call the police ,

[Doubleheart]

(( how come you always find ))

Times had changed; though, admittedly, the boundaries of the Mist Clan camp had not. Double watched it from afar, soaked in mist as it was, his oddly matched eyes travelling slowly and with characteristic dignity. He had been here twice before - first, upon leaving his Warrior based Clan, whence he had met Whisperstar and been accepted immediately into the Warrior ranks. Second, when Whisperstar had fallen and Lillystar had risen.

Third. Where the ruler was not known to him, by face or by name. Where he must, once again, be resided to standing proud under the watchful eyes of some reigning power, and wait to be given orders, permissions to go into the camp.

It felt a little downgrading, but Double knew that he had to accept the consequences of all his actions. If he were forced to plough through the Apprentice motions, so be it - though he sincerely hoped it would not come to that. Double was a tom of pride, and it would hurt his demeanour something terrible to be thrown from grace and put through his paces by a kitten. A kitten that could very well have, at some point, been his own apprenctice.

The pupil surpassing the teacher. Or rather, being given more glory: for Double's talents would never be in doubt. He was still a Warrior, born and raised. It was in his blood, pumping through his body violently, quelled only by the wise cats' peace of mind. He was something of nobility.

There was a light exhale, which could have been a quiet sigh from Doubleheart - no, for now, he was Doublepaw - as he rose, stretched, and began to draw towards the waterfalls of Mist Clan. Third time lucky, perhaps. He did not know who now held the highest title in the Clan: he could very well have left it to fall into tyranny, but then, he did not expect such a thing from the peaceful thinkers he had last known behind that falling water. He remembered one in particular; Trillium, the she cat with whom Double had briefly spoken. Briefly, but it had been better than nothing, which was more than could be said for the rest of the Clan cats.

Double had always felt quite out of place, after the leave of Whisperstar. She had seen his potential from just a look in his eye: but twice now, it was up to him to prove it. Once again it was time to defend his own honour, and sign allegiance to some other cat. He sincerely hoped that they would not take him for a fool, or be of ridiculous disposition - that would mean that after three honourable returns, he would be forced to desert his Clan forever.

He did not want that. He had pledged his honour to Mist Clan, and after every leave, he had indeed returned. He hoped that the loyalty itself would make up for the spurs.

(( a change in your direction ))

[/blockquote]

[Battledream]

“So Doubleheart.”

The voice purred from the mists and shadows the aligned the terra that Mistclan governed, as the massive muscular gray and black tabby female stepped from the underbrush where she had been resting, preparing to follow the rest of the clan to the Gathering. Ah, but admittedly, Battledream had been distracted, first by the heinous crime that had been committed at the previous one, then by the scent of a cat all too familiar.

But not scented in quite a few moons, if she stood correct.

The huge Deputy blinked, amber orbs shifting and refocusing as they looked over the returning warrior.

“You have returned to us. You seem well, but how has your travels faired?”

She did not question the reasons for his departure from the clan’s territory, or his absence from the events that could have used his skills, though now, with her own rise in the clan, she could have rightfully. Battledream felt as if it were not her place, if the tom chose to tell, it would be his right. If not, when Lillystar came upon them, or returned from the Gathering if she had made it there already, the leader would question for the clan’s sake.

However, Battledream stood between Doubleheart and the clan’s camp, a formidable barrier.

But the tom had returned.

From whatever had drawn his wandering paws away, he had returned. Therefore, where there would normally be aggression in the fierce she-cat’s demeanor, was a calm evaluation instead.

The waterfall cast down, subtle crashes muted to her ears, a sound familiar to the she-cat as the natural roll of the earth itself. This was her home. If Doubleheart had returned to serve as warrior again, she would personally welcome him back among their forces. They needed all the warriors, loyal and true blooded, in coming times.

But if he had returned to wreck harm to the clan Battledream had sworn her life to?

One, or both, of them would not be leaving this area alive.

Ambers flashed, but the mammoth female settled, watching Doubleheart with her piercing, soul-seeking gaze. She had judged him before, when they had first met that fair-fated day moons ago, to be such a loyal warrior.

She would see now the truth in that judgment.

“Much has changed since you have left.”

[emerald]

Times had indeed changed, for more cats than Doubleheart. Emeraldkit, more commonly known as Emerald, slunk through the grass, small enough to hide from Double and Battledream. Her little black tail was the only thing visible to the bigger and older cats. Emerald did not miss her old Clan, BoulderClan. She did, however, miss her mother, and her sister and brothers...Oh, life was too hard. Decision-making was too hard. Especially for one as young as Emerald. Sometimes she just wanted to just leave the earth and go to HavenClan...she hadn't done anything wrong, so she wouldn't go to UnderClan.

Suddenly she jumped. Who at? No one, really; Emerald jumped and landed between Battledream and Doubleheart. "Hello!" she mewed, her bright green orbs shining. These two seemed to know each other. Aw, now Emerald felt left out! She remained perky, however, and sat up straighter. "I'm Emerald. What's your names?" she mewed, her high-pitched voice quiet compared to the older cats' voices. She jumped to her paws and fell back to a sitting position, then kept repeating this motion for a bit.

Emeraldkit knew Clan life, just not this kind of Clan life. She knew BoulderClan life. BoulderClan cats lived by a very different warrior code than the Clans of the valley did. They were influenced by HavenClan and UnderClan, the heaven and hell of their mountain. BoulderClan, CliffClan and RidgeClan were not rivals; the warrior code even allowed them to have cross-Clan relationships. Half-Clan kits weren't ridiculed or anything like that; they were actually worshipped. Emerald suddenly popped back into real life. Oh, she was talking to cats! "Hello!" she mewed happily again.

Sometimes cats found that Emerald was strange and quite stupid, but actually, she was very bright. Though the strange part was quite true.

[Doubleheart]

(( how come you always find ))

There came a voice, and though Double's muscles tensed ever so slightly, his stance nor expression did not change. He remained steely faced and well held, his nose twitching with the sudden scent: not turning his head, but instead allowing his eyes to flicker to the left, where the lithe she cat prowled past the boundary.

Double had to admit that being addressed by his Warrior name was a particularly good start. He recognised Battledream's soft purr, but knew better than to be fooled into idiocy; the cats of Mist Clan were calm, but storms often followed calm. She had always been something of wonder - well, the fact that she was unnaturally large had always provoked interest - and she had always held herself with a certain demeanour. But now, there was authority in her tread, and the reality of how long he had been gone hit home in that second.

Inclining his head to her, Double let his nose dip to near his own foreleg, closing his eyes briefly: but even as he did, his ears appeared to perk higher, and his nose appeared to twitch subconciously. His parents had taught him well - he was a practised tom, and even as he dropped his defences and fenced off one sense, he immediately heightened the others. This was one cat who had many tricks rolled up his sleeves. It made him almost sorry that he had left without such warning; he had deserted a needy Clan, and what of his Apprentice?

'You have returned to us. You seem well, but how has your travels faired?' There was a light smile that toyed on the borders of his jaw for but a fleeting moment, his small sign of thanks for her looking over the reasons for his abscence. No doubt he would be asked about it eventually, but that was a tale with many twists, and it was better saved for another day. He was a tom of mystery, and his own journey back to his past only raised his anomosity. "As well as I look, madam." Came the almost cryptic reply.

For a moment, the two cats simple watched each other: her huge amber eyes locked with his of blue and gold. It was a look that held no anger or ferocity, a look of intricate interest, of polite wonder. As Battledream spoke again, guilt racked through the spaces in the tom cats ribs, and for a brief moment it might have looked as if his whiskers drooped with sadness - brief, being the operative word, along with with might, as Double himself did not notice any change in his own stature and instead twitched his nose out of habit. "I do not doubt it."

Another brief silence, as Double searched her gaze for hostility. He did not know the reasons behind her new pawfall; he did not know if the Clan was still under the same leadership as it was before; he did not know if the cats he had known before were even still alive. But he did know that he was lucky to still be sitting peaceably, talking with such a she, when his dissapearance could well be called dishonour.

The ultimate shame, for a born and raised Warrior.

His next words were chosen carefully. "I hope, perhaps, I will have the time to hear the stories of the past, and help create the ones of the future." And there it was; the quiet, hinting request to be allowed to return to his Clan - for it was, and always had been his home.

There was a sudden movement, and though Double tensed again, it did not show through his clean white fur. A small kit bounded between the two elder cats, and Double could not help the small smile that traced his jawline in that moment - he was an odd tom. He quite liked kittens. Partly because he knew that they would build the future, which was very important; and partly because they could often teach adults lessons they had never thought of before. "My name is Double, little one." Double replied, quietly leaving out adding an ending to his name, another on-the-side submission, to show that he understood that his status within the Clan was in the balance. He wanted to tell the kit that she should not be out alone, but held his tounge - he did not know the status of the world.

As Battledream had said - much had changed since he left.

(( a change in your direction ))

[/blockquote]

[Battledream]

Silence.

Battledream was not always a cat of many words; she had always been a creature of action, of fire and ice and killer fury. However, her own shadowy road back into her past that led her, here, to this life, had been filled with the use of them before.

She had failed, once, and lost her clan for it. She would never fail again.

Her head inclined slightly in acknowledgement of his words, considering him for even longer. If this was a different time, a different life, the massive female would have chased him from her home’s lands without another thought. But there was war, there looming on the horizon. And she, a cat who had lost so much, rising from the ashes of everything destroyed, was not one to turn her back on a fellow warrior when he sought reacceptance.

He wanted to come home.

“I pray the same for you.”

Amber hues flicked, landing on the bouncy little she-kit when she bounded up, listening to her cheerful words, then Doubleheart’s own introduction back. She full well understood what the tom was going toward, and although his submission was well place, she decided that it was no longer needed.

“No, Emerald. Address him by his true name, Doubleheart, for until our leader’s word has been spoken, he shall be known as a warrior of Mistclan.”

The night was growing deeper. No doubt, the Gathering would be well into by now. Yet, Battledream could not leave these two, and follow. Lillystar would understand this choice, when she returned. There was only a little regret, she would not see her dear old friend Warfox until the next moon, if she was permitted to go to that Gathering, and what if trouble’s arose at this one like the past one? She could only hope her clan’s claws were quick and sharp, to seal with such a threat.

“It is the night of the Gathering, and Lillystar is not currently within the borders. In her stead as Deputy, I welcome you two into the clan’s camp. However, when she returns you shall have to hear her own judgment, understand?”

Her gaze went between the two cats before her, but more pointedly rested on Doubleheart.

“I’ll do what I can to ease your way back into our life, Doubleheart. If you have any troubles with anyone else in the clan, be it warriors or…”

Briefly, Battledream’s mind settled on that troublesome Murderkit. The little tom was moons late being apprenticed, and soon, if he wasn’t removed from the nursery den, the queens there would be sure to kill him.

He…was dangerous enough already. He was going to need a capable paw to guide him away from the darkness he was already running full tilt into, and the tabby made sure to file that thought away as something to take up with Lillystar when she came back.

“...anyone else, tell me, and I shall handle it. Come. There is freshkill, should the two of you be hungry.”

With a flick of her tail, Battledream turned; ready to lead them into the Mistclan camp.

[Doubleheart]

(( how come you always find ))

If he were so not so refined - so.. noble, perhaps - Double would have dared breathe a sigh of relief. Acceptance, in it's various forms, brought a light joy to the stomach of any who experienced it, and the knowledge that he was home again warmed him something great. The way the word 'Doubleheart' formed around Battledream's tongue brought the sparkle back to the tom cats' eyes, and somewhere behind those locked vaults (Double had no 'windows to the soul', for he did not readily invite prying) there was a sprinkle of emotion.

Brief joy, but joy enough: joy far more welcome than the various other emotions his travels had called forwards.

Double shot the young kit - Emerald - a cheeky sort of grin. She was a cute little thing, and Double supposed that she would appriciate the lightheartedness of his attitude as opposed to the regality. There were two things Double was good at: being a Warrior, and keeping kits amused. Perhaps even make that three, because he was also quite the storyteller, but I suppose that is more like a subsection listed in being good with the youngsters.

As Battledream spoke, Double gave her his full attention - it seemed he had chosen quite an unopportune moment to make his return. He almost supposed it lucky, he thought, as his eyes glanced to the sky and did indeed find the glow of the full moon that watched the Gathering, that Battledream had been here. Double may have been waiting a very long time, for though he knew full well how to get into the Camp, he would not have crossed their threshold without explicit permission.

"Of course." Double replied, with a small smile: his answer played two sides. He was not only answering Battledream's question, and confirming her judgement - he was also verbally accepting what had provoked the difference in the way the shecat held herself. Deputy. Double could think of none better to wear that title. And oh, she bore it well.

The brief pause between words did not go unnoticed by the ever observant tom, but he vigilantly did not show that he had noticed a thing: some, perhaps if they were trying to put him in a bad light, would accuse Double of being terribly deceitful, but Double had always known that deceit could be used in various ways and did not always provoke future blackmail. Sometimes, deception was done for the formers own good.

And finally, given permission to enter, Double arose from where he sat, his tail twitching and threatening to be held in the air, but the tom kept it lower near his hackles in continuing submission. With a short glance to Emerald, he threw her a smile and gestured that she follow, before himself following in Battledream's ever regal pawfalls.

(( a change in your direction ))

[/blockquote]

[Dead Tired Umbee]

[Just waiting for Emerald's post, then I'll transfer them [and start a new thread] in the Mistclan camp.]

[kasaiace]

(Rawr. I'm dead. So let's just start the new thread?)