Curly Q's [Curlyfluff]

Darkspirit was now on his 2nd dawn patrol, this time with Curlyfluff. He knew almost nothing about this tom, but it was his own fault. Darkspirit had been a ghost, much like his namesake, and had avoided his clan for almost his entire life. Obviously that had to change now that he was deputy. Occasionally Darkspirit would leap from tree limb to tree limb to get a better view of things, his Skyclan heritage still strong in his veins and his subconscious habits. He would do a few leaps and bounds before coming back to the forest floor. "Do you prefer morning patrols, Curlyfluff? I'd like to get everyone's input about what their preferences are. Obviously I can't please everyone but I'd like to give it a try." He had no idea how his sister organized patrols before, so Darkspirit hoped he was bringing something new to the table that the other clanmates would like. A vole darted into a bush and Darkspirit stopped it in it's track with a stomp. It wiggled its head between his toes only to have it crushed between the deputy's jaws. Another one for the freshkill pile.

Watching the trees above in awe as Darkspirit bounded along some branches, the curly pelted tom's tail flicked back and forth in excitement. Being asked to go on a patrol with the clan's deputy; what an honor this was! He hoped that he'd be able to prove his skills as a warrior and make Darkspirit proud, or at least show how well Comfreyheart had trained him. Maybe he could even learn something from the older tom today. Climbing trees would certainly be more than amazing and he bet Rosepaw would get a laugh out of hearing that he did something so adventurous.

"I'm fine with any patrols, I enjoy all times of the day," Curlyfluff purred in reply to the question before watching as the tabby easily took down a vole. Wow. How in StarClan's name did he make everything look so easy? Thinking about it, he couldn't recall a time that he'd ever taken down prey so swiftly... the deputy surely knew his stuff. He remembered overhearing some elders chatting about Darkspirit and some other cats in ThunderClan being of SkyClan blood, were SkyClanner's all this agile? Well, he supposed there was only one way to find out. He didn't think Darkspirit would mind any curious inquiring, seeing as though he'd requested to go on a one on one patrol and with him being fairly new to the deputy position, questions from his clanmates were probably expected.

"I heard you're of SkyClan blood. That's so cool!" he began excitedly, followed by a curious tilt of his head. "Did you ever live in their territory? What was it like? Do they always climb trees?" He loved imagining them all leaping across branches to catch prey, assuming that's actually what they all did.

Well, placing Curlyfluff will be easy then. Darkspirit thought to himself. He'd be sure not to wear the tom out with weird sleep schedule changes, but it was nice to have at least one cat so willing to be flexible. He analyzed Curlyfluff carefully, taking note that he was still a young warrior and fairly optimistic still. Darkspirit couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Curlyfluff had a life that Darkspirit never knew and never would. He knew it wasn't the younger tom's fault of course, but the slight resentment was still there.

The deputy was about to ask another question when Curlyfluff began to ask his own. Darkspirit's claws twitched in his toes. He did manage to keep his fur flat but there was a slight wrinkling of his nose and his ears flicked backward briefly. Curlyfluff meant no harm, he knew, but his heritage was a particularly sensitive subject. Keeping his cool, Darkspirit spoke in a flat tone.

"My father was..." Evil. A murderer. A tyrant. The leader of the Dark Forest. "... a Skyclan cat yes. My mother was a rogue. I don't actually have any Thunderclan blood in me at all." Thanks for the reminder. Darkspirit thought bitterly. He barely kept his tail from lashing.

"I've never been to Skyclan territory. I don't know what they do and I don't really care." He said far more snippily than he meant to. He sighed and looked back at Curlyfluff. "I don't mean to be snippy. Let's just focus on you for today." He made a mental note to stay out of the trees. Honestly, it wasn't something he thought about, but it came naturally to him to want to be above the ground. Some days it was hard to fight.

"So what are your strengths and weaknesses Curlyfluff? Be honest with me. I need to pair warriors together that compliment eachother."

Hearing the sharpness that masked Darkspirit’s tone made his tuft covered ears fall flat against his head and he shot his gaze down at his paws. He’d clearly mistaken the deputy’s past for being a positive thing and an overwhelming wave of embarrassment washed over him. Maybe if he wasn’t so easily impressed and interested in things he could’ve known better than to be so curious about the subject. Besides, there was a reason that the tabby was a ThunderClanner and not a SkyClanner… Continuing to think about it more and more, his skin began to grow hot and he clenched his teeth together in annoyance at himself.

The deputy’s next comment though, helped the young tom’s fur settle. Looking back up at Darkspirit, a sense of relief covered him and he let out a much needed breath. Maybe he wasn’t even as mad at him as he’d initially thought. ‘Overthinking things again, Curlyfluff,’ he thought to himself silently. Giving his pelt a shake, he put a smile back on his maw as Darkspirit asked his question. Strengths and weaknesses? That was a much better question than his had been for a conversation.

“Strengths… probably just being there for anyone who needs me. Whether some-cat needs ears to simply listen or if they need help with something else,” he mewed simply with a confident nod. To some it might’ve sounded like a cheesy answer, but he wasn’t one to brag about himself and found that he actually wasn’t a huge fan for talking about himself, but he’d been asked a question that he couldn’t ignore, weaknesses on the other paw… he had plenty of those and was fully aware of where he needed improvement. “I need to work on my battling skills. Firefly will have my pelt if I can’t get over having to use my claws…” he chuckled with a twinge of nervousness in his laugh. “I really do want to protect the clan though, I swear,” Curlyfluff added hastily, realizing his initial response might’ve made it sound as though he wasn’t willing to put himself in the face of danger for his clan, which wasn’t the case at all. He just didn’t like harming others, even when they weren’t his own clanmates…

Darkspirit suspected as much from the curly-furred tom. He didn't know a lot, but he heard enough to have a small idea of what the tom was like. Still, he could maybe work with what he was told. "So you're charismatic then? I don't doubt that. Battle skills can always be developed but I think it takes a certain intelligence and empathy to be diplomatic. It's not a bad thing Curlyfluff."

He hoped his encouraging words would be enough to get Curlyfluff to elaborate further. He started forming connections in his head and he had to make a choice. It wasn't one that he liked, but it still needed to be done.

"Honestly, there is so much violence in the world and we have a surplus of fighters. Maybe that's why the world is so cold and hard. I think we need more healers, not necessarily medicine cats, as well as diplomats and those just curious with the world around them to make things a brighter place." Darkspirit surprised himself with his words. He even had to mull it over in his own head before he thought to himself amusedly, And that concludes my attempts at being a Starclan cat for the day. He hoped he didn't make a habit of sounding like that. It was far too happy and positive for him.

"Definitely if I have any situations that require tact, I may call on you for it." And there, he would leave it.

"You don't have to tell me specifics, but are there any cats in this clan that you feel might be troubled. Besides me, everyone knows that." He added with a chuckle. He hoped it sounded convincing.

Curlyfluff beamed at the deputy’s comment about his empathy not being a bad thing. Tilting his head, the curly pelted warrior listened carefully as Darkspirit began to mention healers and diplomats. He couldn’t imagine himself being much more than a warrior ready to serve his clan, but if the deputy thought he might have some potential for the future than he would be sure to work his hardest so that if he was ever needed, he’d be more than ready.

Fuzzy ears twitching, he wasn’t expecting a question such as this and pondered it for a couple moments before he replied.
”I’m not sure about any one cat in particular, but I feel like…” he paused, second guessing if he should continue or not. Darkspirit was his deputy and now a friend, so there was no reason to not share things with him, but for some reason he found himself hesitating. The last thing he wanted to do was get some-cat in trouble, but at the same time it was his duty as a warrior to protect and serve the clan.

”I’ve heard a good amount of talk about clans other than ThunderClan… It seems as though there’s a good amount of curiosity towards life elsewhere,” Curlyfluff mewed softly, shuffling his paws a bit. He would never even think about leaving or betraying his clan, but it would’ve been a lie if he said that he also didn’t hold some sort of curiosity for what was beyond the forest. Of course, being able to chat with cats and learn about their lives at the gatherings would be more than enough for him, but he certainly knew some cats that would go on an adventure elsewhere in a heartbeat… But then that begged the question; was adventuring bad? Rosepaw and Sparkpaw surely didn’t think so.

”Well, I doubt curiosity should be at the top of our worries… but I suppose there’s a limit to one’s interest if it causes any harm to the clan,” he added with a small shrug, hoping his answer satisfied the overall question. He wasn’t quite sure what Darkspirit thought about the subject, but assumed he’d might as well inquire in order to learn more about him.

An interest in other clans was natural and indeed harmless as long as it didn't result in forbidden relationships... or leaving. He made a note to remedy this somehow. Up until now, Darkspirit hadn't even thought about anyone else being interested in other clans. He certainly hadn't been, but maybe it was a result of his malleable apprentice brain being shaped by the Dark Forest to a degree.

"As long as friendly interactions stay in gatherings, it's no problem. We don't need to be any more familiar with the other clans than that." And that was all he had to say on that matter. He vaguely remembered Dovefrost leaving to Skyclan, but he hardly knew the tom at all before he was gone. He supposed that all needed to change. Thunderclan needed to be interesting to Thunderclan members.

He'd have to find a way to make this happen. As far as Curlyfluff was concerned, Darkspirit wasn't sure if the tom had the grit needed for the mission. It would be boring at best, and highly dangerous and uncomfortable at worst. Maybe even controversial.

Potentially fighting and even needing to kill a fellow clanmate didn't seem to be within the tom's abilities. Maybe further investigation was needed, but for the time being, Curlyfluff was mentally removed from Darkspirit's list.

Curlyfluff nodded his head in agreement. He wouldn't stop being friendly to other cats, but he understood that unfortunately there needed to be limits to such friendships. "I'm glad we got to chat," the tom purred happily. Hopefully, he'd been able to help Darkspirit in some sort of way. "I hope I can be of some help, no matter what's needed of me."