Stalking in the Snow

[mosswhisker]

Silence grasped the emerald green pine forest in its cold, merciless claws. Frozen tears of the sky danced daintily down to the already white blanketed earth.

Rabbitear sat idly in the snow. What am I doing?! he hissed inwardly, shivering underneath the tall pines that seemed to glitter silver as the snow continued to fall at a rapid pace. Oh yeah, hunting. Figures this ice would make me slower than usual. he growled, lifting himself up off of the ground and reluctantly into the forest of tall shadows.

Swish! The sound of fur against icy fronds startled him at first as the sound slithered through his dark brown ear fur. "Hm? Definitely, not mouse," Rabbitear muttered as a clump of snow seemed to displace itself...and grow legs. The tall brown tom lifted his icy gaze and strained to see what this strange being was. "Hello...?" Rabbitear's eerily calm voice rang silently over the frosty terrain, towards the living snow.

[Eaglefeather]

Hailpaw padded through the deep snow. Her white pelt blended smoothly with the white landscape around her, and the cascading flecks of frozen water curtained her from view so much that if she sat still no one would see her there. The only thing visible were her eyes, which glowed like patches of bright blue sky amid billowing clouds of white.

The small apprentice slowed and stopped, then peered ahead through the snow. A cat was standing there, the wind that tickled her whiskers brought the scent of the cat towards her. It was Rabbitear.

"Hi, Rabbitear!" Hailpaw called out through the quiet forest, raising her tail in greeting. Her pale gray tail tip was all that was visible of her tail. "How's it going? Any luck hunting?

[mosswhisker]

Rabbitear recognized the voice of one of his clanmates. His paws carried him closer to the white she cat. Hailpaw, he identified the apprentice. The brown tabby felt a twinge of envy at the sight of the young cat's white pelt. She's probably better well suited to hunting in this weather than I do, but he wasn't going to allow anyone know how badly he was faring, not even his own clanmate.

Rabbitear nodded a small greeting to Hailpaw. "The hunting is fine," Rabbitear lied, hiding his broken spirit behind his calm words. "What are you doing out here alone anyway, apprentice?" he growled, changing the subject, "Don't you know how dangerous it is out here?". The brown warrior straightened himself out and lifted his head arrogantly, keeping his gaze frozen on Hailpaw.

[Eaglefeather]

Hailpaw snorted. "Yeah, right," she meowed sarcastically, crouching low to the ground and stalking in a quick circle around her Clan mate. "If it's so dangerous then why would you be out here all by yourself? Because if this forest is so dangerous then you would have another cat with you." Hailpaw paused for a brief moment, giving Rabbitear a smug facial expression. "Besides, I'm no kit. I can take care of myself."

[mosswhisker]

"Because I am a warrior and I know what I'm doing," Rabbitear retorted, trying to keep his voice level. "And you should respect your warriors," He added with a slight hiss in his voice. The brown tom tilted his head to one side and flicked his tail as if something caught his attention. Suddenly, his attitude towards Hailpaw switched and he mewed,"Well, I would ask if you'd like to hunt with me, but since you can take care of yourself, I'll just leave you to your own business, what ever that may be." Rabbitear stood facing Hailpaw, silently praying that she would hunt with him. "Though, if you really want to come," he mewed quickly,"You may."

((Don't take anything Rabbitear says seriously, I just like making him look goofy xD))

[Eaglefeather]

((xD It's fine. Hailpaw always finds a come-back for everything, and she doesn't really get her feelings hurt))

Hailpaw tossed her head and glared at him scornfully. "With your brown pelt?" She asked, flicking her ears. "You'll stand out like a sore paw! No, I'll go hunting by myself." Hailpaw turned to walk off, then paused with one paw mid-air. "But if you must come hunting with me, at least stay a few paw steps away from me." Hailpaw tossed Rabbitear a final glance, then turned and crouched against the snow, pulling herself carefully across the snow, gradually blending in smoothly with the white flakes that littered the ground around her.

[mosswhisker]

Rabbitear smiled, his icy orbs sparkling with amusement, "I'm not even going to dignify that comment with a response." He flicked his large ears back and padded closer to the apprentice and muttered, "But, I shall come with you. After all, eight paws are better than four!" He dropped close to the ground in a stalking position, his belly fur skimming the ground. Maybe I could sneak behind these snow banks, he thought, experimenting with his thought.

As he prowled slowly behind the camoflauged Hailpaw, Rabbitear caught the faint sound of a bird's wings. The brown tabby easily pin pointed the sound and drew himself closer and closer, until he could see the feathery brown shape. He lifted a paw to take another step towards it, but the bird must've sensed something and it immediately saw the muddy brown tom coming for it. It unfolded its wings and flew a couple of tail lengths into the sky. Rabbitear lunged after it and bared his teeth in a grin as he felt his claws sink into its body, and the brown warrior brought it to the ground in one messy blow.

"I had it all along," Rabbitear meowed, turning to look at Hailpaw, knowing inwardly that if it weren't for his long legs, he would never have caught the pigeon

[Eaglefeather]

((Sorry! I kinda forgot about this xD))

Hailpaw narrowed her eyes into the beginings of a glare. She paused then lifted her muzzle to sniff the air, but felt disapointment set in as she caught nothing but the scent of ice and the wind. There has to be some prey somewhere! Hailpaw thought, turning and prowling through the snow away from Rabbitear, her mouth opened to taste the air.

She slowed as she approached a huge, old pine tree, Among its twisting roots she could see a small speck of brown against the glistening white snow. Hailpaw dropped low to the ground, drawing in the scent of the small brown speck. It was a mouse, but it wasn't moving at all. Hailpaw experimentaly swished her tail across the surface of the snow. No movement.

Warily, Hailpaw rose to her paws, then padded across the snow towards the mouse. It didn't move, not even slightly, and it took Hailpaw a moment to realize that it was dead. She prodded it with a gray forepaw. It was still fairly warm, but it was a little frozen from the cold.

"Hey, Rabbitear!" Hailpaw exclaimed into the wind, grabbing the dead mouse in her jaws. "Look what I found!"

[mosswhisker]

((Lawl, tis alright, you weren't the only one ^^'))

Rabbitear bounded hyperly over the snow beds, following Hailpaw's voice. His light mood was quickly evaporated when his blue gaze landed on the dead mouse. He dropped his bird and touched his nose gingerly to the small creature in Hailpaw's jaws. "That's odd," the tabby remarked flatly, drawing in the scent of the freshly killed mouse. "Unfortunately, the scent of whatever killed has been completely washed away due to the snow," Rabbitear ended, his mind swirling with several confusing thoughts.

"This doesn't make any sense!" Rabbitear exclaimed after a few heartbeats,"if whatever killed it wasn't from ShadowClan, why didn't they take it with them to feed their clan. Why else would another cat, or any animal for that matter, just leave a perfectly good mouse laying here?" The brown tabby turned his confused face up to the sky, as if waiting for StarClan to come down and personally give him the answer to all of his questions. "Either way it goes," Rabbitear sighed, looking back at Hailpaw,"It's probably not safe to eat it."

[Eaglefeather]

Hailpaw stifled the growl that began to rise in her throat. "It smells perfectly fine!" She exclaimed, setting the mouse at her paws. "Besides- it could of just died from old age, or from the cold. That doesn't mean it's not fit to eat. See- I'll prove it." Hailpaw bent her head and took a small bite out of the cold body of the mouse. The meat was still warm beneath the cold fur. It smelled alright, and smelled like any other mouse she had seen on the fresh-kill pile.

"See," Hailpaw replied, swallowing her mouthful. "Perfectly fine."

[mosswhisker]

Rabbitear let out a sigh of exasperation. "It won't always kill you immediately,"he growled, his ears flicking back and forth suspiciously. The tall warrior kept his blue eyes frozen on the apprentice waitning, his whole body tense as he watched Hailpaw eat the potentially deadly mouse.

Eventually, the brown tabby warrior conceded,"Or it could just be the cold, like you said," he grunted. The tabby fluffed his fur out against the wind and added in a light hearted tone,"When you've been around as long as I have, you get suspicious of everything, especially during Leaf-bare!"

[Eaglefeather]

"Well I'm not old," Hailpaw retorted, her eyes gleaming with the triumph of being right. "I'm still young enough to have some sense in me." The white apprentice looked down at the mouse, then pushed it towards Rabbitear. "Here. Why not take a bite? An old cat like you needs to keep up their strength." Hailpaw added with an amused twitch of her whiskers.

[mosswhisker]

Rabbitear smirked."Well, at least enough sense to respect and share prey with your senior warriors!" he crouched down and opened his mouth, ready to take a bite out of the mouse, but suddenly, he jerked his head back and straightened himself back up. "Of course, though, it is against the Warrior Code to eat before the clan has eaten," he protested to himself,"You go ahead and finish it, I won't tell, this time." Rabbitear flicked his tail indifferently and went on gazing into the snow filled sky and listening for the sound of what could be fresh kill.

[Eaglefeather]

Hailpaw narrowed her eyes. "You'd better not tell," she hissed. "Or you'll find your nest swarming with red ants one day." The white she-cat crouched low into the snow, then took another bite out of the mouse. She had to admit, she did feel pretty bad about eating before the rest of the Clan, but she'd catch extra prey to make up for it.

Once the mouse was finished Hailpaw rose to her paws. "That was scrumptious!" She exclaimed, licking the remaining scraps off of her muzzle. "Now, how's about we resume our hunting expedition?

[mosswhisker]

Rabbitear stood up and nodded silently to Hailpaw before returning to his hunter's crouch. He skimmed across the icy ground, his belly fur dragging at the cold snow. He pricked his ears and pivoted them around, listening for the sound of precious fresh kill. it wasn't long before he picked up the heavy trodding of footsteps.

That's odd Rabbitear scrutinized, as he continued to listen to the sound. The walking noise that the tabby was hearing sounded much to loud to be prey walking, in fact it seemed more like a cat's feet. ''Hey Hailpaw, do you smell something,'' Rabbitear whispered to the apprentice.