Plan B

[Ten]

Time for Plan B.

Unfortunately, they didn't yet have a Plan B.

Rainstripe didn't trust herself with Hailpaw's kits, and Frozenheart didn't trust her to be any better with her own, so they were back to where they started. No solution in sight.

Standing on the bank, he crouched and lowered his head to look at the stream. A slow trickle was flowing there today. He lapped from it with a bright, pink tongue, soothing his try throat and thinking, If only there were some reliable way to placate Raintripe, like water on a dry day, even if it wasn't a complete cure.

Feeling selfish for doing so, he tried to take his mind off the problem he didn't know how to fix by watching the flow of the stream. How odd water was, adopting the color of its background and reflecting flecks of light in momentary sparkles. It looked happy, and happy things made him feel happy.

The white tom stood up from the crouch and seated himself on the bank, his tail stretched out behind him, and kept his blue eyes on the trickling, happy stream, deciding to stay for a while.




ooc| If Ducky gets on soon, Rainstripe can follow him here, but if Cloud wants, Pebbletail could catch up to him first. She and Whitey haven't had much interaction yet.

[Cloud]

OOC: I'm skipping ahead in time to pretend that Pebble is already talking to Frozen.

BIC:Frustrated, her whiskers twitching agitatedly, the gray con stormed away. Stupid Clanners. Stupid Experiment, stone them all to death. Ooh, she could just rip something open right n-

Oh, Frozenheart. The deaf one, Beetlepaw had said. He was friendly.

Well, she had nothing better to do after her failure, anyway. Maybe talking with a fellow con would help her figure something out.

So she wearily walked over to him and laid down about half a tail-length from him on the hot sand, staring at the river like he was. "Hey, Whitey. How's life treatin' ya?"

[Ten]

Frozenheart didn't hear any of what Pebbletail said, but he could smell her and see her shadow appear on the water. This was even better than watching the stream. Cheerful now, he greeted her with a face rub, purring, and lay down facing her with one leg stretched out to support his chin.

How had she been? What had she been doing? Did she have any news about the Rebellion? Why had she become a con? Did she have any living littermates that she argued with? What was her most recent fight about? Who won? Was she a good fighter? She looked like she had the makings. He wondered if she had any good battle stories.

The tom blinked his blue eyes, curiosity about his new friend welling inside him, but remained quiet. He had taken his story-time pose, but she would talk if she wanted to talk. All he did to prompt her was tilt his big white head.

[Cloud]

A slight smile - a real one - appeared on the tough gray con's face. She generally wasn't a smiley cat, unless it was a smirk or forced grimace. She was one for buckling down, kicking back at what kicked at you, and fighting Clanners. As she rubbed him in return, she wondered if her short life - which she knew perfectly well could end at any time - needed something else.

She wasn't being sentimental and ridiculous. Pebbletail was only considering if forging stronger bonds with cats beyond being allies or enemies would help her in the long run. The thought was uncomfortably Clanner-like, and she pushed it away. She could consider that later. Right now she was entertaining an important fri - ally, and she might as well temporarily enjoy herself before life got tough again.

"You know, I don't think it's so much that Clanners are dumb is that it's they're delusional - they actually believe in silly things like "peace" and "freedom." Nonsense. Cats are flawed creatures and always will be, and we can never maintain those things longer than a short time. But I can talk about something not so deep, if you like."

The little she-cat wasn't actually sure why she was babbling on. Did he actually understand what she was saying? Pebbletail decided it didn't matter. He was sane, at least, she thought as she stretched her whole body out, right down to her toes and clawtips, before settling again.

[Ten]

Something not so deep? Frozenheart shook his head, eyes wide and earnest. If she wanted to rant about Clanners, let her do it.

True, Clanners weren't a happy topic, and he'd come here to cheer himself up (or at least distract himself from sadness) but as bad and impossible as Clanners were, they weren't the worst thing in the world to be reminded of. They weren't his friend's ailment and trauma. If Clanners were the only distraction he had from the futility of aiding Rainstripe, then he would take it.

Besides, troubles were always lighter when the burden was shared with another. He didn't mind thinking about life's problem's half so much when he was "listening" to another cat. And Pebbletail seemed like a good con to listen to. Even though he hardly knew her, he trusted her and he liked her smile. She seemed a little matter-of-fact and businesslike, but not like Woodstripe. Her heart was in the right place. That was the sort of thing that mattered to Frozenheart.

[Cloud]

The shadow-pelted she-cat swallowed, trying to wet her dry throat a bit. Then she remembered (duh) that she was right next to rare and precious water. So she bent down, tail swishing slightly, and took a few sips, momentarily stopping to gaze at the tiny speckled light patches on the sand. The con mentally rolled her eyes at herself. First mushy thoughts, now this.

"Y'know, I'm a bit worried about that Rainstripe gal. She seems a bit....unhinged, if you know what I mean." She said lightly, but with a slight note of concern in her mew, recalling the gray tabby she-cat's strange behavior when the solid gray con had joined the Experiment.

"I'm not trying to insinuate anything, but I'm wondering if she needs...er...help." Pebbletail almost regretted saying the words the moment they came from her mouth. What kind of lame, awkward idea was that? She barely knew the feline, yet she was possibly insulting her and offering psychological assistance at the same time?

Sometimes Pebbletail didn't understand herself.

[Ten]

Frozenheart's eyes widened. Rainstripe. Even Pebbletail was concerned about her. Where was she now?

He nodded on both counts, sad to admit that she was still struggling with her own mind, and he still hadn't helped her through it. Sitting up a little, he began kneading his claws in the sand. That was what it was like, in a way. You dug your claws into the problem, but never killed it.

He scratched harder at the sand, leaving the impression of clawmarks. It didn't matter how much he wanted to help. There was nothing he could do. Nothing.

He batted a few grains of sand over the clawmarks, starting to cover them, then redrew them deeper. There was a deep scar on Rainstripe's soul, and no matter how he tried to repair it, it would always be there. His blue eyes met hers again, and his pleading gaze begged for her suggestions.

[Cloud]

She raised an eyebrow at his body language, noting his apparent distress and smell of anxiety. "I'll take that as confirmation of my suspicions. You seem pretty desperate to help her. Well...I can't promise anything, but I can try to assist you. We can't have a perfectly good con losing her whiskers over...whatever it is. You seem reluctant to speak, so is there anyone else, besides her, who can describe her condition for me?"

She supposed she could ask Rainstripe herself if it came down to it, but she would prefer to converse with others. After all, "In what way exactly are you going insane?" was too blunt even for her to inquire.

But for some odd reason she found it nice - what? - to help Frozenheart. This puzzled her. It was logical, not particularly nice. "Nice" shouldn't even be in her vocabulary.

OOC: I thought of a possible slang expression for going insane: either "thinking of escape" since cats who think of escape are nuts, or "thinking outside the walls"

[Ten]

ooc: oooh, I like "thinking outside the walls".

bic:

Frozenheart nodded and looked about the enclosure, searching for Drabheart. A nod and a flick of the tail indicated which cat Pebbletail should approach. Drabheart should be able to fill her in. Then maybe she could bring some new ideas to the pile. Until then, he would be here, watching the stream.

[Cloud]

Pebbletail noted the gray-brown tabby, then sighed. So much work to do. Sometimes she almost wished the Rebellion was like a temporary Clan, just so they could strike. Clanners were stupid, sure, but that didn't mean groups were a bad idea. Just not permanent ones. Permanent groups were based on positive ideals, which as any sensible cat knew, were nonsense because cats were either too stupid or too flawed to ever maintain one. Even she was no paragon of virtue.

"Do you...do you ever think that maybe we're all insane, not just the Clanners? That maybe there's nothing worth fighting for anyway? I mean, as cons, our job is to oppose Clanhood - which is fine and all, but what if we ever did eradicate it completely? What would be our purpose in life?"

The hot air seemed to press down upon her even more than usual, almost stifling her free thought. It was ridiculous anyway. There would always be cons, always be Clanners, always be something to stamp out because it was fostered by dirtbrains. Still, she couldn't help wondering.