The Fallen Tree's

[laur]

A small silver tom crouched behind a bush, ears pricked and eyes wide and alert. The tom licked his forepaw, ringed with light, faint stripes, and nervously drew it over a large grey ear. In front of him sat a menacing, lithe black cat, speaking to himself. The smaller, light grey cat narrowed his eyes, concerned and scared of this new tom. His mind drifted to what he would do.

Should I stay? Silverheart questioned himself, uncertaintly plain on his face, or should I go? He studied the tom again, his large silver-blue eyes tracing the outlines of muscles and bones. I'm no match for this cat, he thought, sighing inwardly, I should leave while I can.

His long, ringed tail quivering, Silverheart stood up. His round eyes never leaving the black tom, he silently backed up a few paces, and began to turn around. Then, he heard the cat speak its name: Crowclaw. Silverheart froze, his ears plastered to his head in fear. Scared the tom had scented him, Silverheart swiftly but silently padded a few more paces forward.

Crack! Silverheart nearly jumped out of his pelt. He looked down at the hard ground, blanketed with snow, to see a broken twig. With one horrified flick of his tail, Silverheart knew his cover was blown. He slowly turned around, grey-ringed legs close to trembling, and faced the spot where Crowclaw sat.

"Hello?" Silverheart knew in the back of his mind that this might be his final hour.

[Kiddo [le pwnsome]]

Ashfang scented the air, bringing the scent of mouse into his mind. His stomach growled, and he shrank back, fearful that the small noise would attract attention. His left forepaw scratched against a patch of ice, he snatched it back with a small grunt of annoyance. He froze, trying to keep as still as possible.

No luck.

The mouse was scrabbling away into its den, small pink tail waving as if to mock him. He growled, so did his stomach, reminding him of his duty, and he went off in search of more prey.

[Slug]

Crowclaw gave the newcommer a cool look, eyes studying Silverheart-- studying the silver tom as if he were a mouse. Prey...

"Don't bother running. I can run faster." He cooed softly to Silverheart. "But I wouldn't chase a thing like you, would I? Oh, no-- of course not." Crowclaw murmured. "You're not worth attacking if you cower like that, either, tom." He added swiftly-- sharply.

"But why don't you show yourself more-- so I can see you better. My eyes are not what they use to be..." Crowclaw sounded guilty-- sadness creeping the edge of his voice like a mocking whisper.

"I won't hurt you. Promise." He hissed; crawling closer to Silverheart, eyes glinting molten gold in the sunlight.

[Whiskers]

Finchpaw flinched, and in that single little word, all his fears were confirmed. He should be fairer than this, though-- Finchpaw knew that. He really did want to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she could extend the favor in return. After all, he was nothing like his father and had no desire to become that tom.

Never, in a thousand moons.

"I... I was simply surprised to see you here. I've obviously disturbed you. I apologize," he dipped his head and stepped forward carefully, testing the waters. Who knew what the snappy she-cat would say next?
---

Mistystream saw her older apprentice stumble out like a goofy badger. She shook her head with a small, tickling laugh before hopping out of cover and going toward Jaypaw with graceful steps. It was interesting how they were so different; he with his strength and she with her fluidity. Hopefully she would be able to teach him how to step with the weight of a feather. There was certainly doubt in her mind that she could. She was still quite young for a cat, after all, and she hadn't nearly as much experience as some.

"Jaypaw," she greeted. "I see we've... stumbled upon each other. What a coincidence." She raised her head up to the sky, and in doing so, glanced the handsome...yet disturbed Crowclaw. She was very cautious of him-- he seemed unstable. It stirred pity within her heart.

[/size]

[laur]

Silverheart flinched at the sound of Crowclaw's velvet, yet menacing mew. His round eyes grew wide, watching every twitch of Crowclaw's muscles and every expression that crossed his face. As the tom walked forward, Silverheart noticed he was in the white snow, crouching. Snorting with disgust in himself, he stood up, using all his might to stop his legs from shaking violently.

"I won't hurt you. Promise."

Silverheart couldn't help but shrink back and snarl. Every hair on his pelt stood on end; his striped tail fluffed out in a defensive manner. If this cat were to attack, he would give his dying breath fighting back. Silverheart stared at Crowclaw, emotions flashing in his silver-blue eyes at an alarming rate; anger, worry, uncertainty, disgust.

Hissing at Crowclaw once more, Silverheart backed away a few more paces. "What do you want with me?"

[Rolo]

Frostpaw heard a small crash in the distance and a smile briefly passed over her face. Some cat obviously had no skill in keeping quiet. However, she did not turn her cool gaze from the apprentice before her.

At least the cat was decent enough to apologise, even if it was in a distinctly amusing stutter. She smiled, her eyes still emotionless. It always made her laugh to see cats tremble under her gaze, even if there was no reason for them to. She wasn't intimidating, was she?

Frostpaw chuckled at the thought, slowly seating herself again in a casual fashion, "We do seem to have met, apprentice." She said, not bothering to conjure up the cat's name. He was Rowanheart's young to her anyway, he didn't have a name as far as she was concerned. "I should hope your father isn't with you, I was enjoying not having him tweeting irritatingly in my ear. That cat speaks a lot of mousedung."

She chuckled, realising that she had let the words - the very offensive words - tumble out of her mouth before thinking about it. Finchpaw was going to hate her now.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" She asked bluntly, "Looking for some ridiculous magical herb?"

[Poizuun]

Mothtail continued down the trunk, tail flitting and brushing the leaves as she passed them, as if it was trying to get a feel of the world around it. When her hind paw caught on a miscalculated branch that had been broken off, she stumbled about for a few tail lengths, her rounded claws digging into the coarse bark in order to keep her on top of the tree and not making a fool of herself in front of cats from every Clan.

When she finally gained control of her paws and momentum, she found herself practically on top of Crowclaw, who was looking down upon another tom, who seemed extremely scared of the black tom. Her tail had puffed up to its maximum size in her fright and her paws were quite askew as she stood there, awkwardly interrupting the conversation.
"I thought I heard Crowclaw down here. She managed to muster with an uncomfortable giggle, acting as if that had been her intent all along.

[Kiddo [le pwnsome]]

Featherpaw was standing at the base of an enormous tree, it's branches thrusting out into eternity. From somewhere high above, she heard the cooing of a dove. She grinned, flexing her claws in preparation. She bunched the muscles of her legs, reveling in the strength they carried, and leapt up as far as she could, digging her claws into the crumbling bark of the great oak.

She scaled the sheer brown wall with ease, smiling as the cooing of the bird grew louder and more distinct. She pulled herself up onto the lowest branch, turned, and leapt higher, landing safely on another, and then another. She climbed higher and higher, coming around the other side of the tree so as not to frighten her prey.

She heard the bird's small talons scraping on the bark just below her. She glanced down and saw the white bird perched a foxlength down, on the branch below. She tensed, counting silently in her mind, waiting to pounce.

The small bird dipped its head below its wing, cleaning its feathers.

In that instant, she jumped, her paws smashing into the bird with such force, a small cloud of feathers fell silently to the ground, where they lay, almost invisible in the snow. The dove died on impact, it was limp under her paws.

Featherpaw purred in satisfaction as she started back down, the dove dangling from her jaws.

[striped]

The voices of many cats soon netered her mind, but the she-cat continued sitting where she was, her eyes closed. She kept her breathing easy.

In...two...three
Out...two...three

Eyes opened. It wasn't a stare of one who would have just woken up, it was a glare. She wanted peace, and she heard so many other voices of cats surrounding her. Then she remembered. "You need to keep your cool, stay calm and be nice," she growled to herself and herself only. Hopefully no one had heard her. Maybe they hadn't even seen her.

(Sorry it's so short, I'm working on a site <.<)

[Crowzerplorodon]

"Mistystream," he replied quickly. So someone had see his tumble. Jaypaw nodded at his mentor a moment too late, so it fell out of sync with his words. "Surprising to see you here," the tom tagged on to his greeting.

In the distance Jaypaw could hear a short -- but fairly menacing-sounding -- conversation going on. He vaguely recognized the voice of Crowclaw and... Mothtail perhaps? He needed to spend more time with his clanmates. But the third voice he didn't. The cat was obviously male. And obviously very, very scared.

Keeping his eats pointed in the direction of the converation, Jaypaw straightened up where he sat and let his fur fall back into place. The snow hadn't caused too much damage to it.