Friend or Foe? [CLOSED for Byrin]

Crystal woke up in a daze, head spinning. Where... Was she? She tried to blink away the sleepiness. This brought her the little amount of clarity she needed to realise that she was in the barn. Of course she was in the barn. Where else would she be? She'd been here for the past several moons... But it somehow felt like she was waking up here for the first time. Weird.

She rose to her feet with surprising grace given how hazy her vision was. She needed some fresh air to wake her up. Carefully sidestepping Storm, she hopped down from the hay bale and slipped out of the barn.

The weather was perfect. Crystal's narrow eyes narrowed further to block out the sun, though she quite enjoyed the warm feeling on her pelt. She trotted through the tall grass and broke into a run, tail streaming behind her like a ribbon. Her legs seemed only too happy to comply, being as used to her early-morning runs as the local wildlife (she didn't care, there was enough mice in the barn to feed an army this time of year).

This was the life. Fresh air, wind in her face, all the food she could eat... And most importantly, not a sound except for her own four paws beating against the ground. Storm wasn't exactly the most talkative of cats either, so altogether it was pretty much paradise. Or so Crystal thought, until she heard a rustle coming from the grass.

She came to a sudden halt, ears pinned. It was unlikely to be prey, right? Prey didn't come waltzing up to galloping predators. No, it had to be a cat. Or worse. She couldn't see much in the tall grass, so all she could do was stare down the sourse of the noise in a defensive position. "Who's there?" She half-meowed, half hissed.