[EN] All Might

Curled up into a tiny ball - or well as tiny as someone his size could be - the red tomcat lay in the shadows. His deep breathing caused his chest to rise and fall in a steady rhythm. His eyes were only half closed, he had to be aware of his surroundings. Even more so than usually. Ever since the drastic changes in the leaders of the Elite, you never knew what to expect. The somewhat respected leader thrown of his trone a young, new leader took his place. Unease about the commander who was, as well, pretty young. And apparently he was seen as some sort of target by a few young members as well. The red tomcat lifted his head when he saw a member who stalked towards him. Or well, not exactly towards him, towards something somewhat more to his left. He seemed eager for a fight so Hellhound took a glance in the direction. It was a matter of seconds before Hellhound recognised the large grey cat that stood on the edge of the park and stopped the member in his track. With a flip of his tail the red tomcat dismissed the other member before turning towards the Rogue. The day he wasn't grateful that he took the time to gather all twelve dog teeth had yet to come. "Good afternoon Tank, it has been a while." In a calm stride Hellhound made his way towards the tomcat he just greeted.

[I started writing this post about 3 hours ago so chances are that it's a mess]

”Hellhound. That’s right, after my last meeting with Claw I don’t really think it was a good idea to visit as regularly as before”, the grey tomcat told him with a small grin showing. Hellhound couldn't say he really agreed to all that happend. On the other hand he didn't know the full story so who was he to jugde. At that, he also helped two of his young ones escape the Elite so he was probably the last one to say something about actions like those. "Claw's gone, partner gone, commander gone. It's like the Elite has started all over again. All that remains of Claw is the fact that his son is Leader now." And honestly? He was so damn tired of it all. In his eyes the Elite was at it's strongest when Claw was leader and Zira his commander. Everything went pretty smooth, there was no useless drama and they were strong as a whole. Right now the Elite was broken up over all that happend and he - amongst others - was more or less of a victim of it all. Oh, how he longed to go back to the time where everything was still peaceful.

”Sounds like a hassle. I met Shark the other day. Apparently he is a rogue now?” the grey tomcat inquired. Hellhound gave an affirmative nod, it seemed like Shark hadn't gone far in the meantime. "Just like every Leader who lost and the ones who leave on their own volition." It was a pretty well known rule that if the Leader was beaten in a fight, the victor was the one to lead the Elite next. A rule which would be seen as absurd by the clans but was logical in its own kind of way. It made sense for the strongest to be the Leader. However, it turned out that the strongest wasn't always the smartest. Claw was a good example of someone who had the brains to be a Leader but there had been more than enough Leaders who weren't the sharpest tool in the shed. Those who just greeded for power and territory would ususally not last very long.

”Did you never feel the urge to step up and take over?” The small grin on the tom's face did not remain unnoticed. Hellhound shook his head, sofly and solemnly. He made sure their green eyes met before giving a proper answer. "I'd probably go crazy before someone would be able to beat me. I'm not too fond of how well most members listen to their leaders and there are quite some members who aren't right in their heads. Leading them would be about as much my thing as flying is." His answer was sincere but not the entire story. He didn't really like to fight unless he had no choice and the frequent challengers would become quite the drag. Having to make sure the cats listened to a leader who didn't love fighting would be come troublesome. Also, all the punishing of those who did not listen was tiring as well. And having to ensure blindly fighting the clans wouldn't make them win, to cats who sometimes had less brains than a plant... nope. Most certainly not his kind of thing.

Compared to what it was like in the clans, leadership in the elite was a very abstract thing. You never knew what would happen. Would the current leader get bested in combat or die fighting the clans? Would the new leader be strict or give them a lot of freedom. Would they focus on the Elite or rather on the clans near them. So many questions that were as impossible to answer as whether Starclan was an actual thing or not. ”I always felt like the Elite is more a destructive force that has to be nudged in the right direction. I can’t really picture most of them actually taking orders”, Tank said with a slight shrug. The red tomcat nodded in agreement, that seemed to be the case when it came to the Elite. "It's all about how well you can manipulate the majority and whether you can get the ones with functioning brains to agree with you." But honestly, having to manipulate so many cats around you and having only a few cats to properly talk about your plans with? It wasn't really his thing. "That's why leaders like Lìtill and Shark didn't last very long, while Claw did. We're going to have to wait and see what path Cobra will take."

Life in the Elite was a little... extreme. That was probably the only thing you could call it. In the end he got both some good and some bad things out of it but he probably had been better off if he remained a Rogue. ”Sounds like a very tiring job”, Tank responded with a chuckle. At least the grey tomcat now realised why he did not want to become Leader. If he had wanted to he would probably have gotten to that point by now. But honestly, he'd be exiled before he became leader. ”Do you have high hopes for Cobra?” Tank continued to ask. The red tomcat shrugged before he explained. "I know too little of him to say either way but so far his decisions seem sound." The path Cobra would take was still very uncertain to him. He could become a great leader like his father but becoming a bad one was not of of the question yet.

”Good. Let’s see if I get the chance to speak with him soon. In the meantime, I think it’s safe if I don’t come over too much”, Tank responded. Hellhound nodded in agreement, that was probably for the best. The Elite wasn't very unified at the moment so members where more likely to do whatever they pleased. That included bothering the Rogues, even when they didn't do anything. ”If you need me though, you know where to find me”, the grey tomcat continued. Hellhound simply nodded again. He could appreciate that Tank was willing to help him when he needed it. "I doubt your members will like me coming over. But I'll do what I can to keep the Elite out of your part of the Rogue territories." That wasn't even just because he could consider Tank a friend. No, he knew that the large Rogue groups could deal some serious damage to the Elite when the Elite would attack them.

”If they have complaints, I will hear them out and deal with them accordingly”, Tank responded with a shrug. In the end, that was the way you had to handle those situations if you wanted to keep your group together. Unless it was a group like the Elite of course. ”As long as you’re not a threat to them, they will leave you alone”, the grey tomcat continued with a nod. That was usually the case but the issue was, in the end his scent and that alone would be 'a threat' to some. He had met his fair share of clan cats that attacked him because he was from the Elite, that while at those times he wasn't even doing anything wrong. ”I will speak to you later, then”, Tank said after he got up. Hellhound gave a slight nod before he also got up. It was probably for the best that the grey tomcat didn't stick around too long. And it was probably time for him to return to the camp as well.