Forum - Lights, Camera, Action! (1FG09/OPEN)

Despite his best intentions of being quiet and cautious, both in pawstep and in voice, nothing could have prepared him for raining squirrels.

He let out a squawk, his tail jerking in surprise. When he had finally smoothed down the sandy-colored fur of his pelt, and attempting to look more like a warrior tom than a crow got in the rain, he had reached tree. The WindClanner glanced up at the branches above him. His nose told him what - or, rather, who - was up there.

"What did you do to make StarClan send us rain in the form of squirrels?" he asked, reasonably in his opinion. One learned something everyday. He pounced hastily on the inert squirrel, trying to feel if there was still a heartbeat. Stunned, or freshkill altogether? He wanted to know.

Claws gripped the edges of the branch, steadying her lean body over the ledge overlooking the ground. She hadn't watched the squirrel as it landed, following her nose towards the next branch up, the bough holding more potential prey; there was a squirrel's nest with the warm scent of bodies inside.

Before she could ascend, however, her nose brought the knowledge of another cat below. A string of laughter escaped her, tail lashing playfully as she heard what the older tom had to say. What had she done, indeed? Barely suppressing a giggle at the often literal tom below her, she mewed.

[b]"I'll make it 'rain' prey some more! Just wait down there and -"[/b] She pounced, claws digging into the upwards trunk before she heaved herself up towards the nest.[b]"Make they're good and dead when they come down."[/b] This tree was a challenge she had surely conquered, not caring if she still had the whole 'getting down' in her future.

She peered into the nest, eyeing the four small shapes of the six or seven week old squirrels in their nest. She reached in arm towards the shoulder before she caught one, swiping it over the nest and onto the ground below.

The striped warrior snapped the squirrel's neck bone deftly. If it hadn't been freshkill, it was now.

Thunderheads! Yellowfrost glared at her. I didn't ask that so she could keep getting squirrels on my head! His stomach growled, though, and the gaunt tabby recognized the obvious reward for WindClan if there was more to eat.

"Thank you StarClan, for this squirrel," he muttered, glaring again at Falcondash. Even if this particular squirrel was a mostly white she-cat.

"The warrior code demands respect and thrift from us, she-cat," he reminded her a tad irritably even as he backed away. No need for him to get crushed by a branch. Or a stunned squirrel. "So, fine. I better keep an eye out and help you - squirrel!"

Yellowfrost's voice rose (a tad unnecessarily) as a smaller one fell, twisting in alarm as it did so. Must be an offspring. He rushed back towards the trunk and reached with his claws.

Once the first offspring fell from her claws, she reached in, igniting a series of awakened squeaks from those inside. The rest were flung from her sharp claws, each pushed by gravity onto the ground where Yellowfrost could prepare them to the walk back to camp. When the last one emptied from the hole, she turned down towards the tom, her tail lashing like a squirrel's playfully. Now just came the matter of getting down. [b]"Right! Well, here goes nothing!"[/b] Came her excited mew as she angled her body face first towards the ground. Taking a deep breath, she leaped to the lowest branch where she had run to her first dash, and straightened her tail. Her claws clung to the trunk as she continued, acting very much like a mostly white furred squirrel but larger.

Yellowfrost was pre-occupied with ensuring that the baby squirrels and the grown one (mother?) weren't going anywhere. The WindClan warrior hadn't actually intended to call Falcondash a "squirrel"; he'd merely been observing the baby prey when he'd seen it fall. Not that Yellowfrost was thinking about anything but freshkill now.

His attention was only diverted from making a neat pile of freshkill when Falcondash, a brilliant white tree-creature with claws splayed across the mottled brown of the tree trunk, began to "descend".

"Careful!" he growled, backing up. What if she leapt down on him? Or worse, fell and hurt herself? Then he'd have to tote her to the camp instead of delicious squirrels.

[b]"Look out below!"[/b] She called down to the cream furred warrior as he gave her some room. He seemed absolutely horrified, poor Yellowfrost! Giggling to herself, the youthful warrior stared down at the ground and started to move her paws. Gravity wanted to throw her down, but not Falcondash, surely not!

The mostly white furred female clutched the bark, arms wrapped around its length as she crawled down. Not as graceful as a squirrel-mind you, but much more attractive. Purring a rough note in her throat, she unhinged her claws and was thrown to the ground - a mere four feet.

Straightening herself out, Falcondash pawed excitedly at her unlikely witness.[b]"What do you think? Maybe the [i]best[/i] tree-climber in all of Windclan! Think Thunderclan will be jealous?"[/b] Chuckling, she flashed a smirk towards him.

Yellowfrost backpedaled to get away from the jubilant paws of his young, jubilant clanmate. StarClan! Did she have to be so giggly? At least she didn't seem to have treachery on her mind; the paranoid warrior judged her brain capable of holding only a single thought at a time.

"They should be jealous of us already," he replied hoarsely, though his own face mirrored her smirk. Now, that'd be a sight to see, the look on those Fierceblooded cats' faces if they were bested at tree-climbing by a cat from the moor.

It was true, he hadn't seen any cat alive scuttle down a tree trunk like she had, but Falcondash was rash, and clearly wasn't thinking of danger.

Didn't she know one could never be too careful?

"C'mon, before you start attacking the tree again," he directed her irritably. "I'd say we have enough freshkill for at least ten warriors."

His unblinking yellow eyes, which seemed feverishly bright, as usual, alit with sudden curiousity. "You think even Reoc would be satiated by this catch?" Yellowfrost was, by nature, a curious tom, and stared intently at Falcondash for an answer.

Oh, testy, testy. Falcondash simpered at the thought of her older clanmates sour attitude. She heard stories of his grumpy attitude, and once or twice she had heard him complaining from afar. The warrioress wanted to lighten him up a bit, at least while he was with her and didn't have to worry so much.

[b]"Ha-ha! I don't attack [i]trees[/i], there's method in my actions!"[/b] Her paw rose for another swat, before she lowered herself to the ground and extended the length of her body in an arching stretch; she has tightened too many of her muscles while climbing.

Her expression bore an upside down frown towards her clanmate, ears swerving towards him.[b]"Who wouldn't be impressed by the amount of prey I caught? I mean, yeah, warriors are supposed to be thrift, but it would be a shame to turn away from an opportunity like that!"[/b]