A Childish Gambit

[mewmehh]

The sun hung low in the sky as the cool air of evening began to drift in from the woods. The inkling of shadows painted the earthen floor and the faint flickers of fire flies came and went across the hilly meadow. Such a place appeared almost magical from where Milkpaw gaped beyond the border.

The young apprentice had been out all day in the territory, scouring the most popular hunting grounds as part of her practice, and once her training had been done for the day, she had decided to stay outside the camp to explore a bit. Downtime in apprenticehood seemed to be about the only time a young cat could get to examine all the mysterious nooks and crannies of their clan's territory- all the places that fell outside the realm of 'good hunting' or 'good for sparring.' She had wanted to learn more of the land that made up Mothclan's home in the hopes of better understanding the reach of her clan and how to defend it. But as she happened upon the border with Mistclan that held no trees, the pale tabby had halted in her tracks.

The meadow seemed so pretty and serene that it made her insides twist up with envy at the thought that it belonged to Mistclan. If she had recalled correctly, Mothstar himself had hailed from Mistclan, thus Milkpaw was left wondering how in the world the leader could have left such a pretty piece of land behind.

Despite her gawking at the sunset-laden stretch, Milkpaw hadn't missed the smell of oncoming cats, from Mistclan no less. In an effort to hide her fawning over the meadow, she quickly raced over to a large rock along the border and began to rub her creamy pelt against its rough surface to leave her scent behind. Hopefully a rivaling border patrol wouldn't condemn an apprentice for doing their job. 

(bird)

[bird]

| rainpaw |

As the sun set on the beautiful meadow, Rainpaw made his way through the trees and toward the meadow beyond. He wasn't patrolling, and he had no mentor with him. What he was doing was simply scouring the territory for some place to watch the sunset, and the meadow looked perfect today. It was a simple desire of his to have some downtime and watch the sunset from a good vantage point, and it seemed that the meadow would be the best one currently. He'd looked around all the other places that were usually good for watching the sunset, and they were all either occupied by other cats or had been used by him to watch the sunset too much recently.

Suddenly, he scented cat- and Mothclan, at that. He froze just before where the trees stopped, getting a glimpse of an unfamiliar apprentice across the meadow, gaping at its beauty. At least, that was what he assumed she was doing, as she wasn't moving and was just staring over the border, almost entranced. The cream-colored cat of just about his age looked entranced at the wonders of the meadow, and to be honest, he couldn't blame her. It truly was beautiful. He was happy to be a Mistclan cat, if only for the territory. 

The cat darted away from where she'd been looking over the meadow to a rock to seemingly act like she wasn't just admiring Mistclan territory, and Rainpaw emerged from the shadows of the trees, walking slowly across the meadow and glancing up at the sunset every once in a while. He then looked toward the apprentice on the other side of the border, not sure what to say for a bit. Rainpaw did agree that the meadow was beautiful, but he really wasn't sure how to say that, not sure how to express that he wasn't going to shame her for simply admiring Mistclan territory. After all, who wouldn't?

"I saw you looking over here," he said, his voice quiet, his emerald eyes staring the other apprentice down. "It does look nice, doesn't it? Especially with the sunset." Rainpaw went to sit down, not really expecting a reply from the other cat, and looked toward the sky. The fireflies lighting up the clearing made the sunset even more beautiful, if that was possible. His tail wrapped around him, and he seemed to pay no mind to the fact that there was another apprentice over the border. 

[mewmehh]

Milkpaw narrowed her eyes as the source of the Mistclan scent came into view; a grey tabby tom of about her own age had been making his way across the springy grasses of the meadow. The pale tabby's ears flattened a bit as she felt his eyes pin themselves to her as she rubbed her body awkwardly against the stone surface. Well this is weird. She stayed still, stiffened in her stupor as she locked her milky cyan gaze onto him. With perked ears, she listened as he calmly called over to her in about as awkward a fashion as she was sure she could only muster.

"He doesn't seem that bad. If he were a total loudmouth, he would've told me off by now," she whispered to herself as she raised her head a bit more in curiosity. She could feel her skin becoming flush in embarrassment at being caught so obviously staring.

The soft yellow glow of firefly light did well to relax the encounter that could have just as easily turned nasty for the young she-cat. She has not yet faced a cat in battle outside of game sparring and the prospect of damaging the 'goods' that were her pretty face was too terrifying a notion that she did not desire to throw herself into unnecessary skirmishes. Some may have called it vanity, but others could see it as self-imposed wisdom on a cat as young as hers part. Still, as a young and sheltered apprentice, the taste of the unknown had her curiosity piqued.

Tentatively, she moved ever so closely to the edge of the border and raised her head even higher to catch a glance at the newcomers face. Screwing up hers, Milkpaw meowed in an uncouth manner,"What are you doing?"

[bird]

| rainpaw |

Turning from the sunset, Rainpaw's eyes sized the white cat up, as if he was trying to figure out how he'd fare in a fight. Not that he wanted one, of course; he had the sunset to watch, and he had to get back to camp soon after. He had no time for fights, although maybe a sparring match would be interesting. He'd never fought another clan before, so he didn't know if the techniques in fighting varied at all. It would be interesting for sure, but he still wasn't sure if he wanted that instead of peacefully watching the sunset like he always did.

"I'm watching the sunset. I always do when I have the time. Isn't it pretty?" he mewed, glancing up at the sky for a moment, before returning his gaze to the other apprentice. "What's your name?" A direct question, to the point. He surely wanted to know who this cat was, at least so that their conversation could be a bit less stinted. That was implying that she'd stay and talk with him, but he doubted she wouldn't. After all, this conversation had only just begun. Without a satisfactory ending to a conversation, without closure, most cats wouldn't walk away unless they were angered, and he'd said nothing to anger her. At least, he hoped not. He wasn't sure what most cats would take offense to, really. Social situations were awful for him; the fumbling of trying to make friends when he had no idea what to say was almost painful.

The sun was setting slowly above the two, and he could smell the few flowers in the meadow, which only added to the beauty of the scene in his mind. Everything about this meadow was perfect, and when it wasn't in use, Rainpaw relished in being able to just sit there and take in the flowers and the grass. It was even better at night or close to it, because the fireflies would be out. He could hunt them, but he chose not to. They were too calming to harm.

"I'm Rainpaw," he added after the fact, having spaced out for a bit, "nice to meet you." It was strange to meet her, that was sure. It wasn't bad, though, not by far. He'd met many more unpleasant cats than this stranger. She was, after all, looking at the beauty of the meadow earlier, and how harmful could someone who shared his passion for the beauty of the meadow be?

[mewmehh]

Milkpaw squinted at Rainpaw as the shadows from the trees seemed to stretch themselves further into the meadow. Her eyes roved his form as he sat comfortably in the grass and part of her wanted to be seated alongside him, joining his sky-watching. But she knew better.

Cocking her head to one side, the pale tabby replied slowly,"Milkpaw...won't it be a waste of time to just sit there? You could be hunting or training to be a warrior sooner." She ignored the hypocrisy in her words. She had a reason to be milling about, right? Knowing one's territory and the territories of others was important, wasn't it? Somehow, Milkpaw still felt awkward about lecturing a cat her age despite basically doing the same thing.

With a small frown, the white she-cat screwed up her face and peered at the honey-hued sunset. It was pretty, she had to admit. But was it really okay to just sit and watch it? Was that something cats actually did? I bet Fattail would have done it. After a minute of thought, she figured it seemed as good way to pass the time. It wasn't as if the territories were going anywhere anytime soon.

Settled down into the shady grass along her side of the border, her bluebell eyes glowed as she gazed at the gently floating amber lights of the fire flies as they danced along the flowers and into the trees. In a soft voice, she mewed,"It's...uhh....nice to meet you...too."

(bird)

[bird]

| rainpaw |

Looking over at the pale she-cat, he contemplated whether or not she'd join him for a while. After all, he couldn't possibly know if she would or not, but it'd be fun if she did. Well, not fun, but it'd be nice to have a companion for sky watching, as he usually did it alone and didn't have anyone to talk to while he sat there in silence. It was peaceful to do so, and he appreciated the silence, but knowing that someone could be joining him made him feel almost lonely, which he didn't usually feel. 

Thinking for a moment as Milkpaw responded, he tried to form a response. "I guess it is, but I enjoy it. I've been training all day, why not take a break sometimes? It's nice to have time for a breather sometimes." He smiled a bit, glancing back up at the slowly sinking sun. "I usually try to take a piece of prey back after I watch the sunset, so it isn't really a bad thing that I come out here and watch it. I'm not the best hunter, but I try." His response, he decided, was good enough, even if it forced him to talk more than usual. He didn't like having to talk much, but it was painfully necessary if he was to make friends.

As Milkpaw settled into the grass, he smiled a bit, happy that he'd won her over to his side. It was a shame that so many clan cats looked down on appreciating the beauty of nature. After all, this environment was where they all lived, and it was much better than the twolegplace, at least from what he'd heard. There was nothing green there, except for patches of grass contained within swathes of grey, and that just wouldn't do in Rainpaw's mind. They should all be grateful they lived in such a beautiful place with so much prey. Starclan was kind to them.

Rainpaw nodded as Milkpaw said that it was nice to meet him, happy that he'd maybe made a new friend. Friends were so hard to make, and he cherished every opportunity he'd get to make a new one. Fireflies drifted through the dusky meadow and into the trees as Rainpaw watched them. He gazed up into the amber sky, with beautiful shades of orange and red, and wondered on if the Starclan cats were gazing down on the two of them. 

( mewmehh )

[mewmehh]

As the sun lowered ever still, the inky hues of indigo and violet splashed out against the sky, covering up much of the orange and pink tones that it had once been made up of. Milkpaw could appreciate painted scape above as the soft twinkle of stars began to peer out from the rolling darkness. It was all so relaxing and the apprentice could feel herself sinking further into the soft grassy spot that she had picked. Even though it wasn't in the same warm place that Rainpaw seemed to be enjoying out in the open, Milkpaw had no complaints with hers. It has just as lovely a view despite the occasional chilly gust of the evening winds.

Every so often her eyes would trace the sky downward till she locked onto the tabby back of Rainpaw as he gaped up at the horizon. She wondered what he could be thinking about, or if he was even thinking at all. It was all so absurd; watching the sunset with a cat from a rivaling clan. What would her mentor say if he knew? At least they were staying on their appropriate territories. So there couldn't be any harm, could there?

With her gaze lingering on Rainpaw, she recalled their first words and chuckled internally at how cool and collected he was in comparison to how flustered she had gotten at their run in. He seemed almost akin to her old clanmate in that regard and it made Milkpaw miss Fattail all the more. Maybe despite their different clans, they could become friends? She wasn't sure- after all, this was barely more than a stranger to her. Still though.... She was far too lonely for a cat her age.

[bird]

| rainpaw |

Rainpaw was thinking, to be honest, although he usually didn't when he was watching the sunset. He was thinking about whether or not he could possibly be friends with Milkpaw, whether that would be against the code. Well, it wouldn't be, but... would it be going against some unsaid rule? The closest he'd ever gotten to another cat from another clan was just acquaintances, and while it was nice to know another cat loosely, he really did need friends, even if they were from another clan. It would be great to have someone to talk to consistently, instead of just ignoring everyone in fear of them hating him for some reason or another.

The sky's almost painted expanse turned from a deep orange to a vivid indigo, and then to a dark black that revealed the beautiful twinkling stars of Starclan. He often wondered what they did up there, what they thought of him and his clan. It was enough to keep a cat awake at night. Thinking about things, in general, would keep him awake for long periods of time, incapable of sleeping due to his mind's racing thoughts.

Slowly but surely, his thoughts returned to Milkpaw, who had settled even deeper into the grass while watching the sky. He wondered if she would want to ever talk again, if she was interested in maybe being friends. It would be hard to be friends with a cat from another clan, but he thought that maybe he could make it work if he tried his best and didn't tell anyone from his clan about it. After all, he didn't know if he'd be scorned for trying to make friends with Mothclan cats. What he did know, however, was that he wanted to talk to Milkpaw again, or maybe just watch the sunset with her again.

After a while of silence, and watching the sunset morph and change, he spoke. "Would you want to watch the sunset with me again soon? I always come out here around this time and watch it. You don't have to, but it's nice to have some company." His eyes drifted from the inky black sky to Milkpaw, and he smiled slightly, trying his best to be as friendly as possible so that maybe she'd be interested in doing this again. After all, he needed more company. If he was to continue not having friends, he'd be lonely for life.

[mewmehh]

The peaceful lull that Milkpaw had been put into by the soothing evening did well to almost put her to sleep, and at Rainpaw's words, she jumped back to reality. Flustered and fluffed up a bit, she took notice that the sunlight had all gone away and sparsely-laden stars glittered brightly high above. It was nighttime now and her clan was surely awaiting her return.

Hopping up to her feet, the she-cat pondered over Rainpaw's request. Had he been thinking the same thing she had been? Does he want to be...? She shook her thoughts away and looked back at the grey tom. This time, he was looking not at the sky, but rather directly as her as if searching for a reply. Milkpaw could have sworn she almost saw a glint of loneliness flash in his green eyes before offering her a soft grin. It managed to pull a small smile from the young Mothclan cat and with a tiny dip of her head, Milkpaw nodded.

"That sounds g-good. I'll see if I can make it tomorrow." Her words were soft- not quite meek, but a bit out of character for the usually confident apprentice. With a small wave of her striped tail in farewell, she scurried off into the the dark embrace of the forest. She was glad for the shadows, as they managed to keep the blush of hers well hidden. It was funny how such a simple request made her so excited and already longing for tomorrow to arrive. She would have to seriously run over her thoughts tonight in her nest- surely it was inappropriate for a cat like her- the apprentice of Mothstar himself- to have this urge to meet up with this Mistclan cat again.

(bird Shall we have a bit of a time jump? So that way we can continue the rp?)

[bird]

| rainpaw |

It had been a hard night to sleep, as he was kept awake with thoughts of his new friend, or at least, new acquaintance. The Mothclan apprentice had agreed to come and watch the sunset with him the next night, and he'd walked back to camp after seeing her scurry into the trees. His one question was if that was really going to happen. Rainpaw would be fairly disappointed if Milkpaw wasn't able to come for whatever reason, or decided not to, but he'd decided that he wouldn't let it hurt him if that did happen. After all, having friends between two clans wasn't ever easy. 

The hardest thing about this was that he couldn't possibly believe that she was one hundred percent okay with just... meeting up with a cat of another clan. Rainpaw himself wasn't sure if he wanted to do this, just because if anyone knew that he was trying to be friends with a cat of another clan, he wasn't sure what response he'd get. Maybe there would be no response, but he didn't want to risk it. Was it really okay to be friends with her? He was sure that he wanted to be friends, of course. Why would he invite her if not? However, he wasn't sure if she was sure in that too, and if she was, he was afraid that maybe someone would notice that they were friends and scold them or something like that.

He did, however, remember how her voice had sounded when she'd agreed. It was almost as if she was eager to come watch the sunset with him, and that was what kept him hopeful throughout a hard day of training in fighting and hunting, although he was plagued with worries the entire time. That training was over now, and he was ready to go back to the meadow. Leaving the camp through the waterfall entrance, he started toward the meadow where he knew that he'd be watching the sunset. If only he was more sure that Milkpaw was going to join him. Then, he wouldn't worry as much.

As he arrived at the meadow, he noticed he was the first one there, which was to be expected. He was used to leaving early and getting there early, so that he could see the beginnings of the sunset instead of just skipping to when it was more vivid. The sky was a light baby blue now, dappled with fluffy clouds. However, the sun was low in the sky, and it would soon be painted shades of red and orange, beautiful tones that would be calming to watch, especially if Milkpaw showed up. Oh, he hoped she'd show up.

( mewmehh yeah! also, sorry for the wait! )