lone digger // joining

[zelda]

TAGS — Wow, she's finally doing it! Zelda's been sitting on this idea for a bit now, asking around the neighborhood to get as much info as she can on these quirky wild cats. They're pretty friendly from what she's gathered; apparently they let house cats like her hang around with them, and they hunt and fight and have special names, ah... well, probably lots of other cool things. And she's gonna find out exactly what! Man, her siblings are gonna be so jealous. She's gonna have so many awesome stories to tell!

But first, she has to find them. The snowshoe mix trots along with a spring in her step, eyes wide and ears pricked as she approaches the pine forest on the neighborhood's outskirts. Zelda's never actually gotten this close to it before. Not because she's nervous or anything. Psh. That'd be silly. She's just never gotten around to it — she's a busy cat. Lots of toys to play with, neighbors to talk to, fenced-in dogs to tease, yada yada. But now she's taking the leap and that's what matters! Go, go, go! No looking back now! Smiling, she puts on a burst of speed and bounds through the snow, inadvertently passing the border in her excitement. It's not long before she slows to a trot, looking around and realizing she shouldn't go too far alone in case she gets lost. That'd be kinda bad, wouldn't it? "HELLOOO?"
​

 

[Orangestar]

"You'll scare off every mouse from here to ShadowClan if you keep that racket up." Orangeblossom scolds, dropping from a tree above this stranger's head. She disappears into a snowbank at the roots for a heartbeat, cushioning her fall but catching all through her long pelt in the process, and the warrior emerges after a moment with frost scattered in her fur. Brown eyes sweep over the younger she-cat, taking in monochrome pelt and the pink-silver collar that adorns her neck. Figures. She doesn't have anything against kittypets, but if they're being this noisy, she'd have something against just about anything in the forest - it's just a coincidence that the noisiest visitors that they got were the collar-wearing kind.

"This is SkyClan land. Who are you and what do you want?"​

✦ ooc ✦ info

•  
• 
  ✦ orangeblossom, warrior of skyclan
  — no apprentice.
  ✦ 25 moons, she/her
  ✦ fluffy white and ginger cat with brown eyes. torn left ear, scar on right foreleg.
  ✦ bi, single. @ on discord for plots.
  ✦ "speech" — thoughts

​

 

[Fireflyglow]

WE'VE BEEN DOIN' ALL THIS LATE NIGHT TALKIN' ✧​

"Ooh! Orangeblossom, what'd you find?" Fireflypaw quips as he follows shortly behind the femme, tail holding onto a thin branch next to him for support. Blurry vision glances downwards as the molly dives down, landing perfectly on her paws; he could do that, too. Fireflypaw gives himself one little jump down to the branch below, preparing himself to jump..

And then he lost his footing, tumbling down to the ground- his fall cushioned by the snow beneath.

"Ouch!" He grumbles softly, ear flicking in irritation at his own stupidity. He was lucky the focus was on this stranger at their borders.. Standing up, Fireflypaw makes his way over to the two mollies with a big smile. "HI!!" Fireflypaw shouts just as loud, ignoring Orangeblossom's scolding in favor of matching the molly's energy. "I'm Fireflypaw! This is Orangeblossom. Don't mind her, she's grumpy. Super cool, though!"​

 

[ThistleBack]

Prowling beneath the pine nettle canopy, Thistleback followed with his toes on the ground for once. Keeping watch of the lands, long elegant strides like a wraith. The scent and loud greeting of a stranger, of course- draws him in. The tree traversing duo make it first, of course. Sailing the branches made one faster than on land.

A thud and curse, clumsy set paws of the leader’s boisterous son Fireflypaw. Thistleback subtly watches down his nose, judging but humor glistening in momentary value. His lips pressed in a frown with his arrival, the dark faced apprentice’s match of volume drives nails into the man’s hide but he says nothing in his pensive study.

Silver hues search for potential as he waits for the young snowshoe to answer Orangeblossom’s questions. A collar meant nothing, translated no weakness nor lack of abilities. For Thistleback himself wore a collar, but no human hand knew his thorny coat and never had a bowl been scripted with his name. No, the lead warrior angles this stranger with calculation, icy breath seeping through his lips as he offers a jagged smile.

" you’re quite too young to be traveling alone " he speaks to the stranger as though she was a sneaky wayfaring apprentice. He had two children of his own, so the idea of any child roaming the lands where murderous rogues lurk. Made him want to shred her parent or guardian’s skin for such negligence.

​

OOC INFO REF

• —
  
  
• 
  
  
  ✧ T H I S T L E B A C K
  thirty-three moons
  — Lead warrior of Skyclan
  — taken by
  Deersong 9.29.22
  — mentoring quillpaw
  — very muscular piebald black and white tom with spiky fur and cold silver-grey eyes.
  — voice & accent
  — biography･ﾟ✧​
• 
  
  

​

 

[zelda]

TAGS — Zelda looks up through round yellow eyes as a voice speaks to her from... waaaay up in a tree! She hardly processes this before the stranger drops down and vanishes into the snowbank, all in a rather sudden blur of movement; the comedy of it all far outweighs any potential upset at having been scolded, so she can only smile and chuckle lightly as the molly emerges with a seriousness that only heightens her amusement.

"SkyClan!" she echoes brightly, triumphant. Ah, so that's what they're called — she found them! ShadowClan must be another colony. They sound spooky! Gah, she already has so many questions — how far away is ShadowClan? How many others are there? Is everyone friends? Just to name a few. But she has to answer this cat's question first! "Nice! I'm Ze—" Another blur cuts her off, this time falling a lot less gracefully; it happens in the background, but Zelda's a distractible cat and how can she not take notice of so many cats falling from the sky? Maybe that's where the clan name comes from. She takes a step forward with pricked ears, looking for the grumbling figure who'd been swallowed by snow, but he quickly rises and meets her first with a friendly outburst to rival her own. It puts a grin on her muzzle. "HOW'S IT GOING?" she yowls in turn, thoroughly enjoying the exchange. He goes on to introduce himself and his companion, and — yes! They have funny names! "Nice to meet you! Your names are awesome." Who names their kitten Paw? That's so dumb, especially since fireflies don't have paws. She loves it! "Mine's Zelda."

Then she takes notice of another wild cat; this one approached on foot. Booooring. Just kidding! Maybe he's from GroundClan. Just kidding (again)! His collar's a good sign — confirmation that these guys do, in fact, welcome house cats. Nice! He's so big and tough-looking. And look at all his scars! I wanna see him fight! She'd challenge him herself if she wasn't, well, you know. Completely incapable. But maybe she'd get a cool scar out of it, and then they could match. "Good thing you guys are here, then," she replies lightly. "My house is pretty close by, anyway. Not like I did much traveling. What's your name?" she leans forward with the sudden question, lashing her tail. "Oh, right, also! Can I hang out with you guys? I wanna learn to hunt and fight like you! You guys are so cool."
​

 

[Finchfang]

Neither a GroundClanner nor a SkyClanner in Zelda's estimation, Finchfang appeared shortly after the young she-cat had greeted the trio who had already arrived to address her, his dark tabby head popping out from the top of a tall shrub a few paces away. There was a scrawny vole hanging loosely from his jaws, and his hazel eyes flashed with triumph as he pulled himself out of the shrubbery and sprang to the ground. Truth be told, he had not thought he'd be successful, but the little creature he had pursued had not chosen a dense enough bush to hide in; his lean build had come in handy, enabling him to squeeze through and sink his teeth deep into his body. Now he had a piece of prey: not a big one, nor an impressive one, but something. A tiny balm against the pains of leaf-bare. It seemed immediately clear to him that the gold-eyed stranger was hardly a threat. Everything from her pink collar to her utterly unwarriorlike way of traversing the woods screamed kittypet, and he felt a pang of exasperation. Another daylight warrior to join them, then: another cat who would only commit themselves halfway to SkyClan. Quiet yourself, Finchfang. he thought angrily. Daylight warriors pledge themselves to the Clan just like anyone else. The rest of their lives are of no consequence to you.

Gently laying the vole at his feet, the warrior swished his tail thoughtfully at Zelda's enthusiastic request to..."hang out"...with them. At least she seems aware of what it entails: hunting, fighting. "Hello, Zelda." Finchfang said in his typical quiet voice. "Welcome to SkyClan. My name is Finchfang." he paused, glancing to Thistleback for guidance. As a lead warrior, he was the highest-ranking cat present, and would be responsible for allowing Zelda in - or not. "The life of a warrior is not as glamorous as it seems. It can be difficult, and dangerous, and very unlike what you're used to. Are you still interested?" certainly, he wasn't trying to scare her away, but he feared that she had a warped view of what exactly they were about. Attempting to soften his image, he hitched a little smile onto his face and added, "If you're permitted to join us, of course, you'll be trained and supported. You won't be alone. But it won't be easy, either."​