Admins Can Have Friends Too!

It was a quiet night at Fourtrees and nothing was stirring, not even a mouse. There was a slight breeze, but not too chilly even though the cool air of leaf-bare was going to set in any day now. But at this time, the conditions were just right as two little kitties made their way to coincidentally meet each other in the clearing under the large Oaks. NOW POST YOU TWO.

OOC:Is Gingerheart joining us? D:

Cedarpaw was an elder apprentice. He had been held back a little on training, but knew it would be any day now that he'd become a warrior.
Not a leader, though. That option was dead. He couldn't smell, and was as useful as a porcupine in a medicine cat's den. Maybe that was why he was held back. He was doing terribly as an apprentice.
His walk had taken him to the Fourtrees. The moon lit the place up, making it rather inviting. He had been to a Gathering once, but it seemed larger empty. He admired it, looking around the place in awe, but not meowing a word. He didn't even notice the cat creeping up from the other side of the clearing.

Reedpaw had made yet another escape from camp. He'd done it once before, to attempt to train himself. To say the least, it wasn't going to great. The problem with an inexperienced apprentice escaping camp once in a while to try and train themself is that he's still an inexperienced apprentice and thus can't give any training. All hope wasn't lost though; he was learning so many new things. Not about battling tactics or hunting techniques, but about himself and his place in RiverClan. The urge to learn more about other Clans had led him here, to Fourtrees.

Reedpaw would probably be a Warrior by now hadn't it been for that badger. Bad luck, fate, or just StarClan's will, he was a bit frustrated by it to say the least.

That's when a smell hit his nose as he approached the undergrowth. It was familiar to a degree. It had to be a Clan cat. But with the mix of all those Clans and his lack of interaction with ShadowClan, he couldn't have known who. He adopted a stalking posture. It wasn't very good, but it would have to do.

The apprentice gently pushed through the bushes and watched the cat. He looked similar in age. Maybe this experience wouldn't be to bad. But all those things they said about other Clans... Were they true? But when he had been at the Gathering, they didn't seem to different. After a moment of conflicted hesitation, he called out.

"Hello?"

Cedarpaw leapt up, letting out a yelp that probably awoke the whole forest. wellnonawtrlythatwouldbebad.
He spun around to see the unfamiliar cat. Was he a clan cat? Rouge? He was plumper than even the kits of his clan, so he decided kittypet.
"Stay back. Go back to your Twolegs." he growled, trying to look the least bit threatening. He had some battle training, and it was night, so he could kick a bit of kitty cat meow meow hind if he had to. Still, this cat looked stronger than he.

Reedpaw's unsure expression turned into one of anger and he let out a small his. "Hey! I'm not a kittypet!" he replied, obviously offended. A thought ran through his head at that point. Did he look like a kittypet? Were they different too?

Of course they are. Reedpaw thought to himself. That's what they say...

One of RiverClan's deepest secrets was that sometimes basking RiverClan cats on Sunningrocks would get mistaken for kittypets and taken away by Twolegs. These cats rarely returned. Everyone choosed to believe that they just couldn't escape. Surely, they were all dying to return to their true home, RiverClan.

But another dark though crossed the minds of cats in RiverClan. Maybe they just chose not to come back. Maybe kittypet life was just easier. Better.

Reedpaw shook all this out of his mind quickly, swiftly continuing. "I'm... I'm Reedpaw, from RiverClan...!" he growled. The -paw at the end of his name made him hesitate. He was Warrior age at this point.

"Oh. A -paw, eh?" murmured the tom. He relaxed, though he could still be a threat. Meh, no matter. This Reed fellow seemed nice. "My name is Cedarpaw. I'm from Shadowclan." he murmured, ashamed of his suffix. He tried to not let it show, keeping his head up.

Reedpaw relaxed only slightly, dropping his posture and taking up a more casual stance. "...And what are you doing here?" he asked cautiously. ShadowClan? The vicious, merciless, bloodthirsty, and foxhearted ShadowClan that he heard in his nursery tales? But one look at Cedarpaw and Reedpaw couldn't see him cackling as he ripped a defenseless kit's head off. He looked pretty ordinary, to say the least. Also, a bit too big to be an apprentice. Had he been in similar circumstances? Perhaps. Reedpaw relaxed further, sitting on his haunches and flicking his tail.

OOC: *apprentice

"I was taking a walk." responded the cat plainly. "I was thinking about...um...all the success Shadowclan is going...um...through with food and power and...stuff."
Pretty freaking convincing. Cedarpaw's tail flicked across the ground in distress. Was he breaking the warrior code? He couldn't. It was a tom. There was no law forbidding friendship.

Reedpaw blinked. He didn't believe it for a second. Not so much because Cedarpaw was a terrible liar, but because he had been told his entire kithood that ShadowClan cats hunt elders like they're prey and are deceitful in nature. "Uh... Huh." Reedpaw responded simply, his eyebrow raising slightly. He didn't know wheter to sheathe his claws or keep them out. Even with moons of sitting in camp memorizing the Warrior Code, he didn't know what to do.

Defend your Clan, even with your life. You may have friendships with cats from other Clans, but your loyalty must remain to your Clan, as one day you may meet them in battle.

As Reedpaw thought it over, the more ridiculous the rule seemed. What was that supposed to mean? You couldn't take up a mate, but you could have friends? It all seemed a bit silly. Perhaps it was more of a warning than a rule. But if the Warrior Code were filled with warnings, then were the Clans following the Code too strictly?

The Code had been in place for moons now... Longer than anyone could remember. He couldn't challenge it, could he? Of course he could, though. Some ancient rules didn't have to dictate his life. He could be friends with whoever he wanted.

"So. What's Riverclan look like? What are the cats there like? What do they smell like?" inquired the more relaxed Cedarpaw, sitting upright. He looked slightly like a silhouette, as the moon showed on his back.
He then realized his last question sounded utterly stupid. If he had the sense of smell, he would have already picked up the scent of Reedpaw and known. Hopefully the cat didn't catch that. It was a weakness that he might have revealed.

Reedpaw didn't quite notice at first, but cautiously began answering his questions. "Well, we all live on an island..." Okay, this had to be forbidden in some way or another. He was giving out Clan secrets! Well, were they really secrets? RiverClan elders always would talk about how StarClan protected them with the river and how the other Clans were too scared of water to attack them. Even if they did figure out where RiverClan camp was, they'd never get in.

"And in RiverClan we-" This is when he caught onto Cedarpaw's last question. "You mean you can't smell me?" Reedpaw asked, looking around. He didn't recall rolling in any mouse bile lately. Was it the sterile enviornment of the medicine den? No, it couldn't be.

Mousedung! So close, too!
"Erm...well..." Cedarpaw started. He searched his mind for any excuse, but when he realized it was fruitless, sighed. "No. No I cannot." he meowed quietly, looking down at his paws.

Reedpaw's expression turned to one of concern. He was right in front of him! How could he not smell him? Perhaps all those rambles about RiverClan's superiority were right. But then again, scent wasn't exactly RiverClan's strong point. RiverClan's main food source were fish from the river. They weren't things you could track with your nose like water voles or mice.

"Um, is there... Something..." Reedpaw didn't know how to bring it up, feeling a bit embarrassed. He shouldn't be asking these questions. This was a complete stranger, after all.

"I don't know. I just was born not being able to smell stuff." murmured the apprentice. "I didn't notice it at first, since you don't notice things you've never had to begin with, but people started talking about it, and I connected the pieces."
He realized he told a stranger what no other cat knew. He looked up at the stars, at his ancestors. Or were they really there? What ancestors would sit by and let him be born like that? Other cats are also born with dysfunctions; blind and deaf cats were rare, but not unknown. It angered him. Starclan was just a bunch of sky cats prancing around and doing nothing in anyone's favor. Why did they deserve the Clan's prayers?