Sunset in the Oaks (open)

[Tuna]

Maplewing had her claws gripped onto the vines that wrapped around the oak trees and she pulled herself up with ease. Climbing was one of her favorite things and she was very skilled at it. It looked like she was walking vertically up the tree since she moved with such grace. In reality, she was clinging to the vines like rungs on a ladder and was just making herself move fast enough that she didn't have to hold onto one spot for long; that was her trick with these trees. Move too slow and she would have to get a better grip on the vines, but moving fast and not spending too much time on the vines let her scale the trunk quickly. She finally reached a clearing in the tree's canopy, void of the tangles of the vines. 

This was her favorite place in the territory, other than the nursery back in camp of course. She ran along a narrow branch, her paws following each other in a single, straight line. She reached a spot that had a decent view and laid across the branch, her tail draping down and her front legs crossed. Her shoulder blades peaked above her body as she lay, her haunches rounded as her back legs tucked under her belly. The sun was dropping in the sky and would set sometime in the near future, but for now it was bright and the rays were aimed right at her little resting spot. She closed her eyes as the warmth soaked her face. She would go hunting eventually on this little excursion out of camp, but for now she wanted to enjoy her favorite spot while the sun was still out.

[Sunny]

Lightbird had left the Azalea bush just a few heartbeats ago, but she was already near the outskirts of DappleClan territory. Her legs were racing themselves beneath her white underbelly, her tail streaming behind her in a blur of white and gray. Her whiskers were completely flat against her face because of the wind rushing past her, and her light blue eyes were squinted in concentration. In other words, she was running. Fast. She wasn't running away from anything, just collecting all the beautiful and peaceful things in life as she flew through the oak woods. Running helped her speculate on all curious things that were nagging at her, and helped her solve any personal problems. The sun-lit leaves above her head glistened with bright beauty, and the deep brown oaks created an elegant contrast with the other bright colors. She soft earth beneath her claws molded around her paws, a magnificent touch of comfort, and the moss on the rocks created an alluring sense of mystery and enticement. Lightbird loved these divine perspectives of life. Just thinking about them while running calmed her down and eased her racing heart. It was a sacred and prayerful time to her - having gratitude toward all of StarClan-given things. All Clans were given their own beauties, and Lightbird could see them all. All Clans had the same enemy, and the same warrior spirit. But she knew that battle was in all the Clan cats' blood too, and it had to be used to be warriors. It was necessary for survival.

She was nearing the Vine Oaks now. Lightbird slowed her running a little bit to admire the exquisitely green vines, and noticed a slight rustling in the branches. She looked where the rustling vines had been, but nothing was in sight. More rustling sounded above, and she knew that it must be prey or something. Halting her running, she padded over to the tree. Nope, it wasn't prey. It was Maplewing! When she saw the graceful white tail draped over a branch, she immediately recognized her friend. "Hi, Maplewing!" Lightbird called.

[Tuna]

Maplewing's eyes had just closed in content with her warming in the sun when she heard something approaching. Her entire body tensed and she opened her big and round olive green eyes quickly, but fortunately it was a clanmate. Her muscles relaxed and she lifted her head, turning her ears forward to Lightbird's voice. Maplewing smiled softly, twitching her paws underneath her. "Hello Lightbird" she purred, happy to be interrupted by friend instead of foe. She leaned her head over the branch, putting most of her weight on the other side to balance herself. Her white tail flicked underneath her as she looked down at the young warrior. She didn't really want to jump down out of her favorite spot but wasn't sure if Lightbird was much of a climber - and she didn't want to be rude and make her climb up to talk. Maplewing decided to see if the other she-cat made any moves towards the tree before dismounting. "What are you up to out here?" she mewed, kneading the branch underneath her with her paws. 

[Sunny]

Lightbird hesitated. She totally, absolutely, unequivocally hated climbing. If was one of her worst fears... Plenty of cats fell from them and died! She loved StarClan, but wasn't prepared to be in it. "Um... Yeah, hi... Do you.... Do you ever get scared up there?" she asked nervously. She looked down at her paws, embarrassed. She didn't really want anyone to know how horrible she was at climbing trees, nor how fearful she was of doing it.

OOC: Sorry for short post... I am really uncreative today.

[Tuna]

Maplewing smiled at the nervous she-cat below her. She wondered what it would be like to be scared of heights, since being up high was her favorite thing. She couldn't imagine a life without climbing in trees! "Never" Maplewing mewed, standing slowly. Her feet settled underneath her and gripped the branch until she was comfortable and ready to move. She started down the tree as Lightbird looked down at her paws and she felt a twang of pity for her. After jumping off of her comfortable branch, Maplewing shimmied her way to the lowest hanging branch and jumped off towards the ground, landing near the base of the tree. "You should try to at least climb a little ways up sometime..it's beautiful up there" she purred, closing her eyes briefly and raising her head at the thought. She reopened them and took the few steps towards Lightbird, her body facing the young warrior. Shetouched her nose to her shoulder briefly. "But it's okay to be a little scared" she purred softly, a small smile forming on her round, white face.

[Sunny]

ooc; sorry I haven't posted, I totally forgot about this

ic; Lightbird purred. "Okay..." She glanced nervously up at the tree and gulped. She slowly padded toward it, her tail trembling, and put two of her paws up on the trunk of the tree. She dug her claws into the bark and tried to heave herself up. Her back legs left the ground, but couldn't find purchase on the tree, and the weight of her haunches dragged her front claws out of the tree. She fell with a bump, and let out a 'hufumph!' sound. She looked embarrassedly up at Maplewing and blinked.

[Tuna]

ooc: that's okay!

Maplewing turned to watch the she-cat try and climb and her face lit up with excitement. However, Lightbird quickly bounced onto the ground and looked embarrassed and the excitement left Maplewing's face immediately and was replaced with a small, warm smile. She shook her head, padded over, and helped her stand up by putting her head underneath a front arm and lifting her to her paws. "If you want to try again, maybe next time you could start on something smaller" she purred, idly grooming her clan-mate. She brushed off some dirt from Lightbird's coat and then gave her a little space. "So why are you out here in the first place?" she asked, sitting down and gently resting her white tail over her dainty paws.

[Sunny]

Lightbird tipped her head in though. "I don't know why I'm here..." she said. "I guess I just needed to get away from everything. I mean, of course I love DappleClan camp, but it was so loud and crowded today. Everyone was chirping about how beautiful greenleaf was, but really, I thought it would be better for everyone just to admire the beauty, not talk about it. Silence enhances pretty things, I've found. I also just love running - it helps me focus on the simple things and life and enjoy them. Not everything needs to be so complicated." And she meant it.

[Tuna]

Maplewing was sort of taken aback by Lightbird's almost philosophical idea of beauty. Her neck craned her head backwards slightly and her eyes shone with excitement. It was so nice to interact with someone who was so excited about the beauty of nature and who had the same enthusiasm about things as she did. To Maplewing, Lightbird seemed to be pretty carefree which was how Maplewing liked to think of herself. "Those sound like good reasons" she said simply, smiling at the she-cat. "That spot that I was laying in up there is my favorite, the sun hits it just right when it is going down and it's usually pretty quiet out here" she mewed, looking up to the spot she had descended from. "At least everyone is chatting about positive things back at camp; it could be worse" she chuckled lightly, not really sure what there could be to complain about these days. DappleClan was thriving and Maplewing had never really suffered during her life, so she thought the world was filled with rainbows and butterflies. The sky started to turn a medley of blues, purples, and pinks as the sun lowered ever so slightly and instead of keeping her focus on Lightbird she gazed up, a gentle breeze blowing at her whiskers.