Continuation of a Dream [Closed]

Deep in the woods, far away from the bustle of Twolegs and their Monsters, a dusky brown tom stood upon a boulder. Surrounded by rich, dense forest, his yellows eyes watched for movement in the undergrowth, the dappled sunlight serving as his only light source. With myriads of scents, some familiar, others not, his nose was of no use until he spotted something. And when he finally did, Dusk slipped off the rock with unsheathed claws for grip and landed softly onto the leaf-covered dirt. His sleek form pressed against the ground, he crawled up to the nibbling squirrel whom seemed to be completely unaware of the danger it faced.

When he found himself only a hair's breath away, that was when he struck like a shadow. His powerful jaws clamped onto it's nape, crushing bone and silencing it before it could cry out in death throes. Only when it was done, he dropped it onto the ground, the scent of blood blooming from it.

With a few swipes of his large paws, the freshkill was buried in the dirt as he slinked off after the one tortoiseshell.

Slinking silently, he tried to find her amongst the bushes, till he spotted her. He waited just outside her periphery, letting her finish up whatever she was up to.

A single ear twitched at a slight sound, and green eyes looked up from the ground in front of her to spot the source of the sound. After she was satisfied that there was no movement around, or any aggressive movement towards her did the tortoiseshell she-cat return her gaze to the plant in front of her. It took her a bit to identify the plant, but after she did she was happy she found it. Sorrel bit off a small bit of the plant and ate it knowing it would help with the small cough she seemed to have caught. Though she made sure she always found something to help it so it wouldn't get worse, and so far it was working. Her small cough was almost gone. Maybe one or two more doses should get rid of it completely.

She stood and left the plant alone to regrow what it had lost. They would probably move from this area soon anyway, she would probably find another close by if they didn't. The orange and brown cat green gaze looked around the small area she sat in. She didn't know where Dusk went off too, but she knew he would return soon. For now it was better to stay in her spot and wait for him to do so.

At the sight of Sorrel nibbling at the green plant, Dusk couldn't help frown in concern, he was aware that she had been coughing lately but he hadn't realised it had gotten bad enough she needed herbs. He would have to ask later, though he imagined she wouldn't appreciate him mollycoddling her. She was his equal both in age and skill, she may have left the clan earlier than him but it was clear from her wide knowledge of both medicines and the land, she didn't need him to fuss over her. It made him feel a little useless, but also brought him a measure of peace that she didn't need him to protect him. He was tired of being responsible for every life that came his way.

So with a playful glimmer, he left that thought as a mental note for later and crept closer till he knew that any closer would have her retaliate before bunching up his muscles. Then he struck, tackling her at the mid-section so he wouldn't actually harm her. And instead of biting down as he would prey, he nuzzled her, covering her with his mussed up brown pelt.

"Hello." He said when he was done, looking up at her from where he half-laid on top of her with green eyes.

Sorrel let out a small noise of thought as she sat down and let her mind wander to what the pair would be doing next. Sitting down the she cat lifted a single paw licked it a few times then swiped it over her head to clean herself slightly. She could have gone hunting for the moment but she didn't want to leave just in case Dusk came to get her. She didn't really know what to do. Her green eyes flicked over to one of the near by trees, which soon flicked to the side when she heard a noise.

The next thing she knew she was on the ground a bit of fear sat in her chest but it soon disappeared when she saw it was Dusk sitting on her. "Dusk! You scared me!" She said before purring at his nuzzling. After enjoying the small moment, she spoke again. "So what were you doing by yourself where ever you were?" Using unsheathed paws she batted the tom playfully in a half hearted attempt for him to get off her.

"Mm, catching prey. This area reminds me of our old territory, it's not bad for hunting." He said, lazily dodging the gentle blows to his muzzle and nipping at her paws when they came close. He kept that up for a few before rolling off her onto the green forest floor. "Pity we can't stay." He'd learnt the hard way that lingering in territories foreign for long periods was dangerous, other creatures didn't mind if they were simply passing by, but staying long term was a no go. Even in lush forests such as this without a soul in sight had someone who was claiming it. It didn't mean that he could fantasies though, imagine settling down with his mate and building a life. Ah, but this was good too, travelling the world and indulging in his curiosity with the most wonderful she-cat.

It seemed so odd at times how they'd ended up together. Their first meeting had been when he an apprentice, he'd noticed her lingering on the edge of camp. If someone had told him that he'd traverse the world with Sorrel in the future then, he would had laughed and asked them if they'd eaten too many poppy seeds. Life was funny like that.

Her small attempts at getting him off faltered for a moment when he mentioned the old territory. She still didn't know how she felt about that place. While her hatred for that clan wasn't that great anymore, she still never found out what happened to her mom.. "I don't mind traveling.. but we are going to have to find a place to settle eventually. When we are old our joints won't carry us too far." They were already pretty old, but they still had a good many moons left to live.

Her green eyes looked up at the leaves and sky above them. This place was nice. She knew they couldn't stay but it would be a nice place for a family. Strange she was thinking of starting one with Dusk. A tom she hated when she left, then tolerated when they found each other again because she was tired of being alone and then she grew to love him. Things have certainly changed since Thunderclan times.. She barely remembered her warrior name these days. She was so used to being called Sorrel now.

Dusk mreowed with laughter from where he laid, looking up at the blue sky that stretched for miles without a cloud in sight. "We are quite old, aren't we?" He said, a little wistful look overtaking him as he briefly remembered his life back in ThunderClan. The thoughts were pleasant, but easily turned sour with the stain of grief and death. How many mates, kits had he lost over the moons? Softsong, sweet, beautiful Softsong had died of poisoning, choking to death without any dignity. There was Littlefang, mauled to death by enemies. Hawkstrike went insane with grief after losing her kits one by one. Coalspirit became a rogue, dying without a family member in sight.

Quick and suddenly, the brown tom shook his head, chasing away the memories. He didn't need this, it wasn't helping anyone. Instead, he turned over to bury his muzzle in Sorrel's pelt, breathing in her scent and letting it wash everything away. "I'd like for us to settle down for a while, but I can't imagine being confined like we used to be in a territory till we die. The wanderlust has taken me." He joked against her pelt, trying to inject some cheer in his tone.

Yeah they had managed to outlive quite a few cats. She didn't have any family left that she knew of.. Well now she had Dusk, and he counted as family since he was her mate now. "Hmm.. What do we do if we settle down and not want to leave?" She asked. She didn't see them settling down in the place like the clans again. Everyday was a fight for their lives, and they had more of a risk dying early instead of living a full life like they were doing now. She liked it better out here even if they did have to leave a place every so often.

The former warrior looked at the sky. What was it like now with the clans? Where they still fighting each other every so often? Did they enter a peace time? She couldn't help be curious. Who was the leader of the clans now? She knew these questions would never be answered but she couldn't be blamed for being curious, seeing how those cats raised her.

"Then we stay, I've lived in a spit of land before, and I can do it again. Hopefully we won't need to share with a whole clan though. I don't mind the idea of us, and well... You never know." He was hesitant bring up kits, especially after all he'd lost but he didn't mind the idea of little she-kits and tom-kits that bore a ressemblance to Sorrel. Little kits with pelts with her sparks of red or splotches of tabby brown. That was thought for a far off future though, with kits came more mouths to feed. One of the downsides of living out here alone, no clanmates to help you look out for them while you hunted. As as good of a hunter that he was, he didn't want to risk watching his kits and mate starve because he could reeling in enough prey. He'd experienced enough hard Leafbares to not want to risk it. One day, maybe circumstances would change.

For now, he enjoyed the life they lead and the adventures they experienced. They'd seen things that no other clan cat would have seen, tasted plump Twoleg field mice and odd coloured birds. A slight feeling tugged at his heart every now and then, but nothing big enough to drag him back.

He had a fair point with living in a claim of land, though she wasn't too sure if she would be willing to defend that land to the death like clan land. Her eyes drifted to him as he sounded like he was about to bring up a specific topic, but he decided at the last second to avoid it. She could only guess he meant kits, and she wouldn't mind having some of her own since she had never a litter before, but at the same time it would bring new risks.. Being out here someone would always have to keep and eye on them until they were old enough to defend themselves. Even then there was still a risk..

"I don't think other cats would like us enough to start another clan with how stubborn I can be, and honestly it's hard for me to remember what direction the clans were in so I don't think we are going back there anytime soon. Not that I want to." Her eyes returned to the sky. "I like it out here.. It's slightly more peaceful." She said. There was no one ordering them around, and no need to check borders and hunt for others. They just had to take care of themselves.