Sneaking Around [ Sasha ; Internal ; private ]

[[ s a s h a ]]

Sasha, or Thunderstorm, was patroling the territrory and hunting for her Clan. She'd caught nothing, as prey was definately scarce in Leaf Fall and Leaf Bare. Everything was just so cold, and frosted.

She caught a scent which caused her to jump out of her thoughts. Growling, she kept quiet and just stalked forward looking all around her like an owl. It didn't smel like prey. . . it smelled a lot like. . . a cat! A rogue, at that! She'd teach that cat a lesson for trespassing on ShadowClan territory!

[Internal ♥]

The scrawny cat sat aimlessly within the shade of a fern; a rare dry
patch among the soggy, odor-filled swamp. Lapping the not-so
pleasantly flavored mud splattered in random patches on the cat's
fur, he feline's tail-tip twitched. He couldn't smell anything besides
the over-whelming gasses of the swamp. And with this fact pointed
out, he had no earthly idea why any creature would want to live within this place.

The water was stale, you sunk in the mud; the gasses stunk your
senses out, and he saw no earthly way possible that a cat could
stalk prey here, more or less hunt. Nose twitching in distaste,
the tom gave a small, brisk yawn.

'Hmm.... This hasn't been the best of days...'

[[ s a s h a ]]

Sasha's muddy blue grey and white fur was dirtied with mud, but she wouldn't think of that now. She kind of saw the muddy fur of the tom cat, and silently growled with aggression. She soundlessly as she could leapt up onto a large rock and into a leafless tree that was hovering above him. She hoped he didn't run away, just so she could toy with him before teaching this unruly tom a lesson!

"You're a little far into ShadowClan territory, are you not?" She asked quietly, holding a voice of arrogance.

[Internal ♥]

Tongue half-out, the tom jerked his head up in the direction the voice had come from. Wide-eyed, the feline stared blankly up at the gray-blue she-cat, silent realization that he should have at least been attempting to pay attention beginning to set in.

' Whats wrong with me?... '

Quickly placing his tongue back where it belonged, the tom stood up silently; staring up at the darkly colored she-cat with narrowed eyes. A smirk slowly spreading across the feline's muzzle; the tom lashed his tail to the side, landing with a wet plop within the mud nearby.

"Perhaps."

Although his meow was smooth, it was in truth that Skylar had no clue he had been sitting on another cat's territory. Now that he tasted the air again; he could pick out the scent of cats among the stink of the swamp. Scolding himself silently for not paying attention, the cats whiskers twitched as he craned his neck to view the she-cat.

"But perhaps my nose isn't as great as I thought it was, no?
..... I'm a mouse-brain..."

With this, he ducked his head silently, ears pinned against his head and green pools ever fixed on the she-cat. The exact details of what he was doing, was something Skylar couldn't explain himself.

[[ s a s h a ]]

Sasha rotated one of her ears backward and then pointed it forward again in surprise. Had he really not smelled the ShadowClan borders? Eh, well she didn't really believe him. . . even if he did call himself a mouse brain. She twitched her whiskers in amusement, but didn't want him to take it as a friendly sign.

"Hmmm. . ." she whispered, and then went on louder with a softer voice, trying not to scare him. "What do you plan on doing here?" She could only guess. . . steal prey, hurt her Clan, cause trouble. She'd make sure that didn't happen, her Clan needed the prey more than this sneaky tom!

[Internal ♥]

Skylar's nose twitched, but he didn't raise his head. Blinking; the tom found himself frowning. Why was he here? Eyes glazing over as if he was within a rather saddened memory, Skylar's from only deepened as the face of an unpleasant memory began to shape upon the feline's features. There was no point in trying to explain it. He was sure, no matter the amount he fumbled; the she-cat would understand the reason being the face he was making. Giving a brisk shake of his pelt, sending mud-droplets flying, the tom sat again; head down, eyes fixed on the muddy earth.

"Sitting. I plan on sitting."

Mumbling lowly, he wasn't entirely sure if the she-cat had heard him; but it wasn't important even if she had. She couldn't possibly understand what it was like to be drastically different, could she? How could she know what it was like to not want to be in your body, to be running for something you could never hide from? Tail-tip twitching fiercely, the tom let his claws sink into the soggy soil. Letting out a low rumbling growl, Skylar shook his head hard; trying to rid himself of these odd thoughts. There was nothing wrong with being different, perhaps this could help him instead?

Giving a passive yawn, the tom looked up to stare at the she-cat once more. His little episode wasn't the greatest of actions to perform in front of a strange cat. Much less one that owned the land you were very clearly sitting on. Closing a eye in a more cheerful behavior, Skylar once again sheathed his claws and let out a clearly fake purr. With this, he meowed with half-hearted cheer;

"I don't know. Just sitting, I suppose."

[[ s a s h a ]]

She saw the look he gave her. It didn't look hapy, but rather sad. She decided to be a bit lighter on him from that point on. Just sitting? Heh, well she had not suspected that answer. Sasha didn't think he was a threat to her Clan; everything she had suspected of him, was false according to him.

"Sitting, eh?" She gave a faint smile. It was against the Warrior Code to be friendly with intruders, but. . . what could possibly hurt? After all, she didn't feel that he'd hurt her or ShadowClan. "Well. . . let's start with something then. My name is Sas--" she corrected herself when she almost said her real name. "Thunderstorm, of ShadowClan." She knew he'd probably already know she was from ShadowClan, but still. "What's your name?"

[Internal ♥]

Ears perking up slightly, Skylar's whiskers twitch; in a curious manner. Shadowclan? He remembered the she-cat, apparently called Thunderstorm, had mentioned before that he was in fact on Shadowclan territory. The she-cat had an odd name; one that Skylar didn't quite understand; was it possible that Shadowclan was a cat, too?

Then again, Skylar had never truly understood the majority of cats. They were different from himself, which wasn't hard to say, considering for the most part; Skylar had always kept to himself within the human world and refusing to use any sort of ability. His neck was aching lightly from peering up at the she-cat, and the sheer amount of confusion rumbling around in his head was threatening to bubble over in a flurry of questions. The feline, however, began to bite his tongue silently. There was no point in changing the subject just for Skylar to learn more about this "Shadowclan". At least, not yet.

"Thunderstorm?"

Mumbling the she-cats name lowly, Skylar slowly tried the name. It was an odd feeling on his tongue, one that he certainly wasn't used to. It would take a while yet before such a name could ever possibly begin to feel natural on the tom's tongue. "My name's Skylar." He mewed, green pools twinkling up at Thunderstorm mischievously.

[[ s a s h a ]]

Tilting her head, almost in a playful way, she smiled, "So your name is Skylar!" She mewed. Standing up from her resting place on one the muddy tree's branches, she jumped down to stand a few feet from him. "Nice to meet you." Eh, what was she thinking? She really wasn't enjoying being this friendly with an intruder, even if he was no threat to her Clan. She should at least give him a warning, right?

"You seem friendly, so I'm going to go easy on you. But loners shouldn't be on this side of the border," she began softly, holding a gleam of amusement mixed with seriousness. "It's only fair that I give a benefit of a doubt, you know." Then she let out a mew of laughter. "If another ShadowClan cat had just happened to find you here, they'd have ripped your pelt off, no questions asked."

[Internal ♥]

Flinching, the tom took a step backwards. Although the she-cat was acting friendly, Skylar didn't just trust cats that jumped in front of him after previously scolding him for being caught on an others territory. Fur prickling lightly, Skylar swallowed hard, and forced himself to stand his ground.

Letting out another fake purr, attempting to sound friendly, Skylar dipped his head just slightly. "Then I am indeed lucky such a she-cat found me instead!" He mewed in a light-heart. Yet, a pressing question still gnawed at Skylar's brain. Shadowclan cat? Was this "Shadowclan" another feline, but controlled the others that lived in its territory so fiercely that they called themselves "Shadowclan's cats"? Staring friendly back at the she-cat, green eyes glinting in the sun as he looked contently at the female.

"Who is Shadowclan?

He felt like that was one of the most mouse-brained questions he had ever asked, and for some reason; he felt like that was right. Eyes
flickering to the muddy earth in embarrassment, Skylar felt his fur growing hot as his lack of knowledge to the subject began to leak out.

[[ s a s h a ]]

"ShadowClan?" She asked. Sasha had guessed that most cats unfamiliar with the territoy wouldn't know what ShadowClan was, so this did not surprise her. "ShadowClan is just a group of wild cats that live and hunt around here. The other Clans are always trying to steal each other's territory, but no one ever tries to take ours. 'Cuz, well, no one likes the marsh."

"We try to take other Clans territory whenever we get the chance though," Thunderstorm went on.

[Internal ♥]

Feeling idiotic, the tom's ears rotated backwards, close to pinning against the back of his skull; however the action was more in hushed embarrassment then in aggression. Of course; Shadowclan wouldn't have been a cat. Who would name there kit Shadowclan, but then again; what kind of name was Thunderstorm? Forcing his pelt to lay flat again, along with having his ears return to there original position; Skylar gave a friendly blink toward the she-cat.

"They don't?....
Whats so bad about muddy water, and stench?"

Tilting his head slightly, he mewed the more one-sided question cautiously. He realized that this comment could be taken the wrong way, and was one of the major reasons he often blamed involuntary sarcasm, or stupidity on the comments he made. Sometimes, Skylar agreed with the hordes; he needed to learn how to keep his mouth shut.

Letting out a random, friendly mew; Skylar began to think of ways to change the subject. Should he mention how he didn't mind water? No; that might lead to a conversation leading to his blood-line, and thats something that wouldn't be easily dropped. Not minding having a dirty pelt, or comment on something with the she-cat's kindness again? No. None of those things would do!

"Why do the clans steal territory from each-other?
Can't they support the group without hindering another?"

'.... That was even worse. Skylar, your no better then foxes!'

[[ s a s h a ]]

Sasha laughed with agreement, not taking his first comment the wrong way. "I know, right?" She chuckled. "ShadowClan cats just happen to love muddy water." Sitting down with relaxation, she went on with a question. "You're the first cat outside of the Clan to think that, to be honest."

"Well. . . sometime's I have to admit, we are greedy for territory," she said solemnly. "But mostly we just need the territory to gather more prey for our Clan. We're all hungry in the forest, but. . . the other Clans don't need ShadowClan to stay away in order to survive."

"Our leader has sympathy for the other Clans in Leaf Fall and Leaf Bare, but ShadowClan comes first."

[Internal ♥]

Left ear flicking softly, dull surprise mixed with light confusion sparkled silently within the tom's green pools. Raising his head, as if to look down on Thunderstorm if just slightly, the muddy-pelted tom gave a soft, amused mmrreow. Thunderstorm's personality, what he had seemed of it, was quite amusing in an odd way to the tom, and he couldn't help but let out the noise; despite the she-cats confession about her clan. Nodded his head lightly, Skylar gave the she-cat a knowing blink of the eyes. "I understand. The welfare of yourself and one's group is top on paw. You shouldn't need to worry about your own clan, and worry about another at the same time. Cats would starve." Meowing thoughtfully, Skylar could just imagine what it would be like to have to care for someone other then himself for once. It was an interesting thought, but there was no chance of a complete stranger joining up with an already seemingly strict society, was it?

Looking down at his mud-covered pelt in amusement, Skylar looked back at the she-cats previous statement; shaking any thoughts of the idea of him living with another from his mind. "I don't mind it either, honestly. Who cares if you have a wet, dirty pelt? You can always give yourself a good grooming." As soon as the words slipped out of his muzzle, Skylar scolded himself for ever saying that. Honestly, how fox-brained could he get?

Once again, Skylar's brain switched from one subject, to another quickly. Thoughts about these so called "clans" rushing in, and a sudden surge of sugar forcing him to want to blabber questions out to the she-cat a mile a minute. Curling his tail in contentment, Skylar felt oddly comfortable within the Shadowclan borders; and had no fear to continue there conversation instead of putting these thoughts on hold, and simply walking away from the scent markers... If he could find his way back to the border, that was.

"Are there any more clans, Thunderstorm?
Well, I mean; you said there are... But....
Who are they? And why do you have such a weird name?"

[[ s a s h a ]]

"The other Clans are ThunderClan, RiverClan, and WindClan," she explained to him. "ThunderClan is just over our southern borders, RiverClan is over out west borders. WindClan is in between those." Then she began to explain the attributes of those Clans, "ThunderClan typically stick to the forest, hunt birds and rabbits and mice. Then RiverClan, well. . . they just swim and eat fish. Nothin' special about them. And WindClan just eat rabbits and run really fast. They have a very slender build."

That comment could have been taken into offense, sine he had asked wy she had such a weird name. But she didn't, really. "Well, the Clan gave it to me. The whole Clan has these names," she replied. "Sometimes it depends on rank, for instance, the leader always has the word 'star' on the end of their name. Our leader of Greenstar. I'm guessing the reason for these names is because of StarClan, our warrior ancestors."