As the ferns rustled sharply with the unknown creature coming closer, Bramblepaw could barely keep back a snarl of warning before the cat was identified. And he certainly couldn't have predicted IceClan's leader, Flightfoot, being the one to make an appearance. With a soft sigh of relief, Bramblepaw forced his fur to lie flat, and stomped down the urge to curl his lip-- even after Flightfoot spoke, it wasn't easy to wear away the initial panic.

After Lionfur's... eh-hem... situation, it had been Flightfoot who had to replace him quickly and flawlessly, becoming IceClan's commanding cat without much trouble at all. Bramblepaw had watched from the sidelines as the change was made, and he questioned what had happened to the now former leader. Although in the type of world they lived in, no one should be surprised when someone goes missing or dies unexplainedly. Really, wasn't it almost commonplace?

Shaking himself mentally out of his thoughts and questions, Bramblepaw plastered on an innocent, almost guilty expression. One an apprentice would wear if they felt they had done something wrong. When he learned Flightfoot hadn't meant to scare him, and that he had been followed, Bramblepaw offered a small smile of assurance, but his thoughts were anything but. You stalked me from the IceClan camp all the way to the border, and it was just out of curiosity? No, you thought I was doing something wrong. You don't need to sugarcoat it.

Bramblepaw was... a different sort of cat. He learned very young to cherish and protect the belief in CloudClan and the warrior code from his parents, but it was those same parents that had abandoned him. And he found a way to cope, and keep everyone off his tail with their concerns. Play pretend. So, that's what he did. Bramblepaw was pretty good at it, too.

So even if his thoughts were bitter and cold, and sometimes he wanted nothing more than to walk off a cliff than deal with some of his annoying clanmates... The only things cats saw were a brave, honor-bound tomcat with a heart of gold.

"No, you weren't intruding. Bramblepaw said easily, still looking a little nervous. "Sorry for, uhm, worrying you. I just wanted to see the fireflies." With his eyes the same as Flightfoot's, widened in awe, the brown tabby tomcat turned back towards the large chasm before him. The fireflies continued to patrol around, ignorant or uncaring to the cats on the cliffside.

Bramblepaw twitched an ear when the leader spoke again, breaking the silence and his concentration on the bugs below. His golden eyes glanced at Flightfoot as she talked about her own memories of this place. How her mentor had shown her this place, and how the fireflies felt like they were dancing in her heart.

That's kind of stupid. "Wow, that's kind of cool." Bramblepaw hummed, giving the fireflies another look before he turned fully to send the she-cat a warm expression. "I haven't described it like that, but I know that watching the fireflies makes me feel all calm and wonderful. Maybe they are dancing in my heart, too." Saying the words out loud made him sound even stupider. What kind of conversation was this?! I should have just stayed in bed. Now I'm going to think my leaders a weirdo instead of respecting her.






{ dont mind at all, and apologies for this rude child ^^' sorry for a late response, was suppose to post this yesterday and got busy!

Bramblepaw met her frown with a twinge of confusion shown for just a brief moment, that dissipated as Flightfoot spoke. Hmph. Who didn't worry about their clan these days? And maybe she wasn't wrong about the world being an awful place, but it wasn't like cats his age knew of anything better. With borders being protected aggressively, and prey hardly being enough to keep a cat's belly full, older cats remarked of days they knew, or that their older kin had spoken of, where these things were such a problem. Bramblepaw had never experienced the days of good hunting, though. He never knew of a time when walking along the clan's border was a perfectly safe place to be, so long as you kept to your own side. And he would likely never get a chance to know it, either, given the steady decline of prey and the uprise of animosity.

"Don't be sorry, Flightfoot." Bramblepaw said in a sincere, caring voice. His bushy tail drifted closer to her for some form of comfort, despite there still being a clear space between the two IceClan cats. It's what the kind-hearted Bramblepaw would do, anyway. "I really believe that someday, things will be just like they were long ago. And, well, maybe I just think that because I haven't had a lot of hardships--" The kind-hearted Bramblepaw had never experienced any sort of pain. "--but I really feel like-- like CloudClan is still watching over IceClan. And that we'll make it, in the end."

All the other clans can die off for all I care. Though the dark brown tabby looked determined, his thoughts again were nothing but frostbite. IceClan is all that matters. And I'd do anything in my power to make sure that my clan survives.

At calling herself strange, Bramblepaw quickly plastered on an expression of surprise and horror. "What? I-I don't think you're strange!" he sputtered pathetically. You hit the mouse right on the head, Flightfoot. At least you're better than some cats. And as she went on, the apprentice looked a little more serious as he contemplated her words.

He didn't know what to quite think about that. Yes, Flightfoot was a bit weird for her earlier words, and he didn't know the she-cat well enough to know if she always had weird mouse-dung to say or not. And he also wondered if she was just embarrassed by what she'd said, and was trying to cover it up. But then again, this was a supposed terrible world to live in, and maybe acting a bit different was what some cats had to do to handle it.

Look at himself, for example. "I... I really don't think you're strange, Flightfoot." he began slowly, golden eyes back onto the fireflies below. "And it's not good to judge cats on your first meeting. Err, conversation? I mean, I don't know you very well, so it'd be rude to call you strange. Especially if, uh, what you said about all that is true... that it helps you take your mind off the world. Then there's nothing really wrong with that."

The apprentice let Flightfoot speak completely now, just content with listening to her words, and often times catching a glimpse towards her to gauge her expression. He didn't doubt that being a leader was difficult. It had pros and cons, yes, as did everything. But when your choices determined the actions and lives of so many others... it was too big of a position for any cat, and Bramblepaw certainly knew he wasn't ready to be in Flightfoot's paws any time soon, no matter how powerful his heart was set on the rank. And it wasn't like Flightfoot had been ready to become leader, either, nor did she have any nine lives that were given to previous leaders in the old stories. Lionfur had all but vanished, no one had even expected it, and so of course she was worried and nervous to take his place and do a good job.

A part of Bramblepaw wished he were a warrior already, and able to take the spot as her deputy. It'd help his ambitions of becoming leader, and he know that at that point, he would be ready for the work that came with it. And then he'd be there to help Flightfoot and IceClan towards a better future. Instead, he was a lowly apprentice with barely any experience under his paws to earn much, if any respect from anyone. He couldn't help IceClan this way.

When she finished, Bramblepaw gave his leader a stern expression and a nod. "Stop calling yourself strange, Flightfoot!" he demanded, scolding her for insulting herself like that. Because you're starting to annoy me with that. "I don't find you weird about telling me about this stuff. It's probably even for the best not to keep it all in, and if you really don't have anyone to talk to about it, then I'm all ears!"

Oh great, what was the kind-hearted Bramblepaw signing himself up for now?

"I-I don't understand myself the problems of being a leader, because I'm only an apprentice." the tomcat went on awkwardly, now unable to meet Flightfoot's gaze and shuffling his paws. "But I do get that it's a big job. And I think you're one of the best cats for it, and Lionfur thought that, too! So, you shouldn't doubt yourself, or worry too much about it. Because I think you'll be a really good IceClan leader." He paused, wondering if what he said had been good enough. Bramblepaw didn't even know why he was trying so hard to make Flightfoot feel better. Did she even need to feel better in the first place? Ugh, screw socializing. "And, well... I know we don't know each other very well, and I'm just an apprentice, but I won't go telling all of IceClan your worries or anything. So it's okay to talk, since I'm willing to listen, ya know?"

I think I completely exaggerated the entire conversation and turned it into some sort of therapy session. Bramblepaw thought with a sigh. Nice going.