slacking off (p)

[Needleclaw]

Needlepaw hated cleaning dens. Hated, hated, HATED it. There were so many better things he could be doing with his time! Battle training, for one. Hunting practice, for another. Heck, even a border patrol would be more useful than this. Why can't every cat just learn to clean out their own blasted nests, he thought, staring at the pile of moss he had brought in, making no attempt to actually start doing his chore. He looked around for a distraction, green eyes gleaming when the spotted Squirrelbite . 

"Hey, kid," Needlepaw walked towards the she-kit and away from his responsibilities, his very, very boring responsibilities. "You were at the gathering the other day weren't you?" now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure she'd spoke out against Fallenpaw. He wasn't the biggest fan of children, but this was a kitten he could get behind. "You got some spunk."

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelkit was laying in her nest, watching other cats and listening to their conversations. She needed to figure out who was on what side so that she could avoid saying the wrong thing. Of course, the reddish she-cat fully intended on eventually deceiving everybody, so that she would avoid being back-stabbed herself.

"Oh, hi there." Squirrelkit lifted her head, recognizing Needlepaw, a cat who had spoken on the side of the rebels. She liked how he'd been so bold, arguing with a cat as intimidating as Dogfang when he was just an apprentice. "Thanks. I didn't wanna say a lot, 'cause I'm just a kit, but that apprentice was being so mouse-brained, I couldn't help it."

"I'm Squirrelkit." She flicked her tail.

[Needleclaw]

Needlepaw snorted, "yeah, Fallenpaw's a fleabrain. It's good that someone other than me is setting her straight. Not that she'd listen, like I said, fleabrain. Can't comprehend all the big fancy words that get thrown around. They go in one ear and out the other," he sneered. He'd been fighting with the she-cat since they were both just kittens. If his friend Littlepaw didn't like her so much he might've already ripped a few clumps of fur out of her pelt. The tabby shook his head, sitting back, "anyway, you shouldn't hold back just because you're young. Just because a cat is older than you doesn't mean they're right," he knew that speaking up never guaranteed that they'd listen, but being he could never stand being silent. Needlepaw flexed his claws. If cats didn't take him serious he would make them. "And just because a cat's in this clan doesn't mean they deserve to be," he slipped in under his breath.

"Needlepaw," the tabby mewed his own introduction. Not for long though, his training was going well and he knew that any day now he'd be receiving his warrior name. Squirrelkit looked about apprentice age, I wonder if we'll have our ceremony at the same time. He thought, thinking that he might not mind if Arrowstar assigned Squirrelkit as his apprentice. That is, if Arrowstar was still in power by the time his ceremony was due. To him it seemed like things were looking grim for the half-blooded leader. Maybe I'll be the first Yellowstar makes a warrior, he thought with a hidden smirk.

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelkit was past ready to become an apprentice, and the fact that Arrowstar hadn't done her ceremony yet made her even more sure that he was unfit to be a leader. Squirrelkit hoped that the revolution wouldn't come so quickly- She needed to be older, and needed to rise in the ranks of the rebels. Since she wasn't too physically imposing yet, so Squirrelkit had to rely on words and manipulation to gain power, and that would only get her so far.

"To be honest, I think that Crystalbird is worse than Arrowstar." Squirrelkit brought up something she'd been thinking about. "I've been watching her.. And she's a joke. Even if she was clan-born, she wouldn't be fit to be deputy.. TreeClan can't keep living with weak fools as our leaders!" She hissed, scraping her claws against the ground.

"Yellowburr needs to be leader. The deputy.." Squirrelkit wouldn't be old enough by then, but she would make it, eventually. "I don't know.. Galelight? Maybe you. You're smart, but you're like me, you don't have a lot of experience."

[Needleclaw]

The tabby's lip curled at the mention of Crystalbird. She was just another show of Arrowstar's incompetence. How did he expect a cat that been in the clan for less time than Needlepaw had been alive to know what it meant to be a clanmate, to have any true loyalty to TreeClan, to be able to lead it? It was idiotic. "I agree," he mewed, tail lashing, "we'll end up like DeathClan, the way things are going now. Arrowstar wants us to blindly follow him, like Drought had his rouges do. Cats were allowed to walk in and out of the borders as they pleased, just like what we're letting our clan do now. And look where that got DeathClan? They're a joke now. Our ideals may be different, but we're walking down the same path for as long as we let Arrowstar lead." It annoyed Needlepaw how little of his clanmates seemed to realize this. Then again, most of them were rougeborn or halfbloods. Their minds weren't wired to see what was good for a clan, only what as good for themselves.

"He should be leader. I don't know why he isn't already," the tabby apprentice grumbled in agreement, green eyes flashing when Squirrelkit began discussing who would be his deputy. Needlepaw hadn't put much though into it, but now that is was on his mind... would it be that impossible to consider himself the next deputy? "I wouldn't turn down the position if offered," Needlepaw mewed, ambition burning in his eyes. He wanted to be deputy, but he was smart enough to know that he wouldn't be Yellowburr's first choice. "But, if Yellowburr is smart, and he is, he'd pick Galelight. He's the oldest warrior that currently shows support for him, he's pureblooded TreeClan--plus he's got kits, TreeClan kits. He did leave the clan for a bit, but he returned with high levels of patriotism," Needlepaw's brow furrowed. He wouldn't be able to compete with that. "I heard a rumor that he had a halfblood mate too. One that left for the clan she shared blood with, FireClan I think--left him and their kits."

[Squirrelbite]

"It'll happen." Squirrelkit agreed, an excited edge to her voice. "Soon enough.. TreeClan will stop going to Gatherings, and sharing tongues with CloudClan.. I bet there won't even be ceremonies anymore, we'll be rogues, every cat will have filthy blood and no one will respect queens, or elders.." She spoke of the chaos. If Squirrelkit had been born in DeathClan, she was certain that her life would be no different than it was now. 

Squirrelkit shuddered. "Or worse. Cats with bad intentions will be allowed into TreeClan, and take over, killing us all, turning us into just another part of DeathClan." Her tail lashed with anger.

How could Arrowstar be so selfish? He was letting in rogues because he was a rogue, and he wanted the perks of being clan leader- he didn't care if he was putting his cats in danger. "Anyone can join nowadays, they don't even have to prove themselves! For all we know, every outsider in TreeClan is plotting to destroy us." 

Nine lives was a long time, and Squirrelkit was patient. Yellowstar would outlive Galelight, and Squirrelkit would be deputy. Or if she wasn't, she would eliminate her competitors. It was for the good of the clan.

She narrowed her eyes, her amber eyes gleaming. "We are letting TreeClan rot from the inside out! We need to purify ourselves before it's too late!"

[Needleclaw]

Needlepaw nodded, invigorated. "Other clans will see our weakness, see how we've let our bloodline dwindle to little to nothing. See that it wouldn't even matter if they took over our clan, because our clan had already fallen. They'll think us weak, and we will be. Unless things change," he added. Then smirked, eyes bright, "and they are, thanks to Yellowburr." He then sunk back, letting Squirrelkit continue, listening to her words with intense interest. She's smart, he thought, both surprised and impressed. 

"It's a pity we can't just clear out all of those dungblooded cats and get done with it," the tabby mewed, a hint of growl in his voice, "but those high-and-mighty rouge supporters wouldn't let it happen. And they've got too much hold in the clan to go against them fully. I'm hoping, once Yellowburr's leader, he'll start slow. Start with just closing the borders, let Arrowstar's supporters come to him. Then, once things have settled, he can started weeding out the rouges and halfbloods, one by one," Needlepaw ran a tongue over his teeth, once again kneading his claws into the mossy floor of the nursery. "It'd be tedious, but that's how I would do it if I walked in his paws."

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelkit nodded. She was glad that she met Needlepaw- he was more like her than anyone else she'd met. Crowkit lacked compassion, but also he also had no ambition, and Yellowburr wouldn't take her seriously until she was older. "If it weren't for Yellowburr, we would all be doomed." The young she-cat stated. "We have to take it upon ourselves to fix the mess that cats like Arrowstar and Dogfang created."

Though, when Yellowburr did eventually take over, Squirrelkit wondered exactly what he would do. "Obviously, we have to kick out every cat who joined as a rogue.. But what about their kits? Cats with rogue parents can't be trusted, can they?" Squirrelkit asked, genuine uncertainty in her voice. "And cats who were taken into the clan as kits.. "

Squirrelkit only cared about keeping cats who were loyal. Even clan-born cats would have to go if they sided with Arrowstar. From then, TreeClan would rule strictly, allowing absolutely no outsiders, and any cat who showed signs of unhappiness with clan life. "Also.. I think we should kill Arrowstar. And Crystalbird, and Dogfang.. Any cat who could lead a resistance after we've taken over. I don't want to hurt apprentices, either, but.."

[Needleclaw]

Needlepaw snorted at Dogfang's name. The fleabag spoke like being the brother of a former leader gave him power. TreeClan is overrun with cats like him, the tabby thought, thinking the word Squirrelkit used earlier, "purify", would be a nice brand for the future he wanted to bring the old tom to. 

"It's against the warrior code to harm kits," the apprentice thought allowed, knowing all the other clans would be outraged if they found out TreeClan was exiling kittens, "so we have two options: assign the kits new parents, ones with pure TreeClan blood, and raise them to believe that they're pureblooded TreeClan, or wait till they're apprentices then kick them out. Personally I favor the first option, gives us more frontliners for battle. Of course, we'd have to make sure all these kittens were kept separate from each other until their loyalty can be trusted. Always keep them guarded, and if they step a paw out of line we'll send them back to their parents," Needlepaw's eyes gleamed dangerously, "half-bloods are harder though. Do we keep them in the clan, or send them back to the other clan they share blood with?" he tipped his head to the side in thought, "giving them to other clans would only make our rival clans stronger... maybe they should just be exiled..." he turned to Squirrelkit, "what do you think?"

Needlepaw ran his tongue over his teeth as Squirrelkit talked about killing the clan leader. "I have to disagree with you on that one. Other clans might try to meddle if we kill a clan leader--might start worrying that their clan will do the same. Plus Arrowstar has FireClan blood, they might get mad at us for killing a cat that shares their kin. I think Arrowstar should be exiled. He's weak, I can see it in his eyes, he couldn't unit a litter of kittens, much less a rebellion. No, Dogfang is the one that should be killed. He's a senior warrior, obviously strong and experienced, well respected by those on his side no doubt, taking him down would be a good display of force. Crystalbird as well, she holds no ties to any of the clans, I doubt anyone would be crying over her death," he wrapped his tail around his paws, "and we should do this publicly. Capture all three of them, make a show of it. Have every cat gather in the center of camp, even kits! Have them bloodied and beaten, maybe break a few limbs. Then we'll kill Dogfang, kill Crystalbird, and chase Arrowstrike out of camp--all of us, a clan untied against their former leader. Those who who refuse to chase him, who stand with him, will be chased out as well," the tom could invision it clearly in his head now.

[Squirrelbite]

"I like that idea. After a generation or two, we won't have to go to such extreme measures, since we'll have cleared TreeClan of any filthy blood." Squirrelkit said with a nod. She could see it now- Squirrelkit as Yellowstar's most trusted warrior, raising kits to be just as smart and loyal as her. "We shouldn't try to keep any cat's heritage a secret.. If they found out we were lying, they would have cause to betray TreeClan. Instead, we can tell them of their shameful beginnings so that they will work even harder to prove they belong."

Squirrelkit flicked her tail. "They shouldn't be exiled. Exiling them will cause resentment to build up, and they might try to attack us.." 

That made her think of another problem. "Arrowstar is a symbol for all rogues living in TreeClan.. If we just exile him, and other powerful, influential cats.. They'll try to retake the clan. He'll use lies and false promises to seduce our cats to his side, and before we know it, we'll be right back where we started. He needs to go." The kit stated confidently, her eyes burning.

"I suppose.." Squirrelkit tried to think of a compromise. "We could take all of his lives, except for one. Then he would be a normal cat.."

[Needleclaw]

"You're right," Needlepaw mewed, keeping their heritage a secret could lead to unwanted problems if they somehow found out. Making those with outsider blood feel like they needed to prove themselves was better motivation, "we should also restrict their breeding rights, so their tainted blood can't spread to the pureblooded TreeClan warriors and infect theirs. Maybe half-bloods can have kits, as long as their with a TreeClan warrior that's proved that they can be trusted and have proved themselves loyal as well. Of course, it isn't something we'd let happen often, and defiantly no nursery queens with an impure heritage, but it'd be good to introduce fresh blood every now and then. If we go too long without it we'll end up having everyone being so closely related that they wont want to have kits with each other," Needlepaw snorted, "I mean, look at FireClan, half their clan is direct kin with one another. I'm sure that'll be a problem soon enough. No, as much as I hate to admit it we have to introduce new blood every several generations," the apprentice was, of course, planning way ahead in the future. But he believed this was something the rebellion needed to think about now. Yellowburr should be discussing with them as well, he would be around for much longer once he finally received his nine lives from CloudClan. "Of course, we don't need to worry about this for many, many seasons, but it's always good to plan for the future." He wanted to know that one day his offspring would live in a clan where they could flourish. 

"Not if we mutilate them first," Needlepaw mewed lowly, a sadisitc glint in his eye, "the warrior code prevents us from killing unless necessary, but it says nothing about maiming. If we give the outsiders wounds they'll remember--shred their ears to stumps, break a few of their legs, blind them--I'm sure they'll know to leave us alone. We can't just start a massacre," sadly "if we kill off half our clan, no matter how justified the reason, the other clans are bound to butt in. Especially FireClan, we've been letting those rabbitchasers mix blood with us for too long. They had a half-TreeClan queen for some time, you know? Plus, in the more recent seasons, various TreeClan warriors have escaped to that clan because of the blood they share with their warriors," his nose was wrinkled with disgust.

"Hmmm, we might need him though--I'm not too sure how Yellowstar would go about getting his nine lives after all. They might need Arrowstar alive, CloudClan that is. They might have to take the nine lives he currently has away from him and transfer them to Yellowstar. We'll have to keep him alive until we find out. After that..." Needlepaw grinned, "I say we claw his tongue off."