Strangers in a Foreign Land

Raisha yawned, waking up in the damp, humid den she slept in....... How did cats live like this? Her pelt was wet, weighing down upon her. It was truly awful, if you asked her. Everything smelled too. Her nose was almost always scrunched up now, her voice sounding very nasally. Still a little drowsy, she prodded at the cat beside her. Brick.

Silently waiting for her to wake up, she nodded to the entrance, and headed out. She needed someone she knew to be able to speak to. She didn't like the strangers here, they were so hostile, not understanding what they were being gifted. At least Brick was somebody who understood, and who she could vent to. Just in a place a bit more.....private.

At the nudge, Brick awoke with a soft chirp, her eyes opening blearily. Who had - oh! It was her sister. It seemed she wanted her to follow her outside someplace. Why? Oh well, Raisha would probably tell her soon enough. Before getting up to leave, the young she-cat wriggled into her hare pelt, which she'd taken off to sleep. Though it did leave her more exposed, ever since she'd found a leech worming through her actual fur a few days prior she wanted to make sure nothing like that happened again. That was gross. Really, very, super, ultra gross.

All dressed up, she moved towards the exit, her tail high and eyes bright. What were they gonna do today?

Leading her sister out of camp, including the swim she dreaded so much, she sat down in a more forested area in the territory. She was shivering as the cold weather did nothing for her thin pelt, and a small sneeze escaped her muzzle. She would probably be embarrassed by the cuteness of the sneeze, but it was nothing Brick had not heard before. With a shuttering sigh, she began to speak.

"Sorry to drag you all the way out here. I just don't trust any of those RiverClanners. I feel a lot more comfortable when it is just the two of us. So how have you been? We don't get to talk much with all these duties. You enjoying this place more than I am?" She chuckled at the last bit. It was no secret to any cat that she hated water. She was terrible at hiding it, although she liked to think the RiverClan cats thought she was always this grumpy anyway.

Brick followed close beside her sister, curious as to where they were going, but also to see some of the actual territory they’d been assigned to. Her duties were usually to keep track of the river’s clan; who left when and with who, who was friends with who, which were family, all sorts of things. The whole group had a sense of camaraderie that was foreign to her. The Asylum itself was huge, which was pretty cool, but when siblings got split up into different roles, things got... lonely, sometimes. She peered into Raisha’s face through her pelt as they walked, though she had to quickly look down at her paws again to make sure she didn’t trip and fall into a stream.

When her sister finally stopped in a somewhat drier place, Brick sat as well, absentmindedly flapping the legs of her hare pelt to dry and scatter mud off before it stuck. Her ears perked as Raisha spoke. “Captain Lyralei just told me to keep an eye on everyone for a while. I haven’t left the camp very much at all. It’s kind of boring, but that’s better than it being too exciting, right?” She gave a toothy half-smile. A few seconds passed before her eyes lit up (ah, someone’s home after all) to say, “Oh! Did you see that they have all sorts of pretty things in their dens? Like feathers and rocks and shells and stuff!” And, adding quietly, but no less excitedly, “I want a pretty shell.”

She tilted her head as she gazed at Raisha. Her sister didn’t seem as happy to be here, but then again, she’d never been one for the wet. Unfortunate as it was that she had to stay here, though Brick was not-so-secretly glad to be stationed alongside her, instead of them getting separated. The lanky tortoiseshell moved to brush Raisha’s pelt of debris from their swim. “Though we aren’t staying forever. Once everyone accepts us we can go back home! I wonder where we’re all going next.”

Raisha purred as Brick cleaned her pelt. Her sister always seemed to know how to make her feel better. "Do you really think they will truly accept us, though? They seem to be quite the rebellious type. What if we never get to leave?" She didn't mean to scare her sister, but she couldn't keep it in the dark, either. And whether they liked it or not, this was happening. They had to accept reality.

Then again, Brick did not seem to have a reality as pretty shells came to the forefront of her thoughts, bringing out a chuckle from Raisha. "I promise, before we leave, I will get you a nice pretty shell." She purred, flicking Brick's ear with her tail. And then she decided to remove her fox pelt. It's not like she had to hide from Brick, after all. Why did she need it?