private TICKING AWAY THE MOMENTS (running away)

[FORESTSHADE]

// @honey (for anyone reading, she is not actually gone! No character will notice her absence as this thread takes place in a single night)

As her paws expertly navigate through the marsh she’s come to know so well, Forestpaw feels angry tears sting her eyes. What gives Granitepaw the right to scold her? He’s not the boss of her! Just because he’s clanborn and she joined later on does not make him her leader or elder! Well, she doesn’t need them. Any of them. Who needs a clan anyway? Certainly not her. She’s able to look out for herself and only herself just fine.

So, she flees in the dead of night. She sneaks out the tunnel to the dirtplace and heads for the border. Goodbye, Lavenderpaw! Goodbye, Chilledgaze! The most annoying cats ever! She thinks immaturely, unseeing eyes narrowed as takes her leave.

Crossing the thunderpath is….frightening. She hasn’t crossed one since she first joined ShadowClan. Briarstar’s words echo in her brain. Listen for monsters. Trained ears prick, listening….listening….she’s in the clear. Forestpaw trots swiftly across the stinky tar, hating the feeling on her paws. And once she’s on the other side. She despises the dryness of the ground. Her paws have grown so accustomed to the soft marshland that anything else makes her want to recoil her paws in disgust at the texture. But she pushes on, a juvenile wrapped up in her own tantrum.

She’s so wrapped up in her own head that she doesn’t scent the loner until she’s practically upon her. A growling hiss escapes from the torbie as she leaps backwards, back arching and fur bristling. “Who goes there?!” ​

 

[honey]

Amusement flashes across the womans face, squinting her eyes as she stares down the torbie who bristles and explodes in to hisses. She hadn't ever expected to see a clan cat out here, especially with the way they treated her kind, so what a wonderful surprise. "Bonjour, chérie!" her voice is a warm enough purr that it surprises even her. It's been a harsh leafbare, nothing Honey hadn't lived through before, but without the company of Salamander and her kits...

Honestly, she doesn't know where they had gone. It hurts her, her one companion just disappearing overnight, but she doesn't have the heart to call her a traitor.

"You're speaking to Honey, please leave a message." she sits down, raises a paw to smooth down the fur. This child was not a threat, in fact their roles were quite reversed right now, for Forest had just walked in to the lions den. "Joking... What are you doing out here?" slight worry. Honey knows that scent by heart, its Shadowclan. The very clan that had gotten her stripped of her duties and exiled. Even stepping down wasn't enough for them!

But she knows she can't hold it against her, this was a kid. A kid who had done nothing wrong, a kid who was lost in her mind. "You should be back in your clan, love. Leaf-bare is not a kind time."
​

"speech"​

 

[FORESTSHADE]

The voice that speaks is warm, and it’s enough to get the apprentice to at least relax her arching posture. She allows her fur to lie flat and flexes her claws against the ground uncertainly. “I’m just passing through,” Forestpaw answers, still keeping her body alert. The cat calls herself Honey, and she speaks funny. Funnily enough, the young torbie has no way of recognizing her as WindClan’s infamous medicine cat who she’s only heard twisted tales of. To her, this is just a kind loner. “I’m Forestpaw.” She sniffs and sits down, wrapping her fluffy tail around herself. The night air is chilly, after all.

Honey mentions her clan and the she-cat stiffens, brow furrowing. “I don’t need them! I can take care of myself perfectly fine!” She stubbornly asserts, nose sticking in the air. The rules were stupid anyway.​

 

[honey]

She snorts, raising a brow as she mentions just passing through and she says her name. "It's very nice to meet you, Forestpaw." she meows, warmly, watching her wrap her tail around her. Honey had long since gotten used to the biting cold, feeling as its what she had deserved after all. A personal hell full of ice and snow and part of her wonders if thats what'll meet her instead of Starclan faces. What hurts the most is she knew she did not deserve the kindness they may give, knows they will not watch over her out here.

Enough thoughts, she thinks, shaking her head with a small chuckle at Forests statement. "Oh, you're sure, huh?" she could be cruel, leave her here, but she knows that's not the real Honey talking, the one she had been digging so deep to unearth. "Do you know how bad leafbare could truly be without a clan? Without a friend? Without something to fall back on?" though its an intense question she holds no anger in her words, does not blame the other for running. "You don't need to always act strong." she twitches her whiskers, slumping forth as she flicks her tail back and forth. This was her biggest regret. When you acted strong, you bottle things up until you inevitably explode. For her it had cost her her whole lifework. "The unity within the clans is the kindest thing." oh, but Windclan had not been unified last time she had been there. Honey hoped it had changed but she highly doubted it. She hopes she hadn't left Dandelion to suffer, her children to suffer.

"Out here, love, you don't get that. You rely on yourself, your own skills only. Not a good hunter? You go to bed starving. Not a good fighter? You suffer the consequences." there were countless nights where Honey had to forfeit her own food to keep Salamanders strength up for the sake of her unborn kits. "The world outside the clans is a much harsher reality than you think, dearest." idly she shifts, stares in to the starry sky with mirth. What a cruel fate this was, talking a kid in to going back to her clan. Oh, but i'd do it over again. I'd want someone to do the same for my own. I am not that angry anymore, she deserves to know the love that a clan provides.

"Cats love and care about you, little Forestpaw." its softer than her previous tone as she turns her eyes upon the tortoiseshell. "They're probably worried sick about you right now." she knows if it were her own kids she would stop at nothing to get them back. She, however, avoids this point, could not have Forest tattling that she found her once she went back. She had already told Forest her name, that was enough.

"I will not judge you if you choose to stay." she'd meow with narrowed eyes. "But the rogues and loners out here are not as kind as I am." its true, she had plenty of experience with this and she needs this to be the driving point to send Forest stumbling back to her clan. Her being here is pulling at her heartstrings, makes her miss her children. Poor little Bumble, she wonders if he had gotten his warrior name yet and she nearly chokes on grief. Oh, her poor babies, her sons, her daughters. She has to bite her lip to stop herself from crying. "Do not let whatever you're thinking tear you away from your clan. Truly, and I mean it, its better there than here. I can tell you from experience."​

"speech"​

 

[FORESTSHADE]

She sniffs again, stubbornly. Brow furrowing further, her unseeing gaze remains fixed on the ground somewhere in front of Honey as the she-cat speaks. Her patience is comforting, and her sweet voice is even more-so. She asks if she knows how bad the leaf-bares can be, and Forestpaw doesn't respond. She had been born in the heart of the cold season, and she doesn't remember much of it. She remembers being tucked into her family's den, nestled next to Lavenderpaw and eating the skinny mice brought back by their parents. She must admit...it's a lot colder than she remembers, and she's already lost some weight from hunger.

You don't need to always act strong.

Her lips purse. She was always "the weak daughter" growing up. The blind girl that could never leave the den. Her parents thought she was the most pitiful creature to ever walk the land, and so when finally had the courage to run away and join ShadowClan...she thought she had to be fully independent. She didn't want anyone worrying about her. She didn't want anyone having to take care of her. No one should be sorry for her.

But maybe Honey's right...Perhaps there's a difference between having others pity you, and having them care for you. Honey says they are probably worried, and Forestpaw thinks of Lavenderpaw, and Chilledgaze, and her denmates. Would they miss her come morning when her nest is found empty?

She thinks she would.

Filled with a new resolve, the torbie straightens herself and gets to her paws, ears pricking up and tail standing high. "I know what to do now....those boneheads won't last long without me anyway," She mews with a smirk. She turns back the way she came and begins to pad off. If she goes now, she'll make it back by sunrise. Before she gets too far, she stops and cranes her head around, though of course her eyes don't meet Honey's. "Thanks, by the way. You're a really nice loner," The juvenile trills, smile upon her muzzle before she continues on into the shadows, back home.​