your malice is volcanic — open

[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 400px; font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;] perched at the lip of the gaping maw of the toothed valley, half-dead grasses brushed across the slab-sided frame of a slight figurine. midmorning lighting highlighted silvery cream hairs, delicately painting a fragile picture of rosebud pinks and daffodil yellows in the morning sky, although it faded quickly.
relatively unimpressed, an expression of half-lidded insomnism settled cozily upon lean features, the youth, possessing of both feline grace, a sleekness that is expressed so carelessly, and a cherubic face, angles soft with a childish innocence. lifting a pale muzzle, whose hairs were illuminated by a warm light, spilling from beneath the far horizon and behind the endless rolling hills, the feline straightened somewhat, inhaling quietly the foreign scents that the lax wind brought to their attention.
this place was quite strange, different from the loner lands that they had been accustomed to and had grown up in during their younger months and early life. none here knew their face, none could recognize their features, lest they knew their mother on a more personal level than most. after all, poor mother never was much of an enthusiast in having lots of friends; he much preferred to have a few close friends, and the rest be damned. from their point of view, anyway.
they didn't have much room to talk either though, they had not once left the safety of their own home until today, and although they were loathe to admit it, they were much too rattled by the oppressive atmosphere of unfamiliar scents and blurs of countless faces alone from a distance to bear it with ease immediately.

yet, here they were, out in the open... finally.

not that they had gone looking for "trouble", or rather, their clanmates; what an odd word.

[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 400px; font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;] can i help you? it was such a kind voice, it was a gentle lull in her stiffening ears, yet they could not help but to feel threatened, as unaccustomed to animal interaction as they were. the slight feline turned at the other's mellow words, her pale body gleaming and shimmering as lean muscles tensed under a pristine pelt, focusing a palely brown hued gaze on the young apprentice.
a quiet humming of uncertainty was their initial response, yet it soon died in her throat as an encroaching sense of nervousness bordering on anxiety encircled its ghostly fingers round her delicate throat, fluttering with exaggerated breaths. some might view this display as fake, a mere ply for attention, and others might see them as the young child they were, vulnerable, bearing the odd attraction that older creatures often experienced when interacting with children- what they call "being cute".
rasping a desaturated blur of a pale red over her muzzle pad to stall their assuredly uncertain words, they then spoke in a muted voice, possessing of a nervous lilt that often corrupted their pronunciation, j-joining. uhm, uh- ghost, that's my name, and i'm- i'm looking for my, er, mother. they paused to take a breath in an attempt to calm their beating heart, pressing anxious ears against her cranium. then pondered her words and added another tidbit of information that might be useful, blurting it out, likely interrupting whatever reply the other had begun to express; volcanicmalice- that's her- or his- uhm... their name...

[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 400px; font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;] this news was no surprise, displayed so openly by their lack of surprise colouring features already contorted by emotion. merely nodding her head at these words, never taking wide brown eyes from the frame of the other feline, they hesitantly relaxed a tense ear that had formerly been pressed against the back of her head and nape. cracking open her lean maw, they began to respond with clipped words and a high-strung tone, already socially awkward and anxious with just one of their new clanmates, th-thank you, very much!
for a moment, they glanced away, scanning the rolling horizon for a familiar shadow with a sort of yearning hope, then returned their attention to the feline before them, the silence swadling the two, thick and heavy. ... could you-... could you point me in the direction of the camp? i... i'll find it on my own, i think.

[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 400px; font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;] nodding in return, with gratitude gleaming within her timid irises, they dared not to use their weak voice once more, for fear they might say something stupid, or do something that they might regret in the near future.
they softened her lean features in an attempt to thank the feline, in their own feeble way, too shy and frightened to do much else, but overcoming fears requires a courage that isn't all that easy to come by, and this was something she had to work on. an awkward smile curled her lips, glimpses of white canines shimmering in the sunlight as they shifted uncomfortably, although it was more of a half-hearted grimace than anything.
the slight youth stepped forward, her footsteps ghosting over the lightly frost-encrusted earth as if her minuscule weight were nothing, and stiff grasses parted around her small frame as she slipped away, gaze resting on the one person who seemed to care at least somewhat for them, unsure if they would ever meet again.
yet, they did not plan on remaining in the camp, for that was where all of windclan resided, and it would be so crowded that they might as well shoot themself in the head right now. they merely intended to locate it, and avoid it until further notice, not even attending what their mother had called meetings and raids and the like.