*~River~* (Join away!)

[Slug]

The mud was cool under Stormclaw's paws, wiggling his toes against the thick, wet earth. With a contented sigh, the Meadowclanner closed his mint green eyes; letting the wind ruffle his short, blue-gray fur.

It was nice out today at the River's bank. The sun was shining, the sky so blue it was an like a lake in the clouds; hanging overhead at any moment-- the clouds fluffy and plentiful. Stormclaw smiled at the peace, tail curled neatly around his paws.

"If only it could be like this every day," Stormclaw murmured, opening his eyes half-way. "Then maybe everyone could be happy. Quite so."

Promptly, the warrior laughed at that outrageous thought; purring loudly-- almost merrily.

"Oh my," He began. "As if!"
--x

ooc: Short. D:

[Emily]

Sandstripe padded quietly towards the river bank, gleaming blue eyes locked on the shadow further down. Her elongated, striped tail flicked back and forth as she walked forward; the moist earth beneath her wriggling beneath her toes in a pleasant manner. Thin blades of grass were pressed beneath her own steps, each one folding across each other and then slowly trying to pop themselves up again.

The young she-cat, still a new warrior, finally reached the bank, glancing at Stormclaw with a bright smile. "Greetings Stormclaw," she mewed, her ears swiveling from side to side, each audible sound making her ears go back and forth.

"It's so nice out," she managed to comment, darkly masked face glowing with a friendly aura. Though waves of disappointment rippled off Sandstripe. She had wanted, tried, so hard to be appointed MeadowClan's Medicine Apprentice and than Medicine Cat. But no. She had not. And therefore that dream had remained so.

[Slug]

Stormclaw watched as Sandstripe padded to his position; her smile contagious. Sandstripe was a nice she-cat in Stormclaw's book-- viewed as elegant to the male warrior. Stormclaw, unfortunately, also viewed many she-cats as damnsels in distress. Sandstripe was no exception.

He dipped his head gracefully to the she-cat, a smile plastered to his muzzle. "Good greetings, Sandstripe." The tom purred back. "You're looking lovely today, as always." He rumbled.

If there was one thing Stormclaw was, is was that he was quite the flirt, but in a gentleman fassion. Old fassion, buttler, Stormclaw was. Stormclaw not only flirted with the she-cats, but the toms as well-- just to even the odds. If he had to, he'd lay in a mud puddle for a cat to cross over just to notice him.

A flirt indeed.

"Indeed it is, Sandstripe, and quite so. This day is looking as fabulous as yourself." He added with a twitch of his tail. "I don't think this day could get any more beautiful. The weather couldn't rival you and your enchanting appearance." Stormclaw licked down his chest fur. "But onto other matters, how are you, m'lady?"

[Emily]

Sandstripe gave a purr of amusement. [What a charming tom,] she thought to herself, flicking her tail as she sat beside him, listening in on his flirty comments. "Thanks," she purred, blushing furiously beneath her pale pelt. She was quite glad he couldn't see her fur grow hot.

Stormclaw. Biggest flirt around, really. And always speaking in this rather cute, old fashion speech. You'd never expect that cats could speak in.... such different ways and manners.

Sandstripe's eyes went back and forth, gliding across the calm waters which sloshed up against the sides of the bank, spraying the two cats' paws. The she-cat quickly drew them closer to her chest, wrinkling her nose slightly.

"I just don't get it. How those StreamClan cats can enjoy the water. Like its a huge meadow to frolic in..." she muttered quietly, her short whiskers twitching. Sandstripe quickly turned to Stormclaw, missing his question. "Oh, I'm sorry," she spluttered. "I'm alright."

[Emily]

ooc||

I have to go. D: Reply later? =3

[Slug]

"All too welcome, m'lady." He purred back, tail curling around his now wet paws, mint green eyes glowing with warmth. A furry brow rose, and he smiled knowingly at Sandstripe. {The m'lady is flushed.} He noted, the heat comeing off her indicated this, but it radiated more off from her face, much to the Meadowclanner's amusement. {She's blushing.} He thought to himself, mentally patting himself on the back for a job well done.

Then he tilted his head to the side, the smile gone from his face. "Think of it this way, m'lady. We may not like the water," Stormclaw slowly dipped his paw into the river's edge. "But they, on the otherhand, do not like the meadows, either. What do you think they feel like when they see how we slip in and out of meadows, m'lady?" Pulling his paw out gently from the cold waters, he softly shook it. "The same way we feel about them swimming." He answered.

The smile was back, something dark lurking behind it. "We all have different opinions of eachother." He said smoothly. "So it's quite natural for us to judge what we do not understand. So, yes, I understand where you are comeing from, Sandstripe. The answer to why they like swimming may remain unknown to us, but we also have the advantage of of them not knowing why we like the meadows so much. Quite." He concluded, whiskers quivering.

"Does that help, or make things more complicated, m'lady? What we do not understand does not mean it's different? They feel the same way about the waters as we feel about the meadows. Now do you "get it"?" He beamed at her, eyes crinkling with amusement and twisted wisdom.

[Emily]

Sandstripe laughed, purring with slight amusement. What a silly tom. Always being such a gentlemen, adding formal words like "quite" or "m'lady" to the end of everything. She had concluded, that Stormclaw had intended goals for every clan member. And of those, would probably be to make every 'lady' blush or look a little outspoken by his charming twist on words.

Her paws, tucked close to her; were rather moist and so she lifted one up at a time, giving a few swift licks to each and then swiping one across the ear, fondly. "Oh, Stormclaw, you're such a silly tom, Sandstripe finally found herself saying to the warrior, aloud this time.

It was such a beautiful day, glorious really. At long last, the blankets of snow were beginning to fade, the utterly disturbing wetness finally drying up beneath their very paws, the lush green grass only getting quite damp from the droplets of dew, or a bit of rain. And the only other place where your paws really got wet, was down here, by the banks of the river. The sun shone, bright rays of light cascading over the river, making its iridescent ripples glimmer different shades; purples and violets, blues and greens, dark obsidian in some places and a light tulip in others. Depending on where it hit, the colors changed constantly, and it was a marvelous sight.

Sandstripe gave a contented sigh, watching their shadows flicker in and out. Listening closely, ears turning towards Stormclaw with interest. Sure, they all had their preferences and all, it just felt so strange to hear and see StreamClan's liking for water. Every clan just wasn't used to each others habits and customs of what, and where they like.

"Yes, it makes perfect sense. It's just so hard to believe it, because every cat is used to their own, or own clan's preference." Sandstripe paused, turning back to the river before them, watching the hues dance back and forth from light to dark, green to blue, blue to purple, purple to blue and back again. An ongoing circle, really. "I suppose we're just not accustomed to things like that," the young warrior mewed, laughing as she did so. Her light cream pelt was blown slightly in the calm breeze which swayed their fur off to one side, and caused the river's own waves to move in a particular direction instead of bobbing up and down in one spot.

[Slug]

"Silly? I mean no offence when I say this, m'lady, but I beg to differ." Stormclaw said, tone playfull with a undertone of raw anger, a grin on his face. Something seemed wrong with this picture. The dark came back, and instead of lurking and revealed itself full force; glinting in Stormclaw's eyes with a sharp pinch of I-know-something-you-don't-know feeling. The look was gone as fast as it had appeared, though; falling from Stormclaw's face and onto the breeze.

A bitter-sweet smile latched onto his muzzle, beaming brilliantly at Sandstripe. "Yes. I suppose it is hard to believe... but perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to believe if I did this." With slow, purpose, elegant strides, Stormclaw waded into the river's edge, shoulder/hip deep in the dark hued waters. He visibly shuddered, but held his ground, pacing in a small circle; letting the water soak into his fur.

Finally, Stormclaw rose from the river, fur sagging against the waters weight; once bright silver fur now a dark iron color. He grinned at Sandstripe, walking closer and closer and... closer.

Then he promptly shook himself, sending fleets of water flying everywhere.

[Emily]

"Oh, I didn't mean to bother you," she retorted back in a hushed tone, a bit stunned at the slight anger which was held beneath his playfulness. Watching him carefully, her deep blue eyes turning to slits as a ray of light washed over the two - she managed to emit a soft sigh of content.

she thought to herself a bit miserably though her eyes held the firm brightness as usual. [Oh, whatever, it'll fade.] The thoughts echoed in her mind helplessly. Sandstripe curled her tail neatly around her paws, blinking as the silver tom stood, making his way closer and closer to the banks of the river. "What are you doing? This is what I mean by silly, Stormclaw!" the young she-cat said loudly, a mew of laughter quickly following. Tail lashing back and forth now, anticipating what he would do next, Sandstripe leaned forward a bit, ears tilted a bit more - eyes slightly wider. [What in the world is he doing, now?] she thought to herself, shaking her head.

The wind ruffled her delicate cream pelt, her calico or tortie mask across her face daunting almost from further away. Flicking her tail with slight amusement as the color of his pelt changed as the water soaked in, a dark steel iron now. Large ripples of water surrounded Stormclaw, and the warrior looked perfectly fine down there. Except he was shivering a bit, and Sandstripe's natural thoughts were: She was such a medicine cat at heart, though being never trained her entire time here as an apprentice she had always volunteered too. Even now, she knew she would still help Duststripe and Bluestream around. Both Medicine cats had grown to know her well, and appreciate her dedication to her "work" there.

Sandstripe sighed to herself, lost in a train of thoughts until suddenly, ears perked a cascade of water fell over her. Tiny droplets making up an entire engulfing wave, swallowing her alive, it seemed. "STORMCLAW!" she spluttered, choking out droplets of water, her pelt sticking to skin now. It was disgusting, purely rotten. "You rotten cat," she clucked to herself, tongue rolling.

"I'm so wet..." she mumbled to herself, raising her head towards Stormclaw momentarily. "This is what I mean by a silly cat, you little fox," she giggled playfully, her apprenticeship coming back to her.

[Slug]

Stormclaw yowled with laughter, fur sticking up in every derection; ears back as his lifted head cried to the sky in mirth. "Y-you should have seen your muzzle, Sandstripe!" He croaked, fangs flashing. He inched closer, then promptly pressed his flank against hers; side by side with the she-cat, staring out at the river.

"I know I am rotten, m'lady. It comes with the looks." He waggled his furry, wet brows at her. "And I know what you meant. I apologise for my earlier actions. I've been... stressed lately." He admited, sitting down and curling his tail around his paws.

"Forgive me?" Stormclaw asked, eyes laying their sights on Sandstripe's own, genuine guilt shimmering in his green orbs.