[mvoxhu]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

Muscles tensed as the feline heard another cat approaching. Addaxclaw narrowed his eyes, as though that would make his vision clearer, and breathed a sigh of relief when the cat came further into view. It was just Lynxthroat - the tom he had met here before. A sense of relaxation set in, and the fear vanished from Addaxclaw's stance. It wasn't like him to be so on edge - but after recent events, he was feeling slightly less confident then usual. That battle had been fierce... and Addaxclaw had hardly fought in it, as a matter of fact, all he had done was land a couple of blows and run. As a former loner, it was in his blood to run when there was that big of a fight. And what a fight it had been! Those Dusk Syndicate cats were big, and mean, and... and Addaxclaw wondered if he wouldn't have been better off fighting harder. At least they had won in the end. Those ThunderClanners wouldn't stand a chance next time, too... next time Addaxclaw would fight harder. Or maybe he wouldn't, but he'd at least give it more of a shot rather then just running away.

He would try a little harder. "So nice to see you too," He answered somewhat absentmindedly, scanning his surroundings while his tail twitched back and forth. The tom was on the lookout for trouble - yet trouble wouldn't strike out here, in the middle of the night in WindClan territory. It was late - too late for him to be up, really, and all other cats were sleeping in hopes of having rejuvenated spirits and energy the next morning. But for Addaxclaw? He had gone to a Clan to escape some of this stuff, the danger and all. It seemed he would have been better off on his own. Maybe he wouldn't have gotten caught up in all of this. Was it even worth it? All the fighting and everything? Addaxclaw wasn't sure, but he would surely wait and see for at least a little longer. He was free out here - in the middle of the night - with no one around, except for a certain ShadowClanner.

One that, if Addaxclaw didn't know himself better, he would have said he was practically stalking at this point. Eventually his attention returned to Lynxthroat, and he smirked just the smallest bit. It was more of a half smile, to be honest, but the words that left his maw were more important then his expression. "Are you doing alright, Addaxclaw? Why yes, thank you, Lynxthroat for your concern." The imaginary conversation that he was holding with himself might have sounded like slight insanity, had it not been for the teasingly raised pitch of his voice when he pretended to mimic Lynxthroat's own. That was the type of conversation Addaxclaw wished he had. And the type he was pretty sure didn't exist for him. For whatever reason, his clanmates seemed more then suspicious of the newcomer - had he been there from a younger age, or perhaps for longer, they might have been more willing to accept him. But there were definitely cats who didn't seem to want him around. At least he had a few good friends. There were those cats who were much friendlier to him, and acted like they could handle him. He was thankful for them - and as for the others? Well, if they were going to be that rude, they could do as they pleased. Addaxclaw wasn't going to deal with them.

No sir, not him. He was going to open his maw to speak again, when he seemed to think better of it and instead turned his attention towards the sky. Did Clan cats really believe there were ancestors watching over them somewhere up there? What was the place called, StarClan? And they called the stars... Silverpelt, or something like that. Addaxclaw hadn't really picked up on the traditional beliefs and terms of the Clan yet, which made him seem like even more of an outsider. That was okay, he was just going to have to try a little harder and maybe someday he would finally belong there. He couldn't always be just 'that loner' forever, anyways... at some point he was going to have to be accepted into the inner workings and dealings of the Clan.

Whenever that would happen, Addaxclaw would be ready for it. Heck, he was ready now! But patience was a virtue, confidence was a blessing, and at the moment, he was keeping them both very close to him. Patience and confidence were his best friends right now - especially the confident part, Addaxclaw could have used some extra if he were being honest with himself. Yet just as he had overcome the obstacle of his first apprentice (a former loner, just like him) he would overcome this new obstacle. The obstacle of winning everyone in WindClan's trust - or at least, some of their trust.

The last time they had both met, Lynxthroat's toes had been soaked with the moist, Riverclan dirt. This time, it was fairly similar. The rank smell of fish was nonexistent however, much to his glee. It wouldn't be hard to admit that the ground in Riverclan was almost the same as the terrain of Shadowclan, both quite wet and marshy; with cat-tails placed here and there. It was kind of odd, how he'd grown up the entirety of his life so used to the same muddy substance underneath his paws. If he were to move to one of the other neighbouring clans, he would probably struggle to hunt and fight; at least until he had gotten used to drier land. The territories were all unique too. When Shadowclan's areas had flooded over with water, and the cats had moved over to Riverclan, Lynxthroat had made sure to remember any significant places on their territory. And, boy, were there a lot of them. He had noticed that the prey consisted of mostly fish, so the cats had basically become accustomed to hunting in wet conditions. The plants were all fairly dull too, with only a few bright berries sprouting out here and there.

He assumed that the other clans had their own secrets hidden within their territory. Lynxthroat was pretty sure that there were only certain herbs that grew in certain territories; or that's what he had gathered from Daypaw's ventures away from camp. It made him wonder what it was like in the other clans, maybe he'd be better in one of their camps'; instead of the boring, old Shadowclan's. It was hard waking up and doing the same thing over and over, seeing the same sights constantly. Perhaps it would be best to change up his routine a bit. Some action never did anyone harm, right?

Scoffing at the other tom's sarcastic tone, Lynxthroat couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Oh, my dear Addaxclaw," he mewed, with an equal amount of sass dripping from his words, "It's been so long! I could barely cope without you!" The male drew out his words, and forced a more feminine-hint to his tone, whilst dramatically flailing about. His eyebrows slanted downwards, and sadness feigned across his features. Of course, this didn't last long; and he swiftly averted his behaviour back to its usual, 'cool and emotionless' mode. A smirk wound its way upon the tom's lips, tugging at the left side of his face especially; although, with the lack of moonlight gleaming down upon the area, it was pretty well hidden.

Willing his mitts to move forwards, the tom was now able to smell the fresh and citrus-y scent that lignered on the Windclanner. It was somehow refreshing to his scent glands, and it was difficult to admit to, but Lynxthroat actually liked the smell. Or, it was at least nice compared to the monotonous smell of pine and earth that most Shadowclan cats had adapted to. His hind legs draped underneath the thicker fur of his belly, and sooty-brown paws were almost covered in the lighter-brown shades of fluffy fur. The bob-cat sat almost like he was too lazy to even bother with anything else; shoulders hunched forward at an angle, and ear-tips running in line with the top of his skull. A faint sparkle glimmered within the leaf-green depths of his eyes. But it seemed to be more dulled out by the fact that his body seemed almost like it was so heavy that the tom couldn't carry it.

However, he perked up at the sound Addaxclaw's voice once more. Shaking his cranium from side-to-side in as gentle a way as he could muster, whilst his breath momentarily hitched inside of his windpipe. Lynxthroat turned to face the male, putting the entirety of his attention onto the tom-cat. "Alright, alright." He sighed, giving in to the Windclanner and his sarcasm.
"Genuinely," he announced, with as stoic a face as he could present, "how have you been?" Lynxthroat couldn't deny that the male ahead of him had been, in fact, growing on him. Who would've thought that a sour-faced homophobe could potentially befriend a flirty tom? And of an opposite clan, too! Lynxthroat was actually kind of proud of himself, he'd never of seen something like this coming.