it's not snooping, it's pestering. [ cranexash ]

[ambird]

[bg=252620][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,500,true] Cranetail sighed, looking around the misty covered area around him. The whole pure believer thing in his Clan was getting increasingly annoying. The worst part was that he couldn't do a thing about it. Oh, he could say whatever he wanted to them, but that'd probably lead to a "untimely death". He needed help. Like he was going to get any. Cranetail gritted his teeth, remembering the day he, Loonstep and Goosefur had made their decisions on which Clan to belong to. He'd thought a Clan with a strong belief in his ancestor's would be what was best for him. Well, look at what had happened. He didn't like it anymore than a few select others did, but without help from the other Clan's, they were screwed. Which, he doubted the others were keen in going to ask for help to stop an insane cat as much as he did. Well...they might. But he didn't talk to them, and they didn't really address him that often. What could he say? He was in way over his head with this whole 'stop the mad cats in his Clan' thing. They out-numbered him. And even if he added Goosefur and Loonstep to the cause, only Starclan knew what their Clans would say if they found out that a Fogclanner (Loonstep's brother and Goosefur's friend) was getting them to help him. Huh. Pineclan. He peered over to where the border lay. It was ironic that he and his brother were separated by mere scent markings. Across those scented borders, was where his brother was. He knew Loonstep would sympathize with him, even if he had told Cranetail the dangers of joining Fogclan all those moons ago. It was funny how it was actually at least 10 moons ago they'd made their decisions, and yet it felt like yesterday to him. It was probably because of the regret he was feeling. He padded closer to the border (not crossing it, he wasn't that stupid), and sat down, covering his paws with his tail. "Oh StarClan....what have I gotten myself into? It was easy when it was just a few cats who had this weird obsession...but now their forcing it upon every cat. No one can go on like this. If this is meant to be a test for me, I'm pretty sure I've failed. And badly. I'm admitting I'm a numbskull. Everyone always thought I was just some arrogant mouse-brain who had nothing on the brain but she-cats," he murmured to himself, smirking as he remembered the easier days. "And you know what? I like it that way. I knew who and what I stood for. Fine-looking she-cats and little or no responsibilities." they probably weren't too happy with that last bit, but he didn't need to be the only frustrated one. He couldn't even shamelessly flirt anymore! One of those stupid council would scowl at him and mutter about he was an ungrateful little prick. Which, was true. To a point. Nah, it was true. He just hated letting those stupid cats get the satisfaction of them being right about something. Looking back up again, he yawned, fell to his side. "Meh. I sure has heck don't want to go back to camp. Maybe a little nap here wouldn't be too mad..."

[Cloudbat]

Closer, closer...the small gray warrior's paws silently crept over the damp grass, slinking through the shadows after the jay...

...when it cried and flew away because some dung-brained piece of stupid opened his mouth and started talking to himself. Even better, a FogClan dung-brained piece of stupid from the sound of it.

And when she listened to the rest of his rant...well, it stirred up a whole slew of weird feelings in her. The dominant one was irritation; he'd scared away her prey and he was FogClan, so therefore almost certainly a stuck-up mouse-brain by default.

But from the rest of his weird monologue...perhaps he wasn't a typical Starcrap-spouting idiot. It certainly made her curious...maybe originally, FogClan hadn't been all bad. That one apprentice - Frostpaw or whatever her name had been - had seemed intelligent.

The warrior pulled a face when he meowed that he'd liked being a scumbag - i.e, a tom who only liked she-cats, and only for their physical features. It reminded her too much of Barktail, who she still hoped to kill one day.

It was probably stupid of her, but she stepped out of the long tree shadows and toward the edge of her own border, facing the large white tom, green eyes watching him with a mixture of disdain and curiosity.

"So the most deluded among you now rule the only slightly less deluded among you? You poor, poor things. Gee, I wonder how that happened in the first place. By the way, if THAT was what you stood for, it downright sucked. Toms who only think of she-cats physically, toms who think they're oh-so-wonderful, are the most despicable creatures alive.

And a nap here WOULD be too bad, because I'm sure your snoring would scare away what little prey is left after your tragic monologue. But hey, don't let me stop you. I'm just a worthless PineClanner living a sad, empty life because I have no wittle starry guardians to watch over me, so I'm a bad, bad kitty." She mock-pouted here, then rolled her eyes. "Did I also mention that I'm NOT ruled by psychopaths? Handy little benefit from living in a Clan with sense."

Her tone was sarcastic, though intentionally not as wounding as she could make it, since he did sound...sort of repentant. Definitely not enough that she felt sorry for him, however. Not by a long shot.

[ambird]

[bg=252620][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,500,true] "Oh, look who just had to turn up. Ashstorm, right? Look, I don't need both Loonstep and some high and mighty Pineclanner telling me I screwed up. I get it, okay? For as much help as my ancestors have been, they can go get eaten by badgers for all I care." he hissed, mostly meaning it. Cranetail had gotten up from his leisurely position once she'd come over, but the hairs on his neck were standing up on end. Honestly. If his ancestors cared so much, why were they leaving a Clan in the hands of nut-jobs? It looked more and more like Pineclan got the better end of the deal when they didn't deal with the starry warriors in the first place. Were they under dictatorship? No. Did they have mass chaos? No. He'd rather have firm disbelief than this string of disaster, which would most definitely lead to death and grief, which he didn't want. "Oh, and the womanizing? I learned that the hard way. I looked right past a cat who appreciated me, and went on being an asshole. I get it. For all intensive purposes, I am one. I joined this stupid Clan because for all my warts, I still thought that out there in that stupid blue sky were Starclan. Who watched over me, and protected me. I joined it assuming that belief system wouldn't get corrupted. Well, look where I am! Ranting to a cat I've seen twice in my life, and even she probably doesn't give a piece of badger dung either!" he finished, shaking slightly. Having held in this anger for quite awhile and then all at once...letting out. Cranetail knew he was in bad shaped when he realized he'd felt better after ranting to a complete stranger. "Sorry," he muttered, looking down at the grass that lay around him. "You probably don't have complete oddball cats standing this close to the border screaming at you about how they screwed up their lives, do you?" he said, still on high alert. Cranetail had hear about Ashstorm from Loonstep, and she wasn't one to be trifled with. She had an adder's fork for a tongue, and was quick to rebound insults. He hadn't meant to insult her, if he had, Cranetail assumed he'd find out soon enough. Even he'd pissed her off, then great. Just what he needed to add to the list of things he regretted doing. He could just imagine it. Going back to camp all clawed up by an angry she-cat(it'd happen before, don't laugh). No doubt someone would ask him what happened, they'd all assume that he'd crossed the border, when in reality he'd just angered a she-cat. The Council would probably sneer, and think of some way to punish him for his 'insolence'. Or some other dung like that. And then the fact that this cat would probably go back to her Clan, rant about her experience with an idiot like him, Loonstep would hear about it, question him the next time they talked, and then sigh and eye-roll and remind him not to act like an ass to she-cats. It was pathetic he'd imagined all this, wasn't it?

[Cloudbat]

She felt herself getting both more annoyed and more curious as his little speech went on, his strange, mostly unpleasant scent permeating the pine-fresh air.

"Well...then...good." The warrior said, disarmed by his retort. He knew her name? And Loonstep? How did he know funny-walking Loonstep, of all cats? How did he know a PineClanner, and personally, from the sound of it? Even more strange, a FogClanner admitting that StarClan was useless?

Maybe he was more intelligent than he looked. But then it was almost impossible not to be.

The gray she-cat remained silent as he spat more words at her. Maybe...maybe he really was hurt. FogClanners...for all their snobbishness and idiocy, maybe they were just...cats, too, even though they pretended otherwise. Though it pained her to admit it to herself, she'd been just as prejudiced and stereotyping against them as they were against her and her Clan.

Not, of course, that her disdain wasn't justified. FogClan were still mostly a bunch of cruel-minded idiots who clung to illusions...but maybe not all of them.

Then he apologized? Mood swing much? Still, she'd take it. Thoughts of prey were completely driven from her mind now - much as Ashstorm disliked admitting it to herself, she was more interested in this FogClanner's plight.

She sat for a while, looking at the ground, occasionally darting a glance at the white tom. At last she spoke, her voice hesitant, wary, looking into his bright yellow eyes with her dull green ones.

"Look...you...I don't even know your name, and I have no idea how you know mine, or how you know Loonstep. I'm not high or mighty, I'll admit, I just...I don't even know. You've completely confused me, and that doesn't happen every day." She said, with just the faintest bit of humor in her voice, a tiny hint of a smile on her face.

"It does give me satisfaction to know you've realized StarClan is a pile of nonsense. But you're wrong. I do care." Ashstorm said with conviction, then realized how that might sound. "Not necessarily about you," she added hastily, not wanting to look weak. "But about the fact that maybe there are some of you aren't quite so idiotic. I'm glad...I'm glad to know that."

"I don't." She chuckled. "But I don't have something this interesting - or irritating - happen to me every day, either."

Ashstorm knew it was stupid of her to even care vaguely about whatever craziness was going on in FogClan, but she couldn't help it. She'd be careful, though. For all she knew, this was all part of some elaborate trap. But part of her believed he was sincere, at least, and a very small part of her, one that she did her best to ignore, began to feel sympathy for the white warrior.

[ambird]

"Oh, always was bad at introductions. I'm Cranetail. Me and Loonstep...we go far back, you could. Like, kithood far back. Not many in the Clans know that we're siblings, so there's your explanation for why I know him. Your name? Well..." he cut himself off. No way was he telling some cat who was practically a stranger about the fact that he and his brother broke the warrior code rather frequently just to be able to talk one on one. But...she had to know something. Cranetail didn't think he had to keep everything he knew to himself. So, he did the next best thing. "We talk a lot at Gatherings, ya know? I still don't get why I didn't join him in Pinecan. No problems there." he said, muttering that last part mostly to himself.

He chuckled at this, "Oh, we aren't all crazy cats who'd jump off a cliff if a 'message from Starclan' told us to. But the majority...they listen out of fear. Those stupid Council Members make things less than pleasant. And if you're like, me, stubborn and outspoken, well then...you get blood on your coat more often then you normally would." he said, nodding to his flanks. He'd developed a particularly nasty scar on his lower half of his flank, close to his underbelly.

He growled slightly at the thought of why he'd received it. For jumping in when an apprentice had misbehaved. Somehow, for some stupid reason, apprentices had turned into the lowest of the low. One of them was going to be put in a headlock by none other than Thrushflower herself, and over his dead body would an apprentice die because an idiot like her held stupid grudges and had weird agendas. Something about blood...about how they had no right to be grabbing prey because pure-blood Clan cats hadn't eaten yet. When he'd asked her what in Starclan's name she'd been doing, she went on at him. Rambling about how he didn't represent a Clan cat at all.

Yes, he basically lived with(mostly) freaks.

Cranetail sighed, laughing at himself. "I still don't know why I'm opening up to a cat who's basically a stranger. It's probably because I haven't been able to--I mean, the Gathering isn't too far off, and that's when I'd normally vent to good ol' Loonstep. But, obviously things have grown far worse since that old crackpot Miststar went off to who knows where. I think this whole thing is upsetting the medicine cats the most. They can't aide the cats who are punished by the council, and if they even try to help, they themselves face the risks of pain themselves. It's a screwy system. One I'd rather leave then see through to the end. All this stupid Clan has going for it is the dictatorship that never ends." he murmured darkly, looking across the border to Ashstorm.

It still felt funny to going off about his absurd Clan problems to a cat who he'd just happened to come across as he'd been ranting to himself about his stupid Clan. The bitter irony was the fact that she was Pineclan. Here he was, chatting it up with a Pineclanner. If anyone in his Clan saw him...his fate would be as good as decided. The fate? Most surely some sort of pain that could equal death with no medicine cat to help him.

[Cloudbat]

"Cranetail..." mused the warrior, trying to see if she remembered him from any Gatherings. Mmm...nope. Hardly surprising, but still. Then her ears perked up. Siblings? Wow. But if they were siblings, why hadn't they joined the same Clan? It opened up as many mysteries as it answered.

Stop being stupid, she mentally chided herself. You don't care about him, and you don't want to.

This was partially true; she didn't really care about Cranetail - not yet. But part of her did want to care about him - PineClan was all well and good, but since that incident with Barktail...she'd been less trusting of them. Since Jaynose was gone too, she didn't really have any close friends. Though the fiery-tempered she-cat would never admit it to herself, she was lonely.

Hence her growing interest in a random FogClan stranger.

She nodded, feeling both slightly flattered and annoyed now that she realized Loonstep had talked about her. Funny, he wasn't the gossiping type...or was he? She didn't really know him; he always seemed to be wandering off by himself...to meet Cranetail, maybe, she thought, smirking to herself.

The white warrior's laugh brought her back to the real world. She was...genuinely shocked. It only added to the growing feeling that she'd been stereotyping the FogClanners as much as they stereotyped her Clan. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

But she also felt a bit of sorrow for the mostly non-crazy cats oppressed by the true insane ones. Her eyes grew wide when he told her how he'd been injured - she knew they were crazy, but she hadn't imagined anything like that. "Dear earth...I'm sorry. I had...no idea." Her voice was almost a whisper.

Ashstorm smiled sadly at his last words. It sounded like hell. "Well, though I feel stupid, you've gained my sympathy. You could be lying, but I doubt it. Any normal FogClanner wouldn't be talking back to me in the first place. Vent if you like, though I do need to catch more prey eventually."

[ambird]

"Well, I'm not a normal Fogclanner. In fact...I don't think I really ever fit in. I joined the Clan I joined because…I could bare to face my brother with his non-belief, yes, go ahead and laugh. he said, gingerly looking up to Ashstorm, expecting her to smirk. And then…there was Goosefur. She was both Loonstep and I’s friend. However, she had…feelings for me while I went around being a…well, yeah, asshole.” thinking of how his brother had known of this, and he’d been oblivious. He’d hear from Loonstep that those two had hit it off. And he was happy for them. Loonstep always had been the real lady charmer. The one that didn’t act like a total ass. Obviously she-cats were more comfortable around him because he didn't make them want to claw his face off. Made sense, from a mature point of view.

Mature. Something he'd always been yelled at to be. Even after he'd become a warrior. Look how long it'd taken him to reach it. And, look what it took for him even to consider changing his ways. Dictatorship. Wow. That made him sound like a real nice cat, huh? He tried to shake that thought away. He couldn't do anything about how he had acted. He could only continue to be a cat that Cranetail could be proud of. Well...he wasn't even that yet, was he? So far, after he'd given up she-cat chasing(more out of force than anything) he'd stood around like a scared-y cat, too frightened of his own Clan to try to do anything about it. Sure, he took his punishments. That meant he was just letting them win. But...did he have any other choice?

"I hate this. I can rebel as much as I want, and all that'll get me is a clawed off face. I've considered discussing this with Loonstep, but this new system of dictatorship sprung up, making it even harder to--see cats at the Gathering. The only way I can see us getting out of this leadership is if crazy old Volepelt was overthrown. Miststar's gone missing, who know's where she is, probably where ever demented wack-jobs go after they die." he said bitterly, flicking his tail in annoyance. "And even then we don't have enough cats who are brave enough to go against the dictatorship. Sure, there's a few apprentices, a couple of warriors and a queen. If we try to attack from within, the Council will probably give us one look, laugh till their flanks hurt, and then go on and attack us."

"I do have one other idea...It's crazy though. We'd need the other Clans's help. And they would probably all rather see Fogclan collapse from within. Then no more worrying about the crazies in Fogclan." he said, hissing at his last line.

[Cloudbat]

A normal FogClanner? What constituted 'normal' for them? But she kept the unkind thought silent. After all, Ashstorm reminded herself reluctantly, they must think of us the same way. I'm better than them, so I have to think better than them. So annoying.

And she did laugh. Softly, though with (admittedly) a bit of a smirk. It was funny.

"Nice." snorted the gray she-cat. "Very nice. And I assume you never even figured it out until later."

Then her face turned serious again as he spoke of his thrice be-darned Clan. As funny it would be to see him get his clawed off, it would hurt. She couldn't resist one last jab, though. "See him at the Gathering. Riiiight." With a smirk that meant, I'm not stupid, you know.

Still, it was none of her business. She certainly wasn't going to tell Gingerstar...tempting though the PineClan warrior found it.

Besides, it was kind of nice that at least one FogClanner cared about a PineClanner. Even if she wanted nothing to do with them. Even if she didn't care about them. Especially Cranetail. She really didn't care about this jerkface, even he if was wounded and rebellious and slightly good-looking...

"Huh. Well, I'm glad that daughter of a badger is gone, even if it means you're stuck with him. Who knows, maybe he knocked her off himself." Ashstorm shrugged. With how crazy those two were, maybe it was true.

She hesitated as he said his last line, because, well, it was true. Most of FogClan could go rot for all she cared. Ashstorm may have been a Clan cat, but her loyalty to PineClan was really based on her loyalty to Gingerstar and her apprentice, Willowpaw. Otherwise, she might've gone on being a rogue. All the 'we need all the Clans to be in harmony' crap some of the ForestClanners spouted made her laugh.

Still...the idea of hurting, maybe even killing, a FogClan crazy (especially - um, even one who'd hurt Cranetail) gave her a strange thrill. Yes, it was stupid. Part of her knew it was a bad idea to even seriously consider anything he was saying. But part of her hungered for blood, hungered to make things right, whoever it was. It scared Ashstorm a bit...but she was going to act on it.

"Yes...ah...well. About that. Maybe I could...help?" she coughed, looking embarrassed. "Not that I'd die for your Clan or anything...but beating up one of those loonies sounds really attractive."

[ambird]

[bg=252620][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,500,true] He himself had begun to wonder if Ashstorm was really interested with him at all, or was just listening until he becoming boring, and then she'd go and scream at him to get away from her land. But no such thing occurred. Instead, she seemed to care. Right? Why was he so worried about what she cared about all of the sudden? He wasn't...Cranetail was just curious if she maybe interested in him...as a friend! Yeah, friend. Why the heck was he even thinking about this? The main concern was the whole dictatorship thing. Currently, he just needed to hear her out. "I'm not the brightest star in the sky," he chuckled. Sociopath knocking himself out? He wished. "That's make it all so much easier. Too bad life's a bastard and would rather laugh in all our faces." he muttered. That's how he felt at this point. Whoever the heck was up there was probably laughing at his failures. If he was them, he probably would be too. Still. Did they even have the right to go and make him look like a complete imbecile? It wasn't fair. He cringed remembering what his mother would always tell him when he complained about whatever was troubling. She'd tell him to think about what he did have, and to stop worrying about wasn't able to obtain. Yeah. Right. She'd said that before the whole mess of Brownstar had occurred, before the new Clans, and before he and Loonstep separated. Darkflower had never foreseen any of that, so she wouldn't have known that his life would be turned upside down. He couldn't blame her for the mess he was in. Though he still.l wished he could blame someone...anyone but himself. Wasn't his fault his Clan was crazy. It was just rotten luck he'd had ended up in a Clan with major problems. Well...every Clan had problems. This one was one. "You...you would?" he asked Ashstorm, pretending to hide his pleasure in knowing someone was on his side. "I just wish...us few in Fogclan that actually don't agree with any of this could tell the other Clans. Get the word out. Without help, we're screwed." he grimaced.

[Cloudbat]

Ashstorm winced in sympathy; life could be a bastard. But life could also be good if you showed it that you weren't going to be messed with. Yes, she'd never known her mom. Yes, her dad had died horribly. And yes, she'd been hurt by someone that she should have been able to trust, maybe even make friends with. But she'd also been given an apprentice and a new chance at life. And now...now she might even have a chance to change history.

Okay, 'change history' was a bit grandiose. Still.

"Life would, but you can also show it that you're tougher. Roll with the punches and you can come out on top. That's what I've done."She shrugged, shivering a little as she noticed the temperature dropping slightly as it got darker. The mist wasn't helping, either. She'd heard it covered FogClan territory for half of each day; how did they ever manage to hunt and patrol?

"And yes, I would. I must be insane, but I'll try and work out some way to assist you. It'd help if you brought the other cats with brains to meet me and decide for themselves if they want PineClan's help. You seem okay, but I'm sure not ready to pledge allegiance unless I know I'm not going to end up being clawed to death by some Startard. So that's my deal; get the others to come tomorrow here, same time. If we reach an agreement, I'll lend my support. Sound good, Cranetail?"

She darted anxious glances around, sniffing the droplet-heavy air in an attempt to make sure they weren't being watched. She didn't think so...but how could you be certain in this fog?

"And make sure you're not being tracked." she added, deadly serious now. "If this is a trick, if you lead a patrol to me, I swear to whatever you still believe in that I'll rip your guts out and make them into string." She ended with a growl. Sure, Ashstorm wanted to help, but she also wanted to drive the point home: she wasn't a fool, and she wouldn't stand for any nonsense. You could never be too careful.

Having said that, she turned and padded off, head held high. The PineClanner still needed to find some prey.

[ambird]

[bg=252620][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,500,true] He looked up at her with anxiety in his eyes as he saw her begin to contemplate his idea. Yeah, it was frigging crazy. Did that matter to him at this point? Not in the least. When she gave her answer, he felt substantially better. "I'll gather up the lot of them then and explain the idea," he started, excitement running through him from whiskers down to his larger-than-normal tail. But, then she went back to her 'serious business' talk. "Oh, no. I'd rather let those badger-brains skin me alive first than letting them hurt you. Trust me, I'm alone." he said assuredly. Or, he had been until he'd almost walked onto Pineclan territory and came face-to-face with Ashstorm. But this was his territory, if he didn't know it, did he deserve to even be a Fogclanner? he chuckled to himself. Though it was foggy, Cranetail was confident in the fact that it was only he and Ashstorm out in this part of the forest.A shudder went down his spine as some dew from the plant above his head fell onto his back. Glancing up, he noticed it was getting dark. "I'll speak with them, hear what they have to say. Can we meet back up here? I'm not sure if the next Gathering would be the best place, seeing as, according to what our Clanmates know, we've never actually met. And don't worry, I won't be mouse-brained enough to give up your name unless they actually agree with me. Some of my Clan may be crazy, but their not all as dumb as they seem." Cranetail murmured across from the border to the grey she-cat. He twitched his whiskers as a sort of involuntary thing, mostly just out of thinking, he guessed. Cranetail was the closest thing to happy he'd been in a long while, and that was all because a cat from another Clan, above all else, a Pineclanner, was interested in helping him stop the atrocity that was his Clan's "higher ups." Next time Loonstep and him had one of their little conversations in the dead of night, he'd be able to say more than 'yeah, live sucks over here. Got anything happening up in non-crazy-ville?'