Private (Remi X Alicia)

[Alicia]

The sun shone brightly through the thin branches of the trees of the forest. It was leaf-bare now, so the trees had lost their leaves. Silvershadow padded along with Foxfur, her ears pricked for sounds of prey. She heard the chirping of the birds, the crunch of dead leaves under her feet, and her quiet breath as she continued silently on the path. She glanced up at the trees, carefully avoiding the sun, and smiled to herself. Such a great day, she thought to herself. Not hot, not cold, but a little bit cool for once. And the wind! Not chilly, like yesterday, but almost warm on my pelt. Finally, good weather, in the midst of this cold leaf-bare. She sighed. She let her ears droop a little as she glanced wearily ahead, slowly getting bored as she hadn't found any prey for a while. But just as she finished thinking this thought, she heard an animal scurry in front of her. A plump, white mouse, indeed mouse-brained enough to run across the path as they were crossing it.
It would be her prey today.
She stopped and glanced at Foxfur, then looked back at the mouse, which was standing in the middle of the path, holding a small morsel of food in its paws. Its wide eyes were watching her intently, and the mouse seemed unsure whether it should run or not. Silvershadow slowly, quietly crouched down as she prepared to pounce. It turned and continued running, and she quickly calculated where to pounce. Then, pushing off powerfully with her hind legs, she leapt through the air and landed slightly in front of it. Still not perfect, she thought to herself, But good enough for this catch. The mouse was shocked still for a moment, just enough for Silvershadow to pounce on it again and rip it apart. It lay motionless on the ground in front of her. She looked at Foxfur. "Well...here's a plump little mouse!" She smiled at him, barely breathing hard. This was the best prey she'd caught in a few sunrises.

[Seawhisker]

Foxfur walked besides his clanmate, his big paws leading him towards the forest. From time to time, he'd let his blue gaze wander to the she-cat besides him, his clanmate, Silvershadow. Foxfur hadn't really spoken to her before - his memory was a little foggy when it came to his kitten- and apprenticehood. Despite this, the stocky figure padded along, relieved that the snow on the ground had begun to melt... Just to be replaced with dead leaves.

And then the mouse came. There, before his very eyes, Silvershadow caught the mouse with skill and intensity. Can't blame her, Foxfur thought, glancing at his side, where his normally fattened figure showed the imprintage of large ribs. The clan hadn't fed well in a good few days, but he was determinde to change that. Foxfur strided away from the side of Silvershadow, meowing a few words of congratulations. He began to search the undergrowth for prey, when the scent of squirrel hit his nostrils.

Quickly, Foxfur went into a hunter's crouch, creeping up on the piece of prey, his big paws abnormally quiet. His breath rattled the dead leaves, but the usually skittery animal payed no attention, it's tiny paws formed around a nut. Foxfur narrowed his eyes and pounced - his paws landing on nothing. "Oh foxdung! I'm a mouselength off!" he hissed angrily, glaring at the now running squirrel.

Word count: 230.
Character count: 1347.
Tags: Alicia
Notes:

[Alicia]

Silvershadow dropped the mouse to catch a few breaths, then picked it up in her jaws again. She padded along with Foxfur, her stomach growling loudly. She breathed in the irresistible scent of the plump mouse in her mouth, making her even more hungry. Okay, she thought. Stop thinking about food.

So she directed her attention to the trees and undergrowth around her. Not long later, she smelled a squirrel - first faint, then stronger. She looked around as Foxfur began to crouch down and watched as he pounced. At first she thought he'd caught the squirrel, but then she realized the squirrel had escaped. She dipped her head a little and said, "Aww...that was close! Good job anyways!" She stared at the squirrel, which had run up a tree. 

Then, as if today was their lucky day, a few seconds later a bird appeared right above her. It flew down and seemed to be pecking away at a small clump of leaves and nuts on the dull brown ground behind her, inside a hole in a large tree. She turned around slowly, her paws moving in slow motion as to not scare off her prey, and padded forward a few steps. Then, as she was just a few mouse-lengths away, the bird turned. It stood shocked for a moment, then began flapping its wings. Silvershadow roared and pounced - only to miss and hit her paw on the bulky trunk of the tree. She gasped and leapt back, stifling a pained yowl. She grimaced and began licking her paw, looking up only to watch the bird fly away. She took a few deep breaths and blinked a few times, then looked at the pile of things that the bird was pecking at. Seeds! Semi-green leaves! Plants...

Her eyes widened. "Foxfur...look! It's a little pile of seeds! And some herbs that our medicine cat could use..." She began walking in a semicircle around it, excitement bubbling up in her. "Of course! The other animals were stocking up for leaf-bare!" She grinned and turned to Foxfur. "We could use these," she said excitedly, almost completely forgetting about her most recent injury.