Revenge (Battle!WCvs;RC)

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Cedarclaw had just gotten to the point of settling down with her kits, and looked up in time to see the black tom come rushing into the nursery. Shock and a lack of preparation kept her oddly still as his nose passed over her, and the touch almost made her shudder. Almost.

The tortoiseshell blinked up at Sootclaw, then shook out her fur in one quick flicker of her head. "What does it look like happened?" she gasped exasperatedly. But her tone wasn't raking, more like something close to relief. He was there, not sprawled out on the battleground dying. Well, I still don't want to have to raise these kits alone, she caught herself. She found herself having to do that more and more lately, and it was a scary fact.

"RiverClan came and invaded," the she-cat explained, shifting uncomfortably in her nest as her eyes focused on her kits. "To avenge our last attack on their camp. It wasn't too bad, very quick, not too many wounded. But Foxstar did lose one of her lives. But the fact that she has lives now is a good sign for WindClan, I suppose."

She turned her orange eyes on him again, trying to get a feel on her old spirit again. "And where were you?" Cedarclaw pressed. "I looked for you in the masses. You weren't here."

~~~~~

Stonekit smiled up at his daddy when he came in, glad to see him again. But his attention was quickly distracted by Quietkit as her paws attacked his face, and he purred excitedly as he leapt to pounce on her.

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Swiftfire looked onto her leader worriedly as she sat down and then got up and looked for the medicene cat. She watched until she was sure the leader would be fine. Sighing, she began to walk through the ravaged camp.

Quick as lightening, her ears flicked towards the entrance to camp. Her eyes saw Sootclaw come in with prey dangling from his mouth. Blinking, she looked at his fur and was surprised to see not a scratch on him.

Her paws took her towards the nursery where he had gone hurriedly to. As she approached, she heard Cedarclaw ask where he was. Stopping a length away, she narrowed her eyes. "I'd like to know the same thing. You missed a battle." Suspicion and anger bounced through her chest as she asked the simple question.

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SootClaw was relieved that CedarClaw and all the kits were fine, and how CedarClaw's tone seemed different. It almost sounded worriedly. Yet, the tone suddenly changed. It sounded aggressively.

He stood there, letting his legs shake for a few moments, but then straightened. SootClaw could not show his weakness. Can not show that CedarClaw was his weakness. That tone, that awful tone. Ah, he changed so much.

His jaws gaped open to answer CedarClaw's question, but closed it when he felt a pair of eyes gorging into his back. He already knew who it was before the voice spoke. He heard the suspicion, he heard the anger, he heard all of it.

Why were they ganging up on him? It seemed like not many warriors nor apprentices were in camp anyways. For instance, Goosepaw wasn't in camp. It was obvious, mostly because he saw him on the way back to camp. He didn't believe that GoosePaw just got out when the battle was over, there was no blood or scratches on his body.

"I was out hunting. Don't believe me? Look at my batch at the entrance. I dropped it, too worried about CedarClaw and the kits to pay attention," he spoke quite harshly, turning around to look at SwiftFire, "Don't you dare say I'm not being loyal, for I know that you are suspicious. I heard it in your voice. I see it in your eyes..."

He growled softly, and shouldered his way past SwiftFire, padding over to the entrance of camp.

His ears were flat against his head, while he gripped the rather large rabbit that was the size of one of his kits, and padded it back to the nursery. He set it at the entrance, speaking softly, "Here, CedarClaw," then went back to take the rest of the fresh-kill to the pile.


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Quietkit fell back, smiling up at her brother. It was still amazing that she made no noise; it seemed like she feared of her speaking.

She batted at her brother's underbelly, hoping that StoneKit would get flung off, but sadly, he didn't.

She batted at his ears once more, hearing the squeals of the other kits, the ones that are basically new-borns.

-

SpottedTail just stayed where she was, and nudged her little darlings to her stomach. She purred contently.

"Hush now, it is okay," she mewed soothingly.

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OOC: If you want to. :3 It would be interesting.

BIC: Stonekit mewed loudly as he tried to dodge her blows, but not caring much when they made contact. Instead, he just kept right on purring, and leapt at his sister again. This time he stopped short, however, and leapt around to grab her tail in his teeth, tugging at it with a devilish gleam in his lively orange eyes. "Come'n get me!" He mewed teasingly through her ginger fur.

~~~~~

Cedarclaw's ears fell back a little as she restrained a flinch. It was hard to explain. Seeing the black tom shaking like he had when she'd first recovered her memories, and for what? The tortoiseshell she-cat had been sharper with him in the past. She had held a shallow hope for him to squirm under her question, not for him to start breaking down. It almost made her feel bad for asking.

Her ears pricked at the sound of another familiar voice, and she craned her neck a bit to see past Sootclaw. There was Swiftfire, looking accusingly at him. The she-cat twitched her whiskers. The way the deputy worded the question made it sound different than her own. Did she really suspect him of treason? Did she think he'd gone off to aid RiverClan? You did that yourself, before, she wanted to put in. Sootclaw can be despicable and weak sometimes, but he's not a fox-heart to WindClan.

Her eyes flashed back to the black warrior when he spoke, and was started by the rawness of his mew. It was like a foreign language to her, like two-leg speak. For the first time, the tortoiseshell found that she could draw a clear straight line between this Sootclaw and the one from her mate-free past. The one from before might have just shrugged it off and made a smart remark about she-cats in battle. Who was this cat?

She watched him with the same, confused expression as he padded out into the camp, and kept her eyes trained on that black pelt as he padded back with the rabbit in his jaws. Momentarily her gaze flashed back to Swiftfire, and muttered, "He's not disloyal, you know." She wasn't sure why she said that statement, but she was quiet again as he returned to the nursery. Cedarclaw glanced at the large piece of prey without a word, again looking puzzled, but now because of the change in tone. Why was he acting so soft? Why was she? The she-cat found herself hating the fact that she couldn't answer these questions, and not the tomcat who was about to turn around and leave.

Cedarclaw flexed her claws, and without thinking too much on the matter before her, stood and quickly stepped out in front of Sootclaw. She felt as if she wasn't thinking clearly, but was going with her paws anyway. "Hey... Thanks for the rabbit. I guess it wasn't easy to catch." Her orange eyes flickered around his paws, not his face. "And, well, I didn't mean what I said that way. I'm not calling you disloyal. And if Swiftfire is, forget it. I know you're not."

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This tom felt utterly confused. He wanted to do so many things. He felt ashamed, he felt worried. He didn't know what to do at this moment; everything was confusing him.

SootClaw stopped in his tracks to stare right at CedarClaw's bowed head. He blinked slowly, and set down his fresh-kill at his paws. He licked the top of her head gently, letting out a soft purr for a moment.

"CedarClaw, you don't have to thank me, I did it because I care about you," he stared at her for a few moments, knowing that she probably didn't believe his words, "I know you may not believe me, but I do, okay?"

He gave her a soft smile before gripping some of the fresh-kill once more, leaving back a few since he didn't want to hold it at the moment.

He placed the rabbit and sparrow on the fresh-kill pile, going back to get the thrush. When he did went for the thrush, he made sure his pelt brushed against her tortoiseshell pelt, savoring the feel of her fur to where he couldn't help but purr contently.

He stood there, not grabbing the thrush yet, and looked at CedarClaw.

"CedarClaw, do you want to go hunting with me? I'm sure SpottedTail can look after the kits while we are gone," he smiled softly, "I'm not forcing you to, it's your choice."

After saying those words, he grabbed the thrush and placed it on the fresh-kill pile before dashing to the entrance.


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QuietKit grimaced when she felt the teeth clench her ginger tail. She looked back, and narrowed her eyes playfully. She lashed out her right paw at Stonekit, grinning.

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Cedarclaw raised her head when she felt his tongue swipe across her brow, regaining that startled look across her face. But it faded away soon after without being replaced by rage. Her expression was somewhat blank, as if her mind had been checked out. Maybe it had, because she knew that this wasn't her usual state of thought.

She listened to his words while her eyes shifted from his to her paws. The tortoiseshell still didn't know what to say to that. Was it even possible that he was telling the truth? She had thought she'd known his personality well enough before everything had flipped in her life. He'd been the rude, sexist tom she'd had to sleep in the same den with for moons. This wasn't that tom. And this wasn't that Cedarclaw.

The she-cat didn't look up again until she felt his pelt brush hers, and at that point a shudder did run through her body. The tortoiseshell looked up at him, seeing the alien emotions he held in his green eyes. It made her recall the time she'd spent in amnesia, how they'd laid down flank to flank and just purred. And it wasn't all that bad. A small, hesitant smile began to appear on her muzzle. "Alright. That's fine by me," she mewed softly, and then dashed after him out of camp, her mind a whirl of strange yet enjoyment thoughts.

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Swiftfire looked at Sootclaw as he answered back and shoved past her. Irratation clawed at her fur, but she stayed where she was and listened to Cedarclaw. She didn't think that at all! Surprise flitted her face at the assumption. Was she really asking that? The she-cat shook her head to clear it and knew Sootclaw spoke the truth.

She watched as Cedarclaw apologized to Sootclaw as she ran up to him. A smile played upon her muzzle as she saw Cedarclaw taking the lick. As Sootclaw rushed towards the entrance she called after him. "I'm not suspecting you of anything, just wondering what you were doing that was clogging you're ears of the battle noise."

Swiftly, she padded towards him and dipped her head. "You are a loyal cat Sootclaw, I'd never question your loyalties, just maybe you're hunting ablities. They seem to be loud," she laughed and flicked him with her tail. Quickly she strode off and hoped the two would bring back something useful to help the clan. She knew they would though as she watched them leave.