[kiwipen]

Finished custom for krazykitty00

[krazykitty00]

Meeting Hailstream
Ashstride was still new to this clan thing. Truth be told, he was unsure if he liked it yet.. his new clan mates were... nice enough, but trusting did not come easy to this tom. Ripplestar seemed to know what he was doing and was keeping them alive so far. And Honeygaze... well.. he was definitely something. His constant flirting was a hassle and did mess with his head a lot but that didn't mean he didn't mind the other's constant attention... Immediately, Ashstride shook his head and growled lowly. "What a load of fox dung.. I shouldn't be thinking like this.." He muttered to himself as he walked the forest floors. He was suppose to be hunting, but a certain healer was floating around his mind. It was quite irritating to say the least. Before he knew it, his paws had lead him towards one of Stormclan's borders, a large lake. "A quick swim could clear my head.." He decided with a soft sigh. Soon he approached the cool, crystal waters and dove in.

Time passed by, the tom adrift without much aim other than to clear his mind, and soon he felt good enough with himself to head back to shore. But as he turned in the water and slowly swam back, his eyes fell upon the pure white coat of another cat, the pelt standing out immensely among the forest backdrop. Ashstride growled lowly and swam faster back to shore. Once he was there, he wasted no time confronting the cat on his clan's territory. "You don't belong here- leave now or I will force you to leave." He said in a threatening tone. But the white cat didn't move, not even a slight twitch, as they continued to lightly trace their paws in the water. "Oi! Don't ignore me! I'm talking to you!" His words were laced with a venomous hiss as he waited for the cat to answer him. But still nothing. Ashstride wasn't a patient tom and so that second try was the last. He shook off his soaking fur then approached the cat with a plan to scare them off with violence.

Suddenly the white cat whipped it's head around and scowled, clearly not appreciating being splashed by his excess water. "You are disturbing me- what do you want!?" Came the strong, accented voice of a not so happy she-cat. Ashstride had froze in surprise at suddenly being addressed, but he soon steeled himself and returned her glare, parting his lips to demand her gone, but she was quick, and easily cut him off. "I swear, the toms are the most irritable. Girl can't have her peace can she. You- shoo. Go on. Or are you looking for fight? I will give you one. I may not hear good but I'll bite your fluffy head off." By this time, the white molly was on her paws, looking about ready to pounce. Ashstride was stunned by her sudden hostility and was at an honest lost for words. She was smaller than him, her ribs showed through her pelt, and yet she was already searching for his weak points- He could tell by the way her blue eyes darted about his form.

There was a long moment of thought from Ashstride. On one paw, he had a duty to his clan to protect it from outside threats, and this she-cat could definitely pose as one. On the other paw, she was clearly starved.. she wouldn't last long. Typically, Ashstride wouldn't have cared less, but he didn't want that on his conscious this time. She seemed strong- to be taken by starvation was too harsh a death for her. "Stupid Ashstride- this clan stuff is making you weak..." He thought to himself with a shake of his head. So with a soft sigh he straightened up from his thoughts, causing the molly to tense up and hiss, and look her in the eye. "You're on my clan's territory.. I have every reason to force you out right now." He said. Her eyes trained on his maw, as if reading his words as they came out, then her ears flattened back. "Come on then! I'll take you! We'll see who's leaving!" She said, crouching down now, haunches flexing as she prepared to retaliate after he made his move. Ashstride simply rolled his eyes. "You'd be crushed the moment you try. You're too weak to put up any fight." The she-cat scoffed and prepared to lash out once more, but this time, it was Ashstride who cut her off. "But- I'm willing to help you. We have some food to spare, I'm sure you could use some." He offered, flicking his tail softly.

The molly took a moment to respond, replaying the words spoken to her in her mind, trying to piece it together. The one thing that made since to her was 'food'. With that her hostility disappeared, though her attitude did not, as she straightened up on her paws and looked at him expectantly. "You say food? Yes? Good. Let's go get some then! I'm famished! Hurry hurry." She rushed showing she was as impatient as he was. Though Ashstride didn't take too kindly to being ordered by a snarky she-cat, he huffed and turned to lead the way back to camp. Sadly, the moment he thought of heading home, the thought of a particular honey-eyed warrior surfaced once more, proving that his swim before was extremely pointless. "Dang it!"

Hailstream || Molly || 27 moons