The Water's A Bit Chilly....

[რoonwhisker]

Fishing, it was just one of those things that needed to be done, weather you liked it or not. 'The Clan must be fed first.' After all, it was in the warrior code. Moonwhisker had woken up feeling not so good. But the medicine cat had fixed her up with the use of some kind of herb. She stopped looking for fish to attempt to think of it's name.

But alas, as Moonwhisker stopped watching the big water, a fish swam by. She pounced for it. But you could say that luck wasn't on her side today, because before the calico female could get her paws on the fish, it was gone. "Mouse Dung!" she muttered.

Her life was pretty crazy today, it started with an apprentice waking her up to tell her that Patchstar had called him the wrong name. Did she really care? So what? She had muttered her usual, 'Deal with it!' and had attempted to gone back to sleep. But no luck again, she couldn't sleep.

So here she was hunting, annoyed, and now wet. The sands had been named perfectly. Each grain of sand clung to her wet fur, as she figured it would. "Double mouse dung!" she muttered, again.

Today wasn't the best day of her life.

[♫.Starredmyst]

Hard-packed sand grated against the grey she-cat's paws as she walked down the beach along the water's edge, quietly enjoying the sensation of the wind through her long rough fur. The water glinted in the bright morning sun, throwing light up into the air, and Starredmyst tossed her head, feeling for once the quiet peace of a nice leaf-fall morning.

Her day had started off rather dismally; she'd risen early to watch the sunrise, only to be intercepted by a tom wanting her to speak to Patchstar on his behalf. Well, she had, and a mousetail's lot of good it had done anyone. Starr stopped where she stood, closed her eyes hard, and banished the thought. There were plenty of kits in the nursery; one less -- wouldn't matter that much. Patchstar was -- no, her father wasn't right, but it could have been worse.

Still...

Impatiently, the young she-cat cast her eyes around the sands, hunting for something to distract her from her own thoughts. Today just wasn't a day to find peace, it seemed, especially not on her lonesome.

There -- her sharp eyes caught on a familiar calico-furred shape. Was that the deputy fishing out so early? Despite herself, Starredmyst felt her whiskers twitch and had to hold back a smile; she tended to find Moonwhisker's grumblings amusing rather than intimidating, and it occurred to her that a good dose of the she-cat's common sense might be exactly what she needed this morning.

"Morning, Moonwhisker!" the blue-grey cat hailed her deputy with sudden cheerfulness; "out fishing? Mind if I join you?"

[რoonwhisker]

Moonwhisker sighed, she looked worn out and tired.The young calico shook herself off, and sand sputtered around her. "Well, that's some of it," she said to herself and starting to make more attempts to get the gritty sand out of her once-soft spotted fur. She was just about to go hunt back in the forest when she herd an overly cheerful voice.

"Morning, Moonwhisker!"

Starredmyst. Moonwhisker didn't have a problem with the cat. After all, she was the leader's daughter. Moonwhisker tried to be nice to her. But sometimes Starredmyst's cheerful mourning greetings could get annoying. But once again, she was the leader's daughter.

"Good mourning Starredmyst." she meowed, and even cracked a smile.

"Out fishing? Mind if I join you?"

"Course, the more the merrier," she said, and gave another shake of fur.

[♫.Starredmyst]

"'Course. The more the merrier."

Up close, Starredmyst noticed suddenly, Moonwhisker was looking rather wet. And sandy. The younger cat didn't smile, but her whiskers twitched slightly, and she turned toward the water.

"All right then," she said, and began to watch for fish.

Starr wasn't a talkative cat, not really. She tended to hoard words and use them when the moment seemed best. But she also had a tendency to feel awkward when she didn't have anything much to say near a cat she didn't know well. A long moment passed.

Starredmyst opened her mouth to say something -- and saw a fish.

A paw flashed out for the glittery silver thing, splitting the water's sparkle into a thousand drops. She'd aimed well -- felt her claws hook into it --

And spat out a curse as it pulled ferociously away, physically tearing itself out of her claws and dragging her paw into the water with it. She bit back a yelp -- freed her claws -- balanced for one precarious second --

Then dropped with a splash in the shallows.

[რoonwhisker]

"All right then,"

Moonwhisker nodded, and then focused her attention to the river. She waited, and waited. Barley moving a muscle, afraid to breathe in case she would scare away the delicious small animal that make it's home inside the waters of the river.

There! A little silver splash, she started to jump. But then she was showered with water. "What in the name of StarClan Starrredmyst?" she cursed and turned her head to scold the she-cat for letting their meal get away.

But then, she saw it happen. Starredmyst quickly had the fish, but got her claw stuck in it like a hook. The fish seemed to be too strong for Starr's own good, and it dragged her in the river.

"NO!" Moonwhisker yelled and jumped in after the blue cat. Moon was an OK swimmer, she had to be to live near so much water as IvoryClan did. She swam after Starr and grabbed the she-cats neck scruff and attempted to pull her to shore. After some wrestling she did end up getting one half of Starr onto shore, and then slowly hoisted herself.

Well, once again there was sand all over her. Lovely.

[♫.Starredmyst]

Starr's head dunked under the cool water briefly and she choked; felt herself thunk onto the sandy bottom -- not so deep here -- and started to push herself to the surface --

At that point someone grabbed her rather roughly by the neck and hauled her away from the water. She spluttered and was dunked again, got herself and Moonwhisker completely soaked trying to struggle free, and finally was let go of with her tail and back paws still in the water.

There was a pause and she tried to remember how to breathe.

"Moonwhisker," she managed after a moment, "I know how to swim, thank you very much."

[რoonwhisker]

"Moonwhisker, I know how to swim, thank you very much."

Moonwhisker's amber eyes narrowed, she shook her head. "Yah, ok, but what happens when the cold water gets to you? And you get so cold, that you can't move?" She said.

"Next time I'll watch you die," Moon added, staring her down. Those were the exact words her mentor had told her, and it was true. Moon didn't play around with things like this. The calico was almost always serious, and hadn't cracked a smile in moons.

[♫.Starredmyst]

The words stung. Starr narrowed her eyes at Moonwhisker's stare then tossed her head, determined not to show it, and climbed the rest of the way out of the water.

"Thank you for your vote of confidence," she replied frostily. "I can take care of myself, Moonwhisker, don't worry about it."

You need to learn to control your temper, girlie. Who used to tell her that, back when she was an apprentice and spending all her time with her mother's sister and kin? Jetfur, maybe? Fine way she honored his memory.

The sand was churned up underfoot from their scuffles. Starredmyst forced a laugh and sat down gingerly. "StarClan, though, that was one tough fish! I'm remembering a reason I don't fish often."

She stood up again and turned back to water, then spat out, "StarClan!" looking amused and surprised. The sand had taken her brief seated moment to cling to every possible strand of her thick grey pelt.

"That," the long-furred she-cat sighed, "is another one. I envy you your fur, Moonwhisker."

[Flower]

Flowerpelt yawned and stretched, feeling refreshed after her quick nap. She padded over to the two cats standing by the river.
"May I join you?" she purred happily, giving Starredmyst a friendly lick to help clean up the sand. She turned her head and spat out the grit.
"Actually, considering the fact that you're both all wet, the fish are probably hiding." She gave the two a smile and turned to study the river, straining her eyes for a flash of silver. Luck must have been with her, for she noticed a small, quick flicker of light. With a swift motion she scooped her paw through the water and threw the fish onto the rock. It flopped around desperately, and managed to get halfway back into the water before Flower pinned it down with her claws. After a quick bite, it lay lifeless in her jaws.
"I'll go put this in the fresh-kill pile so it doesn't get all sandy." she mumbled around the fish.

[♫.Starredmyst]

Starredmyst had managed to get most of the sand out before Flowerpelt came. Most of it, which was to say, enough that her backside didn't quite look like bluish sandpaper anymore. She glanced up on hearing the she-cat's footsteps, and smiled politely; Flowerpelt wasn't a cat the young warrior knew well, but she was aware of the she-cat's sweet demeanor and flicked her tail in welcome.

"By all means," she replied to the other she-cat politely, "there's always room for one more." She turned back to the water, waiting patiently for more fish.

"Actually, considering the fact that you're both all wet, the fish are probably hiding."

"Ha, ha," Starredmyst replied dryly, eyes alert. "Believe me, if I had a choice I wouldn't -- oh!"

She reached out to snatch at the fish, but Flowerpelt had already flipped it expertly out of the water. The blue-grey cat looked on with something like envy. "Nice catch."

"I'll go put this in the fresh-kill pile so it doesn't get all sandy."

"Probably a wise idea," Starr agreed with a wry look at the churned-up sand around them. "Be proud; you've made the first catch today."

With a sigh, she settled down once again to wait, half wondering if it had been the right thing after all to come out and be social today. It sure was resulting in a bit of work.

[რoonwhisker]

Moonwhisker sat back and listened to Sarredmyst's criticism. But did she really care? Or course not, she hadn't cared about anyone sense Envyheart, her former mate. But that was history, as was Envyheart himself. Not many knew about him. Sense, Moon didn't talk about him much at all.

"That, is another one. I envy you your fur, Moonwhisker."

Moonwhisker smiled. "Yes, my fur does indeed dry fast enough for this pesky sand to be shook off," she said with a flick of her tail.

"May I join you? Actually, considering the fact that you're both all wet, the fish are probably hiding."

Flowerpelt. Moonwhisker didn't mind her that much. "Hello, and of course," Moon meowed. She watched Flowerpelt catch a fish, and smiled. "Good catch," she said to the she-cat.

"Be proud; you've made the first catch today"

"Yes you have, congratulations," Moonwhisker added.

[Flower]

Flowerpelt flicked her tail, acknowledging the praise. She deposited her catch on the fresh-kill pile and returned to the river. She was happy that she had caught their first catch of the day but she was careful not to let her success get to her head. There were still more mouths to feed, more fish to catch. She sat watching the river, waiting for the fish to venture out again.

[♫.Starredmyst]

Starr was trying to be patient; honest, she was. But she was wet, bored, and not much of a fisher. She didn't even try for the next fish who came along, instead letting Moonwhisker or Flowerpelt take a shot at it -- she knew she couldn't catch it for her life, and if it was a little disgruntling to admit that incompetence to herself, she far preferred disgruntlement to another dunking and public humiliation.

So she sat, hid her uneasiness and boredom, and did her best to look like she was actually trying to catch something.

Am I allowed to blame Daddy or Darktalon for this one? Probably not outside of my head; besides being a lie, it'd be entirely too weak-sounding. I know Silversoul tried to teach me way back when -- what was I doing during lessons?

The faintest flicker of a smile, wry and self-deprecating, flew across her face and was gone. Right. Silly me. I was worried about what the rest of the Clan would think, with their exalted Leader's Daughter doing such a mundane thing as fishing. StarClan, was I melodramatic as an apprentice!

And her fur was getting sandy again...

OOc;{Icky post, but whatever...-couldn't think what to say Dx-}

[რoonwhisker]

Moonwhiser sat in scilence as the three cats looked for fish.

Well, this is boring.... I could leave... Yah! But how? Well, I am deputy, I could use a deputyish excuse.... No. I'll catch at least two fist before I leave, she decided.

Then, there! A silver spark, only emergining into view for a tenth of a second. She went for it, grasping it's scaley pelt in her claws. She pulled it back and bit it dead.

One to go.

[Flower]

Flowerpelt saw the glitter of the fish too late, and Moonwhisker caught it. "Good catch." she said, glancing up from the river for a second. She looked back down at the river and squinted, hoping to pick out a fish's shape. There were some minnows, but not any fish worth catching.