Just Hunting (OPEN)

Raindapple crouched in the undergrowth, her sapphire eyes wide as she watched the ferns for movement. Her legs were bunched underneath her thick tortoiseshell fur, ready to pounce on a moment's notice. This was her first hunt since becoming a queen; she wanted to take back at least one piece of freshkill. Her kits were old enough to be left alone for a while. So, while they were asleep, she asked one of the other queens to watch them while she hunted. Her body felt so stiff, as the only time she left her nest was to fetch freshkill. Which wasn't as often as one might have thought.

A small rustling of damp leaves made her ear twitch towards the sound. Her nostrils flared as she eagerly drank in the scents. Frog. Her lip curled at the thought of eating the slimy creature. But then there was another thought. There was no reason the she-cat could have a little fun, was there? Watching her kits play in the entrance to the nursery had made her nostalgic, yearning for the days of her own kithood when she used to leap and tackle her denmates. And then, when she finally caught the frog... She could always take it back to camp for the kits to play with.

She crouched lower, her belly fur brushing the wet earth as she tried to pinpoint it's position. There, Her eyes, round as the obscured moon above, slid to the side, where a dark green-brown creature was hopping lazily over the foliage. She barely breathed, sliding over the ground as silently and smoothly as the water flowed in the river. Her haunches twitched, her dappled tail held low but not low enough to touch the ground. She didn't unsheathe her claws, however much her instinct begged her to. She wanted the frog alive.

In one swift motion, she plunged out of the undergrowth and swiped her paw up, flipping the frog into the air. It gave a small, frightened noise as it plopped onto the ground, winded. Before it could hop away, Raindapple was upon it, batting gently at it's head and watching it close it's eyes to avoid getting the snow-white fur of her paws stuck there. She purred and crouched again, watching it intently. As soon as it caught it's breath, it hopped away about two mouse-lengths. She pounced, flattening the creature to the ground with her front paws. Tipping her head to the side, she stepped away so it could get up again. Which it did. But after a slightly longer amount of time. She picked it up gingerly in her jaws, careful not to pierce the scaly and gross-tasting skin with her teeth and she tossed it back to the ground. "Yuck!" she mewed, swiping one paw over her mouth to erase the taste.

She could just imagine the looks of scorn on her Clanmate's faces if they saw her playing with a frog. She could already hear the jeering cries of, "Go back to the nursery!" and "ThunderClan doesn't need warriors who aren't forest-born!" But hey! Even warriors needed to have fun sometimes.

Tigerblaze's soul floated out of his unconscious body momentarily and teleported over to Raindapple. He saw her crouching and leaping for a frog. Eh? Why would she want to hunt those smelly, slimy creatures? They're so gross...

Tigerblaze's transparent eyes widened when he saw her leap at the frog again. And again. He let out a girlish giggle and swooped down to the ground to nom the frog. "YOU'RE MINE NAOOOO!!!" 8D

Sunnyfern slapped Tigerblaze out of the way, sending his soul careening back into his half-dead body.

TAKE TWO

Sunnyfern padded out of camp to escape the gloominess. The whole camp seemed to be brooding about leaving the forest, and she had to escape the bleak atmosphere. Her bright ginger pelt was dark in the night, the faint moonlight barely lighting up the white patches as she gave a soft sigh and started racing through the trees with graceful speed, her path well-memorized.

For some reason, her paws took her to a deeper part of the forest, where the undergrowth was thicker and tugged at her fur, making her wince when it tore away tiny bits of her brightly-coloured pelt. She frowned and continued on, trying to evade the grasping thorns. The forest floor seemed to always be wet with relentless, stupid rain. Rain, rain, rain... all day. Yuck.

Suddenly, a large, slippery, and unexpected puddle of mud gave way under her paws. Giving a yelp that she vainly tried to stifle, she stumbled and the thick, wet mud sent her sliding into a very beaten-looking frog. "Ugh!" She cried, batting the offending creature away with a forepaw. Stupid, stupid, mouse-brained, stupid, idiotic, horrifying, disgusting, ugly, stupid, stupid, doltish, moronic, stupid, puerile, stupid frog! What's this nasty ShadowClan gunk doing here anyways? She hissed in her mind, letting her shocked and slightly stereotypical thoughts penetrate her mind.

"StarClan, I manage to get away from that StarClan-forsaken camp, and the night just gets worse..." The she-cat grumbled, unhappily noting her mud-caked fur and the limp, feebly stirring frog lying a fox-length away from her and...

Embarrassment burned her ears. "Hi, Raindapple." WHY, STARCLAN?! She screeched internally.

OOC: ... either this is the curse of having had no muse for the past who-can-remember, or too much muse than I know what to do with. XD

Raindapple froze, her pelt blazing with embarrassment of her own. "Hey, Sunnyfern," she managed cheerfully. "What are you doing out here?" Oh wait. DUH we're leaving in three days! She must be hunting.

"Oh, just hunting. Since we're both out, want to come?" Sunnyfern improvised, far too busy worrying about the frog and her mud-covered pelt to notice whatever the other she-cat's problem. She quickly smoothed down her ruffled pelt and smiled at Raindapple, trying to ignore the mud that was stiffening and caking her fur, the coldness seeping through her fur.

"Sure!" she mewed quickly, smiling. Raindapple shook the rain from her tortoiseshell fur and stood up, surveying her Clanmate. She was muddy. "Fall?" she asked, her voice amused.

"I'd say so." Swifttalon said as he padded up behind them. "You should be quieter. I didnt even need to be stealthy. You'll scare all the prey from here to camp. Well, since i'm already here, i guess we could all hunt together."


OOC: I finally got some muse :)

Raindapple looked up as Swifttalon came along, almost hoping it was Leopardstrike. She was sure disappointment crossed her features when she saw it wasn't her love, that it was another warrior instead. That didn't help the resentment in his voice. She cringed. "Er, sorry." she mewed. Then she nodded. "Yes, let's hunt together."

The ginger she-cat felt her ears prickle. "Yeah. The rain'll probably wash it off though." She said, trying to keep her tone nonchalant.

She bristled slightly and narrowed her eyes at the newcomer. "Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do, Swifttalon." She mewed coldly, barely keeping the hiss out of her voice. Oh sure, just come and invite yourself without asking if you can, you arrogant, egotistic tom.

Without waiting for an answer, Sunnyfern picked up her pace and left him behind, disappearing into the shadows of the trees.

OOC: So museless... I started this and then I had to go... and now I completely forgot what I was going to write... but oh well. X3