Ask to Join Over the Garden Wall

Never be bored and you'll never be boring.

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Flickerpaw had come willingly. More than willingly, in fact, once she realized that this escapade would be to an abandoned two leg nest. Smokepaw might as well have proposed that he give her a fresh bundle of catnip. And besides, she had to encourage any interest Smokepaw took in anything that wasn’t sleeping, or he’d grow up to be a bum. His mentor certainly wasn’t doing much in the way of cultivating passion or drive in him, from what she had seen.

Bits of information about twolegs were few and far between, not to mention vague. Since first learning of them in the nursery, Flickerpaw had wondered about them almost continuously. Only in that black stretch of time following Aspenberry’s death had she lost interest in the mysterious creatures. In the time between settling into her nest in the evening and falling asleep, Flickerpaw often tried to guess what twolegs looked like. 

“Well, if you insist,” Flickerpaw responded with a grin. She strode up to the building slowly, taking it in. A substance she didn’t recognize flaked and peeled away from the wood (how had the twolegs even gotten wood into these shapes?) in places. Had the twolegs put it on? It didn’t look like moss. She went over to one of the windows and stood back on her hind legs, resting her front paws against the wall, to get a better look at the clear jagged stuff in the window. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. It didn’t smell like anything, weirdly. 

“This is so cool. Smokepaw, come here and tell me what you think this is!” She called over her shoulder at him.

Looking this good is a full-time job
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Smokepaw hesitated only long enough to make sure Flickerpaw was sufficiently ahead of him before he followed. He wasn't scared...just cautious!

He approached the strange building, green eyes darting between its crooked walls and the broken windows. Up close it was even more unsettling. He stopped beside Flickerpaw and stared at the strange jagged material in the window and stretched one paw out towards it.

"It looks like frozen water...like the stuff on the river when it gets cold." UNable to think of the word as he squinted at it. There was some broken sections... and spider leg cracks like breaking along the river...maybe it was frozen water! He glanced at his sister, proud of his theory.

Never be bored and you'll never be boring.

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“Yeah, it does look like ice. Dunno why I didn’t think of that sooner." Delicately, she lifted one paw and stretched to reach the window so she could tap a large shard. It was hard, smooth, and cool against her paw pads. 

Flickerpaw sat back and groaned. "Ugh, I wish I knew what it was! No one tells me anything about twolegs, hardly!" It seemed more of a crime than ever, now she could see with her own eyes the kinds of things the twolegs devised.

"Let's go inside," She said, getting up and striding over to the front door, standing ajar, without looking at Smokepaw.  

Looking this good is a full-time job
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Smokepaw's ears perked at Flickerpaw's suggestion, his earlier uncertainty swiftly replaced by curiosity. Inside? Well, that was certainly where the interesting things would be. Whatever two-legs had left behind, there had to be more than a weird frozen window!

"How far you wanna go?" Hurrying after his sister with a flick of his dark ringed tail as he tryied to look as though he had been planning to explore the entire building from the beginning. "...It's awfully dark in there."

Smokepaw leaned sideways, attempting to peer through the gap without actually stepping over the threshold. "What kinda things you think two-legs keep in there...?" Perhaps there would be something worth bringing back to camp. Imagine the look on every cat's face when he returned with some strange twoleg artifact! His siblings would be positively green with envy.

He padded closer to Flickerpaw. "I'll follow right behind you. Just in case something jumps out....Then I'll be able to...uh, tackle it away." He glanced into the dark interior once more and gulped as he passed by a ratty sort of armchair. In days past it might have even been red but now was a dingy, dulled brown.

Never be bored and you'll never be boring.

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"ALL the way, duh. We took all the trouble to come, we should stay a while." Flickerpaw cast her gaze around the interior of the twoleg nest as she spoke. Unfortunately, it was largely bare. The floor appeared to be made of wood as well. In some places it was hard and shiny, but in most dull and decaying.

It was only when Smokepaw mentioned ghosts that she remembered that places like these were supposed to be scary. All at once she did feel a little uneasy. There were no longer twolegs dwelling here, but there could be other creatures that now called this place home. 

Taking a deep breath, Flickerpaw did her best to steel her nerves. This was an opportunity she couldn’t throw away over vague kittish fears. 

“Yeah, you better get those ghosts.” She was only half joking. 

After entering another room in slightly better condition, Flickerpaw leapt onto a table for a better vantage point and spotted a staircase in one corner. 

"Oooh, let's go over there! I think maybe it leads up!"

The world's too big to stay in one place.

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From the rafters, yellow-green eyes reflected the sunlight that peaked in through the open door. He was lounging with a sleeping Pigeon beside him when he heard the chattering of young cats and perked his ears. "I'll be back" He whispered to Pigeon as he weaved his way towards the staircase.

The fluffy ginger tom glanced down at the apprentices with a playful glint in his eyes. "Well, looks like Gnome's got visitors." He hummed enthusiastically, but not loudly as he slipped down the steps to great the young cats, despite towering over them. "Or are you two sneaking out where you shouldn't be?" He purred in amusement. He wasn't necessarily trying to scare the two young cats.

He was rather just messing with them, playful jabs and all that. "Don't stress your heads about it. Lots of cats come here, haven't met many from WindClan though, last one I met was the kindest she-cat I'd ever seen, that ginger tail of hers seemed to be like she was on fire, matched the name... certainly" He trailed off and then quickly shook his head.

"Anyway, I'm Fox."

Looking this good is a full-time job
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Smokepaw had been halfway toward the staircase when a voice suddenly came from above. His entire body stiffened as a massive ginger tom emerged from the shadows. For one horrifying moment, the apprentice forgot how his legs worked and his fur puffed up so violently he looked twice his size. A sharp yowl of surprised escaped him before he could stop it.

He stumbled backward, nearly tripping over his own paws in his haste. So much for tackling anything that jumped out but he couldn't very well leave his sister alone with some enormous strange  tom.

Swallowing his fear he crept back toward her. "F-Flickerpaw! Get away from him!" His eyes darted back to Fox, searching for any sign that the stranger might be preparing to pounce. Smokepaw lifted his chin, trying to reclaim a scrap of dignity...Easier said than done. "W-We're not sneaking! We're...exploring. For training purposes!"

Then...he blinked. "Wait. You know WindClan cats?" That was so suspicious! "Whose Gnome - and why were you hiding up there?!"

Never be bored and you'll never be boring.

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Flickerpaw shrieked and stumbled back, almost losing her footing on the stairs. Once she was fairly sure that Fox wasn’t going to attack them immediately, she pressed against her brother. He was doing a better job of being brave than she was, that was for sure. 

Heart still pounding and for once at a loss for words, she nodded vigorously as Smokepaw posed his questions, glaring at the red cat before them.

The world's too big to stay in one place.

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"Hey hey! No claws here!" Fox backtracked a little, his claws remained sheathed and tucked under the fur of his paws. Even if he had wanted to, there was some deep moral that wouldn't let him harm kits. He just couldn't. "I know Basilflame and Sunbear." Fox replied to Smokepaw, lowering himself to seem like less of a looming threat. Hopefully.

When the startled smaller tom remanded to know who Gnome was, Fox gave a slight chuckle. "Gnome is a matriarch of this barn, lives 'round here with her daughter, Ghost. Gnome's kind and lets any cat stay as long as food or service is given. Me and my love don't intend to stay in here long though." He answered, rolling onto his side, sprawling out on the barn floor, ginger fur catching the sunlight from the windows that let light seep in from outside.

A smile then creeped onto his mouth "Fear and questioning is a good instinct to have, I'm glad WindClan keep their apprentices sharp." He had learned the words yes, but... he wasn't entirely sure if he had used them in the right context here, he'd see soon enough anyway.

Looking this good is a full-time job
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Smokepaw's ears flattened as Fox lowered himself to the floor. That didn't seem to make the stranger any less intimidating. He watched the enormous ginger tom sprawl out so casually - they shouldn't get comfortable here. And now he learned there were other cats here too.

"Well... that d-doesn't mean we know you." He meowed, his voice still a note higher. Basilflame was a nice she-cat, too nice and Sunbear...well, was Sunbear.

Shoulder pressed against his sister he stood by the steps. He'd only just started learning the warrior code, but the lessons were still fresh in his mind. A WindClan cat was supposed to respect Clan borders, protect their Clanmates, and be wary of strangers. Fox was certainly a stranger - named Fox, no less. Didn't he know foxes ate cats?

He glanced at Flickerpaw as if silently asking whether she was ready to book it back to camp. His tail gave a nervous twitch looking like his muscles would spring back at any moment. He wanted to lift his chin, try to sound every bit a warrior as he imagined a proper warrior would sound.

He wanted to say something along the lines of mother always said you shouldn't trust strangers just because they're being nice... but only a squeak came out instead.

Never be bored and you'll never be boring.

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Flickerpaw’s pelt burned with embarrassment at her own show of fear and Fox’s lack thereof. Her glare darkened at his comment. He was definitely making fun of them.

“Okay. Like I’d be scared of you.” She whirled around and bounded down the stairs. When she reached the bottom she was already regretting her harebrained retort and angrier for it. She wouldn’t get to search the house any more if she stormed out, but she wasn’t turning around now. That shady jerk could keep it, see if she cared!

The world's too big to stay in one place.

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Fox let out a single amused breath as the apprentices seemed to state the obvious. At least they had their wits about them, that was good. "I never said you did know me." Fox stated, still casual. "It's just, not many of you clan cats stray this far from your camp, especially so young anyway." He hummed a little, still sprawled and relaxed, if either apprentice had decided to leap at him, he would have been prepared for it.

The massive tom's brow rose as Flickerpaw left in a huff the size of a fully grown cat and let out a contented sigh. He wouldn't mind either of the situations. If the little strangers left, then he would be able to go back up and cuddle with his Birdie in the rafters, but if any stayed, he wouldn't protest the company.

"Go if you want, I'm not going to stop you." He hummed casually, moving his front paws a little closer to him to clean them haphazardly. Fox moved his gaze temporarily to Smokepaw, just to see what he would do just to move to concentrate more on his paws than the apprentice making a fuss about him. He wouldn't mind what would happen in any case. And he didn't think that this kit was brave enough to get in a fight with him.

Looking this good is a full-time job
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Smokepaw watched Flickerpaw disappear down the stairs, his ears twitching with alarm as he followed suit leaving Fox, who seemed entirely too pleased with himself for someone who had just frightened two perfectly respectable WindClan apprentices.

He darted through the doorway and into the open air, taking a deep breath of fresh air. The farmhouse had certainly been full of mysteries, and maybe he'd try again with Flickerpaw...but not now. And with that he was gone, back onto WindClan territory.