A woman's insight

Stonefrost
Stonefrost was taking a day or two off after he brutally separated his father's flesh from his bones practically. It probably wasn't the best time for him to go out on his own. Or maybe he just wanted to relax and fully reflex on the fact Jaggedtooth was now gone. OF course as far as he knew only Maskedflame knew, perhaps even Tatteredpath if she told him to stir cats away from the rotting flesh pile that was once a cat.

But that was beside the point, what mattered right now is the fact Stonefrost was basking in the sun for once. Not typically a thing he was seen doing often. But it did feel good on his body to soak up some of that sun. Hopefully no clouds will ruin it this time.

Poppyspark
Poppyspark of course had just finished her runs digging some traps for the prey to fall under. It wasn't the most fabolous life style in truth, but she prefered it then being forced to get herself hurt as a guard, or getting some leaves stuck in her luxurious locks. So she thought dirtying up her pretty paws wouldn't be that terrible in comparison, but now she was done with one of the holes and was allowed to rest, unless of course someone else asked her to come back in which what else would she do.

She soon entered the area where most of the Shadow cats would go to sun bathe being on top of rocks. It seemed fairly empty except for one tom that seemed to be relaxing on top of one of the rocks. She recognized him as Stonefrost, one of the queen's favorite guards, and probably the fiercest warrior in the Kingdom. Hmmm looks like I won't be the only one to relax. She thought to herself.

Stonefrost
Stonefrost opened an eye to spot he was being stared at by one of the trappers. Poppyspark. He gave her a confused questionable look as to why she was looking in his direction. Though soon enough he just turned his head to purely ignore her existence again. He barely concerned himself with trappers, he had always been a patrol kind of guy, not a hunter. Even before this kingdom, back in the clan life. The only trapper he ever concerned himself with was Tatteredpath because he got promoted to deputy.

Poppyspark
Poppyspark noticed that he didn't seem to be the most cheerful cat to look at mostly keeping to himself in fact, which Poppyspark didn't mind, in truth she was a bit tired from her day of working to concern herself so she would just lay down on the nearest rock and just laid down letting the sun hit her pelt and let it warm her pelt giving her this sense of peaceful serenity to it.

Stonefrost
Stonefrost remained where he was at basking in the sun as well. It wasn't long until the she-cat came closer to lay on one of the other rocks within the sun's rays. He gave a glanced at her and moved his tail a bit so it didn't dangle over her as she was on a rock lower than his. He let out an exhausted sigh and went back to relaxing in the sun with his eyes closed.

Poppyspark
Poppyspark laid herself down on the rock, her smile filled with glee and relaxed as she allowed the sun's rays to bask down upon her. It was nice, just having some quiet time, no one around to annoy her, and just be able to enjoy the sounds of birds flying by. For a while everything was silent until the she cat decided to see if she could stir up some conversation with the grumpy looking tom. "So Mr.Stonefrost...how has your day been going?" she asked letting out a couple of yawns already feeling like she could just straight up fall asleep.

Stonefrost
Stonefrost rolled onto his back tilting his head back as the female spoke to him. His eyes closed as he seemed to ignore her a bit at first. Soon he replied "The last few days have been wonderful for me Poppyspark. Let's just say something good happened to me and leave it at that if you don't mind." He stretched his back toes a bit before meowing "And your day Poppyspark?" he questioned out of politeness as he didn't actually care really.

Poppyspark
Poppyspark simply looked at the tom with a smile on her face just politely smiling at the tom as he explained how he was. Then he would ask her how she was doing and if course her eyes beamed at the chance of talking about herself. In fact it was her FAVORITE topic in the world for as soon as he asked this she would respond: "Oh I've been doing fabolous DARLING. Just today we made some traps and finished most of them. I'm just happening to taking a break at this moment! A woman like me should take a lot of brakes you know?"

Stonefrost
Stonefrost tried to hold back his expression of discomfort from how the female spoke. The words fabulous darling were not words he was well acquainted with. Though his claws lightly ticked the rock surface he was on as she talked about her own day. He raised an eyebrow as the female mentioned making traps but only finishing most of them. How she, for some reason, deserved a lot of breaks. Yes those things ticked the male off. He soon meowed at her with more hostility in his tongue "You finished most of them? So you left unfinished traps just laying around? Do you realize how dangerous and irresponsible that is?" He soon got up "Your break is over as soon as it started, I want to see you finish all the traps before coming on a break. I'll personally have to come to make sure you don't leave them unfinished putting your own clan mates in potential harm" he scolded the small female.

Poppyspark
Poppyspark simply looked at him with a VERY unimpressed look with a single eyebrow raised all the while letting out a scoff. "Look DARLING I don't know about you but I don't see a problem with me taking a TEN minute break, it's not like some predator is just going to come in while I'm gone and destroy the kingdom or anything," she then looked at her claws with an admiring look and then meowed: "You REALLY should learn to relax, have SOME leisure time, I swear cats like you just LOVE being paranoid,"

Stonefrost
Stonefrost lashed his tail with annoyance "Allow me to get it through your thick skull. You left TRAPS, things that can kill prey easily, UNFINISHED." He soon sat up now and meowed sternly "Do you not understand that a clanmate could get hurt by your careless actions? If you wanted a break you should've stayed near the trap to WARN any cat. But instead you walked all the way back to camp, leaving it unattended! Carelessness! The queen would be angered to hear a trapper being so careless with their duty! Clan safety is the utmost important!" Getting off his rock he forcefully pushed the female "Get up, we are going back to your trap and finishing it."

Poppyspark
Poppyspark just stared at him, with an expression that was nothing more but boredom and slight annoyance. Great he's one of THESE toms. Was the only thing she could think of as she rolled her eyes. In truth, she never liked being barked orders too, she was a free spirit as far as she was concerned, she could do whatever she wanted as far as she knew, and would do anything that she thought would better herself. Selfish, yes, but that's how one survives in the world. The problem with her old King was to soft, and didn't think about survival of the fittest. Well, she was, yes she could mask it as helping her clan, but really she just wanted to look good. Wanted other toms to think the best of her and thus be more attracted to her, thus more flirting. That's all she really wanted, honestly if their queen died the next day, she honestly wouldn't care that much. She was to much of a downer honestly in her opinion and was way to aggressive as well. She prefered a leader that was more charismatic and was able to swindle their way out of problems than just brutishly fighting them off. It, to Poppyspark, lacked intelligence. "Alright, alright mister worried wort since you're so worried we'll go, but really it's FINE. I swear did all the cats from your old clans act so paranoid?" she meowed clearly disinterested in what he had to say as she stretched out her body, and then began to walk away.

Stonefrost
Stonefrost grunted agitated by the female. He couldn't believe she would be so careless. He had a strong impression if SHE had found out someone else trap was unfinished and hurt her she would be furious, but because it was her, she felt nothing was wrong.

He followed her to her trap and he meowed to her sternly "Funny that you think keeping cats safe is somehow paranoid. I bet if it was you who fell victim to someone's trap that was incomplete and dangerous you would barking for them to be punished." he hissed softly. He followed behind her not pleased at all.

Poppyspark
Poppyspark only responded by rolling her eyes and letting out a small grunting noise. Wow this tom is absolutely ANNOYING! She thought to herself with huge amounts of disdain. Does this guy even have friends? I highly doubt it with his pretentious attitude. She thought haughtily her eyes burning with annoyance. Eventually, the two arrived to where she left off, it wasn't a super fancy trap, but it was something that was of sort of use, and was nearly done before Poppyspark of course took a break because well...how could a girl continue her work if she didn't get some beauty sleep. Of course that was until this stubborn old fool came along and just frankly ruined everything. Of course she didn't say that out loud, if anything he probably would've gone tattle to Maskedflame like a good little minion he was. Anyhow, the trap that stood before them was a bunch of vines tied up together to create a net, it was at least 90% done, all it needed was finishing up, and then needed to be tied against some brunches, then get covered in leaves, and then boom...the trap would've been finished. Silently she stalked towards the net and then began to continue to work clearly looking very annoyed. Like a kit that was told they had to go back to the nest to take a nap, and meowed annoyingly: "Happier NOW?"

Stonefrost
Stonefrost watched and waited till the trap was fully done. He didn't really care if it was nearly done, incomplete was incomplete. Beside if she was that close to finishing it why not just fully finish it? It wasn't like she was half way through or just started, she literally was at the end. He gave a sarcastic grin with an annoyed voice of his own. He let out a low voice "Yes." He soon got up and huffed a bit his ears hearing a shrew nearby. He tucked away under some bushes and caught it with little effort before throwing it to her "There. Since I disturbed you before there's your reward for doing your job. Free food."

Poppyspark
Poppyspark squinted her eyes a little with annoyance at his obvious annoyed voice, why did HE have to be so annoyed with HER? She had a lot more justification to be annoyed with this tom than he had with her. Every part of her wanted to say something sarcastic as well, to continue to be difficult, but instead she bit her tongue. However her expression changed to confusion when he all of a sudden hid away to the bushes. What is that crazed mousebrain doing? She thought to herself. Then, before Poppyspark could even blink, or process anything, he managed to catch a shrew. Then...he threw it to her, just some inches away from Poppyspark. At first, she just blinked, an expression of uncertainity evident on the she cat's face, and she would become even more uncertain when he told her it was her award. The petty part of her wanted to say something petty, some sort of jab at him, but instead...she meowed: "Thanks." At first...she stared at the prey, but realizing she should finish her work or else get another earful, she continued to finish the net until finally it was completed, then...silently she tied each end to some logs and nearby rocks, then she silently placed some foilage on top of it. Leaving the net finally completed...then slowly she approached her food, looked up at Stonefrost clearly still unsure of him, and then meowed: "Thank you....again,". Then she began to eat the shrew ever so slowly clearly taking the time to get a good taste of the prey, and just enjoying this rare opportunity.

Stonefrost
Stonefrost watched the female saying nothing. Once she had finished the job she ate the shrew he had just caught for her saying thank you to him. He didn't really say nothing but there was a slight nod from his head to acknowledge what she said. Now that the job was done he had no reason to keep pestering her with his presence. He soon got up and began to leave her to enjoy the meal he had caught for her.

Poppyspark
She was to busy eating her meal to truly acknowledge him nodding his head, and would continue to just eat her shrew. Until eventually she ate the last piece of her meal, slowly she raised her head a little, and licked her maw a little. Then, she looked up, realizing he wasn't in front of her, at first she looked not sure where he went off, until she finally looked around her shoulder to see Stonefrost walking away. The petty side of her just told her to leave him alone, why bother the tom since he's clearly the sort to keep to himself, but...her mother's words rung in her head about how one must be polite. So, swallowing her pride, she quickly turned around and meowed: "Hey...where are you going?" she then added: "Don't you want to stay around and...I don't know...chat or something?"

Stonefrost
Stonefrost was rather surprised to hear her speak up about him departing from her. He stopped and glanced back almost a bit confused. He soon fully turned around to face her and meowed "Well I'm getting out of your fur." he stated calmly to her first question. Then at the second one he paused for a moment. He soon lowered his head a bit "I wasn't under the impression you wished to speak with me afterwards." he soon straightened up "My apologizes, I don't usually have cats who I get off on the wrong paw with actually want to converse." He awkwardly sat down now and went quiet not quite a talker really but it would be rude to decline her proposal to speak more casually. Besides he was suppose to be trying to get to know more cats.

Poppyspark
Poppyspark stared at him, it was clear he was very much shocked by her offer, which did manage to bring back some of Poppyspark's good spirits. She listened to his words, her ears pricked when he admitted he wasn't sure whether she would desire to converse with him especially with how amazingly bad their meeting was. Then she smiled, and meowed: "Apology accepted," she then began to brush the fur on her cheeks with her claws brushing out the tangles out of her fur, it was one of those habbits she always had, ever since she became an warrior, and a habbit that always stuck. Then, she looked at him from the corner of her eye, clearly giving him a teasing gaze, and meowed: "True, I was annoyed at the interruption. HOWEVER, life goes on, as mother said, it's not good for a ladies look to hold grudges," her tone was clearly dramatic, clearly enjoying the attention she was getting...a drama queen through and through. It's just not GOOD for a lady's complextion," she quickly added.

Stonefrost
Stonefrost stared rather blankly at the female as he sat there and watched her mess with her own fur. He raised a bit of an eyebrow at the odd habit, did she not groom herself enough already? Though he supposed he didn't really have much experience with long coats, he was afterall rather short coated. Other than his cheek fur and a small bit of his neck, he was practically all short fur. Terrible for leaf-bare but he never got uncomfortable with tangles or matting.

He raised his eyebrows again as the she-cat mentioned it wasn't good for a lady to hold a grudge. Her tone urked him a bit and his expression showed it quite well he wasn't for her over dramatic tone.

"Lady's complexation....?" He snorted a bit "You're sounding like a kittypet talking about how pampered you must look." He wasn't exactly a man who was interested in that kind of beauty. He was much more interested in a she-cat who could defend herself well, strong and with battle experience. Those were the more attractive ladies in his mind. Not froo froo lady's who needed bed rest for their complexations.

Poppyspark
Poppyspark of course didn't appreciate being told that she sounded similar to a kittypet, those cats were nothing like the Kingdom cats, and had to have their twolegs do their fur. However, true effort, came from being able to groom yourself on your own, and those lazy kittypets wouldn't be able to do that even if a log fell over them. However, all she simply responded with is raising her head up and letting out a small "Humph" as the she cat continued to groom her fur. Then she meowed: "I can't expect you to understand," there was a slight exasperated sigh as she combed through her fur with her front claws, and then added: "You clearly have no understanding of what it means to be lovely. Honestly dear, if you wanted to get anyone to ask you out the best you can do is to tidy yourself up," then she gestured her claws to him. "I mean, come now, you could at least TRY to give yourself some accessories. Speaking as a lady myself, we always prefer a man that at least dresses for daily occasions,"

Stonefrost
Stonefrost squinted his eyes a bit at the she-cat before saying "Yes, I do indeed find it hard to understand how one can just bathe themselves in front of another. In fact its a little repulsive in my mind. Can't you wait till you're alone to lick yourself? Or wait till your boyfriend or something does it for you?" He had no idea if she was single or not but he tended to think a cat who compensated for their looks probably had some admirers.

He brought his face closer to hers before stating "No one is going to be asking me out. I would want to be the tom to ask the female out not the other way around." He soon rolled his eyes and reeled his head back before stating to her "You and I have different standards to beauty. Our tastes are far too different. I wouldn't want a pampered princess who looks like she'll break so easily. I much prefer a woman who's covered in scars, I know they can handle themselves in battle so that future kits will be well protected."

Poppyspark
Poppyspark just listened to this tom, with not much of an expression except for intense interest. Though she did felt a twist in her stomach about a boyfriend as her mind went back to Redwood, the Tides deputy she met sometime ago, a tom so handsome and mysterious it was hard for her to resist him. The only tom she actually could say she fell for in a meaningful way rather than just a one time thing. But she just ignored it and just looked at him...more or less amused by this grumpy tom.

Then he brought his face to hers stating how he was going to ask the girl out rather than the other way around, and all she did was stare at him. Still smiling towards the tom, and meowed in a teasing tone: "AW so your a traditional man. Seems in character for you," Poppyspark watched as he rolled his eyes stating how they had different tastes, talking about how he prefered a woman that can handle themselves, then...she shrugged her shoulders and meowed: "Well hey...that's fine. We all of tastes. Personally I prefer a man that is able to protect me. At least than I would be able to know that they would be able to protect me and the kits if anything terrible happened," Then she made a sly smirk and meowed: "Besides...it's quite romantic having someone rescue you,"

Stonefrost
Stonefrost snorted a bit as the she-cat teased him about some of his more traditional viewpoints. He assumed mildly that she must be the type who if she was interested would make the first move, if that was the case. When she mentioned a cat who would protect her and how it was romantic he meowed to her "Just because I said I want them to be able to protect themselves and kits doesn't mean I wouldn't be doing my own best to make sure to protect them first. I just know that one day I won't be there to protect whether my throat has been slit or i'm on some mission. Knowing my partner could protect without me is comforting." He snorted softly "Though I don't really have any experience or knowledge of what female's seem to deem romantic." He admitted.

Poppyspark
Poppyspark listened to him silently, eventually putting her claws down as she finally finished grooming the tufts of her fur, all the while continually staring at the tom. At least he realized that his potential partner is only an mortal. She thought to herself with amusement. Then, when he admitted her that he had no experience nor knowledge deem to romantic her ears pricked up, and an expression of interest grew immediately on her face as she realized that an opprotunity has shown itself. "WELL...speaking as a lady myself I can give you some little tippers," However, the she cat didn't give Stonefrost any time to reject her offer, and immediately meowed: "First off, us ladies like to be listened to okay? You may find it boring, but for us ladies it means the world to us since it feels like you actually care to what we say," Poppyspark then floofed out her fur and meowed: "Also compliments are a given, it just makes us ladies feel good about ourselves, AND for some ladies they liked to have some help a little," she then added: "Though other ladies would find being given gifts to be a nice way of telling us that you love us," At this point she was enjoying herself, a chance to be a love advice master was something she always wanted to do, so at this point she was just going off, giving out advice the best that she could. "However, some girls may not care and just appreciate the attention you give them. Essentially Stonefrost, it's all about what the girl interest lies. If you can master what their interest are then you are on the right path of being the most romantic cat,"

Stonefrost
Stonefrost stared at the female a bit blankly as she expressed the many different things that she thought were romantic. All of those things seemed easier said than done to him. It felt awkward in his nature to compliment a cat. He wasn't exactly a man who gave them out nor did he receive a lot of them himself. Listening to a cat, well that usually actually did more harm than good for him, he was often found butting heads with most other cats on issues. His pose stiffened a bit as she mentioned love. Now now, he hadn't mentioned love, he still had to get through attraction first then romance before thinking of love really. At least he assumed it wasn't that easy to feel love. Its not the same as feeling love for his kits.

He grunted a response to her but it was short "Okay....Though I have no intention of becoming this most romantic cat you mention."

Poppyspark
Poppyspark at first stared at him, just listening to his response, until finally she meowed: "Well it's the thought that counts," There was a smile on her face when she stated but it wasn't like her other smile. This grin on her face was actually quite sincere, and when she said that there was no drip of sarcasm, instead there was a lot of warmth in it, and honesty behind it. "Just as long as you at least put the effort it should turn out okay," she added.

Stonefrost
Stonefrost gave a slight nod to the female when she mentioned at least putting effort in it. He meowed "What would be the point if there was no effort after all. It would leave a bad taste in one's mouth if you hardly bothered to try but expected something in return..." He awkwardly stood there unsure what else to say on the matter. He would attempt these things of course, the act of romance. But it had to be....Right, like a sign that it was time to make a move. Otherwise he would feel it was not the right time.

Poppyspark
Poppyspark stared at him, giving him an amused smile, it was clear he was pretty much new at this whole romance thing. Now why he was so bothered by it honestly could be anyones guess. However, she did felt pride in being able to give some semblance of helpful advice. "Maybe, but sometimes there are some cats who just aren't into big gestures. Some may find it a bit...well show boatey for their taste. They just may like having somebody tell them they love them or call them beautiful. Things that seem small could lead to the biggest impacts," she looked at him a little while her gaze looking at him with great curiousity. "So...now I have to ask...is there somebody you ARE interested in?"

Stonefrost
Stonefrost slowly nodded his head a bit at the female's words about how sometimes the small things in life can really matter to a she-cat. Big gestures weren't always necessary to show appreciation or interest. Though he soon snorted a little unexpectedly as the she-cat asked him if there was a cat he was interested in. Composing himself he soon commented "Perhaps....Though really I'm just looking at my options right now in case its too high of a reach...I don't expect you to know much of my past but I had kits once with a female I made a contract with, well really I supposed you could say I had two baby moms. I promised to protect them, provide for them and all I asked was for them to have my kits...I didn't really believe in love I suppose then...But when I had those kits in my paws I felt it. Sadly they all died from the fire that we ran from...I'm looking to get a family back, a proper one this time."

Poppyspark
Poppyspark for a rare moment, actually gave Stonefrost what could be best described as a symathetic look in her eyes. She could sort of imagine that it must've been hard for the tom, he never struck her as one to let other cats in so having kits that you saw as your own the only ones that you felt care and empathy for...must've been tragic. "I'm really sorry about that," she meowed gently. It's always hard to lose family. But I'm sure you'll get another family again. You just have to have a little patience, you know? Just let it happen naturally, just be a gentleman, and you should be able to get what you want," she added. "And of course if you have any relationship advice don't hesistate to come to me. Afterall, I AM the queen of relationships," she boasted puffing up her chest and holding her face high with a confident smile once again returning to her usual boastful persona.

Stonefrost
Stonefrost looked at the female and raised an eyebrow as she commented that she was the queen of relationships. He almost wanted to jab her comment with the whole fact she doesn't even have a mate herself so how can she really know anything about it. But he decided to hold his tongue. He soon commented to her "Mnnnn...Sure perhaps I will, we will see. Enjoy the fresh kill" he commented as he now decided to leave the middle of camp to attend to other duties