chilly (o)

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Jude leaned against a large tree, watching the IceClanners from afar. They were an interesting group. Most of all he had noticed how friendly they were to each other. 'Are all of the clans like that?'

Lost in his thoughts, the tabby didn't even notice when another sound was heard on the other side of the tree.

[Rune]

Rune was exploring a little bit out of her territory, the Twoleg town quite a while's away from The Farm, she heard all this ruckus 'bout clan cats and how they took over the Farmhouse. her curiosity was peeked, she had heard about the clans from time to time and was always interested in what they were and how they functioned.

She made her way around a tree and almost collided with a tomcat already sitting there. She made sure to stay quiet and look at examine him for a bit, he didn't seem to notice she was there.

"Greetings, love!" Rune mewed in her thick English accent. "Are you one of those Clan cats?"  

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Jude flinched in surprise, giving the she-cat one quick look up and down. She didn't smell like a clan cat, and by her next few words he quickly realized that she wasn't one. He looked down at himself. Did he look like a clan cat? And who was this? He'd never seen her around DeathClan before.

The tabby tom shook his head, getting to his paws. This cat kind of talked funny, but he pretended not to notice. "No. I'm from DeathClan." He twitched his whiskers, expression turning curious. "Who are you?"

[Rune]

Rune's head tilted at Jude's next few words.

"Deathclan?" She mused, then brightened "Oh, that be the band of rogues livin' at the swamp-ish area?" She giggled "By the name alone, sounds real pleasant!" She leaned over a bit to glance at the Farmland to see if there were any more cats, didn't seem like it, she turned back to Jude.

"Name's Rune," Rune smiled, her bright gold eyes gleaming "I live quite a bit aways in the city." Her tail pointed to a small trail left behind in the cornfield. "If you don't mind me asking, what might your name be, love?"

[Deleted]

He didn't say anything to her words, only giving her a strange look. Was that what they were known as? He winced a little at the sarcasm in her tone, getting slightly defensive. 'It's not all bad!'

"Name's Rune." What a strange name. At least it was easy to remember. 'And she lived in the city. Could she be like a kittypet or something?' Then again, he didn't know any kittypets who were this adventurous. "Jude."

[Rune]

Rune tilted her head at the weird look Jude gave her. Huh, weird. Is he getting offended? I wonder...

"Jude? That's a nice name!" She meowed, sitting down, her fluffy tail swishing "If you're in Deathclan, what're you doin' over here?.. Though I guess you could say the same for me, ha!" The summer sun was getting hot on the black part of her soft calico pelt, and she gave it a shake, orange, black and white hairs littering the air.

"Um, heh, oops." Rune muttered, fanning them away with her paw, feeling embarrassed.

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Jude didn't respond. He didn't think much of his name, though the compliment was nice. He sighed when Rune kept talking. 'She's a little loud.' He thought, staring at her as she shook out her fur.

He watched with wide eyes as hairs floated around. A few settled on his nose, making the tabby go cross-eyed. He shook them away, watching hopelessly as they drifted back over. He took a glance at the calico, huffing as she fanned them away with a paw. 'Why did you have to shake your fur out?' He was getting more and more irritated with this cat by the second.

[Rune]

Rune gasped as a bit of her shed hair landed on Jude.

"Oh sorry sorry sorrysorrysorry!" She fretted, licking her paw, stamping the hairs to the ground and scraped them on the dirt. "How very un-ladylike of me, I shed every half-second; please forgive me!" She spun around, raced a couple dozen fox-lengths away, shook out another few clawfuls of fur, and sped back within a second. This time she was a bit farther away from Jude.

"Um..." Rune coughed "Sorry again love; It's a condition, I understand if you don't wanna talk to me." She sighed, her mood swinging like a deranged monkey. "Lots of others don't, I'm weird."

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Jude frowned when the cat kept apologizing. He watched her as she ran off, then returned. "You're fine. Don't worry about it." He felt a sudden change of heart. She didn't mean to do that, and she did seem pretty sorry.

He rolled his shoulders, attempting to crack them before focusing back on Rune. "What are you doing around here? 'Maybe she was sick of the city life.' He'd never been there, but by the stories he'd heard, it sounded pretty terrible.

[Rune]

Rune's ears perked up when Jude said she was fine, and that it wasn't her fault. She opened her mouth to thank him, but closed it again when he asked what she was doing here.

"Uh... Um..." She paused, wondering if she should tell him, then deciding. "Well, the reason I came out here was that I just wanted to see what clan cats were like... But the truth is, I'm trying to find a new home, I got- removed out of my old one.."

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Jude gave her a curious look. "Removed?" What did that mean? 'Was she kicked out?' He looked at her fur. 'Kicked out because of her shedding problem...?' That would be terribly sad.

He looked back at the IceClanners. 'If DeathClan's thinking of invading, it's best to have numbers on our side...' "You wouldn't want to join those wretched clan cats. They're cruel to each other, and there's too many rules. They wouldn't be accepting to outsiders." He turned back to her. "DeathClan, however, is very accepting. We'd be lucky to have you."

[Rune]

Rune nodded, clarifying that she, was indeed, removed. What he said next caught her attention.

"They are?!..." She sounded shocked, then remembered what a passing rogue told her: Those clan cats would rip your skin right off if you set paw in their territory youngin'. And what Jude said about Deathclan, it couldn't be bad if someone as polite as him was in it, right?

"Hm... Deathclan..." Rune tapped the dirt with a claw "I dunno, I've never been in a group before... But then again, I don't have anywhere to go... Huh."

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He listened to her speak, cocking his head to the side. 'I bet I can convince her. Maybe gain an ally, too.' "It's kind of a small group. You'd fit in just fine." 'She will just need to be a little meaner.' Though that would come with time.

"You should really think about it. Those clan cats? They would shred you." He flicked his tail in the direction of the IceClanners. 'I wonder if they can hear us.' Probably not. Unless one of them had super hearing. Dang.

[Rune]

"You'd fit in just fine."

That almost made Rune burst into laughter, she never thought she would fit in anywhere just fine, but he sounded so... Genuine. Rune thought of the name her mother called her... The puzzle piece that never fit anywhere. Thanks mom. And she most defiantly didn't want to get 'shredded' by the Iceclanners.

"Maybe I will." Rune mumbled a little to quietly, then perked up "You know what? I can join your group, where does Deathclan live?" Rune wasn't the hardest cat in the world to convince, you could tell her crowfood tasted like cotton candy and she'd probably taste it.

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Jude's smile grew when Rune perked up. "Well, I'll just show you. Follow me." He waited for her to be ready before heading in the opposite direction of the farm. 'I hope we don't run into any DeathClanners. They could make her change her mind immediately.' He sighed, taking a glance back at her. 'Then again, she'll meet some of them eventually. Though it'll be best to settle her in first.'

He looked up at the trees as evergreens became more abundant. "We're entering the territory, or we will soon. I could take you to the main clearing if you'd like."