Branches to the Sky [Solo topic]

It was a fine Greenleaf morning as Acornstem padded along the border. She had already assigned the patrols for the day but had decided to take a bit of time to herself - a brief check of the borders and perhaps a bit of hunting here and there. Honestly, she was relieved for the self-imposed break - to give herself a bit of time to breathe and relax ever so slightly. Her eyes closed with a steady purr as she came to a stop in a patch of sunlight that managed to filter its way through the canopy above.

She knew she was close to the SkyClan border - a brief opening of one eye allowed her to pin-point the fallen oak a few fox-lengths away. She would have to be careful not to cross the border but as she tasted the air, she could pick up the rich scent of prey all around her. A quick hunt, that would serve well - she didn't want to return to the camp empty-pawed after all. Turning away from the border, it didn't take long to locate a squirrel poke among the roots of a nearby tree. She dropped into a well-trained crouch, slowly started to stalk her way forward before she made her leap.

Her paws quickly pinned the squirrel, allowing her to end its life with a quick swipe. A clean kill, no blood...A huff of relief escaped her as she stepped back, dipping her head to give thanks - before a voice rang out behind her.

"Oh, that was a good catch! You are Acornstem, right?"

Acornstem attempted to catch a squirrel costing 3 stamina and succeeded.

The member 'Honey Badger' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

It had been a standard patrol for Creamsky - it was nothing exciting, just a brief checking of the border. He of course hadn't been expecting any sort of trouble from the RiverClan or ThunderClan side, not with their new alliance, but...Well, it was important to keep eyes on ShadowClan just in safe. He was carefully making his way through the branches near the Fallen Oak when a flicker of movement caught his eye - brown fur. For a brief heartbeat, he had assumed it was a squirrel before he realized the size of it was off...

And it was well on the ThunderClan side of the border anyways. Dropping into a crouch, he peered down and realized he had managed to find the deputy of ThunderClan in the middle of hunting it seemed as she quickly made a leap and caught a squirrel. An amused purr escaped him - clearly ThunderClan was no slouches in hunting as he crossed his paws, resting his head on top as he raised his voice. "Oh, that was a good catch! You are Acornstem, right?"

The deputy quickly whipped around at the sound of his voice, clearly on edge but she didn't have the thought to look up it seemed. "W-Who's there?" she called out, causing him to roll his eyes with a playful huff.

"Sorry, should have assumed you wouldn't think to look into the branches. Give me a heartbeat," he meowed as he pushed himself to his paws, hopping down to land quietly on his side of the border with a smile. "I didn't mean to startle you - Creamsky, warrior of SkyClan. You are the new ThunderClan deputy, yes? I was...There at the recent Gathering."

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Acornstem blinked in surprise as a tom came dropping from the branches above - landing on the forest floor with barely a sound before he straightened up and flashed her a warm smile as he introduced himself. Oh, right - she had heard that SkyClan made a habit of moving in the branches above. It made sense, better line of sight, element of surprise and could avoid the land-based predators... "...Yeah, yeah I am the deputy," she finally meowed, tilting her head to look at him. "Its a pleasure to meet you - I haven't had many chance to speak with a SkyClan cat outside of a Gathering...Thought it makes sense why I've never met one on patrol if you stick to the branches..."
There was a pause, before her eyes widen - a memory long forgotten returning to her as her tail puffed up in excitement. This wasn't her first time meeting Creamsky the more she had thought about it - it could barely be classified as a 'meeting' with how little he had said but this wasn't the first time their paths had crossed. "Wait! I've met you before! Moons back - we were apprentices at a Gathering! You were sitting with my friend Echopaw because of your friend Lightningpaw!"

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Creamsky tilted his head in surprise as the deputy suddenly declared that they had met - at a Gathering... And it had been because of Lightningbreeze. His eyes narrowed for a few heartbeats as he tried to recall it - it was moons ago. Had...Had Blackbear even been missing at that time? ...No, it had been his first Gathering as far as he could remember and they had still been taking refuge in Fourtrees. "Right," he meowed. "That was back when the forest was still in turmoil after the shakes. That was...Many moons ago - I feel its safe to say that you met a different me back then."

He had been an entirely different cat back when Blackbear had been among the warriors of SkyClan. Shy, timid...He had been scared of nearly everything other than the few Clanmates he had come to trust. He did remember Acornstem - she had been a cheerful apprentice that had reminded him of the same spark Lightningbreeze had but it had still been enough to put him on edge because of how...Strange it was, meeting a cat from another Clan.

"...I imagine the same could be said of you - we are of the same age and yet you are deputy now, hm?" he meowed with a tilt of his head, eyes flickering. "I do not envy you, I think I much prefer remaining a warrior."

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Acornstem blinked, ears perking a little as Creamsky admitted to being a different tom. She could tell - in the way he carried himself. It was amazing that she had even realized the Creampaw she had met and the Creamsky she was speaking to now were the same cat. What had changed in his life to lead to such a change in his personality...? A cat that timid didn't just grow out of it over time - not to the level of confident he seemed to have now but it seemed like in poor taste to simply ask. It was clear that SkyClan - all the Clans - had suffered hardship. It wasn't hard to guess that one of them had worked a change in him.

As the warrior chose to instead remark about their similar age yet her raised position, a nervous laugh escaped her as she swished her tail. "I mean, I hear that a lot but honestly I love being deputy! There is no real stress for me, but I do have a good leader in Mottlestar! ...Can't imagine the stress that Smallbean and Leopardsun must be facing," she muttered with a sigh. "But...I didn't want to be deputy myself - it just...Happened and I find that I like it but...Well, I can see why everybody would want to avoid it."

The tom let out a hum at that as he took a seat, causing Acornstem to look up at him. "If you don't mind me asking, how have things been going in SkyClan? I mean, I've heard Wolfblossom's report and things seem to be going fine but its always good to hear from the perspective of a warrior, y'know?"

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Hm, so the deputy wanted to know how things were going in SkyClan? He glanced away, eyes narrowing as he thought about what to say. He doubted sharing the state of things would be bad - they were allies after all and it was hard to imagine that such a cheerful cat would use anything he said in a way to harm SkyClan. So...He shrugged, tail flickering. "Well enough - prey is running, our borders have been peaceful. New apprentices, new warriors... Nothing worthy of ThunderClan's attention at any rate. Doubt we will have any trouble that would cause us to call upon you unless Nightstar tries something stupid which...I wouldn't put past him," he remarked with a bitter smirk.

"...But just so you know - my friend, its Lightningbreeze now. ...I think you two would get along - being the bundles of energy, you both seem to be."

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"Lightningbreeze..."  She mused on the name, before she smiled. "Its a good name - tell her that I say congrats, if she even remembers our meeting those moons ago. Thought its only fair - ThunderClan is doing well as well. Much of the same - minus the recent turmoil with Starlingflare. With any luck, we will have a peaceful next few moons so nothing for SkyClan to fret about as well." With that, she pushed herself to her paws, glancing back at her forgotten squirrel. "But I should get back to my patrol - and get this squirrel to the camp. Elders and queens to feed. It was a pleasure to meet you, Creamsky," she meowed with a dip of her head. "Send my regards to Wolfblossom and Birdstar - I hope your leader is recovering well from her illness."

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As the deputy got up to fetch her squirrel, Creamsky rose to his paws as well as he dipped his head to her in return. "Of course, I will pass on your regards. I should return to my patrol myself - may the Stars light your path, Acornstem," he meowed before he turned, quickly scampering his way up a tree. Once he was out of sight, a huff escaped him as he sank onto a branch, sprawling out. Truth be told, that had been his first time sharing tongues with a cat outside of SkyClan for...Moons. The deputy seemed nice enough but it had still been tiring, to say the least. He glanced down to see that Acornstem had already disappeared into her side of the forest.

The warrior shook his head as he pushed himself to his paws, going back to picking his way across the branches that made up his side of the border. It was...Odd, he had completely forgotten that he had met the deputy moons ago when they were both kits. He tried not to think often about the time before Blackbear was gone - it only brought a longing feeling in his chest as he was reminded how much he missed her.

...But it was also something to consider how much he had changed - he tried not to think on the what-if if Blackbear had never gone searching for Crookedlight but...Well, it was curious to consider how he would have changed. Would he have had the courage to speak to the ThunderClan deputy on his own if he had never had to learn to stand on his own without Blackbear's tail to duck beneath? Would he still be the same timid, terrified kit who cried at the thought of being left behind?

Would he be Creamsky? Or would he be something else? ...It was hard to know, but he knew he was happy as he was now. He liked his confident - his ability to make friends, not that he would ever consider Acornstem a friend after a single conversation but...Well, it was a start at least. It was good to know that the deputy of ThunderClan was a good cat at least. He shook his head, eyes fixing forward as he picked up the pace - he had to make sure ShadowClan wasn't getting any funny ideas at their border but...Well, at least something useful had happened out of this solo patrol.