TREECLAN PLOT THREAD: BATTLE #1

[Yellowburr]

(ayy so this is the first battle of the plot, and this is basically how its gonna go: a group of rebels (no more than 3 rebels), led by yellowburr, will attack a patrol (no more than 5 loyalists) of treeclanners. ultimately, the rebels will win this battle. first come first serve -- but don't worry, if you don't make it this time, there will be other opportunities :3
NOTE: pls let the rebels post before loyalists start joining, thanks! and, of course, no kits allowed :3)

I wanted to make a statement, an opening to the show to come. Theatrics were a passion of mine, and every good 'actor' knew that, in order to captivate the audience, they had to open with a strong message. Everyone knew my name, knew what I stood for -- they were anticipating how I would begin, holding their breath, leaning forward in their seats. We'd already made the paper, now it was time to be on the front page, a headline in large, bold text. We were going to be known, going to be feared, going to be powerful. We were going to leave a mark.

I led a group of rebels -- small, as we had not all grouped together yet. However, they had quite a bit of potential, and I had high hopes for what we were about to do. I had briefed them all moments before, and now we were hiding behind the treeline, just out of sight. Right on cue, the patrol of five or so TreeClanners marched onto the marsh (a perfect, visible spot for our entrance), unaware of our position. 

Crouching behind bushes, a wave of excitement buzzed over me. I'd been itching for some adrenaline rush for quite a while. My maniacal grin crept onto my face as my gaze followed the group. I was an actor and a director, rising to fame. I was going to be famous, powerful. "The world doesn't care about you. Better to realize that now." Jokes on you, pops. Everyone was going to know my name.

I flicked my tail, the cue for our entrance. The grand entrance of our opening scene, featuring me. I crept through the tall grass, motioning for my group to do the same. The grin never failed. It wasn't long before we were upon them, my claws sliding from my paws as I popped up from the grass. "Boo!" Enter, stage left: Yellowburr. 

[Needleclaw]

Needlepaw was eager to prove himself. He wanted to give his words meaning, to show the clan how far he would go to fight for his beliefs, to prove to Yellowburr that, despite his age, despite his inexperience, he could be beneficial to their cause. Even if that meant shedding blood.

The tabby's blood pumped through his veins like fire. He hadn't told Yellowburr that he had never fought in a battle before, although he assumed that the older tom was most likely able to figure that out on his own. Still, Needlepaw had begun his training, and believed that he'd be able to hold his own.

The young tabby paid close attention to his leader, heart racing; he admired how Yellowburr seemed so calm, knowing the events that were about to take place--knowing what position the warrior was putting himself in. The leader of a rebellion. Needlepaw knew what they were doing was treason, but he also knew that the cats they were attacking weren't really his clanmates. All of Arrowstar's supporters were rouges and half-bloods, they didn't deserve to be in TreeClan in the first place. In the apprentice's mind, what they were doing was just correcting the mistakes TreeClan had let happen. He was sure, once this was all over, TreeClan would only be better for it.

Passion surged in the pit of his stomach. Needlepaw unsheathed his claws, a wide smirking settling upon his features, waiting for the battle to commence.

[Vixenleap]

Vixenleap had very mixed feelings about this whole this. On one paw, it was a... Very bold move and bound to get attention. But then again, fights made the warrior sick in the stomach. She agreed nonetheless, but it made her nervous that an inexperienced young apprentice was with them.

At Yellowburr's silent command, the black she-cat crept through the grass slowly. She almost regreted being with the rebels just because of Yellowburr. His overall personality amused her, and his points were strong, he just seemed really unpredictable and... Most likely a mental issue in there. She respected him though, just not enough to impact anything.

Vixenleap's claws slid out and she followed the other cats, tail twitching. Then, she burst out of the grass, ready to attack anyone.

((I am very low on muse so take this very messy post

[Galelight]

Galelight since waking up had felt a bit... Off, honestly. He didn't feel much of anything towards anything. Even during the meeting, it had just felt... Logical. Sensible. Something anyone would do. This? This felt like he'd found the fire he'd been missing and he loved it. He wasn't happy about having to fight Treeclanners... He wasn't the kind to use his claws first... He thinks so at least.

But the excitement of a fight is too good to pass up. That's what his heart tells him, anyway.

Galelight follows behind Yellowburr through the brush, hiding behind the treeline alongside other rebels that joined with Yellowburr. Then came the signal. He pushed through the grass, an oddly satisfied smile on his face. Though, he craved the real satisfaction he'd get after this fight. His own claws slid out in preparation for a fight.

[Foxstrike]

It'd been a while since Foxstrike had lead a patrol, much less actively participated in interacting with anyone else. But tensions had been running high as of late within the clan, and he felt more obligated to do his part to help. Or maybe it was that he felt like he had something to prove.

He didn't. He had just as much of a right to be there as anyone else. And yet, despite knowing that, he had let Yellowburr's words get to him anyway. It wasn't even that Yellowburr had said what he did that bothered Foxstrike- the opinion of one didn't matter to him, especially not one so prideful as Yellowburr evidently was -but rather that so many others were so quick to agree with him. And now that Yellowburr knew there were others that agreed with him, it would inflate his ego further. It would make him more dangerous. Nothing had happened so far because of it, other than disagreements and arguments, but Foxstrike couldn't shake the feeling that something would. Whatever this was, it wasn't over. Not by a longshot.

Foxstrike moved through the marsh with practiced ease, knowing the area by heart, even if not by sight. Initially, he dismissed the scent of TreeClanners, since it wasn't of any importance. It wasn't what they were looking for.

That is, until he realized the scent was familiar. The voice that came a moment later, even more so. Foxstrike forced his fur to lie flat as he turned towards Yellowburr. If an incident broke out, it wouldn't be him who started it. "Yellowburr," he meowed, stiffly, pricking his ears. The troublemaker wasn't alone. There were three others- two warriors, one apprentice. 

Stall for time. Analyze. "Out to cause trouble again?" he asked, with at least the decency to act polite. He stomped the ground lightly, focusing on the way the sound moved around Yellowburr. His body language was hostile- that of his companions, even more so. Foxstrike narrowed his eyes, expression set into a tight frown, and prepared for one of them to strike. "Or have we just settled for attacking our own instead of yowling at them?"

[Deleted]

Fallenpaw had joined Foxstripes patrol, figuring it would be a good chance to see more of the territory, although she was abbot cautious as she went out. She had never gone on a patrol before, so that made her nervous, and on top of that the clan did have issues. Yellowburr could be out there anywhere. Just as she thought it she noticed the change of Foxstripes posture, and her gaze turned to find the cat standing infront of them. Deciding to let Foxstripe talk, she stood back, ready to run or fight if need be, even with as little training she had had. She had figured out how to fight well enough as a kit on her own, but she had never found a reason to put it to use. She also got the feeling there were more cats in the shadow watching them. Who was she kidding, she always thought there were cats in the shadows watching her, but that didn't mean she wasn't ready for them to be real. She opened her mouth to see if she could pick out any new scents and she could, but she wasn't sure if the other cats were actively there in the shadows or had been there in the recent past.

[Littlepaw]

littlepaw had been left behind; her paw had caught on a tree root, sending her stumbling into the scene. she caught a familar smell - yellowburr - and her amber eyes widened, before narrowing to slits. the fur on the back of her neck started to rise, making her dark fur even more spiky than usual. she moved closer to fallenpaw, not looking away from the rebels' leader. she broke eye contact momentarily, however, to glance at foxstrike.

 "yeah," she snarked. "i'm surprised that you're not just all talk, yellowburr." now she was an apprentice, she would finally be taken seriously, finally be a part of the clan. a rush of adrenaline surged within her veins, a feeling that wasn't unpleasant, and she lowered herself to the ground, preparing to attack - or to be attacked, whichever came first. a satisfied smile played on her features, and her eyes gleamed. 

[Turtlestep]

Having decided to finally leave camp after doing virtually nothing for days, I was enjoying myself quite a bit. It was nice to feel the sun across my back, and to stretch my legs. And it wasn't as if I was having to do anything tedious -- it was simply a border patrol. Walk, sniff, leave. Of course, there was always the chance of running into another Clan cat trespassing, in which case we'd have to fight them off, but it was very rare that that occurred. Plus, it was nice to socialize a bit and get some fresh air. 

The meadows were always especially pretty, in my opinion, although, considering the sun hit the land directly, I couldn't spend too much time there with my thick pelt. I looked up at the sky with the hint of a smile across my muzzle, not realizing that the rest of my patrol had stopped. "Yellowburr." I turned at the sound of Foxstrike's voice uttering the name, a frown replacing the soft smile. What I saw when I did turn, however, made me do a double-take. Yellowburr, the tom that had caused quite a ruckus within the Clan recently, had snuck up on us with a group of three other cats standing behind him. And they didn't look too friendly.

That certainly wasn't good. Our patrol was half apprentices, which definitely wouldn't be able to make a huge contribution to the fighting that I was sure was about to occur. I padded slowly back towards my patrol, taking a moment to study Yellowburr's group. There was another, smaller tom who I assumed was an apprentice, but the other three were warriors. I was small myself, a bit larger than an apprentice, and had never been the best with fighting. Of course, I would stand with my Clan through this and fight as well as I could, but that didn't mean I wasn't allowed to be worried.

Foxstrike and Littlepaw began speaking, and I blinked, turning my gaze towards the yellow tom to hear his response. They were taunting him, it seemed like, which I didn't feel was a great idea. He seemed.. unpredictable, and he certainly didn't seem afraid of a fight. This day had definitely not gone as planned. 

[Thistlepaw]

thistlepaw was nearing warriorhood, as well as being big for his age. these two factors combined meant that he could easily be mistaken for twelve moons, if not older. this in mind, he had placed himself at the front of the patrol, not too far behind foxstrike. he soon realized, however, that perhaps he had underestimated yellowburr. 

he stayed silent as foxstrike spoke, even as an apprentice spoke, reminding less than fondly how, well, arrogant he had been not many moons ago. despite himself, his lips curved upwards ever so slightly in a small smile. he quickly suppressed it, reminding himself that this was a serious situation. 
"are you looking for a fight, yellowburr?" he asked, genuinely curious, but no doubt it would be interpreted as ill-wanted sarcasm. 

[Yellowburr]

(sorry this is so late you guys! school got really busy for a few weeks, but i'll be able to post here from now on. since we want to finish this thread quickly, if someone takes too long to reply, the next person can go ahead and post :3)

I felt the group of ragtag cats following closely behind me. The grass hid us well, at least I assumed considering the patrol ahead hadn't noticed us yet. With my tail, I motioned for my group to spread out, hoping they would get the idea and form a sort of semi circle around the patrol. Attacking in a single-file line didn't seem like an entirely intelligent idea, even if I did have high hopes. Despite the face that the TreeClan patrol had five cats to its name and we had only four, the majority of their group was made up of apprentices, and one of the two warriors was apprentice sized. 

My face was inches from Foxstrike's, and it crumpled into a look of disappointment. My exclamation (boo!) had failed to frighten him, although he clearly wasn't pleased at my arrival. The expression melted swiftly into my crazed grin, tilting my head to the side. "The one and only!" I laughed loudly, letting the odd sound trail off after a couple of moments. I noticed his stiff posture and spiked fur, sticking out my lower lip in a pout. "Is someone not happy to see me?"

I chuckled in a seemingly bashful manner (although, of course, it was only an act) and shrugged. "Oh, you know me," I drawled, smile returned. I stood up straight, looking over Foxstrike's shoulder to check out the rest of his patrol. It only seemed natural that I would take on the patrol leader, the one who stood before me, and the rest of my group could figure out who they decided to fight. 

I chose to ignore the other comments coming from the border patrol. "Well, since you already know who we are, there's no use in introducing ourselves, is there?" I laughed again, turning towards my own group. "Boys?" I said. "And girl," I added after a moment, signaling for them to begin before I turned to face my opponent. "I wish I could tell you guys things were gonna get better," I said to Foxstrike. "They're not." I grinned and wasted no time jumping at the other tom.