Wasn't my fault! [c]

The moon hung in a speckled black sky, serving as a comfortable host for the great Silverpelt. Once-heavy clouds parted way to let the previous flurry settle on a frost-bitten ground. Moonlight shown down on the pawprints created by the tabby and bio-color duo. Snow clung to his feet, which Loudnose didn't mind one bit. It tickled his paw-pads, though oddly felt comfortable. He turned to his hunting partner, "Do you like snow? I love it! Even though it is much more cold than I usually love you cannot deny the snow is fun to run around in, yeah? I was thinking- since snow is basically everywhere, there should be some on the Thunderpath right? What do you think happens when a monster goes on it? Does it slip like ice? I want to see! Plus there is sometimes dead prey around the Thunderpath, so we will probably not waste time by going there. Are you okay with us heading that way?"

Marshmallow had been hunting a lot recently, after her warrior's ceremony. She had been getting to know a lot of cats, their interests, how their mind worked. She found hunting with just one cat was a good way to get to know someone. So when Loudnose, a cat she had only known just a little as an apprentice, asked her to go on a hunting patrol, she accepted the invitation, the more cats she knew better, well, the better! She tried to distract herself, watching the soft falling of snow and feeling it squish under her pads.

Marshmallow was snapped out of her snow-watching and deep-thinking when Loudnose started speaking. "Oh, snow? Yes, I do like snow, I guess..." Her tailed swayed as they kept walking. "I'd think with their big paws they might slide a little, but they do seem to have a good grip on the thunderpath, so I wouldn't really be scared of them crashing into a tree or something... Dead prey? Well I prefer to catch my own prey but it is becoming leaf-bare, so it wouldn't hurt, right? So... We could go to the thunderpath..." They would have to go closer to Windclan's border, though, she didn't want to meet that Thunderclan cat now, although she might have more of a chance now that she was a warrior.

"Perfect!" he purred, a grin of pure pleasure settling on his muzzle. His head snapped away from Marshmallow, though for but a brief moment. Focusing back on the she-cat he then gave an awkward smile, "I thought there was prey haha. Do you have a favorite prey? Hey by the way your voice is really pretty! I wish mine was that graceful, then maybe I could talk a ton without the chance of being annoying. Oh also, your eyes are so incredible! I have never seen something that cool before on a cat! Does it change your vision at all? Do you see color different? What color am I?" The tom talked fast, and with the innocence and curiosity of a kit, all while quickly trekking towards the Thunderpath.

They had arrived, and the tom seemed to no longer care for answers to his questions. "Oh here it is! I do not see any monsters yet, but have seen them on here at night many times before. Oh but what if they do not come out because of the snow? They might think it is too slippery." He flicked his tail anxiously, hoping this wasn't for nothing. His tabby head bent low, brushing away a bit of snow and sniffing the rough black stuff. "This is disgusting! Haha the monsters must be really bad smelling right? I have not investigated the Thunderpath this closely before. Why do you think they stay on this? Are they stuck?"

Marshmallow followed Loudnose, listening to all of his strange but wonderful questions. The black and white she-cat smiled when he complimented her. "Well, maybe, not to be rude or anything, but you could talk less, I mean, I consider myself a chatterbox and I can get carried away- my eyes? No, Loudnose-" She chuckled. "-You're brown with the nicest tone of yellow eyes." Why not throw some compliments back at the tom?

It was only a few quick pawsteps later that they had arrived at the thunderpath. "I don't think the monsters care much about the snow. Murkyst- -ar and I had a conversation about the monsters on the thunderpath when I went to the moonstone. Although I don't even think Starclan knows why they stay..." She placed a paw on the thunderpath, right on the snowy surface, leaving a pawprint there.

Marshmallow turned her head quickly, something caught her eye.

She turned to see a moth, wings big and a pale grey, fluttering around them. "Loudnose, look, a moth." She nudged the tom, keeping her eyes on the light grey creature. It was starting to fly near the thunderpath. She had an idea, it wasn't a nice one, but it was an idea, anyway.

"Loudnose, why don't you try and catch it?" The moth still fluttered over the cold, strange stone that was the thunderpath.

He listened to Marshmallow's explanation, which wasn't as exciting as he wished. Whatever, maybe if we wait long enough we- Ears perked, his head swiveled to find Marshmallow giving him a nudge. "What?" Then he saw it- the silver dot swooping around their heads. A moth. He gazed in awe of the fluttering piece of beauty. His friend suggested an idea, one Loudnose fully agreed with. "Oh yes!" he chimed with a grin.

Without a second more thought he swiftly jumped at the moth hovering over the Thunderpath, hooking his claws in its thin wings and pinning it to the weird black path. Turning back to Marshmallow he grinned, raising his paw to show off the catch. A shake began beneath his feet, which turned his playful expression to one of confusion. Soon his ears caught the whirr of something strange. Loudnose slowly put it together in his little furry head. Eyes now fearful and aglow from the oncoming shine, his one goal was to get back to the cat in front of him.

So close.

Oh how close.

A cry erupted from Loudnose, the volume matching his name. Adrenaline took hold, shooting through his legs and pushing him away from the Thunderpath. Dashing into the bushes, the tabby soon felt shock replace the rush of pain and panic. His legs froze up as he stared at the blood clinging around his tail and foot. The tufty, short tail wasn't completely straight, so as his ankle. Bits of red lingered, the sight caused his head to spin. Not even seconds had gone by before the tom blacked out, falling from his crouched position and sprawling out in the snow. The moth still speared on his claws.

Marshmallow's tail curled around her front paws as she watched the furry brown tom dash onto the thunderpath, no hesitation, no thought. He was so... Gullible. He managed to catch the moth, but she heard- and felt- a rumbled, causing her to turn her attention away from Loudnose and towards. Ah, a monster. Her tail tip twitched, wondering if the tom would survive, dodge it, or be killed. She glanced back at Loudnose, it seemed like only just then he got what was going to happen, her gaze was calm...

Until she saw the blood spirt out from him.

It was horrific, somehow, he was still running, but the monster had definitely hit him, and hit him hard. He disappeared into the bush... And didn't come out.

She waited for him to appear again, towards her, and she would act like she didn't know what was going to happen... Hopefully it was just a minor injury... right? But... it was only quiet, the roar of the monster was long gone now and Loudnose was silent, and didn't appear from the bushes he dove in. Panic, maybe a bit of guilt, took control of her legs as she slowly walked towards the bush. "... Loudnose?" She squeaked, each paw step shakier than the last.

Then, she was right in front of the bush, her eyes wide, he can't be dead, right? If he was, how could she play it off like an accident...? If she came to camp with no prey but a dead cat's body? She peered behind the bush, seeing his awkward position made her remember coming back after that Thunderclan cat attacked her. She nudged him. "You awake? Loudnose? You in there?"

No response.

Marshmallow took a deep breath, putting a paw on his flank and feeling the gentle rise and fall. He was alive. He was... Less than okay but he was alive. She didn't kill him, and her guilt might've evaporated just a little. "Okay, I need to get you back into camp." Marshmallow noticed the moth on his claws and made sure to be extra careful as to not lose it. She pulled the tom onto her back, her legs buckling a little from the extra weight, but she got used to it after awhile with the tom positioned right on her back. "...Loudnose, let's get you home, and me out of trouble... although that's unlikely."

With Loudnose on the black and white she-cat's back, she started heading towards the camp, slowly, because the weight was a bit more than she was expecting.

~~topic end~~