Josie Meets an Ember

Life without twolegs was proving to be quite the challenging endeavor for Josie, former kittypet. What choice did she have? Her old life had passed. What she once knew as home was no more. The timing was not ideal, with the coldest weather yet to arrive. Josie was certainly not the most skilled hunter in all the land. But, she could make do and she had been able catch just enough prey to survive on so far. Instinct and pressing need were on her side. She'd be a better hunter with practice in time. So far, not much else had been a threat to her survival. She had heard from kittypet gossip that the dangerous wilds can often harden cats who chose to live life apart from twolegs and that these cats were very dangerous themselves to encounter. She also knew cats weren't the only predators to roam the forest. Birds of prey, dogs, foxes, and all other manner of threatening creatures were potential dangers as well. Ignoring the somewhat fresh smells of forest cats that had clearly passed through the area and often, Josie pushed those worrisome thoughts aside for now.

The sun dipped below the tree tops causing light to fade fast and the temperature to drop just as rapidly. Leaf-bare's chill didn't bother her too much thanks to being insulated by thick, long fur. She still smelled strongly of kittypet-life and Twolegplace. Musty traces of forest-scent lingered on her fur due to wandering the edges of the forest for nearly a whole moon. The determined-to-survive she-cat had wandered much farther into the forest than usual in search of food. Josie's cream-and-brown-colored body froze in place. Just ahead of her a skinny squirrel was pawing at a spot in the ground. Her ears flicked forward as she trained all of her focus on stalking the prey that was oblivious to its surroundings. Josie herself was so intensely focused that she was also unaware of what or who may be watching her.

Emberpaw was out for a walk when she caught the scent of an outsider. But it wasn't any outsider scent. It almost smelled... Familiar. There was a faint hint of the Twolegplace scent, something Emberpaw had almost forgotten in the moons she had been a ThunderClan cat. Still, scent of what had once been home or not, it carried an association she wasn't happy with - an outsider invading their territory. She followed the scent, ready to fight if she had to, when she saw the offending cat. A kittypet like she had once been, though this other cat didn't look quite as disheveled as Emberpaw had been during her first journey into the woods, nor did she look like the kittypets who lived in the Twolegplace. But that scent was impossible to misplace.

Hoping she could get the answers she needed peacefully, she climbed a tree up to a small branch at looked down at the outsider, feeling somewhat safer there. "Who are you, and what are you doing hunting prey on ThunderClan territory?" She tried to look intimidating, but she was still young and small and inexperienced. Still, this young and small apprentice had taken down an owl with minimal assistance, and she was still riding the wave of pride and happiness that came from that, which was the only reason she even began to feel safe apprehending an intruder on her own, tree-climbing skills or no.

Josie's head whipped around in alarm and frustration. First of all, a perfectly good meal just scampered away thanks to the interruption. Second of all, where in the blazes did that voice come from? She searched the ground around her frantically with her deep blue eyes until they shot up to a cat sitting atop a nearby tree branch. Josie instantly recognized that this must be one of the forest cats she had heard stories about. The wild she-cat looked smaller and younger than Josie, but she knew better than to let that fool her. This stranger was likely much more experienced at defending itself than a cat raised by twolegs. Josie's fur fluffed out to make her appear bigger than she was, just in case, not that she was small to begin with. She swallowed before speaking, clearing her voice of any hostility over the missed meal. After all, she was the one trespassing on this tree-climbing forest-cat's land. "Hi there!" Josie called to the stranger in a firm yet friendly voice, "I'm called Josie. I mean no harm by hunting here. I'm hungry and looking for food. What is your name?"

Hesitant and unwilling to come down just yet, but wanting to be honest at the very least, Emberpaw spoke the truth. "My name is Emberpaw, apprentice of ThunderClan. ...I'm sorry, I know it's hard to find food right now, but you can't hunt on our territory." The colder weather had taken its toll on all the cats in the forest, she supposed, if Twolegplace cats were coming into the forest for food now. "You smell like the Twolegplace," she said simply. "What are you doing in the forest as this time of year?" This cat - Josie, she had said she was called - was older and larger than she was, so she highly doubted it was for anywhere near the same reason that she had several moons earlier.

The fluffy she-cat shuffled her paws on the forest floor. Her fur still stood on end, body fully alert that at any point Emberpaw, what an odd name, could leap down from the tree and chase her away by force, though it seemed unlikely that the younger she-cat would so suddenly turn to hostile force. Emberpaw seemed willing enough to converse over the matter and Josie silently prayed she'd have compassion  "I'm on my own now. It's true that I used to live with twolegs, but mine is no more. I left twolegplace to forge my own path out here in the forest. Can't we coexist in this much land? Certainly your kin, this ThunderClan you speak of, can share a squirrel here or a mouse there?" I'll starve, Josie added mentally, suddenly feeling a little alarmed that she may have shared too much. The cream-colored she-cat stared nervously up at the ThunderClanner.

Emberpaw frowned, looking around at the forest trees once teeming with birds and squirrels. There was nowhere near as much prey now, with the light blanket of snow that covered the forest. "There's barely enough to feed us," she said quietly, finally leaping down from her low branch. "We need everything we can catch, especially now. ...I'd like to help you, but I can't give away prey from the Clan. There's got to be something I can do..."

Josie allowed the fur on her back and neck to flatten. She looked with compassion in her blue eyes at the young she-cat, seeing more clearly Emberpaw's own thin frame as she descended from the tree. She and her Clan sounded as if they were in as much desperation for food as Josie. "Is your Clan struggling with hunger?" she ventured to inquire, aware of the sensitive nature of her question. Perhaps they could all find a way to help each other. It pained Josie's kind heart to think of any cat suffering. Curiosity suddenly struck her. She had heard of the wild, vicious forest cats, but hadn't heard tales of cats with a temperament like Emberpaw's who seemed compassionate enough. And what about this ThunderClan business? What were these Clancats really like? Before Emberpaw responded to Josie's first question, Josie sat on her haunches and quickly added, "Actually, if I may ask, what exactly is ThunderClan?"

Unable to answer the first question, and surprised by the former kittypet's interest in her home, Emberpaw focused on her second inquiry. "A Clan... Well, it's hard to explain, so... All I can do is try my best. There are five Clans in the forest. ThunderClan," she stated the first with a note of pride. Place of birth or not, it was her home and she was proud to call it such. "RiverClan, ShadowClan, WindClan and SkyClan. We all have our own borders and territories." Past that, Emberpaw thought back to the stories her mother, Cello, had told her when she was young. "I don't know much about the other Clans, except that we all follow the same code. But ThunderClan..." She thought of Ravenpaw, who had brought her to speak to Blizzardstar, who had in turn offered her the chance to prove herself. More than that, she thought of Heatherpaw and even Specklefang. "It's... Almost like a family where you're not necessarily related. We take care of each other." She nodded, happy with that explanation. "...I can't really understand your position, but..." Emberpaw trailed off, not wanting to confess her entire life story to a stranger, but hoping that the older cat would get the undercurrent of 'I've been through something similar' from her tone.

Sudden hope filled Josie's heart. If this group of cats that called itself a Clan, this band of survivors in the forest that lived by a code of conduct, protected and fed its own, could give her a chance to prove herself, perhaps she could be accepted. Maybe, just maybe the tired former kittypet didn't have to go it alone anymore. She missed the companionship she had found in her twoleg, a gaping hole that could be filled by joining a fellowship such as this ThunderClan. More than ever, she missed the warmth and love of her mother and littermates who she barely remembered. Josie hadn't realized just how much she deeply longed for a sense of belonging and friendship until she listened to the young she-cat before her describe such a life. "That sounds.... wonderful! You all help each other and live together?" Josie added wistfully, ".. and many paws make for light work."

"The sight of a friendly face is a rare occurrence when you live alone; I'm sure glad I met you. The way you describe your ThunderClan... it sounds as if you take pride in how you choose to live. Do you think... would your Clan accept a new member such as I?" Josie held her breath in anticipation.

Emberpaw was caught off guard by Josie's query. "Well... They accepted me. Took me in when I had nowhere else to go." There, leave the information that she herself was an outsider there, and answer if asked. But only if asked. "But it's up to our leader, Blizzardstar, and she might not accept a new cat in the middle of leaf-bare," she mused, wondering about it. "They took me in, though, and I really had nothing to offer but my own determination at the time. I think you'd have a chance. ...It's not all fun and games, though," she warned. "It's not exactly light work. Badger attacks and hunting and cleaning out the elder's den and fighting owl. Oh, the owls..." It was clear from her tone that the ginger apprentice held the offending birds in very low esteem. "And if Blizzardstar did accept you, you'd probably have a new name. They gave me a new one, anyway. And some cats probably wouldn't talk to you much." She really wasn't trying to make it seem like a bad thing. She loved her life, but... If Josie had any interest in ThunderClan, Emberpaw, as a former outsider, felt it was her duty to make that clear.

Josie was a little surprised at the revelation that Emberpaw wasn't born into this ThunderClan yet clearly spoke of it with pride and affection. Her struggles hadn't been easy fitting in, from the sound of it. To sacrifice one's own name was a tall order. And the dangers cats faced in the forest here... but something appealed to her in facing those dangers together. If it took changing her name and learning a whole new way of life, so be it. Josie longed for family once more and here was a chance she could find one. It wouldn't be rainbows and sunshine, but the tired, lonely former kittypet longed for companionship and needed help if she was to make it out here.

"Well I'm in." Josie stated resolutely. "If I have to change my name and face these dangers you speak of, so be it. At least I wouldn't ever be alone again. Is there some way I could make an appeal to your Leader?"

(OOC: if you're serious about it you do need to PM Ink as well and get her permission to join TC)

"Well... If you understand what you're getting into, I suppose I could take you to Blizzardstar and you could speak to her." The circumstances here were different than they had been for herself several moons earlier, and Emberpaw didn't know whether that would work in Josie's favor or not, but she was willing to try and help this cat.

Josie dipped her head in thanks at Emberpaw. "I would like that very much," she mewed.

OOC: Yep, I've been messaging Ink. How about we end the topic here and pick back up in the ThunderClan camp when I've let Ink know this topic is finished?