Motto ōkina mishin de kokoro tsuranuku no sa [Closed for Thin]

Clearpaw was staring down into the river, close to the stepping stones that lead into what used to be Thunderclan territory. He had started out trying to fish, but had quickly been drawn-in by the flowing water. He was now just staring at it, lost in thought. He didn't want to be a warrior-- he didn't even want to train any longer as an apprentice. He didn't want to be a medicine cat. So what did he want, then? To be a kittypet, a loner, a rogue? Those thoughts scared him. Clan life was all he knew. And yet, he wanted to know more. He wanted to know a life aside from hunting for cats based on hierarchy, of fighting for things he wasn't even sure he agreed with, of being expected to lay down his life for something as trivial as territorial rights. But was he willing to leave behind his whole life? He didn't know.

Toadpaw sat next to his brother, he looked over at him. His fur blew in the wind breeze, unaware of what would happen if some cat would find them "Clearpaw" he mewed "Think?" he asked.

Clearpaw jumped a bit when Toadpaw spoke, having not heard his brother approach. "Yeah." He admitted, "I can't seem to do anything else lately." He paused, then spoke in a hesitant voice. "Toadpaw, how did you know for sure that what you wanted was to be a warrior?" He asked.

Toadpaw giggled "That's easy, our mother" he mewed touching his paw to the water "She became deputy, right? We might be able to follow her paw steps if we do become powerful warriors like her" he mewed.

Clearpaw nodded slowly. He knew that they could be great warriors, but he was becoming more and more sure that it wasn't what he wanted. "Yeah, I guess we could." He sighed, "But you know, I don't really like fighting and all that stuff."

Toadpaw sighed "Well then you don't have to" he mewed "There is nothing wrong with not fighting, you have a Clan" he explained.

Clearpaw tilted his head in curiosity. "If I don't fight, then what can I do?" He asked, looking over at Toadpaw, "Everyone will expect me to fight for the clan if I become a warrior."

Toadpaw shook his head "Not everyone does that though" he pointed out "You shouldn't care what others expect either" he mewed.

Clearpaw nodded slowly; what Toadpaw was saying actually did make him feel a bit better about his situation. He still didn't know that he wanted to stay, but he was willing to hold on a bit longer. He supposed there was no harm in giving himself time to work things out. "Thanks." He mewed, looking over at Toadpaw with a grateful expression.

Toadpaw winked "No need to be so sappy" he purred licking his brothers cheek "It's the Toadpaw deal" he mewed with a smile.

Clearpaw rolled his eyes a bit, but looked amused-- Toadpaw could be gruff, and sometimes flat-out mean, but in the end, he was a good brother. Clearpaw knew that Toadpaw really cared about him, he just had weird ways of showing it sometimes. "Come on, lets go hunt for a bit before we go back." He mewed, standing up, "Ivyfall will have my pelt off if I come back with no prey again!"

Toadpaw chuckled and nodded "I'm always up for hunting" he mewed beginning to walk "You scent anything yet?" he asked as he began scenting the air, only smelling the lake and a near by trout.

Clearpaw opened his mouth slightly to draw in the scents-- he didn't catch the scent of any prey, though, not yet. "Not yet," He mewed, "maybe we should try across the river?" Since that was a shared territory of Riverclan and Skyclan now, it was a new source of prey. And it was hunted-in less than their original territories, so the prey was often easier to find there.

Toadpaw nodded "What about the deeper parts of the river? Like near the end of our territory" he suggested.

Clearpaw nodded his agreement. "Sounds like a good idea," he mewed, "There's a good chance for fish there." That was assuming they didn't fall in, which Clearpaw had done more than once. After that, it became much harder to catch any fish, as they tended to swim away from all that commotion, into some of the other branches of the river.