at long last [open]

[Moogle]

word count {370} notes {excited moogle noises}

It really was such a lovely day, even if the marshy landscape was a bit unpleasant. She was no stranger to wet paws, but this mud was another matter entirely. In the colder months, her big paws were perfect for traveling over snow, but in this bog they only hindered her progress. After pulling one foot free from the muck yet again, Wanderer flopped down on a solid bit of ground with a sigh.

"Surely I can't be far from the marks," she muttered, flicking her tail absently. If the rumors were to be believed, the Clans she'd been searching for were just ahead. Wanderer had been on the trail for moons now, but she didn't mind the wait. Everything happens in its own time, after all, and trying to rush things often ends badly. And besides, it was quite the interesting trip to get this far. That huge network of thunderpaths in that twolegplace she came through had been fun to explore, despite the noise.

"Well," she meowed, rising to her paws, "I had best get going, before I lose the daylight and have to rely on stars."

She estimated that it was only sunhigh, but Wanderer knew better than anyone how easy it was to lose track of time admiring the landscape and end up stranded out in the open come nightfall. And she got the distinct impression she didn't want to be without shelter when that time came.

Up ahead, the patches of fern seemed to grow larger, providing more cover for potential prey. If there were any Clans around here, they must be somewhere ahead, deeper into the dim forest and fog. Normally, she'd avoid places like this forest, but the tree spirits seemed to beckon her on with their swaying boughs.

Not long after the treetops had blocked the majority of the sunlight, Wanderer found herself face-to-scent with what could only be described as border markings.

"Ah, such luck!" She declared with an elated bounce, coming to rest just on the outside of the border. Now the question of the hour was whether she should just head in or wait until someone came to check the border.

[dawn]

icetalon was out on a one-cat border patrol. sure, it wasn't exactly the standard border patrol. and it wasn't really safe either, because if the single cat patrolling got stuck in the muck, or especially the quicksand littering the territory, it was doomsday for him. but, icetalon preferred the quiet of solitude. besides, it was easier to get into fights on his own, with cats that weren't really being aggressive towards tempestclan at all. his half-sister, dreamstar, didn't know what he was up to, of course. but he imagined she'd probably find out later and he'd get his ears clawed for it if she did. 

icetalon was glad to be on his own, taking his time investigating the scents about the border. there was one cat that he would have liked to have along though, his dear sister, silvertide. she'd probably tear up the first non-tempestclan cat we met, inside the borders or not, icetalon thought with a smirk. his sister was a real ball of fire and going out into the marsh with her was never dull, to say the least...

he quirked an eyebrow at the distant but seemingly excited cry. things were about to (finally) get interesting. icetalon didn't bother to noticeably quicken his pace, confidently striding on toward the noise with ears pinned back slightly, ice blue eyes glinting on his dark face. his cream white paws barely made a sound as he approached, though they were stiff and muddy from the cold, marshy ground.

when he came into view of the other cat, making no efforts to conceal himself, he stared at her. she was just sitting by the border, like she was waiting to be attacked by a tempestclan patrol. "what the hell?" he muttered, before straightening and glaring at the tabby she-cat who was very much his senior but very much smaller than he. "that's close enough, rogue! what do you think you're doing here?"

[Moogle]

word count {277} notes {wanderer: "operation 'make friends with everything' is a go"}

As she waited, the little tabby surveyed what she could see of the treetops. A few birds flitted among the leaves, chirping away as they searched for insects to snack on. Their songs were welcome, although a surprise. Wanderer figured them must not know she was there. Maybe if she stayed put long enough, they'd make their way closer to the ground where she could have a chance at them. But then again, there were kind of on the Clan side of the border, so maybe it wasn't a good idea.

Now wouldn't it be something if the wind would carry them to me, she mused, tilting her head to better catch the birdsong. Before she could implore as much, Wanderer picked up the sound of pawsteps from within the border. Company at last!

Unfortunately, this tom didn't seem very friendly if his gaze was any indication. She felt a flicker of nervousness as she realized he may actually attack her, which would mean a hasty retreat on her part. But perhaps if she explained herself, things would turn out well in the end.

"I have come to visit," she explained cheerfully, forcing her nervousness away. She was here in peace, so there was no reason to fear this cat. "To share knowledge and receive knowledge in exchange."

She stood slowly and shook each paw free of mud, but didn't dare step over the border. Perhaps it would've been a good idea to take a few steps back, given her close proximity to the angry tom, but she knew if she did there was a chance the tom would see it as weakness and charge at her.

[dawn]

the siamese tom scarcely registered the birdsong overhead, nor the quiet warning call of a blackbird nearby as it frightened at the new tension in the air. his white fur was sunlit, and he enjoyed the heat of it, looking across the borderline at this stranger. he had come to sit quite close to her, but didn't feel the need to be threateningly close. his presence, he knew, was threatening enough. the rare cat that underestimated him quickly came to regret it. he wasn't a huge cat but the female was particularly small, so he clearly had the size advantage here. 

icetalon bristled a bit for effect, but he could feel the other cat's nervousness and relaxed, giving his shoulder fur a swift lick. he smirked at her. "you've come to visit? i think you've got the wrong border. you're looking for vertigoclan, led by a rogue like yourself." the tom-cat snorted. what kind of a name was 'flamingstar', anyway? "look, sorry and all, but we don't exactly welcome visitors here in tempestclan. so if you step over those markers, i'm going to have to chase you off." he figured he could learn at least where she was from, anyway. some cats might see it as 'disloyalty' but he didn't really care. his clanmates already thought he was amoral anyway. 

"to share knowledge and receive knowledge in exchange." he blinked at her. "did a no-fur drop you on your head or something? the only knowledge you're going to get is the knowledge of how it feels to be hurting from a fight for moons after." what a weird she-cat. she was somewhat amusing though, and icetalon was pretty easily entertained. she didn't seem like the type to want to fight though. she almost seemed... otherworldly. "where did you come from, rogue?" 

[Moogle]

word count {332} notes {---}

Well at least this tom seemed to be settling in for a chat, albeit a hostile one.  No matter; even if he was unwilling to talk, she was sure she could find away to get along with him. In all her seasons, Wanderer had learned that sometimes talking was a game, and she just had to say the right things to find out what she wanted to know. But it was a dangerous game. Not everyone enjoyed this game.

"You've come to visit? I think you've got the wrong border. You're looking for VertigoClan, led by a rogue like yourself."

"So then," she began, ignoring his belligerent tone, "VertigoClan and TempestClan live here, and you are a member of the latter." She smiled brightly as she seated herself again and wrapped her tail around her paws. Wanderer was learning about the Clans already, and she had yet to set paw in their territories. "And from the sound of it, you don't much care for your neighbors. Why is that?"

"The only knowledge you're going to get is the knowledge of how it feels to be hurting from a fight for moons after."

At that, she couldn't help but give a short laugh. "Easier said then done, for I run with the wind," Wanderer meowed, eyes leaving the tom to watch the birds as the began to panic and flee. Too bad. The forest was quieting now, aside from the crickets and other bugs. She'd always favored birds over bugs.  They were far tastier.

"Where did you come from, rogue?"

Her eyes settled back on the tom as she contemplated his question.  Huh, where indeed. Her old home was moons upon moons away, and it was unlikely the tom would know of it even if she could remember.  It was likely he was expecting to hear the name of some close-by landmark, not a forest so distant the finer details had almost faded from her memory.

"Far away from here," she answered at last. "I've been Wanderer since I was younger than you, I'd imagine."

[icetalon ★]

Icetalon looked at the tabby she-cat, who was much older than him, with a very perplexed expression as she continued on unshaken by his tone. "You catch on quick, don't you?" Well, to some parts of what I said, anyway... The unsaid part that he was going to rip her ears if she stepped an inch closer to his border, well, she didn't seem to have caught onto that. The darkly marked tom-cat sighed and glanced out of the corner of his eye, making sure that no one else was around witnessing this. "Yes, I'm a member of Tempestclan. We're the better of the two clans, matter of fact." He couldn't help but laughing at her, seated there so neatly when she was an inch away from violence at his claws. It was a good-natured laugh; she was just such a strange apparition. Still, he knew he would have to attack if she tried to trespass. But, would it really hurt to tell her? She didn't exactly seem like a threat. "Well, first off, they chose a bleeding rogue for their leader. At least we have a real clan-cat leading our clan," the handsome tom informed her. He neglected to mention their former leader, Voidstar, who, like Flamingstar, had been full on rogue. 

"Why are you so curious about us, anyway? Dontcha have better things to do than poke around places you don't belong?" His icy blue eyes gleamed as he looked at the other cat, amused but cautious. "You run with the wind? What?" The lean white and brown tom snorted at her odd way of speaking. Must have been a kittypet or something. "Wanderer? That name's as dumb as 'Flamingstar'." He didn't bother offering his own name, instead cocking his head to the side and giving her an intent look. "Okay, Wanderer," Icetalon put an emphasis on her name to show her how dumb he thought it was, "Do you expect me to take you back to the camp or what? Because if my clanmates find me out here chatting it up with a rogue, it's going to look bad on my part."

[Wanderer]

word count {310} notes {---}

The way the warrior spoke of the Clans reminded her of the small rogue bands she sometimes came into contact with. If more than one had staked a claim in an area, they were constantly at odds with each other and unwilling to share their territory with outsiders. Those groups and the Clans were rather similar, but she knew they were worlds apart. Wanderer just couldn't put her paw on the defining factors yet.

She needed to know more.

"Well, first off, they chose a bleeding rogue for their leader. At least we have a real clan-cat leading our Clan."

"But surely any cat can lead a Clan with the support of their members," she reasoned, looking thoughtful. Rogue bands often changed leaders as needed, without the death or exile of the previous one. Usually, which ever cat had the most support led, and in the event of a tie, the groups tended to split off.

"I am always curious about most things," she explained cheerfully, as if it was the most obvious response in the world. "Especially things I have yet to see or hear for myself, even in places best avoided." Night did always tell her she'd walk right into a fox's den if she saw something interesting inside, whether the fox was home or not.

"Do you expect me to take you back to the camp or what? Because if my clanmates find me out here chatting it up with a rogue, it's going to look bad on my part."

Ohoho, now he was offering a trip further into TempestClan land? She hadn't counted on that. Perhaps she didn't have as good of a grasp on his personality as she'd thought, if he was willing to take her so far into his territory. That is, unless he wasn't serious. His words didn't exactly sound like a nice "I'll bring you to where I live if you want," but her curiosity wouldn't let her turn him down.

"That has a wonderful ring to it indeed!  I'd love to visit your camp!" she declared, happily bouncing to her paws. What better way to learn about this Clan then go straight to the heart of it?

[icetalon ★]

"but surely any cat can lead a clan with the support of their members," icetalon shrugged pompously. "uh... yeah, yeah. whatever..." he didn't really believe that, but obviously this cat knew nothing about anything. "any cat can lead but, some cats are better than others." though it seemed like the typically arrogant thing to do, he himself wasn't much of a leader type. more of a soldier really. a warrior through and through. he had little to no interest in dealing with the stupidity and pettiness of day to day clan affairs, as a leader did. leave dreamstar to that.

"yeah well, like i said. vertigoclan might be more welcoming, they're off thataways," he meowed, gesturing with his tail in the direction of the vertigoclan borderline. "they probably won't shred your ears, just tell them you've arrived for a tour!" his tone was jeering but he had shown her the actual direction to get to the other clan, so that was helpful, right? 

he figured he'd gotten her out of his fur but then he noticed her perk up. oh shit... at her declaration he bristled from apprehension. "oh no no no! i wasn't serious! can't you tell sarcasm when you hear it?" the tom-cat exclaimed, eyes flashing. "i can't take an enemy cat back to camp. i suppose if we were keeping you prisoner for some reason or you were trying to join the clan, that'd be one thing, but we don't do tours here." he rolled his eyes at the absurdity of this entire exchange. "get moving!"


ooc// hahaha so idk i wasn't really sure where to have this go from here i kinda lost inspiration for icetalon so if you want it to be a shorter thread we could end here and she can try and get someone else to let her in or something xD or go scouting it out on her own and get chased off. but yeah if you still want to they can see each other again i was thinking maybe one way that she could get invited into camp was like what i was saying with ice getting injured out in the territory and her patching him up, maybe then he would grudgingly take her back to the camp with the intention of having her help out as a medicine cat (but she backed out later or something). so yeah idk xD sorry i kinda made everything short and boring 

[Wanderer]

word count {203} notes {hums aggressively}

So he was only joking after all. Such a shame, really. And fairly disappointing. Wanderer was really looking forward to seeing the territory and making some new friends along the way. Well, at least she had something to show for this. Even if Icetalon was unfriendly, he was a Clan cat. Her first contact with TempestClan wasn't exactly promising, but there was always VertigoClan. Even so, she knew she'd have to return to this place eventually; if she left without properly meeting with TempestClan, she'd never be able to forgive herself.

He's quite the prickly little thornbush, she decided, dipping her head slightly and taking a step back, her tail still raised in a friendly manner. "Another time, then," she replied, maintaining eye contact as best she could due to the height difference before calmly turning away from the border and heading back the way she'd come.

For a moment, she entertained thoughts of just walking a few tail-lengths from the border, but after taking into account his bristling fur, it was probably in the best interest of her pelt she backtracked a bit. She'd wait until the little thornbush was out of sight to make her way along the border to VertigoClan.

---

ooc// yeah that's fine with me. she'll probably end up knocking on vc's door next. or just casually walking to another part of the border and making her way into tc anyways because she just really really wants to check it out. and im still totally up for that second meeting idea it sounds like a lot of fun! :3c