Birds and Flowers in the Newleaf Light (CLOSED)

Shrikesong padded towards the Thunderpath, her head down low. The she-cat needed time alone, so she decided to volunteer on a border patrol on the Thunderpath. Really, it was just an excuse to potentially meet a ShadowClan or WindClan cat on the borders. Maybe she could find a friend on the border, potentially helping her be happier overall. At the very least, that's the plan that I have.

Once she got to the Thunderpath, the she-cat gazed around the area, looking for other cats who could potentially arrive. To her left were WindClan's moors, and to her right was the Highpine, the border between ShadowClan and SkyClan. Across the Thunderpath was ShadowClan's marshes, and it seemed like the three areas were beginning to flourish once more.

On ShadowClan's territory, she noticed another cat. Her white fur stuck out to the she-cat, and her amber eyes brought calmness. Unlike most other cats with a white pelt, she didn't immediately freak out about her looking like Dawnhawk. Because she knew this cat, meeting her when Shrikesong was just an apprentice. And she was just as beautiful as always.

"Tulipfang."

On an evening patrol, Tulipfang made her way to the Thunderpath. She hand't really thought about where exactly she was going to patrol but the strong smelling Twoleg path seemed to be a good place to start. While she was usually in a peppy mood, the white and ginger warrior found herself somewhat tired for whatever reason and she silently hoped that she didn't have to fend off any outsiders tonight. Hopefully, this would be a quick and easy patrol.

Approaching the border, Tulipfang lifted her nose into the air to scent for anything suspicious, but she didn't need to bother as some-cat came into sight. Raising her hackles raised and puffing her fur up out of habit, she stalked forward but quickly recognized the cat. Lowering her defensive stature, she padded to the edge of the path. She remembered this cat from a gathering, though her name was eluding her. Shrike... something? Last time they'd met she'd been an apprentice, but Tulipfang assumed that the tabby molly was a warrior by now.

Hearing her name, it was clear that the ThunderClanner remembered her name which made her feel even worse for not remembering her's, but oh well, it wasn't like they were in the same clan so it was okay, right?

"Good evening, Shrikepaw," she mewed, trying her best not to outwardly cringe at the fact that that most likely wasn't still her name. Well, at least she would learn it once and for all tonight, hopefully.

Bracing herself as a monster raced by, the lights from his muzzle lit up the area for a brief moment. Not having turned her gaze away from the petite she-cat across the path, under the light her eyes seems to glow like a setting sun, filling her with a warm feeling. There we pawfuls of tabbies in the forest, but for whatever reason she seemed... different? Tulipfang couldn't quite put her paw on what is was... but it didn't matter. It wasn't like they were in the same clan together and she wasn't a tom, so what in StarClan's name had she even been thinking?

Shrikesong noticed that Tulipfang didn't know her name. It felt strange, but it made sense due to them not really talking since... Asylum struck. The pain was still there, but it didn't hurt as much as it had during their reign. While Tulipfang was trying her best to hide any nervousness, she could see that the ShadowClan she-cat felt bad, probably for not knowing Shrikesong's full name. "It's Shrikesong now," she said, trying to be as nice about it as possible.

Now, what was she going to talk about? The she-cat didn't know. Maybe they could talk about the monsters passing by them in the Thunderpath. No, that would be dreadful for conversation. Maybe it would be good for them to talk about other, more interesting topics, like... well, the she-cat didn't know. Maybe it was Tulipfang's beauty that was throwing off the she-cat or something like that. "How's your day going?" she said, hiding her awkwardness through a thin mask.

Really, the she-cat ended up blurting out those words just because she wasn't being able to think of another topic to talk about while simultaneously trying to make sure that an awkward silence didn't take hold of the area. Technically, it wouldn't be silence because of the loud monsters frequently passing by, but that wasn't important right now. What she wanted was for the two she-cats to not just stare at each other for a few seconds and then leave. That's what she wanted.

So she was a warrior now, the rank certainly fit the she-cat as she did suppose she looked a bit older than the last time they met. "I'm good how abou-" before she could finished her sentence, another monster raced by, even louder and stinky than the last. Giving her head a shake, she prayed to StarClan that her father or clanmates wouldn't find out about what she was about to do... but she wasn't going to keep yelling across the path like this. Hopefully Shrikesong wouldn't have a problem with it either...

Bounding across the path, the white and ginger she-cat skidded to a half a few pawsteps in front of the tabby before giving her fluffy pelt a shake. Giving a little "ahem" under her breath, she continued. "I'm good how about you? You're a warrior now, that must be exciting!" she purred with a smile, hoping she hadn't startled the ThunderClanner by suddenly running over to her.

Shrikesong didn't expect Tulipfang to come bounding across the path like she did. Then again, talking across the Thunderpath wasn't the most ideal situation to be in. And she's even prettier close up. The brown she-cat tried to push those thoughts out of her head. After all, she couldn't be in a forbidden relationship with another cat. She couldn't just... leave her family like that. But the thoughts refused, refused to dissipate. Perhaps that 'fleeting crush' she had on Tulipfang when she was an apprentice was not really fleeting. "Yeah," she said in response to Tulipfang's comments. "Being a warrior, well, it's definitely very interesting. I expected to get more freedoms as a warrior but then..." Asylum happened. I couldn't handle the pressure. I succumbed to an endless ball of hatred, which left a void in my soul once Asylum was gone.

Shaking the negative memories out of her head, she changed the subject. "Anyways, how is ShadowClan doing? Is prey running well for you guys?" Hopefully, Tulipfang would oblige to tell them about how ShadowClan is doing, and then the ThunderClan warrior could share about how ThunderClan was doing at a later point in time. Most likely, this 'later point in time' would be immediately after Tulipfang shares, but Shrikesong wanted to wait for a little bit of time before she shared.

Glad she hadn't startled Shrikesong too horribly, she kept on smiling, her fluffy white and ginger tail slowly swishing back and forth behind her. Listening to the tabby warrior, she nodded along, but then stopped and tilted her head, wondering why she'd stopped. Wish she had more freedom... had she gotten her warrior name during the Asylum takeover? How unfortunate, that must've been no fun at all, finally becoming a warrior but then not being able to go out of her camp... well, she was proud of her for enduring all of their annoying presence. At least now it was over so she'd be able to live normally again!

"ShadowClan is faring well and prey is bountiful, now that the season is finally growing warmer," she chuckled. Moons ago she would've never told another clan cat how her clan was doing in fear of them using that information against ShadowClan, but she couldn't help but feel safe around the ThunderClanner. They'd only met once before but she already trusted her... what an odd turn of events her life had taken, that was for sure.

"How about ThunderClan? I bet you're all enjoying the basking on Sunningrocks with the sun being much warmer now," she mused, wishing ShadowClan had a Sunningrocks of their own to bask on. Oh how she wished she could lounge around like a lizard some days...

Shrikesong nodded, hiding her reluctance to share with a mask. Of course she had to share. Well, that was to be expected, and she had to share it. "ThunderClan is doing well," she said. "Prey is getting more plentiful here as well, and though ThunderClan has had setbacks every now and then, the clan's getting stronger as more time distances from Asylum's appearance. I mean, it makes sense doesn't it?" The brown she-cat gave Tulipfang a soft, genuine smile, one not many cats saw on her normally.

About Sunningrocks, I guess we could lay on the rocks now." She didn't really enjoy the warmth of Sunningrocks, just because RiverClan cats seemed to be very territorial about Sunningrocks. Because of that, she really didn't cross Sunningrocks very often except for when Minkstream wanted her to patrol the RiverClan border. "Honestly, it didn't really cross my mind that I could do that now." It was in fact true, as she usually kept her mind away from Sunningrocks most of the time that she went on patrolling.

Now, she would have to make up small talk again. Stars, what should she say to Tulipfang? Her ginger-and-white pelt shone in the setting sun, and her eyes "Just out of curiosity, do you have... uh... a favorite type of prey? Like, well, if you could choose, uh, which kind of prey you could eat for one meal, which one would you choose, and why?" That was an awkward attempt at small-talk, her brain chastised. But at the very least, she was with Tulipfang. That was all that mattered.

...What in the name of StarClan has gotten into her?