[Fate Admin]

Fleetpaw was very well aware of the fact that apprentices weren’t really supposed to leave camp alone. No cat was really supposed to go far from camp alone, with the constant risk of that monster cat mothers whispered to their kits about when they were being bad and elders told exaggerated horror stories to any cat that would listen. Fleetpaw had never seen nor scented any trace of this supposed ‘monster’ cat and was fairly certain everyone who warned him about it was full of it and just trying to scare him. It was ridiculous that a cat would feel hunted in his own Clan’s territory. Fleetpaw, for one, did not feel as such. He strode with all the confidence in the world out of camp, tail flicking dismissively as he trotted leisurely away from the busy home of RainClan, waded through the stream that surrounded the sandy island, and headed toward the StoneClan border.

Oh yeah, StoneClan was back now. Hard to forget that. They had attacked RainClan’s camp and many cats were still licking their wounds. Fleetpaw, however, had been out of camp at the time of the attack. What luck that he decided to transport his hoard to a safer location away from camp that day. Camp was full of nosy cats and kits that got into everything, not safe at all for his hidden treasures. He had hidden his hoard in a secret location, somewhere between camp and the StoneClan border, where it was drier and he wouldn’t have to worry about it all being washed away in a flood, as it almost had when he was still a kit in the nursery. He didn’t want to have to go through THAT again. RainClan through and through, water didn’t bother him at all when it came to getting his own pelt wet, but for the sake of his hoard he had a certain mistrust of the many streams coursing throughout his Clan’s territory.

Right now, however, he was not visiting his hoard. At least not yet. He had set out to find some new treasures to add to it. Razorfang wasn’t entirely happy with him for his disappearance during his Clan’s time of need, but he’d already checked the elders’ filthy hides for ticks and fleas as part of his punishment and was using the fact that he needed to fetch fresh bedding for them as an excuse to get out of camp and do something far more interesting. He’d find a few new items to add to his hoard before going back to camp with the elders’ stupid bedding. Some of the greatest stones he had seen so far could be found in the aptly named Stone Stream; smooth, round, shiny…. His pelt rose slightly in anticipation. He bounded ahead, spotting the stream in question, coming to a pause at the water’s edge and peering into the clear depths. In the midst of leaf-bare the water would be icy cold, but if he could find the right stone, Fleetpaw didn’t care. At least it wasn’t frozen over. Some of the smaller streams were partially or completely frozen, disappointingly so. His intense gaze surveyed the stones at the bottom of the stream and he padded slowly along, watching for one that would catch his eye and completely oblivious to his surroundings.

[Deleted]

Windpaw

"I'm just going to go hunting!" Windpaw called, not even waiting for a response before darting out of camp, heart singing with joy. Home, finally home. After moons spent in the mountains, being back in their old territory, back home, all seemed like a dream, a dream that Windpaw never wanted to awaken from.
She probably wasn't meant to be leaving camp by herself, not that it bothered her. Windpaw doubted she would run into any trouble and even if she did, she was confident in her battle skills, and she wasn’t just being arrogant in thinking that, she had been told many times of her battle prowess. Windpaw just hoped she had lived up to the name of her father, Warhawk, in her eyes, the greatest warrior to ever walk the forest.

Picking her way around the perfectly clear pools of the Sky Springs, pausing for a moment to admire the way the sunlight played upon the surface of the water. Drinking in the cool leaf-bare air, the brown tabby she-cat gave a warm smile. It felt so good to be home.
Continuing on her little journey, the StoneClan apprentice found her paws carrying her down towards the RainClan border. So, she’d told her clan that she was going out hunting… That’s wasn’t exactly accurate. She would bring back a bird or something, just so that they believed she’d been hunting, but her true reason for this little outing was simply to accustom herself once more with the territory, to observe what had changed since StoneClan had left the valley.
Yesterday, it’d been the Little Woods, today it was the Stone Stream.

Windpaw had to admit, the Stone Stream was one of her favourite places in the whole of StoneClan’s territory, second only to the Sky Springs. Although she was certainly no RainClan cat, she loved to just sit on one of the great, flat boulders, soaking up the sun and listening to the gentle babbling of the water as it slipped past on its journey to StarClan knows where. The long-furred tabby often wondered where the stream ended up; did it carry on forever, never ending? Perhaps it carried onto a lake, like the one she’d heard of in tales about the clans’ old territories, when they used to be known as ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, ShadowClan and SkyClan. Windpaw couldn’t imagine the clans being called by those names now, SkyClan? Bit of a strange name if you ask me, StoneClan’s much better.

It came as a surprise when the sudden whispering of water greeted her ears and the glinting of water up ahead caught her amber gaze, I’m here already? The distance to the RainClan border had felt much shorter than it had before StoneClan had been driven to the mountains. I must’ve grown, she though with a grin, puffing out her paler chest. Come to think of it, she was almost the same size as her mentor, Graniteclaw, now. From what he’d told her, she could expect to be made a warrior any day now.

It took a little longer for the young StoneClanner to realise she had company. A young RainClan tom, an apprentice still by the looks of it, was padding alongside the stone stream, peering into the crystal-clear depths. Windpaw immediately switched into defence mode, her brown tabby pelt prickling, claws unsheathing and hostility burning in her amber eyes. RainClan. She thought bitterly, It’s because of them and LightningClan that we had to leave our home.
Windpaw was about to growl a threat, when she realised that, much to her embarrassment, the RainClanner was on his side of the border. Oh. Oops. Quickly sheathing her claws and flattening her ears against her head, the brown tabby flashed a small smile towards the young RainClan tom. As much as she tried to be angry at the rival clan, she was a little hopeless at it. They may have driven her clan from their home, but in the end, they’d just been following orders. At least StoneClan were home now, that was all that really mattered.

“Sorry about that,” she apologised, ducking her head shyly, “I… I thought you were on our side of the border for a moment,” she gave another little smile. It was then that the image of what the RainClan apprentice had been doing when she first arrived. She tipped her head to one side, all hostility having faded from her gaze only to be replaced by curiosity, “Hey, what was that you were doing a moment ago? Walking along and looking into the stream?” she asked, studying the RainClanner, “Were you looking for something? Oh wait, were you about to do some fishing? Is that what you do before you start fishing? Do you have to look for the fish, or do they just appear from their burrows?” A frown creased her burrow and soon another load of questions came flooding from her, “Do fish even have burrows? Where do fish live? Do they have nests?”

It was only then that the StoneClanner realised she had been babbling on a bit. She was well known amongst for being very talkative, once she started she never stopped.
Windpaw flashed a white-fanged grin, “Sorry, just ignore me. I talk too much.”

Tag ~
Word Count ~ 899
Notes ~ ---

[Fate Admin]

As Fleetpaw passed slowly along the stream, his ears twitched as a voice reached him, though it took him a moment to register what it had said as his intense focus on the stones in the stream wavered and broke. His gaze snapped up suddenly to see a strange cat across the stream, on the StoneClan side. The border was heavily marked and Fleetpaw had to wonder when StoneClan would let up, it made going near the border somewhat unpleasant with the stench of scentmarkers almost overpowering. Fleetpaw had to admit he had crossed it a few times, regardless, though not out of any malicious intent. He had been a kit in the nursery when his Clan had plotted to drive out StoneClan and as a new apprentice he had helped to explore their newly gained territory that was half of StoneClan’s old territory, split between them and LightningClan. To Fleetpaw, crossing the stream meant he was still in his rightful territory. It was hard to unlearn something that had begun at the very foundation of his apprenticeship.

He stared at the StoneClan she-cat for a long moment, then tilted his head slightly. He was actually rather curious about StoneClan. They had gone beyond the Clan boundaries, up into the mountains, met strange cats there. The warriors and other apprentices who had been in camp at the time of the attack whispered about them. Rogues and loners that had helped StoneClan win back their home. Sometimes Fleetpaw wished he had been born in StoneClan so he could have gotten to experience such things. As a Clan cat, one never expected they would stray from their Clan’s borders… ever. How interesting it must have been to leave and learn a whole new way of life and meet a bunch of new cats… completely disregarding the horror that came before, anyway. His pelt pricked with jealousy and curiosity and he found himself strangely intrigued by the she-cat before him.

She began to speak again… going on and on and Fleetpaw’s gaze widened slightly, wondering if she would ever stop. Were all StoneClan cats so chatty? Many other RainClan cats may have laughed at her ridiculous questions about fish, but Fleetpaw was one who understood curiosity, and also understood that fishing was a skill very unique to his Clan and such questions were probably commonplace amongst the other four Clans, just as Fleetpaw had his own questions about the other Clans that would probably sound equally ridiculous, should he ever pose them. He sat, curling his tail around his paws, looking incredibly at ease considering his proximity to a supposed ‘enemy’ cat, “No worries. You won’t learn much if you never ask questions.” His tail flicked dismissively at the apology. “And I’ve crossed the border before,” he spoke honestly, hoping at least to avoid possible future conflict with this particular cat should he ever lapse and cross it again, “I’m not used to there being a border here. I didn’t become an apprentice until after StoneClan left.” He glanced past her to the territory beyond, “Part of your territory has belonged to my Clan ever since I became an apprentice. Maybe you can tell your Clan… some of us are too young to remember the border everyone else so easily forgot, but we’re trying. Just like learning anything, it takes time to remember.”

He shrugged it off, moving on and turning back to the she-cat. She had asked plenty of questions and he was only too happy to answer. Perhaps she would answer his own questions then. He wasn’t about to tell her what he was actually doing, however. Cats in his own Clan didn’t even know about his… hobby, and he wasn’t about to diverge the secret to anyone. “The fish in the Stone Stream are small, but they’re good for kits anyway, and easier for elders to eat if they have bad teeth.” His tail flicked in irritation that he even knew that. He was having about enough of caring for the elders all on his own; he was learning far more about them than he cared to know. Razorfang had given the task specifically to him and the other apprentices were relieved of the duty until his punishment was over. Something about not being there when his Clan needed him and being there for them now instead… or something. Whatever.

“So yeah, you have to look for fish before you can catch them. I guess other prey you have to listen and scent for, but you can’t hear or smell things that are under water.” He licked his paw and swiped it over his face as he mulled over her other questions, “You know, I’m not really sure if fish have nests. I’ve never seen one anyway. They just seem to… swim… all the time. But, I’m not sure. I’ve never really thought about it.” Placing his paw back on the ground, he tilted his head slightly at the admission. It didn’t seem like an important subject to dwell on. Who cared what prey did when it wasn’t filling a cat’s belly? But then… knowing more about your enemy helped you to defeat them, so it made sense that knowing more about your prey would reveal new and easier ways to catch them too. He blinked at the she-cat, intrigued. Now it was his turn to ask questions, though, unlike the StoneClan she-cat, he wasn’t going to let them all tumble out at once, “What was it like in the mountains?”

[Deleted]

Windpaw

Windpaw was glad she hadn’t scared away the RainClan apprentice with all her no-stop talking and questions. The brown tabby she-cat had never really gotten to talk to any cats from the other clans, so they very much intrigued her.
Smiling warmly, the StoneClan apprentice tilted her head to one side to observe the RainClanner, listening intently as he attempted to answer her flood-load of questions. She was surprised he hadn’t just laughed at all her admittedly ridiculous questions, that’s what she would’ve expected him to have done.

“And I’ve crossed the border before, I’m not used to there being a border here. I didn’t become an apprentice until after StoneClan left. Part of your territory has belonged to my Clan ever since I became an apprentice. Maybe you can tell your Clan… some of us are too young to remember the border everyone else so easily forgot, but we’re trying. Just like learning anything, it takes time to remember.”
Windpaw blinked, she’d been a young apprentice when her clan had been driven to the mountains, so the border between RainClan and StoneClan had always existed to her. It was strange to think of there being no border there, no division between the two territories.

As the RainClan apprentice explained about the fish that lived in the waters of the Stone Stream, Windpaw let her amber gaze drift to the clear waters, scouring the depths for any fleeting silver shapes. It must be hard catching fish, they’re so fast, she pondered to herself thoughtfully, RainClan must have to be so skilled.
The brown tabby she-cat was managing to stay reasonably quite, quieter than usual in fact. Tail curling around her paws, she was surprised to learn that the RainClanner didn’t know whether fish had nests or not, she would’ve expected that RainClan knew everything about the fish in their streams, they were practically fish themselves after all, with all that swimming she’d heard they did.

Although the fluffy brown tabby apprentice had no intentions of getting her pelt wet, she had to admit, swimming did intrigue her. Almost all cats were born with an instinctive fear of water, to be able to just leap in, care free, not having to spare any worries to drowning, was pretty something. It certainly wasn’t something she’d try though.

Windpaw was about to blurt out a dozen more questions when suddenly the RainClan tom, much to her surprise, came up with his own question for her. “What was it like in the mountains?”
Any other StoneClanner may have jumped to the conclusion that the tom was being cheeky and turned upon the RainClan tom, after all, the whole reason that StoneClan had to leave for the mountains was because of RainClan, and LightningClan of course. Windpaw, however, wasn’t that sort of cat. She detected the curiosity in his gaze and knew he was only asking out of interest, so was perfectly happy to answer his question. That didn’t mean she was any more prepared for it though.

“The mountains,” she echoed thoughtfully, amber gaze absent, “I don’t really know what to say about the mountains. I’m not sure whether you’ve heard or not, but we stayed with this group of cats named MountainClan,” she explained, meeting the tom’s gaze with surprising ease, “They weren’t really a clan, they didn't follow the warrior code, they were more a group of loners living together, but they were nice enough. There weren’t really any proper dens in there camp, so we all had to sleep together, that was… interesting,” Windpaw gave a little chuckle. It was probably safe to say that when StoneClan returned to their home, the thing everyone had been looking forward to was being able to sleep in separate dens. It had been rather difficult, to say the least, to sleep in The Oasis when the kits were still wide awake and playing a game of moss-ball, especially when it kept landing on Windpaw.
“Hunting was a little difficult, we had to really adapt our techniques,” she paused, inclining her head a little, “There’s not really much more to say,” she admitted, shuffling her paws a little. It was only then that a thought suddenly struck her.

“I haven’t introduced myself yet have I?” she sat up a little taller, amber gaze bright, her feathered tail flicking from side to side, “I’m Windpaw.”

Tag ~ Fate Admin
Word Count ~ 755 (ish)
Notes ~ ---

[Fate Admin]

Gazing at the she-cat with open curiosity, his tail twitched, the only sign of his slight impatience to hear the answer to his question. He was ever so curious about that which resided beyond the borders of his Clan’s territory, and here this cat had been beyond the territory of ALL the Clans! His pale green eyes sparkled with excitement at the prospect. What great and wonderful things could he find, just a few pawsteps over the border… just a few pawsteps more? His ears perked forward intently as the she-cat began to speak, her tone vaguely distant as she recalled her past few moons in the mountains. Fleetpaw nodded, briefly and unnecessarily, as she mentioned MountainClan. He’d heard his Clanmates talking about them, but they didn’t really KNOW anything about them, other than the fact that they helped StoneClan fight and were a bunch of loners and rogues.

A Clan that isn’t a Clan? He wondered about that. Did the warrior code make the Clan? If RainClan stopped following the warrior code, would it be any less of a Clan? Surely there was more to being a Clan than following the warrior code? Fleetpaw shrugged off the questions whirling through his mind. It didn’t really matter, in the end. It wasn’t worth the time trying to work out something that mattered so little. If some cats got together in the mountains and wanted to call themselves a Clan, who cares? Fleetpaw’s ears twitched as the she-cat continued. No dens? Fleetpaw could vaguely remember the flood during his kithood that caused RainClan to evacuate camp and how they had lived all together in a drier part of the territory. There were no dens there either, nowhere for a kit to hide his precious belongings. He quickly shook off the growing unease at the remembrance, his ears perking again as she mentioned adapting their hunting techniques.

Glancing up at the mountains surrounding the Valley in which the Clans made their home, he tried to imagine what it would be like to hunt high above the Valley in that foreboding landscape. A lot harder and more exciting that fishing, for sure. He turned back to the she-cat as she suddenly introduced herself. “Windpaw? You look like a full grown warrior to me,” he eyed her suspiciously for a moment, though let it go a heartbeat later. She looked to be a warrior, sure, but she clearly wasn’t THAT old either, and why would any young cat lie about being an apprentice? Young warriors were always boasting about their new rank. “I’m Fleetpaw.” He pondered a moment, then resumed his questioning, “How do you guys live in a territory like that? From what I saw, I don’t understand at all why you got chased out over it.” His tail flicked. The fact that his Clan had teamed up with another to chase out StoneClan over such a barren landscape continued to be a mystery to Fleetpaw, “StoneClan cats must be really great survivors.”

[Deleted]

Windpaw

“Windpaw? You look like a full grown warrior to me.” Whether it had been intended as a compliment or not, the brown tabby apprentice certainly took it as one, He thought I was a warrior! she gave a mental squeal of excitement. She didn’t notice the few suspicious looks she got from the RainClan apprentice. Sitting up a little taller and puffing out her chest a little, the StoneClan she-cat grinned, “Oh no, I’m still an apprentice,”she purred, quickly adding, “But Graniteclaw says my Warrior Ceremony should be any day now,” her words were accompanied by an excited twitch of the tail.

When the tom announced his own name, Windpaw was quick to test it out on her tongue, “Fleetpaw,” she let it roll off her tongue, contemplating it for a moment, “Well, I’ve never met a Fleetpaw before.”
Fleetpaw… the name floated around her mind for further heartbeats, studying the RainClan apprentice curiously. She had to admit, Fleetpaw was a really cool name, an original one too. Although she did like her own name, she had to admit, it was a bit uninspiring.

“How do you guys live in a territory like that? From what I saw, I don’t understand at all why you got chased out over it.”
Windpaw gave a small smile, letting her amber gaze wander to her surroundings. She saw Fleetpaw’s point; StoneClan territory was pretty barren and could be very harsh if you didn’t know its ways. But it wasn’t impossible to survive here, as StoneClan had proven, you just had to know how.
“Oh, it’s not hard really,” she dropped the words casually, as if surviving in such a bare landscape was the easiest thing in the world, “You’ve just got to understand the territory, I guess.”
The StoneClan apprentice paused for a moment, amber gaze growing distant as she tried to think of an example for this, “Like, lizards have cold blood or something. So they need the sun’s warmth to keep them warm, so they’re only up when the sun is, so there’s no point trying to hunt lizards before dawn or after dusk, because they won’t be around.”
She let her bright amber gaze linger on Fleetpaw for a moment, “Stuff like that, it helps to know it if you want to survive,” she mewed, for a heartbeat her eyes meeting Fleetpaw’s, “And I guess we’re just used to it too.”

For a moment, she was silent, before pooling out some more questions of her own, “What about you? How does RainClan survive when the river’s frozen? Do you have to hunt land prey?” she contemplated her questions for a moment, her amber eyes clouding over briefly, “Or do you make holes in the ice or something?”
Then a thought suddenly struck her, amber eyes stretching wide, “Wait. When the river freezes, don’t the fish freeze too?”

Tag ~ Fate Admin
Word Count ~ 501-ish
Notes ~ So sorry for the wait!