It was a thrilling experience, knowing that he'd managed to throw her off guard for a second. Even if it didn't last too long. However, he was surprised when Silverdew stood on her back legs, seemingly without effort, and sent several blows his way. It was all he could do, trying to dodge each and every one of them. He took a few blows to his face, as he found the she-cat remarkably quick.

In fact, she moved so quickly Lostleg didn't even have time to notice she'd switched the style of move, and had now slammed into him. Gasping he head-fisted the ground, and landed on his already sore ribs. As they were both lying at the ground batting each other, it was no option to use any other moves. He landed a few blows, but the fall had stunned him slightly and he felt dizzy. Finally, Silverdew broke apart from him. At this point, he could clearly feel his head throbbing, and his ribs ached so much he had to take another few seconds to recover before staggering back to his feet.

Coughing he looked at the she-cat, a mixture of wonder and imminent dislike at how quickly she'd managed to give him a quick round of beating. In fact, it troubled him very much that a she-cat whom he'd believed he could easily take on, had been such a struggle for him. He noticed her wound, but didn't feel like apologizing for it. Instead, he focused on her rather taunting way of his round. His eyes narrowed, his oliveish green eyes studying her for a moment before letting out a snarl of disgust and resentment. With that he turned, limping away from her until he sat a few fox-leaps away with his back turned at her.

It was hard for him to get a grasp at what had actually happened. He hadn't known he was so out of shape, even the simplest move could take him down. Not to mention that he hadn't ever been able to practice the moves he'd been taught with three legs instead of four. However, he didn't blame his body for the loss. He blamed himself, more than anything, for letting his body decay like this. "I suppose I didn't," he snapped over his shoulder, the tip of his tail twitching.

Silverdew had expected Lostleg's reaction. A lesson in humility was never something someone liked to receive, especially a tom as proud as Lostleg, but it was sometimes needed. It didn't mean she felt bad about it though. If Lostleg was going to boast about being able to do something, he should be able to back it up.

The she-cat sat down on her haunches and rolled her tail around her paws. The scratch on her face was red, but it wasn't bleeding like a bad wound. She watched Lostleg closely, her ears flicking occasionally to fend off small flies that had found her and the scent of her scratch. She had known the tom would react badly to losing if he lost, but she didn't think he'd take it quite this hard.

Silverdew sighed softly, before she rose to her paws. The she-cat moved towards Lostleg, and sat beside his brooding form. Without a word, she reached over with her maw and started to slowly groom him. Her teeth found and cracked fleas and her rough tongue surface started to tame his bedraggled fur. The she-cat didn't purr as she did this, but it was relaxing, for her at least.

After a long while, Silverdew pulled away. "I'll have to get mousebile to get your ticks, but I hope that feels better." Her green-grey gems looked at him in a warm light, but that warmth was quickly gone as she stood to her paws. The sun had set awhile ago, and she looked up to the moon curiously. Her entire body glowed silver under the moon's rays.

"Its very late, " Silverdew stated, "We should head back to camp, don't you think?"She took a few steps forward but then turned to look back at him and wait. "When we get back I'll get some mousebile and finish your grooming, if you'd like."

Bramblefire left Lonerpaw to her own devices and picked up a small mouse, deciding to eat.

Lonerpaw was not quite ready to go to bed yet, but she was getting a bit tired. Even though she did not want to, she padded into the apprentices den, and made herself a small nest. Satisfied, she quickly fell into a quiet slumber.

Despite his dislike as being portrayed as a furtive cat who didn't take a loss well, Lostleg couldn't really help it. Losing at something he'd been so talented at was more painful than anything else he'd experienced. Even losing his family, losing the cat who used to love him, losing everything worth something to him wasn't as tough as this. Fighting had been everything he had, loyalty and courage been his two brightest features. Now he had to view them both crumble to the ground.

For a while he just sat there, staring blankly out into the forest where they lived. He'd never fully appreciated what it was. Never appreciated it as a home. He still didn't. This area had caused him more harm than good. At first he didn't even notice that Silverdew had moved over to sit by him, cleaning his filthy fur. Then he snapped out of his daydreaming, and glanced uncertainly at her for moment. He didn't take this as an attempt to soothe him, although he was grateful for it nevertheless. His fur hadn't been cleaned in moons, and was heavy with dirt. Sighing heavily he made no protest as she proceeded to groom him, unsure whether she expected him to return the favour by cleaning her fur.

Before he'd made up his mind though, she had pulled away from him, and he felt a bit of the warmth that had crawled into his fur evaporate. For a second he longed to ask if she could continue, but kept his mouth firmly shut simply because of what she said next. "You're not an apprentice," he murmured, staring at her with his greenish eyes stretched wide. "Why would you bother?" he murmured, puzzled and slightly confused. He'd never, and by that he meant NEVER, encountered a cat that had been willing to fetch mousebile to clean off ticks on their own free will. Apprentices groaned when given the task, so he'd stopped requesting mouse bile for himself. It wasn't like he'd be able to do the ticks himself anyway, and no apprentice dared approach him since he'd complain about them pulling his hairs too roughly or something.

Shaking his head he got to his paws, pausing to consider her a moment longer. "Yes, it's late. We should definitly get back," he muttered, feeling slightly weird about the whole thing. It had been moons since he allowed a cat near his pelt, without him snapping at them for some sort of reason. Shrugging he partially ignored her last question, even if he'd heard it and limped back the path they'd come, heading back towards camp.

Bramblefire sat near the warriors den, lost in his thoughts. His eyes traveled between the apprentices den and he medicine cats den. I have to get Bruntstar to allow Bush into the clan He thought, but kept it to himself.

Silverdew waited until Lostleg had passed her to start walking again, following behind him. She had not expected his calm reaction to her grooming, as normally anyone who even went near his pelt got their ears ripped off. Still it was something Silverdew found she was glad to do for him. The she-cat had also not expected him to act so badly to losing to her in their sparring match. She flicked her tail slightly, thinking silently.

In response to his questions, she meowed, "Because if I were in the same position and not able to do it, or just not wanting to do it, I'd like to have someone who would at least be willing to do it for me. Besides, I never leave a job unfinished. Which is why, when tomorrow comes, we're going to start working on your skills and strength. We'll keep working on them until I can no longer beat you." Her tone of voice left no room for argument from the tom, but if he did, she'd use her ShadowClan stubbornness and not listen to a word he said.

When they got back to camp, Silverdew noticed Bramblefire sitting by the Warrior's Den with an odd look on his face. Something told the she-cat that something had happened in camp while she and Lostleg were away. She'd have to find out later, but for now, her green-gray eyes looked down at the prey pile. It was rather picked over after the day, but there was still a plump mouse left in the middle, under a toad. She picked it up and took it to Lostleg, before turning and heading into the Medicine Cat's Den.

The she-cat returned to Lostleg a few minutes later with some mousebile on the end of a stick. Silently, she dabbed it on his multitude of blood sucking parasites, taking great care o get them all off of the tom. When she was finished, she got rid of the bile and washed her paws thoroughly. When she returned, she slipped back into the Elder's Den and sat beside Lostleg, giving him silent company until he fell asleep.

Bush stirred a bit as Silverdew entered the den, but fell back into his uneasy sleep.

Lonerpaw woke up, felling a bit more rested, but not quite at easy in the apprentices den. She got up gently, as to not disturb any of her quiet clan mates, and sat there reflecting on what she had learned.

(Recap?)

Rosepaw slipped into the medicine cat's den. She hadn't seen Silentwish come out of the den so she went into to see what he was doing.

(Lonerkit, fallkit, and Cyankit are apprentices now. Bush is a seven moon old loner who wishes to join the clan, albeit Bruntstar is opposed to allowing him at the moment, and Bush is in the medicine currently awaiting treatment for a slightly broken leg.  His leg should heal quickly, within about two weeks role play time.)

Her response warmed the scruffy tom's heart, even though he still wondered where such kindness had come from. Oh, how I've grown up with learning that ShadowClan cats have no hearts. That the cold winds chill their hearts. How come Silverdew isn't among them? he silently wondered, kind of questioning where she was really from. It didn't help trying to remember, for he'd been nothing but a small kit when Silverdew and her littermate had entered the clan. How, he did not know.

Frowning he pushed it aside, and listened to her full answer. The tone suggested that she most certainly wouldn't back away from this, and his frown of confusion was replaced by an amused smirk, which surprisingly lit up his face. His long whiskers twitched lightly and he looked at her, his eyes meeting hers. "I won't deny the chance to have a sparring partner. Nor will I push away the chance to learning how to fight once again," he murmured and sighed heavily, before moving his gaze back forwards as he entered camp. He noticed Bramblefire as well, although he was quite used to ignoring weird looks and expressions, and thus didn't take much note of it.

He limped to the elders den immediatly. Surprisingly, Silverdew brought him a mouse. Licking his jaws he devoured the rodent in a matter of seconds, as he had not realised how hungry he'd been until now. It surprised him even more when she once again returned, smoothening out his ticks with mousebile. Once she'd finished, he figured that his fur was much lighter and a lot more comfy than earlier. Even if it stank of mousebile. Being touched by someone friendly was quite unusual for him as well.

During the treatment, he kept completely quiet, and didn't say a word as she went to wash her paws. He laid down and fluffed up his pelt, prepraring for another cold night. To his surprise, his now clean fur warmed him more than the matted, dirty one. He kept his eyes poised on the entrance of the elders den until Silverdew returned, and he watched her carefully for a moment before he sighed and closed his eyes. "Thank you," he murmured gratefully before he slowly drifted into a heavy sleep, less troubled than he'd been in moons.

Bush decided that lying around in a den being fussed over was not something he was ready to endure just yet. He managed to get up, and gently yet slowly walk out of the den. His movements where extremely slow and careful, Which proved that while he could get around some, there was no way he could leave the outside of the camp without extreme risk to himself. He sat himself down gently a small ways away from the medicine cats den. He sighed, and let his gaze travel around the camp. His eye's caught the sight of a young she cat, not much younger than him. Albeit he did not know who the cat's name was, nor the history of the cat, for some reason it brought back memory of Lonerpaw's sister, Moss. 

Truth was, Bush had a crush on moss when he was younger, but didn't quite have the bravery to tell her. When he overheard that Moss wanted to be a medicine cat, he decided not to tell her. All of those feelings had left him over the past several moons, though.

Bush decided to look away when he noticed Bramblefire padding up to him.

"So, your eyes got caught on Winterkit?" He asked Bush causing the younger tom to blush a bit.

"I don't know," Bush responded, then added "She kinda reminded me of a crush I once had when I was younger. He then paused. "Wait... Winterkit?" He asked, a tone in his voice. "Isn't she the same age as Lonerpaw? He added. 

Bramblefire sighed. "I honestly don't know why they where not made apprentices at the same time."
He meowed softly. He did know, actually, but he did not like speaking bad about other cats, Well, except Thunderclan, and the last thing he wanted to do was give someone outside the clan insider knowledge to one of the mistakes of the clan.

Bush nodded, but dd not respond.

Silverdew stood after Lostleg had fallen asleep awhile ago. Her green-grey eyes looked down at the young elder and sighed slightly, almost wistfully. "There's no need for thanks," the she-cat whispered, warmer than she had all day. The truth was, she enjoyed having Lostleg by her today. Even though the tom was rough around the edges, he wasn't bad to be around, pleasant sometimes. It seemed most cats just didn't give him the chance he deserved.

Flicking her ears she exited the Elder's Den silently, only to find Bramblefire and Bush out in the open. Wary, Silerdew opened her mouth and scented. It seemed as if Bush had been in the camp for awhile now, as his scent held more ShadowClan. Thankfully, he smelt of rogue or loner instead of another Clan as well. The she-cat padded over to the kit and her fellow Warrior, tilting her head slightly. "Who have we here?"

Silverdew was tired, but she wanted to find out who this kit was first. Was he a new Clan member and she and Lostleg had missed a meeting? She reached a paw out and nudged Bush lightly. "My name's Silverdew. Yours?" Her meow was soft, almost loving in a way. Silverdew had always had a bit of a soft spot for kits in a sense, but she never desired to have her own. To much trouble when she could be out serving her clan in more useful ways than popping out the next generation of Warriors.

"My name is Bush." Bush replied, although he kinda sounded depressed.

"He want's to join Shadowclan, but Burntstar is giving opposition to the idea." Bushheart explained, sighing. "He and Lonerpaw seem to have a bit of history, but what that is exactly, I'm not sure. But I think she's taking Bruntstar's opposition kinda hardly. She even offered to train Bush in her spare time to see if he was worthy of a chance... but Burntstar still says no." He went on, then narrows his eyes at the Leader's den. "One would think if we are going to continue to challenge Thunderclan for territory, turning away someone who is so willing to join the clan such as Bush would be a mouse brained thing to do." He added bitterly.

Silverdew tilted her head slightly, before rubbing her paw against Bush's head in a caring manner. Her green-gray eyes looked over to Burntstar's den, narrowing them and staring into the blackness thoughtfully. Her tail swished against the ground a few times as she sat. The she-cat let out a little 'huff' of air and a grunt.

"You'd think. Especially since new blood is good for the Clan, especially since I'm not having kits. I like them well enough, but I have better ways of serving my clan and spending my time. Sitting in the nursery would drive me insane." Silverdew sighed slightly, "I could sure do a heck of a lot better job training him than my idiotic brother is doing with Fallpaw. Rainclaw can't even find him half the time." Silverdew seemed to growl at the mention of her brother, before she continued on, "I'll talk with him in the morning. For now, I'm going to bed. I took a walk with Lostleg, groomed him up a little. That tom can sure tire you out without even trying."

The she-cat didn't mention one word of their spar, even though the scratch was still evident on her cheek. She stood, leaning down and licking Bush on the forehead. "We'll get you in some how, Bush. Don't worry." Walking away, she threw a good night over her shoulder to Bramblefire, before walking into the Warrior's Den and settling down in her nest for a night of rest.

"Thank you Silverdew, I greatly appreciate it." Bush meowed kindly, then headed into the medicine cat's den to sleep when she left.

Bramblefire sighed, then remembered something. He decided to do a little night-hunting. Wondering if he, Lonerpaw, and Silverdew could really could get Bush into the clan, but an extra paw in the clan would be useful. He looked around and noticed an elderly mouse cross his path. He considered giving chase, but his eyes felt sympathy for the creature. However, he did not want anyone guessing he felt pity for the old mouse, so he steeped on a twig in an attempt to scare the mouse. The mouse did not move, and sighed, deciding to put the creature out of his mystery. However, before he could give chase, He thought that he saw a black furred shape sprang out of the bushes, caching it. Lonerpaw? Bramblefire thought initially, then realized that the cat had went through the prey. Howbeit, he blinked again, and the shape was gone. Yet the mouse was till there, like nothing happened. That is the most oddest thing I have ever seen. One thing is fore sure, that was no ordinary cat. Defiantly not a starclan cat either. He thought, confused. He wondered if he could have been seeing things. He shook his head, returning to camp, and quickly forgot the incident.

((Perhaps we should do a time-skip to the next morning? Everyone's off to bed, or at least most of them... I don't see a point in continuing on the RP through the night, when we've obviously completed the day. P: ))

(I agree.)

(Yep, I agree.)

Lonerpaw woke up early, just before Sunhigh. She padded into the main camp, and was greeted by Bramblefire.

"Hey Lonerpaw, catch!" He meowed, tossing her a small mouse. 

Lonerpaw caught it. "Shouldn't I hunt first?" She asked, her voice muffled by the mouse.

"Naw, I gave you permission. Besides, You'll need your strength if your going to please Bruntstar." He told his daughter.

"Um, ok then." Lonerpaw sighed, and ate the mouse. Although her adopted father had given her permission to do so, she still felt a bit uncomfortable about it. Then she remembered that she was suppose to be battle training. She licked her lips, and nodded to her dad. "Well, I'd better get to the training hollow." She meowed, and headed toward the camp exit.

"Let me know if anyone misbehaves. I'll knock em over with a stiff squirrel if they do." Bramlefire joked, laughing at his own joke.

Lonerpaw flicked her ear, then continued to the training hollow. knowing Bramblefire, he'd really do something like that, She thought, arriving at the training hollow slightly early.

((Recap for wavey please))

(Well, Cyankit, Lonerkit, and Fallkit where made apprentices yesterday in reference to roleplay time. Lonerpaw's mentor is Bruntstar, Fallpaw's mentor is Rainclaw, and Cyanpaw's mentor is Nightstreak. There is a seven moon old rouge by the name of bush who is wanting to join the clan, he currently is is the medicine cat's den recovering from a leg injury. Bruntstar is reluctant to let him join, but some of the clan wishes the young rouge to join. As of right now, Lonerpaw is awaiting Bruntstar at the training hollow.)

Burntstar
At the early morning of dawn Burntstar woke up, a single ray of sun shining through the crack of his roof, blinding him momentarily as he opened his eyes. Yawning he stretched, his long claws ripping and tearing at the moss he was sleeping at. Getting up he walked out of the den and filled his lungs with the early morning air. He exhaled and sighed happily. This was a morning he'd look forwards to. He'd actually forgotten about the fact that a cat he would much rather not see was still in camp, and nodded a pleasent greeting in Bramblefire's direction before he headed off towards the training area.

He had expected to be the first up, but was surprised to see the lone figure of Lonerpaw already standing there at his arrival. Thus he took the opportunity to sneak up on her, lurking silently through the grass before he pounced and tackled her, pinning her with ease to the ground. "Always be preprared for an attack when out in the open," he said and smirked, before getting off her.

Lostleg
Like Burntstar he woke up in the morning, feeling refreshed and happy. His fur was smooth, for once, and even though he still had an omnious ache in his ribs it didn't bother him quite as much. Padding out of the den he stretched and yawned, shaking his fur and plucking pieces of his bedding out of his pelt. Looking well-groomed enlightened the few handsome features he had, the angles in his face as well as how shiny his fur got when properly groomed. Limping over to the fresh-kill pile he picked a small mouse, gulping it down quickly.

Hiccuping he moved back to the elders den, where he proceeded by cleaning his own fur for the first time since his accident. The taste of mouse bile was still clinging to his fur, so without further ado he moved out of camp, limping at a surprisingly quick pace. Soon he'd reached the stream, where he washed his pelt with a most grim look on his face. He'd never enjoyed water, neither stream nor rain. Anything that caused his pelt to be soggy and soaked for hours, basically. He didn't want to smell like he'd just bathed in a puddle of mouse bile though. Even though he'd neglected himself for a long time, he had enough pride to not go around smelling foul. Or fouler than he'd done before, anyway.

Feeling refreshed, he rubbed his fur the wrong way to quicken the drying and limped back towards camp, looking he'd fallen into a pond. There he settled in the sun, which wasn't nearly as warm as it had been a few moons ago, and closed his eyes tightly. It was a good feeling, having the rays of sun shine on his fur and feel the water in his fur evaporate into nothingness.

Lonerpaw felt the impact of Bruntstar jumping on her. She squeaked in surprised, then smiled at him. "When you said that you would not hold anything back, you where not kidding!" She meowed in a cheeky tone.

"So, I see you tried to become a Riverclan cat." Owlscreech teased Lostleg as she came over to the elder. Her thin tail swished around a bit near the ground before she neatly wrapped it around her paws. "How did it go?"

Burntstar
Chuckling Burntstar studied his apprentice for a while, then nodded. "Of course. I'm dead serious all the time," he said, although a mischievous smile forming on his face suggested differently. "Be careful. You don't want to be too cheeky to your leader, or he may sentence you to watching over the elders," he said an eyebrow as if saying 'challenge me'.

However, he didn't press on any further and instead focused on her training. "Right, I think it's about time we started. For starters, I want you to attempt to attack me." Turning around at the edge of the clearing he face her, crouched in a defensive position and quite ready for any kind of move she might throw in his direction.

Lostleg
Looking up Lostleg noticed one of the only other cats in the camp whom he respected, or at least slightly. His relationship with Owlscreech was a curious one indeed. "Last time I tried to be a RiverClan cat was when I was an apprentice and fell in the river when we were heading to the Gathering. I thought it'd be worth giving it another shot," he said and chuckled lightly as he opened his eyes and laid them on the she-cat. It'd been a while since they'd spoken with one another now.

"Ah, I can tell you RiverClan would be quite ashamed of me if I were born in their ranks," he muttered and shrugged slightly. "Why are you in camp though? I thought your patrol was supposed to leave for dawn," he said, narrowing his eyes slightly. Before he'd been the one ensuring that patrols were created, and it so seemed he was still eager to show himself as dominant in the clan.