your loss, my gain (fox&moth)

the misty morning had hastily fallen away beneath the onslaught of heat from the upcoming afternoon, and the slender tom couldn't say he minded a bit. fog always had a way of making him feel a fair bit of unease- perhaps simply from all the fighting he'd done in shadowclan lands over the course of his life. nevertheless, the warm pulse of sunlight that now trickled down through the foliage above was a welcome sensation, and he absolutely reveled in the feeling of it on his silken pelt. it gave him the boost of confidence which he would never outwardly admit needing, but as one of the newest leaders and one who had taken such a bold stance on skyclan, he felt his position of power standing on treacherous ground now. he wasn't exactly worried, but he was becoming more wary than his usual reckless nature most often allowed.

sunhigh was still a little ways away, so he made a quick stop to catch himself an unfortunate little mouse and then, with it clasped gingerly in his powerful jaws, bolted up a nearby tree trunk with practiced ease. she would likely be here early, so he had consciously woke in a timely manner for the occasion and was rather pleased with the sneaky position he had secured in waiting.

unfortunately, his plan was rather foiled by his inability to stay awake in the face of pleasant sunshine and gently rustling leaves around him, while that mouse sat comfortably in his belly. suddenly a dream roused him and his bright eyes shot wide in alarm. what time was it? a quick glance at the shadows assured him he hadn't quite overslept, but the noises below him gave all the answers he needed.

foxstar inhaled deeply, then softly touched down to the ground behind her with a gentle thud. "my, my! i always seem to forget what a pretty little thing you are!" he crooned, emphasizing the word 'little' with a glitter of dark humor in his sky blue eyes as they lighted on her deep, ocean-colored gaze- always so critical. "shall we begin then?" he added, bowing with a flourish of his tail.

when the small she-cat spun to encounter him he had to try his very hardest to suppress a deep chuckling purr in his chest at the fact that he had so nearly managed to fluster the high strung little leader- she was so difficult to unbalance. perhaps that was why he always so desperately did his best to get under her skin. she seemed like the kind of cat who needed a bit of lightening up anyway. at her retort he did grin, and perhaps a hint of it was genuine for he snorted back, "that scowl is so unbecoming." and then flicked his tail in a motion for her to come along.

sizing up mothstar was ever impossible. she was a stony individual with a rawhide-tough resolve that seemed utterly unshakable. always. he felt her searing glance at him and returned it with a goofy grin, crossing his eyes at her. the lanky tom liked the idea of the other leader being somewhat at his mercy. sure skyclan was fierce and proud or whatever, but they were really struggling to make allies out of the other clan. his outright support of them and willingness to give up so much of their former lush forest and craggy mountains just to give the new beggars a home both stroked his oversized ego, and gave him something of an advantage over them. the whole gesture seemed to say i gave it to you and i'll take it back just the same! and thunderclan would. but it wasn't likely. as much as mothstar loathed him and skyclan mistrusted thunderclan, he wouldn't cave to the other clans' anti-skyclan demands if it was the last thing he did. for once, his stubborn nature benefitted mothstar. upon thinking this, he wondered if she knew it too. likely not, she didn't have a decent thought about him. with an inward chuckle, foxstar thought that the little pale leader would be just as happy to slit his throat as to ask his advice on her new lands.

he was content to trot along beside her in silence until something needed to be said, but probably wouldn't. foxstar truly struggled with keeping his trap shut, and this outing was no exception. "you're welcome, by the way dear." he offered with exaggerated graciousness, curling his tailtip as they carried a brisk canter over the sloping forest. "no need to swoon over my generosity or anything," he remarked dryly and softly, not really expecting the stoic she-cat to humor him with a reply. she ought to know by now that anything she said was as good as ammunition for him.

he stopped before her at the stream, peering down into it and pricking his ears for her inquiry. "we leave the fishing to the otters-in-cat-pelts down south," he answered shortly, glancing over at her. "these minnows are little more than toys to bring home for the kits," the ginger tom added as an afterthought. "skyclan cats are good climbers? if not, you had better teach them. with all the cliffs and tall trees around here, your clan will mostly be living off birds, their nests, and the squirrels that raid them. warriors will be able to feed off of things like owls and hawks, but make sure smaller cats have caution with them. they like the mountains." the long tomcat babbled slightly, picking up the pace again as he spoke, and made a graceful leap over the stream before turning and gesturing for her to follow. "oh and you had all better learn to deal with racoons. we have a lot."/div]

of course thunderclan fished, especially in the winter when everything else was hibernating and the mountain streams still ran fast and fresh. the minnows of course weren't much, but they were more to give to the elders or queens who desperately needed the nourishment offered by the energy-packed little slimeballs. but what if he wanted that stream back someday? sure he was here to offer council, but not like that! his flesh rippled with being so blatantly deceptive, but he also didn't think anything like that was particularly harmful either. he blinked and flashed those baby blues in mothstar's direction, weakly attempting to decipher her carefully held features. that face gave nothing away, truly.

"honestly brighten up sunshine! look at all this beautiful land you get to call yours! your cats get to have kits again, and retire and become elders!" he nudged her like he might do to an old pal, completely blind to any social borders he often crossed. surely he was asking to have his nose clawed, but that attitude! he wanted to shake her, but his frustration was light and airy. a better you than me kind of frustration that allowed him to chuckle and tease while he spoke, knowing she couldn't really lighten up even if she wanted to. this was a hard life for her, and reminded him to be grateful for his - thus far- cozy existence. "i don't think anyone is gonna chase you guys out," foxstar offered all the reassurance he could muster, though he couldn't back it up of course? the other leaders were obviously itching at a chance for both he and mothstar's throats. he would defend his decision to defend skyclan at all costs, though. at this point he was certainly too young to allow for admitting mistakes, or all respect would be lost. that and defiance were fueling him with a fiery passion that could spark something dangerous.

"borders, right." the tom nodded sharply, "it seems like whatever patrols decide to mark is the border for the day doesn't it?" he remarked cheerily, as if this were nothing of concern. how could he go about acting like he was interested in marking borders with an ally and neighbor? "i know our border with shadowclan is rather mysterious, but why don't we come up with something official now, between us? if we can't decide on something official, who could?" he was fairly certain he could take as much as he wanted without much complaint from the she-cat.

"before you came, the mountains were little used anyway, so i don't regret giving those up. my cats have always preferred the more green areas, but this particular patch we're in here has caused some resentment. if you'll follow me, i think there's a good marker up this way that could work though." the thunderclan leader went on, motioning for her to follow him up a rocky outcropping that, once crested, continued in an elevated area of the forest. up here a cat could taste stale scents of deer and mice. he trotted just a few fox-lengths further and then motioned with a movement of his muzzle. "up there there's a deer trail that runs down straight toward the veiled tree, almost unbroken." foxstar let his voice trail away, turning instead to gaze down into mothstar's face, searching.

the tension within her was radiating outward, nearly palpable in the warm afternoon air. foxstar swore he could have touched it before a light breeze kicked up and blew it all away and she spoke- there was a touch of exhaustion in her voice that almost made him cringe. when did he get so soft? he had done the best thing he could for her, and the mercy he had shown her pitiful lot was unparalleled by any other clan in the land, but he could have sworn she was determined to take their misery out on him anyway. would she have been happier if he opposed them so vehemently as well? he almost chuckled. well that way at least his sly generosity wouldn't have been so frustrating for her, and she could go on hating him with justification.

you are far too confident for your own good. he gave a defiant bark of laughter, almost an exclamation in its pointedness. he was tempted to point out that there was no such thing as 'too much confidence' when it came to the fate of a clan that wasn't his own, but just shook his head. "starclan rules us all," he told her slowly, as if she were a slow kit. "all of our medicine cats saw this coming, which makes it fate. if someone makes a move against skyclan they will be smited," he looked at her questioningly, though perhaps she couldn't comprehend this. maybe she was too caught up worrying about whether or not foxstar was sneaking into skyclan's camp and eating their kits to see common sense when it stared her in the face. "now you, as a cat, may be a casualty of this all, sure. but skyclan? nah. they're stuck here now." the ginger tom remarked casually, twitching his whiskers.

at last, he was pleased immensely to see that she didn't seem all too upset by the prospect of using the deer trail, perhaps even satisfied? he wasn't trying to jump to the conclusion that she might have managed to tug the stick out of her ass, so he regarded her carefully but nodded all the same. "it's a little hard to find sometimes, but if we pointed it out to our warriors i think it would be common enough eventually. and it leaves plenty of this particularly nice forest on both sides-" he would have gone on babbling had she not snapped at him like that, and for this he was thankful he hadn't been lulled too much by her lack of opposition on the border marker, though his ears flattened slightly. her glare was just enough to make him want to tear off some of those elegant white whiskers of hers and he rolled his eyes in response. "starclan above," he spat, exasperated, "what do you think i get out of this, honestly? what do you think i'm gonna do to you that i could gain by defending you from the others? look," foxstar took a breath and finally returned her sharp gaze with something resembling a calm if reproachful stare. his voice was beginning to take on the same condescending tone as it had before, "starclan says you're supposed to be here, right? everyone can agree on that anyway. who am i to fight them? who am i to even be bitter about them. starclan has never failed us, nor you as far as i can tell. what more do you want? a juicy secret? i can't believe you of all cats think i'm smart enough to scheme up something. fine, how about this-" the tom glanced away, just realizing that his ears were blazing, "ruststar and boarstar are not my best friends. i keep hoping a fire will jump up and swallow them, but it hasn't happened yet. instead, here shows up this rag-tag bunch of furballs. well, if you would take your cursed pride down a notch and take what's being given then maybe you could be my fire. worst case, you get to be a nice barrier between windclan and myself, and a good catalyst to piss off boarstar enough to let me get my claws in him." at his conclusion, foxstar was a little surprised mothstar hadn't interrupted him, but the passion and exasperation of his thoughts had certainly turned his stare into something much more heated.