some things //change// [open]

[stormbringer]

Greenheart crouched low in the tall grass. Her heart was beating swiftly, she had run here at top speed. The ring of soft sand around the ancient tree glowed golden in the sun – there was no one here, it seemed. She inhaled, separating the moor scents from the stale scents of cats. But nothing was fresh. Content that she wasn’t interrupting anyone’s training, she stood full height and strode out into the sand.

It sifted with a sigh beneath her paws, wonderfully warm as the day got close to sunhigh. She paced in close to the tree, but out of the shade, and sat, feeling the warmth of the ground rush through her. Despite the bright sun, there was a brisk breeze going and her coat was thin for greenleaf. She stretched her white forepaws forward, digging pale claws into the soft earth. Her emerald eyes tilted upwards.

The sky was endlessly blue, a few puffy clouds fairly raced each other across the sky. There had to be more wind up there. Greenheart wondered idly if StarClan felt it, or if they were higher still, beyond the sun and clouds, somewhere in the sapphire sky. The bare branches etched ivory against the sky. A starling had taken perch on one, high above her reach. She supposed she could climb for it, but the bird was small, and the branch thin. She’d be lucky to get the bird, and even luckier to get down alive with it. She looked down into the sand. To her left, the shadows stretched. She watched the dark form of the starling take flight, and looked up to see it fly away across the open WindClan territory. The wind ruffled her tortoiseshell coat, and the white fur of her belly.

She’d already eaten, back at the camp, anyway. The rabbits were doing well so far, and they were plump and delicious. One small starling would not be much of a prize. Greenheart felt no guilt as it became a speck on the horizon, then disappeared over Highstones. She felt no guilt at enjoying the sun. Leafbare would come again, and she would not feel the warm sand between her paws and the hot sun baking her back. She closed her eyes, and a smile pressed onto her face. Someday, yes, leafbare would come again. But she had time now, to enjoy the plentiful fresh-kill and the warm sun and the hot sand. Leaning against the tree, feeling it’s old life pouring through her as she became part of the landscape, eyes still closed, Greenheart drifted towards sleep.

[Crane]

s p i c e f u r !

Cause you, a feeling I can't deny
We are only here for one more night
Scream it like you mean it
One more time

[/right]

The rabbit was just out of reach. A few more bounds, and it would be Spicefur's prize. He willed his strong legs to go faster, faster, and then the rabbit was in range. Spicefur judged the angle of the jump he'd have to make. Land a little in front of it, because it was moving. It zig-zagged to the left just as Spicefur was about to jump.
He quickly stopped bunching his muscles and turned after the rabbit.
Then, he jumped. Oops, a little too far. Spicefur often forgot how strong he was. But before the rabbit could escape, he twisted backwards and raked his claws across it's back. It squealed loudly, and Spicefur took his chance, grabbing it by the neck, shaking it's limp body.
There, caught and ready to feed a WindClan cat. Spicefur smiled and silently gave thanks to StarClan for his lucky catch.
Spicefur looked up from the rabbit, and was surprised. He'd come this far? He was at the Old Tree, were the mentors and apprentices of WindClan came to train. To his relief, it appeared he hadn't ruined any training sessions. That would be so embarrassing! Especially since he was deputy now.
Then Spicefur noticed a calico shadow resting against the base of the tree. Whoops, there was a cat here. Spicefur subtly sniffed the air, and identified the cat as Greenheart. She was barely moving, maybe she was asleep. Spicefur smothered a chuckle. It was impolite, an besides, he knew that Greenheart was loyal and hard-working. She'd probably already caught a few rabbits for WindClan this morning, and was relaxing in the sun.
"Hello, Greenheart," he said cheerfully. He shook out his ginger pelt so it fluffed up and he could absorb more of the lovely sunlight. His olive eyes closed in bliss.

[stormbringer]

Greenheart was fading into sleep. She could hear a faint voice in her ear, whispering excitedly. Skypaw’s voice, too far away to be clear. Thankfully, the squeal of a rabbit’s pain kept her from drifting off, and so instead she sat very still, listening to the scuffle of paw’s and then the silence of the rabbit’s death. She sent up a quiet thanks to StarClan for giving her fellow warrior the strength and speed to feed their Clan. Greenheart scented the breeze blowing towards her. But she couldn’t detect a cat-scent in the mix of smells. Perhaps the wind was blowing the wrong way for her to smell them. She didn’t really worry that it was an intruder. If another clan had sent a hunting party here, there would be more cats. And they would have checked to see if there was anyone around. And most importantly, they wouldn’t have caught the rabbit.

This amused her, and a slight smile played across her lips. It was true that WindClan cats were the best rabbit hunters around. She was quite aware of her lanky build and long legs – and she wasn’t as wiry and stilted as many WindClan cats. Greenheart felt the breeze play through her fur, ruffling the rust-and-black brindling that dominated most of her body. It brushed her face, split almost perfectly in half, brown and black. The wind was always here, and she was glad she had been born into WindClan. Greeenheart couldn’t help but think she wouldn’t fit in anywhere else.

Of course, Skypaw, on the other hand, could have excelled anywhere he went. But it was obvious that the Clan he was meant to join was StarClan itself. Greenheart was content with this observation, and moved on. She was pondering exactly where StarClan was again – above the clouds, or the sun? Somewhere above the moon, for sure, but how far away was the moon? Higher than the clouds? The sun? Her eyes remained closed, until she heard a voice. She was startled, but managed to keep her composure and only open her eyes, as opposed to leaping to her feet. It was Spicefur – she relaxed, realizing her pale claws had been dug into the sand. She offered him a smile and dipped her head.

“Good to see you, Spicefur.” She replied, happy to return the greeting. His eyes were closed – he was probably enjoying the warmth of the day as much as she was. “I see you’ve had some luck.” She added, looking pointedly at the rabbit. “StarClan has blessed us with plenty of fresh-kill.” Greenheart added. This was the time of year that even wiry WindClan cats bulked up. The strength and speed of the rabbits was transferred to the cats that caught them. Of course, chasing the rabbits down before they got to eat them had to help, as well.

[Crane]

s p i c e f u r !

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I dont know where to go I can't do it alone I've tried
And I don't know why

The sun was so warm! The gentle rays of light nearly lulled Spicefur to sleep. The warmth was tugging him along, urging him to just flop onto the sand. But he knew he shouldn't... He just couldn't remember what...
"Good to see you, Spicefur," Greenheart said. Spicefur opened his eyes again and dipped his head politely. Oh, right! He was such a mouse-brain sometimes.
"I see you've had some luck. StarClan has blessed up with plenty of fresh-kill, she added. Spicefur smiled at her.
"I'm just glad I managed to catch this one," he purred, flicking his tail at the rabbit he'd just caught. "It was close!" Anyway, as well as Spicefur could remember, this was his third rabbit of the morning. He'd probably head back to camp and help Bluestar out with a few jobs, now. But it would seem rude if he rushed off on Greenheart. He should probably talk a little longer.
"Hey Greenheart, I'm not typically on hunting patrol, so wuld you like to share this rabbit?" he asked, a friendly smile on his face. Hopefully she would say yes.

[[sorry this is so short >.> I gotta rush to dinner!]]

[stormbringer]

Sure, sure. Of course – it was always close. That was how you hunted rabbits. You got close. That was the beauty of it. But he continued. He seemed pleased today. Pleasant, today. It was nice, she realized. But then there was a problem. Sharing a rabbit was a fairly bad idea. She’d already eaten – she’d been up since before dawn. Greenheart had never been a cat of enormous tact. And she would have enjoyed sharing a bit of fresh-kill with Spicefur, any day. So She took a moment to formulate an appropriate response.

“As nice as that sounds, I ate a little while ago. I was up early…” She explained. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t hesitate.” She didn’t bother to mention that she hadn’t been able to sleep, because of the stupid nightmare she should have been rid of moons ago. She no longer had to assure herself that Skypaw’s death wasn’t her fault. It had been a long time since she’d woken, the last image in her mind her brother’s mismatched eyes. She gave her head a little shake, to clear it.

“I’ll probably hunt some more, actually. I’m not on any patrols, at least, not that I know of.” She added. If she was and hadn’t heard yet, he’d certainly know. So this would probably help. A very useful meeting. Not that she’d have really minded if it had just been social. Her tail flicked. Was she imagining the awkward? Or was she just socially inept?

[Crane]

s p i c e f u r !

Princess
Why you so contagious?
Every single step
Breaks every single breath

"As nice as that sounds, I ate a little while ago. I was up early... Otherwise, I wouldn’t hesitate,

[/b]" Greenheart told Spicefur. Oh... Ah, well! Spicefur didn't really mind, it wasn't like he was that hungry.
"Oh, okay then!" Spicefur replied, picking the rabbit up in his jaws and starting to dig at the warm earth.
"I’ll probably hunt some more, actually. I’m not on any patrols, at least, not that I know of," Greenheart continued. Spicefur looked back up at her. He tilted his head slightly as he thought. No, he was pretty sure all the patrols were up to the mentors with older apprentices for the next two days. Oh, it would be so much fun to have another apprentice!
"I'm pretty sure you don't have any patrols coming up soon," he assured her. "Say, would you mind if I came hunting with you? I'm not tired yet, and it's usually more fun with someone to talk to," he asked.
Uh, this wasn't asking too much right? Usually Spicefur felt fine with being rejected and stuff... But there was something different about Greenheart. Wierd.[/size][/blockquote]

[stormbringer]

This was an excellent development. She wasn’t on patrol for a while, leaving her free to hunt for a while. A smile spread slowly across her face. Spicefur continued, and the smile turned into a beam. “That sound like an excellent idea.” Greenheart purred, lashing her tail from side to side. “It can get a little boring on your own.” Not to mention that sometimes the expanse of open moor stretching forever and ever could be a little unnerving. Sure, WindClan was used to sneaking through the tall grass, but that didn’t mean an attack party from another Clan couldn’t move without being detected, either. Two cats would be more of a match for any invaders, especially if one of those was the WindClan deputy.

Greenheart wondered if she was supposed to be asking more polite or something, since he was deputy. That would be a little odd – Spicefur really wasn’t any different than he’d always been. She supposed that a lot was changing very quickly in WindClan. And that was hard on everyone. Yes, hunting with a friend under the warm near-greenleaf sun was just what everyone needed.

“I’ve already been down by the Gorge.” She said, rising to her feet and stretching the stiffness out of her muscles as she spoke. “Maybe we should work our way down to Fourtrees?” She suggested.

--

[[Sorry, my muse just died on me]]

[Crane]

s p i c e f u r !

This isn't the path we choose,
But there's so much we could loose.
Team up! Team up!
Are you up for it?

Greenheart beamed just as Spicefur finished burying the rabbit.
"That sound like an excellent idea. It can get a little boring on your own," Greenheart purred. Spicefur joined in with her. This was going to be fun, Spicefur could already feel an excited little tingle in the tips of his toes.
Now, where to hunt? He had come down the far side of the territory, near the Yellow Plains. So there was no point going back there. He was about to ask Greenheart, but she spoke before he could.
"I’ve already been down by the Gorge. Maybe we should work our way down to Fourtrees?" she suggested. Spicefur grinned at her.
"Great idea!" he exclaimed. "We just have to look out for other patrols."
He sniffed the air quickly to make sure there were no rabbits hiding, and began to lead the way.

[Uh, should we start a new thread in Fourtrees then?]

[stormbringer]

[[works for me. Should they just run down to Fourtrees and work their way back?]]

[Crane]

[[Okay, off we go!]]