Underwater [Closed]

Cold and unforgiving. That is what this season was. He pushed through the snow as best as he could, the frost covering the ground chilling him to the bone but he had to find something to eat for his clan. As he trudged through, he couldn't help recall how none of the stories he heard about leaf-bare were as bad as this. Prey was scarce then, but it seemed even worse now. Even Dovefrost was feeling the effects of the lack of prey. He hoped that maybe.. just maybe the Stony Hollow would have some prey for him, something he could give to Dovefrost or Crowpaw or any of the other cats who desperately need it. He could last a little longer without food.

Starlingflare cautiously approached the stony hollow. He knew that it could be dangerous, but he hoped that during Leaf-bare it would remain somewhat safe. Prey would try to hide here since it was warmer right? He scanned around the hollow with his single yellow eye. Maybe something would be here.

The skinny she-cat shivered despite her long fur, cerulean eyes scanning the snow-covered hollow around her for signs of movement. She knew this was clan territory, had passed their scent markers and their scent permeated the territory despite the truly obnoxious amount of snow on the ground. Still, she needed to find prey, and she needed to prove herself to her father. And as far as she was concerned, there was no time like the present.

A soft scuffle made her sensitive ears twitched, and Atalante turned toward it, finding the shape of a small mouse in the snow ahead. Hardly enough to feed her growing body, let alone that of all of her many siblings, but the harshness of leafbare, the only season she'd ever known, left her with no chance of being picky. Dropping into a crouch, she stalked toward it on quiet paws, being careful of where she stepped. Much of her pelt was pale tortoiseshell, but darker patches across her face and forelegs would stand out in the bright snow regardless, and the last thing she wanted was to miss her catch. She'd just catch this mouse, and then she'd be on her way before any clan cat noticed. Muscles bunching, the fluffy she-cat leapt, fangs catching the mouse by the neck with ease.

Turning, Atalante had every intention of slipping away unnoticed with her catch... Only her luck seemed to have run dry. She watched as a gray tabby tom made his way into the hollow, likely looking for prey of his own. His scarred face was unlike any cat she'd seen... And Atalante forgot the prey in her jaws for a moment, eyeing the tom curiously, wondering what had caused the ugly scars across his face. The cold wind brought his scent towards her for a brief moment before shifting away, and she could only assume that he was one of the clan cats that had claimed this territory as their own with how his scent was similar to the other scents that had criss-crossed her path earlier.

Atalante attempted to catch a mouse for -7 sp. Catch was successful!
93 / 100 sp

The member 'kjSage' has done the following action : Dices roll

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#1 'Hunting Dice' : 2

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#2 'Invasion Dice' :

The yellow gaze the tom had on the other cat remained wide for a second as he processed what was happening in front of him.. Had.. Had she caught a mouse? The tom lowered his head, tail lashing behind him, letting out a rumbling growl that resounded into the hollow. What was with strange cats and hunting on his territory? No matter this was something he could fix on his own.

He tried to position himself in such a way that allowed him to keep her from escaping. "Give me the prey, and maybe I will let you out of here without some damage." He already had a hard time hunting as it was before this leaf-bare took root, but now? It was basically impossible for him to catch a single piece of prey. He could tell she was on the younger side.. A little younger than that other apprentice so maybe.. maybe he could be nicer this time.

...Well, foxdung. How had she let herself become so distracted? Heat burned beneath her fur, but at least the embarrassment took her mind off the cold a little.

"I'm barely a kit, and you're trying to intimidate me out of my prey?" She asked him, cerulean eyes widening, "I'm starving, I haven't caught anything else, and my littermates need food too." There was a hint of defensiveness in her tone, as well as some not-feigned desperation. Her father had to feed eleven kits, after all, and that had been proving to be difficult for just one or two cats to accomplish. Truthfully, it was a miracle that she wasn't much skinnier than she currently was. Learning to hunt and fend for herself was the best thing she could do, for both herself and her siblings.

"How about you let me leave with what I caught, and I won't come this way again?" If the scarred tom was going to fight her for it, Atalante had no illusion that she would lose. Her father had barely even begun to teach her combat, and the tom in front of her was larger and definitely stronger. The missing eye might help give her an advantage, but the tom almost certainly had more experience than her yet-untested paws.

Starlingflare scoffed. "It's not my fault you are starving, nor the fact that your parents can't feed you enough." He rumbled out. "You ignored the borders, the scent markers, you chose to come here. If it was anyone else from my clan you would be walking away with no food, and some wounds to tend to, so I'm doing you a favor here."

He shifted slightly, but still very clearly blocking her path. "So you can drop the prey and walk away, or you can leave with wounds. Your choice. Would you rather live another day, or die from your wounds?"

A gust of wind, pressing against his slim form made Minnowpaw shudder. He'd thought sneaking out of the camp to go for a walk would help him gather his thoughts but now all he could think about was the freezing cold. Frozen limbs moved by themselves, taking him to a place in ThunderClan territory he'd never been to before. Pausing, he froze. There was another cat here! Wait... two scents! Starlingflare? Who was the other...?

Snow encrusting his paw pads, he sneaked closer to where the scents were strongest. Hearing voices now, he quietly darted into the shadows of a tree. Now that he was able to get a better look at the situation, he searched his memories for the face of the stranger. Was the she-cat from one of the other clans? She certainly didn't smell of them... She was an outsider! The she-cat had placed a mouse at her paws and it seemed that she had stolen it. For now, Minnowpaw remained hidden. He would help defend if he had to, but if he wasn't needed, he was not about to let himself get caught out here alone.

Atalante flinched slightly at the open threats, but something else the tom had said caught her attention. "Clan?" She asked curiously, she had a very vague understanding of the term from her parents, but knew little of the actual structure and groups of cats beyond having scented their strong border markings. Not that that had deterred her from trespassing, of course.

"You're not as territorial and bullish about food with them, are you? Yes, I scented the markings, but sure your territory is surely large enough to sustain you and... the rest of them, right?" Her gaze had picked out movement in her peripheral, and Atalante tensed slightly, eyes flicking between the scarred tom in front of her and where a dark shape huddled in the shadow of a tree, wariness filling her expression.

Starlingflare's ear flicked as he heard something moving in the undergrowth nearby. He didn't know what it was, or rather who it was because prey wouldn't be nearby with all of this shouting. "Are you blind, or just stupid?" It was very obvious the gray tom was skinny. This harsh leaf-bare taking a toll on him more and more these days. There was only so much food Thunderclan could get at this point.

"There isn't enough prey on Thunderclan land to feed my clan. Riverclan, Skyclan? They stole our land, stole our prey and when we ask for help they give none. They thrive while we starve." He shook his head. Why was he explaining this? It didn't matter to an outsider. "Not that you would get it. All that matters right now is that you are stealing our very limited food source, and I can't stand for it while my clan starves. While I starve."

For some reason, a burden was lifted off his shoulders when the she-cat's innocence had been exposed. Maybe it was because she hardly looked any older than him, or because she... looked rather pretty. She couldn't possibly know what it was like to feed the clan first. That meant Starlingflare wouldn't hurt her right?  Starlingflare's words had reminded his belly how empty it was and a soft rumble erupted from within. The apprentice held his breath, trying his best to make his pelt blend into the shadows. Had they heard it?

At the tom's words, Atalante widened her eyes in horror. "It sounds like you fight a lot, why? Wouldn't it be easier if your clans worked together and share resources? Especially in a season as harsh as this?" Her father had always stressed the importance of working together for the good of the whole, evidently the clans didn't seem to function on the same principle, or if they did, it was only at the level of the individual clan. Why that was, was beyond her ability to reason. Her eyes flicked from the gray tom in front of her to the other, skinny cat. Her eyes widened slightly as she heard his stomach rumble.

Atalante considered the prey she'd caught. She'd wanted to bring it back to Klaus and impress him... But maybe it might help foster some goodwill with these clan cats? And... She was outnumbered. Atalante didn't think she could fight two cats at once. She needed to approach this carefully, and hope that maybe the younger cat would be more sympathetic. Maybe if he was, that might sway the older, scarred tom?

"You two clearly need the food," She said after a moment, a low huff escaping her. "But so do I. You at least have territory to hunt on, even if... Skyclan and Riverclan? Are unreasonable and hostile." Not quite true, but nobody needed to know that. Still, the forgotten order's territory was small, and had a lot of cats to feed. They had no choice but to venture forth and find food where they could.

Starlingflare let out a snort. "At least we have territory? You mean the territory that is growing smaller by the minute while the other clans take everything from us? While you, you have all the territory around the clans? And yet you choose to steal from us? As we are suffering? And then claim you are suffering more?" The gray warrior's patience was running out. This she-cat was annoying.

"The clans don't work together. We never have. We are all too different, have too different styles of hunting to help each other." He told her. "Now, back to the issue at hand. You can leave the prey and live another day, or go home with wounds. Your choice. Make it now." He was done with this. He wasn't going to let it drag on anymore.

"Wait-" the apprentice cringed at his interruption, shuffling his paws uncomfortably. Had he just openly disagreed with a warrior? It wasn't his place, but... it was definitely too late now. If he said nothing, he'd sound mouse-brained. Inhaling sharply, he then continued, "What if we split the prey in half for now? Starlingflare is right. Food is scarce and the other clans are hoarding the hunting grounds, but I'm sure that there are difficulties finding food where there are dogs and twolegs as well." His voice wavered a bit, his pelt still clinging to the shadows. He tried to catch Starlingflare's expression, his orange gaze searching the warrior's face. Things didn't always have to end in bloodshed, he just hoped that if he did deserve punishment for his out-of-turn speech, it would be cleaning out the elders' den. At least he'd have Dustcloud to be around.

"All of the territory?" Atalante snorted, "Do you think every rogue and loner works together or shares? Though I suppose we aren't dissimilar from your clans in that way, too stubborn and prideful to consider working together for the greater good." She continued, "Your hunting styles are different to take advantage of different territory, right? Why not teach each other how to hunt, then? Why not come together instead of separating yourselves?"

Her gaze shifted to the dark-furred tom, and Atalante inclined her head in agreement. "Your companion has a good idea... We'd each get some food in our bellies that way."

Starlingflare snorted. "You answered your own question before you even asked it. You really aren't the brightest are you?" He told her, not really bothering with explaining again. Of course at Minnowpaw's objection, the warrior's yellow eye narrowed down into a sharp glare. As much as he hated the idea, he wasn't going to get ugly with the apprentice in front of a stranger. He straightened out, yellow glare turning to the rogue. "Fine. Split the prey, but don't you ever dare come back after this." He growled out.