Nervous Tabby (P)

[Natalia]

@yeah

Natalia's thoughts kept drifting back to that meeting.

She wasn't really sure what would happen, aside from cats getting to lord their higher status over the younger cats. Well... And cats that Dove didn't like or hadn't met she supposed. It seemed kinda... Dumb. It seemed a bit like... Favoritism. She was reasonably sure she was going to end up as a peasant forever. She wasn't exactly great... At getting cats to like her. She didn't have anything useful to say either.

Well, she'd known about Iceclan as well, but it hadn't even crossed her mind to tell Dove. Well, it wasn't like she spent time thinking how to destroy the clans all the time! She wasn't even thinking about it.

Oh well.

She was walking along in the forest and spotted a familiar pelt up ahead.

Jude.

She stopped and shifted uncomfortably. Alright, alright.... She'd done a lot of thinking and there were some cats she was okay with talking to. Jude and Slate. Probably Dove too... Even with the move she made, she was still generally a bit too high energy for Natalia to be wholly comfortable around. She padded up to approach Jude, her ears folded back in a nervous manner. 

"Eh... Hey."

[Deleted]

Jude sat by himself, lost in his thoughts. He didn't know how he'd do as a spy in IceClan. He knew he'd feel guilty, gaining the trust of those cats then turning on them, but he knew that it had to be done. 'My brother's going to hate me...' He frowned at the thought. He had just reconnected with his brother after a long while, and after what he was about to do he knew that he'd probably never see him again.

And this was all happening because of Patch. They hadn't hit it off well originally, so it didn't really surprise him that she was the one to tell Dove. 'I can't believe that I have to do it with her of all cats.' Whatever. It would be a learning experience. 'Maybe it'll get some more DeathClanners to like me, too.'

He snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of approaching pawsteps. The tabby shifted around, spotting Natalia approaching him. 'What's with her ears...?' Maybe it wasn't a good day for her. Whatever it was, he decided not to question it. Jude wore a small smile, giving her a nod. "Hey Natalia."

[Natalia]

Natalia's ears relaxed back into a neutral position as she saw Jude give her a slight smile.

She hesitated briefly before nodded slightly in return. She shifted uncomfortably again. She... Wasn't exactly well versed in being friendly with other cats. She'd spent far too long trying to push others away rather than trying to let them in, or at least not get on their bad side.

"Uhm... How are you... Uh... Doing?" She asked awkwardly. She internally groaned. A cat missing two legs on the same side would be more graceful than she had been just now!

[Deleted]

Jude had noticed how uncomfortable Natalia looked. He took a few glances around, not wanting to stare at her and make it worse. 'Maybe something's on her mind.' They did just get back from a very interesting meeting, so it could be that.

He shrugged at the question. "I'm doing fine. What about you?" He looked at her in interest, though remembered to glance around every now and then so that he wouldn't be staring.

[Natalia]

Natalia's nervousness returned as Jude's gaze seemed to wander.

'Oh stars he wants to get far far away from I have no idea how to talk to cats I'm a failure I should've stayed in my nest today.' Her thoughts ran rampant and uncertain. Having pessimism floating around her head was so much better than this uncertainty!

"Uh... Just um. Thinking. About things. Yeah. Things." She meowed, stumbling over her speech. Thinking too hard about her uncertainty just made things worse!

[Deleted]

Jude thought that Natalia's way of talking was kind of humorous. He wouldn't let her know that, of course. He curled his tail over his paws, tipping his head to the side. "What kind of things?" He asked quietly, wondering what was making her stumble over her words. She hadn't done that the last time they talked.

He tapped his tail lightly against the dirt as he waited.

[Natalia]

Jude seemed to relaxing, so Natalia sat herself down and took a deep breath. 

Jude had posed a question. She needed to answer it... Like a normal cat. Which meant no stumbling. No awkwardness. "Well... What Dove said... And well, Pain's idea that Dove accepted." Her tail swept along the forest floor behind her. "I do agree to some extent... Even if this ranking system sounds a bit biased personally, and gives some of the older cats reason to act all superior over the younger." She huffed. "I suppose they have some degree of right, but I believe it will encourage distasteful behavior..." 

[Deleted]

Jude nodded as she finished up. It was definitely a big change. 'But it sounds like she doesn't like it all that much. Isn't she afraid of her opinion getting around to Dove?'

He sighed. "It's all up to her, though. I don't think we really have a say." He paused, twitching his whiskers before continuing. "I hate older cats who act superior, and I'm sure others feel the same." He felt a growl rise in his throat, thinking of Pain hissing at him. "One of these days an older cat's gonna get their face ripped off by a youngling who's stronger than they look. DeathClan's going to get more chaotic, but it's kind of exciting."

[Natalia]

Natalia nodded.

"I get what you mean." When she'd first met Pain when she was younger, he'd really lived up to his name. He'd been ruder than her! And considering the fact that she didn't like talking to others before, that really said quite a bit. 

She sighed. "It's exciting, but we'll have to watch our step." She pointed out. "With the chaos it brings... Uncertainty. I'm not sure how I feel about it."

[Deleted]

Jude shrugged. "Uncertainty can be fun. I like not knowing what's around the corner." Life was boring without surprises, after all. Even if the surprises were bad things.

He looked at Natalia curiously. "Do you like fighting?" It seemed out of the blue, but it'd been on his mind. So many DeathClanners had it as a hobby that he kind of felt left out.

[Natalia]

Natalia sighed.

"That's your opinion I suppose..." She replied quietly. Her brother walking out on her had been a nasty surprise. She liked to know where she stood, so she could brace herself.

She blinked. "Where is this coming from?" She asked before sighing. "I'll do it if I must, but I'd rather not. I'd rather not be caught wounded for a stupid reason around someone hostile." She meowed.

[Deleted]

"Where is this coming from?" Jude didn't say anything, hoping she would continue. Thankfully she did. It sounded like their viewpoints were pretty similar. "Just curious." He said simply, thinking of Static at the last part of Natalia's sentence. She was a strange one. Definitely not hostile, but weird. Jude could see her getting herself killed one way or another.

[Natalia]

Natalia didn't believe that Jude was simply curious.

Maybe Jude found some trigger happy kitten or something. She shifted uncomfortably again. "Uh... You don't have to tell me but.... Why did you try to stop Patch from sharing the information about Iceclan?" She asked quietly.

[Deleted]

Jude shuffled his paws, unsure of what to say. So, he didn't say anything at all. He shrugged in response. He couldn't tell Natalia about Riverpaw. He didn't want her to think of him as being disloyal.

[Natalia]

Natalia stayed silent as Jude simply shuffled his paws. 

Then Jude shrugged. She took that as a sign that he didn't want to share. Though, it was fairly obvious that Jude had some sort of ties to the clan that they didn't feel like sharing. She wouldn't press... Not right now at least.

She sighed. "I really hope that Pain guy doesn't get to royalty while we're stuck as peasants forever. He'll never shut up." She grumbled, clearly not liking the idea of Pain being of a higher rank than her.