No Trespassing [Eveningfall]

[Rattus]

If anyone knew where he was, Cricketpaw knew he would get himself in huge trouble. It didn't really matter to him, though. What would they do? Kick him out of the Clan, for a simple border violation? Maybe he'd have to pull a few ticks off the elders; a small price to pay for knowing.
Here, the rolling fields gave way to softer, muddier land. A few gnarled trees clawed at the sky, long stripped of their leaves. This was the border with DuskClan. He was still on ZephyrClan's land, but when he opened his mouth he could taste the tantalizingly unfamiliar scent of the enemy Clan. He was getting very close to the border now. He wouldn't cross it, he decided; just walk along it for a while. It was an infringement, he knew, to be found even close to another Clan's boundary- at least, being a sole apprentice with no mentor, no patrol, no guidance whatsoever. There were some larger birds here- a crow's crooked song echoed through the sparse portion of forest on ZephyrClan's land, quite different from the little finches and sparrows that fluttered around in the grasslands. It was easy enough to identify where the territory line was. Careful to place his paws on the correct side, Cricketpaw began walking along it, mouth open as he tasted the unfamiliar scents drifting over from DuskClan. Where was their camp? How different was it from ZephyrClan's? The environment changed so drastically in just this little patch of forest that the Clan cats inhabited; what else was out there in the world? He stared wonderingly at the trees growing around him, casting their massive, dark shadows over everything that grew underneath. He shouldered his way through a patch of bramble, grunting with the effort. He was used to tall grass, which gave easily as he strode through it. The tangled underbrush on the DuskClan border was very different, and within a few minutes his pelt was ragged and torn. He didn't care; this was all far too interesting to abandon. He progressed along the border line, uncomfortable aware of how visible his bright ginger fur would be in these shadows, and how much noise he was making as he struggled through the brambles.

[vanessa]

Eveningfall crept slowly through the shadows that laced across DuskClan's territory, his ears pricked up for any slight rustling of prey. His hefty body was low on the cool ground, feeling for any tiny vibration of tiny paws scampering through the tangled undergrowth.
His ear flicked instinctively at the soft murmur of scuffing beneath an oak tree. The deputy slowly crept towards the pinpointed location, his plume of a wave waving silently from behind him. Eveningfall tensed his muscles for a heartbeat, preparing to launch himself at the oblivious prey, before the sound of crinkling brambles broke through the silence like shattering ice.
The mouse took heed of this one warning, and slipped quickly into the gnarled roots of the shadowy oak. The deep reddish tom felt the thick fur on his neck bristle with annoyance, bringing himself to full height. He pivoted on his hefty paws to search through the tangled undergrowth for the source of disruption, his keen yellow eyes soon catching upon a little ginger figure. An apprentice?
Another tom, from the scent that drifted from the little pelt. The new perfume was airy and clean too, like the scent he recognized from ZephyrClanners during full-moon gatherings. ZypherClan apprentice...
Eveningfall stood still, quietly observing his surroundings. He was still upon DuskClan's shadowy forested grounds, yet near enough to ZephyrClan's boundaries. It still didn't give the apprentice any reason to venture cross the borders, unless... Is he a spy? No, any silly spy wouldn't be as brazen as to breach the borderlines during broad daylight. With a bright orange pelt too! Just a curious apprentice.

Eveningfall heaved a quiet sigh, and scraped the hard earth with unsheathed claws to mark the spot of where the mouse had vanished. The deputy pushed his way through the tall grasses, soon nearing the little figure. The deep reddish-orange tom would have normally given the estranged apprentice a quick scolding before escorting him back home, but times were tense between all the Clans. A quick nip at another Clan's apprentice could very well cause an interclan war, with all of the unseen pressure that stifled all friendliness that had been kept between the clans. He knew that joining together against the Cult was the only way to fight through, but he wasn't about to start up a little speech and organize everything.
It was best to treat the new apprentice as one of DuskClan's own. Perhaps the prickly bond between DuskClan and ZypherClan would slightly lax if it continued this way - anything was better than spilling blood worthlessly.
"You chased away my prey, apprentice." Eveningfall's baritone voice spoke up calmly, observing the apprentice with eyes the colour of sunflowers. His voice stayed level and low as his tail waved gently from behind, "Surely ZypherClan has taught their apprentices how to sneak up on an opponent without causing a ruckus?"

[Rattus]

It would have been wiser, perhaps, to turn and run at the first sign of danger. Cricketpaw was all too aware that he was only an apprentice- and a physically weak one, at that- but this was too big an opportunity to pass up. DuskClan! Cricketpaw breathed in deeply, taking in the scent and memorizing it. The thick-shouldered tom sounded like one that had been mentioned before; a long-haired ginger cat in DuskClan... it had to be the deputy, Eveningfall. Senior warriors discussed the higher-ranking members of other Clans enough that Cricketpaw felt he could recognize a few of them; since DuskClan was right on their borders, he took particular interest. He remembered that their leader was Nightstar; although he had never seen her, he knew that she was a skinny black she-cat. He struggled out of the underbrush, shaking out his coat and thinking over his words carefully before sitting down and replying.
"I wasn't sneaking," he said plainly. He judged the possible consequences in his head. Eveningfall was a deputy; presumably, that meant he wasn't an idiot, and only an idiot would attack another cat in these tumultuous times without a perfectly acceptable reason. Technically, Cricketpaw was on ZephyrClan territory, though only mouse-lengths away from the boundary that separated the two- not a common place for any cat to wander, unless they were specifically on a border patrol. He wrapped his tail around his front paws and studied the older cat with great curiosity. No, he didn't look aggressive- thank StarClan. Cricketpaw knew that if Eveningfall attacked, he stood absolutely no chance. The deputy was an impressive cat, fairly large and very muscular from climbing trees; Cricketpaw was small, even for his age, and spent more time wandering lazily through the fields than competing against his fellow apprentices. The pointy bones in his narrow shoulders showed under his skin; he wasn't underfed- just spindly. Breakable.
Still- his curiosity easily overwhelmed his instinctive fear. "What prey?" he asked boldly. "What sorts of things do you hunt in DuskClan?"

[vanessa]

The lithe ginger apprentice seemed to have no fear for pressing against the marked boundaries of DuskClan, and he seemed to have no shame either has he weaved through the dense undergrowth. The ZephyrClan apprentice seemed to mull over his words carefully before speaking, his young voice in-fluxing and dipping with mixed little signs of boldness and casualty.

"I wasn't sneaking," answered the apprentice, without seeing the need to introduce himself or explain his reasons for straying away from camp without a mentor by his side. Or perhaps there was a ZephyrClan warrior, lurking beneath the shadows and hidden by the downwind - waiting to pounce onto Eveningfall with outstretched claws. No. You're crazy. Eveningfall heaved a faint sigh, before settling onto his haunches as well. Times are tense, but not unpredictably violent.
The apprentice only seemed to want to converse civilly. The image of Eveningfall's own hefty paw landing upon the ZephyrClan apprentice's spine and squishing him like a bug crossed his mind. But there was nothing to be hostile about, the apprentice had done nothing wrong. He was somebody else's child as well.

"You're a brave one, aren't you. But aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Eveningfall replied in his baritone voice, his keen yellow eyes were softly dimmed with the lack of any sort of hostility. His head was tilted to the side a little, his long plume of a tail flicking gently. "My name is Eveningfall, and I'm the deputy of DuskClan. To answer your question... we hunt giant lions, venomous snakes, and wild dogs. But the occasional mouse is fine, too. Could you say the same for ZephyrClan?" The DuskClan deputy could see a little bit of himself within the apprentice - both were intelligent toms with ginger pelts.

[Rattus]

So he had been right! The apprentice was pleased with himself as Eveningfall revealed his identity. Good, he had been paying enough attention. He wondered vaugely whether he could identify the other deputies, too, but made a note of Eveningfall's specific scent. He wanted to know this cat from a distance, before he could see him. There were so many in the forest- it was difficult to think that he would never know most of them. It wasn't a need to be social or make friends that attracted him to others; it was their knowledge. Even the dullest apprentice knew something unique to themselves. More than anything, he wanted to understand the division- everything about Clan life seemed so unnecessary, and only by talking to the other Clans could he figure out why they all hated each other so much. Eveningfall didn't seem so bad. The way some cats talked about DuskClan, it was as though they attacked young cats on sight- but this was the deputy, and he was being nothing but civil. Cricketpaw felt the instinctive strain of his muscles fading away as he realized that he would not need to run. He dipped his head instead, flattening his ears to show respect for a cat so high in rank.
"I'm Cricketpaw," he told the warrior as he raised his head again. "Apprentice of ZephyrClan."
He twitched his whiskers in amusement at Eveningfall's comment. "Not quite so many lions in ZephyrClan," he said, "but I suppose it would be difficult for them to hide from us in the grass. We must've scared them all onto your territory."
He broke eye contact with the deputy to look at their surroundings. "It's dense here. I haven't learned to sneak through underbrush yet. There's not a lot to practice in for us, so you learn more about that when you're a bit closer to being made a warrior," he explained. "I'm sorry that my nosie scared off your prey."
He turned his head and licked at his shoulder, working out a little twig that had gotten caught in his fur. He would have to wash well before going back to camp- he was covered in thorns and dead plant matter, telltale signs of his brief adventure.

[vanessa]

The little apprentice with the politely flattened ears, who stated his name as Cricketpaw, acknowledged Eveningfall's light joke. This was a good sign, as any other young apprentice would still have the innocent mind of a kit - and demand to brought to a lion's den or a wild dog's nest. Clever thing, He thought privately, before purring in amusement to Cricketpaw's response. The deputy's heard his own voice murmur softly within his skull, I wouldn't mind training this keen mind, if he was a member of DuskClan.
"Nevermind the leaves on your pelt or the mouse you chased away," Eveningfall responded slowly, his sunflower-yellow eyes blinked thoughtfully. "They'll help your bright pelt hide within the undergrowth. I personally need to streak mud on my own pelt before doing going on dusk hunting patrols. It helps hide my scent as well." He ruffled his dark ginger fur, the thickness of his soft pelt surrounded him like a mane.

"Hmm." He started, now turning his head away from the young tom and dropping his amber gaze upon the small stretch of ZephyrClan territory that tangled alongside DuskClan's own. The portion of land there owned lush, leafy plants that spilled here and there, snarling their green tender arms into one another, twisting between each territory. The sharp, musky scent of vole drifted into Eveningfall's nose, snaring his senses for a brief moment. "ZephyrClan is to be feared if you've been the ones to force lions onto our territory. Maybe you're too young to hunt lion quite yet, but I think there's some potential freshkill lurking in the growth. You'll only become better at stalking through dense ground with practice." He flicked his tail lightly towards the pinpointed area of the drifting prey-scent. "You're a clever apprentice. Could you boast to your Clanmates that you caught a vole before the eyes of a very handsome deputy of a different Clan tonight? Step lightly and avoid mud or twigs that may snap."
Eveningfall was interested in only giving the apprentice light training, simply the basics known to all of the feral cats - including the Clan cats, loners and rouges. There were some things not meant to be shared between Clans.

[Rattus]

Suspicion surged in Cricketpaw's veins. Exchanging pleasantries was all well and good, but training? Was this even within the warrior code? It was the exact opposite of what he had expected, and it threw him off; he couldn't help but hesitate. Would the deputy attack him when he turned to stalk the vole? But no- there was no reason for that. It had been absolutely clear from the moment of their meeting that Eveningfall could send the apprentice running with a swipe of his paw; there was no need for trickery here. Plus, wasn't this what he wanted? Some friendly communication between the Clans?
He pushed his reluctance to the back of his mind and slipped into his learned stalking position, ears swiveled to listen for the little creature scuffling around in the undergrowth. He didn't have to worry much about where his tail was placed when he stalked prey in the tall grass- if it brushed up against something, it wouldn't really make any noise. But this was different, and he was intelligent enough to know it. He brought his tail in close to his body as he moved through the brush, but it affected his balance; he had the vole in his sight when he suddenly lost his footing, misjudging the height of a step down from a root. It was a small mistake, but the leaves rustled, and the prey shot in the opposite direction; as one last desperate measure, Cricketpaw leaped with claws extended- and he was pleasantly surprised to feel them sink into the soft flesh of the vole's back. He dragged it close and snapped the skinny spine between his teeth. A catch, yes- but by chance, he knew. He had barely aimed his claws when he leaped at that vole. He carried the vole the few tail-lengths back to the border and put it down near Eveningfall's paws. "You should take this," he said. "I scared your prey away, and you were the one who scented it, anyway."
He knew that the deputy had seen his fumble. He generally did not like when other cats saw his mistake, but as long as he had, why not try to learn from it? With some hesitation, he fixed his eyes on Eveningfall. "Where should I hold my tail when I stalk in thick brush? I'm worried about it disturbing leaves, but my balance is off when I tuck it close to my body."