Get ready...set [go!] [ginger x storm]

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<sup>She curled into a ball of russet fur and looked around camp, looking for something to do. Gingerstripe lifted her head off of her paws and swished her tail. She stretched and pulled herself to her feet. She looked around at the empty camp and rolled her eyes. There was obviously someone in the camp who felt like adventuring out to hunt. The sun was beginning to set, which made the camp look golden in the lightning. The camp was surrounded with the collective yawning of several cats from different dens. Then she saw a flutter of movement in the warrior's den. Stormclaw, she thought excitedly. She padded over to the den. Inside, there were many cats beginning to curl into their nests of moss, bracken and other soft materials. She went over to Stormclaw, who was sitting in his nest, grooming himself.

"Hey," she meowed to him, trying to keep her slightly high voice down,"You want to go hunting?" she prodded him with her paw. She sat down at her nest by his and waited patiently for him to make his decision. She curled her russet paws with her tail, keeping herself warm. Either way, Gingerstripe would figure out a way to make someone come with her.</sup>

[Cloud of Diamonds]

The knightly warrior had just gotten up and started to clean himself when a reddish gold she-cat came up to him and asked him if he wanted to go hunting. He blinked his mint-colored eyes and jerked his slightly in small surprise. Hmm. What was this she-cat's name again? Gingerstripe, that was it. She looked a bit like Foxflower. He considered her offer. Personally Stormclaw felt he'd rather be inside on such a cold day, but StarClan and the warrior code forbid he not do his duty to his Clan! And he would be disgraced if he refused such a charming offer from a lady. So hunting it was.

Lifting his tongue from his back left leg, he looked her in the eye and said, "It would be my pleasure, m'lady Gingerstripe. I am at your service. Shall we go?"

The Russian Blue carefully stepped out of his sleeping spot, though he still knocked a pigeon feather slightly askew. Ah well, he'd fix that later.

Going past her but still brushing her side slightly, he padded into the frosty air. The MeadowClan's tom dark nose sniffed. StarClan willing he wouldn't get a cold, and hopefully he'd have something to take to the fresh-kill pile.

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<sup>"It would be my pleasure, m'lady Gingerstripe. I am at your service. Shall we go?"


Gingerstripe thought about that. She thought this Russian blue tom would have declined her offer or suggested them to go somewhere himself. She thought about a favorite clearing she had been at before Dappleheart had went to StreamClan. She pictured the warm sunlight corners of the clearing and the deep green leaves. She blinked and looked back at Stormclaw.
"Well, I do have a place that does have a few mice and voles by this time of Leaf Bare." she mewed. She padded out of the small entrance of the den and bumped into Stormclaw.

She twitched her whiskers, embarrassed. How could she be so clumsy!

"Sorry." she apologized and bent her head straight. She led him towards the entrance to the Clan, The entrance was protected by thistles, bramble and whatever else the Clan had been able to find when they had first settled into the area. She padded through the minute entrance for average sized cats and breathed in the fresh air of Leaf Bare.

"Follow me," she instructed swishing her tail as she led him through the frost bitten meadows to the clearing where the clovers and dried nuts that had managed to survive would hopefully have attracted a few mice or rabbits. Hopefully they would catch something to bring to the Clan. In these cold times, whatever scrapes they could find were useful to keep the Clan alive.</sup>

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Stormclaw nodded. "Very good." And a few moments later: "It's all right, m'lady. We all make mistakes sometimes." The knightly tom mewed genially. His green eyes watched as the fluffy she-cat padded past him. He smoothly began to pad towards the camp entrance, picking his way through the swath of underground dens that made up MeadowClan's base. He squeezed through the opening after her, noting the dead but still-strong brambles around it. As she moved her ginger-furred tail and spoke, the gray warrior went after her, picking his way through the cold greenery of his territory.

"Oh dear." he murmured. Leaf-bare did stifle quite a few things, movement being one of them.

Normally the meadows would be full of life. But all was so quiet, due to the harsh season. Well, he thought, StarClan would only let leaf-bare exist if it did some good. And it did, he knew. It was the earth's rest period, when all withdrew into itself so, with honor, it could burst into life once more later.

He was so busy thinking that he almost lost track of where Gingerstripe was leading him. Prey! He remembered. Well, hopefully prey. If he failed to catch something, hopefully his honor would not suffer too much as it was hard in this cold time.

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<sup>The russet tabby nodded in acknowledgement. She looked out into the frozen tundra that was once her beautiful home. The clearing was just past the bushes ahead, she was certain. She studied the area. Leaf Bare had not held back. The once long, graceful grasses were yellowish brownish, they didn't bend, as they were bent over and torn. She stared at them painfully. But, she remembered, where a lifeless dead thing was dead, a new beginning of abundant life was born. She stared at the bare bushed, and bare tundra that had once been beautiful with butterflies and squeaks of animals.

She thought about how it all precariously worked out. If the plants did not die, new life couldn't come from where the old had die. Well, she thought, it all kept the balance of nature in a flow of balance. While she had been thinking, Gingerstripe had padded into the clearing. "Oh, we're here." she meowed to Stormclaw, who had followed her to this hunting spot. She turned her ears to where she thought she heard a faint squeaking. She signaled with her tail for Stormclaw to be as quiet as possible.

After sending him the tail signal, she breathed in slowly, as to not startle the creature behind the bush. The animal's heart was beating at an alarmingly fast rate. A young one, she thought to herself. She put all her weight on her russet paws and laggardly went to the silhouette of a small rabbit. Wait for it, Gingerstripe thought. The small furry creature was nibbling at a rotted out acorn pitifully. This creature would glad to leave Leaf Bare behind, she was sure.

She stalked quietly a few more fox lengths and then...squeak! With a bite to the neck the small rabbit was deceased. She nodded to herself in satisfaction. Gingerstripe turned her neck over to Stormclaw, she padded silently over to him and dug her claws into the frozen earth until there was a decent sized hole there to protect their prey when they caught it.</sup>

[Cloud of Diamonds]

The blue-gray tom stopped when the ginger tabby signaled him to, though he hardly needed it, recognizing the faint noise only a moment later. His paws crunched slightly in the dry terrain, brittle grass and dead plant sprigs around his short-furred gray feet. Stormclaw winced, hoping the sound wouldn't alert whatever prey his companion was stalking. It would be bad form if she failed to catch it because of him!

The chilly ground made his toes feel a bit numb, but there was nothing for it. His patience would simply have to endure. After all, the code decreed a cat put his Clan's comfort before his own. And death would come before he betrayed the warrior code. It had saved him, after all.

His still torso moved as he shuddered, remembering that day...the day he came to MeadowClan, and why he'd come to MeadowClan...and the unsuppressed feelings that had been in him, quite mad and monstrous...

Best not to think about such things. They didn't catch prey after-

Oh. It sounded like Gingerstripe had caught something, thank StarClan!

He quickly saw where she was and raced over, stopping about a tail-length from his Clanmate.

A young rabbit dangled from her jaws. Wonderful!

The lithe tom watched in slight astonishment as she clawed a hole big enough for quite a bit of prey. Stormclaw hoped he could help fill it, and began to sniff the air in hope of scenting soon-to-be fresh-kill.

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<sup>Gingerstripe nodded silently to him, she didn't want so scare away the few animals that had decided to try to find scare food. She quietly set down to body of the young rabbit, as to not startle any wandering animals. The heat that had come from the animal was starting die down, and it was getting colder.

She observed Stormclaw as he searched for a fluttering of a small heartbeat or a scurry. Gingerstripe lifted her gaze to the trampled brush. She saw a footprints that led to a den. Gingerstripe watched the den, turning her ears to the den. She could have sworn she heard a slight movement upwards.

There the noise was again! What was it? It had to be something. A small mouse started to scurry out of the miniature hole. It found a small nut and started to chew on it to see if it tasted good.</sup>

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Stormclaw's eyes widened in wonder as he heard the faint sounds of Gingerstripe stalking another piece of prey. How uncommonly lucky. StarClan must be blessing their hunt.

He decided that if he moved away he might have a better chance of catching something, what with the noise Gingerstripe's rabbit had made and the scent of it still lingering in the air. With quiet pawsteps he moved to the edge of the clearing, trying to avoid snapping any twigs or breaking any dead stems. A minute or so later, Stormclaw tasted the air again, his ears pricked for the faintest hint of prey-scuffling.

He was about to close his mouth when a faint wisp of scent came to him. What was it...squirrel? Yes, a squirrel had come this way fairly recently. The MeadowClan tom sniffed around a bit more, finding the animal's trail. It seemed to head towards the cluster of trees off to his right and up a bit. The MeadowClan tom sped up, tracking the squirrel by sniffing every other pawstep to be sure he was going the right way.

When he got to the edge of the woods, the scent was pretty fresh-obviously it had only been a a minute or two since the squirrel passed by here. The warrior strained his ears for any noises whatsoever. Was that a brush of a tail, in the bushes? Only one way to find out. He took a few steps forward, tail waving and tasted the air once more. Yes, that was where the trail headed, right into those bushes. It'd be a narrow squeeze, but...he could do it.

The Russian Blue dropped into a slink and crept over to where his prey was.

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<sup>Gingerstripe hid in a dead clomp of grass and waited for the unsuspecting animal to come out of its den. She turned her ears toward the den and heard the small animal scatter out of the frozen den tunnel. Excellent, she thought, the vole is coming right to me. The animal sniffed around at the ground, as if it expected it to still be Leaf-Fall. Gingerstripe held in her purr, this animal was highly amusing, but nevertheless, she still had to kill it for food for her clan.

The vole turned in her direction, it ears pointed at her. Gingerstripe raised her eyes and stood as still as possible. If this creature ran away, the Clan would have one less piece of prey. Gingerstripe couldn't have that. The vole looked away, and back at the ground, smelling for any sign of a fresh berry or acorn. Carefully, Gingerstripe crept out of the twined shrubs and stalked the animal. It was still searching for something to eat. When, miraculously, it found an almost dead berry by an old berry bush. Its chomping distracted it from paying attention.

Gingerstripe waited until its full attention was on the berry. It was deciding which place to eat the berry from, while Gingerstripe was only three tail lengths away. It started eating the almost no good berry. Now was her chance. Gingerstripe stepped a few paw-steps, got into a crouch, and sprang. She killed the vole with a bite to its small spinal cord. Thank you,StarClan, for letting this be a fruitful hunt, she prayed to her warrior ancestors in the countless stars above.

With a start, she realized that the sun had come up, and the sun had risen almost to sunhigh. Funny, while she had been hunting with Stormclaw, the had passed by so very fast.

Gingerstripe picked up the dead vole from the ground, the blood spilling from its spot she had killed made the vole even juicier. She passed that thought with little or no interest, small, skinny vole was not for her. And although it was small, it would keep her Clanmates alive through these bitterly cold time. Gingerstripe set the vole in the whole, where she had her rabbit. She had heard Stormclaw go off to find some prey, so she deciding to sit down and groom herself, she thought they had a great hunt, giving it was leaf-bare. But, she didn't think she heard anymore animals that were brave enough to come out of hiding.</sup>

[Cloud of Diamonds]

OOC: Apologies for the failness.

Stormclaw prayed to StarClan that the low branches of the bush wouldn't hamper him too much and that the squirrel was close to the outside of the bush. Normally, the tom wouldn't even be attempting such a difficult catch, but it was leaf-bare and whatever prey any cat could get was automatically welcome.

As he was about to enter the bush, he paused, senses straining to make sure the animal was still there. It was. He could see the fluffy tail and part of its back, only about three tail-lengths from him. He silently thanked his ancestors and lowering his back more so it wouldn't brush any stray bush branches, he crept towards it. The fluffy-tailed soon-to-be-fresh-kill didn't seem to notice him at all. At least, not until he was just about to pounce on it. Just as Stormclaw clenched his muscles for the short leap that would take him to his prey, his front right paw accidentally snapped a tiny twig he hadn't noticed. He winced. Small though the sound was, it appeared the squirrel had heard it as it was now suddenly still.

The blue-gray tom silently cursed. If he tried to get the squirrel now, it would probably escape before he could sink his claws into it. If he waited, it would probably move. This was quite distraughting, for sure. What could he do?

And as if StarClan had heard his plea, an idea slowly formed in his brain.

Perhaps if he couldn't catch the squirrel, something else could...like that whippy, hanging branch over there. Perhaps if he chased the squirrel right for it...it might work. As long as the squirrel was too terrified to look where it was going...as long as it didn't change direction...maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. Maybe it isn't, but it's the best option available, he thought. I may as well try.

So he did.

As he moved quickly towards the squirrel, it fled right after it realized it was being pursued. Stormclaw tried to drive it towards the whippy branch, but the squirrel began to veer off towards the edge of the bush. The MeadowClan tom's left front leg shot to stop it in adesperate reflex. The squirrel turned in time to evade his paw, but ran into the branch. It almost immediately recovered, but not quickly enough so that the warrior's paw couldn't get a grip in its fur. The animal still tried to run, but having its pelt ripped off as it tried to do eventually made it give up. As the rodent realized it was about to die, it became still and Stormclaw moved to deliver the death bite. What a messy kill, he thought. The small gray tree climber's pelt was messy in back from where he'd snagged it and a bit of blood showed through. But it was still prey.

Slinking out from beneath the bush, he began to pad back to Gingerstripe.