How about a contest?

[.&&. Snowsong.]

Snowsong padded a step to the side as she padded a step forward. She was now deciding to avoid Risingdawn's gaze for tonight. If a conflict started on this night of elegant beauty, she wouldn't forgive herself.

"How about we walk along the water's edge..?" Snowsong's voice seemed slightly more distant than how she spoke to Risingdawn before. She padded ahead slowly, and she didn't look back for fear of her gaze contacting with Risingdawn's.

[♫.Starredmyst]

OOc;{-blinks at new page- I think this is the longest thread currently in existence. xD}

"Sounds good to me."

Risingdawn followed Snowsong, keeping his distance. He was forcing himself to mellow back out, get back into his element; he had to convince Snowsong that nothing was wrong. Well -- apologize, at least, and hope she wasn't angry with him. He'd been an idiot.

"I -- I'm sorry I snapped at you," he said, contritely, hoping it would mend things a little. It would be a shame to kill the potential of such a beautiful night. "Silv...you'll like her, I think. She's a little crazy, but you'd like her. Would it...I can tell you a little more about her, if it would ease your mind at all."

[.&&. Snowsong.]

(( Lol....The longest threads I've seen last to about...over a hundred ten pages ;; ))

"You're forgiven, Risingdawn...And I suppose you could...Perhaps I may look forward to meeting her..." Snowsong padded slowly, and she continued to keep her gaze away from Risingdawn. "I -- Like I said before, I apologize for getting you worked up like that..."

Snowsong kept a good distance away from Risingdawn, but it didn't help very much. It only made her feel more empty, making it slightly worse. She wanted to be close to him, yet it felt as if the world had decided to reject her for bringing up her sorrow to ruin such a great day and night.

(( Aw man, I feel in a sorrowful mood... ))

[♫.Starredmyst]

OOc;{Lol...still, we've made a record for NSD! xDD}

Risingdawn shook his head. "Don't apologize. Please. It wasn't your fault, I...don't know what I was thinking to say all that."

He gazed out across the sea as they reached the water's edge, trying to think where to begin. Silverpelt winked and glittered above him, and he thought with a flash of bitterness of his mother's grave. That place meant a lot to the both of them.

"You probably wonder why I'm so close to my sister," he started, a little awkwardly. "I mean, we're nothing alike and we annoy each other to death because of it. But -- we've always known each other, you know, and family loyalty is so important to Silv. Silverdust, I mean. Did I even tell you her name? I call her Silv and she -- calls me Riss." He grinned, a little embarrassed.

"We've been together for -- forever. The two of us, and then there's Rainclaw and Rippedheart. I guess Rippedheart is my best friend, kind of, like Rainclaw is Silv's, but neither of us are really conversational so we're not all that close." He chuckled.

"Silv, now...she is impulsive, crazy, rude, mousebrained, wild, and utterly insane. She can drive you mad in under a day and you know the second you meet her whether you're going to love her or hate her, because she's -- exactly herself, all the time. I hate her a lot of the time for it.

"But she's also the only cat in the world I know I could trust with my life and come out still alive, maybe even minus a sister. She is completely, utterly loyal to anycat she's decided is worth being a friend to, and I love her so much for it. You have no idea how supportive she is of me, when I was -- when I'm down. She's a good judge of souls, really, better than I ever was, and even if her attitude puts you off a little she's a wonderful cat, and you know you can trust her."

Riss bit his lip a little and stepped a little faster, catching up to Snowsong and walking close again. "I -- hope that helps," he said, shyly. "I just...please forget what I said earlier."

[.&&. Snowsong.]

((Lol, yay! ))

Snowsong nodded to Risingdawn as he finished and caught up with her. "Now that you explain it all, I suppose she may not be so bad..." If only I had a sister like you... She turned her gaze to the sea, taking in its beautiful, graceful movements. She saw that the moon shone on the sea, and it made her feel comfortable. She had an awkward liking for the moon, likely because of its beauty.

Snowsong then turned her gaze halfway to Risingdawn. "So...What would Silverdust say if she catches us like this..?" She wasn't exactly excited about meeting Silverdust, but that was how she was. It took aplenty to excite her, but it didn't mean she disliked Silverdust right now.

(( I think you could let Silverdust come in and catch them xDD ))

[♫.Starredmyst]

OOc;{-evil chuckle- Righty then. I was just waiting for a nice opportunity.}

Risingdawn snickered. "StarClan, let's hope she doesn't!" he snorted. "She's going to laugh her head off when she finds out I've got a friend who's a she-cat. Doesn't matter if it's just a friend or something more, she's going to laugh her head off."

--

Back in camp, said she-cat was getting a little annoyed.

Riss had disappeared not long after her fruitless hunting bet, and she hadn't seen him since. Had he told somecat about Secret, and now he was hiding from her? Ooh, she'd kill him if he had. Why didn't the stupid tom understand things like loyalty to friends? It made her look bad.

Well, now it was dark and Silverdust was getting a little worried. He should be in bed now, next to her in the warrior's den. Frowning, the young she-cat carefully wriggled her way out of the den and poked out into the rest of camp, wondering if he was moping out in the clearing.

Nope. Now she was really worried. The black-dusted she-cat shook herself out, the stars throwing sparks off her silvery fur, and caught a trace of his scent to follow to wherever he'd run off.

--

"So," Risingdawn was saying when Silverdust came into earshot, "yeah. Let's just hope I can find a good time to say it, if only to keep my dignity intact."

He was talking to a white cat Silv didn't recognize. The young she-cat frowned suspiciously and hid behind a smallish stone as the pair walked past. It was a she-cat, why was he with a she-cat?

As Risingdawn had predicted, his sister was torn between mocking laughter a startling protective instinct. She didn't know this cat, and these days Riss was an open wound just waiting to have salt poured on it as far as manipulative she-cats were concerned. But he didn't seem uptight and excited like he did when he was nervous around a cat he admired; no, he was actually more relaxed than she'd ever seen him in, well, ever. So maybe this was a good thing.

Well, only one way to find out.

The bright grey she-cat jumped out from her hiding place with a feline screech, purely to scare the wits out of Risingdawn. She did: her brother stifled a yowl, leapt back and tripped over his own paws, tangling up his legs and falling over into the sand. Silv couldn't help it, she burst out laughing and sat down where she was; muttering irritably, Riss got himself straightened out and sat down too, glaring at his sister.

"And ironically, I think this is who we were talking about," he said in annoyance. "Snowsong, meet my sister. Silv, this is Snowsong. Um --" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um, she's a friend."

Aw...it was hard to keep her jester's face straight when he looked at her like that. Poor Risingdawn...he was opening himself up again and he knew it. And he wanted her support. But she was his sister; he should know better than that. This Snowsong had to run the gauntlet before she'd let things be.

Silverdust stood back up and tilted her head, eyes slightly narrowed at the white she-cat. "So what were you two doing out this late?" she asked pointedly; it could be interpreted as for either of them, but she was really asking the question of Snowsong.

She heard Risingdawn groan behind her, and grinned. He'd kill her for this later. It would be fun.

[.&&. Snowsong.]

Snowsong scented another she-cat, likely from her Clan, and she stiffened slightly as the she-cat launched herself from the bushes and her feline screech split the air. She then suppressed a chuckle as Risingdawn tripped over his paws after getting shocked and scared by the she-cat, as well as how the she-cat burst out laughing. After he had straightened up, she turned her gaze to Silverdust as he introduced her to Silverdust, and Silv to her.

Snowsong's light smile from suppressing the chuckle nearly dissipated as Silverdust asked what they were doing. She frantically searched her mind for an explanation and the suitable words of saying it. After a few seconds, she shifted uncomfortably. "Er -- Well -- We were just getting to know each other." She mentally cursed at herself for sounding so stupid by her frantic hinted tone.

[♫.Starredmyst]

Snowsong sounded completely frantic at the interrogation. Silverdust grinned widely and bounced a little, casting Risingdawn a wicked glance. Her brother knew what was coming.

"You sound like you're up to something," she declared, "and if it's anything illegal I want a part of it. I'm coming with you."

Well apparently Riss hadn't realized what she had in mind -- the ginger tom made a strangled sound and tripped again, then stopped short. She had to stop too, else she'd bump into him, and maybe this wasn't the best time to knock him over again.

"No," he said flatly. "Go away, Silv."

"Nu-uh. I'm stayyy-ing," she sang cheerfully. "C'mon, Riss, you know you love me. Let me come."

Risingdawn closed his eyes as if hoping she'd magically disappear. She moved closer so she was in his face when he opened them. "You know you're ruining my night, right?" he demanded in a low voice.

"Yep."

And with that the she-cat bounced off in the lead.

[.&&. Snowsong.]

Snowsong allowed a light smile to play at her lips as she watched the conversation. She padded over to Risingdawn and paused her steps beside him as she watched Silverdust prance off. "You want to follow her, or do you want to wait for her to get too far ahead..?" Obviously, she knew that Silverdust would come back.

Snowsong turned her gaze to completely gaze at Risingdawn as she waited for an answer. A hint of warmth was in the back of her gaze, and she lowered herself since he had nearly gotten knocked over. "You sister is an interesting warrior indeed..." A hint of humor was in her tone.

[♫.Starredmyst]

"It'd be no use to wait," Risingdawn sighed, and indeed Silverdust had skidded to a stop a few tail-lengths ahead and was waiting for them with an impatient stare.

"I'm sorry. She's such a mousebrain sometimes," he said wryly, starting forward. Silv had totally broken the ice, at least; they were both relaxed once more in each other's company. "She hasn't tried to do something stupid to you yet, though, which means she's holding judgment. I'm sure she'll like you."

"You're talking about me, I can hear you!" Silverdust called back.

"What are we saying, then?"

"Well, I don't know exactly, but it's still rude to talk behind cats' backs!"

Risingdawn laughed. It was hard to sulk at the young she-cat; she thought sulking in general was utterly ridiculous and that made it difficult to save face when you did so. "I'm sorry," he repeated to Snowsong. "Hope you don't mind her tagging along."

[.&&. Snowsong.]

Snowsong allowed a faint chuckle to escape her jaws, and she flicked her ears slightly as Risingdawn laughed. It was good to see him in a good mood again, as well as herself. However, she still kept her urges to get closer to him.

"No, I don't really mind..." Snowsong replied as he apologized, and she waited for Risingdawn to get to his paws and lead after Silverdust. She then turned her gaze halfway to the impatiently waiting Silverdust.

[♫.Starredmyst]

Shaking out his fur, Riss rose back onto his paws and started forward. Silverdust bounded back to them as soon as she was certain they were going to come.

"So, what were you really doing?" she pressed. "C'mon, you know I can keep a secret. Don't you, Riss?"

That was a pointed look she was giving him. Risingdawn let out an explosive sigh and narrowed his eyes at his sister. "Yes, Silv, you can keep a secret," he said through gritted teeth. "So can I, don't worry. I swear, we were just fishing. And then we got to talking and we decided to stay out."

"Fishing? I don't see any fish."

"We buried them, because it's kind of hard to talk with fish in your mouth," he said in exasperation. "Why don't you go dig them up for us?"

"Then you'll run off and do whatever it was you were planning on doing without me. C'mon, tell! Where are you going? What were you gonna do?"

Risingdawn cast Snowsong a desperate look, silently begging for her help.

[.&&. Snowsong.]

Snowsong padded to Risingdawn's side, about only a millimeter behind him. She tensed slightly as Silverdust was getting to them. She then relaxed, remaining calm and thinking. When Risingdawn cast her a desperate look, she thought fast.

"We were only going hunting at night. Besides, we decided to talk about when we should go to hunt for tomorrow. We felt like thinking things up before going to ask others to come with us tomorrow." Snowsong's tone was like usual, serious and quite honest. But she had lied more than halfway for Risingdawn, and perhaps even herself. She nearly winced, thinking Silverdust wouldn't believe it, but she didn't show it at all.

[♫.Starredmyst]

"Oo-ooh." Silverdust grinned wickedly. If she noticed the half-lie, she had thought of a better comeback than to call it. "That sounds like a date, you two. What are you doing to my brother, miss Snowsong? My brother hates she-cats."

"Silv," Risingdawn protested vainly. Silverdust smirked at him.

"I should come along," she said loftily. "You need a chaperone."

"Silv --"

"After all, StarClan knows what you two would be getting into all alone..."

"SILV --"

"...sweet looks, whispered words, a shouting match -- the best couples do that a lot, you know --"

"Silv, if you say one more word I swear I'll claw your eyes out."

He sounded completely serious, in an aggravated kind of way. Silverdust stuck her tongue out at him.

[.&&. Snowsong.]

Snowsong slightly stiffened, seeing that Silverdust had gotten to her. She then pretended that her stiffening wasn't due to her ability to sense her half lie, but because she said that they were going on a date. She relaxed her muscles, though she forced her gaze to show a hint of disapproval.

"I don't go on dates...I don't hold feelings for a tom, and I don't suspect that I ever will. And I doubt a tom would care about me enough to grow an attraction to me. So, it's not a date. It's just planning, as I explained." Snowsong's tone was the same, and her hint of disapproval faded.