Jøιητcℓαη: τнε ηεxτ gεηεяατιøη ✶ αcτ ⅰ✶ яumøяs (OPEN)

Viper was already prowling around the makeshift camp, looking more agitated than usual this fine morning. She glanced up when Crescent entered the makeshift camp with herbs in tow and padded on over. "Morning." She muttered unhappily- that was the politest you were going to get out of Viper, which wasn't saying much. She was noticeably nicer to both her deputy and medicine cat, though, and peopel couldn't help but notice that. Probably 'cause she didn't want them to turn on her, but still. She followed Crescent back to his den, her tail lashing.

Crescent shook his head to wake himself up when he entered the makeshift camp, some herbs flying out of his mouth as he did so. He immediately darted towards them, carefully sorting them in order to prevent bruising when he saw Viper approach him, muttering a morning. He gave a half-smile, partially because his mouth was full of herbs, and partially because he really didn't want to associate with anyone at the moment, especially with his fur a mess and mouth muffled. He beckoned Viper to follow him with his tail, prowling back into his den, and released his grip on the herbs. As they fell to the ground, he quickly slid them with his paws into an otherwise unrecognizable order. He sat in front of them, switching glances between Viper and his fur as he started to clean it.

"Morning."

Jaywhisker looked around. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to the fact that the dawn patrol had been called. Nobody except her, that is. She flicked her ears with a worried glance toward Sorawind; hopefully he wouldn't get annoyed and yell at anybody. Hopefully the apprentices would respond soon; the deputy did have a tiny reputation for being blunt and irritable. But he seemed to be composing himself well. The blue tom was sitting and looking around the camp, although there was a certain hardness in his eyes that showed he was trying to keep himself calm.

Sorawind didn't say anything. He would have to let himself cool down at being ignored; yelling at the apprentices wouldn't help anything.

"Tell Sorawind that I'll be there in one second, Russetpaw. I... I promised that I'd tell the elders good morning. You know how cranky they get when you go back on a promise~" Cedarpaw lied easily, smiling apologetically at her (although it was more of a guilty smile). "I'll be right there, it'll only really take me a second." He promised, again, before darting off to the elders den. There, Pansypaw was already unhappily hauling old moss out and new moss in.
Flashing a bright, innocent smile at the elders, he bounced on over to Pansypaw. He whispered something quickly in her ear. "When I get back from the dawn patrol, let's go hunting. Like, by ourselves. We can't get in trouble if we're doing something productive, now can we? I'll take the blame if we get caught, anyways. And besides, you've been stuck in camp for ages and the patrols are boring without you."
With that, he turned and scampered out. He reached the waiting Russetpaw, Jaywhisker, and Sorawind with ease. He smiled apologetically at Sorawind, dipping his head as if embarrassed (he wasn't). "Sorry, Sorawind. I promised the elders I'd say hi."

Viper sat back on her haunches, curling her thin tail around her paws neatly. He set the herbs down, then his gaze flickered between her and his messy fur. Then, he began to clean it while muttering a good morning. She couldn't help but kind of, sort of smile. It was more of a smirk, however, which was the best "smile" you were going to get from her. She couldn't care less what his fur looked like, let alone her own, but he seemed to mind.
"Am I bugging you?" She asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. He looked disgruntled, as though he didn't really want to talk to anyone.

Sorawind turned his head towards the approaching apprentice. Now that he was actually a bit frustrated, they were coming to the patrol. He wondered how that had happened; maybe he should have more patience next time, and his fur wouldn't prickle so much before anyone arrived.

He couldn't stay mad at an apprentice, though. His lips curled up a little in a vague smile, and he replied, "It's all right. I shouldn't expect to leave right when I call."

He looked at the one warrior and two apprentices. "Now we're just waiting on Barkstripe," he muttered to himself. If he's not busy. If he is I'll have to just send them off with only one warrior.

Crescent continued to switch between his fur and Viper, shaking his head. "No, you're fine. To tell the truth, you never really bug me, even when you should," He stated, giving a small laugh afterwards. Once he found his fur to be cleansed and went back to sorting his herbs. Not like there was much left to sort, but he found it a good time waster before something important happened. Had he have been a proper tom, he would've asked Viper how her day was so far and if she needed help with anything, but in case someone hasn't noticed, he isn't. Because of this, he sat back on his haunches, creating a somewhat awkward silence. After all, it wasn't like there was anything to say to her without fear of ticking her off, which was quite easy to do.

Silence.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Viper inquired curiously, her head still tilted slightly to the side. It wasn't as if she were a good person, at all. She had no redeeming qualities or anything. She was just a bad person. Everyone was afraid of her, but they respected her. She hoped. She was used to people being quiet around her, since she often lashed out when they did try and converse with her, so the silence didn't bother her in the least.

Crescent gave a shrug, his fur seeming to lay on his bones. "I dunno, what should it be?" He asked, staring at the ground. He looked back up at Viper, but something seemed different about her this morning. She seemed more... happy. But the good kind of happy, not the kind of sadistic happiness he was used to seeing. Not like he didn't have the same kind of joy from watching his enemy's wither away into nothingness, but he enjoyed this kind of Viper as well. "So... Are you hungry or something?" He asked, a bit too casually for his taste.

"I don't know." Viper replied, wrinkling her nose slightly. She disliked not knowing things or being wrong. Those kinds of things made her mad and caused her to kill other cats. But they deserved it, okay? Speaking of which, she was bored. Incredibly bored. Like, lets-go-out-and-kill-someone bored. But Crescent seemed to be hesitantly starting to talk to her because she hadn't given him a nasty cut or said a nasty word yet, so. She blinked at him. "I could eat, yeah."

"O-okay, let's go, I guess," He said, fumbling with his paws before getting up on them. He motioned his tail to signal Viper to go first, or else it would seem incredibly weird. Viper always led, it was practically a rule. He went to her side, saying, "I'm sure there's a kit or two to steal this morning."

-TIMESKIP-

Cedarpaw bounded back into camp, skidding. He tumbled over his paws, rolling twice and then scrambling to his feet hastily. He twitched his ears, looking back and forth anxiously to see if anyone had seen. Then, he bounded to the elder's den where Pansypaw was finishing cleaning up the moss.
"C'mon, c'mon~ We have to go fast, or they'll catch us." He whispered into her ear, thanking StarClan that the elders were out sunbathing (or something stupid like that). "Hurry up, slowpoke!"

Viper grinned slightly at his statement, her eyes twinkling with sadistic glee. "Let's go, then~" She led the way automatically, blinking slightly at the fact that he stumbled over ihs paws before he allowed her to take the led.

Pansypaw perked when Cedarpaw bounced into the den. She dropped the moss she was holding and shook out her fur, making sure there was no remaining moss in her pelt.
"Okay, okay. Just relax. If you make too much of a fuss, cats are going to wonder." SHe hissed, cuffing his ear with her paw. She brushed past him and out the elders den. She glided towards the exit like a professional, trying to stay at least a little hidden from curious kits or nosy warriors.

Wildstripe had returned from the dawn patrol a while ago, and had done her hunting for the day. The white tabby was just lying outside and enjoying the sunlight... and watching the apprentices have fun like they always did. She had just missed Cedarpaw rolling into the camp, but that was the only thing that she hadn't seen. The two apprentices appeared to be planning an escape of some sort... but Wildstripe didn't listen for long. What exactly was there to do around camp on a day where her main duty was completed right after the sun rose....?

((Really, a warrior's life must be boring or something...))

Jaywhisker ducked into the camp - considerably moreso than Cedarpaw, anyway. She was entertained by the apprentice's enthusiasm, but she didn't want him to get into trouble. Even if he did, though, he'd be able to get himself out of it. That was the way apprentices were. Content, Jaywhisker tossed her head a little, crossing the camp. The dawn patrol had tired her out, from the combination of waking up early and running around keeping track of the apprentices. They would be warriors soon enough, surely. The Clan would be weak without warriors.

But the apprentices were worthy of a small fight, right? The camp was safe for now.

The silvery she-cat curled up at the edge of camp outside of the warriors' den for a nap.

((Well, cats spend a lot of their day sleeping, for one.))

Cedarpaw sighed exasperatedly, but ducked out moments after her. He followed casually, as though there were nothing wrong with it. He didn't look guilty in the least, which caused most to disregard the two apprentices. Clearly he wasn't hiding anything if he didn't look guilty, right? He ducked out of camp with Pansypaw, praying to StarClan that nobody saw and told the leaders.

Viper brightened at the thought, her eyes twinkling with sadistic glee that was no match for her real happiness moments before. She left camp, Crescent tagging alongside her. "Where should we go first, hm?" Her tail twitched. "Near the border, perhaps?"

Crescent smiled, noticing that Viper was back in her normal sadistic, insane mood. Apparently it was contagious, as he couldn't help but smirk at the thought he was sure she shared with him. "Well, of course. Where else will a few spunky kits try to escape to?" He whipped his tail back and forth, looking up at the sky. "Remember when we were kits?"

)Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about this over vacation! D: Sorryyyy... What should I post? -hrrg spam-(

(It's okay. We skipped over the patrol since nobody was replying, so Pansypaw and Cedarpaw have just snunk out of camp unnoticed, and Viper and Crescent are going to catch them in a quick second here, so, feel free to jump in however you can. Pansypaw and Cedarpaw have already snuck out, so cats can notice their gone now).

"Stupid kits, not spunky." Viper corrected with a twitch of her tail. Only stupid kits and apprentices would dare sneak out and mess with her- not that any of the JointClanners knew for sure whether or not she was there. As of right now, she was all but a rumor to scare kits into staying in camp. She blinked at his question, her tail twitching again. "Kind of."

Cedarpaw grinned brightly, tilting his head slightly. "Where should we go?" He inquired, then didn't wait for an answer. He perked up, as if he'd gotten a grand idea. "We could go near the border, y'know, 'cause we're not normally allowed over there?"

Dawnstar exited her den, then. The dawn patrol had been organized and sent out, already, and then come back. She didn't see Cedarpaw and assumed he'd gone back to the apprentice den to rest, and she didn't see Pansypaw and assumed she was still cleaning out the elders den as punishment.

Pansypaw's ears pricked as he mentioned the border. Warriors said it was dangerous, sometimes spelling of new cats. Pansypaw only found it intriguing, of course, and apparently, so did Cedarpaw. "That's a great idea, Cedarpaw!" She piped enthusiastically, bounding towards the nearest border without waiting for him.

Crescent nodded, acknowledging her correction as he prowled on through the forest. He sniffed the air, catching the faint smell of a kit. "Well, speak of a stupid kit. Sniff the air, you probably have some knowledge about the scent," He advised. He had no intention of giving a single command to Viper while he had his position.

Viper frowned only slightly, the way he'd worded his suggestion was nearly a command, but not quite. She let it slide, more curious as to the supposed kits near the border than anything else. She sniffed the air, recognizing the scent at once. "It's those stupid Clan cats." She growled, eyes narrowed.

Cedarpaw sighed huffily when she bounded off without him. "Hey, you're supposed to wait for me!" He cried indignantly, scampering on after her with great agility and speed.

Pansypaw stopped at the border, turning to Cedarpaw. "What'll happen if I set my paw over it?" She whispered, staring at teh trees and land beyond. "The warriors say we'll get hurt or something. But one paw won't kill me, right?" She meowed, staring at her friend, as if waiting for his opinion. Cedarpaw was suually right about things.

Crescent snickered lightly, stepping back a bit. He had noticed Viper's frown immediately, despite it's faint presence, and thus was the worst. Yes, being screamed at is terrible, but knowing that you've made one slightly disappointed kept you on your toes until you dared to ask for retribution. He sniffed it once more, noticing they were coming closer. "Of course, they come right to us."

((haha, sorry XD must've missed that part))

(Merryier, I asked that you send the forms into me by PM. Would you mind doing that for me? Thank you! :3)