.Frog Legs (closed)

Rook walked forward slowly, blinking her eyes as the shadow of the bridge swallowed her whole. Her working eye adjusted rapidly to the change in light, pupil expanding from the narrow slit to a pinched circle.

Her scarred eye shown eerily in the dim surroundings. It was white-gray with cataract-like abnormalities and sunken into her skull, smaller than the other eye. Her eyebrow cast a shadow over the recessed eye. In comparison her functioning eye seemed to shine like the sun. It’s bright, warm amber glinted even in the shadows. It had a certain intelligent luster that was unmistakeable.

It was as she was under this bridge, stalking yet another poised frog, that she heard the tom-voice of Otterfoot calling out. His voice echoed under the bridge and she jumped, wet hair attempting to stand on end and ears back.

She hadn’t even heard him come up! Rook had been so distracted at stalking the frogs that she had blocked out the rest of the world. What a foolish mistake, any cat could have snuck up upon her, friend or foe. Rookpaw hadn’t even smelled him!

Rookpaw peeked out from under the bridge and saw Otterfoot’s stunning brown pelt. Her front end reared up and she placed her paws on the bottom edge of the bridge. He was inches above her toes, his pelt shining in the sunlight.

“Otterfoot!” she called out to him, her voice young and inviting. She smiled up at him, white teeth not yet yellowed by age shining like her single amber eye. “I was tryin’ to catch us some frog but had no luck, they catch my ripples!”

Her tail, doused as it was, flicked in the air, spending a sprinkling of water droplets back to the river.

Tag: :✶:freya.

Otterfoot laughed, his chuckle deep and warm. It blossomed like a flower in her stomach, warming her from the inside out, and Rookpaw found herself laughing with him. Her laughter chimed with his, high and charming to compliment his rolling one.

Rookpaw walked forward as Otterfoot spoke, his voice leading her onwards like a ball and string. The sun sparkled off the water as she broke through it. The shiny scales of fish could be caught shining from that sun as they darted through the water, too fast for Rookpaw to even consider attempting to catch.

”Frogs aren’t like fish. They are quiet tricky to catch. You’ll have to be quite good at stalking techniques to catch them. Want me to show you?”

Out of pure excitement Rookpaw almost danced the last few steps to him, bounding forward and smiling. “Oh, yes, I do! Show me to how to catch them frogs, show me how to hide my ripples!”

She continued her steps right out of the river before turning sharply, tail trailing after her like a flag. Once she faced Otterfoot she gave him another excited smile before sitting primly on her bum. Her head was quirked every so slightly to better see him in action.

Oh, how exciting! To see her mentor, a real hunter, in his element! And they might get a tasty frog out of it! Her mouth was already watering at the prospect.


Tag: :✶:freya.

Notes: Trying to figure out how I want to format my posts, sorry that they keep changing a little here and there <3

The shift in mood was immediate yet undefinable. Rookpaw felt her haunces rise a touch in discomfort. She couldn’t put her white paw upon the problem but she felt it dangling in front of her, teasing her. Then the male turned away and commanded her to watch closely, body and tone all business.

Guess he was just getting all serious-like for the hunt, ya? she thought to herself. The answer seemed to fit well enough so she settled with it.

Any remaining thoughts upon the subject scattered as soon as Otterfoot crouched down. She followed his gaze to the frog fresh upon a rock, skin glistening in the sunlight. Unlike Rook, Otterfoot did not prowl forward to get closer to the sitting amphibian. Rookpaw had learned the stalking method from watching others hunting mice and small land and burrowing animals. She had applied this technique to the frogs thinking it would be the same deal but, apparently, she was wrong.

So that’s how you stop them ripples! she thought, almost exclaiming her revelation out loud but managing to keep a lid on it. Her sudden voice would have scared away the prey and possibly shocked Otterfoot.

But what is he waiting for?! she wondered, both eyes narrowing. Not that narrowing the eyelid over her broken eye did much, but it moved whenever its partner did. Wanderlust, the young one’s mother, had tried to teach Rookpaw to keep that eye closed so that the world couldn’t see her blemish but the lessons never worked. The eyelids wanted to work together - when one was open, so was the other.

Finally Otterfoot’s hunting technique revealed itself. As the frog spotted it’s own meal it opened its wide, pink maw and released its tongue. This action forced his eyes to close, rolling back into his skull. Otterfoot pounced forward, strong hindlimbs thrusting him into action. His paws landed on either side of the frog, claws digging into the slimly flesh.

The fly buzzed away, escaping the jaws of the frog.

Rookpaw was so astonished and excited that she leapt forward into the water, laughing and pouncing through the flow. The fly buzzed above her face and she pawed it playfully, far too high on exhilaration to ignore such a toy. The black bug’s body hit her paw and tumbled into the water. Rookpaw’s head followed it, swallowing the fly and a mouthful of water at the same time.

“That was ah-maze-ing!” she told Otterfoot, nosing the dead frog and flicking her tail. “You landed like Woosh! So fast! Who taught you to catch them frogs, Otterfoot?”


Tag: :✶:freya.

Beavertail must have been Otterfoot’s mentor. Rookpaw knew she should know this information off the top of her furry little head but until recently she had been pretty secluded in the den. Her mother was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to walk in a straight line, much less prove of any use to the Riverclan. Rookpaw had to sneak out on tippy toes and in shadows to see the world. Once she had her first taste of the fresh wind and water between her toes - well, there was no going back from that point.

So busy with getting her legs had she been that Rookpaw didn’t take much notice of the other cats around her. She knew their names and their looks, their scents and their roles but was only starting to catch onto the intricate and complex relationships between cats.

Rookpaw was also only just learning about other clans that surrounded them. About the well liked Shadowclan and the mildly distrustful Skyclan. About Thunderclan and and about the high-living Windclan. The world was expanding at an exponential rate for Rookpaw and she reveled in it.

She listened keenly to Otterfoot's words, absorbing every single syllable and committing them to memory. As he had demonstrated, the frogs had a blind-moment when they went to eat. That was easy to remember and, more importantly, made sense to Rookpaw. Frogs were creatures with heightened senses and had felt her approaching before she even got close enough to consider pouncing. If she waited until they were distracted, well…

”How about you try it?”

“Oh, yes,” Rookpaw said, nodding and smiling, “I will try an’ I”ll do what you did, Otterfoot!”

She walked into the water a few paces, eye looking around keenly for a frog with a death wish. It took a minute of squinting and stalking before she found something that would work. Upon a rock, one foot still dipped in the water, a muddy-green frog perched. He had a lighter green line tracing down his spine and small black splotches decorating his glistening skin.

Rookpaw slowed to a gentle stop, in the water up to her hocks. Flies, mosquitoes and dragonflies darted around them, the buzz from their beating wings a background din. She waited, showing more patience than one as young and excitable as she.

Finally the frog spotted something he was interested in. He shifted slightly on the rock, pulling his feet in closer to his body. A small red dragonfly darted back and fourth, four wings beating in a pattern that Rook’s sharp eye couldn’t follow. This dragonfly appeared to be what caught the frog’s attention. Rook tensed her muscles, leaning slightly down so she could be ready to pounce when it was time.

The frog’s mouth opened and Rook held her breath. The pink fleshy tongue peaked out and the kitten prepared to jump. Unfortunately, she was beaten by the frog who leapt high in the air. His tongue came out, reaching towards the insect. His front legs thrust forward too, as if he could scoop the insect into his jaws.

Rook was thrown off by the sudden jumping frog - this isn’t what happened for Otterfoot! - and so was late to the game in leaping after him. She scrambled forward, scaring all of the other lingering frogs as she broke through the water and jumped into the air after the frog. Her paw attempted to bat the frog out of the sky as she had the fly, but it was a swing and a miss. Both cat and frog continued their arch, both flailing. They landed in the water at about the same time with a splash! and a spray of water.

The frog tumbled against rocks, body bouncing and rolling around. Rook scurried after him, slipping on moss-covered rocks and making an overall fool of herself. It was all for naught though - a moment later she slunk towards Otterfoot, soaked and dripping and without a frog.

She looked at him, feeling a little rediculous. Water dripped into her ear, tickling on the way down. Rookpaw shook her pelt to get it out, spraying water everywhere - probably all over Otterfoot too, if he didn’t step away in time.

Rookpaw looked again at him, wet hair standing on end, and smiled good-naturedly at Otterfoot, giggling a little.

“Oops.”

Tag: :✶:freya.