Getting to know your past, present, and future
Crowpaw glanced curiously at the rogue that had been found in DawnClan's territory a few nights ago. His pelt was red with darker patches that made him look as if he were covered in sores. He was currently sleeping near the medicine cat den on the other side of the camp. The young warrior in training had been wanting to go nearer for a while now to maybe speak with him but hadn't had the courage to do so.
This was out of character for him and frankly was quite alarming. Usually he was very bold and blunt in his words at least more so than his actions. But there was something about this tom that stopped him from putting one paw in front of the other and just going over there.
"Why is he so different?" he thought, "Why can't I just approach him like I would any other cat?"
The tom in question looked up to stare directly into Crowpaw's amber eyes. The dark apprentice quickly looked away, heat rising to the fur on his cheeks. "Great now I look like a mousebrain for staring..."
Maybe had the rogue not been under constant surveillance he would've been able to come up to Crowpaw himself. After all, he was the one he kept his eyes on since the moment he'd set foot in the camp.
The apprentice sighed and mustered up what little courage he could find in his body at the moment. He had to end this constant staring contest as it was getting rather old and soon his clanmates would begin to question his loyalty if they were to notice.
He trotted over to the red furred tom and sat in front of him with a bored look on his face, as if it ever changed anyway.
The rogue looked up at him from his place in the shade and smirked. "Well well, did the kitten finally decide to come and say hi?" His voice was smooth and his words dripped off of his tongue like honey. Crowpaw was taken aback for a moment by how charming he seemed. He recovered quickly enough.
"I'm not a kit, I'm an apprentice." he corrected, a glare taking the place of his former bored look.
"Oh my apologies," the rogue chuckled. "You're just so small and adorable I had to assume you couldn't be much older than the kits in the nursery over there." He nodded towards the nursery where a few of DawnClan's kits were playing.
Blushing, Crowpaw ignored the obvious flattery and avoided that side of the conversation. "I wouldn't be talking about the kits around my clanmates if I were you. They might think you were here to steal them or something like that."
The rogue grinned a dangerous smile and shifted so that he was sitting up. He curled his tail around his paws lazily and meowed, "Sorry to disappoint them then but, the only thing I'd find worth stealing in this clan is your heart my dear."
The dark apprentice flattened his ears in surprise and twitched his tail tip. "I uh...uh...wow you're a huge creep." he ended up saying bluntly.
The rogue chuckled at that. "I'm sorry have I made you uncomfortable?" he asked, sly smirk finding it's way to his face once again. He didn't look very apologetic either.
"No...I just...never mind..." Crowpaw looked away and back towards the apprentice den. Maybe it had been a bad idea to come over and expect this older tom to talk to him without wanting to tease him every step of the way. If he went back to the apprentice den he might be able to get to sleep early and possibly sleep through the night this time.
The rogue in front of him noticed his sudden interest in the den across the camp and flicked his tail near the apprentice's face to regain his attention. "What's your name little warrior?" he asked.
Crowpaw hesitated but only for a moment. What did it matter if he did know his name anyway? "It's Crowpaw." he paused, unsure of asking the same but eventually stammered out, "What's yours then?"
"I don't have one." The tom shrugged looking a bit disinterested in the conversation now although his pale eyes burned with curiosity.
"What? How can you not have a name?"
The red furred tom chuckled. "Not everyone is gifted with such a luxury little one." He moved to step around Crowpaw and headed over to the fresh kill pile.
The dark apprentice looked around quickly to see that the warriors on watch were gone. That being said it still wasn't a good idea to let the rogue steal from their food supply, especially in a season like leaf-bare.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Crowpaw asked frantically, bounding over to the rogue who was picking through the dead things on the pile looking for something specific apparently.
"What does it look like? I'm not sure if you were aware of this but in order to survive cats have to eat. On top of that, I haven't had food since yesterday and with your entire clan keeping an eye on me it isn't exactly like I can go out and hunt for myself now can I?"
Crowpaw couldn't argue with his logic but still, he knew that he shouldn't let the rogue take something off of the pile.
"I can go get you something." he offered, after a few moments of hesitation. "At least that way it won't be like your taking from us." The older tom's eyes lit up curiously at the apprentice's words.
"Oh really? You'll be hunting for me yourself? What a noble little thing you are." he purred, tail wrapping around the side of Crowpaw's face teasingly. "Alright then, bring me back a bird of some kind if you can find one little warrior." he had been heading back to his spot underneath the shade but paused to look Crowpaw in the eye as he did so and said with a wink, "I'll be waiting anxiously for your return."
Out in the forest Crowpaw was crouched just behind a plump dove that was pecking at the ground. "What am I doing?" he thought. "I'm hunting for a cat that I just met that I know nothing about that is a prisoner of my clan. Dear StarClan forgive me."
The dove was an easy hunt and so he caught two mice on the way back to toss onto the pile. He felt almost bad for giving his best catch to the rogue instead of the queens or the elders but he had promised the tom a bird and he was a cat of his word.
"Here, I hope this meets your standards picky pelt." The dark apprentice dropped the bird at the paws of the dozing tom who startled at his arrival.
"Ah, thank you." he smiled up at the warrior in training and dug into the prey that had been caught for him.
Feeling out of place and just a little bit awkward, Crowpaw headed back over to the fresh kill pile to retrieve one of the mice that he had caught for himself.
"Only a mouse?" Crowpaw looked up from his meal to see the rogue giving him a questioning look.
"I uh...I didn't catch much so I shouldn't eat more than I caught especially since I gave the best of it to you and not my clanmates." he explained quickly, taking a bite of mouse afterwards. It didn't taste nearly as good as the squirrel he had seen on the edge of the pile. But that was his own fault and he'd take what he could get.
"That's nonsense," The rogue meowed, shoving the already half eaten dove towards the apprentice. "Here, you caught it so you can share with me." That devilish smirk was back.
Crowpaw hesitated, looking at the bird longingly. His stomach growled loudly at the thought, making the other tom laugh at his reaction.
"You're clan will not die if you indulge just a bit little warrior." he encouraged.
Finally Crowpaw found his courage and leaned over to take a bite of the prey. It was far more satisfying than the mouse which he passed over to the rogue so that they could both share.
In the back of his mind Crowpaw could tell that the other apprentice's must be watching him and wondering why he was so friendly with this rogue. To be honest he was wondering the same thing. He had never been this open with another cat before. It was very out of character for him to be behaving this way.
"So, little warrior, were you born into this clan? You seem awfully familiar...have I seen you before?" The older tom looked down at the smaller cat with a look of interest. Did he really care if he had seen him before? He was a rogue, surely he'd seen lots of cats before and not cared.
"I'm not really from DawnClan no." he answered. Crowpaw didn't really think he could give enough information away to have this cat hurt him later on. After all he'd either be gone or dead in a few days so what did it really matter? "A DawnClan warrior found me on the edge of their territory when I was only a few moons old. I was old enough to become an apprentice so I did and I've stayed with this clan for as long as I can remember." he paused and laughed bitterly. "Not that that means anything of course since I can't remember anything prior to meeting that warrior anyway."
The rogue blinked at the young tom with a level of surprise on his face. "You don't remember anything? Really?"
"No, not a thing. But I mean it really doesn't bother me much." That was a blatant lie. It bothered him every day of his life. "I've got a home here and that's what matters."
The older tom chuckled, shaking his head at his words.
"What?" Crowpaw frowned, "What is it? What'd I say?"
"You can't fool me little warrior. I can see through your lies. I know when a cat is telling the truth and while you have been quite honest so far, that was most certainly a lie that you just told." he paused though there was no sense of hesitation, "You don't really believe that this place is home. If you did you wouldn't be talking to me right now. You would've ignored me at best or given me a look of disgust from the moment I entered this camp of yours. And you certainly wouldn't have hunted for me as well as shared your prey with me."
So he did have a point Crowpaw had to admit. He was an intelligent cat that was true and he could tell when a cat was lying. That was something that stood out greatly to Crowpaw. He valued honesty above everything else, even if most of his life he'd had to create lie after lie to keep cats from worrying about him. He wasn't worth the time and effort, not really. It was better to keep them away and at an emotional distance.
"I'm not going to discuss whether or not I'm happy living here with you when I'm surrounded by my clanmates are you insane?" While he would admit to this rather special cat that he did lie about his happiness he would not do so in the presence of his clan where they were probably already beginning to question his loyalty.
"Oh yes, I'm quite insane. I don't think I've been in the right state of mind for ages." The red furred tom grinned teasingly. "But fair enough I suppose." he sighed. "I guess if you don't want to leave here and I don't want to leave you the only option there is of course is for me to stay." He paused for a moment to gauge the younger tom's reaction.
"Stay?" Crowpaw cocked his head in confusion. "As in like, joining the clan? Becoming a warrior?"
The rogue nodded, that had after all been his plan all along. Since he set foot in the camp and locked eyes with this unusual apprentice. But he wouldn't tell him that. Especially since it was more fun to come up with a lie. He would merely take advantage of the little tom's lack of memories.
"We cannot part you see. Brothers don't leave each other to fend for themselves when they are the only thing each other have now do they?"
"We aren't brothers." Crowpaw argued. "I just told you I don't have any family."
"Ah I have to disagree. See, you told me you don't remember if you have any family. Though you wouldn't know now would you?"
The dark apprentice's eyes grew wide.
"That's right," the rogue continued. "I recognized you from the moment I saw you little brother. We are kin and I've been looking for you for so long." he paused once more to move closer to the apprentice. "It's good to see you again." The older tom purred and pressed his side against the apprentice's affectionately. "And I have decided on that name if you would like to hear it?"
Crowpaw nodded, too excited at finally meeting someone from his past that actually cared to verbally respond. He had someone he could actually trust now! Not to mention the fact that he could place the feeling that he had towards this rogue. Crowpaw now understood why he had felt drawn to him. Of course they were brothers! It only made sense.
"I think," The rogue hesitated as if contemplating it one last time. "I think I'll go as Plaguepelt. What do you say little warrior?"
"It suits you brother."