not too loud (p)

[Silentpaw]

The young feline purred at his congratulations and happily led the way onward. As she thought more on it, she noticed the scent was of a snow hard, of which she found to be common in the mountain. It was young and plump, clearly it would be slow and easy to catch. Yeah her companion back up, ears folding back as he shakes his head, telling Miatu to catch it. The young she-cat shakes her head and nudges him forward, giving him a comforting lick on the ear. As he waited longer for her to continue, she abruptly sat down on the frosty ground, an action that clearly stated they weren't going anywhere. "Try" she encouraged him, a gentle smile upon her lips as she gave him a more forceful nudge, glad they made to little noise too far away for the hare to notice, or care for that matter.

[Deleted]

He frowned and shook his head once more as she sat down. "No, please. I won't be able to." That was just an excuse. Truthfully, he didn't like the idea of killing something, even if it was just a hare. Wolfpaw sniffed the air; it was like the hare had never moved. 'Why can't she do it? She's clearly good at it.' He padded behind her and nudged her so that she'd stand up. "Come on, you go get it! Imagine everyone's faces when you come back with a hare and a mouse!" He smiled at her, urging her on.

[Silentpaw]

Miatu was surprised the hare hadn't moved get, clearly it was lazier than she expected. Hey twolegs! Lose a chunky bunny pet? When no response came to her mental outburst inside her mind, she twitched her ears.

Clearly, he was insistent not to catch it. There was more reasoning behind it, clearly. Most, if not all apprentice's would practically give their tails for a chance to bring back a plump snow hare on a merge hunting outing with a friend. Even with a warrior. Her eyes narrowed skeptically, and she stumbled as she was shoved forward. She was about to refuse and force him to catch it, when his raised voice seemed to have awoken it from its supposed daydream. Flicking her tail irritably, she heard it run off. Huffing out a breath, she sprang forward and darted after it on paws with wings. She cornered it easily between a scraggly bush and a rock face, and pounced,nsmapping its neck cleanly and precisely. Sweeping the proof of its scuffling from the surface of the snow with her tail, she trotted back to Wolpaw and buried it before shoving him toward a rock with quite a few crags in it and the faint scent of mouse, still fresh. "Catch something" she demanded with a sweep of her tail and a quiet but forceful shove from behind with her head. Clearly, refusal was no longer an option.

[Deleted]

He grinned as Silentpaw gave in and returned with the hare. "You're great at that!" He praised, wanting to get her happy again. He could tell she was a little irritated that he wouldn't catch the prey. 'Maybe she's forgotten about it.' Unfortunately for him, she hadn't. He huffed and stumbled forward as he was shoved. Looks like he had no choice now. Wolfpaw reluctantly sniffed the air and followed the faint mouse scent.

The trail led him a few tail-lengths from the rock. The mouse must have been gathering food or something. Crouching down, he snuck forward until the brown scrap of fur was visible. Then he leaped and killed it with a bite as quickly as he could. The tom shuddered as he heard the mouse's neck snap. It loosely dangled from his jaws as he brought it back and dropped it in front of Silentpaw. "Take it. Let's go get water."

[Silentpaw]

Miatu allowed her frown to curve upward at the corners in satisfaction as he seemingly gave up and went after the mouse. She watched him carefully as he used the strange clan ways to sneak up on his prey. Once he was less than a tail length away, he pounced and snapped its neck. She twitched her whiskers, almost in pride, and curled her tail slightly. Yet he didn't even seem happy about his kill. In fact, he seemed almost put up. As he approached, she forced out a purr and nuzzled him gently. Yet he merely dropped the mouse on the icy ground near her paws with a few spoken words. She visibly flinched at his abruptness and stared down at it as though not really sure what to do. As she glanced at him, there was slight hurt in her eyes as she nodded meekly before remembering her father and wiping it away. Tentitively, she grasped the limp body in her jaws and swept past him on the way back to her own prey. She then collected the hare and other mouse before struggling to carry all three back to the river. Getting a better grip on her load, she sped up and cleared it easily before halting and dropping her prey, standing patiently whilst she waited for him to drink, though she didn't look at him, instead gazing at the water, considering attempting for a fish. Then she changed her mind on this, she had enough to carry as it was, and the hare was not much smaller than she was herself. What have I done this time...?

Yes, my little kitty...I thought you weren't going to chase anyone away anymore.

[Deleted]

He caught up to her as she swept past. "Here, let me help you." He felt a little guilty about acting the way he was. Wolfpaw gently tore the largest hare from her and walked alongside her, dropping it as they reached the river. He bent his long legs and started lapping at the water.

He looked up once he finished and swiped his tongue across his muzzle. He followed her gaze to the water, then looked back at her. "Hey, are you alright?" He frowned slightly. What's she thinking about?'

[Silentpaw]

Miatu visibly flinched as both voices spoke to her at the same time. Yet she shrugged simply. She was glad he was willing to her carry their load of prey, and nodded her thanks as he took the hare. Once he dropped it and paused to drink, she froze for a second before mimicking the action and lowering her head, lapping almost uneasily at the water and keeping a wary eye on her surroundings. He'd been silent since she'd become an apprentice. At first, she'd been expecting him to show up as a live being. Though eventually it seemed as though he'd never been there, as though he'd simply faded from existence. Yet now, as she'd almost accepted that he'd never been existent in the first place, his voice comes ringing in her head. Causing her nervousness to flare up again like a threatened dragon. Her green gaze darted back and forth as she lapped away. Maybe he knew if he disappeared for some time and then came back, then he'd get more of a reaction. Clearly, he'd succeeded. Glancing up at her friend, she shook her head and shrugged, signally not to worry about it before flicking her tail in the direction of camp. "want to go back?" She mouthed a little too enthusiastically.

[Deleted]

He shrugged. "If you want to." Yawning, he picked up the hare and turned away, waiting for her to join his side before he started walking. His mouth watered as he carried the catch. 'She's a great hunter. Does Robinstar know that? Maybe he let her in because of her hunting skills.' Wolfpaw lifted his head. 'No, she's probably just here because she needed a home.' Whatever the reason, Wolfpaw didn't really mind because at least now he had a friend.

He tightened his grip on the rabbit as they approached the entrance. He padded in casually and made his way over to the prey heap, where he gently placed the creature down on top of the pile. He smiled at Silentpaw. "I wonder who'll eat our prey first!"

[Silentpaw]

Miatu dipped her head in reply before getting a good grip on her load and bounding up to her friend. Once she reached his side, she nodded her head toward the rabbit in his jaws appreciatively, clearly thanking him for carrying it. As they padded side by side toward the camp, she often cast a few wary glances over her shoulder, allowing her spotted pelt to rub against his grey and white fur. Her muscles were still tense, and one could tell she was a bit nervy, but she was happy to be with her new friend. Soon enough, they reached camp, and she paced easily over to the pile, dropping her catch upon it and gazing around camp, finally relaxing. At his comment, she shrugged, though her eyes sparkled with amusement. She flickered her tail first to the nursery, and second toward the elders den, signalling they were the most likely to recieve first pick. There's was on the top, so it was clear the prey would go to them.

[Deleted]

Wolfpaw raised an invisible cat eyebrow as they walked, noticing she looked behind often. 'She's not giving off a very positive vibe, either. I wonder what's wrong.' He shrugged to himself and kept going forward. 'Maybe she's just paranoid.' He decided not to ask.

He followed the direction of her tail when she answered the question back in the camp. It looked like she was gesturing toward the nursery and the elders' den. "Yeah, probably. I might take some food to the elders, though. The kits might run in and take the prey before the elders can even reach the pile!" He chuckled lightly and twirled around to face the apprentices' den. "I better go fix up my nest- I've been sleeping in a bed full of thorns for the last few nights. I guess I'm not too good at nest making." He twitched his whiskers in amusement and started padding away. "You're welcome to join."

[Silentpaw]

Miatu twitched her ears and blinked, eyes glittering in amusement at his guess. She glanced in the direction of the nursery and rolled her eyes slightly, imagining the fluffy little fur balls barreling past everyone to get a peice of prey as big as they were. She smirked slightly before offering her companion a sideways glance. He wasn't so bad. Understanding of her inability to talk, happy to try and make out what she was trying to express. No, he was a good friend so far in her eyes. Offering the patched Tom a gentle smile, she gave another quick glance at the nursery, her mind flitting towards thoughts of her precious sister, before she bounded after her friend. Her tail held high as she caught up with him and entered the den, padding over to settle in her nest. Her eyes blinked hazily at Wolfpaw before her jaws stretched in a yawn and she stretched out her forelegs, resting her chin daintily on her paws and watching calmly as he worked.

[Deleted]

He trotted over to his poorly made nest and began to work on it. He started by removing the largest thorns with his claws. The smaller ones he'd have to get out with his teeth. He dragged each one out, one by one, careful not to wreck any remaining moss. Soon most of the thistles were out and were piled on top of each other. Wolfpaw glanced at Silentpaw. "You tired?" He was a little sleepy himself. He gave her a smile and turned back to his nest.

Next he started plucking out smaller, pricklier thorns with his fangs. There weren't too many of them, so it was an easy task. He rearranged his moss neatly once finished with the messy part. Now he just had to fix it up with some more moss and feathers. "I'll be right back." He said, leaving the den and returning not too long after. He had a bundle of feathers in his jaws which he'd just plucked off of a songbird. He tossed some on his pile, then padded to Silentpaw and placed a few next to her. "Here. Add them to your bed, they're pretty comfortable."

[Silentpaw]

Miatu watched as her companion set about the tedious task of plucking thorns from his bedding one at a time. Several times her eyes half closed and she blinked them open again. It was almost like watching grass grow in the summer sun. Not all that interesting, but still a good source of entertainment and distraction from, certain thoughts...With chin resting on paws, and tail tip gently tapping upon the ground, she continued to watch as sleep tried to drag her away. Her eyes had drifted half closed by the time the tom spoke, and so her ears only twitched slightly in acknowledgement. As he finished off the last of the prickles in his nest, the apprentice had almost faded away, her mind going dull with tiredness and her eyes falling shut with another yawn as he left the den with a promise of his return. Subconsciously she warned herself that she shouldn't be sleeping out in the open like this on her own, hardly registering she was actually in the den. She had just drifted off into a light sleep, tail falling still, when Wolfpaw returned, placing feathers upon the ground by her paws. As he spoke, she jolted awake in an instant, whole form tensing as she gazed all around her before spotting her friend and forcing herself to relax. Dipping her head slightly from its new raised position, she dragged herself less gracefully than she would have like, from her nest and craned her neck to sniff the offering curiously, hardly recognising the scent of songbird as she offered the male a gracious smile before placing them upon her nest. As she settled back down, curling up and gazing around, the gloomy light of early evening showed her the walls and floor of the den. She now realised that for the first time, she'd entered the den with the intention of staying there for the night. Briefly she wondered if she should leave again, but then her eyes strayed once more to her patterned companion and she smiled before closing her eyes and resting her tail lightly upon her muzzle. For once, she felt at home here. As though she belonged.

(The question is, will she stay the whole night in such an unnatural setting, without being able to see the stars? Not that they are anscestral to her, just peaceful and reassuring)

[Deleted]

Wolfpaw flinched back when Silentpaw jolted awake. "Whoa, are you okay?" He asked, sighing soon after. 'She seems really tense. I wonder what's troubling her.' The tom had noticed she had seemed a little on edge when they were out in the territory. 'Maybe things were different where she was from. Still, I hope she gets used to IceClan. There's nothing to fear here but the cranky elders.' He smiled to himself, giving her a curt nod when she smiled up at him. He purred gently. "Well, goodnight." Just watching her curl up made him yawn. Wolfpaw turned around and padded back to his nest where he flopped onto it. It was much more comfortable now. He purred again, pushing his muzzle into the feathers. "See you later." He mumbled, not sure if Silentpaw heard. He knew he would sleep well- today may not have been a productive day, but at least he made a friend.

|| end of thread? c: ||

[Silentpaw]

(Eh, hunting is productive, and friends are always good. Either way, yup, ending thread now. Can't wait to start a new one. <3)