One More Day

[Bane]

Have you heard?
Have you tried to understand?
It´s all right
It gets easy on with time

It had been 28 days... a whole month since Bane had seen his clan. For 28 days he had ventured solitary, hunted only for himself, in search of the perfect place. Somewhere like this.

Ever since the day he had met with Heartless, he hadn't dared return to where BoneClan currently resided. He trusted they knew better than to worry about him, and on a few occasions he had deliberately ventured near so that they might recognise his scent, and know he was still around. But he couldn't return to them completely just yet, for many reasons... the first being the guilt. He felt unable to look into Goldenblaze's eyes, knowing that he was unable to tell him the truth of what happened that night. It would cause more trouble than they could cope with. Instead, Bane had to live with the knowledge that he knew more than them. For that, he hated Heartless. But of course, he had not been the only one to see Heartless that day - Barbwire had been there too. For her own sake, Bane hoped she had the sense to keep it to herself.

This was not the only thing, however. It wasn't just the fact he had met with Heartless.... it had been the things she had said. Before that day, Bane had considered her mad. She was mad - but from her that day had come words of wisdom
that Bane could never even hope of acquiring. He could not simply take them in vain - they had replaying in his mind every single day, so that he might use them to his advantage. He had been analysing them, and trying to understand the full meaning locked behind them. After 28 days, he had finally figured it out.

And now, on this 28th day, Bane was ready to return. But he would not be staying in that pathetic excuse for a camp for long... neither would any of them. In his travels, Bane had found a new territory, completely untouched by the clan cats. It was beautiful - it was perfect.

In the dead of night, Bane silently returned to the makeshift camp where BoneClan currently resided. There, in the centre of the clearing, he had sat in silence, waiting for dawn. As the sun slowly rose above the horizon, so did his clan begin to wake. Still he was silent, waiting for all of them to recognise his presence. Only then did he stand, and slowly he made his way out of the clearing. Not even a flick of his tail signalled that they should follow, he just assumed his intentions would be recognised. And thus began the two hour journey to their new home.

Bane moved with absolute grace through these new lands. The way he moved silently through the long grass gave hints that his time was not fully wasted - he had found this place early on in his travels, except he had wished to discover everything about it, so that he might use it to his full advantage. It was a small valley, like a replica of the one where the other cats resided, and was a land as of yet unventured by the clans. A thick coating of mist completely covered the valley, creating an idyllic feel. For a moment Bane stopped on the edge of the valley, taking a moment to allow the others to catch up - but also, a moment to revel in the grace of these new lands. After a minute or so, Bane began the gradual descent to the valley floor.

At the bottom, it was difficult to see for the mist that shrouded the view. The grass was long, and scattered about were rocks and boulders of various shapes and sizes. Hidden by the long fronds of grass were holes to an abandoned rabbit warren that created a maze beneath their feet - Bane hoped it would make a good den. He made his way to the far side of the clearing, where a small but significant boulder was situated - with ease he stepped onto it, and there he sat, waiting for the others to assemble.

He couldn't help but allow a satisfied smile to crawl upon his features - for the first time in weeks his eyes glowed with excitement at what was to come. This was the start of something new, something brilliant. At first the change had been difficult for Bane to cope with - he had thought it would mean the end of the brilliance that was BoneClan. Now he saw that this was just the start.

His only hope was that others would see this too. It had taken him a long time to finally find the courage to stand here now - this was a new and better Bane, and a new and better time for them all.

You better be watching, Heartless - I'm gonna prove you wrong.

I am no fool.

How are you?
Are you ever coming back?
I´ve changed
And I´ve realized I was wrong

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[Pripyat]

I believe in people dying.

Pripyat lay on his belly, busily tearing strips of meat from a robin's fragile skeleton. He had caught this one himself, along with a few other choice pieces of prey for the Clan.
But he saved this one for himself: he had caught it out of the air, as he had caught Kestrel's favorite bird during the War.

The War. The memories beat at the most distant parts of his mind day and night. Blood. Screaming. Much of it was glorious, but some...some (the dark shadow of Bane's dead body lying bloodied on the ground; the flight of Heartless?) were terrible. He bore a scar from it, too--a single verticle line over his right eye. While the rest of his wounds had sealed and regrown with black fur, that one still stood out proudly.

Pripyat crunched the robin's bones between his strong teeth, his eyes dark with thought.
Then: movement. The black tom looked up, his blue eyes darting across camp.
He was silent for a moment, his eyes settled on the not-so-newcomer, watching.
Then Pripyat stood, abandoning his meal to the crows.

Bane was back.

It had never occured to him that their leader would not return. It was only a matter of time before his Clan's gravity drew Bane back.
From the beginning, Pripyat had never held anything other than faith.

But Bane turned and padded softly away, leaving only a trace of his scent behind.
The mad tomcat glanced around, scanning the stone-walled camp for Spiderlilly.
Were they meant to follow?

Pripyat opened his mouth. Closed it. Cleared his throat. Then he spoke to the entire camp: "I think he wants us to follow him."
His voice was hesitant and slightly hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for awhile. After a moment, he turned and padded after Bane, moving slowly, so that Spiderlilly could catch up.

[/blockquote]

[Sharpfang .|. Felony]

<sub>The camp they currently resided in had a solemn and cold existance to it. Not a cat spoke, and it gave the area a sinister feeling, even enough to make a bold Boneclan cat wary. All had grown sick of the sight of it. Even the sound of water from the snow or rain creaked and echoed against the walls.
I think he wants us to follow him.

Several cats roused from their slumber. Sharpfang rolled to his belly from where he dozed. He blinked in mild surprise. He had grown so distant with the dark leader, and hadn't seen the tom in several weeks. Not to say he didn't trust his return. His snaggle tooth lifted a bit as he gave a bright smile, and he leapt off the rock wordlessly and took his place at Bane's side to make the journey.

Barbwire lay by the rock overhang near where Felony had lay. She gnawed on the skull of an old kill, perhaps a bird of the sort. It clattered to the floor and rolled slightly as she dropped it to rise gracefully to her feet. She glanced around for Panic, but another thought tugged at her mind and she went to go retrieve her father. He lay with his eyes closed on his side facing a wall, in an obscure corner. Dad, Dad come on, we're leaving. Bane's taking us back home. He'll leave without you She threatened. It was a sincere threat, but sadly she knew he would care less if they had. He probably wouldn't even notice. Persistancy won over, as she tugged and pulled and pushed at his idle body. Finally rose, breathing hard as if that act in itself was hard work and followed her. His eyes no longer burned, his whiskers and tail drooped. His fur was in clumps, giving him a more ragged look than Sharpfang. Nobody would know he was that strong tom who had left Treeclan and fought Bane, who won Heartless's heart and chased his leader into battle for his daughter. But a new hope was beginning to flicker in his eyes at the prospect of going home.

Similarly, Whitedevil pounced neatly off the rock over the dozing Misery, and trotted after the group as they flushed from the camp after the silent black tom.

As they waded into thick grass, even Goldenblaze gave a feral surveyance, still breathing heavy, but looking more alive than he had in several months. Barbwire smiled warmly at her father. Though naturally a cold-hearted she-cat, the true daughter of Heartless, there was something in her heart about her father. She checked to make sure her father was situated before Bane before taking her own seat. Felony crept from the crowd and inched towards Bane as if he were called and obediently sat down, tail flicking eagerly. Even the blood-eyed Misery looked around, relatively impressed as he took his seat near the back with a yawn. Whitedevil simply crept forward and sat in the midst of the rest. All of them had kept silent for the journey, and looked at Bane with expectancy.</sub>

[Spiderlily]

Something certainly had changed, hadn’t it?

Spiderlily had become a bit lazier then before as of late, laying half in and half out of a thick bush close by Pripyat. One ear idly flicked each time a slight breeze brought a leaf tickling across the top of it, but sure enough the heavily mottled tabby looked the picture of bored contentment – simply pleased to lay there and watch her love strip meat from a robin he had killed earlier.

It was that way she had nearly, perhaps so close, lulled herself into a content sleep – but then that something changed more. Movement, where she more sensed then saw, from Pripyat caused Spiderlily to open her eyes and glance crossly in the direction of Bane – oh, he was back again now was he?

Maybe this time he was to stay.

With a yawn, the tabby nodded in agreement to the dark tom near her and dragged herself from the bush, languidly padding until she caught up with Pripyat. “Yo, Bossman better have’a good reason fer draggin’ us about at this time, no.” It was a half-hearted grumble, she didn’t feel like making a long trek at this time…but eh. Pripyat might worship her like a Goddess, but in truth their worlds had grown to revolve around one another.

Where he went, she would follow as well.

Spiderlily had only last dismal thought; she was going to lose her favorite vantage point that she had chosen while they remain in this otherwise temporary camp. Ah well. As more cats appeared and they all followed, the scenery slowly changed and, soon enough….oh, there was Bane again.

He had stopped, so perhaps this was what he’d meant for them to now live. The tabby, grumbling with a bit of a thicker slur then she normally had, wandered away from Pripyat’s side – clearly exploring the area directly around them before she chose to range back to him.

[Bane]

He saw the looks in their eyes - they looked beaten. He could sense their disapproval of this territory, both in the way they somberly entered, and reluctantly explored. Bane tried hard not to snap. He kept his cool, but surveyed them with a hard stare.

As they eventually settled, he snorted, shifting his weight on the rock he sat upon, and began.

He'd change their minds in no time.

"BoneClan. This is a time of change."

Slowly, Bane slid from the rock, elegantly onto the ground. He no longer liked it when he was higher than the others; it felt much more natural to move among them.

"First, I must apologise for my absence. I hope you can understand that it was necessary. But from this day on, I shall never leave. This is where I belong."

"It is not as if I have not done anything in this time. I was able to find our new home; no longer must we live like vultures among the mountains. I know it shall be hard to let go - but here, we have room to grow. Here, there are many things we can take advantage of - I wish for you all to learn them, and learn them well. For our advantages, become other's disadvantages. As I said, we must change; I shall have no looking to the past, what it was once like, how we once lived. From now on, this is our home.

He kept his cool glare upon them, knowing that some would like to protest this. He hoped they had more sense.

"We are few; many were lost to the war that was waged, others were lost to... other, circumstances. But I tell you now that we shall no longer grieve. What was done, was done. From here, we can only grow bigger; better; and stronger."

Bane began to slowly walk between them, making his way towards one certain individual; Spiderlily. He stopped a few feet away from her, and allowed his gaze to become less harsh. They may even have been a smile that stained his lips...

"We are blessed with new life; and together we shall raise them. For they are our future, and without them we are nothing. They will become great fighters, warriors - assassins."

That smile grew, and Bane crudely nodded to both Spiderlily and Pripyat. It had never been openly told to the leader that Pripyat was the father; but geez, the insane tom made no effort to keep his affections for Spiderlily a secret. Swiftly, Bane turned away, and leapt back onto the rock - if only because he wished for all to hear his words. This, is what he had taken his time on. This beautiful plan.

"Nobody knows that we are here! Kestrel thinks she killed me, and the others think that you all scattered like petty rats. Isn't it therefore pure genius that you stand before me today? We must turn this to our favour - as I understand it, the clans think that they are safe. My name is but a joke - with time I shall change this. However, for now I wish for my existence to remain unknown to them. In fact, I wish for you all to remain anonymous, for now. We shall announce our arrival in a style fit only for assassins.

We shall leave clues; small hints within the camps and territories of the clans that will bring uncertaintly among them. Freshkill taken from their own lands, newborn kits taken from right under their noses. This should no doubt spread the fear. But this is only the beginning... the rest is far, far greater.

There it was... that old gleam that brought his single green eye to life. His stomach felt sick with excitement at the prospects of what were to come. Bane just hoped that they could all strive together, that they could once more work as a unit.

"Of course, this shall be aimed at all of the clans, bar DuskClan. But in particular I wish for RisingClan to be targetted. They took a kit from us to rear as their own; I never did get the revenge I wanted for that. In return, I wish for two of their own to be taken. This, shall be first on our agenda.

Barbwire, Goldenblaze."

Bane turned his gaze to one of his oldest and most respected warriors, and his daughter. The old tom had suffered the most in this time. Bane thought it only fair that he participate in this siege. After all, it had been one of Heartless's that had been taken. The leader had no doubt in his mind that he would be able to restore the tom to his old self; if not, atleast teach him to stop grieving, and grasp this opportunity for all it was worth. Bane cast a small, trusting smile at Goldenblaze, hoping that he had seen it.

"Tomorrow, you shall both travel to RisingClan at twilight. I trust you can keep yourselves hidden from sight, and that you will cover your tracks - our camp is to remain unknown to them all. By the next morning, I want two kits outside my den. Can you do this?"

He asked, knowing the answer would always be yes, but praying that he would hear true convinction behind their acceptance.

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[Pripyat]

satan, satan, lend me a dollar.

Pripyat's eyes glowed with a feverish intensity. He watched Bane speak with excitement in every line of his body.

His fallen leader's words sparked a fire in him; he could see a vision now, one of a world that once was--and would be again. BoneClan's name would rest on the tongue of every cat with a shiver and a chill; the names of the Clan's most infamous would be spoken with hushed voices; once again, Bane would be feared as a dark god...or perhaps a demon.

Of course it would start small. Everything did.
First would come the anxiety, the wariness. Then the nerves. Then fear. Then...terror. The Clans shouldn't have discounted BoneClan so easily!

Pripyat was nearly panting in eagerness to begin. He rose to his paws, his long tail beating the air behind him. "Bane, perhaps I ought to come with," he called out. "I'm the only one who's ever been in the RisingClan camp.

The floor is sandy, which would make scents easy to pick up, so I wouldn't be able to actually set paw in there. But I know there's a back way in. It's not easy to find. I sort of came upon it by accident. I could show the others the way."

[/blockquote]

[Goldenblaze]

<sub>We'll do it Was the abrupt and assured answer. The mottled brown she-cat wove her way through the cats, her head held high. She did not share her father's remorse for her mother; she was going to prove to the clan she was no coward. She sat down with a proud esteem, her face emotionless, if not even a little pleased.

Goldenblaze blinked his stolid eyes at the ground. He said a name. Bane did. Barbwire... That was his daughter. Goldenblaze... Yes, that was him. What did the dark tom think an old and broken tom could do? But his daughter strode from his side, and he watched her back, his brain processing at a sluggish rate. She turned her teal eyes upon Pripyat, almost with a little smirk.

She then looked back up at Bane. I think Pripyat will have valuable information on how to infiltrate the camp. He'll be useful, Bane She flinched slightly as her father strode up wordlessly to stand before Bane, looking up at him with cold and stoic eyes. Expect two more mouths to feed by the morning after, Bane. RisingClan shall suffer for what they took from me He growled harshly, one of the first words he'd spoken in many moons.</sub>

[Spiderlily]

Oh no, speech time.

Perhaps with was the bane of all great leaders – they must all have the capability of carrying out such extended monologues. Plainly? Spiderlily still wasn’t impressed by one she’d heard yet, and this newest one coming out of Baney Boy’s mouth was of no exception. For her own sake, and the sake of the lives of the kits growing inside her, the street cat maintained a look of distant interest as Bane spoke on, stepping down to speak amongst them.

She chanced a glance around, perhaps only a bit mildly disgusted by the inspired looks on their face – but it was only then when she turned back and realized that Bane had moved to only a few feet before her and was, in truth, speaking about her. Crossly, the she-cat glared at him and half-flattened her ears, not liking being brought out in front of the other clan members like this – especially concerning her and Pripyat’s kits. Sure, they would be loyal Boneclanners and all, but geez. Give ‘em time to be born, bub!

Bane moved one, finally finishing his say and really…there wasn’t much for the mottled tabby to really comment on. These new plans were grand and all, and she knew that down the road when she could partake in such activities she was likely going to have a blast with it – but now it just meant that she was cooped up in camp, pregnant, and very very grumpy.

Pripyat spoke next, and Spiderlily glanced towards her mate. She didn’t like it, not at all, that he might have to go back in Risingclan – she was sure the leader had vowed to kill him for what he had done previously. But that note of concern in her eyes faded and she shifted to stretched her front legs out, kneading the ground beneath her paws instead as she waited for what Bane would have to say regarding that suggestion.

[Bane]

Bane gave a brief smile as instantly they agreed, though he noticed that Spiderlily wasn't looking particularly impressed. This made the leader's fur prickle with irritation; for one that she dared to act do pathetically, for another that he was still to regain respect from everyone. Bane passed this by, however, and contemplated the offer giving by Pripyat.

"Fine."

He gave a small nod of consent.

"But you aren't to enter the camp; only show them the way. Your scent might still be too recognisable to Kestrel."

His plan was in motion.

"If there are no qualms. Take this time to get to know your surrounding; I expect soon they shall be put to good use."

(ooc| sorry, I can't muster up enough BS to make a lengthy post)[/size]