Talon's right ear swivels towards the grey Thunderclan warrior as he sits down. The tom clearly tries to hide the fact that he is uncertain about this meeting, not quite succeeding though as Talon notices from his claws digging into the clay under him. He can't blame the blue eyed warrior though. He'd been of two minds about how wise it was to have this meeting himself, his thoughts having returned to the subject regularly throughout the day when he wasn't busy or more pressing matters occupying his mind. As the two sit there by the river, the heartbeats passing by, Talon decides to break the silence, lest it grow any more awkward.

„Brave, returning to the place you were almost killed. Was not sure if you were going to be here"

Almost startled by Talon's voice, the grey warrior's eyes descend to the river, his tail tip tapping on the ground

„Brave or stupid? I've been asking myself all day. And technically I shouldn't be here. I'm supposed to rest until your wound is healed"

Talon turns his gaze to the grey warrior, observing his back. The cobwebs sealing the gash he'd dealt the tom glisten under the starlight.

„I see… your healer ordered you to stay in then? Unwise to challenge a healer's wrath."

„Some more than others. I'll be more worried once her apprentice becomes medicine cat. That will be a pawful to handle…"

Talon flicks his ear. Her apprentice? Then the tom they had found in the den was merely the healer in training. As that idea settles in, it is almost comical to think of the difference between that feisty apprentice and Rain, whom seems rather shy and quiet in comparison.

„Angry little tom, hm? I still hear his cursing"

Talon chuckles calmly, eyes returning to the water's surface. The soft ripples distorting the reflection of the two cats slightly. Ashfur turns his head towards him

„So you were part of the raid…"

„I figured that was fairly apparent. Did the grey one's wound heal?"

„Greystripe recovered well. Was it you who wounded him?"

Ashfur's pelt rises a bit, anger entering his eyes. Talon observes the blue eyed cat's reaction from the corner of his eye

„If we hadn't left when we did, there would have been a fight. He pinned me, I had to choose, his leg or his throat. Should I have chosen otherwise?"

Ashfur pauses in a brief moment of contemplation before shaking his head

„Why were you there in the first place? Why raid our camp? What do you have to gain from taking our herbs?"

„Your herbs"

Talon turns his head towards the ashen warrior as he delivers his brief answer matter-of-factly

„How well do you imagine medical herbs to grow in twoleg-place? You can collect new stock easily, we don't. We will need it when the cold season begins and cats get sick"

Ashfur's pelt slowly lays flat again. It seems like the forest warrior has gotten an answer he was seeking. Perhaps now would be a good time to get an answer from him as well.

„How did your own raid go that night?"

This question seems to catch the Thunderclan cat completely off-guard, his head tilting and eyes wondering

„What raid? We don't raid other clans camps like that"

„No? Your clan left with quite a lot of warriors that night"

Ashfur shakes his head, scoffing

„We weren't out to fight. It was the full moon"

Talon cocks his head to one side at this remark. It sounds as if he is supposed to understand the meaning of that, but he can't quite deduce what the moon would have to do with anything. After a moment Ashfur seems to pick up on the confusion, realising that without context that would mean very little. Although, the tom seems cautious about what he says

„It's just a custom of the clans. You would not understand. You do not follow Starclan and it's code"

Talon exhales. That's less specific than he hoped, but still useful.

„So it's a regular behaviour shared across the clans believing in Starclan…"

Ashfur tenses up, seeming to sense that he still managed to give away something more than he should have. Talon has to force himself to not chuckle at the humorous image the tense warrior makes for a moment

„Rest easy. There are no further raids planned, for now at least. Leafbare is almost upon us, never wise to launch far attacks during leafbare."

This only calms Ashfur a little by the seems of things, the tom muttering a silent curse at himself under his breath. Amusing as it is, Talon does not want to risk having it end there. Too many things he would still care to know. Perhaps he can lure the tom on a bit. He too must have come at least in part out of curiosity's sake

„No need to despair just yet. The next question is yours. I can tell you have more questions than just that"

His red eyes watching the Thunderclan warrior slowly getting a grip again, Talon waits patiently for his next inquiry. Ashfur seems to ponder a whole while as to what he would ask, before a bit quietly bringing forth his question, leaving Talon a bit astonished by his choice

„Those claws, how do you get those? And why?"

Talon raises his right front paw, the dogteeth almost shining in the light of moon and stars. Moving his digits a bit, the considerable claws move before the curious eyes of the blue eyed warrior

„Our dogteeth? Well… I could say it's a Bloodclan custom and that you wouldn't understand it…"

Talon whiskers twitch, beholding the claws that have accompanied him for quite a while now

„But if you care to take the time, I'll explain. The why is pretty simple, I think you can feel it still, in fact"

Talon's eyes move to Ashfur's back, the Thunderclan warrior, turning his gaze away, his ears flat

„Yes, I guess so."

As his eyes return to his claws, Talon continues, allowing memories to flood him as he does

„Like most of our customs, it has it's origin with Scourge. Back when Bloodclan was still very young and we faced bands of rogues and dog infestations everywhere. We needed something to set us apart, something that would give us an advantage. The only way to secure our survival was with our claws. Scourge was the first to use dogteeth as trophies, then the thought came up: we know how devastating they can be against us… what if we used them for us then?"

Taking a look over at Ashfur, he finds the ashen warrior listening attentively, ears perked

„So… you took the actual teeth of dogs?"

Talon hums quietly, tilting his head slightly

„Yes and no… The best dogteeth to take are their large fang like ones, but a dog only has four of those. That would only suffice for one paw of one cat… When we hunt dogs, the cat landing the killing blow decides who gets those. But many dog bones are big and sturdy. Any cat that participated on the hunt gets the right to carve themselves their `dogteeth` from the dog's bones. So while every Bloodclan warrior has a collar they can slowly fill with trophies, not every cat has their dogteeth. They are earned on one's first dog hunt. Can't grow higher in rank than warrior before earning your claws"

Ashfur looks at the large reinforcing claws, thoughts mulling behind his deep blue eyes as he works though what he learned now

„So you actually hunt dogs. As a rite of passage of sorts"

„More or less. But with food being always sparse, and dogs being a threat, especially in packs, that is often only a secondary reason for the hunt. Security and food are more often the real reason we hunt them. If we'd let them run rampant, we'd all be in constant danger. And a dog, while pretty awful in taste, can feed many cats"

Ashfur nods slowly, his eyes seeming heavy with memories. Talon remembers that part of Tigerstar's plots was to unleash dogs on the clans. Had Ashfur encountered them by chance? Perhaps it'd be prudent not to ask something potentially painful. They may hunt them sometimes, but all Bloodclan warriors know the carnage a dog pack can cause, which is why they hunt them to begin with. A few heartbeats pass before the Thunderclan warrior speaks again, his voice laden with suppressed emotion.

„I guess it's your turn for a question? Is that how this works?"

Talon puts his paw down, his tail tip flicking

„If that is how we care to do this. I admit, I haven't planned this all out that well. Hiding in a tree to make sure you don't ambush me with a full patrol was as much preparation as I managed to put into this. I have a lot on my mind lately. Clan life keeps me busy most days"

Ashfur gives an ironic little scoff, the memories in his eyes ebbing away a bit

„Seems our clans got that in common. Well, go on then, ask. But know that I won't give answers that betray my clan"

„I expected nothing less. In that case…"

Talon looks upon the surface of the river again, beholding the sparkling reflection of the stars in the water. Perhaps he could know something about those dreams, or just dreams in general? It wouldn't be too careless to ask, would it?

„You cats believe in this… Starclan, right? Does Starclan have anything to do with… odd dreams?"

Ashfur's ears perk at the question, his own interest only poorly veiled as he ponders his response

„Starclan sometimes sends omens or messages through dreams. But only medicine cats receive those omens, in some rare cases leaders. But in the end it is the medicine cat's duty to interpret them."

Talon hums quietly, mind working to find meaning in this. He is no healer, nor is he by any means a real believer in Starclan. In his own conscience, he's not sure if he is truly worth the description of leader yet either. His thoughtfulness does not pass Ashfur by unnoticed, the tom seeming both very eager to hear more, yet reluctant to ask about it. Maybe it wouldn't be wise to share dreams of Scourge with a forest cat. Especially if he himself has no way of interpreting it yet. Talon shakes his head.

„Maybe I just need more sleep. It doesn't matter for now."

„Maybe…"

The Thunderclan warrior seems disappointed at this conclusion, but not willing to prod, for which Talon is thankful. The general nervousness of both toms seems to have gone though, he notices equally gratefully. Perhaps he could get more information out of Ashfur as time goes on and they meet more often. Anything he learns of the forest clans is a useful advantage to have, while he can get the gratification satisfying his own curiosity in the process. Either way, it seems to work well to keep his mind off the convoluted matters of Bloodclan and it's factions for now, which is more than welcome for a change. A different way to come down from Bloodclan's stress than he usually finds by coming here, but such way is a welcome one.