Sonder {closed}

A faint smile rested gracefully on Queen's maw as she contemplated her meeting with Driftingpaw. Oh, what a strange name. It felt quite freeing to conquer the fears of others, stepping over them without a care. Her neighbor's concerns of the battle-cats that lived beyond the fence meant little to Queen anymore. Not that she'd ever quite truly taken their sentiment to heart, however it made her giggle to think that the worst harm these "battle-cats" could do was scare a mouse back into its nest. Thoughts of how her fellow towncats would react to her stories filled Queen with delight, but she wasn't quite ready to go home yet. Oh, no. Driftingpaw's musings had only heightened her curiosity, and brought more questions than answers. So these battle-cats live in clans... Quite sophisticated and mystique, Queen thought.

The tall she-cat made her way over the whispering river-grass that coated the side of a vast hill like a green pelt. Leaffall hadn't quite dug its claws into this area yet. The towncat had never seen such a season, but had heard stories of its beauty. Reds and oranges, the smell of death in such a beautiful fashion. How chic. Tall trees began to sprout from the ground as she walked, large beeches with paper bark and impossibly high trunks. The trees in Queen's patch of grass never quite got this large. She tilted her silver head upwards as the late sun cut through the branches, dappling the ground with patches of light. Soon it would be dusk, and the she-cat wondered if she might spend the night in this enchanted part of the forest.

The she-cat looked far too at ease for one whose scent failed to match any of the clans that owned the forest. Iniko had traveled across the territories, in pursuit of helping one of the many clan cats return to their home. It kept his paws busy. He'd settled among the trees and waited out the increasingly chilled nights. Thankfully, the long calico fur had battled away the elements. The fact that snow had yet to bless these lands was also a kindness. Not that it ever really bothered him. These thoughts twisted at the back of his mind as his feathery tail flickered back and forth. Curious green eyes pried the foreigner. He found himself wondering what lands she hailed from and her purpose here.

"You seem as in awe of this place as I was when I first stepped paw here." The tom shook out his coat as he padded through a the patch of bushes where he'd been watching after her, "My name is Iniko and I come from perhaps further than your paws have ever stepped. Who are you stranger? Certainly now a clan cat." The usual warmth of his voice radiated as he casually settled back to his haunches. The loner patiently waited with a flickering tail tip for whatever answers the silver-pelted rogue could provide. Loners were just as intriguing as the clan cats and he sought to learn any that lurked on these lands.

It was only fitting that such a delightful forest should sport handsome cats as well. A large mottled tabby stepped from in between the beech roots, his presence large but not threatening. Queen narrowed her lustrous eyes and let a small smile drift across her face, pleased that her adventure had suddenly taken quite the interesting turn. "Iniko, hmm? How exotic. Yet not quite as dastardly as those of the clan cats. I meant a tom earlier named Driftingpaw. What a mouthful! Imagine an upwalker calling him to dinner! They'd keel over and die before they even finished pronouncing such a word!" Queen chuckled lightly to herself, stopping her stroll to sit before Iniko, wispy tail wrapped around her paws. "Call me Queen, I hope by my name you can tell I don't affiliate with those savages in the clans, no. Dirty, they might be. But I do find their life awfully interesting. You must relate, hmm, Iniko? You could do with a good bath, but I'll excuse that in favor for your handsome face. It's a shame it's wasted on a loner." Queen smiled tactfully, already charmed by the tom before her. She blinked slowly and listened to the tall grasses sway in the wind, their frames brittle and brown with the coming Leafbare. "You mentioned you're from far away. What brings you here, if I may ask? Are the beautiful trees really worth such a hike? Or do you just like walking?"

The manner in which she spoke was alluring. Few cats possessed such unique charm as what graced his ears. Tanglerose, in contrast, was honest and blunt, driven by primal desires and drives. But the Shadowclan she-cat was a whole other creature, enchanting in her own right and the exact brand of natural born savagery that he couldn't shake from his mind even in this moment. It was infuriating how the wild-pelted cat was on his mind even in moments like these and yet it drew a smile to his maw, one that his new acquaintance would likely see as a pleasant response to her own. She-cats now simply paled in comparison to Tanglerose. He couldn't quite place why she had become the star by which he now noted the dimness of others, in a sense.

Iniko fought to dispel the thoughts, vowing he would give the enchantress her own time in his thoughts, when it was less of a distraction from moment. His whiskers twitched at the musings of a 'Driftingpaw'. To even picture an upwalker calling any name pestered his natural born roots. He couldn't stand the idea of being trapped under the rule of an upwalker for even a moment. But these were not words to be shared with a potential companion and were laid to rest in his head for something much more pleasant, "If you'd indulge me in the pleasure of a conversation, I'd be more than happy to smooth my coat to your liking as we speak." The loner smirked, teasing back lightly as she pressed with her own questions.

"My paws have always ached for the thrill of adventure. I can't say still for long, it always feels like I am looking for something." It wasn't a lie, the words rang with a genuine honestly. But as he listened to his own response, the calico tail flickered behind him. His subconscious corrected him silently, pestering him with a truth he had sought to push away for now - until now. It was the Iniko from before the forest, before Tanglerose, that seemed in an eternal pursuit for more. Slowly, as subtle as the changing winds of the season that carried them into leaf bare, he was coming to terms with the idea that part of him had been left behind. Now the pursuit of the clan cat challenged the allegiances he held to his own goals.

He had an idea of how, but he still had yet to perfectly align the two. Maddening now, even as he tried to hold a simple conversation.