Making New Friends?!

A yawn stretched his maw as he padded through the brush. He was not used this sort of territory yet as he had just come from the Windclan borders as he assumed at least from his clan friend's description. The difference between clear land and fields merging into dense forest was obvious enough if the unknown scent wasn't enough of a tall tale that the small loner male had crossed into someone else's territory. With how much time he had spent in the Windclan territory and made friends with one of their warrior's Mink had to stifle a chuckle at the thought he actually probably smelled a bit like the Windclanners. He knew he would be in trouble if he was found by whomever lived in these parts of the woods. He smelled different than those who lived here; he just hoped he didn't start a war or something between the clans with his presence just because he crossed one path to another through territories. He was a loner through and through no matter how tiny and frail he looked despite being apprentice age. Mink paused to sniff at a bush and wrinkled his nose at the odd scent. He didn't know which of the four clans made their home in these woods but they smelled funny to the small runt male. He was so used to Clovertwist's airy and care free scent of the Windclan territory that he was not used to anything else at this point.

The outsider refrained from hunting even if he was a bit hungry; he just came out here to explore for a little while before going back to the safety of the Windclan borders. He had not been spotted or scented by other Windclanners besides Clovertwist so thankfully his clanner friend seemed to have kept the small male a secret. He hoped he didn't blow it by exploring the other clan territories by himself. After having had many talks about the clans the small male had grown curious about the others that made up the four clans of the forest. He was used to trash cats and alley rogues and the stench; even more so the lifestyle of a city stray near the two legs, anywhere he could find to survive at least. The forest was a new adventure the further he traveled. Blue eyes scanned the forest despite it being leafbare and the wind blowing slightly to chill his fluffy brown fur the small male did not seem to mind too much as he was too busy nosing around and making note of the differences between the familiarity of Windclan and whatever clan this land belonged to.

Being small and runt sized he could have easily be picked up by an owl or great bird if he wasn't careful; as they liked trees he probably looked like a little rabbit below them but it could go both ways and he could hopefully hide himself in the foliage around him. He did like that fact though that he had a place to hide if in danger unlike in the Windclan territory. He suddenly froze when he heard the sound of paws crunching on snow and whipped his head around to stare in that direction; fox-dung! Was it a warrior of whomever lived here or a predator? Neither seemed to wave in his favor. He quickly looked around and found a small hole in a base of a tree nearby and quickly made a decision; making a beeline for it. Hopefully he would be able to blend in with the brown grey bark of the tree and hide in it's shadowed hole.

Stormpaw was out of camp for the first time in what felt like ages. She had to admit, it felt nice to breath the fresh, forest laden scents. The snow was fresh on the ground, and she was glad to be out of camp. Oakstar had been bitten by an adder. Camp was crazy at the minute because of that. The small tabby couldn't deal with any more death, so she'd told Dacedream, her mentor since Mistwalker had passed, that she was going for a stroll. The tortoiseshell almost looked relieved to see her leave the den voluntarily. What she didn't expect to meet was an unfamiliar smell.

That brought all her warrior instincts back to life immediately. Whipping her head around, her blue eyes scanned the undergrowth. "I know you're there, idiot! It's no use hiding." From the scent, this was a loner. One who liked WindClan's territory. He carried a heather scent, but not enough to be of WindClan. She knew WindClan scent. Dacedream smelled like it after meeting her mother, Dappleshine, who now lived in WindClan due to the fact she'd fallen in love with Raventail, deputy of WindClan. This loner didn't smell of wind itself, like WindClan did. Just of heather, like the rabbits that strolled from the moor occasionally. Was this loner hoping to start a feud between the two Clans, of which were allies at the minute? Surely this loner wasn't so foolish? "ThunderClan are the best stalkers around. I could smell your loner scent a mile away! If that wasn't enough, your fear scent definitely gave you away." Stormpaw remarked.

"You may as well come out, I already know where you are, trespasser." The she-cat hissed. While not exactly true, the loner wouldn't know that. She knew the general area he was in, but hadn't yet pinpointed his exact location. Still, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. This loner had brought back her spark that had seemingly disappeared and she was ready to defend her Clan.

Cedarpaw heard a loud growl. She ran over to where it was coming from. She heard the last word Stormpaw spoke. Trespasser! Fur bristling, she looked around, suddenly scenting the stench of a loner. It seemed young, kit or apprentice age maybe. Cedarpaw realized that Stormpaw was back to normal. She had been different since she had heard about her heritage. She was glad that her friend was better, hopefully it would last.

Mink rolled his eyes from his hiding spot at the arrogance of the clanner that seemed to walk on him taking an adventurous stroll through the territory. Granted, he was sort of trespassing but the arrogance coming from the molly made Mink's wilder side come out to play; he was one sarcastic little dude that's for certain. At this point he didn't care if he was seen if only to shut the other's big mouth. He slipped from his hiding spot and in plain sight of the other. He was small; much to small for his age and looked more like a kit than he did his actual age of 5 moons but his pale eyes glittered with a more mature glint in them then someone his age should; for telling of the struggles he had in life to make him grow up too quickly. A small sneer was on his maw as he gave the other cat a look.

"The best stalkers and the best dung talkers too apparently." he snapped back at her. "Are all clanners this haughty or do they just have a stick up their butts for no reason? If I was a threat I would have already done something to you or your precious territory like stolen prey or tried marking something wouldn't I have? But I haven't as you could probably tell by your oh so great skills hmm?" he sassed back giving her the same attitude she was giving him.

"If Thunderclan is this haughty all the time I'm glad Clovertwist was the one to find me. Good grief they have big heads." he muttered under his breath.

He paused and perked his ears up when he heard more pawsteps and inwardly grumped. Great, more company which meant he'd have to tread lightly if it was a warrior. He could easily enough dodge an apprentice since he was used to dodging the alley cats and two legs and dogs where he came from. But if there were more then he could handle...he might have to either flee or talk his way out of it which he was good at either way; it would just cost him more effort to do so then he was willing to expend.

"I'm browsing the area. I'm not from around here you know. I'm more from the two leg alleyways then I am of the forest so I'm just passing through and seeing what these clans are all about. Clovertwist made them seem like such great things." he eyed the unknown mollies with a small thing of disdain.

"Frankly so far I'm not seeing the appeal." he admitted.

Stormpaw wrinkled her nose. This trespasser was hardly more than a kit. He couldn't have been older than five moons by the looks of it. "Friend of WindClan, I see. Clovertwist is a good warrior, no wonder he'd take pity on a loner kit." Stormpaw retorted. "I think you're talking about ShadowClan, they're more meow than claws. While not hunting, the noise you're making is enough to scare all the prey away." It was leaf-bare in he Clans, and prey could not be spared. ThunderClan was weak enough without this problem.

"I'm glad it's not appealing to you, I wouldn't want you to come back." the gray tabby molly hissed, blue eyes locking onto the young brown tom. "Just get out of here, before I send Cedarpaw back to get Dacedream, Ferretnose, or Nettlefire. Our deputy wouldn't be too happy to find you here." A growl rose in her throat, and she glanced over to Cedarpaw. If this loner was stupid enough to fight, they could take him.

Cedarpaw looked at the kit, a low growl coming out of her throat. “Trust me...you don’t want to deal with Thunderclan. Even one of our warriors could take you. Easily.” She threatened, ready to defend the clan from any threat. She had learned that anything could be a threat no matter how small. She stiffened. “I will go get a warrior if you don’t leave!” She hissed at the tom. She waited for him to leave, surely he would, with the threat of a warrior.

Mink blinked at them and sat his little butt down as if to make a silent statement and gave them a look. Did they think they scared him? They may be around his age if not a few moons older...and granted bigger but that didn't mean squat to him. If clans were honor bound as much as Clovertwist had made them out to be then these mollies wouldn't hurt him if he posed no threat. And because he was so small and frail looking would the warriors they threatened really use violence to make him leave? He'd have a better chance with the warriors as these young mollies didn't seem to know how to handle him properly. He gave a small smirk and shook his head at the insults and spitting words.

"Then go get your warriors. If you are honor bound as clan cats are portrayed you aren't going to hurt me unless I physically try and hurt you am I right? I mean I grew up in the alleyways so I know some cats don't have those type of morals and would hurt anyone even someone who looked like I do; much smaller and weaker then them. But, what about you guys? What's your moral bound code?"

he raised a brow challenging them. He was not growing hostile with them and he knew he would not raise a paw against them as he was not capable of fighting off a larger cat even if they were around his age. His small stature kind of made it more difficult and he had not enough training to be able to fight in battle if he needed to. He much rather run then fight when he knew he was outmatched. There was a difference when it came to actually using brains to think of a way out.

"I'd have my luck with your warriors. I assume they are the older ranks you have in your groups?" he let it slide the comment about his Windclan friend as he was not trying to pick a fight and having an argument would not lead them anywhere. "You clan cats have...odd names for sure." he added with a small frown.