Radioactive [Darkstripe]

[Bluetwilight]

The church loomed ominously above the calico she-cat, its presence as creepy as ever in the dim light of morning. As Bluetwilight approached the building, she felt shivers go down her spine. She had always disliked the church, even now that she was a full-grown warrior. It was impossible to place this feeling or where it originated from. Perhaps it was just the glaring fact that it was so unnatural. Why did two-legs have to mangle everything they touched? She wondered, just for a moment, if it was even worth fighting over the rotting building. Could they not just let Stoneclan have this scar in the landscape? But then that would be giving up… and that was unacceptable. Then they would be just as lazy as those Roseclan kittypets!

By the time Bluetwilight had reached what she considered to be the border between Stoneclan and Pineclan, she had worked herself up enough that there was a renewed vigor in her step. She had taken it upon herself to come to the church in order to renew the Pineclan border, even though she had not been scheduled to do a patrol this morning. One of her top priorities was to keep her clan mates safe, especially the new kits that had been born recently in Pineclan. This particular part of the border worried her more than others, since Stoneclan cats seemed to think they could barge into the church whenever they pleased.

But when Bluetwilight did a sweep of the church, she found no trace of any Stoneclan cats nearby. Maybe she worried too much, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, there was nothing she had to do today, so why not hang out here for a while? She could guard the church to make sure there were no intruders, and perhaps hunt while she was at it. It beat returning to the crowded camp, at any rate.

[⊙Darkstripe]

Since the gathering, the tom had been pondering on what had happened. His embarrassing fall was not something he wanted to brag about, neither did he want to lose his reputation of being loud around the camp, a reputation that had taken a while to gain. Along with that, he hadn't seen his siblings around much either. His older siblings, Bronzebreeze and Owlclaw were all busy and his younger siblings were just starting to be apprentices, something his mother and father would be proud of. The single thought of his mum and dad struck a wooden stake in his heart, he had seen both their deaths, seen the after effects of decaying. His mother death had been for a reason, to give her unborn kits a chance in life, only for most of the litter to be stillborn. But his father must of fallen, or been ravaged by a wild beast, or both. It had been Darkstripe who had been in the portal at the time they came across the mangled body, it had degraded so much that it was almost impossible to tell if it was him.

Often when on walks, he would think. It was stupid, a cat with his personality would be seen as a social addict, when matter of fact he was quiet timid when he wanted to be. It was only the crazy moments in his life when he was out of control of himself, or was he showing his true personality? Or was he faking himself? It was a strange thought to think he wasn't being himself, but he knew he was being himself right now. Where he was going was where he had been before, the high church that was deemed the boarder of Pineclan and Stoneclan. The tom had been visiting the site since his last visit when tension had run high between him and two Pine clanners, but recently had given up his blind treasure hunt to find them both again. But today he felt lucky to meet some fun.

As the tom reached the broken down church, a huge breath of Pine clan hit him emeditly. With a disgusted snort, the tabby brushed himself up ageist the nearest bush and tree. Just as his yellow-green eye's swept the surrounding area, they came upon the calico she-cat, the one that went by the name Bluetwilight if he remembered correctly from the last Gathering. For a moment the tom considered turning around and walking away before she saw him, the memory of his fall was too fresh in is memory for his liking. But that wasn't who he was, he was the chatty type and the one who liked to be the center of attention. So with striding purpose Darkstripe trotted towards the she-cat, keeping his head high and eye's close, just like he had done when they had first met. Opening his eye's to see if she had noticed him yet, the tom said with a loud, cooky voice, "Hello, miss I don't smell any border markers" Of cause it was a joke and no hint seriousness touched his words.

A playful smile played over his mussel, something that was probably very rarely seen in this area of conflict. It was strange how nice he was to the she-cat since she was of another clan and had only met her twice. But still their could be a little tension if the other cat so much wished. A war could be on the horizon, or a unlikely bound.

[Bluetwilight]

Bluetwilight smelled the stench of a Stoneclan intruder long before she saw the perpetrator. She tensed, her fur bristling as she scanned the area for the other cat. To her relief, it was just that same tabby male that she seemed to keep running into everywhere. She could swear she talked to this irksome cat more often than she talked to any of her clan mates. Somehow, his presence comforted her; she supposed she wasn’t as worried about Darkstripe raiding the Pineclan camp as she would have been for any other Stoneclan warrior. He seemed to her like the type that liked to talk big, but wasn’t really as tough as he made himself out to be.

Darkstripe sauntered over to her with the same sort of strut that had reminded her of a bird the last time she had encountered him in the church. It was funnier this time, now that she thought of him as less of a threat and more of an annoyance. As he made his way over to her, she tried to pinpoint exactly what kind of bird he looked like. The calico she-cat’s tail twitched with amusement as she thought. She was able to tentatively settle on a duck before he began to speak.

Imagining Darkstripe as a duck had put her in an oddly good mood, and so she wasn’t fazed when he mocked her by repeating something she had said in their last encounter. She flicked her ears dismissively and retorted, “Hey there, mister high-and-mighty.” Bluetwilight reflected Darkstripe’s playful mood while wondering incredulously how she could have been joking around with a Stoneclan cat, and in a disputed border at that! For reasons unbeknownst to her, Bluetwilight found it easier to converse with cats whom she disliked than with cats she was acquainted with. Perhaps it was because she didn’t much care what the tabby tom thought about her, and so there was no need for her to scrutinize every word she said around him. “You just won’t stay away from this place, will you?”

[⊙Darkstripe]

The tom could see the mood the she-cat was in and let out a sigh of relief, for if she had been in a bad mood he would most likely be running for the hills. But their was something about this she-cat that he wanted to find out more, and luck was on his side since here she was before him once again. His remark had gone to her like he wished, her own reply sent a smirk playing across his black lips, a smart come back already hidden in the back of his mind. "Oh my, you must be mistaken. It must be so hard for you to see from your high horse yourself" Darkstripe words were laced with a annoying tone that could send any serious cat over the top, normally ending with them snapping at him.

A horse. Something that had been described to him when he was little, playing around in the elders den. A deer shaped animal, with no antlers and with huge jaw muscles, a long hairy tail that could sometimes grow as long to the ground, and hair growing out of its neck and the top of its head. Taller than most doe and about as strong as a fully grown elk bull, something Darkstripe himself would never want to run into. But it was nice to be playing with another cat, for all the cats in Stoneclan knew not to listen to him or try to make conversation without wanting him to start joking around and making a foul of himself. Bluetwilight had not yet just turned and walked away, which was a first for him since most would. Darkstripe had never really considered that she could have a army of cats hiding in the woods around him, ready to take the church for themselves.

What Darkstripe would say to that was simple, he wouldn't care, another area not to portal. With rodents dying everywhere there was no point holding onto this church, for all it had was a few stupid pigeons nesting in its high rails. Now Darkstipe was right up next to the beautiful she-cat, her scent of Pineclan a little too familiar for him likeing, for he had been spending too much time with this cat for most of his clam liking, but who said they would ever know? "How could I resist if i knew you Pine clanners were around? For danger is my middle name" With that he gave a bark of laughter. But that was not what he had intended to say, what he had wanted to say was 'How could I resist if I knew you were around?' But he didn't want to make things awkward and ruin their friendly relationship.

With a glance at the fallen church and then at his rumbling stomach, a grin came over the tom. A look that told everyone he had a plan. A soft cooing confirming his thoughts and the tom turned to the she-cat and gave her a playful smile, "First one to catch a pigeon gets to have the church!" Of course that could never be true, but it was better than standing around here all day. With that, the tom was racing towards the old rickety church, his tail swinging widely behind him. He knew this she-cat might be a good hunter, but Stoneclan was known for their hunting of birds, since it was a rich part of their diet. With grace the tom was upon the fallen roof, the lead slates coming out from under his paws with each leaping stride he took. He had one advantage, he knew how to climb building's, while she was probably more use to trees. Darkstripe hadn't even waited to see if she was following him.

[Bluetwilight]

Darkstripe was quick to think of a comeback to the Pineclan female’s retort. Much to her frustration, Bluetwilight couldn’t think of anything to say to counter it. She wasn’t entirely sure what a horse even was, though she had heard the phrase before and knew what it meant. After all, there were no horses around Pineclan territory. It didn’t matter, though. What mattered was that Darkstripe seemed to have beaten her in this miniature battle of wits, which annoyed her to no end. Instead of responding, she merely rolled her eyes in a manner that suggested she didn’t care.

As they talked, Darkstripe had managed to slide up next to her again, just like he had done at the gathering. Did he have any perception of personal space? She felt, somehow, that being so close to him was wrong. It hadn’t seemed like a big deal at the gathering, since it was a time for cats from other clans to socialize. But now Bluetwilight felt like she was betraying her clan in a way by being friendly toward this Stoneclan cat. She should have been chasing him away from the church, but she didn’t really want to. This was the first time in a long time that she had felt comfortable talking to another cat, and she wanted to hold onto this stroke of luck for as long as she could.

Bluetwilight snorted back a laugh at Darkstripe’s remark about danger. No doubt, he was not lacking in the arrogance department. “Uh-huh.” She meowed sarcastically, grinning as she did so. The calico female wondered thoughtfully whether the tom’s closeness and constant boasting were meant in a flirtatious way, or if this was just the way he acted around everyone. The idea of him finding her attractive brought on a new wave of guilt that was interrupted by the tabby male’s sudden exclamatory remark. So it would be a competition, then? She laughed, this time not bothering to hide it.

“You’re on!” Of course the winner wouldn’t actually get the church… disputes such as these couldn’t be solved in such childish ways. But it still would have been nice to win even a small victory for Pineclan. Bluetwilight wasn’t the greatest hunter in her clan, but she considered herself to be at least average. However, she quickly realized upon entering the collapsed church that winning this challenge would not be easy. The only experience she had with hunting birds was in the rafters of the old shed in Pineclan territory, and she had never actually caught one yet. She decided her best bet would be to follow Darkstripe and try to steal his prey before he could get to it.

It was with some anxiety that she followed her tabby companion onto the sketchy roof of the church. She had thought that climbing a building wouldn’t be so different from climbing a tree, but it turned out not to be at all similar. Bluetwilight felt the tiles of the former roof slipping under her paws, causing her stomach to churn with fear. Darkstripe didn’t help matters, since he dislodged most of the tiles in his path with his long strides. After a couple minutes of walking on the roof, she thought she was starting to get the hang of it. But, just as she looked up to see how far ahead Darkstripe was, she saw as if in slow motion the tile under the Stoneclan male lurch forward alarmingly. “Darkstripe!” Bluetwilight didn’t know what to say to warn him, so all that came out was his name. All she saw was his body slip out of sight, and heard the dull thump! sound of his body hitting the floor. She too afraid to look down, or even move at all. Bluetwilight’s voice held an edge of panic. “Darkstripe, are you alright?!”

[⊙Darkstripe]

Darkstripe watched her face in fascination to every twitch and grin that came over it. His comeback had hit a spot and her face seemed to show she was slightly annoyed with his win in their small battle. The first thought of her was that she was a control freak, since that is the way she was dealing with this situation, but the small movement of rolling her beautiful eyes was a try to get him off the scent that she cared. A slight triumphant grin came over his striped face, for he knew how determined and grumpy that Pineclan could be, very competitive at times to such as when they arrived first at the Gathering. But what was Stoneclan then? Weren't they themselves very grumpy, since the leader, Falconstar could also be considered a bit competitive, but that's what has to be to survive right?

The thought of her being a control freak was emeditly thrown down the drain when she didn't fight back to him sliding in next to her, a movement that most cats would find irritating and would ask him to move away. But he could tell she was thinking about it, about why he would slot himself so close to the enemy. Darkstripe has never been a competitive cat, just always the cat who wanted a lot of attention, was he being attention-seeking infrount of Bluetwilight? The closeness was a simple test of her personality, now as he thought of it. For the face if she pushed him away aggressively, then he would of deemed her inpatient and well mannered, that would confirm his thoughts of all Pineclanners being grumpy old coots. But she stayed her ground and showed no emotions of being intimidated, maybe even slightly worried.

Yes his move could be consisted flirtatious, and yes Darkstripe did find her attractive, like he found most she-cats. But never had he consisted her liking him back, it just seemed a million miles away since they were both from different clans. But he was loyal to his clan, for good or for worst and he wasn't about to endanger their safety so he could meet up with a cat he knew and was not suppose to know or care about. But the thought was pushed into a dark corner when he could feel she was holding back laughter, giving him a sarcastic 'Uh-huh' He himself could not hold back a grin and it sent a nice feeling though him that Bluetwilight was enjoying his jokes, something very rare indeed. Maybe it was because he did care what this cat thought of him, and not weather she was paying attention or not to him.

Her laugh made him feel enlighten as he zoomed off towards the church, the feeling of his paws hitting the soft ground nothing compared to it. Darkstripe was okay at the art of scaling walls and running along the fragile slate roof of the Church. But as he glanced over his shoulder and saw the large built she-cat following a little behind, he knew he was probably better than her, the way she acted with each slate that slipped from under her paws. It could have been a hilarious sight for the tom if he had a longer time to observe the cat following him, for with his distracted state of mind, he hardly noticed the dip in the roof that was a easy tell tale sign that the wood beneath holding up that section of roof was damaged or had been eaten away by wood lice. As his wide paw slapped the dip was too much force for it to handle, the surface beneath caved in on itself.

Darkstripe stomach leapt into his throat as gravity took hold of him, dragging him through the broken section of roof like a invisible hand was gripping him. His mind hardly got a say in what happened next, for all that came was instinctive reflex actions, providing them to be a quick and mindless actions of self defence. After a short fall, his forward paw hit a one of the wooden fames that lines the top of the church, both keeping the structure together and a very decorative effect. As his paw it with a thud, his knee collapses, not able to bare the weight of his clumsily placed paw. As the rest of his body bore down on his leg that lay sideways across the beam, the pressure forcing his paw into a unnatural position until his ankle could take no more and snapped with the pressure. The pain was extortionate painful and to make things worse the beam was too thin to allow his body to roll over to minimize the surface pressure on each part of him, so as he rolled, once again him stomach lurched as it was once more falling though the air. As a last ditch attempt, Darkstripe's claws dug into the now soft wood after so long being eaten away by wood lice, pain shooting though each possible nerve of his body as his broken ankle bone now shared some of the toms weight with his other frount leg.

Gritting his teeth to hold back a cry of pain, Darkstripe could hold it no more and reflexed his claws out of the wood, allowing a grateful few seconds of rest for his broken ankle before he once more hit the church floor. But in mid air, the striped tabby had righted himself useing his ears to find which way was up, slightly leaning himself to the side that didn't have the broken bone. As he hit the floor, his body took most of the shock by lowering himself to the floor but being slightly leaning, his plan played out as he tumbled sideways. Darkstripe was in complete shock and could feel no part of him body as his eye's fixed on the first thing they saw, a fallen golden object that had a strange being pinned to it. The tom could think nothing of it since now the pain was flooding in.

Note: The whole thing of him hitting the beam and hitting the floor all happen in a few seconds xD But I don't know if I have to pay for a injury, I don't mind what happens next since she will have to take him to a medicine cat and he's very much in shock and wouldn't be able to talk xD

[Bluetwilight]

OOC: Sorry this took so long! I had a hard time figuring out how she would react.

Bluetwilight felt almost nauseous when her calls received no reply. Maybe he was playing some sort of sick joke… yeah, that would be it! Clearly he only pretended to fall off of the roof, because that just seemed like something he would have done. “Very funny, Darkstripe.” The she-cat felt stupid for falling for his trick, but there was still a nagging sense of worry in her gut. Maybe I should look over the edge, just in case. She was standing right next to the hole Darkstripe had made in the ceiling, but somehow couldn’t bring herself to look. But what choice did she have? Only after heaving a deep breath did she manage to force herself to peer over the edge.

What she saw made her stomach flip again. There was no blood, at least not that she could see, but only a dark figure sprawled out on the floor of the church. Darkstripe was not moving or howling in pain, which surprisingly would have reassured Bluetwilight. At least if he had been yelling she would have known for sure that he was alive, but of course she jumped to conclusions when she saw him lying there in silence. The calico tried in vain to calm her racing heart as she took in the sight. She had to get down there to confirm whether he was… well, dead. How could this have happened?

Eventually, Bluetwilight managed to find a way down to where Darkstripe was lying motionless. It wasn’t the safest of ways, however, and she scraped her front two paw pads in her haste to get down. She didn’t notice though, entirely numb to her own physical needs in the wake of Darkstripe’s fall. As she approached the male at a sprint, she saw the definitive rising and falling of his chest. Somehow, this did nothing to calm her frayed nerves. “Darkstripe, can you hear me?” Bluetwilight touched her nose to his flank gently in an effort to get his attention. He was eerily quiet and unresponsive, though his eyes were clearly open and staring off into the distance. She was woefully unprepared to even begin to treat a cat who had fallen such a long distance, and knew that she somehow had to get him to someone who was.

Her mind reeled with possibilities. Her first thought was to run to Pineclan camp and bring Birchbark to him, but the idea of persuading the Pineclan medicine cat to treat a cat from another clan was laughable. Even if Birchbark was willing, Rushstar wouldn’t stand for it. In fact, Bluetwilight herself would probably be punished for even being in Darkstripe’s presence to begin with. Maybe she could manage to run into Stoneclan territory to get their medicine cat… but even if they waited long enough to hear her out before tearing her apart there would still be the problem of Pineclan finding out that she was with a cat from another clan. There was no choice; Darkstripe would have to help her sneak into Stoneclan territory and somehow get him to a medicine cat without her being noticed. The idea sounded absurd even before she said it out loud. “Listen to me, I need to get you to a medicine cat, but I need your cooperation, okay? You’re going to have to stand… can you do that?” Bluetwilight hovered close to Darkstripe in case he needed to lean on her, but she wasn’t sure he could even hear her anyway. What would she do if he couldn’t get up?