crossing boundaries [closed]

The scent of cats seemed to saturate the earth as heavily as the water which has been soaked up from the River. Padding along, slowly, tentatively, the black pelted tom kept his maw parted and twitched his nose every now and then. With the thinning of prey and changing season, Dakota had been pressed to start taking desperate measures. Anxiety was palpable, radiating from his coat and he slunk lowly through the reeds. The clinging plants sought to stick to his fur and obscure his senses - to which they easily succeeded. As he pushed through the barrier, the tom's heart stopped. He was almost nose to nose with a grey she-cat, one who likely controlled this territory. Dakota swallowed. This wasn't good.

The member 'Ripped' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Invasion Dice' :

Dewlight had been hunting, and her nose was to the ground as she followed the scent of a water vole. Prey was getting scarcer by the day, as they began to take shelter for leaf-bare, and she needed to get as much as she could take home to take care of her kits. They were growing quickly, and needed as much food as they could get. As she reached a tall clump of reeds, she lost the scent a bit. It was being covered by the seemingly sweet scent of the reeds themselves. Frustrated, the gray she-cat went to push through the reeds, only to blink in surprise as her nose touched another one. Her eyes slowly rose to the other cat's, her mind sorting through the patrols she had sent out. There shouldn't be any around here... Wait, she didn't recognize this cat. Pulling away suddenly, she dropped into a defensive crouch, tail tip twitching as she stared at the intruder. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" She asked, watching the tom's movements carefully.

"Sorry, miss." There was nervous tinge to his voice that upon self-realization, the tom did his best to stuff it away. The way she instinctively dropped into defense spoke of skill, experience. This had to be her lands, there was no doubt. Dakota wanted to curse himself for being daft enough to think the forest might be safer than the furless territory. His ears heated at how close they were, along with the worry that an attack was imminent, "I'm just a hungry passerby looking for something to eat. I don't suppose you know anywhere with unclaimed prey?" It was worth an ask but he hoped that he didn't sound as pathetic as he thought he did.

Ducking his head, the dark-pelted loner slowly pressed his stomach to the ground, rolling to the side to expose his soft underbelly while peering up at her. Maybe such a submissive move, even if it made him look like a spineless house cat, it was better than getting his fur clawed in pursuit of a meal.

The tom apologized, and Dewlight relaxed slightly. His tone was hesitant and submissive, and she tilted her head slightly as his question. He further surprised her by lowering himself to the ground and slowly twisting so his soft underbelly was exposed. Her confusion and shock was evident as she looked down at the tom, any hint of aggression gone from her stance. "What are you...." She trailed off, shaking her head. This tom didn't seem like a threat, but he was still an intruder. "You're on RiverClan territory right now." She started to explain before pausing, uncertain of how to proceed. "Our territory follows the river to the big rocks on the far side, and then stretches to the gorge, a big ravine that has water running through the bottom. There are other clans with their own territories around here, but I don't know their borders. I doubt they'd be any happier to find an intruder though..." She trailed off again, looking down at the tom that was still on his back. "There is Fourtrees, but to get there you would have to go through other clan's territory." She murmured, as if she was thinking to herself, gazing in the direction of Fourtrees before looking back at the tom once more. "There's really not any unclaimed territory around here. You'd be better off to try hunting in the direction of Highstones." She mewed, pointing her tail in the direction she knew the distant peaks lay.

She looked a tad puzzled at his submissiveness, inquisitive, less defensive. That was good, he supposed. Still, it was hard to relax in such a predicament. Dakota wanted to curse himself for being so daft - although, that wasn't much of a shock. The tom had been getting himself into precarious circumstances since kithood; it was less due to any specific desire for trouble, and could be better linked with his minimalist way of thinking things through. As she finished her explanation he sighed and rolled onto his stomach. Laying in the ground still, with his head tilted up, the loner shook his head slightly and stared off into the distance. His meow sounded defeated as the air deflated from his lungs, "I supposed its hard for any cat to find food no matter where you go this time of year. Sure would be nice to shack up like a fat pet cat but I never was too fond of those collars. I don't suppose you associate with any no furs that might have something to eat? Who would have thought going further from the city would only make things worse..." The tom's ears heated, realizing he'd begun to babble on slightly, "I'm Dakota by the way, if it matters to any cat out here."

The tom rolled over onto his stomach, gazing up at her as she finished her explanation. He stared off into the distance, and she frowned at his response, her confusion apparent. She had a guess as to the fat "pet" cats, but no furs? Were those... "No furs? Are those twolegs? If so, we avoid them. They do nothing but steal prey and bring dogs to harm us. I don't know how kittypets can live with them." She growled, claws digging into the ground beneath her paws. "Dakota... What an odd name. My name is Dewlight."

"I suppose you're right. Miserable beasts they are... but they seem to have endless amounts of food. If only a cat could figure out how to unlock such power." Dakota's eyes glossed over for a moment, as it remembering something before he shook his head and met her gaze, "I have to say Dewlight is quite a strange name too. Different worlds I suppose." There came a soft smile, finding himself enjoying a moment of conversation with another cat. Those in the city were far more vicious and would have already torn apart his soft underbelly or chased him away. It was rare that he found himself in any sort of communion with another - moons since something like this. Then, came a low sigh and his head dipped, "You're fixing to chase me off. Right, I should, uh, get going then. I appreciate you not clawing my fur off, Miss Dewlight."

Dewlight nodded along with Dakota's words, letting out a small mused breath. It would be nice to have unlimited prey... If only. Their eyes met, and she smiled slightly. "I suppose so..." She purred, gazing back at the tom as he sighed. Confused, she glanced around as he spoke, sudden realization filling her as his words registered. Yes, right, he was an intruder... A nice intruder, but an intruder nonetheless. He hadn't done any harm, hadn't even caught anything... She frowned to herself as he thanked her. Lowering her head respectfully, she paused before responding. "Of course, I'm not cruel... Just... Taking care of my clan. I'm sorry I can't help you more, Dakota." She hesitated, meeting his gaze again before biting her tongue, changing her words. "May you find good hunting and your paws run swift, Dakota."

He'd silently willed her to say something else, prove him wrong about what the next course of action would be. But there was no denying it - they were from different worlds and this was simply one that he was not welcome in. Some small bit of hope had budded that perhaps this strange cat would be welcoming or have food to spare. It was a fool's hope. Dakota wore a feeble smile across his maw for a brief moment and nodded. He began to turn, somehow feeling more hopelessly lost than before, "Take care of yourself, Dewlight."