Unfamiliar Faces (o)

It had been one day since she joined Thunderclan. But it still felt so odd. She wasn't comfortable enough to sleep in a den, so she curled up in a warmer spot near the den instead.

She hadn't had a good sleep in awhile either- at least... a sleep she controlled.

Her eyes were still tired, dull, fur still matted, stomach still hungry, but... at least she was finally away from all that fish.

Now, Swanmist sat in the camp, eyes drifting over the cats. Some ignored her, some stared from a distance. But nobody seemed to want to talk, yet.

And she was okay with that.

The only cats that she wanted to talk to were her kits. She wasn't aware of where they were, maybe some were checking out the camp...

She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to hunt properly. Her movements were so much slower than they should've been. All because she didn't eat fish.

Maybe she was just being picky, making up fears so she didn't have to eat it... the only thing was, she liked the taste of fish, so why would she make up a fear to avoid it? Maybe she should've just forced it down. Maybe the threat of predators wasn't a good reason. Maybe she never should've come to Thunderclan.

Swanmist looked down at her paws, guilty. Did I make a bad decision?

Reedkit was starring curiously at the white she-cat. he had heard snips of news from the warriors but none had told him anything. "Hi! My name's Reedkit! What's yours? Why are you here? You look hungry, have a mouse!" He chirped in his usual way of greeting cats. he pushed a scrawny morsel to the white she-cat, looking at her with innocent and wide eyes.

Cherrycloud watched as one of her sister’s kits walked up to the RiverClan queen living with them. The she-cat looked oddly familiar, though Cherrycloud couldn’t remember where she had seen her. Reedkit had started to bombard the queen with questions, and Cherrycloud knew that the cat should rest. She did agree, though, that she should eat.

While walking over to her, Cherrycould remembered where she had met the RiverClan cat. She was at a gathering. She had still been an apprentice at the time and tried to talk to the she-cat, though it turned out she was mute. “You should eat. Raising kits is hard, and you need to keep up your strength,” She meowed to the white-furred cat. Prey was hard to find in this harsh leaf-bare, but she knew that she couldn’t turn away a starving queen. “I’m Cherrycloud, though you may remember me as Cherrypaw. We met at a gathering a while back.”

Appledapple was disgusted. Life had already been hard enough recently, and now these developments were threatening to completely take over her mind. First the kits, and now there were RiverClan cats in their camp. Stinking RiverClan cats who looked more like a pile of fur and bones than anything resembling an actual warrior. The apprentices at least looked fine, despite their awful heritage, but the queen herself was something else completely. A perfect scapegoat for the hatred that raged in the tortoiseshell warrior, for the memories of drowning, for the fear of conflict, for the built up terror and fury that resulted in her becoming a monster. But she was so busy, paws full with so many kits, that she had nothing to do but avoid the other "queen" and just go about her life.

That is, until one of the kits actually approached the she-cat.

Appledapple was as far from motherly as it was possible to be. Still, there was a snap to her step as she stood from the position where she lay, walking over as quickly as she could. Gray fire burned in her eyes, staring down at the dingy white piece of crowfood whose name she hadn't bothered to learn. "Don't talk to her, Reedkit," she meowed hurriedly, pushing the kit away somewhat gently with her paw. "RiverClan cats are dangerous." There was little active malice in her tone, but her gaze was furious enough for any to see the storm raging within. The warrior didn't touch the mouse that had been so needlessly kindly offered to the scrap of foul-smelling fur, but chose instead to usher her kit away. Cherrycloud, her sister, seemed to be interacting with the RiverClanner for reasons she couldn't fathom. Trying to get in her head maybe? Or just kissing up to a potential new acquaintance? Honestly, she didn't care. "Come back with me, Reedkit, and we'll get you something to eat." It was strange. This urge to... protect. She wasn't sure what to think of it. The kit wasn't even hers. Yet she wouldn't even leave a rogue kit to the mercy of such a grim spectre of doom.

Reedkit looked up at Appledapple. “Ok, Mama!” He chirped, scurrying away. He was the happiest kit alive, as all the small Tom ever wanted was his mother’s approval. But was the Riverclan cat really dangerous? That skinny scrap of fur and bone? Maybe it was an act. He convinced himself that his mother was right. After all, why would she ever lie?

Swanmist was... Startled, When the kit approached her. Her big ears perked up. The frown on her muzzle becoming a small smile. Her eyes looked down to the mouse.

Reedkit, wasn't that his name? He had been so happy, very carefree. Even if he was just a kit, he didn't seem bothered by her appearance. She was a stranger, but this kit didn't even care.

She prodded the mouse with her paw. What if it was poisoned? Would they do that to her? Would they make a kit do it to her?

She lifted her head again, quickly, when another cat approached. An orange cat. She squinted her eyes, something.... seemed familiar...? She should eat, she agreed that much. Glancing at the mouse again, but looking back to the oh-so familiar cat, she was finally told her name. Ears perking in recognition. Her tail waved in hello. Cherrypaw... Cherrycloud, now, hello, it's been awhile... She thought, though she knew her thoughts couldn't ever be heard.

Just as she had the motivation to eat, a not-so friendly voice spoke up. Another warrior, or queen, is that her kit? She stared at the cat, meeting her unfriendly gaze. The colourful warrior told the kit she was dangerous, but Swanmist couldn't even figure out how she could possibly dangerous. She lifted her paw, staring at it, unsheathing her claws and sheathing it again.

Reedkit believed the warrior.

Of course he did.

She looked back at Cherrycloud. Her smile had disappeared into a frown. Her ears had lowered. The other warrior's words hurt. Well, maybe they'd get used to her... hopefully.

She tightened her tail around her paws. Oh, she was so hungry, who cared if one warrior spoke of her as if she was from the deepest parts of the dark forest. She started eating the mouse. It's small, but better than nothing, hunger can really make the scrawniest of mice taste like food from Starclan..