Of Love and Hate

Wildpaw trotted to Fourtrees at moonhigh, grinning. As fireflies danced around her head and body, she pounced on one of them and batted it into the air. "Haha, take THAT, enemy!" she crowed, waving her long and fluffy tail. She climbed up the rock and stood straight and tall, gazing proudly out into the empty clearing. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey join here for a Clan meeting!" Her voice rang out, echoing slightly off of the leaves. All was silent for a while, as the ginger-and-white apprentice thought of something to announce. "Grayheart, please step forward!"

Little did the apprentice know, watchful yellow eyes scanned her form from in the bushes. The cat was smiling, suppressing a loud purr. From his place in the bushes, the ThunderClan tom heard his Clanmate speak once again. "I, Wildstar, appoint Grayheart as my deputy!" she called out, somewhat awkwardly, not knowing what a real deputy ceremony sounded like. Gray'heart' couldn't help himself. He silently crept out of his bush, padding quietly along the shadows. He quickly made it to the rock, silently scrambling up its rough surface. "This Clan meeting is dismissed." she called, not noticing Graypaw. He snuck up on her, then pounced. Wildpaw hissed, but her cheeks heated up when she realized who had pinned her down.

The two ThunderClan cats stayed there for a while, staring at each other. Suddenly, a twig crackled and Hollypaw stepped into the clearing, her black fur blending her into the shadows. She sat down, staring at the two friends with a grin on her face. She felt a paw on her back and jumped, hoping it was Blazingpaw.

The ginger tom grinned as he laid his paw on Hollypaw's back. He laughed when Hollypaw jumped. "Got you," he purred as he muzzled her flank. He looked up and saw Greypaw and Wildpaw on top of the big rock, Wildpaw pinned down. "Hi," he said. Blazingpaw smiled at Wildpaw, but avoided Greypaw's eyes in fear of him.

Wildpaw jumped at the tom's voice. She scrambled out from under Graypaw, earning a huff of protest. "Hi!" she mewed, waving her tail at Hollypaw and Blazingpaw, and blushing.

Graypaw sent an icy yellow deathglare toward Blazingpaw, but smiled at Hollypaw.

Hollypaw growled at Graypaw but smiled at Wildpaw, and curled her tail protectively around Blazingpaw's.

There was an awkward moment of silence. Blazingpaw coughed before clearing his throat. "So, do you guys want to go hunting or something?" He asked, hoping to find something to do besides send hateful glares at each other. "We could make it into a game...or a competition. Whoever catches the most prey wins. It will make it more competitive since it is leaf-bare and there isn't a lot of prey around." Blazingpaw suddenly realized his mistake. Doing this game would mean that every one had to split up. If that happened, it would be easy for Greypaw to play any nasty tricks on him. "Or we could do it in pairs," he suggested, curling his tail a little bit tighter around Hollypaw's.

Wildpaw grinned and sauntered over to her...well, she didn't know what he was to her. Mate?

Graypaw sent a cold glare at the tom before licking the small ginger and white she-cat's head. "Sure..." he growled reluctantly.

Hollypaw sent a concerned glance over to Graypaw, then to Blazingpaw. She took the hint and nodded, standing up straighter. "Sure, Blazingpaw." The apprentice shot a look at Graypaw that screamed, 'you-touch-my-mate-you-will-be-ripped-to-shreds'.

Blazingpaw smiled, ignoring the glare from Greypaw. "Let the game begin," he said as he turned away, his tail still connected to Hollypaw's as he lead her towards a scent of a mouse. He could tell that Greypaw didn't want to do it, wich made him smile even more. Beating Greypaw in this "compotition" would make Blazingpaw feel proud and have something to rub in his face.

Wildpaw tilted her head and stared into his yellow eyes. "Where should we go hunt at?" she asked, hoping the two cats would win the competition.

Graypaw thought for a moment. "Well, the river has a lot of cover so prey can feed and get shelter, plus get water." he mewed thoughtfully.

Hollypaw purred loudly. "We're soo going to beat their tails in this!" she laughed, then quieted. "Where should we hunt?" she asked, sniffing the air for any nearby prey.

Blazingpaw laughed. "We so are!" He thought for a moment before answering Hollypaw's question. "I think we should go to the stream by the sandy hollow," he said. "I'm figuring that the prey would want a quiet place where they can get water and food. I think some berries grow by there, and it isn't as patrolled as the river, where the prey might not want to come out because of the fresh smell of cats." He was happy with his reason of why he chose that spot. "What do you think?" He asked.

Wildpaw grinned and nodded as they made their way to the river. "Sure. I like that idea. They're probably going to fail miserably!" she laughed.

Graypaw let out a purr of amusement. Suddenly, he halted and thrust his tail out to stop her. "Pigeon.." he whispered, barely audible. The tom crept forward after placing himself in the hunter's crouch, and silently scrambled up a tree. Bad move. He fell to the ground with a loud thump, and the pigeon flew away in a flurry of feathers. He growled out a curse.

Hollypaw smelled a squirrel and turned around. "Squirrel." she announced silently. She crouched, stalked into the bushes without rustling them, and located a furry red body. She leaped and crushed it under her paw, hearing the high-pitched squeal cut short. There was blood on her paws, and she shook it off. "One for us, probably none for them!" she whispered, amused.

Blazingpaw laughed. "Good catch!" He sniffed the air, failing at finding anything. Then, he picked up the scent of a mouse. "Found one," he whispered as he crouched down low and inched towards it. He waited for the right moment, then pounced. His claws dug into the mouse, but it managed to get away wounded. He growled quietly at his mistake. "Eh, I guess I'll get it next time," he said, coughing.

OOC: Lol, Wildpaw and Graypaw aren't even trying.

Wildpaw hissed. "Why isn't there any prey here?" she growled to StarClan.

Graypaw returned the hiss. "I don't know! Let's try somewhere else." he huffed.

Hollypaw smiled. "Almost!" she encouraged gently. She trotted forward, tilting her head. "Hawk!" she hissed quietly to her mate. "I don't know why it'd be over here, and if we try to catch it, there's a good chance of getting hurt, but it is pretty big... It would feed the Clan easily!" she whispered in a rush.

Blazingpaw thought for a moment, looking at the Hawk. "I don't want you to get hurt...I'll pounce on it first once it lands, then you'll pounce on it also and help kill it," he whispered. "Besides a source of prey, it would also help if it were dead because it might try to snatch a kit or something." He crouched in his hunting crouch, and silently crept forward, stopping if it looked up. Once he was close enough, he pushed himself off of his back legs, landing on the hawk. "Help, Hollypaw," he yelled as the hawk let out screeches and squirmed under him. The hawk's sharp talons dug into his skin and it's sharp beak pecked at his eyes.

Hollypaw wasted no time springing forward. "Die!" she hiss-screeched at the hawk, slashing it's claws down its eye. Obviously, it made it angrier, so she bit its neck, almost getting trapped in it's piercing beak along the way.

Blazingpaw sunk his teeth in the bird's stomach, having nowhere else to bite. The metallic taste of blood came to his mouth, making him bite harder. It took a while, but the bird stopped moving beneath the two cats. "I wonder what Greypaw and Wildpaw have caught," Said Blazingpaw as he looked around. There was feathers scattered all over the place from the falcon. Blazingpaw had a bleeding scratch on his neck from the bird, but it wasn't life-threatening.

Hollypaw noticed the scratch and winced. "You're hurt!" Her voice was full of concern for the handsome tom.