//Can't Keep Away// &&Open

[hawK]

It was completely irrational.

The brown she-cat knew there was no legitimate reason for her to be returning to this place. He'd told her to leave, and she had. He'd told her not to come back, and there was no way to know if he'd follow through with his threat of harming her. He could, there was no question: his size would overwhelm her in an instant, and she really wasn't a good fighter.

But she had to go back.

It was like she was drawn to the place where they'd met, compelled to go back until she saw him again. So return she did; she'd been returning for three days now, and there'd been no sign of him. The wind had brought her scents, though, and she could recognize his smell among the mixed odors. He was still here: it was only a matter of time.

This was the time, apparently.

For the third day in a row, she had returned to where he'd threatened her. This time she was lucky--he was here again. As his head swung to meet the scent of a familiar cat, their eyes met across the distance of about ten foxlengths.

[Rainy]

(is she gonna join the clan, or is something bad gonna happen to end this, or will this stay secret for like, ever? I feel bad interrupting... Maybe Silverspring will randomly appear. she is in the same boat as Redstorm, in love with a loner named Basil. She ends up bearing his kits later. Maybe... she can wander along, and ask redstorm something... like, oh, I dunno, is loyalty to one;s clan the same as being loyal to the warrior code? She keeps telling herself its okay to see Basil, to have a "friend" outside of the clan...)

[hawK]

(Fine with me. I thought about having her join the Clan, but I'm not so sure now. That /is/ a good idea. But he's deputy and it would shake the Clan's faith in him to have him in love with a loner. It'd be good for this current plot here. I do know that they will end up having kits, though, and I was planning on having this last for a good long time, skirting around the truth until it finally just snaps and they have to admit it.)

[Rainy]

(okay. i won't press it yet. at least, I don't know what to say... lol but yeah, I'd see your point. The Clan will snap!)

[hawK]

(Umhmm.)

[Rainy]

(shall Silverspring appear NOW or do you wanan post about red and friend's encounter?)

[hawK]

As their eyes locked, Redstorm was drawn inexorably forward. He never looked around or tried to fight his impulse, as if he already knew it was pointless to try. Meeting again was inevitable, and if the deputy really searched his soul, he'd find that he wanted to see her again. And again. And maybe a third time.

They stood close, with about a rabbit's length between them. The silence wasn't oppressive, but was comfortable and friendly. Redstorm raised his hackles, bristling his fur. The brown she-cat's eyes would have normally widened with alarm, but she found she couldn't respond in a logical way. Taking a step closer, her jaws opened slightly to taste the familiar scent.

"You shouldn't be here."

The words shocked her: no expert at reading behavior, Temperance wasn't quite sure what to expect from cats at any time, but he was different. She thought he would want to see her, because although he had threatened her, the words had seemed hollow to her. Whether they really were or not was a different matter. The hurt showed in her eyes, and Redstorm sighed.

"You shouldn't have come," he said, changing his tone a bit. "It isn't safe. My Clan chases away trespassers, and you can't be on our territory." His voice was almost reluctant, as if this was information he wished the other cat didn't have to hear.

She just stared at him, searching his face for answers. "But you aren't saying what you mean," she guessed.

Avoiding her statement which hit uncomfortably close to home, the deputy redirected. "You've trespassed twice now, and I don't even know your name."

A triumphant smile graced Tempe's features: "I've actually come four times. You weren't here the other two days I waited for you."

"Four times, then. Doesn't change the fact that I don't know your name." Over the course of their conversation, Redstorm's fur had fell flat, no longer able to pretend to be hostile. The silence stretched on, and was broken by an awkward smile.

"Temperance is my name," the brown she-cat said. Her smile was crooked, as if she'd forgotten how.

"Temperance," Redstorm repeated, the word falling uncertainly from his tongue. Mulling it over a second, he said in a hurried tone: "What about Tempe? It's shorter and it suits you."

The brown she-cat repeated the nickname. "Tempe," she said slowly. "I'm not sure I like it."

Redstorm frowned, thinking again. "What about Bones? You're so skinny that it definitely fits," he laughed slightly. Her thin build was either a result of birth or hunger, and he didn't want her to be hungry.

Temperance's hackles rose this time, and her eyes snapped. "No, definitely not. That's an awful name." Her temper seemed to confirm the second thought: she was hungry and she knew it. Knowing that he knew it made her feel inferior, as if he was better than she was. The ginger tom was taken aback by her sudden fury, and his gentle gaze swept the moor. "How about this? I catch you a rabbit, outside WindClan territory, and you promise not to trespass again?" His voice and face gave away the emptiness of the last words: he knew she'd come back and he welcomed the thought.

The brown she-cat nodded and turned without a further word, heading back towards the border. Redstorm followed, and after he'd caught and given up the rabbit, he turned for home. Resuming his patrol, the look in her eyes haunted him. Their brown depths seemed to swallow him up, and he wanted nothing more than to wallow in them forever.

It was then that he caught the scent of another cat and blanched in horror: he smelled of her now, and he smelled of caught prey. Quickly, he groped for a lie. I chased off a rogue who'd caught and eaten a rabbit, he repeated in his mind.

(NOW Silverspring can come in. )

EDIT: I think she will eventually join the Clan because Redstorm takes pity on her and knows she'll have a hard time surviving without the Clan. She used to be a kittypet and has very few skills. Briarstar's a nice guy, so maybe he can agree? Afterwards, when she's in the Clan, they'll be best friends for a while and then after that they'll become mates. The fact that he's been secretly feeding her and meeting her will be enough to undermine his status.

[Rainy]

(yeah sometimes i think briarstar is TOO nice. he wants to make everyone happy in his clan, which is really his biggest flaw. he wants his clan to be one and to get along. is that so bad? sigh, what would rainstar say? lol but if thats what redstorm wants, why not? it happens, this love thing, and he just got caught in tempe's web.)

Silverspring sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose. "What is that wierd scent? Did you just chase off a rouge? Guessing by it's reek all over you, you had to be a bit... assertive..." she had just been off seeing her own friend, and her heart raced with fear that Redstorm would pry and find out about Basil. In an attempt to throw off any suspicions, she turned her focus on the deputy. However she couldn't hide the gleam of happiness in her eyes and the spring of happiness in her steps. "Er, hungry were you?" she mewed, glancing at the rabbit's remains. For a second she wondered if this was something else - after all, she noticed the rouge's scent was female, but she was the last cat to accuse another of breaking the warrior code. Besides, she trusted the deputy with her life.

[hawK]

"No, but I got here a little too late," Redstorm explained. He licked his chest fur to gather himself: he was falling apart and desperately afraid Silverspring would see through his careful facade. "The rogue had already caught and eaten this rabbit before I arrived, and then it took some force to drive her off. Not anything serious, though. She was all fur and bones." Picking up a male rogue's scent on Silverspring's fur, he frowned slightly. "Been busy yourself? Are you alright?"

[Rainy]

Silverspring's insides clenched with panic but she kept it inside. Her fur lying flat, she replied calmly, "Ran into a problem of my own, but I convinced him to leave..." she unsheathed her claws, then sheathed them again, to give him the wrong picture, but technically her words weren't untruthful.
'Redstorm, can I ask you a question?" she mewed suddenly, keeping her tone careful.

[hawK]

The ginger deputy smiled, sitting down on the brittle grass beneath him. "I believe you already did, but feel free to ask another," he purred. Hopefully assuming his usual demeanor would throw off suspicion. Especially in these times, any kind of interaction with rogues would put him in a bad place, and he was the deputy! These kind of things couldn't happen anymore...but he had a feeling they would.

[Rainy]

Silverspring laughed nervously, twitching her ears. She took a deep breath, still hesitating, but finally she just had to know his opinion and the words burst out, "Is loyalty to one's Clan the same as being loyal to the warrior code? I... have just been thinking for awhile now, and... I'm confused. And desperate." She didn't say about what, but her eyes were pleading. If he pressed for her reason she would just say she wanted to know the true definition of a warrior. But she could guess Redstorm wasn't being so honest about something... he wasn't in a position for such thorough questioning... ( lol)

[hawK]

"The Clan and the warrior code are two different things, Silverspring," Redstorm began. This was a question pertinent to his current situation, but did she know that? Was she asking because she was suspicious? That was a ridiculous assumption, though. As far as the Clan knew, there was nothing to be suspicious about. There was nothing to be suspicious about. "The Clan is your family, and the code is what makes the Clan run smoothly. It tells us how to live. The code says we must be loyal to the Clan above all else because it's so much more important than any one of our lives. It must live on, even if our lives have to be sacrificed for it. And in reward for our service to the Clan, we join another Clan. A paradise." Redstorm's eyes rose to meet the sky where he knew the stars of Silverpelt to be, even if they did not show in the daytime. "The stars guide us, as they laid the code before us. In the darkest night when the moon does not shine, it is impossible for clouds to completely blot out the stars. They will always be there." The ginger tom frowned to himself. He wasn't making any sense. "So no. The code and the Clan are separate but intertwined as hopelessly as..." he trailed off. As hopelessly as two cats from different worlds, he thought, her image flashing behind his eyes.

[Rainy]

"As?" murmered Silverspring, but she wasn't really paying attention to that. She was thinking about what he had said. No was the answer, but in her heart she knew she had been lying to herself all alone. She WAS breaking the code, but she didn't care, she decided with a sudden burst of defiance. She loved him no matter what. She glanced at Redstorm, hoping he hadn't noticed the change of emotion in her eyes, but he appeared distracted himself. "Thanks, Redstorm. I think I've got it now."