Falcons and Roses [C]

Falconpaw kept true to his namesake and easily traversed through the trees on his patrol. He hadn't meant to, but he left most of his patrol behind, especially those who insisted on staying on the ground. He was a natural through the trees; A true Skyclan prodigy. The only thing he was lacking was his ability to stay focused when he was alone. His mind wandered, as it often did, to a dream he had just the night before. Ever since he dreamed about Shrikestar before seeing the Windclan leader first, Falconpaw paid more attention to his dreams. He replayed it once more in his head, trying to understand why he kept having these images.

A large oak marked the border between Thunderclan and Skyclan, he knew... so why he and another apprentice from Thunderclan been so calm about meeting him there? Her honey-brown eyes had captivated him, and apparently she had quite the little crush on him as well. There was a thrill of excitement when she seemed willing to take him somewhere over the border and deeper into Thunderclan territory. Falconpaw followed her in, climbed a tree and set his eyes on what he could of the other clan's territory. She climbed up with him as he encouraged her gently to follow. He brushed his tail against her's on purpose, but he could tell in his dream that he tried to make it look like an accident to get her flustered. She was so cute!

A name suddenly appeared in his head, a name for this apprentice. Her name was...

Falconpaw suddenly spotted movement in the territory below. He halted his own movement on a branch, high up above. Clearing the memory of the dream in his head, his eyes spotted an apprentice aged she-cat that he didn't recognize. The tom hesitated. He knew he was supposed to defend the territory but... what if she just didn't realize she crossed? Apprentices were still learning after all. He'd rather just warn her to turn around rather than actually hurt her. Falconpaw had always had trouble fighting with she-cats. It didn't seem right to hurt them. Even his sisters he allowed to beat him in spars frequently. It was his brother Sunpaw he had no qualms pummeling when they played.

"Excuse me, you're on Skyclan territory. Are you lost? Do you have business here?" His tone was kind... and a bit hushed hoping he wouldn't alert a patrol to her presence. It was just one she-cat and an apprentice at that. He could handle this on his own. He hopped down to a lower branch so they could talk easier, but he wasn't about to come to the ground just yet.

She smelled like... Thunderclan.

Falconpaw stared at her reaction to his voice for a moment before snorting and stifling a laugh. He hadn't meant to scare her but it was still funny. He walked out to the very edge of the limb and allowed his weight to gently bend the branch downward so that he could get a bit closer to her.

"Well, I mean you are trespassing. But you're only an apprentice like me. Hardly an invasion force." He lie down across the end of the branch and stretched himself out along it. "So if you're not lost, then you must know where you are. By the code I should chase you out of here... but you know I don't really want to. The code doesn't say to chase you out right away, so if we talk for a minute I guess I'm not really breaking any rules am I?"

He wrapped his tail around the branch as much as he could to keep it from twitching with excitement. Talking to a cat one on one was much better than at a gathering. Gatherings tended to get so messy and noisy and chaotic. Not to mention the leaders always interrupted anyway.

"I'm Falconpaw."

Falconpaw couldn't help but enjoy watching her. She struggled with something... something just beneath the surface of her expression. She began to groom too, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of... accomplishment? He kept his expression friendly and managed to prevent himself form looking too smug. He didn't think she'd like that. She calmed down enough to relent to a quick chat, as she called it. Perfect. Falconpaw slid smoothly and slowly off of his tree branch to the ground, his paws hitting the forest floor with a soft thump.

"Rosepaw?" And suddenly... his expression changed. Rosepaw... that was the name of the she-cat in my dream! The memory came back in a rush. He stared at her for a moment, but he didn't need to stare long to know that the Rosepaw in his dream didn't look like this Rosepaw at all. Still... the unmistakable smell of Thunderclan was in his dream... and on this she-cat too. He already dreamed about Shrikestar before seeing him...

Was it this cat he dreamed of and he was just misremembering? After a moment, the rest of what she said finally registered in his brain and he snapped out of it. Maybe he should get to know this cat... Maybe this was the beginning to figuring his dreams out. What had happened next in his dream? ... Right... she took him to Thunderclan territory. Was that what he needed to do?

Starclan if this is your doing I'd appreciate it if you were straight-forward with me. He didn't expect any answers, and he got none anyway.

"Rosepaw is a great name for a she-cat. It suits you. You're as pretty as a rose... but I bet you have thorns too. You're not as dainty as you look. Am I right? I imagine you fight well." He would do his best to get her to like him. Only after she accepted him would he try to cross the border.

Dear stars... he must be out of his mind... He swished his long, gold and white feathery tail gently back and forth as his excitement grew. Thinking about breaking the code should not be this appealing! Yet it was. The possibility of getting another cat to break the code too just made it more challenging... more exciting.

The lack of sleep is getting to me. I'm going nuts.

Falconpaw watched with an almost sinister satisfaction that she reacted the way he thought she would. She had an ego. He could use that. He nodded as she talked, his expression suggesting that he wholeheartedly agreed. Then she turned her attention back to him once she felt fluffed up enough.

"Well," He began slowly, like he had to think about it for a moment. "Cats do die falling out of trees sometimes. So yeah... I guess so. I haven't fallen yet though."

He pondered for just a moment on how he could move this forward. He racked his brain to remember how his dream went. It wasn't exactly like this meeting, but maybe the little details weren't all that important. Maybe he only needed to cross into Thunderclan and bring her up a tree with him. Was something supposed to happen? That was more or less where his dream ended.

"Maybe that's why Thunderclan cats don't climb trees. Maybe they're afraid of falling." He made a face like he suddenly realized something and focused his full attention back on Rosepaw. "Then again... Thunderclan cats don't usually cross borders... and here you are. Hmm..."

He'd see where that lead. He had to let her think that this was her idea completely. Someone with an ego wouldn't be pleased to be bossed around, even though that wasn't what he was trying to do at all.

Falconpaw was, quite frankly, impressed with himself. He had successfully... what's the word? Manipulated? No no... persuaded a cat to do what he wanted. It was okay if they both mutually benefitted, right? She wasn't hurt, she was having fun. Truth be told, so was Falconpaw. She ran over to a tree and put her claws on it, and while she was turned away, he allowed himself a half smile, proud of what he'd done.

He cleared his expression and went back to acting. This was going so smoothly... Hopefully nothing would happen to ruin it.

"Rosepaw, I don't mind showing you how to climb trees but..." He fidgeted a little, like he was nervous. Actually... this part wasn't an act. If this didn't work then this was all for nothing.

"If you climb a tree here, my clan might see you and I really don't want to get into trouble. But if we went to Thunderclan's territory, just a little bit over the border, you have trees that I can show you how to climb! I'm not exactly... brave enough to cross Thunderclan's borders without permission though. So I'd like to ask you..." He approached her now, his eyes soft, his tail low and his ears airplaned out on either side of his head.

"Can I have you escort me to Thunderclan's territory? Just a little bit passed the border? That way I'm not trespassing and I can show you how to climb." His tail curled to the inside of one of his hind legs and he averted his eyes. Now was the moment of truth... hopefully he played his cards right.