Were we just dumb kids? [c]

Bearspirit's puncture wounds had healed nicely, though he'd been more than cooperative for the medicine cats. He still had cobwebs on his ribs, but he'd been given the okay to hunt prey again, so he was out of the den that morning. He made a beeline for the flower fields, hoping to find some sort of peace there. Most of the flowers had died, leaving only the hardiest blossoms that could endure greenleaf. However, they soon would die and give way to the new season of leaf-fall that was approaching. Bearspirit stalked among blossoms of yellow and purple, eyeing hares and rabbits that seemed to be plentiful in Windclan territory. He bolted toward a rabbit once he had gotten close enough. One powerful swipe of his paws and the rabbit was dispatched immediately, likely from the sheer force on it's head alone.

Bearspirit had grown into his body finally, with thick, rippling legs, an equally thick neck and solid, muscular body. Even his head and snout seemed broad. He no longer looked like a goofy teen tom... finally. He had taken quite awhile to fill in, longer than most toms, but now he was quite a bit thicker than most. But it hardly mattered to him now. The marbled tom picked the rabbit up by the head and buried it, making note of where to find it again later. He hadn't been able to take much interest in the Riverclan she-cats, at least not in the same way that he had taken an interest in Swiftspirit. He shook his head as if trying to get flies out of his face.

She was a Windclan cat. He needed to get that through his head and move on before someone got hurt. It was likely to be him. He had avoided her a lot lately after the battle between Windclan and Skyclan. He had done little more than be civil, with a greeting nod in passing and a quick word here and there. It pained him far more than he let on. It was worse that he remained in Windclan territory, her home, yet still put his best efforts into avoiding her.

With a heavy sigh, Bearspirit stalked through the flowers once more searching for something to bring back to the fresh-kill pile.

Bearspirit attempted to hunt a rabbit. He was Successful!

-3SP

Dice

The member 'Tara' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Swiftspirit had split from her patrol, following the scent of rabbit towards the flower fields. It was late greenleaf and the heat was enough to make even her wilt a bit, but the clan needed to be fed and maybe she still liked spending time around the fields, too.

Another scent joined that of the rabbit she'd been tracked, and Swiftspirit paused, gaze sweeping over the rolling fields. She'd grown used to seeing Riverclan hunting in Windclan's territory with their current dog problem not seeming to let up in the slightest. She shouldn't have been happy about their presence on Windclan territory, she knew, and she wasn't, really. Leaf-fall would come soon enough, and then leafbare, and the moor could only sustain so many cats. Windclan, while they were allies for the moment, had to look after themselves first.

Not that it had stopped her from being friends with some of them... Or really just one of them. A smile crossed her face as Bearspirit's paws stopped the rabbit in its tracks. "Nice catch!" He'd been avoiding her recently, and Swiftspirit had to remind herself that he wasn't Windclan. He wasn't obligated to spend time with her beyond a curt greeting.

The sight of a hare was a welcome distraction from her thoughts, and the warrior forced her attention away from the marbled tom as he stalked off, likely in search of his own prey. They were hunting, not out here to spend time together. Swiftspirit darted after the hare, long legs effortlessly closing the gap between her and the prey. A quick nip to the throat, and she turned to bury it, watching Bearspirit not far off. There were cobwebs plastered across his side from some injury, but he seemed to be moving well enough. He didn't seem particularly cheerful, though.

"Are you alright, Bearspirit?" It was friendly concern, nothing more. If she told herself that enough it would be true, right?

Swiftspirit attempted to catch a hare for -3 sp. Catch was successful!
137 / 140 sp

The member 'kjSage' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Of course, her voice rang out in the air and made him tense. A part of him felt a thrill of emotions to hear her voice and to see her on the moor with him. The other part reminded him how guilty he ought to feel about focusing all of his attention on protecting one Windclanner and not his own clan. His ears folded back and he looked away from her, feeling his face burn. "Thanks, you too." He said quickly after she caught her hare. Bearspirit loathed to do it, but he began to take big steps away from her until she spoke to him.

He stopped, suddenly feeling like his legs were made of lead. His tail tip twitched and his eyes stared at the ground below him. "I've been better, but that's not any of Windclan's concern." He spoke and immediately regretted it. He sounded far more snippy than he meant to. His eyes went back to her, apology obvious for just a moment before he blinked it away. He shook his head and continued to walk. A bird exploded from the grass in front of him and he instinctively leaped up to catch it. His claws slipped through feathers but made no real contact or hook into anything meaningful. The bird fluttered away and into the sky.

Bearspirit landed back down with a huff. Why did he have to be in this situation? Should he at least tell her why he was acting like this? Would it seem stupid to her? I shouldn't care if it seems stupid to her, He thought at first, but then another wave of painful guilt engulfed him. But I do. He admitted to himself quietly. With a sigh, he once again looked at her, a story of pain and confusion clear on his face.

"I just... you confuse me is all. I have a hard time being near you. I can't think straight and I can't really perform my duties as I should." He nodded to the bird as it shrank further into the blue sky. Clearly that had been her fault. "So I'm sorry I haven't been saying much. You're not good for me." And boy did that feel like a kick in the chest to say.

Bearspirit attempted to catch a bird, he was Unsuccessful!

-3SP

The member 'Tara' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

Swiftspirit's eyes narrowed at the snippy reply. Someone was in a mood, clearly. Considering that they were allowing Riverclan to hunt on their territory while theirs had been overrun by twolegs and dogs, it was only natural, to a point. Bearspirit had never acted like this before though, especially not around her, and Swiftspirit could admit to being taken aback by his tone.

"Don't sound so cheerful, someone might think you can't stand being around Windclanners." She replied, tone light and unbothered. "I know we don't smell of fish but I don't think we're that bad, honestly." She continued, deliberately being snarky. Someone had to offset that irritableness somehow.

His next words however made her pelt prickle, indignation flaring in her chest. "I know there's no possible way you could be blaming me for-" Her tone had grown sharp, and Swiftspirit stopped herself, movement catching her peripheral vision. She turned, chasing down the prey and sinking her fangs into the hare's throat. Her movements might have been a bit more forceful than strictly necessary, but it was better than snapping at Bearspirit and saying something she would regret. For some reason his words bothered her, far more than if they were to have been said by anyone else. He couldn't think straight around her? What harebrained nonsense. Such a thing wasn't possible, and she definitely didn't feel similar at all. At all. Really. They only saw each other as friends. There was nothing wrong with being friends. Good friends, even. Maybe Bearspirit wasn't the only harebrained one here.

She turned to face him, hare dangling from her jaws as she stared at him, considering a response.

With a huff, Swiftspirit set the hare down before she spoke again. "Bearspirit, we're friends, Bearspirit, but I'm not going to sit here and listen to you deflect blame onto me for foxdung like that." She sighed. Something was bothering him, and Swiftspirit refused to believe it was only his feelings about her. "Though I suppose you aren't the only one confused. I can't be the only thing ruffling your feathers, right?" She refused to believe that this attitude of his was just because of him being distracted by her. It simply wasn't possible.

Bearspirit may have been able to joke around at one point or even find her quips funny. He knew she wasn't trying to be harmful, at least not at first, but his shoulders stiffened and his ears flattened back against his head. Smell like fish... It was a bitter thought, as that had been a insecurity of his when they first met. He wasn't going to comment on it, not wanting to stoke the fire anymore than it already had been.

"Bearspirit, we're friends,"

His peridot green eyes lowered to the dirt, some of the inner wounds showing in them for just a moment. He had been about to turn around and leave right then and there, until she admitted that he wasn't the only one confused. Even if he may have misinterpreted it, she now had his attention. To her question he hesitated before he shook his head.

"No, not really." Though he certainly could have blamed it on the fact that the black dog attacked him at Sunnringrocks and got away again, he wasn't interested in addressing that. Furthermore, the "hero" he'd been told about and the whole reason he even found the clans to begin with had turned out to be a monster of the worst type had bothered him too. But no... no this wasn't the time to get into that. Especially not when Swiftspirit was someone he saw every day and the black dog and Dawnhawk could certainly wait.

"I didn't really want to acknowledge it either, but when I saw how injured you got in that battle I could only focus on protecting you. I didn't even give much of a thought to helping my clanmates. I don't know why Ivystar didn't punish me. I would have been furious. I have a feeling that if Mountainheart hadn't completely betrayed us she would have been more angry with me. The worst part is, I don't think I care. Even now."

He sat down and whipped his tail around his paws so fast it made a whoosh and a slapping noise against his forelegs. The tip of it twitched furiously and his claws absent-mindedly kneaded the dirt.

"So... do you really just... think of me as a friend? I know we... I know we can't but... I just need to know." He thought he knew the answer to that, but asking it out loud he suddenly didn't want to know the answer. Combat came as natural to him as it did to the most battle-hardened clan cats... but emotions and trying to tactfully talk about them? A mystery, to say the least.

Bearspirit began to talk, and Swiftspirit found she couldn't seem to sit still. Nervous energy crackled along her pelt like lightning, and the pointed warrior began to pace back and forth, tail tip flicking from side to side. An ear remained swiveled in Bearspirit's direction as he talked.

"Thanks for that, by the way." She responded. "As much as I despised being cooped up in Smallbean's den, I prefer that to the alternative. I should've been paying more attention, really." She was going to ignore that last sentence of his. She was going to ignore the warmth spreading through her fur that had absolutely nothing to do with the late greenleaf sun overhead. Acknowledging that wasn't a good idea, at all. Logically she knew this. "I was half-expecting Smallbean or Lilacstar to comment on that display, nobody has. Doesn't stop me from thinking about it." And here she was, thinking about it, again. Something she really shouldn't be doing. Bearspirit was just. a. friend.

Eventually the thought would hold true... She hoped. For their sanity.

Naturally Bearspirit had to ask. Of course he would. "Who, me?" Swiftspirit scoffed, "That would be harebrained for both of us, wouldn't it? About as harebrained as meeting at fourtrees, which we've never done on purpose before, ever." Sarcasm was better than admitting it outright, wasn't it? A glance risked in Bearspirit's direction revealed a twitching tail and claws kneading the ground. She could sympathize, her pacing back and forth not slowing.

"Maybe some of our more traditional clanmates are right, we outsiders have no common sense." She'd always made it a point to be logical, to be the reasonable one... To prove herself just as competent and loyal as anyone else in the clan. And this very much wasn't. "I know we shouldn't and I'm... not sure I care, either." She huffed out after a moment, paws coming to a stop as she glanced towards Bearspirit again.

Thanks? Did she feel the need to thank him for that? He supposed she could, but he never gave it much thought. "It felt like the right thing to do." He said, unsure of how to accept a thank you. Does one "accept" a thank you? Anyway... there were more pressing matters here. She both answered his question and didn't. Maybe she did like him but just wasn't ready to talk about it. Maybe she didn't like him and just didn't want to hurt his feelings. It was on the tip of his tongue to press the issue and ask again, but in the end, he let it die in his throat and looked away.

"I suppose we have to put our clans first." A confusing answer met with a confusing answer. This wasn't the right time for this. He could accept that, as much as it pained him to be left wondering. He was certainly ready for a subject change, regretting that he ever even brought it up.

"Well hopefully the twolegs and dogs will be gone soon. I miss the river. I miss swimming. I actually miss fish." He watched a rabbit come out of it's burrow, notice the cats, then slowly retreat back in, clearly hoping it wasn't seen. It made Bearspirit chuckle. The distraction was welcome. He needed something to break the tension in the air.

"Rabbits and hares are fine and all, but they're a bit... dry."

"Putting our clans first would be the sensible thing to do, wouldn't it?" She asked, knowing full well the answer to that question. And yet... "Why does that bother me, Bearspirit?" A flicker of frustration crossed her expression as Swiftspirit resumed back and forth. Was Murkpaw watching this from starclan, laughing at her? Was he disgusted by the outsider that had weaseled her way into his beloved clan?

Bearspirit spoke again, and her lips curled at the mention of the dogs and their masters. "So many dogs... Hopefully they leave sooner rather than later." Hopefully the twolegs weren't considering looking at the moors or other territory, though with twolegs it was impossible to tell. They were strange beings and trying to figure out what they were going to do was generally headache-inducing. There was nothing she or anyone else could really do about it though, as frustrating as that fact was.

She watched the rabbit peek out of the burrow then... Immediately seem to think better of it. Her whiskers twitched in amusement. "That one's lucky I'm not hungry... And don't care for tunneling."