nonstop crazy ;; {dawny}

[stonestrike **]

when he'd entered camp with a frog in his jaws, one of the guards had told him that dreamstar was wanting to speak with him. his first thought, of course, was what had he done? stonestrike gulped nervously, setting the piece of prey on the freshkill pile and looking toward the tempestclan leader's den. the tabby tom stood there for a moment, contemplating his next actions. he was, of course, going to go see her, and really, there was no reason to keep her waiting. he'd only grow increasingly nervous. 'maybe i missed a patrol.' stonestrike thought suddenly. 'or maybe she wants me to mentor an apprentice?' no, that couldn't be it! there weren't any kits and all of the other apprentices were paired. 

"better get it over with, pal." he said under his breath before moving quickly to her den, his weight shifting restlessly from one side to the other. "dreamstar? you wanted to speak with me?" the tom called in, squinting into the slight darkness her den lent during the day, his mind still wandering about as he stood there, oblivious.

tag: dawn ; dreamstar ★

[dreamstar ★]

dreamstar looked up as she heard her name uttered. at times, it was still unfamiliar to her ears. for a moment she paused in confusion, taking in the young tom-cat before her. "stonestrike!" she smiled as she greeted him, before realizing that the enthusiasm might frighten the seemingly ill-at-ease tom. "oh... um, yes. i did." regaining her composure, the lean silver tabby stood and nodded towards the hollow tree den's entrance. "have you eaten yet? i was thinking we could talk over a couple pieces of fresh kill." she'd been resting up since the dawn patrol, mainly due to the medicine cat and her mate nagging at her, less due to choice. she figured since she'd already gotten an earful for not getting her rat bite tended to immediately, she probably shouldn't risk disobeying. she slipped out past the young warrior, tapping him on the shoulder with her tailtip to let him know that he should follow.

[stonestrike **]

he was still confused, but he tried to hide it well. the tom was typically quite hard to disturb, but something about meeting with the leader unnerved him slightly. "oh - i have not." the grey-brown tabby replied quickly, almost stumbling over his words. his energy was high, and he had sunk his claws into the slightly soft ground as dreamstar spoke. he nodded as she finished speaking, several times to be exact, and squinted in the direction of the freshkill pile, following her as she made her way toward it. the tom felt it would be rude to take the prey that he had personally caught, so he opted for a small lizard - it was his preferred choice, really; he liked the texture of the meat, especially when compared to - shudder - frogs. while the tom didn't mind hunting frogs - it was an adventure, and he enjoyed their energy! - they were just so squishy when you tried to eat them! the lizard swayed in his mouth as he waited for dreamstar to choose her piece of freshkill, for he held it by its tail, and the tom gestured toward a spot across the small clearing for them to speak. he made his way over, setting the reptile down, and clearing his throat. his eyes squinted at her, he spoke. "so, what can i help you with?

[dreamstar ★]

dreamstar padded over to the freshkill pile, careful on her wounded foreleg, and grabbed a vole without much consideration. she then followed stonestrike to his chosen spot, proceeding to flop down with a relaxed posture. she wasn't sure what had the tom so freaked out, but she wanted to do whatever she could not to add to that. "you can relax, you know," the frost-colored leader mewed, grinning at him. "i only bite if i really know you well." before she realized that she might be making things more uncomfortable, she continued, "besides, longshadow might get jealous." thinking on that for a moment, she blinked at stonestrike, seemingly surprised herself that she had made such a remark. "ahem. well. stonestrike, as you know, i chose to mentor your sister, ivypaw." dreamstar hesitated for a bit, trying to think of the most delicate way to handle this. diplomacy wasn't exactly her strong suit at times. "ivypaw can be.... difficult," she murmured at last, hoping he would know what she meant. "i was just wondering if you had any tips on how to get through to her." she said the last part with a  bit of embarrassment, glad that the spot he had chosen was relatively private and that the clearing was mostly empty.

[stonestrike **]

he jumped as she mentioned how nervous he was and grinned nervously. "is it that obvious?" the tom asked, trying to be more at ease. "my nervousness, that is." he clarified, oblivious to whether or not she would understand what she meant. "uh. not that i doubt your ability...to pick up on social cues." stonestrike added with an awkward laugh before turning his attention to his lizard. he opened its rough skin with a precise claw, taking a small bite of the meat within before turning his squinty gaze back onto dreamstar. "oh, haha. yes, our parents were quite pleased that you did." the tom stated, unsure of where the conversation was going to end up.

when dreamstar finally seemed to get it out, the tom, lizard in mouth, let out a loud guffaw, his food falling out and his face burned with embarrassment. his mind reeled - oh, what would she think of him now, a mannerless fool? - and still his amusement stayed. "yes, yes she can be." stonestrike nodded, his head bobbing too many times as he enjoyed the movement. starclan, how odd he must seem to others. "i'm not sure anyone understands her too well." the tom admitted with a shrug. "she and orchidpaw used to be close, and i've always kept an eye on the two of them," his eyes narrowed and a strange light glinted within them as he thought of - ahem - orchidpaw's sordid company. "anyway," the tom continued, rough tongue sweeping across his lips. "ivypaw is bullied and seems to think the world is out to get her." stonestrike explained. "i think she needs..." he squinted up toward the sky, bobbing his head left and right, searching for the right words. "reassurance?" he tried, and nodded slowly. "she's very skeptic, and all praise is lost on her, truly. doesn't believe a word of it." the tom shook his head as if to demonstrate just how much she deflected any compliments. "so, um, i guess... be gentle? no, that isn't right." he muttered aloud. "be stern, maybe, but um, try to comfort her?"

[dreamstar ★]

she couldn't help but laugh. "oh, yes. it is." he was being so careful not to say the wrong thing! it amused her. she said the wrong thing so very often. his careful navigation of the conversation was flattering, when she thought about it. "i know i can be a bit... blunt?" she nodded, thinking that was the right term for it. "just between you and me, my ability to pick up on social cues is not what made voidstar choose me for deputy," dreamstar confided slyly. she dug into her vole without grace, taking a meaty, iron-y bite. when he commented on how pleased his parents had been, she couldn't help but feel pleased herself. well, perhaps not everything about being leader was horrible and filled with uncertainty. 

the silver tabby perked up her ears in surprise at stonestrike's sudden change in character, her blue eyes widening as he laughed around the lizard's scales. she was incredibly relieved that he seemed to be taking her somewhat veiled insult about ivypaw well. it wasn't that she didn't like the sour little she-cat, it was just that she was a bit hard to teach at times, and dreamstar was no where near perfect, nor did she much enjoy getting mouthed off to. "orchidpaw," she pondered aloud. hearing more information on her apprentice, dreamstar's expression changed to suit her frown. "stern, but comforting. got it." she flicked her tail, wondering how one with so few social graces was going to pull off comforting ivypaw. "i have so little patience for dealing with young cats as of late," dreamstar admitted wearily. "your sister called me an 'old lady' recently. maybe she was right." 

[stonestrike **]

"ivypaw's about as blunt as they come, dreamstar." the tom said politely, eyes twinkling. his sister was a handful, and her rough experiences with the other apprentices only escalated her sourness to new levels. stonestrike purred in amusement as she admitted to her social cues not being the best. "mine are a bit spotty too, i'll admit that with absolutely no shame, thank you!" a laugh shook his small frame as a smile flashed across his lips.

"need i remind you that i am still a young cat?" stonestrike teased, squinting at her, his smile remaining from earlier. "your patience seems to be fine with me." the tom added quickly, for emphasis, his tail flicking the ground. "oh, don't tell me you took her words to heart." stonestrike shook his head, tutting. "whatever you do, you cannot let her words poison your perception of her. she doesn't know the power of her words. i promise, absolutely, she didn't mean it." he said sincerely, smiling a bit grimly as he continued squinting at her.

[dreamstar ★]

dreamstar managed to roll her eyes at his comment, though she didn't reply. if he thought his little sister was blunter than her, well, he hadn't been around when she'd asked longshadow to be her mate. starclan knew she wasn't much for mushy stuff, but she'd thought she had it better than to just spit it right out like an unusual bone she'd found in a piece of prey. "so, longshadow, nice walk we're going on. do you want to be my mate? great. thanks! good talk." she was mentally berating herself for it even now. how could she have been so uncouth? he was important to her. she was just terrible at saying it, or anything else, apparently. 

"my dearest apologies, young'un," dreamstar replied in a teasing tone, grinning at him and trying to think of just how many moons it had been since he'd become a warrior. come to think of it, he'd been one of the first warriors she'd made as leader. wow. "my patience is better with cats that don't rip my tail off over poorly worded greetings," she remarked to stonestrike, whiskers twitching as she recalled how dramatic the scene in the fen had been. "no... well, yes, a bit." she sighed and looked a little embarrassed. "it's not that i'm sensitive or something!" dreamstar explained quickly, defensively. "it's just, i'm still so uncertain about this whole leadership thing? i feel like i can't be much of a leader if i can't even manage a few apprentices." she was impressed by his apparent wisdom, even though he'd only been a warrior as long as she'd been leader. "i believe you."

[stonestrike **]

he was confused about her 'poorly worded greetings' comment, but the tom didn't feel the need to pry. her demeanor changed so quickly the tom nearly choked on the morsel of lizard he was chewing. he paused, blinking at her mid-squint, and shook his head. "these apprentices would treat you the same way if you were a fresh warrior or a seasoned leader. they don't know who you were before and who you will one day be." stonestrike mused aloud thoughtfully, whiskers twitching. "you're worrying yourself over nothing," he chided lightly, looking down at his paws, surprised that he'd managed to stay still for so long, and that he'd just spoken so openly to his leader. the tom winced.

"don't take my words to heart either. i'm young, very young, and it's not my place to tell you where you should or should not place your worries. i'm only giving mere suggestions." at the last bit, the stone-colored tabby looked up, his green eyes scrunched up in their usual squint as he examined the pretty silver she-cat as she lounged there before him. "voidstar isn't here, and few cats are going to comment on your leadership either way. we're alive, we're healthy, and, if i may say so, relations with vertigoclan have been going quite swimmingly since the move." the tom shrugged, nibbled at the small bones of his lizard, and shifted restlessly as he laid there, watching his paws knead the ground pointlessly.

[dreamstar ★]

finishing off her vole, she grimaced at his remark. "well, then it's time tempestclan started teaching our apprentices more respect, i suppose." at his comment that she was worrying herself over nothing, dreamstar's smile flashed back on her face. "boy, have i heard that before." she felt a bit of renewed confidence in her leadership, having seen that at least one of the tempestclan apprentices had turned out right. maybe there wasn't so much to worry about. her clan would be alright.

"very young," the silver she-cat agreed. "but surprisingly wise! if only i could have made you ivypaw's mentor." on that note, dreamstar decided she'd file that bit of information about him away for later, for the next litter of kits to be apprenticed. stonestrike would make a very good mentor one day, she was certain. "there are warriors that don't consider that last bit good news," dreamstar meowed, not thinking it was much of a secret. besides, the tom seemed to be well informed. "they'd rather we tried to take more territory for ourselves. tempestclan has always been known for being a very powerful clan. in the eyes of some, if we stop fighting, we lose that power."she glanced at his anxiously working paws, wondering if she was still making him uncomfortable and perhaps should dismiss him. "restless?"