Familiarising myself with my new home[C[

Valley padded through the marshy land, his aching paws slidding comfortably into the cooling, soft mud. His green eyes darted around him, taking it all in. It had only been a few sunrises since he got to this land, and it seemed this would be the place where his journey finally ended. How many moons had passed since it began? How many marshlands had he crossed?

The tabby shook those thoughts away and bounded further into the territory, unaware of the boundaries that warriors would give their life to protect. Just then, an unfamiliar scent flooded his senses, and he whipped around to face the new danger.

The member 'Tiny' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Invasion Dice' :

A muted calico tom stood at the very beginning of Carrionplace, a grimace etched across his maw. He had been so lost in thoughts of his recent adventure into Twolegplace, that he seemed to have ended up in possibly the worst place in the forest. Except, he wasn't alone. Although he paid little attention to his fellow clanmates, he was sure this tabby cat didn't belong to ShadowClan. Even the scent of Carrionplace couldn't mask the unfamiliar scent the tom carried.

...He could easily turn his back and pretend he never encountered this stranger, but what if this cat started a fight with him? He feared his beautifully soft pelt getting muddied again more than he feared claws. "Why are you here? Who are you?"

Valley blinked as he took in the strange tom in front of him, and the fur on his spine laid flat. The tom carried unfamiliar scents-- scents of other cats, the marsh, and pine needles. Was there a group of cats living here? "Ah, my apologies, I didn't realize there were cats living here," He mewed, dipping his head apologetically. His heart sank; surely, there weren't other cats living in the other parts of the forest? He had scented them, but hoped they belonged to kittpets and loners. Looks like his journey won't be ending after all. At that thought, his paws felt even heavier.

"I came from... a place very far away. It's been quite a long journey. I promise I haven't taken any food, and I'll be gone as soon as I've rested up," He promised the tom.

Huh? "Living in here?" His tail gestured to the heaping piles of rot that lay within the barrier that surrounded the place. "You'd have to be insane!" His eyes looked at the tom in bewilderment- he definitely should have turned away before any sort of conversation had started. And he would have, too, had the stranger not mentioned a far away place.

"A far away place...? Like from where? Twolegplace?" His fluffy tail flicked back and worth with curiosity.

Valley looked around him at the marshland and the rotting scent that hung heavy in the air. "Alright, maybe not here, but surely there must be some place nearby that is suitable to sleep in for a night," he admitted wearily.

The other tom seemed curoius about his origins, and though his throat always closed up at the thought of his old home... it had nothing to do with place. Perhaps speaking of it might make the past more distant. "Not exactly, it's a lot bigger than any Twolegplace you've ever seen, and there were loads more Monsters and Twolegs. More than mice in this forest," Valley tried his best to describe the place, only to find that there wasn't enough words. "There were lots of rats, too, and the air was always thick with fog."

Batswarm visibly cringed at the mention of a place where monsters and twolegs roamed in greater numbers than there were mice in the forest. The fog was probably the worst part; how would one see their own reflection if the fog truly was that thick? He wouldn't survive. "That sounds... Miserable." He couldn't find any other words for it than that: Miserable. The tom didn't appear to be to happy in reminiscing about it, either.

Looking around at his feet, he found the driest spot he could and sat, wrapping his tail around his paws. His eyes narrowed, "Did you eat only rats where you come from? If so, there are plenty here if you want to stay." Batswarm had zero authority on whether or not an outsider would be allowed to stay. Even more, if any other ShadowClan cat caught wind of this guy, they would tear him to shreds on sight... Not that he really cared. He was curious of what knowledge this cat had of things outside of the forest, however. "My name is Batswarm." His chest puffed out slightly, head turned to the side proudly. There was no need to thank him for his beauty; he was already well aware the gift he was giving.

Valley signed and nodded. "Yes, it was miserable, which is why I'm here," He agreed, "Though, there were times when the morning sky would be pale grey and the air was cooling, and there wasn't a sound around. Times like those... are something I'm going to miss."

Rats? Why would he eat rats? Disgust showed over the tabby's face as he quickly replied, "Absolutly not. I got my food from Twolegs; if I purred at them and let them touch me for a few heartbeats, I could secure a full meal for the day. Days, even, if I do it enough times. The food's not the best, but I've never gone hungry there." Seeing that the tom sat down, Valley followed suit and shifted into a more comfortable position.

"Batswarm? That's not a very fitting name," He commented, green eyes flicking up and down the tom in front of him. "You don't look anything close to a bat. Bats are really ugly creatures, I wonder why any she-cat would name such a pretty kit after them," He mused out loud, then added quickly, "Not to offend or anything. Maybe bats are prettier here then where I come from."

"I'm Valley, by the way"

Batswarms ears immediately perked upright, now actively and wholeheartedly locked onto this conversation. "Twolegs? What kind of food did they feed you? Was it good?" He wanted nothing more than to finally hear the positive side of Twolegs, unlike what Sunfire had given him. He wasn't very sure about letting them touch him, though. Maybe he could do literally anything else.

A purr erupted from his chest as Valley complimented him. It was obvious and went without saying, but it was always a treat to receive one. He didnt enjoy bats being called ugly- not that the tom was wrong. "My dad chose my name..." Hm... Was it truly a bad name, after all?

What kind of food? "Sometimes they give me these crunchy, pebble-sized thing. It can have many different flavors, like chicken or fish-- chicken is a type of bird, if you don't know-- and some other flavors even I don't know what it is," Valley explained, trying his best to remember the food that he had tried in the past, "Sometimes they give me huge, fatty chunks of meat. I don't know where the meat comes from, but they are very delicious. Other times, they give me this mush-like thing. It's easily the tastiest. My favourite is the one that tastes like salmon." Was that enough? Truth to be told, food from Twolegs were always a huge highlight for him. Twolegs might be weird and stupid, but they sure know what they are doing when it comes to food.

Batswarm looked pleased at the mention of his good looks-- I mean, come on, not every cat you meet would have such a breath-taking pelt-- but slightly downed at his... insult about the tom's name. "Well, if you don't like the name your father gave you, why don't you just give yourself a new name?" Valley tipped his head to the side and suggested, "Afterall, you should be the one deciding what you want to be known as, not your father, and certainly not other cats."

This was not at all what the muted calico tom had expected to hear. In fact, it was far better! "Chicken!" He had never heard of such a bird, but if it was readily available with no work needed on his part, he would readily try it. His eyes were staring intensely into Valley's, hanging onto his every word. They gave more than just pebbles?! "Say... Do you hang around Twolegs these days? I've been to Twolegplace, but I'm too scared to really do anything." He had no issues admitting when he was afraid or when he needed help; even to an outsider. Batswarm always came first, and if this helped him finally make a decision on where his future lay? Even better.

He shook his head. "I love my dad, so my name is an extension of that. But... Maybe one day I'll change it. We'll see where the future leads." He had never spoken this many words in a row with anyone before, but he didn't necessarily hate it. "What about your name? Did you name yourself?"

Valley shook his head to Batswarm's question. "I haven't been to the Twolegplace nearby other than to get here. I've been looking for a new home, see, and I wanted to see my options first before I settle anywhere. We could go check out the Twolegplace together, if you like. It's really not that scary," He offered. This tom, despite his weird name and scent, was the friendliest cat he had seen in moons, and company would be much appreciated. Besides, Batswarm seemed really interested in Twolegs. Did he not enjoy his current life?

At Batswarm's words, Valley's heart ached with memories of his own parents. He'd never met his father, but his mother had told him about his father many times. "Yeah, I named myself," He mewed, then almost without thinking added, "I used to be called Smoke by my mother, but..." She died, and he got taken in by another family, a family that tainted his name and made him ashamed of it, "...it just didn't suit me, you know?"

Batswarms fluffy paws tip-tapped lightly on the cold ground. "Where should I wait for you, then? If I ever need you, I mean." Someone braver and most likely stronger being with him as he got more familiar with Twolegplace was a great relief; not even his siblings would have agreed to this. Valley was starting to become one of his favourite cats outside of himself and siblings, as this conversation went on.

Named himself... Batswarm didn't know that was even possible, but why would you change your name your own mother gave you, especially when she'd passed...? He wasn't too sure he should pry, but his curiosity could he quenched another time. At Twolegplace, perhaps. "I see... I guess Valley is just as good." Green eyes looked up at the slowly setting sun briefly. His clan would be waking soon enough, and he would need to pretend he had been there all morning. "I have to get going. You're welcome to hang around, but... I'd take off pretty soon if I were you. No promise that my clan wouldn't rip you to shreds if they found you here."

He looked expectantly at Valley, hoping there would be a promise that they'd meet up again soon.

Batswarm certainly was eager to explore the Twolegplace. As Valley was about to suggest a time, the tom suddenly said that he had to go. These cats are active at night? Odd, but perhaps that way they could catch more prey. "Thank you, I will be going now then," Valley acknowledged. He didn't want to still be here when Batswarm's peculiar friends found him and shred his pelt to dust, or as he heard from the strays in the Twolegplace.

Valley glanced up at the setting sun. "Meet me here in six sunrises, and make sure that no cat is with you. It would be better if it were at sunrise, so that we would have plenty of time to explore," He instructed swiftly, then dipped his head and darted off. He owed Batswarm afterall, for letting him rest in that stinky place for a while. And maybe he was just a little bit lonely, after all these seasons...