Night View [Murky / Misty]

Batglow was excited. Well maybe excited was an understatement. It was one of the first times in a while that he had been able to wander the territory without prying eyes or being on a patrol. It was refreshing to say the least. Though he didn't want to go out alone. He managed to drag Mistyfalcon into it and Murkystrike. Insisting it would be good for the she-cat to get some exercise that wasn't too harsh on her body.

The lanky black tom turn back to face his friends with a large toothy grin on his face. "It feels good doesn't it?" He asked the two. "It's nice to have the territory to ourselves again, to not have to worry about having a purpose in being out here." He looked at the two cats carefully making sure they were both okay, his little bit of training with both Mothglow and Rookfire kicking in. "Oh Murkystrike, if it gets to be too much, let me know so we can take you back." He offered. He didn't want to push the she-cat too much.

The crescent moon shone brightly above them, stars dancing in the sky. It was a wonderful night for the three shadowclanners.

Mistyfalcon had jumped at the suggestion of patrolling with friends, without any extra, unwanted rogues tagging along. The snow was beginning to melt and the air was slowly becoming warmer as the days went by, and the dark-furred tom had been in high spirits recently. Beecloud's promise had been fulfilled, though it was sad the large Thunderclanner did not live to see it.

"No more unwelcome tagalongs trailing us everywhere is nice." He agreed, tone downright chipper. There would be no shadows following them today, and he was glad to be able to patrol with friends once more. His gaze flicked from Batglow to Murkystrike. He hadn't been sure he'd come away from fourtrees alive, let alone that the Asylum's captives could be saved. Pure luck, he thought, that things hadn't gone more wrong than they had.

"You good?" He asked Murkystrike. Mistyfalcon was... trying very hard not to be overbearing. It was surprisingly more difficult than he thought it would be. Murkystrike definitely looked better than she had when he'd found her, but he still worried. He didn't like seeing his friends hurting. Batglow seemed to be of a similar mindset, and Mistyfalcon gave the other tom a small nod.

Mistyfalcon turned his gaze towards the path ahead of them, for the moment content to pad along beside his clanmates.

The night sky was beautiful, the crescent moon hanging above the three cats that wandered ShadowClan's territory. She moved slower than usual still, but her paws didn't shake when she walked anymore. At least, they hadn't yet. Breathing was easier, and her pelt had started to shine again. She felt more alive than she had in the last several moons, and she smiled towards Batglow as he voiced what she was thinking. Mistyfalcon spoke up, and she looked over to him, eyes flashing in the starlight. "It's very nice." She mewed, pausing to scent their surroundings, just in case. "I never did get one to fall face first into the mud though." Her tail swished behind her as she continued to follow the two toms. The two turned almost at the same time to ask how she was doing, and Murkystrike purred and bumped her head to each of their shoulders in turn. "I'm good, and I will certainly let you know if I need to rest. If that becomes the case, though, would it be so bad to rest out here? It's so quiet and peaceful, I can't remember the last time I was out like this." Looking up towards the night sky, she took a deep breath. The air was so clean tasting, holding only the scents of the forest and the three of them.

Batglow shrugged. As long as nothing bad happened, it wouldn't hurt to have her rest out here for a bit. The more open space would probably do her some good. "I don't see an issue with resting out here if you want. As long as we get back before Rookfire throws a fit." Not that they needed to worry about that, Murkystrike was in good hands after all.

Though one thing did make him curious. "Alright, I have to know. Which one did you want to make fall in the mud the most?" He wanted to hear the answer from the others before sharing his own answer. A bright grin on his face as he thought of the certain cat falling face first in mud. They probably deserved it.

"Alright." Murkystrike looked better than she had when they'd first stumbled back into camp after leaving fourtrees, and Mistyfalcon found himself reluctant to argue with either of them at the moment. He understood how frustrating being cooped up in the medicine den could be, and while part of him worried, it wasn't up to him to decide. "The fresh air will do you some good. Stars know being cooped up in the medicine den was enough to drive even me crazy after a while." If Cinderpaw was still in charge, he was sure she wouldn't have let her out of the den tonight at all. Rookfire was stern, but he was reasonable. And far less intimidating than the previous medicine cat had been.

Murkystrike's quip about not being able to shove one of the Asylum cats face-first into the marsh startled a quiet, somewhat rusty laugh from Mistyfalcon. After everything, she hadn't lost her sense of humor... That was something he'd always appreciated about her. He returned her shoulder bump affectionately.

"Definitely not Tavora." He commented sarcastically in response to Batglow. He hadn't liked her from the start, but after Asylum, that dislike had grown into genuine disgust for the flat-faced she-cat. Especially after Murkystrike's trial. The rat was gone now, and good riddance, as far as Mistyfalcon was concerned.

Murkystrike's eyes widened slightly as Rookfire was mentioned, ears flicking. "Yeah, I don't want to be on the wrong end of that tongue lashing." She chuckled softly, eyes brightening as she imagined specific cats she'd want to push into the mud. A quiet laugh from Mistyfalcon, followed by a shoulder bump of his own widened her grin, and she couldn't stop the purr from rising in her throat. Tail lashing as Tavora's name was spoken, Murkystrike shook her head sarcastically with Mistyfalcon. "No, certainly not.... She deserves so much better, after all." The she-cat's tail curled as she pictured the tom that she had sparred against in the warrior game they had held moons ago. "The first one I would choose would be the tom I sparred against. Do you remember him? Oh, what was his name...." She trailed off before a mischievous look invaded her expression. In a low, gravely voice she mimicked the name she had been given by the tom. "The Blood Buck of Skull Steppe, he called himself."

Batglow stopped in his paws steps at the way Murkystrike spoke the tom's name. His nose ticked slightly in his amusement, before he bust out laughing. "Did he really call himself that? Out of all the names they had, that one is by far the worst." He took a moment to calm himself down. "I don't think I will forget that for as long as I live. One thing for sure, it seems we are all in agreement about Tavora." He fell back instep with the other two, standing on Murkystrike's other side. "Any more weird names we need to know about?" Batglow's grin was still brightly shining.

"That pelt ward you sparred against, right? He had a flair for the dramatics." Mistyfalcon smirked at Murkystrike's impression of him. The games seemed like a lifetime ago, now. The sparring had been... fun, actually. "I think you owe me one for slipping on that ice." There was a complete lack of sincerity in Mistyfalcon's tone, a teasing glint in his dark eyes as he eyed Murkystrike.

"Rogues." He snorted at Batglow's words, "Some of them at least had names that could have been part of a clan name. The others..." He shrugged. They'd been... eccentric, named seemingly without rhyme or reason. They weren't clan cats to have such structure and tradition, regardless of what the Asylum had tried to say.

Batglow burst into laughter, and Murkystrike couldn't help but join him. "Yes, that's the one!" She confirmed in response to Mistyfalcon's question, trying to catch her breath. "I don't believe that was his real name, but it certainly caught me by surprise." Looking towards Mistyfalcon as he teased, she grinned and flicked her tail over his ear. "Absolutely not, it's not my fault you didn't watch where you put your paws!" With a wink, the she-cat relaxed further as Batglow flanked her other side. Nodding along to Mistyfalcon's sentiments, she shrugged in turn. "I didn't really take the time to get to know any of them, other than Ichtaca. She was the only good one of them all.... Stars I miss her." Memories of their time training together forced her head to lower towards the ground slightly, ears tilting back. "I hope she's doing well for herself out there, wherever she is."

Batglow couldn't help the slight sadness that sparked in his chest when Murkystrike started talking about Ichtaca. It was clear the she-cat missed her Asylum friend, and he didn't blame her in the slightest. His smile dropped from his face, but he gave the she-cat a slight nudge trying to get her to perk up a little. "I'm sure she is doing wonderfully where ever she is. She had you to help her learn after all." He had never gotten the chance to interact much with the Pelt-ward or any of the other Asylum cats for that matter, but he did believe there were some good ones. Seeing how they had helped train Rookfire of course.

"Wasn't my fault the ground was slippery." Mistyfalcon scoffed, affectionately nudging Murkystrike's shoulder.

"Ichtaca and Ivory were the only ones I didn't mind interacting with, honestly. Ivory pulled her weight and was more interested in the clan than most." And she'd been talkative. So very talkative. Mistyfalcon had felt drained after their first encounter, but somehow the pale she-cat had managed to be likeable. He just... felt like sleeping for a moon after being around someone that bubbly for more than a few minutes.

"Like Batglow said, you taught her well, Murkystrike. I think she'll be alright, wherever she is."

Murkystrike nuzzled the top of Mistyfalcon's head with her chin before teasing him a bit more. "Not my fault either, but we can always have a rematch now that the ice is gone."

"I hope she is. I really hope she's happy, wherever she's found herself. Thanks you two." She purred, smiling between the two toms. "I didn't get the chance to interact with many other Asylum cats, not that I much cared to. I didn't get to teach Ichtaca as much as I wanted, and I don't know how good of a job I did, but I hope it was enough to allow her to choose her own path."

Batglow watched the two interact, feeling like he was invading on a personal moment but it was his idea to come out here in the first place so he shouldn't feel to bad about it. He looked away from the two, his yellow green eyes going back to what was in front of him. His mind deciding to change the topic away from the Asylum. "If the two of you want to do a rematch, go ahead. I wouldn't mind deciding who wins." He offered the two looking back at the two with a smirk. He totally wasn't going to cheat a fair system in the slightest.

Mistyfalcon's heart skipped a beat at the unexpectedness of Murkystrike nuzzling the top of his head. It was unexpected... But not unwelcome, he realized. No teeth dug into his ear, and it was just the three of them out here.

"When you're up for it, angering the medicine cat isn't a good idea." He spoke from experience, of course. Cinderpaw had given him an earful after he'd ventured out of the medicine den when the kits were missing to volunteer to help search. After she'd sent him back to the den and not let him get a word in edgewise.

"You're hardly an unbiased referee, Bat. Who's to say you don't wind up tripping one of us instead?" Mistyfalcon smirked right back at the other tom. When was the last time they'd all been able to just joke around with each other and be this relaxed? It hadn't been recently, that was for sure.

Murkystrike smiled at Batglow as he offered to partake in deciding who the winner was. "I think that's a fantastic idea. I'll definitely come to you when it's time for the rematch!" Murkystrike's ear flicked as she huffed softly. "What Rookfire doesn't know won't hurt anything," she grumbled, only half joking. Mistyfalcon was right, though. "How about in a moon or two, at moonhigh. We can meet in camp and come back out together. Deal?"