[doghouse]

Originally Posted by Doodle

Feathersong smiled as the tom seemed embarrassed. His act- not that she knew it was a fake- had completely captivated her, and all she wanted was to know this cat more. Especially since it seemed he didn't fit in with his clan, not if they were supposed to be awful cats. He certainly was a very kind, even sweet tom, rather than ruthless. "That's cool," the molly exclaimed. "In Skyclan, we don't have designated fighters. Just warriors, and we hunt and fight. It must be nice to just concentrate on one thing, though. And you certainly look like a fighter," she tacked on, because Horseradish truly did. He certainly had a lot of muscle, more than other toms in her clan. The grey cat tilted her head as if studying him, before shaking her head. "Well, if I was a part of your Syndicate I don't think I'd be a fighter. I don't have the muscle for it, and I don't really like fighting anyways." A fact that had caused her not to be in the battle between her clan and Horseradish's group. She hated battles, and wasn't much of a skilled fighter anyways, so rather she had stayed back at camp while her clanmates were off fighting.

Feathersong shook her head, but this time sadly. "That's an awful way to live," she meowed softly, eyes brimming with sympathy. "I have so many cats that I care about, I wouldn't be able to live with not knowing if they'd survive in camp another day, since back at camp is supposed to be where we feel safe..." She frowned again, thinking of her own kits, and even their father. Just because things hadn't worked out with the tom, didn't mean that she wanted him hurt. Sure, he had hurt her, but only emotionally. She didn't want him dead. And if any cat had harmed one of her kits, the molly would be destroyed- after destroying the cat who had done it, of course. "How do you all even get along, if you can't trust each other?" She asked after a moment with a shake of her head. "I can't believe you still manage to have enough in your ranks to support and protect you all. That's incredible." The Syndicate must be very strong, then, and she felt a flash of pride that her clan had been able to defeat this strong group of cats. She hid the pride, of course, not wanting Horseradish to feel bad.

Her head tilted once more at what the tom said next. "Well, no, you personally haven't done anything to Skyclan. But... well, you're obviously no idiot. You know things aren't well between my clan and your... group." She wasn't really sure what to call the Syndicate, because they were like a clan but definitely weren't considered one. "If one of our patrols came along, they'd definitely be hostile. And not all of my clanmates are levelheaded. One wrong word and they'd lose their temper, and then attack you." She spoke truthfully, because there had been so many skirmishes with random rogues when her clanmates didn't like something that had been said to them. Her gaze turned back behind Horseradish at what he said next, scanning the darker areas of his territory a bit anxiously. Hopefully no one was watching them right now; she hadn't thought of the other cats in his group as bad, but they definitely seemed aggressive and she'd rather not have a run-in with anyone other than this tom right here. Perhaps she had scored in meeting the only passive cat in the Syndicate. She nodded to his explanation of his grooming spot, turning her attention back to his gaze.

A small smile quickly formed on Feathersong's maw at the tom's flirty attitude, a slight purr building in her throat at his words. All seriousness moment before was gone, the worry about being seen gone as well as she focused solely on the attractive cat in front of her. She giggled when Horseradish called her pretty, her ears pressing back in slight embarrassment and her eyes casting downwards. No cat had called her that since... well, she was refusing to think about him now. They simply hadn't worked out together, and it was okay for her to move on with her life. Perhaps even with this kind tom right here. Her eyes flickered back up to meet the tom's at his final statement, and they flashed with thought. "Yes, what a coincidence... maybe it was meant to happen," she murmured with a shy smile. After all, what were the chances that her paws would just happen to bring her to this spot along the border, where Horseradish happened to choose as his grooming spot? She hadn't even made a conscious decision to come to the border- she simply just walked, and wound up here meeting such a lovely cat. So, the molly thought, maybe it was supposed to happen. Maybe Starclan was helping her move on, and showing her just the right tom to move on with. She looked at Horseradish differently now, her smile growing ever the slightest.

Horseradish’s lip curled up in a faint smile, revealing sharp teeth, fortunately not stained with the blood of his enemies, for that would've made the Mr. Nice Guy act far harder, if he acted nice, but his teeth were stained with blood. Far harder, so he was very grateful that they were white. It wasn't that he wasn't up to a good old fashioned challenge, but he liked these parts easy, save the hard for what actually needed to be hard, not make things harder than they already were. It didn't make any sense that way, but his way worked just fine, lucky for him. Or it did a good deal of the time, but not always. So unfortunate, when someone saw through his disguise, since that usually spelled the end for them, or at least a very misfortune and sorrowful rest of their miserable lives. “It is, though I wish I'd been taught to ’unt better than I can. I'm not great, you see,” Horseradish purred, a deep rumble in his chest as he spoke, actually rather jealous of that, since hunting had barely been touched in his training, and he'd spent a larger portion of his time fighting and hadn't really the time to try anyways. Beneath his silky flowing coat, his skin was marked with numerous scars from countless battles, some intensional, others unexpected, but nearly all of them won.

They were nearly impossible to see because of the thickness of his pelt, though his muzzle was faintly scarred and one ear torn. But even that was half hidden by the length of his fur, for which he was unsure of whether to be grateful for or to despise, the latter one being a useless and petty thing, since it was impossible to change. Luckily, it blunted his enemies claws and often had gotten him the upper paw, protecting his soft hide, but slowed him down more than if he had short fur. This is pointless! Horseradish suddenly thought, feeling frustrated by his mental conflict over something so useless, when he had more important matters to deal with. Really, anything was more important, and he shook his head in embarrassment, eyeing Feathersong as he did so. “It is, but that's ’ow I was raised, and the only way I know to live,” he said quietly, realizing that she'd been speaking to him while he'd been staring into space with an unblinking gaze. “We ’ave a strong leader, keeps us in check. Sure, things still ’appen, but such is life,” Horseradish went on, tail tip flicking. What he couldn't grasp was how the Clans worked, how the survived while living like pampered kittypets, and his they had won.

This subject utterly baffled him, and he couldn't see any way around it, how it worked, or anything else, even though he knew a lot about the Clans, that was not one of them. “And no, neither are you,” Horseradish said, contrary to his beliefs, since he feather saw her as foolish mouse-brain with no more sense than a newborn kit, but he dared not say so allowed, since tat would ruin anything she might think there was between them, despite having just met. He had never really fe!t any affection towards anyone, spare his own kits. And it wouldn't change now, not to this SkyClan flea heart. “Right, and the last thing I want is another fight.” That's actually exactly what I want, and I want to win this time. He added silently, smiling wryly at the prospect of returning the favor SkyClan had offered them, and attacking without warning killing without mercy, for that was just what SkyClan had done, and unprovoked at that. All the Syndicate had been doing was defending their territory, and their prided position of power, striking fear in the hearts of the Clans. But no more. SkyClan had disgraced them, and Horseradish hoped they would pay dearly for it.

He glanced over at the SkyClan warrior, a hidden hatred in his eyes disguised by a look of curiosity, worn well to make his intentions buried and hatred invisible, although he suspected that she would never see it, not for a very long time. But that was just what he suspected, though it may turn true, it likely would not. “I hope so,” he said, smiling gently, lowering his gaze so his body fell still, making him seem at ease and content, when his mind was whirling with devilish and cruel plans, terrible fates and tragedies that would fall upon his various victims, though he rarely killed throne he wished to harm, but rather those they were close to. That always seemed to hurt more than dying themselves, and he showed no mercy in that manor, and it was really quite unlikely that Horseradish ever would.