Not Out of the Woods

[Fireflake]

Buckleap the Loner

---

A tabby-and-white tom shuffled through the forest, glaring at every tree as if it had stolen his prey. Often this would cause him to miss a rock or root in his path and have to quickly jump over it. He gritted his teeth. Forests had never been such an obstacle when he was younger. They'd seemed just as good as any other creek or field or twoleg alley. Now, they were a nightmare.

He glanced up to the fragmented pieces of the sky that he could see through the treetops and wondered why in the name of Silverpelt he had decided to do this. It was the result of a series of bad ideas, and all he wanted now was-!
While looking up at the sky, the tom had tripped and landed on the ground. Hissing, he jumped back to his paws and wrinkled his nose.

The loner shook his head, taking a deep breath. Maybe the soil would help to chase away the scent of the Twolegplace. His muscles would back him up if some cat mistook him for a kittypet, but his overwhelming elegance would obviously not. He paused in his tracks to glance up at the sky again. Maybe if he went back the way he came, he'd be able to get out before the moon did. The tom glanced behind him doubtfully. He flicked down one of his long ears and kept on.

There were too many distractions to track his paw-prints back through the forest. He'd thought he would be able to get used to this if it ended up his only option, but that was several tree-lengths back. Or at least, that's what it felt like. He had no idea how far he'd actually traveled. If this ended up his only option, he was fairly sure he'd rather stay a loner. He froze and looked down at his paw as a frontier of interwoven scents filled his nose. So many stones and stumps had chosen his path for him, and now... Had he just stepped on IvyClan's border?

---

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[gingersnapsdacat]

Heronflight raced through the territory, feeling as if she were taking flight. This was not her first time doing this sort of thing, but it was the first time she was really allowed to. Now that she was a warrior, she did not have to worry about sneaking out to go on her territory exploring adventures. As a warrior, she was free!
Her leaf-colored eyes were partially closed to protect them from the wind, which blocked her vision. It was nearly too late when she scented that the border was near, and she skidded to a harsh stop, pitching forward onto the scent-clashing line. As she shook herself off, she saw a single paw on the border. As she looked up, she found her nose only a mouse-whisker away from that of an unfamiliar tomcat. 
"You smell weird." she mewled matter-of-factly, staring him in the eye. "Not like any clan cat I have seen."
She made no move to step away from him, causing a very awkward closeness. 
OOC hope you don't mind that I just wrote her being a warrior. Fireflake

[Fireflake]

Buckleap the Loner

---

The tom yanked his paw away from the border as if it was a beehive and stepped backwards, right onto a rock that caused him to slip. "For StarClan's sake!" the tom hissed. He jumped up again immediately.

Not bothering to shake the debris from his pelt, he offered the clan cat a shallow dip of his head. "That would be because I'm a loner," he responded. He leaned cautiously away, although he seemed aware that it was pointless. He'd be no better running in this forest than a newborn kit would be on ice.

Stifling a sigh, the loner pushed through his defensive instincts and planted all four paws firmly on the ground. This IvyClan warrior, if she was a warrior, didn't seem anywhere near as suspicious of him as the last had, and didn't seem to be readying for a fight. At least not yet. "I'm not from around here," he told her in a casual tone, grabbing a small twig from his chest fur with his claws. He went on in the same tone, "If you couldn't tell."

The tom threw the twig to the ground and quickly looked left and right. There seemed to be as many trees around him as there were hairs in his pelt. He could hardly see further than his paw. The rounded tip of his tail flicked sharply. "I was just about to leave, actually. The forest, at least."

---

gingersnapsdacat No, I don't mind.

[gingersnapsdacat]

Heronflight hid her chuckle at the amusing sight of the big tom tumbling backwards over a pebble no larger than a newborn kitten. His startled expression just made things even funnier. 
"You sure are a jumpy one."
However, her thoughts about his jumpiness were quickly overridden by interest as he spoke, and her brown ears perked in excitement.
"You are a loner! Of course! I thought you were acting kind of odd. Though I've never met a loner before, so maybe this is not odd. I am Heronflight."
The excited young warrior looked him over, committing each detail of the encounter to her memory. 
"I was just about to leave, actually. The forest, at least."
Her ears and tail drooped in solemn disappointment. She had only just found the interesting cat, and already he was talking of leaving? That was just unfair. 
"Wait! You don't have to leave! C'mon, at least tell me who you are. Like you said, you sure aren't from around here."

[Fireflake]

Buckleap the Loner

---

The loner's whiskers twitched in annoyance at the younger cat's comment, and that chuckle. It was the sort of small thing that wouldn't bother him usually, but did after a day of constant noise and fruitless pursuit. Whatever.

He pricked an ear in surprise at the clan cat's reaction to him. He wasn't entirely sure what he'd expected, but it wasn't enthusiasm. Not always the best trait, thought the tom, not always the worst. At least it's not hostility.

He frowned slightly when she told him he didn't have to leave. Definitely not hostility. He shifted in place for a few heartbeats, glanced up, then checked behind him and sat down. "Alright. My name's Buckleap," he told Heronflight.

"Or Buck, I guess. Or Leap. It doesn't really matter what you call me."
He'd tried to be funny the first time he told someone, but it seemed to get less and less amusing after that. Buckleap licked his paw clean of the faint IvyClan scent clinging to it and placed it back on the ground. "Someone went with flea-bitten rat..." he added. "Which I have to admit has grown on me."

He snorted quietly. "Long story short, I used to live in a field a long way away from here and I had to leave."
So it was a long story very short. She hadn't asked for his life story. Buckleap shook a leaf off of his paw, which had stuck itself to the bottom when he put it back down. "I've already looked around other places, so I thought I'd check out the forest. Which has obviously gone so well."

---

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[gingersnapsdacat]

Heronflight's green-eyed gaze never left the tabby tom, whom had captured her entire focus. For an adventure seeking she-cat like her, this interaction was more thrilling than...she had no idea. Having spent her apprenticeship mostly on sneaking out to pursue what she hoped to lead to some sort of incredible discovery, Heronflight had little experience with what social interaction was supposed to be like. As far as she could tell, this was going swimmingly!
"Flea-bitten rat is pretty creative, but it is a bit of a mouthful. I'll just stick to Buck. It has a nice ring to it."
She smiled, and patiently listened to his story. 
"Wow, that really is a short life story!" She laughed, swiping a small paw over her ear. "Well, in case you did not know, this is IvyClan's territory. My home, obviously."
She gestured with her tail to the territory, which looked like an endless sea of trees. 
"So, if that's your past, then I guess we better talk about future! Where are you trying to go?"

[Fireflake]

Buckleap the Loner

---

Buck stared into the labyrinth of trees as Heronflight mentioned them. It was dizzying. He blinked a few times, then looked back to her. He gestured to a few of the trees with his tail and answered, "Out of here."
After a moment, he expanded, "I don't think my future lies in a place where I can't even lie down. No offense, of course."

Something told him the she-cat wouldn't be offended by him insulting her home. Only a few cats ever really got angry over things like that. Besides, Heronflight seemed okay, if only as a distraction. She did seem oddly interested in what he had to say.

"I want to be a warrior again some day," Buck told the cat after a few moments. He watched his paw as it drew circles in the soil. The tom opened his mouth to say something else, but could think of nothing important to add. He looked up again instead and asked, "What about you? Where are you going to go?"

---

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[gingersnapsdacat]

"StarClan's kits! You don't like the trees?!" The brown patched she-cat leaped to her feet as she gasped in disbelief. 
    Her tail stuck up like an exclamation point, putting even more emphasis on her surprise. She wasn't insulted per say. Every cat, even a loner, was entitled to believe what they wished, and he did not seem to be purposely bad-mouthing her. However, it did come as a huge surprise to her that any cat would feel trapped among the lovely forest sanctuary that she called home. 
Maybe it's a loner thing. After all, he did live in a field. 
    After a moment, she sat back down, and swished her tail for him to continue speaking. Her tail wrapped neatly around her cream-colored paws. the tip still twitching in exited anticipation for each and every one off the loner's words. 
"I want to be a warrior again some day,"
    Her ears perked in ever-rising alertness after this statement. If he was trying to be a warrior again, that meant that he used to be one! But where could he have come from..... That was the true mystery. As for her own future, she had no clue. Other than to chase adventure, she did not have a set in stone plan of who she was meant to be. SO far, she had just been striving to be a decent apprentice, and become a warrior. So, she shrugged, offering up an attempt. 
"I have no clue where I am headed. I suppose I will just flow to wherever the winds nudge me."

[Fireflake]

Buckleap the Loner

---

Buck blinked a few times, trying to determine if the she-cat's disbelief was a joke. Nope. It seemed that the she-cat genuinely couldn't comprehend that someone might not like trees. For a she-cat that claimed she'd just flow wherever the wind took her, Buck thought it was odd that she didn't want to run free. Or maybe IvyClan cats could run in the forest without worrying.

"Good luck," he snorted. "You'll end up flowing right into a tree."
At least she seemed to have a lot of future to figure out what to do with it. As long as she didn't die. But in that case, she would have to worry about what to do with the rest of her life. Would he still go to StarClan if he died a loner? The tom pawed at the twig on the ground in front of him, then nudged it out of reach. Didn't want anything underpaw when he stood back up.

Buck chased after a few of the things running through his brain and caught an idea of what to say next.
"Are you going to stay in IvyClan?" he asked, nodding into the territory behind her. "Keep growing up and just see what den you end up in?"
He shrugged. That had been his plan before life got involved. Now he was here, and here was a clan cat that knew about the area he was staying in. "Do you like IvyClan?"

---

gingersnapsdacat

[gingersnapsdacat]

She let out a small snort. With the amount of scurrying around she did, it was a wonder that she had not yet crashed straight into a tree, although she did have her fair share of embarrassing crashes into bushes and bramble patches. Honestly, Moorwhisker, I don't know what you mean! I've been in my den the whole time!
A smile came to her face as she remembered a time when she used that excuse to her mentor, despite the fact that her leaf and dirt covered pelt showed exactly where she had been.
The next time I sneak out, she had promised herself, I will remember to clean my fur!
When she heard Buck's voice, she pulled her running attention back into place, pinning it beneath a metaphorical claw. 
"Are you going to stay in IvyClan? Keep growing up and just see what den you end up in?"
She thought about what the tabby tom was asking her. If she left, where else would she go? The young cat had heard of the many cats who ran off to MothClan, but she did not think that was her style. Of course, she could not guarantee that she would never stray from her forested home. 
"Do you like IvyClan?"
That was a slightly easier question for the brown patched cat to respond to. 
"Oh definitely! I mean, I've lived here for my whole life! Now, unless some great adventure calls me elsewhere, which would be pretty neat, I will probably be here until I am as old as Greyears!"
She giggled, then remembered that Buck would have no idea who she was talking about. 
"Oh yeah, Greyears is one of our elders. Like I was saying though, IvyClan is a good home. Even if it is very forested."
She added the last part with a cheeky grin, looking at the loner.