Moonlight tried to be quiet as he slipped into the Shadowclan clearing, but he couldn't keep himself from shaking the sleep-smell off his fur. He didn't like sharing a den with other cats, let alone this many. They didn't seem to like sharing space with him, either.
He'd arrived at a bad time, it seemed, stumbling into their camp as they mourned a fallen leader. He'd heard that Clan cats took whole days to mourn the dead, especially those they'd submitted to, but he hadn't entirely believed it. What was the use? Mercuryrose, as they called her, was dead. She didn't benefit from this, and the living Clan members certainly didn't. But he'd kept his mouth shut, done his best to look impressed and somber as the cats wept poetic about the dead leader. He wanted to - had to - make a good impression.
It had been contentious, but Shadowclan had decided to let him stay, at least for now. If he could, he'd wait longer before sneaking out, wait until he was less of an oddity, until his scent was less noticeable. But time was something he didn't have.
The night was clear, and Moonlight's nearly-white pelt gleamed beneath its namesake. Thankfully, there were no Warriors here to see him. He padded on silent paws to the edge of camp, and at last slunk into the shadows of the pines.
It didn't take long to realize he was being followed.
He was done for. He'd disturbed one of the Warriors, and they'd seen him leaving. They'd chase him out of their territory, and he'd be back to square one. If he was lucky.
He turned, tail lashing, ready for a fight if a fight was coming.
The cat in front of him was not a Warrior. She was barely older than a kit, and noisy on her paws as she hopped after him. Moonlight flattened his ears back, scowled at the young cat in confusion. "What are you doing out here?" he hissed.
Moonlight pricked at the question, and bit down on the urge to snap that it was none of Morningpaw's business. He had opened himself up to it by asking her first, after all; and one thing he was learning about Morningpaw was that trying to shut her out would only make her push harder.
"I... needed a fresh start," he said. Not untrue. "And I'd heard a lot about the Clans. I guess I wanted to see if everything I've heard was true."
Morningpaw stopped short, caught off-guard by the question. It was a perfectly rational inquiry, but her mind had to search with a bit more effort than usual for her true answer. Perhaps it was because she hadn’t gotten much say in living here, what she thought of it had not been relevant.
“Oh, it’s alright I suppose? Lots of trees to climb..” She chuckled weakly, eying their forest surroundings. Even after all this time, she was still a bit unused to how wild nature was in the lands untouched by man.
“I like my foster family, Hareflight, and all of my foster siblings.” She smiled warmly at the thought of them. Hareflight’s blood-children were a good deal older than she was, growing up as the baby of the family had been very enjoyable. A good consolation prize for having no littermates of her own.
“What about you? Why’d you come here?” She asked.
So, Moonlight wasn't the only stray Shadowclan had taken in recently. "Perhaps you and I should stick together, then," he said. "Until your mother gets back. We newcomers should have each other's backs, after all." Privately, Moonlight doubted that Morningpaw's mother would ever return - but that was no way to win friends.
He followed Morningpaw in silence for a while. For someone so new to the clan, she seemed confident in where she was going. "How do you like Shadowclan?" he asked eventually.
Morningpaw led the way, her tail held straight-up like a stiff board.
“Oh for sure! I keep accidentally wandering off myself! They’ll chase you like they’re gonna do something, but most patrols don’t really want to fight for no reason.” She went on, though she had not tested this particular theory very thoroughly. Just because a pack of angry RiverClan cats wasn’t likely to actually unsheathe their claws did not mean it was sensible to call that bluff.
“Me? Oh, no. I came to live here when I was four moons old. Hareflight knew my mother, you see.” She explained cheerily, though the corners of her smile became rather fixed as the topic strayed into her personal situation.
“I was born in a barnyard far away from here. My mother has some important things she needs to do, but she’ll come back for me when she’s done.”
There would be no getting rid of the young cat, Moonlight realized. He had been outmaneuvered by an infant.
Annoyed, he followed Morningpaw into the pine forest. "I suppose you're right," he said, putting on a more charming voice. "That's- actually why I'm out here," he ad-libbed. If he was going to be made to miss his meeting, he could at least gain some information. "I know the clans are very sensitive about their borders. I want to check all of them out so I don't accidentally stumble into another territory."
He eyed Morningpaw as they walked. She was odd-looking, her coloration split down the middle. Even her eyes were mismatched. "What do you mean longer than me?" he asked, suddenly struck by the comment. "Weren't you born here?"
The obviously suspicious nature of the older Warrior did not appear to phase Morningpaw, nor his continued hostility. Indeed, they bounced off of her cheery aura like water on duck feathers.
She leaned forward, inspecting him with her two-toned gaze thoroughly.
“Well, if it’s that important, let me help! I’ve been here longer than you, if you go out on your own you might get lost.” She pointed out with a grin, and bounced towards the camp exit.
“You coming?”
The kit's - apprentice's? - nonchalance threw Moonlight off more than he cared to admit. He'd felt nothing but off-balance these past days, with so many new cats to meet, new rules to follow, and the whole clan in confusion about some kind of succession crisis. He'd always thought stability was the benefit Clan cats got in exchange for their freedom, but apparently not.
"I'm- something important!" he snapped, rising from his fighting crouch and trying to look imposing. He wasn't a large cat, but he was long-limbed, giving him a height advantage over the young apprentice. "Why don't you get back to your den and stop asking questions?"
Morningpaw had been lounging just outside the Apprentice’s den when she saw the movement of a ghostly figure across the way. She’d had a nightmare, her usual one. In it she was always immobilized, unable to move, helpless as she watched her mother’s retreating figure pad out of the camp entrance tunnel. She would try to cry out, but her voice didn’t work either. She supposed this was only natural, to be missing her only parent in this strange new place. But she had to trust that she’d left her here for a reason, even if loneliness twisted her heartstrings sometimes.
Almost elated for a distraction, she bounded silently after the light-furred tom. What was his name again? Moolight? He’d interrupted what had been, in Morningpaw’s opinion, a very dull funeral. Holding still and being quiet did not come naturally to her, so such an affair was more akin to torture. Nevermind that she barely knew the Deputy-turned-Leader. She’d hardly known the tom who was in charge beforehand either, though he’d seemed very friendly enough.
She hopped along, trying to line up her steps with the much larger pawprints of her target. But his legs were much longer than hers. So intent she was that she didn’t even notice he’d turned around until they were nose-to-nose. Her calico fur fluffed up.
“Oh I just had a bad dream. What are you doing out here?” She chirped, hardly put-off by his aggression.