Disappointment [Open]

[Deleted]

Drought scowled from where he was perched in the upper branches of his tree. What in the name of Darkpool had happened to his Clan? It seemed like all of his cats had practically vanished overnight. They'd better show up soon, or he wouldn't be able to carry on with some of his schemes.

[Eli]

Eli settled down near a patch of grass, dropping a rat near his paws, though he had never particularly liked right. It wasn't much of a time to be picky, however, for there wasn't much else to eat these days. The caw of a crow caused the long haired, lynx point DeathClanner to look up. Mm. Perhaps I could catch myself some crow? He thought, watching as the sleek-feathered bird landed on a nearby tree. It didn't take long to notice Drought perched on one of the branches. "Oi! Drought!" He meowed, soft enough not to alarm the bird. He motioned towards the creature, not about to let such a good meal pass.

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The patched leader blinked when he noticed movement from the bushes, and a peasant appeared moments later. Drought twitched his torn ears and looked down.

Wow, that was just a really dumb bird. Couldn't it smell his scent all over this tree? Maybe it was half-blind, since his claw marks also covered the trunk and branches. He shrugged and easily slipped down towards it, hopping lightly from branch to branch. A final leap had the crow bleeding to death from several gashes in its throat. Drought let it fall to the ground and then slithered down after it.

"I was starting to think that my entire Clan had left. Good to see that's not the case..."

[Eli]

Eli watched as Drought easily caught the crow, letting it fall to the ground near his own paws. "The entire Clan? Darkpool, no. I suppose they just haven't been showing themselves much recently," he shrugged, tilting his head as Drought leapt down from the tree. He eyed the crow, but instead of taking it, returned to his own prey - the rat. "Or perhaps they're scared of you," he gave a small laugh at that, but, to be honest, he wouldn't be surprised.

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"As they should be. I didn't get here by being a Darkpool-forsaken pansy," Drought responded with a slight curling of his lip. "But either way, they'd better be around when I need them. Which is… soon." The irons were in the fire, but he couldn't pull off some of these schemes alone.

[Eli]

Eli shrugged with a nod. "That's true," he replied, finishing up his rat. He pushed the bones underneath a nearby bush after eating the best part (as good as a rat could get) - the tail. "Soon? What will you be needing for us?" He inquired curiously, glancing up at Drought. "Of course, if you need, I could rally them up for you."

[Deleted]

"I heard that the Clans are warring amongst themselves. Afterwards, while they are still weak, we will attack TreeClan to reclaim the strip of forest near their border. So yes; spread the news throughout DeathClan. I want every able cat to participate in this invasion," Drought explained. He took a bite of his crow, remembering how birds from TreeClan's forest were tastier and easier to catch. The long-disputed territory would surely belong to them soon.

[Eli]

Eli lstened with his ears pricked. "Ooh, that is a spicy bit of information," he grinned, blue eyes gleaming with excitement. He was always up for a good fight and some bloodshed alongside Drought and DeathClan. "If you need any special help, I'm right here." After all, I was the first one to know. As far as he knew, he was, at least. "For example, I could recruit some spies for you, and we could watch TreeClan."

[Deleted]

The leader nodded slowly; that was quite the noble offer. "Not yet," he rumbled after a pause. "I will search out my spies personally when I want to watch those fools. Starting this early, when we don't plan on attacking for at least a moon, is risky. More time for them to discover that they're being watched and take precautions against us." The patched cat tore off another piece of meat and chewed contemplatively. Little did he know that he'd probably saved his cats from catching greencough by choosing not to spy on TreeClan yet.

[Eli]

Eli nodded. "That's a smart decision," he meowed. "If you ever need help, just holler! I'll be sure to come quickly. There isn't much else to do here in the swamp besides hunt. I'd like for the taste of a new adventure." With that, his blue eyes lit up in excitement. "Anything else exciting happening for you? I'm afraid people are too frightened to spread rumors about you, so I cannot say I know much about our leader." He grinned. "Anyhow, I don't hear much. DeathClanners tend to stay more to themselves, I suppose."

[Deleted]

If anything, this cat seemed trustworthy enough to be a decent spy. But after the incident with Lyric… well, he'd thought her loyal too, but that misconception vanished when he caught her betraying DeathClan. Being out for the blood of his former friends seemed to be a recurring theme throughout Drought's life.

"Ah… not particularly. Life here is fairly boring unless I'm busy skinning some idiot peasant," the patched tom meowed with a small shrug. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that some of my cats are no more than lost little kittypets. Perhaps I should organize some sort of combat practice system," Drought continued, almost to himself. He remembered the days when DeathClan had trainees, but going back to that didn't seem worthwhile… a different method, perhaps?

[Eli]

Eli chuckled. "Lyric, right? Was she the last one you 'skinned'?" He shook his head at the sound of her name. "That traitor." He perked his ears at Drought's next words. "To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were kittypets in a former life. Some of them are too soft!" He smirked, tilting his head. "I was in the kittypet area not long ago, and ran into a nice little fellow. He didn't seem like a typical kittypet though - muscular and strong, actually," he meowed. "If we ever need new members, I'd be obliged to try and recruit him. He'd be valuable." He flicked his tail.

"Combat practice? Like the Clans? As long as we don't have the same techniques as the Clans, that would be a good idea," he smiled pleasantly. "How would we do it, then? Get together a group of all the terrible fighters - in fact, it'd be a pretty big group - and instruct them?" He inquired, thinking.

[Deleted]

"Well, Lyric's case was more severe. It's rare that I have to hold a public beating… even more so that I end up exiling someone," Drought meowed. The list of cats who would be killed if they ever returned to DeathClan's forest was rather short. That was good - the scarred tom didn't like to kill too often. It made the novelty of the experience wear off.

He sighed and continued. "Yes, go ahead and bring this cat to me if you think he'd be worthwhile. I'd like to take a look at him personally." Of course, that mostly meant he wanted to see whether the kittypet could hold his own in a fight. If not… well, he wouldn't have lasted very long i DeathClan anyway.

"No, not like those foolish CloudClan-forshippers. I'm thinking that I should get a few decent fighters to go around challenging those who seem too weak. See if they're any good in battle… then report to me. Perhaps you'd be interested in doing that? Of course… I'd have to test your mettle if so," the leader stated with a crooked grin.

[Eli]

whoops. didn't realize you posted

Eli nodded, understanding. He didn't have any response to his reply, so they moved on to the second topic. "I'll see if he's interested, though I'm not so sure I'd be much use physically. I don't see myself as bad at fighting, but he's much bigger than I," he chuckled. He was sure Gemini could easily beat him, although the guy seemed pretty intent on peace. Hm. That might not be a good quality for DeathClan, he thought. Besides, the lynx point had never much liked fighting, especially with a guy like that.

"That could be a good system," he answered thoughtfully. "But if they are bad at fighting? What then?" He inquired curiously. "And what if one injures another too badly? We don't have any solid ways of healing wounds, and I'm sure we wouldn't be able to afford to lose any more members," he murmured. "But, of course, it's all your and the elite's decision, not mine!" He chuckled.

Eli couldn't say he was surprised at the offer. He wasn't sure if he wanted to intentionally hurt others, especially if they were on his side, but obviously it would be for a good cause. "I'd be honored," he grinned. "Fight you? I can hold my own in a battle, though you aren't just any cat. Hm.. perhaps it would be nice to try," his grin grew as he stood. He'd make sure not to hurt his leader, if he could even land a few blows. Though, I'm sure he means with our claws unsheathed. I'll just have to see what he wants to do. 

[Deleted]

| Elites don't exist anymore, by the way. That's sorta meant to be common knowledge among the DeathClanners at this point. |

"Oh, you don't need to challenge him to a brawl. I'll handle that," smirked Drought. Being capable in combat was, essentially, an entry requirement for DeathClan. He could only imagine the humiliation if his followers didn't know how to use their own claws and teeth. Raids would be a disaster; the pseudo-Clan would turn into a joke. And that was unacceptable.

His expression hardened at Eli's 'what if' statements. "Those who cannot fight do not belong here. We have no place for the weak - and that includes those who cannot recover from their wounds."

Well, at least the younger tom had accepted his challenge. Drought got to his paws and started to circle Eli slowly and deliberately. Then he lunged in a feint. The amber-eyed feline moved as if to pounce, but he was rolling a second later, attempting to kick at his opponent's stomach with his hind paws before popping back up on Eli's other flank.

Hoping that his attack had unbalanced or winded the peasant, he tried to ram with his shoulder. It'd be interesting to see how Eli dealt with this combo.