A chat between a traitor and a half-clan.

[Raccoonstar]

"Smokeleaf? Do you...hate me, like everyone else does?" Duskwing asked. She patiently waited for an answer.

[fαllεη •]

Duskwing's question was a surprise to the grey she-cat. Smokeleaf glanced at the new warrior, raising an eyebrow in question. "Would I be here, with you, if I did?" she responded, a trace of amusement curling around her words.

Assuming that Duskwing would follow -after all, she'd never seen the inside of FrostClan's territory before- the medicine cat headed deeper into the rich evergreens that made up so much of FrostClan's territory. It was nothing like the thick, vine-encrusted forests of IvyClan, she was sure, but it had been a shock when she'd come from the rocky, tree-barren landscapes of SnakeClan. The trees were allowing a cool, early-morning light to filter down through their branches, and Smokleaf was glad of her thick pelt for the moment. The sky was crystal-white, blue not being the appropriate shade for the morning's rebirth, and what little of it that she could glimpse between the branches was free of cloud cover. Under the thick shelter of the pine needles, there was little growth as far as the eye could see, differentiated only by the undulating earth and the end of the pine-rich part of FrostClan's forest. Nothing grew under these trees, no cover between them and prey save the occasional scraggly clump of shrubbery, so she was careful to keep her pawsteps light and her ears open for something other than conversation. Scents here were doused with a good dose of pine, making it possible for her to ignore the IvyClan scent that walked beside her. The first sign of prey, and she'd silence the conversation... potentially a good ice-breaker, should things get awkward.

"Do you hate me?" she meowed, her words half-serious but mostly in jest. She was more than a little unsettled by the idea of pushing the warrior away. Duskwing was so young, and maybe that's what was leading the medicine cat down a path that she'd never taken before. She'd never tried to... tried to converse with a cat like this. She could empathise (silently), but that was about the extent of her emotional capacity. Most of her friendships had been founded on Smokerose, that fiery younger part of her personality that she still felt was... detached from who she'd become. Maybe that was for the best. Maybe that was part of growing up: a hot-headed, vindictive medicine cat wasn't one that you wanted on your side... 'Although it's what Seastar's gotten,' she thought, smiling herself a grim, internal smile.
Either way, Smokeleaf now felt she'd left the conversation on an awkward note, and racked her brains for something more to say. Shocked, she found herself completely lost for words. Generally she could come up with some quip, some ill-tempered jibe at something, but once she dismissed those, she really had nothing left. A pine needle crunched upwards into her pad, and she flinched at the sharpness.

"Speaking of hate... Why did you do it?" If her words were vague, they were quickly clarified by the tight expression, the furrowed brow, and the measured glance into the dark eyes of the she-cat who'd asked if she was hated. Smokeleaf knew why she herself had left: family. But that was what Duskwing was throwing away.

[Raccoonstar]

DUSKWING

"No. I don't hate you. You're kind of...nice. And I did it because Silentstar was just going to keep pushing the warrior code again and again, and he'd kill so many cats...I couldn't deal with it anymore." Duskwing said, a bit puzzled by Smokeleaf's question and the fact that Smokeleaf was being nice to her. This was why she had done it, but it was also because she hated the stereotype that all IvyClan was evil, and she wanted to escape that, but also because she wanted to make a friend. She had never had one, ever since she was a kit, but she always wanted one. And FrostClan was a fresh start for her. Though most of the cats thought of her as crowfood...but not Smokeleaf. She felt as if she was making firends with her, which is what Duskwing needed.

[fαllεη •]

Nice? Smokeleaf couldn't help but widen her eyes at that one. No-one had ever called her 'nice': it was just an adjective that didn't suit her. The word made her want to wriggle under her fur, as if it were some kind of nest that she no longer fitted. But at the same time, it was pleasant. To talk to a cat like this.

When Duskwing said that she'd done it because Silentstar had been pushing the warrior code, she furrowed her brow in concern. Silentstar hadn't struck her as a pleasant cat, but then again Smokeleaf had a history of what she called 'realism' and everyone else seemed to call 'thinking the worst'. Silentstar had been breaking the warrior code... before this treachery with the rats? If their borders weren't to be respected, FrostClan would have to be constantly at their borders, and that would sacrifice valuable hunting time. And they didn't have enough cats anyway, so-- she gave herself a mental slap. This was no time to think about strategy.

"And he'd kill so many cats..."
"What?!"
No. That couldn't be. Smokeleaf stopped in her tracks. Oh sure, she'd seen her own clan come within a whisker's bredth of becoming crowfood at Silentstar's claws, but that Silentstar had killed cats before this? How could Silentstar be murdering cats and no-one have spoken out? It was impossible. She wouldn't believe it: no-one was capable of that kind of slaughter-- alright, many cats were capable of slaughter, but she'd been willing to give Silentstar the benefit of the doubt. She forced herself to keep walking. Duskwing had to be mistaken. It was simply not possible that he was killing cats and all of IvyClan (even that dark-hearted group) would stay silent. She looked back and Duskwing, noticing for the first time how matter-of-fact she'd been when she'd said that Silentstar had been killing. Did no-one understand the meaning of that word? No, no. Duskwing had to be mistaken: maybe it was some kind of metaphor, an IvyClan thing that just rolled off the tongue and that she didn't realise FrostClan might not understand.

A part of the she-cat was whispering to her to stop overreacting, that Duskwing was mistaken and that she should let it go; keep trying to be nice. But she couldn't: it just wasn't in her nature to stop when there were things to be done or said. Not even for Duskwing's feelings.
"Impossible." She stared straight ahead, refusing to believe. It simply couldn't be possible. "Even that miserable rat--" a glance back at Duskwing, appology flashing in her eyes. "--wouldn't dare to take a life outside of decent battle."
The horror of murder was impressed upon cats from a young age. Even though they had the promise of StarClan to numb the idea of death, life was still sacred. Their fighting moves were designed to capture and injure, but not to kill unless the other cat was bent on taking your own life. She'd seen kits playing at battles, and even they had had the honour to know when they had beaten their opponent. It was their opponent's duty to honour that defeat and to leave the battle-field, unless they wanted worse to come their way.

She tried to skip around the subject, ignoring the voice that said Duskwing might be right. If Silentstar was killing his own warriors, it was no wonder Duskwing might have run to Seastar like the defeated kit. but she couldn't dwell on this exaggeration -'oh really?'- forever. Duskwing would be getting nervous, and a nervous cat was not going to help her hunt. "If that's true, Silentstar really has lived up to his name." Her voice made it plain that she was trying for a light-hearted tone, but it sounded forced and tinny, her rough, usually-steady voice wavering. And the attempt at humour was unbelievably bad.
Smokeleaf was shaken: there was no doubting that.

[Raccoonstar]

DUSKWING

Duskwing was a bit surprised at Smokeleaf's sudden change in mood. "Silentstar has taken lives, that I am sure," Duskwing shyly admitted, "How many, I don't know. Some were IvyClan, but most were other Clans' cats. I think he killed someone who used to be my friend in IvyClan, Robinpaw. Robinpaw was disobeying orders to put deathberries in a buried mouse in SnakeClan hunting grounds. He told Raccoonstar so that his warriors may live. Robinpaw chose to return, unlike my choice, and was killed at twilight. I was hiding in the shadows when he did. Silentstar force-fed Robinpaw the poison mouse, and I saw Robinpaw suffer greatly, and die. It...was insane of Silentstar. He and I were the only ones to see it, and of course I never told because of fear of my own demise for doing so. I was a mere apprentice then, and I was not ready to die yet. I haven't told anyone until now. Another was killed that I know. Another apprentice. Leopardpaw was his name. Leopardpaw refused to kill a very weak loner and her kits. Silentstar crushed him with a boulder. It was horrible. I came here to escape the death that surrounded him everywhere he went. I feared of my own death; Silentstar had seen me when he killed Leopardpaw. He crossed the line when he put rats in the river, so I told Seastar...but I was too late anyway, since some cat had already told. I knew I couldn't and wouldn't ever come back to IvyClan and that murderer Silentstar, so I was happy. I realize now that he may kill me anyway. I came here to escape him, and to have at least some protection against him." Duskwing had told Smokeleaf the entire truth of Silentstar. He was dangerous beyond belief. Now at least some would know of his evil.

OCC: Middie....i hope that this is okay and that im not acting for silentstar! and leopardpaw and robinpaw are made up apprentices!

[fαllεη •]

((OOC: I think I'll wait until Middie gets back to respond to this one: I don't want everyone to go around thinking he's pure evil when he hasn't actually done anything yet XD. Unfortunately I also have two bouts of homework due Monday next week, so I'll be away until then as well, sorry D:))

[Seafeather]

You guys should finish this...

[fαllεη •]

OOC: I forgot to ask Middie about what Coon said, and she said Silentstar wasn't to kill anyone while she was away so... I sorta can't say anything still O.O

[Seafeather]

OCC: Ahh, but he didn't kill anything while she was away. ^^ It was while he wasn't even existing yet. This is why you should get a Skype Fallen! XD Kat, Middie and I have one and that's how I talk to them now.

[Raccoonstar]

sigh. this post is going to end up rotting forever.

[fαllεη •]

((OOC: >> I don't have time like you guys do, OK? I'd love to get this thread written, so if any of you have a line of communication to Middie that I could hijack, I'd love it if you could ask her/tell me what it is so that I could use it :P Don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't particularly want to come back to find that someone had made Tigerpelt the instigator of the greatest mass-murder known to feline kind or something. Silentstar's her character, and I'd like to respect her right to control his actions.))

[Raccoonstar]

okayz. i was being overly dramatic. i stopped giving a crap about this thread once it died.

[Seafeather]

I have a way to talk to her Verbally talk to her too.

[Raccoonstar]

Wonderfulness.