Cats Don't Always Land on Their Feet [solo/death]

The sky was a miraculous shade of pale, watery pinks and blue, tinged with a faint golden light that signaled the approaching dawn. The forest was filled with the soft, hardly audible sounds of woodland creatures beginning to stir from the previous nights sleep. Among the rapidly dwindling shadows left over from the previous darkness was the solid form of a rather large cat, clearly making its way through the sparse trees that filled the rather rocky forest that made up Skyclan's territory and brushing silently by the Leaf-Fall brittle branches of a frail shrub was Addergaze. Carefully placing her paws so that no free stones were disturbed, she continued to aimlessly wander through the expanse of the territory, doing her best to keep her eyes peeled for potential prey. After a night of scant sleep, she had decided to try and burn off the frustrations of her lack of sleep in the form of early-morning hunting. Perhaps she could even catch herself some fresh breakfast, too.

Bunching her muscles beneath her wild fur, Addergaze easily leaped forward to cross a shallow dip in the earth that blocked her path, sending several small stones clattering from beneath her paws as she did so. Pausing to briefly shake her thick and disheveled fur out, she found herself gazing at the trees and foliage that inhabited the area around her with faintly interested eyes. After a few moments of relaxed observation, the large she-cat allowed her mouth to drop open so that she could carefully scent for any potential prey that could be nearby. At first all she could smell was the cool and watery scent of the frost that was quickly being burnt away by the rising sun, but then she could catch a whiff of familiar and mouth-watering scent. Squirrel! Slowly turning her head, Addergaze's head darted back and forth several times as she did her best to pinpoint exactly where the poor squirrel was residing. Striding forwards once more, the Skyclan warrior kept her head close to the earth as she followed the rich scent the best she could.

Addergaze let out a soft, wordless grumble, carefully doing her best to follow the scent of the squirrel. After what seemed like a lifetime of well-practiced stalking, she finally managed to follow the fresh scent trail to the base of an incredibly ancient tree. "There you are.." She rumbled softly, craning her neck back to stare up at the massive tree. At first glance the tree looked practically dead- it hardly had any leaves still clinging to it's wiry branches and its bark was an ugly deep grey-brown. Although the branches looked sturdy enough, did she really want to risk going up the tree for a squirrel? Before she had time to debate the question further, the fluffy tail of the culprit quickly caught her attention. Fears and doubts were quickly disregarded by Addergaze's determination to catch the squirrel, and she found herself quickly launching herself up the solid yet brittle surface of the old tree in pursuit.

Furiously clawing her way up the ancient tree after the squirrel, Addergaze let out a little grunt of effort as she sent a shower of half-rotten bark plummeting to the ground below. It had definitely been awhile since she had to work so hard for a mere piece of prey, judging by the way she felt her stiff limbs ache in protest. The squirrel let out little cries of alarm as it realized she was coming after it, but it quickly vanished among the branches that adorned the higher point of the tree. Great Starclan, how fast could a squirrel climb?! Feeling a disbelieving snort burst from her mouth, Addergaze reached up with her forepaws to grasp onto a branch above her for leverage so that she could pull herself up even higher, carelessly putting all of her weight into the flimsy branch. "Come here you little-"

Snap!

Before Addergaze even had time to finish her sentence, the branch she had been clinging to with her forepaws bowed under her weight for a brief heartbeat before snapping completely. Unable to properly catch a grip on any other branches to prevent herself from falling, the Skyclan she-cat was sent plummeting from the tree with a loud shriek of surprise. The world blurred around her as she flew from the tree and all she could could hear was the roaring of the wind around her. How could she of fallen? She's never slipped from a branch before! The momentary disbelief and shock that coursed through Addergaze's veins prevented her from feeling any sort of fear as she harshly collided with the solid-packed earth below. Pain exploded in her form with such intensity that she was momentarily blinded, but for some odd reason the roaring pain quickly dissipated, leaving nothing behind but an odd tingling sensation.

Unable to take a proper breath, Addergaze was forced to simply stare up at the sky with wide, disbelieving eyes as her sight grew hazy. The tingling was slowly being replaced with a cold, comforting wave of numbness that made her feel groggy. The darkness that lined the edges of her vision was quickly spreading and somehow, before her, she could see the small form of two kits waiting before her, their tabby fur speckled with stars and their eyes wide with anticipation. Her kits? Were her kits coming to take her to Starclan? An overjoyed and stunned silent laughter bubbled deep with her chest as her eyes slowly began to close. "Thr-ushkit...B-Breezekit.." Addergaze managed to wheeze out brokenly with her last breath before her eyes fell completely shut for the final time.