We are the reckless, we are the wild youth [c]

Flutterpaw's heart was light as a feather as he ran through WindClan territory. Though he'd gotten quite a few friends in his own Clan, this would be his first time meeting with another friend somewhere other than Fourtrees. There was not a single thought in his head that this may break the Code in some fashion. What could possibly be wrong with a friendly conversation? Instead, a quiet happiness trailed almost visibly behind him. Given the still-small ranks of WindClan, it hadn't been hard to find a time to traverse the territory on his own. He was one of the oldest apprentices still in the den, so he was trusted enough to go hunt. And as long as he brought back a rabbit or two on his return to camp... well, he wouldn't have been lying at all! And that would be perfect.

The reason for his speed was not only because he enjoyed the feeling of the wind in his fur. He was also running just a tad late. He'd stopped by the flower field on his way, in order to pick out another gift for his new friend. Yarrowblossom had loved the flower last time, so Flutterpaw decided he would bring another flower. But he couldn't just bring the same one! It had taken an embarrassingly long time to find the perfect flower. Eventually, though, he'd found it. A small bunch of soft yellow celandine flowers were held gently in his mouth as he neared the border between WindClan and RiverClan. They had promised to meet at sundown... the sun had nearly disappeared behind the distant hills, but hopefully he was only a minute or two late.

Sure enough, there was the unmistakably tall form of Yarrowblossom, just across the narrowest gap in the scarily deep Gorge. The grin on Flutterpaw's face was so wide he almost dropped the gift he'd spent so much time selecting. Instead, he trotted over and carefully lay the yellow flowers down before greeting his friend. "Hello, Yarrowblossom!" he said happily, green eyes reflecting the distantly pink light of the setting sun. "Nice to see you again! Hope I'm not too late. Brought you some flowers, but..." His grin faded slightly to a thoughtful expression as he considered the small line of the Gorge between them. "...Guess I didn't think about that, actually. How do I give these to you?"

Flutterpaw's brow furrowed as he looked down at the Gorge. Though this was the narrowest part, it was still deep enough that a fluffy apprentice could slip through the crack and fall far down to the raging waters below. It was enough to send a chill down the friendly tom's spine. He had promised Whisperear that he'd be careful. And yet... if he were to toss the celandine flowers, it was just as likely that his carefully selected gift would go floating down to the inescapable current instead. There was only one option... "WindClan cats are fast. I'll jump," he said determinedly, his green eyes narrowing slightly. He bent down to hold the flowers in his mouth again, then backed up carefully, eyeing the distance he would have to leap. That's nothing, Flutterpaw. You've jumped across hills deeper than that, right? Just pretend you're a rabbit. He took a deep breath... then, before he could second-guess himself, ran forward and jumped.

He was weightless for a moment, flying through the air, streaming forward as gracefully as a short little black cat could. Then-- he landed. Far beyond the border. He'd over-estimated the distance, if anything. I made it! Relieved, a smile returned to his face, and he walked a few pawsteps over to where Yarrowblossom stood. Though the tom was taller than him, he was a lot more anxious. It was probably better that Flutterpaw had jumped. With a soft grin, he put all but one of the flowers down by his friend's paws, and then carefully tucked one into his chest fur. He would have put it by the tom's ear, like he so often did for Adderpaw, except that Yarrowblossom was far too tall for him to reach. "There you go! I made it just fine!" he said happily. Not a thought of danger at crossing the border went through his mind.

Flutterpaw's ears twitched a little guiltily as he recognized how anxious Yarrowblossom had been. That hadn't been what he wanted at all... he just wanted to give some flowers to his friend. There hadn't been any other way! He would have been so sad if the flowers slowly drifted down to the rapids, only to never be seen again. Still... what would Adderpaw think of him pulling such a stunt? "Sorry," he murmured, green eyes downcast for a moment. He hadn't been a good friend. "I wish th'border wasn't so dangerous... but next time I bring flowers, I'll try and think of a different way to get 'em across."

At the tom's praise, however, warmth returned to Flutterpaw's gaze. He looked up with a smile. "Well, it comes from runnin' so fast," he said a little bashfully. Glancing at Yarrowblossom's form... "With some training, I'm sure you could run fast too. You've got th'legs for it!" Didn't all cats like to run? Or was swimming to RiverClan what running was to WindClan? Flutterpaw simply couldn't comprehend that not everyone would be as enamored of the breeze rustling through the grass at high speeds. It was simply one of the most beautiful things in the world to run. He blinked slowly at his friend, then stepped a few paces away. "See, when y'run, you need to be moving carefully. When you're walking, you don't have to worry so much about your paws. They can move in whatever order they want, s'long as you're moving forward. But when you're running, they need to be in sync; front paws down hard with a jump, back paws propelling you forward together. It's a kinda rhythm." As he spoke, he demonstrated-- first walking with paws moving on their own, then running for a few paces. When he ran, the fluffy black tom seemed sleek, streamlined. His front paws hit the ground at the exact same time, then his back paws. In each stride, there was a moment when all paws were off the ground, and he seemed to leap like a bird would. Then he stopped, trotting back over to his friend, a little bit shy. He'd never talked to a RiverClan cat about running before. "Does... does that make sense?"