dear (p)rudence

[Deleted]

|| Natalia ||

Jude was finishing off a squirrel, now only a few bones remaining. 'Moons ago I would have killed for this.' He thought, recalling how hard hunting had been before DeathClan. Pushing the bones to the side, he straightened up and swiped a tongue over his muzzle. 'I should head to the barn.'

Getting up to leave, he caught sight of a she-cat at the other side of the clearing. 'Natalia.' Jude shot her a smile, afraid of saying something. 'I don't think she'll want to talk. There must be something wrong with me if I was ignored for that long.' Smile wavering, he looked down and continued on his way.

[Natalia]

Since Natalia wasn't hiding from Jude anymore...

She kind of wanting to get back to seeing him quite often. She did her best to ignore that voice, that sounded suspiciously like Sunset, that called her selfish for wanting to keep Jude. She spotted Jude across the clearing, he seemed a little down.

He must've not noticed her. Or... Maybe he did and he was just busy? Natalia was aware that he along with Patch were supposed to make frequent visits to the barn to gain the trust of an Iceclanner. Dove's orders.

Surely he could spare some time? It'd be suspicious if it seemed to an Iceclanner that Deathclanners had nothing better to do... Probably. She made her way over to Jude. She was not the type to smile a lot, so she just called out.

"Hey, Jude."

[Deleted]

Jude didn't know if she had seen him, and he wasn't turning back to find out. He focused on his paws as he walked, though stopped the second her voice was heard. 'I could just ignore her and keep going. See how she likes it...' He shook the thought away. He could never do that.

After a moment's hesitation, he turned to face her. "Hi Natalia." He took a step back and looked around. Was he sure she was talking to him? There could be another "Jude" out there right around the corner. 'I can't see anyone, though.' He turned back to her, aware that he probably looked strange after glancing around.

[Natalia]

Natalia was a little worried at first.

Jude had stopped, but he only turned and greeted her after hesitating. Then he took a step back. Was he upset with the... Giant hide and seek thing they had going on? She wasn't sure what he was looking for as his gaze moved around.

"Um. Are you looking for something...?"

[Deleted]

"What? No." He quickly answered, not wanting to sound crazy with what he was really looking for. "Sorry." He wasn't even sure what he was apologizing for. Maybe for looking suspicious just now, or maybe for making her run away a few weeks ago. His paws itched to leave, though knew that it would make the situation worse if he just ran off.

[Natalia]

Natalia was not sure what to make of Jude's awkward response.

He answered a bit too quickly, so she figured he was probably trying to cover up seeming a bit weird. "Uh. Ok." She shifted her paws uncomfortably. She cleared her throat. "Uh... I just want to check. You do know... It's not your fault that I stayed away for a while...?"

[Deleted]

Jude narrowed his eyes. 'Is she trying to mess with me?' "What are you talking about? Of course it is." He couldn't imagine what else could have caused it. 'I'll just have to ignore whatever she says next. She's trying to trick me.'

[Natalia]

Natalia stared.

"What? Don't be stupid. Of course it's not your fault. It's mine." She argued. "I'm the one who made the choice to stay away!" She tried to convince Jude. How the heck did the tabby manage to turn the blame onto himself?!

[Deleted]

"No it isn't!" He quickly objected. How could it be her fault? "You obviously had reason to stay away. I don't even know why you're talking to me now! Aren't you afraid I'll say the wrong thing again and you'll have to go into hiding?"

[Natalia]

Natalia shook her head fiercely.

"I was staying away because.... Well...." She quieted. "I thought if I stayed away long enough... You'd break off our friendship... So you wouldn't get hurt because of me again..." She looked up, her emerald gaze fixing on Jude. "Sunset wouldn't have attacked you if you hadn't known me. So I figured...." She averted her gaze. "You'd be better off without me. But...." She closed her eyes. "It might be dumb, but I want to be selfish. I want to keep our friendship."

[Deleted]

Jude frowned. "Are you kidding? I'm glad I fought your brother. He wasn't going to get away with saying those things about you." He stepped closer when she looked away. "That's not true. And you're not selfish. I want the same thing."

[Natalia]

Natalia was touched that Jude wanted to fight for her.

She blinked. "Um... Okay. That's... That's good." She shifted her paws uncomfortably. Would it be weird. She shuffled awkwardly up to Jude and nuzzled him. "Just... Don't go picking fights with my brother like that without telling me."

[Deleted]

Jude looked away, unsure of what to say. The nuzzle took him off guard, though he instinctively returned it. "Okay... But if he threatens you or anything, I'm not gonna let you stop me from going at him." 'I'd rip him to shreds!'

[Natalia]

Jude nuzzling Natalia back...

It felt nice. This sort of touch... She hadn't had it for several moons before she'd met Jude. "... Okay. Just don't go looking for him..." She murmured.

[Deleted]

"I won't." He gave her a lick on the head before stepping away. "That means you can't go looking for him either, okay? You don't need to get hurt." 'Whether that's mentally or physically.'