Life Left to Go [Dust/Ginger]

[Kitty]

Gingertail nodded as Dustfur guessed the two names correctly. She was a bit surprised that he still remembered them, because it had been some time since that last accidental border meeting in which she told him about their plot. Maybe she could ask that he try and find out how well their doing in their own searches for mates. But that would mean that he'd have to reveal that he knew about their little idea and they might not be too grateful for Gingertail's telling him. And she was already letting them down enough by not even having an idea of a tom to become mates with. Best they not find out about this too.

The ginger warrior blinked her green eyes when Dustfur went on. Was he...sorry that he met her on the border? But if he hadn't come she would have been caught by some other warrior in the bushes.... Gingertail felt a little sad and guilty. He probably had better things to do than sit here on the border with her and listen to her problems. "You were helpful!" she protested, smiling in return. "You let me talk to you when you could be doing something else. Something more important than just listening to me talk. Sorry, I'm sure you probably have better things to do." Her smile seemed to disappear the longer she talked, and her sense of guilt settled on her even heavier than before.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Dustfur was honestly surprised when Gingertail insisted that he had been helpful. But why, he hadn't offered any new advice or solved her worries, he had just... been there. It was hard for him to think that he'd really helped at all, but maybe he had. He wondered if sometimes you just needed to vent about your worries to someone even if you don't get anywhere closer to fixing the problem. And listening was one of the few things he knew he was good at.

It was a good feeling to be appreciated. That shocked him too, the fact that Gingertail was glad he had come along and listened to her. He wasn't used to that, usually being the one in the background who didn't draw attention to himself and as a result not being noticed or acknowledged. Dustfur looked down and shuffled his paws, suddenly feeling embarrassed by the new feelings. "No, it's fine. I don't have anything to do, that's why I'm out here by myself. But thanks," His small smile returned and he looked gratefully at the RiverClan cat. If anything he was glad to have someone to talk to. He liked the feeling that someone was appreciative of his help.

((Hehe, epiphany moment. D'aww that was a cute post to write <3))

[/blockquote][/size]

[Kitty]

Dustfur suddenly seemed embarrassed, staring down at his paws as he shuffled them on the ground. Aw, why was he embarrassed? It just seemed to make Gingertail feel a little awkward, watching him watch his paws and shuffle them around. Maybe she should look away too...hm...but then he was speaking again, and looked up gratefully, causing Gingertail to exhale in relief. "Oh, okay, that's good," she meowed, the guilt she felt earlier at the possibility of keeping him from doing something important evaporating. So she wasn't just being a nuisance or anything, like her brother claimed sometimes. That was good, because apparently she tended to annoy some of her Clanmates with her perkiness. But she must not irritate Dustfur, or he would have gotten her out of the bush and then ditched her, or maybe just have walked on by. That was a nice feeling. Dustfur actually seemed to like her, and it was nice to make new friends, especially ones she could trust. But could she trust Dustfur? Well..he hadn't told anyone her secret yet...and he seemed pretty quiet. "So do you come this way every time you get bored or do you go down the ShadowClan border, too?" she asked, out of curiousity. Perhaps they would run in to eachother on the border again.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

When she asked him the question, Dustfur was a little confused. He wondered why she would ask such a thing, whether she was really interested or if she was just trying to make conversation. The everyday things he did really weren't that interesting, but he thought he might as well answer. "It depends, sometimes I go by all of the borders or I just stay closer to camp," It usually depended on his mood and how much time he wanted to waste. Sometimes he was in a particularly thoughtful mood or wanted to avoid camp due to circumstances. "Uh, why do you ask?"

((Cue rabbit suddenly running by? X3))

[/blockquote][/size]

[Kitty]

((Why not? x3))

Gingertail gave a little nod. That made sense; going the same way every day would probably get boring. She'd been going down this border for border patrol whenever she got the chance. The WindClan border was seeming a bit old, so maybe next time she should go down the ThunderClan border on patrol...hm...but her mind was getting sidetracked, and she pulled it back into focus. "Uh, what? Oh, no reason really. I was just thinking that we might run into each other again, that's all," she said quickly. A sudden scent of rabbit hit her, and she looked over to see the furry creature sitting up on its hindlegs, nose twitching. It seemed to notice the two cats there at that time, and began hopping away. "Hey, aren't you gonna go after that?" Gingertail asked Dustfur in an attempt to change the subject. Was it just her or was this one getting just a little bit awkward?

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

At Gingertail's response he felt a little better, although he was still confused over why she wondered if she would run into him again. The two or three meetings they'd had so far were only coincidences, right? But if they ran into each other over the border again, it might not be so bad. Gingertail was good to talk to and he was rather interested in that bizarre plot of hers and wanted to keep updated on her search for a mate. When she asked if he was going to chase after something, a look of confusion came over Dustfur's face and he scented the air, sure enough smelling rabbit nearby. He looked over to see the creature on its hind legs and then watched as it started to hop away. "I don't think so, I don't really need to hunt..." That part was true, the fresh-kill pile was stocked well enough and there were several hunting patrols a day keeping it high. But it wasn't the whole truth. "And I'm not that good at hunting, really..." He didn't look at her, just kept gazing at the rabbit as it went across the moor.

[/blockquote][/size]

[Kitty]

Gingertail felt a pang of pity for the WindClan warrior. Aww, he couldn't hunt very well? Gingertail was way better at hunting than she was fighting, and she'd gotten used to it as a past time. Besides, fishing was fun. Maybe chasing rabbits across the moor wasn't very much fun or something. Maybe that was why she was so good at fishing, because she liked it. But she'd never really hunted like WindClan cats or ThunderClan cats or even ShadowClan cats. The river had always provided for her. Maybe she wouldn't be good at hunting either if she had to chase rabbits all day. Reaching out, she patted Dustfur with her tail. "Well...if you can't catch it then can I try? I've never chased a rabbit before." Her green eyes were pleading, begging for permission to chase the prey down even though it was in WindClan's territory instead of RiverClan.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Dustfur looked down as Gingertail's tail brushed against him and smiled again briefly. She wanted to try catching the rabbit? He wouldn't have thought she would want to try, after all RiverClan didn't normally eat rabbits and had no reason to hunt them when they had fish. He had never seen a RiverClan cat try to catch a rabbit before, so it would be interesting... Seeing her pleading gaze, though, he realized that it might not be such a good idea. She would be going onto WindClan territory and that wouldn't be good if there was anyone else nearby to see. He glanced around the moor, but didn't see any other cats in the distance. It wasn't such a big deal... "Uh, sure, go ahead. I don't think anyone's nearby to see." Dustfur stepped back to give her room, ready to just watch as she tried to catch the rabbit. Honestly he didn't expect her to be able to catch it, but it would be interesting to see how well she did.

[/blockquote][/size]

[Kitty]

With a smile, Gingertail ran off after the rabbit, needing no more permission from Dustfur than a simple reply, such as the one he'd given. She sprinted after the furry creature, but great StarClan, those things were fast! How did WindClan cats manage to keep up with them, let alone catch them? The rabbit soon outran her, and the head start it had gotten wasn't helping at all. When it disappeared into the grassy grounds of the moor, Gingertail pulled up short, perplexed, until she realized that it had dove down a rabbit hole. Saddened by the loss of her catch - nope, she definitely couldn't pull off being a WindClan cat, and nope, WindClan prey was definitely not fun to catch - the RiverClan she-cat returned to Dustfur empty-pawed, then realized that she'd just chased a rabbit many tail-lengths inside the border. Hopefully no warriors would get mad at her for it. She looked a bit defeated when she reached Dustfur, panting, and meowed, "How do you catch those? They're so fast!"

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Dustfur watched as Gingertail took off, running surprisingly fast for a non-WindClan cat. Why did some cats think that WindClan were the speediest? Others were capable of running just as quickly, they were all still cats, after all. The rabbit seemed to be faster, however, for it was soon out of reach and disappearing into one of the many rabbit holes that dotted around the moors. He had expected as much, the same thing having happened to him many times before. Dustfur gave her a sympathetic look as she returned looking saddened, and he recalled some of his own training his mentor had done with him many moons ago. "Well, you have to be faster," He said, glancing out at the moors again. "A rabbit will take off and change directions quickly so you have to watch it carefully. Want to try again?" The scent of rabbit still hung in the air and he suspected there were a few more in the area. Glancing back at Gingertail, he looked at her encouragingly.

[/blockquote][/size]

[Kitty]

Faster? How was she supposed to run faster? She'd already all-out sprinted, and the rabbit had still gotten away. And what? It would switch directions on her? That wasn't fair! Fishing was so much easier! But Gingertail was determined, and she jumped at the opportunity to try and catch one of them again. Maybe Dustfur would even help teach her, give her pointers on what to do. "That sounds great!" she agreed enthusiastically, catching his encouraging glance. She could catch one of these pesky creatures. No rabbit would defeat Gingertail, great RiverClan hunter, today, that was for sure. "Just show me the rabbits!"

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Dustfur nodded and scented the air again. He turned his head to look all around the hills and tried to spot the brown pelted creature he could smell on the breeze. His sense of smell wasn't as strong or accurate as some of the other warriors, but... there! He spotted the rabbit in the distance, quite a bit away. It would take some work to catch it, and he doubted that he would be able to if he tried, but maybe Gingertail would have more confidence than him. He pointed to the rabbit with his tail and crouched down slightly in the hopes that it wouldn't notice him. It would hear him if he was too loud and see him if he wasn't careful. Despite letting Gingertail know she could chase it, he almost felt as if he wanted to chase it himself. But maybe that was his WindClan blood. Staying quiet, he glanced at Gingertail and gave her the okay to try again.

[/blockquote][/size]

[Kitty]

Gingertail cast her sight in the direction Dustfur indicated, scenting the air as she did so just to get an even better idea of the brown furred creature's location, and spotted the rabbit quite a ways away, its fluffy stumpy white tail bobbing as it hopped lazily around munching the moor grasses. Wow, that was a long way off. Could she possibly get to it before it took off for the nearest rabbit hole? Probably not. But it was worth a shot, and this rabbit was probably the closest one. She's have a long sprint no matter what. She saw Dustfur crouch out of the corner of her eye and realized how much her ginger pelt must stand out in this terrain, so the she-cat crouched down too, until Dustfur gave the okay to chase the rabbit. Gingertail sprang up from her place and bolted after the rabbit, trying to run faster than she had last time like the WindClan tom had instructed. This one seemed even faster than the one before, though, but Gingertail was faster too. She was sure she had it when it suddenly turned sharply to the left, leaving her skidding to try and turn in time to catch back up with it. But by the time she'd regained her footing, the rabbit's fluffy white tail was disappearing into a rabbit hole. For the second time, she had to trudge back to Dustfur, panting and tired from her game of chase, again empty-pawed. "Mousebrained rabbits," she muttered, frustrated, when she reached the WindClan tom again.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Dustfur watched again as the RiverClan she-cat took off, following her form as she pelted over the moor and keeping an eye on the rabbit as well. It had appeared that the rabbit was preoccupied and hadn't noticed the cats aiming to catch it, but after Gingertail had gained quite a bit of ground on it, it changed direction and disappeared into another rabbit hole much like the first one. That was unlucky, he thought to himself, but he also attributed it to the fact that she'd never tried chasing a rabbit before, and the first few times weren't likely to be successful. Most apprentices needed quite a bit of practice before catching their first rabbit. As she returned, Dustfur tried to think of some way to help her and recalled the method for training apprentices. Most of the time they learned through practice and repetition, but maybe it would help if she could actually watch? He could give it a try at least, although he wasn't very confident that his attempt would be successful either. "Want me to try?" he offered hesitantly.

[/blockquote][/size]

[Kitty]

Gingertail was feeling rather dejected and frustrated upon her return, glaring down at her paws angrily. How could she get two tries at catching a rabbit and fail on both of them? Even an apprentice would do much better than that! An apprentice would probably be able to catch both rabbits! However, when the ginger she-cat heard Dustfur's offer. Perhaps if she saw a demonstration she'd be able to hunt them better! Then she'd know what to do! She jumped at the offer, meowing, "Yes! Please do!" Sure;y he would manage to catch a rabbit, even though he was a bad hunter. He had to be better than she was, at least.