private where the morn meets the dew - clayfur

[PIKESPLASH]

( tags ) Clayfur wasn't the same after Clearsight had passed. How could he be? Pike himself couldn't imagine having to live without your mate by your side. It seemed painful and even then it felt shoddy describing it as that. Then again, he'd never had a mate. Love in his life was nonexistent. Not that he was crying over that fact, he didn't think he was in trouble by not having a partner. What he did think was that he didn't have the experience to help Clayfur, or understand the situation well enough to get it. Clayfur was a nice cat he thought and he would've loved to hang out with them and laugh at some silly joke, but back then they didn't really cross paths too much other than work. Speaking of work... The pair had finished their tasks earlier and he had asked Clayfur if he would like to go somewhere interesting to relax with him. He didn't expect Clayfur to agree, but he wasn't complaining!

It should be right around he- AHA! He pulled back some reeds, looking back at Clayfur to ensure the tom was still following him. "We're here! Oh and u-uhm. Don't freak out Clayfur this is safe." Kinda, most definitely suspicious to say to someone before showing them what the place was. Nevertheless, he felt the cool water on his paws and the mud beneath them as he moved closer to the drowned monster. He had been on the patrol with Cicadastar when they had run into this monster. When he yelled at Hazepaw and Mosspaw for being curious about it... Clayfur would understand now why he was told not to be afraid.

Without waiting for Clayfur, he swam to the drowned monster and then sprung up on it. The smell had subsided since the last time they were here, so they didn't have worry too much about being covered in its smell. He shook his pelt, droplets of water spraying on the monster and rolling down its body. Considering he was now towering above Clayfur due to the additional height they monster gave him, he waved his paw at the other warrior. "Isn't this cool?!" The reality was that he hoped Clayfur liked this place and would find some peace here. No one really came back here from the patrol, so he sometimes returned here to sunbathe or get away from it all. Maybe he shouldn't have brought Clayfur, but he knew what it was like. Wanting to have somewhere away from everyone to have a moment to yourself.

Besides! This is a comfy place. It's no sunning rocks, but it feels like them and the inside is even more comfy! It didn't even occur to him that maybe Clayfur was not at all comfortable with monsters or thought he was crazy for just using it's corpse as a replacement for the sunningrocks. He remained smiling at Clayfur, "I've saved you a nice spot. Whaddya say to soaking up some sun and resting our bones for a bit?"

// @CLAYFUR ​

 

[CLAYFUR]

When Pikesplash asks if he wants to come along to relax somewhere interesting, Clay agrees rather easily. Without sunningrocks, there’s a shortage of places to sunbathe that don’t hold bad memories, so the tom is quick to follow behind his clanmate. The other tells him not to freak out before showing him what their destination is—and that means either he’s about to be shown something scary, or Pike has brought him all this way to murder him. An unfortunate way to go, but at least he’d die near the river. He only wonders how long it would take for his clanmates to find his body—if they ever found it. Is that what happened to Gloompaw? He shakes away the thought. That’s horrible to think about, especially when Pikesplash is already moving through the water.

Hazel eyes flick around for a few moments before landing upon the thing that the other tom wants him not to freak out about. "Wow," he gasps at the sight, hazel eyes wide as he looks over the corpse of the metallic beast. He’s seen monsters—cars—before, and even up close, but never in this state.

"This is, like, so cool." He treads through the water on careful paws, enjoying the feeling of mud between his toes. The river has always seemed to wash away even his deepest worries, and it does so even as he steps further into the river, swims ever closer to the large metal monster. It takes a few tries for the brown and white warrior to pull himself from the water and onto the warm metal shell, but as he shakes out his damp pelt, he grins easily in Pike’s direction. "That sounds good to me," he agrees when the other asks if he wants to sunbathe here.

The long-legged tom stretches out, settling with a soft grunt onto the warm, comfortable metal. It’s a bit strange, admittedly, to be lounging on the very thing that’s killed more than a few cats—but it’s dead as well, now, so it can’t possibly harm him or Pikesplash. "I wonder how this thing even got here. Do you think it drowned, or do you think something dumped its corpse here… somehow?" He tilts his head, gazing over at the other tom, one ear flicking curiously.
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[ YOU ARE THE STARS TO ME ]​

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[PIKESPLASH]

( tags ) He is thoroughly pleased when Clayfur seems to like this place. He has half a mind to help Clayfur climb up the monster considering how much he is struggling, but he decides not to. He is not particularly close to Clayfur and this seems like a breach of their boundaries. Before he can enter a dilemma of helping or not helping Clayfur, the other warriors has already hoisted himself up on top of the monster. When Clayfur shakes his pelt, some of the water ends up being sprayed at him, but he doesn't mind. The warmth of the sun promising that he would be dry after he laid down for a moment. Seeing as Clayfur started to get comfortable, he takes his place a tail length away from the warrior.

Ahhh, this is so nice. He closes his eyes, ears tilting when he hears Clayfur's question. He doesn't answer immediately. The question he was asked was difficult to answer because he had some knowledge of a monster. He had been a kittypet after all and he would watch his twoleg be eaten by monsters, but they were not afraid of them. Monsters really seemed to have a mind of their own or they had some strange relationship with twolegs. In any case, he saw no twoleg around. There hadn't been any trace of a twoleg so who really knows how long this monster had been here. Eventually he does pick up his head and keep his gaze on Clayfur.

"I think it drowned? When I was here with the others we didn't catch the faint scent of twolegs, so I don't think a twoleg dumped it here. Maybe another monster brought it here? I'm not sure what else can move a monster other than another monster." The thought of a twoleg dragging or drowning a monster seemed too farfetched. Sure, twolegs were strong but he wouldn't say they had the same strength as a monster or was as fast as one. "I don't know why it ended up here though. This isn't exactly the Thunderpath. Why do you think a monster's here of all places? You think it was exiled or something like that?"​

 

[CLAYFUR]

The warm metal beneath his body is surprisingly comfortable, where Clay had expected it to be practically scorching against his skin. With the buffer of his short fur, he can feel himself drying off at an even pace, and his tail flicks lazily against the part of the monster he lies upon. He lets his head fall to rest limply atop the car, watching idly as Pikesplash takes up a space not to far away. It’s relaxing, truly, and he’s glad that the other tom kind enough to show him the way out here.

Pikesplash answers his question with more questions, with concepts of the reason why the car is all the way out here, in the river and seemingly dead. A twoleg couldn’t have dumped it, because they’d smell twoleg if it had. Maybe another monster had brought it here, but wouldn’t that mean that it died somewhere else and was carried here? It’s confusing. No single explanation makes total sense. "I could understand it drowning. It’s big, so it must be heavy. But it must have come here on its own—or it does somewhere else, and something brought it here?" Like a predator bringing home a kill, a warrior bringing back prey for the clan. No—that line of thinking implies that there exists something large enough to hunt a monster. Terrifying. He won’t be considering that anymore.

But then Pikesplash mentions that there’s no thunderpath around, so there’s no reason for the monster to be here. Exiled. He thinks of Spider, a shiver running down his spine. Had this monster lost an eye, as well? Been cast from its clan with all the fury of its pack driving it out? No—of course not, he thinks. Monsters don’t function like cats do. And they definitely don’t have clans, right? There’s no exile for monsters, only death. Maybe it’s better, that way.

He wonders what Spider is doing now. Whether the tom is still lurking around. It’s been months, slowly coming up on a year, since his exile. If the stars are any good, he’s long dead. Best not to think of that. He returns his attention to Pike, tipping his head to the side. "I bet it fell into the river. Maybe it was trying to cross when it was iced over, and it was too heavy." But that doesn’t explain why the clan is only finding it now. "I dunno. Maybe it’s, like, a warning or something. Maybe they’re migrating." He shrugs, shoulders going tense. Maybe it’s a threat. ​

[ YOU ARE THE STARS TO ME ]​

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