Thoughts *open*

[fernfur]

Fernfur's tiny form was even tinier as sped through the Black Pines that towered above her. Her body wound gracefully around the trees as she sprinted, but it felt to her more like the trees were parting to let her pass, stepping to the side, one by one, as she became a charcoal-colored blur against the trees. They were almost as dark as her, and the knowledge that she was sufficiently camoflaged against them comforted her greatly. The tangy, familiar scent of pine filled her scent glands as she ran.

She stopped. This was where she wanted to be. She could tell, even though she couldn't see. It was a dark night, and the trees obscured the moon. Her pupils widened, desperate to find a source of light for her cats' eyes to reflect, to show her the way, but that was just her body's natural reaction. She knew that she didn't need to see. She had run this way countless times before, when she needed a comforting spot to hide away from the rest of the world.

She coiled her body around a pine tree, breathing deeply. She reached out with imaginary paws as she opened her mouth slightly, trying to pull in as much of the reassuring, pungent tang of pine sap into her scent-glands. The oozing sap was sticky against her fur, but she relished the sensation. Although the bark was damp, and rough with the budding spikes of pine-needles, to her it felt like the softest bedding for the youngest kit in the nursery.
Reluctantly, she un-curled herself from the familiar tree, and tip-toed lightly into a hollow. This was familiar too. She came to this spot whenever her mind was troubled with memories or worries. It was strange that the hollow that once upon a time had almost killed her now offered her such soothing. Perhaps it was the familiarity. Perhaps it was the memories it brought back, memories of being a tiny, care-free kit.
She had come to this spot this time, in the cool, damp dead of night, because in the warriors' den she was troubled by nightmares. Dreams of times that had passed, dreams of current times, and misty, hazy dreams of the yet-to-come.

These dreams were unsettling.

[cinderdust]

Suddenwind raced through the trees, boredom making go ever-faster across the ground. She stopped dead when she saw something, and it took her a few minuted to realize that it was Fernfur. She walked up behind the warrior and asked 'What are you doing?" In a voice too loud for the quiet night.

[fernfur]

Fernfur's lithe body twisted around swiftly, damp, rich, earthy-scented soil scraping off the side of the hollow and dusting her jet fur. Her mouth widened in a silent hiss, then she squinted through the smothering blackness and realised it was just Suddenwind. She forced her tense body to relax, her bristling fur to lay flat and her shallow breathing to become more even. Slowly, her agitated senses cooled, and her mind returned to it's usual, uneasy state. "I...c-couldn't sleep." she stuttered. She focused her misty-sky-colored eyes on a pine tree branch that jutted out in the distance, it's horizon point making it seem to be at eye level. Anything not to meet the eyes of another cat. "I-I just thought that perhaps a walk under the moon...might help." she explained awwardly. Why did other cats always turn up whenever she wanted to be alone? Fernfur...you always want to be alone. sblack personed an aggravating voice in her head. She shook herself a little, trying to rid herself of it.

[cinderdust]

Suddenwind nodded in reply and looked at the area around her. " Its quiet here at night isn't it?" she said. 'Not with me chattering like an exited kit, its quiet...' she thought, slightly annoyed with herself for being out side late at night, in the middle of no-where, talking to a cat who couldn't hold a descent conversation. But then she looked at Fernfur, and the irritation melted away, ever so slowly. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the shy cat. "She needs someone patient and caring to turn her around.' she reminded herself 'And then she'll be as good as new.' But taking a secound glance at the Nightclan warrior, she couldn't help but wonder if she would ever be able to even talk to any cat without stuttering.

[fernfur]

Fernfur looked up at the sky, searching for the pale moon above her, but still "Uh...yes, I-I guess it is." she looked back down to eye-level. As her gaze swept low, she accidentaly caught Suddenwind's eye for the first time. Her skin reddened, shining through her fur, and she turned her dull gaze away as swiftly as her reactions would let her. "Ummm..." she murmured, searching a little fantically for something to say, an inconsequential nothing that she could spout to try and stay 'normal'. "Uh...c-congratulations on getting Rainpaw as your a-apprentice." she blurted. It was the first thing that came to her mind. She supposed that Suddenwind was well-suited to Rainpaw. Their characters seemed to slot together.

[cinderdust]

Suddenwind nodded "Thank you, Fernfur." Taking a deep breth, she suddenly blurted out "Is this place special to you? Did something improtant happen in it?"

[fernfur]

Fernfur looked at Suddenwind in shock, and also irrational anger. Why did she have to know?
Fernfur breathed deeply, and forced herself to calm a little. "I-I guess you c-could say that..." she stumbled through her words, memories tumbling over one another in her head. "Wh-hen I was a k-ki-k-" she gasped in the cold night air desperately. "When I was a k-kit." she forced the words out as coherently as her screeching mind would allow. "There was a fox...here. It attacked me..." she screwed up her black-lidded eyes, trying as hard as she could to keep her breathing rythmic. "It h-hurt me. But then warriors...came and chased it away. But...in the t-turmiol...I was knocked into this hollow. It was filled with water...and I almost drowned. I h-hate water...now."

[cinderdust]

"Oh" Suddenwind murmured apologetically "I'm sorry that happened to you." tilting her head to her to the side questingly, she thought why in the world would Fernfur act so soothed in this place if such a terrible thing happened in it? She shook her head. Suddenwind would probably never know. "So uh, when do you think you'll be getting your apprentice?" She stuttered, not really knowing what to say.

[fernfur]

Fernfur's head snapped up in shock. "Never, I hope!" the sudden burst of shock made her forget the discomfort at being in the company of one of her Clanmates. "I would hate that!"

[cinderdust]

"Really?" Suddenwind asked, quite surprised. "That's strange. But, hey, not everyones going to want a younger cat following them around all day."

[fernfur]

"It's not that...I'm just really, realy bad at...t-talking to others. I could never be a role-model!!"

[cinderdust]

Suddenwind nodded her head slowly, understanding. "All right." She looked at the sky, and she noticed that the sun was slowly rising, tinging the black sky scarlet red and a lot of other beautiful colors. "I'm going to head back to camp and try to get some rest. I suggest you do the same." She advised the warrior. And with that, she walked away, and at times she would pause and look at the brightening scene around her, and watch the forest come to life. Birds were waking, and the small prey they hunted were scuttling around in their burrows, starting their day. 'The clans will be doing the same....' she reflected.

[fernfur]

Fernfur stared after Suddenwind with a bitter taste on her tongue. Did conversations always have to get uncomfortable? Only when you're involved, Fernfur. muttered a voice in her buzzing head. She looked down at the ground to ease her aching brain, to clear the image of Suddenwind from her mind. She shoud really take that advice...but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep in the warriors den this night. She twisted her slender body around with a flick of the brown tip of her glossy tail, and slid into the hollow, curling up as she did so.