[ti]Open[/ti]Red Moon Equals War

[Ringtail]

"Cats, young and old, that twine with our Tree Home! Gather among the Golden Feline." A familiar deep voice rang, the Tribe leader, Firstspeaker, Ash of Last Sun, yowled from the opening of his den. His pelt took the scent of lavender flowers, the sweet scent coating his body hypnotically. Why lavender, you ask? What was indeed his favorite flower, the way the purple flowers bunched together, much like how the cats of the tribe stuck together. But the herb had a different purpose. On that day, the leader had acquired a slight fever. A minor one, but one should not fret too much. Bounding towards the mentioned Golden Cat, the leader took his place by it's side, raising his head to look up at the green jeweled eyes. A sign of hope, a sign courage. Anything to bring a strength to show the tribe mates. To bring them to their feet, from the lose of FLOWER HIDING IN FERNS. All because of those damn Clan Cats. He wore the lavender in honor of Flower and the others that had lost. It was time to fight back.

His eyes glowed with intent to challenge these cats, to show them, how big and brutal these cats were. "I will now announce that all TO-BES AND KITS will begin training under any and all Prey-Hunters and Home-Guards. We need to prepare, for a war. A war on these Clan Cats. For they have upset the ways of the Tribe and the ways of our Ancestors, the winds of spoken and gathered the leaves in my den, clearly wanting us to clear out this filth of felines. For they are not one of us. They are not like us, and they sure as heck do not respect our ways..And have clearly killed Flower for their own good. Who knows..They make come back and drive us all into the winding river, where we can not become one with our Ancestors underneath the roots of our home. " His eyes only saught fire, if they continued to stay calm and unknown t these cats of the clans, what could they do? They could tear families from this sacred ground and ruin the purity of the Tree.



"All Home-Guards will be at the ready, as for our Prey-Hunters, they will under go training from the Home-Guards, to acknowledge their fighting ways. For heed this, all must become ready to fight and defend, for it it is our time, our time to show these Clan Cats that were are not weak. AS one, we are strong, for we call upon the strength of those that have joined the Roots, to give us, to show us the way of becoming the Mighty Tree we live, we breathe, we birth, we sleep, we eat from. We will not allow them to take this away from us, for they have taken innocent cats from their beloved home."

His face scanned the crowd of cats, his eyes landing on Petalpaw. "The cat that has joined us from the Clans. She will be remained prisoner until further notice. Do not allow her to leave her holding area. All ears and eyes must be on her." He returned to the tribe cats.

"We attack when the full moon calls forth the red mist that shrouds it, mirroring the fallen. If all or any of questions, report them to me. Prepare now or suffer. For we have a long journey ahead of us, to prove we are ONE."

[chickenbatnana]

Stream had been thinking a lot lately. All of camp was tense, from the kits to the elders, she guessed everyone could feel it. There was a war coming. With the Tribe cats blaming the Clan cats for Flower's death, it was no surprise. But she didn't agree. Cats had died on their own in the river, why did the Clan cats' presence indicate they pushed her? Such a petty, fight, it was. It wasn't Firstspeaker demanding justice- he demanded revenge, he demanded blood. Or if he didn't he demanded a fight at the very least! That was no way to settle a dispute, cats had voices for a reason, to talk. From talking to Petalpaw, Stream had learned so much, she had a newfound respect for the Clans. How they survived together, how they ate so much how they had a 'medicine cat' and 'leader' separately. It was interesting, it was something worthy of existing. The Tribe was scared of the unknown, so why didn't they get to know them? But for now, it was time for the telling. Firstspeaker was gonna have to address this, or she would herself.

Sitting anxiously, Stream listened to her mentor talk. He was addressing it- of course, but in the wrong way! A bristle of anger went through Stream's pelt, how could he say such things! When he mentioned Petalpaw, she spoke up among the silent crowd. ''Are you listening to yourself?'' She said, her voice clear and bitter. ''We don't even know if they took Flower! Who are you to disrupt their lives, when you speak about protecting our own!'' Spat the she-cat, hoping she could reach others for once.  ''And... And you want kits to train? Kits! You want prey-hunters to fight, too! Where are the traditions in that? Where are our ways in that?'' Her voice went silent for a few heartbeats, but she wasn't done yet. ''They aren't like us, but what's the problem with that? I knew you were short-sighted, but this is it.'' She lashed her tail furiously, staring into Firstspeaker's eyes, perhaps searching for any regret, perhaps challenging him.

[mewmehh]

Petalpaw had been listening thoughtfully, having gathered with the members of the Tribe as peaceably as if she had been among her own kin; not that the others really felt the same ease though. She shifted uncomfortably as Firstspeaker's rang out in an angry, fiery yowl that filled all his tribemates up with a burning need to take up arms, and it made the red she-cat nervous. She wanted to defend her clan as well as Mothclan and Ivyclan, but after the past moon and a half, she had found herself rather taken with Tribe life and the acquaintances she had made since 'visiting.' Then, there was, of course, her new best friend Stream.

Her green eyes glittered brilliantly as Stream spoke up passionately, countering the old tom's rough words with her own zeal. Petalpaw felt herself flex, wishing to cheer her friend on, though she knew it would be wiser to say nothing. When did I grow so complacent? She never used to care about what others thought before, but then again, these weren't the clanmates who had watched her grow up. These, as much as she liked to believe otherwise, were strangers.

[Miss Tactical]

Talon sat still, a breeze blowing through his brown fur. Like he had predicted, Firstspeaker was making his way towards his normal post when he made announcements. The pesky clan or tribe whatever they were had left a few dawns ago and still created such a large mess. Flower had mysteriously vanished. The only thing they caught was his scent mixed with the clan cats, how odd. Sure there was no proof, but it certainly was no coincidence either. He listened with intent, a war would rage down when the moon turned red, perfect just what he wanted to hear. He looked to the sky for just a moment, certainly a full moon was still a bit a way. ”Firstspeaker, there’s no time. He mewed firmly. He knew the prey hunters would need some type of training, but they still didn’t know how far away the clan cats were. A moon… two? Who knew.

”We should leave immediately. We can train the prey hunters along the way. You know the tribe rules, Firstspeaker and their to-be does not leave the ruins. Trust that your home guards will return to you safe, and let us do what we have trained to do. He mewed. He stood to his paws, but it was stream who spoke up about them not being sure whether the clan cats did anything to Flower. He huffed slightly, his tail lashing. Firstspeaker picked quite the cat for his to-be didn’t he? He narrowed his eyes slightly but instead turned his attention back to his leader.

”Whether or NOT they did anything to flower doesn’t mean squat when the scents mingled that’s the prey hunters report. It just ends near the rushing water. HE could have been pushed. Stream why are you being so Naïve when it is one of your own who died? Sure there was no proof, Flower didn’t visit Firstspeaker like Doe had…despite Sootheart delivering a message to them about Doe, which seemed rather accurate, he still couldn’t believe Flower would just dip his paw in for a swim. He knew how powerful the rapids were. Even if it was JUST an accident…it was an accident at the paws of those other three tribes, and they would have to pay for their actions. They should have just stayed put where they belonged and left them alone.

[Ringtail]

Listening to the concerns of both Stream and Talon, the leader gave a huff. "Enough. My word goes has is..As for you, Stream your naïve nature concerns me. Clearly your lessons have not been brought to mind, and my word is clearly lost with you. These cats were not birthed of this tribe nor do they respect our ways of life. Would you rather them kill us all with their strange ways? Kill your kin right before your eyes? No matter your cause for trying to befriend them, they are not our cats to look after. They are not one of us. Our time is near and high, Stream, my decisions are being based upon our survival. The kits will begin their training early, under your command, under my watch.. Our future generations must be ready for the worst." His attention went to Talon. "You will take them after those clan cats, and yes, I know I will be staying here. If all fails, send the fastest prey-hunter and Home-Guard back to report back to me. Train any and all prey-hunters you take with you along the way, as per say. Teach those clan cats a lesson. That the Tribe of Ancient Roots is here to stay and protect our kin and home. " Finishing with speaking, Firstspeaker rose to the challenage against Stream. "You may be my to-be, but it is my word that all listen. When the time comes, your word will ring like mine, but until then, it is best that you listen before you act." His own tail lashed, eyes narrowed. How could he keep the tribe safe when Stream seemed to want to befriend these strange cats? It was enough they already had one with them.

[Dragon]

Diamond That Shines In Cave sat listening to Firstspeaker. His words chilled her to the bone. Prey hunters train to fight along with kits? This can't be right? She wasn't a fighter but a hunter. She didn't want to fight the clans. She didn't believe that the clan cats had come all this way to kill one cat then leave. Diamond thought it was an accident. Stream spoke up and she nodded her head agreeing with her. "Your willing to put the life of kits at risk? That doesn't make since Firstspeaker. I don't understand, can't we just up our patrols and protect our territory? Why do we need to start a war?" Diamond was young only eight moons old. So much of this was confusing to her.