something clever - o

[Redfang]

The storm had started innocuously, little more than a light drizzle really. Redfang had seen little point in returning to camp; he'd been successful in hunting so far, with two rabbits caught, killed, and safely hidden away, awaiting his return. He soon regretted the decision when he found himself crouched beneath a pathetic excuse of a bush near the TreeClan border, a veritable torrent of fat rain drops assailing the earth as though the two elements had some long-standing grudge match to settle. Much as he loved water dripping incessantly onto his head from the leaves above, Redfang felt as though there were better places to weather the storm. With a last withering glare at the next drop poised to fall on him, the ruddy tom threw himself into the downpour, cursing all the while. He soon found a small overhanging hill, which appeared to have enough space to shelter him from the worst of the rain. He skidded to a halt when he reached the overhang, spraying mud out from under him. It was only after he'd taken a moment to catch his breath that he realized there was another cat there, and he'd just covered them in mud. Earnest apology, or something stupid to make them less angry? The tom took a moment to think, then shook his head. No, saying stupid stuff hardly ever works out. Apology it is. "You've got something in your fur." Whoops.  

[Barrensong]

just a head's up that she's mute.<3

Barrensong missed her apprentices, wherever they all went, she hoped that they would find their ways to Cloudclan safely, if not already. Whatever happened to missing cats anyways? Did they just go on adventures and one day return home? The warrior knew that it would be dumb for herself to leave the clan; they provided for her, especially when she couldn't support herself sometimes. She usually did not have a voice speak for her anyways, but it felt good to belong somewhere.

It was raining and the she-cat purred. She missed the water, especially with green-leaf as the hottest season of the year, rain was a great way to cool off. She walked over to a hillside to seek shelter - sure, it was wonderful to cool off, but it wasn't worth getting sick sometimes! The Treeclanner reached there in time, only to have mud sprayed onto her? The she-cat hissed in anger and raised her fur slightly at the realization that it was a stranger. A Fireclanner too! Was she on his territory, or was he on hers? It was hard to tell, since the rain probably removed the scent markings.

'Please, please, please, don't hurt me,' her eyes read as she soon shuffled herself over to give the tom some space. She began to bathe herself in attempts to be clean again. If anything, she was one of the cleanest cats of Treeclan! The stranger then spoke - something dumb - and she ignored it. Was he trying to make small talk or something?

[Redfang]

(okay, no worries ~)

It took Redfang a moment to catch the scent of the stranger, by which time she'd already given him a strange look and shuffled away from him. CloudClan, I didn't cross the border, did I? he thought, panic stirring within his chest. He looked out from beneath the ledge; the torrential downpour hammering the earth mere mouselengths from his muzzle convinced him to remain within the shelter of the overhang, border crossing or no border crossing. The she-cat currently sharing the shelter with him didn't seem to mind, either. Thinking about the she-cat brought his attention back to her, focusing primarily on the fact that she hadn't responded to his remark, not even to call him an idiot. "I'm sorry about that," he said with a sheepish grin, not sure if he was more apologetic about the mud or the fact that he'd said something so rude afterwards. He thought to offer to help her clean the mud from her fur, then thought better of it. He sat silently for a moment, trying to decide whether it might be better to just face the storm head on. "I'm Redfang, by the way," he said, opting to stay within the shelter, at least for the time being; he wasn't really sure if the TreeClan cat wanted to talk, or even wanted to hear him talk, but he found it hard to remain silent when around another cat, and so he spoke.

[Barrensong]

"I'm sorry about that. I'm Redfang, by the way."

Barrensong stopped her wash to take time to listen to the tom. It was a shame. Treeclanners basically knew of her condition, but a stranger? He probably would not be able to understand for a few more minutes. However long that would take with a Fireclanner, she did not know. She thought that it wouldn't hurt to try to be friendly to the stranger, mainly since they would be stuck here for a while, and nodded her head as a way to reciprocate his introduction.

The she-cat then shrugged, not knowing what to do. In all honesty, she just hoped that he would continue talking. It was weird if the two were silent after all. Unless they were sleeping of course, but that didn't seem reasonable at a moment like this.

[Redfang]

Redfang's brow furrowed at the she-cat's continued silence. The thought crossed his mind that she was simply ignoring him, but if that were the case she wouldn't have nodded in acknowledgement of his introduction. He thought further into it, trying to figure out what other possibilities could cause her continued silence. Perhaps she couldn't hear? Sure, she'd acknowledged him when he'd spoken, but maybe she'd just responded to his lips moving. He'd also heard of cats that couldn't speak, or didn't do so often, though he'd never personally met anyone in which this was the case. The ruddy warrior took another moment to think, and decided that the only way to understand what was going on would be to ask the she-cat a question; he chose to ask what seemed the most obvious. "Can you hear me?"

[Barrensong]

That was a dumb question, and Barrensong was dying of laughter inside. It was a serious question that sounded just like a joke to her. He had to be kidding. No, she was not deaf! Spiderstar would not have even allowed her to mentor apprentices if that was her case probably! The she-cat shook her head to his question and stuck her tongue out to know that it was a rather dumb question for him to ask.

She wrapped her tail around herself and waited to hear the next amusing thing that would slip out of Redfang's mouth.

[Redfang]

"I was just making sure," Redfang said defensively, frowning at the she-cat's stuck out tongue. Was it the smartest question? No, he would admit that it was not, but he still felt it had been warranted. "Fine, then. So you're a mute," he added, phrasing the remark rather bluntly. He studied the she-cat more closely; now that she was a bit less mud-covered, he could make out her pelt color, an interestingly pale gray that bordered on white, something he would not have hesitated to call pretty were she of his clan. "Right, well, I suppose I won't be able to ask you your name," he continued, a flicker of mischief dancing in his icy blue eyes. "So I suppose I'll just call you Frogbrain. Does that name work for you?" he asked, a twitch in his cheek threatening to pull his lips into a grin.

[Barrensong]

Barrensong gave a smile at his conclusion that she was a mute, and to demonstrate, she opened her mouth, but nothing came out. So she just gave a short purr instead. Her reaction next however, was foul. Why would Applefall have given her a name like Frogkit? Did Fireclan queens give their kits names that didn't resemble them? But then, Redfang's name did suit him, so he was probably just teasing her. . .

The warrior shook her head. No, that name would not do for her. Why couldn't she have a more appealing name? One that defined her more, unlike Frog, and who's warrior name would be Frogbrain? A leader with no sense of naming abilities, that was for sure. 'Pleeeaaassseeeee tell me that Redfang isn't going to be Fireclan's next deputy because it's a big mistake if he will be.'

'His coat is really long and his ears are strange too. Maybe his family's from outside of the clans. Maybe he was a kittypet's son?' She heard of stories how Fireclan and Rockclan were accepting of mixed backgrounds and wondered if that fit with Redfang too. Which then meant that he biologically was not Fireclan. But his fur. Without a warning, she dove her face onto his back to take in his smell and then re-positioned herself to her original position. Nope, he carried Fireclan's scent, that was for sure.

[Redfang]

Redfang could no longer suppress the grin that had been threatening to break through since he'd given the she-cat a name, and it soon morphed into a full, rich laugh upon seeing her reaction to said name. "Right, so not Frogbrain," he said with another grin, which quickly broke down into a look of dumb shock as the she-cat dove face first into his back. He fixed her with a frown as she returned to her original position. What had been the point of that? Had she just smelled him? Why? He shook his head, deciding he would get nowhere with that line of thought. "Ah, well, anyway," the ruddy warrior continued, shaking the confused look from his face. "How about I call you Doveheart? Does that work?" he asked; he normally would have simply continued to call her Frogbrain, for no other reason than that it amused him, but he was afraid she would dive onto his back again if he did. Besides, he felt the name fit the she-cat.

[Barrensong]

Barrensong immediately broke into laughter, rolling on the ground with whatever space she had free to move around with. His confusion was simply hilarious to her, like a Treeclan kitten trying to get a leaf off of their back. Her mind went back to home, imagining her clan around her. Safe. But she wasn't home. She was stuck here. With Redfang. He seemed alright to her, not to mention that he didn't initiate a fight between the two yet. He was one of the better cats of the Fireclan breed she assumed.

At the sound of Doveheart, Barrensong took it. It was that or Frogbrain with this tom after all probably. 'I wonder how long it's going to be until the rain dies down. . .'

[Redfang]

Redfang tried to frown at the TreeClan cat, but found it hard to keep the smile from his face while watching someone else rolling about on the ground and laughing. "Fantastic. Doveheart it is, then. Just remember, Frogbrain is always an option, so if you ever find yourself dissatisfied with the name I've given you, you'll at least have a fallback," he replied, another lopsided grin playing across his muzzle. He turned his gaze from the she-cat and studied the sky once again. It could have gotten better, but it also could have gotten worse. It was simply too hard to tell at the moment. He pulled away from the torrent with a sigh, a stray bead of water poised perfectly on the tip of his ear. "Doesn't look like we'll be leaving anytime soon," he said, another sigh escaping his lips. He would have loved to be back in the FireClan camp, curled comfortably in his nest, but he would admit to himself if not to Doveheart that the company could certainly have been worse, and so his sigh would remain as his only form of complaint.

[Barrensong]

Barrensong shrugged at his notion to stick with Frogbrain. She'd rather not have that name, but if he wanted to call her that absurd name, she'd have to settle with that. It wasn't like he would attack her, so she resisted from starting an argument with him. She then watched as Redfang examined the rain, only to return with a sigh. Was that one of defeat? She did not know, but she did wish to go home soon. What if her clan needed her? Kits and the rain didn't really go well, and if it was windy later too, trees would sway, which would be dangerous to go home to. Maybe here was safer for the meantime.

She readjusted herself into a curled up position and shifted towards the wall. Might as well stay warm in this weather!

[Redfang]

Redfang watched as Doveheart moved closer to the wall. Perhaps she's got the right idea. He started to shuffle over to another part of the overhang when he noticed a trickle of water flowing down into the slight dip. Curious, and a little worried, the ruddy warrior moved closer to investigate. What he found was not encouraging; there appeared to be places on the ground that were too engorged with water to absorb any more, and that run off was flowing into the shelter. "Hey, Doveheart," he called, not bothering to take his gaze from the slowly growing trickle. He waved his tail forward as an indication to join him in his study; he supposed, if need be, they could both make a run for their respective camps, but it was still a bit hard to see much of anything with the solid wall of rain continually pouring down. Perhaps the she-cat would have another idea, and perhaps she wouldn't, but for the time being asking seemed better than the alternative he had in mind. He'd rather not get further turned around if he could help it.

[Barrensong]

"Hey, Doveheart."

Barrensong was reluctant to pay Redfang any attention, that was, until she realized that that was all he said. If he wanted to tease her, he would have, not he didn't. She stretched and moved over to the tom, peeking behind his shoulder. She saw it too. She hissed before calming down. Personally, the warrior knew how to swim if needed, but did the fellow Fireclanner? That's what she was worried about. It wasn't like she cared about him, because she didn't, but she felt like they would both have to rely on each other to survive the storm.

She honestly didn't know what to do. Make a run for it? But where? She thought they were in Treeclan territory, but Redfang probably assumed they were in Fireclan. They were lost and the warrior didn't want to admit it. 'He can just keep staring at it all he wants, but we have to try to plug everything up.' She was going to go out to look for rocks, but that would take too long, and who knew if the tom would even still be around.

They would have to leave. Find a hole under a tree. A rabbit's den. Anything. The she-cat urgently pawed the entrance of their shelter, indicating that they would have to think fast. It would be a shame if they caught whitecough, or even greencough. 'We have to leave soon.' But then again, it was Redfang who had the ability of speech, so she would have to follow what the ruddy tom had to command.

[Redfang]

Redfang took a moment to quell his rising panic. They would have to do something soon; he could outrun the rising water if need be, get to higher ground somewhere, but he didn't know if Doveheart had the stamina necessary to get away before the water became too deep to move comfortably. The TreeClanner seemed anxious, restless to do something. Did she wish to leave? That seemed the most rational possibility, and so he moved further up, standing at the she-cat's side. "Try and keep up with me. We'll have to find somewhere else to shelter," he said, then stepped out into the rain, slowly building speed so the she-cat could keep pace with him, or at least so that she could see him through the wall of rain and wouldn't get further lost. He took a moment to wonder why he cared whether or not Doveheart became lost, and decided it was because two heads seemed better than one, at least for the time being. He shook the irrelevant thought away, focusing on keeping a lookout for some other form of shelter, hoping he would find one soon.