its a beast of a burden - open

[MALLOWSTAR]

The river was the lifeblood of everything. It was the heart and soul of her clan. It pulsed through the territory, in all its magnificence and glory. It shimmered under the warm glow of the sun. It was beautiful, churning and sparkling. It was full of life. The clan and Mallowstar owed their very existence to it. She recognized this. But she saw more. She saw the danger below the surface. The river cannot bring life without death. It was balanced, systematic.  She had escaped this once. Mallowstar had evaded death. She had cracked the system. Or so she thought. Until the loss of Owlflight, she thought that RiverClan would see no more death from the hands of the river. She was wrong.

She was surprisingly unemotional despite the loss of her deputy. She had felt no emotion towards him. He was a pawn and he could be replaced. With the rogues she  had recruited, their ranks were strong. They could all be replaced. She only saw one purpose for their lives, to follow her and carry out her dream. Mallowstar was aware how calloused this sounded, but she accepted long ago that she was indeed callous. What she felt was not meant to be shared. She would allow her clanmates and strangers to think of her what they would, she would lie and deceive them to think that. She wouldn't dare tell them the truth of her thoughts and feelings. They would pin her mad.

She was out for a walk along the river banks. Plans stirred within her. She would have to move soon, while they still had strength to. Would they need allies? Who would stand? Who would fight back? Who would they attack first? They were simple questions, but she has to calculate them precisely. Variables were dangerous and she wanted to take as many as she could think of into account. It was a lot to take in. Mallowstar wished she could trust someone. Having another mind could be useful. But she didn't trust anyone. No one had shown they deserved it.

The lynx-point leader was suddenly aware of company. Her ears twitched, but she said nothing and didn't look in their direction. A leader could never catch a moment alone, could they? She forced a pleasant tone and glanced in their direction.

"What can I help you with?"
 

[RAGDOLL]

Ragdoll crouched near the rivers edge, shooting out a paw every time she thought she saw a fish. She had heard that there was good hunting in the river, but so far she hadn't managed to catch anything. She shoot out a paw, claws extended, and her claws brushed the fish but she wasn't fast enough to grip it in the short time that it swam past. She let out a hiss of annoyance as she brought her paw out. It was wet and it made it seem colder then it really was. She gave up trying to fish and stood up, ribs visible beneath her pelt. Leaf-bare or Winter as the kitty-pets called it, had been hard on her. It ad been hard to find prey anywhere and though she didn't like it she found herself more and more going to twoleg houses to find food.

Just then two scents hit her nose one of a clan cat and one of mouse. She licked her lips,she would deal with the clan cat later, first she would hunt. There it was hiding under a gorse bush. She went into a crouch and hoped it hadn't seen her. slowly she advanced, when she was within two tail-lengths however the wind changed and a voice sounded "What can I help you with?" She jumped forward hoping to catch the mouse, but it was to late the mouse had disappeared down the hole. Her eyes flashed and she turned to face the Clan cat.

She was a cream she-cat with spots and large green eyes. Ragdoll advanced on her, then hissed out "Nothing!" Ragdoll thought about that statement for a moment, and then decided to try to trick this She-cat into giving her some food. "You lost me a mouse, Mange-pelt" Ragdoll normally didn't call names, after all just the sight of her one ear and and a bitten half off tail was enough to make most cats shiver. She continued, spitting out her words. "Now you owe me two."