The Blind Hunter

Cloudfrost padded out of camp,feeling the rain instantly spatter his coat with dark specks. He smelled the fresh,rain scented breeze,searching for a clue of where to hunt for today. He caught the scent,a muse,and dropped his nose,concentrating. To the left,five paces. he calculated,opening startling blue eyes,although he knew he couldn't see the small creature. He stalked forward,using his ears to exact the mouse's location. If I go through those ferns,it'll hear me, he thought,steering clear of the fresh smelling plant. He was so close now that he could hear the pulse of a tiny heart,hear the rapid fluttering of the prey breathing. His mouth watered. You can do it...he reminded himself,bunching his haunches. "Gotcha,"he whispered,pouncing. He felt the scrape of his claws on bone,and knew he had it. The mouse gave a dieing shudder,and fell limp.

Nightstar marched on the outskirts of ShadowClan territory, obeying the borders, but something was wrong. He looked slightly distressed and exhausted. Like he hadn't slept for days. His son, his apprentice, and most of all his blind child that he held nearest and dearest. Was gone. And Cloudpaw too. Cloudpaw was only a few days from being a warrior too, and Hollowpaw hadn't even gotten one training session. He was starting to think that FireClan might of stolen him, and he didn't want to venture through WolfClan so he was heading down a thin border that was the easiest way to get to FireClan when heard a few noises. "Great..." the small black cat meowed.

*munches popcorn*

Cloudfrost picked up the limp mouse,and heard something with his acute hearing. He stalked forward,his icy eyes blazing. "Who's there?"he asked in a growl,making sure it was loud. Although he couldn't see,he could sense the presence of another tom. Not ShadowClan. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Nightstar's eyes turned and he glared at the new cat. Blind... He could see by the hollow look in his eyes. Much like his own sons. "Greetings, I'm not looking for trouble. Just looking for my son." he meowed, he wondered if this cat even knew the DarKClan scent.

Cloudfrost could feel this new cat's gaze,hot on his fur. He sniffed the air warily,then turned to face him again. "I haven't seen your son,"he growled,his claws sliding out. The mouse fell to the ground,forgotten. "I would have noticed had he gone this way. What are you doing here,Nightstar?"he told the new cat,a cold tone to his voice.

"Well, I know you haven't seen him. But you may have heard him or scented him." he meowed to the older tom, flicking his tail in his direction. "No need to be grouchy, Blind one." he purred calmly, notice the unsheathed claws and ignoring them completely. Nightstar didn't start fights. They came to him.

Cloudfrost stiffened. "Nightstar,"he growled,a deep rumble deep in his throat. "I notice all things in ShadowClan,"he finished,narrowing his sightless eyes. He flicked his long tail at the scent markers without having to scent them. "As you can tell,I patrol this border often." The blackness only he could see was being tainted by red,fury Cloudfrost guessed. He stalked up to the very tip of the border,to "look" Nightstar in the eyes. "I don't care if you are DarkClan's leader. Don't cross this border,or your a dead cat." and he turned away,ready to just go back to camp and be done with this foolish cat.

"Oh really? What could a blind tom do to me?" He asked jumping across the border and wrinkling his nose at the ShadowClan stench, but what could he expect from toad eating scum. They were all useless. His pelt wasn't even bristling and he could tell this cat was afraid of him. He would love to send him away with a few limps or blood. Of course, he could kill him, and blame it on those Wolves.

Cloudfrost whirled,his eyes sparkling with fury. "Grrrrr...."he snarled,crouching. He leaped,swiping the air,already pinpointing his enemy. "I'll show you that a blind cat has more worth than being a medicine cat!"he spat,raking his claw blindly through the air.

Nightstar merely smirked, he dropped down onto his back, and unsheathed his claws holding all four up so that Cloudfrost would land with on top of Nightstar with his claws driving into Cloudfrosts stomach. It was a move that Tigerstar had taught him when he was Nightpaw, and there was a lot more to come since he had still trained under him as Nightcloak.

Cloudfrost felt the air whoosh from his lungs as he landed on outstretched paws. He aimed quickly,swiping down below while he bit down on one of the paws clawing his belly,feeling fur in his claws.

Nightstar, though small in stature was an impressively strong tom. As a long gash was raked from hear to his temple, he bit hard into what he imagined to be his enemies paw. And if this worked, he would use his strength the toss the tom to the right, and away from him, possibly leaving a gash on his stomach from where his claws had been. "You can't beat me, blind one."

Cloudfrost hissed in pain,flying away from Nightstar. He got up,his paw and belly bleeding. He didn't reply to Nightstar's taunt,instead dartig at him to bite his foreleg,or what he imagined was his foreleg.

As the fangs stabbed into Nightstar's leg, Nightstar screeched wheeling around with outstretched claws to bowl Cloudfrost over and attack him with quick slashes to his stomach and chest in a ball of black fur.

He could feel the pain,but Cloudfrost put all his strength into a blow aimed at Nightstar's head. "Garrrroff!"he screamed,feeling claws rake his belly. He grabbed Nightstar's head with both paws to scrabble at it with his back paws.

Nightstar rolled to the side following Cloudfrost's brute shot with his paw. He rolled on the ground avoiding any grabs or claw scratches. "Hmph. Is that all you got?" he murmured flicking his tail with boredom at the blind tom. "How did you ever become a warrior?"

Cloudfrost howled in fury,and pounced,hopefully landing on Nightstar's shoulders. "I will not lose!"he snarled,his long fur matted with blood. He felt fur under his claws and dug them in deeper,aiming to bite down on Nightstar's neck for a death blow.

Tigerstar had taught him his next attack, he stepped back as Cloudfrost sailed through the air, and leaped with all his might, sailing with both paws pointed forward to embed his claws into his chest, in mid-air a clash that would also leave Nightstar with a few scars, but none as serious as Nightstar's attack. If this succeeded this battle was over.

Cloudfrost huffed as claws jabbed his chest,feeling the air whoosh from his lungs. He felt extreme pain,and as a final attack,kicked out as strong as his weakening body could,with his claws unsheathed. With any luck,the still air-borne Nightstar would be hit in the belly and be injured twice,knocked to the ground with a strong force.

Nightstar crashed to the ground, staying stunned for a split second, with no beating or movement at all. But slowly, his chest began to rise and fall. He limped upright, "Hm... All nine lives in tact, and one blind tom, down for good." His claws flashed in the slim light, and bloody talons flashed towards the blind cats throat. He would never see it coming.

Cloudfrost choked back air as claws flashed at his throat. He felt a sharp pain as they sliced across the surface. He realized he'd let his survival instinct take over,only just avoiding death. He coughed,feeling blood spatter his fur. I...wont....give up... he thought,his shoulders tensed. But his legs gave out,and he yowled softly,collapsing in a pile of gray fur. He glared up at Nightstar with his blue eyes,only letting terror have a moment in their icy depths. I wonder if I'll be able to see in StarClan..? he thought randomly,and then he found himself chuckling.

"What a waste." Nightstar is outie.

OOC:GET BACK HERE!!