In The Reeds

In the sky, a moon whiter than the snow to come in a few moons made the land shine. Through the blackened shadows of the crisp night, a muscly tom jogged along. His tail swayed in the gentle breeze, along with his own uneven pace. His glowing amber-red eyes soon spotted the crisp sparkle of the river that jutted through RiverClan's territory. Stretching his broad head up, he managed to make out the pale shape of Sunningrocks in the distance. Dragging his dry tongue over his lips, he made his way for the gurgling water. Throat hot and dry, he guzzled at the frigid liquid. After a while, he lifted his head with a contented sigh. Shaking water droplets from his whiskers, he padded alongside the river and listened to it slosh past.

"What are you doing here?" a low growl came. Reedstar was crouched a foxlength away from the rogue among a clump of reeds, his teeth bared and his tail swishing. "This is RiverClan territory." His eyes were bright green orbs in the darkness, the only hint to his presence aside from his voice.

Looking behind him, the muscular tom flickered his ears. "I don't believe you've the mind to stop me. I killed one of your cats before, remember?" the rogue growled in response. Tail swishing and ears flicking, Boulder flexed his claws.

Reedstar's blood chilled. Killed one of us?! Memories of a bloodied young apprentice came to mind, with the scent of death clinging to him. "So you were the foxheart who killed Russetpaw." he said with icy calm, pushing himself out of the reeds and into full view of the rogue. Cold fury burned in his eyes. "Then you won't be leaving." There would be no ritualistic boxing or swiping here, just a quick and bloody dance of death. The leader leaped at once, claws outstretched, and bowled the muscular gray tom to the ground.

With a furious yowl of surprise as he hit the ground, Boulder curled his lip back to show his yellow tinted teeth. "Get off!" he roared, scraping at Reedstar's stomach.

Reedstar growled as pain shot through him. He craned his neck and sunk his teeth into the struggling rogue's scruff, and slowly began to drag him to the riverbank. Memories of a small and bloody body kept flashing in his vision. I won't make this quick for this foxheart. he vowed silently as he dunked Boulder's head into the rushing river. You'll drown and feed the fishes and crows, I swear it.