Double the time it takes, double the bad mistakes (c)

Crocuspaw found herself alone frequently, taking to frequent wandering and splitting away from patrols. It was all well and good though, Crocuspaw was twice the size of Mottlestar and for now, the size of most of her adult clanmates. Only, she was a young apprentice and lacked a lot of the expertise her clan mates had, but that hardly gave her any concern. The forest was safe and at peace, their neighbours were friendly, and Thunderclan was growing. There were little to no predators to harm her and said neighbours seemed to get to any problems before they got to her clan. The peace was unknown and unprecedented, said a lot of her seniors, the looming risk of war and gore-filled battles seemed just beyond the horizon with Shadowclan and Windclan before their leadership changed - she was told.

So she spent her time finding cozy, cool dugouts under logs. Lapping at small, cold, and refreshing streams, and hopping over. Sometime during her wandering, she came across the Fallen Oak, another distinct border mark that separated Thunderclan from Skyclan. Crocuspaw, for all her confidence alone, did not want to get too close to the border. Leaving no chance to sour any relations on her part was preferable. Still, she meandered, looked at the tree roots of the fallen oak, and saw that it could be a comfortable place to get away to - if only it wasn't part of the border.

Wolfblossom had found herself patrolling the borders more often as of late, restless and uneasy sitting in camp. Her paws found themselves on a familiar path toward the fallen oak, though it wasn’t out of any true desire to visit the Thunderclan border, more out of habit and duty than anything. The deputy leapt from tree to tree with ease, pale blue eyes sweeping over the forest floor below. The undergrowth around the fallen oak was thick and unpleasant to the long-furred deputy, used to the more rocky gullies of Skyclan territory, but the trees were familiar and a comfort.

Movement was quick to draw the deputy’s attention, body tensing slightly before she found the she-cat below. Alone, or so she appeared, and gazing at the fallen oak instead of looking up for signs of danger. Waiting for someone, maybe? Wolfblossom’s whiskers twitched at the thought. The other clans were quick to forget that along Skyclan borders, cats tended to remain in the trees rather than on the ground. It was to their advantage, though Wolfblossom’s paws remained firmly on Skyclan’s own side of the fallen oak.

“Looking for someone?” She called down to the Thunderclanner, remaining perched on her branch.

Crocuspaw's head snapped up to the direction of the voice, eyes glancing left and right before it finally landed on a large, grey molly. Gosh, she was pretty too. "Uhm, no." She denied nervously, "I was just exploring, I know this is our border though so I wasn't going to cross it... But if I'm too close I can leave." Crocuspaw mewed, taking a few placating steps back as if the cat above her would take off a limb for being too close to their shared border. It looked like Crocuspaw and this stranger were similar sizes, but if this was a warrior then the stranger undoubtedly had better battle prowess and would lay Crocus flat in a heartbeat. "I'm Crocuspaw, who are you?" She was a bit blunt, maybe a bit rude to ask, but she couldn't always understand social niceties.

"As long as you're on your side of the border, it doesn't bother me." And there was little reason to be bothered, Wolfblossom thought. The two clans were allies, but borders were still to be respected and maintained. She understood the desire to explore one's territory and took no issue with it. Exploring beyond one's borders was a different story, but not something that the Thunderclanner was doing yet.

The she-cat introduced herself as Crocuspaw, an apprentice, but quite a large one. Not one she had seen at gatherings before, and perhaps not present for the most recent fiasco that had led to Wolfblossom's brief presence in Thunderclan's camp. "Nice to meet you, Crocuspaw. I'm Wolfblossom... Deputy of Skyclan." She replied.