waiting to pounce [open!]

[crow]

...There was a sound of birds chirping, and the sight of butterflies fluttering though the sunlight, but also the sounds of crickets and the sight of fireflies in the moonlight. Confusion swelled in Crowfur's mind. 'What's going on?' Then it hit him- Wake up!

His pale amber eyes snapped open. The first thing he saw was the sunbeams penetrating the slight breaks in the den's ceiling. His eyes widened. Oh no! I overslept! He jumped out of the den and raced out, his heart pounding a mile-a-minute. He quickly calmed down once he realized he was not scheduled for any patrols that morning, but he felt as though he could claw himself. Anger rushed through him. I overslept. I'm a weak warrior. Lazy He flattened his ears and cautiously glanced around camp. Most warriors were out, but a few were sharing tongues nearby, not noticing anything strange with the tiny black tom. Crowfur shrugged, but didn't plan on letting himself get off easy. I know! I'll hunt for the rest of the day. No breaks or pauses. I'll feed the Clan for moons! Smiling to himself, he padded out of the den to hunt.

- - - -

It has been what had at least been hours since he padded out of camp, and Crowfur had not yet caught a single morsel. He stood there with grief, near the Sky Oak. I can't come back to camp empty pawed... Then he heard a rustle a few fox lengths from him. He turned to see a fat mouse, and a dumb one at that, to allow itself to be so close to a cat. My, look at how plump! That mouse could feed two warriors instead of one! He bent into a hunters crouch and started to sneak nearer to it. The one good thing about being the size of a kit was that he could easily be light on his paws, almost soundless. He wiggled his rear as he was just getting ready to spring when...

SNAP

The mouse scampered off.

Crowfur bristled in anger. "Oh give me a break, StarClan!" He turned around to where the sound of the snapping stick came from, ready to give a verbal lashing to whichever cat caused him to loose his prey, "Who did that?" He challenged, staring at a bush, waiting for the cat to appear on the other side.

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[darkangel]

Gingerstar had taken a short walk, having had nothing to do, and she crept out of the bush with her tail raised.
"Sorry, Crowfur," she meowed apologetically. "I didn't think you were hunting out here. I just took a walk. Starpaw said I had to rest for the rest of the day because of what the stupid mouse-brain of a fox did to me."

[crow]

A ginger she-cat finally padded out into view. Her coat color snapped recognition in Crowfur's mind. Gingerstar! Mousebrain! he silently cursed to himself, Of course it's the leader! I must scent first. Augh Foxdung! He flattened his fur and dipped his head down, apologetically. "My apologies, Gingerstar!" He squeaked, pale amber eyes widening in shame, "I...I didn't know it was you." The tom winced. How could a warrior not tell which cat was which? His pride was surely damaged.

He flicked his tail nervously. He would never prove himself worthy, maybe even worthy enough to be a deputy in the future, now. Lately his warrior skills have been lacking. Nothing was going his way.

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[darkangel]

Gingerstar shrugged casually. "It doesn't matter. If someone scared off prey from my hunt, I'd snap at them even if it was the great ancient cat Thunder coming down from StarClan." She sat down. "So, any luck so far?" she asked nonchalantly.

[crow]

He let out a sigh of relief once Gingerstar shrugged. Thank StarClan... He actually didn't find Gingerstar's comment humorfull at all, but out of politeness and attempt of a good impression he laughed lightly, but the flicker of his ear was in contrast to what he was trying to pretend.

"So, any luck so far?"

Crowfur died a little inside. Of course that question would be asked. He hesitated, but knew that he could not lie to his leader, especially not something as little as this. He dipped his head again and muttered under his breath, "No, not yet, Gingerstar."

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[darkangel]

"Oh well. Just bad luck." Gingerstar twitched her ear indifferently. "Leafbare hits us hard every year. You've done well on the past hunting patrols anyways." She shrugged. "D'you want to walk with me? Or do you want to keep hunting?" she offered a friendly offer, thinking that she was wallowing in self pity enough for her parents and brother. Just get over it, she told herself firmly. Stay strong for the clan.

[crow]

Crowfur tipped his head. He had forgotten how forgiving and kind his leader was to her cats. He almost laughed aloud, Heh, look at me, getting all worked up...Maybe I have a chance after all...to prove myself... And as if on cue, his wish was granted.

"Do you want to walk with me? Or do you want to keep hunting?"

Crowfur perked up his ears and grinned. It was such an honor to be asked by a leader of a Clan to spend quality time with. He quickly nodded and meowed, "I'd like to take a walk with you, Gingerstar." He stood with pride that overshadowed his self-pity. Perhaps sleeping in was the best thing Crowfur has done in quite some time.

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[darkangel]

Gingerstar smiled genuinely. "Thank you," she inclined her head, and made to keep walking.

She wasn't sure how her ancestors did it. Was the leader supposed to be this kind? Was the leader supposed to be mean? Was a leader supposed to spend one on one time with her warriors?
She shrugged. She couldn't care less.
They walked a trail through the middle of the land that was ThunderClan's. They emerged at the edge of the lake. Gingerstar bent eagerly to take a short drink.

[crow]

Crowfur followed Gingerstar patiently- which was odd for the tom. He wondered if this was just some random walk, or it had somesort of importance. He flicked his ears as Gingerstar stopped at the lake and took a drink. He followed her action and lapped up some water. He lifted his head and turned to face the leader and flicked his whiskers to get the remaining water off of them. He, of course, had to look up to see her face, for he was so small; he tried not to frown.

"So...Gingerstar, how...are you?" He choked out the words. He felt awkward having small talk with his leader. It was something he definitely did not do often.

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[darkangel]

Gingerstar looked up, "Oh, fine," she mewed. "But I wanted to take you on a sort of patrol I guess...but no where special," she mewed. "I want to go down to twolegplace and see LostClan," she meowed. "Well, not talk to them, but just look..." she sighed. "I just have some feeling that they had something to do with the fox attack, that's all."

[crow]

He twitched his ears. Would he be able to come along to this mini mission? His pale amber eyes blazed with ambition and hope. Imagine, a mission with the leader, just me and her... He tried not to let the feeling of doubt claw at his mind, but then again, why would she tell him? It was obvious that Starpaw didn't know, for she had just sent Gingerstar out for a simple walk.

"Well, I think that's a great idea," Okay, Crowfur would rather go to LostClan and rip out their fur if they indeed had something to do with the fox attack, but he wasn't going to let her know that. He pawed that the ground, hoping that he would be included somehow. He tried not to seem to anxious, but it was not working.

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[darkangel]

Gingerstar dipped her head. "Of course. I was thinking of choosing you and some of the warriors...Littleflower and Lionfire or something like that. We don't want all of LostClan in our fur. But that's it. Just a small little mission, just to go see..." she looked into the distance, deep in thought. "Would you like to come with me?" she offered, already half knowing the answer. She knew Crowfur to be an ambitious warrior.
She sat down for a moment.

[Magicheart]

"Gingerstar?"
Magicheart's chirrup of a meow sounded nearby. She limped out into the clearing, her torn claws from the fox fight were well bandaged and on the way to healing. "Starpaw is really doing a great job." she meowed to herself, admiring the apprentices work and how much less it hurt to walk since the young medicine cat had applied poultice and bandages to her wounds.

[darkangel]

Gingerstar turned swiftly around. "Magicheart," she mewed, relieved that it hadn't been anyone else. "Glad to hear that," she blinked contentedly.
She hesitated. Should she ask Magicheart to come on the mission with her? She didn't want Magicheart to overextend herself because of her injury, or seem like a cruel leader for pushing her warriors to their extent.
"Er..." she began awkwardly. "I was wondering if you'd like to come on a little...teeny...walk with us?" she asked lamely.

[standin]

Lionfire had gone out hunting, but he could smell many cats nearby. There won't be much prey there, he thought. He went over there anyway.
"Oh..." He hadn't expected Gingerstar to be amongst the cats. "Greetings..." He wasn't a cat of many words.