[ti]Private[/ti]We Meet Again.

[silverfang218]

Lionpaw stretched as he trotted through the middle of MothClan’s camp, aiming to get something to eat. There had been nothing out of the ordinary in his day so far, but that all changes with a scent. A strange scent, yet oh so familiar; it was a MistClan scent, one that he’s only ever caught over the sharp, overwhelming smell of pine needles and bad decisions. His eyes are drawn towards the source of the scent, a small, brown tabby she-cat. If she spoke, he knew that there would be a strong accent, one he has only heard come from her mouth.

For a moment, the ginger apprentice can only stare at the newcomer, wondering why she was here. He supposes he better find out. He wanders closer, before waving his tail in greeting. His gaze is questioning, but when he greets her, he makes his voice sound like an excited apprentice meeting someone for the first time. “Hiya! I’m Lionpaw.” He introduces himself. It occurs to him that she’s grown a bit bigger than the last time he saw her, and that he likely looks quite a bit different too. He’s bigger, more filled out than he was before. Instead of a large kit, he’s now a large apprentice, large even for his age. His ears are covered in notches, a strange sight on an apprentice so young, but a lot more reasonable for a cat training in the Dark Forest. The rest of his scars are hidden under his long, all-consuming fur. Even so, he hopes the cat he knew as Tansypaw remembers the firy kitten she met in the place without stars.

His head tilts slightly to one side, a quirk both he and his sister share when they have a question or are confused. He doesn’t dare ask his questions aloud though; even he can easily see how dangerous that could be., but his eyes clearly say that this boy is about ready to give up on life I mean why is Tansypaw in MothClan. What is life.

[M'Lady]

Mothclan scent overwhelmed her as she entered the camp, all her instincts screaming at her to run. She swallowed and steeled herself against the curious and or accusatory glares of the warriors that surrounded her, and rose her head towards what she assumed was the leaders den, because Mothstar's scent was prominent in the area. But before she could make another move, an apprentice bounded towards her. She didn't recognize him for a moment, he was large, nearly as large as her. An apprentice, he was very young, but he still had scars on his ears and paws, the others less noticeable underneath all that fur. Her eyes flickered with recognition. Oh, it was Lionkit. Lionpaw, as he was now introducing himself. He recognized her as well, she could see it in those curious eyes of his. She smiled slightly at the familiarity. She taught him, too, in that place of no stars. She hoped it was enough for him to get ahold of the place before it broke him.

It seemed like it was, because the kit she met in the woods was large, strong, and probably not inherently evil. She would see, if she stayed here.

" 'ello, Lionpaw," She greeted in her soft, accented tone. "M'name's Tansysong, m'thinking of joinin' this clan." The warrior told him, with a slight smile as he cocked his head to the side. "I'll see Mothstar when 'e is free, but would y'show m'around? M'a bit confused."

[silverfang218]

“It’s nice to meet you, Tansysong.” Lionpaw replies politely, smiling at the familiar accent. His head stays slightly tilted to the side as he asks the obvious follow up question. “What makes you want to join MothClan.” His tone asks a different question, however: What makes you want to join this dump? He turns with a quick flick of his tail gesturing for Tansysong to follow; he’ll give her the tour as they chat. “When you see Mothstar, you should get someone to vouch for you. Someone important, like Brackenfall or one of the older, more respected warriors. Mothstar himself will probably just throw you out; he hates outsiders with a passion.” Lion explains quickly. It seemed like it was the hot new thing to just bring outsiders into MothClan kinda like it’s the hot new thing in MistClan to hop off of waterfalls (though Lionpaw doesn’t know about that). So far, it doesn’t seemed to have worked out so well for the outsiders or the cats bringing them in.

Lionpaw flicks his tail towards two different dens. “That’s the warrior den, and that one is the apprentice den.” He turns his head to point his nose at a smaller, more sheltered den. “That’s the elder’s den.” He stops in front of the coziest looking den of all, “And this is, of course, the nursery. I would show you Mothstar’s den, but I’m kinda scared to go anywhere close. He’s not the most welcoming of cats, even to his own clan members.” His voice lowers a bit as he speaks of Mothstar. To the ginger cat, his father has always been unapproachable.

[M'Lady]

"I 'ave... Many reasons, ta join." She spoke softly, tilting her head as Lionpaw began to lead her around. Rainflight was one of them, she kept an eye out for the familiar she-cat, just in case. "I admire what th'clan stands fer, th'cats 'ere seem ta like me more than Mistclan cats do." She hummed that part quietly, almost too quietly for Lionpaw to hear. When he spoke again, she nodded slightly.

"T'was Brackenfall th'brought me, 'e is around 'ere somewhere." Tansysong mentioned, glancing around for sign of the aggressive tabby she had met earlier. But no matter, he was rather kind, even if he didn't realize it himself. He was looking for Mothstar, most likely. She looked on as Lionpaw began to point out the dens, though he hesitated when it came to Mothstar's. If she remembered correctly, this apprentice was Mothstar's own kit. She frowned slightly, and grazed her dark furred tail over his ginger pelt for a moment, to provide what minimal comfort she could, before pulling away.
"Family aren' as welcoming as they're thought ta be," She spoke, her own sadness tinged in her tone. "B'that's what friends are fer, hm? 'Specially friends th'walk in the forest when all are asleep." Her voice had taken on a teasing quality, weaving in a lovely tandem with her thick accent.

[silverfang218]

Lionpaw nods as Tansysong explains that she has many reasonings; he can understand that and her answer was just detailed enough that the younger tom has no desire to press any further. He nods again as Tansy mentions that it was Brackenfall who brought her here, “Then Mothstar will probably let you in; even so, I wish you luck. You seem like you’d be an asset to the clan.” He grins at her, indicating that he’d be pretty happy if she joined his clan. He’s only met the older warrior once, but he immediately took a liking to her.

His expression softens somewhat as Tansy speaks of family and friends; he doesn’t need her comfort but he appreciates it nonetheless. He brushes up against her, in an almost brotherly way, “I suppose that makes us the best of friends then, huh?” He responds in a sly tone to her comment of friends in the forest of nightmares.

[M'Lady]

She huffed quietly at the apprentice's sly comment, shoving the tom lightly with her shoulder. She wondered briefly how he explained away all his scars and injuries, the ones others could see and the ones that they couldn't. She herself never had to worry about it. She didn't fight in the dark forest, not with Tanglefur and Scarpelt daring the other cats to come near her. She wondered, but didn't question, not yet. She had taken a liking to Lion, and it seemed like he enjoyed her company too, but she wouldn't push it to that just yet.

"Don' get ahead ov yerself," She told him, though her whiskers twitched slightly in amusement. "I wonder 'ow yer mentor is doing, I'll bet y'surprise 'em on a daily basis." Tansysong hummed, sending a knowing glance towards the experienced apprentice. "Y'haven' drawn any attention, 'ave you?"

[silverfang218]

Lionpaw’s ears twitch in amusement, letting out a playful huff as his warrior friend gives him a little push. He pauses when Tansysong mentions his mentor. “I try to keep the surprises to a minimum. Don’t want to give Rainflight a heartattack, now do I?” He responds in a low but mischievous tone. He, of course, doesn’t know about Rainflight and Tansysong, but we can admire the irony of Tansy’s little friend being her girl toy’s apprentice, can’t we?

He shakes his head a bit at the question of whether he had drawn any attention or not. He’s not stupid enough to tell all his clanmates where he’s been. No, he has tried his best to hide everything from everyone. “I don’t think so. Everyone asks questions about the scars I have, but I explain it away that I’m clumsy. No one has ever acted like they caught on or were suspicious, even though I know my excuses probably aren’t all that great. Elkpaw will sometimes share things about herbs with me, cuz she’s the medicine cat’s apprentice, so I can occasionally sneak out of camp and find some herbs to treat myself.” He explains in a quiet voice, though he puts on a sly grin. Just in case anyone is watching, they might think he was sharing a mischievous secret with a new friend (don’t know why he would be sharing secrets with cats from other clans, but like he said he isn’t the best at excuses). So far, though, he thinks he’s done okay.

[M'Lady]

Her eyes widened slightly at his statement, quickly turning her gaze to her paws so he wouldn't see anything reflected in it. Rainflight was his mentor? She had nearly forgotten that the lovely silvery she-cat was in Mothclan. Well, that was a bit of a lie, she couldn't ever really forget it. It lingered in the back of her mind like a burr on her back she couldn't reach. She had to say something though, so Lion wouldn't question her. She cleared her throat, and replied. "You'll 'ave ta introduce m'to yer mentor sometime." She hummed uneasily, glancing back over at the large apprentice.

She harrumphed quietly at his next explanation, though. "Clumsy, m?" She spoke, giving the apprentice a rather bored look. "Suppose th'don't know that y'can balance without yer tail and can take ou' a cat twice yer size?" Tansysong asked softly, though it was really a rhetorical question. Of course they didn't know, Lionpaw (like he said) wasn't stupid. He knew how to hide, he wasn't Finch all over again. Finch, who dragged other cats down there with him. For the first time in her life, a bit of resentment coiled in her chest for her brother. He was the idiot that took Sweetoak's words for truth, and got not only her, but also Meteor involved. She sighed, letting that resentment escape with her breath. Her idiot brother, he didn't mean to, but she couldn't possibly understand how anyone could be that naive. In a dark pine forest tinged with the scent of sweat and blood, with those eyes that glowed maliciously despite a sweet smile, it was nearly impossible to know. Lion knew, when he was a mere kit.

Tansysong shook the train of thought from her head. No use in wondering about it now. She had seen to it that Finchtongue hadn't died before becoming a warrior, he could probably handle himself now. If he couldn't, she was sure Meteor could keep him in line. Her only mission now was to take down Sweetoak, or at least gain enough favor from the others to send her into hiding. No more innocent kits will be tricked on her watch. "Say, Lion," She turned to him, her gaze curious. "There aren' any others in Moth, are there?"

[silverfang218]

Lionpaw doesn’t notice that anything is amiss with Tansysong as he says Rainflight’s name. He’s far from stupid when he’s fighting or when it comes to something dangerous like the Dark Forest… but detecting little things like unease in one’s voice is beyond Lion’s abilities most of the time. “I will!” He promises to introduce them, though he can’t see why Tansy would want to meet his mentor specifically. Oh well.

“Those kinds of things don’t seem like things my clanmates need to know.” Lionpaw replies to her joke of how he can take down cats twice his size and easily balance without a tail. The circumstances haven’t arisen yet where he needs to show off his abilities, so he doesn’t. Less questions that way. “And don’t laugh at my excuse. It was the only thing I could come up with, though I’d love to hear if you have a better one for me.” Truthfully he’d like a better excuse to use whenever someone questioned him. It’s not like the injuries were going to stop happening, but eventually he was going to somehow show a clanmate that he isn’t as klutzy as he says he is. If he could find another explanation… he could slowly pretend to be growing out of his clumsiness. It’d be safer that way.

At Tansy’s question about others in MothClan, Lion’s voice lowers further. “Not that I know of, but I haven’t met many cats there. I only know of Sweetoak, Spottedheart, and a MistClan apprentice named Sootpaw- but I wouldn’t worry about Sootpaw; he already had worked out where he was on his own. Medicine cat told him about the place where bad cats go when they die, and he had it all figured out before I met him. And Spottedheart told me your brother visits there too. I think you also mentioned a Dark Forest cat named Tanglefur last we met? Those are the only cats I know of down there… but I imagine if there are that many living cats, there are probably more, right? If I was gonna drag half a clan down there, I might as well drag enough cats to make a full clan. And I would try to include cats from every clan, just so I could have a paw everywhere. There must be other MothClan cats visiting there.” Lion explains, pouring every detail he knows and could think of. He assumes she already knows about all of this, except maybe Sootpaw, but he still answered to the best of his ability.