Sharing disbelief [FrostpawxOtterclaw]

[Rolo]

Frostpaw sat quietly upon a smooth rock, her eyes closed as she absorbed her surroundings by touch and smell alone. She was the image of peace, stilled and calm as the breeze blew softly about her.

To her delight, it had started snowing again earlier today. Previously sitting in camp, completely bored, she had leapt up in excitement at the sight of the wintery flakes, rushing around in a great celebration. A smile had fixed itself on her face and she had been the true image of an energised kit. She had immediately left camp, paying no attention to the warnings of the warriors, to find a place where she could marvel at the wonderful weather in peace.

So it was that she had come to sit in the middle of the clearing, where there was little shelter from the snow. Now she could look up and watch the flecks descend, watch how they fell among the trees and study how it settled on the grassy earth. There truly was no better time in the year.

She smiled, paying no attention to her thoughts of faith, Rowanheart or Finchpaw and simply focusing on the chill of the air and the scent of the damp earth. No, she didn't care how cold she got. Her fur was much too thick for her to worry about that this much. Times like this rarely came about, and so she would cherish it entirely while it was here.

[Pyro]

Too much, too much, too much.

It was a day indeed when the stress of being around other cats became too much for Otterclaw. He could only keep a smile plastered on his face for so long, only be so cheerful given the circumstances for so long. It was ridiculous! Why couldn't she just leave him be? She wasn't his mother. She was in no way in a position to try and order him around like a naughty kit. No, he didn't believe in StarClan. Why did he have to? Sure, he was in FogClan...But that didn't mean he had to automatically throw himself at the feet of starry dead cats...or did it? It was days like these when he couldn't help but look across the territory, toward PineClan. They seemed to be doing well. He bet no cat ever got badgered for their beliefs there.

He sighed. And it was snowing again. He would be expected to come back with prey. They had to stock up while the snow wasn't disabling. If he didn't...Well, he'd probably get another hateful gaze from the deputy and another solo hunt. Not to mention the nagging he'd get from his sister when he finally collapsed in the den.

But of course, beliefs and punishments weren't the only thing on his mind. Why was it that whenever he opened his mouth to talk everyone cringed? Why did they look so relieved when he stopped or had to leave? It was starting to get to him. The pricks of hurt every time they rolled their eyes were becoming stabs of pain and he was getting the feeling that they, the clan, were starting to think of him as a nuisance. His cheerful banter had been a help for spirits during the journey, but now that everyone was settled...He guessed his voice just wasn't needed. Or wanted.

Otterclaw rolled his eyes. No wonder he hadn't been able to sleep lately. Too much stress. Too much, too much, too much.

The tom's eyes flickered as he caught the scent of another cat. Who was it...Ice-no Frostpaw. He'd never talked to her before, only seen her at a distance..and listened to his sister complain about the apprentice's treatment of Rowanheart. She couldn't be that bad. And at the very least she might not twitch if he tried to talk with her. He smiled a little as the apprentice came into view. She looked so peaceful...softer. not near as strained and sarcastic and she usually looked in camp.

"Enjoying the weather?"

[Rolo]

Frostpaw's mind jerked out of it's peaceful reverie as soon as the cat spoke, sending alarm through her body. In an instant, her mind was blind to the pleasures of the wind again and she was focused again on more interlectual matters.

She'd been completely unaware of the cat's approach, so wrapped up in her own world she'd taken no notice of the dangers and animals around her. When he spoke, she made no visable movement to show she recognised his presence for some time, simply getting over the shock that he had appeared at all. However, once she had settled her nerves, she opened her eyes.

She took in the brown tom.

Ah, Otterclaw. She thought she'd recognised his voice. She'd never spoken to him, but she knew his voice well enough because the cat always seemed to be talking.

Her slight unease settled. From what she could recall, Otterclaw was a decent cat. If she had to be interrupted, he was high on her list of cats she'd rather be disturbed by. The tom seemed mellow enough, maybe he'd let her relax for once. Maybe she wouldn't be thrown into a deep philosophical discussion about faith or a game of insult-flinging (not that she hated those, particularly).

"I am indeed." Frostpaw mewed softly, turning her head to Otterclaw slightly but otherwise remaining motionless, "I love the snow and it doesn't come very often, so why not?"

[Pyro]

As the seconds ticked by in silence, Otterclaw grew uncomfortable..and exasperated. Would she really be lik everyone else? Would she really just turn around and tell him to go away, or engage in some meaningless dribble designed to satisfy his need to talk and get him to leave? Just when he was opening his mouth to tell her he'd just go and leave her to whatever she was doing, she spoke.

...And it was actually civil conversation. It was normal, not forced, despite the silence that had gone between the two after his question. She didn't even seem bothered.

"I love the snow and it doesn't come very often, so why not?"

The tom smiled. "It is pretty beautiful when its falling..." He just wished it wouldn't stick around for so long and in such big amounts on the ground. "Beautiful and terrible at the same time. How can something so delicate and lovely hinder clan life so much?" The words were really to himself, but they were said loud enough that Frostpaw could probably hear them without really trying.

[Rolo]

Frostpaw felt her spirits rising, oddly touched by the tom's words. They took her by utter surprise, making her eyes widen and a swift grin cross her face.

How odd it was that such a comment inspired such happiness within her. Any passerby would just think Otterclaw had complimented her, such a look of satisfaction crossed her face. But this was truly something that brought joy to her heart. She had never found another cat that recognised the beauty in the deadly weather, someone who pondered these simple things as much as she did. It took a lot to see past the trouble the icy flakes caused to label it as 'beautiful'. It impressed her to see him speaking like this.

She answered almost immediately, "I know!" Her eyes glittered, losing all former iciness until she looked practically... normal. "That's why I love it... I like things that aren't simple, things with shades of darkness and light. Snow is fascinating, it’s almost like life itself. So pretty and innocent looking, but so strangely sinister.”

She chuckled, moving her head to the sky to watch the falling snow again, “Besides, anything that makes cats shut up about trivial things is good in my eyes.”

A cheeky grin remained on her face, lighting up her features.

[Pyro]

Otterclaw smiled as well. It was nice to see such happiness erupt from the she cat. She always seemed so serious, so...beyond the warmness that the more joyful emotions brought. And the fact that he his words seemed to bring someone a small glitter of joy rather than exasperation heartened the tom. He listened as she compared the snow to life. She was so...right.

What was life but one continuous snowstorm? Flakes falling, carried by the winds of fate to rest upon the ground. Some melted away when they reached the ground, others stayed only to meet yet more of their kind. The ride was magnificent, though the end result was not so glorious...

"You're right...life is like that, like this, like snow falling. The ride is beautiful, even if the end results in sorrow and of course, the ultimate end...But then again, isn't it the ride that counts? The things we do on the way? Who cares what happens after we reach the ground? Whether we melt away or become one with something else? Cats should be remembered for who they were, not for what they may or may not become a part of."

The tom blinked. Did he really just say all that? Well, yes...that was his voice that he heard so of course the words had to of come from his mouth and as a result his mind...But it was so rare that he actually got to say something besides the trivial things he said in reply to his clanmates' attempts to humor his talkative nature. Trivial things...oh yes, Frostpaw had said something about that too.

"And as for trivial things...that's all I ever get to hear. Really all I ever get to talk about. Is it really so painful for cats to just talk to me seriously? Like...actually have a paw in the conversation instead of just feeding me nothings?" he sighed. "You seem to be a rather intelligent apprentice so I suppose cats tend to give you more conversation wise then they do me...Not that I blame them. I really get the sense I'm not that pleasant to be around. Guess I talk too much." He said the last with a grin. Now he was getting back to how he usually was. Chatty, but at the same time left with really not much to say.

[Rolo]

A smile remained upon her face.

"It's the path we take, not the destination that's important..." Frostpaw nodded along with his speech on life, "You're correct on that one, Otterclaw, but most cats in this clan are too mousebrained to see that. They're so concerned with kit-tales and fitting in, their journeys are completely wasted."

She giggled, glancing down at him with glittering eyes, "Luckily I don't need to conform to be remembered. I shall forever be remembered anyway. Remembered as the irredeemable apprentice whose soul was damned, but remembered nonetheless."

Frostpaw sympathised with Otterclaw's pursuit of interesting conversation. So many times she'd tried and failed to induce an interesting conversation.

"Eh, trust me... I don't often get interesting conversation. I get debates with seething cats." She chuckled, "Besides, if you always talk like this... you don't talk too much. You're one of the only cats in this clan I can stand, so that must at least mean something."

She grinned back at him.

[Pyro]

Otterclaw grinned back. "It does. You're on of the only cats in the clan that can stand me. You're not so bad yourself. I have no idea what everyone else is talking about. You're perfectly sane and you definitely don't look like some doomed soul. I don't think anyone could doom you you're too..." the tom searched his brain for the right word. Strong? Spirited? "Willful. You're too full of your own will to be subjected to anyone else's."

If only Reedfoot and everyone else could see that. No, that wasn't right. They did. They just didn't respect it like he did. All they cared about a cat was that they believed in StarClan. Then they could be a murder. He'd be willing to bet that as long as someone killed or maimed in the name of StarClan, they'd see it as okay. If Reedfoot had to choose between a StarClan-believing murderer and her own disbelieving brother, the tom was sad to think that she'd probably choose the murderer.

Maybe he and Frostpaw were in the wrong clan. Maybe if they were in a clan like PineClan they'd have an easier time, be more...more...maybe they'd just plain fit in more. To be in a clan where survival was what mattered most, not beliefs. That'd be something.