(Tangle/Ice) Just Another Little Cat

[Tanglekit]

Tanglestar took two steps to the left making a path way towards the door. "Then leave if you are so sure that you belong there. They never even sent anyone to collect you. They left you here alone not even sending cats to visit you.", she replied claws digging into the earth. "I want you to stay if that is any consolation. I don't believe that you were born to be of Riverclan. I know that you were meant for Thunderclan. But if you want to race right on back to Riverclan no one is stopping you.", she snickered making sure to leave plenty of room for the tom to hobble out of the den.

[Deleted]

Icepaw, seeing Tanglestar willingly clear the exit of the medicine den, at first just glanced at her in confusion. What was she doing? A moment before she had been trying to convince him to stay. But as she began to speak, he understood why. The tom clenched his jaw together. What she mentioned was something that had been prodding the back of his mind for a while. They hadn't sent any cat. He was still here, with no news of even being missed. Hadn't Rainwing gone to the boarder to let them know? His mind contorted in search of reason.

"Th-That's just because my Clanmates respect boarders. They don't want to cross over and cause a mess. I'm sure they know I've gone, too, and they're just waiting for me to come back. Rainwing was going to the boarder to let them know." The apprentice wasn't about to let this she-cat break him down. He refused to believe that his Clanmates had turned their back on him. There had to be a perfectly good reason.

But, even though Tanglestar was leaving the exit wide open, Icepaw was determined no to cooperate with anything she told him to do. His streak of stubborn determination was still strong. "I know that I belong in RiverClan. But I guess staying here until I'm back to full strength won't kill me. It'll spare my Clanmates the fresh-kill, for one thing. I think I'll stay a bit longer." Wrinkling his nose, the pale tabby tom turned swiftly about and headed back to his nest, taking a seat while still facing Tanglestar with a cold stare.

[Deleted]

Dont' mind me...

DirtFur slowly slithered into the Medicine Cat's den, mostly because he heard bickering. He was becoming quite fond of ThunderClan-- he felt like he belonged. Okay, not exactly. He still felt like a mess. He still wanted to die. MoonShine was his life. Now the kit even hates him.

At least TangleSTar forgives him now.... at least, he thinks and hopes.

"IcePaw, TangleStar..." he slowly mewed, and looked at the young tom, "What seems to be the matter? I keep hearing things about RiverClan and ThunderClan back and forth, and I want to know what... if that's fine."

He looked over at Tanglestar, without a single expression upon his tabby face. DirtFur just sighed.

[/center]

[Tanglekit]

Tanglestar smiled when she heard the dark tom's voice. She had forgiven him for all that he had done. "This young tom doesn't want to be with Thunderclan Dirtfur.... But I don't think he is ready to leave for Riverclan yet either.", she smirked looking at the tom with pale questioning eyes. "Now wait a minuted, Icepaw, you can't say you want something and go back on your decision when people stop arguing with you. You said you wanted to leave this place. You say it would be easier on your clan. Are you really that much of a burden to them that you don't want to eat your own clans food. Would you rather deprive this clan of prey while you stay here? Here you are welcome to eat your fair share.", she gave out a solitary chuckle that seemed to die before it even had a chance to live. She turned to look at the dark Thunderclan warrior. "He thinks we are all evil murderers. But I hope dear Icepaw you will look past that and see what we really are. If you give us a chance to be your clan. We would break down walls to find a lost kit or even a lost elder. We would stir up the nastiest of troubles to find you. We would intrude and impose and poke and prod just to get you back.", she mewed ever so gently hoping that finally her point would get across. He was meant for Thunderclan and they were going to fight to keep him.

[Deleted]

Icepaw just turned up his nose in retort. "I can make up my own mind any way I want to, Tanglestar. With leaf-bare on the way, I might as well help out my Clan by not eating my share of the fish. My training's mostly done, too, so there's no immediate rush to get back. No- if you're so eager to have me be part of your little Clan, then I'm going to make use of it for the sake of mine." A sneer was tugging at the corners of his mouth. The young tom was determined to be difficult if it got under Tanglestar's fur.

"But don't get your hopes up about me adjusting. I have reasons enough to know not to trust a good couple of the cats here, and I'm still a RiverClan cat. Make no mistake about that."

[Tanglekit]

"You are either Thunderclan or Riverclan. Either you go back to Riverclan as a Riverclan apprentice or you will stay here as a Thunderclan apprentice. Do not mistake my warmth and friendliness as being a fool, You will only eat our food if you are one of us. If you are indeed Riverclan as you claim to be them you will get no prey here no shelter no companionship no training no help from our medicine cat. If you want to stay with us you must make the choice to stay with us as one of us.", she stated letting the thought ponder in the young toms mind. She was trying to give this tom a chance at a new life yet he was turnign back to the life that had already run it's coarse.

[Deleted]

He now understood. That made sense. Fighting over this. Ah, Tanglestar always wanted new warriors, kits, apprentices, any cat.

"Let him choose, but he should at least stay until his leg is mended. You should at least be mentored just a bit so you can defend yourself in case a battle occurs..." he slowly meowed, "Is that okay, IcePaw?"

He looked at the little tom, trying to be as reasonable as possible.

"Let us at least get you to be healthy once more, so you don't get hurt again on your way back to RiverClan-- besides, it shouldn't be that bad. I thinK TangleStar can arrange you your own den..."

He actually understood how it was to feel like a burden-- prisoner. He knew all of the pain. he knew how it felt. He knew all of it. He knew IcePaw wasn't a prisoner, but it seemed like he was. DirtFur realized this.

heck, he still felt like it. It was like his heart was pounding, yet nothing seemed to be flowing thorugh his veins..

[/center]

[Deleted]

Icepaw lost his smirk, and showed off a discontented frown. "Fine then," he replied flatly. "Then just forget it. I'm not some faint-hearted kittypet. I'm not about to turn my back on the Clan that took me in first. I'd never be able to show my face to them at the river or at Gatherings. Not gonna happen." His ears flickered around on the top of his head, his tail-tip doing somewhat of the same. "Even considering it was stupid. You say you'd welcome me in, but I think we both know you wouldn't if you had the slightest hint of proof of my being Froststorm."

Froststorm. The name almost made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. The few times he'd encountered the deceased tom had not been anything close to warm and comforting. But as of late, it was as if he was forcing that part of himself to the surface for the sake of rebuking the cats who had reason to be grateful of the RiverClan warrior's death. Traits that weren't really him, but were becoming more common and familiar by the day.

The apprentice then looked to Dirtfur as he began to talk, and stared at the tom with suspicion. He didn't know this tom personally, but now that he'd thought about it, he had seen him with ShadowClan at Gatherings. What was he doing here, in the ThunderClan camp? Was this another cat who Tanglestar had persuaded to jump boarders? Whatever his backstory, his advise to Tanglestar appealed more to him. At least, some of it. "I guess," he grumbled. The way Dirtfur had put it made more sense. The training part was still questionable, but what if there was an attack? Would he be expected to fight on ThunderClan's side? And if he was, there was no river or marsh here to benefit the fighting styles he knew. "But that's not exactly the way Tanglestar's going to have things, is it? There's no common ground." His eyes flashed back to Tanglestar with a challenging glare, waiting for her response.

[Tanglekit]

Tangletsar thought of Firestar and thought about if she had even noticed that you were gone. "Rainwing has gone to the Riverclan camp to inform them of your whereabouts. They might of taken you in but we will never throw you out no matter who you are. You have to choose who you are. Don't let past loyalties fool you. We want you here. If you were a Thunderclan apprentice we would not have hesitated to get you into our own camp, or at least have had an ambassador stay with you to make sure you were safe.", she sighed thinking about what this tom was going to lose by becoming part of this clan. "If you join this clan then you don't have to face your old comrades. Just us we won't judge you on your decision.", she stated looking at Dirtfur and thinking what a good turn out his switch had been. "We don't care who you are supposed to become. We care about who you are."

[Deleted]

The prickling at his neck turned back into irritation. "Tanglestar," he mewed slowly, trying to get the point across as clearly as he could make it, "RiverClan is my home. I'm not going to hop boarders like this. Understand that. I have loyalty for RiverClan because of what has happened in my life, and no one else's." Icepaw had to force his claws to remain in their sheathes. If this could be done civilly, it would help. All this yelling and arguing was draining him of what little energy he had started out with. It was awfully tempting to lay back down on his belly, but the pale tabby didn't want to look weak in front of these cats.

"Training and lodging I can put up with until my leg is fully healed. I realize I'm not in quite the position to cross the territory and the river to get home yet without making it worse. But once I can walk the way on my own, then I'm going back home."

[Deleted]

The tabby tom instantly turned around on TangleStar and let out an angry hiss. How dare she keep trying to persuade an apprentice. Sure-- he looked like FrostStorm. He knew by personal reasons that it didn't mean they would be the same. He knew.

Leave him alone!

"Tanglestar, that's enough!" he growled loudly, letting his tail flick side to side, "I know what he is going through. I'll stay with him if I have to-- if he wants to be trained, I wish to be his mentor, at least for a little while."

He looked back at the little apprentice with narrowed eyes.

"IcePaw, I'm not judging you for looks-- I know that it doesn't mean you would be the same," he spoke calmly, "I know by reasons... and proof..."

He said the last part rather slowly, his eyes drooping to his paws. He sighed softly, and soon looked back at the tom.

"TangleStar just likes young ones-- she just wishes for some of her own," he spoke softly, and gave a wink at Tanglestar in a teasingly way, "Don't take it personally. We understand-- at least I do-- that you belong in RiverClan. I did once belong to ShadowClan, and I still belong there in heart. It's true. I came here for personal reasons..."

DirtFur trailed off and looked at his brown paws once more.

[/center]

[Tanglekit]

Tanglestar's eyes narrowed into green slits. "As you wish Dirtfur.", she growled back. She turned from the den and padded to the exit. It wasn't all true she wasn't all that needy for kits. She had had a son, Tumblekit, But only Starclan knew where his paws were now. A silver tear fell for her son and she continued down the slope exiting the den and returning to her own. Solitude and silence were her two kindest friends. And she needed to pay them one more visit for the sake of her mental health.

[Deleted]

The sudden fury that erupted from the dark tom almost alarmed Icepaw, sending his ears straight up. This warrior had seemed fine just a moment ago. What had sparked the passionate rage- especially seeing as it was directed towards his Clan leader, with no apology to follow. Then when he turned back to face him, the apprentice became aware of an uncomfortable feeling that resulted from the tom's eyes. The way he spoke, it was as if he knew of a case similar to his own. But Icepaw knew that was impossible.

But that didn't necessarily make him right, either. Maybe he was like Froststorm. Maybe he wanted to be. The truth of the matter was obscured before the young tom. Nowadays, everything seemed to be. He felt utterly lost, and the strange environment didn't help that.

As he listened to Dirtfur's background, his eyes slightly narrowed a little. So, he had left his birth Clan for ThunderClan. It was the same as what Tanglestar was trying to make him do, after all. Disgraceful, in his mind. But this was the only cat who saw things his way, so he figured it would be best not to say so. Then as Tanglestar turned and left, Icepaw felt as if he could finally let out a longly held breath. That could have gone better. He glanced back to Dirtfur with an unsure look in his bright eyes. "Thanks," he mewed quietly. "For getting her off my back. RiverClan is my home, always will be. And about the training... You don't have to. I mean, I'm sure you've got enough to deal with besides dealing with a foreign apprentice."

[Deleted]

(Just following from the other, RiverClan thread, if you don't think I should post please delete the post.)

Firestar stopped at the entrance to the ThunderClan camp, she had rushed from RiverClan territory as soon as she found out that these fox-hearts had her apprentice she had dashed with a warrior, Miraclefur and Pebblepaw, with Rainwing and Twitchpaw. She swept past the stares of ThunderClan cats and stormed into the Medicine cat den. She stopped at Icepaw, "Dirtfur." she acknowledged him briefly, "If I may I wish to speak with him alone?" she mewed, her gaze cold. She had heard rumors about this cat that well... Quite disturbed her. She was not comfortable having him alone with the RiverClan apprentice. Then she turned to Icepaw, "Thank StarClan you are all right!" she mewed, "I came as soon as Rainwing told me about your leg. I promise you wont be surrounded by only ThunderClan for much longer." her gaze was soft and mother-like. She may not have shown it so far, but she was quite fond of the little apprentice. She was a mother of many in her clan as well, but she tried to treat all of them like her kits.

[Tanglekit]

Tanglestar gave a bellowing growl when the Riverclan patrol stormed into the camp like they owned the place. She padded right back into the Medicine Cat den and when seeing Rinwing with them she gave him a look of malice. "Rainwing what is this?", she questioned with her eyes running down his pelt with anger and curiosity. What had this tom been thinking going off to another clan and inviting them on into their camp. "Firestar what are you doing her?", she asked keeping her eyes on Rainwing, furious. Was this tom trying to make her angry and she looked over to Icepaw wondering if he would be happy that the Riverclan cats had come to find him, or angry that it had taken Rainwing telling them of his presence for them to take action.