Your Favorite Niece [Nightstar]

Moondancer was not at all happy to be out in the humid, damp, muddy marsh that Shadowclan called home... But Nightstar was on the patrol with her, so the dark tabby hid her disgust and plastered an neutral, somewhat friendly expression on her face. The only outward sign of it was now the careful, high steps she took, determined to get as little mud on her pelt as possible. Otherwise, the warrior was quiet, unsure of what to say and for the moment deciding that keeping her mouth shut would be a better look than talking. Nightstar may have been her uncle, but she had never interacted with him much beyond her warrior ceremony, and now that they were on patrol together, she wasn't sure where to start.

Nightstar didn't really know how to interact with his more distant family, the young warrior that he was strolling with was his niece, a family bond that he had to initiate if he wanted to be part of it. This wasn't an instance where Swiftheart would do all the work, but he'd at least make an attempt to get to know his family, even if Echomist was his last living brother from the litter after him. Nightstar side-eyed Moondancer briefly, wondering if the silence from the she-cat was normal or because it was him that she was walking with- oh well, he could use more quiet companions to have.

Nightstar, it seemed, was also content to let the silence stretch. Maybe he actually was, but Moondancer was beginning to find the silence oppressive and awkward. It wasn't even that she hated silence - most of the time she was perfectly fine with it. But with the clan leader? It was disconcerting. Her jaws parted as if to speak... And then closed. She... Did not know how to go about making conversation with someone that was both her superior, her uncle, yet whom she didn't truly know at all. Were it Leopardsun or Echomist, it would've been different. They were her parents, also her superiors in rank and experience, but she had spent far more time with them than she ever did Nightstar. Moondancer gave herself a shake, gaze returning forward, though her pale green gaze did occasionally slide in the direction of the scarred Shadowclan leader as they walked.

Hypervigilance came with the anxiety and paranoia that Nightstar experienced on a daily basis, but also with the rank as Shadowclans leader, so it did not evade his notice to see Moondancer attempt to speak a few times. A smirk nearly graced the older tom's maw as he as subtly as he could watch Moondancer sweat. He wondered if she'd crack. Moondancer grew up with his younger brother, silent and stoic as Nightstar used to be, but Leopardsun and Moondancers siblings were all on the chattier side, with a chatty Auntie Swiftheart as well. But Moondancer never grew up with silent authority figures aside from Nightstar himself, she didn't stand a chance. Nightstar was used to scornful parents and authority figures, she'd crack before he even truly felt tempted to break the silence.

On they walked, and on the silence stretched. A smirk, so subtle she might've missewd it were she not focused on her leader intently, found it's way to Nightstalker's expression, and Moondancer's pale green eyes narrowed at the leader, tail tip twitching once before stilling. If he thought it was funny to watch her squirm, well, she just wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of speaking first. Moondancer raised her chin in silent defiance. He was their oh-so-illustrious leader, he could go first if he wanted. Of course, he was no Leopardsun, but he did lead Shadowclan somehow. ...Not by being chatty, clearly.