Wandering Across the Border [OPEN]

[Jay]

Snowfall closed his sightless blue eyes, breathing in deeply. He could smell the musty scents of the pond water and the clean scents of frozen ice and snow on the land. Beneath the many scents of the earth, he could smell the dull scents of withered herbs and dead leaves. Withered, dried up old herbs wouldn’t help him at all. He had came out in the frosty forest to search for some surviving herbs, but the snowstorm overnight had covered them all, making his journey completely useless. Clearly frustrated, Snowfall opened his eyes. There wasn’t really a point to this action, since he couldn’t see out of them anyway; they were completely useless! Why must he be blind when the rest of the world could see everything around them? He had been born with almost completely sightless eyes, and had never seen herbs, water or trees. He didn’t even know what sight was, since he was so used to the darkness and shadows whispering around him. Using his remaining senses, Snowfall began the long walk back to camp. He was getting old and tired, yet he was determined to serve Sunclan until the day he died, which hopefully wasn’t for a while yet. If he died, who would be the medicine cat of his clan? He didn’t have an apprentice and frankly, he didn’t want one. Younger cats just got in his way, always asking questions and being curious, they were very annoying and selfish. The journey back to camp took longer than Snowfall was used to, and after a while he became nervous. Where exactly was he? Had he wandered into another clan’s territory? The thoughts rushed into Snowfall’s mind as he stopped in his tracks, trying to figure out where he was. Just as he had done before, Snowfall closed his eyes and breathed in the scents around him. He was vaguely aware of anything around him, except for the earth, the sky and the many scents. He could smell the usual plants and trees, but there was something else, too. Beneath the musty scents of the earth, there was a sharper scent buried. It reminded Snowfall of meadows and wind; it was the scent of Gustclan. Snowfall crouched down, making himself appear less-noticeable as he tried to smell the scents of enemy warriors. Any second now, a cat could pounce on him, ending his life before he even had a chance to defend himself. If he tried to escape now, he might accidentally go farther into Gustclan’s territory, where his enemies could easily kill him without anyone noticing. He was trapped, with nowhere to go. [bg=17061a][atrb=border,0,true]

[Frankie]

It wasn't a good day. But perhaps it wasn't quite a bad day, either. Patchedpelt's eyesight was failing at the moment, and her bad leg was stiffer than ever with the cold and snow seeping into the old snakebite. Trembling, though not from the cold, the she-cat abandoned her den for the first time in nearly a fortnight to escape her personal demons.

And her clan. She could hear them whispering about her, she knew they talked about her behind her back, she knew what they thought of her. She was not crazy! She still knew the best way to cure greencough, it was obviously Feverfew--no, Chickweed! No, wait...

She was not crazy.

Patchedpelt knew her lips were curling into a snarl, and she was glad none of her clanmates had followed her out into GustClan territory. She knew they followed her sometimes, as well, as if she was some stupid kit who might eat Deathberries!

Snorting in indignation (and sending a globule of drool dribbling down her chin as she did so), the GustClan Medicine Cat continued her stalk across the hills of her home. Luckily she wasn't in the forest, because she would not admit to herself that sometimes she thought things were farther away than they really were, and she would have been crashing into trees left and right.

So deep in her thought was Patchedpelt that she was almost on top of the white Tom before she smelled him. With a yowl she leaped backwards, stumbling on her bad back leg and nearly burying herself in the snow before she caught herself. Crouching low, she squinted her boggy green eyes at the white shape that was nearly impossible to see in the snow.

That smell... she knew that smell. Was it a patrol from her clan? Her mind was so foggy... Head trembling back and forth as if she suffered from Parkinson's Disease, Patchedpelt tried to focus her eyes on the tom (for she could smell it was a tom, the musky scent was unmistakable) but couldn't. It must be the snow. And his color. No cat would be able to focus on him! Her sight was just fine!

With a slight tremor in her voice that belied her uncertainty, Patchedpelt called out to the white tom who was nearly two feet away from her... she thought, at least. "Who are you?" she croaked, and despite the tremor her voice sounded irritated and thick with drool, "I thought the patrols were brought in."

[Jay]

The unmistakable scent of a Gustclan she-cat flooded Snowfall’s sense of smell, and a moment later he heard a somewhat-familiar voice. She was asking him about patrols, but to Snowfall’s knowledge she wasn’t in his clan. Why then, was an enemy of his asking about Gustclan patrols? Maybe the cat was just old and confused, confusing her enemies with her clanmates. Or maybe it was a trap! Snowfall would be a valuable prisoner to any clan, and he had heard about the Gustclan medicine cat. Apparently she was half-crazy, always forgetting simple herbs and remedies. Perhaps Gustclan were sick of her, finally deciding to get a new, capable medicine cat. In the end, Snowfall thought the ‘confused old cat’ assumption was much more likely. He then, would have to play to the she-cat’s weaknesses. He could hide his blindness fairly easy, and he would have to pretend he was one of her clanmates just out for a walk. Then, once she left he could finally go back to the camp! Snowfall thought his plan was a pretty good idea, although it could all go terribly wrong. The she-cat might be smarter and stronger than he realized; he would never win in a fight. But this plan was Snowfall’s only hope. It was either this or run away, and he had no idea which direction Sunclan’s territory would be. “They were, I j-just came out for a walk to … enjoy the um, nice weather.” Snowfall answered nervously. He obviously was not good at deceiving other cats, but hopefully the Gustclan she-cat was too confused to notice. ooc: Sorry it's a bit short. I didn't have much muse when I wrote it. D: [bg=17061a][atrb=border,0,true]