` someday, we'll know { tag:SHADECLAW

[pretzel]

The stream babbled far below her, churning with mud and debris as the storms of the past few days began to pass. High above, cloud roiled and brewed angrily in the sky, but she ignored them, instead staring into the stream below.

Her brown tail flicked silently as Rushtail contemplated her thoughts. She moved down the pine tree's soft trunk with the ease of a seasoned climber, careful to keep her claws embedded deep in the tree's bark. Lightly pushing off from the tree and jumping to the ground, Rushtail gave a small 'oof' as she landed before making her way to the stream.

A water vole scuttled at the water's edge, foraging for food before the cold autumn days seeped their grasp into the life of the valley. Rushtail crouched, brown tabby pelt blending easily into her surroundings. This was one water vole who wouldn't be seeing leaf-bare this year.

Springing forward, the lithe PineClan warrior fell just a mouse-length short of her prey, watching in anger as the vole jumped and scurried away to safety. Anger boiling forth, Rushtail swiped an unsheathed paw at the nearest object, a young sapling, gouging thick claw marks into the tree's trunk. "Fox dung!"

[/color] Rushtail wasn't one for cursing, but this had been but one event in a long string of bad luck. The she-cat sighed, settling her gaze on the stream and moving towards it, watching the rippling water distort her reflection before sweeping it away.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Rebecca]

All of a sudden, his paws were wet. Shadeclaw sighed, looking down at the murky brown water that rushed over his forepaws. He didn't move them for a moment, savoring the feeling of the cool water that ran over him, cleaning him, clensing him.
He wished it clensed him of his sins.

The brawny gray tabby stood on the edge of the stream on the OakClan side, his forepaws outstreched into the water. It occured to him that he had missed the first stepping stone to get to the other side. But not like he cared. He had bigger things to worry about than getting his feet wet.
Shadeclaw had gotten Duskfur pregnant. The deputy of PineClan was having kits, his kits. He still just couldn't get over that, and it seemed that neither could PineClan. Most cats avoided him and treated him as an outcast. But he couldn't blame them. He had committed a horrible, terrible sin. The day Bluestorm found out the tom practically gave him a Hawkstar-like lecture about "responsibility and common sense", neither of which Shadeclaw seemed to have.
Well, he could agree with Bluestorm for once.

As soon as Duskfur had told him, Shadeclaw went into shock and denial. He stopped talking to pretty much everyone. He had never really had been friends with any other tom cats because they had been jealous of him for being with almost every she-cat in PineClan. The she-cats in PineClan seemed to hate him for getting Duskfur, of all cats, pregnant. After two moons of dealing with the hatred, Shadeclaw just couldn't take it any more.

He came here to the stream, on the OakClan side, to escape from them. He loved PineClan to death and would never dream of leaving it, but right now he just couldn't bear to be among its members. The icy looks, the stares, the whispers, the glares...
It was all too much for him.
He stayed on the OakClan side to keep as much distance from the PineClan camp as possible.
Shadeclaw rarely left the stream. In the mornings he hunted and brought large amounts of prey into the camp then disappeared during the afternoon and until the moon was high. It wasn't like anyone would be looking for him.

'Fox dung!'
Shadeclaw pulled his paws out of the stream, his ears twitching. Oh, great. Who was here? He squinted to get a better look.
Rushtail?
Great, just great. Another she-cat to accuse and judge him.

He stood tall and silent, watching and waiting. She would spot him soon enough.

[pretzel]

The sound of splashing brought Rushtail back from her anger. Blue eyes narrowing, the she-cat strained to catch sight of what had made the noise, claws unsheathed if she found that it was a foe.

Zeroing in on the splashing's source, Rushtail easily recognized Shadeclaw, standing on the opposite side of the stream, hastily pulling his paws out of the water. But what was he doing here? And why was he on OakClan's side of the stream?

Padding lightly towards him, Rushtail flicked her tail. She had mixed feelings for Shadeclaw at the moment: pity for the way the rest of the Clan treated him when Duskfur was bound to get herself pregnant eventually, the way she padded after every tom in the Clan. Rushtail felt that PineClan was just searching for someone to blame for the temporary loss of it's deputy, and the only cat who they could turn to was Shadeclaw, though it was Duskfur herself they should be placing the blame on. Even though Rushtail wasn't a great fan of Shadeclaw and his escapades, she disliked Duskfur even more.

She couldn't help but feel a wave of anger towards the tom, however. If he hadn't felt the need to pad after every cat in the Clan, then he never would've become the father of Duskfur's kits. It was stupid of him to get involved with her and Rushtail knew he was smarter than that. They had trained together, after all. The she-cat knew his strengths and weaknesses.

And then there was the third side of her emotions, which reared it's ugly head as soon as she had learned of Shadeclaw's new father status. The emotion burned through her veins like fire, clawed at her stomach with an intensity she hadn't known before; it had been the distraction that bothered her every minute of the day and the night, it had invaded her dreams and the very corners of her mind. Rushtail didn't know what this feeling was nor why she was feeling it, but she knew that she wanted it gone. And the only way to get rid of something was to confront it head on.

Which was why she found herself padding towards Shadeclaw instead of running away like she usually would have done.

"Shadeclaw? What are you doing?" Rushtail carefully kept her emotions out of her voice, known and unknown. She glanced down at the stream as it rushed between them. "Why are you on OakClan territory?"

[Rebecca]

Shadeclaw watched as Rushtail padded towards him, looking as disapproving as everyone else in PineClan did when they saw him. Even those bratty apprentices who thought they were somehow tougher than the strongest warrior held him in contempt. It was starting to drive him mad!

'Shadeclaw? What are you doing?'

What did it look like he was doing?
Hiding from the world.

"I'm merely thinking and relaxing, my dear. What brings you to this section of the stream, hmm?"
Shadeclaw meowed, forcing a gallant smile.

'Why are you on OakClan territory?'

To escape from PineClan territory and the cats who inhabited it.

"I like this side better; the bank is softer."
He lied through his teeth. He seemed to be doign that a lot lately. He was living a lie. Most of the time he pretended to be his snarky, up-beat self, desperately trying to not show anyone how he felt about the matter.
Maybe that was one of the reasons why PineClan seemed to hate him so much.

[pretzel]

"I like this side better; the bank is softer."

Rushtail smirked slightly, splashing across the stepping stones to land lightly on the opposite shore. She tested the ground a little bit, padding up and down the bank, feeling the hardness of the ground beneath her paws without the pine needles of PineClan territory to cushion her footfalls. "Liar," she mewed, butting her shoulder playfully against his. "It's harder on this side."

Lifting her eyes to his, Rushtail looked at the tom, quiet discontent in her eyes. "It's because of Duskfur, isn't it? Because PineClan blames you."

Rushtail felt bad, asking him outright like that. But she didn't know any other way to approach the situation; subtlety was never her strong suit.

[Rebecca]

Shadeclaw's eyes narrowed as she hopped along the rocks across the stream to meet him. Why couldn't she continue being one of the few she-cats who ignored him and leaved him to his own devices. Right now he really wasn't in the mood to be a casanova... because look what that attitude had broguht him already. A batch of illegitimate kits who he hadn't even bothered but was still curious to meet.

Now, it wasn't as if he disliked the infamous Branchkit and Thicketkit... He just really didn't want to meet the product of the event that had made him an outcast in the Clan he loved so dearly. He felt that if he met them, his sins would finally be recognized to the fullest extent. They would he here to stay, making his deed final. He couldn't stay in the twilight zone, in denial, forever, and that scared him.

'Liar, it's harder on this side.'
Shadeclaw didn't reply. He was a liar. He had been lying a lot lately. It wasn't something that he was proud of.

'It's because of Duskfur, isn't it? Because PineClan blames you?'
His head snapped up, his fangs drawn back.
"No Rushtail, it's because I enjoy being cut off from my family and friends. Of course it's about Duskfur! It's always been about Duskfur. Everyone in PineClan, and this probably even includes you, hates me for what I did and isn't afraid to show it!"
He meowed harsher than he meant to, but shrugged the sudden feeling10. of guilt off. She had asked for it by questioning him like that. It was a sensitive subject.