Ask to Join Chasing Trails

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
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Leopardrose trailed a few fox lengths behind, her paws quiet but her presence anything but. Her tail lashed once, then stilled, the restless energy running like a current beneath her rosetted pelt. Her pale aqua eyes cut through the shifting brush, hunting for the smallest sign whether that be a pawprint, a snapped stem, the glint of tortoiseshell fur in the sun.

Cottonlily’s face kept slipping unbidden into her thoughts. "Don’t worry about me." She meowed back to Greypebbles, her voice low and flinty, carrying no room for argument. "If she’s out here, we’ll find her."

Her ears pricked at the faint rustle of a blackbird’s wings, and her claws flexed reflexively into the damp soil. Every sound felt heavier like the whole forest was holding its breath. She kept her stride even, but her shoulders were tight, the fur along her spine bristling in brief waves before smoothing again. "She won’t outsmart us forever." Leopardrose muttered, as she briefly paused at the Thunder Path's edge.

Even the smallest pebble can make ripples that change the course of the stream.

⋘ ──── ∙∙•🪨•∙∙ ──── ⋙

Greypebbles felt a spark of something prickle his pelt. He remembered when Cottonlily had been brought back to camp, her body mauled and lifeless, he had seen a cat like that more times than he'd like to admit and he didn't want to see another cat dead from this rogue that seemed to vanish into the night. Something had to be done, the clans needed this rogue gone, and Greypebbles wanted to help, he was ready... at least he hoped he was.

"That's easier said than done" He replied, a flicker of fondness in his tone as he glanced back over to the rosetted she-cat. "You've always gotten yourself into something" He chuckled before taking a few more paces forward.

The grey tom came to a sudden halt, his ears perked and swiveling with alertness. Greypebbles drank in the air, the scent of the rogue hadn't travelled here, at least not today, but it was another scent. It wasn't the tortoiseshell, but it wasn't clan, and it didn't make him ease, not at all...

Greypebbles shook his head and moved towards a nearby tree, there was a view of the thunderpath and the territory from here... if he wasn't as small as he was anyway. He was sure his friend had a wider field of vision than he had, and she could notice things he didn't. If something was really here, Leopardrose would find it.

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
──●◎●──

Leopardrose’s whiskers twitched at his chuckle but she didn’t return it. Her gaze stayed fixed on the trees ahead, sharp and unyielding. Always gotten yourself into something. The words lingered in her ears, but instead of fondness they reminded her of darker memories.

Her paws stilled when Greypebbles halted, and she drew in a deep breath, the scents of damp bark and faint carrion drifting off the Thunderpath stinging her nose. But beneath it, there it was - something that didn’t belong. Not tortoiseshell...but. Her hackles lifted, pale aqua eyes narrowing.

She padded forward, muscles taut and scaled the tree with the ease of a cat who’d done it since kithood. From the branch she crouched, scanning the Thunderpath and the shadowed undergrowth. Every shift of leaf, every dart of movement beneath the brush dragged her gaze, her claws hooking into bark.

"It's not her...It's..." Her chin tilted up, hackles lifting as the scent was all too familiar.

Even the smallest pebble can make ripples that change the course of the stream.

⋘ ──── ∙∙•🪨•∙∙ ──── ⋙

Greypebbles' fur pricked at Leopardrose's tense posture and behavior... she didn't reminisce like she used to, was Greypebbles losing his friend all because of some nasty rogue? His brows furrowed at the thought, he really shouldn't be so... worried, but he was observant enough to know when something was off with someone, and with Leopardrose, it felt like a ringing alarm telling him to talk to her about it.

Suddenly, the scent was stronger, filling his nose. It wasn't the rogue, definitely not, but it was nearly covered completely by the acrid, burning smell of the Thunderpath. It was subtle to him, but it was there, like a mouse hidden beneath a bushel of lavender. Quiet but present.

Leopardrose's swift bounds up the tree was nearly enough the small tom over, Greypebbles stumbled on his paws and glanced around frantically. "Leopardrose!" Greypebbles called up, haphazardly attempting the scale the tree with the same valor, but failing miserably, still climbing it, but not as quickly or... elegantly. "That gust of wind you made nearly knocked me over. Are you-" 

Before Greypebbles could ask if his friend was alright, he was alerted to rustling on a tree a little more closer to the Thunderpath, the reason the scent was so covered in the first place. But it wasn't the appearance of the cat that cut him off, it was the voice.

The world's too big to stay in one place.

⋘ ──── ∙∙•🦊•∙∙ ──── ⋙

"You've found the wrong cat, grand warriors." Fox stated once both of the warriors were in his sights, he was lounging on a nearby branch like a sleeping jaguar, glancing down at them with nothing more than curiosity and that natural charm of his. "Something about a tortoiseshell? Haven't seen one 'round these borders today" he added.

Fox rasped his tongue over the plumage of his white chest fur before flicking his gaze back to the ThunderClan warriors, one small and stocky, the other long and lean, a true comparison to put on a patrol, they could be friends perhaps, but they did both reek of ThunderClan. "You've only bumped into Fox" he chirped in greeting, his friendly tone seemed to ease the dappled grey warrior slightly, at least it completed its purpose on someone, Leopardrose was another mission.

The massive ginger tabby made no effort to move from his branch, he wasn't technically hunting or invading their territory, just having a peaceful nap in a tree, what warrior with half a right mind would do that. Leopardrose the bee-brain probably, he chuckled at his own thoughts, lowing his head back to his paws.

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
──●◎●──

Leopardrose’s claws bit into the bark as she shifted across to a neighboring branch, her rosetted pelt brushing the leaves. The branch swayed under her weight, but her balance was steady, deliberate, every step meant to close the space between them without hesitation. Her pale aqua eyes fixed on the massive ginger tom sprawled on a nearby branch on the tree next door.

"You’ve got a lot of nerve, Fox." She hissed, voice low and sharp, carrying the kind of threat that didn’t need to be shouted. Her tail lashed once behind her, steadying her as her paws dug deeper into the wood. "These aren't your trees. This isn’t your forest. You’ve got one chance to get down and get out before I jump over there and we see how strong that branch really is."

Her whiskers twitched, not in amusement but with cold calculation, her gaze flicking pointedly at the heavy dip beneath his massive frame. She hadn’t expected the limb to bear him at all, and the thought that it might not if she threw her own weight into it drew a faint, dangerous smile to her muzzle. "Climb down, Fox. Or I’ll help gravity do its work."

Even the smallest pebble can make ripples that change the course of the stream.

⋘ ──── ∙∙•🪨•∙∙ ──── ⋙

Leopardrose's sudden sharp threat startled Greypebbles to say the least, did she have something against this cat that she hadn't told him much about? Was this the 'Fox' she had been talking about that one time a few moons ago?

Many questions ran laps in the warrior's mind as he backed away into the shadows, he glanced at the distance between the trees, it was just shy of jumping distance, if Leopardrose wanted to spring, she'd miss no matter how hard her legs pushed. He couldn't just let herself burst of the branch for a nasty plumet to the ground.

"Leopardrose..." Greypebbles spoke, his voice more pleading than stern like he had wanted it to be. He placed a light paw onto her tail to bring her back to reality or some semblance of logic over a petty... possibly one sided rivalry. "The branch is too far. Look" Greypebbles gestured to the distance between the branches. "Not even Wildcry could have made that jump in her prime" he replied, voice still pleading.

Greypebbles took a closer look at the tom on the far tree, it was displayed just nest to the Thunderpath, but his massive red tabby pelt didn't fly over his head, it wasn't a cat he was interested in fighting just from the looks of him. "Don't get injured from a cat that isn't worth the bloodshed."

The world's too big to stay in one place.

⋘ ──── ∙∙•🦊•∙∙ ──── ⋙

Fox watched with a feigned seriousness that wouldn't fool the most mouse-brained of warriors, curling his tail in greeting to the smaller tom, who didn't reciprocate the greeting, but he wasn't surprised. His yellow-green eyes moved towards the grey tom for a moment, he looked like he was about to shiver in fear just at the thought of fighting him, he would do his best to try and ensure it didn't come to it.

"This one' not yours. I checked three times around, no cat marked it" Fox explained, even over the smell of the Thunderpath there was no ThunderClan on the trees or the few near it. It was barely a cluster, not even housing five trees at once, hardly worth the claim anyway, and Fox knew that from the thoughtful look in the grey tom's gaze that they weren't marked by any clan. "I'd never intrude on ThunderClan after that beating you gave me"

Fox's eyes narrowed with mirth, Leopardrose had never physically attacked him, but she did tackle the large tom, and he thought that fabricating a fight might impressed that little fluffy friend of hers. Though he wasn't sure if she'd even take the prompt or not, likely not... "Even had the bump to prove it!"

That last part was certainly true, a small bit of swelling had risen when he had been tackled by the dappled she-cat had pounced on him a few moons before but it had eased for a long time now. "This fox isn't here to harm or hunt, just getting some sun in his fur"

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
──●◎●──

Leopardrose’s whiskers twitched, pale aqua eyes narrowing to slits at Fox’s easy little story. "That’s the problem with you." She said, her voice edged with ice. "You lie so easily you forget what actually happened. I caught you off guard, nothing more."

Her claws flexed against the bark, but she didn’t shift closer. She angled her head back just enough to glance at Greypebbles, a brief acknowledgment in her gaze before it slid back to Fox. "Don’t worry." She murmured low, meant for her patrolmate alone. "I'm not jumping. He’s not worth the fall."

Her tail lashed once behind her, steadying her stance before she leveled her full focus on the ginger tom across the gap. "But you’re not staying either. You’ve had your nap, now you’ll cross the Thunderpath and find another tree to warm your belly under." She was being extremely gracious, mostly because of Greypebble's. She put on a feinted smile, sweet. "Next time, Fox, you won’t get the chance to lie about the fight because they'll be one."

She settled into her crouch, her presence as unyielding as the tree beneath her, making it clear neither she nor Greypebbles were moving until he did.

The world's too big to stay in one place.

⋘ ──── ∙∙•🦊•∙∙ ──── ⋙

"Heh, first time I've seen a ThunderClan warrior that wasn't eager to brag about some sort of prowess, you must be a joy in your clan" Fox chuckled before sweeping his tail across the branch he had been settled on. However, he shrugged and moved to stand up, noticing the smaller ThunderClanner flinch at his size. "I get it, no need for any of that" he grumbled, taking his time to stretch and hop down from the branch to a lower one, and then the ground.

Before he turned, he flicked a small farewell with his tail before darting across the Thunderpath after a few precautionary glances. He might have been a rogue, but he wasn't stupid.

Even the smallest pebble can make ripples that change the course of the stream.

⋘ ──── ∙∙•🪨•∙∙ ──── ⋙

The small tom flinched back behind his friend, claws unsheathing into the bark of the branch as the ginger tom stood tall enough to tower over both himself and Leopardrose. However, to his relief, there wouldn't be a fight today, Fox had jumped down from the tree with practiced perfection.

Greypebbles didn't miss the bristling of Leopardrose's fur and pressed his nose against her shoulder, a sign that he was still there, by her side and not wondering off, physially or metaphorically. "I'll assume that he was the Fox you were pacing about in camp for that day? You let him get under your fur like that?" he asked softly, as if Leopardrose's next words were going to be scolding and growling directed at the tom for even asking.

Greypebbles took a look down at the forest floor, a clump of herbs grew at the bottom of the tree, that could help Robinpaw and Tigerrush, he'll tell them about that when they got back to camp. "He's a rogue Leopardrose, they rarely differ" he whispered, every word measured and slightly shaken, as if the threat of a fight made him shutter, just slightly, though if one came, he would gladly leap in when needed. 

At least this one was preventable.

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
──●◎●──

Leopardrose didn’t answer him at first. Her gaze stayed locked on Fox, narrowed to cold slits as she tracked every movement before darting off across the Thunderpath. Only when the sound of his paws and the faint reek of rogue had faded into the undergrowth did her shoulders ease, her fur settling flat again.

Without a word she swung herself down from the branch, claws scraping against the bark in clipped, deliberate motions. The landing was silent, but her tail lashed once behind her before she turned to face Greypebbles. 

"Of course you’d say that..." She muttered, voice low but edged with something raw beneath the sarcasm. "So easy for you to call them all the same when you’ve always been one of us." Her whiskers flicked, jaw tightening. "When you didn’t have to prove it every single day."

She didn’t look at him long just enough for the bitterness to cut through before she started padding toward the roots of the tree, shoulders tense but head high as she continued their patrol parallel to the Thunderpath. Were all things seemed to start.

Maybe something did get under her skin, but it wasn't Fox. It was her.

Even the smallest pebble can make ripples that change the course of the stream.

⋘ ──── ∙∙•🪨•∙∙ ──── ⋙

Greypebbles followed Leopardrose's movement with quiet eyes, his paws slow but steady against the roots as he descended. The bitterness in her tone cut deeper than he wanted to admit, not because she aimed it at him, but because he knew what lay beneath it. Her voice carried the ache of someone who had fought for every pawstep, every shred of belonging.

He hesitated before speaking, ears twitching as he padded to her side. His voice came low, soft, and careful as though he feared that if he spoke too loud, it might drive her further away. "You're right, I shouldn't have just assumed like that..." he murmured after a moment, gaze fixed on the dark stretch of the Thunderpath rather than her. "I didn't have to prove it like you did, it was just... assumed of me. It isn't fair." his short tail flicked once, twitching against the air. "But that doesn't mean I don't see how hard you've had to fight to be here. To stay here."

He turned his head slightly, just enough for his blue eyes to catch hers, quiet but sincere. "You're ThunderClan through and through, Leopardrose. More than some cats who were born under its trees. It's not about where you were born, not to me and quite a few cats, it's about what you do for this clan, and you do more than could ever be asked of you." He paused, swallowing as though weighing his next words. "That rogue back there... he doesn't get to remind you of who you were. He only proves what you've become."

There was a long silence afterward, broken only by the faint hum of the wind through the branches. Then, with a faint, almost awkward softness, Greypebbles added, "And... for what it's worth, I know just how far you've come, I've been there. You don't have to prove that to me. And you shouldn't care what some bee-brained warriors think of how worthy you are. You just need to think about how far you've come, how strong you are now than you were then, it's not always the physical things."

He padded a step ahead then, quiet as always, letting his tail briefly brush her flank in a wordless gesture of comfort before continuing down the patrol line, slow enough for her to follow beside him if she wanted.

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
──●◎●──

Leopardrose’s steps slowed as he spoke, her paws sinking into the damp soil near the roots. For a few heartbeats, she didn’t look at him just stared at the Thunderpath, the sunlight glinting off its surface like a scar splitting their forest in two.

His words reached her anyway. When he brushed past her, his tail a brief, steady touch against her flank, she finally let her shoulders ease. A faint exhale slipped from her chest almost a sigh, though she caught it before it could sound too much like relief.

A flicker of warmth ghosted across her muzzle before she glanced sideways at him, eyes less sharp now, the corners softened. "Thanks...You don’t have to say those things. But I’m glad you did."

Her tail swept once behind her as she fell into step beside him, gaze forward again. "Maybe one day I’ll start believing it as easily as you say it."

The tension in her frame eased further with each pawstep, and though her eyes still carried their guarded edge, the bitterness that had clung to her voice before was gone.

Even the smallest pebble can make ripples that change the course of the stream.

⋘ ──── ∙∙•🪨•∙∙ ──── ⋙

A wave of relief washed over Greypebbles as Leopardrose's shoulders lowered with her hackles. A soft, encouraging smile twitched the corners of his mouth as he trailed beside the uniquely dappled she-cat, beside his one and only friend in the clan, beside Leopardrose. 

For a few long heartbeats, he was silent taking in the sounds of the trees and the forest, a robin chirped overhead and his ear gave a twitch in response. He let Leopardrose's words sink into him like sun soaking his fur, while she didn't say much, it was enough, enough for him to feel comforted by her presence again, instead of consistently worrying about her. Now he worried a little less consistently.

Greypebbles lifted his nose scenting the air, the rogue scent was gone now, faded across the thunderpath and definitely not the scent of the cat that had been slaughtering their clanmates.

A mix of relief and frustration framed his face as there was no sign of the cat, but all this was enough conflict for one day anyway, if he was truly honest to himself, he just wanted finish the patrol and find his place in camp to get away from this.

"Leopardrose," he began, casting her a sidelong glance as he continued to step forward on the patrol line "how about we finish the patrol and share some prey back at camp. I saw a juicy looking squirrel there this morning" he offered with a soft voice that was all too familiar for the small tom.

He drifted closer to Leopardrose, even if she didn't feel hungry, he was just glad she was there with him in the first place. If that rogue would try to take Leopardrose away from him, from ThunderClan, he would show her just how fierce a ThunderClan warrior could be.

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
──●◎●──

Leopardrose’s ear flicked toward him at the mention of prey, and a small, almost rueful huff escaped her. "You and your squirrels." She murmured, a faint smile tugging at her muzzle despite herself. The edge of earlier tension had dulled to something gentler now, carried off by the steady rhythm of their pawsteps and the whisper of leaves above.

She didn’t glance his way immediately just kept her eyes trained ahead, scanning the trees out of habit. Then finally, she looked over, her expression soft in a way that few ever saw. "That sounds good...It’s been a long morning."

The words came quieter, as if she were admitting more than just weariness. "Let’s finish the round before that squirrel of yours finds a new tree to scamper up." Her whiskers twitched with the faintest glimmer of amusement before she padded forward, falling naturally into stride beside him.

If Greypebbles found comfort in her presence, Leopardrose found something close to the same in his even if rarely spoken.