The Drifter (Warriors: Divided Flashback) || Closed; Private

Murtagh || Mention: Icestorm

The tom had backpedaled defensively, so that his hindquarters were pressed up against the rough bark of a nearby tree to protect himself from a sneaky assault from behind, in the even that any of this goon's friends were nearby. Every heartbeat, Murtagh kept his cold blues locked on the stranger, who had introduced himself as "Icestorm". What kind of name was that? Was he trying to pull his leg?

And what in the world was a "Rainclan"? That sure was some dumb clowder name, didn't sound particularly intimidating. However, he wasn't about to let his guard go down- he knew how rogues worked. The stranger could have been feeding him a load of foxdung for the purpose of keeping him distracted, while his buddies got in the position to attack. Or, the stranger might attack him all by himself. He was big enough to do some damage alone, even if Murtagh was confident that he could run circles around the massive feline.

"That information is none of your business." The lynx point replied coldly once more, ears pinned against his skull in preparation for whatever attack might come his way. "And there will be nothing 'pleasant' about this conversation. I'm just passing through." Well, more accurately...passing out in the snow drifts. In any event, he fully intended on marching out of the place now, or at least putting some distance between himself and this "Icestorm". Leaving the forest might not be a great idea, not until Murtagh harvested a few more herbs. The place seemed to be loaded with goodies, and he couldn't pass up the opportunity. Maybe he didn't want to be a ruthless scavenger like his former clowder, but the scavenger behavior seemed to stick nonetheless. He hadn't much of a choice at this rate.

Icestorm ~~ Tags: Murtagh

Icestorm looked supremely unimpressed by the other tom's coldness towards him, even going as far as rolling his eyes and sighing at it. The only reason why he didn't comment on it was because most rogues were like this so he wasn't surprised by it, he mostly just treated it as an annoyance to ignore. The rogue was very on edge, and Icestorm knew his size certainly didn't help in the matter. So instead the giant tom just took a moment to lay down, right there, huffing when he got his bulk down in the snow. Oh actually, that felt nice. Making himself comfortable he tucked a paw under his chest and stared at the rogue.

"Ah yes, none of my business, with you in mine and my companion's territory. And of course you're just passing through, with an injured leg and looking two seconds from keeling over for the night." He responded bluntly, a pointed ear flicking pointedly after his words. "I know you're a rogue, so I'm going to go with the theory that you were too injured to realize you were trespassing and thus not meant to be rude. And will you relax already, I'm hardly going to attack a stranger, and no I am not lying, I hate liars." His muzzle even scrunched up at the word liars, looking disgusted. Most rogues always thought everyone was lying, it made talking to them like trying to find a single flea in your pelt and getting rid of it; time consuming and annoying.

"So with that out of the way, who are you? And whoever did that," he nodded his head to the rogue's leg, "are they going to follow you? Frankly I'd like to know in case my clanmates need to get ready for whoever you pissed off to come barreling into our territory too chasing you." He spoke bluntly, the tip of his fluffy tail curling for a moment before brushing the snow in a light flick. 

Hopeflame || Warrior || Tag: Shadeheart || Mentions: Icestorm

Hopeflame's tail twitched with annoyance at the mention of Icestorm. She wasn't the leader nor the deputy, so she didn't concern herself too much with other's business, especially that of former loners like Icestorm. Clearly, the tom simply enjoyed his solitude. It wasn't her place to question his motives unless they showed signs of hurting her clan. Hopeflame huffed at Shadeheart's comment. No, she thought, perhaps he doesn't.

"Come on, fluff-brain." Hopeflame nudged Shadeheart towards the cavern entrance. "Maybe we can follow his trail to make sure that he's okay." With that said, Hopeflame trotted out of the camp and relished in the warmth the sunlight brought to her russet pelt. "Mhmm, delightful. Isn't it, Shade?"

Shadeheart || Warrior || Tag: Hopeflame 

He flicked his tail and glanced towards the russet female as he was nudged, his ears twitching a little as she spoke. Well, he supposed she wasn't wrong about that. He watched her trot away for a few moments before he hurried after her, pausing once the sun hit his pelt so he could stretch a little. "It'd be much nicer if it was new-leaf though!" He commented, soon catching up to Hopeflame.

"Hey, Hope..." He trailed off, glancing around a little before he looked towards her. He took a step towards his friend and flicked his tail as he kept his eyes trained on her. "You know...some might get an idea in their heads...seeing us two alone. Together. On this tiny patrol." He spoke lowly, tail swaying near the ground slightly. "So you know what we should do...?" He trailed off once more, scanning his eyes over her face to see what kind of reaction he'd get.

"We should find Icestorm and convert him to the Shade and Hope way!" He blurted, grinning like an idiot as he bounced away a little with a laugh. "I think I'll call him Iceypoo! Or Fluffball! Or..or..." He went on, trotting after the large, former loner's scent trail with his tail in the air in such a carefree manner.

Hopeflame || Warrior || Tag: Shadeheart || Mentions: Icestorm

Hopeflame watched as Shadeheart took his time stretching in the sunlight, extenuating the muscles that rippled underneath his shiny pelt. She did wish it was new-leaf as well. Perhaps the warm weather would bring about some kits into the clan. They surely needed it. What would happen if their numbers continued to dwindle without new kits? Hopeflame didn't want to consider it too much.

When Shadeheart stepped closer to her, speaking of the scandal they might cause by being out here alone, her pelt became hot with embarrassment. It's not that the idea of her and Shadeheart didn't appeal to her, she just wasn't sure if he really felt that way. He flirted with nearly everyone, so she wasn't so sure he actually meant it. For this reason, she didn't consider it at all for fear of being humiliated and disappointed.

Suddenly, Shadeheart blurted about finding Icestorm and 'converting him to the Shade and Hope way' which brought a smile to her face to hide the slight disappointment. As he bounced away, Hopeflame quickly shook the thoughts from her head and bounded after him. "You can call him whatever you want, as long as I get to watch his reaction!" Hopeflame teased.

Murtagh || Mention: Icestorm

Territory- go figure. Any cat that had the audacity to claim a couple of trees and pile of dirt as their own was no good in his book. No cat owned land- no cat had any right to deprive others their right to fresh drinking water and a quick mouse to go. Murtagh didn't know what kind of "group" this guy was from, but he already knew that he didn't like it. Not one bit. "It is none of your business, big guy. Last I checked, you're not my father. Nor do you and your little 'pals', whoever they might be, have any right to go calling any old piece of dirt and leaves your property. Everyone's gotta eat. Everyone's gotta drink. You don't get to pick who does and doesn't die." Yes, these were certainly some fighting words that he was spitting out. He'd been on the run for so long, and darn it, he was going to rest his bum in the snow if he felt like it. This could have easily been some little off-shoot of one of Maximus' goon-gangs, but he wasn't going to let just any tall furball push him around.

"Well, if it looks like someone's following me, then clearly I wouldn't want to just give my name to any stranger, now would I?" This whole "wholesome buddy" act certainly was frustrating. Murtagh wasn't keenly interested in a fight- he knew he'd fail, especially against a cat of this size. Matter of fact, he wasn't even really interested in conversing in this cat or sitting in the same spot any longer. There was plenty of forest he could explore, and certainly the big guy couldn't just claim it all as his. Nonetheless, his sharp, ice-cold visionaries were locked firmly with the clan tom's.

Wait- "clanmates"?

He thought he'd heard of those cats before, the "clan cat" aesthetic. He may have run into one or two exiled clan cats before in his wide-and-far travels- and he knew that he didn't exactly like them. High and mighty furballs who thought their efforts righteous- yeah, right. "Land hogs" were what they were, uprooting nearby loner families because they were a threat and stepping on their imaginary lines. "No rogue clowder would, no matter who they're chasing, want any beef with pig-headed clan cats. I'm leaving because I'd really like to not sit here and rot from infection, despite how riveting this conversation has been." He continued to back away, eyes narrowed into a hardened glare. "Have fun fussing over your imaginary lines, line-boy."

Icestorm ~~ Tags: Murtagh

Stars would he ever meet a rogue who didn't have a nasty attitude? Icestorm was starting to lose hope honestly and this certainly wasn't helping. Huffing he rolled his eyes, but nothing betrayed how he was feeling despite how annoyed he was starting to feel. Swishing his tail slowly he tilted his head at the rogue again, icy eyes studying the tom, roving over the smaller body. "I don't recall myself saying I'd be picking who lives or dies." He mused easily, keeping perfectly still besides his tail occasionally moving against the snow. He'd been hoping that he could take care of this before his clanmates came upon the rogue. Not all of them were pleased with him being in the clan, despite having been both loner and clan cat before coming to Rainclan. So he didn't know how they'd react to a rogue such as this one. 

"Listen either give me a name or I'm calling you whatever I feel like, it's getting annoying calling you 'Rogue' in my head over and over again." He rumbled, turning his head to look to where the clan was, flicking his ears forward slightly as he listened for if anyone was coming. Didn't seem like it, yet. But he knew patrols would start coming this way eventually. When he turned his head back to the rogue it was just in time to listen to the rogue speak some words full of vitriol towards clan cats. Icestorm was not surprised, given the smaller tom's earlier words. He certainly wasn't the first rogue to say such things either.

"Ah how mean, I'm hurt, truly." He deadpanned, pushing himself up to stand with a huff, shaking out his fur. With him up now he started to approach the rogue, watching him carefully but keeping most of his attention on the rogue's leg. "Well if you really want to keep walking on that leg of yours I'll see you out. And keep your mouth shut, I've heard it all before about how clan cats are terrible and hog land and all that, both before and after I joined them. It's annoying to hear it repeated over and over, especially since it's not just clan cats who hog land. But that topic's unimportant right now."

He stood somewhat by the rogue, looking down at him. "Well? Let's go, I'd rather not have you jumped by a patrol, I can at least prevent that much for you. If you prefer other rogues for company I can point you out to where the friendlier ones are, but if you prefer being by yourself I can point you to another part of the forest that at least has shelter and prey." He didn't add that it had been where he had stayed before approaching Rainclan about joining them. He didn't think the tom would appreciate that.

Shadeheart || Warrior || Tag: Hopeflame

Shadeheart laughed a little as he heard Hopeflame's words, waving his tail a little as he continued on. "Can't leave you out of that anyways! We should think of names to call him along the way!" He piped up, glancing over his shoulder towards Hopeflame as he grinned at his close friend. He bounced ahead a little more before he paused and opened his maw to taste the air for Icestorm's scent. He tilted his head to the side a little before he glanced towards Hopeflame once more, twitching his ears a little before he looked off in the direction of where Icestorm's scent was coming from.

"Huh... His scent is leading off this way." He mentioned, gesturing with his paw in the way the larger tom's scent was coming from. "Guess that's where we're going then!" He added, flicking his tail before he headed towards that way as he paused occasionally to hop over some small piles of snow that he didn't feel like trudging through or around.

Murtagh || Mention: Icestorm

"Oh- you don't need to directly state it, fluffy. I know clan cats. I know how you work." His voice was cold and a devoid of emotion, motioning to the land behind the tom that he was clearly defending. "In fact, it's beyond clan cats. It's just a kitty-group mentality: take all that you can get, and give nothing back. That's why I'm alone. I'm not like your...your kind." He spat out the words with an extra dose of added venom to communicate his abhorrence.

Aw, did it hurt his brain, not knowing Murtagh's name? How sad. So nosey. He'd happily make this chummy clan kitty suffer through it a bit longer, force him to tag along in this mystery game. The quick-thinking tom briefly scanned through his memories, recalling some of the most deplorable kittypet names. "You can call me 'Muffin', cupcake." For a fake name that sounded so warm and sweet, Murtagh spoke in a voice with a tone as chilling as the biting leafbare wind.

As soon as the larger cat rose to stand, Murtagh instinctually dropped down into a more defensive stance. However, the warrior continued to stroll at a leisurely pace, and it was clear that he was disinterested in picking a fight...at least, for now. The rogue wouldn't hesitate to continue to poke cruel "fun" at him along the way. When Icestorm went on about hogging the land, he curled his lips in disgust. "So you even admit to it. Then if it's so annoying to hear about, how about you stop doing it?" Even as the large tabby moved, Murtagh didn't once take his sharp blue visionaries off of him. He may have acted placid, but Murtagh didn't trust him. He had no trust in any feline anymore.

"I travel and live alone." The lynx point stubbornly and hastily responded to Icestorm's offer, hackles raising as he moved along, although continued to keep his distance from Icestorm. "And you will not escort me to any home. I am leaving your imaginary border, and I am picking my own place among the forest. You may claim to own dirt, dirt-boy, but you sure as hell don't own me."

((potty-mouth))

Icestorm ~~ Tags: Murtagh

Icestorm showed very little reaction to all the nicknames he was receiving from the rogue, although some amusement filtered through. This was nothing new, the rogue's attitude wasn't anything Icestorm hasn't encountered himself. "You know eh? You been a clan cat before? As well as a rogue? Know all the answers now do you, you're just that smart?" He rumbled, watching as rogue stood up to start walking along, the warrior padding after him at a relaxed pace. 

"Just offering, Muffin." He mused, completely serious about the name now. He was quiet for a few moments as they walked, watching the rogue with more curiosity than anything. Though with the rogue's leg they weren't exactly moving that quickly.

"So, who hurt you?" He asked, looking at the rogue with piercing icy eyes. "And I don't mean physically. Every word you've spoken so far has been full of hatred and anger and what not. Sounds like you've been hurt real bad." He spoke matter o' factly, although he knew the rogue would just argue with him some more. Deny it and all that. Flicking an ear he turning his head slightly towards where camp was, listening once more for a patrol but not hearing anything yet. Though given their pace there was still a chance a patrol would run into them eventually. 

"I'm aware you don't have to answer me or anything. I just don't think I can recall meeting anyone with so much anger and hatred in them before, and I was a rogue before joining a clan." So he's met many, many cats. He's run into all kinds of cats, though this 'Muffin' certainly was a fascinating one. Briefly he paused when he noticed that it was starting to snow, gentle white flakes fluttering to the white ground. Frowning he looked up at the sky, trying to tell if a storm was coming. He rumbled, displeased. 

"We'd better hurry before it starts to snow harder, get you to shelter. You don't really look like you're built for a snow storm." He mused, moving a little closer to the rogue, his own body heat practically radiating off of him. Winter found many of his clanmates often using him as a sort of heat source, given his thick fur. So it was natural for him to silently and subtly offer it to the rogue despite the sharp tongue the smaller tom possessed.