Unchanging, forever[O]

Ooc: mobileHEhehEeeeeee

It had been ages since he last stepped foot into WindClan territory. For all the adventuring and tresspassing he had done with the Clans, he had never once approached his birth Clan. Was he scared? Surely not? Well, it didnt matter, since the Clans were gone now. There was no one to disturb his peace, no one to tell him he couldnt come here. No one to drag him home.

Ajex breathed in the cool air of the moor, looking out at the vast land of wind. He was overcome by the sudden urge to run, to chase the leaves in the wind as he had always dreamed of doing as a kit. For now, with no prying eyes, he allowed him to submit to his urges, and he flew across the hills, wind throwing his fur back like waves. It was refreshing, a brilliant feel of temporary freedom. He skidded to a halt as he neared the edge of the territories, turning sharply on one leg and using his momentum, threw himself forward oncw more. He ran until he could no longer run, chased the winds until there was none left to catch, then collapsed on a hill, flanks rising and falling with heavy pants. That was amazing.

Just then, the sound of pawsteps approaching met his ears, and the tom looked up to lock his gaze with another cat. To who did he owe the pleasure of meeting now? A tired, drunken smile reached his face, and he propped himself up into a half-crouch half-sit to look at the newcomer. Calculating eyes sized the stranger up, sharp as ever despite his relaxed pose.

Pristine white paws sauntered along the edge of the forest, mentally marking down each and every location that seemed noteworthy. The forest so far had been a wonderful sight. Beautiful greenery as far as the eye could see, the sounds of animals chirping along happily despite the cold conditions that should have blighted the land, and the wonderful scents that followed. The molly had surmised that a large group of cats must have lived here at one point, but that wasn't a hard observation to make. She had found claw marks etched into trees, disgusting scars that those poor magnificent creatures would have to bear for the rest of their lives. Even worse than that however were the locations that had been terraformed to make dens. The cats that had lived here seemed to take pleasure in deforming the land into whatever shape their wicked hearts desired, after all there were two terraformed spots.

Breaking from the tree line Alethea finally laid eyes on something truly majestic. Four trees erupted from the earth, joining together to make a canopy that shaded an entire clearing! No matter how much effort they put in no number of cats could make something as grand as that, as magnificent and utterly beautiful! Alethea's paws guided her toward the lovely clearing but stopped as she spotted a blur of motion on the horizon. The orange figure disappeared over the rolling hills of a moor! How had she missed that? The tree clearing would have to wait for now.

Picking her way through the hilly land Alethea kept her eyes peeled for any sight of the orange creature that had caught her attention. Traversing the moor was an interesting task. No matter how far she walked it seemed like she would never get to her destination, and yet the wind seemed to be pushing her further and further toward an unknown sight. As the molly crested a hill she found herself in the presence of another cat. That was a bit of a shock, but she really should have known this was what she would find. Alethea chuckled at the tom's odd smile and returned a sweet one of her own. It wasn't often that she met cats apart from those in her crew. Forest was a protective cat. He usually shielded her from meeting any cats that might be dangerous, but that wasn't a problem here. Forest didn't even know she had snuck off to explore their new home. This would be an interesting interaction.

Despite the warm aura the molly gave off, Alethea was still wary of the tom. She didn't know if he would try to attack her, though in his current state he probably wouldn't stand a chance against her. She had until this mysterious tom regained his breath completely to figure out if he would be a danger to her or her crew. "Having fun?" Alethea mewed.

Ooc: mobile :^

His smile only grew wider as the she-cat spoke in a musical voice. To think he would meet such a charming molly out here in the moor! "Totally," he replied in a cheerful voice, propping himself up into a proper sit. This she-cat must be one of those cats that had settled near Grub's place, right? He could revognize the well-disguised look of wariness in her eyes, and playfully he added, "I'm not going to bite you, you know." She looked pretty young, maybe a few moons younger than he. Maybe she wasn't that capable of defending herself yet? Putting on a customer-service voice, he continued, "My name is Ajex. A pleasure to meet you."

Forest had always taught her not to let her guard down around any cats unassociated with their crew, but something about this tom gave Alethea an air of friendliness. She was going against everything her father had ever told her as she sat across from the tom, curious silver eyes never leaving the his. "Oh? What a shame. I don't think I would have minded if you took a bite out of me." Alethea's smile melted into a more genuine one as the stranger supplied her with his name. "Ajex? What an uncommon name." Alethea's tail tapped the ground beside her for a few moments before settling neatly over her paws. "Ajex, huh? I think I can remember that. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ajex."

Head tilting to one side the molly kept speaking, allowing the tom no room to ask her any questions of his own. "I have to wonder what a cat like you is doing all the way out here? We heard that this place used to contain a large number of cats, might you be one of those?" If so, well... She had no clue. These forest cats needed to be held responsible for what they had done to this poor recovering forest, yet it would almost pain her to have to remove this to- Ajex. His name was Ajex. Still she would have to do something about him, even if that meant telling Forest that she had spotted someone.

Alethea couldn't help but chuckle along with the tom and his theatrics. "My apologies," The molly dipped her head. "I simply wanted to hear your lovely voice ask for my name." That hadn't gone quite as she had expected, but she supposed this was his way of doing it.

Alethea's tail twitched restlessly at her paws as Ajex began spoke of the clans. "I'm glad you decided to leave." If Ajex were affiliated with one of these clans then their meeting would have turned sour, perhaps even deadly. It wasn't that she hated these unseen clan cats, but they could never be forgiven for the harm they had already caused to the forest and its surrounding territories.

"Pretty?" Alethea's tail twitched furiously, her only outward sign that she was pleased with the compliment. It was the first time anyone outside of her crew had called her that, and even then her crew didn't count. Every crew member seemed like a blood relative to her. Compliments they made towards her tended to be disregarded with a smile, but this felt different. "What a charmer you are, Ajex. I'll have to keep my eye on you." One paw slipped from under her tail and pinned it to the ground. "I'm travelling with a... Clan of my own. We've only just arrived here in the forest, but if there are more cats like you running about then I think I may end up liking it here." As if she hadn't already fallen in love with this beautiful place. "We may try making a home for ourselves here, who knows."

As an afterthought the molly realized she still hadn't given her name. "You may call me Alethea, or pretty. If you wish. I wouldn't bat an eye at either of those." How bold! "But I just have to ask, why are you still living here?" That, she decided, was a stupid question. Alethea hadn't seen a single clan cat anywhere in the forest so far, and this place was gorgeous. Who would ever want to leave it? "Rather, would you ever consider living with other cats again, or would you like to remain on your own?"

An embarrassing purr ripped from the molly's throat as she noted the tom's veiled satisfaction. By the Almighty Stag, she was loving this conversation. Was this what it was like speaking with those outside of her crew? She really needed to find her way out of camp more often. "Ah, a shame then. If I have no hope of finding others like you then I may as well be on my way. I'm sure another forest would have cats much like you, perhaps I'll try that human forest down the way." Alethea's crew had passed that putrid abomination on their way here, but she didn't even want to look in its direction.

Alethea's eyes glittered with amusement at the tom's answer, her purr growing in intensity until the molly cut it off by clearing her throat. She hadn't actually expected Ajex to call her pretty, but she liked how that word made her ears tingle. "Whatever you want, whenever you want? What an interesting caveat." Oh Stag, would Forest be upset with her for what she was about to offer? "If you're looking for a new home I wouldn't mind putting in a good word for you, but I can't promise you'd have absolute freedom... However, if you agree to pay me a visit in my den every now and then, I think I could arrange something for you. It can get a bit lonely there, I wouldn't mind having someone to chat with." Alethea's smile turned sly. Her terms were set, now to see if Ajex would agree.

Yes! The molly tried not to show her excitement, though it was impossible to keep her smile from growing. "It's settled, then." Oh Stag, she wouldn't have to fight Forest tooth and nail just to let Ajex join their crew, would she? It wasn't like he hadn't already invited other cats without consulting anyone, he had no room to talk if he- Oh? "I'm sure whatever you've heard isn't far from the truth." Alethea let out a suffering sigh. There were some among her crew that loved getting themselves into trouble, she just hoped that didn't discourage Ajex. "I'm more mild-mannered than most in our crew. I can promise you that our members mean well, but they do have a proclivity to make menaces of themselves. There's always a reason for what they do." Even if that reason was as simple as "I was bored".

"Come, it'd be easier for you to understand if I just introduce you." Alethea rose, gesturing with her tail for the tom to follow. "I don't know how many will be staying at the camp right now, but I can at least show you to our leader." Forest, she knew, hadn't gone anywhere just yet. If anything he had sent a few cats to find her by now, but the tom himself would surely be waiting for her in that ratty nest they had been invited to.