We All Fall Down [O]

[Grady]

Whitebird's hiss was barely supressed, as once again, she landed in a less than graceful crouch - all four of her paws bunched beneath her - onto to find that the slinky, vulgar rodent had escaped her clutches once again. She could just track it's small, dusky-brown body darting between the golden grasses that had just started to spring under her own paws a few thousand tail-lengths along the steadily sloping ground. Stupid mouse - it was insulting to have such an inferior creature evade capture for so long.

Her sides heaved - her off-white fur ruffled against the invisible breeze. Yet she didn't stop for long, not even to catch her failing breath. Her lopsided nostrels flared out to better catch the air, as she darted forwards again - her tail trailing behind like a banner in her self-made wind. She could here the mouse's squeak of terror as she approached once more - he was fast, but she had the advantage of longer legs if, not today at least, always-perfect aim.

Aching muscles strained forward, as she lept clumsily forward once more. However, Starclan smiled on her this time, and she felt the satisfying crunch of tiny bones beneath her heavy bulk - the mouse squarely caught between her front legs and her heaving chest. She bit it swiftly behind the head - tasting blood as she neatly severed the morsel's neck.

She remained crouched, however, her legs buckling as she finally allowed herself to feel exhaustion. Something sour, foul-smelling to her delicate nose reached her on the wind, and she sneeze in disgust. She knew this smell - one of many that assaulted her along the borders of her clan. But usually it was not that strong. As she wasn't herself from Moonclan, those cats' scented strangely of too much grass and dirt and dust than the respectable Snowclanner found natural.

As she was smelling it so strongly, she was dangerously close to their border; perhaps even directly on that borderland where her home ended and there's began. She had come dangerously close to losing her meal - and may still if some greedy enemy came along and tried to take her hard-earned prey from her. Looking around her with wary eyes, she grudgingly rose to her aching paws, dragging the plump mouse backwards by it's scrawny tail, until the stench of Moonclan ceased to blend so readily with what she thought of as her cleaner, Snowclan scent.

[flamingdawn]

"Hello, Whitebird," a cat sneered as he stepped out of the gorse bushes on his side of the border. Frostedjay halted. "What's that you have there? A piece of prey for the hungry MoonClan?" He licked his lips. "Thank you."
He looked her over carefully. "You know, I won't attack you for that, Whitebird. It's just a mouse. Why, I scented a rabbit not far from here, on your side of the border." He jerked his head in the direction of the SnowClan camp.

[Grady]

The all too familiar voice startled Whitebird. She really should have expected it, though. Being on the borders, you would expect to meet other clans. But why, out of all the cats of Moonclan, would it have to be that insufferable Frostedjay.

Her mottled, thin 'lips' drew back from her off-colored fangs, as the fur on her hackles rose in defiance - nearly doubling her body size. Even if the tom deputy had not proposed a thinly veiled threatening comment in her direction - her reaction would have been the same.

"I set no paw in your territory, Frostedjay - and neither did my prey." She put definate emphasis on the possessive phrase - she was not going to lose her catch, although it was a smaller morsel than a rabbit or bird. His next words only added fuel to her cold fire - as he seemed to imply a few senarios with only the single sentence.

"And what do you take me for, a kit? I have no idea how you organize your clan, Frostedjay - but we prefer to have these groups called patrols - they're much more effective. We've gotten an apprentice and warrior tracking it already." She wasn't quite telling the truth; she had headed out earlier that morning, in no such patrol, but she was certain that the hunting patrol she had assigned last night was out about in the territory as well. Besides, Frostedjay need not know of her little...indescression.

"Now...why would you notice a little rabbit scent comming from our territory, Hmm?" Her voice turned icy calm, as she sat in what, to the untrained eye, may have seemed like a relaxed sitting position - positioned directly over her catch. "Wern't try tracking a meal for you clan out from under the nose of Snowclan, were you?"

[flamingdawn]

Frostedjay rolled his eyes and snorted. "Yeah," he retorted sarcastically. "I'm leading a battle patrol right now to hunt that rabbit. It's because I'm right next to the border that I can smell it, Whitebird, or have you no eyes?"

{{What does indecression mean again? I'm kinda bad at things like that. xP
Oh, and should they, like, fall in love? Two cats that absolutely hate each other, like how Leafpool and Crowfeather hated each other (or kind of)?}}

[Speckel-Lady o' Rebel/Mischeif]

The crisp rustle of grass met the smiling leader's ears as she sighed dreamily. She walked through the sea of tall grass, her head raised and tail waving high. Specklestar's sharp blue eyes glanced around as her ears pricked curiously. A wave of wind brought to attention the voice of Frostedjay.

Dreamily, she glanced around her and tasted the air. There wasn't any rabbits here anyways. It'd been hunted dry. Her ear twitching with annoyance, she trotted into the direction of Frostedjay before stopping abruptly. A rustle..... she thought, crouching into an almost perfect rabbit crouch.

Ears flattened against her skull, tail, just high enough for balance, the MoonClan leader carefully picked her way through the weaving strands of golden grass. Hearing another rustle, Specklestar paused and waited as a brown rabbit hopped out of its hiding spot. Blue eyes narrowed in concentration.

The rabbit seemed to move in slow motion. Only the fiercest patients kept the leader in place. After a moment's pause the rabbit hopped several yards in front of the leader, stopping to nibble a piece of grass. In a sudden jolt of speed, the leader lept towards the rabbit, reaching down to nip it at the neck, and succeeding. Biting down harder, she killed the rabbit quickly and continued on her way. Frostedjay probably wasn't getting into too much trouble.

Specklestar managed to hear Frostedjay's last bit of information, and bit her tongue. Of course he's getting in trouble! she told herself. The mostly white she-cat smiled at the SnowClan she-cat. The brown spots that ran through the middle of her body prickled slightly in annoyance with her deputy. "Hello, Frostedjay." Glancing cheerfully at Whitebird, the spirited leader cocked her head to the right. "You're Whitebird, am I right?" she asked with a slight purr.

[flamingdawn]

Oh great! Specklestar! Frostedjay sent a desperate prayer to StarClan for paitence.
"Specklestar," he growled, dipping his head slightly, not taking his eyes off Whitebird. "We were--uh--disscussing borders, weren't we, Whitebird?" He wanted to yell at Whitebird to make sure she got the tone of warning in his voice if she didn't go with his plan.

{{Oh, and why are we putting pics of the cats? That's random.... Oh well, I'll do it. xD}}

[Grady]

(Heh...don't worry about it...I spelled it wrong anyways. Indiscretion = An indiscreet act or remark. Mistake.

The pictures look pretty, that's why.

And actually...that would be really interesting. A love/hate relationship in the making...hmm...)

Whitebird could not help but growl in a most infeminine way - as she found no words ready to reply to Frostedjay's retort. He had got her there, but as words failed her, and her patience stretched invisibly thin, her self-restraint teetered on the edge, and she dug her claws deep into the soil to remind herself that this was not the time, or the place to start something - nor the cat to start it with.

But she was saved, in a matter of speaking, by the arrival of another cat - Specklestar; the leader of Moonclan. Although she was not her leader, Whitebird at least showed respect to the higher ranking cat. While Frostedjay and she were on similar footing - she knew that Specklestar was her superior, even if she was from another clan.

"Yes, I am Whitebird." She nodded in conformation. "Frostedjay and I were just...discussing prey." She wasn't about admit she wanted to rake the damned tom's ears off - not to his leaders. She was easily infuriated - but she wasn't stupid or suicidal.[/blockquote][/size]

[flamingdawn]

"Er--yeah," Frostedjay muttered to his leader. "Not borders; prey. Sorry." He dipped his head a little lower, taking care to not keep his eyes off Whitebird again.

[Grady]

Just as Frostedjay was determined to not let her out of his sites, Whitebird kept her gaze glued to the grey tom; the contempt they held earlier somewhat subdued, as she did not want to give hints to the leader as to the animosity before their arrival. She cleared her throat with a soft rumble, before continuing speaking to the leader in what may have seemed an offhanded remark to the untrained ear.

"Well, Specklestar...I do hope the prey is running well for Moonclan..."

[flamingdawn]

Frostedjay lifted his head up as if jerked out of a trance. "I'll go now, I think," he said slowly, as if he was thinking about his word choices. "I'll leave you and Specklestar to handle this--problem." And with that, he turned and swished away though the bushes.
But Frostedjay was sneeky: He rolled in a clump of ferns to hide his scent and peered between two bushes, careful to be more silent than a tree, if that was possible.

[Speckel-Lady o' Rebel/Mischeif]

((I did it cause Grady did >.> Not my fault!))

Specklestar glared suspiciously at Frostedjay but didn't say anything. Somehow, she found the fact they were just "discussing" something untrue. Maybe it was the glares they were exchanging? She smiled brightly as Whitebird told her she was correct. In some ways, the MoonClan leader could be a bit childish, not that Specklestar would admit it.

The leader smiled at Whitebird, her blue eyes twinkling. "Yes, the prey is going fine. Getting a bit scares as it closes in on Leaf-fall, but all the same we aren't starving." The leader raised an eyebrow at the SnowClan deputy curiously, wondering what this was all about.

Her tail twitched in slight annoyance as Frostedjay left. She made a quick decision to talk to him when they returned, but she wouldn't embarress him now. That was too low... Her ear flicked towards two bushes as she heard the silent rustle of crushed ferns. Her nose twitched as the strong scent of ferns reached her nose.

Specklestar sighed. Ferns do smell, Frostedjay! The brown-speckeled she-cat glanced casually at the off-white deputy in front of her. "So, what problem was Frostedjay referring to that we need to fix?" she asked, her blue eyes twinkling cheerfully. No one would be able to notice her annoyance except Frostedjay, if that was Frostedjay that smelled so horribly like herbs...

[flamingdawn]

Grrr... Frosedjay growled as Specklestar twitched an ear towards his direction. She wasn't suppoed to give him away!
BAM!
A small furball collided with him.
"What the--?" Frostedjay exclaimed as he tumbled in front of his leader's paws. "Icehaze!"
"Oh," said the small tortoiseshell tom. "Sorry, Frostedjay. I thought you were some type of prey. You smelled like ferns."
The deputy gritted his teeth. Stupid, cheeky, no good--
"Hi, Specklestar!" Icehaze greeted the leader, dipping his head. He looked curiously at Whitebird with wide, x-raying blue eyes. "I'm afraid I don't know you, but from the way you hold yourself, it looks like you'd be deputy, and you have SnowClan scent on you. You must be Whitebird, Flystar's deputy." Icehaze had a knack for guessing who cats were by how they looked and held themselves.

[Speckel-Lady o' Rebel/Mischeif]

Specklestar smiled, her blue eyes twinkling as she heard an almost silent growl come from Frostedjay's direction. She had to admit the deputy got on her nerves. Now that she thought about it, why'd she choose him in the first place? The leader blinked for a moment, hearing a thud. Icehaze? she thought, tasting the fresh air. Smiling cheerfully to herself, she turned as Frostedjay fell in front of her.

Chuckling softly to herself, the leader let out a purr. " 'Ello, Icehaze!" She liked the cheery tom, even if Frostedjay didn't. The MoonClan leader smiled and nodded back to the tom with a broad wink. She turned to Frostedjay with a raised eyebrow. "Becoming fresh-kill now, Frostedjay?" she remarked good-naturedly. Only the eyebrow indicated she was slightly annoyed with the tom. Her tail twitched in warning as she turned her attention to the tortoiseshell and the white she-cat in front of her.

"Yes, you guessed correctly, Icehaze. Frostedjay and Icehaze were having a bit of a chat I intruded on." The elegantly clumsy leader sat down, her brown ear twitching slightly. Smiling slightly to herself, she glanced at Whitebird, curious at what would happen next. She could easily stop a fight; really, she could easily start one as well. But what was she actually going to do?

[flamingdawn]

{Icehaze is a tom xP}

~Post coming soon!~

[Speckel-Lady o' Rebel/Mischeif]

{[(I know... I put tortoiseshell AND the white she-cat... THey are seperate kittahz)]}

[flamingdawn]

{Oh, Whitebird isn't torty. She's white with on or two tellow patches}

[Speckel-Lady o' Rebel/Mischeif]

{[(I know... >> Nm...)]}

[flamingdawn]

okay random posting time! jk lol. maybe i should, uh, reply, but i er, dun have the time really.... lol,

[Grady]

It was almost instantaneous, the lifting of tension that weighed down on the she-cat’s shoulders when Frostedjay made the decision to leave. She was not the kind of cat who would easily leap into a fight - but the longer the tom was in her presence, it seemed, her patience stretched thinner and thinner. But her relief was short-lived - the smell of crushed foliage that reached Specklestar’s nose, reached her’s only a moment later. Rolling in ferns...did she really think she was that dense, that she would fall for a trick that she herself had used countless times herself. Just the idea that he shortchanged her intelligence boiled her blood.

But she didn’t let on - she, like the leader of the bordering clan, was sometimes a subtly master. She brushed off her mounting foul mood by brushing her right paw across her ear - a known calming gesture for this she-cat.

“That certainly is good to here, Specklestar. We’ve had similar luck in Snowclan.” This, of course, wasn’t all that true. Prey, as of late, was running a tad dry - and Whitebird herself, beneath her thicker coat, was looking a little gaunt. But it was hardly noticeable yet - and the first rule of interclan relations seemed to stand that you did not let on to slight weaknesses.

Whitebird’s patience and the grip on her own head seemed to pay off - for she was saved from making any more small talk with the Moonclan leader by a highly satisfying sight - Frostedjay pinned down beneath the weight of one of his own warriors. She couldn’t stop the smirk that crossed her muzzle - but she did her best to hide it behind her foreleg, disguising it with another collected swipe of her ear. She’dve thanked the tom, Icehaze, if she ever had the chance, and not seemed petty. She would not be shown as petty in front of Frostedjay.

“Why. Frostedjay, so nice to see you again - I was sure I wouldn’t have the joy of seeing you so soon again.” Sarcasm dripped - she couldn’t hide that, either, but she hoped Specklestar wouldn’t quite pick up on it as more than simply humored over her deputy’s humiliating position. “And Icehaze, I believe? Charmed to meet you, I’m sure...You seem have gotten yourself quite the catch. ”

[Speckel-Lady o' Rebel/Mischeif]

Specklestar half-smiled, her sharp blue eyes twinkling. She knew there'd been a recent blizzard in SnowClan. That must've killed some prey.. she thought to herself. The leader thought for a moment ignoring Frostedjay on the ground in front of her paws. "I'm glad to hear about it, Whitebird." The mostly white MoonClan leader glanced at Frostedjay again, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. She absently licked her chest.

Noticing the smirk Whitebird tried to hide, she knew ther was something Frostedjay hadn't mentioned. Prey? Sure.. Struggling to keep from rolling her eyes, she glanced at Icehaze as Whitebird spoke. Specklestar glanced at Whitebird, percieving the SnowClan deputy's words as a slight insult, and therefore one to ignore. They weren't much more than a slightly rude remark... Maybe a tint of sarcasm, but Frostedjay probably deserved it.

Catching herself before she, too, could smile, she glanced at Frostedjay. "Get up," she murmured through gritted teeth. Specklestar shifted before sitting down, signalling she was relaxed, not that she hadn't been before. Sharp blue eyes sparkled as she purred, "I believe Frostedjaty forgot something and Icehaze jumped ontop of him when the tortoiseshell smelled his rabbit. Greed, ya'know."

The MoonClan leader nudged a fat rabbit toward Frostedjay, saving the tom from further embaressment to her Clan.

[flamingdawn]

Frostedjay spat at Icehaze and got up, shaking his ruffled silver fur. He muttered something inaudible that contained "not fair", "Whitebird", and "Icehaze pushed me into coming back".

Icehaze noticed Whitebird attempting to conceal her smirk and couldn't blame her. he already thought a few of his ribs were cracked from trying not to laugh.

Shaking each paw, of which had fallen asleep, in turn, Frostedjay began to lick down his ruffled pelt. Licking always calmed him, although he never knew why or never cared why.

Icehaze suddenly picked up a sour scent on the sir, looking down, he saw that Frostedjay had a clump of fux dung on his foreleg. Unable to prevent it, he laughed so hard he fell over, his tortoiseshell back flattening the leaves as he rolled around, his paws churning the air.

[Speckel-Lady o' Rebel/Mischeif]

Speech was impossible; her lips were close to bleeding from the amount of exertion it took to stop laughing. The almost irrepressible leader wasn't one to contain laughter and fought it fiercely. Finally, the last bubbles went down her throat.

"Frostedjay, your rabbt?" Specklestar asked quietly after she fought down her emotions to a minimum. Her blue eyes gleamed with joyful tears born from laughter, no matter how hard she fought. She smiled shakily, bubbles tickling her throat. Once again, laughter threatened to take over her and she cleared her throat.

"Icehaze, how's the hunting been going?" she purred, trying to change the subject. She kept having to pause for a moment to stop herself from being overcome with laughter.

[flamingdawn]

Icehaze choked something out at last, pausing in his laughing. "Well--it's--going--okay, I guess, Specklestar." He began to roll again.

Frostedjay was confused. What was so funny? And when he looked down, he thought he would die.

[Grady]

Whitebird was not a laughing feline. She did not chuckle, giggle, and for Starclan's sake, she would never, ever titter. But the sudden shock of Icehaze's burst of laughter shocked her. Was the tom insane?

Then she spotted the foul-smelling clump of brown stuck in Frostedjay's fur, and she let out a solitary huff. Her smirk widened across her maw - it was the closes she would ever come to an loud outburst of mirth. Infuriating fool deserved it.

She found her eyes, however, peering at the rabbit that Specklestar had casually tossed to the two toms. Hares were never really Snowclan's preferred prey-beasts, but she was sorry to admit that the chubby rodent put her morsel to shame. Perhaps the only thing that was stopping her mouth from watering at the scent of such a fine beast, after her lean meals as of late, was the stench of dung that casually perfumed the air.

"You, ahem...have a little something in your fur, Frostedjay." She mewed casually - as if she expected the tom didn't know already. She was determined not to press Speckledstar - but pouncing on her deputy's buttons was pleasurable, if, perhaps, not all that much smarter.

[Lovesong]

Flystar padded out of the shadows and her eyes were hard. She stepped to the side of her deputy and mewed, "We get a new place for a gathering?" She then looked at speckelstar, icehaze and Frostedjay. She raised an eyebrow at her deputy and her face said it all. Her blue eyes were emotionless and so was her face. She was very good at that. She did trust Whitebird and did hope that she was not doing anything she shouldnt be doing. She still stood and wasnt about to get comfy. She was now leader and couldnt play games anymore with anyone. She did have a playful side to her yes, but when it came down to other cats she put her guard up when any means nessisary.The tip of her tail went back and foreth and she still held her gaze with the other cats but didnt seem threathening at all. Just was curious about what was going on.

[flamingdawn]

Frostedjay groaned. Did everything have to go wrong aorund him? He hissed, "Bye," and left without another word.

Watching the deputy dissappear, and calming down after his laughing fit, Icehaze turned to the second leader. "Hello, Flystar," he meowed, respectfully dipping his head. Flystar wasn't his favorite cat, but, better than snooty Frostedjay.
"And, no, Flystar," he answered to the ginger-and-white cat's question. "Frostedjay and Whitebird just met on the border, and he left, rolled in ferns full of foxdung, came out, and left again. You know - typical chance meeting." Patched shoulders shrugged.

[Lovesong]

Flystar nodded her head to the warrior and mewed, "I see." She then took a glance over a whitebird and then back at the warrior and watched frostedjay leave.

(eh sorry)

[flamingdawn]

{What? A short post? Perfectly fine. No word limit. LOL.}

Icehaze looked over every cat warily. He shifted his paws. "So - er - I think meeting's over, eh?"

[Grady]

Whitebird's head tilted at the sound of pawsteps - save these pawsteps came from behind her, rather than before her. It seemed one of her own clan members were comming to join her.

Not just one of her clan member - her leader, Flystar. Just as Frostedjay was easily cowed by Specklestar, the white she-cat immediately bowed her head and allowed her smirk to fade, as she shied away like a scolded kit.

"Yes, Flystar...we were just...discussing things...between Moonclan and Snowclan." She expected that she would be questioned later - and for a moment, thought about following Frostedjay's lead, and stalking off. But she couldn't - she needed to stand her ground while Frostedjay couldn't, not to mention her own integrity counted on staying her ground.

"I suppose it is, isn't it." She turned her attention to the warrior; their meeting really didn't have any more merit - the only problem was she was unsure if her leader would chew her ear off later, for possibly instigating something. She made no move to actually leave, and instead, gently batted the prey between her paws back and forth across the grass with a gentle, controlled flick.

[flamingdawn]

Icehaze chanced a glance at his leader. He wondered what her emotions were; he couldn't read them today. "So, Specklestar, should we go, then?" He scraped a fern across the ground, adding another so it made an X.