Disappointment [p]

[Natalia]

@icypool ((Ehh... This was the post-recent events thread I was talking about. Don't have to reply to it if you don't want to.))

Natalia was angry. That wasn't in doubt. Not now, not ever. She was still angry. Recently, she gone through a rollercoaster of emotion. From shock, to grief, to depressed acceptance, and now she was stuck in the anger phase. 

Her anger was fueled by the disappointment of Deathclan missing their chance to attack Iceclan before they returned to their home in the mountains. By one of the tasks Jude had been assigned to in life being rendered irrelevant. By the loss of a chance to really hurt something alive that would really feel it. She grit her teeth.

She'd spent a lot of time thinking about it, but honestly... Her resolve and conviction was never stronger. She was angry at Pain. She was disappointed. She told him they needed to act and he brushed her off! Instead, he started talking crap like he thought she needed help. To be fixed. Hah, there was no fixing a piece of trash like herself. She was better off sharpening herself. She was like a piece of vaguely pointy scrap metal that could be dangerous, but had not reached its potential into becoming a dagger. Precise and deadly. Dangerous.

She really wanted to kill something. She'd never killed before, but would it be that hard? Cats were kind of like really big, talking rats after all, really. She doubted she'd regret it afterwards.

All of this led to why she was hunting down a cat who'd attacked her recently.

She came to a clearing with the cat she was looking for.

"Hey, Icy! I want to talk!"

[Deleted]

Icy's ears twitched and she turned, immediately interested upon hearing her name. Oh, how she loved hearing her name! It turned her on a little.

Her eyes lit up in rapture when she identified the cat to be her favourite plaything of recent days. Of course Icy would assume that she had come grovelling back to beg more mercy. Although, she seemed different this time around. Determined. She had to be, to approach Icy out in the open.

"And a talk you shall have!"

Icy jumped down from the tree stump and approached her 'clan-mate' serenely.

"You look agitated. Did somebody relieve themselves in your nest? I'll find them, if you want. I'll make it look like an accident."

[Natalia]

Natalia flattened her eyes as Icy approached, being annoyingly playful as usual. This time, however, she had no interest in pretending she wasn't annoyed as all Hell. Because she annoyed! She didn't care about decorum. She came here in search of results.

"I'll cut to the chase." She began. "I'm mad at Pain. He waited too long and now Iceclan has returned to the mountains. He brushed me off when I talked to him about it, not long before Iceclan left the barn." She explained, her own rage coloring her voice. 

"I could tell you're not too interested in following Pain. I want to know how seriously that goes. You willing to beat him in a fight and take the title of leader from him?"

[Deleted]

[ woo, apprentice stars xd ]

My, she was angry. Icy did not hide her delight.

"Remember when you so fervently defended this cat, Pain, to me? And look at you now, all grown up, hiring somebody to dispose of him! How wicked.. I love it!"

She could claim leadership.. She had both the brute force and the intellect to do so. But she contemplated the difficulty of keeping the title for longer than a couple of moons. As marvelous as she was on her own, she would need support. Icy had one trusted friend, Ember. She cared little for anyone else.

"Sure, I'll knock him out. If you pledge your allegiance to me."

[Natalia]

Natalia huffed. "That's when I thought he was the best choice for the job. I thought he might be good at it. I was proven wrong." She didn't like Icy's sadistic streak, but she could live with it. It was better than inaction.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. I pledge my allegiance to you." She really hoped Icy wasn't expecting her to bow down and make a real show of it. She could pull it off, but it'd be annoying and she was feeling a little too angry and frustrated at the moment.

Maybe she should feel some remorse for turning on Pain like this... But they weren't friends. They just weren't. So, she was fine with doing this.

No mercy in a cruel world, right?

((I understand your pain lol. I'm p sure Foxpaw thinks Icy and Ember are like barely adults due to their post counts. UgghhHh I'll admit it, I'm wondering if we should tell them to maybe... Tone it down a bit, since a pair of apprentices really shouldn't be able to beat Icy and Ember...?? I think. Plus they're probably really inexperienced.))

[Deleted]

[ Yeah, they probably shouldn't be dodging as much as they are, although to be fair they have no idea who Ember and Icy are lol.  And I doubt they would win. Ember and Icy wouldn't lose to apprentices unless they both suck idk ]

Her interest grew substantially. Natalia, who had spent her sweet time around Pain, was now a valuable source of intel. And to think, Icy had tried to eliminate the poor thing.

"What's he like?" she asked. "You seen him fight before?"

[Natalia]

((Yeah. Um... I tried to explain Icy's and Nat's ages are EXTREMELY disproportionate to their post counts. I don't know if they read it. Maybe we should tell them.))

Natalia thought about it. "Yes. I've seen him fight before. Once. When he usurped the previous ruler, Ash." She snorted. "If you think he's bad, Ash was a total joke. Pain is fast, which you might not guess from looking at him. He blinded Ash, so he's certainly not afraid to play dirty or maim someone. He prefers scratching over biting." She sighed. "I think he plans on trying to make Deathclan... What it once was, but if he's going to be too afraid to allow Deathclan to reassert itself, I don't think that's going to happen."

[Deleted]

Ugh.. a scratcher. Eighteen toes on a cat, eighteen claws on a cat, those were eighteen weapons to worry about.
"I need you to do something for me."

[Natalia]

Natalia's ear twitched. "Depends on what it is. Let me hear it first."

[Deleted]

"Distract anyone who could be an inconvenience. Did he have any other fanatical admirers, apart from yourself?"
"I don't care how you do it. Pick a fight with them. Court them. Whatever."

From what Icy had previously learned, Pain wasn't terribly popular anyway, in the sense that Natalia alone had been his main support. She figured Natalia could take care of anyone else in a fight. She could deploy that favourite old strategy of hers.. evade them until they die of old age.

[Natalia]

Natalia's ear flicked. "No fanatical admirers." She irked at the idea of being called fanatical, but that didn't matter. "He had a friend, her name was Patch. I believe they had a falling out recently. Though, I believe I can convince Patch to hang back. If not, I can hold her back." She wasn't afraid to get a little rough with Patch, it shouldn't be too hard to hold back the other she-cat.