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Post by Bearfur on Jan 16, 2013 14:35:31 GMT -5
PetalStar slinked out of her den, blinking in the early sunlight. She arched her back in a stretch before padding to the fresh-kill pile, picking over the contents.
"Frogs, fish, lizards and..snakes", she hissed with annoyance. One thing she hated more than most was snakes. Having lost two of her lives to these serpents, she had due reasons for her distaste. "Why can't we have any of those delicious eggs.."
Pulling a small trout from the pile, the calico she-cat padded to a shaded spot next to the camp's edge to eat, hugging the shadows as she watched her clan waken for the day's duties.
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Post by SpIdEr on Jan 16, 2013 14:46:45 GMT -5
Snowcricket
There was a small growling mew as the small she-cat slunk back into camp, her jaws held a small leaf-like hammock, a few eggs nestled in the small makeshift sling. Her gait was as smooth as possible, and she was walking much slower than her average speeding trot, making sure to handle the small orbs with care as she brought them back. Slowing near the fresh kill pile, she gently dipped her head to deposit the clutch before her tall white ears pricked forward, and keen blue eyes focused on her leader settling in the shade.
Huffing a bit, she lifted her head again and padded smoothly over to Petalstar, resting the eggs on the ground with a small dip of her head. "I know these are your favorite..." She started lamely, for once not having anything to say. She stood there for a moment, feeling stupid before flicking her long black tail and turning to leave.
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Post by Bearfur on Jan 16, 2013 14:53:25 GMT -5
Just as she was about to bit into her morning meal, PetalStar looked up to find a white she-cat standing over her. A flash of annoyance shown in her pale green eyes before she caught sight of the clutch SnowCricket was carrying. "Oh, thank you", she mewed as she pulled the batch closer to her.
Then she turned back to the white she-cat before her, a false smile of friendship playing on her tri-colored features. "Would you like one? There are quite a few here and I know how hard you worked for these", she mewed in a smooth and placative tone. "And if you don't want an egg, there is this lovely trout."
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Post by SpIdEr on Jan 16, 2013 15:00:59 GMT -5
Snowcricket had seen the flash of irritation in those green eyes, which is why she had turned to leave, and she looked over her shoulder for a moment considering her offer, even if she knew the smile was... not quite real. She had already eaten on her morning hunt, but the frog had been tiny and pretty gross, so she nodded, but opted for the trout instead.
"Thank you." She said in a somewhat grumbling voice as she gnawed on the fish, trying to get through the tough scales of the silvery animal. |
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Post by Bearfur on Jan 16, 2013 15:06:42 GMT -5
Keeping the plastic smile, the calico she-cat began to delicately bite into one of the eggs, using her sharp fangs to pierce the thin shell. After lapping up the gooey contents, she looked back at the black tailed female beside her. Screwing her face at the scales that hung from SnowCricket's lips, she returned to her false air of friendly she-cat.
"So, I'm just curious, where did you find these? They are absolutely delicious and I would really like to know where I might be able to find more", she mewed in a sweet voice, her tail wrapping delicately over her paws as he began on a second egg, waiting for the other to respond.
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Post by SpIdEr on Jan 16, 2013 15:20:55 GMT -5
Finally getting at the white flesh, she swallowed a few mouthfuls before giving up on the tough exterior and sitting up, cleaning herself thoroughly - the only drawback of eating fish was how dirty you got from all the mud and scales you'd get on your fur. She could almost feel the falsity in Petalstars tone and had to laugh a bit, her light blue eyes rolling a bit before retorting,
"You don't have to pretend to like me you know. I'm no stranger to conversing with cats who don't like me." She scoffed, above it.
She didn't care what other cats thought of her, and though she had been open about her leader, her fake attitude was causing Snowcricket to harden again. Maybe Petalstar wasn't as clever as she thought. Her respect dwindling, she licked her lips, clean once again and looked down at her leader with a bit of a shrug. "Few cats know where to look. Much less how to get past the parents. There is a giant migratory flock of gulls that land on the other side of the huge ledge, you know, where all that noise comes from? That's where they all are. Takes a miracle and a half not to slip and fall into the water though... and it's one heck of a long drop." She finished, a small shiver passed down her spine, thinking of the many times she'd almost plummeted to her death. Getting the eggs wasn't hard, but getting back over the cliff and not dying was the hard part. "No big deal." She said nonchalantly with a shrug again, looking out at the rest of the camp, curling her black tail around her white paws. |
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Post by Bearfur on Jan 16, 2013 23:48:44 GMT -5
PetalStar let her deceptive smile fade rapidly from her features. Lashing her dark tail, she gave a huff, "Oh good. You're not as mouse-brained as the others." One egg remained, but she pushed that over to the side so she could eat it later. Perhaps, she should hide it in her den so that no other cat would eat it.
Tucking her white paws underneath her chest, the calico she-cat turned her pale eyes to the other. "Gulls you say? That would explain all this horrid racket I've been hearing. I haven't been out on a hunt for a time now and am getting rather tired of this boring camp", she mewed with distaste. Casting her gaze about the now alive camp, she wondered at the many eggs she could find within the gull flock.
Bringing her attention back to SnowCricket, she gave a sly smile, this one of true emotion. "Maybe, you could come with me? That way, we could bring back more eggs and watch each others' back."
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Post by SpIdEr on Jan 17, 2013 0:25:58 GMT -5
"No, I'm not. Glad someone's finally noticed." She responded in a light voice, though she seemed pleased with the 'compliment', and flicked her tail contentedly. She lifted a dainty paw to spread her toes and clean herself as she waited for the leader to finish her meal, feeling it would be rude to leave in the middle of it, and settled her paw again as Petalstar spoke. She nodded a bit, understanding her exasperation with the camp - it had been void of any interesting activities of late, and everyone seemed content to laze around. Sometimes she felt like she was the only one who hunted anymore.
Her tall pinkish ears twitched at the mention of her hunting with her leader, but noticing the sincerity in her slick smile, she mirrored the expression, raising a brow slightly. "I dunno, think you can keep up? I don't remember you being a very decent hunter, and gulls are vicious..." |
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Post by Bearfur on Jan 17, 2013 0:33:17 GMT -5
Coming to her paws with graceful ease, the molted she-cat let out an amused huff. "Not a decent hunter? I will have you know that I am a very capable hunter. Of course I can keep up, the question is, are you willing to try?" Her pale gaze bored into the others' blue one. It was a simple challenge, or maybe more. She would let the other decide that.
PetalStar sat back on her quarters, her black and orange tail wrapping over her white paws, and waited for SnowCricket to answer. This would not only be a simple test of skill, but judgement as well.
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Post by SpIdEr on Jan 18, 2013 13:52:41 GMT -5
She looked out into the camp as her leader spoke, and she flicked her ears a bit, listening to her and rolling her eyes a little bit. The challenge in Petalstars voice made her skin prickle under her fur, and she nearly let out a small purr, loving that tone and she slid her blue orbs sideways to glance at her out of the corner of her eyes, grinning. Though the two hadn't been particularly close as apprentices, the two did often challenge each other, and this just seemed like a continuation of that.
"Try?" Snowcricket rolled her eyes and snorted with laughter. "I already brought you your breakfast didn't I? Please. Let's go your highness, before the birds wake up. She teased, getting to her small white paws and padding swiftly to the edge of the camp, her long black tail raised like a banner as she trotted out. |
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Post by Bearfur on Jan 19, 2013 13:49:53 GMT -5
As the black-tailed she-cat trotted off, PetalStar let a sly smile crease her lips. This was going to be fun. Like old times, she thought. Sliding into step behind the other, the calico she-cat gave the camp one last sweeping glance, wanting to make everything was as it should be. Satisfied, she followed closely behind the waving black tail.
"Your highness, please", she snickered under her breath, "How cute." She began to think that perhaps she would actually enjoy SnowCricket's company. But she would let the next few moments decide that for sure.
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Post by SpIdEr on Jan 23, 2013 0:03:45 GMT -5
"Get any closer to my tail and I'll have to swat you with it your majesty..." Snowcricket snorted from ahead of her leader, swishing the black plumed appendage in Petalstars face, snickering to herself as they crossed the terrain, her small white paws staying quite clean as she picked a way through the muddy ground. There was a brief silence before the smaller cat broke into a faster pace, slinking along the shadows as they went, her blue eyes scanning the area as she parted her jaws to taste the air. They were close.
"It's just up the hill and over the ridge there. Try not to get your pretty paws wet, hey?" She grinned, winking over her shoulder at her leader before starting to sprint across the ground. She halted at the top and slunk into a crouch - there was no cawing. Yet. The gulls were either coasting out along the early morning thermals, or were nesting. She knew a few choice nests nearer to the edge of the ridge that would be easy to get... but, in light of recent events, a little bit of a showoff might be in order.
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Post by Bearfur on Jan 24, 2013 12:52:13 GMT -5
PetalStar was so distracted by her thoughts that she hadn't realized how close she had come to SnowCricket's tail. Having the black tip waved in her face, the calico took a step back, and scowl on her features. How rude, she thought as she continued and pace or two behind the white she-cat.
The molted leader stopped as SnowCricket again spoke in such a demeaning tone. Most of the time, PetalStar would have clawed the ears off of any cat who spoke to her like that. But she found it rather exciting to have an open challenge from a cat such as the white female. Not out of blatant disrespect, but out of friendly banter between two equals.
PetalStar fell into a crouch beside her companion, scanning the terrain with pale eyes. "So, which way", she asked in a hissed mew, not hearing any caws or squawks from the birds. They were here right? She opened her maw to taste the air, trying to find any hint of the gulls. She was hit with a wave of tangy bird scent and quickly closed her jaws to lesson the strong taste.
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Post by SpIdEr on Jan 25, 2013 22:09:39 GMT -5
"Straight ahead." She murmured back, keeping her usually vertical tail low to the ground as she crept forward on her belly, feeling the rough ground slip over her stomach fur. The air was ripe with the stench of bird feces and the salty musk that the birds usually had clinging to their unkempt feathers - she would have warned Petalstar not to inhale too hard, but it was funnier to hear the hiss of the inhale and the almost faint gagging before her jaw shut again.
Chuckling to herself she slunk forward with a bit of an enticing flicker of her tail to signal Petalstar to follow her, and she continued to the edge of the rock, flattening her ears so as to not give her position away just yet. She peered over the lip of the rock that stuck up in the air, gritting her teeth a bit at the steep slant. It wasn't a 90 degree angle, but it was steep enough so that if you missed one step, you were going allllll the way down.
"Alright. Now." She kept her voice to a low whisper as she let her eyes flash to hers. "There are a few nests just along this ledge here. It's best just to nab one at a time, so that the gulls don't notice and you can actually carry them without breaking them." She nosed toward a large clutch of unguarded eggs near the lip of the ledge - a slip here wouldn't be fatal. "Sometimes I think the birds leave them there so that I stay away from the other ones... I've yet to see any of them guard that one." She grinned a bit wickedly, swishing her long black tail behind her lithe body. "But that doesn't always keep me away." |
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Post by Bearfur on Jan 29, 2013 13:11:52 GMT -5
Pale eyes roamed over the expanse, soaking in the scene. PetalStar could feel excitement welling inside her at the sight of so many eggs. But she kept her head as she turned to the white warrior beside her. "So, you want to chance going for the middle? I bet that is where the most tasty eggs are", she mewed, swiping her tongue over her whiskers in anticipation.
The leader could only see a few birds actually near the nests, either walking between them or roosting on them, and the occasional gull fly over head. But that still didn't mean it was safe. All it took was one gull to ruin a good hunt.
The calico she-cat glanced around from their precarious vantage point, trying to chart the best route among the nests. Well, not one was really the safest, but a few were easier. She looked back at her companion, flicking her molted tail. "After you", she mewed with a sly crease of her lips.
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