[oats]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

Had Amberflame been anyone else, she might have let the matter go right then. She might have allowed Milkweed's attitude to slide past, and walked away, satisfied that she had gotten yet another clanmate up on their lazy paws. But instead of being satisfied, her eyes narrowed and her tail began to lash in a way that clearly meant 'trouble' for the bicolored feline. "I'm pretty sure words of encouragement are wasted on your kind." The she cat scoffed, tilting her head in a way that she hoped would be condescending for the other cat. She knew the type - warriors whose hearts just weren't with their Clan. Amberflame prided herself on her hard work and dedication to her Clan, so to see a warrior just brushing it off... she wasn't going to lie. It stung a lot.

And it reflected badly on the Clan that Amberflame's family had loved so dearly, and that she loved even more. "Now then, don't you have something you could be doing? Or do you care to stand here and tell me my words are patronizing?" The she cat asked, her voice entering that almost - but not quite - mocking tone. She was quite irritated with Milkweed at the moment, wishing that she could get rid of the she cat. She wasn't one to back down first, however... she would wait until the she cat wished to leave. Her tail twitched angrily, and her eyes flashed as she watched the other cat. It would appear she was hardly "hitting it off" with the other cat. Whoever was under the impression that the Clan cats got along well together with cats from their own Clan was sadly mistaken. They couldn't be more wrong.

Amberflame felt bad for the cat who would end up as Milkweed's apprentice. What a sad young cat they would be, indeed. She could see them ending up just like their mentor, lazy and sitting around on a day when they could be doing something for their Clan. Amberflame's beliefs were, to say the least, strict. Not many cats followed them as closely as she did. She had wanted this for so long that she was determined to keep it as best she could. Even if that meant becoming unpopular with her clanmates. Thank goodness Milkweed wasn't in a position of power at the moment - right?

This seemed rich, coming from a cat like her. Milkweed raised a lip over one of her fangs, eyes narrowing with practiced ease. Amberflame seemed hell-bent on getting a reaction out of her. “My kind?” She repeated those words alone-- they were the ones most in need of scrutiny, of constantly referring back to every time she laid eyes on the thick-furred molly. Her heart belonged to no-one; the only time she gave it over to her own had resulted in events more disastrous than she could ever imagine. Constant prodding and examination was something that she had gotten far too used to, but the cold claw of-- shame? Embarrassment? Whatever it was, it pressed much farther than she was comfortable with. Amberflame couldn’t be ‘hurt’ by her defiance. If she was, that was her problem for growing up with a weak skin.

Tail lashing, Milkweed raised her head, feeling a tightness in her chest that was predictable, at the very least. This she-cat wasn’t the smartest out of all of Thunderclan, was she? The blind faith, the weak replies, the fact that she didn’t get the message to leave Milkweed alone was probably it. It had to be, didn’t it? “You’re not my leader,” she merely replied. “I know your kind. Do you know why you’re not already a deputy? Behaving what you believe to be a ‘noble, pure warrior’ will net you almost no status in this life, because.. Well. You’ve probably heard this before, haven’t you? Nobody likes a busybody. I’m not going anywhere, because unlike you, I don’t have to go anywhere to give my life any meaning. I already know what I am, and where I’m going to be. Deluding myself with power fantasies doesn’t sound like the best hobby, huh?”

Exaggeratedly, she laid back down, practically sinking into the forest floor this time. “Cats like you are what make Clan life unlivable. Now, since you’ve got dung-for-brains, could you please--” Here, she took a deep breath. “Leave me alone? Maybe?”