"Where id was...

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...there shall ego be."
~Sigmund Freud

Freud licked his dry lips once again as he continued on his trek toward the forest area. Hours had gone past since he'd last caught scent of anything out of the ordinary, and that bothered him. He was desperate; both for intellectual tidbits and for nurishment. The nurishment part was becoming increasingly important to him, though.

At last he reached the river, and ingloriously flung himself into it for a drink. He'd needed the bath, too; he'd just been through a twoleg area and he knew what a bad impression that reek gave him with clan cats. Kicking off from the bank he'd come from, he swam across the moderately fast current. He reached the end quickly, but the water had carried him away from the bank he'd been shooting for. He cursed his luck and struggled to keep his head above water until he reached another patch of reeds on the bank.

He reached dry land on the other side in a huff. Now how would he know if he were getting closer to a clan camp? He didn't even know where he was. He sniffed the air in frustration and was surprised to find scents of cats lingering in the air...

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Crystallight had been watching this tom, she bounded out- "What are you doing?" she asked, not mean or aggressive, but curious. Her paws delicately pressed into the wet ground and her fur was wet from a swim not to long ago. "You shouldn't even be out here! Other warriors might hurt you, and swimming doesn't seem like your forte."

She sat down and smiled, "I'm Crystallight, what is your name?"

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Freud contented himself with the new scents, drinking them in to perfect his identification system. Cats had been here recently. Very recently. It was almost like they were on top of him--

"Ahh!" he shouted and flinched at the approaching she-cat, but quickly regained his composure and sat up straight to glare down at her. He blinked stoiccly at her inquiries and warnings, and narrowed his eyes a bit at the fact that she'd noticed his flounderings. He'd hoped no one had seen that...

He ruffled up his drying fur to compensate for the embarassment.
"Thank you for the warning...Crystallight, was it? But I'd best be on my way. I have urgent business with the nearest clan cat I can find," he said, not realizing who he was talking to in the first place. He was about to step around her and continue on when he stomach rumbled uncomfortably. He grimaced and sat back down again before her.

"You wouldn't happen to have anything to eat, would you?"

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"Back at camp maybe... But I could catch you something!" she purred, "I'm from RiverClan by the way." she mewed, bounding down the river, "Down here are some stepping stones. They might be better for crossing the River." She mewed, her delicate paw flicked towards the other side of the River before she leaned across the water at the sight of some fish, she crouched over the river before her paw dove into the water, hooking a fish and biting it until it was still.

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Realization struck Freud like a ton of bricks, and he was showered with a second wave of embarassment. If he hadn't already been wet, he would have sworn he was after that.

"Steppings stones, yes. I knew they were there. I was training myself to swim," he lied. "Like you so eloquently pointed out, 'swimming is not my forte.' Yet." That part was at least half true.

He padded over to watch her fish and let his mind drift. A question came to mind and he could not stop himself from voicing it.
"Why are you out this far from your camp alone if you didn't come here to hunt?" he asked, noticing she'd been wet but hadn't had anything to carry back to her clan. "I thought clan cats guarded borders and hunted in groups."

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"I'm out for a break before a patrol tonight, I thought maybe I could go for a swim, practice a bit since I have always struggled with it not being RiverClan born... and catch something later." she sighed, shuffling her paws awkwardly. She pushed the fish over to him, "Here, you can have it, RiverClan cats have plenty of food this season." she licked her paw for a moment then asked, "Why are you here?" she asked.

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Freud raised his eyebrows. One of the first things the she-cat had noticed and mentioned about him was that he did not swim well, and yet she had similar problems. The ways she padded nervously when thinking about the subject spoke wonders...and this tom was just the kind of cat to notice these things.

Crystallight pushed the fish toward him and he just about dove at it. Just about. In reality he nodded brusquely and put his paw on it to keep it in place as he took a bite, but even that action was a bit hasty. He glanced up at her again as she kept talking, inquiring about his reasons for being here. He swallowed another bite before sitting up to answer.

"More interested in my occupation than my name, I see. I guess I'll have to obligue you with both then; My name is Freud, and I am here to offer my counseling services in return for food and temporary protection," he finished, blinking at her. Something at the back of his mind, probably his conscience, naggled at him to continue, though. "However, seeing as you've already provided me with the food service, I guess I am indebted to you for now." He kneeled back down to finish the rest of the fish, for he could no longer stand its scent to his still raging hunger.

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"I don't need anything from you, I hate seeing hungry cats and we have more than enough food." she smiled kindly. "You seem like a nice cat so why not..." she got up and slid into the river, her sleek fur re-dampening, she stayed by the side so water lapped at her white paws. "So, Freud, where do you live?" she asked, her ears pricking.

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Freud raised his eyebrows as the she-cat slipped back into the water as if she'd been born in it. It vaguely surprised him that she had not originally been a Riverclan cat, though it made sense. This was an example of compensation for inadequacies in action.

"I think I have more to offer to you than you know right now," he replied, blowing off her statement of not needing anything. It suited his purposes to stay in the vicinity of a clan cat, both for food and companionship. And perhaps he could even pry a dream out of her to analyze...

"No place in particular," he responded to her final question. "Any place I can find to sleep with something to keep the rain out is fine for me. Why do you ask?"

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"I dunno, if you trade for your food you must live far away from alot of cats." she mewed, "but if you stayed 'round here I might want your services and I will supply you fish." her tail floated in the top of the water and she looked at her paws as she splashed the water around. She smiled.

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Freud smiled at that idea. He'd never had a place to stay before living with his twoleg, and the chance to live around other cats in a more permanent situation appealed to him.
Plus, he'd never really had a friend to speak of. Perhaps this was his chance.

"I think I'd like that very much," he purred back and watched the she-cat's tail bob in the water. He furrowed his brow for a moment before tredding down the slope and into the water again himself.

"Shall we go for swimming lessons first, though?"

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"Lets stay with the stepping stones for now." she purred, hopping onto a mossy rock, but her paws slipped and she disappeared into the water, her claws gripped onto the rock and gasped, "Freud! Help me!" she cried, her claws starting to slip, she gasped as water started to choke.

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((LOL I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND! Goldy, if it is not allowed, PLEASE DELETE!!))

There were amber eyes that were glowing from near-by reeds, which happened to be on ThunderClan's territory. The cat managed to lick his pelt clean from his scent, and not only that, he managed to find some mud, which made his pelt sticky, and low scent detection.

These two cats so happened to be watched by the most obnoxious and rude ThunderClan tom. One who would probably spread this action in no hesitation. It would most likely spread like wild-fire.

"Proof that non Clan-born cats are too soft."

A snorting and mocking tone spoke.

The dark brown tom slowly stalked out of the reeds, his fur barely visable under the mud. Thankfully, the mud was gripping off slowly, so you could still see the rings upon his tail, and his tabby coat.

You could obviously see it was ScarShadow, one who hated clan cats more than anything, at least, the rival ones.

"Breaking the warrior code, I presume. Doesn't surprise me, from a non-clan born cat!"

He growled, his ears flickering around mockingly. He wanted to lunge at her, but he knew he couldn't. All he could do was stand on his side of the border, and insult. Although, he did let his claws slip out, incase she decided to break that part of the warrior code as well.

Then, he saw the she-cat skim herself slowly into the water, messing around a bit, then soon started to drown. He couldn't help but chuckle at this.

"Another reason. Doesn't maintain the abilities."

He grinned mockingly, sitting right at the edge of the river or creek, his ringed tail flickering side to side.

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Freud nodded at Crystallight's suggestion and tightened his grip on one of the reeds he'd been using for stability. He was about to pull himself out of the rather fridged, though refreshing, water again when the she-cat lost her footing and tumbled past him into the water. He whipped his head around, mouth agape and lost his grip on the reeds.

"Crystal--*cough*--Light!" He choked on water that seeped into his mouth and flailed for the moving reeds nearby him. The thought to swim after her possessed him for a moment before he realized that he'd likely become a victim as well if he tried. He grasped a reed finally after a few startling seconds and pulled himself to shore.

"Crystallight!" he shouted after her quickly disappearing visage. He glanced around in a panic. "I'll get help--"
A pair of amber eyes met his as he turned around for an answer to this problem. He stared dumbfounded for a moment at the ease with which he found the solution.

"Can you swim?"

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Crystallight clawed at her rock screaming, "Freud!" then her claws slipped and she was sent downstream, screaming. She caught grip of some reeds, calling, "Help! Please! I'm going to drown!" She could feel herself starting to black out, if she did she would likely die.