A Step in the Wrong Direction

[Lemonade]

(( Come get her kitties~ You can beat her up~ Here is an intruder for you! ))

Over the border.

She hadn't meant to overstep her boundary, but yet, here she was, shivering against a tree in patchy daylight, her fur fluffed out like a terrified kit and her moony blue eyes darting wildly. Why had she come here? This land was unfamiliar to her. The mulch beneath her paws was ragged and cut the pads that were used to sand or patches of soft, untouched grass. The trees cast shadows larger than StarClan itself, blotting out the sun.

Milkflower wanted to taste the sweet air of other skies, but here in loner lands, there was no sky. 

Her heart ached for what she couldn't have. Like a kit weaned of mother's milk, Milkflower thirsted for the warm taste that was so far out of reach now- moons in her past, and nowhere in her future. His touch clung to her pelt like a ghost, just a memory now, and yet she longed desperately for it.

but he was not here, wherever here was. Far from her beach and disoriented by the trees, Milkflower was a lost kit, her SunsetClan scent like a blood red banner on her creamy pelt, marking her in lands that smelled like cat and dew and dirt and wilderness. 

Her voice caught in her throat, and all she could get out was a shaky mewl- "I-is anyone there?"

[Eveningbreeze]

Magpie was walking through the Vagabonds's territory...Her territory, since she was now a Vagabond as well. She still didn't knew how she felt about that, though. She would never belong anywhere, and she was proud of that. but this group could be helpful.

"I-is anyone there?"

She heard another cat and turned to see: A cream colored she-cat. She seemed to be lost. Magpie hissed, she hated seeing a cat being so idiotic. What was she searching? Some cat, it seemed. Had anyone told her that most cats out there would harm her for fun?

She thought for a second of just calling Blackfrost so that he could teach her a lesson, stupid outsiders weren't her problem. but on the last moment she felt a familiar scent coming from this she-cat: She smelled like a Sunsetclanner. What...What was doing a SunsetClan cat here?

Magpie moved fast, her yellow eyes shining with something similar to fury: She had to take care of this intruder herself. Knowing Blackfrost, he would probably just kill her and be done with it. but a SunsetClanner...That was her personal business.

 "Who are you?"- She hissed- "What are you doing outside your precious territory?"

[Lemonade]

(( Yesssss ))

Milkflower spun, her moony blue eyes bewildered by the sight of another cat, and then all at once struck by relief to see the face of a creature she knew and not just the looming trees above her. She gave her tail a friendly wave, oblivious to the defensive carriage of the she-cat and her aggressive hiss. It was normal for loners to be skittish, she assumed, on account of their solitary nature. Ramble was the exception to this law, she was sure. He had no fear of where his pawsteps would fall next.

That was why she searched for him.

"Oh!" She purred, making her confident and friendly approach without a moment's hesitation, limping slightly on torn paws and nearly tripping over another tree root. Her long pelt was mangled by thorns and debris that had caught her in her pursuit of nothingness. "My name is Milkflower. I come to..."

Here she paused, and cocked her head to the side, one ear twitching and her eyes bewitched by a curious look of bewilderment.

What did she come to do, the slightly ditsy female thought vaguely? A frown creased her brow, her whispers pushing back with disdain. "I've come looking for friends, not to harm anyone." She decided on. This was not a permanent escape from clan lands for her, but merely a temporary one. She had something to tell Ramble before she lost him forever, and for that reason she would search for him before he was gone.

It was too bad that he was already long gone, and had seemingly forgotten about her.

[Eveningbreeze]

Magpie looked at the she-cat with reproval. Milkflower? What kind of name was that? It sounded like the perfect name for a weak cat. Milk was something only kits and kittypets drink, and flowers were just colorful things of no use.

Well, she had thought bad of her own name at first. A name her mother gave her based on the first thing she saw, a prey-inspired name. Of course, she had accepted her name long ago after seeing how smart and hard to catch the magpies actually were, and felt a little of pity for this she-cat. That sounded like a name impossible to feel proud of.

She was uneasy and angry at how confident Milkflower was acting, how if she was one of her many clanmates.

"I've come looking for friends, not to harm anyone."

Lies. That was even a worst lie that anything she had ever spoken, and she was the one who lied to survive. There was no way a Sunsetclan cat would come this far out of her territory for 'friends'. And if it was true, then she had to be the most stupid cat she had ever meet. And she had met with some memorable mousebrains on her life.

"I don't believe you"- She growled. An idea came to her mind, she wanted to have fun with this she-cat before chased her off. She changed her tone, so it would sound most nice, but if any other Vagabond passed around, it would be obvious she was being mocking.

- "C'mon, tell me the truth. You are looking for something, and I want to know what is it. If you don't tell me, then I can't help you"

[Lemonade]

A curious look came over Milkflower's countenance upon the rejection of her reasoning as a lie- and then a faint heat seemed to slide across her face from the tips of her whiskers inward."W-well, it isn't really a lie..." she said with some embarrassment, wincing as she kneaded the ground with her forepaws.

The poor, dreamy female wasn't used to playing mind games. She settled her matters with clear words and brute force, and although she might seem dumb to a cat who did not know her, in very specific situations, dear Milkflower could be rather clever. However, matters of the world outside the clan she was native to were especially unknown to her. She knew this land and the cats that claimed it as their own about as well as a kit knew the world outside the womb before being borne into it. The same juvenile cast possessed her now.

Although she was immature and poorly informed, she was not entirely an idiot, being a warrior, and thought better than to give any more information before gaining some for herself. "First, I'd love to know your name," she purred mildly, struggling to square her shoulders proudly. "We haven't been properly introduced yet!"

[Eveningbreeze]

Magpie frowned. "My name is Magpie"- She said, flickering her tail. What was the point of having a proper introduction or not? She would be lucky if she didn't meet with her again after this was over.

The she-cat wondered what she had meant with the 'Not exactly a lie' thing, cocking her head. Then, an idea came to her. "Are you searching for someone, right?"

[Lemonade]

"Magpie," she purred the name happily. "That's a beautiful name." Loner names were always beautiful to her. They were short, sweet, and often a name that was earned rather than given. She wondered how well this female was suited to a magpie.

At the next words, Milkflower's eyes grew a little wider. Magpie could see right through her then. Milkflower's blush deepened. She shied back, uncertainly, and cast her eyes up to the treetops. "A tom with a red bandana around his neck," she said with a soft smile to herself. "He's... a friend I met. A loner, I think. I figured he might have passed by here at one point. I had hoped our skies might meet again one day." Her gaze fell back to Magpie, and she smiled wearily. "Although, I've never been in a forest, so I've gotten a bit turned around. You haven't met a tom like that have you?"

[Eveningbreeze]

"That's a beautiful name."

Magpie's eyes widened. That...That was a compliment? For what? Why she was still being nice to her? What was the purpose?

She flattened her ears. Maybe Milkflower was making fun of her name on her mind, and she had said that as some kind of inner sarcasm. It was a more logical explanation.

Magpie heard her talk about this tom, and for her smile she guessed that they were more than friends...At least, from Milkflower's side. She sighed, one sided feelings were pathetic. "Forget about him"-She said, feeling pity and anger towards this stupid she-cat-"If he didn't told you where he was going it means that he abandoned you. Maybe he had forgotten about you already. You should do the same..."

She paused, a bitter smirk appeared on her face. "Or maybe...A red bandana, you said? Sounds like the poor cat I heard some rogues talking about. Apparently, a pack of dogs found him and...played with him a bit. The rogues couldn't tell if the bandana was actually red or if it was only the blood. Very tragic, if you ask me, but those are the things that happen to the cats who don't know how to take care of themselves."

He glared at the cream she-cat. "You should come back to your clan, now you know what kind of dangers are out there. And...I'm sorry for your loss."

[Lemonade]

(( Sometimes I get lost and just forget that I'm a person with things to do. ie- things like write this post. ))

Milkflower smiled sincerely while listening to Magpie, watching as the female shied away from her compliment as if stung. She wondered if loners were not used to admiration. Perhaps that was why Ramble wandered so- was he made uneasy by the attentions of others?

She decided that, from now on, she would act as thus- greeting every cat enthusiastically and showering them with the praise they all deserved. There were stars and moonlight dancing in her dazzling blue eyes. She walked on air while standing still, unaware temporarily of the world around her as she swayed like some maddened bird on a branch, poised as if half ready to burst into song...

And then, Magpie's words struck her like the blow of a firm kick to the chest, and the light faded from Milkflower's eyes, replaced by a desperate, sorrowful denial.

So distracted by the loveliness of the world and the conversation it held, she was unable to catch the lie in Magpie's words- the cruel strike of a taunting loner who knew nothing but hate for clan cats.

She believed it.

"I-it must be a mistake," Milkflower stammered, trying to convince herself it wasn't true, and drawing closer to Magpie with a frown. "Ramble-" his name caught in her throat- "-knows how to take care of himself! Something like that would never happen!" She pictured the tom, wild orange fur, dirty red bandana, running from dogs over clouds, his paws dipping in the blue waters of the sky... before tumbling from starpelt, caught on a branch by the same prized fabric, and being strung up like waiting prey...

She swallowed hard, suddenly feeling dizzy and queesy, and crouching against the ground, shutting her eyes against the bloody image. "Where did it happen?" She managed to choke out. "Could you take me to that place?" She opened her eyes and cast them up at Magpie, searching for sympathy.

[Eveningbreeze]

(OOC- I feel sorry for Milkflower . In a way, I also feel pity for Magpie, but she's the way she is because she had chosen to be that way...)

Magpie watched as sorrow started to show on the nice she-cat. These SunsetClan cats were so gullible it was pitiable. That was the only word Magpie could think off: Pity. It was pitiable to see this she-cat suffering for a tom who very probably didn't cared. To see so much...trust it was sickening.

"I told you: I heard it from some rogues. I couldn't take you there even if I want it"-She explained, looking at her coldly-"I heard those news yesterday, but you know that some rogues like to keep information to themselves. It could have been moons ago, for all I know..."

She stared at Milkflower, wondering if the vague state of the information would give her some hope. This so-called Ramble...Really deserved that? That suffering, that faith? Magpie thought back of every time she had actually hoped for something: Hope that her mother would change her mind and come back for her and her brothers. Hope that, maybe, his little brother would get better from his injuries. Hope that his surviving brother wouldn't abandoned her...

No. No cat deserved that. Nothing deserved that. Hope was useless, a weakness.

"Why do you care?"-She hissed, looking into Milkflower's eyes.- "Maybe it was he, maybe was not. Either way, your Rumble is gone. Answer me: Did he asked you to go with him? Did he at least told you that he was going somewhere? And if he told you...Where is he? Why are you taking so long to find him?"

Magpie growled, now angry. She wasn't going to even wait for her answers. "If he didn't told where he was going, then he doesn't want you to find him. Maybe he hates you for some reason. Or maybe he doesn't even remember you. You should come back to your clan and stop being so stupid"

[Deleted]

OOC: Do you mind if I join in?

IC: "Who is this?" Blackfrost jumped from behind the bushes to in between Magpie and and the she-cat. He had been hunting prey, not that he could eat them, when he heard at least two cats talking in the distance and had decided to investigate. "Why are you talking to an outsider, Magpie!" Blackfrost spat the words in disgust, as always distrustful of those around him.

"Are you betraying us? And who do we have here? I can tell It isn't kittypet, could it be a clan cat?" He said first to Magpie, then to the she-cat, emphasising the last words he said. Not waiting for an answer, Blackfrost pounced onto the she-cat's back, thinking if that Magpie didn't help him, she would be a traitor.

[Lemonade]

(( Hahaha thanks for "jumping" in! I totally forgot about this. XD ))

Milkflower huddled against the ground, trembling with disbelief. She had to cling to her last dregs of hope. She was clutching at what felt like wind, her claws slipping through, as her memories of Ramble and their one night together, already diluted by the moon spent apart, seemed to fade with each breath. Milkflower's solemn blue eyes became wild as Magpie continued on, and she shook her head furiously, as if shaking the words that bit like flies out of her ears. "Maybe you're right," she cried.

He hadn't asked her to go with him.

He hadn't wanted her after all.

She had a new vision of him now, still alive, torn red bandana around his neck, orange pelt gleaming russet in sunset, as he laughed with friends about the silly clan cat he had lured with sweet words and agreement. "Maybe he never..." "She didn't even chase me out of the territory!" The Ramble in her mind spoke with a sneer. "I was escorted out like an honored guest." Had he ever really told her he cared for her, in words as plain as day? Her view of him was shaded by night, and Magpie's words were clouds coating the moon. What was better then- a dead Ramble, or one who found her star crossed admiration and babbling... stupid?

StarClan, she had made a mistake.

The appearance of a third cat unexpectedly leaping from the bushes sent her reeling back in terror, and for a moment she feared that the cat was Ramble himself, come to deal the finishing blow on her heart- but this tom was not her's. "I'm-" she gasped, but before she could introduce herself to the tom, he leaped upon her, and she felt his claws on her back.

Milkflower yowled in terror. She was thrown flat on her belly, and scrambled to get a foothold in the foliage. Her desperate eyes looked to Magpie for help as she struggled to throw Blackfrost off.

[Eveningbreeze]

Magpie was staring at Milkflower, wondering if her words had finally woke up her to reality. She could see that she was hurt, and very inside her she felt guilty. but...This was the forest, kill or be killed. This was life. In a way, she was doing in her a favor: Weak cats never stay alive very long.

She saw Blackfrost jumping out of nowhere, already saying accusations towards her. She glared at him. "I would had took care of the intruder by myself just fine, thank you very much"-She hissed-"She seems like a SunsetClan cat. Do I look like a cat who would get involved with SunsetClan, you mousebrain?"

She stared at Milkflower, knowing that his acts and words would hurt her more. She didn't cared: Showing pity towards her would piss off Blackfrost, and it was an act of weakness anyway. She unsheathed her claws and started to try to attack the helpless she-cat, not enough to kill her but enough to leave bleeding scars. She wasn't a good fighter, but after the black tom pounced over her it seemed like a easy thing to do.