wondering, wandering [closed]

Although he was a warrior, Emberspark still felt a sense of dissatisfaction. He'd done everything he'd wanted: namely, beating Smokepaw by gaining his warrior name first. There was still something else that remained undone, and throughout the day, he'd realized what it was. He liked Ebonysong. He knew he'd always felt good when he was around her, but confronting the reality of what it actually was was something else. Emberspark didn't know how to confront problems in any way except for dodging around it, so he'd decided to take a walk to think about what to do. The dark tabby flicked his tail. He'd ended up at Highpine. I shouldn't waste my time. May as well reset the scent marks. Raising his head into the air, he glanced around. The SkyClan scent seemed fresher this time. Was there one here right now? What a way to complicate things. Emberspark scented the air. If there wasn't anyone there... well, better safe than sorry. "Anyone out there?" That didn't sound too stupid if he was alone. Then again, if he was alone, no one but him would hear his words.

Bloodpaw had come back to Highpine probably the last time for awhile. He wanted one more chance to speak to Briarpaw again and maybe even a rematch. A friendly one this time though, with claws sheathed and only a risk of bruising... hopefully. He had climbed up the tall pine tree about 20ft up and waited, motionless, for Shadowclan patrols. He'd seen a few, but none of them were who he wanted, so he sat there on the needle filled branch and let them pass unbothered.

Finally, a lone, dark tabby arrived. Bloodpaw stared at him and had no intention of making any effort to meet the warrior. That is... until he spoke... a question to the wind. Bloodpaw froze for a few heartbeats, wondering if he should answer or not.

What if he's like me? Bloodpaw wondered. Maybe he needed to pass a message along to Skyclan, maybe he just wanted to talk... There was only one way to find out. Bloodpaw skillfully rose from his haunches without disturbing the branch he was on. He then proceeded to hop down from one branch to the next. This of course caused a disturbance in the branches, announcing Bloodpaw's presence.

"Just me... I don't know if that disappoints you or comforts you." Bloodpaw made sure to keep his tone light and friendly. He landed lightly on the ground and eyed the Shadowclan cat. He had willingly given up his advantage in the trees. He hoped the Shadowclan tom would see this and realize he was not being threatening.

"Bloodpaw," he offered with a dip of his ears. "Were you purposely seeking out a Skyclan cat?"

The crackling of leaves and snapping of twigs caused Emberspark's ears to snap up, and his eyes pinpointed a rust-colored striped cat, larger than him, though not by much. A SkyClan warrior, he assumed, though he couldn't recall anyone new being announced. Perhaps just a large apprentice. Shoving his thoughts to the side, Emberspark dipped his head in a small greeting as the tom bounced to the ground. At his statement, the brown tabby shrugged. He didn't really have an opinion on seeing someone. There wasn't much to do anyway.

"Emberspark," he said. Although his face remained blank, he was a bit surprised at this apprentice's size. Rather large. Probably a warrior soon. The name Bloodpaw seemed familiar, though, and then he remembered: Ah, yes, he was announced at the Gathering. At Bloodpaw's question, Emberspark shook his head. "Nope. But I may as well stay here. The fresh-kill pile's all stocked, borders are being patrolled, so I don't have much to do. How about you?" It did seem strange that the apprentice had just been up in the trees the whole time. Emberspark guessed he probably had been doing something, but what it was remained to be seen.

Bloodpaw hid his disappointment well that Emberspark didn't have an exciting reason to be here, but instead nodded once in understanding. Nothing to do? Wow. Shadowclan must be doing pretty well. Bloodpaw took a moment to answer Emberspark's own question. Should he answer honestly?

"Well, the first time I was here I met a Shadowclan apprentice. She... did not like me." he laughed to show that he held no ill will toward Briarpaw, though he wasn't going to mention her name.

"I come here once in awhile to see if I could talk to her again. Just to see if anything I said ever got through to her." He shrugged. "Maybe I'll get claws in my face again. Who knows?" He reclined onto his haunches. He looked relaxed, but if Emberspark turned out to be less than amused... well... he was ready to spring into action. He may lose against a recognized warrior, but he made a point that he would never run. Not after learning why the clans hated Skyclan so much.

He may tear my hide to tatters, but so be it. Skyclan will never be known to run again and it will all start with me. That said, Bloodpaw was becoming quite accustomed to pain. He fought Briarpaw, his father and an owl. The owl's puncture wounds were healing nicely, but were still visible on his left side. He was lucky the bird panicked and didn't get a good grip or his insides could have spilled out right then and there.

"Skyclan is doing quite well too. It would be doing better without me probably..." He gave a dramatic, somber face as if he was about to confess something huge. "I can not stop eating." He smirked at that point.

Emberspark gave a slight snort as Bloodpaw spoke, racking his mind, trying to think of the female apprentices that had a temper. Tanglepaw, definitely, and Briarpaw. Viperpaw was nicer, but she was up there too. He didn't take the joke personally; many of his Clanmates viewed loyalty as being hostile to cats outside of his Clan. He didn't really care for that. Better to have friends than enemies, and you could cut ties easier than you could create them.

He smirked as Bloodpaw mentioned getting through to her. "I have a few suspicions about who they met, and about all of them, good luck with that. They're not going to take advice from someone outside of ShadowClan." Especially someone from SkyClan. He didn't care as much as most about SkyClan; if they left, they were being loyal to their leader, so it was Spottedstar's fault. This young tom seemed like a good cat-- the type that was loyal but didn't blindly follow orders, which was a quality Emberspark definitely possessed.

...Though, he could use a little work on the loyalty stuff.

Again, Emberspark snorted, louder this time. "Oh, I can relate. You eat a bit more when you're growing, but the desire for food never stops."

Bloodpaw snickered. Hard to get through to Briarpaw? Yeah probably. Worth a try though.

"Well this will be my last visit for awhile. I'vealready been in trouble after me and my sister got jumped by an owl. My dad found us, but... ugh. I'm not sure what was worse, elder duty or getting stabbed." He turned a bit to show the talon mark on his side. It looked like it might scar, but it was only puncture wounds so it wasn't particularly ugly.

"I've left camp a lot on my own. The one time she follows me I have trouble. Sisters..." he made sure to keep his venting brief.

"What about you? Do you have sisters?"