Fourtrees (Thrush/Aspen)

Aspenfur jumped, bristling and spitting, as shock and surprised raced through her body, electrifying her blood. She backed up, stiffed legged and wild eyed as she focused on the culprit. It was a tom, long furred and well muscled, with brown eyes. She didn't recognize him, which might explain why she hadn't scented him. There were just too many different scents here to be honestly sure. It was, of course, no excuse for her negligence. She was warrior, not a helpless kit, just wandering around.

She sniffed now, inhaling deeply and opening her mouth just to be sure. He was a Shadowclan warrior, his scent bitter and swampy, but there was no aggression in him. She paced a few fox lengths away, panting as the adrenaline wore off, and finally sat again, licking the ruffled fur on her chest. She never took her eyes off the tom. 

"Hello." She called back, just slightly breathless, as she forced herself to relax. Since he hadn't attacked her, she supposed that he was respecting the peace of Fourtrees as well. 

Aspenfur listened quietly as the warrior spoke. He seemed hesatient to speak but did so anyway and it soothed her to think that he was trying to keep the peace. She hadn't meant to react so defensively to him in the first place, and she felt shame creep up her spine. If Oaktail were here he would berate her for her obvious display of weakness. She should have growled at the Shadowclan warrior, should've at least made an attempt to be threatening. Instead she'd scrambled away like a brain rattled mouse.

The tom rubbed his face with a paw. ""Umm, I am sorry for scaring you." Aspenfur flicked her left ear, letting him know that she didn't consider it an offence.  "I'm Thrushstorm of Shadowclan. Warrior. My father use to be deputy." He continued. 

She'd heard of his father, Whiteclaw. The pale warrior had been a legend in the Riverclan camp for years, stories about his fierce fighting skills and his pale coat a staple in her kithood. She hadn't know the Shadowclan deputy had been mated, but then again, she wasn't Shadowclan and she certainly wasn't privy to their secrets. 

Her attention refocused on Thrushstorm as he leapt deftly off the Great Rock. "Umm... Would you please not tell anyone about that?" Aspenfur stiffened as he wandered closer to her but all he did was turn around and look at where he'd been perched. "I wouldn't want any of the leaders complaining that a warrior sat up there. Even though, I plan on being up there someday. I still have to get an apprentice though, but I know that the Leader wouldn't mind making me a deputy." He licked his tail. "There aren't many apprentices yet though..."

Aspenfur curled her tail over her paws and mewed. "Riverclan has several apprentices. But, like you, I've never had one. Of course, I'm still very young. There are older warriors ahead of me who deserve apprentices. I'll get one when I get one. I would never want to be leader. I couldn't..." She wanted to say fight the battles but that would only let on a weakness. "make the decisions they do." She paused, considering. "I'm Aspenfur, by the way."

If Aspenfur had to say anything about Thrushstorm, she would say that he liked to talk. It was throwing her for a loop, since she'd never really thought of Shadowclan as friendly. But he seemed nice enough, a little more honest than she'd expected, and it made it difficult for her to speak as she normally did. Her quick wits could often be taken as offensive and she certainly didn't want to offend the son of noble Whiteclaw. Morningclaw almost revered Whiteclaw, something about a lost kitten (probably Stonewhisker) that she'd heard too often to listen to anymore. 

She prickled slightly when he mentioned battles and attacks, but it was probably her own apprehensions and inhibitions coming into play. She never looked forward to fighting, despite how quickly she could create an argument. And he was Shadowclan, no matter how peaceful they appeared, it was almost unspoken that they were the trouble makers of the forest. Thrushstorm was probably raised to believe the only way to gain honor was through war. Oh well, the differences in each clan were what made them unique. 

He did, Aspenfur had to admit, sound like he'd make a decent leader.  "When do you think the next gathering will be? We could hang out then." Thrushstorm sighed. "It seemes like a quiet time without Half Moon medicine cat gatherings and Gatherings..." He shook his head. "I guess it's just Starclan's will, but it seems odd that they would do something like this..."

Aspenfur tilted her head, ears perking in interest. Did this mean that Shadowclan wasn't going to attend the next Gathering? That didn't bode well for the good of Starclan. 

"Gatherings are always on full moons." Aspenfur meowed. "The next one will be very soon I think. I did not check the moon last night, but we are getting close. I went to the last one, but not the Gathering before that. We can meet at the next one if you'd like. I think my mother would like to meet you."

Listening to Thrushstorm, she thought that he was right. It was quiet this days, but in her opinion that was a good thing. A quiet Starclan meant a peaceful season. She hoped, perhaps sacrilegiously, that they never sent another word down from Silverpelt, if it meant the clans could live as they were now, harmoniously and prosperously. 

It was strange maybe, for older warriors to live in a time of peace. Even Ripplepelt sometimes sighed with longing when the elders started telling tales of great battles. And her father was the most peaceful cat Aspenfur had met. He had to be with a mate like Morningclaw. But, of course, her generation had been born to this peaceful time and she wondered almost hesitantly, if they could go back to war when the time called for it.

 "Who's your mother?" Thrushstorm interrupted her inner musings and she was greatful for it; her head was starting to ache. 

"Morningclaw." She answered, flicking her left ear back. "She's more than a handful for all of the clan. If she hadn't had a litter, she'd have been leader by now." Aspenfur purred in amusement, because that statement was pretty much true. "She'd have worn down the old leader through sheer stubbornness and taken his place."

With a chill down her back, Aspenfur frowned. The Shadowclan warrior sounded like he was trying to start clan rivalry. Yes, it was hot, Greenleaf would always be hot. But if Windclan thought about taking the river they would be sorely mistaken. The river was Riverclan main staple of food. And she knew that Windclan knew that. She didn't think they would try to take it. Besides, Windclan cats had lighter pelts than the rest of the clans (she thought), so they'd be cooler. And there had been hot Greenleaf's before, and they'd survived; they could do it again. 

So what exactly was Thrushstorm trying to start? She wasn't so young that she would let his words follow her back to camp. Surely he must know that. He would have had better luck if he was talking to an apprentice. Why would Shadowclan want a war between Riverclan and Windclan anyway? Were they hoping to capitalize on a distraction? Aspenfur thought that Riverclan wouldn't attack unless Windclan made the first move.

"Well, Riverclan isn't too worried." Aspenfur meowed carefully, watching Thrushstorm. "Windclan doesn't swim well. They wouldn't be able to handle the river. If I were them, I'd go after Shadowclan, personally. All those trees and the shade to hide under. But then, I guess that's your guyses problem, huh."

And just like that, whatever manipulative threat Thrushstorm had tried was gone. Aspenfur was having trouble getting a hold on the tom. She wanted to think that she was clever enough to at least dabble in starting rumors and playing mind games but maybe she wasn't. She wasn't sure if she could trust Thrushstorm or not. 

She did have to agree though that Windclan could never handle the rapids of the river. They were too light. Even her slender frame couldn't always make it and she was willing to bet she was twice the size of any Windclan cat. 

"I should climb a few trees with the apprentices as well." Thrushstorm's topic jumped had her blink for just a second. "They should get more practice with that sort of thing. Some of them just aren't getting it yet, but they will eventually. Something like climbing trees just comes with practice." He looked up at the sun, for a second, but then back at her, blinking.  

"I love to climb trees." Aspenfur admitted. "There aren't a lot on my territory, but they're very big. Just willows. But I can usually get pretty far up there." She didn't mention how she liked to use the trees to jump into the deepest pools of the river, near Thunderclan, when she had the day off.