Making a habit.

[gingersnapsdacat]

Rustpaw pushed her way through the bushes, nearing the Thunder Trails. For the past few moons, the ruddy-striped apprentice had been confined to camp due to her disrespect of MothStar. The only reason she would have been allowed to leave was if her mentor accompanied her. By now, she was not quite sure if the punishment still stood, or if her leader even remembered. Either way, she had just been aching to take a walk around the territory.
Fireflake
OOC I thought I would start us up

[Fireflake]

Buckleap the Loner

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A tom-cat crouched just across the Thunder Trails, cautiously leaning forward to sniff at them before darting back again. His narrowed yellow-green eyes were fixed in one spot. They glanced up every once in a while to look across the border, but always returned quickly to the hard bar in front of him.

A gentle breeze behind him ran through his tabby fur, carrying his scent out into clan territory. There wasn't one definitive scent clinging to him, but a jumble of smells smothered by the stench of a Twolegplace. He knew that this, combined with his stocky form, might suggest a kittypet at first glance, but hoped that his many moons of warrior training and clan life would balance out those assumptions. The loner flicked the rounded tip of his tail as the stirring air distracted him.

He leaned forward again, continuing to treat the rail like a sleeping snake, and suddenly froze in place. A fairly uncomfortable place, that is, but the tom didn't care about that in the moment. A smaller orange cat from across the tracks had just pushed through the bushes nearby. He wondered if she'd miss him given his low position, then wondered whether he wanted her to or not. His eyes stayed fixed on the stranger, and he stayed fixed in his crouch.

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gingersnapsdacat Thanks. I was taking a long time to make the thread because my computer would take thirty minutes to load one thing. Also because I'm lazy, but I'm going to blame it on the computer.

[gingersnapsdacat]

Rustpaw's eyes focused in on a single spot. For a split second, she thought she had spotted the flick of an unfamiliar tail, or the twitch of a brown ear. However, now she was unable to detect anything. 
Strange...thought the young she-cat. I could have sworn I saw something...
With a huge curiosity, she took a few paw steps towards the last location where she thought she had seen something. 
"Hello?" she called, her voice breaking the silence. "Is someone out there?"

[Fireflake]

Buckleap the Loner

---

Nope, the tom thought sarcastically, nobody at all is out here. He probably couldn't hide, but he could definitely run if he wanted to. He knew that it wouldn't do his dignity any good, and he also knew that he'd get over it. Only, he knew right then that he didn't want to run.

The loner pushed himself up into a more visible crouch, showing his white underside and paws. He lifted one of these paws, then looked down at where he'd be stepping and stood back instead. "Yes," he answered clearly. "That would be me."

His gaze darted over the younger cat. Probably an apprentice, he noted. An orange tabby she-cat. Not particularly threatening, but that could change in half a blink. His eyes flicked up to hers and he waited to see what she would do.

---

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[gingersnapsdacat]

Rustpaw mentally congratulated herself for finding the tom. She took a few confident strides towards him. She did her best to show that she was in control of the situation, whether or not that was really true. 
"Do you know that you are on the edge of MothClan territory?"
The rust-streaked apprentice asked. There was no threat lurking in her mew, only inquiry. After all, she had dealt with loners before, and it was not unpleasant. 
Not every cat is the same, she reminded herself. Still, he has posed no threat so far. 

[Fireflake]

Buckleap the Loner

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The tabby dipped his head in a nod, biting back an urge to retort. What?? Wait, this line covered in matching cat scents is a border?! The younger cat's nonthreatening tone didn't mean he could treat her like a kit. "I do," he answered instead. The tom quickly added, "But I'm not a problem for MothClan."

He didn't allow time for a reaction. He figured he'd know about it pretty soon if she had a problem with the little he'd said so far. "I've heard good things... well, close to good things."
Apparently, they were supposed to be a bunch of brutes. That cat had also called them MossClan at first, though, so he wasn't placing too much weight on her words.

The tom knew that he should have come up with something to say before getting anywhere near the clan, but making things up as he went usually worked well for him, and it just seemed he was unlucky this time. Perhaps his skills were out of practice. He raised his head slightly and simply finished, "I didn't plan to cross. I'm not breaking the Warrior Code from this side of the border, am I?"

---

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[gingersnapsdacat]

Rustpaw thought for a moment about the loner's words. She supposed that he had done her no wrongs. After all, he was remaining on his side. Still, she was apprehensive about his knowledge of the warrior code. 
Is he one of those rogues? The ones that abandoned their clan?
She shot a wary glance at the tom, who was safely across from her. 
Still, if he wanted to attack. he would have done it already. 
"Yes. You are correct about your rights of the code. What does a loner like you know about the code?"

[Fireflake]

Buckleap the Loner

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The loner's tail flicked sharply at the she-cat's words, annoyance flashing inside of him before it fizzled out. Why did he care what some random apprentice's first impression of him was?

"What does an apprentice like you know about loners like me?" he countered. The tom stared pointedly for a moment, then went on to explain, "I happen to be the most likely type to know about it. That is, the type that used to be a clan cat."

The loner peered past the apprentice into her clan's territory before looking back to her. "My name was Buckleap then," he introduced himself, nodding once. He paused briefly, then added, "Guess it should be Buck now. What about you?"

---

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[gingersnapsdacat]

Ruststripe took a small, defensive pawstep backwards. Mirroring the loner, her tail also twitched, though her twitchiness was centered more in confusion than annoyance. "I may know more than you think," she mewled. 
However, Bucleap's reason for understanding the clan absolutely floored the young she-cat. 
"You belonged to a clan?! Why in the world did you leave? Were you thrown out?"
Even Rustpaw, who spent a large chunk of her apprentice hood being annoyed with MothStar, could not imagine deserting her clan.
"Oh, Im Rustpaw."

[Fireflake]

Buckleap the Loner

---

A growl rumbled in Buckleap's throat when Rustpaw asked why he left his clan. His long ears pricked in surprise as they heard the sound coming from inside of him, and he forced himself to be calm. The loner cleared his throat and hoped that the apprentice would mistake the growl as him doing that the first time.

"What do I look like I've done to get thrown out of a clan?" asked Buckleap. He stood up and stepped closer to the border again, then picked up a white paw and looked down as if examining it. "Remark about the leader one too many times? Well, that would require having one constant leader."
He put his paw down and looked back at Rustpaw.

"I didn't leave so much as the clan itself left. The area emptied and the clans..." he trailed off, avoiding her gaze, then shrugged and finished dryly, "Well, obviously clans with a pawful of cats each are known to flourish."

The tom's eyes flicked up the the sky, then back to the apprentice.
"So what are you doing out here?" he asked as if this was nothing more than a friendly encounter. "Hunting? Searching the borders for strangers? Dodging your mentor?"

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gingersnapsdacat