[Hellion]

A rare beautiful day had eased Asepnfire's sore paws. Reinvigored the TreeClan tom cat. Eating a small meal to prepare himself for another trek along the river to find some sign of his mother, Hawkchaser approached him. He pulled Aspenfire aside. Hawkchaser mentioned the near constant trips to the river. He attempted to reason with Aspenfire that running himself ragged searching for his mother would only hurt him. Aspenfire wanted to growl back that finding his mother was the most important thing to him.

In a kind gesture, Hawkchaser nudged the black and white tom-cat. "She will be found, but you can't keep risking your life for her. What if you were lost and she came back. Imagine her pain. Why don't you go hunting with Redbird, focus on something else? If you still have energy after that I'll join you. We can walk to RainClan if you are up to it,"

Aspenfire studied the older tom, attempting to judge if his promise would be kept. "Fine, I'll see you after hunting," He promised, turning toward the warrior's den. Following through with asking Redbird to join them. The two warriors ventured out.

Quiet throughout the hunt, Aspenfire quickly wandered off on his own to find prey. Not bothering to include Redbird in partner hunting. Meeting up with the ginger-red she-cat, he dropped his caught mouse in the space between them. "Let's head back. Hawkchaswer owes me something," Aspenfire's words came out tense. Nervous energy bubbling up in his belly, forcing his tail to flick rapidly back and forth. A bundle of frayed nerves.

33 Moons TreeClan Tom

Aspenfire

Honesty has a power very few people can handle

## @hostie Notes:

[Ghost the Undead Goddess]

Redbird

Treeclan 36 Moons She-Cat

The pretty ginger she-cat had been concerned for her clanmate the moment they padded out of camp after being called together to go hunting. He didn't seem to be fully focused on the task as they padded through the dense forests and then he parted from her without a word to go about his own business.

Apparently hunting by herself, the warrioress made her way silently through the underground as she parted her jaws to catch some sort of taste of prey. Luckily it didn't take the Somali she-cat long to pick up the familiar scent of mouse before the gray rodent made it's presence known. A quick pounce broke it's tiny body under her larger one as a bite to the throat finished the job without a squeal to alert other rodents or birds nearby.

Burying the mouse and making a mental note to return for it, the ginger coated she-cat continued on with success as she took down a small raven before finding another mouse to complete her hunt. Even though it was Leaf-Fall, it seemed that luck was on her side as she would be returning to camp with full jaws. The queens and elders would be pleased with full bellies before times grew harder with Leafbare approaching, rather quickly for her liking too.

Returning to where her original mouse was, Redbird was greeted by the returning form of Aspenfire as he dropped his own mouse near her small pile of fresh-kill. One of her ears flickered at the sharp tone coming from the tom, though it didn't seem to bother the she-cat too much. She was well aware of the fact that his mother, Moonfeather, was currently missing. She couldn't even imagine how frantic and worried her fellow warrior was at the moment, Redbird could possibly imagine loosing Silverflower without a trace.

Flickering her plume tail, Redbird dismissed the tone of his voice before responding with her calm rasp. "Why don't we go check along the river before returning home?" It couldn't hurt anyways and she was sure that was what Aspenfire would much rather be doing that being out hunting with her. Redbird wasn't about to let him go alone though, not since the area near the river was still slightly dangerous due to the swollen river days previous. Not to mention the chance of them running into the tom's missing mother.

403 Words  Hellion  Notes

[Hellion]

Staring down at Redbird's decent fresh-kill pile, Aspenfire's confidence dropped. While he didn't usually compare himself to clanmates, it happened all too quickly for him to stop. The sheer number of fresh-kill items was proof enough of how painfully distracted he had become. Lacking the focus to hunt showed in the meager mouse he added to the pile.

Dejected, Aspenfire's ears perked at the mention of the river. Studying the she-cat's expression, Aspenfire tilted his head to the side. Curious as to why she offered.

The majority of the Clan had urged him to give up the search, but here stood Redbird suggesting the go check. Unwilling to give up the chance to do so, Aspenfire nodded.

"Thank you" He muttered, waiting long enough for each of them to bury their kills. Aspenfire set off. He traveled in a nearly direct path to the river, pausing just before cresting the slight dip in the ground before the river's edge. "I appreciate you coming, everyone is telling me to stop looking but I can't just stop. No matter what," The urge to explain himself outweighed his previous brooding. Fully-extending his claws to use as traction, Aspenfire skirted down the embankment. He waited at the water's edge for Redfire to join him.

33 Moons TreeClan Tom

Aspenfire

Honesty has a power very few people can handle

#225 Ghost the Undead Goddess Notes: