in solitude [Rain&Ginger] where we are least alone

[glowlynose]

Rain's day up until now had been relatively uneventful. He'd woken up, caught a little mouse for breakfast, and then spun in a circle a couple times with his eyes shut to decide which direction to walk in. Since then, he'd just... walked. To occupy his time he had told himself the story about the princess locked up in a tower with her long, beautiful hair. He'd always liked that story when Analucia had told it to him. The end was the very best part to the story. The good guy had managed to rescue his princess. Thinking about it brought down his good mood significantly. He hadn't rescued his princesses, had he? No, he hadn't even been able to stay on their trail. Some prince he'd turned out to be.

A wall of scent and trees rose up in front of the wandering tom. It was a nice change of pace, he had to admit. The barrier of thick pine trees and strangely feline scents did make things a bit more interesting. This was somebody's border, and from the smell of things, they cared quite a lot about it. Perhaps they took so many precautions to keep others out because they were hiding something... or someone? Three someones? Rain narrowed his eyes and frowned. It would not be the best course of action to just go traipsing into somecat's territory when the bounds were so clearly marked. Perhaps he should sit and wait to see if somebody showed up. If nobody did by nightfall, he would go in. A quick glance toward the sky told the tom that it had not yet reached noon, so he should prepare himself for a long wait.

"Well, compadre," he said to himself in his thickly accented voice,"Looks like it's just you, me, and the rest of the world. Best make ourselves comfortable." A sardonic smile tipped up the corners of his mouth as he stretched. What would his parents think if they saw him now? They had always thought that having Analucia around would ruin him. Well, not having her around was what was really killing him. Each day he spent without her brought him a little closer to insanity. Already he was talking to himself on a regular basis. Next thing he knew, he might actually start seeing her beside him, or hearing her voice instead of just his. The strange thing was that he knew he would be happier that way.

"Rain, rain, go away, come again another day," he hummed softly to himself, then stopped abruptly as a harsh laugh broke the tune. Should he really go away? No, he'd made up his mind. Oh, the irony...

[/center]

[Whiskers]

Gingerstar did not often leave camp and she wondered if that made her a bad leader. It was not that she did not want to contribute to Pineclan (because she did) and it was not because she was 'better' than any other cat (she wasn't), it was because she felt like she never could. She needed to organize patrols and she needed to keep an eye on things. She couldn't go skipping into the forest willy-nilly, whenever she felt the intense urge to. She had given that freedom away when she decided she, Gingerclaw of the once-great Forestclan, wished to create a new clan, the best clan, a clan without Starclan. When she had taken on that symbolic prefix of -star, Gingerstar had pledged to protect Pineclan with her whole being. And so she could not partake in patrols as often as she wanted to. She could not go hunting with some of her fellow she-cats. She had to communicate with the elders. She had to be there, in camp, where cats could find her when they had questions. She had to visit the nursery, she had to check on the medicine cats.

She loved being leader. Just not in this particular moment.

And that was why she had left camp. Because she was getting antsy and she was feeling lonely, strange enough, and since most of the cats were already out on patrol, and since she did not have the gall to go up and ask a cat to go hunting with her (she wished she did have the gall thought), she had gone out on her own. She had a very convoluted idea that maybe, if she hunted for a while, she would run into one of her patrols and then join them.

However, so far, she was alone and she was not hunting very well at all, not when one considered how a leader should hunt for her clan. She had just buried two tiny mice, mice that would feed kits and nothing more. But warriors brought in kills like this. She needed to catch a plump rabbit, a fat crow, two, three voles. She wanted to feed the entire clan, not just a kit.

It was her quest to do the impossible that was leading her farther away from Pineclan camp, farther away from the borders to the other clans. She was nearing the outermost border of Pineclan now, where nothing but free, unclaimed land awaited. She was also tracking a rabbit, and now that she had gone so far chasing it, she was determined to catch it no matter what, even if she went into that unclaimed territory. It was...unclaimed, so she wasn't breaking any rules. She just needed this specific rabbit. No other one would do, not anymore.

But a new scent distracted her, stopped her abruptly. Her full-on run ended as she caught this cat's scent-- a tom cat!-- on the wind. It was unfamiliar and it was too close to Pineclan. Way. To. Close. Gingerstar's lips curled up into a snarl and she switched her direction, letting that rabbit live to see another day. She had another piece of prey to take care of now.

It did not take Gingerstar long to find the mysterious stranger, and once she saw him, sitting less than a mousetail from the border, with his eyes looking at her forest, she felt her anger bubble in her stomach. What was this cat planning? Was he a rogue, with a band of vagabonds who were planning an attack? She would stop that right now. It did not matter to Gingerstar that he was not technically intruding. He was...close enough.

So she tackled him, head-on, with all the brute force she carried in her well-defined muscles. Since she had the advantage of a sneak-attack, she pinned him down very easily and smirked down at him with her corn-colored eyes.

Gingerstar's whiskers twitched. "I don't like the way you're looking at my trees." And she was dead serious.

[/size]

[glowlynose]

Rain had heard the she-cat coming a split second before she'd flung herself at him, though, in his present position, he didn't see how that had helped him much. As if it wasn't bad enough that he'd been caught off his guard, he was now lying with his back planted firmly in a glopping, disgusting, highly dirty patch of mud. It would take ages to get that out, and it wasn't helping that the stranger was somehow managing to keep him planted there. No matter how much he wriggled or squirmed, she was not going to let him up.

However, none of his disquiet showed as he looked up at his captor, mild amusement being the only emotion on his face. His lips pressed together and curved up into a mocking smirk. "Well now, missy, isn't this an interesting sitchee-ay-shun ye've gotten us into?" Rain laughed coldly. Fury and the desire to protect "her" trees was emanating from every hair on this she-cat's pelt. Perhaps Clementine or Willow would have turned out to be like this, with plenty of spunk and fighting spirit. They would have gotten those from their mother. Annoyance flashed in his eyes. Now was hardly the time to be thinking about them. There was an actual cat he had to deal with now. He hadn't met an actual cat in so long... perhaps he should try and befriend her?

"Haha, I can't exactly look at 'your' trees with your face blocking my view, can I? Way I see it, I ain't doin' no damage no more. I'd appreciate it if you'd let me up now, seein' as how your trees are still there and safe." Rain wriggled beneath his captor's grasp once more, growing increasingly irritated with this she-cat's persistence. Who was she to accuse him? He hadn't been doing anything wrong... yet. Did she fancy herself some sort of queen or something? What a laugh. If she was the ruler of anything then he'd willingly coat his entire body in this stinking mud.

[/center]

[Whiskers]

Now that Gingerstar had successfully pinned her intruder down, she let herself take a good look at him. Judging by how much strength she had to exert to keep him pressed firmly into the soil, she could conclude that he had plenty of muscle, but he hardly ever used them...at least not to fight off any cat. Maybe he was a lost kittypet then? Her eyes flicked down to his neck and back up again. No. Unless he had taken off his collar.

He was gray and he was big. Bigger than her, and Gingerstar did not like that, not one bit. It made her whole body tense up, made her press down with a little too much enthusiasm, and it even tempted her claws out. You can never be sure about males like these. Their size makes them formidable. Don't trust. Don't trust, said her mind in a panic. But none of this panic flickered through her eyes, or twitched her whiskers.

If the strange cat had not been so big, then, at his request (said in a unique accent that reminded her of Harepaw back in camp, and also brought the scent of the ranch to her nose, for a reason Gingerstar was unaware of), Gingerstar might have gotten up. But because he was big, because he was potentially dangerous, and because he called her 'missy'-- she didn't like that, it felt degrading-- she could not. Even if she wanted to, her body would not let her.

So she smirked with her mouth this time, not her eyes, and she quipped back her own retort, while her claws teased the gray tom's fur.

"What? Let you up? But I don't even know your name yet," she cooed, in an effort to hide how truly cautious she was of him. She resumed her serious facade a second later, switching gears abruptly. "So tell me your name and why you are here, then I'll consider letting you up. Alright? Alright. And try to make it quick. I don't have all day"

It was true. She needed to scare him off quickly, because Pineclan was waiting for her, and she would not keep Pineclan waiting long.

[/size]

[glowlynose]

Rain laughed easily and genuinely this time, letting a smile tempt his lips apart to reveal his many white teeth. Yes, this she-cat did have plenty of spunk. In fact, if he wasn't larger than she was and oh so amused, he might actually be intimidated by her. She definitely had a certain air of business about her. He was not disturbed at all by her inspection of him- it was to be expected, of course, since he'd been sitting a few inches away from what she obviously considered to be "her" trees. He was curious as to what could make her feel this way. They were, after all, trees. A cat couldn't own a tree by any rights, not even if they lived in the very heart of it.

"Haha, the name's Rain. Just Rain, thanks. And what would your name be, miss...?" He was careful to trail the end of his phrase upwards in question. If this damsel was anything like Analucia, she wouldn't appreciate it very much if he openly mocked her the first time they met. Not that he particularly cared whether she liked it or not, she just wouldn't let him up unless he started to exhibit some proper manners.

"There we go. Can ah get up now, please? You look like you have places teh be. Things to do, people to see, all that jazz." He smiled at his captor and wriggled ever so slightly beneath her grasp. She'd let out her claws some time before, but in the position he was in now he could easily twist out and make a break for it. The thing was he wasn't quite sure if he'd run or not. This strange ginger cat was intriguing at the least. She seemed to be definitely proud, almost strangely so, to live in that tangled mass of pine trees. Despite the strong border scent, it smelled quite nice over there.

"Do yeh live ovah there, miss? Just wonderin', 'cause you smell like the trees, all piney-like. And you said they were your trees.

"Say, you wouldn't have happened to come across a little damsel and two children? Analucia? The kids woulda been named Willow and Clementine." He tried to seem nonchalant as he asked, but he couldn't help but let a little bit of emotion catch his voice. Maybe this ginger cat could help him at last. Maybe Ana-lu-lu and his kids had passed through her trees once before. But what if she'd attacked them? What if they'd been driven out? His jaw hardened and he swore to himself that if this cat had hurt his family, he'd kill her. Yes, kill her or die trying.

[/center]

[Whiskers]

The tom had complied quicker than Gingerstar expected of him, and that unnerved her. Wasn't like a tom to give in. It made her suspect that he had something up his fur and he was waiting for the right moment to use it, to take advantage of her agai-- not again, Gingerstar blinked the thought away easily. This was a different tom, she reminded herself.

Though they might as well be all the same, she thought and she blinked again, so any distress that might have appeared could disappear. For good, preferably.

Since the tom had followed orders though, Gingerstar knew she had no real reason to hold him down anymore, though she felt desperately more secure in this position than if she were to let him sit up, let him have control of his limbs. But she couldn't just pin him down forever. So slowly, and very cautiously, she let off some weight and then jumped back, like 'Rain' had been set on fire. The leader then positioned herself so her back was toward her trees and she was half-way crouched, her eyes never leaving the loner. Her claws were still out, poised like a promised present that she would readily deliver if Rain even twitched in a way that Gingerstar did not approve of.

And then, she answered his questions, one by one.

"I am Gingerstar and yes, I do live there, along with the rest of Pineclan. It is my territory. So you have to ask permission to enter, and it is not permission that I will readily grant."

She paused and considered how to answer his next question. She was not thinking of the answer itself though, for she had not recognized any of those names. But the tom had gotten even stranger when he mentioned them. Gingerstar couldn't place it (emotions were never her strong point; she'd never admit it outloud) but she knew it was something he felt...strongly about, in some way. So she would tread lightly.

"I have not heard or seen any of the cats you have mentioned, but my warriors are very thorough about chasing cats out of our territory. So they might have passed through without my knowledge."

[/size]

[glowlynose]

Ah, blessed movement! Rain jumped to his paws the second his limbs were freed and took the opportunity to stretch luxuriously. He wasn't used to being unable to move for any period of time, considering how the past year of his life had been spent. If left to himself for much longer, he might have unearthed the secret to perpetual motion. The relief he felt when this... Gingerstar let him up was absolutely ridiculous.

Gingerstar. What an interesting name that was. Though it was the middle of the day, Rain couldn't help but look up at the sky curiously. The last time he'd checked, stars weren't anywhere near ginger colored. Yes, stars were rather silver colored, or white. Not ginger. He suppressed a chuckle when he added star to the end of his name. Rainstar. How ridiculous was that?

"Gingerstar. Gin-GER-star. Never heard a name like that buhfore. Does it mean anythang in particular, or is it just fer kicks 'n' giggles?" Rain was genuinely curious about Gingerstar's name. And what were these clans she was talking about? Did she live in a huge horde of cats? She mentioned warriors too. Were they trained well? Trained well enough to, say, abduct three innocent she-cats? This Gingerstar claimed to have never heard of any members of his family, but how did he know she wasn't lying to try and save her own hide until her band of little warriors came to back her up? He suspected that she'd have no qualms about telling the truth then.

"And what in the biscuits and gravy is a clan? I've nevah heard of one before." The word 'clan' tasted funny to Rain. In fact, he'd never even considered the possibility that cats would want to live in groups larger than family units before now, if that was what a clan even was. He did not notice that Gingerstar's claws were unsheathed and glinting in the sun, which was probably a good thing for both of them. If he had noticed, some nickname would surely have sprung from it, and, well, Rain's nicknames tended to be anything but complementary.

[/center]

[Whiskers]

This tom was bigger standing up then lying down.

Of course he would be. Gingerstar scoffed at herself inwardly for being surprised by this. She shouldn't be. She had prepared herself for a big tom-- and he was big, broad-shouldered, with wide paws. She imagined that some she-cats in her clan would giggle and call him handsome. If Gingerstar was susceptible to such ridiculous, immature, useless, foolish behavior, maybe she would agree. But she was immune to the practice of giggling and observing the opposite gender. It was impractical when one was a leader and it was... repulsive to think about.

And the fact that cats would consider him "handsome" just made Gingerstar's stomach twist, and not in a good way. It made him a double threat and Gingerstar wanted to chase him out now. Why was she even amusing him with conversation? He was still at the edge of her territory, a danger to her and to Pineclan. So chase him away now, a panicked voice told her. Do it before he takes advantage of you.

But another voice told her that this tom might fight back if she hissed and clawed at him. So the smarter choice was to be cordial...as cordial as she could manage.

Yet the way he talked was going to make it hard for her to be polite. Gingerstar frowned as he rambled on about "kicks 'n' giggles" and "biscuits and gravy." Was he insulting her? Gingerstar could not tell if he was insulting her or not, but it felt like he was insulting her!

"No, no, I just change names on a daily basis. Sometimes I even pick names out of a two-leg's hat-- of course it means something!" Gingerstar snapped at Rain. She sat down, her fluffy tail swinging around to wrap itself around her, a barrier between herself and Rain. It hid her claws from view, but they were still out, and at this point they were scratching at the ground furiously. She almost muttered "means more than 'Rain,' I bet," but she refrained when she remembered she wasn't trying to pick a fight.

"And a clan is a group of cats that live together, hunt together, fight together... essentially, a large family," Gingerstar managed to answer his second question without much hostility in her voice. "Behind us is my clan-- I am the leader-- but three more clans live in this area. You are welcome to look for your...family there, if you want, but I can warn you that they will not welcome you warmly."

Yes...hopefully he'd take the bait and wander off into Fogclan or some place. Let this large, handsome tom become somebody else's problem.

[/size]

[glowlynose]

Rain's lip curled back in a defensive sneer, while his mind was reeling in confusion. How had she guessed that Analucia and his kits were, well, his family? Did this clan leader, whatever mystical powers that entailed, have the ability to see his past simply by looking at him? He had to pretend that they meant nothing to him. She was hiding them, she was, and if he seemed like he was emotionally attached, she'd use that against him. This may seem like an unfair judgement, but the only decent she-cat Rain had ever met was Analucia, and, as he very well knew, not every female could be like his love. If he simply pretended that they meant nothing to him, maybe she'd tell the truth. Then he wouldn't be reduced to drastic actions.

"What makes you think they're my family?" Rain spat crossly on the ground, being careful to shoot the she-cat a look that was obviously reprimanding her for jumping to conclusions. "They're my job." He said this matter-of-factly, with a nod of his head. Yes, his job. How very clever he was.

"They ran away from home, and it's mah job to bring 'em back. I've been tracking 'em fer ovah a ye-ah. But it really don't matter much tuh me if they're he-ah or not. Just thought that they might be. They always were social." There. He'd done it. He had just effectively lied about his past- and his family's- to this stranger. Oh, yes, he decided, she was a stranger. Just because he knew her name and she knew his did not make them bosom buddies.

He gave his chest a few casual licks and turned his eyes once more to the she-cat. She wasn't outstandingly pretty, and she had a few small scars in places, but she wasn't downright ugly either. Of course, nobody could ever bee as pretty as Analucia had been. But... Gingerstar's eyes... they were so interesting. He'd never seen eyes the color of hers before, and certainly not as calculatedly harsh. He was able to meet her gaze steadily, however, as his solitude had served to harden him against intrusions upon his sense of security. Had he been younger, Gingerstar would have been intimidating, oh yes, but looking at her in his current state, he saw nothing but similarities between them despite her clan of whatever.

"You said that a cat would need permission to enter your borders, but you nevah said how that permission could be got. Well, what if somebody wanted ter know abou' that little deal?" He would leave discussion of her clan until later, but right now he wanted to have a bit of fun. Play with her mind a bit. After all, he hadn't done anything amusing in over a year. So he got up, walked forward until there was about a fox-tail's length between them, and promptly sat down with a huff. "Please 'scuse me while ah clean off this mud. Waitin' for an answer can take some time, sometimes. Y'know?" He smiled coolly and then craned his head back to get that despicable mud off of his back. Oh, yes, he was having fun with this one. He could only imagine how uncomfortable she was. She had, after all, taken great care to remove herself from any close proximity to him, trying to seem casual. Out of Gingerstar's sight, a satisfied smirk played across his face.

[/center]

[Whiskers]

Gingerstar's body became rigid as the tom's demeanor changed completely. And all because of one word, one word that Gingerstar had not even thought about-- family. Family? Why had she chosen that word anyway? Looking back, Gingerstar knew that she had no idea if this was his family or not, but the way he had spoken of them before-- in that casual manner, with the catch in his voice. She had acknowledged that they had meant something to him, whether that 'something' was positive or negative, and so she had been kinder when she spoke her answer then. Of course, he was right, she shouldn't have assumed...they could have simply been his friends.

No matter. Gingerstar didn't like to obsess over things she could not change, and it was also true that she wasn't one to think through her actions twice. She decided on something and she stuck with it. Some called that stubborn, Gingerstar didn't care.

But his actions were still confusing to her. And they made her scared, scared of him and whatever he was planning. He may have acted amicable before, but not anymore...there was a new harshness to him. And now that he had moved away, Gingerstar was more on her guard than ever before. Her eyes were glued to him, to every movement he made.

"Oh? I just assumed since you appeared to have cared for them, the first time you mentioned them," Gingerstar said lightly, casually, though the hard edge never left her voice. It hadn't left her voice for many moons now and it would take a lot to remove it.

As for his job, Gingerstar had never heard of something quite like it. She did not know if he was telling the truth (he was acting suspicious to her), but why would a cat lie about something like that anyway? And what a twisted job it was. If Rain really was some sort of hired mercenary, sent to track down a queen and her kits, then Gingerstar would make sure to give him a scar or two. A tom had no right to hunt down a she-cat as if she were prey. Again, she felt her stomach roll and the sudden urge to sink her teeth into Rain seized at her. She had to dig her claws into the ground to stop her from hissing.

Her disgust squeezed into her tone the next time she spoke."Your job sounds unpleasant though. Those cats ran away for a reason. Whoever hired you should let them be."

Now for his question. Gingerstar admitted to herself that she did not quite know what he was asking. The way he talked, at times, confused her. But she would answer anyway.

"What if somebody wanted to know how to get in? Well they'd have to ask me, silly," Gingerstar scoffed. "It's my territory, so if anyone wants to hunt upon it, they come to me. And I'd discuss the matter over with my deputy and elders. I hope that clears up any confusion."