settling [open]

As much as she would have loved to work day in and day out, Leopardsun still needed to eat on top of taking the occasional break. The weather was growing colder, and leaf-bare was slowly but steadily making its approach; with all the Clans together and their territories too dangerous to wander freely she had a lingering feeling that prey would be particularly scarce. So in the meantime she made her way to what served as ShadowClan's fresh-kill pile in their little slice of Fourtrees, selected a frog, and decided to step out of her comfort zone a bit.

She tried to tell herself that Nightstar and the Clan's warriors had the situation under control (or as much as it could possibly be). The world wouldn't end if she stepped away from work for a little longer than was strictly necessary.

ShadowClan's deputy rested her head on her paws, wondering if anyone would approach her. Her own Clanmates were more likely, she supposed- she wasn't sure she would have had the nerve to run up to another Clan's deputy or leader herself, if there wasn't already a passing familiarity. Maybe one of the SkyClan cats would recognize her from the aftermath of the flood- it was hard to say.

Still, it was a good idea to at least try and socialize- no one knew how long they'd be here, after all.

Hmmm.

Most of the ShadowClanners looked… well, a bit intimidating, to be honest (but so did some WindClanners, or so she supposed to outsiders) but surely no one who ate frogs could be scary. Toads, maybe, but not because toads were scary, more that they were yucky and bumpy and slimy. Frogs though- frogs were silly! They looked like they were all full of air! Nightstar and other scary ShadowClanners would surely eat scary things, like snakes or lizards or porcupines.

This was the thought process (or what could loosely pass as such) that drove Russetpaw to dare to approach a spotted grey ShadowClanner. The other molly certainly wasn’t an apprentice, but she didn’t look like an experienced warrior- though Russetpaw wasn’t completely sure what experienced warriors looked like. Hartstep, her great-great-something-grandmother was an experienced warrior, all scarred up an’ tough-looking, but this ShadowClanner didn’t seem to have distinctive scars.

So. She was probably not gonna eat ‘er.

“Heya!” Russetpaw chirped, bounding up to the grey molly, waving her tail in greeting and dipping her head in respect. “I’m Russetpaw, who’re you?”

Operation Befriend-ShadowClanner#3 (or technically four, if one counted Nightstar, but they weren’t friends) was a go!

Leopardsun blinked as an apprentice from another Clan dashed toward her- WindClan, maybe, given the direction she'd come from?- and introduced herself. Then, after a moment of surprised staring (she had expected, maybe, to be approached by someone who knew her; this was unfamiliar territory), she waved her own tail in return with a small smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Russetpaw. My name is Leopardsun- what brings you over here?"

Something she often forgot, in the bustle of work and responsibility and maintaining her relationships as best as she could manage, was that she genuinely enjoyed socializing; she liked talking to the cats around her, learning more about them. It was something she looked forward to at Gatherings, even if they so rarely went smoothly.

And while there was a certain level of professionalism that was expected when dealing with deputies and leaders and medicine cats and elders (and even senior warriors, to some extent), this was an apprentice. There was far less pressure to act a certain way, to make herself and her Clan look good (because Nightstar was good at what he did, and she was far from thinking he was a bad leader by any means, but he could be particularly intimidating; and Leopardsun felt that she was comparatively approachable, or at least she tried to be).

In a way, it felt like her life was divided into parts to play, even if all those parts were just part of herself; and for a moment she could set them down.

Russetpaw grinned brightly as the other she-cat responded. Okay- she was nice! How so many ShadowClanners could be so nice when Nightstar was, well… not exactly nice- well, maybe he was to his own Clan, like Shrikestar was, but yeah- he- he wasn’t nice to her, although admittedly there had been some accidental prey-stealing involved, and a side helping of assault (though Russetpaw hadn’t done either of those, she’d been present and not quick enough to prevent them).

“Okay, so,” she began in response to Leopardsun- Leopardsun, Leopardsun… she swore she had maybe heard her name before- maybe Harrierpaw or Snowpaw had mentioned her? “So like I’m tryin’a make friends, ya know, and I saw ya eating a frog, and I was like, if she’s eatin’ a frog, she ain’t gonna eat me, ‘cause frogs look like they’re full o’ air, ya know? It’s nice ta meetcha, Leopardsun! Do you know ‘arrierpaw, and ‘nowpaw? I met them the other day! They’re real nice-like!”

She smiled and flicked her tail in excitement, shifting her weight from paw to paw and so, so excited to talk to someone else. The red-pelted apprentice hadn’t gone hunting yet today, and maybe the pent-up excitement showed in the way her paws twitched and ears rotated at every sound, like a hare. Mmm, hare. She hadn’t eaten recently either, though that was mostly her own fault from being so easily distractable.

It took Leopardsun a moment to parse the apprentice's words- she talked so fast, and all at once on top of that- but her own expression brightened at the mention of Harrierpaw. "I do know Harrierpaw," she nodded. "She's my- well, I suppose you could call her my charge. I brought her into ShadowClan, after all, so she's my responsibility even if I'm not her mentor. At the very least, I'm glad to hear she's making friends."

She hadn't really thought through what exactly Harrierpaw was to her. Her charge, certainly. Something more filled with emotional attachment than that, given that she'd dragged her to ShadowClan and more or less claimed her; had given her her name.

...So she supposed she had thought it through, and never dwelled upon it. She ought to spend some time with her next time she got the chance, then- she didn't want to be distant, or untouchable.

"Snowpaw is..." It felt strange to say her apprentice name, when she'd been Snowfoot all her life. "She's family," she settled on saying.

At least she's making friends.

"Things with Snowpaw are..." Complicated. "She doesn't want to talk about it, and I won't do it for her."

The deputy shifted slightly, tail curling around her side as she regarded her half-eaten frog. She supposed it could seem to be full of air, if only it wasn't full of meat.

"Well, I'm glad I don't come across as intimidating. Do frogs really look as if they're full of air to you? I never thought of it that way."

Okay, so Leopard… Leopard… stars dung it, she’d already forgotten the other she-cat’s name, and she sure as heck wasn’t about to ask for it again literal seconds later. Whatever- point was, Leopardlady knew Harrierpaw! Her charge? Mmm… that didn’t mean ‘arrierpaw was in charge of Leopardcat… Russetpaw guessed it meant LeopardShadowClanner was ‘arrierpaw’s mother? Some fancy way of sayin’ that, or maybe just a ShadowClan way?

Leopardsomething was family ta Snowpaw? Oh, cool- but before Russetpaw could pursue that train of thought, Leopard started talking again… complicated? What? Huh? Whas’ she ‘apposed to know what that meant? Oh stars, was this one of ‘the talks’ that Whiteburn hadn’t yet given her? Ohhhhh stars, that’d be sooooo embarrassing… she settled for nodding sagely with what she hoped was a wise look and hoping that Leopardspottedcat would move on from that topic.

She was glad she didn’t come across as intimidating? Heh? Maybe ‘er job was ta make friends, or something? At her mention of the frog Russetpaw’s eyes gleamed- she really really wanted to poke it… but after seeing how Nightstar handled that (spoiler: not well) she managed to restrain herself.

“Yup! They look all funny-like, ya know, like a mud bubble? ‘ares an’ rabbits ain’t like that, they’re tough meat ‘n’ bones alla the way through, and birds are all feathers, really, an’ I’ve ‘ardly eaten scant anythin’ else, really. ‘arrierpaw said ya have muck monsters ‘n’ that’s why ya sleep through the day- have ya ever fought one? Ya look like ya could fight one! All swipey-and-Grr-like, then poof! dead muck monster. Do- can you eat a muck monster?” A bit of flattery couldn’t hurt- Russetpaw needed more information about muck monsters. It was almost as important as Operation-Befriend-the-ShadowClanners-‘cause-they-our-allies.

ShadowClan's deputy blinked, trying to figure out what a mud-bubble was and what Harrierpaw could possibly have meant by muck-monsters- until, quite suddenly, she realized: she must have been making things up. Well, it wasn't good to encourage lying; but this seemed harmless enough, and apprentices were bound to get up to mischief- and, more importantly, Leopardsun wanted in on it. If nothing else, it might help to discourage trespassing among the younger cats? "Of course I have," she said, stretching a bit. "They're quite fierce, you know- but you can't really eat them, no. Muck tastes awful. And if that wasn't enough, they keep coming back, however many times you kill them."

Amusement lit up her face as she spoke, genuine pride in her voice. It was fun to boast, just a little. She'd done a lot, after all, when she stopped to think about it; and in not a lot of time, all things considered. "As ShadowClan's deputy, I've led many assaults on the beasts," she said lightly. "Not just the muck-monsters, either- I'm an excellent hunter. I've tracked and fought foxes and badgers and porcupines. Once, I hunted down a fox on my own and kept its pelt as proof of my victory."

She wished she had her pelt to show off, but it was back in ShadowClan's camp; she would retrieve it eventually- or else obtain a new one- but for now she lacked her evidence, and had to hope the apprentice would take her at her word.

There were other accomplishments in her life, of course. But they weren't things she recalled with the same surging pride, just a lingering sense of sadness and loss.

She regarded the apprentice curiously, with a pleasant expression. "So, Russetpaw- what do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?"

Yes, she thought to herself. I am going to win at social interaction. This is normal to want, and possible to achieve. Not bothering to spare a thought for what losing would look like, she awaited an answer.

Russetpaw gaped as Leopardsomething continued. They were real????? She’d only half-believed in them, but now this obviously very responsible-looking warrior was vouching for Harrierpaw. And they kept coming back??? Stars above, how tough were ShadowClanners, to fight those things all the time? They sounded terrible! And strong! And mean! But- surely- surely if the ShadowClanners could take them, Russetpaw could too. Right? She was strong, just as strong as Harrierpaw! She’d have to ask around to see where the best places to find muck monsters were.

Wait.

Whatwhatwhatwhattheabsplutestarsiehdfbfjdkdn- Russetpaw’s brain momentarily shorted out- she was ShadowClan’s deputy? What the foxing stars? But- ah-uh- she- what? She was nice- and not scary- and Nightstar was, like, the opposite of both those things-

“You’re ShadowClan’s deputy?” She finally managed to blurt out, eyes wide. “But- wha- oh stars, Coyotegrin’s gonna have my tail for not being polite- Erm- uh-“ Thankfully, Leopardcat came to the rescue (oh stars oh stars she couldn’t remember a deputy’s name? She was crow-food for sure) with a new topic of conversation and utterly distracted the red-pelted apprentice. A fox? On her own? No wonder she was ShadowClan’s deputy! “A whole fox? Alla ya own? Stars above…”

And then she asked a question, and Russetpaw blinked with confusion. “Uh… I dunno- Erm, I dunno ma’am- I guess the time me an’ Sleepypaw sparred an’ I won? That was awesome! Er- that was awesome, ma’am.” Surely that was polite enough- Russetpaw wasn’t exactly an expert on polite-ness-ity-things.

As soon as she mentioned her position, the apprentice's tune changed completely; and Leopardsun let out a sigh. This was precisely what she'd been afraid of, why she was surprised at being approached in the first place. As Russetpaw addressed her as ma'am, she actually snorted. First, she would answer the fox-related question: "It's a ShadowClan thing," she said vaguely. "And a relatively recent one at that. You might see a few of us wearing their pelts around as a prize of sorts, though I think most of them were left behind when we rushed over here. As for your sparring... It's good to take pride in your victories, even if they seem small. Once, when I was a bit younger, I managed to best my aunt- one of our senior warriors- and I still think about that day."

(Never mind that the aunt in question had been the cat Russetpaw now knew as Snowpaw. She wasn't going to dwell on it.)

There wasn't that much she could do to combat the reputation that came with deputyship, and arguably more importantly with being Nightstar's second-in-command; but she was at least trying to be comparatively approachable. Up until she'd mentioned that, it had seemed to be going well, hadn't it?

"Ma'am?" Her eyes glittered in the light, amusement plain on her face. "Not all of us are as scary as Nightstar, you know. I'm not going to bite your head off, Russetpaw."

Fighting foxes was just “a ShadowClan thing?” How epic could this Clan possibly be? “Oh yeah, we just fight immortal monsters and ravenous beasts every night, nothing much” oh stars. And they wore the pelts??? Russetpaw needed to discover how to do that. Did you just carry a fox around on your back? Wouldn’t that be heavy??? Or maybe the ShadowClanners were just that awesome??? Russetpaw glanced around quickly, trying not to too obviously take her attention from the deputy- she thought she did actually see some cats with fur or ever feathers on their backs- she’d previously assumed they were just larger versions of Fuzzkit and wanted to carry their prey around to eat with them… but they’d killed predators. Wow. On their own, no less.

Her gaze snapped back to… to… Leopardlady as she continued talking. Huh? Wha? Was that not the right word ta use? Oh- wait- no- she was like Smallbean! Notscarydeputy! Okay, then- if Leopardcat was Smallbean… who was ShadowClan’s Coyotegrin- totally in charge and was scarier than the actual deputy? Leopard was a lot taller than Smallbean… but she did seem pretty nice- nicer than Coyotegrin- not that Coyotegrin wasn’t nice, she just looked absolutely capable of anything and everything and that kinda distracted one from her inherent nice-ness.

“Okay…” she said slowly, still wondering if this was just a trick to see if she’d stay polite? Well, then- she’d flunk it.

In a moment her attitude changed and she was right back to chatter and waving her tail around to emphasize her points. “You’ve fought lotsa predators, right? Which is the easiest? I mean, not like “frog-air-filled” prey-like, more like an actual fight that I could do to impress everyone? But, like, I wouldn’t die? And that looks way cool? The level of coolness, like, higher than the stars? Like, just an apprentice defeating this ravenous beast? Maybe I could get my friend to pretend to be a predator and I could defeat her… but I think everyone would see through that… mmm… so a real predator is probably better.”

She waited impatiently, flicking an ear and bouncing from paw to paw like a hare waiting to run. And then something occurred to her- with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, she added

”Ma’am.”

If this was a test, she’d pass- and if it wasn’t and Leopardcat was really just a taller, cooler Smallbean- well, then, she’d found a joke! Heehee. Were jokes hard to find in the wild? She thought probably so. Hopefully. ‘Cause then her joke would be all the more impressive.

Leopardsun let out a sigh of relief as the apprentice immediately switched back her original attitude, shifting to make herself more comfortable as she did. That relief was quickly followed by concern amidst Russetpaw's barrage of questions, however. "None of them are easy," she said, light-hearted tone taking on a serious edge for a moment. "Snakes can be venomous, raccoons and foxes can break bones, badgers and dogs can kill with ease- our rites are dangerous. Only a warrior is allowed to attempt it, and though they fight alone there are other cats standing by to step in if things go poorly- even then, a handful of warriors have been seriously injured as a result."

(Admittedly, she placed part of the blame for that on their own recklessness; or perhaps the standby warriors needed to be instructed to act more quickly? It was something to think on, but she hadn't yet come up with any solutions worth bringing up to Nightstar.)

"While I've tracked and fought more than most, even I don't go alone to fight," she continued (though that wasn't strictly true, sometimes a scouting patrol went south and if it was simple she would handle it on her own; nevertheless she didn't want to encourage reckless behavior in another clan's apprentices). "I bring a patrol of senior warriors who know the risks they're taking. Please be cautious, Russetpaw, and don't do anything reckless."

Still, Russetpaw's last words made her smile. "If you want to still be standing after the battle's through, I'd say fight your friend," she advised. "It's better to look silly than to get yourself killed because you wanted to impress someone, isn't it? Besides, if you could actually convince everyone I think it would be even more impressive."

(That was something she did wholeheartedly believe. Apprentices were known for causing trouble, but not so much for being convincing actors in her experience.)

And then, as the apprentice called her ma'am again after a few moments of silence, she snorted. Her curiosity got the best of her a moment later, and she had to ask: "So, you've met a good few ShadowClan cats between myself, Harrierpaw, and Snowpaw. I wonder- what do you think?"

She knew what she thought of ShadowClan; but she was ShadowClan. What did they look like to an outsider, with no direct line of sight? It was easy to wonder, but before now she hadn't had a chance to get an answer.

Oh. Russetpaw visibly deflated as Leopardcat continued. Whaaaa? Surely- venomous wasn’t that bad, right? She was pretty sure it just meant that it hurt- but wouldn’t any bite hurt? Wait, no- didn’t it mean that she shouldn’t eat it? Okay! She hadn’t been planning on eating any snake she vanquished, regardless. And the other molly hadn’t mentioned hawks, or eagles, or gooses! Surely that meant that the fierce, awesome ShadowClan cats simply viewed such creatures as prey. Ohhh, they were awesome.

Senior warriors? Well, Russetpaw herself was pretty close to being a warrior! Albeit not a senior one… but hey, she could handle herself in a fight! Her ears flicked back, though, at the deputy’s words. Yeah- she didn’t want to be killed. Maybe she would just take Leopardcat’s advice? Sleepypaw was a pretty great fighter- or maybe she could even best Silverwing? That’d be awesome!

Her head cocked to the side, paws thrumming against the ground for a moment as she thought. What did she think about ShadowClan? She knew what she thought about Harrierpaw (cool), Snowpaw (kinda sad but kind), and now Leopardcat (cool, kind, had a name that probably wasn’t Leopardcat). What did she think about ShadowClan? Her original motive had been simple curiosity about these cats they called their allies- what conclusions had she come to, without even noticing.

Russetpaw flicked her ear, thinking- a brief period of silence unusual for her. “I guess… you’re just cats,” she mewed finally. “Like Smallbean an’ Sleepypaw. Cool though- you fight muck monsters! And foxes! We don’t fight muck monsters ever; although we do fight lotsa predators,” she hurried to add, not wanting to tarnish her WindClan honor. “What do you think ‘bout WindClan?” she countered, flicking her tail. She got to ask questions too!