[Deleted]

Leaf-bare had been harder than Minkfire could ever remember it being. Not that she had seen many leaf-bares in her relatively young life. It had been days since she or Tadpole had managed to catch anything to eat. The blizzard that had raged through the valley had been the start of it. It had been all but impossible even get out to hunt for a couple days after, and when they could finally brave the elements to try, it seemed no prey animals were stupid enough to come out of hiding just yet. She was absolutely starving. She couldn’t remember ever going this long without food before. Even during leaf-bare in StoneClan, every cat got at least a little bite to eat, even during the toughest times. Everyone shared so everyone got something. Out here it was just the two of them, and neither of them had had any luck at all. There was nothing to share.

Not to mention how exhausting hunting was getting. She blamed the blizzard and the cold for that, on top of not eating for days, but each of her ventures out of their den seemed to get a little shorter each time as she found it hard to catch her breath after too much activity. In a foul mood and empty pawed, she returned to the den she shared with Tadpole once again and crawled inside to flop gracelessly onto her side. Her stomach protested and she growled back, “Shut up. You’re not helping!” It seemed Tadpole was still out hunting. She prayed to StarClan that he would find something. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could go on like this. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again she wasn’t entirely certain if she had fallen asleep for a while or if only a few heartbeats had passed. There was sound outside the den and… the scent of freshkill!

She was on her paws in an instant, pushing out into the open to see Tadpole, sure enough with prey in his jaws. She purred, her tail curling over her back, “You caught something! Thank StarClan,” the relief was clear in her voice, her mouth watering at the very idea of finally being able to eat something.

Taxx I imagine it's probably just a scrawny mouse barely good for more than a few mouthfuls so he's a tad more justified in being like lol I'm not sharing get your own x'D

Leaf-bare 23 - Daylight rolls by with miserably overcast skies looming over the valley. Winds are light, but steadily begin to rise as night falls.

[Taxx]

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

Leafbare was always the hardest season, especially for a cat on their own. Tadpole had always stood for himself- just himself. This was nothing new to him, periods of hunger when everything seemed to be against you and hunting was impossible. But storms ended and there was prey, if you could find it and catch it. Which Tadpole had been lucky enough to, this morning. It was a scrawny, half-starved creature itself, barely more than a couple mouthfuls for an adult, but the taste flooded over his tongue and he had every intention of enjoying it.

He would have gulped it down right after he'd caught it, if the skies had been clear, but the last thing he wanted was to risk getting rained on and getting sick. So he'd picked up his barely-a-meal and headed back, trotting across the empty, snow-covered landscape back toward his den. The comforting warmth enveloped him as he slipped inside, shaking off the last of the cold as Minkfire rose from their nest, speaking with relief about his kill. Tadpole blinked at her, momentarily confused before setting the mouse down and resting a paw on it, claws unsheathed to make it clear his claim.

"Yes, I did. If you follow my scent, you'll find where I made the kill. There might be others there that you can catch, to eat. They're not very plump, but anything's better than nothing."
@zen

Tadpole

Loner

[Deleted]

Minkfire stared blankly at the tom for a long moment at Tadpole’s defensive behavior, like he was protecting his kill from being stolen by another loner, and it took her a moment for it to sink in that she was the other loner. He couldn’t be serious. He was just messing with her, surely? She laughed, “Stop joking around, I’m starving.”

But then he suggested she follow his scent trail to find something for herself and her relief drained away. Her icy blue eyes narrowed, ears flattening against her skull, tail lashing side to side as the fur along her spine rose, “Just what do you mean by that? You’re really not going to share with me? If I’d caught something I’d share with you! The whole point of being with other cats is to help each other.”

Her hunger was feeding her anger as she advanced stiffly toward the gray tom, “It was all fun up to now, until things got hard, and now that they are you’re just going to sit there and watch me starve?” Beneath the fury was a dull sort of ache in her chest. She had been having a great time with Tadpole, thought maybe she could stay with him forever, having fun every day doing whatever they wanted. But if this was how he was going to act when things got hard, she wasn’t so sure anymore. Did he even care about her at all?

Taxx

[Taxx]

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

Minkfire reacted with anger, growling at him in a demand to share, accusing him of treachery. Tadpole blinked at her, his own tail beginning to twitch even though he kept his posture relaxed, gazing down at the she-cat as she stood in front of him, gaze burning back at him. Paw still holding the mouse firm, Tadpole snorted in reply.

"You'd let yourself go hungry for the sake of sharing? This puny thing is already hardly a meal; splitting it between us would make the effort I spent in catching it all but pointless. You're a capable hunter, Minkfire, go catch your own." The slightest bristle of his fur down his spine, the lash of his tail the other way as he continued: "You came to me. You ran from your Clan and we stayed together because I liked you. But I am not from your Clan and I won't play the part of one of them. This is what it means to be a loner, Minkfire. The reality of it isn't nearly as much fun as you imagined, is it?"

What did she expect, that he'd cater to her? Hunt for her at the cost of his own empty belly? He wouldn't. For most of his life- since Scratch had died- Tadpole had only stood for himself, and no matter how much he liked Minkfire, he wasn't going to change that for her. A loner would understand. A Clan cat? Clearly thought they were entitled to more. "It was all fun up until now, wasn't it? Until things got hard and you realized this life isn't as soft as the one in your Clan?"
@zen

Tadpole

Loner

[Deleted]

Her stomach twisted painfully, from hunger and from something else, as Tadpole spoke, telling her again to go catch her own food. Her tail continued to lash behind her as the tom went on and she wondered what had ever possessed her to leave her family for the most selfish cat she’d ever met in her life. She spat, bristling, “No wonder you’re a loner. What other cat could stand to be around a selfish foxheart like you?” She had left everything behind only to get this in return? Up until this point she had done her best not to think too much about her family, but she suddenly felt more homesick than she had ever thought possible. She wanted to curl up beside her father and, even if StoneClan was having as difficult a time hunting as she and Tadpole were, she wanted to share a stupid scrawny mouse with him. She would give anything for it. Everything she’d given up became so glaringly apparent and she fought back the tears that burned at the corners of her eyes because StarClan forbid this stupid tom ever see her cry.

"It was all fun up until now, wasn't it? Until things got hard and you realized this life isn't as soft as the one in your Clan?"

She snarled, lashing out with one paw to slap him right in the face, “Sacrifice for those you care about is not soft, it’s brave, and it’s something you’ll NEVER understand you cowardly little rat!” Her father’s sacrifice to save her life was in the fore of her mind. And how had she repaid him for his lost life? She couldn’t hold the tears back anymore, so she closed her eyes tightly and shoved past Tadpole, rushing out of the den and just running with no clear destination in mind. All she knew was that she wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

Taxx