Lurking Shadows

Willow slowed to a trot when she spotted the first twoleg house, long abandoned. The roof had caved in and its walls were cracked and crumbling. "Oh, I forgot to mention how horrible this place looks. Sorry!" she turned and smiled sheepishly at Fang. "But this place is totally abandoned, so there are lots of rats and mice and other prey just running around since no one really comes here," she added, waving her tail at the rusting skeleton of a long-dead monster. "So do you wanna hunt together or separately? We can do both," she offered and padded deeper into the Old Twolegplace.

Fang looked at the pretty she-cat that was walking around before his eyes. "Well, I could-" he stopped himself in mid-sentance. Willow had made it clear that she didn't need someone, particularly a handsome tom such as himself, to catch or provide for her wellbeing. He snorted and then cleared his throat. "If you want, we can hunt together?" he said hopefully, although he was careful not to let Willow see any of the hope that was bubbling inside of him.

Fang looked around and the crumbling walls and the caving in roof. "Are you sure this place is completly safe? I've heard that some cat has died here from walking on a splinter or something like that." he said with a little bit of skepticism.

"Of course we can hunt together. I offered, didn't I?" Willow mewed, "It would be quicker if we hunted alone, but if one of us gets in trouble, the other will be close enough to help."

Someone had died by stepping on a splinter?! That was new. "I'm sure if there was a splinter big enough to kill a cat, you'd be able to see it." she mewed sarcastically. "I'm also pretty sure it's impossible for you to die with one small splinter lodged in your paw, but hey, I'm no medicine cat." she grinned and looked around, searching for a dark gray pelt. "Looks like Streampaw didn't come with us. Hope she doesn't get lost in the middle of Twolegplace or get killed by a rogue," she muttered, but a tiny bit of worry tinged her voice.

Streampaw didn’t know why she followed them. She didn’t know what she did wrong. At least her gray pelt blended well into the shadows, even though that there was a tiny tint of silver. She was no ShadowClan cat, but she could hide pretty well. They looked like they were planning to hunt some prey. I should join them...no, I shouldn’t. They hate me now. They wont hesitate to kill me. Streampaw thought. Her mind was being pulled on both sides. Finally, she decided to linger around a bit more. Going back to camp is useless anyways, filthy mouse brains...cursing the Clans with the sickness... Streampaw thought, silently cursing the Righteous Few. They had no right to—Crack. In her rage, she had stepped on a splinter of wood. Looking down, she spotted an old, broken Twoleg fence. Streampaw checked her paw. Sure enough, it has wood lodged inside. Ok, ok, what was it again? Cobwebs...right, and marigold and horsetail. Streampaw struggled to draw out the information that she had overheard. Ok, ok marigold is this yellow-ish orange-ish flower, and horsetail... She slowly limped towards some plants, digging around to look for them. She spotted an orange flower, and sniffed it. It smelled like medicine, so she picked it up in her jaws, checking around if Fang and Willow were still there. Then, she found the other familiar-looking plant, horsetail. Streampaw chewed them together, wincing at the taste. Then, while chewing, she used her front paw, and took out the splinter. Cringing slightly, she spat the paste onto the wound, smothering it around the hurt areas. Streampaw found cobweb near the twoleg fence, and wrapped it around her paw, finishing up. Well...at least I didn’t die from it. Streampaw thought.

Fang rolled his eyes. "Well, I am just stating from what I had heard from another rogue." he pointed out. "That doesn't necessarily mean that it is true!" he felt slightly embarrassed that Willow didn't like that a cat had died from a splinter, but now that he thought about it; it did sounds really and utterly ridiculous. "I am sure that Streampaw is fine. The rogues here will mind their own business as long as Streampaw minds her. I hope." he added.

Willow grinned at Fang, amusement glimmering in her eyes. "It probably is possible to die from a splinter, if it gets infected, and you're like near dying when you got it. Maybe." She let our a mrrow of laughter. Her good mood melted into one of worry and she muttered, "I hope so too." Suddenly a crack echoed in one of the shadowed alleys. It wasn't very loud, but it was still there. Her head swiveled to look, narrowing her eyes, and hissed to Fang, "There's someone there. Spying on us," she spat, scenting the scent of a cat, and crept forward, waving her tail at Fang to follow. Dashing the last few paces, she could see the silhouette of a cat, and she leaped onto the shadow, pinning it down, making the other cat unable to move. She sniffed, and instantly recoiled, releasing the other she-cat. "Streampaw?" she muttered, "I thought you ran back to your clan," she growled. "Looks like you managed to follow us perfectly fine. And i was wasting my time worrying about you," she shook her head.

As Streampaw was pinned, she winced slightly. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry...for whatever reason I did to you. I really dont want to go back to my Clan...because...” Streampaw shivered as she thought of the wails of pain, and herself, useless against the strange ailment. “Well...I just can’t. I’m sorry that I made you worried about me.”

Fang grunted and flicked his tail at Willow and at Streampaw. "Just let the little clan cat up again, will you Willow? I smell blood and it's probably from her." he said with a slight touch of discust in his voice.

He ran up and perched on top of a log attached to the roof of the Old Twolegplace. "Your a whole lot closer to Streampaw Willow, so you can take care of her." He said with a smile.

OOC: Ahhh I'm so sorry for the late reply! Also, the next parts are a bit... bloody...

"You blind there, Fang?" Willow snapped, "I already let her go. And I'm not taking care of her. If you want, do it yourself." she growled and stalked away into a different alley where she could, hopefully, sink her claws into something soft and relieve her anger. Scanning her surroundings for signs of movement, she spotted a darker shadow near the edge of a crumbling wall. Sniffing, she identified the scent.

Mouse. Perfect.

She grinned maliciously. After checking that the wind was blowing in the right direction, Willow dropped into her hunting crouch and crept towards the unsuspecting rodent. Making sure she wouldn't do anything that would alert the mouse of her presence, she stopped - and sprang. Her paws trapped her prey, and she sank her claws into its warm body, killing it. She looked at the sky, not noticing or just not caring as blood sprayed on her fur, staining her paws red. She ripped apart the mouse, now unidentifiable after being torn and shredded into a bloody pulp.

The member 'Silvershadow' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Fang looked at Willow with a 'seriously?' expression. [color=#0066cc]"You just wasted a good bit of fresh-kill."[/color] he complained and then flicked his ears up hearing another mouse behind the rafter where he was perched.

He sunk to his hunches and wiggled his butt, excited that he could show off his hunting in front of Willow. [i]Why am I showing off in front of Willow? It's not like I even care about her...[/i] His thoughts were distracted when the mouse squeaked and pulled him from his thoughts. He pounced on the mouse, hoping to trap it beneath his claws.

[b]Fang attemped to hunt a mouse in the rafters of the old twolegplace.
Fang:
45/45HP
137/140SP
Fang missed the mouse.[/b]

Fang heard a crack as he lunched towards the mouse and then suddenly the ground beneath his feet gave way and he let out a loud startled yowl as the world came crashing down around his ears.

The member 'Jaggedlightning' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Streampaw sighed. They obviously didn’t want her there. Maybe she was wrong about rogues and loners after all. Besides, she had met Viper, who seemed like a decent enough loner. If Fang and Willow didn’t want her to be friends with them, then she would have to just leave. my Clan needs me... She thought, slowly padding away. They certainly dont need me. Streampaw felt herself at the point of breaking. First the Righteous Few, then the fox then the goose...and now the plague. This was the worse time to make friends, even though she needed friends. Besides Applefang, nobody really noticed her, and Applefang was always busy doing warrior stuff. Frustrated, she fled out of Twolegplace, dashing away.

Ignoring Fang's comment, Willow glanced down at her bloody claws. She scraped the scraps together into a pile just as a loud yowl and thud sounded behind her. Twisting to look, she found Fang's prone form laying on the ground beneath the place he had been perched on earlier. She dashed to his side and nudged him gently with her nose, not wanting to dirty his fur with her stained paws. "Hey, you okay?" she asked, wondering if he was dead. "Seriously, though, how did you manage to fall? Cats usually land on their feet, ya know."

Soft paw steps fading away reached her ears, and Willow's head swiveled around to see Streampaw sprint away. "You're gonna end up lost in Twolegplace," she called, not really caring but wanting to warn her either way. Shaking her head, she turned back to the current problem: stupid Fang. "Wake up!" she screeched into his ear. "Tell me what's wrong with you! If you're hurt, I mean," she muttered. "I also do wanna know how you managed to fall off the roof," she added.

Fang stirred as Willow screeched in his ear. "I am fine." he grunted and pushed himself up into a sitting position where he started washing himself. He looked up at Willow who was staring at him with her round eyes. "Cat's usually land on their feet, but when you are up there," he flicked his tail at the now broken rafters, "and then 'poof' your world disappears from under your paws;" he said pausing in his washing. "you would fall off the roof or not land on your feet as well." he pointed out.

He stood up and stretched and looked around. "Where is Streampaw?" he flicked his ears. "Well, I guess she left. Do you want to go and get her back?" he said mildly. He knew that they were friends, and didn't want to get in the way of their friendship. He was also, in the same sense, glad that Willow had stayed by his side instead of going with the clan cat. Internally, he was glowing with happiness, but he tried not to show it on the outside.