| A Sea of Leaves by the Stream | [QuailxHazel]

[MONSTER <3]

Quailpaw padded along the Streamclan and Pineclan border. His eyes looked around, hoping to spot some helpful herbs. He hadn't seen any yet, but it didn't mean that he wouldn't. He quietly crept by the border, hoping that he wouldn't get it trouble for going out to look for herbs. But there was no reason not to, so he thought it would be fine. Jumping onto a larger rock, he sighed. Maybe he should have asked Crowflower first.

What if he didn't find any? Would he be chastised for not looking in the right place? What if he grabbed the wrong herbs, and they ended up being just useless plants? He wrapped his tail around his paws and looked around, trying not to worry to much about it- and failing miserably. He was sure Rabbitpaw was doing better in her training than he was doing in his.

Quailpaw could imagine his sister, sifting carefully around the crunchy leaves on her way to catch a mouse. She wouldn't be so worried about catching the wrong one or missing her mark and letting it go. His ears flicked back, and he wondered if she was doing alright. No, don't worry about her. You have enough on your mind. He attempted to tell himself as he shook his fur and stood up once more.

His eyes continued to scan for healing plants, but couldn't see much besides the regular amount of leaves everywhere. Maybe if i continue walking i'll find some. He determined before jumping down from the rock and landing right into a pile of leaves. He flinched a bit, expecting the ground to be a bit more solid than the pile of leaves that now covered him up to his neck. He began wading through them, jumping occasionally, as he kept moving along the border.

[hilldust124]

A small black-and-russet she-cat silently made her way to the stream that sliced the land and created a border. Sneaking away from the camp was harder than it seemed, but somehow she managed it. Leaves littered the ground and caused for loud, uneeded crunching beneath her small paws. A small breeze made the cat shiver under her unhelpful short fur. The young cat, Hazelpaw, slinked onto the streambed and attempted to ignore the small amount cold mud on the bed going in between her toes. Otherwise, the day was nice and nothing to curse over.
Hazelpaw thought over the reason she escaped camp for a moment. It wasn't really necessary, but when has anything been like that? She loved being around her clanmembers, but sometimes she just had to get out. More precisely, alone. Another small gust of wind halted her thoughts and caused her to back away from the cold streambed. A small rock jabbed Hazelpaw's back paw when she decided to get away rom the cold and made her yowl quietly in pain. The day could have been better, she thought to herself.

[MONSTER <3]

Quailpaw continued to wade through the leaves, and finally escaped to some solid ground. He shook his fur, and smiled a bit at his triumph. Well, he survived. Suddenly, he heard a quiet yowl and jumped. " W-Who's there?" Foxdung!! What if that was a Streamclan cat, and now they were going to eat him alive because he was near the border? His ears folded back as he continued to think. And i had the bright idea of letting them know i was here!

His fur fluffed up, and he tried to take slow deep breaths- which didn't do too much. Maybe if he just slowly backed away he would be fine. Yes, back away... but wait, what if they crossed the border! His eyes widened a bit, did that mean fighting them off Pineclan land if he needed to? Awhh man, what do i do? what do i do?! He took more breaths, and backed into a pile of leaves. Maybe if he was lucky, it would only be a small cat- instead of a giant powerful apprentice-eating tom. His fur fluffed a bit more, and he hoped more than anything it wouldn't be that.

[hilldust124]

Hazelpaw jumped at the sound of another cat, most likely on the PineClan side. She wasn't too intimidated, though, since it sounded like another apprentice. Hopefully he was alone instead of having some scary mentor that would kill for the chance to battle a Streamclan cat.
The small she-cat wouldn't dare say who she was in fear of a border war, only a young apprentice against a giant patrol. Hazelpaw sneaked around and tried to find the source of the PineClan cat. Of course, it wasn't easy for her with so many leaves crunching beneath her black paws. As soon as she saw another figure, she ducked and hoped he didn't see her. The apprentice looked over to the PineClan side with her sharp eyes and saw an apprentice. Hazelpaw looked all around and didn't see any more. Unless they were hiding, she thought in fear. She decided it would be best to stay low and make no sound. Yet it would be easy to find her black fur in the mess of leaves.

[MONSTER <3]

Quailpaw looked around frantically, hoping that some cat chose to revile themselves before he got too scared. He swallowed. Okay, maybe im already too scared. "H-hello? A-a-anyone?" He doubted that it could have just been the wind. . right? His tail twitched, flailing from side to side as he thought. He could be overreacting. . But what was the chance of that? Alright, maybe there was a huge chance for that. He took a deep deep breath and exhaled.

Okay, not so bad. He looked around, in a fit of panic still, and spotted a black ball of. . fur? He gasped, it must have been another cat! "W-Who are you?!" He mewed, almost frantically. He wondered if she noticed his fear, but at the same time hoped to keep an image of calm. Image of calm? Who am i kidding. He flicked his ears again, watching the cat and hoping that it wouldn't hurt him- otherwise he sure hoped that he would be able to move fast without slipping on these darn leaves.

[hilldust124]

Hazelpaw looked up, her amber eyes shining and completely blowing her cover. Not like her fur helped her hide much, either. She slowly rose up, obviously smaller than a warrior. Or any average apprentice. The she-cat warily looked around and saw no warriors or any other cat with the PineClan stranger. She shook the itchy leaves from her fur and now felt the mud in between her toes from the mud puddle down the stream drying. Hazelpaw shifted uncomfortably then looked back at the apprentice. He didn't seem harmful. Heck, he looked like he was more scared of her than she was of him. Of course, Hazelpaw wasn't the type to show her emotions that obviously. Although, he did look as scared as a mouse, and mice aren't something a cats should be afraid of. Unless it carried a sickness...
Hazelpaw noticed her mind wandering then snapped it back to reality quickly. She, as usual, didn't know what to say. Instead, she lashed her tail to seem more hostile even though she had no intention to fight him off. Nor was she angry at him.

[MONSTER <3]

Quailpaw watched as the she-cat stood, and watched him like he watched her. She didn't seem like too much of a threat, and certainly didn't seem like she could kill him. But compared to his experience with fighting, he might as well be a baby mouse waiting to be slaughtered. He finally decided to calm down a tiny bit, but his voice was still shaky. "Who Are Y-you? W-Why are you at our border?" He tried to stand tall, but his fur still fluffed up.

He watched as her tail began shifting from side to side, and he tensed up. Pleaaaaaase don't fight me. Please don't fight me. Please. He hoped, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down once again. Once again, just like before, it didn't work.

[hilldust124]

Hazelpaw tilted her head and subtly smiled. She didn't really want to seem cutesy and harmless to a cat from a different clan, but something amused her about this cat. Possibly how scared he looked and how weak he seemed. She decided to let it go. He was probably her age anyways.
"I'm Hazelpaw," she answered him in a croaky voice from no use, "I think the question is why are you at OUR border?"
She sounded more brave and scary than she really was, but hopefully it worked. Hazelpaw didn't really want to scare him out of his fur, but she didn't want to make friends outside the clan, either. That would make her seem disloyal to StreamClan.

[MONSTER <3]

Quailpaw blinked and quickly mewed "N-nice to meet you Hazelpaw. Im Quailpaw. I just came out here to look for herbs." He didn't want any trouble! What did i get myself into this time? He thought, folding his ears back. Of coarse, the one time he decides to go out and get herbs without consulting Crowflower first- he meets a Streamclan cat!

He straightened himself, feeling a bit better now that he knew she was only an apprentice. Even so, he felt wary about this she-cat. He couldn't even feel comfortable around his own clan, so how was he supposed to be comfortable around another clan's cat? He wasn't sure how some cats had friends outside their clan. Between clan rivalries, borders, and loyalty to their clans, it seemed like a pretty stressful thing to be friends over. "What are you doing at the Pineclan border then?" He questioned her, after finally getting just enough control to keep his voice from shaking and stuttering.

[hilldust124]

Hazelpaw shivered again at the oncoming wind. It was getting colder and colder the longer they stood there. She knew the cat wouldn't attack her so she began trying to get the mud from between her toes out. She didn't enjoy leaf-fall too much because it was windy and it was hard to catch prey with all the leaves around. It was hard for her to even catch prey without the leaves. The small apprentice decided to look at it positively. At least it isn't leafbare, she thought. Keeping a thin coat year round wasn't very fun for her.
She looked back up at him when he asked her motives for coming out here. She could understand a medicine cat apprentice going out in search of herbs. It was much better than the idea of hers to sneak out of camp to have a breather. At least it would be warm in there with all the cats around. Hazelpaw decided to stealthily change the subject to not seem suspicious, although there wasn't any reason to be suspicious of her, really.
"If you're out looking for herbs where's a warrior? Or the medicine cat?" she asked.

[MONSTER <3]

Quailpaw eyed the she-cat, wondering why she was taking so long to answer. His best guess is that she was lost in thought. While on the other hand he couldn't focus on anything but standing here with a different clans, worrying about her wanting to attack him. As she began to clean her toes, he began to have a feeling that she wouldn't attack him. He relaxed a tad, but kept one ear back as he spoke again. "Around." He mewed as calmly as he could, and it seemed to halfway work.

Taking a deep breath, he glanced around as she was distracted. He saw no other cats with her, but it didn't quite mean that there weren't any. He hoped that if there were some, maybe he would get lucky enough and pull the she-cat off somewhere so he could continue searching for his herbs- or even scurry back to camp. He realized after a moment that she never even answered his question! She must be up to no good. He thought, eying the she-cat with a new suspicion. What could she possibly be doing out here?

[hilldust124]

Hazelpaw looked around now in fear. What if he was telling the truth? Is someone really near? The she-cat began to panic slightly. Jumping up on her paws, she was more alert than earlier. She would hate to have a run in with a PineClan cat. Hazelpaw's eyes darted around the backdrop of the forest as if an enemy warrior would pounce out of nowhere and attacked her. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to be talking to this tom.
Of course, it wasn't that bright of a choice to run out here anyways.
The wind blew the leaves and created a crunching sound, making the black cat jump. The weather was starting to paranoy her now! Sitting down to lick her fur flat so she didn't look as scared she decided it might be good to take her leave.