[Ghostlily]

[center]

Striker let out a long sigh. What the heck was he doing out here? Luckily, the war had given him enough strength and stamina to not collapse, but still. He was dead tired. This really wasn't his favorite thing to do, going into the middle of no where when he had no idea how to get back home. Well, at least he was with friends. Or, friend. Whatever.
Either way, he was still in the middle of Roraldi forest, trying to save Dune's Clan, and get over his grief during the whole process. Fun fun. How could life get any better? Inside, Striker sighed, realizing this was going to be a long day...or days...
Striker looked back at Dune. The thought of how pretty she was had stopped popping up in his mind lately, but now it forced itself in.
'Shut up, shut up, shut up!' Striker told himself. He had to use all his self-control to keep himself from blushing.
"Uh, so, where now?" he asked Dune.

[Matt]

Dune smiled, a half afraid and half happy kind of expression. The thought of seeing her Clan again was wonderful, yes, but she was afraid of how Quartzclaw would react when he saw that she had a new ma- Now, wait a moment! Striker hadn't told her he liked her! He hadn't even hinted. Let's not get to ahead of ourselves.

"Just a little while." She could tell, she smelled two-legs on the air. "Smell that? That's two-leg scent." She growled to herself, eyes burning.

[Ghostlily]

Striker was panting slightly now. "You know...they're really called...humans..." he said between breaths. He didn't get why Dune still called them 'two-legs.' But nevertheless, he still could smell the scent of people. Perhaps he could act as the peace person. The one who translated. The Kamo Kuhna was lucky enough to have grown up with humans and know how to understand and speak their language. Or at least, the English one. And he knew a little Spanish...
"So...straight ahead? What am I really looking for here? Are we going to the camp first, or investigating where the humans, are or...Well, what're we doing?"

[Matt]

Dune wasn't panting at all. Of course, this was expected, as she was trained and raised as a fighting and killing cat. "We'll go to camp first. Follow me." Her cream pelt dissapeared into a thick thorn bush, her tail the last to wink out of the light.

[Ghostlily]

Striker let out a long sigh. Hopefully it wouldn't be too much farther. The war had been a different kind of training than the kind Dune had received, he knew. He did know how to kill and fight, but...this was more of the outdoors sort of thing. Not that he didn't like the outdoors. Heck, he spent most of his time outside. But he'd never gone this long running.
"Okay," he mewed to Dune. He leaped after her, his Kamo pelt blending perfectly with the bush. Well, at least he was adapted for this sort of terrain. That was a plus.

[[Hey, could you post in the Kagai roleplay? That one's been sitting for a while...]]

[Matt]

She scrabbled down the side of a canyon, weathered almost smooth by the years spent here. "Hold on with your claws!" She cursed at the wall, her claws aching as she slowly skidded down the wall. Dune finally reached the bottom, and turned. Her clan was staring at her with large eyes, filled with amazement and respect. Quartzclaw was, unfortunately, the first to spesak. "Sandstar!"

[Ghostlily]

Striker stopped right above the top, staring down with eyes wide. Oh jeeze...oh...Striker forced himself to take his first pawstep down, claws unsheathed. He skidded down the smooth surface, try to avoid crashing to the bottom. He followed Dune's path, trusting that it would lead him down safely. Within a few more moments, his paws met the ground. The Kamo let out a sigh of relief, glad to finally be here. Of course, until he saw Quartzclaw. For some reason, that guy just bothered him.

[Matt]

Oh gods, not now! The large male, cream, with cold blue eyes, walked up to his leader. Well, and former mate. He surveyed her with cold displeasure and also warm happiness, an odd expression in all. He bowed his head to her, and gave her an attempt of a smile. It all turned to cold hatred when he spotted Striker, though. "And who is this?"

Dune welcomed the smile with relief, but it vanished and was replaced with a thin line of dignity when the Deputy questioned her. "This is Thornclaw, and he shall be a part of our proud Clan." She turned and looked disapprovingly onto Quartzclaw. "Unless you have any other out of place questioning?"

The reply was simple. "No."

[Ghostlily]

Striker eyed Quartzclaw vehemently. Why was he so cold? Yet...there was something warm behind those eyes. Could it be...were Quartzclaw and Dune be...well, together? Striker was almost shocked by the power of the male's anger when his gaze turned to him. Why did he have to be so angry? It wasn't like Striker had done anything...well, besides the obvious liking Dune. But it wasn't like he was going to go and steal her away from Quartzclaw if they were together.
"Hello," Striker said, greeting both Quartzclaw and the Clan. "I'm very glad to be here. I will serve the Clan the best I can."

[Matt]

Dune sidestepped closer to Striker. "Do any of you have news?"

The Kuhna that spoke up had a calico coat, amber eyes, and was smiling softly. "The Twolegs have brought larger boats to the valley. Many of their kits are running around, infecting the colonies with their viruses. Fernpelt is sick with runnynose, and Cloudtail has patchycoat."

Dune nodded. "And Spottedleaf is taking care of them?"

Softpelt nodded in turn. "Yes." Dune smiled at the young medicine cat. "Good. Thank you, Softpelt."

[Ghostlily]

Striker listened, twitching his ears to hear the news right. The humans were coming closer...maybe, just maybe, Striker could talk to them. And form a treaty of some kind. And save Dune's Clan!
...But then, Striker only talked English. What if the humans spoke a different language? Well, maybe they'd have a translator.

...He could hope, right? "We'll stop them." A determined glint appeared in Striker's eyes. "We at least have to try."

[Matt]

[[ I think we were along the lines of Dune's in her den, Striker comes in, nuggles up to her, and Dune says something along the lines of 'I love you'? I'll just start from the beggining- Dune's in her den. ]]

Dune padded into her den, tails trailing behind her. She laid down on her nest in the very back, shutting her eyes. Sometimes, she just wished the world would dissapear, and she could be back at the marketplace with Striker... or first meeting Blue. Blue. She wished he was here. He'd know what to do. He'd been clan leader for a long time... and she'd taken his place. It was only fair- she had been the Deputy. But... sometimes, being a leader was too much. What if she just wanted to be... her? Why did she have to carry the burden of having to stay calm in the face of destruction? Hot tears came down her face, and she choked back a meow of sadness. Why did it have to be her?

[Ghostlily]

Striker flicked his ears toward Dune's den. Was that...crying he heard? Could Dune be...crying? A feeling, no, a need, to protect Dune from everything suddenly sprang up in the Kamo Kuhna, and not just because of his army-blood. He hated hearing Dune sound so sad...and seeing it would be worse. But Striker walked into the den regardless and sat down next to Dune, curling up close to her and sharing his warmth.
"Are you...alright?" he mewed softly, knowing that, of course, she wasn't alright if she were crying.

[Matt]

Dune sniffed, ears perking up at Striker's voice. She turned her head, smiling lightly. "I-I'm fine... It's just... well..." She sighed, her ears flattening to her head, and she closed her eyes. "It's just hard to be leader sometimes..."

She wrapped her tails around her, blinking at Striker almost helplessly.