against all odds

[dewspark]

Dewspark had overheard it from two warriors sharing tongues. From what she could tell, this particular rumor had gone from warrior to warrior and yet no one had gotten to the bottom of it. After meeting up with Mistfall (re: getting into another spat), Dewspark had decided that enough was enough. She was done with this hopeless feeling of loneliness now that her brother had decided to throw himself into his role as deputy and ignore his lovely sister. Now was the time for action, for adventure, for glory!

According to the rumor, there was a sharp fanged monster that roamed deep within ThunderClan woods. It was large, though its height changed depending on who you asked, though it was, at the very least, taller than the tallest point of Highrock. It walked on its hind legs, like a twoleg, and had claws sharp enough to break a rock in twine. Its eyes were beady red, that glowed in the night, even though moonlight didn't dare touch it. The catcher? The monster showed its ugly face at night.

The logical side of her knew that this was all fake and that nothing scarier than an irritated badger lived out in the woods. However where was the fun in that? One had to have a spark of adventure, after all, to have some joy in life. And because of this, she was going to spread this thrill of a time with someone else. The unfortunate problem was that she wasn't sure any warrior would be excited to go on this trip with her.

Therefore she needed to be smart and maybe, perhaps, possibly lie about the reason for her taking someone out on this trip of hers. What better way to get someone to come with her then to say it was a sanctioned patrol. After all, it was technically a patrol; a patrol to make sure that this monster was not real! It was for the good of ThunderClan! StarClan, Dewspark was such a giving soul, throwing herself in danger's maw to ensure her Clan's safety...

She didn't care who she took, just as long as she was able to bring someone along with her. Because wasn't there a chance that something was out there? Maybe not the monster, but things that went bump in the night still prowled the forest.

Dewspark waited until the sun set, sitting outside in the center of the camp, sharing tongues and attempting to appear as non-scheming as she could. After sundown, she got to her paws and made a beeline for the warrior's den. Tiptoeing over her dozing clanmates, she jabbed at one bundle in particular, hissing, "Hey, listen, I'm sorry for disturbing you, but Mistfall wants us to go on a late night patrol. Something about an influx of ShadowClan patrols. I'll be waiting outside for you."

Pleased with herself, the she-cat tiptoed her way out of the den, murmuring apologies when she mistepped and squashed tails and a splayed leg here and there. Dewspark pranced up to the entrance of the camp and sat down, curling her fluffy tail around her paws. This was going to be a fantastic time, she could just tell!

Now, just to wait for her "patrol" companion.

➳ egretfeather | poor egret, being wrapped in all of this lmaooo

✿

[➳ egretfeather]

( "This is him talking."
This is him thinking.
"This is someone else talking." )

the wonderful, sweet smell of vole wafted up to egretfeather’s nostrils. it was juicy, it was plump — and it was basically screaming his name. the sun was high in the sky, allowing its warmth to dance along his back. his surroundings were quiet, and his head was clear. this, my friends, was paradise. no one to bother him, no one to boss him around... just him and the lovely fresh-kill staring at him with its lifeless, beady eyes.

egretfeather licked his maw and let out a deep purr of content. he wriggled his shoulders, dipping his head down to take the first bite. his mouth was practically watering.. finally, a meal! though, as luck would have it, right when he was about to make his first munch, a paw roughly jabbed him and his utopia of a dream shattered into tiny irretrievable pieces.

are you kidding me... he thought with an internal whine, letting out a huge, hefty huff. “hey, listen, i'm sorry for disturbing you, but mistfall wants us to go on a late night patrol. something about an influx of shadowclan patrols. i'll be waiting outside for you." their voice rang like a blaring echo in his mind, and he struggled to fully wake. he was tempted to let out a harsh hiss and tell the cat to go find someone else, but the warrior had left almost as soon as they came. what’s the deal.. a cat can’t get a single wink of sleep around here, can they?

slowly coming to a stand and curling upwards to stretch, egret then grumpily exited the warriors den, not giving two whiskers about who he stepped on. he heard toes crack and cats hiss in pain — he probably stepped on a tail or something of the sort — but did he care at this particular moment? no. he was royally pissed, cursing under his breath as he made his way through the camp clearing. “I swear... whoever thought to wake me up at this time of night is about to get the biggest whack of their lifetime..”

as he approached the entrance to the camp, he continued to inwardly pout like a spoiled kit. even if night patrols existed, it felt like such an ungodly time of moonhigh to go out for lookout. I mean, did no one else sleep around here? moonlight lit up the entire clearing, visibly showcasing every aspect of the camp, which at least aided his adjusting eyes in safely walking in a straight line. he soon came across a warrior’s shadow, which belonged to who he assumed was the disgrace of a cat who thought to disturb him, and he lifted to his eyes to shoot them a burning glare. “what in starclan's name —“

his targeted glare of anger dropped immediately upon deciphering who the figure sitting before him in the moonlight was. egret let out the loudest groan he could manage, shoulders dropping in disappointment.

starclan help me...

the figure belonged to none other than dewspark, the infamous she-cat known to have a knack for lollying about and having a little too much of a sense of adventure — or at least, that’s the conclusion the tom had come to while watching the molly waltz around camp. he was hoping to at least be paired with someone who would get the job done and immediately return home, but alas, his luck for the night was basically nonexistent.

“you’re lucky I’m half-asleep, otherwise you would’ve thought twice about waking me when you did...” he grumbled. straightening himself up, his dull green eyes rested on her face for a few moments in silence. egretfeather mustered up a disgruntled sigh. “let’s get this done,” he huffed, walking past the she-cat without waiting for her to collect herself.

bee with dewspark --  oh no, you woke the beast ksjdskdj

GREY!

[dewspark]

At the sound of the groan and the sight of the drooping shoulders, her fur rippled in irritation. She met Egretfeather's disappointed gaze with her own; of course it had to be that old spoilsport tom. She had seen him around camp, always huffing and puffing at anyone who dared to get close to him. In a way, he reminded her of Mistfall. A shudder ran up her spine at the thought of how this might be who her brother became. And, right on time in fact, he muttered out a "let’s get this done." The audacity of this tom! Well, she wasn't about to let him ruin her night, she just needed to ensure that she survived. If she had to use him as bait to lure the monster out, then so be it. Though she imagined that his consistent bad mood and tense posture would not make him the most appetizing meal for the beast. At this thought, she snorted and rose to her paws.

"Calm down, Egretfeather. It's just a patrol," she replied, catching up to him. She gave him a wide berth though, not wanting to catch whatever had made him this irritable. And yet, she couldn't help herself and said, "You should try to have a better attitude; I've heard that those who are testy and named Egretfeather wind up not enjoying life at all, angry forever. And that's just a shame really." Dewspark clucked her tongue sympathetically and shook her head. She then flashed him a sly grin, before prancing on ahead, her fur rippling.

The direction they were pointed in was in fact towards the thunderpath. By her own ingenuity, she was telling the truth. Kind of. It seemed as though Egretfeather was still waking up, so she could perhaps change their angle somewhat so that it still looked like they were headed towards ShadowClan. The monster's hiding place was about half a dozen foxlengths away from the thunderpath, hidden within a huge grove of trees and rocks. The perfect place for a thing such as a monster to live.

As the two walked deeper into ThunderClan territory, Dewspark glanced up at the night sky every now and then. The stars had begun to appear and she let out a happy sigh. If she was with anyone else, she would point them out. But she had a feeling that her compatriot was irritated enough from having been woken up, she ought not push her luck as of right now; she still needed someone with her to take down the monster. If it existed, that is. Which she hoped it did, because wouldn't that be fun or what!

The sound of crickets chirping became louder, once the forest grew thicker with trees. The air tasted sweet, after that day's rainstorm, and Dewspark breathed it all in deeply. Night was her favorite time; everything just felt more alive when the moon and stars were out. And what better time to hunt monsters than at night? It gave a certain thrill to the whole thing.

➳ egretfeather

✿

[➳ egretfeather]

( "This is him talking."
This is him thinking.
"This is someone else talking." )

“just a patrol” he mocked dewspark in a whiny tone under his breath, mimicking her with a roll of his eyes. he pushed through. tell me that when you get ripped away from your precious sleep. he was busy keeping his eyes fixed on the ever-expanding amount of forest in front of them, when dewspark had decided to open her maw again, this time mocking him back. the gruff tom slowed in his tracks, taken aback for a moment as the molly flashed that little annoying, sly grin of hers in his direction. egretfeather inwardly stuck his tongue out at her and picked up his pace. “and those named dewspark think life is a game and hold kit-like imaginations...” he said in more of a grumble, but still hoped that she heard it. what was she going on about? egret had plenty of fun and enjoyed life for what it really was — it was just in a way that was hard for a flippant cat like dewspark to understand. hmph, whatever.

he dragged behind the bouncy she-cat ahead of him and remained the caboose. egret was fine with the pace he was keeping, not wanting to needlessly waste energy by crawling up to dewspark. instead, he waltzed across the dark, eerie forest in silence, pondering. he thought about how and why they had even been out in this position, at this time. “how odd..” 

honestly, now that he was thinking about it, why would there be an influx of shadowclan cats at this time? it maybe made sense, if those mouse-brained cats were thinking of planning a midnight ambush. but what purpose would that serve? what reason would those marsh-headed felines have to do that smack-dab in the middle of the night?

...wait a minute.

as he was walking, a thought dawned on him. a patrol.. in this awful time of night.. everyone else asleep, with only the two of them left to patrol. he hadn’t really inspected the whole scenario beforehand — I mean, if you’re dragged out of your nest in the middle of the night, who really would be in their right sober mind to realize something was fishy? his brows furrowed even more as he thought about it deeper, and suddenly, he felt a lightbulb go off in his head. catching up to the same pace as dewspark, though keeping his pale eyes set on the path before them, he spoke.

“dewspark..” he began sternly. “this isn’t a patrol.. is it.” his voice rumbled and he slowly turned his gaze to look at the she-cat. egret wasn’t really asking a question, more like spitting out a statement and waiting for her to admit to it. he examined her face, eyes squinted, watching her carefully.

so help me, if this turns out to be some sort of prank...

bee with dewspark --  2+2 = ... 5?

GREY!

[dewspark]

Dewspark wobbled her head side to side, wordlessly copying Egretfeather’s own imitation as he complained. It was clear to her now that she had chosen the grumpiest adventuring partner out of everyone she could’ve picked. For a moment it seemed as though he would continue complaining, but he went silent. This was fine with her, at least she could watch the stars. However, as they continued to walk the silence grew more suspicious and she glanced over her shoulder to see him staring at the ground as if lost in thought.

And then a look of realization crossed over his face and she couldn’t help but groan. Foxdung, she had been so close! At his question, she slowed to a stop, her mind rushing to come up with an answer. After a long pause, she turned to face him, her head raised; even though she had been caught red-pawed, she was not about to start groveling for forgiveness.

“Fine, fine. You caught me, it’s not a patrol up to ShadowClan. I heard about something lurking in the woods at night and wanted to check it out. Apparently it’s nothing of which you’ve ever seen before.” Despite how much trouble she would be in, her eyes nonetheless squinted in pure excitement at the thought of the monster for just a second, before she composed herself again.

“It sounded like a predator, from the description I heard. I wanted to make sure that it didn’t cause any problems for the rest of the camp.” And here, for once out of this entire night, she was being honest. Even if there wasn’t a monster, there still had to be a reason for the rumors to begin in the first place.

The spot where the monster supposedly lived was in the part of the forest where no one really went to. Deep inside the grove, there was an abandoned and crumbling twoleg den. The area had reportedly been haunted, though after a small group of apprentices and young warriors went to check it out, they came back with nothing. However, what they did find was a bunch of nesting materials scattered around in clumps.

“I was positive no one would want to come along with me to check it out if there it wasn’t confirmed. Those who have heard about the thing checked it out in the morning and they found nothing. I wanted to see if it would appear at night; I mean, there are nests there for StarClan’s sake. Nests that have been recently used,” Dewspark leaned closer to Egretfeather, with her brows raised.

It didn’t seem as though he would be easy to convince that this was a good idea and so she settled on the ground, flicking her tail across her paws. “If there was still something there, I wanted to make sure that I had some backup. Just in case it attacked.” What she wasn’t telling him was that she had also wanted an adventuring partner to share this experience with her. But he didn’t have to know that. He seemed to be on guard already, Dewspark could keep that fact nice and tucked away.

➳ egretfeather | the jig’s up lads!!! RIP

✿

[➳ egretfeather]

( "This is him talking."
This is him thinking.
"This is someone else talking." )

egretfeather’s ears pinned down to his neck fur. he didn’t know how to feel.. disappointed, angry, or deceived. he was honestly experiencing a good mix of all three. at the she-cat’s confession, the tom inched closer to her and lifted his paw, just about ready to wack her ear. though, he decided against it, lowering his paw while huffing outwardly in disappointment. his shoulders sagged and he stared at her with dull eyes laced in disbelief. dewspark sounded like a kit, eager to escape and find some three-headed badger or something of the sort.

“so.. what? you need a buddy to protect you because you‘re scared?” egretfeather sneered, drawing his head closer to her. egret examined dewspark, eyes squinted. this she-cat woke him up for some nonsense like this? him, out of all the other cats? it wasn’t even a patrol. it was some thrill-seeking adventure that she brought the wrong cat on. he huffed, looking away. “what is this, some monster hunt?” he mumbled, his long white tail shifting back and forth in pure annoyance. what a joke...

dewspark was absolutely right, he didn’t want to be there. especially if their whole reason of being there was based on some ghost story told by some apprentices who had their heads in the clouds. he couldn’t believe it. as she leaned closer, wiggling her brows to incite some excitement in him, the only thing he felt was dread. used nests? just watch, it was just going to be a bird’s nest or even some fox den. whatever it was, it probably wasn’t as much of a predator as she made it out to be. egret let out a disbelieving scoff at her words, craning his head to look down at her giddy expression. “oooh, so scary.. a used nest.” he mocked, rolling his green eyes again. “listen. if this turns out to be fake, you owe me a fresh vole in the morning.” he spoke, shooting her a warning glare as she seated herself on the moonlit grass.

once dewspark finished talking, he stretched out his tired paws, letting out a mix between a grunt and a yawn. he thought for a moment. honestly, he could just turn back around — now that she confessed, there was no reason for him being there. his nice, warm, enticing nest wasn’t too far behind... dewspark could handle this on her own if she was that curious. but, something held him back from backing out — whether it was because of curiosity or concern for his clanmate, egret determined that he would stick it out to the end no matter how inconvenient it was. the she-cat had already dragged him this far, they might as well finish their business. besides, if dewspark wasn’t betraying his trust again, then it was just another predator — nothing egret couldn’t handle. even though, it wasn’t the predator he was stressed out about. the poor tom could only imagine how tired he would be when dawn hit because of this mousebrain.

giving in, egretfeather took one good look at dewspark. he was going to regret this in the morning, he just knew he would. but, if there was a threat, it was better to take care of it immediately and not worry about it later, wasn’t it?

“...well then, go. lead the way.”

his words drew out more like a reluctant sigh as he bobbed his head forward, signaling her to keep walking so they could get this over with. of course he was always being dragged into situations such as this. how come it was always him attracting these types of scenarios?

bee with dewspark --  rip dew’s master plan

GREY!

[dewspark]

Dewspark wanted to bat him, as she saw his none too thrilled expression. Didn’t he realize that she was giving him a way in to have an adventure of a lifetime? But what was the most egregious, in her opinion, was that he didn’t seem able to hold the imagination that was required to go out in the unknown.

Just looking at him, he looked more like...well, like a cat that had been woken up in the middle of the night. She met his gaze evenly, not moving an inch, as his expression seemed to crumple into resignation. Dewspark had to hold back a snort, it was as though she should feel grateful for him coming along. But she supposed that it would make things worse if she admitted that it had been luck to have him be her adventuring partner.

Letting out a sigh, she gave him a pitying look and got to her paws at his insistence. “Please, you think I would drag you out for something that’s just a rumor. Have some faith in me.” She rolled her eyes, as she began walking; oh how misguided this poor tom was.

“It may seem like just nests, but some patrolling parties have said that in the abandoned twoleg den there are a bunch of scattered bones, newly picked clean.” As she spoke, she kept herself facing forward, not looking to see if her clanmate was following her.

“I heard that sometimes, if you’re quiet enough, you can hear something moving in the house, even see a wriggling mass of a shadow from the little cracks in the den.”” She dropped her voice lower, until it was a whisper. “It feels as though something’s watching you, as you creep closer and closer to the den. The only sound your hear is your heavy breathing, everything else is quiet...too quiet.”

She paused her walking, her eyes narrowing as she glanced around, before continuing, “You know when the monster is close, when the forest seems to die of sound.”

Dewspark pricked her ears and she gave a loud laugh. “Yeah, like this!” Right before their conversation, the forest had been alive with sounds of nightlife, though as soon as Dewspark had confessed to her true intentions, it was as though everything held its breath. Even the usual hollowing of wind had died down. Dewspark turned towards Egretfeather and winked at him, a thrill running up her spine.

Without another sound, she pranced into the dense forest, disappearing into the woods. “You know the worst part, though right?” She called back, winding her way through trees. “They say you gotta stick together, because it can be so easy to lose yourself in these woods. The trees arching around you, silence as your only companion during your journey, and then the sound of leaves crunching.”

Nearby, leaves crackled.

“It can be lonely in the forest,” she called, “I guess that’s why you hear of patrols going closer and closer to the abandoned den, some warriors may be working for the monster. Food needs to be delivered on a daily basis.”

Bushes began to rustle and a pair of glowing eyes peered out at Egretfeather, fangs glistening in the moonlight in a clawed grin.

A slow blink, staring down the tom.

Then, Dewspark pushed her way out of the bush. She shook the leaves and twigs off her, giving Egretfeather another grin, flashing her fangs at him again. “But we don’t have to worry about that! We not only have each other, but those are just some rumors!”

Gesturing for him to hurry up, she continued, “Come on now, pick up the pace. We don’t have all night.”

➳ egretfeather | i’m having way too much fun with teasing egret

✿

[➳ egretfeather]

( "This is him talking."
This is him thinking.
"This is someone else talking." )

“please, you think I would drag you out for something that’s just a rumor? have some faith in me.”

egretfeather honestly wanted to nod his head and agree, to say “yes, actually. you would drag me out here for something like that,” but something held him back from sassing any longer. he was already here and he already agreed to the plan, so he might as well suck it up and keep going.

the hefty tom followed suit, dragging his paws on the moonlit dirt as dewspark described their reason for adventure in more detail. he couldn’t help but wonder.. if they were to be met with this so-called “monster,” would dewspark even have the guts to stand up against it? or would she throw egret in as a sacrifice and make a run for it? the snow-white brute’s tail flickered back and forth, dragging low behind him just as his paws were.

his eyes rolled in his head, not convinced just yet. from the sound of it all, it still seemed as though this “monster” was nothing more than a fox. a hungry, angry fox to say the most. on top of that, it lived in an abandoned two-leg den — those places housed all sorts of annoying little pests. surely it was nothing more than that... right?

egretfeather cleared his throat and stood up straight, shaking off his thoughts and worries. “it’s nothing more than a kit’s story — sharing tongues’ gossip. there’s nothing waiting for us out here, dewspark.” he spoke lowly, though as he talked, it felt more like he was trying to comfort himself. to reassure himself that there was nothing in the woods, that the most it was was just an abandoned two-leg home. nothing else.

if anything, just being in these woods was reason enough to be frightened. it was too easy to lose oneself in this maze of forest; the canopies above looked nearly identical, and if you didn’t know any better, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell your left from right — especially this deep into the forest. even now, it felt like egret was being led in circles with dewspark. hmph, what a partner to be stuck with.

but then again.. this was a side of forest that he was completely unfamiliar with, and dewspark seemed confident (enough) to lead the way. as they continued onward, the sounds of crows echoed through the forest, and the breeze sounded more like an eerie whistle. though, as soon as dewspark dropped her voice to a whisper, the forest seemed to do the same. there was unsettling quiet — save the only sound being dew’s hushed tone. at her halt, egretfeather nearly rammed into her, not realizing how close he was following behind. no way.. was he really this jittery?

a shiver rolled down egretfeather’s spine, spiking his hairs upwards. he couldn’t even catch the she-cat’s wink — his eyes glazed over as thoughts started darting through his mind. he didn’t want to admit it, but the cat’s sly storytelling was starting to really get under his skin, leaving him feeling weaker with oncoming fear. it felt as though there were eyes in the forest... watching his every move.

but when he snapped out of his dazed trance, dewspark was gone. he jumped, gaze frantically switching back and forth.

her voice weaved through the woods, echoing in the deafening silence. it was so dark that egretfeather couldn’t tell where that little gremlin was lurking.

and then, leaves crackled.

his head whipped towards the sound, eyes wide and pupils narrowed. “not funny, dewspark..” to keep his voice from cracking, he cleared his throat and stood tall, attempting to put a facade over how creeped out he truly felt. to say the least, the tom felt on edge. nearly every little sound set him off.

and then a rustle; the glance of a mischievous evil grin, and devious glowing eyes.

egretfeather jumped almost as soon as dewspark slinked out of the brush, biting his tongue to keep him from yowling in surprise. “you little...!” oh, what the snow-white tom would give to smack her senseless. the absolute nerve of this cat! unbelievable...

clearing his throat once again, he stood up straight and averted his gaze from dewspark, feeling embarrassed. “yeah, rumors.. nothing else.” his words felt fast and forced, a clear sign of his growing anxiety. egretfeather picked up the pace and followed close behind dewspark, even going so far as walking beside her so that he didn’t feel like he was lagging behind.

curse her for making me feel so ... anxious. egretfeather nearly thought ‘scared,’ but what a joke that would’ve been. he wasn’t scared, just slightly.. spooked. he was a warrior, for starclan’s sake. not some wish-wash spineless apprentice. not wanting to deal with the heavy, eerie silence of the forest, he looked to his last and highly unfavored resort of entertainment — conversation.

“you know..” egretfeather began, facial expression unmoving as stone and eyes set straight ahead. “that was a vile trick you pulled..” his words were bitter, and to be frank, he felt awkward. it wasn’t often he had to speak like this, but what were his other options? the forest was starting to give him the creeps. “maybe I’ll get my revenge, and feed you to this so-called ‘monster.’” he chuckled lowly, probably sounding a bit sinister. in all honesty, he was just messing with her. it was only right after that little scare. “I bet they just love reckless, mouse-brained cats like you.”

man, she had really cracked him, didn’t she? in what world was egretfeather the one who started up a conversation?

this night was truly something else.

bee with dewspark --  part 1 of egret nearly peeing himself 

GREY!

[dewspark]

From his response, it sounded like her little prank was affecting him more than she had planned on it; although it wasn’t necessarily gossip, Dewspark had heard around camp how stoic and serious Egretfeather was. She had thought that a little joke like that would loosen him up; it seemed to just make him more wound up instead.

To make matters worse, there was a slight flicker of pity and sympathy for the white tom; if it was possible, it looked as though he was out of his element. Perhaps this whole situation was a bit too much for him.

At his refusal to look her in the eye, she tilted her head to the side, knowing that if she tried to console him or show that she saw his worry, it would just put him more on edge – if that was even possible. Deciding to play along, Dewspark let her gaze drift over the forest, humming her agreement at his words.

His usual monotonous voice sounded at odds with how quick his words were and her whiskers twitched in amusement not just on his attempt to appear calmer than he may have felt, but at just how funny it was for him to say that rush of words. She could feel him walk beside her and she glanced at him in surprise, but quickly rearranged her expression to that of eagerness.

But that expression fell at his bitter words and she tilted her head to the side, a look of hurt flashing across her face. OK, maybe she deserved it after the trick she pulled, but it still hurt! Swallowing back her own sharp retort, Dewspark forced out a chuckle. “Well, if you did that, I’d be forced to haunt you in particular; I’d be making quips and jabs at you the entire time and you wouldn’t be able to do a thing.”

She gave another toothy grin, her eyes squinting in forced laughter. “Are you sure you want to do that to yourself? Until you’re one hundred percent sure you’d want that, we’re stuck to work together!” Finding it much easier to play along with his joke than fight against it, Dewspark was more than willing to be a little self-deprecating if that meant that Egretfeather could loosen up.

This was as close to an apology as she would give, out of want of saving her own face from embarrassment, but also from the mere fact that Egretfeather didn’t seem like the type who wanted his worries to be in front stage; after all, if she had to apologize, there would be a spotlight on how her words made him tenser.

“Now then… Shall we continue on?” Dewspark asked, a real smile now appearing, “We’re almost there. Just around the bend up there. No more tricks, I promise.” She winked at him, her whiskers twitching once more.

If they were to run up against the monster – because Dewspark knew that there had to be a reason for others to claim it existed in the first place – she needed to ensure that Egretfeather was at least on his toes. Which meant no more tricks, unfortunately.

As the two rounded the bend, the dilapidated twoleg den sat in a clearing, flanked on all sides by those towering trees. Dewspark glanced up, finding strength in the winking stars above, before she turned towards her adventuring partner, becoming serious suddenly.

“Alright, do you see that one crumbling side off to the left?” She gestured with her paw, before continuing, “That’s apparently where the monster comes in and out of the house. Once we get closer to it, I can show you the clumps of fur it left behind.”

Dewspark glanced at him, as though expecting a surprised response or – StarClan – even just a response. Some part of her wanted to prove to Egretfeather that this monster existed, which had become as strong as her desire to even see it in the first place.

“I was thinking we could sneak around the twoleg den and maybe see what we find. We don’t necessarily have to go after the monster if it’s not here, but…” She left her words hanging in the silent night, giving the tom a look.

His threat still weighed on her mind, even if she didn’t want to make that apparent. But maybe the next best thing to an apology – which she was reticent to even consider – was offering up a choice to him. Although it was out of character for her to be waiting and thinking of a plan, she was more concerned with keeping this – although tentative at best – adventuring partnership alive.

➳ egretfeather | in which egret gets a rare instance of him having a say in the matter (‘:

✿