I didn't know cats lived around here. She startled. She hadn't expected anybody to be around at all, hadn't realized that maybe others would be out too. She didn't respond for a moment, blinking in slight confusion at the she-cat. She was a pretty girl, silver eyes and a pelt that seemed soft to the touch. She wasn't Summerclan, either, and that made her hesitate. She was awfully close to their territory, but Sunfreckle supposed she was the one outside of their borders, even if just barely. 

"Yeah—not far," she answered tautly, eyeing her carefully. She didn't seem dangerous, and it wasn't that she didn't trust her either. Sunfreckle simply didn't trust herself, though things probably couldn't get much worse. She relaxed herself a little. "I, uhm, hadn't expected to see anyone out." She took to examining her claws. "I like the sound of the sea," she felt like she owed the cat an explanation, slightly nervous under her gaze, as if she were trying to get out of trouble or free herself from some sort of guilt. She rambled, of she course did, what else did she do? And even when she caught herself the words came out regardless, no amount of 'thinking before she spoke' or trying to be careful and responsible with her words seemed to help it. 

She glanced at her again, and despite herself she was still curious, and instead of getting up with a simple goodbye and turning back, forgetting this stupid idea in the first place, she stayed where she was. How much of a threat could this cat really be? Honestly, she almost rolled her eyes at herself, she could get so worked up over nothing sometimes. 

She hummed in thought a moment, "I don't know about treasure, but sometimes you find strange things washed up which I guess is kind of like treasure," aside from the clams and the seashells, occasionally human things would float to the shore, stuck in the wet sand as the tides receded, "though, wouldn't surprise me. If it matters, I don't think you're a fool." Her laugh was nervous as she realized she could have caused offense. 

I'm Rhiannon by the way, "That's a nice name." Sunfreckle commented. It fit her, was the type of name she'd pin to her if she didn't know it. Not very simple, but pretty. and you are? There was a beat, hardly noticeable, "Uh—Dawn," hardly any uncertainty, barely a hint that she was even lying in the first place. She could play pretend, be someone else even if just for the day, live a different life. Rhiannon didn't have to know anything about her. It was better anyway, that word didn't get out she was breaking their ridiculous rules, even if it were just a stranger.

She turned her eyes to the sky; she had always enjoyed the morning colours. 

"Are you from around here?" Not that she particularly cared, because as far as she knew Sunfreckle wasn't either. She flicked her head forwards, an invitation to follow if she wanted. Staying still wasn't her favourite thing, besides she liked the way the sand curled around her paws, sunk between her toes, and it was worth the annoyingness of it afterwards. 

"Ehh—mostly junk," she shrugged, "but, if you're so good at getting results, maybe you'll be able to find something." There was a new sort of playfulness to her, an almost childish excitement. 

Dawn huh? She shifted. She was testing out the name just as much as Rhiannon was, it seemed. "Not as fancy as yours, I guess," and she laughed, moving so now they were side-by-side. Usually, she spent her time near the Northern Sea, where the shores were more rocky and grassy, and the water wasn't so bitter. She did enjoy, however, how this one seemed to go on forever, that the land didn't stretch around it, that there was a nothingness beyond that. That easy to guess huh? Her slight accent did indeed give it away, but there was a slight curiosity to it. 

"Loch. . ." she repeated, as if trying to remember something, ". . . Like, something you can't get into? Wait, no, that's lock, haha." Sunfreckle was about to say something along the lines of 'well, I haven't seen anything interesting like that,' or 'sounds cool, wish I could see it,' or something else as equally awkward, but she stopped, and she thought for a moment. She could really make anything up, Dawn would have lived her own life, maybe gone on her own great adventures. 

Briefly, she examined a seashell buried in the sand—nothing too interesting, nothing worth mentioning, but they'd always been fun to look at. That one was scallop shaped, one that would have been a plain white had it not been dirtied. She looked out at the sea again. 

"Look out there," she stopped, gesturing out towards the water, "you see that little, uh, speck?" It was something you wouldn't notice unless it was specifically pointed out, a thing you'd miss if it weren't pointed out. She hadn't seen it before, though she never bothered to look that hard either. It was slightly hidden by the water and the glare of the rising sun. "That's another world," Dawn would have seen it, she decided, "It's a whole lot bigger than it looks. I don't know if it's as cool as your Loch, but," she ended with a shrug, trying not to skip too far ahead so that they could still talk. 

"Yes," she said, as easily and effortlessly as if it were true. Really, the shape could have been a rock, a trick of the light, nothing at all, but Sunfreckle liked to hope, at least, that there was something. That this wasn't it. "There's. . ." She skipped ahead, kicking sand with her front paw, thinking of something grand and magical and whatever it was she wanted to see, ". . . Trees as tall as mountains, and the water's like crystal—nothing like this," she nodded towards the sea, "and there's a point where you can just see everything, from way up high. And it's quiet." A small, weary sigh. Dawn would live in a place like that, all sunshine and no responsibility, no problems that needed solving, beauty and nothing more. 

"I live nearby, by the way," she explained, continuing the conversation even as she noticed something fluttering in her peripheral, going after it curiously, "I guess I see those group cats sometimes, but usually it's just me." The last part was sort of true—she didn't talk to many people, ditching when camp was most crowded, sticking to herself, getting out of any small-talk as soon as she could. She'd spent so much time thinking she was forgotten about, something not worth noticing anymore, but maybe it had been her doing the avoiding. It was a torn piece of paper that ended up under her paws. It was old, withered, a little bit damp from the water, the markings on it were smudged. 

"See, this is what I mean by junk, but look what I found," she picked it up with her mouth, not bothering to dust it off, before dropping it near Rhiannon and placing her foot on it so it wouldn't fly away in the morning breeze. "Eugh, I got sand in my mouth." She turned to the side, spitting the residue onto the ground beside her. 

"See," she pointed out a a half torn maze, surrounded by bolded and thin words, big and small, all water-worn and meaningless. On one end stood a tiny figure in a funny costume, a big hat perched on his head. On the other end, an open box filled with circles and diamonds, "I don't know what this means! This line is like a path," between all the boxes, dead ends and the like, there was an uneven, discoloured line leading from one end to the other, "so maybe, we could find whatever you heard about." She gave her a smile, wide and excited like it was the best thing that had ever happened, finding this meaningless piece of scrap paper. 

"Unless you have some place to be—which is totally fine, we can wait." The thing could lead to anything, or nothing at all (actually, she was expecting that, but she didn't say anything), but what better use was their time than a fun, pointless adventure. 

i havent been able to but it looks so cool :( 


Do you think it'll lead us to something? Sunfreckle nodded enthusiastically, "Mhm!" She leaned down, squinting at the paper as if she would suddenly understand it. "Most of the human nests around here aren't even active, I don't think. It doesn't even give us proper instructions, but we could count in paces or something. Hopefully it doesn't lead us to the. . . group cats nearby or to any lively human home. But I think we have a good chance of finding something!" Her words got faster as she continued speaking, a neverending ramble fueled by her sudden eagerness, her youthful enthusiasm mixed with almost desperation to do something.  

She rolled the paper up as best she could with non-working thumbs and picked it up again, moving ahead. She felt so excited. Even if she knew there probably wouldn't be anything there, that it was just meaningless human thing that wouldn't really lead anywhere, it was exhilarating. Nothing like anything she'd felt in such a long time, she had almost forgotten what it was like. 

"I think it's this way," down the shore, she began to lead the way, stopping every once in a while to let Rhiannon catch up before running ahead again. Honestly, she had no idea when they were supposed to take the first turn, it wasn't much more than guesswork, but she walked on anyway, humming along the way. 

"You hardly see them around here, really only during the summer, besides they would've left by now." She reassured with a dismissive flick of her paw. Usually, she didn't pay them any mind, only did her best to avoid if she could, but she wasn't going to lie and say she'd never been curious, as to what they got up to, what they needed all those dens for. 

She enjoyed Rhiannon's company, her eagerness to join Sunfreckle on her pointless adventure, how she could match her energy without even really trying. She hadn't had company like this in a while, where the conversations weren't forced politeness or thinly veiled disdain. do you think humans really bury their treasures in the sand? She chuckled, "Well, they leave their stuff all over the shore anyway, who's to say there isn't anything beneath it either? It just seems like a thing humans would do." She spoke every word around the map in her mouth, giving them a muffled sound. 

She was about to say something more before—Look over there!—she stopped suddenly, sending bits of sand and dust up as she looked around wildly for a moment, gaze landing on the little shack. She trotted closer, only close enough to see it clearly, unrolling the map to compare. Her eyes drifted from the drawing to the shack. There was a few obvious differences, of course—the roof wasn't made of grass, though the peeling of it's paint gave it the illusion, and it was less a shelf and more a house, but there wasn't anything inside of it that would indicate that it was ever even lived in. No comfortable furniture, hardly anything at all. There were no torches, but there were a few little sticks stuck in the ground, almost like a path, towards a further down dock over the water, all broken and unused. It smelled like old, damp wood. She leaned down to look at the drawing again. 

"Close enough?" She moved closer, making sure to weigh the sheet down with some sand so it wouldn't fly off, and tapped the frame of it gently. There was a slight creak. It had no doors, giving a perfect view of the darkness inside. It had a creepy vibe, like the shadows had eyes. She turned to Rhiannon, giving her an unsure look, "Do we go inside, or. . ." She stepped back. 

She trailed a little way behind, following her around the shack and settling as a presence just behind her, staring at it from just over her shoulder. "Yeah, I—I saw one, closer to the group cats, some worn down house. But even it looked better than this—the door was in tact, at least." The Witches Hut was just as creepy, except the only difference is that Sunfreckle had always steered clear of it, too scared to even approach. 

You're not going to try and trap me inside or kill me, are you? Sunfreckle snorted, "Hm, good suggestion, but no. Who else is going to help me find this treasure?" She followed her in, wearily at first, before noticing there was nothing much at all. The floor was sandy, creaky old wood that certainly matched the rest of the house. Winds had blown some of the sand inside, giving the 'house' a buried feel, like it was a hidden artifact in its own right. She eyed the sticks, noticing how one of them had some sort of fish shape at the end of its string. In the corner closest to the door sat a pair of old human boots, coated with a layer of dust and definitively worn. One of them was tipped over. 

"I don't know, but careful of that," she batted the fish, showing off a tiny hook at the end of one. Just beside the sticks was a circular sort of thing with a hole in the middle, just as dirty as the rest of the place. 

"Interesting, but what's the point of all this stuff?" She tapped one of the rods, knocking it over with a clang, causing her to jump backwards. 

She couldn't picture anybody living in the shack, just from how the walls creaked if you pressed too hard, let alone humans. They were strange creatures, the type she'd usually avoid both due to the things she's heard and their intimidating nature, but she couldn't help but be a little curious about them. They had such cool stuff, whether it be washed up on the shore or not, and often she enjoyed finding it, even if it had no use. 

"Right—but I quite enjoy your company so," she shrugged, though her tone was just as playful. She leaned down, noticing how the hook had a slight rust on it. 

"I can't think of anything else to use it for, but usually I'd take them as a bit smarter than to use a hook for a toy." An old blanket caught her eye—actually, there were quite a few of them, crumpled or spread out over one corner of the room. One of them had a rather scratchy feel as she nudged it over. There was a moment of slight rustling, and seconds later she jumped out, the cleanest blanket she could find draped over her like a costume, "Boo!" 

She sneezed as dust hit her nose, shimmying out of the blanket and pushing it away again. "Did I scare you? Please say I did—you don't even have to be honest," she laughed a little, shaking some remaining bits out of her fur. Where one of the blankets was turned over, another piece of paper lay, slightly crumpled. "Ooh—" It was a simple picture, two smiling human faces with sticks of their own. One of them looked as if they had been caught slightly off guard. It was stained, slightly, almost like water damage. 

"I don't know what this thing is, but look while I'll go check the map." She dropped the picture near Rhiannon, rushing out to dig up the map from where she half covered it in sand, not bothering to look at it before bringing it back. As she settled beside the she-cat, staring down at the map that didn't really say anything, she was beginning to believe maybe there was a chance they'd find something after all. 

"Can't I be the ghost of Christmas present? I'd say I'm quite a gift." She carried on talking as she walked out the door, only flashing her a smile before she left. The air was a little clearer outside, the smell of the sea stronger despite the flimsiness of the walls. She supposed it had to help with something, then. As she settled down beside Rhiannon again, map spread on the uneven floor, she took a silent moment to examine it. 

"The house isn't even shown here," Sunfreckle pointed to where they should have been on the map (which, to be fair, was more an estimated guess), "which is weird, but maybe there's some hidden clues around." She let the map curl up naturally. I think they might be using those sticks to hunt....how strange. She snorted, "That's an understatement—I feel like they make everything complicated for themselves," peering at the photo, she couldn't help but feel a little unnerved at their faces. Perhaps it was their unblinking eyes, their frozen faces. 

"You said the city homes were sturdier, right? Why would they chose to live here of all places," she pressed on a particularly loose floorboard a few times, hearing a slight clunk from under it. That was new. Flattening herself to the ground, she tried to peer into the tiny space where it didn't reach the rest of the floor, finding nothing but darkness. The next thing she attempted was to lift, claws scratching uselessly at the plank. She gave up with a slight frustrated growl. 

"There might be something here," she beckoned Rhiannon over. While the wood was irritating, she still had an excited grin on her face, an infectious sort of thing that, even if she tried to force a more serious face, she wouldn't be able to keep it for more than a few seconds.