[PAST] There Lies Trouble [Tawnypaw and Hawkpaw]

[Jay]

Tawnypaw crept out of the apprentice's den on light paws, slinking as quietly as they could. There was no one in the Lookout's Nest that they could see. Too dangerous, probably. A sleepy cat could easily fall out.

The camp was so quiet. They could only hear the soft, constant trilling of the badlands in their ears. It made their paw steps, careful as they were, very obvious.

Whoever the lookout was, Tawnypaw didn't recognize them. The shadows fell just right to mask them, and they weren't close enough to catch their scent. Hopefully that meant they couldn't smell Tawnypaw, either.

Tawnypaw was small enough to crawl through a narrow break in the camp's perimeter, dodging the need to go through the camp's proper exit.

Two nights since they'd spoken to Hawkpaw. Two nights of buzzing fur, of distraction, of Blackpelt being a pain in the tail. But it was finally time. The moon was bright and high in the air and Tawnypaw was on their way to the border.

Against the rules, the wind whispered to them. Breaking the code.

Nonsense, Tawnypaw thought fiercely to themselves. The code said nothing about having friends outside of their Clan. In fact, it was subtly encouraged. Besides, Tawnypaw would make absolutely sure that everyone stayed on their own side of the border. They'd promised. I'll shred you, they'd told Hawkpaw, and they meant it. They totally would!

Tawnypaw's feet carried them closer and closer to the border. This was fine. Besides, Tawnypaw never broke a promise, and Hawkpaw was expecting them. It'd be rude to not show. Nothing would happen. Tawnypaw wouldn't let it.

They stopped at the border, ears pricked, and sat on BrushClan's side to wait.

[willow]

For two days the same thoughts had been running through Hawkpaws head. He couldn’t wait to see them- Tawnypaw, the BrushClan apprentice. He had patrolled their border three times over the last few days, hoping to catch a glimpse of their mottled fur. He was also using the time to scour the landscape for a place he could regularly meet them.Hawkpaw had been padding towards the fresh-kill pile with a fat bird in his jaws, and he stopped suddenly. Regularly meet them? His guilty conscious sneered into his ear. It was against the warrior code to meet up with Tawnypaw, and Hawkpaw knew that. The warrior code only allowed friends from other Clans to be visited at gatherings. Not outside the full moon truce.

But still, he couldn’t help a shiver of excitement run up his spine as he started padding towards the pile again. He had other things on his mind when he absently threw the dead prey onto the pile, so it made him freeze when Dustfaces voice snapped at him. He turned to face her. He adored Dustface, of course. She was his mentor and she had taught him well, but she always managed to show up at the worst times. His golden eyes were wide as he stared at the mousey she-cat.
“Were you never taught to respect your prey?”
Her words were sarcastic. They were always sarcastic, so Hawkpaw twitched his ears impatiently.
“Yes, Dustface.” He murmured sweetly, hoping the CliffClan warrior wouldn’t keep him too long, He let out a sigh of relief when she flicked her tail at him, clearly a dismissal.

It was dark as the chocolate apprentice padded down the small ledges in the face of the cliff, but he found his way easily down the narrow paths. His footsteps became quicker as he left the camp, not daring to look back in case somebody had spotted him.
As he climbed the rocks towards the BrushClan territory, Hawkpaw felt his anxiety ease. The stars were glittering brilliantly and the only sound was the soft hum of the Badlands. He paused briefly at the top of a pile of rocks, and his heart seemed to flutter as he scented the cat he had been so eager to see.
“Hey.” He called softly as he began to jump down the boulders towards the border, towards them. He felt another thrill of excitement course through him as he padded up to Tawnypaw.

[Jay]

Tawnypaw flicked their tail impatiently and stared up at the stars. The Eternal River was bright tonight, a wide swathe of lights and colors stretching far across the sky. The stars winked merrily at them, a quietly encouraging sign. There were no clouds in the sky. They were so intent on looking at the River that the soft clatter of rocks on the CliffClan border startled them.

They glanced up, immediately, fur bristling, but it was Hawkpaw, no strange enemy warrior. They relaxed immediately.

"There you are," they said, trying for a confident, imperious tone. "Hello." Nervousness struck them, and they had the sudden urge to look away from Hawkpaw's luminous, golden eyes. He was oddly intense. Tawnypaw marveled at it, a little, but forced down the sudden flutters in their heart and stood up, successfully maintaining a calm exterior. "Nice night, isn't it?"

[willow]

Hawkpaw chuckled to himself, he aways caught them so off guard it seemed. He padded confidently towards the other apprentice, casually stepping over the border between territories and pressed his flank against theirs. He liked making them uncomfortable, he got kicks out of it. But only because he was so unsure of himself around them.

Ever since Hawkpaw had first come to CliffClan, he had been so sure of who he was, where he belonged. But when he was with the mottled cat, all sense seemed to race out of his head. He didn't seem to care about anything else. All his other worries were for another place, not here. Not with them.
"It's beautiful." He purred, but instead of looking at the sky, he was looking at them.

[Jay]

The tips of their ears warmed in a flash. The fur on their side, pressed against Hawkpaw's, buzzed with feeling. "I- It's- Hey!" they squawked, trying to get ahold of themself. "The border- I said I'd shred you! I meant it!" they snapped, backpedaling quickly, trying to ignore how flustered they really felt. "You have to respect our border!"

Their claws didn't come out, however. Instead they stood up and butted their head against Hawkpaw's side, pushing firmly back toward CliffClan's side. Their whiskers quivered, but at this angle he couldn't see the look on their face, thankfully. They'd never hear the end of it if he could, their eyes sparkling in embarrassment and a nervous, traitor excitement.

[willow]

Hawkpaw twitched his whiskers in amusement as the mottled apprentice nudged him fiercely over to his Clans territory.
"Hey, hey. Don't be like that." He purred as he sat down, making sure he was over the CliffClan scent marks. "So, tell me about yourself."

[Jay]

Tawnypaw twitched an ear, annoyed at the way Hawkpaw was so nonchalant. These borders were important! But he didn't seem to be doing it maliciously, so they let it slide. For now.

"I'm an apprentice," Tawnypaw said importantly. "I mean, obviously." Other than that, they really didn't know- what was to say? "..I like to hunt," they added, a little self-consciously.

[willow]

"-whisker?" Hawkpaw questioned, tipping his head to the side.

[Jay]

"-fang!" Tawnypaw responded, smug. "You think I'd let these go to waste?" Their claws slid out, and they lifted a paw, showing them off.