Peace of mind (open)

[Laelia]

Laelia really wasn't sure what she thought of this place just yet. She was curious, of course, yet equally wary. In fact, she was genuinely a lot more wary than curious. And yet, despite her obvious look of mistrust, she keeps herself quiet and polite. Having found a den now, away from everyone else of course, she tends to keep to herself. Of course, she's met two or so felines of Deathclan, yet she avoids social interaction to the best of her ability, preferring to observe and take note of how this strange group works. Yet today she finds herself to be almost...restless, perhaps. She's not really sure how to describe it, yet having quieted her muttering to her long gone brother and the rest of her deceased siblings, as well as occaisionally Scar, she finds herself with nothing to occupy her pawfuls of time. Seeing as she was used to always being on the move, life could never really be described as dull and uneventful. However, now...

And so Lae finds herself perched alongside a river, peering into its icy depths. Water has always served as a comfort for her. The tortoiseshell finds herself quite fond of both swimming and fishing, and knows that fishing is a worthy skill to have in her practice. And so she peers into the ever flowing river before raising one paw, poised above the water. And then she rpwaits, perfectly still and refusing to allow her shadow to fall over the water lest she alert her prey of her presence. She doesn't have to wait long, or at least not as long as she used to. This river proves to be plentiful. After mere moments, the youngling catches a glimmer of scales, and thrusts her paw into the flowing water. With a simply arc of her paw, she pulls it out along with a fish and tosses it - along with a glittering arc of crystal water droplets - upon the bank. In one swift move she blocks its flopping course with one paw and dips her head to perform a swift bite, efficiently ending its struggle.

Tail tip twitch slightly in incredibly refined delight, Lae scoops up her catch in her jaws and stalks over to the shade of a fern bush, each stride showing her obvious prowess as a huntress. Reaching the shade, she settles into a crouch and places her prey upon the soft grasses around her. Ears twitching slightly to survey the area, the youngling tucks into her meal. She hardly gets more than a few bites in before a sound alerts her. Not allowing her fur to prickle or her cold and serene mask to slip, Lae raises her head and peers in the direction of the newcomer, pushing one paw to edge her meal closer. While of course she could catch another, she has suffered far to many hungry nights to forget how precious each morsel can truly be.

[root]

Root wandered a bit around, in the attempts of trying to catch a fish. She was so far afraid of water, so knowing one of her fears was good to her. She learned to avoid it. But she also wanted to learn how to fish. That was a dilemma.

She then spotted a lone cat like herself, watching the river, the water, whatever was happening there. The underweight she-cat made her way over to the bank and tried copying what the stranger was doing. Swiping her paw into the deep water, the youngling jumped up, not expecting it to have that rough of a texture. What was that? Water?

'No wonder mama told us to stay away. It could kill us.' She gave up, and saw that the stranger too, left the bank. Where did she go? using her newly developed nose, the youngling tried tracking down the stranger.

[Laelia]

Okay, so maybe Laelia really outpght to pay more attention to whom she sheilfds herself from. This cat clearly doesn't mean any harm, or at least not much. She's young, about the same age as Lae herself, perhaps a bit younger. She looks half starved, to put it lightly, and has a Deathclan scent that tells Laelia she was born within the clan. Lae hasn't picked up their scent yet, and she never will because she can't settle in one place, it's more a place to train and call home, yet she'll wander most days and perhaps return at night. She planned on getting to know her new clanmates, though preferably observe them from a distance first. However, this seemed like an okay opportunity. She watches from her cover as the other tries to mimic her movements, settling back down to continue her meagre meal. She's really not very good.

The other seems surprised by the water, perhaps even scared, before giving up and backing away. She looks to where Laelia had previously been before proceeding to track her. Or try to track her, as it would seem she's not overly adept. Twitching her ears slightly Laelia takes her time to finish off the rest of her meals and swipe her tongue over her jaws before slipping gracefully out of her shelter to peer at the other. Her expression is cold, masked, unreadable. Yet her head is tilted subtly to one side, giving of a curious vibe, and her eyes are narrowed slightly as though warily assessing the newcomer. She waits in silence, reading her reactions, before deciding to greet the other.

"Greetings. I'm Laelia." She offers with a fluid dip of her head, standing a few paces away and rather lacking intention to move any closer. Her ears take a cautious tilt, clearly mistrustful and letting the other know this lest she decide to be too friendly. After a moments pause, one ear flits forward attentively. "And you are?" She prompts, eyes narrowed just slightly. Her face is expressionless, perhaps cold, yet mostly just relaxed and serene. Yet her eyes sing a warning of the risks of moving too close. She gestures toward the river with a flick of her head. "Do you know how to fish? Because I hate to break it to you, but scaring all the fish away won't get you a snack." She says, nodding toward the other's clear state of malnutrition.

[root]

Root stopped in her tracks when the stranger called out to her. Immediately, Root froze and tried to read the cat. She did not know who she was, but she did call herself Laelia. The youngling saw that Laelia did not come any closer, so Root took three steps closer and stopped again. She was afraid that Laelia might be one of those crazy cats that the stranger told her about. Nothing like Saffron.

She was kind of scary without a smile. "I-I'm Root," she finally managed to stumble out of her mouth. One wrong move and she might become food. 'Do you know how to fish? Because I hate to break it to you, but scaring all the fish away won't get you snack.'

Root looked down at her growing paws. "We-well, no. . . I-I didn't want to scare them. . . but the wa-water scared me first. . ." The tabby looked up at Laelia, as if asking for forgiveness. She didn't mean to scare the older and more experienced cat's fish away.

[Laelia]

Laelia narrows her eyes slightly as the other feline takes three steps closer, effectively closing the distance between them to about a foxlength. Lae offers no words or reactions to this course of action, wondering why on earth the other cat would think such a thing safe. For all she knew, Lae had stopped so far away for a reason. One that this other might be smart to take note of. And yet it seemed this cat didn't quite process such things. However, she certainly seems alert, nervy, and perhaps even scared.

Oh, most deifinitely scared. The return introduction sptrips and stumbles out of her mouth in a fearful tone, and Lae eyes the other up with a subtle tilt of her head. The tilt gives her the illusion of a relaxed and calm, yet inquisitive demeanour. Like she wants to know more, yet isn't asking for anything. Unlike Natalia, this cat doesn't hold that 'off' sense about her, and after a while, Lae offers a slight nod and speaks. "Tell me, Root. Why do you fear me?" She does find she likes to test other's reactions. She never responds the same way to more than one cat, and with Root she found herself wondering just how much this cat could read of her. She's probably afraid of her emotionless expression, rather than anything beyond it. Lae somehow finds herself softening the expression, melting some of the ice. If only slightly.

As the other goes on to not only answer her question, but offer and apologetic look, Laelia offers naught but a fluid shrug and moves past her with hunter's grace toward the river bank. "They are not my fish. Come." She doesn't leave room for argument, yet she clearly gives the choice to follow. Honestly, she's not sure why she's helping this kid at all, but she finds herself doing so. Once she reaches the rives Lae settles alongside the bank almost naturally, poising herself by the edge with one raised paw, nodding the other to do the same. "Water doesn't bite, cats do. Don't let your shadow fall over the water, or you'll alert the fish. Wait until you see one, then scoop your paw under it and toss it onto the bank." Her whiskers twitch slightly, and she keeps one eye on the other as she'd examples the position a moment later before placing her paw down and curling her tail around them to watch. She is still wary, but finds herself interested.

(Hmm, if this goes well I'm always happy for Lae to tutor her if you're interested)

[root]

[that would be cool actually! then again, it depends on how long the two can last being around each other!]

Root wondered how to answer. The truth was the best. That's what mama told her. "Yo-you look scary," she immediately said, once again looking down at her paws. But then Laelia did start to warm up a bit, or so she thought. It was like if the other cat was more relaxed, but how did she manage to come so cold to okay so quick? Root was confused.

She was even more confused when told that the fish were not Laelia, but decided to not ask since the tortoiseshell suggested them to move. Root followed and watched intently as Laelia positioned herself and started to demonstrate.

'Water doesn't bite, cats do. Don't let your shadow fall over the water, or you'll alert the fish. Wait until you see one, then scoop your paw under it and toss it onto the bank.'

Root followed suit and copied the other's pose, then stared into the depths of the water, waiting for a fish. 'You have to do this. You have to eat. You have to be able to feed yourself.' As much as she feared the water, she knew this was something that had to be overcome in order to survive.

[Laelia]

(Hehe, Laelia may even warm up to her a little if she keeps her head)

Laelia eyes the other feline, curious, as she hesitates. She watches her, both wary and wondering. She waits a moment, before clearly opting for the truth, blurting out a hesitant stumble that could be taken either as a shallow insult or compliment. It all depended on your stance, and what's you're trying to achieve. For Laelia, she find herself neutral, though the response does elicit a slight chuckle from within her. "Is this so?" She asks smoothly, her expression hardening and softening teasingly before neautralising. All amusement fades from her expression quicker than the wpeye could follow, and she offers a slight, fluid shrug of indifference. "All are titled to their own opinions."

Lae watches curiously as the other joins her alongside the bank, studying her demonstrated position carefully. She seems rather hesitant. Fairly so, considering she is afraid of water, after all. Yet she seems determined, Lae can tell from the light in her eyes as she position something herself, not letting her shadow fall as she watches for fish. She has a perseverant look about her, and Laelia finds herself wondering how long it'll last. If this cat proves to be teachable, perhaps they might cross paths again. After all, they both belong to Deathclan. The unfortunate home for troubled felines with bad attitude problems. Hmm, how unfortunate.

Lae finds self studying the other's position carefully, noting anything root might have missed, making sure she'll judge her distance right. Well, of course one can never tell that. Her eyes trail over the feline studiously, before nodding. She does not smile, for such an expression is rare to her, almost unnatural. Yet she offers a satisfied look. "Good." She praises, peering into the water for the flash of scales. "See that fish?" She asks, hoping the other will notice. She waits until the creature is perfectly lined up, before flicking her tail. "Now!" She commands, firmly, but surprisingly not harshly.

[root]

[the awkward moment when you thought you responded 'cause there wasn't the "NEW" in the participated dashboard. . . ._____.]

Root watched the fish and the water and kept her eyes locked on the flashing scales. Once Laelia gave the command, Root scooped the fish, but a bit too late. She did manage to claw it, but she wasn't timely enough to toss it out into the water. As it fearfully swam away, the silver tabby hissed in defeat.

"I thought I would get it."

[Deleted]

    Cloud's paws aced as she wandered through the forest aimlessly. Suddenly a familiar scent floated through the crisp wind. 'Other cats maybe they can help me!' She thought with excitement. Cloud started to run through the large forest towards the scent. She stopped cold as she reached the other cats. 'They didn't seem to notice me yet I guess...'  she started to pad towards them suddenly there was a snap and she realized that she had stepped on a twig. Fear crept up her spine as she realized that she had startled them 'What if they run away then I'll be all alone again.' the words echoed in her head.
(I hope I'm aloud to come into the RP sorry if I'm not, and I intruded)