So, he was a warrior now?. That still felt too unreal to be true. He had always dreaded for this day to come and here he now was. A fresh new made warrior. Ugh, it gave him so much anxiety just thinking about it...No. He needed to get away from everything not wanting to hear one more of his clanmates congratulate him over something he felt undeserving of. Perhaps the only good thing that had come out from this was that he now was allowed to leave camp without a mentor to supervise him. Even so it had still taken him awhile to actually find courage to leave on his own so used by now to follow rules that no longer included him.
After finally having taking that step though to leave the camp behind a new anxiety grow inside of him not long after his depart. What if...he got lost?, suddenly forgetting how the territory looked for some reason. That was possible. Or even worse what if a fox or badger decided he was a good meal to eat?. Perchpaw...no, Perchberry which was his name now froze in his steps. Perhaps he shouldn't be walking too far of from camp...Maybe a stroll down to the sunningrocks would do?. As long he stayed away from the water he would be fine...it was frozen now anyway. Yeah. That would do he guess. Nodding to himself the black and white tom turned direction to wander down to the river that parted them from thunderclan.
On his way down there got interupted by a smell that was strong enough for him to track it down. A mouse. Perchberry's original plan had not been to come down here to hunt but to turn his nose away from potential food that could feed the clan... Smokestar for sure would tear his ears off if he did something like that. Scary. No, no. If he could wanted to prevent the leader from hating him anymore then he already did. So his stroll turned into a hunt as the new made warrior started to track down the smell as he followed the small paw steps in the snow until he spotted the mouse further ahead searching for its own food.
Perchberry crounched down as he put himself into position, eyes locked on the prey in front of him. Slowly he stalked forward on his stealthy paws that barely even made a sound despite the snow underneath his paws. When the distance between them had been shorten enough Perchberry took his chance as he charged forward and leapt at the mouse. It barely escaped his paws and started to flee for its life. Perchberry was quick to chase after the mouse and through the snow and closer they came to the river. Quick as he was moved in closer on the mouse and just when he was close enough for another attempt to leap at it the unexpected happened. One of his paws slipped as it had met ice rather then snow making him stumble and slide in the snow. But even then, even when most might have given up by that point Perchberry find his footing again on the snow so he could hurry himself to take chase again after the mouse that now was severely lenghts away. Still he didn't gave up putting everything he had in his paws to shorten the distance between them again. Just when he finally had despite all odds manged to catch up to the mouse again he saw much to his horror the river in front of them which the mouse was sprinting straight towards.
Perchberry was quick to put in his brake with his back legs and slided across the snow as he desperately tried to get himself to a stop with the help of his front paws before he would reach the ice. For a second he didn't think he would make it and so closed his eyes expecting the worst when he finally come to a stop. It took a second or two before he dared opening his eyes again and to his suprise realized he was still on the shore!, right by the edge. He had barely made it!. While he felt relief that he hadn't fallen into the ice with the potential of it breaking and him falling in watched as the mouse on the otherhand sprinted with ease across the ice to reach the otherside which happened to belong to belong to thunderclan. With defeat all he could do was watch as the food got away. Nice job Perchberry. What a great warrior he already turned out to be...
☼ "I guess I was a little off-key then, oh well." Shiningsun murmured after being chased off by a clanmate for his less than stellar attempts at singing. It had disturbed the prey that they had been after, so of course it had attracted the ire of his fellow hunting buddies. Not wishing to be yelled at again he decided to head further along the river bank to hunt any little critters that had chanced a drink at the few rare breaks in the ice, not that there were many thanks to the lower temperatures as of late. As tempting as it was to walk on the seemingly solid surface he fortunately knew better than to risk a plunge. There was no guarantee that Clayfur would be about to rescue his sorry ass again.
Nothing overly notable caught his attention along ThunderClan's side of the river, but something on RiverClan's side was certainly attracting his attention. A chaotic hunt seemed to be taking place so Shiningsun pressed himself down low among the reeds in order to watch without being spotted. His long ears pricked up high as he listened carefully and stalked further along the shore as he kept pace with whatever was happening across the way. Would curiosity kill the cat? Hopefully not, but it was certainly going to make him laugh if he wasn't careful.
The climax of the hunt unfortunately seemed to end in failure for the younger RiverClan warrior, though one cat's failure was about to become another cat's success. As the mouse came running over to the bank there was an explosion of movements that sent snow cascading in a wild flurry as the large tom descended down upon the mouse. The kill was swift with only the briefest of death shrieks from the unfortunate prey.
Shiningsun stood tall with the sunshine glistening off his long coat and the catch clamped firmly in his jaws as he came into view on his side of the river. Gently he sat the mouse down at his paws so he could address Perchberry. "Hard luck, friend. Prey can be hard to catch in the snow. I hope there's no hard feelings that I caught it though." Already he was beginning to worry that there would be spat over ownership of the prey. He had technically caught it on ThunderClan territory, but it had come from RiverClan initially. It could be quite a troublesome situation, what should he do?
He would stare as he took witness of the sudden movement from the other side of the river as a golden fur swiftly leapt out and finished the job he had been unable to do. Perchberry blinked slowly when the mysterious tom stood tall in the sunlight that was shinning so brightly down at his fur making the snow around him sparkle like stars in moonlight. Too bright. Just looking at them hurt his sensitive eyes. So he looked away unable to look at someone as bright as them, whoever they where... Perchberry did not need to find out. In fact he should probably sneak away before the thunderclan warrior noticed them even worse finding them staring at them. That would have been embarassing.
Just when he had stood up and turned around ready to take a step away from the shore to crawl into the shadows to hide somewhere Perchberry froze in his motion as he held one of his paws up in the air as the worst outcome had just happend. The thunderclan warrior had not only noticed them but was attempting to interact with them. Perchberry ears fall back instantly unsure of what to do next. With an intense look cast it back over his shoulder at the warrior before looking away again just as quickly. Would it be bad if he just...walked away without a word?. But what if he offended them, what if a war would break out between the two clans just because he hadn't said 'hello'. It would all be his fault then. Smokestar for sure would be enraged with him. No...no. That would be the absolute worst. That meant he had no other choice then. For the sake of keeping the peace.
With a sigh in defeat Perchberry forced himself to turn his head back around to cast a look across the riverbank at the warrior with tensed lips. " Ah, uhm, well...it's f-fine really...It's on yo-your side...so.." he stumbled over his words, his voice low and barely hearable. " And well..." he paused as his gaze turned away to look at something else, the ice maybe. " It's gonna f-feed someone wh-who needs it..." So it was fine in the end right?. They might have a river that parted them but they were not that different, both of them struggling to find food this season for cats in their clan who needed it. So even if he might not have captured the mouse himself were still glad that his efforts not had completely gone to waste...someone was not going to head to bed hungry tonight. That was at least something.
☼ Shiningsun couldn't really say that he had ever seen such a nervous looking RiverClanner. It was oddly... refreshing. It made everything feel so much more real, and he could feel it deep down; a connection. The large tom tilted his head slowly to the side as he continued to study the other cat, waiting patiently for the other to speak. At least there was no conflict or promise of trouble, quite the opposite in fact. All was peaceful and it seemed as though he would be the one keeping the prey. Given the season and the worsening times he was honestly caught off guard by it all.
The large tom couldn't help but take in every feature of the smaller warrior. His expression softened as a truly warm smile filled his features. "Yes, it will go on to feed someone who needs it." The golden warrior picked up the mouse again and he took a couple steps closer to the very edge of the frozen river, and with one swift motion he sent it sliding across the icy surface. With a solid thmp it struck the opposite bank near to Perchberry's location. "Make sure a kit or queen gets that one. And don't worry about me, I'll hunt two mice for ThunderClan." He added with a wink. "You know, I don't think I've seen you before. My name is Shiningsun, what's your name?" He wanted to put a name to a face, a pretty face.
It was a relief to know that the other warrior seemed to understand what he was trying to say. No unnecessery conflict needed to happen today on his behalf. That was good enough for him. To leave knowing he hadn't caused tension or a upcoming war. Perchberry would have been satisfied to leave like that, and he had been about to do just that when the most unexpected thing happend. - Thump -
Huh?. Perchberry blinked as he brought down his attention to the edge of the shore to stare down at what lay below on the frozen water. It was the mouse, the same mouse he had been accidentally chasing across the riverbank. " Huh?, what, but..." He stared at it, stunned over what the thunderclan warrior just had done. Feed it to a kit or queen he said. Briefly he cast a confused look up and because of it caught that wink that made his cheeks heat up. It was enough to make him cast his gaze down to return back to stare dumbfounded at the mouse. Perchberry who still had his paw held up in the air this whole time used it to turn himself around to face the river properly again. Are you sure?, he wished to ask like he was ready to throw the mouse back if the thunderclan warrior decided to change his mind. But he bite this words back and instead gave a short nod with different words thought out. " I w-will make sure of it..i..i promise." he spoke a bit higher from his typical soft voice to make sure his words reached the other warrior. He was going to make sure this mouse got feeded to someone who really needed it to honor the warrior for giving the mouse back despite not really having to.
He leaned his head down so he could pick the mouse up from the frozen river only to put it carefully back down in front of his paws, and the smallest of a smile find itself across his maw. It was rare to come across someone who would be this nice to them and they where not even in the same clan, and he was sure thunderclan was suffering just as much they did.
After a long silence from his part looked up from the mouse to focus his gaze across the river to stare at the gold pelted warrior. " My name's Perchberry." he introduced himself shyly while carefully putting this warriors name into his memory. Shinningsun. Ah, that was a name he wouldn't forget easily. To think a name like that could fit a warrior so perfectly?. It made sense. They were like a sun that shine so brightly after all. The complete opposite of what he would describe himself like. " I guess not? i i don't re-really stand out much... " not like you so it was easy to look past them. Perchberry was good to melt into the background and he was not exactly searching out interactions with the other clans often keeping his head down in hope to not get noticed. " Bu-but also i..become a wa-warrior recently so " that could be another reason. It was more common to pay attention to the warriors and not their apprentices, right?. [/FONT]
☼ There was a charm and sweetness to seeing how the other feline seemed to fluster. There was none of the big bad RiverClan enemy energy, just a normal cat like any other. His expression remained soft as he gazed at them from his side of the river, lost in thought for just a moment. Perchberry. That was the name of the younger feline, and he stowed it to memory in case they crossed paths in future. Which he hoped they would.
"Just became a warrior? Well you have my congratulations! That's quite the achievement. Hold your head high, feel pride Perchberry." Shiningsun chuckled warmly as he swayed his tail back and forth. After a brief moment of consideration he then sat himself down so he could keep talking, at least for a little while longer. He knew that sooner or later the patrol would come looking for him, and he had vowed that he would find more prey before returning to the camp. So they were running on limited time. "So, how are things in RiverClan? I can imagine that the frozen river is making fishing hard."
It was strange really. He had been hearing all kinds of congratulations the whole day from his clanmates to endure, none of them having made him feel at ease. Normally this day meant everything for an apprentice like a dream coming true. But not for pitiful Perchberry .Today had felt more like a nightmare to be honest which had sent him running away from it all for some fresh air to breathe. This whole day he had felt suffocated not wanting to hear one more soul in this world to congratualte him over something he didn't find himself deserving of. Yet when this tom said it?
For some strange reason he couldn't explain - for the first time during this whole day he didn't feel like he wanted to crawl back into his own skin. Maybe it was because Shinningsun didn't know him the real Perchberry or his story, or...perhaps it was that comforting laughter that worked some magic on him?. Or it could be his kind big eyes that warmly looked at him with no judgement at all... There could be any of them above or all of them. What he did realize though was that he no longer felt as tensed as before, how he even now was still looking at them as his body slowly but surely relaxed.
"Hah, you're one of these optimistic types aren't you?. " he said with a soft smile. I wish i could Shinningsun, i truly do but i don't know how. Perchberry wished he could cheer along with his clanmates over his warrior ceremony to put his worry behind him. But he couldn't. Perchberry couldn't bring himself to be that optimistic and positive. His own mind wouldn't let him. He was trapped with his own negative thoughts that kept him back. At the same time envied those who could so easily take on their role as a warrior without even thinking twice about it. Everything that could go wrong...so many ways to fail or let his own clan down. It was a heavy responsibility. None of it he took lightly off.
Perchberry surprised himself when he didn't hesitant to sit down on the cold frozen ground right after the thunderclanner had. Suddenly, his previous wish of wanting to leave as soon as possible had gone away as he actually find himself starting to enjoy talking with them. That was something huge coming from someone like Perchberry who usually didn't want to interact with anyone outside his own clan...and he rarely even did that. Socialize with his clanmates that was. " Yeah it is. " he would admit. unless you're a drypaw like me and dosent fish at all.The frozen water was making it difficult to reach the fish but they did have some spots they could go to there the ice was thin enough to break. " But we're struggling more on la-land to be honest... The fish are what keep us alive right now." /b] he would confess, a small frown appearing on his face when he thought about how difficult it most be for thunderclan who did not have the same safety net like they did. " H-how about your clan?."
☼ The tom listened and nodded along as he took in every word being shared by the RiverClanner. It seemed that the neighbours were still pulling through at least, so that gave him some comfort, even though it could spell trouble if there ever came another battle over Sunningrocks. In truth ThunderClan was getting weaker with the dwindling prey, not that he would ever admit that. So when came the time to share the condition of ThunderClan he simply offered a shrug of his shoulders and a simple answer. "Prey is running less, but we're pushing through all the same. Though like anyone else we're looking forward to Newleaf to come round again."
The distant call of the rest of the patrol echoed through the trees and he knew that their meeting would have to draw to a close for now. "I should really be getting back to work, but it was a delight speaking with you Perchberry. We'll meet again, I'm sure. So avoid hiding in the shadows of your patrols, otherwise I might miss spotting you, okay?" He spoke in a cheery voice as he shot a wink towards the other in a playful manner. It would be sad to depart, but he believed strongly that they would see each other again. Perhaps they would even get lucky by attending the Gatherings together. "Should I really be craving to see someone again this badly? I mean... they clearly need a good friend, and I could be that friend! It's better than making an enemy... right?"
It was nice to know that thunderclan was doing well although he was very much aware that clans often tended to make thier clan look alot stronger then they might actually be. Perchberry could not allow himself to forget that they stood on different sides after all. " I'm glad to he-hear that your clan are pushing through." and he meant it. Even if he know where his loyalty stood didn't wish harm on the other clans.
The call from the other side of the river that searched for the golden warrior was enough for Perchberry to know this conversation between the two had to end. There was a bit of sadness over that realization but he knew all good things had to end and Perchberry would return back to his lonely life back in riverclan. All of that he tried to hide behind a smile, timid yet genuine. There was a faint spark in his dark blue eyes when the thunderclanner revealed their meeting had been delightful. Perchberry felt the same way and to have these feelings reciprocated made him pleasantly relieved. He knew how awkward he could be not to mention boring overall. That was why he had failed to make any friends. This was the first time someone had actually enjoyed his company.
" I...guess i could try." he would shyly say to the remark to not hide himself. Perchberry could never promise he wouldn't but he did would keep an eye to at least search for their paws with his gaze that always was kept lowered to the ground. " Uhm, th-thanks for the mouse.." he respectfully dipped his head in gratitude realizing he hadn't actually thanked them properly for it. Lowering down his head in reach for the mouse to pick up Perchberry stopt as his head was just above the mouse body. " I th-think it was nice meeting you too." he stumbled over his words as his whole face heated up. Flustered he quickly picked up the mouse and without looking at them gave Shinningsun one last dip of his head before he turned around to shyly flee the scene out of embarassment.
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