A Meeting With Faunus

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

Orchidtail nodded and lept onto one of the tussocks. Although it was solid she could feel water welling up around her paws. She quickly lept to another one and then another until she vanished from view. There was a crack of thunder that drew her gaze to the sky. Black clouds were crawling across the full moon. They had fogotten the gathering. She absently lept to the nest tussock but underestimated the length of the jump and fell into the mud. "Ack!" she meowed in surprise as water and mud sucked at her legs. She squirmed and struggled. In her fright she forgot to call out.
Sunpaw's yowl echoed in HAwktalon's ears. "Orchidtail! Help her!"
Firm teeth gripped the scruff of her teeth and yanked her free. "Hawktalon!" she gasped," You saved me!"
"Guess again," meowed a muffled familiar roguish voice.

[heartnet]

"Orchidtail, slow....down." Hawktalon called, sighing and shaking his head. He kept going at a steady pace, glancing up at the sky. "Oh no...the Gathering!" he said in surprise as he saw the full moon. He was going to be in so much trouble when he got back for missing it. He snapped back to the marsh as he heard Sunpaw's yowl in his ears. "No!" he said, hurrying to the she-cat. He got there in time to see another tom rescue her. "Thank you." he said with a sigh of relief, then he was on edge about the unfamiliar cat. "Who are you?" he growled suspiciously, his fur rising.

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

The tom's fur was slicked back with a thick layer of mud and reeds were entangled under a collar around his neck. He placed Orchidtail gently onto a tussock and the white but muddy she-cat gave the tom a series of licks on his face. "Faunus!" she shrieked happily.
She turned to Hawktalon. "This is Faunus," she told him. The tom gave a slight bow. He would of sunk to his knees if it wasn't for the stabbing in his ribs. A pulled muscle he had decided.
"You must be Hawktalon. I've heard all about you," he meowed. There was something about him that made him so charming. His gaze was capitivating although is his eyes looked tired.
Orchidtail began pulling the leaves from out under his collar. Faunus winced and shied away. She was puzzled at first but noticed that the skin under the collar was bloody and raw. She gasped. "How?"
"I got snagged amongst the thorns. It happens quite often," he meowed shamefully.

[heartnet]

Hawktalon relaxed as Orchidtail reconized the cat and introduced him as Faunus. So this was the cat they had been looking for. 'He looks like something a fox dragged in.' Hawktalon thought as he studied the bedraggled tom. "Nice to finally meet you Faunus." Hawktalon replied, dipping his head slightly in greeting, smiling slightly. The cat was defiantely not dangerous and there was something about him...maybe that was the reason Orchidtail trusted him so much, even with Sunpaw. As Faunus spoke about hearing all about him, Hawktalon glanced over at Orchidtail. He was flattered, really, but how much did she tell the loner? "What happened? Why are you living in the Marsh?" He asked Faunus, looking around at their surroundingd then back at the tom.

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

"That blood tratior she-cat chased me here," he hissed angriliy. It was more directed at the unknown she-cat then at Hawktalon for asking. "...if you've ever seen those creepy blue eyes you'ld fear for your life. She was an amazing fighter and everytime I had her pinned down she would roll over and bite me or scrach me.." Faunus's eyes dropped to the ground. He, Faunus self-appointed rogue leader of the forest, had been beaten by a she-cat. Not that there was anything wrong with that. He looked up from the mud to meet Hawktalon's gaze. His eyes didn't just look at you, they looked into you. It was slightly unnerving sometimes. He continued his story, "So I ran. I told her what she wanted and ran. She told me she would tell everyone where I was. I was afraid. I let her chase me here because I knew once you were in here it's almost impossible to be found. I wiggled through the thorns that I'm guessing you walked around and stumbled into the Marsh."
"But the mud?" Orchidtail asked.
"Silly clan cat," he laughed," I rolled myself in mud for camouflage and plus, now that it's hardened it'll protect my wounds from infection."
"Oh," Orchidtail meowed simply. It made alot of sense. "But surely she didn't have to stick leaves and reeds under your collar? Wait...I know camouflage." She rolled her eyes.
"Actually," Faunus meowed with a smirk," It was stop the collar rubbing against my neck. I couldn't catch any birds to use their feathers. Stupid herons."

[heartnet]

Hawktalon listened carefully to Faunus's story. He met Faunus's unnerving gaze with his dark blue stare, raising and eyebrow as he continued. As Orchidtail and Faunus's talked, he ran the tom's story over in his mind again. One thing he wanted to know... "What exactly did she want to know?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. It seemed the cat knew a lot about everything...and Rainclan. So what important info did the she-cat want?

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

"Oh," Faunus meowed," Did I leave that out?"
"Yes," meowed Orchidtail eyes narrowed.
"She wanted to know the where abouts of one Mason and one Risingpaw. So I told her."
"Silvercreek's family?" she meowed puzzled.
"Yep. She was eager to know where they were," Faunus answered while examining a paw.
"And you told her?" Orchidtail exclaimed," Who is she anyway?"
Faunus growled and placed his paw firmly back on the ground, "She was going to kill me! Last time I checked her name was Honeyfrost or something..."

[heartnet]

Hawktalon was surprised by Faunus's answer. "Honeyfrost? But she's been in camp..." he said, trailing off thoughtfully. When had Honeyfrost had time to go after Faunus? And WHY did she want information on Silvercreek's family? He sighed, wnating some better answers. "What Honeyfrost did is not acceptable, I will tell Blizzardstar." He said, still running over the news in his mind. "And Faunus, you're welcom to come back with us and get some herbs for your wounds and rest. Honeyfrost is with us, but I won't allow her near you." He said, looking up at the tom, his expression grim as he found out about his clanmates actions.

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

"Hoenyfrost?!" Orchidtail exclaimed. She turned her green gaze to Hawktalon. "I told you she was evil!"
"Was she in camp last night?" Faunus meowed plainly.
"If you tell Blizzardstar how in Starclan are we susposed to explain that we rescued a rogue?! Faunus was on clan territory, that means Honeyfrost had every right to attack him!" Orchidtail cried out. There wasn't much they could do.
"You were out hunting when she came across a scent trail of a wounded cat. She followed the trail because you were worried about the welfare on this cat and you found him in the marsh. He told you what happened and offered you part of an eel if you took him to see your medicine cat," Faunus answered. He was excellent when it came to story telling.
"Makes sense...wait..an eel?" Orchidtail meowed.
Faunus rolled his eyes and bounded off, he returned dragging a long black slimy thing with odd blue eyes. "Eel," he meowed, his voice muffled.
Orchidtail stepped back rapidly and stood beside Hawktalon. "And that thing is...edible?"
"Yep," he meowed dropping it on the ground. "Now can we go? It's starting to drizzle."

[heartnet]

Hawktalon grunted in response to Orchidtail's point, nodding at what she said. "True, if he was on our territory, she did nothing wrong. What she wants that information though, I have no idea. But I will keep an eye on her." he finished, chuckling softly at Faunus' story, raising an eyebrow at the eel. "Looks great. Come on, we missed the Gathering, so they will be wondering what happened to us." he said, turning and carefully making his way out of the marsh.

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

Faunus nodded and followed after Hawktalon, the eel hanging from his mouth.
"No one will want to eat that thing by the time we get to camp," Orchidtail meowed as she watched the other end of the eel being dragged through the mud.
"Picky," Faunus muttered through the eel. As the trio made their way out of the Marsh it was obvious that Faunus was just charming he had the skills and strength of a warrior. Despite being injured he scrambled up the sandy slope leading down to the Marsh with complete ease. The rogue was doing his best not to appear weak to RainClan's deputy. Orchidtail's eyes flashed angrily as she watched her friend stiffle a gasp of pain as jumped. "Will just stop that?" she spat.
"Stop what?" Faunus meowed in surprise. His eyes widened at the anger in the uselly gentle she-cats voice. He looked like a kit who had been caught out misbehaviouring.
Orchidtail tried not to sile. "You keep pretending your not in pain. Just slow down and stop trying to show off."
Faunus frowned but did what he was told. He let the she-cat help him along and carry the eel. He had spent moons fending for himself and he hated that he was in trouble and needed help.
"I hope Blizzardstar won't be angry about us vanishing like this," she murmured," And we missed the Gathering too..." She shivered as a gust of cold wind tugged at her fur.
Faunus looked up at the sky. "That storms getting closer," he meowed," The Gathering would of ended quickly anyway." He padded past the Orchidtail to walk beside Hawktalon. He had wanted to meet this cat for along time and see what he was like. There was only so much you could know about a cat from the tellings of another.

[heartnet]

Hawktalon glanced back at Orchidtail as she snapped at Faunus, giving a soft smile of relief. He had noticed how hard the tom was trying to appear strong and capable even though he was injured, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything to him and injure in his pride. He faced forwad again, glancing up at the trees that were blocking away the angry, dark sky.
"I'll make sure Blizzardstar doesn't blame either of you." he promised, looking back at the two and smiling. Though, the smile didn't reach his eyes and when he looked away, he was frowning.. He would take the consequences for their disappearance, he was the Deputy after all and he needed to take responsibility and missing the Gathering was not good.
He glanced over at Faunus as he came up beside him, nodding. "You're probably right. I hope we didn't miss anything important." he replied, slowing his pace a little for the injured cat.

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

Orchidtail trudged along. She was glad she had her friend back and she was glad that Sunpaw had seemed happy. With the eel in her mouth it seemed possible that they might make it to new-leaf. She wondered how Blizzardstar would take it when they turned up in the middle of the night with a injured rogue and a long black slimy thing that was apparently edible. She smiled to herself at the thought of returning to camp, having some fresh-kill and then a good hard rest. Her muscles were aching and she knew Faunus must be in pain. She noticed how he didn't put all his weight on one of his hind legs. The quicker they got to camp the sooner Silvercreek could look at him.
Faunus noticed Hawktalon's frown out of the corner of his eye and turned to study the tom more carefully. He seemed young for a deputy and his eyes had the tired look of a seasoned warrior who had lost many friends. Faunus gave the black cat a small smile.

[heartnet]

Hawktalon caught Faunus's gaze as he turned. 'I can't let her see what I'm really feeling. I don't want to trouble either of them with my worries...' he thought, returning Faunus's smile. "So Faunus's, since you live everywhere, have you heard anything about Burntstar? He's been around more often now." he asked the older tom curiously.

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

"You don't have to take any blame Hawktalon," he meowed softly," I'll explain everything. Well, nest to everything. I, and Orchidtail, hate seeing you upset. You may not have seen or heard me but I watch you carefully. I like to know who my friend's freinds are." He smiled again and despite the mud and twigs he was really quite handsome. No wonder Orchidtail had trusted him with her apprentice. "Burntstar?" he echoed," I've spoken to him. I told him I was a kittypet named Leaf. I gave him some stories to tell his kits. They were about me of course." He laughed happily and flicked his tail. Orchidtail bounded up a slope to join the two toms. She walked along on Hawktalon's other side. She was happy to see that they got along. "I know Burntstar recently lost his kits," Faunus continued," Gave them to the clans I've been informed. I was told by Cactus, before he tried to kill that this is, that Burntstar was training them as clan cats so they could join the clans. StarClan's will apparently. I thought it was really nice that Starclan didn't take his name and lives."
"He still has his 9 lives?" Orchidtail asked through a mouthfull of eel.
"Well, yes. When Starclan gave him his prophecy they didn't take back the lives or his name. No idea why they did that. I'm not even sure if they can remove lives." Faunus began thinking apart the time long ago when he had nearly became a clan leader. He had never told anyone about that.
"StarClan are very peculiar about leadership," he finally meowed," A clan could choose you as their leader but Starclan can refuse you and not give you any lives. This happened in a clan called ShadowClan. Their leader later died and the clan freaked. But that's another story."
Orchidtail's eyes narrowed. "You're meant to telling us about Burntstar?" she reminded him gently. Sometimes Faunus found himself tangled in his stories and thoughts. He glared at the white she-cat.
"I was getting there," he meowed sulkily. "Anywho, I think Burntstar did what he did because of his father. He was the runt of the litter you see and his father preferred his older brother Smoketalon-" He broke off and his eyes widened. "Mouse-brain," he meowed under his breath.
Orchidtail dropped the eel with a gasp when she saw Faunus had frozen on the spot. "What?!" she exclaimed.
"Smoke...," he meowed with an absent look in his eyes. His thoughts were clearly focused elsewhere.

[heartnet]

Hawktalon smiled at Faunus's words, but shook his head. "It's my job of deputy to take the responsibilty, blame and all. But thanks." he said warmly, touching the tom on his shoulder with his tail. "You've been watching me?" he asked curiously, glancing over at Orchidtail, raising and eyebrow. "I guess you've heard things about me. Good things, I hope." he said, with laughter in his voice as he winked at Orchidtail before turning back to Faunus. Then he grew serious. "If he still has his nine lives....that's not good news. Faunus, did you know the she-cat that attacked you, Honeyfrost, is Burntstar's daughter?" he asked, his tail flickering behind him to bat away gnats. He stopped as Faunus stopped, his eyes widening as the tom froze, like he was realizing something. "What is it Faunus?" he asked, stepping closer to the tom and nudging his shoulder.

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

Orchidtail smiled at Hawktalon. "Only good things," she purred.
"Smoketalon, why didn't I relise it was him?!" Faunus meowed in frustration. He saw the confused looks of the two cats. "I should you explain," he meowed nodding," A few dawns ago I rescued a kittypet from a twoleg dog. He was using clan fighting techniques so I asked him where he was from. He didn't know where his clan was. He was very distressed and had been trying to find his clan so he could return. He said his name was Smoke something. It had been so long that he had needed a name. I took him to the farm and Scatter offered to care for him while I was away and such. Then Honeyfrost, Burntstar's cursed daughter you say?, attacks me for no apparent reason."
"And you think this cat might be Smoketalon? I don't remember any Smoketalon," Orchidtail meowed.
"Burntstar had a brother named Smoketalon. A mottled gray and white tom with yellow eyes? Sound familiar? He was taken by twolegs when Burntstar was deputy to Fogstar."
"His father was crushed and took it out on Burntstar. He had wanted Smoketalon to be deputy not Burntfur. Sad really," Faunus meowed glumly as if he could feel Burntstar's pain," Burntstar was later made leader to his father's disgust. Burntstar chose Jaystar as his deputy and you all know what happened. I believe he has lost a few lives. Maybe two or three..."
Orchidtail winced. Then the ex-leader was still dangerous then. "Can we talk about something which isn't going to doom us all?" she meowed desperately. She moved closer to Hawktalon, taking comfort in his scent. Faunus gave her a reassuring smile but his eyes said differently.

[heartnet]

Hawktalon nodded as Faunus spoke, his expression grim. "I've heard. Smoketalon disappeared about the time I had just become a warrior. I didn't know he'd come back though. Everyone thought he was gone forever. Guess he got away." he replied thoughtfully. "Yes, Honeyfrost is Burnstar's daughter. Burntstar is still a threat, even if he doesn't have all nine lives." He placed a comforting tail on Orchidtail's shoulder. "We'll head back to town now, but maybe later I will go and see if Smoketalon, or whoever the cat really is." He said, starting to walk back to camp again. They had made some progress and he scented the smells of camp getting closer and fresher.

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

Faunus nodded and picked up the pace. He could see that Orchidtail was eager to reach the safety of camp and he just wanted to lie down. Orchidtail sniffed and touched Hawktalon's shoulder with her muzzle. Her tail was too short to comfort him with. Faunus rubbed against her side and began walking in another direction. "Wait, I need to try and get some of this mud off," he meowed.
He dashed off and slipped into the water. He felt the hardened mud loosen and he slipped out again. He then began to roll in a patch of grass nearby. Orchidtail glanced at Hawktalon. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. She opened her mouth and asked him,"Do you like Faunus?" It meant alot to her to find out if the black tom approved of the roguish cat.

[heartnet]

Hawktalon glanced over at Orchidtail as her muzzle touched his shoulder, a rusty purr coming from his throat to show how grateful he was for the comfort. He nodded to Faunus, sitting down wrapping his tail around his front paws. He sighed, thinking about all the information he had learned form Faunus. All of it wasn't good. He glanced towards Orchidtail as she spoke, smiling. "Yes, he's an honorable cat. I can understand why you would trust Sunpaw with him. Thank you for letting me meet him." he replied warmly.

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

Orchidtail smiled and her closed her eyes blissfully. It was good to hear him purr again.
"Thank-you Hawktalon. Sunpaw thought so too," she meowed opening her eyes again.
Faunus was running towards them smelling strongly of garlic. She sniffed and promptly sneezed.
"Garlic to keep out infection," he meowed sitting down. With most of the mud washed off, in the growing light his true colour was visiable. He was a brown tabby with large, thick darker stripes. Patches of fur was missing and several fresh wounds were visable. He spotted Orchidtail eyeing them and rose up his forepaw to reveal several longer ones across his stomach. "Honeyfrost is one deadly warrior," he meowed smiling," But not deadlier enough for Mudheart; Warrior of the Marsh."
Orchidtail's look of concern vanished with Faunus's comment and she smiled. Yet another name Faunus had earned himself. "Time to go home," she meowed," We have a busy down ahead of us."

[heartnet]

Hawktalon wrinkled his nose at the smell, coughing slightly. Boy that was strong. He looked at Faunus with concern, his dark blue gaze worried. He smiled crookedly at Faunus's words, chuckling. "She has proven that, but I wish it was for the sake of the clan." he replied, nodding to Orchidtail. "Yes, time to go home." he agreed, turning and padding towards camp once again.

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

Faunus laughed and stood up. "Less time worrying, more time walking!" he meowed.
Orchidtail rolled her eyes and once again picked up the eel. She ran up the slope towards camp, her fur brushing against Hawktalon. "She hasn't even noticed she's covered in mud," Faunus meowed to the black and white tom. Orchidtail was usually so clean.

((We need more RainClan warriors...))

[heartnet]

Hawktalon laughed with Faunus, his eyes following Orchidtail. "You're right. I think it's because she's so happy to see you." he replied, glancing back at Faunus smiling. As he faced forward, he let out a tired yawn. He was glad they were almost back to camp, he was exhausted and his paws were killing him.

((Uh huh..))

[á£Îmaý---♫♥]

((We need more active people and more RainClan roleplays.))

[heartnet]

((Well...so far there's you, me, and Laurie....those are the active people I can think of. We do need more.))