The Grass is Always Greener {open}

The other side of the town's fence was wild and strange. The grass was far longer and far more unkempt. Queen couldn't help but think that one of her upwalkers should take their little monster to the reeds to cut them short. There was mud here, messy stones and all sorts of critters that the she-cat had never seen before. Her silver paws quickly became dirty, little pebbles stuck in between her claws. Occasional sounds of annoyance would slip between the tabby's lips as she traversed the new territory. The idea of "more" would quickly become Queen's downfall, she thought to herself. It was only yesterday when the she-cat began to wonder what lay beyond her upwalker's fence. And it was only this morning when she made the leap to the other side, ignoring her neighbor's pleas. "You'll get your pelt shredded by the fierce battle-cats!" They'd said. But Queen was far too beautiful to worry about such silly things. No cat would ever dare to lay a claw on her perfect black stripes, rippling through a glimmering pelt of silver. Fate favored cats like her, too divine to die. But far too beautiful to remain stationary. There was so much more beyond her house, something Queen was quickly coming to terms with.

She stayed close to the road, weaving away with little more than a flinch as a monster would speed by. Queen had heard one of her neighborly felines refer to them as a "car" once, but the word felt too short and too daft to convey the shear size of the beasts. "Monster" was much more thrilling, and held a sort of allure to it. Queen picked and chose her mannerisms carefully, well aware the affect her musings could have on another. After all, the words of such a beautiful cat were seldom ignored. She could tell some scrap to jump into a dog's yard, and he'd do it without a second thought. That kind of power sent shivers up the she-cat's spine. But she'd quickly grown bored of her fan-toms and loving upwalkers, and now found herself weaving down a grassy hill to a larger river that split from the road. Long, spindly willow trees sang in the breeze, and reeds whipped against their fellow inhabitants. Queen began to enjoy her new surroundings, liking them far more than the mud that had bordered the road's path. She tilted her head upward to take in the sun, green eyes glowing in the light. What kind of adventures would await her here?

Driftingpaw was lost in his own thoughts, wandering through the tall grasses and undergrowth. He needed to step out of camp, get some fresh air He thought maybe hunting would help him clear his head, yet the young tom had yet to narrow his focus down and attempt to even scent a lousy mouse. His white pelt stood out starkly against the shadows of the undergrowth, but he wasn't thinking about hiding. A sudden stab in his paw made him jump and he shook his paw, glancing at his pad to make sure he hadn't broken the skin on the sharp pebble he had tread upon, and sighed when he saw it wasn't bleeding and wasn't even bruised. "G-g-get it t-together, mouse-b-b-brain!" he muttered. He gave himself a rough shake from nose to tail-tip and huffed. A mouse, he will catch a mouse. It'll make him feel better and help him focus, so he opened his mouth and scented the air. He caught the scent of one and sighed with relief when it was fresh and nearby. Unfortunately while focusing on the scent of the mouse, he missed the scent of a stranger nearby.

Nestling himself down in the shadows he found a good spot to hide his starkly white pelt as he carefully slid his paws forward, his focus so narrowed on the mouse he missed the change in the breeze, carrying his scent to the mouse. The little creature raised its head and Driftingpaw realized his mistake, cursing under his breath he took a leap of faith, unfortunately for him his faith misjudged the distance between him and the mouse and he grossly overshot the distance. Fortunately for him, a silky pelted figure was right in his path and broke his crashing fall, but he crashed right into the stranger. He gave a startled squeak as he bowled into them and scrambled back, tangling his gangly legs in themselves. . "Oh g-g-gosh, I-I-I am so s-s-sorry," He muttered, his blue eyes wide with horror as he watched the tabby figure find their feet again.

Queen's question was answered swiftly as a stark-white tom bowled into her, and they rolled down into a patch of crushed reeds. She sat up slowly, green eyes watching the tom with interest, whiskers twitching slightly at his nervous demeanor. "No need to apologize, scrap. I'll take information as compensation instead. I'm afraid I have a lot to ask however, and you'll just have to comply of course, tackling a queen is a heinous crime indeed." There was a twinkle in the she-cat's eye as she found her footing, giggling in a light way that was rather endearing. The small shred of fear she had felt was quickly swept away with the realization that this tom was barely more than a kitten, a few good moons younger than herself.

"Where were you going that required such speed? Did your upwalkers call you home for dinner? Or maybe you were running from the fabled battle-cats?" Queen drew out the word for effect, eyes widening with mock fear. She cocked her head at the white feline and stuck out her tongue, whiskers twitching. This was awfully interesting, and the she-cat was thankful she had decided to go on an adventure today. Standing up, she weaved her way around the cat, lanky figure looking rather illustrious. Queen grinned and dove in front of the tom's face, tapping his nose with a claw. "Or maybe..." She crooned, eyes sparkling. "You are the battle-cat. Who else would look so... rustic. I suppose you have your charms, however. That leap was mighty indeed, tell me, what do you call yourself? Me, I'm Queen. Thee Queen if you're feeling humble."

Driftingpaw blinked at the she-cat, taken aback by her mannerisms and the fact she didn't bite his head off for his recklessness. "U-U-upwalkers?" He stammered, cocking his head in confusion. "Do y-y-you mean T-twolegs?" A streak of fear made the young tom's heart stutter as he looked around wearily. "I-I-I'm afraid I d-d-don't quite know w-what you mean b-b-by battle c-c-cats, I am p-p-part of RiverClan, one o-o-of the f-f-five Clans that l-l-live in the forest." He flinched at his stutter, he was so flustered and this strange she-cat made him nervous. What was she doing on RiverClan territory? Or had he ventured outside of the safety of his own borders? If she was trespassing, did that mean he had to fight her? If she was a kittypet he might have some luck, but she looked lean build and around his age and he was sure she was capable of giving a good fight.

Shaking his head he took in the rest of her questions and did his best to answer them. "M-M-my name is Drift-t-tingpaw, I was t-t-tring to h-hunt a mouse, b-b-but I missed..." he shuffled his paws in embarrassment as he looked to where the mouse had scuttled off to. "U-usually I d-don't miss t-t-though!"

Queen let her gaze drift off into the direction Driftingpaw's mouse had supposedly gone. With the young tom's stutter and nervous demeanor, he certainly was quite the interesting character. But eating mice was something different entirely. "Do you hunt for sport? Or do you really eat the mice that come your way? Honestly, Driftingpaw, it would be much easier to find a home in one of my Upwalker's nests. You'll never be short on food there, and if you're lucky, they'll give you the wet stuff rather than the dry pellets my neighbors eat." The she-cat found a flat spot in the reeds to sit, curling her tail around her paws. She'd found quite the interesting subject, wanting to pry the poor white tom further for more information.

"And when you say clans... there must be quite a lot of you, hmm? Do you live outside? In the rain and frosty weather? There must be some form of shelter you and your friends sleep in? Forgive me, 'paw. I do have so many questions."