The War Border Patrol

[Takumi]

The branch the siamese samurai stood on wavered at his weight. His fur pricked with unease, for such branches could be unpredictable. Even so, his target wasn't that much farther, and any cat worth his pelt could make it. Even so, Takumi, as greatly skilled as he was, he was a tribe cat born and raised on soft sandy beaches. In soft uneven ground, the tom was superb. Luckily his visits to Glistening Sands allies, the Tribe of Thick Jungles, didn't leave him completely unknowledgable with such skills, allowing him to adapt moderately well with TreeClan. Even so, the samurai missed his lush sandy home, which only made him feel even more awkward in the trees.

Takumi landed on the other branch, which swayed with his added weight. He gripped with all four sets of claws till the branch stilled, before he dared continue on. He paused further along the branch, his tail flicking for Wrenwing to follow. As he did so, he turned around, so that way he may help her if it was needed. Amberstar wouldn't appreciate it if one of her warriors were injured from falling from a tree. So with blue eyes sharp, he waited for the she-cat's leap.

[Onyx]

Wrenwing was perhaps better off in the trees than Takiumi. She was smaller, and less apt to make branches really bend with her weight. She'd gotten used to chasing small birds through them long enough ago to act like a squirrel half of the time.

She watched Takumi jump to a new branch, which bounced under his weight. Then he moved on, leaving her room to jump over. She took a bounding start on her branch, and let it springboard her into the air so she could make the distance. When she landed on the other branch, she dug her claws in and let the joints in her leg bend and the muscles compensate, and her tail waved, catching her balance and stilling the bounce of the branch. It was a different method of landing than Takiumi, but she'd learned she'd just get bounced off if she didn't do it this way. And when you weren't just stopping, but had to run on, your legs had to get used to the bounce.

"Where are we going?" she asked, swinging her head one way and her tail the other as she balanced back to her haunches to bat with one paw at Rani, who'd apparently followed them, rather than risk the appetite of a cat back in camp.

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[Takumi]

Takumi's blue eyes took in the grace and skill in which she leapt and landed. A smile milled it's way upon his mouth, a prelude to a simple phrase of praise.

"Goohd. Behtehr ihn treehs dhen Ih."

He turned nimbly on the branch, gripping with claws to ensure his balance. His brown tail flayed, until the motion passed, and he was safely aligned with his wooden path. He rose on his hind paws, pressing his fores against the trunk of the tree. He turned his banded head back the the young she, who was nimbly batting away at her avian friend, apparently quite comfortable with the trees. Her question, already passed hearing and into the translation phase in his brain, remained temporarily unanswered, as he thought upon an answer. Scanning the forest floor, he saw no signs of invading cats, or the returning warriors of TreeClan. Shifting his blue gaze back to the feline, he answered,

"Ah fuhl pahtrohl tihl weh seh deh othehr pah...

Takumi shook his head, forgetting that the TreeClan borders weren't like his back home... So large that it needed three patrols at once to be able to circle their territory in a day.

"Ahl theh wahy ahrouhnd... Why?"

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He finished carefully. His English better because of it.

[Onyxdart]

Wrenwing came back to all fours and shrugged at Takumi.
"No reason, just curious," she replied. She wasn't really aware how big their borders were, or she might have had something to say about the distance. For now, though, she stood on her toes and looked out towards the borders.
"When do you think they'll be back?" she asked, apparently concerned- she stood perfectly still with her head tilted ever so slightly to the side and perked her ears forward, tail waving slowly out behind her. She swung her head around with her nose in the air, mouth partway open and her teeth bared as she tried to sniff out clanmates that weren't there.

She caught something else instead. It was so faint she thought she was either imagining it, or that it was the old, old trail of some other cat which had been and gone on their borders. She turned to Takumi and tilted her head to the side as she considered mentioning it.

"I thought... hmmm," she trailed off. She looked around for Wren, but the bird was gone- maybe back to camp, having decided she didn't feel like patrolling the borders. Wren shrugged.

"I thought I smelled something," she said to Takumi.

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If that's not realistic at all, tell me. I am an absolute catastrophe at distances.

[Takumi]

OOC: Now what are you talking about. I'm so confused...

The siamese tom blinked his blue eyes, a pleasant grin coming to his face at Onyx's laid back actions. He liked Wrenwing. Her quiet friendliness was genuinely original, and thus pleasant compared to the over-friendly hype of the TreeClan cats. Not that that was a bad thing, but Takumi was more acquainted to the sullen friendliness of is fellow tribe mates. Wren would fit in just fine back in Glistening Sands...

Takumi's brown tail twitched, his equilvalent of a shrug, since he wasn't too comfortable doing the like in the trees... Upon hearing Wrenwing's comment on their clanmates, Takumi's own eyes darted along the borderline... almost expecting their return...

"Dhey mah noht retuhrn fohr suhns.... Mahbeh moons...

Of course, things are different in a tribe... Twitching his tail again, he looked back at Wren, who just managed to catch is attention... smelled something.... Opening his own mouth, he breathes in deeply. ... His eyes widen... He checks again...

"No Trehclahnehr..."

His blue eyes narrowed, a fiery ember growing hot and smoky within. Flicking his tail, Takumi took the easiest route back home... where the branches weren't too far away to worry about risking life and limb in the crossing.

[Onyxdart]

Barbwire is terrorizing the cats back at camp. /That's/ what I meant.

[Takumi]

OOC: That's what I thought...