oh no!(Tangles, Whitewind, Riddles, Spotted, Open)

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Flightwhisker had not made an effort to get any closer to Batwing since she had gotten into the camp with Turtlekit in her jaws. Her leg was matted with blood around the claw marks etched in there by her own Clanmate, and it stung horribly. Now, as much as the she-cat wanted to rip the dark tom's throat out, she knew that she was in no position to even try. But still, the desire held fast.

As skirmishes began to brake out between the toms, the tabby she-cat just bared her fangs in a defensive snarl and kept her distance. If this didn't make it clear that Batwing was unstable, she doubted few other things would. Her hazel eyes for the most part focused on Turtlekit, watching her slowly go from cat to cat, just in case Batwing get the incentive to start the whole thing up again.

Then, as Tanglestar headed back towards her own den and Mousefur came and left, Flightwhisker pushed away the gnawing pain in her leg and stalked a little closer to where Batwing was pinned below Riddlehawk. "Sheath your claws already, you fox-heart! We all know the truth, so there's no point in getting yourself into more trouble... Well, actually," she growled, glancing to Riddlehawk and Coonstripe, who both looked ready to shred the traitor to pieces, "go ahead. We'll have one less fool to deal with."

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Batwing glared at Flightwhisker, his eyes cold chips of ice. "I'm the only one who isn't a fool in this wretched clan," he hissed quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear his insult. "Not one of you could ever dream of killing me!"

The black tom was now shaking with anger. This wasn't looking good. He was like a small, fragile twig. And that twig was near a breaking point.

It would indead be a dark day if that twig snapped...

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CoonStripe slowly stalked towards BatWing, a growl rumbling through his throat. He couldn't help but have his tail lash back and forth behind him. He admired RiddleHawk in a way, only because of how he was actually acting towards Batwing. It was obvious that he should be wiped out.

"Come on... He should die!" he snarled quietly, to where only FlightWhisker, Batwing, and Riddlehawk could hear, "Why have him around?"

-

CowSpot just sat there. He felt ashamed. Why? His son was in the mess. What can he do? There was absolutely nothing that he could do...

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Riddlehawk snarled at Batwing. "Save it, nobody here cares." He growled, shoving the tom out from under him. "Do what's good for yourself and go sit in the d**n hole. Don't give me an excuse to drag you there by your throat." He snarled at the tom, prowling away to round up the senior warriors. He hopped up onto the stone where Tanglestar usually called meetings. "All senior warriors. Gather below." He yowled, his single gold eye focused down on the cats that would soon gather below him.

--

Young Turtlekit allowed herself to be lifted by her mother. Her eyes closed contentedly, a tiny purr coming out of her throat. Her mother's words made her feel safe, and she welcomed the scents of the medicine cat's den. They were comforting and she rubbed her head on her mother's chin. Glad to be gone from the tom that had so brutally hurt her.

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Batwing hissed at Riddlehawk before the large tom stepped off of him. He got to his paw and brushed off some dirt. He knew what to expect next. He'd be taken to the hollow. Oh, that dreaded place. He'd be treated like a prisoner in his own clan. For all he knew, he was a prisoner in his own clan.

He glared across the clearing, daring anyone to come near him. If anyone did, they'd go back to where they were before with their face clawed...

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CoonStripe hissed at the tom who was named BatWing. He wanted to swipe off his whiskers so bad. Yet, he stood still and just ey'd him.

Instead, he followed MouseFur. He knew he wasn't needed in the meeting. He was just recently made a warrior, therefore he was not a senior warrior.

"Hello Mousefur, how's TurtleKit?" he slowly padded forward to her, and tried to lick her head, if allowed.

--

CowSpot looked at RiddleHawk, and slowly walked forward. He was nervous. Even though he knew he wasn't going to get scolded or whatever.

--

ScarShadow slowly walked over. He wasn't sure what happened. He was still trying to decide how he was going to mess with the plan with SunFlash. Okay, he knew what. He would ahve to get FoxFlight in a distraction. Ah, yes. He knew a good way.

He couldn't help but grin...

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Flightwhisker hissed at the treacherous tom, her eyes burning with hate. "Don't tempt me," she muttered, not wanting Tanglestar or Riddlehawk to overhear her. But Coonstripe's own words seemed to echo her own well enough. Looking toward the tom, she murmured an angry agreement. "I'm with you there. What's the point of keeping around a tom who's willing to kill a kit? Of his own Clan, even!" The tabby she-cat kept her fangs bared in aggression, now distracted fully from the remaining pain in her leg. She knew she would have to get into the medicine cat's den soon, but that could wait. Dealing with this flea-bag was much more important.

~~~~~

Sunflash had been resting outside of the warrior's den when the commotion had begun. At first, he had watched the scene with complete confusion. What was all this about? Had Batwing actually tried to kill little Turtlekit, Riddlehawk's daughter? As that seemed more and more the truth, the golden fur on his neck began to bristle with rage. He would have soon shredded the tom's throat out, but Riddlehawk's call for the senior warriors to gather made him grudgingly refuse the instinct. With a snarl as he watched Batwing make his way into the prisoner's den, the tom stood from his resting place and made his own way over to Riddlehawk had called the meeting, sitting below the high rock and waiting.

~~~~~

When his mother approached the nursery with his sister in her jaws, Mousekit bounded out of the den with his eyes wide with fear. "Turtlekit! What happened!" The little tom saw her leg dangling there at an awkward angle, and it made him shudder. "What's going on?" The brown tom tried to look around Mousefur's approaching form, just catching a glance of a dark pelt entering the place known as the 'prisoner' den. He hadn't gotten the chance to see much else, as the yowls had frightened him into staying inside the safe nursery walls. Then, as Coonstripe followed Mousefur in, the tom-kit shrunk back again, his typical shyness returning in a heartbeat, and slowly drawing himself closer to his mother's legs.

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Riddlehawk looked below at the senior warriors. "Alright. I've called you all here, at the request of Tanglestar, to tell you what's happened and for you to help deliberate Batwing's punishment." He said, his eyes....erm...eye looking over the warriors. "From what we've been able to figure out, earlier Batwing attacked Turtlekit. I don't know why, but it's clear that had Flightwhisker and Coonstripe NOT intervened or been there, she would have been murdered." Riddlehawk looked at the warriors assembled below again, his gaze shifting to where Rainwing's den was. "Now. What should the punishment for a tom, willing to kill a kit, a kit from a his own clan no less? What should his punishment be?" He asked his clan mates, his eyes narrowing as he looked towards the prisoners den. "What do we do, with a cat like that?" He asked, looking back to the cats.

--

Turtlekit allowed herself to be carried into the den, waiting to be laid in a soft nest so she could drift off to sleep. She just wanted all this pain to go away....just wanted to drift away so she could forget about this all. All she ever wanted was to be a warrior.....

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Sunflash dug his claws into the earth as he listened to Riddlehawk's speech. So Batwing had tried to hurt Turtlekit. It was a complete outrage! How could any cat actually want to hurt a defenseless kit? The fur on his neck bristled up again at the thought. No, it wasn't right. Something had to be done before a similar case occurred. "Well, we can't let him stay here, obviously!" the ton called out from his place below the Highrock. "If We don't get him out of here, something else could happen, like something that almost happened today." The Tom glanced over in the direction of where Mousefur had disappeared with Turtlekit a moment ago. "Until he leaves, all of our young cats are endangered. Or maybe he'll turn his claws on more cats than just kits." His eyes narrowed with passion. As a Tom who had no kits of his own, and never would, Sunflash shared Tanglestar's sympathy for all the kits of ThunderClan. Anything that put those kits in danger had to be dealt with severely.

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Gingerfeather stumbled out of the warriors den, tail drooping from exhaustion. She's been awoken by Riddlehawks call for all of the senior cats and, despite the fact that she wasn't to thrilled with the fact that she was woke up so rudely, she had to join in on the meeting.

The pale tortoiseshell's fur bristled as Riddlehawk finished speaking. Batwing had hurt Turtlekit? Why? The she-cat looked over her shoulder to look at him where he slouched in the prisoner's hollow.

"Sunflash is right!" she cried. "We can't have such a dangerous cat among us! We should execute him!"

[Tanglekit]

Tanglestar emerged from her den and sat behind Riddlehawk looking to Sunflash. She agreed that the cat could not stay here but he could also not be executed. It was against the warrior code and she would not kill one of her clan, even a twisted one like Batwing. She heard the many demands for his execution, but she was almost ready to make her decision on his punishment and these calls for blood were not helping.

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Riddlehawk sighed. As much as the calls for killing Batwing agreed with his mind, Warrior code told him that he couldn't kill him. "As much as my mind agrees with you to execute him, it's against warrior code." Riddlehawk said, glancing at Tanglestar. "But I'm not sure that banishing him would do much help, seeing as we could only hope that he stays away from our borders. We could only hope that if we banish him that he wouldn't cause any more trouble." Riddlehawk continued, his gaze resting on the cats. "But rarely...rarely that is the case. Rarely do cats ever accept their punishment and simply go into loner lands happily." His voice was grim, dark even. His gaze turned to Tanglestar. "Tanglestar. Even if it goes against what we have been taught, think of what he has done. Gone against myself, you, and his clanmates. He launched an attack on a kit, unprovoked and fought against his clanmates. Tried to kill three of them. Then whenever he was asked, her blatantly lied until her figured it was too late to save his own hide." He said this softly, not to have the other cats listening in. "The final decision is in your paws. All I can do is give you the facts. You have to figure what's best for the clan. Just know that no matter what I'll respect your decision." He finished, his gaze turning back to the cats below.

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Gingerfeather stared at her paws as Riddlehawk spoke. They couldn't have him in the clan, they just couldn't! If they couldn't kill him, the only other options were to banish him, or let him stay in Thunderclan...

"We know it's against the warrior code, but if we let him live, he could attack our cats at any moment! It will only be a matter of time before he actually does start killing our cats! Tanglestar, you have to understand-your choosing between your warriors, or him."

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, but she would not sit by and watch as her clanmates die in the... monster's claws because they didn't take action when they needed to.

Oh, Tanglestar, please make the right choice!

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Foxflight blinked as others shot him down. He gave a nod of understanding. The Turkish Van then stepped back to the edge of the circle, but glared at Riddlehawk before doing so. If the tom didn't get his message to cool off then perhaps the glare would do it.

Propositions were given of what to do with Batwing. Through the whole thing, his mind shifted back and forth. Finally, he came to the decision that Tanglestar would determine eventually defend her point and make it official. He only hoped it was fair. The reasons for killing the tom were outlandish. Banishment was really not right either for the cat could come back. Batwing wasn't about to leave anytime soon either for he had joined his group. This would only fuel or dampen the fire that burned through Batwing to get rid of the leadership the clans had at the moment. Foxflight saw a snag though with Riddlehawk and Batwing. That would have to change real quick.

His amber eyes lifted towards Tanglestar, awaiting the decision. Perhaps... An idea sprung in his thoughts as if put there by another. Foxflight lifted his tail to show he wished to speak. "If I may, can I suggest something?," he asked Tanglestar more than the group. The tom got onto his paws as he continued. "Batwing is a warrior, but it seems he has not learned our virtues properly. What if he were to go through another apprenticeship?," he asked the whole bit of cats. "Now if you remember, I had hurt a cat to the point he almost died as an apprentice. Due to this, I went through a longer spell of apprenticeship and with another mentor. Now look, my life is turned around and I wish to see no more unneeded bloodshed," he explained.

He took a step towards Tanglestar and Sunflash. "What would it mean if this thought was forgotten and Batwing wasn't given the same kind of chance?," he asked. "It is your choice Tanglestar, but don't forget the past ways," he said. There was more depth to those words than Tanglestar could know of. It was a double edged sword, a dare and a threat the other knew not of. Of course, he'd meant it as a true example and question. It was ironic when he thought of what he had said without realizing it before, but he made sure no smile played upon his face. Now he waited patiently for the decision.

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As he listened to Riddlehawk's response, the golden tom knew that the deputy was correct. Executing the tom may seem just in one's mind, but doing it... No cat wanted such blood on their paws. But Sunflash still found himself on the side of banishing the treacherous tom. "But if we did banish him, we could strengthen our patrols for a while, check more regularly, and make sure he doesn't set foot. We'll treat him like any other rouge if he even tries." The senior warrior dug his claws into the earth. Surely that would work. Sure, Batwing might get the notion to try something funny, but if ThunderClan thought around it enough, it might still be able to work.

Then, as Foxflight proposed his idea, the tom twitched his whiskers. An apprenticeship for a warrior? Strange, indeed. But would that even work? The situation seemed similar enough, though. Finding fault not with the cat, but the virtues... It still seemed strange, but it was still an idea. "Interesting," he mewed slowly, still thinking. "But who would mentor him? It would need to be a cat with a cool head but a strong enough presence to get him to obey and cooperate." The tom twitched his whiskers again before looking to Tanglestar for the decision. If any cat could figure this out, it would be her.