Open to Join Plot Thread Spitefire

Wrentalon had spent the morning chasing prey all the way to the borderlands. Although the deepest part of leaf-bare was over, the thaw had not quite arrived in full, and most prey were still dormant. He was grumbling to himself about how sick he was of the scarcity as his paws carried him closer to the riverbank.

He paused as a spot of reddish fur caught his eye...in the middle of the frozen river. For a moment, he paused, trying to figure out what in the world this cat was doing. No other scents or sounds nearby, so she was probably alone, and she was way too big to be an apprentice, so she was probably not just fooling around. And, he supposed she hadn't quite crossed into Thunderclan territory yet...but she certainly looked as if she was going to.

The dark brown fur along his tail bristled as it lashed behind him. Part of him wished she'd test her luck.

Bloomfire was out here to spite her own clanmates, not greet others. When the scent of an approaching ThunderClan cat hit her senses, she felt the irritation build up, though she shook it off. Why not have a little fun with her friendly neighbour. 

She slowly turned her head around, batting her eyelashes before her lip curled up in a slight snarl. 'What are you looking at? Can't a she just enjoy the frozen river in peace? Or am I too close to your precious border? Am I making a poor ThunderClanner nervous?' She called out with false pity, tapping a claw lightly against the ice. She went to speak again, but a sharp, metallic scent hit her mouth, causing her gaze to narrow. It was from ThunderClan's side, but she couldn't pick up a clear scent. Was it a clanmate of hers? Or a pathetic ThunderClan cat succumbing to the claws of one of her own. Her gaze turned icy as she looked to Wrentalon, slowly inching closer and closer until she was just before the bank, on RiverClan territory still of course. 

'Don't tell me you can't smell that.' She hissed, voice just as icy as her gaze. 'Was it you? Couldn't be, you look too weak. Someone's dying at your border and you haven't even investigated' Bloomfire held the tom's gaze for a moment longer before leaping back further onto the ice, making sure she landed squarely on a stable patch. Guess she would investigate. Maybe if someone was on their deathbed she would get the joy of putting them out of their misery.

What Bloomfire did not expect was a live cat to be there as well, carrying scents of the unknown. 'Did you do this? How cute.' She knew the rogue couldn't have, for he was clean and woundless, and the body was battered and bleeding. A battle had happened, yet none of the three here had caused it. The black and white she-cat's corpse reeked on ThunderClan, and she vaguely remembered seeing her at gatherings. Cottonlily or something. She turned to Wrentalon with a smug grin. A win for RiverClan.

“What are you even–” He froze as the scent hit his nose. Hackles rising, he tried to discern where the smell was coming from. His glare shifted to the Riverclanner, letting out a hiss as she got closer. Wrentalon gave a quick swipe with his claws–not enough to actually make contact, but hopefully enough to shut her up for a moment. There wasn’t time to give her a piece of his mind.

He dashed off to follow the scent, and when he came upon the scene, he froze in his tracks. A cat. His mother. A scream bubbled in his stomach, but he tried to keep his head. Where was he?

The Thunderclan-Riverclan border. Snow. Blood. Another warrior. Someone unfamiliar. His eyes widened at the black-and-white rogue, and his claws unsheathed. A deep, low yowl sounded from his throat as he advanced. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing here,” he snarled, deciding he was not in any mood to mess around, “but you had better leave.”

'Look, she fought to the death protecting her clan's border. Adorable!' Bloomfire said, a cheery smile spread across her face. Stars, surely this cat didn't think she was being serious? Yes, she might feel indifferent towards the death of this cat, but life was a precious thing. Something that she definitely wouldn't throw around. And killing another? It wasn't a fun task. She had done it herself. Watched as the cat beneath her paws struggled for their last breath, gleaming into their eyes as the light faded. Why had she done it? Because RiverClan said so. Not directly, but she was protecting her border. They refused to back down, and so did she. Fighting on the other hand, she nearly always itched for. To feel her claws sink into the flesh of another. To watch them struggle until forced to surrender. 

'Oooh perhaps we should have a bonding session and go find them. I can do the honours of slaughter, get revenge for you, y'know.' Bloomfire couldn't care less about ThunderClan, but she needed to find this cat, find out why they had done it, and get rid of them if they were going to cause trouble for RiverClan. Whether that meant killing them now or later, it didn't matter. She leant over to sniff the corpse, before giving it a prod. Definitely dead, that was for sure. The loner was right though, an second unfamiliar scent lingered, and a trail could be seen. She couldn't tell if following the trail would get her 'praise' from Coldgaze, or a berating. 

Wrentalon couldn't decide if the rogue's presence or this Riverclan warrior was worse. He positioned himself over Cottonlily's body, senselessly searching for any signs of breath. It was hopeless, and he knew it. He cared--of course he did! His mother and his clanmate was dead, but there was no way he was leaving her body alone with these two.

As Bloomfire leaned in to sniff, he swiped a claw at her muzzle. "You will have no part of this!" he hissed. He took a protective stance over Cottonlily. He wanted to snap at the rogue too--for all he knew, that tom had some part in this--but he was only just barely containing himself as it were.