And so we meet again [Closed for Ketz]

Clearpaw kept low as he crept through the undergrowth that grew on this side of the river, his ears pricked for the sound of any other cats. He didn't hear anyone, and as he opened his mouth to draw in the scents of the forest. He didn't smell any Riverclan scents, at least not fresh, so he relaxed a bit, sitting down to wait for Blizzardpaw. They had arranged to meet here after their last meeting-- Clearpaw was looking forward to hearing about the goings-on and well-being of the Thunderclan cats, and he had new information to give Blizzardpaw about why Thunderclan had been chased out.

Blizzardpaw looked around carefully, making her way towards the meeting point with Clearpaw and hoping to not be late. She had wasted some time by rolling on some aromatic herbs and flowers in an attempt to disguise her clan’s scent even if just a bit to avoid dragging any unwanted attention towards them. She smiled as she noticed the black and white tom, but didn’t dared to get any closer until she made sure that none had followed her there “Hey Clearpaw!”.

Clearpaw turned to face Blizzardpaw when he heard her cheerful greeting. "Hi Blizzardpaw!" He mewed happily, "I'm glad you came!" Honestly, he hadn't been sure Blizzardpaw would come, so he was happy to see her. There were very few cats who Clearpaw was excited to see and hang out with, but Blizzardpaw was one of them, because she was more like him than any other cat he had met. She had curiosity, like him.

Blizzardpaw smiled at the tom “Of course I was going to come! I promised it and I never break a promise” She sat near the RiverClan apprentice and curled her long fluffy tail around her paws, she had to admit it, she was a bit nervous as well, thinking that Clearpaw maybe wouldn’t come to their meeting, but here he was after all “You managed to find out anything?” She tilted her head a bit “I also gathered as much info as I could” She had been all over ThunderClan’s temporary territory around the barn trying to bring as many interesting facts as possible for her friend and just hoped that it was enough.

Clearpaw nodded happily. "Yes, I found out that the reason Skyclan and Riverclan ended up teaming up, was because Skyclan was angry at Thunderclan, and Riverclan was already planning to take Sunningrocks, as it was. So they decided to work together."

She could understand RiverClan's actions a bit better now, but SkyClan was angry at Thunderclan? Well, that indeed solved that question, but created many new ones, all related to the main question of Why was SkyClan angry to begin with? She probably should ask her clanmates about the relationships and events between the two clans before SkyClan chased them out of their territory, asking Clearpaw probably would be a bit dumb of her, after all, that wasn’t his clan.

“I see…thank you!” She sounded a bit absentminded, given that she was thinking on the question of before “What about you? Is there anything you want to know?” He had answered her question, it was only fair that she did the same with any questions he may had.

Clear paw thought for a moment about what to ask about Thunderclan; he wondered what sort of things they did differently from Riverclan, but the best way to find that out would be to see for himself. For now, he could only try to learn through what Blizzardpaw could tell him. "Where did you guys set new borders?" He asked curiously, "And how did you decide?"

Well, that was a tricky question…or well, kind of, she just hoped to be able to explain it well “Well, we settled on the Abandoned Barn near WindClan’s territory as you probably know, we took as much territory around it as we could though we were careful to not go past the borders of WindClan. However, the borders are kind of irregular, to be honest, after all, the whole clan wants to leave and return to the old territory as soon as possible and they make it evident by not trying to take more territory than we need to hunt and feed the whole clan” Well, that was a long explanation, but Blizzardpaw felt that it was necessary to fully answer the tom’s question.

Clearpaw nodded-- that made sense, actually. If Thunderclan was determined to return to their territory, they wouldn't want to settle in too much at the barn. "I hope you guys get to come back soon." He admitted; after all, he was a Riverclan cat, but that didn't mean he had to agree with his clan's decision to help take Thunderclan's territory. So, he hoped Thunderclan would return soon.

Blizzardpaw nodded “Same…though I must say I’ll miss the barn. I know it isn’t my clan’s original territory, but I feel like I’ll leave part of me behind when we leave…I was born and raised there after all, and I consider it my home” The white apprentice wasn’t going to lie, she wanted her clan to be happy, and apparently the only way to achieve it would be by leaving the barn behind and returning to the forest, but having spent all her life there…it was going to be a bit harder for her to move on than for the ones that only considered the barn a temporary refuge.

Clearpaw nodded understandingly. "Yeah, I bet it'll be hard." He agreed, "But hey, I bet you'll start thinking of this territory as your home in no time! It'll be great." Clearpaw thought about confiding in her about his own thoughts on leaving his home... But then, he thought, Blizzardpaw was a cat he had basically only just met. He liked her, and he liked being her friend, but he knew it wasn't a good idea to discuss something like that with someone he didn't know very well yet. "Plus, if you move back to this territory, we'll be closer!" He mewed instead, waving his tail in apparent delight.

Blizzardpaw sighed and nodded “I guess that home isn’t the place itself, but where you know that you have someone that cares for you and will always be willing to receive you with a smile” She said almost to herself, remembering her clan. Yeah, leaving behind the barn would be hard, but for her clan, she would go to the Dark Forest and back if needed, they were more than just a group of cats that shared a territory with her, they were her kin, her family… “But you’re right! If we move I’ll be able to talk with you a lot more easily!” She purred with the idea, being near to him also meant talking more often as well.

Clearpaw couldn't help but think about Blizzardpaw's words... If he became a loner, then, would he have a true home? After all, he would be by himself. But maybe, he thought, he could make friends. Friends who accepted him for who he was, like Blizzardpaw. Friends who didn't hold all these expectations about what he should be like. And, even if not, he hoped that he would always have a friend in Blizzardpaw. "Say," He mewed, shuffling his paws a bit, "i-if... If I was a loner, would you still want to be my friend?"

Blizzardpaw tilted her head and just looked at her friend silently for a bit after his question, wondering the reason behind it, was this just a casual question, or he really was thinking to leave his clan behind? “Of course I would still be your friend, Clearpaw. You don’t need to be a clan cat to be a friend with someone else, but…” She lowered her voice a bit, mostly because even she knew that something like this could be a really important decision in a cat’s life “Are you really thinking to leave your clan?” She first wanted to make sure that she wasn’t making up assumptions.

Clearpaw shifted a bit, looking down. "Well, maybe." He admitted, "The thing is, I don't really think I want to be a warrior... I hate fighting, and what good is a warrior who can't fight? And I also don't really agree with some of the things in the warrior code, I just... I don't think I'm cut out to be a clan cat. I don't fit in."