Just Around the Riverbend [Closed]

Sedgepaw ambled quietly in the light fog of morning. He huffed contently under his breath, sniffing every now and then for any sign of prey. Frost crunched loudly underneath his paws, and his whiskers twitched with annoyance. How was he supposed to find anything making so much noise? No matter how the SkyClan tom tried, he couldn't lighten his pawsteps. Irritated, he smacked a paw against the ground, sending grass and snow barreling into the river rapids. The black cat felt his heart stop. There, across the river, he could've sworn he saw the quick flash of a silhouette among the reeds. Sedgepaw's fur began to bristle, and his claws slid from their sheaths. "Show yourself!" he challenged.

The red she-cat had been hunting by the river for water voles, her favourite to catch and her favourite to eat. There was something about fish she didn't love, whether it was the scales or the muddy taste of it's flesh, she never could bring herself to love the prey that often graced the fresh kill pile. She'd been doing well too, sneaking up on the vole with careful precision, avoiding puddles like a skilled hunter. Of course that was when Sedgepaw called out, the vole was startled and ran deeper into the reeds. The she-cat was quick to respond, leaping on top of the vole and dispatching it with a bite.

Mouth full of vole, she wriggled out of the reed to greet the apprentice across the river. "It's me, Sedgepaw. Vixenpaw." She called out to the SkyClan apprentice, recognising him from SkyClan's stay in RiverClan camp.

Sedgepaw was caught off guard. He hardly expected a friendly response to his threatening posture and tone. His muscles relaxed, and his amber eyes lost their fiery glow. "Oh, Vixenpaw." He recognized her, now- the russet hue, the light green eyes. He didn't talk much during his stay in RiverClan. However, he did note the misty scent that clung to the she-cat's fur... if you looked past the disgusting fish smell. The black tom found it hard to see how any cat could stand the smell. It was torture in their camp!
Sedgepaw noticed the vole limply dangling from her jaws. He nodded to her faintly. "Sick of minnow?" he joked softly, not moving from his spot. He was... almost embarrassed to move. Why?

After dropping the vole on the ground and roughly tossing some sand over it with her forepaws, she wandered closer to the river to speak to the tom from a closer point. The apprentice was careful to avoid getting her paws wet, not enjoying the icy waters like some of her siblings seemed to, her fur took too long to dry. She imagined Sedgepaw was relieved to escape the constant wet plains of RiverClan territory. "Yep, it's me." She joked, before meowing with amusement at his observation. "Just a little, you don't get much else in RiverClan. I'd give half my tail to eat nothing but mice and voles till I died. How's things over there with SkyClan? Fishstar doesn't tell us apprentices much."

Sedgepaw's gaze lowered, his eyes hardening. "Oh, not much. Still not able to get into our camp." He scoffed at the ground sharply with an unsheathed paw, swiping mud to one side. "If I were leader, I wouldn't have let Falconstar near our territory!" He glared at his paws for a long moment, his tail lashing. Stupid WindClan. Stupid Falconstar. Stupid... Breezestar!

After a long moment of irritation, his fur settled once more. "Well, I heard I'm going to become a warrior soon!" he mentioned, amber eyes gleaming as he glanced back up at the she-cat. Sedgepaw, unblinking, watched her. "I heard an elder say that it'll be sooner rather than later. So that's something." He was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Anything up in RiverClan since we left?"

"We were all out numbered." Vixenpaw commented placatingly, while her green eyes settling on the Pine Forest behind him. The mere thought of having foreign invaders in her camp gave her the chills, her heart went out to Sedgepaw and his clanmates. If there chance ever arose, she'd be sure to give WindClan a good swat across the nose.

Seeing as it seemed they were properly chatting, the she-cat settled down, tucking her bushy tail over her paws to keep warm. "That's great news! I'm close to being a warrior too. Maybe in the next gathering, we'll both be warriors." Vixenpaw purred. "Not really. Prey's been hard to find, but that's every clan this Leafbare."

Sedgepaw gave an earnest nod, staring down at his paws. One day. One day they'd all get revenge. He listened to her mention the prey shortage. RiverClan could fare better, couldn't they? They had land and water to hunt in! That was something to envy. The black tomcat shuffled uneasily in thought. "Don't worry," he mewed, "I'm sure prey'll come around eventually." His words faltered and lost their firmness. They both knew that prey would continue to be hard to find.

In unison with Vixenpaw, he sat down, his tail somehow finding its way into the river. It sent a chill up his spine. It was cold and unexpected, and he could feel the grinding of pebbles under his tail. He gazed into the water, his amber eyes glowing. How did RiverClan cats do it? The apprentice put an experimental paw into the water before retracting it. He gazed into the clear water before glancing up at the russet RiverClan cat. "Maybe you could teach me to fish one day," Sedgepaw suggested. His eyes glimmered playfully. "Or maybe I'm speaking to the worst fisher in the forest?"

Vixenpaw looked away, glancing at the water that seemed almost devoid of life and close to frosting over. Even if Sedgepaw had been more persuasive, she couldn't bring herself to hope too much for the future. There were so many mouths to feed these days, it felt like the task ahead of feeding them all was impossible. And, it would only get worse.

But it was foolish and a little rude to speak of such things to Sedgepaw, she realised. SkyClan didn't even have a camp and she was talking about prey shortages. She felt a little embarrassed, her tail fur rising and laying flat on herself again. She appreciated that change of topic. Even if it was poking at one of her sore points. "I'll have you know that I'm better than my sister, and she's a warrior. My fur just doesn't deal well with being wet. It gets all heavy and stay damps for moons. But... If you want, I could teach you. Just the basics, can't given away all of our clan's secrets."