Make You Believe [Shrikestorm]

She'd been assigned to a border patrol today, and Swiftspirit had inwardly sighed when she had been told she would be patrolling with Shrikestorm. He wasn't Tawnyflare, and in fact seemed just a bit smarter than her stubborn, flea-brained former mentor, but Swiftspirit could tell that the tom didn't much care for her. She hadn't much had the chance to interact with him before, and maybe she could change his opinion... Or maybe he'd turn out to be as miserable of a cat as Tawnyflare was. She supposed she would find out today, at least.

"Shrikestorm, was it?" Swiftspirit gave the warrior a nod and a friendly wave of her tail as she stepped through the camp entrance, then fell into step beside him as they walked.

Shrikestorm was not particularly happy about patrolling with Swiftspirit, but not in a way where he was specifically spiteful against the new warrior. WindClan had become so infested with bad blood that the purebloods like him were becoming scarcer. So it was a blanket disdain, nothing specific against Swiftspirit herself.

He nodded back to the new warrior as they met at the camp entrance, heading out into the territory. "Congratulations on becoming a warrior, Swiftspirit." It was humorous, in a way: they continued to patrol the borders, yet let any cat who wanted in past. It felt as if the borders were symbols only, and even then that was fading as is.

Swiftspirit knew full well that Shrikestorm was only giving her congratulations to keep up appearances. He wasn't thrilled at having her on this patrol at all, and she couldn't help but eye him curiously as they walked.

"You don't enjoy my presence, nor that of the other former outsiders, that much is obvious" She noted, "Why is that? I've never wronged you that I know of." She could certainly understand his dislike of Tawnyflare, not that Swiftspirit could blame anyone for their dislike of the miserable wretch. But if they were clanmates, she would like to squash whatever dislike the tom had of her.

"Though I do have to admit, even I was taken aback by how readily most of the clan accepted me. I expected more wariness, at the least, as a former outsider joining your ranks."

Well, it seemed that his distrust of outsiders was obvious enough that even fresh-faced warriors knew about it. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. On one paw, it was true, and he wasn't there to coddle foreigners who didn't belong in the clan. On the other, the last thing he needed was to push himself further out of the graces of leadership, and the few remaining purebloods the clan had left.

"It's true, you've never wronged me," he admitted, and it was true. It wasn't that he felt personally offended by something they had done. Not that every outsider came into the clan and assimilated in easily: that much was quite apparent. "We've learned these stories about our clans, and how we have unique characteristics that make us different than the other clans. Yet, if we're allowing outsiders in, it makes us less unique." At least Swiftspirit was aware enough of the truth. It reminded him of Nightwind, actually. Just without the undercurrent of trouble.

Swiftspirit listened as he spoke, and nodded. "Logical." She agreed, "I suppose I would be unhappy were our positions reversed, and my own family were to become a minority in a group that was being filled with outsiders."

"The blind acceptance some of our clanmates have is admirable. Terrifying in the practical sense, but I guess I have little room to complain about it." The last was said with a wry smirk. "Still, I can hardly hold your suspicions against you. I can't exactly demand that you start trusting me without actions that warrant that trust." Trust and loyalty weren't freely given, they had to be earned. Either Swiftspirit would earn Shrikestorm's trust, or she wouldn't, but that was up to him to decide.

It was quite the turn of events. Most of the clan seemed to be perfectly content with mixing together, almost never bringing it up. However, now Shrikestorm had spoken with two outsiders who were well aware of their situation. They were quite logical, but he supposed there was nothing inherently illogical about cats outside of the clans. They had to live in their own situations, ones that he would - hopefully - never know of.

"Admirable is one way to put it," he laughed, glancing at Swiftspirit. "The clan as a whole is quite... trusting. There are times and places for that." But not every time and place. That part didn't need to be said: they both knew it. "Trust is easily broken, not earned."

"True, true." Swiftspirit responded. "The clans are relatively isolated, compared to loners. You stick to one territory and defend what's yours, rather than roaming. Not entirely a bad thing when most rogues only care about their next meal. There's no trust or goodwill to be had in a life like that, it's everyone for themselves mostly. Not something any sane cat would willingly go back to." Swiftspirit had been lucky, she supposed. She'd had a family, and with them she had never wanted for anything. She'd never gone hungry or known the bitterness of a cold nest and being woken at every sound until she'd wound up alone. Being a part of a group meant she didn't have to experience that anymore, and Swiftspirit had no intention of going back to the loner life if she could help it.

"I'm sure going at it alone isn't any fun. Being out here is not an easy life. Only a kittypet would take soft comforts." If he had to be charitable, at least loners, rogues, and outsiders were better than lazy kittypets. It was a low bar to clear, sure, but they did clear it. "Our clan would not survive without us all working together. I'm sure you can understand my hesitation to trust those who I do not know the intentions of when they attempt to join our clan."

"There's a lot to be said for living in a cohesive group. Protection, knowing others will have your back and you have theirs. Not fighting over scraps of prey and a sheltered place to sleep." All of which she'd experienced those few moons on her own. "Different challenges of course, but generally you're better off than most. Except for a pampered kittypet of course, but who in their right mind would want that?" A derisive note crept into Swiftspirit's tone. She'd seen a few kittypets in her wanderings before joining Windclan, and they were all fat and lazy, with no drive to do anything but lay in the sun all day.

"Some like to pretend at being hunters, but more often then not their attempts at hunting are so botched that they just leave prey injured and suffering, and they don't even have the decency to eat what they catch, because they're full on those nasty pellets that twolegs give them." Swiftspirit shook her head, "I couldn't imagine living like that, if you can even call it living."