Solo Hunting {Open}

[Lionstar]

Dawn light filtered into the forest, turning to golden leaves to fire, dancing about the tree branches on a light breeze. Spots of green here and there clung to life as only evergreens can while the air becomes frosty with the earth soon following.
A bird pecked at the ground beneath an oak tree, stabbing the fallen leaves in search of food. Busy with it's task, it did not see the golden fur, camoflauged among the bracken, creeping up behind it from downwind.
The cat sprang forward and slammed it's paws over the bird, crushing it's life along with it's spine. Lionstar kicked dirt over the kill and lifted his head. Leafbare was fully upon the forest, but the snow was late, though that received no complaints from the cats. They were glad of the longer chance to gather prey and prepare for the long, harsh, moons of leafbare.
The breeze stirred up again, dancing through the golden leader's thick fur. Lionstar shook his head and lifted it to sniff the air, jaws parted to drink in the scents of the forest. The frosty scent of the earth and air stung his nose, as the gentle smell of evergreens wafted on the thin air. His ears twitched as a bird called somewhere in the distance.
Lionstar lowered his head and clawed the ground in a stretch. He padded to the stream that flowed from ShadowClan territory to the river that seperated ThunderClan's territory from RiverClan's, crouching to lap at the icy water.

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[•The Speedster•]

Snow was falling happily from the grey sky. Clouds covered the sun, preventing the snow from melting and turning to rain. A white she-cat made her way up the ravine, heading toward the foret for a morning hunt. She hadn't caught the leader's scent before she decided to grab a quick mouthful of water. The dawn light soothed her sensitive cerulean eyes, enabling her to see easily ahead.

A delighted gasp sounded as the ivory fae spotted her brightly colored leader grabbing a drink. She cleared her throat quietly, and layed her fur down neatly with her tongue. After cleaning herself up and puting on a happily smile, she continued over to Lionstar and the stream. Hello, my leader. She diped her head politely, and took a step back to let the leader take a look at her white bodice.

Nice morning isn't it? Icemoon smiled and looked over at the sun creeping up behind the dark clouds. Rays of light suddenly splayed out on the couple, and Icemoon blinked her eyes used to the brightness. After a few second of blinking, she came to be used to the lighting. The femme turned her head away from the sun, and back towards Lionstar and his glowing pelt.

Let it ^{s n o w}
Let it ^{s n o w}
Let it ^{s n o w}

[Lionstar]

Lionstar lifted his golden head and stood, turning to the white she-cat. He dipped his head in greeting and meowed, "Yes, it is. But it will be getting cold quickly now that leaf-bare is upon us." Lionstar blinked to adjust his eyes as the sun shown down, lighting up the snow and Icemoon's white pelt. "Are you hunting?" Lionstar questioned. He flicked his tail gently, disturbing the snow lightly. Footsteps led up behind the two cats, recording where they had been until the next snowfall or too many steps walked over them. The forest was much quieter than usual, the animals hiding away from the cold. A crowd of birds chirped high above, gathered like a family before flying to a warmer place.

[Is she... flirting with him? xD]

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[•The Speedster•]

Icemoon dipped her head to his respectful comment; he was such a great and responsible leader. She blinked slowly at his advanced grooming he'd just seemed to finish, and held her head higher. She quickly flicked her head backward and smoothed down the fur that had begun to rise in anxiety. Her worry of embarrassment seemed to rise as her optics gazed at his perfect bodice. He was thin, very thin, but in a healthy manner. His paws were large, and his fur with evenly separated through his body. His neck and face fur was slightly longer, which gave him his name; a lion mane.

Yes sir, I am. She raised her head once again as she spoke, pausing with her quick licks over her fluffy pelt. Would you like to join me? The prey would be sleeping, for it is morning, but they will soon come out into the unexpected heat. She paused, trying to think of an excuse that would make Lionstar have to come with her. She didn't know why she was feeling this strange sensation around, this close to her leader. Surely she was just feeling selfconsience about how she looks as a loyal warrior. If we wait much longer, it will become colder, as you just mentioned, and the prey will stay warmly tucked away in their dens. As will we if we don't have any prey. She stopped there, and silently waited for the golden brute to reply to her long speech of hunting.

While she was waiting, her mind went back to the feeling she had recently experienced. She felt the need to climb closer to her leader, and for her to rest her head upon him. Her heart seemed to flutter and tighten, going back and forth between the two, as she stared at his glowing green eyes. Was this... was this what love felt like? She had fallen in love once, but never before had she felt this need for a body beside her, protecting her from the dangerous outside world. The feelings she'd had toward Jaywing hadn't been nearly as strong as what she was feeling now. She wondered if Jaywing still had feelings for her, surely he didn't! Icemoon wouldn't know what to do with herself if he did, for she didn't feel any resembled love toward him any more.

Jaywing had been a pain, and complained way to often for her liking. Caused by his blindness, others made fun of him, everyone except Icemoon, well, and Lionstar. Icemoon had felt bad for him, and started hanging out with him. Jaywing was fairly nice, respectful, and definitely sweet. But he had a problem with too much selfconcienceness, and always protected his right of ways. Icemoon respected him, and didn't question why he was so stubborn; for she knew the answer. He didn't like how his clanmates tried to help him, when he surely needed help. He thought he could do anything any other cat could do; which wasn't always true. He was very proud and never thought being blind was a putdown, or something to be sad about. He was different, yes, but not necessarily in a bad way.

But Jaywing became stubborn and almost disrespectful after Icemoon's kits were beared. She didn't want a father like that, so the kits grew up without their father's love; for Icemoon stayed away from Jaywing for a while. Icemoon doesn't know if the kits know who their father is, and she's worried about that if she tells them, they will become disrespectful, and hurt the clan. She sighed, and brought her mind away from the past, and from the hurt she was feeling in her heart for Jaywing. Although she doesn't love him any more, she still feels bad for him, even though she knows he can manage perfectly fine. A blinking light-bulb popped over Icemoon's head. But it wasn't necessarily an idea. She quickly wondered how Lionstar felt about her. Did he even care about her? I mean, surely as a clan leader he cared about her, but she meant in a love sort of way. Would he risk losing one of his nine lives for her? For any cat in the clan? Did he already love some other cat? There were too many questions for her to be able to ask, but surely he wouldn't have a crush already, he would have told her, right? Icemoon slitted her eyes, and returned them to her love once more. Would this cat care for her? Would he want to be the second to help her bear a litter of kits?

_{Word Count;; 767
Muse;; a lot, i could have done more
Comments;; Haha, is that easy to guess!? LOL, well i bet now it is! ;D}

[Lionstar]

Lionstar flicked his ears in agreement at Icemoon's speech. The moment she finished speaking Lionstar noticed a flash of emotion in her eyes. As it rapidly changed, showing the white warriors changing thoughts, Lionstar momentarily marveled at how quickly Icemoon could think and change. One emotion in particular seemed painfully familiar to the golden leader.
Memories swept into Lionstar's mind. A diluted calico pelt of blue-gray, cream, and white; beautiful blue eyes, like the sky reflected in the deepest part of the river. Blood staining the fur as water brushed through it; eyes dull and sightless. Three heartbeats: slowing, stopping.
Suddenly he rippled his shoulder muscles to bring his focus back, pushing the thoughts away like crow-food, storing his questions about her strange faces to the back of his mind.
"Then let's get hunting, before they can hide," Lionstar mewed, his voice betraying nothing of his thoughts. He stood, parting his mouth to scent the air better.
"Let's try along the stream," the golden leader meowed, waving his tail at the water running alongside the two ThunderClan cats.
He flicked his ears at the sound of a thrush cracking a snail against something. He turned and immediately fell into a hunter's crouch. Pulling himself forward quickly, Lionstar snaked toward the thrush. When he was barely two tail-lengths away, he pounced. The thrush screeched and took off, but Lionstar pushed it back to the ground. A clean cut to the neck, and the thrush fell down limp. Scrabbling earth over it to retrieve later, he turned back to Icemoon.

[•The Speedster•]

Icemoon gathered herself together, preparing herself for the hunt that had begun. She was poised in a hunter's crouch, inching forward openmouthed in search of prey. An almost silent squeak attracted Icemoon's sensitive ears, and she flickered her head toward the noise. Light on her paws, for she guessed it was a mouse, she made her way over to one of the giant stones. Although it was leaf-bare, and it was chilly with the breeze, the rocks were fairly warm with the sun peeking out from behind the clouds on the horizon.

The mouse mustn't have heard the she-cat coming, for it was taken down in an instant. The dusky warm body went limp in Icemoon's mouth as she cracked its spine to finish it off. The mouse fell back to the rocks, and the ivory cat picked it up in a more comfortable mannor. She headed over to where Lionstar had burried his prey, and she made her own whole not far off.

Next was a stangely plump squirrel who had just been begging to get caught. He was cracking a walnut on a close by maple tree root. Icemoon flickered tail, just out of habit of hushing anyone who was around; which at this point was Lionstar, who she guessed was off finding his own prey. The fae crept towards the young squirrel, his perfectly shiny fur looking healthy and making him look nontheless tasty. She licked her lips and her mouth almost watered, but she stopped herself from going any further; she couldn't distract herself. So she straitened herself up, gave herself a few shoulder licks, then continued towards the large rodent.

She took it down quickly, and soon after she had not one, but two more mice. The mice around here seemed very eager to get their own food while it was strangely warm for the winter. The unusual 50 degree whether helped a lot with the prey, and soon they were stocked full. Icemoon burried her catch, then decided to head to Lionstar. Her orbs flickered around in search of his bright orange cat.

Word Count;; 349
Muse;; below average
Comments;; are they going back to camp now?

[Lionstar]

Lionstar stalked into the undergrowth, mouth parted to scent the air that hung in the forest. With was damp, signaling that rain would be coming soon. But for now, it was warm and sunny, the dak clouds far away on the horizon.
A warm scent reached the ThunderClan leader. Squirrel. Lionstar headed toward the scent and could soon hear the small animal scrabbling through leaves in search of food. The golden tom slunk toward it, freezing when the squirrel looked up. He sprinted forward and the squirrel made a mad dash for a tree. It was two tail-lengths up the tree when Lionstar leaped for it, dragging it to the ground and killing it with a blow to the neck.
Lionstar's luck continued while he hunted and caught a few mice, another squirrel, and a rabbit. He picked up as much as he could carry and padded back to the stream to see if Icemoon was done.

[I am so sorry I haven't posted in weeks!! I'd like to bang my head into a wall, but I'm at school. I have no excuse except for a complete and utter lack of muse. Still don't have any, I'm amazed I was able to write this pitiful amount. TT-TT I need to go read a warriors book, when does the next one come out?
And yeah, their going back.]

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[•The Speedster•]

She picked up her pace, now anxious to get back to Lionstar. She spotted the icy stream not far off, and skidded to a halt as soon as she realized she wasn't carrying any of the prey she had just caught. She sighed and flipped around, racing back to her former area where she'd stocked her prey. Thankfully, it was still safely tucked under some dirt between two large roots. Her mouth opened as she grasped her mice and squirrel, and then slower but surely, she made her way back up the slope.

Her orbs flickered from plant to plant, waiting for the sudden blast of orange. Finally she found it, and she had to blink a few times to get her eyes used to the beautiful golden pelt of his. The sun was higher now, making the rays shine down on the cats, warming their bodies, but also brightening their pelts. Icemoon dropped her catch, for she was unable to speak with it all in her mouth. Are you ready to head back to camp-- She stopped herself as she was about to call him her love, like she always did with Jaywing. She was just so used to adding that to the end of her sentences. My love... She whispered to herself; it sounded so wrong, yet so right.

She shook her head a little bit, all of this thinking was making her head hurt. She raised her icy orbs from the ground, and faced the strong, independent, golden gaze of her leader. A small smile spread across her face as she stared intently at his perfect body. Long legs, sturdy shoulders, strong muscles, and a wide chest. His figure was as if it was too good to be true. But she must stop thinking about him! She knew he had no desire whatsoever about her. No lust for her scent around him, and envying others closer near her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hoping Lionstar couldn't read his clanmate's emotions easily. She flickered open her orbs once again, and lay his snow white banner across Lionstar's shoulders, then tapped him in the back of the head, as if saying that she was ready to go, but in a friendly way.

Word Count;; 377
Muse;; average
Comments;; Um... April 21st, the last book comes out!

[Lionstar]

Lionstar nodded an agreement for their return, his mouth still full of fresh-kill. The sun blazed far above the tree-tops, warming the forest and soaking into the fur of the cats. A slow melting crept over the snow laying in the sun, the mounds in shadow protecting by the spreading branches of trees just starting to bud.
The golden leader observed his clanmate, vaguely noticing the way her words cut off, and her changing expression. However, he gleened little from it, and brushed the actions away like a leaf. Lionstar knew that each of his clanmates had their own thoughts, their own secrets, their own lives being lived. And he was proud to be their leader.
A moment was waited for Icemoon to pick up her catch before Lionstar flicked his tail, beckoning, and loping between the trees. He kept up an easy pace over the fallen leaves and occasional patches of snow. His thick leafbare fur kept him warm and the shade of the trees kept him cool. Hints of newleaf were sprinkled throughout ThunderClan's territory. Buds of light green, rivulets of melted snow, bird-song and the scent of things growing spread in the air.
Reaching camp, Lionstar paused at the edge of the hollow. He looked down over his clan's camp, sheltered with branches still empty and skeletal from leafbare's frozen grip. But the golden tom knew that the leafbare allowed the forest to rest, so that it could return again, even greener and healthier. The cold and emptiness leafbare brought was hard for his clan; but they survived every time, even if just barely, and sprung back with along with the forest in newleaf. A feeling as if something good would happen soon filled the leader as he bounded into the hollow.

[One more month until the last book for Power of Three!! I can't wait to see what happens!!]

[•The Speedster•]

Icemoon closed her icy orbs, and trotted after the golden leader. As they walked into camp, she noticed Lionstar stop abruptly, and have a long look in his eyes. She wondered what he was thinking about. She cocked her head to the side, but continued forward, not wanting to seem to anxious to know his thoughts. The ivory fae dropped her luggage prey off at the fresh-kill pile, but kept the mouse.

She wondered over to the side of the camp, right in a warm sunny open area. Icemoon hoped that Lionstar would join her, but doubted it, he was too busy to sit around with she-cats he barely cared about. She sighed, and then took a bite out of the rodent sitting in front of her. Its luke-warm body felt nice falling down her throught, and she licked her lips as if she'd been starved and couldn't get enough.

After she had finished her meal, she headed over to the warriors den to see if anyone would like to have a chat and share tongues. She poked her head in, but saw nothing but open space and empty moss beds. A frown formed on Icemoon's usually content face. She turned around, and instead headed over to the group of chatting apprentices. She settled on the floor beside them, listening to their arguements while resting her head.

Word Count;; 227
Muse;; less than average
Comments;; ive been soooooo very inactive on here.... and im reallyyyy sorry.... and yesss! the warriors book comes out on TUESDAY!!! and ges wat!? its not the last one!! erin hunter wuz gonna end it with this episode, but she decided to keep goin YAY

[Lionstar]

Lionstar dropped his catch in the pile, and settled down with a chaffinch. He ate slowly, looking around the camp. The clan was doing well. They had lost several cats over leafbare, but ThunderClan was recovering fast.
When he finished eating, Lionstar ran his tongue quickly over his coat. The sun sank in the sky as the day dragged on. A semi-distant sounds caught Lionstar's attention. The golden tom pricked his ears in the direction it came from and scented the air cautiously. The sound seemed familiar, but definitely not friendly.
The screech of a hawk made the ThunderClan leader leap to his feet. A dark shape stood out against the sky. Lionstar raced across the camp to the nursery, where a few kits were playing outside. Their mother was just appearing from among the dense thorns. "Get inside the nursery!" Lionstar yowled, pushing the kits towards their mother. She pulled them in as Lionstar whirled around. In a heart-beat, he was next to the apprentices and Icemoon, telling them to get to shelter, the edge of camp, beneath the shelter of branches. Another screechy call from the hawk sent the apprentices scampering.

[Waaaahhhh, I'm sorry I haven't been on in forever!! I've been busy with school and have had absolutely no muse! I was barely able to write this pitiful amount. I only have 3 more weeks of school, so I will definitly be more active after that!!]

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[•The Speedster•]

[[continued in thunderclan camp: click here]]