[THE COAL THAT BURNS YOU]

there did't seem to be enough hours in the day. palesmoke kicked at a wandering pine cone, sending it splashing into the river's murky water. already, the sun was setting and pale needed to concern herself with riverclan's patrol schedule. oh, why was deputyship so hard? on top of her struggle earning her clan's trust, the river water started to bubble with toxins once more. russetstar cautioned every cat away from the main body, ushering riverclan members upstream to drink, as the water was not polluted. past the carrionplace the river thinned out, leaving barely any room for a crowded, thirsty clan. windclan, shadowclan, and thunderclan all had their own water access, but riverclan prided themselves on the available stream flowing through their territory. too bad it was all but useless. she sat, watching the water foam at the base of the great waterfall. many riverclanners accused palesmoke of being "too spacey," "too dreamy," and "lacking initiative." very few clan members approved of russetstar's appointing decision, calling him a fish-brain, a coward, a traitor to clan life. palesmoke turned her head in shame, hiding it in the crook of her shoulder as pain swelled her heart. the falls running off the gotge were huge--so huge excess water lashed out from the top, leaping into the river swell below. sharp rocks, left as chips of the gorge's top, lay scattered at it's feet, jutting up out of the water like huge, porcupine spikes just waiting to impale an unsuspecting warrior. what a dangerous place this is, thought palesmoke.  she wondered if the bodies of unfortunate windclan warriors resided in this watery graveyeard of rock and bone. what was it like to drag an old friend, a rival, a brother, a mother, a father, a... clanmate... up off one of these spikes, their body penetrated so deeply that the fur was torn from the skin? the mere depiction made palesmoke gag. she stepped away, pawing at the clear ripples thoughtlessly, her heart heavy with hopelessness.

[egretpelt]

THE COAL THAT BURNS YOU , palesmoke

a solitary warrior padded through the open space of the windclan territory, paws placing themselves with a resolute confidence upon the wind-combed grass. the creme colored tom seemed to be in a world of his own, pondering, presumably upon life. what made the wind? what caused the sun? common sense told him that it was responsible for the heat that they felt during the warmer times, and even during the colder times, but how? what generated that heat? was it like a living creature? did the sun behave in the way that the pelt of a cat did, and radiate comforting warmth? how high would a cat have to jump to reach the sun, and was that even possible? how high was it? who, how and why were questions that spiraled about in the windclan warrior's head, twisting and churning in a helix shape, folding about on itself, coming full circle in some convoluted branching formation.

his ears became aware of the slowly increasing sound of rushing water, and as he eventually came upon the gorge, he found himself looking at the massive gash within the earth itself. he tilted his head, and squinted his eyes slightly. he could just make out the figure of a cat - angular and slender. curiosity poked at the tom, and spurred him on. he slowly wandered closer, coming to the half bridge. he stopped just at the edge, being suspended between riverclan and windclan territory. he didn't dare to go any farther though, but, the distance he was was fair enough. he could see the other cat clearly now, and recognized them - or rather her - as the deputy of the water-loving clan. the odd looking lanky she-cat had always been an oddity in egretpelt's mind.

she had seemed so exotic, compared to the somewhat stocky cats, with rounder faces, and smaller ears, and more muscled legs. of course, he was well aware that the deputy could hold her own, and her odd appearance didn't constitute to weakness. but even more of an enigma once she had been appointed deputy only after recently joining the clan. the question of what russetstar had been thinking had been a constant question murmured among the clans. the gossip had died in recent times, since the poisoning of the river and the terrible illness that whatever it was in the water induced. some cats even seemed scared to breath the air close to the river, fearing that the illness might somehow get into them, even if they didn't drink or touch it. of course, egretpelt had no real clue how the illness worked, and while it was a curiosity, he wasn't going to put his life in danger to figure it out.

"hello there, palesmoke," the creme colored warrior spoke, after noticing that the lilac pointed she-cat seemed to be in her own little world, a trance that egretpelt knew quite well. that trance was a good friend of his, and he often welcomed it in times of boredom, and scolded it in times that required focus, but only provoked his mind to wander to more interesting occurrences. "don't worry, i won't trespass. merely making friendly conversation across the way," he noted, reminding himself that borders were important among the clans, and while he didn't necessarily agree with the whole 'separate' ideal, he wouldn't argue with it, especially not to a high ranking official of another clan, when rumors of disloyalty within windclan could be provoked by such mindless thinking, and blatant disregard for the regulations put out by the warrior code, and their ancestors.

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[palesmoke]

the thin she-cat felt herself jump at the unreadiness of his raucous voice. "hello there, palesmoke," murmured her interloper with the strange calmness of an old friend. still, she could not keep herself from trembling. you're the god damn deputy, cursed palesmoke in her mind, growling inwardly. stop acting like a coward! he's not going to rear up and eat you, idiot. still, palesmoke's instinctual response was to flee, even though her moderate warrior training taught her otherwise. living on one's own gave one the strength to run from danger instead of fight it. the forest was large--there were many great spots to hide for a young, skittish she-cat. "don't worry, i won't trespass. merely making friendly conversation across the way." he was a peculiar windclan tom. with buddy curiosity, palesmoke padded forward and reached a paw over the scent line. before she placed it on the grass she froze, realizing what she was doing, and tore it back quickly, her eyes alight with fear and embarassment.  "s-sorry." why was all of this so difficult?  she took a long, deep breath and sat herself down, her claws itching to sit beside him, feeling ever so lonely on her side of the border. "i..." she started, realizing she was about to admit something shrouding her heart in shame, "i... i hate this." palesmoke craned her neck towards the unfamiliar tom, continuing, "i'm not used to... borders. when i lived alone, i was allowed to go wherever i want. now," she dragged a claw across the dirt, "it seems any cat who... trespasses, as you say... ends in certain death."

[egretpelt]

THE COAL THAT BURNS YOU , palesmoke

whiskers went a twitch with amused curiosity. he studied the deputy closely, and noted that she seemed to be having her own inner monologue. a faint hint of a smile touched the windclanner's lips, and the slightest hint of it kissed within his eyes. his face softened just a bit when he picked on the faintest tickle of fear within his nostrils. they flared for a second, addressing the situation of the smells that continuously assaulted his nose, but that as every cat learned, most went without much as a thought paid towards them.

if one were to focus on every single smell that cross through their nose, or fluttered across their jacobson's gland, egrepelt was almost positive that such a complete sensory overload would drive a cat completely mad, causing them too turn in on themselves, and begin to fight with themselves. and, while this would be an interesting thing to observe, egretpelt knew that if that were the case, then he wouldn't have much time to 'observe' as he clawed at his own flesh, and spilled his own life's blood onto the ground below him.

the windclan tom blink a couple of times, and shooed these thoughts away - they were much too morbid for this particular leaf-bare day! it wasn't too cold, a little nippy sure, but it wasn't bitter cold, and it certainly wasn't the type of cold that chased every single sane living being into their hidey hole for the duration of such environmental harshness. he glanced back at the water, and frowned, in almost a strange way. "do you know," the creme colored warrior began, his words thoughtful. "if the water is still poisoned?" it had been a hot topic of recently, and part of him missed the luxury of the stroll to the river's side to take a couple laps of water. it was a pleasantry that usually only occurred during a border patrol, or a hunting mission, but still, none the less it was an experience that egretpelt personally enjoyed.

it was always the simple things in life, after all.

his ears twitched at the jittery deputy's words and he shook his head. he had noticed her almost getting caught up in the duplicity of her former life as a clanless feline, and having almost stepped a delicate paw across the border between the two clans. "no, don't be sorry. you caught yourself, so, that's all that matters." egretpelt stated. "how is clan life treating you?" he asked, curiosity causing his tail to become alive with a series of twitches, just near the end of it, a few long whips of hair fluttering almost comically in the small breath blown by father wind.

"s-sorry." egretpelt tilted his head to the side as she spoke this time. he nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "i'm not use to... borders. when i lived alone, i was allowed to go wherever i want. now, it seems any cat who... trespasses, as you say... ends in certain death." he turned these words over in this mind, mulling over them carefully. "truth be told... i don't much care for borders. they're constraining, keeping our worlds small... but, it's the way of the clans, for some reason." he commented.

"even as an apprentice, i never understood it. and now, much older, i still don't fully understand it... so, don't worry too much about it. you're not the only one who doesn't understand them. i personally believe they're pointless poppycock, constructed by cats too scared of the vast expanse of the world to be able to explore it in its entirety." he said, before he heaved a sigh. "i also don't understand the needless bloodshed brought on by crossing them. as an apprentice, i remember having to be told over and over again that i couldn't cross the borders, always for my own protection... though, it seems to me, there's more dangers within our own territories.

"i've always wondered what life would be without borders. what was it like to go where you pleased? were there ever dangers of single cats claiming their own territory? other groups? or is that a construct solely of the clans?" he aimed his questions at her, letting the guard down he usually had when talking to those who held firmly in their belief of the way of life that they all shared, albeit, separately.

there was a freshness in being able to talk about these sort of things, with someone who had the standing to make an legitimate argument, and give their opinions on it, rather than getting 'how dare you question the warrior code.' after a second of silence, egretpelt chucked, and stuck his own paw over the border. "there. we're even," he said, with a bit of good natured humor.

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