[open] wandering

[Crowwing]

open to anyone, really (other than kit unless you're wandering from Iceclan from the farm maybe?). I just wanted to bring this board back to life a bit.

hint, hint. this thread will sort of help me figure what to do with Crowwing.<3

The sun was rising at an ever more increasing speed and the medicine cat trudged on, wanted to continue venturing these parts of the so called badlands. He did not expect to get this far, but he did manage to get Darkstar, Jackfalfrost, and Grayshade to give him the permission to go on this exploration of his. He was thinking about his path in life lately, mainly as of how much longer he could last.

The tom was old - comparable to an elder - but still not old enough to be considered one. But he was blind in one eye and his vision was starting to fail in the other. Retirement was something that he was considering the past few moons, now that Grayshade was possibly ready to take on the role of being the head medicine cat of Fireclan. But something felt wrong. He did not yet receive a sign from Cloudclan.

Onwards, and he spotted a few skeletons. Mice who didn't make it out probably. The tom shook his head and ignored the signs of death. He would exhaust himself out, but make it out alive if necessary. If only someone were around too. . .

[Natalia]

Natalia was straying a bit farther than usual.

Mostly due to the fact that she wanted alone time. Or at least maybe somewhere where cats were less friendly. Sure Deathclan was... Well, Deathclan... It seemed just a bit too kind for it's name and reputation. Thus, here she was in the canyon, dragging her paws along.

She was young, but ultimately without much faith. Unlike those clan cats who seemed to be overflowing with the stuff to obscene extents. She never quite understood it. That trust. The implicit trust they had in each other. That... Friendship that was woven through every cat of every clan like a spider web. She never understood how all of them were so blind.

Friendship and family... Empty words to Natalia. She glanced at a skeleton. Bit symbolic, really. Relationships were doomed to die after all, and leave you worse off. No exceptions.

As she raised her gaze, she spotted a tom. He seemed rather... Old. She folded her ears back. Should she speak up? She wasn't sure.

[Crowwing]

Crowwing sighed and kept moving forward. He lost the way to the Shimmering Rocks, and forgotten to pack travelling herbs. Idiot. The medicine cat then soon collapsed, falling onto his side. He was exhausted and tired. Maybe he would regain his energy after napping out here for a bit. But it worried him, knowing that predators might be nearby. Scavengers at least. If the mice couldn't make it out, how could a cat? But he did not regret his decision to journey out here. Cloudclan was watching over him and he would make it back home soon enough.

[Natalia]

Natalia was a little shocked by the tom's sudden collapse...

Were old cats supposed to do that? It wasn't like she met an overabundance. The cats she met were always way younger than this guy. She tentatively moved forward, closer to him.

Nervousness and paranoia threatened to take over her senses. She wasn't exactly a noble or chivalrous sort of cat. She wasn't one to help those in need of helping... Yet...

Was this cat okay?

She prodded his side lightly.

[Crowwing]

Something prodded his side. Or more like someone. The tom slightly shifted his legs in response, but he did not look to see who or what it was. Whatever the stranger wanted, Crowwing just hoped that he would be left alone soon enough. He was not in the condition to run, less walk or fight the stranger away.

In his head, the medicine cat wanted to face whoever it was and show that he was not afraid, but in his exhausted state? Crowwing would just lay here until he re-energized.

[Natalia]

The tom's side was still rising...

Natalia assumed the tom was still alive. It would've been weird if she'd across him as a corpse. Not that she was squeamish, but she didn't want to be suddenly overtaken with a desire to do something for the poor sap.

Except, now she still had that annoying desire. Probably... Kindness. She really hoped he wouldn't up and die like this. That was something she really didn't want on her conscience, no matter how much she believed and told herself she didn't care about anyone except herself like a sensible cat. 

"... Are you about to die?" She decided to ask bluntly.

[Crowwing]

'Are you about to die?'

'No, I'm just resting here, idiot. What do you think?' Crowwing opened an eye and looked at the stranger, feeling her presence around him. It was quite welcoming though he did not know who this was. ". . .I'm living." he mumbled, rolling his eye.

[Natalia]

Well, that answered that question.

Natalia looked around. So... That meant he decided this was a nice place to rest. That was... Sort of weird. She flattened her ears. 

"So... You decided to just rest here?" She asked, her voice making it clear she thought it was a stupid decision.

[Crowwing]

He snorted, knowing the portrayal of loners and rogues being harmful. They didn't follow the warrior code after all, and were most likely going to go to Darkpool if tey even believed in something. His heart then sunk, knowing that Dove was probably going to go to Darkpool while he was to go to Cloudclan. 'It's like we'll never meet up ever again. . .' he thought, before looking at the she-cat.

"No. . . I was actually travelling. . . and got tired. Do you have any water or food nearby?" The tom slowly came onto his paws, still shaking and stood up, looking somewhat down on the rogue. "Why are you out here anyways?"

[Natalia]

Natalia's emerald gaze studied the tom as he raised his own eyes to look at her.

He explained himself. She supposed old cats got tired in the middle of something? She thought that going through the canyon would seem like a horrible idea to a cat who was like that. 

"Not in the canyon. I can't carry water in my paws." Her ears flicked. "I don't... I don't leave prey out." She never saw the point of hunting if you weren't immediately hungry. If you left prey laying around, it was increasing the chances of some slime stealing your prey. Then all you had was wasted energy.

Then the tom rose to his paws. Her ears folded back. He was... Bigger than she was. "... I wanted to be alone." She stated, not wanting to show weakness.

[Crowwing]

Oh, so she wasn't of much use to him out here. He found that weird since clan cats would often bury their prey and then recollect their prizes once returning to the clan. By the way it sounded, she was not from this area either, but he was confused as to why she would have wanted to be alone. A rogue thing maybe. But she was not vicious or eating him up yet, so maybe she was just a loner?

"Well, I'm sorry to have bothered your alone time," he scoffed, giving a slight smile, and took two small steps forth. "I'm just going to keep heading straight if you'd like to accompany me or not. I mean, this is going to end sometime, right?"

[Natalia]

Natalia unconsciously took a step back.

She sighed. "It's... Not that big of a deal." She meowed quietly. She wondered if she would be able to deal, leaving Crowwing alone. She held back a groan, knowing she probably should go. Just so she wouldn't feel guilty. He had expressed a desire for food and water earlier, plus admitted to exhaustion. She really didn't want images of the old tom lying in a ditch somewhere unable to get up and essentially rotting away.

... Alright that was a bit extreme, but she was kind of paranoid.

She sighed again. "I end up interacting with cats regardless of my wishes it seems. Might as well be you." It was true. In full honesty, there were cats she'd be less interested in accompanying. Dove made her feel uneasy... With her... Optimism. Crowwing felt... Real.

[Crowwing]

heehe, I find it amusing since I play both Crowwing and Dove and that they're siblings! c:

Not a big deal. . . Crowwing was confused. Didn't she just say that she wanted to be alone? Oh well, something must have changed in her, so he nodded, giving a small smile. 'I end up interacting with cats regardless of my wishes it seems. Might as well be you.'

"Might I ask as to why you -" the tom broke into a cough and then shook it off by hacking up a furball. "-why you wanted to be alone? Do you not like your band of rouges?" Assuming now that she was a rogue?

[Natalia]

Natalia shifted her weight nervously, as Crowwing smiled with a nod.

Then he began speaking, but was interrupted by a cough. Though, she still understood what he was trying to get out. It was a question.

She supposed it couldn't hurt to tell him this little thing. It wasn't... Too too personal. It would be fine. Perfectly fine. "... Certain cats of the group.... Can make me uncomfortable." She admitted. Slate... Dove... Jude.... Granted, that last one was pretty new, but the rest were way too friendly for Natalia. 

[Crowwing]

'... Certain cats of the group.... Can make me uncomfortable.'

Crowwing nodded his head in agreement, for he had his own fair share of cats that made him feel uncomfortable. "How you ever tried to express that?" he asked, before coming to a quick stop. He was tired, and the heat was coming to him. "You can. . . ummm. . . leave me whenever you want. . ." he said, knowing or assuming that the rogue was bound to leave him soon enough.

He started to dig into the dry land in hopes to find some wetness. Water. Or even create a hole deep and large enough to be a nest for the meantime.