Hunting the Night Away || Open

[Wargrace]

Raccoonheart
Hunting at night in the barren wastelands.

Let me hear your battle cry tonight,
Stand beside or step aside,
We're on the frontline.

The sun had faded, sank from the sky, into the earth, letting the long shadows play across the earth. The moon had appeared to take it's place, dark clouds cutting across it. Not full tonight, but half, atleast; gone entirely when the clouds ventured too far.. then they'd travel further and out came the semi-circle again, shining silver to fight back the shadows. Night. Dark, cool; but not cold. Comfortable. Atleast close to the makeshift camp. Beyond, the wastelands were cold. So why was he venturing so far from the camp? The warrior wasn't certain. But he had left the camp a good way behind him, now; grayscaled fur bristled against the chill. A scent; he caught it, paused, and dropped into a crouch. A pose that made the long-bodied tom look out of proportion -- he wasn't, naturally. His body, though slightly long, was fairly proportional.

Crouched, creeping forward -- then bolting. From a shrub, a bird startled, crying into the night in a panic. Upwards he flung himself, launching from strong hind legs, into the air, paws seizing the bird, snagging it's neck between his fangs. Click! The bird was silenced for good and the warrior landed with a soft thud, prey caught in his jaws. Raccoonheart was still, listening for and predators that might've heard the bird's cry and stirred in the night. Nothing. So, he dipped his head, dropping it down and promptly kicking dirt over it. He'd be back for that later. Licking his muzzle, the Reedclanner paused to examine the surroundings, bright green eyes shining. Which way, now? Onward, he decided, padding forward.

He was not energetic, or outgoing, or bubbly. Not tonight. He was calm, focused, driven. There was nothing to distract him from duty. Despite all his energy and optimism, Raccoonheart wasn't some mousebrained goofball. Beneath it, he was driven, hard-working. His tasks were taken seriously, his best effort put forward. Tonight, his self-assigned task was hunting the night away. There were many hungry mouths in the makeshift camp.

[Iva]

Fallenstrike

Darkness fell over the land. Once again, a cloud had slipped over the moon; cutting off the light. Fallenstrike was unphased. Forward he went, with intention. Where? Following Raccoonheart, of course. He still felt very uneasy when the grey warrior wasn’t around..However, he respected his decision to hunt, and let him have some space. What better to do when Raccoon was hunting, then to hunt, too? Trail behind a bit, but still within hearing distance, until something catchable was found. Right now, for him atleast- there was nothing. It was night, after all..Sometimes, critters slept.

He had spoken too soon. Just as Coon attacked to catch
something, a small rustling noise caught his ear He twisted his head around, trying to find out exactly which direction. Down he bent, large body compacted against the grass; feather-duster like tail swishing behind him, but held carefully above the ground as to not make any noise Where was it..? Right.. Here! Forward he pounced; he wasn’t the fastest, but his timing was impeccable. He hit the small body; all at once, a snap could be heard. He hadn’t even needed to bite it; his weight alone did it in. That, and the large, dew-clawed paws of his. Well, that was one mouse; along with whatever Raccoon had caught. Two pieces of prey.. It was almost like the olden days. Only.. A lot less pretty. And..Alright, so, it was nothing like the olden days.

Bending down, he picked up his mouse; trotting over, finally, to where ‘Coon was, giving a purr. Had he caught a bird? Seemed so. “I couh a maw-se” Because..He couldn’t see it danging from his jaws, or anything.

[Wargrace]

Moving, moving -- until he noticed Fallenstrike. Approaching, mouse in jaws. Had he known the other warrior was present? To some extent, yes. Perhaps not consiously, but subconsiously, he had. He perked at the approach, came to a stop, and waited for the bigger warrior to reach him, ears pricked. Caught a mouse? He purred a bit at this. "Why don't you bury it with the bird, and we can come back for it later?" He swished his fluffy tail in a gesture to indicate where said bird had been buried. A nice bird; fairly plump. One that wouldn't have been so easily caught in the day, when it'd have been soaring so high above their heads, far beyond the leap and claws of any cat short of a winged one. Did Fallenstrike bury the mouse? He'd move to stand next to the other warrior, shifting his weight to bump against him affectionately.

"Following me again, eh, Fally~? Just can't keep away, can you?" A teasing 'wink' of a green eye, sitting and curling his ringed tail around himself. Head turned, Raccoonheart would lean to give the brown warrior's shoulder a couple licks. "Now what would you do if something popped up and tried to eat you? Shouldn't be out wandering at this hour, Fallenstrike~" Because 'Coony had room to talk, didn't he? Since he was the one off wandering at Starclan-knew-what-hour, Fally just happened to be following him. But the grayscaled warrior had little worry of being picked off by something -- Fallen's safety was definitely more important. ..Couldn't the big, powerful brown warrior handle himself? Yes, he undoubtedly could give a bear a run for it's money.. but Coony was protective. And could probably give a bear a good run, too, if it got him angry. Split personality? Perhaps just a little. Only when provoked, of course.

"Figured since Bluekit's asleep, now's a good time to hunt." The warrior couldn't pry himself from the kit. Not when Blue was awake, atleast. Nestled and sleeping soundly? Yes. He wasn't a queen -- he still had duties to attend. No six-moon nursery stay to raise the little one for him! So, hunting at night it was. Sideways-flop. Towards Fallen. "Need to exercise more, fluffy! Can't tell if you're all fur or pudge." Teasing, of course. Fally wasn't pudgy -- he was long-furred and, well.. large. Big, strong, muscular kitty.

[Kovu]

(Would it be fun or annoying for Frecks to suddenly appear out of the shadows?~)

[Kovu]

The night was young. Bright with moonlight to guide her by, an achingly familiar she-cat dissolved out of the shadows; making her presence known at long last. She had something in her maw, a type of big mouse...truly it was meerkat but she had no clue about the prey around their journey 'camp' and fresh-kill was truly fresh-kill. One pawstep slowly placed before the other as she met up with the toms she had gotten on the wrong paw before.

Frecklegaze had arrived. But no light of wildness sparkled within her eye or aggression spiked up her pelt...no, not during the night when she was her most sane. She struggled with her own sanity oftentimes, from her father Dragoncoil, he had given it to her. It sickened her and strengthened her at the same time and when she met the two toms before her last...well...

Slowly she placed her offering between the two boys and bowed her head, flattening her ears. "If you two need an extra set of paws...I'm your girl." her voice was low, meek even before the toms which intrigued her. Her eyes raised to meet theirs. Ah Fallenstrike. And the dunderhead softie Raccoonheart, was it? The corners of her mouth twitched up. They were so close together they could be lovers...Her whiskers twitched with silent laughter in her amusement.

[Iva]

“No, I shouldn’t be wandering alone.. And what of you? You’re all too happy to go alone, as if you were invincible.” Vicious; he was.. Oddly so, suddenly, almost hissing with the worry. But..it was gone a moment later, replaced with a purr instead. “Yes, it is..” His mouse..He had indeed dropped it next to ‘Coon’s kill, giving it not another look. It was but one mouse, after all..They would need more. Not..them, necessarily. There were other warriors hunting, and all. It was better than laying around, doing nothing, though.. That, and he didn’t really have a choice. Coon had gone, he had fallowed. It seemed to be happening enough nowadays.

Someone else appeared from the shadows. At first, he only caught the scent; fur prickling a bit as the wind blew it over to his nose. Although rounded from the darkness, his pupils instantly slitted; turning his eyes to burning blue, with a tiny hint of orange. Hellish. There was nothing especially uncat-like in his expression.. The wild, flash of something, however, made it strange. “You again.” Out came Frecklegaze. His reaction wasn’t exactly the friendliest, but..Fallen really wasn’t the friendliest, now, was he? Nope! He disliked her. He had met her only one other time, but he disliked her. It wasn’t difficult to gain the brown tom’s disapproval. Or hatred. He disapproved a lot, he hated only a little..Freckle, however, seemed to the exception. She had threatened Coon. That meant she was the absolute enemy. Hisss.

[Wargrace]

"I'm not invincible, but I'm not worried, Fally~ you know me, don't you, Fally~?" The warrior practically grinned. Fallenstrike had been there, hadn't he? Grin faded, the warrior flopped sideways to lean on his long-time friend. The mouse was dropped into the ditch, so he moved a paw to cover the prey. "Remember when we were kits, Fallenstrike? And I drug you out of camp on an adventure? Now look -- we can go on adventures all the time, and Tricklestar wouldn't even scold us!"

A sound or a scent. Which was it? Whichever it was, something sharpened him before the Stormclanner actually appeared. Abruptly, the grayscale tom was quiet, vigilant. Focused. Fur ruffling along his scruff, he listened, tuned into the surroundings -- and then the source appeared. The bright green eyes darkened a bit, reflecting venom for a moment. The look? One of hostility. Cold, vicious, savage. Like he might make an attack at any moment. In fact, he even bared his fangs, claws poking out a bit. Then.. abruptly.. it had vanished. The negativity was gone. Faded away. What was left? Nothing negative, though nothing excessively positive. Neutral. Watchful. Ready. Was she a threat? More importantly, was she a threat to Fallenstrike? Shiningpaw had been. They both had that same flicker of insanity and danger. He'd seen it in the prior meeting.

But that didn't seem to shine in the she-cat's eyes right now. So was hostility needed? No, no, hopefully not. He didn't like spilling blood all that much. When it was needed, blood spill was fine. In fact, it was downright lovely when the one who's blood spilt had done something to deserve it. But for now, she was non-provoking. She had dropped something. A large.. rodent? Something he had never seen before. "Out late too, I see, Frecklegaze~?" A paw lifted, and he rasped his tongue over it a couple times, sweeping it over an ear. Fallenstrike. He was.. friendly, wasn't he? It didn't phase the grayscale one much; nontheless, he shifted leaning to rub his head on the warrior's shoulder. Least he decide to try to eat the Stormclan deputy.