hide and seek . [ / o p e n ]

[Z]

Kuro glared at the other loner, and huffed at the name 'Snowball,' but said nothing for a short moment. He stretched out one front leg to groom the fur down on it, flattening his stuck out fur. He knew it would make him look back to his smaller than usual size, but he didn't want to fight; he didn't want to look threatening. "I'm Kuro... Thanks," he finally growled, trying to make it seem as though he was actually there for a specific reason, also. He still wasn't very comfortable, though. He had just happened to show up at a time that seemed more conveniant to the other rogue than himself, that may or may not end well. He glanced at the two snakes again, making sure that neither of them looked like they were ready to attack--- him, anyways.

((ooc://Kind of a choppy paragraph, sorry... I can't exactly think of how to word things today.))

[Kisa-luff<3]

Lonefeather gaped at Jasper. Is he insane? She thought dumbfounded as her nager ebbed away slightly into a dull frustration. "Are you insane?" She asked spitting out her thoughts. "One minute you're refusing to leave our territory and now you're asking to go into our camp and see our leader?" She eyed him coldly "I suppose you want to get in and steal more secrets hrm? Do you have a rogue army hidden away some where waiting for your cue?" Lonefeather said feeling naturally suspicious and slightly uneasy. She had a right, she reasoned, to be suspicious. It was a little eerie that he knew so much about the clan. Not only that, but the lunatic claimed to have met Lonefeather before. He must have mental issues. She concluded silently. On a different thought, how would she bring him to the leader, if they don't have one? She could always take him to the deputy. The clan did need to know that there was a insane cat loose on their territory. She could just chase him off and tell the clan later. At this moment Takai curled on her leg and gave her one of his trademark stares, as if he could tell what she was thinking. "You're not helping by staring at me." She whispered bending down to speak to the serpent.

There was the matter of the other rogue as well. What if he wanted to come into the camp as well? There was no way she could possibly bring two starnge cats into the heart of their society. She shot a glance at Autumnpaw, the apprentice seemed like she had some decent instincts. She should be able to take the fluffy loner if her persisted in fighting. Jasper however was treading a fine line, Lonefeather's already slim patience had worn even thinner thanks to the arrogant rogue. "We're not taking you into the camp." She said flatly. "You either." She added twisting to face Kuro. "You both need to leave our territory now."

[Shadow]

Autumnpaw blinked. She didn't know what the loner, Jasper, had been talking to Lonefeather about before she got there, but she assumed it wasn't friendly. Why did he want to come into HorizonClan's camp? His whole personality and aura made the fur on the nape of her neck stand on end. She didn't trust him, and nodded at Lonefeather's final statement. She wouldn't let him into her home, even if it cost her her life. Would I have done this for ValleyClan? Her thoughts echoed in her mind. Of course she would have. But this was HorizonClan- her new home- and she would protect it with all her heart. She needed to stop dwelling on ValleyClan. ValleyClan was gone.

Crimson seemed to sense her new quietness, for he curled tighter around her neck. "Autumnpaw?" he whispered, so softly that only her ears could pick up the noise. "Are you okay?" The little snake flicked his tongue in and out in uneasiness, he obviously felt at odds with Jasper as much as the young she-cat did. As if to confirm this thought, he added, "I don't trust this Jasper, but I think he's dragging Kuro into it. I don't think they know each other- at least- not well."

Autumnpaw considered nodding, but that would alert the surrounding cats that she was talking with her companion again. Instead, she responded with a slight twitch of her ear, to which Crimson blinked at, understanding. The apprentice was curious about Kuro- he seemed... different from his loner friend. If it was him alone, she wouldn't feel even a smidgen as uncomfortable as she was now. That, however, was a different situation than she had in front of her.

Blinking again, Autumnpaw narrowed her eyes as she crouched down next to Lonefeather and let out a quiet hiss. She was ready to help her fellow Clanmate, whatever the cost. Now it was only a question on whether Kuro and Jasper decided to take the easy way out- or the hard one.

[Z]

Kuro once again glanced at Jasper, not quite sure of what to do or what to say. He wasn't really here to go into their camp, and he wasn't sure that Jasper was either, but he really didn't want any trouble. He didn't even know him anyways... Why did he have to be brought into this...? What a pain... he thought.

He caught a slight movement between the younger she-cat and her snake in the corner of his eye and glanced at them. After a short moment of almost no movement between them, the she-cat crouched down in an offensive position and hissed, making Kuro even more uncomfortable than he already was in this situation.

He sighed when the older she-cat explained the whole story. They weren't going to meet their leader, whoever that was, and that decision seemed final. He finally felt his ears go back and his muscles tense up. If Jasper kept pushing this he was just going to get both of them killed, and Kuro really didn't want that to happen. He didn't however, move from the spot he was in. He didn't know this rogue, but he didn't want to leave him in a two versus one battle, either. Why must I be put into these situations...? he asked himself, crouching down slightly into more of a defensive position. Why? He turned to Jasper. He definately wasn't the brightest cat; clever, yes, intellegent, not so much. But Kuro supposed that loners and rogues fought together when needed, and whether it was actually true or not, he would anyways. He honestly hoped Jasper would make the right decision and leave, but he had no control over this matted up cat.

[twig]

The other loner was playing along, kind of, but his story wasn't very convincing. The Clan cats were bound to realize that they didn't know each other at all, and would probably ignore any connection that he pretended to have with the newly-identified Kuro. Therefore, his best bet was probably to leave.

But that was boring, and showed rather bad form--was he about to back down to a pair of Clan cats, one of whom was younger than he? No, he wasn't.
Depending on what happened, he reserved the right to back down to their pet snakes, but these creatures seemed, surprisingly, less quick to anger than their masters.

"I didn't just make that up, you know. I do actually have business to attend to here," he meowed coldly, in response to Lonefeather's questioning. She was the greater of two evils in this situation: if he convinced her to give him a break, the younger would probably go along with it. "And I didn't steal any secrets from you, either. I.. I learned it from other Clans."
He had almost said 'I stole it from other Clans,' but that wouldn't win him any popularity points.

"And I'll proudly say that I'm not leading an 'army.'" Purposefully, he spoke as if the idea was both preposterous and offensive. "I've had bad experiences with bands of rogues before." This wasn't likely to gain him anything either, but it wouldn't hurt. It as also true: he had joined a rogue gang once, in the city, and the season he had spent with them had not been the best in his life.

So, judging by both she-cats, he wasn't going to make it to camp. He had a few other ideas, but he thought that perhaps it would be best to step back and try a different angle. Speaking now to the younger cat, who had crouched down and hissed (he wasn't sure why--perhaps his explanations had rubbed her the wrong way), he sighed. "You know, you're being quite unfair about this. Both of you." Kuro had changed positions too, but he refrained from doing the same. Fighting was a last resort. "If you can't take me there now, at least tell your leader that I want to talk to them, okay? Say that it's really important."

[Shadow]

Autumnpaw huffed out her breath, whiskers flapping as her wind blew them. She looked at the loner, Jasper, with an unrecognizable expression on her face. She wanted to know what, exactly, was going on in that mind of his. The information, she was sure, would help HorizonClan to decide whether or not to even consider to deal with the pair of them.

Not answering him, she turned her gaze back to Kuro. By now she was sure that he had never met Jasper before. Either that, or rogues and loners were even more separated from each other than she thought. He looked ready to fight, but also hesitant. Blinking, Autumnpaw internally scolded herself for acting so quickly. She was, however, unable to straighten up into a normal position. That would be just embarrassing. She would just go along with what Lonefeather did.. what did a scrawny new apprentice like her know, anyway?

Crimson seemed to have a different opinion. The colorful snake was slithering actively around her shoulders. He lifted his head up above hers, looking with interest at both cats. With his tongue constantly flicking in and out of his small mouth, he said, "Well, I don't know about you, but this would be a lot easier if you told us the whole story. Then we wouldn't be.. as.. hostile." Autumnpaw was sure Crimson was more unsure of himself now, but he didn't show it as he sunk back down to her neck.

[Kisa-luff<3]

Lonefeather glanced at Autmunpaw, for an apprentice the she-cat was showing considerable maturity in this situation. Lonefeather would have to remember to tell her mentor later. When Crimson spoke it seemed like a pretty reasonable question, not only that, but it would to get a straight answer out of the grey tom, the white tom looked as though he really didn’t want to be here. Lonefeather supposed she should give him a chance to leave before any fighting broke out, after all it felt more like Jasper was dragging him into this. The poor cat had probably just stumbled onto their meeting by pure accident, a genuine case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. “You there,” she nodded at the white tom. “You can leave now if you want and we won’t involve you with Jasper here.” She flicked her tail at the grey tom, Lonefeather would deal with him in a second. The she-cat glared at Kuro for a moment, in order to give him a bit of time to think about it she round on Jasper. “You however, can either stick around and get clawed, or you can get off our territory. You’re not coming into our camp and that’s final." Lonefeather really loathed that arrogant tom and sincerely hoped he was stupid enough to stay. It would give her a good excuse to claw his ears.

[twig]

(( I was kind of waiting for Z to reply, and then I was.. well, then I was really inactive and a bad person. But now I'm gonna revive this, kay? ))

He couldn't tell them the whole story, and that was because there wasn't a story to tell. He could think of something to talk about if they took the time to bring him to their leader, but at the moment his mind was pretty blank.
"I can't blame you for being hostile, I suppose," Jasper meowed carefully, gaze flicking from one she-cat to the other. The white tom hadn't responded and was being greatly unhelpful in this situation, so he ignored him.

"I mean, I have just waltzed into your territory, I suppose, unannounced. The fact remains, though, that you can't drive me out, and that I can't tell you anything until I've spoken with the one in charge of all of you. Please, give me the benefit of the doubt on this."

In response to Lonefeather's threat, he flicked his ears back, slightly uncomfortable. "And, ah, like I've said, I'd really prefer not to get clawed," he told her honestly.

What were his chances, here? Would it be better to retreat? Jasper glanced to Kuro for the first time since the smaller she-cat had spoken again, and seeing no definite signs of support for him, factored him out of the situation. He had been invited to leave, anyhow, so there was a good chance that he would. That left him--Jasper--against two cats who were probably both better trained than he was, and who were friends with a corresponding pair of snakes.
Truly, the smart thing to do now would be to run. But that was both boring, and going against his pride. He'd draw it out if he could.

[Z]

[((Sorry, there was no way to respond well... ^^)

Kuro nodded slowly as Jasper spoke; finally the rogue was saying something that made sense. He glanced at the forest cats, not quite sure if he was going to fight this through and through or not. His gut told him to run, but he wasn't going to let this old loner be slaughtered by two cats that knew how to fight. "It would be preferable that we didn't get our ears clawed off just for wishing to speak with the one that leads you forest cats," he finally said, his voice mature for his age but still kit-like. He was acting more like he was with Jasper on this one, possibly giving all of them the hint that he was staying by this stranger's side. "I don't see what it would hurt, after all."

[Shadow]

Autumnpaw's mouth almost fell agape with surprise, bt she managed to keep her jaw clamped tightly shut as she stared, wide eyed, at the small loner tom. So he was with this annoying rogue? It had seemed, only mere moments ago, that he didn't want anything to do with Jasper. What exactly was going on here? More unsure of herself than she had been now, Autumnpaw threw a nervous glance over in Lonefeather's direction. She didn't know what she was going to do now, but she definitely wouldn't be the one to start something, whether it was jumping into a fight, fleeing back to camp, or talking to these toms.

Her threat, though, had been sincere as well as fierce, and she was surprised that these two were mouse-brained enough to stick around for as long as they already had. They had one- if not two- semi powerful she-cats with snakes, for StarClan's sake, facing them, and neither of them felt any sort of compassion towards them. What could they possibly have to say to Havenstar that was so important?

The small apprentice felt Crimson twitch a little on her shoulder. She sensed his confusion, too, though he didn't say or do anything to show it. He just looked, head cocked, at Jasper and Kuro, before turning his head to gaze quickly at Lonefeather and Takai. What would they do now?