[The Cannibal]

Originally Posted by Beau

The cats milling about in the clearing did not faze Cloudstrike at all. Sure, she was easily distracted, but she was used to things moving very fast. The chaos of her mind was personified in the cats as the buzzed this way and that. Each cat was like a thought, some popped into the foreground for a moment before being pushed away by a bigger thought. Some seemed important, while others barely touched her consciousness. The she-cat she'd walked up to registered in her mind at the same time as her question, pushing out the wrong one.

Cloudstrike listened to the Riverclan cat's reply with only one ear. She wasn't trying to be rude and, in fact, didn't even realize she was. Other thoughts were simply grasping at her attention, dragging it away like the mud had dragged at her fur. Her eyes flashed from a tan cat to a grey cat to a tortoiseshell. Big cat, small cat, cat who looked big but really was just copious amounts of fur on a little body...Quite like her. All the cats blinked into existence in her mind only to disappear a moment later, but she knew they were all stored there. At least, one of her thoughts did. It didn't beat it's way to the forefront of her mind this time, but it would win another time, instilling her consciousness with the realization that she could remember all the faces. Then again, all the thoughts flitting about in the molly's head made her terribly forgetful, so just because the faces were stored in her mind somewhere, didn't mean she'd be able to focus on the memories or recall them.

When the sandy Riverclan cat finished speaking, her attention was won over. Mercifully, she'd heard everything the warrior had said and therefore only needed to pause for a moment to replay her words before they disappeared from her memory forever. "Ah, yes... My name is Cloudstrike," she mewed, continuing far past where she needed to, "I'm from Shadowclan. Our camp flooded, you know, and now we have to stay with Riverclan. The whole clan! Until we can go back to our camp, that is. I'll bet it'll look rather different, and some cat's not going to like it so we'll have to work day and night to put it back together the way it was again. Personally, I think the camp could do with a little redecorating." Her mind strayed to all the ways they could rearrange the camp, until a stray thought about beavers caught her attention. A moment later, she returned to speaking, "Right, but I'm sure the mud will wash off," She added with a dreamy look in her eyes, "I got myself stuck in a rather sticky mud pit. I couldn't get out! I thought I might die, but I was pretty sure it was just a message from Starclan that I've still yet to decipher. Anyway, this big, grumpy tom comes up and instead of offering help, practically forces it on me! Then he grew angry with me for trying to teach him about manners. Well, he turned out to not be so bad and I helped his find his daughter." Cloudstrike ended her story there, pblivious to the fact that she was cutting off a portion of it, mainly how she'd arrived at the Riverclan camp.

"So, are we going to go swimming or what?" She sang, quietly. With a flick of her mud-coated tail, Cloudstrike turned and floated toward the entrance. Weaving around cats and ducking from side to side in an elaborate dance, all with her big blue eyes dreamily fixed on the far corner of the camp. For a cat with that much fur, she was quite nimble. With not even a look back to see if the sandy she-cat was following, Cloudstike sashayed out of the clearing and into foreign territory.

Well isn't this one interesting? Straight to the point, but not quite all here.
Must have a busy mind or maybe she's just a dreamer. Duskfeather's mind muttered curiously as she took in the other she-cats demeanor. She looks to be distracted easily, I just hope she doesn't remain that way when I'm trying to teach her. That could make it a bit difficult.
While Cloudstrike's ears were only partially listening to her, the sandy brown she-cats ears were focused solely on the white she-cat. She didn't like to have her attention drawn away from something she was focused on, whether it be a cat, a meal, or whatever. She only liked to focus on one thing at a time and could grow slightly agitated if her attention was pulled in too many different directions. At least she can retain what I said. Maybe she's good at multi-tasking.

The Riverclan warrior was just about to reply by saying her name as well when she was taken by surprise when the fluffy she-cat continued on, causing the short-furred warrior to click her jaws shut so as to not interrupt, her ear flicking slightly in dismissal.
"You're quite a chatterbox aren't you?" Raising a brow but smiling, the she-cat snorted out in amusement before continuing on with what she was originally going to reply.
"I'm Duskfeather, if you can come up with a nickname, feel free to use it.
But yes, I've heard about your clan, quite tragic what happened but I'm sure you'll make it back and put the camp together just like new. Starclan is just testing your clan's faith, and at the same time testing Riverclan too. I can't imagine what would have happened to you all if Russestar had not let you in.
You likely would have died." Mewed the she-cat without a second thought, rising to her paws and stretching slightly. "The smell would have been terrible, but I'm thinking maybe Skyclan would have taken the territory.
But that didn't happen, so there's no reason to think about it now."
The she-cats gaze flickered for a moment as she imagined the alternate ending of Shadowclan before wrinkling her nose and flicking her tail. Not a pleasant sight, too many bodies, it would likely make it uninhabitable for awhile.
Suddenly her attention was snapped back to the Shadowclan she-cat as the she-cat replied to what she had said earlier.
"I wasn't talking about the mud, your pelt is pretty long is what I was saying. But yes, you're right, the mud will wash off once you're in the water and swimming. At least most of it anyways."
Once again the she-cat fell quiet as Cloudstrike went off on a tangent about how she was stuck in the mud, Duskfeather unable to hold back a quiet chuckle. I don't think she ever runs out of breath. Amazing.

"Well-" Already the muddy she-cat had went wandering off for the camp entrance and out into the territory, causing Duskfeather to exhale. "- I was waiting on you. This will be interesting to say in the least." Shaking her head a bit, the Riverclan warrior would jog after her and out into the territory, where she would reach her and take the lead.
"I'll take you to one of the more docile streams. It's where most of the apprentices learn to swim." She spoke without looking back, but did swivel an ear in her direction just in case the she-cat wished to respond.