Sign of the Times (closed)

Hobbling along the edge of the territory's border, Tinylegs meandered to nowhere in particular. The stumpy legged elder had been growing more ripe with each passing sunrise, and it was quite clear that his time in this life would be no more soon. His coat had grown coarse with patches of fur missing here and there, his eyes held the foggy curse of developing cataracts, his mind grew more scattered with what felt like every thought, and his joints constantly hurt, especially in the cold season that was Leaf-bare. He'd lived a long life, and one filled with many regrets, but StarClan had chosen to spare him many times over, which had to mean something. If only he could figure out why.

Pressing onward, the midget elder hummed to himself, enjoying the rays of sunlight that peeked through the clouds, and unfortunately unaware of where he was stepping. Suddenly, one of his small, white paws was caught under a rock and sent him tumbling forwards. Surprised by what had happened, Tinylegs sat up and gave his head a shake, the pain in his legs causing him to grunt. Just barely too short to be able to peer over the tall grass, the SkyClanner sat where he was, regaining his bearings for a moment. 'Great StarClan am I ever clumsy these days.' Why had he even been out here in the first place?

Fishing had become more and more difficult as the moons went by, with the river nearly wholly freezing over and the fish themselves slowly dying off. It was still one of Ivybrook's favorite ways to escape reality, though, the simple act of actually doing something enough to get recent events off of her mind. Torrentstar's... Actions still stirred within the depths of her memory, no matter how hard she tried to focus on something else. Despite that, fishing was her outlet, and she was going to use it until she couldn't anymore.

The faint sound of a crash on the other side of the border caught Ivybrook's attention, ears turning to listen in on whatever had happened. It could easily be some small animal of prey playing in the snow, or an escaped kit from SkyClan camp. There was also the threat of it being a predator, or another cat with bad intentions. Whatever it was, she wasn't going to let it go unnoticed. Carefully, she stepped onto the ice, making sure to avoid the places where it was darker and therefore thinner. Falling through would be quite unfortunate, and she didn't feel like dragging herself back to camp wet and shivering. When she was about halfway across, she spotted the small white tom and immediately relaxed. She knew exactly who he was, and she was sure that he didn't post a threat to her. "Tiny...?" She was unsure what his new name would be since he had retired, simply trailing off as she looked at the little tom. "Is there anything I could, um... Do for you?" She could tell that the little elder seemed a bit disoriented, but she wasn't sure how to ask in a respectful way what exactly he was doing at the border.

Ears perking up and slightly jumping at the sound of some-cat's voice, Tinystar turned to see Ivybrook, RiverClan's deputy. Had he really not scented or heard her arrival? Great Silverpelt was he losing it. Her approaching him was most likely because of his little... incident, which was embarrassing to say the least, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

"Well, hello there, Ivybrook," the raspy voiced elder mewed with a smile as he heaved himself up and on his stumpy legs. "I'm quite alright, thank you for your concern," he added, meeting her olive gaze. As an old, decrepit elder who'd fallen down, he must've been a sight from over across the river, and while she had crossed the border to investigate, he appreciated her concern, none the less. These days, he didn't have the energy nor the time to worry about borders and clan rivalries, and instead had to worry about if he was going to wake up the next sunrise or not. The life of an elder was certainly not very exciting, that was for sure.

Giving his short pelt a shake, he turned his gaze back up to the deputy. "Care to talk a walk with me?" he asked with a grin. It'd seemed like ages since any-cat had taken the time out of their day to just stroll with him and he didn't mind who joined him, for he was simply happy for any company at all.

The she-cat’s gaze faltered for a moment as she simply stared across the border, green eyes scanning the little tom’s face as she searched for an answer to... to whatever it was that was going on. A walk? On... SkyClan’s side of the border? Was she being set up?

Shaking her head briefly, the silver deputy shook out her fur, fluffing it out against the cold breeze. The ice underneath her paws stung the pads slightly, but she had gotten used to the prickly feeling over the course of the season. “I... I don’t suppose you mean across the border, Tiny...?” The fluffy she-cat trailed off in question, simply sticking to his prefix as he hadn’t answered with his new name. ’It will do,’ She thought with a slight chuckle. The previous leader likely meant no harm, but she was slightly worried about how the rest of SkyClan would perceive such a thing. How her own Clan would, at that. How odd this encounter had been... And how odd it would grow, if she was to cross the border in whole to join the little tom on a walk.

"Well, unless you're alright with walking with me from all the way over there. I can't promise I can keep on yelling to you though," the little tom chuckled. Giving his pelt a shake, he began to hobble forward. Whether she followed him or not was her choice, though he secretly prayed she would join him. It would be nice to have someone to talk to, and the younger she-cat seemed like a nice change of pace for his life, even if she was a RiverClanner. "And my name is Tinylegs now, in case you didn't know," he mewed over his shoulder.

Trying to play off the situation, Ivybrook gave a small chuckle and slowly crossed the rest of the border, taking a tentative step onto the snowy bank on SkyClan's side of the border. "I didn't," She commented in regards to his last statement. "I've grown used to calling you Tiny now, so I may as well stick with it." After fluffing up her fur, she looked down at the small elder. "If you don't mind, of course. Feel free to call me Ivy." She thought back to how her brother, Galekit, had tended to simply call her 'Ivy', nostalgia creeping in slowly as she began to walk alongside the river, pushing reeds and tall grass out of the former SkyClan leader's way as she went.

Giving... Ivy a nod as the two began to walk alongside one another, Tinylegs realized he hadn't quite thought of what to say before he called her over, seeing as though he hadn't exactly been expecting such an encounter. Of course, there was always the option of simple small talk, which seemed like a good option no matter the cat. Clearing his throat, the stout little tom looked up to the RiverClanner.

"RiverClan seems to be fairing well, I presume?" Being an elder hadn't been to many of the gathers as of late, but seeing as though the deputy had been on a solo patrol, she must have had the time to take some time for herself.

Walking alongside the tiny SkyClan elder, Ivybrook felt a sense of... peace fall over her. She felt calm, calmer than she often did in her own camp. "RiverClan is... Doing the best that we can with what we've got, I suppose." She didn't want to touch on the recent events, especially if the little white tom had no knowledge of them anyway. "I assume SkyClan is doing well, though. It's not often that the Clans can gather on the borders yet remain so peaceful, with such a lack of tension. It's quite amazing," The deputy remarked, careful where she placed her paws. She made sure to let Tiny lead the way, not wanting to step on any toes as they began to make their way down the river.

Listening as the she-cat spoke, he noticed she seemed somewhat hesitant to speak, but remembered that they weren't exactly friends, so whatever she was comfortable sharing was fine by him. "Yes, we have been doing well, even through the harsh season of Leafbare," he began, keeping his gleeful smile on his tiny muzzle. "I wouldn't hold my clanmates to such standards as far as friendliness towards other clans... I assume you could say the same for RiverClan," he chuckled as the kept moving onward, stepping through and around the tall reeds and smooth stones that lined the shoreline. "I just happen to not care about rivalries between clans anymore. So consider yourself lucky that it was I who you stumbled upon today," he purred teasingly. His clanmates weren't savages, but no-cat was as old as him, and so they worried about other matters, such as protecting borders with their lives.

Slowing his pace, Tinylegs perked his ears to listen, only to soon hear what he presumed to be an approaching patrol in the distance. Though his hearing wasn't exactly in its prime, the chatter of his clanmates easy to make out among the other sounds that came from the forest's boundary. They were most likely looking for him and the last thing he wanted to do was get his new friend in trouble, though he hated to have to end their little chat so soon.

"I'd better get going, and you as well," he mewed, looking up at the silver tabby. "I enjoyed this little chat of ours, it was a nice change of pace from laying in the elder's den all day," the stubby legged tom purred with a smile.