[lone]

Originally Posted by hiraeth

he nodded silently. tail sweeping up over his spine, powdernose began to trot away from stonegazer, though he moved slow enough for the wounded tom to keep pace. his ears remained perked, listening intensely for any sign of another feline. moving quietly through the territory, his senses alert, he made his way towards a hollowed tree.

it wasn't exactly hidden, nor was it out in the open, either. powdernose had made sure to cover the opening with multiple stones and other debris he had found, as it was a rather small hole. he looked around once again before he began to clear away the debris, simply setting it aside before signalling for stonegazer to follow him into it. "be careful," the tom whispered.

sliding through the opening, he quickly jumped down into a small hole that had been dug under the trunk. "old fox den." his tail bushed away some leaves and snow that had fallen into the old den and sat down. "it's like a miniature tunnel, i guess. the foxes were driven out before they could get very far in the digging process. at least, that's what i think happened." powdernose chuckled and tilted his head to the side.

"though, i have seen a dead feline. i didn't know them, and i was very young. it's a faint memory, from what i gather. but a dead clanmate i have never seen. i wish for the clans to recover safely and peacefully." he sighed and looked to his paws, shrugging to himself. "but what do i know? i've never seen the horrors of a battle. i've always hidden away in fear while at the camp. i guess i'm just a coward, too afraid to be injured." the tom shook his head and straightened up.

"enough of that nonsense. let's speak of something more lovely. any ideas?" powdernose's eyes brightened up and he immediately began to hop on his paws once again.

For Stonegazer, the hole that he was supposed to be getting into was way too small. It was nearly impossible for the tom’s large frame to fit through it, and even when he did get through, it was still a stretch. His eyes darkened as he struggled through it, remaining silent until finally, finally he managed to make it all the way through. And, at that point, he found a spot where he wasn’t really touching Powdernose. The hole was too small for him to get far enough away that he would be away from the younger tom completely, but it was big enough that he wasn’t actually pressed up against the other warrior. That was far too awkward for him. ”Well. We all have our talents… and it would appear finding hidden places is yours.”

That was Stonegazer’s only response to Powdernose’s comment about being a coward - because he didn’t know what else to say. Did he find the other warrior a coward? Yes, perhaps he did, at least a little bit. It was cowardly not to fight in battle. To run and hide in the clearing and let other warriors do your work for you. It was cowardly to pretend that nothing bad would come of that. And the worst part was, Stonegazer disliked himself for thinking that way. He had never been a super “nice” tom. He was not the cat that you turned to if you had a major problem, he was the cat you went to if you had a fight on your paws. ”No, not really.” His answer to Powdernose’s inquiry was short and to the point, just like most things the tom found himself saying.

Even though he didn’t really like himself for it, he was the type of cat to speak his mind on these things. Sugarcoating something did not seem to be among his abilities. And it certainly wasn’t something that he had made much of an effort to get better at, since he didn’t think it was worth it. Still, Stonegazer supposed that today… today he could at least try and be nicer for Powdernose. The tom was pretty cute - in a kit-like, innocent type of way. ”We could always talk about the past.” Not a great suggestion, but one he’d come up with all on his own.