A quick wind pressed against Nyx's back as she raced across the farmland. Her powerful haunches propelled her fleet feet. The air whistled in the she-cat's ears, the only sounds accompanying the thrum of her paws against the soil. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, forcing it's way up her throat. Nyx was in hot pursuit of a rabbit, its paws hit the ground in time with hers and its heart beat twice as fast. While Nyx was racing for her lunch, the gray rabbit was running for its life. In the flurry of paws and whipping fur, Nyx did not notice herself drawing nearer and nearer to the RiverClan border. She, of course, did not know it was specifically the border of RiverClan cats, but in the past she had recognized the wild tang of the clan cats and tended to keep her respectable distance.

Despite her common sense, the thrill of the chase drove her closer and closer to the border. Nyx had weaved through horse hooves and ducked under fencing chasing this rabbit, and she planned on having it as her kill. It wasn't until the fishy scent of the clan cats hit her square in the nose that Nyx skidded to a halt. Her paws scrabbled on damp grass, struggling to get a grip. It might have been a comical sight if the watcher didn't know that the black barn cat could be in fatal danger. Nyx's haunches were forced down and she skidded for a few moments in a sitting position, finally halting herself smack on the scent border. The she-cat spat in alarm and threw herself back, regaining her safe footing on the neutral territory side of the RiverClan border.

Nyx's eyes quickly found the rabbit, it's white tail bobbing into the tall grass in the dangerous territory. The she-cat pulled back her lip and lashed her tail in disgust, she hadn't tasted rabbit in weeks. The prey that she had worked so hard to catch had eluded her, even after she was a mere whisker -length away from its fluffy tail.

A chilled breeze wove its way through the thick reddish-orange and white fur of RiverClan’s leader Pinestar. The massive tom had risen before the rest of his clan, woken his deputy to inform him that he was in charge of the camp for a few hours and that Pinestar himself was to go out on a solo patrol and renew some scent markers that had been dulled by the season’s rain. The morning breeze signaled to the tom that Greenleaf would soon be coming to an end, and the territories would soon be embracing Leaf-fall.

He blinked his mismatched eyes of forest and lime green and set off towards the river, which marked his clan’s border with WindClan. He pushed his way through the thick reeds that surrounded the weaving body of water, his large paws squishing in the leftover mud the sun had yet to dry out. Pausing by a small tree to renew the scent marker, he parted his jaws to taste the air.

He caught it’s scent moments before the furry brown creature whizzed past him, lowering his tail and preparing to give chase, the Riverclanner stopped quickly as a larger black shape shot past him, only to skid to a halt just before fully crossing the border.

Pinestar’s eyes narrowed as his fur fluffed out; he raised himself to his full height, thick plume of a tail lashing behind him. ”I wouldn’t even think about crossing our border if I were you, stranger” he snarled as he stepped closer the other cat.

The snarl was still set on Nyx's face as she turned her chin up so she could look the large tom in the eye. Before he had stepped up to her, long fur spiking in warning, she had already taken a few steps back from the border. But now she firmly planted her paws in the slippery grass. Since Nyx was naturally a small cat, she had to tip her head to a great degree to look at the enormous cat before her. In a split second she took his appearance in, and quickly came to the conclusion that she should not mess with the tom before her. Not only was his pelt large, but the body underneath all the fur must be huge too. He couldn't be entirely composed of the fluff that covered his skin. The cat before her was definitely handsome, but Nyx chose not to dwell on it.

Her snarl faded slightly and her raised tail lowered a bit after the adrenaline started to fade from Nyx's body. This was not a fight that she could even hope to win. An unknown sense told the barn cat that she was safe from any attack at the moment, so she decided that there was no need to move.

"I wouldn’t even think about crossing our border if I were you, stranger"

Nyx tilted her head slightly, "Excuse me, but I don't have any wish to. I stopped didn't I?" she replied with a bit of an edge. Her tail lashed once but then sat still behind her legs except for its twitching tip. This was one of her first encounters with a wild cat, who knew they could be so rude?

Pinestar narrowed his eyes at the black femme, and snorted; it wasn’t very often cats smaller than him gave him much cheek, he admired that she had some nerve but he didn’t let it show. Instead he allowed his thick fur to relax along with his muscles; his tail slowed to an occasional flick to and fro behind him. His mismatched gaze softened a bit, ”Yes, well you’ll want to be more careful” he cautioned her. Not wanting to come off as completely rude, and knowing as clan leader he defiantly shouldn’t be doing this but he shrugged, ”I shouldn’t do this, but it was yours to begin with, and if you don’t make it a habit, I will allow you to either pursue that rabbit or find another meal on RiverClan’s territory, so long as you are gone by night fall and again, don’t make it a habit” he meowed. He knew this was technically against the code, and some of his clan wouldn’t approve, but they wouldn’t question him for he was their leader.

Nyx squinted her eyes slightly when the tom in front of her started to relax. Her head cocked a bit to the side as she considered the possibility that he would begin toying with her. It wasn't uncommon for another cat larger than Nyx to try to take advantage of her.

"Yes, well you’ll want to be more careful."

Nodding slightly, Nyx relaxed her taut muscles. At least he wasn't messing with her. She attempted to settle her fur that had fluffed along her spine, which left her fur slick across her back. Nyx slightly regretted her actions because it made her look even smaller, especially compared to the big fluffy cat next to her.

"I shouldn’t do this, but it was yours to begin with, and if you don’t make it a habit, I will allow you to either pursue that rabbit or find another meal on RiverClan’s territory, so long as you are gone by night fall and again, don’t make it a habit."

Taken aback, Nyx lost her cool tone, "I can't-- I won't..." She stuttered a rebuttal to the tom's words, but they weren't very well thought through. Thinking again about what he said, Nyx realized that his words were friendly and needn't be fought. She flashed a look at her paws, catching a glance of the grass she was shredding in her nervousness. Finally she settled with a collected, "It's okay, I have plenty of prey at my home," she jerked her head back at the red barn that she settled into at night. "I mean..." Nyx stared longingly in the direction that the rabbit had disappeared in, "Thank you and all but..." another glance at the tall grass, "it's yours now," she finally settled on.

Pinestar


He watched as the she-cat relaxed, there we go, no reason to be all tense he thought to himself. His ears flicked as he heard her stutter at his question, and then say that she can’t and won’t. Momentarily the reddish-orange and white leader became puzzled, and then after Nyx continued with her reply he realized why she had said no. He chuckled quietly to himself and nodded at the black femme, his mismatched gaze was amused; ”Suit yourself” he meowed with a nonchalant shrug. He paused again, briefly considering to go after the rabbit himself later; it’s not like their freshkill pile back at camp couldn’t use it, and normally WindClan was privy to the larger rabbits…He was brought out of his thoughts quickly when he suddenly remembered something,”Where are my manners?” he asked no one in particular, ”What is your name miss?” He figured they should at least exchange formalities seeing as the loner made her home not too far from his clan’s territory and WindClan’s; and he figured this probably wouldn’t be the last he would see of her…Come to think of it, I should probably let WindClan’s leader know…



OOC: Sorry for the crap post...my muse died XD

"Suit yourself."

The tom's gaze traced the path that the rabbit had streaked across. His jaws hung slightly open as if tasting the scent that the rodent had trailed behind it. For a moment, Nyx felt a tiny, almost invisible smirk cross her face. She wasn't mocking the cat before her, she was simply amused that he was taking on the emotions that she had so recently felt coursing through her body. The thrill of the oncoming chase probably itched his paws to dash from the snips of words they were exchanging and chase after the fat prey. Perhaps his heart rate elevated slightly, pushing him to a run. Despite the fact that Nyx rarely had any interaction with her fellow felines, she could understand the basic instincts that were taking a hold of the tom. For a moment Nyx was thoroughly convinced that the tom would make a sudden jump away from her to follow the fresh scent of rabbit.

After a long pause, the tom mewed, "Where are my manners? What is your name, miss?"

Nyx wrinkled her nose slightly and gave her whiskers a twitch, Yes, where are your manners? she thought to herself, but dared not say out loud. The she-cat had a tendency to insult others in her head, even when it wasn't due. She disliked this part of her personality but had learned how to cope with it. Instead of huffing at the much larger cat, she decided to go along the polite rout. "My name is Nyx, and you are?" Nyx allowed her gaze to take in the tom's body language, he was looking her up and down, assessing her. Seeing if she was a threat to whatever sort of family the clan was. Nyx sniffed slightly, rolling her eyes in a nonchalant manner. "If you hadn't noticed, I specifically didn't cross the border," she huffed. "I know when to respect another cat's territory." Her ears quirked a bit, showing her exasperation.

[[It's okay, dear. We all have our days. Hopefully you can resuscitate your muse soon.]]