a flower to land upon ⚘ butterfly

[Dandelionwish]

He wasn't so poor off he couldn't manuever on his own, a bad forepaw was a fair bit easier to tuck up and walk with than a bad back one and he managed to get himself out the den to pick a spot just nearby where he could bask in the sunlight as brief and fleeting as it was. Newleaf grew ever closer and he had longed for the flowers returning across the moorlands so often during his struggles in WindClan, how strange it was that he now waited for the blooming elsewhere-far from what he'd once considered his home above all else. Often he thought of the barn, pondered whether it would have been wiser to just return there but knew that it meant he'd be too close to Sootstar's soldiers to risk living comfortably. His panic addled and wounded mind had forced his limbs as far from WindClan as he could in his rush to freedom and he was still surprised by the risk being rewarded. His first thought was ThunderClan, neither ally nor enemy of any and the last place that would risk him being found out if they took him in at all. Emberstar had been a kind leader from what he knew, welcomed in any and all cats no matter their background.
Blazestar was kind to but...more cautious now for good reason. He thinks of all the times kittypet was uttered as a curse in WindClan, how the ragdoll was crowned the king of kittypets and looked down upon, dismissed as being lesser than the other leaders for his background; punished for daring to risk normalcy with a dead daughter. Dandelionwish remembers hearing the girls name uttered quietly as he lay in a daze before SkyClan's forces. She had, in a sense, helped him-he hoped she was at peace.
The chocolate tom stretched out his bad leg, plastered in whatever Dawnglare had deemed fit to slather upon it with webbing and moss clumped atop, and he utters a yawn as he examines the camp around him. It was so different, they had dens and the trees surrounding them were almost overwhelming in their height and presence; it was like being in a wooden cage of sorts but he imagined it was easy to guard as well.
In the distance he sees what he believes are some apprentices near a particlarly tall tree at the edge of the camp and with wide eyes he watches one spring upward, latch onto the trunk and begin to scale it with little effort. "Oh!" The sound escapes him before he can stop it. He'd never climbed a thing like that before...

- @butterflytuft
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[butterflytuft]

The newcomers made the tortoiseshell nervous, at first. She didn't feel comfortable with outsiders much of the time, and so she always hated border patrols, hated when cats would come stumbling to their boundaries asking for entry. It's not that she never liked other cats, or never wanted to give them a chance! She's just like that. Strangers are frightening when you don't know their intentions or how kind they'll be, if they'll offer a smile or a scowl. But most, she warms up to fairly quickly. She is easy to get along with for the most part.

Her eyes linger curiously on the former WindClan medicine cat as he stretches out in the sun, watching some apprentices scale a tree at the edge of camp. She'd been watching him since he joined, and had since decided he wasn't all that scary. Besides, he needed to eat. The young warrior plucks a scrawny mouse from the fresh-kill pile, knowing she may get some foul looks if she gave him anything more substantial. On short legs, she strides towards him with her head ducked and tail swishing bashfully against the ground. Introductions are one of the many things that make her nervous.

Dropping it at his paws, she follows his gaze and smiles softly, "It was never much my thing." Realizing she hadn't really clarified further, she quickly blinks down at the tom and corrects, "Climbing, I mean. I'm not all that great at it."​

 

[Dandelionwish]

He was so caught up in staring at the way cats here could just scale trees like squirrels that he almost didn't notice the tortie suddenly next to him and gave a brief start before smiling politely, "Oh-hello! Thank ye!" Mismatched eyes glanced down to the mouse now by his paws and he found his stomach rumbling at the sight of it, a grateful nod given in turn as he glanced hesitantly back out across the camp to the apprentices there once more. "Well, congratulations on now bein' second to last at climbin' cause I reckon I ain't gonna be too good at it m'self." Dandelionwish grinned through the wheat stem between his teeth, already expecting to be struggling here without the open fields to face across if they did end up staying. At this point, it felt like it would be the case and he was more than a little at ease with the fact. SkyClan, thus far, had been such a shift in environment he often felt like he was in a dream. The cats here were more amicable, sparred with claws sheathed, had a friendly demeanor to them even with their wary suspicion of him.
"Name's Dandelionwish, though I think a lot o'ya know that already." It felt weird introducing himself when his name wasn't exactly a secret but it also felt rude not to so he'd just swallow down the awkwardness. He found himself drawn to stare at her neck where a fold of yellow fabric nestled into a neat little triangle; something he was not accustomed to seeing. He'd noticed several of them on the necks of other cats here as well as a few kittypet collars.
Without really thinking he raised a paw to his own neck, wondered what wearing one felt like.

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[butterflytuft]

His jokes causes her to crack a smile, a light laugh flowing from black and orange lips. She figured any WindClanner wouldn't know much about climbing up; they were all too busy running, after all. He introduces himself and she offers a small nod, that yes, she did know his name and so did everyone else in this little clearing. "I'm Butterflytuft. It's nice to meet you," She softly mews in her usual hushed tone, slowly crouching down to get comfortable.

She sees his mismatched eyes linger on her neck, and for a moment she is overcome with panic. Is something on her? Dried blood from her last meal? Leaf litter that got stuck in her fluff? Nearly mirroring him, she reaches a paw up to feel and finds nothing but her bandana, and realization strikes her. "From my twolegs," She quickly explains, ears angling back with slight embarrassment. "I don't know why I never took it off...just got used to it, I guess."​

 

[Dandelionwish]

"Pleasures mine." Dandelionwish replied curtly, dipping his head in a polite nod. Her uncertain glances before finally answering had him pin back his ears in a guilty manner.
"Sorry! Didn't meant to stare, just ain't ever seen something like that 'fore." Any kittypet who managed to get into WindClan-if at all-had been stripped of such things immediately on the spot. "It's a nice color, matches yer eyes." Two-legs. He'd never really though much about them outside the few he'd seen when he was a barn cat but they really were just like cats in a way. Some seemed good, some seemed bad. Butterflytuft must have liked her two-legs if she kept the collared fabric they had given her.
Realizing he might have made her uncomfortable with his staring and comments he uttered a quiet chuckle, "Think I'd look good in a green one? Real fond o'the color." SkyClan was a lot more open to this sort of thing than he expected. Of course, every clan had heard of the kittypet clan with their daylight warriors and love of keeping collars and the sort and it had been harshly judged-at least in WindClan where kittypets were less than dirt there. Imagine a place you could breath freely and live your life without the weight of the clan's prejudice pushing you into the earth.
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