Young, Wild, and Free (Tagged)

[Lionhearted]

Tagged: Rogue [Ashfrost] 

The Siberian tabby strode into the camp with his head held high, a large rabbit held proudly in his jaws. Snakeflight twitched his ears and glanced around the camp, his eyes roving over his Clanmates, making sure they got a good look at his catch. Snakeflight beamed at himself, and let himself be proud for a moment. 

He was glad that he was contributing well to the Clan he loved. WhisperClan was his home now. He'd lived here for... what, twenty moons already? He was only around 5 moons when his mother took him here. Snakeflight puffed out his chest and dropped the rabbit down onto the food pile, letting it plop down. There. That should feed most of the Clan. 

OOC: Sorry for the low muse >.> I always start badly. 

[Rogue]

Ashfrost watched the warrior from afar, staring at the rabbit he had caught as if it was the best thing on the fresh-kill pile. The grey-spotted warrior snorted. While the rabbit would definitely help, it wasn't going to feed the entire Clan. Getting to his paws, he padded over to the other cat. "Snakeflight, right?" he asked, his voice flat and giving nothing away. He circled the sparse fresh-kill pile slowly, examining the rabbit closer. "Tell me, where did you find this rabbit?"

OOC: It's okay!

[Lionhearted]

Snakeflight did not want to give away the location of the rabbit. I'm not going to give Ashfrost a chance to one-up me! Then again, it was a miracle that the cat was talking to anyone but Thrushstar. Puffing out his chest again, he said, "same place as I got any other prey. On the territory," he said vaguely, with a hint of playfulness in his voice. Ashfrost's voice was flat and stoic, and Snakeflight would've given two mice to say that Ashfrost was more interested than he'd sounded. Flicking his fluffy tail, he indicated the rabbit. "It's gonna feed a lot."

[Rogue]

Ashfrost flattened his ears at Snakeflight's vague answer. He wasn't in the mood to play games; the leafbare was hard and the Clan desperately needed food. Fighting the urge to claw his Clanmate's ears off, he prodded the rabbit with a paw as the other tom kept talking. It was plump, sure, but it would need to be taken to the queens and kits first and foremost. The kits were the future, and their lives were of the utmost importance.

"It will feed the queens and kits and that's all," Ashfrost said dryly, fixing the other warrior with his steely green gaze. "You and I are going to go hunting and you're going to show me where you found this rabbit so we can catch more to bring back to the Clan." After a pause in which the grey-spotted warrior remembered his conversation with Thrushstar, he added, "Please."

[Lionhearted]

Hm. Snakeflight smirked. So he was going to be that noble, honorable warrior. Okay, then. I could have some fun with him. Some light teasing. "Sure, I'll go hunting with you," said Snakeflight. "but you know, even if you said 'please,' you're just being a bossy furball. You want to live like a warrior, start acting like one towards others." You'd never say this to Thrushstar. So why would you say this to me? "but, since you kindly invited me, I'll let you lead the patrol. I'll just show you where I find the rabbit when I need to. but you know, all the animals are hibernating. I just found this stupid one lying near the entrance of its den carelessly, and I just pulled it out. What makes you think you can find another one?"

[Rogue]

Ashfrost gritted his teeth together hard, unsheathing his claws and digging them into the frozen ground. This cat was infuriating. Here he was trying to take Thrushstar's advice into account and Snakeflight was ridiculing him for it. Trying to remain cool and collected, he spun on his heel and headed for the entrance to camp, flicking his tail at the other warrior to follow. StarClan help me. I might take this furball's ears off.

[Lionhearted]

Snakeflight flicked his feathery tail again and headed after Ashfrost, amused with himself. The other tom was obviously trying to compose himself. Perhaps he should back off a bit. "Hey," he said, catching up, "sorry about before. You were just being so uptight and trying so hard it was hard not to have a little fun. but I know who made you do this. You talked to Thrushstar, right?"

Thrushstar would've talked to Ashfrost about being more gentle. Snakeflight himself had had the same talk. He'd been called into the den a few days ago, and Thrushstar had give him some words of wisdom. It wasn't like Snakeflight wasn't taking it seriously. It was when others were taking it the wrong way he felt the need to poke at them. Being helpful and compassionate definitely wasn't the same as being bossy and curt. Some cats had to learn to let things flow and develop. I definitely had to learn that the hard way, he recalled silently. I wasn't even born into the Clan. Before, I was just a snooty, spoiled furball that came from a Twolegnest. I was so naive, I believed everything everyone told me. And then, I started to believe nothing when I began to discover truths by myself. And now, I try to balance it.

[Rogue]

(Lionhearted Really sorry for taking so long, my work schedule has been ridiculous. >.<)

Ashfrost slowly relaxed, allowing the tension to melt out of his shoulders at Snakeflight's apology. "It's fine," he mumbled, skirting a large pile of snow as they headed deeper into the territory. "I've been trying to better myself, but sometimes I still snap." The grey-spotted warrior had been working on controlling himself better since his talk with Thrushstar, but he had found the whole thing to be easier said than done.

Noticing Snakeflight's sudden silence, Ashfrost snorted. "What? No loud remarks now? Badger got your tongue?" Despite Snakeflight having rubbed him the wrong way earlier, the familiar loneliness that had always haunted Ashfrost since the tragedy in his kithood came trickling back, and he found that he desperately wanted the other tom to say something.