The Return Home

[Shiningstream]

The WindClan deputy stalked back into camp, his hair frayed and pale green eyes narrowed in merciless anger. That border fight could have been avoided; he didn't want anymore fighting or bad ties with the other Clans. Tensions were getting too high, and Darkwing wasn't ready to deal with all of that right now.

"Everyone who was at the border fight, meet me in the middle of camp. Now."

[{Jade]

Moondance appeared, hearing the bitterness. She catsed her eyes downward, even if she couldn't see him, she didn't want to. He stuck up for the enemy instead of fighting for his clan. Traitor... flashed across her mind, but she dared not accept it.

[Thornpaw]

The flame pelted apprentice trotted to the middle of Windclan’s camp, along with the other cats involved in the border skirmish. His shoulder had stopped bleeding but a slow rhythmic pulse shot through his every step. But he did little more than wince. He walked over to stand next to Moondance, the only one in the camp who knew of his love for the Riverclan queen. Her remembered the night well. The blind she-cat had guessed his longing. He pressed his unwounded shoulder to hers, lending some comfort, but his heart still beat rapidly, the taste of battle still fresh in his thoughts.

Ooc: jade, I think it was Moondance that Hawkpaw told about Silvertip, or you guessed, but if its not oh well, we can just pretend she knows. XD

[maddykay]

The brothers padded into camp, hearing the anger in their deputy's voice perfectly clear. Whisperwind's ears flattened to his head and he approached wearily. His body was more sore and bloody than his brother's. He had not been as enthusiastic about the fight and there fore had not tried as hard, receiving more wounds than his brother. Still, Whisperwind was worried that Darkwing would be extremely angery with him, having been one of the first cats to arrive on the scene before the battle took place. Specklespot was not worried, although he had much more to worry about than his younger brother. His pelt moved gracefuly over his strong muscles as he reached the group in the center of camp. He was proud of how hard he had fought. Whisperwind thought that the battle could have been avoided if only his brother had resisted that dangerous urge he sometimes got, but his brother didn't see things this way. The pair took their seats next to Moondance and waited for the storm to come.

[Shiningstream]

Darkwing grunted and shook some grass off his shoulders before facing the cats in front of him. He gave each one a careful glance, and landed an extremely long one on Moondance, but he said nothing. If there was one thing he learned after being deputy for so long, it was that you never put blame or personal problems on one cat directly. If he needed to complainto one cat, he would need to complain to them all. Rather, this seems like a different situation...

The dark, tabby-coated deputy took a deep breath before straightening his posture. "We have some things to discuss at the border fight today. I don't know exactly what made it begin, but Whisperwind-" he looked towards the tom meaningfully-"I know was there. Before I complain further, would you like to explain to us all why the ShadowClan brutes were being so hostile?"

[maddykay]

Whisperwind knew this was coming. He also knew he had nothing to fear because he had done nothing wrong. "I can try," he began, looking tired but not guilty, "but I'm not sure I can give you a satisfactory answer." He paused in his answer to clearly picture what had taken place in his mind. He noticed the wind had died down, almost to listen along with the other cats to his story. He stared straight into his respectable deputy's eyes and continued, "I woke up this morning and Specklespot was still asleep. I like to walk around early in the morning because it's peaceful and calm outside before things get going. I hopped onto that large boulder by camp and saw Nightclaw's black pelt extremely close to the Shadowclan boarder. I thought it was odd she was out there all by herself, and even more strange because she appeared to be trying to hide herself in the tall grass there. I decided to see what was up, and a few moments after I reached her Jadeeyes and Dancingwind appeared from the marsh. They spoke to us as if they'd caught us tresspassing, and I told them that we hadn't and never planned to. I also told them that although we wouldn't, we did know how to handle cats who did." Specklespot looked admiringly at his younger sibling at this point in the story. He'd always thought Whisperwind was too much of a gentleman to speak that way to another cat and was proud of his courage. Whisperwind took a long breath here before continueing, "That was when other cats started showing up. Suspicion lead to annoyance, annoyance to insult, and insult to anger. And before I knew it, we were fighting over nothing." As Whisperwind finished, he let out a long, heavy sigh. He wished things were simpler. He wished Shadowclan wasn't so proud, and the same wish was also made for many other cats the young tom knew. He brought his eyes back level with his deputy and gave a sad smile. "There was no reason for their hostility," he said, "except the fact that Shadowclan cats tend to naturally be hostile."

[Shiningstream]

Darkwing listened patiently, occasionally narrowing his eyes at one word and twitching his ears at the next, but he never wavered his pale green gaze from the young tom. The deputy knew Whisperwind enough to understand he would never lie or exaggerate during serious situations such as these. With ShadowClan envolved, probably not; with Darkwing asking, definantly not.

And, the old cat had to admit with a twinge of admiration: the youngster was definantly bold. The way he spoke with such confidence in himself and gave a good, witty answer to the ShadowClan cats gave Darkwing a better view of the tom.

"Thank you, Whisperwind. Now, before I go on, does anyone have anything to add or complain about? Be open; secrecy bothers me."

[maddykay]

Whisperwind had noted his deputy's reactions but had also noticed he hadn't stopped the young warrior once in his explanation. He took this to heart, knowing that the elder, wiser cat trusted and respected him because of this. Despite what had occurred this morning, a warm glow spread from his heart to his entire body. To be liked by such a cat was an honor. When Darkwing thanked Whisperwind for informing the group of how this all started, he bowed his head a little in respect and waited to see if anyone would answer.

Specklespot shifted a bit, wanting to speak. He had many thoughts on those dirty, evil Shadowclan scum but also thought now wasn't the time to voice his opinions. He could hear his brother in his head and for once listened to his words. "It's alright to have opinions, Specklespot, but you have to know when to speak your mind and when to keep your mouth shut." Wrapping his long, speckled tail around his paws, he also waited to see if someone would speak.

[{Jade]

Moondance stood up to her full height, her blind eyes seeing nothing around her as she gazed about. "Actually I'd like to say something." She let silence ring out before she continued. "I'd like to say that we were all at fault during that fight. Nobody should have bene hurt or nobody should have harmed anyone. But I'd also like to tell everyone that even if I'm blind, I can really see what's going on. Nobody wants to trust me, but it is still in my nature to be a cat, I'm not a stupid useless cat that should be babied, actually I should be the one babying you all. I've been through so much more than most of you have ever been through. I'd really like to be treated like you all treat eachother." she paused, her eyes looking around her, whiskered twitching. Her heart beat heavily in her chest as she took in the silence. She awaited a comeback, or an assuring 'oh we don't do that Moondance, coochie coochie coo.' So she dulled her fur, the burning ice in her eyes and sat down.

[maddykay]

The brothers stared at her in astonishment. Whisperwind had no idea this quiet cat felt like that. He felt a bit quilty, he'd been so focused on the battle he hadn't payed attention to her, not even to see if she was alright. His heart twinged slightly at her words, although he knew that if she really wanted to be treated as an equal among the clan, the most respected had to treat her that way first.

Specklespot looked at her in amusement. A small smile crept onto his handsome face, and try as he might, he couldn't completely conceal it. He faked a quiet cough to try and force it away, tail twitching, but all it did was cause his brother to give him one of those stern 'what are you doing?' looks that he used so often on his elder brother.

[Thornpaw]

Hawkpaw nodded slightly. He understood where the cat was coming from. He wouldn’t want anyone’s pity. He knew just how lethal the blind cat could be. Hmm…in a way it’s a sort of an advantage, hell, an enemy warrior would never see it coming…

[Nightclaw]

Nightclaw silently agreed. Moondance was a dangerous enemy to face and despite being blind she could fight as good or better then the average warrior. Nightclaw knew what it was like to be treated differently for something that couldn't be controlled. She had worked hard to be considered an equal in WindClan after joining the Clan and leaving the life of a rogue. She believed that Moondance had earned the privilage to be treated as an equal.
"I am sorry about the border fight. I was close to the ShadowClan border, though I didn't think anything would come of it. I was just there to think." Nightclaw was worried that she would be in trouble. The guilt of causing the fight was already punishment enough in her eyes. "I was careless and I will take any punishment you give me." Nightclaw hoped that she would be able to handle the punishment she was given.

[maddykay]

Whisperwind's eyes grew soft and gentle. He could see clearly Nightclaw's worry and guilt and he felt bad. Licking her shoulder kindly, he murmured, "I was there too. Whatever they do to you, I'll be right beside you." He honsestly didn't think they'd done anything wrong, but that decision was up to Darkwing.

By now Specklespot's smile was off his handsome features. He could feel the cat's frustration, but wasn't sure what he could do to help. He'd seen glimpses of Moondance fight, that is when other cats decided to fight with her, and she'd proven a powerful warrior. Honor was a big thing to him, and he hoped that someday soon she could get the honor she deserved.

[Nightclaw]

"Thank you Whisperwind," Nightclaw purred. She hoped that he knew how much his kind words helped. She didn't think that either of them had really done anything wrong, but it was the fact that she had been spotted near the ShadowClan border alone on more then one occasion, that made her worry about the punishment Darkwing would give her. She hoped that Darkwing wouldn't punish her according to other ShadowClan border incidents she had been involved in.

[maddykay]

Whisperwind nodded, accepting her grateful thanks. His bleeding heart caused him to be a rather senstive cat, compassionate to others in their distress, which made him the butt of many of his elder brother's jokes. He didn't mind, he found being kind made cats feel better than just making them laugh. His long, soft fur blew slightly in the wind and his ears flicked towards Darkwing. All this waiting was starting to bother him and though he wasn't an impatient cat, he really felt his abilities could have been in use during this time. While his annoyance was slight and not at all visible, his brother's impatience was almost pallpable. He was figitting restlessly and started to get a bit edgy. Whisperwind knew his brother well, and knew that despite Specklespot's loyalty and eagerness, he was not one to stay motionless for long and never remained in the same spot for more than a few moments. He always liked to be doing something, hunting, running, teaching, fighting, but waiting was not one of them.