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Post by Fawn on May 9, 2017 18:19:03 GMT -5
48 Moons | RainClan | Tom | Senior Warrior A lot had happened since the deal they'd made. And he didn't just mean in his own personal life, either; while his family was doing fine, he could tell now that Roselight was getting a bit weak. Tired, especially after the deaths of her parents last leafbare; he tried to help where he could, when he wasn't busy taking care of Berrypaw.
He had given his apprentice the day to herself, letting her enjoy her own family - Frogpaw and Goldpaw were bound to be made warriors soon - and now he had time for himself. Time for friends.
Tiptoeing through the sleeping warriors, Russethawk smirked as one warrior snored particularly loudly. Purists, Loyalists - one thing never changed; they all had to sleep sometime. It was the most peaceful he'd ever felt, when the warriors' den was quiet, pelts were brushing together, moss nests smooshed close for warmth, and the Clan just... a Clan.
No us versus them. Just RainClan.
"Hey, wake up," he whispered, prodding Ashflight in the shoulder with persistent pressure. "The sun's finally out. Good day to catch birds, unless you're gonna tell me they like rain." In which case, they'd missed their hunting opportunities. Russethawk was confident, though, that he'd made an accurate assumption. Sunshine and warm weather made for easier hunting - whether it was fish or fowl.
Russethawk grinned, and this time gaze her ear a tug with his teeth. "Come on, you lazy pile of fish bones."
Word Count:240 Words Tags: @zen
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2017 10:26:50 GMT -5
I have changed, I have changed, just like you, just like you...
Ashflight continued to sleep on the edges of the warrior's den, Rushwhisker beside her. She had told him he could move his nest inward if he wanted, deputies normally slept toward the center of everyone after all, but he never had. She felt all right on the edge. Being completely surrounded by cats would have been suffocating, even after moons back with the Clan, she didn't think that would ever change. Another perk to sleeping at the edge of the den was that cats didn't typically step on you while trying to make their way around, so when someone started prodding her she groaned and tried to shrug them off, “Mmmnot on the dawn patrol...,” she murmured as she shifted, trying to escape the prodding.
Vaguely, she recognized the voice that had spoken to her though she hadn't really paid much attention to what it had said, still half asleep. Then there were teeth on her ear, tugging, and her eyes went wide with surprise as she leaped to her paws, claws unsheathed, her fur fluffing out in alarm as she tore away from her assailant. She looked around wildly, expecting an attack of some sort, but it was only Russethawk standing there. It took her a moment to calm down, forcing her fur to lie flat, and she swatted at the ruddy tom's ears, hissing, “Don't DO that! I nearly clawed your fur off!”
Some other cat threw a growl at her to be quiet and she lowered her voice, “Why am I waking up this early to you chewing on my ear?” She sat back in her nest to give herself a quick grooming, sure her fur was all over the place after being woken up so suddenly.
I'm still alive, I'm still alive, I cannot apologize, no.... Fawn
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Post by Fawn on May 10, 2017 14:33:23 GMT -5
48 Moons | RainClan | Tom | Senior Warrior It was a testament to the ruddy tom's reflexes that he wasn't missing his nose and half his whiskers. Russethawk nearly choked on his laughter, her frazzled - and aggressive - swatting almost comical. He took a few steps back, both to get out of range of Ashflight's needle-sharp claws as well as stop disturbing their Clanmates. "We're going bird-catching. Unless that was all just a load of fish dung." Emerald eyes were bright, some of the life that had been scarce these past few moons returning with a mischievous spark.
"C'mon. I've watched you splash around and scare away all the fish. It's your turn to watch me get laughed at by crows."
The likelihood of that happening was... pretty high. Russethawk was not built for hunting in the mountains, or catching large or small birds; his pelt was sleek and water repellent from a steady diet of fish, and his paws were softer than the other Clan cats' owing to their sandy, soft banks and their 'sit and wait' approach to fishing.
Ashflight was the opposite. Toughened paw-pads, scars from a rough stretch of moons, and a leanness that gave away how durable she really was. Russethawk respected her differences, and he'd come to enjoy the distinct mountainy scent he could still detect in her fur even after all these moons. Crowblaze's had already faded (the tom had obviously missed fish, he was wolfing down so much), but that didn't matter much.
Crowblaze also had the disposition of a trampled water moccasin. Russethawk knew better than to get in the dark tabby tom's way.
Word Count: 263 Words Tags: @zen
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 12:49:23 GMT -5
I have changed, I have changed, just like you, just like you...
Ashlfight's ears twitched and she paused in her grooming to glance over at him as he mentioned bird catching. A load of fish dung...? “Oh! I almost forgot I had agreed to teach you,” she purred softly, giving herself another few quick licks before standing and shaking out her fur, “I'm surprised you didn't ask sooner, but I suppose a lot has been going on.” Another cat grumbled at them and Ashflight shot a look in their general direction before flicking her tail, “Come on, it's too early in the day to be getting yelled at.”
She brushed past him and out of the den before they disturbed anyone else. The freshkill pile was... sad to behold. It was too early for any hunters to have gone out and returned with anything yet, so all that was left was a scrawny water vole and a few minnows. She glanced back at Russethawk, “Well, it looks like hunger will sharpen our skills this morning.” She flicked him with her tail and trotted toward the camp entrance, splashing through the camp stream. Curious, she looked over at him, “Have you ever even caught a bird before? I've rarely ever seen one on the freshkill pile that I haven't caught myself, though they were a bit more common during leafbare....”
She really hadn't remembered how much RainClan depended on fish until her return. She liked fish, but not every day, for every meal. She liked a little variety in her diet. The occasional mammal or bird did show up, but they were generally on the scrawny side, and not exactly the best specimen to eat. She imagined they were mostly lucky catches that her Clanmates happened across on border patrols rather than something they really meant to catch. She had grown better at fishing with Russethawk's help, but she still wasn't very good at it. It wasn't Russethawk's fault, however. He was a great teacher. She was just too restless to sit there waiting for so long, and honestly still too paranoid to give her attention over so completely for so long to FISH. Fishing made her feel vulnerable, just sitting there in the open doing nothing.
“Catching birds is somewhat similar to fishing... it requires a lot of stillness and patience, but at least you can use your surroundings to hide you while you're doing it...,” she was half musing to herself, because if it was so similar to fishing why was she so good at one and bad at the other? “Birds have great eyesight, they latch on to anything that moves, it's why the scare so easily.” She supposed she could relate to them... they were both paranoid about their surroundings. She grinned over at Russethawk, “So you and me are gonna take mud baths to help us blend in. I learned quickly that my white fur gave me away a lot. It stands out pretty bad in the mountains.”
I'm still alive, I'm still alive, I cannot apologize, no.... Fawn
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Post by Fawn on May 14, 2017 16:05:58 GMT -5
48 Moons | RainClan | Tom | Senior Warrior "The only birds that end up on the freshkill pile are wading birds, and that's rare." For as long as he'd been alive, Russethawk could count the number of times he saw a duck or a goose on the freshkill pile with one paw. The ruddy tom had given her his apt attention, but not even he could resist a grin when she mentioned mudbaths. It wasn't really a 'mention', more like a this is what we have to do, so we're doing it.
Russethawk produced a goodnatured snort. "You know what? I changed my mind. Birds taste terrible anyway." Pretending to be a prissy-paws, he fluffed up his coat in a way that might make it look luxurious, and groomed his whiskers for added effect. "Alright, I'll roll around in mud like a fish with a broken fin if it'll help. But after this, we're going to the willow stream." He didn't care what kind of rumors were started; he wanted to go back to camp clean.
Even if the image of coming home covered in dried mud and feathers would get a few chuckles. Pick up the mood for everyone.
As they approached the muddier, shallower marshlands of RainClan's border with NightClan, Russethawk grimaced and took the lead, resisting the urge to step lightly. They were going to get dirty anyway, no point in being dainty about it. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say there's no method to this," he mewed, eying the swampy terrain. Without decorum, the ruddy tom laid down in the water, and then rolled to the left, rubbing his shoulder into the cool, oozing mud. The water was having a hard time getting through his repellent coat, but the mud, at least, was sort of sticking.
When he was more brownish-red than ruddy, Russethawk checked himself over. Everywhere but his... ears and tail.
He scooped up a pawful, and rubbed it on the back of his ears, face scrunching comically as a bit of water trickled into the canal. And then came the great indignity of muddying up his tail. At least he felt cooler, today was hot and without much breeze; when the warrior finally got onto drier land, he looked ridiculous, but ready to catch birds.
"I'm so handsome, I know." He preened, fluttering his mud-plastered tail. "Please, let me know if you feel faint. I'll get Ottersplash."
Word Count: 400 Words Tags: @zen
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2017 22:02:57 GMT -5
I have changed, I have changed, just like you, just like you...
Flicking him with her tail as he jokingly tried to back out after being told he was going to roll around in mud, Ashflight chuckled, “What are you, a kittypet?” He relented only a moment later, after a bit of show which only had her rolling her eyes and suppressing another laugh. She eyed him as he demanded they visit the willow stream once they'd returned, teasing once more, “What, rolling in the mud and chasing birds isn't romantic enough for you?” She puffed up a bit, as if offended, “In the mountains this counts as a fine date, I'll have you know.” She was pulling his tail, but for all he knew she could be serious. Not that this was supposed to be romantic, but when one mentioned the willow stream to a fellow RainClan cat, it was hard not to think about romance. Every cat knew couples went there for the privacy the trailing branches provided, not the mention that it was a beautiful spot.
Soon enough they'd reached a good muddy spot in the territory and Ashflight watched with some amusement as Russethawk dove right in. She didn't refute his claim that there was some special way to go about it, there definitely wasn't. Though there was one trick she'd learned, “No, but if you keep your ears flattened it cuts down the risk of getting an earful of mud on accident.” Ashflight used mud to her advantage so often in the mountains, she no longer minded how it felt. In fact, on a hot day like this, it actually felt good. She waded into the mud and flopped over beside him, flattening her ears as she'd said, and rolling back and forth, pausing now and again to survey her fur, until she could not longer see any white peeking through the brown muck covering her pelt. Sitting up, she pressed her tail down into the mud as well, and dipped her paw into it to groom it onto her face.
Wading back out, she looked over at Russethawk as he started talking about how great he looked. Her gaze narrowed slightly. Two could play that game. She moved past him and brushed her tail under his chin, “Oh, you think you're joking, but there's nothing more attractive to me than a cat willing to do whatever is necessary for survival. Even coating his pretty fur in icky mud.” She tossed a look at him over her shoulder, “The mud keeps predators from seeing you as well as prey. You'll fit right in in the mountains now. Maybe you'd even survive a day.” She smirked, leading the way away from the mud hole and toward their hunting grounds, “Then again, there's no fish in the mountains, so if this lesson doesn't take I suppose you'd just starve.” She was perhaps being a bit harsh, but it was all in good fun.
I'm still alive, I'm still alive, I cannot apologize, no.... Fawn
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Post by Fawn on May 16, 2017 12:10:03 GMT -5
48 Moons | RainClan | Tom | Senior Warrior It hadn't been Ashflight's intention (or maybe it had), but a glob of mud from the end of her tail ended up smeared across his nose, and he sneezed. Laughing, Russethawk rubbed his nose on the nearest patch of grass, but knew he'd be smelling wet earth for the rest of the day and likely into tomorrow. "Give me some credit. I'm a lot more adaptive than I look." Russethawk believed this about himself; a RainClan cat couldn't survive what he had without being willing to change.
To keep moving forward.
Coated in a fresh layer of mud, Russethawk felt like he'd covered up his identity. They weren't RainClan cats right now, they were feral mountain loners, who considered the high, craggy peaks and short, sparsely vegetated cliff-sides to be their home. "I'd make it three days, at least." Russethawk replied, his reply containing an edge of challenge. It was a challenge he would lose, Ashflight had already proved she could endure far more out here in this no-man's-land than he could, but Russethawk wanted to put a little faith in himself.
It wasn't like him to believe poorly of his own abilities. It wasn't arrogance, so much as a trust in himself that he had yet to break.
What was threatening to break, however, were his paw-pads under the sharp terrain they were now traveling. Russethawk winced as a particularly hard piece of rock gouged up between his toes. He flicked the small rock free, more mindful of where he stepped. "Where did you sleep? It feels too open here."
The thought of crawling into a cave or pre-used den was very unpleasant to him. Living as he did back in RainClan's camp, being able to lie by the riverside in a bed of reeds and cattails wasn't just a privilege, it was a way of life. Sleeping underground, with impenentrable walls of dirt on three sides, was no way to get a good night's sleep.
But that was the exchange, wasn't it? Safety for coziness.
Sacrifices had to be made, or else survival wouldn't be possible.
Russethawk looked skyward, watching the bright blue stretch in all directions, dragging his eyes with it right to the hazy points of mountain-tops - or what he assumed were mountain tops. Cloud-cover threatened to obscure his full view, and he accepted this. It was a topographical feature too big to really take in. By StarClan, he felt small and forgotten in the shadow of these mountains.
Small and alone. Can StarClan still see us? Or had they stepped outside the bounds of their ancestors' influence and watchful eyes? There would still be stars above come nightfall, but Russethawk couldn't say for certain if they would be the same stars, or different ones entirely.
Word Count: 459 Words Tags: @zen
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2017 1:35:33 GMT -5
When the hope of morning starts to fade in me, I don't dare let darkness have its way with me...
"I'd make it three days, at least."
Ashflight purred in amusement, sure he would last far longer than that in reality, though he very well might be quite hungry for a while until he learned how to better catch prey that wasn't fish. She sure did. She recalled those long, lonely days, trying to figure out how to survive on her own, wondering if she would ever see her Clan, her home again, and at the same time feeling like such a failure about losing Icepaw that she didn't deserve anything more than she had in those moments, which wasn't much. She shook her head slightly, not wanting to think about those days. They were long gone.
Padding back into the mountains felt... familiar. Not like going home, she had never, not once, considered the mountains her home. But there was still some sort of vague comfort in the familiar ground, in returning to the place where she had really grown up, the place that had made her into the cat she was today. It had not been her mentor or even her Clan that had shaped her into a warrior, but the mountains. She had no desire to return to them permanently, RainClan was finally feeling like home again, but it was... nice to visit.
Her reverie was broken by Russethawk's voice and she glanced back at him, “If you don't want a predator to pick you off while you sleep, you find somewhere with cover above you. Caves aren't as easy to find as you'd think, and the ones you do find often have less than friendly occupants, but they aren't the only cover. Rocks and stones that you can sleep under jut out all over the place.” She raised her tail to point to three such places around them right then, “And there are plenty of nooks to squeeze into for a night if you're looking for them. They aren't any place you'd want to STAY, but they work for a fairly safe night's sleep.”
She checked the sky often as they walked. The mud might do well to hide them, but she wasn't taking any chances. She wasn't about to see Russethawk carried off by an eagle as she'd watched Icepaw. And they were supposed to be hunting birds, after all. “Water isn't so easy to come by up here either. I don't know if it's because I was born in RainClan, but I always had a pretty good knack for finding it when I really needed it,” she mused, almost shocked by how very dry is seemed the farther up they went. She had nearly forgotten that little fact. She remembered running into a number of small groups of cats that had 'claimed' a water source for themselves and chased her away when she'd shown up, as though the water would run out from her taking a drink. She'd just sneaked back later and had some anyway.
And the hope of morning makes me worth the fight, I will not be giving in tonight. Fawn
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Post by Fawn on May 18, 2017 21:13:19 GMT -5
48 Moons | RainClan | Tom | Senior Warrior He couldn't imagine himself ever enjoying such a nomadic lifestyle; sleeping someplace new every night... the loneliness of it. The views, at least, must've made it somewhat worth the hassle. Russethawk climbed a nearby boulder, using it as a vantage point as he gazed back over the valley. It was a fresh perspective on RainClan; the wooded cove really wasn't as impressive as the dense pine and oak forests of NightClan and TreeClan, but it was still an interesting sight.
"What did you do during greenleaf? Nothing like going for a nice swim to cool off," Russethawk mewed, getting down from his boulder. They were supposed to be hunting, he knew that, but he couldn't resist asking just one more question. And then one more. And possibly two more, if the first couple kept multiplying like he thought they might.
Russethawk's emerald green gaze rested on her. "Did you ever run into anyone out here? Other cats by themselves?" Russethawk would've hungered for the company; being out here, under such a dense feeling if isolation and... smallness, he appreciated his friends and what was left of his family that much more. The tightknit community, even with their recent civil war, was too hard to give up.
What kind of cats chose to live here willingly? Ones that didn't like others, or... was it mostly cats like Ashflight, who chose to distance themselves from others due to... guilt, or tragedy? These mountains were a lonely place, and represented lonely things, in Russethawk's mind. The river was noisy, ever-glowing - like a constant conversation. Here, apart from the occasional hawk screech, it was so quiet all he could hear were his own thoughts.
And that was not something he cared to dig too deeply into. She must move around a lot. Never settling in one place for long. While Ashflight answered, Russethawk turned his attention away from the scenery and onto the she-cat herself, taking stock of her face, and of the small scars and left-over reminders of a life spent just surviving.
Being a Clan cat was hard work, and had it's down sides, but Russethawk could comfortably acknowledge how luxurious his lifestyle seemed by comparison.
Word Count: 363 Words Tags: @zen
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 22:52:06 GMT -5
When the hope of morning starts to fade in me, I don't dare let darkness have its way with me...
Pausing as Russethawk climbed on top of a boulder to take in the view, Ashflight kept her eyes on the sky, beginning to more seriously look for signs of birds they could hunt. After all, if Russethawk had wanted to go for a nice stroll, staying in RainClan territory would have been the better option. Her ears twitched as he posed another question to her, “Greenleaf isn't normally that bad up here, especially the farther up you go. There's little to slow the wind and....” She gave a soft chuckle at herself, “When I first started living up here, I actually started to worry that it must be freezing like eternal leaf-bare in StarClan, because the closer I got to the sky, the colder it always got.”
When he climbed down from the boulder, she started walking again, but he had more questions. She purred in amusement, “You're like an apprentice out for your first day of training.” Her whiskers twitched as she turned her gaze back to the sky, “There are a lot more cats out here than you'd think, though I never understood WHY they stay here.... But, cats traveling alone up here... usually want to keep it that way.” Her ears twitched again, recalling numerous encounters that she had entered into, hoping only for a bit of company for a little while, only to come away with a new scar. Sure, there had been a couple cats that seemed to enjoy her company for a time, but they always parted from her before long, preferring their solitude in the long run, and they were far fewer and far between than the cats that wanted nothing to do with her to begin with.
“There are also a number of small groups living up here. Usually they seem to be small families, but they stake out little territories for themselves and usually don't travel too far except to hunt. They don't tend to like trespassers any more than the Clans do, either,” she let out a soft snort, and then laughed, “I guess I get why loners seem so baffled by how protective we are of our borders sometimes....” RainClan most of all, actually. A loner in their territory wasn't likely to steal their precious fish, after all, though if it was up to Ashflight, she would make sure every RainClan cat was better equipped to hunt on land than they were currently. As they crested a rise that dipped back down into something of a shallow, sandy clearing, a couple thrush could be seen pecking around in the sand below. Ashflight quickly ushered Russethawk back and crouched to peer over and down where the birds wouldn't notice them.
She watched them carefully for a long few moments, hoping they hadn't seen their sudden appearance. A couple of them had stopped their pecking and were looking around, clearly suspicious, but after nothing seemed amiss after all, they continued their foraging in the sand. She at last turned to look at Russethawk, her voice a whisper, “We've finally found something, so make sure you pay attention. Obviously, with any prey, you want to get as close as possible before you strike, but with birds you have about a heartbeat's extra time after they see you to get closer, because it takes them about that long to get off the ground. And then you better be close enough, or be a strong and accurate jumper. So you need to move slowly, extremely slowly, and up here you need to watch for loose pebbles that your steps can send clattering too. If they notice you, you move like your life depends on it.” Because up here, your life DID depend on catching that bird.
She flicked him with her tail as she started forward, “Stay here and watch. You can try next time.” She crouched as low to the ground as she could without her belly fur brushing it, her gaze flicking between the birds and the ground at her paws, careful of her steps and the loose pebbles she had already warned Russethawk about. She moved slowly, but fluidly, keeping her movements from seeming jumpy, which very well might alert her prey to her presence. When one bird paused and tilted its head her way, she paused as well, keeping her gaze fixed on the suspicious bird until it returned to its foraging. Moving forward again, she at last made it to the end of the descent, and the edge of the sand. The closest bird was still three bounds away. Not impossible if she was seen. She moved even slower, which perhaps a moment ago hadn't seemed possible, but only a couple steps into the sand and the birds finally spooked.
Sand spewed from her paws as she pushed herself forward, her target already flapping wildly to get airborn. As the thrush began to rise, Ashflight leapt in a display that made it clear why she had earned her particular warrior name, her hind legs bunching powerfully beneath her and launching her farther into the air than necessary. It was always better to overshoot than undershoot when going vertical, however, and she brought the thrush back down into the sand with her, quickly ending its life. She turned back to Russethawk, raising her tail for him to join her and setting the thrush at her paws.
And the hope of morning makes me worth the fight, I will not be giving in tonight. Fawn
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Post by Fawn on May 19, 2017 23:09:33 GMT -5
48 Moons | RainClan | Tom | Senior Warrior Russethawk felt as giddy as an apprentice watching his mentor hunt for the first time. Razorstar had been an expert fisher, and a fair hunter, but Razorstar didn't leap the way Ashflight could. The tom's emerald eyes, narrowed and fixed on the warrioress, suddenly widened at the way she soared through the air. The thrush was killed quickly and without error. Russethawk was too stunned to ask questions - but that hardly lasted very long.
"You're incredible," he mewed warmly, genuinely meaning it. "I'm going to warn you now, I can probably jump about half as high and half as far. But I'll give this a go. How do you bite through all those feathers?" And then the thrashing wings... It looked like he was going to get a mouthful of bird-fluff if he tried it. Oh well. He'd been a lousy but enthusiastic fisher as an apprentice - it usually took him a while to get really really good at something.
This would be a helpful skill to pick up. Especially for leafbare, when the river threatened to freeze over.
Unaccustomed to the mountains as he was, Russethawk still had enough sense in his head to be quiet and keep his senses open for prey. Sudden sounds in the rocks nearby caught Russethawk's ears, forcing them to swivel excitedly towards the source. There. It was... a tak tak tak noise. Holding up his tail for Ashflight's silence, Russethawk crept a few fox-lengths away to investigate.
Hunkering down low, he ignored the uncomfortable graze of loose stone on his mud-plastered belly fur. This all felt so unnatural, but he had to admit - it was great camouflage. Espying a small shape on the top of the rocks, Russethawk witnessed a song thrush trying to crack a snail against the sharp, lichen-splotched stones. Sorry to interrupt your breakfast, he inwardly snorted, and drew in as close as he could get without alerting it.
Being a RainClan cat used to staying still but acting fast when the moment required, his timing was... off.
Russethawk launched himself forward, hissing with annoyance as his back feet struck the rock awkwardly and he brought his front paws down a hare's length from the thrush, giving it ample time to fly away. He looked down at what it had left behind; the snail was trying its hardest to right itself and seek shelter. Very, very slowly. Russethawk gingerly tipped the snail right side up. The ruddy tom shook his head, embarrassed, and called down to Ashflight. "Caught a snail. Think the elders will accept that?"
The pads of his feet were smarting from the rough terrain, and he jumped back down to ground level with a wince. "Alright. I admit it, you're much tougher than I am." For now. He could get stronger. They could hunt in the mountains together... She might like that, right?
Somebody's got a crush, wheedled the voice in the back of his mind that he hadn't heard since apprenticeship. Oh shut up. He retorted, burning under his pelt. Could he blame himself, though? She was easily one of the most interesting cats he'd ever met. And he'd crossed enough borders and met enough cats to say something like that and mean it.
Word Count: 537 Words Tags: @zen
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2017 14:32:31 GMT -5
When the hope of morning starts to fade in me, I don't dare let darkness have its way with me...
Ashflight let out a soft mrrow of amusement as Russethawk spoke, moving quickly toward a small outcropping of rock to sit under cover with her prey, “It's not as though feathers are very thick, but they do tickle on your tongue and nose on occasion.” She settled herself down, keeping an eye on the sky for signs of danger as Russethawk turned, seeking out his own prey. She thought about his comment on his own jumping abilities and realized a tad late that they probably should have worked on that a little before she let him actually try to catch anything, but there was always a chance he would get lucky, and she could at least judge his approach if nothing else.
He raised his tail, alert and focused on something, and Ashflight made sure to stay still and quite while he sought out his prey. She watched him land awkwardly on the rocks and a bird burst into the sky in a panic. Her ears flicked, oh well, an apprentice rarely catches prey on their first try, why should this be any different? He remained where he was for a time and Ashflight became curious as to just what he was doing. She was about to head over and see when he called down to her instead about catching a snail. She blinked up at him in surprise, then laughed, “I think the elders would bat your ears. The kits might like it though.”
Her whiskers twitched with mirth as he leaped back down and she flicked her tail for him to join her in her little nook, “Come share this thrush with me, then we'll work on your jumping technique and just maybe you'll manage to catch something today.” She made room for him beside her and settled onto her belly to pull out some of the thrush's feathers, keeping them carefully tucked against her chest so they wouldn't get loose and alert some other predator to the presence of prey.
“Hey, maybe Rushwhisker and Bitternwing and... that friend of yours? Bravebird! Maybe they'd like to try hunting with us sometime, I've always wanted to try taking down a hawk or an eagle, but you need a group for that,” she explained excitedly. “It would be dangerous, but I spent a lot of time watching others take them down in the mountains, I'm pretty confident we could do it with minimal injury, and think of all the cats it would feed. We'd never go hungry during leafbare again if we could pull it off.” She looked over at him expectantly, wondering just what he thought of the idea.
And the hope of morning makes me worth the fight, I will not be giving in tonight. Fawn
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Post by Fawn on May 28, 2017 10:37:41 GMT -5
48 Moons | RainClan | Tom | Senior Warrior Russethawk hesitated. Not because he had a fear of small spaces - it was just a bunch of rocks - or because being so close to a she-cat made him nervous. He shared a den with a bunch of she-cats. No, what made him hesitate, was eating anything without taking something back to the Clan first. Well... We can catch something on the way back, reasoned the little voice in the back of his head that sometimes bullied his conscience out of the way.
She's already took out a chunk of feathers. They could enjoy their meal, then resume hunting. Even if he ended up with nothing to show for it, he was a great fisher, and could dredge up a few dace or minnows before the moon came out. Mind made up, the ruddy warrior quickly joined her, laughing at the feathers tucked against her chest. "You look like you're trying to join a flock. You're not going to start flapping and chirping, are you?" It was good to hear her laugh; she seemed freer up here. Happier.
Even as he teased her, it didn't take Russethawk more than a couple heartbeats to realize why she was keeping the feathers so close. The winds up here were strong, and if a bunch of feathers were blown over the rocks, that would startled some prey animals. Or tell some predators exactly where they were.
Cats weren't the only things that ate birds.
Having taken a bite of the thrush (it was a weird flavor, so different from fish but that wasn't bad), he nearly choked on it as Ashflight mentioned bringing down a hawk or an eagle. Somehow, he couldn't imagine Bitternwing trying to catch something with claws longer than hers. He chortled, swallowed, and finally freed up his mouth to answer. "Bravebird, yeah. I think that's a great idea. A little fishbrained, but great. Did you really see cats catch an eagle? You sure it wasn't just a really large crow?"
There was a note of awe in his voice. Being who he was and where he lived, catching eagles and hawks was something cats from the old Clans did. It wasn't possible nowadays, was it? The predators of the sky may as well have belonged to a different valley completely.
Oh yeah. Ashflight's plan was fishbrained, but if she said it could work... He grinned. "Tell you what? If you, me, Bravebird and Bitternwing all catch an eagle, I'll changing your bedding for a whole moon. If we fail spectacularly, you get to change my bedding for a whole moon." If the situation presented itself and she told him how it was done, he'd do his part to catch an eagle. But if it didn't go well, despite everything, he wouldn't have to worry about finding fresh moss for a while.
"And don't go putting thorns in it," he mewed, his playfully scolding tone matching the mischievous narrowing of his eyes. "I'll check."
Word Count: 492 Words Tags: @zen
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 13:18:48 GMT -5
When the hope of morning starts to fade in me, I don't dare let darkness have its way with me...
It took him a moment, but Russethawk finally joined her. She wondered briefly what his hesitation was about, but brushed it aside as he took a bite. She purred softly as he commented on her collection of feathers, “Hey, you're the one with 'hawk' right in your name.” She pulled out some more feathers before taking a bite of her own. She liked fish, in fact she had rather missed it after living in the mountains, but after eating for several days straight she'd begun to grow tired of having it EVERY day. She didn't know how every RainClan cat didn't eventually get sick at the sight of fish.
She wondered at how at ease she felt. Paranoia had stalked her every step while she lived in the mountains, but now that she was back with Russethawk, it was... nice. It was nice to be here, where she was confident in her abilities, where she knew what she was doing, where she wasn't crowded by cats on all sides.... She looked over at Russethawk. But she wasn't alone either. It was nice to share her world with someone, someone she could trust.
Her gaze narrowed slightly as he questioned the fact that she had seen cats bring down eagles and flicked him with her tail, “I know an eagle from a crow, fishbrain. A crow doesn't require four cats to bring it down, I don't care how big it is.” She took another bite, her fur ruffled in false indignity. She thought about the times she'd been lucky enough to see it happen, how the cats in the group had worked together to bring down prey so much larger than them, so dangerous. Ashflight erred on the side of caution most of the time, because daredevil stunts were idiotic not because she was afraid. She was a survivor, and survivors didn't go around pulling fishbrained stunts that could get them killed. But when the reward was worth the risk, she didn't mind taking the chance.
Ashflight studied her paws for a moment, “When I found groups up here... sometimes I stuck around for a while and followed them.... I just... liked watching them work together. It reminded me of home. And, sometimes when I watched them, I learned new things. Like how to catch eagles.” She looked to the north, “There's a group of cats that way somewhere that's really good at it. I stayed close to them for a long time, watching and trying to figure out how they did it. They used other prey as bait a lot,” her whiskers twitched and she turned back to him, “I thought they were quite clever.”
He offered her a wager and her gaze narrowed playfully, “Fine, but you better not sabotage us just so I have to change your bedding for a moon, or you WILL get thorns in your nest.” She took a final bite of thrush and stood, arching her back in a stretch, “Come on. We should probably head back, wouldn't want to stay too late and have you break your neck trying to get back to the valley in the dark. We can hunt a little more back in RainClan territory so we aren't heading back empty pawed, and we'll work on your jumping another day.” She flicked him playfully with her tail again, “We can pretty you back up, too.”
And the hope of morning makes me worth the fight, I will not be giving in tonight. Fawn(she may or may not have found the Tribe during her mountain travels lol)
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Post by Fawn on May 30, 2017 8:27:57 GMT -5
48 Moons | RainClan | Tom | Senior Warrior Russethawk didn't take too many more bites of thrush - he was too interested in her story to worry about food right now. It felt good to just rest his paws and talk, even if he did more listening than chattering. What she had to say was incredible; a group of cats living in the mountains that could take down an eagle? That they used prey as bait was really clever, and he nodded in full agreement.
"Wow. Kinda makes you wonder if there are other Clans like us out there. If I didn't think I'd get lost, I'd go look..." There was a wistful, faraway glint in his eyes, but this faded with a few heartbeats. He loved being a RainClan cat. He loved adventure and he loved exploring. But he also knew he couldn't have both; his reckless days of wandering were well behind him. It wasn't a cute, endearing trait from his kithood anymore.
It was irresponsible, especially since he had Berrypaw to train now. And a Clan to be a part of.
Still... maybe just once, they could visit these eagle-catching cats...
"Scratch my heart and hope to die," Russethawk retorted, unsheathing one claw and drawing it in an x-pattern over his chest. "I swear not to sabotage." As Ashflight rose and stretched, Russethawk took a moment to bury the remains of their meal. He didn't do anything about the feathers - they were leaving anyway. Maybe a scavenger would come by as soon as they were clear of the mountains, and have itself a feast of what was left of the thrush.
Russethawk mildly wondered how the snail was doing.
The playful flick of her tail brought him back to the present, and Russethawk grinned, pretending he wasn't lamenting the trek back. His paws were going to be screeching at him tomorrow. But more than that, he liked it up here. They hadn't been here for very long, but long enough for Russethawk to develop an appreciation of the mountainside. The wild, feral nature of a place where cats could catch eagles and the mountains seemingly rose up forever spoke to a romantic part of the ruddy warrior.
It was easy to imagine Ashflight out here, cleverly enduring in a territory that would probably shred most cats.
He purred. "Oh yeah? Something tells me I'd turn more heads if I showed up like this." They both looked ridiculous, but he liked it. When they began their descent, Russethawk kept up a good pace - with minimal wincing - and pretended to be completely fine every time she threw a glance his way. He wasn't going to seem like a soft-footed tom in front of her. He had his pride, after all.
With the sun at their backs, Russethawk took the lead, claiming to know a short-cut. The bed was softer in the willow stream; his already achy paws didn't want to deal with the stones and uneven surface of the riverbed. Russethawk's brightened gaze flitted to Ashflight, mischief forming in his head.
Oh, she was going to claw his ears off.
Worth it, he gloated, already picturing the outcome. As soon as she got close to the streambank, he was pushing her right in.
Word Count: 534 Words Tags: @zen
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