Have You Ever Been There? [Willow/Open]

[shatter]

[/i]' She thought to herself silently, raising her dark pink nose into the air. The scent of RiverClan was distracting- she hadn't yet been able to tune it out- but just over it prevailed another: mouse.

Mothfoot dropped into a low crouch, slinking forward towards where the scent had come from. She was grateful that the meadow didn't have the same twigs and leaves she had to worry about stepping on in ShadowClan territory. Paw in front of paw, ears pricked forward, the dark she-cat paused. The scent grew stronger. Just another pawstep and...

The mouse darted out of it's hiding place, and Mothfoot leaped after it with her claws extended. But her prey just barely escaped her grasp; with a squeak the mouse disappeared into a thick patch of grass and was gone. Mothfoot frowned to herself.

'Smokestare would have caught that. And then he'd turned to you and say, 'Look at you Mothfoot, you hunt like an apprentice.' ' Her tail wrapped itself around her paws as her hazel eyes began scanning the meadow once more. 'I need to get better.'
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[willow]

The stink of fish filled and wrinkled her nose, choking out any other scents of which she had to depend on. If there was a cat to sneak up on her right now, she probably wouldn't know it until they had pounced on her. The earth beneath her traveling paws reminded her of Shadowclan territory, but here it was too moist and everything was too open to the sky. There was no comfort of towering pines, harsh cries of crows, or the familiar Shadowclan scent. Everything was so foreign and unnerving here, Raincloud almost wished she hadn't had come.

But the clan needed to be fed, and over hunting in their territory would leave no prey nearby. Besides, they were allowed to hunt on Riverclan territory now and it was no point not making use of it and becoming familiar with it. If the fish-faces decided to turn against their ally, then they wouldn't be safe even on their little island beyond the river.

Still, she disliked being around this much water and made it a point to stay clear of the rushing waters, instead trying to find a more dry and fruitful area to catch prey. Normal prey, not those scaly, slimy fish Riverclan loved so much. So the gray and silver she-cat steered toward the lush, grassy meadows that filled Riverclan's territory. Since the water cats preferred minnows over mice, the tall-grasses were brimming with the scents of prey and Raincloud felt her spirits lift. If she could catch a good amount for Shadowclan, she wouldn't have to return here for awhile.

It seemed luck was with the small she-cat today for as soon as she tasted the air to begin hunting, her ears pricked and Raincloud's emerald eyes caught the sight of a mouse disappearing into a particularly thick patch of grass, but didn't notice the brown tabby who had chased it to her. Crouching down, the she-cat slithered quickly across the floor and managed to pounce on the furry animal.

The mouse let out a sharp squeak as her unsheathed claws sunk into it's flesh through the grass and held it still. Raincloud could barely see the field mouse through the grass but manged to hook and pull the little thing, flinging it into the air in an arc before it landed beside her with a barely audible thud. Blood staining her paws and pupils slitted, the gray she-cat whirled around and sunk her teeth into the mouse's neck, killing it instantly and finally.

Triumph glowing in her green eyes, Raincloud held the kill in her jaws. Well, that was incredibly easy. Not too bad, Raincloud, now let's get back to business. That was the plan, until she turned back towards the meadow and saw the small dark tabby form of a fellow clan-mate. At first startled, the young warrior bristled and thought it to be a Riverclan cat spying on her but a narrow-eyed examination of the she-cat proved it was Mothfoot, a fresh warrior.

The gray and silver cat, feeling quite pleased and uplifted, practically bounced over to the tabby and sat in front of her, placing her prey down at her feet. "Hey there, Mothfoot! I am so glad to know I'm not the only Shadowclan cat here." She breathed, taking a deep breath of the tabby's scent as if she hadn't been in the marsh territory for moons. Maw upturned in a friendly smile, Raincloud stared with glowing orbs at the other cat.

She recognized that this she-cat was very reserved and quiet, not that Raincloud didn't blame her. Briarfang had been a good mentor but he was almost as bad as Scarstorm, if not at the same level. Raincloud herself was still insecure about many things because of her mentor's harsh training, so she had an idea of what Mothfoot was feeling.

Other than that, she knew little about the new warrior, which was puzzling. "I assume your here doing the same as I?"

[shatter]

[/i]star don’t you think?’ Her tail trembled slightly. No, she needed to stop thinking about him. Stop thinking about how he’d be excelling right now. The she-cat needed to focus on what was going on right now.

The warrior nearly jumped out of her fur when another she-cat, older than her, bounded up. Mothfoot leapt to her feet, claws unsheathed, heart beating wildly. Her pelt fluffed up even as she shrank back, before the familiar scent of a fellow ShadowClanner washed over her. “Oh, hello Raincloud. I didn’t see you there. And the smell of RiverClan is so prevalent, I…” Embarrassed, Mothfoot sheathed her claws and settled back down into a sitting position. “I almost thought a RiverClan cat was attacking me.”

She angled her body slightly away from Raincloud for a second, unsure and slightly worried about how she would react. She seemed nice enough, but Mothfoot didn’t know her well enough to be sure. Instead, the brown cat took to looking back over the open meadow, fresh with newly bloomed flowers. ‘This must be how WindClan feels,’ Mothfoot thought. ‘Except less wet. I don’t know how they do it, exposed to the sky and weather and hawks.’ With a quick glance over at Raincloud, Mothfoot wondered if the older warrior felt the same. She decided it was likely, since (she assumed) they were both born-and-raised ShadowClanners. Their comfort was the soft marsh and the dark pines.

“I assume you’re here doing the same as I?"

Mothfoot nodded, but shuffled her paws self-consciously. “I am. But having no such luck, unfortunately.” She was hesitant to admit it, but she figured she could trust the silver she-cat. “I need to work on my hunting ability. I’m glad no RiverClanners have spotted me yet.” She wrinkled her nose at the thought of a cat from another clan seeing her hunt. There was another reason why she’d been so reluctant to cross the border: embarrassing ShadowClan on another clan’s territory. Brokenstar would have her pelt, if he knew. Or at least in her mind, he would.

An idea dawned on her, and suddenly her hazel eyes shone. “Maybe if I smelled like a RiverClanner, I’d have more luck. My pelt isn’t going to help me hide out here,” she gestured to the open meadow with a flick of her tail, “but maybe if I smelled like one…” The warrior paused, letting her words hang in the air. Not every cat was so enthusiastic about her disguises, which usually involved rolling around in unpleasant substances, and she was curious to see how Raincloud would react.

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[willow]

Raincloud felt bad for frightening the she-cat so badly, but one needed to really be on their guard more when out here on another clan's territory. Riverclan cat's hated having ShadowClanner's on their land hunting and some had such a deep resentment of the agreement between the leaders, she wouldn't doubt that they would act on such emotions even at the risk of having the agreement annulled. That wouldn't be too great for Riverclan, Brokenstar did not like to be crossed.

The she-cat's eyes further softened at Mothfoot's uncertainty, the degree of shame carried in her stance and voice. Raincloud had to resist the urge to cuddle the she-cat like a new-born kit. "Hm...well don't worry, this is new territory for all of us and we need to adjust our hunting a bit." She tried to encourage, but it was hard finding the words to say to someone she barely knew. Suddenly, the dark tabby's eyes lit up and Raincloud didn't know whether to be worrying or excited. As stated before, this cat was new to her and she really didn't know what to expect from her.

Turns out, Raincloud was going to be worrying. Smell like a Riverclan cat? Yuck!...but she may have a point. "So your suggesting we roll around here so we can smell more like the opposing clan and less like us?" The silver-gray she-cat raised an eye-brow at the suggestion, pausing a moment to let her question sink in. Then she rolled her shoulders in a shrug and looked off to the trees surrounding the meadow. "It's worth a shot. Not only will we smell like the area around her, Riverclanners will have quite a time trying to figure out if we're Shadowclan or one of their own." Raincloud mused, a twinkle in her green eyes at the thought of confusing those fish-faces.

"I'm afraid it won't help your pelt color much, though, Mothfoot. But I could show you how to hunt more around here and not have to look Riverclan." It was a friendly offer, though the warrior wasn't too excited to teach a lesson right now, especially on a rival clan's land, but if it would benefit the she-cat it was well worth a shot.

Looking back at the young warrior, Raincloud smiled and kneaded the ground anxiously as she waited for her reply.

(ooc:ugh suckiness -o-)