♠ toni x open ♠

[// Sissel]

"Hell. S'better than not knowin' for the rest of your life."

Toni smiled at the tom's understanding. It felt good to have someone not insulting her because of her curiosity for once. Her mother often scolded her for investigating things that she shouldn't and wandering away from her because of something that she had seen. Without warning, a voice rang out.

"I am he."

The entrance of the blue-gray tom led Toni to a surprised raise of the eyelids. 'I guess I should've been more careful.' For all she knew, this Everett of Virgil's could've been an enemy. And from Virgil's reaction, he hadn't fully realised that he was there, either. Toni watched as Everett gave a slight bow, but it felt her feel a bit awkward. She hated people being formal around her: to her, they were all equal. They didn't have to bow or anything.

"Why Everett, have you been there this entire time?Everett, this is Toni. Caught her by this here pond, but she didn't seem to know she was tresspassin' so I figured there was no need for claws."

The she-cat quickly gave a nod of greeting after realising that she was staring. "Pleasure to meet you, Everett." She smiled a larger smile. "But, please, there's no need to bow or anything of the sort. Just relax and do what you want to do." Toni noticed the tom open his mouth, but then shut it again, like she had done only a short while ago. 'He didn't speak again, so...maybe he's like Virgil? Maybe socializing just isn't his thing?' This gave Toni the want to become friends with Everett. She had made some sort of strange friendship with Virgil, so surely she could do the same with Everett?

[Glowy]

Sootnose acknowledged Owlheart with a curt nod, still a bit too annoyed with him to speak. Honestly, after all their discussions, all the things he had taught his friend about the proper way to behave, stunts like this should not even cross his mind! But then... there was mercy as well. It was a difficult thing for a gentleman to balance dignity, propriety, and mercy. Or, perhaps mercy wasn't the correct word, he mused. Perhaps... amiability. Yes, that was the word. The more amiable somebody was, the more likely they were to give everybody a fair chance. The raincloud-pelted tom sincerely hoped that he was fair in his judgments. It took a lot to set him completely against somebody.

"Owlheart," he murmured, keeping his annoyance very carefully contained. There would be time to lecture later. For now, he would preserve his friend's dignity. It was not his place to shame the noble tom in front of the lady. It would do Sootnose more dishonor than it would the Lawman! "I have."

He turned then to face the she-cat. Toni, she was called. What a peculiar sort of name. It had none of the sense behind clan names, it lacked the fearsome and often foreign quality of many non-clan names, and seemed to be entirely too plain to him. Toni... it did not have the gracefulness that he was used to. Elizabeth, Parson, Virgil (which was even a stretch to some extent, but did not sound wrong), they all possessed a certain quality that Toni did not.

"Believe me, miss Toni, the pleasure is all mine." Sootnose felt Toni's gaze acutely. What was she staring at? Had he some moss on his ear ? Then she began to smile at him- or, rather, her smile grew to stretch near across her entire skull. Was she... was she daft? No cat had cause to smile that much. The only other soul he'd ever met who smiled that much was Briartail of his own clan, and everybody assumed that there was something a bit off in that brain of his. He didn't seem to fully process everything that went on sometimes. Could Toni be the same way, or was she simply being friendly? It wasn't like she had been smiling the whole time. She couldn't have done that. It wasn't possible.

"I believe my friend explained to you the situation with the borders. He was, however, a bit lax in explaining the severity of it," he said with a glance at Virgil, just enough to emphasize his point. "Please allow me to do so. It is... hmm. If, for instance, our leader had come across you, she would have chased you off of our territory without so much as a bat of her lashes. Only if you resisted would she have used her claws. Some members of our clan would not have been so kind as she. They would not have hesitated to attack you." He nodded gravely. Toni was lucky to have encountered himself and Virgil. Old habits die hard, they say, whomever "they" are, and their habits from their loner days made them less leery of strangers. Well, in Virgil's case. The Gentleman did not know if he would ever be as comfortable around new cats as his friend was. Thinking back to the day they had met, the only thing that had kept Everett with Virgil was his sense of honor. A gentleman always paid his debts.

"Do not allow yourself to think that you are safe here, miss. Your scent will cling to the land even after you have left, if that is your intention. Patrols will investigate. For your safety, I would suggest two courses of action. You may either leave now and try to wipe this place from your memory, or you may join StreamClan, sooner rather than later. You would be granted clemency in that case. Jaegerstar is formidable, but she is just." Great Scott, that was probably the longest speech he'd ever made to a stranger. What was going on here? "Virgil, what say you about this? Would you have miss Toni join the clan?"

Sootnose smiled at his friend, somewhat challengingly. How would he respond to this?

[/blockquote]

[Pyro]

"Wouldn't expect me to harm a lady, would you Everett?" he said as though that were all the explanation he needed. No, Virgil was never one for outright defending his actions, or rather, apologizing for them. What was done was done whether anyone else liked it or not. "I had just been getting to askin' her. Actually, I did ask her, as I recollect. Just need an answer from Miss Toni." He returned Everett's challenging smile. "She was awful curious about our clan, I'm sure you heard." He didn't add anything about how unsafe things were in reality for Toni so as not to sound redundant. Everett had done as much in his own gentlemanly way, with Virgil only nodding in affirmation at the end of the speech. Things were pretty cut and dry at this point, and had he been in Toni's position ge would have known that immediately from past experiences. However, he had a feeling she didn't gave that luxury. Actually, he was pretty sure she was a shut in. A nice one, but a shut in nontheless. He wondered if Everett had guessed as much. He probably had. Not much about a person escaped him--he was very observant in that respect. Speaking [bg=4d4d4d][atrb=width,500,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[// Sissel]

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[atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,false][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=background,http://i41.tinypic.com/f2905t.jpg] Something seemed a little tense about the atmosphere and it made Toni a little uneasy. 'I suppose I am just a simple stranger. It's not unnatural to be wary around someone like myself.' "Believe me, miss Toni, the pleasure is all mine. I believe my friend explained to you the situation with the borders. He was, however, a bit lax in explaining the severity of it. Please allow me to do so. It is... hmm. If, for instance, our leader had come across you, she would have chased you off of our territory without so much as a bat of her lashes. Only if you resisted would she have used her claws. Some members of our clan would not have been so kind as she. They would not have hesitated to attack you." But, what is so wrong for strangers to wander upon a clan's territory? What if they had to pass through there to get to their destination? What if they hadn't even heard of the clans in their life - like Toni? So many questions were running through the she-cat's head, but each time, she gave herself the logical answers, though she didn't want them. 'Prey is an important part of survival. If it's possible for your clan to be in danger, strangers aren't to be trusted. In this world, it's hunt or be hunted.' Still, there were some things that cats did that were unacceptable in Toni's eyes - she'd heard stories. It's not as if she could change such a thing, though - it's the natural response. "Do not allow yourself to think that you are safe here, miss. Your scent will cling to the land even after you have left, if that is your intention. Patrols will investigate. For your safety, I would suggest two courses of action. You may either leave now and try to wipe this place from your memory, or you may join StreamClan, sooner rather than later. You would be granted clemency in that case. Jaegerstar is formidable, but she is just. Virgil, what say you about this? Would you have miss Toni join the clan?" 'Uh-oh. Touchy subject, approximately five seconds away.' Quite accurate, too. "I had just been getting to askin' her. Actually, I did ask her, as I recollect. Just need an answer from Miss Toni. She was awful curious about our clan, I'm sure you heard." "I, uh..." Toni faltered. She looked back a little and then to her reflection at the water and then at the trees surrounding her. What should she do? It wouldn't be good for her to just...wander off without telling her mother. It would make her worried sick - Toni hated worrying anyone. Sighing, the she-cat decided she would just have to come straight out and say it. "As much as I'd like to join...I need to think about it. I still have my mother - I don't want her to suffer by not knowing where I am. I may seem like a goody-goody, but my family comes before my curiosities. But..." There was someone, somewhere, trying to tempt Toni to accept their offer. And, in all honesty, it was what she wanted to do. Should she have been alone in her travels, the answer would be clear. But, while she still had a family member alive, she couldn't just leave...could she?

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