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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
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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.