasped as her airways were leaned on.

"I hear their voices. Those Bellow will nurture your little moggies."

Fear flooded the Abyssclan she-cat, her poor offspring were innocent. She felt herself falling within an abyss at the border between Abyssclan and Dewclan.

[Longstorm]

Well, an AbyssClan border patrol just happened to be nearby, close enough to hear Joy's shouting. Which was incredible lucky, what with all of the busy stuff going on in the Clan, all of the reintegrating and moving the camp and all.
Of course, maybe it was all in the name. Queen of irony, Luckless was among the cats in the patrol.

Together, the cats of the patrol stealthily (or as best they could do) made their way towards the sounds of the scuffle, minding the damper patches of earth protected from drying out by the territory's thick canopy.

Smells kinda dead, thought Luckless. She quietly relayed these thoughts on the two intruders before them to Tigerfrost next to her.
"Will be kinda dead, is more like it," Tigerfrost snarled lowly.

Hope and Dauntless looked over at the warrior and nodded. Sounded just fine to them.
"There's only two - we got them!" Hope hissed.
The others nodded. "Right," Tigerfrost says. "All together now."
Luckless' blue eyes widened and her pupils went down to a slit, and she unsheathed her claws. She inhaled sharply and held her breath.
The others were tensed - it seemed only an invisible line was holding them back.

Hope burst out of the underbrush with a piercing caterwaul. In a second Tigerfrost was hot on her heels, overtaking her in two long strides, and racing ahead of her, his snarl so drawn-out and low that it seemed he wanted to resemble his namesake.
Luckless shrieked ferociously as she followed, lagging behind the others as even lithe Dauntless bounded ahead her short leaps.

Tigerfrost reached the intruders first. As was the AbyssClan way, he leaped head-long at the closest intruder without bothering to ask questions. As soon as the others caught up a few seconds later, they did the same...

[Loki]

Joy felt the relief of air as all weight was forced away. Her heart seemed to flutter in relief at the sounds of her clan mates. Life took a momentary expression of surprise before looking up at the sky as if cursing some invisible force.

Joy flung herself at him with an incredible howl of released tension.

The grey tom under Tigerfrost, writhed in shock, blood and fur flying as he scrambled to make any ground against his formidable foe.

Another tom thought best to go for Tigerfrost too, jumping forward to catch the others tail in his teeth.

Luckless was challenged by a hissing foe as was Hope.

Dauntless was faced with Defenceless who hissed and spat like a yapping dog.

[Longstorm]

Dauntless gave Defenceless an unimpressed look. It was all in the names. Undaunted, she hissed and spat, then skipped formalities and leaped at the spitting she-cat with her teeth bared and claws ready.

Tigerfrost yowled right in the face of the tom that was underneath him and sank his claws deeper into the cat's chest. His grip only tightened as pain shot through his tail as it was bit. He screamed out another yowl and lurched forward, to get the leverage to use his back claws to rip the grey tom's soft belly.

Luckless hissed right back at her foe and got low, slinking around them slowly, just daring them to attack. She wasn't the best fighter, but she'd been trained by the King himself! She would never back down from this challenge.

Hope shrieked at her opponent and ran straight at them, screaming all the while. Her eyes were blazing and her ears were flat to her head. She reached out with her claws as she ran at them, wanting to do all she could to beat this other cat into the earth.

[Loki]

The tom scrambled backward swiftly as his friend fell dead under Tigerfrost. He reared up paws splayed, trembling backward and turned tail on the battle with a yowl of terror.

Defenceless was engulfed under the weight of Dauntless, lost under the mass of fur.

The tom lurched forward feinting an attack at Luckless' legs.
He was planning to jump to the right and plough into the side of her.

The cat facing hope blanched at the screams, hesitating before he collided with her.

Life reared onto his hind legs, claws searching for Joy's eyes. She didn't rise as much as he expected and dove into his belly.

[Longstorm]

Tigerfrost turned the moment he saw the light leave the grey tom's eyes. He saw the other tom fleeing and bared his teeth. He bounded after the running tom with murder on his mind. No one bit his tail and got away with it.

Dauntless ripped at Defenceless's belly with her back legs and bit at wherever she could get at on the enemy she-cat.

Luckless tensed but watched. She half met the tom's feint and realized her mistake the moment he changed direction. The best she could do was meet it with a mouth of bared, sharp teeth.

Hope screamed even louder, stopping only to take a bite out of the tom.

[Loki]

The scramble between Tigerfrost and his now victim was almost comical. They sprung across the border into the Dewclan territory.
Tom howling something along the lines of, "dude, I didn't like Falsecall anyway, seriously!"

Defenceless cried, all fight gone out of her as she did her best to fend the other she-cat off.
"I had no choice!" She whimpered, "he would torture me."

The Mudbloodclan cat fell into Luckless, he felt the sting of her bite but hoped his weight would over power her.

The tom fighting Hope howled and batted toward her face.

[Longstorm]

Tigerfrost laughed a little nastily. "Whatever, man," he growled as he gained on the other cat. With a big leap he caught up to the tom and sunk his claws into his haunches.

Dauntless felt doubt flash through her mind, and though her onslaught continued there was some hesitation. "But -" she shook her head. "YOU'RE the one who left!" And she continued.

Luckless growled and scratched and tried to bite him again and again and again.

Hope shrieked again as his claws sliced across her mouth. But this only fueled her fire, and she feinted falling back before leaping at him again.

[Loki]

The tom had lost his balance tipping forward to cater his belief that Hope would fall away from him. He tipped forward underneath her.

The MBclanner was losing to Luckless and his angry growls turned into panicked howls as she continued to bite him.

Defenceless cried out, "I'm sorry, I didn't know! I just felt so alone! PLEASE! You were my friends!"

A screech resembling that of a "NO!" echoed from the mouth off of Tigerfrost's opponent.

[Longstorm]

Tigerfrost used his grip on the tom to haul him closer to himself, dragging him by the claws he had hooked underneath the tom's very skin. With his teeth bared, he bore down on the the screeching tom, looking to finish the fight with a quick snap of his teeth.

Luckless felt invigorated over the fact that this tom was suddenly panicked - and she kept on biting. Maybe her bad luck was rubbing off onto this cat.

Hope yowled triumphantly as the tom fell beneath her as she leaped forward once more, and then the battle was hers. All that was left was to sink her claws into his shoulders and bite the back of his neck.

Dauntless felt doubt once more but it was squashed by rage. With a brief pause for breath, she found herself batting at Defenceless as what she thought suddenly poured out of her. "If we were really your friends you NEVER would have left us alone to face Shadowstar! A real friend would NEVER have let us be alone in our fear, to face the pain alone! You NEVER tried to be one of us! YOU!" She struck, "NEVER," she struck again, "TRIED!" She struck harder. "You LEFT US! To be ONE OF THEM!" She screeched her last words long and loud, and she attacked with all of her rage and anger and sorrow directed at this one she-cat.

[Loki]

Tigerfrost's victim screeched underneath him but the screeched became a gurgled huff.

Joy fought against Life who had not had the practise his brother did and began to falter until he was being terrorised by her fangs.
She worried his flesh with her claws, glee at seeing her tormentor at her mercy.

Defenceless howled at the merciless assault, she seemed to shrivel on the ground in pitiful cries of "I'm sorry!"

[Longstorm]

Hope looked up from the body of her now-dead opponent at the howling Defenceless. "Finish her, Dauntless," Hope yowled.

Luckless stuck to the biting thing.

Tigerfrost huffed appreciatively at his good work on mortally wounding the Mudblood cat. He looked back over the border to where his Clanmates were still fighting. They seemed to have to pretty much covered. Even so, he left the Mudblood cat for now to go over as backup, just in case. Seemed like the Clanly thing to do.

Dauntless didn't hear Hope over the sound of her blood thrumming in her ears. In a moment, it was no longer Defenceless before her, but instead it was Woebringer, it was Shadecall, it was Viletongue, it was Shadowstar, and it was everyone she had ever hated in life, even those who still lived and had not died when she and the others poisoned the masters.
She would never have a master again.
Dauntless bit at Defenceless' throat.

[Loki]

One last strangled yell escaped Defenceless her golden eyes looking outward on the land in front.

All but Life was left. He was tattered and standing with blood oozing from his wounds. His back legs failed and he was forced to sit. He gave Joy a dirty look between his harsh pants.

Then he started to chuckle a bit as he looked away.

"How fitting," He chocked, "That all you're little friends have come. Abyssclan has actually ended..."

He trembled, "I said I would destroy Abyssclan... and look... brother. These cat's do not look like they are from Abyssclan..."

He keeled over and Joy gave a shuddering, confused look behind her at her clanmates who were now her friends. They were united more than ever, but Life was a fool if he thought he could take credit for that.

[Longstorm]

Tigerfrost couldn't help but bristle at the tom's last chilling words. He bared his teeth but could do nothing more but spit and growl at the corpse.
They stood in silence, only the sound of their harsh breaths and the wind and the distant calls of animals breaking it.
"I hope this is the last of them forever," Luckless said finally.
"Good riddance," Hope spat.
"No more," Dauntless said almost to herself.
Tigerfrost nodded.
"We'll need to report back, if they don't already know," Tigerfrost muttered. He turned her eyes to the skies, looking for any sign of a flap or feather of Despairingcall's birds.
Dauntless looked over at Joy. Quietly, she asked, "Are you alright? Hurt, I mean, but..." She trailed off. Dauntless wasn't even sure how she herself felt.

[Loki]

"I'm fine," Joy turned to her friend and smiled softly, "I was ambushed... um... sorry you all were... you know."
She looked back to Life, just for a moment. Sure her offspring's secret was not one overheard and that in the end no one would care to think about it. Afterall, as far as anyone knew in Abyssclan, save the special few... her kits were dead and the ones Terra had brought were Terra's.

It was better that way.

"Let's get back. I don't think that Mudbloodclan will be back... I suspect if there were more that they would have gone for our camp and not tried to pick us off one by one."

She looked away with a soft shrug.

[Longstorm]

The others nodded.
"Sounds fine to me," Hope said shortly.
"We gotta take them all back with us, don't we," Luckless groaned suddenly.
Tigerfrost looked at the number of dead and frowned. "Yeah..." It wasn't a very short hike all the way back to the new camp.
"Let's stash them and get them later," Hope suggested. "Patrol's not even done."
"We gotta report back first," Tigerfrost argued.
Hope flattened her ears. "I care more what Scourge says than I do what you say, Tigerfrost," she spat at him. Tigerfrost glared at her. "And that's the only reason why I'm going back to camp. Not because you said anything."
"Fine!" Tigerfrost spat back.
"Why wouldn't it be," Hope spat right back. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed the nearest cat and awkwardly began to carry it. Luckless helped straighten out the cat's body and Hope muttered some form of thanks, to which Luckless didn't respond.
Dauntless felt tense with Hope so openly challenging Tigerfrost. She sometimes felt like things could go back to the way they were with a single breath. And she was so scared of that. And she hated it.
With that in mind, she and Luckless grabbed another body and followed after Hope. They weren't the biggest cat, and they figured brawny Tigerfrost could handle two cats.
They were totally right.

But anyway.

Tigerfrost hissed after Hope but just rolled his shoulders and scoffed. With a pause, he padded back out to the body he left past the border and with little effort carried it back. Then he picked up another one. It seemed a little over the top.
Then he looked at Joy expectantly.

[Loki]

Joy padded passed the tom silently. Sighing softly that the supposed "unity" she imagined was there was dropped for arguing.

She glanced down at the dead body of Life, her nose wrinkling. Maybe if she held her breathe, she wouldn't have to smell him... She picked him up and went to slump his body over her back before a horrified expression crossed her features and she drew back from underneath him and decided to drag him instead.

It was awkward but... It would work.

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