LEADER ❝ RHINE ❞ PALMCLAN

When Hurricane had originally left camp with the intention to go and start the journey of his Warrior's Plight, Rhine had expected the other to be back before too long. After all, Palmclan's territory was large, but it wasn't unmanageable, and it wasn't as if one couldn't cover it all in a few hours if they moved quickly. Of course, when the sun had begun to dip down against the horizon in the distance, Rhinestone had begun to grow a bit worried. Maybe Hurricane had gotten lost somewhere? Or maybe he had gotten in trouble with one of the other groups? Many unpleasant possibilities swirled in the leader's head, causing him to sigh and push himself up to his paws. He was tired from the morning's long hunting patrol, but it wasn't as if he was about to just let one of his members stay missing. He wasn't that type of leader, and he doubted there were many out there that would – at least, not if they were respected enough to have become leaders. Thankfully, it didn't seem as though the tom would need to go far to find the large and fluffy feline that was Hurricane. Rhine succeeded in only taking about two steps before Hurricane came back into camp, his chest puffed out proudly as he ushered for others to follow after him.

Of course, Rhinestonestar had decided that he would be one of the ones accompanying the new warrior, for multiple reasons. One of them being that he didn't want to risk anything happening, and the other being that he was just curious about what Hurricane had managed to find. It seemed almost impossible that Hurricane had managed to find such a structure off the shore, but then again, it was also clear that the other really did love exploring. Despite this, Rhinestone couldn't help the faint shock that was on his face as they all approached the ship, his pale eyes growing wide as he looked over the wreck. Growing a bit closer to the massive structure, Rhine hesitated for only a moment before he turned to Hurri, grinning, "Hurricane, this is definitely an amazing place to choose as your favorite spot... and you're right about it being a good last resort in case of danger. The entire thing must've been dragged in further inland by the hurricane..." He had never gone exploring the shore so close to the Twisted Forest, usually too terrified of the prospect of what he would find there, so the nearly beached ship certainly was a discovery. Continuing to let his gaze wander over the deck and the hull, Rhinestone mused softly, "This thing really is massive... how many twolegs do you suppose they had on this thing at once?" It was more of a rhetorical question, since he didn't expect anyone to know the history of such ships – Hurricane knowing about them from his father was probably the most knowledge any of them had.

LEADER ❝ RHINE ❞ PALMCLAN

Skeletons. The implications of those being present was obviously unpleasant, but also pretty understandable as well. After all, if the ship had ended up capsized and eventually washed up to grind into their shores... it only made sense that some of the twolegs would've died in the process. Rhine's ears briefly flicked backward, pressing down against his skull as he sighed softly. Catching the glance that Hurricane had thrown towards the nearby bone half buried within the sand, the leader was quick to pick up one of his legs, kicking a little bit more sand over the bone in order to leave it entirely hidden. They could deal with that later, when there weren't kits present. Nodding his head to acknowledge that he had heard Hurricane, the tom muttered with a sigh, "I suppose that does make sense... hopefully it won't be too much of a hassle. For now we'll just leave it, and later on we can have a patrol come out here to clean out as much as they can... that way if we do have to use this as a temporary base at some point, we won't end up with a bunch of traumatized kits." Not to mention that he had no doubt that the clan's kits would start to use the ship as a place to hide and play around when they had somehow snuck away from camp.

LEADER ❝ RHINE ❞ PALMCLAN

Rhinestone knew that, on some level, he should've expected that Foamkit would be one of the one's among the group traveling towards Hurricane's new discovery. However, part of the leader had hoped that, perhaps, Foam would somehow be asleep, or otherwise preoccupied, unable to come with. It wasn't because he disliked the child, rather, it was because he actually wanted Foam to get some rest. Rhine knew that the other's caretaker did a rather valiant job at attempting to wrangle him and keep him safe and healthy, but the leader still couldn't help but worry. He worried for all those that lived within Palmclan, but kits in particular needed a lot of TLC, and Rhinestone knew that well, even despite not having any of his own quite yet. Unfortunately, the leader also knew Foamkit to be incredibly stubborn, and that was easy to see in the way the child held himself, turning his nose up at the slightest offer of help. The rusty red tom had to hold back a bout of laughter as Foam came stumbling over, the boy just barely able to catch himself before he collapsed into the leader's side. It wouldn't have surprised Rhine if he would need to carry the other back home.

When Foam spoke up, however, Rhinestone immediately felt his heart sink, swallowing down the sudden ball of anxiety that had somehow found its way into his throat. The tom would absolutely have his ears clawed off if Foam's caretaker heard about the bones, whether Rhine was leader or not. Thankfully, Foamkit didn't seem to yet have a very firm grasp on the word uttered by Hurricane, which would hopefully mean he wouldn't be understood. Shooting an antsy look towards Hurricane, Rhinestone sighed before turning to Foam, saying with a nervous chuckle, "Hey, Foam... I promise that this isn't anything you need to worry about. It's nothing all that exciting, right Hurricane?" He glanced back at the other as he hid another bone in the sand, trying to smoothly remedy the oncoming situation. It didn't help that Hurricane had referred to it all as some big secret, something that would definitely intrigue the child more than it would push him away.

LEADER ❝ RHINE ❞ PALMCLAN

It seemed that, at least for the moment, Rhinestone had managed to prevent a massive disaster within Foamkit's mind. The leader knew full well just how easily children could end up clinging to something, and he didn't want Foam to go off breaking the rules just so that he could share secrets with others. Of course, it was hardly Hurricane's fault for the somewhat poor choice of words. Rhine didn't think the other had any children, and the tom also knew that Palmclan was somewhat unique in how they kept children at home until they were safe enough to start apprenticeship. He didn't want Foam to make a habit of sneaking out and lying about it – although Rhinestone did have a feeling that ship had already sailed, unfortunately. Either way, the rust colored feline would do everything in his power to keep Foamkit safe, even if it meant none too subtly nudging the child away from secrets, also very much not wanting to get in trouble with Foam's caretaker. Rhine wasn't as much of a scaredy cat as when he was a child, but a mother scorned was something to be reckoned with.

Nodding a little at Foam's best attempt to replicate the word secret, Rhine then found himself smiling slightly when he noticed the drowsiness in the child's eyes. That was a good sign, since it meant there was a chance the little one would forget this encounter entirely. With this in mind, Rhinestone brushed his tail lightly against Foamkit's side, questioning with a chuckle, "Yeah, a secret... you getting tired, Foamkit? Cause I can take you home, and you can get some rest. I know this is exciting, but there's plenty of time for exploration later." Rhine really doubted that the boy would agree at first, but Foam might not have much of a choice. With how much he was yawning, it seemed as though he was about ready to just lay down and pass out eight then and there.