Helping Paws [c]

The forest was quiet and still in the late morning, the sun beginning to climb high in the sky. A small flock of quail made their way slowly towards the Fallen Oak, pecking at anything that caught their beady eyes. A gentle breeze lightly stirred the leaves on the forest floor. The sun shone warmly down on the forest, and the only sounds were the quail worrying the leaves.

Out of nowhere, a flash of gold dropped down on the quail from above. With a clamorous squawking, the flock took off, flying low through the trees and leaving two of their number behind.

A mouse and two quail. Not a bad catch for leaf-fall. Dawnfeather dropped the mouse next to the plump quail and craned her neck to look up at the sky. Nearly sun-high, but not quite time to head back to camp yet. A noise from the other side of the Fallen Oak caught her attention, and she rose up on her haunches, trying to glimpse whatever was making the noise. “Hello?”

The calico made her way through the oaks, a single pheasant dangling in her muzzle. Exhaustion pulled at her paws, creating a slow pace. She was keeping her only catch close to her, just to feel a sense of success. Pheasantpounce had grown frustrated at her trail of failures, just one more hunt and then it was straight to camp.

The Fallen Oak came into sight, along with the smell of quail. Her ears flicked with desire, quail were some of her favorite, and she hadn't eaten in so long. The she-cat hastily buried her prey and stalked towards the birds, already imagining the oh so satisfying crunch of when her jaws would come upon them. They hadn't seen her yet, thanks to her fur blending in perfectly with the ferns and leaf-fall leaves. Tired eyes were locked onto her target, but just one blink and suddenly a golden cat was standing where the flock once was. "No!" she breathed sharply, lashing her tail around. The warrior must have rustled the foliage around her, because the golden cat stared in her direction. Pheasantpounce froze, the fur on her neck spiking. The stranger called out hello in such a non-threatening way it had her pondering weather to come out or not.

She glanced at the cat's paws, blinking in surprise at the bundle of prey there. The growl in her stomach drew her out of the bushes, perhaps she could convince this cat to give them up. Hunger and fatigue clouded her head, making her brave enough to at least try. Pheasantpounce walked up to expert hunter, close enough to recognize her scent as Skyclan. She squinted at the skyclanner, feeling as though she maybe recognized her. A battle? Or a gathering? If she had met this cat before she couldn't remember. First impression, alright. She took a shallow breath before returning the greeting, "Hello, I was.. about to get those too," she gestured to the pair of quail, continuing softly, "Quail are my favorite, uh.." The calico wracked her brain for small talk. "You're a really good hunter," she said clumsily. The fog in her mind made it hard to be focused, but she just had one goal, and it was obtaining that meal.

A calico emerged out of the bushes… hey, at least she didn’t spring for Dawnfeather’s throat. An active improvement. She looked tired… poor thing. Maybe ThunderClan was having a prey shortage. She looked vaguely familiar… but she wasn’t Prickletail. Another active improvement.

Dawnfeather blinked in horror as the calico mentioned she’d been about to catch the quail. “Oh! I’m so sorry!” She picked them up in her mouth and gently tossed them across the border, along with the mouse she’d caught earlier. “For your time,” she mewed, flicking her tail at the mouse. “Again, I’m so sorry! You look hungry, poor thing! Are you okay?” The calico certainly looked hungry… a bit rotund, perhaps, but that was most likely due to a bulky frame and thick fur.

Well that was... surprisingly easy.

Pheasantpounce watched her throw the prey to her paws, just like that. "Are- are you sure?" she questioned. The calico watched her carefully, listening to her comment on her appearance. I'm not- I'm not a "poor thing." She wanted to hiss at the pity, but her expression didn't change to reflect anything internal. "Yeah I'm.. alright," she said cautiously, what was this cat trying to do? She realized how she could manipulate this situation to get more food. "It's just... been kind of hard to hunt lately, despite my name being Pheasantpounce," she added while directing her eyes to the ground. Maybe if I look helpless... which I'm not. She looked at the prey, was it poisoned? Or was this just a gullible cat?

Dawnfeather’s heart melted. Not literally. That would be gross. And also rather death-causing. The young warrior took a small step forwards, no hesitation in her eyes. “I’m so sorry. Listen, I-“ She’d caused this poor molly’s day to get even worse. Making it up would be the least she could do- rules and the Code weren’t even considered as she opened her maw to speak.

“I could leave you some prey, here on the border! I’m so sorry ThunderClan’s having prey problems! Do you cats eat birds- silly question, that’s what you were stalking, my bad- I could catch you some birds!”

Her eyes shone with an innocent light, hoping she could help. She could help. That was always a good feeling, warm and comforting. Hopefully the molly would agree.

She flicked her tail as the warrior came a bit closer, the calico's stance subtly defensive. A small thought flickered in her head that we was being deceived. But there was something so... genuine, about this cat. Like, she had the most pure intentions ever. Pheasantpounce wanted to gag at that, to puke at her innocence. "Thunderclan doesn't have prey problems!" is what she wanted to say. Though when actually listening to the other molly (who hadn't shared her name yet,) her eyes shone at the opportunity sitting in her paws. "Do you- are you positive about that? It would be so much help, honestly it'd be amazing," she mewed with excitement. Pheasantpounce didn't think about rules or that code either, she was just gazing at the prey in her paws- and without any work! It was true, this honestly would be amazing.

“Of course. In that hollow right over there so predators don’t get it-“ Dawnfeather flicked her tail in the direction of a nearby oak. “I really hope you guys start doing better! I’m Dawnfeather by the way- Pheasantpounce is a very pretty name. Is there anything else- I have to get back to hunting- I’m so sorry about this, I’m glad I can help!”

She put her front paws on the Fallen Oak, running over the best places for prey in her mind. The Moonlit Creek certainly attracted a good amount of prey… that’d be a good place to start.