[mistaken identity] RainxRusset [L0S0V0]

[Glowy]

It was strange being out of the camp without Gingerstar. Rainpaw had grown accustomed to having her beside him practically all day long. He'd thought that her scent was nearly a permanent fixture in his life, what with the way it clung to his pelt and lingered in the air by his side even after she had run on ahead... but it was gone out here. Rainpaw's stark alone-ness hit him like a bucking bronco's hoof hits an unsuspecting cowboy upside the head. It nearly knocked him over. Why had Gingerstar sent him out on a solitary mission, anyway? Had she just grown sick of his company? Was she testing him? But how could she possibly be testing him? Maybe she'd planted spies in the trees to see how he would function without her, which was close to impossible, to tell the truth. He felt disoriented and off-balance, like somebody had greased his saddle and he was trying to ride with nobody to catch him when he inevitably fell to the ground in a giant puff of dust. It was not a pleasant feeling. Not at all. Good god. This... this was what it would be like when he became a warrior! He would lose his Freckles! If he buried his nose in his chest fur, or his side, he could detect a faint hint of his mentor's scent from their last sparring session, but he would lose that when she finally decided that he was fit to become a defender of the soil and protector of the Code. He would lose her smell and he wouldn't be able to talk to her and he would just fall off the horse and not get back on. A cowboy that couldn't ride a mount was worth nothing. The scent of another cat found him from across the border, enveloping him in its strangeness. It would have been a bright idea to walk away right then, but when had Rain ever been especially bright? Well, Ana had seemed to think he was hot stuff, but had his intelligence really factored into that? As he recalled, Ana had spent a lot of time teaching him. And his Freckles told him he was dumb quite a bit. He didn't mind so much, but still. He didn't have the reputation of being the philosopher of the forest. You take the bull by the horns first and think about it later. The flash of a ginger pelt took him by surprise, and he didn't even stop to think about the fact that the she-cat was on the wrong side of the border before calling out, "Gingerstar, is that you? What're ya doin' over there?" Way to go. speaking [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[MONSTER <3]

Russetfoot padded near the border to Pineclan, admiring the scenery as she padded through the leaves and past fallen limbs. She climbed over a larger branch, and surveyed her surroundings. She couldn't help but wait for a moment to enjoy the way everything looked, and the silence that encased her. Leaping down from the limb, she crashed into a pile of leaves and surprised herself with how much the leaves crumbled at her paws. Quickly, she leaped out of the pile and dashed a few feet forward. Suddenly, she heard another voice and froze in her spot.

She flicked her ears forward. Gingerstar? She recalled it as the name of a leader, and assumed it must have been the Pineclan leader. Was she in their territory? Russetfoot stayed rooted in her spot and searched for any scent that might have belonged to an actual Pineclan cat across the border. She could not find any, but this did not mean that no cats were trespassing. Jumping through the leaves, she climbed on top of a fallen down tree and searched for the cat that had called out.

She spotted the young tom not to far off, but certainly on the Pineclan side of the border. Her eyes narrowed a tad as she called out "Has your leader wandered into Meadowclan territory?" with a slight hiss in her voice. Surely the Pineclan leader knew better than to wander into Meadowclan lands, and if she didn't, then perhaps she could give their leader a fair reminder, of sorts.

[Glowy]

A strange voice jolted Rainpaw out of his cloudy state of mind. That wasn't Gingerstar's voice. And, whoever it was, her pelt was most definitely not ginger. How could he have managed to turn a brown pelt into a ginger one? He must not have gotten enough sleep last night. Or perhaps it was because it was what he truly wanted. He wanted, more than anything, for Gingerstar to be there with him. Being alone out here... it was too close to his past. She was his anchor to the present. He shook his head, reprimanding himself. This was simply pathetic. He was fawning over his LEADER, for sanity's sake! She was supposed to be respected and feared, not loved. His Freckles avoided feelings like they were the Plague, the anathema of all existence. That was not to say that she was unfeeling- far from it, he believed, but emotions made her so very uncomfortable that he could smell the tension rolling off of her. It had a strange, static-like scent, charging the air to the extent that he felt if he pushed any further he would get shocked. But why? Why did Gingerstar hate feelings so much? Bah, why was he even thinking about that? He had much more pressing matters to concern himself with, such as the hissing little she-cat across the border. Gingerstar would have to wait. "Nope, she ain't over there. My apologies. I ain't had 'nuff sleep, strictly speakin', and I guess I had a little daydream or sumthin. I done and thought you were her." He knew that the MeadowClanner was not likely to believe such a ridiculous story, but what else could he say? He couldn't lie to her. He sighed and rolled his shoulders back. Yep, she'd be accusing him of being a liar soon enough, he just knew it. Oh boy, he'd gotten himself into a regular old pickle this time. He narrowed his eyes. The stranger was sitting atop one of the pathetic things they called trees in their territory. It looked like it was half-dead, having lost all its leaves. Knobbly limbs stuck out at various angles, but only a few of them. The rest had probably rotted off, or had simply never existed. Rainpaw snorted, smirking. She plumb just looked like an owl or something, sitting up there with her eyes all wide. Yep, an owl with a short, bobbed tail and pointy ears. He wondered if she would come down from her perch and challenge him, or simply let him continue marking the border. Oh, she would call him a liar, undoubtedly, but whether she would physically challenge him or not, he didn't know. He was a rather large tom, and she was just a slender little stem of a thing, and with Gingerstar's training, he was a formidable opponent even with sheathed claws. She wouldn't dare challenge him. speaking [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[MONSTER <3]

Russetfoot stared at him for a moment, trying to detect if there was a lying tone in his voice. After a few moments, she mewed "You mistook a brown pelt for a ginger one?" with suspicion in her words. Taking a few slow steps down the bark path, she eyed him and surveyed him. Nothing too particular about him- nothing that suggested he was lying either. She jumped down from the fallen tree and sniffed around for a second. No Pineclan scent past the border, so she couldn't quite accuse him or his leader for crossing it.

She still couldn't quite determine it, but something about him seemed off. But unless he was a very very busy warrior, taking all the border patrols, hunting for all of his clanmates, and doing all the work- he should have still been able to tell a difference. It wasn't like she resembled their leader, she was pretty sure of this."You must be working hard if you're so tired. Unless you're stressed, and perhaps thats why you cant sleep as well. Somethin buggin the big ole tom?" a slight smirk was held on her face.

Russetfoot couldn't help but mess with the tom a bit. She did this to most cats she met, and usually they never wanted to see her again afterwards. Not that it bothered the she-cat. Far from it; it meant that they would stay out of her way, and that her life could be quieter. It was quite a pleasant thing, even if it could be too quiet sometimes- but she didn't mind.

[Glowy]

Rainpaw simply nodded, preferring to stay silent in this case. Gingerstar had warned him once to keep his mouth shut, and he hadn't, and it had resulted in a big fight. Oh, had she been livid! If he got into a spat here with a she-cat who hadn't trespassed on their land, there was no telling what she would do. He had best say as little as possible. He rose to his paws and made to leave, but then Stranger started walking towards him. This was not a good sign. She wanted to keep talking. Couldn't just leave well enough alone, this one. What was it with she-cats and their malignant curiosity? His Freckles was the only different one he'd ever found. She hadn't tried to keep him around, which was the reason, he supposed, that he wanted so much to stay in PineClan. It was his instinct to say something sarcastic and biting to the MeadowClanner. She was invading his peace, and it was really none of her business how he was completely head-over-heels for Gingerstar. But, as much as he tried, he simply couldn't come up with anything venomous to say at all. His nickname center was temporarily out of commission, and that was debilitating to his sense of humor. "Ain't nothin' much the matter. Nothin' you'd understand, likely. If you really wanta know, I could tell you a story. I guess," he muttered into the ground. Hopefully he could make the story so vague that she wouldn't guess the truth. She couldn't know. Nobody could know. If somebody knew, it would get out and inevitable find its way to Freckles before he could tell her himself! That would just be the worst thing in the world. speaking [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[MONSTER <3]

Russetfoot watched the tom for a moment, wondering that maybe it might have been a little more than she guessed. Everyone has problems. She thought to herself, a slight moment of sadness flickered in her mind- a problem that she had buried. . Her mind snapped to focus as he spoke. No time to worry about the past now. She thought as her ears picked forward to hear his quiet words.

A story? Her mind scanned to the kit-tales that her parents often told her, and her ears folded back for a moment. Amazing what a few cats can come up with when they put their heads that far up their fluffy butts together. She thought a bit venomously before nodding a bit. " Alright, Let me hear it! I haven't heard any stories in a long while. " She mewed before sitting down in the leaves that gathered around her feet.

As she sat, her mind taunted her again with past memories. Her and her brother curled up around each other and their mother, their father beginning his tale. They had always listened so intensely, with such amazement and excitement. In their little gullible heads, this was more than a mere story- it was their protection they never though they'd need. . protection they never had, even when it was life or death. What foolish cats. she practically thought to herself, shaking her mind of it again- wishing it would quit persisting in its bothersome reminders. We lead our own lives. No cat, nor 'spirit' can change it. She flicked her ear back, and refocused again on the Pineclan tom.

[Glowy]

Oh boy. Rainpaw had really gotten himself stuck between a rock and a hard place this time. He was up a creek without a paddle, or even a long stick that he could use to push himself along. He wasn't just in a pickle, he was stuck in the pickle jar! Yep, he'd been about as dull as used dishwater gettin' himself into this fiasco. Sometimes he could almost swear that his ol' brain cavity wouldn't make a drinkin' cup for a canary bird! The real smart thing would have been to just up and leave when he'd had the chance. But no. No, Rain had to be sociable. If'n somebody got a bad opinion of him, they might get a bad opinion of his Clan, which would then be placed on Gingerstar. She didn't deserve that. He had to try and watch himself. There oughtn't to be any repeats of that Gathering, with what's-his-face... the pompous little Fire Imp from Fog. Anyhow, now he had to stay and talk with this strange she-cat from MeadowClan, and hope that she saw enough of his problem to give him advice but not enough to guess who was bothering him so much. And to put it into a story... he wasn't quite sure if he could do it. He was good at telling tall-tales, relating legends that had lived for so long that they made even history breathe, but spinning a story that directly related to him off the top of his head? No. No, he couldn't do it. How he had managed before he did not know. Perhaps he had simply been more used to his situation with Analucia. "Actually," he muttered with a sigh, "I'll be straight with ya. There's this woman, y'see, and I've got some strong feelings for her. Problem is, whenever feelings come up and she's around, she shies away like a filly from a rattlesnake. I don't rightly know how to go about tellin' her how I feel." He paused and cleared his throat. Suddenly his paws seemed very interesting. "I'm losin' sleep over it. I'm distracted, can't concentrate on nothin'. It's like a splinter in my saddle!" Rainpaw's eyes lit up. "Maybe you could help me? How d'you think I oughta go about tellin' her? I'm sure you've got some ideas." There, he'd managed it! He'd gone through the whole thing without even mentioning Gingerstar's name! Being a MeadowClanner, the she-cat probably wouldn't be able to guess. She wouldn't know nothin' about his Ginger except what she'd heard through rumors and the like. There was no way she'd guess! speaking [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[MONSTER <3]

[bg=faf0ee][atrb=width,400,true][atrb=border,0,true] Russetstorm smirked a bit to herself, a bit pleased that the tom had not expected her response. He certainly took a few moments, and by the looks of it, he was trying to gather his thoughts. She wondered what could be swamping this tom's mind so much that he couldn't even think straight. Then again, some cats are just born like that. Not a straight thought in their mind. She considered, knowing that plenty of cats could have an empty-headed or lost personality to them. The tom seemed to give up on thinking, and he began to speak. " Actually, I'll be straight with ya. There's this woman, y'see, " A woman? Thats what was bothering this young tom? She suddenly felt a little bit less experienced, sense she was not one for advice in the love department- she hadn't ever cared for another tom except for her father and brother- and that obviously wasn't the healthiest relationships for her to base her 'love' advice off of, in any means. " and I've got some strong feelings for her. Problem is, whenever feelings come up and she's around, she shies away like a filly from a rattlesnake. I don't rightly know how to go about tellin' her how I feel."

[/b]

Russetstorm watched him, and wondered how a simple she-cat could frazzle any tom at all. They were all the same, essentially- how did a gender make that much difference? She hadn't the slightest clue why, but she guessed that it just had to be that way- for whatever reason. Perhaps for the amusement. . . yea, it was a possibility. As his words stopped, his gaze shifted to the ground.

"I'm losin' sleep over it. I'm distracted, can't concentrate on nothin'. It's like a splinter in my saddle!"[/s]

The russet colored she-cat felt a sudden wave of sympathy for the young tom. She may not have been able to understand how he felt completely, but she could understand how frustrating it could be to have something heavy on his mind constantly- about someone he really cared about too. Yes, she could understand that much. She relaxed a bit, wishing she had a better kind of comfort skill- but no, that was not something she inherited. Instead, she sat there motionless as the tom scanned his paws- as if they held the answers to his problems, the silence bouncing from tree to tree. Suddenly a spark looked like it had been set off under the tom's paws as his body shifted and he looked up at her with. . . was that hope glistening in his eyes?

" Maybe you could help me? How d'you think I oughta go about tellin' her? I'm sure you've got some ideas. "[/b]

Okay, she had to admit, this is not what she had expected to come out of her simple trip along their borders. She had barley expected to see another cat, much less a lovestruck tom asking for love advice! Well, i can see how he'd think of asking me- i am another she-cat afterall. She thought, but she was unsure how she would tell this tom that- even if she could. Blinking a few times, she twitched her whiskers, taking a moment to think about all of the she-cats she had met before. The only real experience she had was from her mother- and she was still a pretty laid back she-cat when she wanted to be. Well, she had to give it a shot- some advice would be better than none- or so she hoped.

" Perhaps. . . she's scared? shy? or unsure? You might be confident about what you want to say- but maybe she isn't? " Well, that had to be the most awkward and weird way to state any kind of advice she'd ever heard. Mentally she sighed a bit, wishing she dealt with a bit more complicated she-cats just for this experience. She didn't even know who this she-cat was, or what she was like! So she couldn't give a very accurate prediction when she didn't even know her. . right?

" I mean, i don't know who this she-cat is, or how she acts, or anything about her really. So, i can only guess. " She mewed, knowing that she couldn't do much about it. Maybe if she was lucky, she would be able to help this poor tormented tom.
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[Glowy]

Rainpaw had to contain the impulse to shake his head ruefully. Of course Owlcat's advice would be general. He'd only given her general information. But... she couldn't know any more. If she did, something bad would happen. He didn't know what, exactly, but it would. Could she be right, though? Was it possible that Gingerstar didn't know what she felt about him? Those hadn't been her exact words, but the implied message was clear enough. You confuse her. Be careful. But she wouldn't be confused unless she felt something she was unused to! Right? The thought... it gave to him a hope that he'd scarcely allowed himself before. This was the first time that he had seriously allowed himself to consider that she might feel something good. No, not just good. Strong. Passionate? No. That could be taken the wrong way. Something... beautiful. Yeah. That was it. Something beautiful. "Thank you kindly, ma'am," he said with a tilt of his head, and a grin wider than the ocean and bright as a comet pulled from orbit. Oh, how his eyes lit up! "You've given me somethin' I haven't had in a long time: hope. I thank ya. I won't forget this." Now what? Should he stay, should he go? Would it be rude to leave? Or was it expected? He still hadn't picked up on all the subtleties of Clan life. The last thing he wanted to do was reflect poorly upon his Clan by offending the MeadowClan she-cat, whose name he still did not know. "Might I have your name? So's I can remember you better. I want to remember the cat who helped me." speaking [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[MONSTER <3]

[bg=faf0ee][atrb=width,400,true][atrb=border,0,true] As she spoke, she saw the tom's mind reeling- seeming to consider all she said. Even though she said it could be completely incorrect. Guess it's better than anything he's come up with. She thought, seeing his eyes light up, as if sudden inspiration and realization jolted through his mind. " Thank you kindly, ma'am, You've given me somethin' I haven't had in a long time: hope. " Russetfoot blinked, suddenly more shocked than she had been in. . . well, lets say a very long time. She gave someone, another cat, another living thing, Hope? She almost couldn't believe her ears. Couldn't believe it almost as much as her belief in Starclan themselves. After a few moments, she felt it sink in more. She helped this tom. Not that she really said much at all, and it could probably be guessed at by anyone. Even so, she felt glad that she could lift such a burden off of one cat's shoulders. "I thank ya. I won't forget this." The russet colored she-cat smiled a bit, which is something she wasn't quite used to. "Its no problem. Im glad i could help." The mew echoed in her mind. Wow, she hadn't said that before. Her eyes followed the tom, and he seemed a bit stumped for a moment. As if he was not sure what to do or say now. She had to admit, she was glad that she wasn't the one in his paws. Her and silences that she was responsible for fixing was surely not her forte- she almost never spoke anyhow unless spoken directly too, or if she was just being kind for once. " Might I have your name? So's I can remember you better. I want to remember the cat who helped me. " The tom's question took her a bit by surprise, sense it was rare for most cats to actually want to know who she was, but she obliged all the same. " My name is Russetfoot. May i ask what your name is? Its not an everyday occurrence that i get to help out another cat. So i would like to remember you as well." The words felt odd on her tongue, but she was glad she said them- even if they did feel a bit awkward to her. It didn't matter- she was in the mood for being nice, happy, and kind. This didn't come around every day, so she enjoyed it while she could. “speaking color.”

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[Glowy]

The weight of what had just occurred startled Rainpaw momentarily. He had just spoken to a member of another clan without getting angry, or making her angry, or getting into a fight. So far he was shooting .500 in terms of violence versus nonviolence in his interactions with other clans. Granted, MeadowClanners were sane. Not only had he spoken to a member of another clan, he had spoken to a she-cat. What was this sorcery? Rainpaw had developed a little tendency to ignore any female who wasn't Gingerstar. It simply didn't cross his mind anymore to interact with anybody else. Perhaps it was because he spent all day training with her. Yeah. That could be it. Was it, then, a conscious choice? Or was it, rather, a simple lack of opportunity? "Pleased to meet you, Russetfoot," he said with a dip of his head. "M' name's Rainpaw. Most folks just call me Rain, though. You can take your pick." Birds chattered in the trees behind him, drawing his attention back to his own territory. He really should be getting back to camp. Though he had few friends, others might begin to wonder why his solo patrol was taking so long. Especially since he had been in such a hurry when he had set out. Oh, it had been so difficult to contain his anger! Freckles was sending him out alone? Didn't she want him around anymore? He had taken his frustrations and channeled them into his body, sprinting out of camp like his tail had been on fire. "I'd best be going. Patrol to finish." And so Rainpaw dipped his head one last time, turned his back on the border, and padded off into the shadows of the forest. Oh, he would return to the border in due time, yes, but something was calling him back to his trees. speaking [bg=cac0aa][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]