Shade

[Clove]

Gingerspark's brown eyes flick around the field. She is half crouched down. Her ears are perked to listen for signs of life. The sun is beating down on her orange striped back. There is a miniscule movement of the grass. The sound of it moving is caught by her keen sense of hearing. She whips her head to the side. She turns slowly and carefully. She stalks toward the prospective prey as quietly as she was taught long ago.

A mouse comes into view doing something mouse-like on the ground. She waits with great patience for the right moment. She finds it soon enough. She darts forward and pounces. The mouse squeals in surprise. She kills it easily with a bite to the neck. "Thank you Starclan," She mutters. She carries the mouse to a spot near the towering tree and buries the creature.

The sun is unbearably hot today. Of course since it's Greenleaf, there's bound to be many hot days. That's a no brainer. Even though Leaf-bare is a difficult time, she always finds herself missing the piercing cold winds when the sun is burning her skin. She looks up quickly at the sky. There's hardly any clouds. There's no chance it's going to rain anytime soon. She sighs. Oh well, the life of a warrior, or in her case a deputy, goes on.

On the hunting patrol yesterday a few of the cats got some heatstroke, as did the border patrol today. Either that or they were just very exhausted. That's why she's alone. She's afraid she'll accidentally overwork the cats she takes today. She decided to give them a break. The Fresh-Kill pile isn't tragically low. A few more extra pieces of prey will do. She just wishes she could've had some company. She'd rather not risk the strength of the cats in case something important comes up.

A bird flutters down into the grass. It's probably hoping to find some bugs. There's always lots of birds after it rains. Otherwise they come out really early or really late to avoid the heat. This is a lucky find. She stalks forward and leaps. The bird takes off, but she hooks her claws in the wing and brings it to the ground. "Grateful Am I to you Starclan, for this blessing. We're getting a bit tired of mouse," she whispers with a laugh. She buries the bird a little distance away from the mouse. She decides to take a small break, only small, because she has a clan to feed. She plops on her belly in the shade and stretches out.

[Blair ;;]

Murderweapon's eyes darted across the camp, her large paws falling to the ground with great intensity. Her flaming red eyes were even brighter today, because of the scorching heat.

She hated staying inside the clan's borders, nor the clan's camp, at such a heated climax climate. Her eyes darted once again around the territory, and to see the tree, she began to pad closer to it.

Murderweapon's eyes looked around the tree once again, and saw a warrior looking specimen with a bird. She would have stolen it, but she didn't feel like it. Her red eyes darkened as she looked up at the sun. She hated the heat, as you have already known of such.

Murderweapon jumped up into the tree, catching her paws on a limb and pulling herself up. That bird must have had a nest.. Ha! The tweeting of a said bird's children, just beside her. She easily ended the both of their lives, eating one of them.

The warrior code told her not to eat when she was hunting. Like she cared. A smirk appeared on her face as she jumped down, licking the blood off of her mouth and setting the other baby bird downward.

She didn't speak to the warrior on the other side. She didn't have any business with him. She listened to the rest of the territory, and heard some sort of mouse. She bolted, tackled it to the ground. It was a medium size, and she easily killed it with a swipe of her long claws.

Ah, a good days work.

[Clove]

Gingerspark feels a bit more rested. She had watched the strange cat "Murderweapon" carefully and secretly. The cat gave her shivers up her spine. She didn't like being around that particular warrior. Her fur prickled with nervousness of being around such a menacing figure. She watched with disgust as Murderweapon ate a young bird that couldn't yet care for itself. They might've died anyway. She's fairly sure that she killed their mother. That wasn't the problem. Obviously, this cat didn't care about the Warrior Code. She doubts this cat will be walking with Starclan in the future. She shakes her head in disappointment. How could Starclan allow this cat to be born into their clan? The peace is disturbed.

She stretches and sits up. The shade is nice and relaxing, but she can't just lay here forever. There's work to be done. She pushes her self to her paws. She glides lightly over the ground through the grass. It's short in this part. There's a lot of long grass in the territory during summer. However, it's better than the barren ground of Leaf-bare, she'll admit. The prey is more willing to come out where it can be caught. Though this scorching heat isn't much better than the cold. She keeps her hearing sharp for the scuttling of prey. She glances at Murderweapon. There's a sick feeling in her stomach at the sight of that cat.

There's a scuffling near her left ear. She nearly jumps as a vole scurries by. She keeps her cool and tightens her muscles. She races after it and stretches out her forelegs. She just barely manages to sink her claws into its small body. It's fairly similar to a mouse. "I give thanks for this piece of prey Starclan," she meows quietly. Not many cats are in the habit of thanking Starclan for prey. That cat Murderweapon probably doesn't. She strolls back to the tree. Her paws steps are light and hit the ground very gently. She uncovers the ground closer to the pond but not too close. She drops the vole into the hole. It rhymes.. shame on me. She covers it back up for later retrieval. She stares at the slight rippling in the pond as a small gust of wind goes by. She lifts her head and closes her eyes. It feels so good. She wonders if she should catch fish before she heads to camp. She's not sure.

[Blair ;;]

Murderweapon's eyes were still darting across the clan's territory as she saw the other cat standing. It had killed a vole, and it had eyed her funny. She wanted to snarl and ask it what it was looking at before she heard it say something about that place of StarClan. Her tail lashed at the thought. Why would everyone ask that clan for help? Can't they do stuff on their own? The thought made her claws unsheathe and claw slightly at the bright green grass.

Eh, whatever. Do whatever they please. I don't need to thank StarClan for my food. I thank my claws and whoever birthed this prey -- although the prey's mother or father were probably dead already. Her tail continued to lash as she put both the small baby bird into a hole and the medium sized mouse into it. The bird wasn't able to see that it was a baby -- it was just a small cardinal. The cats back in camp would have no problem eating it, like this cat would.

Murderweapon stood up and stretched, her eyes scanning once again the territory. The faith tree was a rather tall tree, but she didn't honestly care about it. It offered shade, though. And what shade we needed for such a scorching day like it was then. Darned sun.

[Clove]

[RE-TYPING THIS OMG]

Gingerspark paces back and forth in front of the pond, still undecided. She finds herself annoying. It's best not to use up her energy walking like an mouse-brain. She sits down and stares into the pond again. She spots a fish. It's fairly good sized. Its scales glitter in the sun. 'Come on little fish. Just a little closer,' she wills it with her mind. She quickly snaps her head to look at Murderweapon. She narrows her eyes, unsure what the cat is doing.

She doesn't really trust the cat too much, even if she is her clanmate. She likes most cats, but she isn't sure about this one. She's tried her hardest to accept her, but it's becoming difficult. Gingerspark isn't a cynical or judgmental cat, not in the least. She is desperately searching for something good is this particularly strange she-cat. Murderweapon's tail is lashing, but the deputy doesn't dwell on it. 'That cat seems mad a lot,' she muses.

Her eyes focus back on the fish. Its starting to come closer. Her heart rate picks up a little as she becomes excited. She isn't usually excited easily, but she hasn't caught fish in so long. She's not even sure if she remembers how. Only patience will tell. She waits, her eyes glittering. The fish is within range. She doesn't lean over the pond, oh no. She does remember not to hover over it. The shadow would scare the fish away. She darts her paw out. Her claws lash into the flesh. She pulls it out. She flings it on the ground and takes its life. She gives thanks in her mind this time. Murderweapon is too close. She has some kind of doubt that the cat strongly believes in Starclan, especially in a dedicated way. She remembers her first taste of fish ever with fondness.

Gingerpaw stared at her mentor with wide eyes. He was talking, but she wasn't really listening. The faith tree towered over them. She hadn't got to see it yet. She'd already caught a bird and glowed under her mentor's praise. She nodded as he said something about not letting the fish see your shadow. She nodded and he gave her a soft smile. He was gray and white with gentle yellow eyes. She had a crush on him. It was pretty obvious. She hoped he didn't notice though. He had caught a fish. She only noticed the agile flexing of his foreleg and how nice he was when he offered it to her. "Th-thanks Rockypelt," was her nervous response.

The she-cat deputy hadn't thought about her first mentor in a long time. She preferred not to. She really pushed it out of her mind. He had been killed by an adder on that very expedition. Gingerpaw had ran over to help, but he told her to stay back and battled the snake himself. He had been a great mentor, and she had moped in her den for two and a half days before being assigned a new one. Her second mentor wasn't as wonderful. She was a mean she-cat that went by the name Nightpoison. She had talked to some cats and they said it was because when she was an apprentice she had tried to take her life by eating deathberries. 'Nightpaw' had second thoughts and the medicine cat saved her somehow. In the end however, Gingerspark and Nightpoison became good friends.

"You are such a mouse-brain!" Nightpoison yelled at her apprentice, Gingerpaw. Between Nightpoison's lectures and annoyed grunts, Gingerpaw had tuned her out with thoughts of Rockypelt. She had missed a piece of prey because of distraction. That only got her in more trouble. "I'm trying my best!" Gingerpaw defended herself with exasperation clear in her voice. "Well your best isn't good enough!" Nightpoison retorted fiercely. Gingerpaw sighed as Nightpoison turned tail and headed for camp. Likely she didn't care if Gingerpaw followed. The apprentice finally decided she'd had enough of her short-tempered mentor.

"Look Nightpoison, I'm ten moons old, and I don't want my warrior ceremony delayed because of your issues. I think about my old mentor because of how patient and nice he was," She meowed, at Nightpoison who had whipped around to glare,"And I know I'm your first apprentice and you aren't the most tolerant cat in the world. Please, can we just work together? All I want is to learn and serve my clan!"

Nightpoison had seemed taken aback. She sat down and licked her dark gray chest fur. The two cats stared at each other for a long moment. Her mentor scratched the ground.

"I'm sorry. It's just my parents always loved my brother more than me. When he died, no one seemed to care how I felt. My old mentor always treated me like a mouse-brain! I guess it's kind of stupid that I'm acting the same way. I'll do better from now on, I promise," Nightpoison meowed. Gingerpaw smiled a little. She remember that the leader had tried to soften the blow of Rockypelt's death by giving her his sister to mentor the distraught cat. Maybe they could learn to get along.

"Thank you," Gingerpaw responded simply, dipping her head. Nightpoison flicked her tail over Gingerpaw's ear and to her apprentice's surprise, started walking back to the hunting grounds. Gingerpaw was stuck to the spot. Nightpoison looked back at her.

"Let's try to catch that vole again, shall we?" She asked over her shoulder. Gingerpaw laughed and bounded after her mentor, who wasn't so bad after all.

They would have more fights of course, but Gingerspark looked for the good in Nightpoison and was usually the one who decided to talk it out. Even her mentor sometimes started the conversation. She had taught Gingerspark forgiveness and acceptance. Those things are probably just as important as hunting. Maybe the learning of those things even sealed her future as the deputy. Sadly, Nightpoison had died of the same greencough that killed her kits and parents. The young medicine cat had its full name but the cat's mentor, who had saved Nightpoision when she ate deathberries, had died before Gingerspark was apprenticed. Now the only medicine cat, whose name she can't recall, was overwhelmed with other warriors and apprentices. By the time the frazzled cat got to Gingerpaw's family (and nightpoison), it was far too late.

However, she forgave Starclan when she was given the deputy position. She had to give herself to her clan and not be tied to other cats. She distanced herself for the greater good. She looks over at Murderweapon, feeling bad for all her mean thoughts. This cat has to have something inside that redeems her if only somewhat. She pushes down her fear and pads over to Murderweapon. She can't help feeling nervous still.

"Not really the best hunting day ever," Gingerspark meows,"But if the prey's running there's going to be fierce or brave cats willing to catch it right?" She smiles a tiny bit, unsure of what reaction to expect.

[1163 words with the flashbacks, 693 without]

[Blair ;;]

Murderweapon was looking up at the scorching sun, wishing that it had clouds covering it so she didn't need to use the faith tree's shade. Her tail slightly lashed, but it was slightly simmering now. It was too hot to be so annoyed at every little thing. She looked off to the cat who had just killed a fish. She thought about what had happened.. How she killed the fish, she meant. She had never caught a fish. She watched the cats technique from the corner of her eye, making sure that the cat couldn't tell that she was watching. She wished she could catch a fish. Her technique kept her shadow from the fish. Maybe she should try that.. She had tasted fish back when she was an apprentice. She remembered it well. The taste, the everything about it. And the flashback popped to her mind when she thought of such:

Murderpaw was staring off to the sunset, tired. She didn't want to be hunting, she wanted to be asleep. Maybe beside Westpaw.. Oh, god, Westpaw. She had slept right beside him during her apprentice days, and he hated it. But she loved it. It was pretty obvious that Murderpaw had always been in love with that black warrior with the beautiful, shimmering blue eyes.. She looked around the hunting patrol, her ears flattening back to her head, her eyes flickering across the hunting patrol once again. The only warrior she saw was her mentor, who was giving her a lecture. Hazelspring. Just the name made her blood boil, her claws unsheathe, annoyed at the cat who was supposed to be her mentor. All she did was talk.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Hazelspring snarled, pointing her tail over to the water, which had millions -- well, it seemed like millions, probably only three to four fish. But whatever. Which had three or so fish inside the pool. Murderpaw rolled her red eyes, laying down on her paws. "Yeah, yeah, how to catch a fish, whatever." she growled. She could practically hear her unsheathe her claws now, and Hazelspring smacked her. Murderpaw fell over, half expecting it, the side of her face covered in blood that smelled like rust. She could have passed out, but she sat up, snarling. Murderpaw just about almost tackled her, her claws raking her belly, but Hazelspring was much faster. She clawed and pinned her down, a murderous look on her face.

"You wanna go, you measly kit?'' was the snarl that fell towards Murderpaw, and she knew she couldn't over power this stupid warrior that was supposed to be her mentor. She shook her head, and Hazelspring flung her across the territory and back into the pool that she had just pointed at. It scared the fish, but it wasn't deep enough to drown. Her whole body was soaked, and her side ached in pain. What was she to do about it? Her whole eyes clouded as she stood, barely able to stand. And Hazelspring was easily away now.

Murderweapon was thinking back, her whole body shivering with remembrance of that stupid mentor. She hated her to the bone. Her eyes were clouded, looking more white than red now, not even caring about the heat or what had made her think back to the fish.. She would have caught that fish if she would have just paid attention. Maybe this cat could teach her.. No, that would be stupid of her. It would make her seem weak, and she wasn't spineless. Her claws sheathed and unsheathed repeatedly. She saw the cat approaching her, and looked back at her questioningly as well.

She heard the cat speak, and replied basically, with not as a rude voice as usual, "It's too hot. All the prey is in their dens. . If only we could do something about the sun."

[Clove]

Gingerspark wishes some clouds would come along and cover the sun. If only for a little while, it would be nice. She is dying for rain. Her orange pelt feels like it's actually on fire. Maybe she should take a dip in the pond. She tilts her head in the direction of the pond and realizes she left the fish there. She flicks her tail side to side. She turns her body and pads toward the fish. Suddenly, she falls to the ground. The breath is knocked out of her body. She gasps and grunts, forcing herself up with her back paws. She finds something holding on to her right paw. She pulls on that paw. She looks to the side and sees her paw stuck in some kind of hole. 'Clumsy me,' she thinks as she tugs her paw out. She places it gingerly on the ground. She winces in pain, but it isn't too bad. She half-limps to the fish, finding an easy task now greatly annoying. She'll just have to get over it. No whining like a weakling.

She stops dead in her tracks when she hears a blood curdling screech from the air. Her ears fold against her head. She knows that sound. She's filled with dread. She whips her head up. Her brown eyes widen at the sight of the hawk. It's brownish, a darker color than her eyes. The eyes on the hawk are rather scary and penetrating. She backs away, but she stays near to the fish still. She puffs her fur out and stands tall. The best idea is to not look like prey. She doubts she can protect her fish from this terrifying creature. It's worth a shot though. She hisses as it swoops down, stretching its talons out but not grabbing the fish. It's probably trying to tell her in its own way to back off. She nearly obeys. However, she has second thoughts. Another large bird dead could be another young cat saved. She's a powerful experienced warrior, not a small apprentice. She would be nothing but a coward to run.

Her instincts tell her to stay put. She has good instincts that are often correct. She stands her ground, leaning to the left a bit due to her tender fore paw. She feels awkward having a slightly twisted paw and trying to appear confident at the same time. She isn't faking the bravery, however. She lunges as the bird of prey swoops down again. She almost misses, but she finds the large wing in her jaws. She turns her head forcefully, ripping tendons in the wing. She slips off and feathers are torn away. She pounces. She digs her teeth in the wing. She hears small bones crack. She holds tightly. She glances at Murderweapon for help. No cat in its right mind would attempt to take down a hawk alone. There's no way it can fly now, but that doesn't mean anything happened to its sharp beak and talons.

[Blair ;;]

Murderweapon was just sitting there when she heard the scream. She yowled quietly, then looked up to see the giant black hawk with yellow eyes. She snarled, moving into a crouch as the other warrior too it down to the ground. It was probably impossible for it to fly now. It was whooping around and cackling, annoyed. It didn't like being restrained. Its claws caught the other warrior's, and Murderweapon pounced onto its back. It pecked at her face, forcing it to bleed, but she didn't care. She forced a bite onto its neck, but she was flung off.

She was harshly hit onto a rock in her back, but no matter how hard it hurt, she swore to herself, not to give up. She was not born to give up, nor was she able to give up. She wasn't going to show that she was hurt to this beast, who had already turned to the other warrior and was pecking at it. With Gingerspark, she attacked, tackling it to the ground, her head aching in pain, but she didn't care. She gave a threatening yowl and claws at the feathers, forcing more than enough off of the bird's back. Murderweapon bit into the soft skin, and the bird cackled in pain, buried its claws into Murderweapon. Murderweapon screamed, but she didn't allow herself to be flung off, searching for the bird's heart and plunging her fangs into it's stomach. Her whole body was heated with sweat and of course, the warmth of blood that was dripping off her body.

The bird cackled once again and fell, its claws re sheathed, its eyes dull and lifeless. She pulled herself off of the bird, but, when she tried to stand, her paws and whole body ached. She couldn't. The sign of weakness was showing all over her, the blood falling off of her body and unable to stand correctly. But, when she got the courage, she stood, licking the blood and flinching at a spot above her shoulder. The fur was gone from it, and it had a giant wound on it. She groaned in annoyance, it was an ugly little patch of fur on the ground, lifeless.

"Stupid bird." she snarled, no happiness for the lifeless bird that she had killed herself. All birds like that needed to be killed without mercy. She thought about kicking it, but had second thoughts, just continued to clean her own fur and muttering curses at the stupid bird.

[Clove]

Gingerspark was relieved when Murderweapon attacked the large bird. This thing needs to go. She's not a cat with blood lust that likes to kill, she just wants to do what's best for her clan. Feathers were flying everywhere as the hawk struggled desperately. It could not escape. She wouldn't let it. She clawed at its eyes but missed. She dodged an attack and dug her claws into its side. Flesh and feathers ripped. Blood splattered across the ground. She fought beside her clanmate. Her paw hurt greatly from physical exertion. She tried her best to ignore the ache.

She clawed the bird's underbelly when it tried to get away, even though it had a broken wing. She splashed through the blood-spattered ground. She barely escaped its beak. While it was distracted with Murderweapon she tore out the tail feathers. The bird went on her again. She made a wound on the face with her claws. The tips of her claws grazed one of its eyes. The creature squawked in pain. They were winning. She felt searing pain out of nowhere. She turned to the side and realized the bird had pecked her. She got more blows dealt on her before scrambling out of reach.

Her claws grazed the other wing. She dodged its beak and bit in, tearing a chunk from the face. She drew her claws across the wing while it was distracted. She pounced on the back and sank her claws in deep at the base. She tore her claws out of the flesh, thankfully not leaving any behind. She watched as Murderweapon finished the bird. She felt pride toward her brave clanmate. She collapsed on her side that her injured paw wasn't on, breathing heavily. Her twisted paw hurt so much worse now. She could only hope it wouldn't be a permanent injury. However, she would have been honored to make the sacrifice for her clan. They come before her own needs.

"Another glorious victory for our clan, if only against a hawk. But if we can beat a hawk, we stand a chance against almost anything," she remarks. She breaks into a small coughing fit before resting her head on the soft grass. The field is painted red with some of their blood but mostly the hawk's. She looks over at the motionless body. She wonders if it counts as prey. Probably it would. At its size, many cats will get fed. She sits up slowly. She can hardly lift her paw. She licks it carefully.

[Blair ;;]

Murderweapon looked over the plain of grass that had blood all around it. She was sure not to tell Gingerspark that most of the blood was from her self, she was probably thinking it was the large bird's blood. And it was right to think so: About two thirds of it was. But the rest of it was hers. Her whole body ached in pain as she laid her head on her paws and continued to lick what she could reach without straining herself. Her eyes were darkened in pain. But she was strong enough not to yowl out in pain and curse at the rest of the clan. She felt dizzy, but she ignored it.

Murderweapon slightly remembered the first time she had hurt herself this bad: when she was fighting a small fox cub. She was only six or seven moons of age, and her mentor had told her not to go after it, that it was too dangerous. But of course she didn't listen, determined and desperate for the kill. In the end, she didn't kill that fox cub. Her paw was almost broken for life. She looked down at her left paw, which looked sprained again. Great, she wanted to groan out to the other cat. She had attacked a stupid bird and now her whole body was going to pay the consequences. And for what? Prey for the clan? She would be sure to have her share for killing the bird. Her tail slightly lashed in annoyance as she turned to the other warrior.

"I hope we have a fair share in this prey. We're the ones that caught it." she said. She didn't want to have to give this prey up, but she knew their insane leader would make them give it to someone more needy, and for them to go get herbs to heal themselves. It was stupid. Murderweapon sat up and began to groom the rest of her body. She was still annoyed, but she didn't care as much. She would get her own fair share of the rest of the prey, if not more. She knew that she could steal a good peice of prey if she needed it.

"But it is good that we caught prey." she said, still annoyed, as she looked at the bird. It was more trouble than it was worth, by the looks of it.