A Hunter's Vigil [open]

[Winter]

The clearing was engulfed with silence. Sunlight gracefully whisked the thick, rain-soaked clouds that glided above the peaceful fissure. Their slits receded upon the dampish grass, which nimbly scorched. Gusts later caressed the land and made the besieging plants and sprouts quiver. However, within the mangled vines, a pair of amber orbs were scintillating. They were staring at some faraway spot inside the clearing, where a tiny patch of white pelt protruded from the willow meadow. The contour of the blemish became discernable as a ray of the sun relapsed over it and revealed the creature to be a mouse. More sunlight grazed the plants and unveiled the owner of the orbs: a sleek feline. His eyes narrowed slightly as the mouse flinched in its direction. Then they gleamed and satisfaction began issuing from them. But, as soon as the feline began slithering, another breeze thrashed its hiding place and carried his scent to the mouse. The mouse recoiled in shock and moved away. To the feline's fortune, it did not recognize the aroma. Grinning, the feline ambushed the mouse with its claws sheathed. The rodent squealed in anguish as the cat's weight fell over him. He was dyeing but the cat's sadist nature decided to let it perish in a different way. Unleashing his claws, he sank them on the animal's back. Blood sprayed from it, but because of the mouse's size, it was not many. After seeing the animal decease, the grin in the tom's face faded and his body skimmed off the corpse.

Kestrelclaw, the feline's real name, dipped his head and grabbed the mouse in his jaws. They crushed him mercilessly and small droplets of blood cascaded from it onto the tom's satin jacket. He seemed to not feel it. His jaws loosened, letting the recently-caught prey fall to the ground. His muzzle glissaded over it then clasped in abhorrence. His paw kicked it away in disgust. Kestrelclaw then sat down over the soft lawn, his tail flickering in apprehension. He had had no sleep since last night; he had been hunting ever since and had not returned to the ShadowClan camp. He wondered if the ShadowClanners missed him. Lying over the botany, his eyes slowly closed. As any hunter that had been living in those woods for a long time, he knew he could never fall asleep without danger taunting him. His ears prickled, yet he pretended to snooze. The weapons in his paws were varnished as he rested, giving comfort to his body. He was oblivious to the other sounds of the forest and felt reluctant on finding out about them. So Kestrelclaw let his mind sooth as calm breezes assuaged his thoughts.

[Moony™]

((Wow, Snowy, you're an awesome RPer!))
"There you are"
A voice murmured, echoing off in the hollow forest.

The trees' shadows were dark and blue-green, some which sunlight tinged were a bit lighter, and for those shadowed off were even darker. Dust played in the light of the sun, flying high, some dropping--everywhere.
Even the questioning voice seemed as well. The shadows, that too.

From the direction of the voice, the light played on the face, the body soon emerging to the light. Bright white pelt dotted in yellow-orange broke to the light, half of the face hidden in the shadows, the rest showing visibly.

The right eyebrow, the one in the light, raised, with a smirk grin place on the bottom.
"Ah," Novawish spoke with a calm, yet mixed with a teasing voice. "There you are--sleepy head."

[/blockquote]

[Winter]

ooc; -blushes- Thanks! So are you! xD

ic; The voice startled the young tom. Bristling in rage for temporarily loosing his defenses, Kestrelclaw shoot up straight from his nap. His eyes blinked in bewilderment, as they tried to adjust to the new light. He tilted his head in frustration, only to find ShadowClan's deputy, Novawish, staring at him. The lynx's pelt thrived in shame, for he could not bear the idea of being seen resting (which was a sign of vulnerability) by one of such high rank, like Novawish. He rustled after her phrase and loathed to be in such a humiliating position. 'Good afternoon' the tom mumbled. He backened away to properly dip his head, in disgrace more than respect. His eyes were straying near the beleaguering oaks for he felt too embarrassed to let them diminish over the femcat. Before she could make a move, his head doused again, this time exaggeratedly. 'I had been hunting for a real extended period and one of the mice I had caught had run away. I ducked in order to follow its trail easier, yet, the dousing sun rays smeared my eyes and, before I knew it, I fell asleep. I can proceed with my hunting patrol immediately. In fact, it would be my honor to precede it with such a divine and magnificent ShadowClanner like you.' Kestrelclaw asserted. His tale was deceitful in several parts but by narrating the true story, he would have had to apologize for temporarily being lazy and apologizing was something he did not know what to do. Instead, he wielded his charming personality to delight the she-cat and spare him from trouble.

[Moony™]

((Thank you! -smiles-))

Novastarwish was really enjoying this.
Respect was one of the goody-paws virtues that she's been heard, but her mind twisted away to the opposite--respect is good. I like it.

By his reactions, of humbleness, she knew she won something, his respect.
Her paws moved forward, head raised a bit higher, and her tail twirled slightly behind her. The angle of her head crooked a bit, as if she was examining something curiously.

"Hmm..." Her voice started and wandered off, to a smile which half-read, you're secret's safe with me but you owe me. The eyes flashed deeply and ironically, her closed mouth told the rest of her words before she actually spoke.

"That's okay; well, then, let's hunt." Eyebrows raised, with a big grin, and emphasized 'okay' with a finishing flash of her teeth.

[Winter]

ooc; Anytime x3 But is it Novawish or Novastar?

ic; Novastar may have kept the secret, but that did not give the tom confidence. Kestrelclaw never trusted others and this she-cat, in spite of her high rank, was not an exeption. His head curtly nodded to show he had understood her sign, but his eyes shifted away, clearly displaying he did not believe in her. As soon as she accepted his offer, his eyes flared again, this time in exitement. He admired Novastar for her acuteness, her rank, and (even though he hated to admit it), her alluring beauty. The tom stood up from his coarse seat and stared at the abysmal forest. 'Thank you' his austere voice rasped. 'But we should choose our hunting spot carefully. Last night, I examined all the areas that surround the ShadowClan camp, but many creatures had been daunted by the weather. We should hunt in farther places, where the beast are still visible.' Kestrelclaw's speech reflected how dignified the tom was and how unbreakable his heart his. However, it also emulated how his soul had been wrenched into pieces, and how he needed the care of somebody to help it recover.

[Moony™]

{{Oopsie! Nope, it's Novawish.
I'm also RPing on a different site with the name Novastar. }}

With Kestrelclaw’s speech, she grinned.
Maybe Kestrelclaw couldn’t trust her—that was alright with Novawish. They are Shadowclan, after all. She gave a casual, comfortable nod, and hummed.

So far with first impression, it was alright. Now, the hunt; to Novawish, that could have been easily notified as a test.
He wasn’t annoying like those other brats, both the kind who didn’t listen and another kind who kept following her. He was in her OK, level, for a start.

Another grin came off and her eyes flashed against the icy blue eyes, as a show of eagerness for the hunt.
First, because she really was hungry.
And second, because she actually wanted to hunt with him.

“Good idea,” She murmured, nodding and appreciating his thought. “It’s New-leaf, and it’s not just the yay-warm-water Riverclanners who are rejoicing, but also rain. So… North or South? Which would you prefer?”

[/blockquote]

[Winter]

ooc; Tis okay, no prob! ^^

ic; Kestrelclaw's mind, however, was far more ahead. 'I was thinking North' the tom alleged, his voice secure and his snout signaling the oaks infront. 'The weather is warmer there and creatures are probabaly more aware of weather that we are.' He hesitated before he proceeded, considering the fact that a joke would be pleasant in this moment. The tom knew little of comedy or entertainment, but he wanted to amuse Novawish, and sometimes love was just a drug to his brain. Kestrelclaw cleared his throat and tried to think of an axiom that still contained his cynism. 'Well, I am almost sure that the prey we are looking for is there, or I might as well, er, cut my tongue into pieces!' Twinging, his stiff laugh doused the clearing with tremor. 'Hahahaha... Ha...' He laughed, looking more sinester than funny. In spite of his dreadful humor, he still glared at Novawish with some sort of expectance and shame.

[Moony™]

{Seems like Novawish got an admirer. xD}

Ai, ai, wha-?
Novawish's ears prickled at the joke. At first, to his response, she just stared at him funny, with the expression, "Pardon me?". She almost have said, but however, when he glared, she realized at the comment, that it was supposed to be a joke. Her mouth haven't experienced a friendly laugh in moons, and the closest would have been an offending chuckle.

"Ah," She said, with a cheesy Novawish-styled smile; her lip line tight, making her chin of little tiny wrinkles, and nodded her head, back and forth, stalling time with movement to think what to do next.
Laughing wasn't her profession, nor was reacting to a joke, or whatever. The important thing was, this was one of them.
"Ha ha--yeah! North is pretty good; fair weather brings happier preys--or in other words, more, naive and gullible prey. And, the trees are thicker with less light."

So instead, she changed the topic and seemed to be pretty enthusiastic about that as well, hunting was fun.

[Winter]

ooc; Yeah, funny thing for Kestrelclaw to do Hehe xD

ic; Kestrelclaw felt blood stream into his face capillaries when he heard Novawish's stiff laugh. What on Earth had he been thinking?! Telling such a lame and ruthful joke should be a prohibition in the Warrior Code. That way, maybe, the tom would not have lulled himself into telling the atrocious tale. The muscles besieging his face contrasted as he forced a grin, which looked more like an obnoxious wince. They were still stilted, even when Novawish had changed the topic. Reproach was relunctant to relinquish his body [<--- Look, three R words xD Hehehe, sorry, random -blushes-]. Cut my tongue in pieces... What was wrong with his mind? Had he been hallucinating? Or was this experience just a nightmare? Kestrelclaw's head unwittingly faltered sideways as he tried to avoid staring at the she-cat. He stood up, his solemn character slowly returning to his body. His tail quailed to the North, venturing Novawish to start the patrol. 'Please, make the honour.' His voice was grim and submerged his ears in horrid martyr. Kestrelclaw's nose reached for the air when some peculiar scent abluted the zone. His tail stopped moving and cascaded to the ground, soundless. The scent diffused in the air, overwhelming his bristling pelt. 'Are you smelling it?' Kestrelclaw asked Novawish, and heartbeats later, he found himself nearing towards her. Years of erudition told him this was no ShadowClan bouquet. No cat clan fragrance either. That, my friend, was the odor of the treacherous and over estimated animal the cats knew as a badger.

[Moony™]

{Yay! Randomness. xD }

Novawish watched as Kestrelclaw struggled; or something like that. Shame? Embarrassment? Better not scare him . . . Usually, sometimes, she'd enjoy something like that; smirking, grinning, insulting the poor Warrior in her conscience. But this time, it wasn't. She calmly watched Kestrelclaw winced, feeling a bit bad herself, with only a tiny leak of sympathy showed in her face.
But she stopped herself soon. This is not you, have you changed? I don't want to change. Except, one thing that bugged her was that in the other side of the mind, it was saying, this is you. She shook her head, as if cold all the sudden, to hide her feelings and distract herself.

And something caught between her feelings, a synaesthesia, the badger's smell reached her nose, with the scent curling her blood, anxiety sweating her paws, and her neck hair rose straight. She was scared of course, but on the outside's visual point, her eyes grew larger, her eyeline edges pointed to her nose, like pressure staring, and claws unsheathed, sank to the ground.
"Uh oh." She whispered, her face now growing still and careful. Silence was a gift for this moment, and her ice blue eyes stared deeply at Kestrelclaw and mouthed her words, hoping to receive the message.

"Quiet . . . if the badger doesn't know if we're here, make a run for it." She turned her head slowly, to the point where the badger was in her mind. Just to make sure; never to underestimate her opponents.
"If it does notice us--fight."

{Yeah! Nice idea about the badger! =)
You can play the badger.}

[Winter]

ooc; Yey, can't wait ^^ Things are getting goodeh.

[Moony™]

{posted}

[Winter]

ooc; Oh good post! xD Things are getting really exciting. And we can switch who plays it, its not such a big deal. ^^

ic; Kestrelclaw could not do much but feebly nod. He had encountered badgers before, but never with the company of another cat, and specially not a deputy. His claws managed to sledge from their lairs, quietly and perilously as everything the tom did. His tail was hovering within his legs and was facile in its exquisite skim. It could feel the vibrations in the earth, which was useful when it came to face creatures that had an advantage on him, like during this occasion. Kestrelclaw could feel the beast being torpid as he moved around the clearing. His speculation was instantly confirmed as soon as the badger made some vines twitch, creating an unbearable shrill. The tom's head soused to dismantle the beast's aroma that was prevailing in the air. It was approaching at a hesitant pace, indeed, confounded. But it was only a matter of seconds before it realized other animals were near. Kestrelclaw verged nearer Novawish and brusquely assented. 'Its coming. Prepare to battle.' were the only words the warrior fended to speak. Then, abruptly as it had once arrived, the plants began shattering once the ghoul began coursing into the fissure. It would seem as an ambush, except that the cats were already aware of his precence. Kestrelclaw's front legs abridged as soon as the animal penetrated the chasm. He backened away, awknowledging the fact that the badger was still too perplexed. The tom felt faintly reasured when the badger just seemed to fidget on one spot, completely oblivious to the other livings in the zone. Kestrelclaw felt tranquility drain inside his body. The badger was utterly confused and did not seem to develop any other violent reaction. His muscles loosened and his tail gently reposed. 'We can calm down, it is astoundingly too dimwitted too attack' he said, rather bluntly and with arrogance, his voice reverbating the zone. That was maybe a bigger mistake than making stupid jokes. His teeth bared in mea culpa, in unison with his compressed weight. His words triggered the badger's ears and finally made it attain the fact that there were other felines inside the clearing.

Their voices were weird. I could not discern them properly. My eyes were narrowed, as usual, but my nose rapidly clutched the smell of other ogres beside me. My mother had once spoken about who these creatures were, whose flesh could dematerialize in the most luscious and appetizing way. One of them issued a noise. I did not know what it meant, but I didn't care. It had just given me its position. In spite of my turbulent lust to demolish their sustenance, I could feel danger in the atmosphere. They were strong and had the capacity to harm me. I felt rather threatened. My claws were kept inside my perfectly-shaped paws. I unleashed them, hoping to make them understand I was trouble. I was not aware of the trouble they could provoque but I was not an individual who lingered on actions or thoughts. I moved swiftly infront of the couple. I did not know their gender, but the cat on the right seemed much more hyaline than the broad shouldered one. This one should be easier to combat. I threw myself over it and even thought it was the least of my concerns, I noticed the cat I was assailing had a very alluring coat with several shades of brown. It had small paws, which made it look engaging. My clawz wrer over it right now, but they were slow; The cat had very preetty crystalline-blue eyes that were hypnotizing. Either way, I just stormed it, fearfully, but I did it.

[Moony™]

{Impressive post! =D And I just <3 your siggies and avatars!
Okay, so did the badger attack Novawish? Just to make sure. : )
Ooh yeah, this is random but I always imagined badgers to talk like, "ZOMG!!! i fuond catzzz~! Woofwoofwunch!"
I have no idea why. xD}

Novawish's pace quickened, for she knew the badger have located them, and she shushed Kestrelclaw, before it was too late. Badgers were sensitive to sound and ground vibration, and to the sake of that, with the mix of muscle stiffening, she could barely get a nod back with an evil glare. Her thoughts wandered off to a fantasy of regrets, why did he have to come along? Why this part of the forest? Wasn't there food at camp? And even some thoughts of Oop, not hungry anymore!
But the thoughts ended as the badger's scent engulfed the clearing, even if it stood in one direction. It's scenting us!
Now she could really, really, feel it. Although the badger was confused, her mind and her fear made her scent of hatred, cold-blooded, nightmare, who could totally eat her. Her teeth collided, as if she was cold, her jaws pushing in with exhaustion.
She was really going to fight; this. was. it.
Her stance was perfect, her legs and arms straight and corresponding to each side, claws sheathed maximum, and crouched semi-low. Her eyes searched the dark pines, which contrasted to almost no light.

When the badger got of the stillness and studying the cats, feeling a hole burning through her pelt, all she wanted to was flee and run, out of this mess, just a dream . . . just a dream . . . just disappear . . . disappear . . .
But it never happened, instead, came the worst. A fierce badger, heading her way. Her eyes quickly widened, sense of alarm jolting through her body, there was no way of escape now.

Her stance had almost worked, if it was to stop the big, hungry badger. But the raging face of the badger, worked up a cacophony inside her mind, screaming, praying, yelling to flee. And saw a quick reflection in the badger's eye, a small, fragile-looking she-cat, small limbed, tiny--and jumped up. Being defensive was noble right? At least better than being stupidly strong and trying to stop the badger, right?

She jumped as high as she could, limbs stretching to the sky, and her back paws springed to reached Starclan--without really going up there. High enough, to maybe, dodge the badger, or at least, if not, a good kick at his weaker upper-body.

[Winter]

ooc; Thanks! I love yours as well. Lol, in this post, I pretty much degrade the personality of badgers. I don't hate badgers, I actually think they are kinda cute C= But its all for humor's sake ^∇^ {and sorry for the short post `з´}

ic; Raw terror furnished inside shimmering auburn pools as the tom saw the badger heading for Novawish. His thoughts were too slow and, before he knew it, the femcat had repelled the creature away. But a massive tenor of archaic experience told Kestrelclaw that beasts like badgers did not give up so easily. Novawish was strong, yes, but from a badger's point of view, she was the perfect target; her mounting was furbished, easy to be demolished by its claws. Her body was slender, not skinny, but full of flesh. The badger's prurience to injure Novawish was evident in his tiny eyes and his maladroit moves. Once it was thrown away, it stood up.

It was obvious he was heading for Novawish again, wish made Kestrelclaw feel neglected {in an awkward way}, relieved, but tensed at the same time. However, he was not going to permit that filthy animal to assail Novawish again. It was a question involving pride and love; what kind of tom would he be if he bailed on his clan's deputy, who also happened to be a she-cat? And, what kind of feline would he be if he did not defend the female cat he considered alluring {in a very awkward way as well}? He did not hesitate. One he saw the badger was exalting himself, the tom clustered all his strength and went for it. Kestrelclaw protruded from Novawish's side to the spot directly in front of her. His claws had been disengaged from his paws, something he had learned to do in every blitz. His jaws were bared and, from behind them, a bloodcurling hiss issued. It was a warning for the badger.

The cat I attacked somehow pushed me aside. But the clash had been soft, barely harming me. The other cat, whom I had forgotten all about, then stood in front of me and divided me from my precious prey. Aww, how adorable, the little fella is trying to be courageous. Well, too bad for him... I jumped over the cat, my mind flowing with happiness. Catz! They were so funny with all their extremities. And theyr weyrd faces. They really were an expectaculum. I have seen very pretty cats, but of course, none has been able to match the natural beauty of badgers. My head hurt for a while; thinking was not my best tallent. Many badgers never think about their actions. Its just part of being as special as a badger. Plus, thinking is hazardous to our health. My good ol' Uncle Jim died when he began thinking about the weather. Only that pathetic fool of Midnight dared to think. That retarded badger... I can still can not believe she actually dared to give that prophecy to those cats. That fool... Well, better not keep thinking. I better attack these kat now so I can get the better prize.

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