A Frozen Moon (Open)

As a gust of wind blew swirls of snow across road and into her face Luna shivered a bit. The sun had set not long ago, making the cold air take on an added biting chill. She-had left the city that morning, deciding she'd rather risk running into forest creatures than continuing to fight other stray cats and dogs for the scare fresh-kill in the city. Sadly the stories that she had heard about forest cats were true, Luna having come across the first scent marker of many not long after starting her trip. Only once had she ventured into the forest looking for water, and she had found it thankfully, managing to get a decent drink before the wind thankfully warned her of approaching forest cats and she fled back to the road. She had only made one other detour that day, catching a mouse in a clearing surrounded by four great oaks where the forest cats scent had been present but not as strong.

As another gust of wind blew snow into her face the she-cat squeezed her eyes shut and pushed forward. A few minutes later she felt the wind suddenly die out and the scent of dried grass filled her nose. Sneezing at the scent, the she-cat then looked up at the large barn that she had come upon. The air didn't smell like humans, in fact it smelt like many different cats, including some of the forest cats. Despite her strong wish to immediately rush inside the large building Luna sat, weighing her options in her mind. The barn cold belong to the forest cat and some other group recently tried to take it, or the other way around... As she though her head tilted to the side and her dark grey tail swished across the snow, turning silver like the rest of the dark spots of her pelt had once coated in snow.

Deciding that the reward outweighed the risk Luna pushed herself up and padded towards the door of the big building. Pushing it open a bit Luna cleared her throat and spoke out. "Hello? Is anyone here?" As she padded a few steps into the barn she looked around, her gold eyes glowing in the moonlight as they took in her surroundings.

Pepper was resting in the nest her, being crippled made much of her day a difficult journey. Unable to hunt, a small pile of traveling herbs lay near her. Pepper had not seen her mate since their fight. However, the smarting wounds it left kept him in memory. She shifted in the nest, softer than any moss and made soely from twoleg pelts and feathers. She yawned and pulled herself up to start the nightly tasks; check the health of the herbs and make sure the mice didn't get to them. This mundane routine was cut short by the meow of a cat she had never heard before, with a scent she knew nothing about.

Spotting a cat moving into the barn, she hurried as fast as her two legs could go and put on a warm smile. "Come in, all are welcome here." She meowed, it was sad that she had to say that to every cat but, territories were dangerous when it came to trespassing.

At the sound of movement Luna tensed, and her eyes darted towards the source but upon hearing the friendly voice invite her in Luna relaxed. Walking in the rest of the way Luna pushed the door closed again to block out the cold, letting out a sigh of relief. The inside of the barn was far warmer than the outside had been, though the lack of wind was most likely the bigger difference. Upon seeing the crippled she-cat Luna's eyes widened a bit in surprise for a moment before she forced the look out of her eyes and let a easy smile come onto her face. "Ah, wonderful. It's freezing out there. Luna spoke with a kind tone, though the weariness she felt managed to show through as well. Staying near the entrance Luna gave herself a good shake, trying to remove the snow from her fur so she wouldn't drip everywhere. Once a considerable pile of snow had formed beneath her and her coat wasn't a lighter color anymore she padded further into the barn, meeting the white and black she-cat halfway. How rude of me, I've yet to introduce myself. I'm Luna. She said, a bit of a laugh in her voice and a true smile on her maw

She purred and dipped her head, "I'm Pepper." she mewed. Her eyes swept the barn for a moment . "There's always plenty of fat mice to catch, I'm no competition so, help yourself to any catches." she added. The she-cat then looked for a spare nest. She was relived to spot another one, also crafted of twoleg pelts. "You seem to have traveled far, take a rest. There's a free nest over there."

Luna took in the appearance of the she-cat as she spoke, making sure to seem like she wasn't staring. At the offer of fresh-kill the white and grey feline's stomach growled, reminding her that the only prey she had eaten in the last few days was the tiny mouse earlier. "It's nice to meet you Pepper. And thank you, for the offer to hunt and the nest. It's so rare to find such generous cats these days, let alone in the middle of winter. Would you like me to catch something for you as well?" Luna had noted how skinny the she-cat was and her comment about not being competition confirmed her suspicion that the she-cat couldn't hunt for herself. That, the fact that the small of other cats was faint, and the strong smelled of herbs surrounding the female made have to think it had been a few days since Pepper had eaten fresh-kill.

"That would be wonderful, Luna. I haven't had a good meal in a while... Are you hurt at all? I can help with that as a thanks." she offered the younger she-cat. Pepper couldn't really offer anything else to her.

Of course, it's the least I could do.", the short she-cat said in reply to her approval of some food. Luna drew in a big breath of the air, scenting it for prey and looking for places mice might hide. At the offer of healing Luna looked back at Pepper and shook her head. "Nothing that a good meal and a warm nest won't fix, both of which you have already offered. Thank you for the concern though." Luna smiled warmly at Pepper before silently making her way across the barn towards some stacks of hay, the gaps between them looking promising. She had come across one or two barns during her rouge years and hunting the mice that resided them was usually easy, the hardest part being scaring them out of the nook they resided in.