A Visitor (Closed for Tara)

Waterlily walked out of camp when dawn started to approach.  She was up earlier than most cats in her clan, as the sun had just barely began to rise.  She had been restless, too much had been on her mind.  Her sister, the only family besides her kits she had, was now gone.  Waterlily knew that Shrikesong had died honorably and that she would most likely see her in Starclan when her own time came, but that didn't make it any easier.  So, she had tossed and turned much of the night until she just gave up.

The she-cat decided that she might as well make herself useful.  With the darkness of night, it would probably be easier for her to hunt without the prey spotting her too quickly.  By the time the sky began to light up a little more from the sun, she had already caught a squirrel and bird.  The warrior thought that she had time for a couple more catches.  No one was waiting on her to go back.  No one needed her for anything today.  Her kits were all grown up enough tp take care of themselves now.  She liked going out on her own from time to time, but it had been quite a while before she allowed herself to.  Now she was only accompanied by the song of bugs which seemed to never want to end.

Waterlily saw a fluffy bunny nibbling on some greens.   She carefully walked up to it.  A young tree's branch brushed against her and the rabbit looked over at her, completely shocked by her presence.  It starting hopping away, but she wouldn't let it.  She chased after it, still making quick and quiet movements so that she didn't alert a predator.

She had it almost in her grasp when she heard something through that bushes.  She went to go examine it.  She was betting it was a predator.  Maybe a fox or something.  But whatever creature it was, she wanted to sneak up on it and attack, so they wouldn't know that she was coming.  She got into a fighting stance and crawled through the bushes, ready to attack.

When she got through, she was surprised by what she saw.  It seemed to be just a cat, one who she was not familiar with.  He was golden and white, with a couple scars, but less than some other cats.  Since she had no idea who this cat was, she was guessing he was a rogue.  She was never one to attack a rogue, because she had seen with her own eyes how hard there life can be and that memory never truly faded.  "Sorry," she said.  "I thought that you weren't a cat for a minute.  I couldn't see you through the bush all that well."  She understood that was a weak apology, but she wanted to let him no in some way that she wasn't going to attack him like she might have seemed to be trying to do at the start.  "Anyway, I'm Waterlily.  Who are you?"

Klaus had been in Thunderclan territory before, but that seemed so long ago. He had been Dawnpaw then, tricking other Thunderclan apprentices into breaking the warrior code. That was how he'd gotten his thrills back then... such an innocent thing he used to be. Now his thrills consisted of murder and deceit. He had forgone both of those for now, as it hadn't been that long since he found out that he was responsible for the death of one of the few family members that he still liked. He'd left Skyclan territory and now wandered through Thunderclan. The territory was similar to Skyclan's, but the trees were more leafy and less needle-y.

A rabbit scent trail caught his attention. Feeling particularly... reckless... Klaus stalked after it. He needed some sort of distraction. He knew he could run into a Thunderclan patrol, specifically Shrikesong, but he also believed that even after the fight at Fourtrees he could charm his way out of most situations. He supposed he would test it, if it came down to it.

The rabbit suddenly seemed to explode into existence from the brush, making him jump. He would have gone after it if it weren't for the flash of black in the corner of his eye. Klaus focused immediately on that... but what he saw wasn't a warrior he recognized at all. A quick inhale through the nose and a parting of his jaw told him that she was by herself.

Hmmmm... His fur stayed flat and his expression remained neutral. She seemed friendly enough... especially towards a rogue on her territory. Were all clans except Skyclan so welcoming of outsiders? Would Thunderclan be the next clan to make the mistake of accepting him?

"No problem. You scared me, but I am far happier to see another cat than a badger or a fox." His tone was smooth and his words flowed like silk. Waterlily... no he definitely didn't know this one. Perfect.

"I'm Klaus. Sorry for trespassing. I got caught up in tracking that rabbit. I suppose you're a warrior of Thunderclan?" How much would she believe, the longer he kept this up? He was curious to see. "Would it be okay if I asked you some questions?"

She had already guessed that this was a rogue and not a trespassing clan cat, but she was glad to see that her guess was accurate when the other cat told her his name.  Klaus was an interesting name choice, but all rogues had some strange names.  It was no worse that her old name of Reign.

"I am," she responded to his first question.

When he asked if he could ask a few questions, Waterlily thought about this for a moment.  He didn't seem like a violent rogue or he would have tried to attack her by then.  She didn't think that she had too much to hide, nothing in her life was particularly against the rules or even very interesting she thought.  She didn't think that Thunderclan had too much to hide either.  But in any case, she could just find a way to go around the questions if it was anything she didn't want to or didn't think she should answer.  She was still a little on guard, but she sat down and placed her tail over her paws. She shrugged.  Finally, she said, "Ask away, I don't mind."

He noted the tension in her body, even as she sat. In turn, he reclined onto his haunches as well, hoping to calm her down some. Though he looked calm and was sitting, he was ready to spring into action at the first sign of any trouble. He noted her mismatched eyes as well, staring at them curiously before he spoke.

"Thunderclan had some trouble with a group of rogues at one point, from what I understand? I heard it from some of the other rogues around twoleg place. What is Thunderclan's stance on accepting outsiders at this point?" He neither sounded hopeful, nor disinterested. This was simply something he wanted to have in the back of his mind, should he have enough of loner life or... the Dark forbid, something should happen to Tarot. He rather liked the strange tom, and wouldn't be happy to lose him.

When he sat down she began to relax a little more.  She was still ready in case he unexpectedly tried to fight her.  Waterlily noticed the curious stare at her eyes.  The mismatched eyes normally drew some sort of attention from others, but it hadn't in some time because most everyone in the clan was aware that she had them.

She looked away for a moment, but looked back as he started to speak.  "You must be talking about the Asylum," she said when he mentioned the rogues.  That seemed like forever ago to her.  She barely remembered them.  All she could really remember was that they wore other animals pelts, which was really weird, and that one tried to hurt her while she was still a kit.

"I'm pretty sure Minkstar is really pretty accepting of outsiders," she answered.  Waterlily tilted her head slightly.  "Why do you ask?"  She thought that Klaus might have asked because he was thinking of joining, but she didn't know for certain.

"Asylum?" He asked, tilting his head to one side as if genuinely not knowing what the word was. He looked to the sky for a moment and pretended to think before he brought his eyes back to her's and nodded once. "That may have been them." So far she didn't know who she was, and he didn't believe she was just acting like she didn't. What did Thunderclan know of him anyway? He had done little to them aside from talk to a few members of theirs, one he knew for sure was dead.

"I'm getting a little tired of lone life, but the more I hear about you clan cats the more interested I become. I'm not entirely certain which clan I'd like to join, or which ones would be happy to take me. Would you mind sharing what information you know about the others?"

He had no doubt that someone in Thunderclan would recognize him, even if he was only a faint memory for most of them at gatherings. He'd never made a scene at gatherings and mostly kept to himself. He never really did make himself that memorable, even before he became Klaus.

Waterlily thought for a moment.  "I don't know too much about the other clans, but I'll try."  She paused, trying to gather together her thoughts.  "Windclan"s leader, Daystar, from what I hear is pretty accepting of rogues last time I heard.  The Riverclan leader isn't as willing to accept loners, but they have in the past I'm pretty sure.  The territory there is nice too I think, but twolegs and barking is heard if you go too close to the river.  Shadowclan is really excepting of outsiders, Flintstar actually took in a few prior Asylum cats, but it's really wet and muddy there.  Skyclan I think is the least accepting of any of them, I don't think they except any adult loners.  She made a sympathetic face when she finished talking about Skyclan.

She never truly knew why they did not except outsiders, but Skyclan had become a clan that she very much disliked after they had a war against Windclan just because a cat, who she heard was called Dawnhawk, was staying there.  She did not know exactly who Dawnhawk was, but she had heard about him at the gathering and heard about some of the horrible things he did.  Still, she disliked how Skyclan acted and wondered what they were thinking.  Although, she did know that she should not judge them too much.  Skyclan was not her clan, maybe if she was in their circumstance, she would have made a similar decision.

Klaus's ears perked up at the mention of Daystar. Well... he definitely had no home in Windclan anymore now. It made him wonder what exactly happened to Lilacstar, though he could guess that she stepped down shortly after the Skyclan battle. He'd warned her and she hadn't listened. She deserved it. He nodded at the rest of it, making a note about Shadowclan being a possibility in the future once things began to quiet down. Moonshine was there too after all... though he doubted she'd do much vouching for him at this point. He'd only been honest with her... his biggest mistake. Yet he continued to try to stay honest for the most part. Maybe one day he'd learn to lie more.

"I see. Well I'll be avoiding Skyclan and Riverclan I suppose. Not everyone can be accepting of outsiders. It would be nice to be given the chance, but I understand the caution too." He shrugged, though he feigned a disappointed look. Another thought flashed through his mind... he'd tried to woo two Thunderclan cats before. Rosepaw was the first, and he definitely had her by the whiskers with how much she'd liked him. They were both apprentices at the time. Then he spoke with Shrikesong... and until the battle with the Asylum at Fourtrees he was fairly convinced he had her swooning too.

So what about this one? It wasn't uncommon for Klaus to entertain himself between Skyclan-destroying schemes with side projects. If it resulting in nothing more than a "ha-ha" to Thunderclan leadership and Shrikesong.... well... it was worth it. He straightened himself up and curled his long, fluffy tail around himself.

"Well, thank you for the information, Waterlily. You've been very kind and helpful." He gave her a small, grateful smile, but he added in a bit of sneaky charm in the sparkle of his eyes. It was enough to be noticed, but not enough for Waterlily to be entirely sure of what she saw, hopefully. He only intended to get her to think about it, question it, then make her own decisions about whether or not she hoped that it was the case that he'd been trying to subtly charm her. Before she would be able to read too much into it, Klaus got up from his sitting position and looked back to the edges of the border.

"I probably should go. I don't want you in trouble with your clan for being too friendly with an outsider, even if Minkstar is accepting of them." He looked over his shoulder at her and swished his tail low and slow behind him. "I might be back a bit later... would you be willing to look for me again in the future? I promise not to hunt anymore rabbits on Thunderclan territory." He grinned at her, a slight twinkle of mischief in his eyes. This was a new strategy for him that he hoped would prove effective. Make them wonder if he was interested, then leave them alone to their own thoughts on whether or not it was something that they desired. He'd be back in a few days for her... and maybe he could convince her to leave Thunderclan territory for just a little while.

She nodded to his first response about Skyclan and Riverclan.  She wished each clan could be accepting of outsiders and know that many of them were good cats who just wanted to have a great life in the clans.  Still, she knew that they must have reason why not to.  Especially after the Asylum, the reason for why could go up if the clan was scared that it could happen again.

"My pleasure," she replied when he thanked her.  A small smile crept upon her face.  He gave her this look... one that she could not really read.  It almost seemed like... No not like that she told herself.  Her eyes drifted to the ground for a minute, for some reason she did not feel like looking him in the eyes just then.  But, that all happened in a quick flash of time.  After, she got herself together and continued looking how she normally did through the whole conversation, just with a kind smile because he thanked her.

"I will," she responded to his question of looking for him in the future.  No matter if what she thought about what she saw was true, she would be happy to just even have a friend who was a rogue.  Despite not loving her old rogue life, it still was a part of her and she still wanted to know about it.  "I'll try to find you again."