Chasing Flowers (Among Other Things) [Birdchaser]

Roseburn didn't think she would ever get used to being on ThunderClan territory, or hunting their prey. It felt so wrong. This wasn't her home. Her home was submerged in flood waters, StarClan knew when she would see it again. Some of her Clan never would. Her father never would. That poor kit she had found never would. Who knew how many other cats had been lost?

Her leg began to cramp up, and Roseburn laid down. She needed a break before she could go back to the camp. And honestly? Part of her didn't want to go back. Lying underneath the leaves of the Fallen Oak, part of her wanted to pretend that she was back home. That everything was still okay.

She closed her eyes, willing everything to be a dream. Maybe when she woke up, she would be back in the nursery, with Harekit, Leafkit, and Echokit. Maybe even Murkystar would be there, with Batglow and Mistyfalcon. She would go back to being the best prankster in ShadowClan. Everything would be okay.

All of this would be nothing more than a distant memory, a nightmare to be forgotten within the span of a few seconds.

That would be the day.

Birdchaser's tail flicked to and fro as she padded along. There was a subtle agitation about her; being so near to ThunderClan's border always made her hackles stiffen. It hadn't been her intention, to come to the Fallen Oak, but her paws lead her here as she walked. She was too close now to turn away– might as well check the border while she was there, she reasoned –but she prayed silently that there were no passing patrols from the rival Clan. She hardly felt like bothering with niceties or from demanding the first cat she saw to tell her who–

Sighing, the deputy picked up her pace. The sharply familiar scent of ShadowClan caught her nose first, but it wasn't the stale lingering of passing patrols. Alert now, Birdchaser wasted no time in approaching the oak now. Despite already scenting them, she was surprised to see another cat curled up in comfortable silence underneath the leaves. Her ears swiveled, lowered, then stood upright again, and the large she-cat moved closer.

Clearing her throat, "Hello. You look... comfortable." She tipped her head to the side, eyeing the other she-cat curiously. There was a hard, guarded look to her expression, but her bright eyes betrayed her simple curiosity. "I can tell you're ShadowClan. Been staying with ThunderClan, then? You've certainly got comfortable with their borders. Or are you looking for shelter?"

Roseburn looked up at the sound of a voice. She hadn't realized she had gotten so close to the border, and an inner part of her panicked a bit.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry, I'm not trespassing, am I? I guess you probably know what happened with our Clan. I needed to get away a bit and then I guess I just ended up here."

She looked up into the trees, watching as the sun set along the horizon. "This is probably the closest I can get to being home again. Lying amongst the trees."

A sigh, and she looked back at the SkyClan cat. "I can leave, if you want me to. I just needed to lie down for a bit. My leg started cramping up. I broke it in the flood, and it's still healing. Fawnshine will probably yell at me for coming so far from camp in the first place." Roseburn chuckled, a little scared for that interaction. She hated bothering ThunderClan's medicine cats, as much as they seemed willing to help. She just wanted to be home, though.

Birdchaser listened quietly as the smaller molly spoke, ears twitching periodically while she rambled on. A harder look crossed her features at the mention of Fawnshine– though the medicine cat had given her no reason to, she couldn't help but dislike her. Shaking off the grimace, she moved slowly closer, eyes never leaving the ShadowClanner.

"If your leg is injured, you shouldn't be all the way out here. Heed ThunderClan's mou– medicine cat." There was an unreadable flicker in her expression, but it softened quickly into sympathy. "As much as I want to turn you around, I guess it would be bad form. Something about helping cats in need, or whatever."

Careful to stay on her edge of the border, Birdchaser reclined onto her haunches. She had nothing to do or say with this cat, but she wasn't fool enough to walk away and let her linger so close to SkyClan's territory. "Birdchaser, by the way. SkyClan's deputy. And you are? I don't want to spend my day watching over a cat who's name I don't know."