Kinds of Laughter [p]

[Crystalbird]

Yellowburr

Crystalbird found Yellowburr... Unsettling. He clearly had with him some talent of persuasion, judging by how he managed to divide the clan with his very words. She'd never met him before, so his words at the meeting were her first experience with the cat. She wasn't afraid, no. Cautious? Definitely. He raised all the red flags of a cat she knew to be wary of.

A cat she was rather disinclined to trust.

Especially since his words condemned her. Not specifically her, but she was part of the group that Yellowburr spoke against. Outsiders who'd joined Treeclan. Not as small kittens who felt like Treeclan had always been their home... But as an adult who found a new home but remembered a life before Treeclan. Living on her own. She wouldn't deny that while she adjusted to clan life overall, there were still parts of her that very much felt like the paranoid loner that needed to watch out for herself. Thus, led to current situation of brooding in the trees.

She found perching in the trees to be... Relaxing. A good place to think.

She wasn't flicking acorns off the tree this time, given... Dogfang's rather... Adverse reaction last time. Normally, she didn't particularly care for the opinions of others, carrying on whether they liked it or not. But now... She was a deputy of a clan. She couldn't run around antagonizing everyone.

She peered over the edge, to see someone looking up the tree, straight at her.

Lo and behold, it was the creeper Yellowburr himself.

"You trying to be creepy, or can you not help it?" She called down below.

[Yellowburr]

I had quite a passion for theatrics, as many of the TreeClanners had witnessed not long ago. And, if I must say so myself, I was good at it. I wasn't quite sure what the ability had stemmed from -- perhaps from the years of repressing my anger towards my mother, the abuse, or even lying about the nature of her disappearance, which I had done a very nice job with. Nevertheless, I was a showman, and every good showman wants to be known. 

And known I was. The Clan was abuzz with my name, as if it had made the biggest headline since Spiderstar left. My name was on the minds and lips of cats everywhere, whether they spoke it with malice or reverence. But, that had just been the opening to my show.

A voice called from above, and I turned my head upward, only to be met with the familiar face of the deputy. Great. My expression didn't falter, though, changing easily into a look of shock. "Creepy? Look at me. You can tell I'm not creepy."

[Crystalbird]

Crystalbird felt something off about Yellowburr's change of expression. Hm. She couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was exactly, but she didn't particularly like it. Just another thing to add to the list of why Yellowburr was shaping up to be someone she didn't particularly like.

"Really." She deadpanned back down. "I think I'd prefer to trust my eyes than your words, thank you very much." She sniffed. She imagined the persuasive warrior didn't like her very much, what with her decidedly outsider background and her... Admittedly still somewhat loner-ish mindset likely made her the exact kind of cat that the bright furred tom was warning his fellow Treeclanners against. Was he right? She liked to believe he was wrong, at least about her.

She wasn't really one who liked to assume the natures of others, in a positive or negative light. She preferred to make her own observations and then form her opinions. Making hasty assumptions was a good way to make fast enemies. Then again, her attitude might be viewed as a tool for making plenty of enemies regardless. 

[Yellowburr]

I was slightly wary around the she-cat -- if she deemed it necessary, she could leap down from the tree and tackle me at any moment, without too much hostility from the rest of the Clan. Obviously, I didn't make this known, my smile remaining on my face. However, upon further speculation, I decided I could beat her in a fight if it came down to it. I was taller and more muscular, and I wasn't afraid -- of anything, really. 

"Aw, c'mon, my words are reliable," I drawled, staring up at her with a crooked smirk. I let out a low ha, ha, ha, before I shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever," I laughed, leaning back on my heels with a large sigh. I didn't have any issue with her personally, although, of course, I disliked her. She was vehemently against my point of view, and she wasn't of TreeClan blood. I didn't trust her.

My gaze shifted quickly from where they had been staring (slightly off to the side of her branch) to the deputy. "Why's such a pretty little girl like you up in that tree?" I tilted my head to the side. "Come down and we can talk things out," I said, the smile not leaving my face as if the expression was glued. 

[Crystalbird]

Crystalbird figured the wariness she sensed Yellowburr had about her stemmed from the light-furred she-cat's outsider origins. She wasn't like one of the orphaned kittens that Treeclan took in. She had been a fully capable adult before she'd come to Treeclan, but had been accepted into the clan anyways. 

She tilted her head. "Reliable." She repeated. "Well, they certainly sound that way. I have to give you credit for sounding so persuasive. It's not a skill that comes easily to most, I believe." He seemed relaxed around her. Well, on the surface. He wasn't giving much up to her, he seemed to be trying to paint himself in a better light than Crystalbird's actual opinion of the tom. She was less inclined to listen to his honeyed words, however. She wouldn't dismiss his words straight off the bat... But she wouldn't just... Listen.

Heck, she wouldn't do that for Arrowstar and he was actually the leader. 

She gave an unimpressed look. "How about I take an ear off, and let's see if you're still smiling?" She suggested, with an edge of hostility. She hated the way he called her pretty, like that was the first thing cats noticed about her rather than something... Real. Something not... Superficial. It irked her.

She huffed. "I like trees. I'd rather stay up here. Since apparently you belong here more than I do, by virtue of blood... Joining me up in the trees, shouldn't be hard... Right? Unless you skipped out on class and can't climb a tree."