Wandered Too Far (Sly/O)

[Pantherpaw]

He shouldn't be out here. He really, really shouldn't be out here. He knew that. He was far from his camp, Riverclan, and he wasn't even supposed to leave it. He would get in so much trouble if his clan found him. Or worse, what if another clan found him? Strange smells were surronding him, and he knew they were the other clans. He couldn't dictate which clans they were, but he had a guess that he was close to Thunderclan, the area was becoming more woodsy.

He could feel the sun beating down on his gray-calico coat, and it felt nice, and calmed him. He stumbled slightly as he tried to jump over a small log. His undersized left paw made it over easy, but his right paw, normal sized, caught it just below the top. He fell over, but quickly regained his dignity, drawing his small paw over his left ear, which was also undersized. For a moment he mused. He must look very strange, with two undersized body parts, and one blind eye.

He quickly shook the thoughts from his head, and continued on. That is, until he came upon a sudden collection of odd smells, the markings of a different clan. Through instinct, he knew to stop, he shouldn't cross that boundry. Prehaps he should return to camp? He might be found by a Thunderclan patrol...

[{Snarky}]

Autumnkit blushed furiously as she padded, tripping over sticks and sharp rocks. She shouldn't be out of camp at all. Her mother would be furious, but she was tired of being the 'perfect one'. She was always the one that the other queens wished they had, or compared their kits to. 'Why can't you be more like Autumnkit?' She heaved a deep sigh, beginning to get scared as the darkness of shade from tall trees surrounded her. Unfamiliar scents made her wish she was back in the nursery, but she shrugged off the childish thought. She had to show them she had a streak of rebellion in her.

Tripping over another big stick, she meowed out loudly before she stopped to think of what, or who, might have heard her. Judging by the scents she recognized Windclan from her mother's pelt after patrols and realized she must be by the border. Shaking furiously, although she would deny fear if asked, she padded on much slower than before. Any small sound made her jump and she chided herself for feeling so much like a kit when she would soon be an apprentice. The wind howled, rippling her fur and almost knocking her off her small paws. She leaned against a tall oak, trying to see through the dense leaves to check for danger.

Suddenly, another strong scent filled her nostrils and she whipped around, trying to determine direction. Spinning in circles with no prevail left her feeling dizzy and utterly confused. Her eyes located a small kit tramping his way through the forest, but she chalked it up to dizziness and imagination until he tripped over a log and fell near her. She gasped, and realized he must have hear it as she began to back away, not getting far before realizing she was backed into a large tree.

[Pantherpaw]

OOC: -slaps self- Sorry! Sorry! I got my cats mixed up! Scorpionkit is from Riverclan, not Windclan. I'll change that in my post before. Ugg!

The gasp sent a wave of fear through Scorpionkit, and he stumbled, swerving his good eye to examine the area around him. Who had made that noise? Was it an owl? Another, enemy cat? Some kind of badger? Possibilities ran through his head, and in his panic he tripped again, falling backwards over a log. As a matter of fact, there was a good chance that it was the same log as before.

Finally, he caught site of the she-kit, looking just as scared as he felt. She was backed against a tree, probably staying still only because she couldn't go any further. For a moment he sized her up. She was obviously older then he, or at least his age, and fully intact, without his deformities. But, all in all, she didn't look like she was about to attack him. That was good, he didn't want anything or anyone to attack him.

"Are you a..a Thunderclan cat?" He asked, his face turned so that he could look at her with his one good, glittering green eye.

[{Snarky}]

Autumnkit shook too fiercely to say anything, so she just nodded. Although the young kit didn't look that tough, her mother had always told her looks can be deceiving. He might even be planning to attack her right now! She lowered herself to the ground in a non-threatening posture, hoping he would dismiss her as a mindless kit. Suddenly, she realize they must have the same thing in mind if they were both out here. Rising again and taking a very slow, cautious step forward, she addressed the kit.

"So you're out here too, huh?"
She meowed quietly although her voice seemed to carry loudly in the quiet of the large forest. She looked down at her paws, suddenly ashamed at breaking the rules although she was glad she had a friend to get caught with. "I'm Autumkit." She introduced, hoping he would do the same and they could be friends, although she knew it was a naive thought.

[Pantherpaw]

Scorpionkit stared at the young kit. She seemed nice enough, and almost a bit desperate to ward off any ideas of attacking her. Well, that was good, because Scorpionkit didn't want to attack her. He relaxed as she spoke, and though he was aware for anyone who might interupt, he kept his good eye on her. "Yeah, I couldn't stand being trapped in camp. I had to get out...of course...I don't know for sure if I can find my way back..." He paused, his tail twitching.

"I'm Scorpionkit." He said, puffing out his chest, as if to show off. He laughed slightly, his good eye glittering. "Its nice to meet you, Autumnkit." He added.

[{Snarky}]

Autumnkit gave her new friend a smile. "Same here." She told him, glad for the distraction from guilt. "I was tired of being perfect." She looked around, checking for any wandering eyes or listening ears. Even though she wanted to spoil her perfect record, she didn't want to get caught. Her mind was confused, and her emotions ripped in two. She turned back to Scorpionkit and attempted to initiate conversation again.

"So what do you want to do now?" She asked him, hoping he had an answer since she sure didn't. Her orange paws shifted nervously in the leaf-covered ground as a cold breeze swept through, chilling her through her coat of multi-colored calico fur. Her yellow eyes were making use of themselves as they sized up the kit, trying to decide whether or not he could be trusted. Deciding he could be, she walked over to him and sat in front of him with a relaxing smile.

[Pantherpaw]

Scorpionkit's good eye sparked at her words, and he grinned. It was a bit akward looking, a grin on the face crowned by two different sized ears. But he didn't care. It was his kit-like thinking that this Thunderclan kit could be a friend! Afterall, she seemed relaxed, and would probably be more then happy to play! Scorpionkit sank back on his haunches, wiggling his tail, before rising back up on all fours. "We could race! Or hunt! Or play tag! What do you think?" He asked, laughing slightly. A small voice in his head turned down the idea of racing or playing tag instantly. Could he, with his small paw? But he pushed the thought away. He wasn't disabled, just disformed!

[{Snarky}]

"Well...I've always wanted to try hunting...but I have a feeling most of the pray here is bigger than us." Autumnkit laughed happily. Leaning forward to lick her friend's cheek, she whispered, "Whatever you want to do is fine with me!" Her tail flicked in the breeze as she carefully watched the kit and judged the emotions flying across his face. She knew she was too young to be feeling this way, but she really like Scorpionkit. Blushing at her thoughts, she ducked her head, ears pricked to catch his response.

[Pantherpaw]

Scorpionkit blinked as a small tounge was dragged over his cheek. He grinned, and laughed almost nervously. "I think your right. They would probably tear us up. Imagine, prey hunting us!" He laughed. He grinned again, and leaned down, his tail flicking back and forth. He liked this other kit, even though she was from a different clan. She was pretty too, he mused, eye glittering. Suddenly he laughed, backing away slightly with a challenging gleam in his eye.

"Bet you can't catch me!" He yowled suddenly, all secretiveness gone. He suddenly streaked away, limping slightly, but still had a fair pace. He looked back, seeing if the other kit would follow and try to catch him.

[{Snarky}]

Autumnkit wasn't expecting Scorpionkit to suddenly dash off, but her paws acted before her mind and resulted in her flying after him. She laughed happily as they ran through the forest, instinctively going in a general circle to avoid hitting borders. Autumnkit suddenly skid to a stop, paws getting covered with wet mud and leaves in the process. Wide eyes took in the shape before her, a lithe orange figure, and she felt the urge to call for Scorpionkit, but she didn't want to alert the creature.

The fox turned yellow eyes to hers and snarled, causing her to let out a loud yowl of fright as she tried to climb a near tree to no avail. Looking frantically around for her friend, she suddenly hoped for the first time that someone would find them as the scent of the fox's breath hit her.

[Pantherpaw]

Something was wrong. The forest had suddenly changed. For a moment Scorpionkit could hear his friend laughing nearby, trying to catch up with him. Even with his deformity, he was fast. But suddenly she wasn't laughing anymore, and the birds were too quiet. He came to a halting stop, turning around. He couldn't see anything unusual, but little did he know that the fox sat in his blind spot.

Then he saw Autumnkit, sitting in the tree, looking absolutly terrified. "What is it Aut--" He stopped, turning his head just enough so that he could see the fox. His eyes widened, and a glimpse of fear lighted in his good eye. He was not worried about making noise, instead, he began catterwauling. "Someone! Someone! Help! Fox!" He cried.

[Shiningstream]

From somewhere in a bush a screeching yowl sent the message that Shiningstream was on her way. A few moments ago one of the queens had come out of the nursery, wailing helplessly of one of her missing kits. Shiningstream had immediately taken up the job of retrieving Autumnkit, and it wasn't until she heard the sharp bark of a dog-fox and two scents, one familiar and one not, did she begin to leap into the clearing.

Spitting viciously, Shiningstream vaguely remembered the times when she was an apprentice, how she single-handedly fought off a fox trying to kill her and Morningpaw. All of the that training had now seeped back into her mind, and the fury in her golden eyes turned them into small orbs of fire. "Autumnkit! Stay behind me! Get back!" The young warrior had lost sight of the other kit, whose scent she was too preoccupied to decipher, but hoped he was trying to get out.

[Pantherpaw]

The tom kit saw the warrior burst into the clearing, and was more then a little bit grateful. At the minute, he didn't care that the cat was of another clan. He didn't care that he would probably get in trouble, and so would Autumnkit. No, all he cared about was the fact that the fox could be chased off by the warrior. But, more then that, Autumnkit was safe. Even in the short time they had spoken, Scorpionkit had began to felt a very real admiration, and friendship for, the she-kit.

But right now, the fox was staring at the warrior, as though sizing her up. And suddenly, it spun away, looking instead towards the half-blind Scorpionkit. The tom kit let out a shreak of fear, and ran backwards, imagining the fox leaping at him, and ripping out his innards. Little did the kit know, however, that there was a steep crater in the ground, right behind him.

He didn't realize, at first, what had happened. All he knew was that he was suddenly no longer standing on the ground, but seemed to be flying. It was almost blissful...intill he hit the ground. He let out an agonized howl, he felt as though something had just broken all throughout his body. He could hear the breathing of the canine, its furious barks at it's victim's escape. For a moment, the vision of his new, his only, friend swam before his mind. Could the warrior help Autumnkit?

And then, everything was black.

[Shiningstream]

Yelping in surprise, Shiningstream dashed after the fox that pursued the little kit. For a brief moment she was able to identify him as RiverClan, but just as crippled if not was. With that in mind, Shiningstream began to doubt slightly if she could save the tom. He was half blind with an undersized paw. Even a perfectly shaped kit wouldn't be able to outrun a fox as big as this one.

But, in a bitter sort of way, Shiningstream was grateful for his clumsiness. The little gray tom had been too stricken with fear to notice the sudde dip in the ground, and his mangled paw kept him from trying to stay up, or even grapple with the crater's walls at all. He wouldn't be able to run from the fox, but Shiningstream could deal with that, and she wouldn't lose the RiverClan kit if he awoke and started sprinting blindingly into the forest with nowhere to go.

Yowling, Shiningstream hurled in almost a sort of dive towards where the fox was beginning to climb down to the kit. She did land on its back square on the shoulders. With the hardest part over, Shiningstream began scratching as forcefully as she could, in hopes she could gain a sort of advantage.

[{Snarky}]

Autumnkit watched, eyes lit up with fear as Shiningstream took on the orange canine. The part of her that had earlier been so scared of another in her clan or Scorpionkit's finding her was now completely dissolved, and she was left with a sense of inward panic and relief. Backing away behind the warrior as she had been ordered, she let herself cower safely. The fur on her neck rose swiftly as the fox turned on her new friend, and she felt the need to do something right before she watched him plummet off the crater. Ignoring the snapping of fox's teeth, she sprinted forward to look over the edge. Seeing Scorpionkit's body broken on the bottom made her yowl in pain. Looking around frantically, she gave up trying to find a safe way down and jumped.

Using her claws to dig into the dirt of the steep side was harder than it looked, and she slid more than climbed down, hitting the bottom with a thud. Rising quickly to her paws, she ran over to her friend and laid beside him, knowing she could not to anything more. She began covering his body with licks, wincing as she felt the damage with her tongue. Ignoring the fact that she would get in deep trouble for helping him, she continued to do her best.