Post by katnez on Jun 3, 2016 19:22:49 GMT
It wasn’t that the shaded tom didn’t love his clan, or respect his leaders. It wasn’t that he didn’t want his clan to be fed and well provided for. It was just..well… He didn’t want to have to be the cat who was running errands all the time. Hunting wasn’t particularly enjoyable, it was all crouched waiting and clenched muscles. Honestly, it just left him feeling cramped and uncomfortable and even on a bad day he could thing of a hundred things he’d rather be doing than hunting. Patrolling the borders wasn’t so bad, at least then he got to take his time. Unless, that is, he got stuck patrolling with a group and then he had to actually move faster than a walk which was such a pain… But hey, ya win some, ya lose some, right?
Hah! Trick question.
In Falconshade’s opinion, losing was horrible. It meant failure. It meant you were less than something or someone else, and he hated the idea of being less than anything. So losing was not an option. Ever. Maybe that was why he lied better than he could tell the truth, because it was easier to make himself out as greater than he truly was when honesty was taken out of the equation. Speaking of honesty… The tom’s ears perked up at the slight thud of a small body connecting with the ground. Immediately, the shrieking cries of pain and fear ignited like fire through the thick trees, and a Cheshire grin curled upon the shadowy muzzle of the lazy warrior. This time of year, it wasn’t strange for newborn chicks to be found upon the freshkill pile, and when they appeared boy did they go fast. Being so young, their meat was tender and flavorful, not soured by a spike of adrenaline or terror. Following the sound of the chick’s squawking, he came upon the mangy looking thing and for a moment simply regarded the useless looking creature. It was just beginning to grow its feathers which made it look sickly and diseased, the fluffy down falling away in tufts where the beginnings of substantial feathers were growing.
”Gross…” The tom sneered with a slight cringe. ”Whelp! Might as well get this over with.” He bent down, his jaws closing over the creature’s spine. The bird struggled and squirmed in his grasp, but with a muffled click of bone breaking all other sound fell silent. Or mostly silent anyway. Falconshade looked up as the distant sound of more chirping squeaks met his ears, sending the triangular auds to flicking one way and then another as they pinpointed the exact branch the noises were coming from. There. The second from the left, and halfway up the stupid tree. The Shadowclan cat glared at this new proposition, not really liking either option. On the one paw he could climb the tree and expend effort to fetch the rest of the chicks, on the other he could just take the one chick back to the camp with minimal effort expended. One would make him a veritable hero, the other would make him just another hunter… He watched the tree for a while longer, turning his decision over and over until finally a sigh split his mouth. ”Oh fiiiiine. I’ll get the rest of you too, just keep your beaks on sheesh.” The tom grumbled, moving his first chick to a hiding spot at the base of the tree, covering its small body with pine needles and leaves. The kill hidden, he leaped onto the tree trunk and grasped for all he was worth with all four pawfuls of claws. ”Those leaf-brained Skyclanners make this look way easier than it really is!” Falconshade snarled lowly to himself, grunting with effort as he began a slow ascent toward his prey.
A strained claw, and what may have been a minor heart attack later, Falconshade finally fell upon his target. Well, almost. The nest in sight, three more crying beaks visible over the twiggy edges, the tom flopped down on the branch, straddling its girth so that his legs fell on either side to keep him steady. He panted dramatically, pitying himself for having to go through such great lengths all for a little bit of praise. Maybe it would have been better to just claim someone else’s kill as his own… Nah, he’d be a champion of the forest returning with all these succulent chicks! Rosestar would probably compliment him herself. Or, yanno, spare him a second glance maybe… Falconshade sighed; though she was older than him by far, she was a female and that was reason enough for him to be inconceivably infatuated. Maybe he’d bring her a couple of these chicks especially? Yes. Yes that sounded like a very good idea. His vigor and motivation restored, the bulky male began his trek to the nest. Though it was only about a foxlength away, the branch began to narrow and weaken directly before it which left him wondering whether or not it would hold his weight. Creeping forward, painfully slowly, he finally made his way to the stick nest and peered into it hungrily. Three chicks squawked back at him with wide, waiting beaks. Oh they just looked scrumptious. Falconshade licked his lips and picked one up, his teeth delicately finding the spinal cord before – *snap* – breaking it and dropping the small creature over the edge of the branch. The second and third followed its sibling into oblivion, their bodies deposited in identical fashion before the tom was faced with a new problem: how to get down.
Turning around on the branch proved to be a challenge, his claws almost slipping off twice, but looking down at the shifting surface of the trunk was like looking at his own death. Falconshade groaned, slumping against the rough bark in defeat. ”Well, this is it. I guess I’ll just die up here, alone and forgotten.” Dramatic? Yes. Serious? Hardly. Even as he complained aloud to himself, which maybe he should stop doing if he wanted to avoid a rumor spreading about him being crazy…Even as he complained aloud to himself, he was formulating a plan; a very delicate, precisely calculated plan. Inching his way onto the trunk, his hind legs flailing for the best purchase and making him look quite ridiculous, Falconshade began his descent. It was all going splendidly until he got past his first step, at which point his claws peeled the bark off of the tree resulting in his free falling through the air. Instinct alone flipped his body over so that he landed squarely on all four very suddenly sore paws. ”Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!” The tom hissed, dancing about and clenching and unclenching his paws. He glared up at the nest still on the branch where he’d left it. ”That’s the last time I go climbing trees…” He spat at the inanimate object, as if it had, had something to do with his inability to climb down, and then sat about gathering his prey.
Falconshade had only just retrieved the first chick from its hiding place, and was heading toward the drop point of the other three when a very clear, very unmistakably familiar scent was delivered upon his nose by a breeze. Tufted auds pricked forward, and he straightened his posture in mild excitement. ”Fashedfeffer?” His brother’s name was slightly jarbled…okay mostly jarbled around the chick still hanging from his jaws, but surely his other half of mischief and shenanigan would understand.
skyy and her socks
so excited to finally get these two together!! ^u^
