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Post by Fawn on Jul 14, 2018 0:59:24 GMT -5
Leafbare y5, Day 19: Snow covers the valley, but the skies are clear and blue, the temperature chilly but not unbearable. Despite the snow, it is a decent day for hunting. Leaf-fall felt long gone. Chunks of snow floated on the surface of the camp stream, and collected on his whiskers when he stopped to lap at the water. It was more muddled with winter than the great river that flowed through the valley, and he was grateful he wasn't crouched on the cold, muddy banks, trying to catch fish.
Instead, the ruddy warrior, his coat showing bright against the browns and grays of a forest in leafbare, was hunting land prey. It was touch-and-go, but he didn't give up easily; not when there were mouths to feed (like Lotuswhisker's brood and Lilystream's two young kits). Triumphant, Russethawk sent a grinning, grateful prayer up into the snow-swirled sky for the piece of fresh kill now trapped between his paws.
It was a male cardinal, with striking red plummage and enough meat on it to make for a few full kit bellies. His pride took a hit, as Russethawk realized he wouldn't be able to bring the fresh kill right to Ashflight like he'd initially planned. It needed to go to the elders' den and nursery instead. Russethawk looked down at the dead bird, reluctant to bring it back to camp - and feeling bad for that reluctance.
When had a she-cat's opinion suddenly mean more to him than taking care of the Clan? I know when, Russethawk realized with a soft squeeze of his heart. When they went into the mountains, and he managed to epically catch a snail instead of a thrush. Sitting beside her on the rocky slope, in a fresh environment with a cat he found himself enamored with... Yes, that was when.
Russethawk scooped up a pawful of snow and generously rubbed it onto his face - trying to get himself to snap out of all these distracting lovesick thoughts. Get a grip, Russethawk. Just show her the feathers and bring the prey back! Simple, right? Or it should have been.
Jeez... He pictured her appearing out of the snowy woods, smelling like the mountain air and with a no-doubt impressive catch of her own. Would she care, that he'd been practicing how to catch birds? Would she be at least a little impressed with the result? Or did he have to work harder, to catch the attention of someone like Ashflight?
StarClan, he was overthinking this.
As if he could muffle the cacophony of thoughts filling up his skull, Russethawk took a rabbitlength of a step from the cardinal, and abruptly stuck his face into a snowbank. Maybe a little brain-freeze would finally give him some peace!
329 Words || @zen |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2018 1:36:24 GMT -5
I need a family to drive me crazy,
call me out when I'm low and lazy...
With the coming of leafbare Ashflight ranged farther to hunt. Most Clan cats didn't leave their borders, even when what lay beyond was unclaimed and neutral territory. Ashflight planned to take advantage of territory not overhunted by an entire Clan, however. There was no reason not to. She couldn't get in trouble for hunting on no one's territory. She was also in her element. Her pelt may be short, but it was dense, and seasons weathering winter in the mountains made the valley's winter tame by comparison. But winter was when her fur blended in better with her surroundings. With white covering most of her coat, the tabby patches looked like nothing more than brown exposed earth or rocks, uncovered in the snow. Sure, a pure white cat would have more luck, but it had worked well to her advantage every previous leafbare and she didn't imagine this one would be any different.
Her venture beyond the border had proved quite a success. She carried a decent sized grouse and a chickadee as she made her way back toward home, crossing the familiar scent line. She would have stayed out to hunt more, but grouse were large birds and she would have had to make another trip to carry back anymore prey. As it was, she pretty sure the chickadee was slipping out of her teeth while she focused on carrying the piece of prey with more meat on it. Safely back in RainClan territory, she set down her catch to rest her jaw for a moment, readjusting both before picking them back up and carrying on toward camp.
The sight that greeted her on the way had her dropping her prey again, however. She paused, ears twitching as she took on the scene in front of her. It was very clearly Russethawk. She'd know that pelt anywhere, even with his head buried in snow. Was he stuck? Somewhat concerned, she left her catch where she'd dropped it and padded over, “Russethawk? Are you all right? Do... you need help?” Maybe he'd been chasing some prey and gotten himself caught somehow? She couldn't imagine why else he'd have his head in a snowbank.
It won't be perfect, but we'll be fine,
'cause I've got your back, and you've got mine. Fawn Found another SONG
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Post by Fawn on Jul 26, 2018 7:01:50 GMT -5
“Russethawk? Are you all right? Do... you need help?”
Clumps of snow flung every which way as Russethawk appropriately jerked his head out of the snowbank. He found an expression between a grin and a grimace; his ears felt like they were on fire, though his nose was very cold.
"Oh you know, I was just--" Russethawk couldn't think of anything witty or charming to say. The snow had slowed down his thoughts like he'd wanted, but that meant they were sluggish to come up with his usual cheeky oneliners. "Er, never mind."
Great, she'd shown up just in time to see him looking like a complete fishbrain. Russethawk suppressed a groan, gave himself a good shake, and tried to regain his sense of self. "Good timing," he lied. "I have something to show you."
Ashflight smelled just like he'd thought she would, and his heart jumped, overjoyed despite his embarrassment at her unexpected arrival. With a flourish, Russethawk hooked the cardinal's limp body in his claws and brought it to her. "Better than a snail, wouldn't you agree? You can use the feathers in your nest. They'd look nice and keep you warm." Like me, chimed a juvenile voice in his head that for some reason thought this was a great pickup line.
He had gained some sense over the moons, and Russethawk wisely let that comment go. The last thing he wanted was to scare her away or freak her out by being too forward. She might not have laughed. Or worse, she would have laughed and told him quite frankly, in your dreams. Which was worse?
StarClan, as if he knew.
274 Words || @zen Phoenix (so you can laugh at him)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2018 20:17:29 GMT -5
I need a family to drive me crazy,
call me out when I'm low and lazy...
Nope, not stuck. Russethawk pulled himself out of the snowbank so abruptly he sent snow flying. His expression was... confusing, in Ashflight's opinion, and she could only stare at him and wait for some sort of explanation. If he hadn't been stuck, then why had he had his head in the snow? He didn't seem inclined to give one, however, and she shook her head in baffled amusement, “You are the strangest cat I've ever met.”
“Good timing, I have something to show you.”
Good timing? Was it? Her whiskers twitched with humor as she couldn't help but glance at the small hole his head had left in the snow, gesturing toward it with one paw, “Well I'm not sticking my head in the snow if that's what you wanna show me.”
Instead, the ruddy tom brought her a cardinal, and she was surprised at the strange emotions that arose as he presented to her and suggested she use the feathers in her nest. He looked so pleased about his catch, so happy to have something to offer her, she didn't quite know how to respond. “Ah...,” she blinked, inwardly annoyed at herself and trying to shake it off, “Yeah.” She laughed then as she recalled his glorious catch of a snail in the mountains from their first outing. “Far better than a snail,” she agreed with an amused purr.
She still wasn't used to this, to other cats being so thoughtful toward her, and something about this seemed mildly different from the usual Clan camaraderie. She tried to ignore the strange feeling, even as Lotuswhisker's words from a few seasons back suddenly sounded in her head, the insinuation that she would be joining the queen in the nursery soon. Lotuswhisker was just reading too much into it. That's what she'd thought then, anyway, but....
“Erm, great catch! Maybe you'll be a decent bird hunter yet,” her whiskers twitched again as she teased him, then she tilted her head slightly, “Are you going to put any feathers in your nest? It's your catch.” She'd never really thought about lining her nest with cardinal feathers before. In the mountains it would be completely stupid to advertise your nesting place with bright feathers like that, but now that she was back in RainClan, where decorating the dens and nests was commonplace and sleeping surrounded by a Clan full of trained warriors meant safety, she supposed it wouldn't hurt?
It won't be perfect, but we'll be fine,
'cause I've got your back, and you've got mine. Fawn
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Post by Fawn on Aug 3, 2018 4:54:48 GMT -5
"Nah," said Russethawk, nudging the cardinal towards her as though to make it clear it was for her. Ashflight, despite having been with them for a pawful of moons now, still slept by the entrance to the warriors' den. It wasn't a very well insulated place, and with the pretty tabby and white she-cat lacking the more luxurious fur of some of their Clanmates, he... worried about her. Like a fishbrain. She probably didn't even notice the cold. Somehow, she had lived in the mountains for so long, and he knew without having to ask that winter was inescapable up there.
"These are for you. Besides, I'm gonna line my nest with that eagle we still need to catch." The ruddy warrior grinned, hoping his jovial nature would help ease some of her awkwardness. Had he made a mistake, giving her the cardinal? Had he been too forward? Russethawk didn't want to backpedal. He really had thought she might like to line her nest with them; a lot of RainClan cats made a habit of decorating their bedding, but not Ashflight.
She wasn't likely to do any decorating herself, so it was up to him to remind her to pamper herself from time to time. It was a pretty foreign concept, but that was all part of their friendship; sharing things, exchanging new ideas and enjoying the similarities.
Russethawk's expression gentled, and he eased into a sit to better keep his paws warm, gaze still on her. Not for long, though; something caught the warrior's attention - as evidenced by the twitching whiskers and subtle tilt of his head.
"I know we're having a really nice moment, and we can go back to that in just a heartbeat - but what is that?" Russethawk extended a paw to the strange mass of feathers she'd brought with her. It was a bird, obviously, but he'd never seen one like this before. It smelled, unsurprisingly, of the mountainside. A spark of humor lit up Russethawk's gaze, and he fixed her with a mock expression of hurt. "Aw come on, we were supposed to take down an eagle together."
Obviously it wasn't an eagle. It looked like something eagles ate.
366 Words || @zen || Notes: Song! |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2018 16:27:34 GMT -5
I need a family to drive me crazy,
call me out when I'm low and lazy...
Ashflight laughed as Russethawk insisted he was going to use eagle feathers in his own nest, “You're counting your prey before it's caught now, aren't you?” But still, the thought of some day soon bringing down an eagle with the tom was something she was really looking forward to. They would have to take a few other cats with them of course, but they'd figure that out when they were more ready to try it. Her whiskers twitched in amusement and she couldn't help teasing him, “I hope you don't think that just because you managed to catch a cardinal you're ready to take on an eagle.”
She glanced down at the bright red bird again. He was clearly adamant that the feathers were for her. “Thank you, for offering me the feathers.... Maybe after we get back to camp, you could help me add them to my nest?” A moment too late she wondered about what could be insinuated from that offer. She'd often been witness to mates surprising each other with new decorations in their nests, or working on decorating their shared nests together, during her time back in RainClan. “I just-I'm not sure-I don't really know... decorating a nest isn't really something I...,” her tail lashed a few times behind her as she stammered and tried to get herself under control. Stop being so ridiculous!
She cleared her throat, “I've never really done it before, is all.” As he had done, she tried for a little humor to get past whatever that had been, poking fun at herself this time, and amused purr roughing her tone, “I'd probably just dump the feathers in the middle and call it good if left to do it myself.” She didn't consider it asking for help, which was something the she-cat generally had trouble doing, but just another exchange between them. They were constantly learning from each other. There was always an equivalent exchange between them, even if it wasn't always right away. It was part of what made her more comfortable around him. There was no feeling of owing him anything as they each shared ideas and skills freely. That was what a Clan did, she knew, but the civil war and her own family betrayals left Ashlight with a lackluster sense of trust for a number of her Clanmates.
Then he noticed her grouse. She followed his gesture to the bird, further amused, “Have you ever even seen an eagle before?” She padded over to pick up both her mountain catches, carrying them back to set beside his cardinal, “It's a dusky grouse. They're odd birds. They move their nests farther UP the mountain during winter, instead of down as good sense would dictate. I guess it does help them escape predators that don't wanna deal with the harsher conditions higher up though.” She shrugged, “The trek up is usually worth it, they're not too difficult to catch and always made for a few good meals when I was on my own. You just gotta find them first. Anywhere with a litter of pine needles is a good place to start.”
It won't be perfect, but we'll be fine,
'cause I've got your back, and you've got mine. Fawn
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Post by Fawn on Nov 26, 2018 20:14:48 GMT -5
"I'd love to-"
Ashflight stammered over him, and Russethawk couldn't help gawking at her sudden awkwardness. He couldn't help it. She was adorable when she wasn't quite so calm and composed; he felt warmth spread from the end of his nose to the tip of his tail, half-hearing her over the buzzing in his chest.
Her purr pulled him back to center, and he grinned. "I've seen cats called eagle but not eagles caught by cats." So no, he'd never seen an eagle up close, but he could recognize the shape of them in the sky (sort-of), and it was clear from the grouse-thing's ... weird bulbous feathery body, it was no eagle. Ruddy ears pricked, this time making sure to catch what Ashflight said as she gave him a brief info-dump all about the dusky grouse. Russethawk shook his head, marveling. StarClan, had she figured all that out by herself? Just by surviving in the mountains? He was in awe of her, and yet the first few prickles of self-consciousness began to tickle the back of Russethawk's thoughts. What if she thought he was... lame?
He swallowed that sudden dip in confidence, green eyes brightening. "Hey, don't tell the rest of the Clan, but it's probably better that you know how to catch mountain birds than decorate your nest. You can leave the decorating to me." Russethawk gently pawed at the plump body of the cardinal, something on his mind. "If you ever want to move your nest to a warmer spot, I can make some room."
Russethawk's heart took off like a prey animal, and he gulped, afraid it would leap out of his mouth if he didn't watch it closely. He cleared his throat, flashing a second grin as his first line of defense in awkward situations. "Only if you want to - think about it, or - or don't, that's okay too. I just want you to know the option's there." Russethawk gently tapped her nose with the end of his tail.
Some mature component of Russethawk's brain, the part that was watching all of this with mounting horror, kicked in too late. StarClan, what was he doing? Russethawk hastily swept his tail away from her, flustered by that almost kittenish display of affection.
"Aaaanyway," he drawled out the word, stepping back as he did so. "Need some help carrying your prey back?"
394 Words || @zen || Notes: Thread wrap up? |
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