bordering crazy ** / / {lynx}

[lily]

the sweltering heat of summer made his pelt feel like he was on fire, especially when the sun hit him. therefore, the tom had done his best to hide under the cover of the many trees dotting the vertigoclan territory. it was strange, thinking back, that he'd been a warrior for twelve whole moons. he felt old, though not as old as some of the other vertigoclan cats. they'd been warriors for much, much longer! the fact that he was still young and spry was a comfort, at least.

and so the tabby tom stalked about, too hot to care about hunting or anything requiring effort, his ears guiding his paws closer and closer to the stream that ran through the rocky land until his nose detected the scent of tempestclan. he bumbled about, his cerulean eyes full of curiosity, as he still hadn't grown accustomed to the new territory despite the fact that they'd been there for several moons.

his heart still ached for the old pine forest, in spite of the troubles they had faced, what with the wolf and the sickness and, of course, the flooding thathad driven the other clans from their homes. he didn't miss the altitude that much, for the new lands had quite a bit, and the ensuing vertigo was nothing compared to what he'd faced growing up near the cliff's edges. thoughts of home made him smile, though his heart sung bittersweet notes. there, in the old lands, laid the bodies of his family and friends, of those who had proudly fought for the lands they'd left behind.

flamingstar's first decision that he had backed entirely was ridding themselves of the strange timberclan name for vertigoclan. it was home, and many of the cats that had made the journey were from that clan. yes, a few members of the other original clans were there, but they could not object, not after the respect and care that vertigoclan had given them. lost in his thoughts, reflectedrain's feet carried him precariously close to the tempestclan border, and it seemed as though nothing could pull him from his reverie.

[lynx]

mud caked her tiny paws, staining them black in a rather unsightly way. of course the smears of earth through her pale coat didn't distract from her lovely moon-like eyes as they peered through the mossy path laid before her. she benefited from the direction of the wind which blew weakly through the heavy tree-cover and suffocated in the ever-present mist shrouding the tempestclan air. this phenomenon, the she-cat knew, was due to the interaction of the swamp water and the hungry vegetation. though the air she breathed was a bit opaque, she was not fooled when she sucked it in between parted jaws and detected the unmistakeable scent of vertigoclan- and close, too.

sure, she wasn't exactly supposed to be wandering about and seeking out trouble in the swamps, but camp was so boring lately and she had already been napping half the day to avoid her mentor's scornful orders. that really didn't leave much else for a young lady to do did it? suddenly she yelped and stopped short as a frog jolted into the water from the log that sprawled before her. "oh you're gonna get it!" she muttered aloud, since she was alone, and sank low to the ground with ears pricked. one paw shot out with experienced ease and pried the frog right out from the water, hooked upon her claws. with a helpless croak, it thrashed when she bit down. the silver cat had a faint smirk on her face as she continued on, the amphibian now dangling limply in her jaws.

now she slowed, and dropped her catch. she was upon the border, and the sticky pitch-and-bark smell of vertigoclan swept over her. someone was close, and her fast-learning senses calculated only one cat coming her way. she sat and calmly licked a forepaw, so that her expression was delightfully smug when a handsome tom suddenly emerged from the brush before her. slowly she lowered her paw and stared across at him through a narrowed hazel gaze, silent and waiting.

[lily]

the sounds of the marsh intrigued him, and he caught the odd noises it made as he shifted his ears to better listen. the croaks of frogs, the strange trickling of water; it was interesting. while vertigoclan's rocky, pine-filled land had bird song and the stream, the sounds there were usually cat-made. rustles warned that prey was about, or an apprentice was crashing through the brush. the cracking or snapping of twigs signaled heavy steps or a heavy cat trying to travel through trees. at that thought, the young tom smirked, shaking his head as he chuckled softly.

it was then that a quiet yelp could be heard, and the tom paused, confused, before carrying on. the sound was definitely female, and he was fairly certain it had come from the tempestclan side of the border. while he couldn't exactly investigate, he could be a bit nosy, especially since the scent markers hadn't been renewed since the dawn patrol. had flamingstar or heatherjaw give the sun-high patrol permission to slack because of the heat? reflectedrain dismissed the thought as soon as he'd made it; it was wrong to assume things.

as if echoing the yelp, he heard the strange croak of a frog from the same direction, and stepped closer to the edge of the border. as he stepped through the brush, he noticed a dainty she-cat sitting as though she had been waiting for something. his bright cerulean eyes met her hazel ones, though her gaze was certainly more narrowed than his, and he couldn't help but smirk. "sorry, am i late for our date?" the tabby tom joked, flashing a bright smile at her as he purred mischeviously at her.

[lynx]

while she was sizing him up, she hastily feigned embarrassment about this whole rather unsavory situation. a little girl like herself all alone out here- stumbling into a big scary vertigoclan warrior! her tail fluffed up a bit, if only for effect. he wouldn't cross the border, of course. and if he did he wouldn't make it three steps into the bog- if tempestclan's territory was good for anything it was good for swallowing up unwanted company. she would have absolutely loved to watch an enemy patrol try and get to their camp- they would be fighting the hungry terrain more than any opponents. so no, she wasn't too worried about this guy, although his swagger was plenty obnoxious, and for a moment she toyed with the idea of luring him into the wetlands anyway. the thought of playing siren of the swamp was highly appealing, but it wouldn't be worth all the trouble.

our date? she almost snickered. what a dork. he really didn't miss a beat though, so a hot blush crawled up her neck and into her face, turning her ears beet-red and puffing out the white fur upon her cheeks. smoothly, she caught herself and indicated to her slimy prize expectantly, "astonishingly late, and you didn't even bring dinner. rude." she spoke with a quiet voice brimming with adolescent sass, her voice quiet but the daring hazel gaze she placed upon him was full of fire.

what did this clown think he was doing? flirting? seriously? she had to fight to keep a straight face at the fact that this was his automatic response upon encountering a female- no need to wonder how many bastards this one's got. she thought to herself, amused. but she had to admit that the electricity between young toms and she-cats was intoxicating, and she loved to make 'em drool. with a light flick of her tail, it was smooth again, and as an extra touch she licked down the fur of her chest a bit. nothing could be done about the mud in her fur, but she had been snoozing in the trillium patch not long before and she knew her pelt still smelled of wildflowers. coyly, she smiled down at the ground and moseyed a step closer to the border. the she-cat ruffled her plush coat as if only moving into the breeze that vertigoclan offered, but she glanced up at him so he would see through the ruse.

okay his eyes were kind of pretty, and that was annoying. "are you looking for trouble?" she crooned.

[lily]

she was pretty in the strangest way, but he had to admit that she was, and the fact that she'd literally gotten her paws dirty made him appreciate she wasn't slacking just to keep her fur pretty. girls like that weren't much fun. spellwish had been a bit like that, despite her dark coat. she had constantly fussed over appearance, and while reflectedrain wasn't exactly grungy or disgusting (please, he did have manners), he wasn't too worried about outwardly appearance. he couldn't wipe his smirk away as his eyes danced with amusement in her direction.

at the mention of dinner, he feigned shock, looking at the ground around him as though there should have been a piece of prey. "i can't believe i forgot!" he murmured quietly, his eyes wide as he continued the act. "pity, i'd have brought along a snake. vertigoclan delicacy, y'know. much like frog is to you folks, i suppose." the tom replied, flashing her his teeth as he mentioned the slithering reptile. "rude? yeah, that's me." he said with a shrug. "next time i'll make sure and bring a pretty rock or a mountain flower with me along with dinner." the tabby teased, winking one of his emerald flecked eyes.

as she went into an odd grooming...thing, the vertigoclan tom raised a brow curiously. "do you always participate in public bathing? i mean, i don't really object, but it's something we usually do in camp. plus, i'm sure you'll just muss your pretty little fur back up on the way back home." he tsked, shaking his head in mock indignation. as she crooned to him, he found himself smirking again. "trouble? eh, depends on the kind." his shoulders rose up into a half-shrug again as he contemplated sitting. his gaze swept the ground around him as he tried to make up his mind.

[lynx]

now that her gaze was upon him, she continued to size him up. she assumed vertigoclan ladies found him very cute- those pretty eyes were stunners for sure, and his coat was a nice color. like all of those mountain cats, he was a hulking monster of course. like any cat should ever grow as big as those ones did! how silly, thats just more energy to use and more food they have to eat. not to mention they're clumsy idiots. snowpaw blinked. but he was a little cute, she supposed. its not like there was much to offer in tempestclan as far as eye candy, so she was getting desperate. maybe she was just forcing herself to find a big furball tabby attractive just for the sake of entertainment- at her age, it was wretchedly hard to tell.

at his antics, she had to giggle. what a character! she flicked her long gray tail and pouted with equal exaggeration. "how could you neglect me like this?" she moaned tragically, sniffing loudly as if to hold back tears, "does what we have mean nothing to you!?" snowpaw gasped, expression so hurt but her eyes danced and glittered in the summer sun with silent laughter. the comical facade slipped away and she grinned a big shit eating grin- "you think we dont eat snakes? pfft. its like you think tempestclan is a buncha good mouse-eating, starclan-worshipping ninnies. i saw a queen eat a centipede once," snowpaw declared solemnly. of course she was serious, though she wished she was joking. other cats were disgusting.

she cocked her head at his comment- it seemed as though he was attempting to be condescending but snowpaw truly wanted to chuckle. "well your inability to touch your fur outside of camp explains.... a lot," she teased, looking him up and down with a grimace, "but starclan, i dont mean to be rude! i hope my velvety smooth fur doesn't offend you."

[lily]

the tom chuckled as she acted dramatically, his smirk growing increasingly close to a smile. "oh please, you know i was only testing to see if you cared. and now i know." he mewed jokingly, rolling his eyes before growing serious for a few heartbeats. "if anyone hears us, they're going to actually think we're in some sort of relationship." the tabby mused aloud, whiskers twitching as a laugh spilled awkwardly from his jaw. it wasn't that he was nervous or anything - he just didn't want anyone thinking that he was breaking the warrior code!

"so you're saying your dirty little watering holes are filled with snakes? yee-uck, and to think some cats live in tempestclan by choice!" the tom retorted a bit harshly, making an unpleasant face. "well i was fairly certain you didn't eat mice, but thanks for clarifying that bit about you being starclan-worshipping ninnies. i'd never had that explained so clearly before." he mewed saucily, shooting her sideways glance as he snorted in amusement.

disgust crossed his visage as she mentioned the queen eating a centipede. "yuck! you're kidding! wouldn't the legs tickle? i can't even imagine!" he spat out, lips curling as though he'd just eaten a bug. "tempestclan sure is weird." he wondered aloud, shaking his head at the silvery white she-cat as though judging her. "i thought snakes were disgusting back in my apprentice days, but now i love them." the tom mused, shrugging. "maybe it's...an acquired taste?" he cocked a brow, trying to understand the situation under which consuming insects would be worthwhile before shuddering.

when she insulted his own grooming, reflectedrain's cerulean eyes narrowed and his mouth fell open slightly in genuine shock. "says the she-cat with mud caked all the way up her forepaws!" he snapped, gesturing toward them with his own paw. "i'm plenty clean, thank you." the tom was slightly offended, but he sniffed the air in actual indignation, figuring she'd take it as part of his act, though he was a bit sore from her comment.

[lynx]

this tom's comment was brimming with the sad truth- some cats could be so gullible. perhaps his ability to play with her was why she hadn't simply wandered off bored yet, so it certainly wouldn't do to have someone stumble along and ruin their charming little encounter. after all, cats could only do so much to entertain themselves day after day. this was quite a stretch from the ordinary. "never fear, i'll pounce on you if we hear anyone coming," she winked.

"they sure are, and tons of other delightfully nasty things," snowpaw admitted ruefully, recalling the first (and thankfully only) time she fell in to the swamp and had spent the next half day in the medicine cat's den picking leeches off of her skin. "the mosquitoes are certainly lovely, if i do say so myself. the she-cat's expression was dead serious, though the insects themselves were a terrible nuisance. but she shrugged, "home is where the heart is, i guess." she chuckled pleasantly, foolishly at ease. she could blame her naivety on her age, but she knew her mentor wouldn't be hearing any of that nonsense.

snowpaw grinned gleefully at the hurt on this tom's face, wondering if she had struck a nerve with that one as she reeled defensively. "oh plenty clean i'm sure, but all your fur sticking out like a porcupine makes much more sense if you're not allowed to smooth it down," her eyes twinkled wickedly.

[lily]

he snorted. "right, and my clanmates will believe that. i'm a bit bigger than you." reflectedrain punctuated his words with a laugh before growing halfway thoughtful. "i've got it! you took me by surprise. that works." the tom looked proud, as though coming up with that thought was worth some credit.

he chuckled at her expression as her eyes went momentarily dark, as though she were recalling something. "i can't even imagine. the worst thing we have here is the pine needles, and you get used to them pretty quick!" just then, the tom stepped forward closer to her before sticking out his paw and flipping it over. "the rough forest floor makes our paw pads really rough - see?" the tom gestured at his paw with his nose, encouraging her to poke it, or something. he was weird, and he knew it. "the first moon when you're an apprentice is the worst. i remember my paws bleeding." he gave a half-smile, looking embarrassed and sheepish all the same, before retreating back a few steps.

his brows raised at the mention of mosquitoes. insects were disgusting! he could just imagine the armies of the blood-sucking things eating him alive as he slept. reflectedrain shuddered. "i dunno. i reckon we're both a little biased by now, huh?" he joked, tilting his head and smirking down at her. she was cute, and she sure was friendly, though she might not have been at first.

the tabby tom spluttered as she compared him to a porcupine. "wh- i- a- porcupine?!" he managed out, his eyes wide and his face in total shock. he withdrew from her, leaning back, looking incredibly offended. his bright eyes swept over the amount of his coat he could actually see and the tom frantically flattened the fur on his shoulder before his attention returned to her. "there's bushes! and brambles! and- and- there's branches and stuff!" his face was warm, and he was incredibly flustered.

[lynx]

the little she-cat snorted and and gave a silly grin, "how do you know i'm not the best fighter in tempestclan?" she retorted, swiping a paw at him playfully. "i'm sure you'd be able to come up with some kind of excuse to get me on top of you huh?" the silver apprentice winked, flicking her tail like a punctuation mark.

he offered a paw, weirdly enough, but she accepted, and wandered forward to brush her own pad over his admittedly rough-looking one. in return she left him with a smear of black, rich mud dotted with moss. at the touch, a jolt of electricity sizzled up her foreleg and made her ears prick up, but all she said was, "huh." her own pads were awfully soft, because she was young and they were always wet and so used to dancing across plush moss, or splashing around in water or mud.

snowpaw erupted into a true, musical laugh at his indignation. "lighten up!" she crowed, her hazel gaze glittering with delight at his offense- as was her nature to do, she couldn't even believe an insult so petty would really eat him up like that, but it delighted her nonetheless. she wasn't cruel, but it certainly was funny to see a grown tom fret over his sticky-up pelt! "i'm sure there are dear," she cooed with mock-understanding, nodding very seriously, "of course there are." she peered up at him with a mischievous grin plastered on her pretty face.