Under the Same Sky [c]

Viper scented the air. It was the same type of scent he'd scented before. But it was slightly different. This had a hint of fish, whereas the other one had smelled more of trees and undergrowth. Cautiously, Viper padded into the wet lands, glancing around. He eventually sat near a small creek, staring down at his reflection. He looked scrawnier than normal, so the loner decided to find food. There would be fish, but he didn't know how to catch them. So instead, he went for land prey. He spotted a water vole near him, sitting at the edge of the creek. Viper smiled in satisfaction when a rustle of some bushes sent the vole scuttling off. Viper scowled and turned to face the direction of the noise.

Streampaw, again, was spying. She had spied on Fang, on Willow, and now she was spying on yet another rogue. She had seen him try to fish, but was unsuccessful. As she slowly turned around, her longer-than-average tail brushed against the bush, and she froze in fear of being discovered.

Viper pricked his ears and scanned for more movement, but he didn't find anything. All the same, it didn't hurt to be cautious. He sniffed the air. Ah, there is cat scent. Someone's spying. "I can smell you. Come out of the bush, please."

Streampaw winced. She stepped out of the bush slowly and carefully.“Well, Ive blown my cover as a poorly disguised bush, and you found me. What are you doing here?” She asked curiously. “I know that you were trying to hunt...but you weren’t stealing prey, were you?”

Viper smirked at her slightly teasing response. His smirk faded as she continued. "What am I doing here? I was hunting." He flicked his tail as she went on. "I wasn't stealing prey. It's shared land. You don't own all the prey here." Is she one of those- what're they called- Clan cats? Viper sat down, inviting the other cat to do the same with a flick of his tail. "What's your name, by the way?"

Streampaw cautiously padded next to the rogue. “I’m Streampaw.” She said, sitting down. “I’m an apprentice at RiverClan. Um...you can probably guess why this Clan is called RiverClan.” She flicked her tail towards the rushing river. “Us RiverClan cats can swim well. We love fish, and are probably the only cats in the Clans to know how to catch fish. We are also very elegant.” She added, highlighting her Clan’s positive points.

Viper frowned. Now this cat was meowing about Clans? ”I’ve heard about you Clans a few times, I think- you’re big groups of cats that live around here, right?” That’s why I keep getting attacked by cats! It makes sense now! You have to be nice now, otherwise she might bring the Clzn down on me... He flashed a grin at Streampaw. ”Elegant, like a poorly disguised bush, huh?”

Streampaw nodded. “Yup. We’re really big. Some of the cats wont hesitate to kill or hurt loners. Some will attack if you attack them first.” She rolled her eyes. “Fine. We’re elegant underwater then. Blending in with shadows and the lot is not my forte. That would be ShadowClan’s talent.” Streampaw told the loner.

Viper tried to imagine this group of cats. "So you all live together- but why? What do you gain? I suppose sick and old cats could group together, but sickness would spread very quickly." Although he didn't know it, Viper had poked a hornet's nest with his words about the sickness, considering all that had happened. The loner continued, curiously. "And where are all the other Clans? And why does everything around here smell like cat and fish? Is that because of you-your RiverClan?"

Streampaw flinched as he mentioned sickness. “Strength in numbers, I guess. We all help each other and support each other. Yes, everything here smells fishy because we eat fish. They’re beneficial too, because they help our pelts soak up less water. I suppose its because of the fish oils.”

Viper curled his tail around his paws. Weird. The loner grunted. "So, there's more than just this RiverClan. What are the other Clans, and where are they?" There are a few more of these Clans, aren't there? I know there's ThunderClan, since they keep attacking me.

“Well...there’s RiverClan, us. Then there’s ThunderClan, who’s right there in the forests. They share a border with us. Then there’s ShadowClan, who lives in the pines, WindClan, who lives on the moors, SkyClan, who lives in the forest too, and...” Streampaw hesitated. “There’s StarClan, our ancestors, who live in Silverpelt, the chain of stars you see every night.”

Viper nodded thoughtfully, staring at all the other little territories the little Clan cat was explaining. His head whipped up in confusion as she mentioned StarClan. "Sorry, darling, that seems like a load of thistlefluff to me. But to each their own, I suppose." The tomcat shrugged to himself. He wasn't a Clan cat. If they wanted to have weird delusions that the stars were cats, then they could do that. "Oh, and what's your name? I don't think I ever got around to knowing it."

Streampaw shrugged. “Most rogues and loners dont believe in StarClan. That’s perfectly fine.” She understood that, knowing that they were different. She laughed as the tom asked about her name again. “Streampaw. I did say it before, dont think you caught it. What about you?”

Viper smiled, in the way that always looked like a smirk. "Maybe you did. I was too busy focused on a suspicious-looking bush disguise to notice." The tom stood up and started to stroll further into RiverClan territory. He fully expected Streampaw to follow. After all, she needed to make sure he didn't do anything on her territory. So he didn't cast a single glance back, knowing that she'd follow. "And I'm Viper."