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There was many a thing that Troutpaw would not be willing to do - however, disobeying his father was not one of them. Despite having officially retired to the elders' den, his father still shadowed the medicine cat den and cloaked his apprentice. Troutpaw had sheepishly wandered in, head held high despite the lecture he had received from a senior warrior just moments prior for having slipped out of camp without supervision. He wasn't confined to camp - thankfully - and the senior warrior did threaten to report it to the leader or, the Dark Forest forbid, Sedgestream, but had been thankfully distracted by another Clanmate. He slipped away and opted to make himself useful - or rather, to pawn off his time because he'd rather not do trivial things - when he spotted his father's wary glances towards the small pool that they had inside the small cave. It wasn't much, but it was one of the solid places to store water so close to their camp - which, truthfully wasn't much. The small cave which they located the more important cats, essentially those who weren't warriors or apprentices, slept inside while the others slept under the night sky on the beach. They did have smaller clefts in the cliffside but not nearly big enough for all of them. "We're running low," Jaggedear said and his gaze levelled on Troutpaw. He tried not to tense, to keep his gaze level, but his father merely huffed heavily through his nose. "Are you in trouble?" "With Tornfire. You know how he is." "Hm," Jaggedear leaned closer, "So you're hiding away with me, is that it?" He tensed his jaw. "That's not how it is. I'm seeing if you need help." "Of course. To escape Tornfire's scorn?" "Dad -" He huffed, quick to object. "How about you help gather some fresh water? From RoostClan's stream? We need some more and I can barely tend to Thistleclimb as it is. Some fresh water would be nice to soothe her throat."

He closed his eyes and contemplated - it wasn't a hard decision. Official elder or not, he was still a medicine cat - and both elders and high ranks were to be respected. "Yes, dad," he meowed finally. "Good. Take some cats with you - the more water we can get the better." Jaggedear blinked with affection at him and Troutpaw nodded. It wasn't exactly easy to tell when his father was proud of him but it did show in his face, even if he didn't show it with his actions. "I'll be back." "Be careful." "Will do. Thanks." His comment was a bit stiff but he flicked his tail and meowed an echoing goodbye as he left the little enclosure and glanced around the small space that they called their 'camp'. Most of the warriors were out fishing or on border patrols, so it wasn't easy to find someone who looked otherwise unoccupied. As if the Dark Forest was bestowing grace upon him, he noticed Sedgestream before Tornfire did. He shot a scowl in the dark tabby's direction before he padded quickly up to her side before he could. Surely, if he asked her to accompany him outside of their camp and the surrounding beach area, then perhaps Tornfire would fortunately forget to tell her about his little mishap with her out of his line of sight. "Are you busy at the moment?" he blurted out as quick as he could, tail fluffed up despite himself. Did he look guilty? Had his neck fur risen? Would she look at him with suspicion? He licked his chest fur down and consoled himself that surely his reputation preceded himself and that she would think little of it, if so much as a whisper reached her ears of his wanderings.

Sedgestream... was bored. She'd already gone on patrol and had nothing else to do. She was sunbathing, letting it warm her thick pelt and letting her eyes close. It was a nice day for a swim. Perhaps she'd take one when the sun became too much for her. She was fantasizing about this when she sensed someone approaching her and opened her eyes lazily. 'Ah, Troutpaw.' When he asked his hasty question, she blinked, slightly taken aback, but opted to ignore the way it was said and blinked again to clear her surprise. "No, actually. I have nothing going on at the moment. Why?" she asked curiously, ignoring the urge to tilt her head.

He flicked his dark ringed ears and noted the nonchalance to her words, the laxness that made him assume that Tornfire hadn't beaten him there. Gradually, he allowed himself to begin to relax and roll his shoulders back. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder at the chocolate tabby who looked a bit cross with him before sulkily turned to complain to another warrior, most likely about Troutpaw himself. However, he was quick to realize how that glance backwards could be interpreted so as to not allow her to doubt him - to think he had done something wrong, which, he knew he did but that made it all the more interesting - so he slid his gaze further, over towards where his dusk-pelted father was as he sorted through the few herbs that the other medicine cat couldn't get to. Surely if he looked at his father than asked his question she would consider it to be the turht? Which, it was, he wasn't a cold-hearted liar at all, and she didn't deserve that, but still - he didn't want to see the dark look of disappointment touch her azure eyes. "You see," he started and then realized that was a horrible way to start something off - it made him sound like he was up to no good. No matter, he couldn't fix it. "Our sort of pond is gettin' kind of small without the fresh water and as I'm - as apprentices aren't allowed out of the .. uh, immediate camp, without a warrior of some sort, I figured if you weren't too busy we might go to RoostClan's territory together and get some with me?" It wasn't a guarded secret that RoostClan and TideClan had an alliance concerning the fresh water but it was still best to send small parties rather that large ones lest RoostClan thought they were about to begin a raid on their territory like CragClan had done. Besides, Sedgestream was one of the more favourable cats he had met and one of the few he actually held his tongue around so it all worked out well in his favour, thankfully. That is, if she willingly agreed.

Sedgestream noticed his glance toward his father, but noticed the tabby sulking as well. She gave a slight eye roll and a huff. 'Oh StarClan, please don't let that be trouble for me later.' She gently shook her head as she realized her mistake, but, realizing Troutpaw wouldn't even know why she was shaking her head, she turned it into a yawn meant to break her out of her sleepiness. She tried not to make a habit of referring to StarClan, but when she said things too quickly, sometimes it just... happened. "Sure, sounds like a plan." She got up and stretched leisurely then shook the sand off her pelt. "Let's go," she meowed, feeling much more alert now.

He turned his head in time to catch her yawn and had to ensure his jaws remained shut to make sure he didn't copy her motion. Best not to do that, he thought, S'no use getting tired before we've even started the work. That's not how proper warriors do things. His mood, however, did turn a bit sour at the thought - work, work, work, that's all warriors did, wasn't it? And for what? Yes, it was for the benefit of the Clan, he saw that, but did they get recognition for it? Would it not become routine? Would it not make the days drag on and on until it became a seamless blur of never quite living but not quite being dead? When did the warriors ever do anything exciting aside from work? He wasn't fond of battles, sure, they were messy and unnecessary and yet it was a break from the routine that warriors had. It was something - although it wasn't a good thing. A break from routine could also be that nasty sickness, he thought and that sobered him up quickly. He had lost a littermate and nearly lost his mama - perhaps it would be best if things didn't change too often. "Great," he said and hoped that his voice didn't reveal his moody thoughts - he wouldn't be surprised if it did, his mama always told him that she could guess what he was thinking. Then again, they were related, so what did she know? "Did you - want it to be just us or did you want to grab someone else, first?" He closed his mouth and tried to get a dismissive posture and hoped that he didn't reveal his displeasure at the thought. If ya do, please anybody but Tornfire. Not Tornfire, not Tornfire. Dark Forest forbid, anyone but him. Or just us. Please, just not him.

Sedgestream blinked at the tom. She heard something off in his voice, but wasn't sure exactly what it was. She almost wanted to ask him, but she figured Troutpaw wouldn't be one for deep conversation with a random cat. She wanted to help and be useful to him, but in reality she couldn't expect that from him, so she'd have to be okay with not asking. "Well, maybe it's better if it's just us. After all, wouldn't want them to think we're overstepping our boundaries." She was pleased to finally be doing something that wasn't laying around. Though she figured she deserved a rest every now and again, it didn't feel right to be doing nothing.

He tried not to think too hard about the wariness in her eyes, the off-shade of concern and curiosity that bled into her expression so easily. You know nothing about me and yet you look at me like that, he thought but the sour edge to it wasn't there. He was emotionally tired, not quite ready to put up that mental front again. Instead, he tucked that knot of emotions away and stomped on it and tried to bury it deeper in his heart. He wasn't the 'don't ask me and I won't tell you lies' sort but it was something else to push others away when they asked. It was more of a surprise to him than anyone else that she clicked her jaws together and refrained from asking him whatever was on her mind. The disappointment settled in his ribs like a stone weighed down by the crushing sense of not being good enough. S'not like I'd have told her anything anyway, he consoled himself but the thought still stung. I'm just a hypocrite, that's all. Jus' wanting attention like Nightpaw always says. "There are no boundaries," he huffed and he couldn't help but wince at the bite to his voice. I'm sorry, the words couldn't leave his maw. It's not you I'm mad at. He was horrific at apologizing and couldn't if his life depended on it though so the words caught in his throat. "It's kind of their duty to go on patrols, in'it?" Shame made his ears burn and he flicked them downwards, tail tucked despite himself. He coughed, tried to dispel the tension he felt in his chest and offered again, "I ..." The words caught again and he half-mumbled half-choked out the next sentence, "Ne'ermind, I think we should go, that's all. T's stuffy in here." A little too late, he realized that they couldn't be truly classified as 'in' anywhere so he shook his head.

Once again, Sedgestream attempted to piece together the strangely put sentences and his possible inner thoughts, but with no way to know, she had to dismiss it yet again. Irritation prickled under her pelt at not being able to know anything about the young apprentice. She wanted to know everything about all of her clanmates. 'Well, okay, maybe not all of them,' she amended. But still, she wanted to help. She got the feeling that he would just lash out if she said something wrong anyway, so all she could offer him were a couple words that she hoped conveyed more than their original intent. "It's okay," she said, but what she wanted to say was 'It's okay if you're mad. I don't see any reason for you to be mad at me, so I'm going to assume you aren't, and I want you to know that's okay. I've seen cats who acted like you before, so I kind of know how you feel, but I have no real way to tell, so I just want you to know it's alright.' How all of this could be conveyed in a simple "it's okay" that was, for all he knew, directed at his sentence that sounded somewhat like a cough and body language, Sedgestream wasn't sure. But she wanted him to be okay anyway. "I know there are no boundaries, but I was referring more to the fact that they might think we're invading," she meowed patiently. "Anyway, might as well be on our way."

Her voice cut off any immediate response he had, the sincereness made him recoil in disgust at how she seemingly perceived his words. He wanted to send scathing words at her, to deny her comment and her genuine concern and understanding but the words didn't come. Instead, he deflated, any misguided anger sputtered in his chest and he heaved a sigh. His ears made sure to remain flat against his skull. It wasn't worth getting into a fight with her - it would be difficult to decipher the meaning behind her words but she was sincere and kind. She did not snap at him for his tone or try to correct him and the confusion was enough to put Troutpaw off. The silver and white tabby wanted to save some pride and face and yet what instead came out was, "Whatever." The self-hatred burned brightly in his chest then because no, she did not deserve that so he managed to offer, "It's not your fault." Because it was his. It was his messed up mind trying to make a mess of things and his fault for not being able to express himself, his fault not not being able to understand what the problem with himself was. "Yeah. Let's just - let's just go." He blew heavily through his nose; he felt defeated and yet he couldn't bring himself to put more pep in his step, to bring up that swagger that he usually put in. He wasn't anywhere near an elder's age and yet he acted like one - Pitiful. Then the rest of her sentence caught up to him, "Oh, you mean - RoostClan?" the question fell from his maw and he turned, a bit more confused than he was before. "I don't think they'd be happy with that idea - weren't they just fighting with CragClan or something?" He wasn't too clear on the idea or process of what went on between the two - at the time TideClan was a bit preoccupied. "Yeah."

The walk towards the easiest pathway up towards RoostClan wasn't quite as easy as some warriors would claim it to be - longer legs and all that - and yet he found he didn't mind it. The company was pretty decent, at least. He was careful to keep pace with her, as he was often prone to do, and watched the area where the sand met stone warily. "Do you travel along the cliffside much?" he asked, more out of a need for conversation than anything else. Sure, TideClan did have a border along the cliffs but that was a bit more of a formality than anything, wasn't it? The rocks were often too hard on their soft pads so he resisted the idea of visiting that border if he could and yet the idea of being out of camp and away from the rest of TideClan - from where his horrid thoughts had grown roots - was a better prospect so it wasn't so bad.

Sedgestream enjoyed walking in general. She liked the view and liked the activity, and when Troutpaw asked if she was at the cliffs often, she shrugged. "I go for walks here often," she said casually. "Helps toughen my pads a bit." Though she definitely didn't come here often enough to 'toughen her pads a bit'. They were still as soft as anyone's. But the apprentice was making conversation, so she tried to tell him as much as she could, despite the fact that it was really just small talk and she probably would've gotten away with a much shorter reply.

Honeykit tilted her head to once side as she stared quizzically at the lighthouse not sure what to make of it. If not a tree, then what on earth was this strange thing? It seemed she couldn't reach an answer either though. It wasn't like she had much to go on, since the only things she knew about the outside was what she had been told. "Okay yeah, let's do that." She said as she nodded in response to Adderkit, "That's certainly a better idea then just standing here gawking at it." She giggled.

Adderkit trotted along the circumference until she came upon a differently colored section. She stared at it curiously, tilting her head. "Honeykit, what do you think this is?" she meowed to her sister, angling her ears toward the thing.(edited)

As they walked around the lighthouse, Honeykit kept on glancing towards her right looking out over at the sea. It was truly quite a stunning view up from here, though she was a bit nervous about getting too close to the edge especially after her little slip before. She stared at the door after hearing Adderkit ask her about it. "Oh? That's strange, why is only this part a different colour???" She asked in confusion. "This thing gets more confusing by the second. I wish there was someone around we could ask..."

Adderkit opened her mouth to agree then realized if there was someone around, they'd probably be in a lot of trouble. "Maybe we'll find out when we're apprentices," she said hopefully instead. She glanced around, taking in all the views. "I wonder if Mommy knows we're gone yet."

When they were apprentices, huh? To Honeykit, that seemed such a long time away but she didn't express this out loud. She froze up for a second when Adderkit mention their mother, it was something she had forgotten about in all the excitement, the fact that they were certainly not meant to be out here at all. "I sure hope not! Otherwise it's gonna be us grounded this time!"

Adderkit's tail waved slightly in fear. "Even if we do, it'll still be worth it, I think! We got to see... whatever this is! I don't think any other kit has done this, so we're special!" Adderkit was adamant on not being brought down by the thought of being caught. She had come all this way! Surely that counted for something.

Well it was certainly true that not many other kits would be able to say that they went out exploring in their territory. Not even apprentices were meant to be out alone! She had a little rush of thrill as she thought about this, perhaps it would be worth getting a scolding from their mother? "You know what? You might be right. Either way if we are gonna be caught regardless, then there is no point in worrying about it." She concluded.

"At least we have a fun story to tell," Adderkit purred. Besides, they wouldn't be allowed out of camp alone until they were warriors, and that was a long time from now! Even their apprenticeship felt like a long ways away, so this little adventure would have to hold them off until they were able to go out on their own. It would probably be a fun story to look back on when they were that old, anyway. "It's worth it," Adderkit said confidently.

He flicked an ear and wondered idly if the war between RoostClan and CragClan was a sensitive subject, if perhaps it was best among TideClan cats not to bring it up. Would that be why RoostClan was so weary on invaders and on TideClanners marching in and getting water? Did they really think so poorly of the other Clans or just highly enough of themselves that surely everybody would want to gang up on them? The RoostClanners were a strange lot, he figured, and shook his head. "That's weird," he said bluntly when she admitted that. He didn't think for a second that she could have been saying something not quite true. He placed his forepaws along a higher ledge and struggled to heave himself over it. His muscles were built for swimming not climbing so the strain became apparent the more they walked. We have to lug water-soaked moss all the way back down? He thought with a sudden gloominess. "You must run into CragClanners a lot, then," he mused when he sidestepped a particularly vicious looking stone - and walked right onto another one. He winced at the prick of pain and paused long enough to look at it, judge the wound as his father once taught him and licked it quick enough to free the small cut of any immediate dirt - a foolish tactic, they were on a cliffside - so he could keep pace with her. "Why d'you figure they'd want to live here, anyways? Not much prey, I'd think, and the ledges are scaled enough a cat could slip and crack their skull open. The herbs needed to fix that is a hefty amount, let me tell you. M'dad would cringe about it." He frowned. "S'pose RoostClan doesn't have it any better, though. Being closed in. Though I think they'd say the same about us." He paused and realized he'd already said quite a bit but he was the sort to complain and she seemed kind enough to humour him so why not? "CragClanners would get a good workout, anyways. Can you imagine having to scale this all the time? It'd be bloody awful."

Sedgestream shrugged off his blunt response as it came. Perhaps it was weird, but she thought maybe having tougher pads was a good idea, since rough surfaces like this would hurt less, at least. That didn't matter at all, though, because she didn't intentionally toughen them as she said she did, and since she had kind of made up that fact about herself, she saw no reason to think any further into it. Anyway, she listened to his rant and occasionally her whiskers trembled with supressed laughter at how much he was going on about other clans. She had thought about such things as well, and it was amusing to hear him meowing on about it. She couldn't think of a time that the apprentice had said this much to her... well, ever, and she was kind of enjoying it, if only because perhaps they were bonding over it, even slightly. "I think I'd be worried about all the kits. Can you imagine, having a bunch of kits, at the right age to want to go off exploring on their own while having your camp in a bunch of caves on the side of a cliff? They must keep a very good eye on them, or they wouldn't have any kits left." Sedgestream's mood dampened slightly at the thought of it, but she recovered quickly by consoling herself. 'Clearly all their kits don't ACTUALLY die off, or they wouldn't have a clan left.'

She kept quiet for most of his tirade - he did notice that, of course he did, he wasn't completely oblivious, and he wasn't sure how he felt about all of it. Did his words just go to waste? Perhaps he'd best keep his opinions and thoughts to himself next time and still his tongue - hah, what a joke that was, he had a knack for biting remarks. However, the suggestion itself was suppressed when she meowed and he hesitated. Perhaps she had been listening after all and was just absorbing all he said without interrupting. Feeling awful about that, he made sure not to meet her eyes just in case any guilt shone in his blue eyes. "That's true," he huffed heavily and hesitated. He cranked his head back to see how much higher they had to climb. It was good of CragClan to let them cross some of their territory peacefully to get to RoostClan, at least, so he couldn't fault them for being all bad. Troutpaw frowned - they weren't too far from the top but his mind wondered about how careful they would have to be when they trekked back down. "Especially with the rocks at the bottom of the cliff - if the fall didn't kill them, or the water, it'd be a wonder that they'd even survive. Still, I'd think that they're built like a fortress - it'd be hard to get in and out. So I doubt kits would be able to just wander off on their own." He frowned, though - her voice had changed pitch for a moment there and her eyes had darkened. "Are you alright?" he asked, paws raised up on the ledge above them, hesitating long enough to look back and observe her. It wasn't easy to ask the words, he wasn't as comforting as his parents or his littermates were but he wasn't completely daft or senseless.

Sedgestream tried to shove any remaining negative feelings away before she looked up at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just care too much about kits that aren't mine, that's all." Her heart ached as she simplified her problem, but for a different reason; she longed for kits of her own and had for a while now, but the time didn't seem to be right and she didn't even have a mate. She just wanted to raise them with someone she loved, but no suitable male had popped up yet. Though she pushed the thoughts out of her mind, her heart still ached dully, so she tried to ignore it as she always did. "Anyway, we're almost there," she meowed cheerfully. "Maybe the walk back down won't be so bad. It's always easier to go down a hill than up it, even if that hill is made of sharp rocks," she purred.

Troutpaw squinted at her and judged her words at face value - she didn't seem keen to share facts with him about herself just yet. It felt like there was more to her story but he couldn't be sure, not without her being forthright about it. He felt unease at the prospect on asking her to elaborate - it really wasn't his business so he offered a stiff, "It's only natural - but you do have to consider that they're not really yours to watch over, either." He made a low noise as he heaved himself onto the ledge and crouched there for a while to catch his breath. It was tiring work climbing up if you weren't used to it, after all. "Besides, it wouldn't feel the same - you'd have a closer bond to those you've raised or those of your own blood, so you can care for kits all you'd like, I guess, but you'll care a great deal more for the ones in your own Clan." Troutpaw shook out his silver pelt, his whiskers twitched as he straightened. "Besides, aren't leaders and deputies supposed to consider and care for their Clan like they were their kits?" He sounded amused though, and it was half-meant as a joke - the previous leader, Squirrelmoon, had treated everyone fairly, sure, but he couldn't say that he ever felt related to the tom in question. "The Dark Forest willing, it'll be a lot easier than going up," he hoped aloud, "This whole experience makes me think that I don't ever want to fetch water again." There was little truth to his words, though, as he did consider his Clan's wellbeing over his own and although he would complain and moan the while way there, he'd do it. He kicked at a stone mindlessly and tried not to wince when it stubbed his paw. Weak, he berated himself. "I'm actually surprised we haven't run into any CragClanners, actually."

Sedgestream noted that the silver apprentice seemed to slightly warm up to her and felt hope well in her chest. Perhaps they could be friends after all. She tasted the air briefly, wondering if perhaps a patrol had passed by just before they arrived. "Well, I think some cat is around here... it sure smells like one was just here," Sedgestream said warily, though the scent was too faint for her to be able to tell.

Troutpaw frowned and twisted his head around, chin pressed closer to his chest as he crouched in his attempt to determine the scent markers. It was fairly stale and not very prominent, like she suggested. With a sharp roll of his shoulders he stood to his paws again. "Whoever it is, let's hope they've gone - if not, they'd best understand that we're just collecting water," he scowled a bit then. Would CragClan truly turn them away just because they had to cross their territory? He flicked his ears and glanced up. It was only a couple paces up more and then they'd be on solid RoostClan territory. His paws ached and he knew that he'd enjoy that fact very much. With a sudden surge of hastiness, he reached up to pull himself up higher and waited to see if she would need help and if not, to wait for her to get on the same level as him. "I wish there was an easier way to collect water than to gather it in moss and other herbs like that." He frowned. RoostClan themselves had a dug-out of sorts, so the water came from the ground up for some reason, and would gather due to the rainy season, so creating a little stream to provide a small 'waterfall' was out of the question. Perhaps, if the Dark Forest had some sort of power over the seasons and weather like StarClan was rumoured to have, then they might be so willing to give them something like that. But he supposed it was fine - it just meant that it was unlikely that RoostClan would consider attacking them and vice versa because of their agreement. But when would RoostClan start wanting something in return for their water? He shook his head of the thoughts.

Sedgestream pulled herself up to where he was and sighed. "I've been trying to think up a way for moons. There's probably a river around here somewhere but no one knows how far away or if the water is even good. The ocean might've turned it kind of salty, so we'd have to travel even farther, and..." She sighed again. What she wanted most for her clan was to not have to depend on others for water. Then their lives would be perfect. But how?

Troutpaw frowned at her comment. "Maybe there isn't a way," he said with a disapproving tone, "Or maybe there had been but we probably lost it in that hurricane that supposedly happened." He wasn't too sure, as it was rumors and history passed down orally and he, obviously, didn't experience it first hand. When StarClan supposedly smited some of CragClan's territory and it fell into the ocean, who was to say that it didn't affect TideClan's territory as well? "Then again, being allied with RoostClan right now isn't the worst thing that could happen." It would be an entirely different situation if one of the other Clans declared war on them, however. If that happened, could they count on RoostClan to withdraw, or to ally themselves against CragClan again? He shivered. "Maybe Jaggedear and the other medicine cat will receive a sign of some sort, though," he sighed, half hopeful but knew that his hope was likely futile. The silver tabby pushed himself up further and nearly let out a loud sigh of relief when he could feel flatter, broader stones beneath his paws now. The wind was stronger, of course, without the rubble to buffer it, but the moment they climbed over the final slope meant that they had encroached upon RoostClan territory. He heaved a sigh of relief when he spotted familiar tufts of grass. Sure, it wasn't anything compared to the silky sand that fellow TideClanners and himself were used to, but it was certainly better.

The fresh water stream wasn't too far into their territory right? It was located further right, closer to RoostClan territory. However, he stopped and tensed the moment he picked up a strange scent on the wind. It seemed to have come from the left - towards the tall tree-like structure. He wasn't daft, he knew that it was a twoleg den of some sort but as it was rightfully RoostClan's he didn't see much of it. It was still somewhat in the distance but it loomed ahead like a horrible nightmare. "Do you smell that?" he asked, bluntly, because something was off in that direction and it definitely wasn't the familiar RoostClan scent.

Sedgestream felt her hackles raise as the scent was carried to her nostrils. She tasted the air for a moment. "Oh St- Dark Forest, no! It smells like CragClan! They better not be trying anything anymore," she hissed. "Everything is so peaceful. Though I suppose it's... really none of our business," she acknowledged with a sigh.

Troutpaw frowned and tried to force his neck fur to lay flat. As far as he knew it was a sharp drop off just beyond the twoleg den on at least one side so it didn't exactly seem optical of a landmark to have - but what did he know? He wasn't the one fighting tooth and claw for territory that had no use to TideClan. It was just an unusual den, sure, and - alright, it had an amazing viewpoint, if the rumors were true, but it didn't seem worth it to him. However, he was thrown a bit off guard at a weird mumble she had began to utter. He shot her a look, confused, but when she continue on he thought perhaps it was his imagination. It wouldn't be the first time someone said something random. "It's RoostClan and CragClan's business on what they do," he agreed, "although if any RoostClanner asks, we didn't know about them, yeah?" He frowned and hesitated, "But - if you wanted to go ... check it out, that'd be fine too." Maybe it could strengthen the Tide-RoostClan ties if RoostClan saw their actions favourably? Although, what were the odds a small patrol of a deputy and apprentice could do against an undetermined amount of cats? It wasn't their business and CragClan wouldn't like it but if RoostClan caught wind ... it could either go very bad or very good, no matter which choice they chose.

Honeykit felt a little envious of Adderkit's confidence, in all honestly Honeykit admired her sister very much. She always seemed to very certain of herself, something Honeykit wished she was able to do. As she was about to speak the wind that had been blowing towards them changed directions, carrying on it, another scent she didn't recognize. Honeykit's ear perked alert and she nudged her sister to get her attention before saying quietly, "I think someone's coming!"

Adderkit's eyes widened and her fur raised. "I don't know if we can hide... if we try to rush down the cliff, we might fall!" she hissed nervously.

June 15, 2017

BlueStripe had her muzzle raised like a hound before bringing it back down in anger. She had been tired from not sleeping all night and this didn't help wake her up. She yawned before perking up at a scent of two kits. Fairly recent this made her scowl and hiss in anger, "Should be in camp..". She continued to try and follow the scent trail only growing worried as she got closer to the cliff.

Sedgestream sighed and glanced at Troutpaw. "Come on, then. Might as well go see what's going on. Maybe it's just a couple of apprentices being stupid furballs," she muttered hopefully, and cautiously began making her way over toward the scent.

Troutpaw decidedly didn't look convinced. His tone was bitter but resigned as he offered up a quick, "If you say so." He flicked his tail and carefully overstepped a jagged rock that jutted out of the ground. He glanced wistfully behind him; he felt appalled that he couldn't grab some water, though. Then again, he mulled it over, he would have disagreed no matter with what Sedgestream had decided - if they went to gather water first he'd be forlorn about having missed the opportunity to check out the mystery scent. Although, whatever else he was about to consider shifted away from missed opportunities - TideClan's survival should always come first, he didn't want to get involved with either CragClan or RoostClan - when he caught a peculiar scent. He had spent enough time around his father - and thus, the nursery - to recognize that strange, familiar scent. It was a bit new to be blunt, not unlike down feathers, and almost milk-smelling - enough for him to know that it was likely a queen or, Dark Forest forbiding, something much - smaller. He paused and his hackles raised. "Do you - smell that?" the silver and white tom hesitated. Troutpaw shuffled closer to Sedgestream's side and found comfort in the warmth of her shoulder. He could feel a small hiss rise at the back of his throat and he prayed that he was wrong. "If any of you can hear me, you'd best come out or y'all get a thorough tongue lashin', ya understand?" He glared pointedly across their surroundings. He figured they weren't as close enoug for the scent to be considered fresh exactly but hopefully his voice carried.

"Kits?" Sedgestream murmured softly. Good thing they hadn't ignored the scent.What would've happened to them if they hadn't come? "Come on out," she said, her voice stern yet soft, contrasting Troutpaw's angry tone. Adderkit flattened herself to the ground. "Do you smell that? It smells like ocean. And fish," she hissed distainfully. "I think a warrior said that's what TideClan smells like. And they know we're here! What do we do?!" She noted mentally that it smelled every bit as bad as the hisses of her clanmates had mentioned, though that was all the bad that they'd had to say. She didn't stop to consider whether they also smelled bad to the other clans; her kit mind hadn't learned empathy for other clans yet.

"Fish??" She replied softly and sure enough when she took a whiff of the air, she could smell what Adderkit had mentioned. Honeykit's eyes started to dart around and she quickly scanned their surrounds but they really were in the worse place to find a hiding place. The edge was looming behind them, and where they were it was certainly far too steep for them to get down safely. The only thing they really had to hide behind was the lighthouse. "Maybe we can use this strange tree to keep us out of sight??" She whispered back to Adderkit. It was true that if they kept moving around the lighthouse while the other cats came around they could keep out of sight, however that wouldn't change the fact that their scent would still be left and if they cats suddenly ran after them, they'd surely be caught. She felt her heart jump as a rather grumpy voice rang out telling them to come out. She froze and her mind blanked for a second. What were they gonna do??? Just then another voice called out, this one didn't sound as scary as the first one. "Maybe we should go out?" Honeykit said, "We might get in more trouble trying to hide.""

Adderkit hesitated. "TideClan... TideClan isn't so bad, I guess. I heard stories about them, and they don't seem mean." She stood nervously. "M-maybe we should go out."

BlueStripe snapped her head up before growling, "Oh TideClan... my lucky day." She walked torwards the two voices demanding the kits to come out, "Sorry but these kits belong to CragClan. So if you don't mind. I'll be the one who tells them to come out." She gave a fake smile as if to seem nice and sweet. But the way she said it should of told them she wasn't.

Troutpaw's mood quickly plummeted at the sight of the CragClan deputy. He had never personally met her before but her righteous attitude was downright awful. He could feel a sneer forming on his lips and the fur along his muzzle began to bunch up in disgust. The obviously fake smile on her face caused his fur and hackles to rise. Even Sedgestream's comforting presence did little to deter his words when he spat at her angrily, "Oh, really? Is all of CragClan just so inadequate at their duties that they can't even keep kits in check? Isn't your Clan supposed to be a forsaken fortress?" The tabby tom didn't bother to keep his voice down or to keep his emotions in check. Deputy or not her fake attitude had grinded on his nerves. "You don't have to tell them anything, either! You're not their mother!" He hesitated, suddenly unsure, "Well, I bet not because nobody in their right mind would -" He cut himself off and took a step back and glowered at the ground. Troutpaw tried to shake off the sudden tightness in his chest and took deep, uneven breaths until the black spots in his vision dimmed. Don't forget to breathe, he scolded himself before he glared up at her. His voice shook out of repressed rage and withheld breath. Idly, he hoped that his own deputy wouldn't notice his weight get a bit heavier on her side while he tried to steady himself and his breathing in an attempt to keep his voice even, "You're not even supposed to be here. This is RoostClan's territory - you didn't win it in that dumb war so CragClan has no claim over it, kits or no kits. RoostClan's leader-" his voice cut out and he had to take a deep breath and he closed his eyes. Having lost steam, his voice came out as a sudden and sharp stutter before he breathed heavily and hung his head lower, feeling slightly lightheaded from yelling so much. "- won't appreciate CragClanners here," he finally finished, although his voice was a bit hoarser and quieter than before.

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There was many a thing that Troutpaw would not be willing to do - however, disobeying his father was not one of them. Despite having officially retired to the elders' den, his father still shadowed the medicine cat den and cloaked his apprentice. Troutpaw had sheepishly wandered in, head held high despite the lecture he had received from a senior warrior just moments prior for having slipped out of camp without supervision. He wasn't confined to camp - thankfully - and the senior warrior did threaten to report it to the leader or, the Dark Forest forbid, Sedgestream, but had been thankfully distracted by another Clanmate. He slipped away and opted to make himself useful - or rather, to pawn off his time because he'd rather not do trivial things - when he spotted his father's wary glances towards the small pool that they had inside the small cave. It wasn't much, but it was one of the solid places to store water so close to their camp - which, truthfully wasn't much. The small cave which they located the more important cats, essentially those who weren't warriors or apprentices, slept inside while the others slept under the night sky on the beach. They did have smaller clefts in the cliffside but not nearly big enough for all of them. "We're running low," Jaggedear said and his gaze levelled on Troutpaw. He tried not to tense, to keep his gaze level, but his father merely huffed heavily through his nose. "Are you in trouble?" "With Tornfire. You know how he is." "Hm," Jaggedear leaned closer, "So you're hiding away with me, is that it?" He tensed his jaw. "That's not how it is. I'm seeing if you need help." "Of course. To escape Tornfire's scorn?" "Dad -" He huffed, quick to object. "How about you help gather some fresh water? From RoostClan's stream? We need some more and I can barely tend to Thistleclimb as it is. Some fresh water would be nice to soothe her throat."

He closed his eyes and contemplated - it wasn't a hard decision. Official elder or not, he was still a medicine cat - and both elders and high ranks were to be respected. "Yes, dad," he meowed finally. "Good. Take some cats with you - the more water we can get the better." Jaggedear blinked with affection at him and Troutpaw nodded. It wasn't exactly easy to tell when his father was proud of him but it did show in his face, even if he didn't show it with his actions. "I'll be back." "Be careful." "Will do. Thanks." His comment was a bit stiff but he flicked his tail and meowed an echoing goodbye as he left the little enclosure and glanced around the small space that they called their 'camp'. Most of the warriors were out fishing or on border patrols, so it wasn't easy to find someone who looked otherwise unoccupied. As if the Dark Forest was bestowing grace upon him, he noticed Sedgestream before Tornfire did. He shot a scowl in the dark tabby's direction before he padded quickly up to her side before he could. Surely, if he asked her to accompany him outside of their camp and the surrounding beach area, then perhaps Tornfire would fortunately forget to tell her about his little mishap with her out of his line of sight. "Are you busy at the moment?" he blurted out as quick as he could, tail fluffed up despite himself. Did he look guilty? Had his neck fur risen? Would she look at him with suspicion? He licked his chest fur down and consoled himself that surely his reputation preceded himself and that she would think little of it, if so much as a whisper reached her ears of his wanderings.

Sedgestream... was bored. She'd already gone on patrol and had nothing else to do. She was sunbathing, letting it warm her thick pelt and letting her eyes close. It was a nice day for a swim. Perhaps she'd take one when the sun became too much for her. She was fantasizing about this when she sensed someone approaching her and opened her eyes lazily. 'Ah, Troutpaw.' When he asked his hasty question, she blinked, slightly taken aback, but opted to ignore the way it was said and blinked again to clear her surprise. "No, actually. I have nothing going on at the moment. Why?" she asked curiously, ignoring the urge to tilt her head.

He flicked his dark ringed ears and noted the nonchalance to her words, the laxness that made him assume that Tornfire hadn't beaten him there. Gradually, he allowed himself to begin to relax and roll his shoulders back. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder at the chocolate tabby who looked a bit cross with him before sulkily turned to complain to another warrior, most likely about Troutpaw himself. However, he was quick to realize how that glance backwards could be interpreted so as to not allow her to doubt him - to think he had done something wrong, which, he knew he did but that made it all the more interesting - so he slid his gaze further, over towards where his dusk-pelted father was as he sorted through the few herbs that the other medicine cat couldn't get to. Surely if he looked at his father than asked his question she would consider it to be the turht? Which, it was, he wasn't a cold-hearted liar at all, and she didn't deserve that, but still - he didn't want to see the dark look of disappointment touch her azure eyes. "You see," he started and then realized that was a horrible way to start something off - it made him sound like he was up to no good. No matter, he couldn't fix it. "Our sort of pond is gettin' kind of small without the fresh water and as I'm - as apprentices aren't allowed out of the .. uh, immediate camp, without a warrior of some sort, I figured if you weren't too busy we might go to RoostClan's territory together and get some with me?" It wasn't a guarded secret that RoostClan and TideClan had an alliance concerning the fresh water but it was still best to send small parties rather that large ones lest RoostClan thought they were about to begin a raid on their territory like CragClan had done. Besides, Sedgestream was one of the more favourable cats he had met and one of the few he actually held his tongue around so it all worked out well in his favour, thankfully. That is, if she willingly agreed.

Sedgestream noticed his glance toward his father, but noticed the tabby sulking as well. She gave a slight eye roll and a huff. 'Oh StarClan, please don't let that be trouble for me later.' She gently shook her head as she realized her mistake, but, realizing Troutpaw wouldn't even know why she was shaking her head, she turned it into a yawn meant to break her out of her sleepiness. She tried not to make a habit of referring to StarClan, but when she said things too quickly, sometimes it just... happened. "Sure, sounds like a plan." She got up and stretched leisurely then shook the sand off her pelt. "Let's go," she meowed, feeling much more alert now.

He turned his head in time to catch her yawn and had to ensure his jaws remained shut to make sure he didn't copy her motion. Best not to do that, he thought, S'no use getting tired before we've even started the work. That's not how proper warriors do things. His mood, however, did turn a bit sour at the thought - work, work, work, that's all warriors did, wasn't it? And for what? Yes, it was for the benefit of the Clan, he saw that, but did they get recognition for it? Would it not become routine? Would it not make the days drag on and on until it became a seamless blur of never quite living but not quite being dead? When did the warriors ever do anything exciting aside from work? He wasn't fond of battles, sure, they were messy and unnecessary and yet it was a break from the routine that warriors had. It was something - although it wasn't a good thing. A break from routine could also be that nasty sickness, he thought and that sobered him up quickly. He had lost a littermate and nearly lost his mama - perhaps it would be best if things didn't change too often. "Great," he said and hoped that his voice didn't reveal his moody thoughts - he wouldn't be surprised if it did, his mama always told him that she could guess what he was thinking. Then again, they were related, so what did she know? "Did you - want it to be just us or did you want to grab someone else, first?" He closed his mouth and tried to get a dismissive posture and hoped that he didn't reveal his displeasure at the thought. If ya do, please anybody but Tornfire. Not Tornfire, not Tornfire. Dark Forest forbid, anyone but him. Or just us. Please, just not him.

Sedgestream blinked at the tom. She heard something off in his voice, but wasn't sure exactly what it was. She almost wanted to ask him, but she figured Troutpaw wouldn't be one for deep conversation with a random cat. She wanted to help and be useful to him, but in reality she couldn't expect that from him, so she'd have to be okay with not asking. "Well, maybe it's better if it's just us. After all, wouldn't want them to think we're overstepping our boundaries." She was pleased to finally be doing something that wasn't laying around. Though she figured she deserved a rest every now and again, it didn't feel right to be doing nothing.

He tried not to think too hard about the wariness in her eyes, the off-shade of concern and curiosity that bled into her expression so easily. You know nothing about me and yet you look at me like that, he thought but the sour edge to it wasn't there. He was emotionally tired, not quite ready to put up that mental front again. Instead, he tucked that knot of emotions away and stomped on it and tried to bury it deeper in his heart. He wasn't the 'don't ask me and I won't tell you lies' sort but it was something else to push others away when they asked. It was more of a surprise to him than anyone else that she clicked her jaws together and refrained from asking him whatever was on her mind. The disappointment settled in his ribs like a stone weighed down by the crushing sense of not being good enough. S'not like I'd have told her anything anyway, he consoled himself but the thought still stung. I'm just a hypocrite, that's all. Jus' wanting attention like Nightpaw always says. "There are no boundaries," he huffed and he couldn't help but wince at the bite to his voice. I'm sorry, the words couldn't leave his maw. It's not you I'm mad at. He was horrific at apologizing and couldn't if his life depended on it though so the words caught in his throat. "It's kind of their duty to go on patrols, in'it?" Shame made his ears burn and he flicked them downwards, tail tucked despite himself. He coughed, tried to dispel the tension he felt in his chest and offered again, "I ..." The words caught again and he half-mumbled half-choked out the next sentence, "Ne'ermind, I think we should go, that's all. T's stuffy in here." A little too late, he realized that they couldn't be truly classified as 'in' anywhere so he shook his head.

Once again, Sedgestream attempted to piece together the strangely put sentences and his possible inner thoughts, but with no way to know, she had to dismiss it yet again. Irritation prickled under her pelt at not being able to know anything about the young apprentice. She wanted to know everything about all of her clanmates. 'Well, okay, maybe not all of them,' she amended. But still, she wanted to help. She got the feeling that he would just lash out if she said something wrong anyway, so all she could offer him were a couple words that she hoped conveyed more than their original intent. "It's okay," she said, but what she wanted to say was 'It's okay if you're mad. I don't see any reason for you to be mad at me, so I'm going to assume you aren't, and I want you to know that's okay. I've seen cats who acted like you before, so I kind of know how you feel, but I have no real way to tell, so I just want you to know it's alright.' How all of this could be conveyed in a simple "it's okay" that was, for all he knew, directed at his sentence that sounded somewhat like a cough and body language, Sedgestream wasn't sure. But she wanted him to be okay anyway. "I know there are no boundaries, but I was referring more to the fact that they might think we're invading," she meowed patiently. "Anyway, might as well be on our way."

Her voice cut off any immediate response he had, the sincereness made him recoil in disgust at how she seemingly perceived his words. He wanted to send scathing words at her, to deny her comment and her genuine concern and understanding but the words didn't come. Instead, he deflated, any misguided anger sputtered in his chest and he heaved a sigh. His ears made sure to remain flat against his skull. It wasn't worth getting into a fight with her - it would be difficult to decipher the meaning behind her words but she was sincere and kind. She did not snap at him for his tone or try to correct him and the confusion was enough to put Troutpaw off. The silver and white tabby wanted to save some pride and face and yet what instead came out was, "Whatever." The self-hatred burned brightly in his chest then because no, she did not deserve that so he managed to offer, "It's not your fault." Because it was his. It was his messed up mind trying to make a mess of things and his fault for not being able to express himself, his fault not not being able to understand what the problem with himself was. "Yeah. Let's just - let's just go." He blew heavily through his nose; he felt defeated and yet he couldn't bring himself to put more pep in his step, to bring up that swagger that he usually put in. He wasn't anywhere near an elder's age and yet he acted like one - Pitiful. Then the rest of her sentence caught up to him, "Oh, you mean - RoostClan?" the question fell from his maw and he turned, a bit more confused than he was before. "I don't think they'd be happy with that idea - weren't they just fighting with CragClan or something?" He wasn't too clear on the idea or process of what went on between the two - at the time TideClan was a bit preoccupied. "Yeah."

The walk towards the easiest pathway up towards RoostClan wasn't quite as easy as some warriors would claim it to be - longer legs and all that - and yet he found he didn't mind it. The company was pretty decent, at least. He was careful to keep pace with her, as he was often prone to do, and watched the area where the sand met stone warily. "Do you travel along the cliffside much?" he asked, more out of a need for conversation than anything else. Sure, TideClan did have a border along the cliffs but that was a bit more of a formality than anything, wasn't it? The rocks were often too hard on their soft pads so he resisted the idea of visiting that border if he could and yet the idea of being out of camp and away from the rest of TideClan - from where his horrid thoughts had grown roots - was a better prospect so it wasn't so bad.

Sedgestream enjoyed walking in general. She liked the view and liked the activity, and when Troutpaw asked if she was at the cliffs often, she shrugged. "I go for walks here often," she said casually. "Helps toughen my pads a bit." Though she definitely didn't come here often enough to 'toughen her pads a bit'. They were still as soft as anyone's. But the apprentice was making conversation, so she tried to tell him as much as she could, despite the fact that it was really just small talk and she probably would've gotten away with a much shorter reply.

Honeykit tilted her head to once side as she stared quizzically at the lighthouse not sure what to make of it. If not a tree, then what on earth was this strange thing? It seemed she couldn't reach an answer either though. It wasn't like she had much to go on, since the only things she knew about the outside was what she had been told. "Okay yeah, let's do that." She said as she nodded in response to Adderkit, "That's certainly a better idea then just standing here gawking at it." She giggled.

Adderkit trotted along the circumference until she came upon a differently colored section. She stared at it curiously, tilting her head. "Honeykit, what do you think this is?" she meowed to her sister, angling her ears toward the thing.(edited)

As they walked around the lighthouse, Honeykit kept on glancing towards her right looking out over at the sea. It was truly quite a stunning view up from here, though she was a bit nervous about getting too close to the edge especially after her little slip before. She stared at the door after hearing Adderkit ask her about it. "Oh? That's strange, why is only this part a different colour???" She asked in confusion. "This thing gets more confusing by the second. I wish there was someone around we could ask..."

Adderkit opened her mouth to agree then realized if there was someone around, they'd probably be in a lot of trouble. "Maybe we'll find out when we're apprentices," she said hopefully instead. She glanced around, taking in all the views. "I wonder if Mommy knows we're gone yet."

When they were apprentices, huh? To Honeykit, that seemed such a long time away but she didn't express this out loud. She froze up for a second when Adderkit mention their mother, it was something she had forgotten about in all the excitement, the fact that they were certainly not meant to be out here at all. "I sure hope not! Otherwise it's gonna be us grounded this time!"

Adderkit's tail waved slightly in fear. "Even if we do, it'll still be worth it, I think! We got to see... whatever this is! I don't think any other kit has done this, so we're special!" Adderkit was adamant on not being brought down by the thought of being caught. She had come all this way! Surely that counted for something.

Well it was certainly true that not many other kits would be able to say that they went out exploring in their territory. Not even apprentices were meant to be out alone! She had a little rush of thrill as she thought about this, perhaps it would be worth getting a scolding from their mother? "You know what? You might be right. Either way if we are gonna be caught regardless, then there is no point in worrying about it." She concluded.

"At least we have a fun story to tell," Adderkit purred. Besides, they wouldn't be allowed out of camp alone until they were warriors, and that was a long time from now! Even their apprenticeship felt like a long ways away, so this little adventure would have to hold them off until they were able to go out on their own. It would probably be a fun story to look back on when they were that old, anyway. "It's worth it," Adderkit said confidently.

He flicked an ear and wondered idly if the war between RoostClan and CragClan was a sensitive subject, if perhaps it was best among TideClan cats not to bring it up. Would that be why RoostClan was so weary on invaders and on TideClanners marching in and getting water? Did they really think so poorly of the other Clans or just highly enough of themselves that surely everybody would want to gang up on them? The RoostClanners were a strange lot, he figured, and shook his head. "That's weird," he said bluntly when she admitted that. He didn't think for a second that she could have been saying something not quite true. He placed his forepaws along a higher ledge and struggled to heave himself over it. His muscles were built for swimming not climbing so the strain became apparent the more they walked. We have to lug water-soaked moss all the way back down? He thought with a sudden gloominess. "You must run into CragClanners a lot, then," he mused when he sidestepped a particularly vicious looking stone - and walked right onto another one. He winced at the prick of pain and paused long enough to look at it, judge the wound as his father once taught him and licked it quick enough to free the small cut of any immediate dirt - a foolish tactic, they were on a cliffside - so he could keep pace with her. "Why d'you figure they'd want to live here, anyways? Not much prey, I'd think, and the ledges are scaled enough a cat could slip and crack their skull open. The herbs needed to fix that is a hefty amount, let me tell you. M'dad would cringe about it." He frowned. "S'pose RoostClan doesn't have it any better, though. Being closed in. Though I think they'd say the same about us." He paused and realized he'd already said quite a bit but he was the sort to complain and she seemed kind enough to humour him so why not? "CragClanners would get a good workout, anyways. Can you imagine having to scale this all the time? It'd be bloody awful."

Sedgestream shrugged off his blunt response as it came. Perhaps it was weird, but she thought maybe having tougher pads was a good idea, since rough surfaces like this would hurt less, at least. That didn't matter at all, though, because she didn't intentionally toughen them as she said she did, and since she had kind of made up that fact about herself, she saw no reason to think any further into it. Anyway, she listened to his rant and occasionally her whiskers trembled with supressed laughter at how much he was going on about other clans. She had thought about such things as well, and it was amusing to hear him meowing on about it. She couldn't think of a time that the apprentice had said this much to her... well, ever, and she was kind of enjoying it, if only because perhaps they were bonding over it, even slightly. "I think I'd be worried about all the kits. Can you imagine, having a bunch of kits, at the right age to want to go off exploring on their own while having your camp in a bunch of caves on the side of a cliff? They must keep a very good eye on them, or they wouldn't have any kits left." Sedgestream's mood dampened slightly at the thought of it, but she recovered quickly by consoling herself. 'Clearly all their kits don't ACTUALLY die off, or they wouldn't have a clan left.'

She kept quiet for most of his tirade - he did notice that, of course he did, he wasn't completely oblivious, and he wasn't sure how he felt about all of it. Did his words just go to waste? Perhaps he'd best keep his opinions and thoughts to himself next time and still his tongue - hah, what a joke that was, he had a knack for biting remarks. However, the suggestion itself was suppressed when she meowed and he hesitated. Perhaps she had been listening after all and was just absorbing all he said without interrupting. Feeling awful about that, he made sure not to meet her eyes just in case any guilt shone in his blue eyes. "That's true," he huffed heavily and hesitated. He cranked his head back to see how much higher they had to climb. It was good of CragClan to let them cross some of their territory peacefully to get to RoostClan, at least, so he couldn't fault them for being all bad. Troutpaw frowned - they weren't too far from the top but his mind wondered about how careful they would have to be when they trekked back down. "Especially with the rocks at the bottom of the cliff - if the fall didn't kill them, or the water, it'd be a wonder that they'd even survive. Still, I'd think that they're built like a fortress - it'd be hard to get in and out. So I doubt kits would be able to just wander off on their own." He frowned, though - her voice had changed pitch for a moment there and her eyes had darkened. "Are you alright?" he asked, paws raised up on the ledge above them, hesitating long enough to look back and observe her. It wasn't easy to ask the words, he wasn't as comforting as his parents or his littermates were but he wasn't completely daft or senseless.

Sedgestream tried to shove any remaining negative feelings away before she looked up at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just care too much about kits that aren't mine, that's all." Her heart ached as she simplified her problem, but for a different reason; she longed for kits of her own and had for a while now, but the time didn't seem to be right and she didn't even have a mate. She just wanted to raise them with someone she loved, but no suitable male had popped up yet. Though she pushed the thoughts out of her mind, her heart still ached dully, so she tried to ignore it as she always did. "Anyway, we're almost there," she meowed cheerfully. "Maybe the walk back down won't be so bad. It's always easier to go down a hill than up it, even if that hill is made of sharp rocks," she purred.

Troutpaw squinted at her and judged her words at face value - she didn't seem keen to share facts with him about herself just yet. It felt like there was more to her story but he couldn't be sure, not without her being forthright about it. He felt unease at the prospect on asking her to elaborate - it really wasn't his business so he offered a stiff, "It's only natural - but you do have to consider that they're not really yours to watch over, either." He made a low noise as he heaved himself onto the ledge and crouched there for a while to catch his breath. It was tiring work climbing up if you weren't used to it, after all. "Besides, it wouldn't feel the same - you'd have a closer bond to those you've raised or those of your own blood, so you can care for kits all you'd like, I guess, but you'll care a great deal more for the ones in your own Clan." Troutpaw shook out his silver pelt, his whiskers twitched as he straightened. "Besides, aren't leaders and deputies supposed to consider and care for their Clan like they were their kits?" He sounded amused though, and it was half-meant as a joke - the previous leader, Squirrelmoon, had treated everyone fairly, sure, but he couldn't say that he ever felt related to the tom in question. "The Dark Forest willing, it'll be a lot easier than going up," he hoped aloud, "This whole experience makes me think that I don't ever want to fetch water again." There was little truth to his words, though, as he did consider his Clan's wellbeing over his own and although he would complain and moan the while way there, he'd do it. He kicked at a stone mindlessly and tried not to wince when it stubbed his paw. Weak, he berated himself. "I'm actually surprised we haven't run into any CragClanners, actually."

Sedgestream noted that the silver apprentice seemed to slightly warm up to her and felt hope well in her chest. Perhaps they could be friends after all. She tasted the air briefly, wondering if perhaps a patrol had passed by just before they arrived. "Well, I think some cat is around here... it sure smells like one was just here," Sedgestream said warily, though the scent was too faint for her to be able to tell.

Troutpaw frowned and twisted his head around, chin pressed closer to his chest as he crouched in his attempt to determine the scent markers. It was fairly stale and not very prominent, like she suggested. With a sharp roll of his shoulders he stood to his paws again. "Whoever it is, let's hope they've gone - if not, they'd best understand that we're just collecting water," he scowled a bit then. Would CragClan truly turn them away just because they had to cross their territory? He flicked his ears and glanced up. It was only a couple paces up more and then they'd be on solid RoostClan territory. His paws ached and he knew that he'd enjoy that fact very much. With a sudden surge of hastiness, he reached up to pull himself up higher and waited to see if she would need help and if not, to wait for her to get on the same level as him. "I wish there was an easier way to collect water than to gather it in moss and other herbs like that." He frowned. RoostClan themselves had a dug-out of sorts, so the water came from the ground up for some reason, and would gather due to the rainy season, so creating a little stream to provide a small 'waterfall' was out of the question. Perhaps, if the Dark Forest had some sort of power over the seasons and weather like StarClan was rumoured to have, then they might be so willing to give them something like that. But he supposed it was fine - it just meant that it was unlikely that RoostClan would consider attacking them and vice versa because of their agreement. But when would RoostClan start wanting something in return for their water? He shook his head of the thoughts.

Sedgestream pulled herself up to where he was and sighed. "I've been trying to think up a way for moons. There's probably a river around here somewhere but no one knows how far away or if the water is even good. The ocean might've turned it kind of salty, so we'd have to travel even farther, and..." She sighed again. What she wanted most for her clan was to not have to depend on others for water. Then their lives would be perfect. But how?

Troutpaw frowned at her comment. "Maybe there isn't a way," he said with a disapproving tone, "Or maybe there had been but we probably lost it in that hurricane that supposedly happened." He wasn't too sure, as it was rumors and history passed down orally and he, obviously, didn't experience it first hand. When StarClan supposedly smited some of CragClan's territory and it fell into the ocean, who was to say that it didn't affect TideClan's territory as well? "Then again, being allied with RoostClan right now isn't the worst thing that could happen." It would be an entirely different situation if one of the other Clans declared war on them, however. If that happened, could they count on RoostClan to withdraw, or to ally themselves against CragClan again? He shivered. "Maybe Jaggedear and the other medicine cat will receive a sign of some sort, though," he sighed, half hopeful but knew that his hope was likely futile. The silver tabby pushed himself up further and nearly let out a loud sigh of relief when he could feel flatter, broader stones beneath his paws now. The wind was stronger, of course, without the rubble to buffer it, but the moment they climbed over the final slope meant that they had encroached upon RoostClan territory. He heaved a sigh of relief when he spotted familiar tufts of grass. Sure, it wasn't anything compared to the silky sand that fellow TideClanners and himself were used to, but it was certainly better.

The fresh water stream wasn't too far into their territory right? It was located further right, closer to RoostClan territory. However, he stopped and tensed the moment he picked up a strange scent on the wind. It seemed to have come from the left - towards the tall tree-like structure. He wasn't daft, he knew that it was a twoleg den of some sort but as it was rightfully RoostClan's he didn't see much of it. It was still somewhat in the distance but it loomed ahead like a horrible nightmare. "Do you smell that?" he asked, bluntly, because something was off in that direction and it definitely wasn't the familiar RoostClan scent.

Sedgestream felt her hackles raise as the scent was carried to her nostrils. She tasted the air for a moment. "Oh St- Dark Forest, no! It smells like CragClan! They better not be trying anything anymore," she hissed. "Everything is so peaceful. Though I suppose it's... really none of our business," she acknowledged with a sigh.

Troutpaw frowned and tried to force his neck fur to lay flat. As far as he knew it was a sharp drop off just beyond the twoleg den on at least one side so it didn't exactly seem optical of a landmark to have - but what did he know? He wasn't the one fighting tooth and claw for territory that had no use to TideClan. It was just an unusual den, sure, and - alright, it had an amazing viewpoint, if the rumors were true, but it didn't seem worth it to him. However, he was thrown a bit off guard at a weird mumble she had began to utter. He shot her a look, confused, but when she continue on he thought perhaps it was his imagination. It wouldn't be the first time someone said something random. "It's RoostClan and CragClan's business on what they do," he agreed, "although if any RoostClanner asks, we didn't know about them, yeah?" He frowned and hesitated, "But - if you wanted to go ... check it out, that'd be fine too." Maybe it could strengthen the Tide-RoostClan ties if RoostClan saw their actions favourably? Although, what were the odds a small patrol of a deputy and apprentice could do against an undetermined amount of cats? It wasn't their business and CragClan wouldn't like it but if RoostClan caught wind ... it could either go very bad or very good, no matter which choice they chose.

Honeykit felt a little envious of Adderkit's confidence, in all honestly Honeykit admired her sister very much. She always seemed to very certain of herself, something Honeykit wished she was able to do. As she was about to speak the wind that had been blowing towards them changed directions, carrying on it, another scent she didn't recognize. Honeykit's ear perked alert and she nudged her sister to get her attention before saying quietly, "I think someone's coming!"

Adderkit's eyes widened and her fur raised. "I don't know if we can hide... if we try to rush down the cliff, we might fall!" she hissed nervously.

June 15, 2017

BlueStripe had her muzzle raised like a hound before bringing it back down in anger. She had been tired from not sleeping all night and this didn't help wake her up. She yawned before perking up at a scent of two kits. Fairly recent this made her scowl and hiss in anger, "Should be in camp..". She continued to try and follow the scent trail only growing worried as she got closer to the cliff.

Sedgestream sighed and glanced at Troutpaw. "Come on, then. Might as well go see what's going on. Maybe it's just a couple of apprentices being stupid furballs," she muttered hopefully, and cautiously began making her way over toward the scent.

Troutpaw decidedly didn't look convinced. His tone was bitter but resigned as he offered up a quick, "If you say so." He flicked his tail and carefully overstepped a jagged rock that jutted out of the ground. He glanced wistfully behind him; he felt appalled that he couldn't grab some water, though. Then again, he mulled it over, he would have disagreed no matter with what Sedgestream had decided - if they went to gather water first he'd be forlorn about having missed the opportunity to check out the mystery scent. Although, whatever else he was about to consider shifted away from missed opportunities - TideClan's survival should always come first, he didn't want to get involved with either CragClan or RoostClan - when he caught a peculiar scent. He had spent enough time around his father - and thus, the nursery - to recognize that strange, familiar scent. It was a bit new to be blunt, not unlike down feathers, and almost milk-smelling - enough for him to know that it was likely a queen or, Dark Forest forbiding, something much - smaller. He paused and his hackles raised. "Do you - smell that?" the silver and white tom hesitated. Troutpaw shuffled closer to Sedgestream's side and found comfort in the warmth of her shoulder. He could feel a small hiss rise at the back of his throat and he prayed that he was wrong. "If any of you can hear me, you'd best come out or y'all get a thorough tongue lashin', ya understand?" He glared pointedly across their surroundings. He figured they weren't as close enoug for the scent to be considered fresh exactly but hopefully his voice carried.

"Kits?" Sedgestream murmured softly. Good thing they hadn't ignored the scent.What would've happened to them if they hadn't come? "Come on out," she said, her voice stern yet soft, contrasting Troutpaw's angry tone. Adderkit flattened herself to the ground. "Do you smell that? It smells like ocean. And fish," she hissed distainfully. "I think a warrior said that's what TideClan smells like. And they know we're here! What do we do?!" She noted mentally that it smelled every bit as bad as the hisses of her clanmates had mentioned, though that was all the bad that they'd had to say. She didn't stop to consider whether they also smelled bad to the other clans; her kit mind hadn't learned empathy for other clans yet.

"Fish??" She replied softly and sure enough when she took a whiff of the air, she could smell what Adderkit had mentioned. Honeykit's eyes started to dart around and she quickly scanned their surrounds but they really were in the worse place to find a hiding place. The edge was looming behind them, and where they were it was certainly far too steep for them to get down safely. The only thing they really had to hide behind was the lighthouse. "Maybe we can use this strange tree to keep us out of sight??" She whispered back to Adderkit. It was true that if they kept moving around the lighthouse while the other cats came around they could keep out of sight, however that wouldn't change the fact that their scent would still be left and if they cats suddenly ran after them, they'd surely be caught. She felt her heart jump as a rather grumpy voice rang out telling them to come out. She froze and her mind blanked for a second. What were they gonna do??? Just then another voice called out, this one didn't sound as scary as the first one. "Maybe we should go out?" Honeykit said, "We might get in more trouble trying to hide.""

Adderkit hesitated. "TideClan... TideClan isn't so bad, I guess. I heard stories about them, and they don't seem mean." She stood nervously. "M-maybe we should go out."

BlueStripe snapped her head up before growling, "Oh TideClan... my lucky day." She walked torwards the two voices demanding the kits to come out, "Sorry but these kits belong to CragClan. So if you don't mind. I'll be the one who tells them to come out." She gave a fake smile as if to seem nice and sweet. But the way she said it should of told them she wasn't.

Troutpaw's mood quickly plummeted at the sight of the CragClan deputy. He had never personally met her before but her righteous attitude was downright awful. He could feel a sneer forming on his lips and the fur along his muzzle began to bunch up in disgust. The obviously fake smile on her face caused his fur and hackles to rise. Even Sedgestream's comforting presence did little to deter his words when he spat at her angrily, "Oh, really? Is all of CragClan just so inadequate at their duties that they can't even keep kits in check? Isn't your Clan supposed to be a forsaken fortress?" The tabby tom didn't bother to keep his voice down or to keep his emotions in check. Deputy or not her fake attitude had grinded on his nerves. "You don't have to tell them anything, either! You're not their mother!" He hesitated, suddenly unsure, "Well, I bet not because nobody in their right mind would -" He cut himself off and took a step back and glowered at the ground. Troutpaw tried to shake off the sudden tightness in his chest and took deep, uneven breaths until the black spots in his vision dimmed. Don't forget to breathe, he scolded himself before he glared up at her. His voice shook out of repressed rage and withheld breath. Idly, he hoped that his own deputy wouldn't notice his weight get a bit heavier on her side while he tried to steady himself and his breathing in an attempt to keep his voice even, "You're not even supposed to be here. This is RoostClan's territory - you didn't win it in that dumb war so CragClan has no claim over it, kits or no kits. RoostClan's leader-" his voice cut out and he had to take a deep breath and he closed his eyes. Having lost steam, his voice came out as a sudden and sharp stutter before he breathed heavily and hung his head lower, feeling slightly lightheaded from yelling so much. "- won't appreciate CragClanners here," he finally finished, although his voice was a bit hoarser and quieter than before.