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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Jun 30, 2008 11:32:11 GMT -5
A cold breeze blew off the ocean, ruffling the grey-blue waves, throwing spray onto the beach. It was a cold day, and ice rimed the jutting rock Starredmyst fished from; the she-cat shivered despite her thick fur as a gust of wind blew flecks of water into her face. Overcast and cold as any dead-of-winter morning, today was not a nice day to be out on the water.
But Starr had desperately needed time to think; and with her father out and bumbling in the lives of others once more, camp had not been the place to do that. It was only a matter of time before Patchstar demanded her help, or Moonwhisker came to report the fool tom's actions and ask that she curb his thoughts, again.
So Starredmyst had jumped at the first glance of a low freshkill pile, and immediately volunteered herself for a solo fishing trip.
Not that I'll be catching any, but they'll expect that, the grey she-cat thought morosely, staring into the water. Fish was her favorite treat, but she had little to no talent where catching them was concerned. I never needed to catch any, not when I was younger. Not before Father started losing his grip...
Now I'm the one protecting him, and that means I can't hide behind him anymore. I never knew it would be so hard, a game like this. Pretend everything's normal and try to save my father's reputation from ruin...when it certainly deserves ruin, and I'm not so sure Daddy doesn't deserve to have it ruined for him anymore.
He used to be just a little -- silly. Tactless, but nothing Moonwhisker and Darktalon and I couldn't handle. But now...he gets so dead set on vengeance and looking his best, and -- he's going mad. Her eyes drifted away from the water, brooding. StarClan -- if Darksong and I aren't going downhill with him, StarClan's not helping that any.
So what am I supposed to think? Do I pull away? Just -- let him fall, let the Clan tear him apart? He's never been an evil cat -- just a bad leader. He shouldn't lead -- but he doesn't deserve to die for that, and I'm not certain the Clan would stop to think about it anymore. So what do I do?
It was the same old question that had been haunting her for moons, and moping over it didn't get her any closer to an answer. Starredmyst sighed -- and then froze as a loud plop sounded a mere whisker-length away from her rock. A fish was swimming closer...
One...two...NOW!
Starredmyst's paw shot out and she dug her claws into her prey's flesh -- flung it out of the water, towards the rock --
And got an unexpected faceful of her favorite delicacy as the fish managed to maneuver its course midflight, slapping her on the nose.
Panicked, Starr grabbed for the fish as it flopped downwards -- faltered --
And fell back into the water.
Starr let out an eloquent stream of curses, insulting fish as a race and that one in particular, then groaned and lay her head down on her paws.
I'm hopeless.
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Post by რoonwhisker on Jun 30, 2008 12:27:07 GMT -5
Paws made contact with the cold hard ground as two cats made their way towards the ocean. The day was new and the air was cold. A chilly breeze ruffled the fur of the two cats as they made their way along the beach.
One cat was Falconpaw, the other was Moonwhisker. Moonwhisker wasn't much bigger than Falconpaw in comparison. Then again, Falconpaw was big for his age and Moonwhisker was small for her's. Falconpaw was looking at the sand as he walked, examining the different colors of it.
Moonwhisker sighed, she'd been trying to get the apprentice to do something social for awhile. The only time he was ever social was when he was in camp with the other apprentices. She had an idea of why he was so anti-social. The cause was most likely Willowstorm, Falconpaw's father who'd recently drowned in the ocean.
The deputy wanted to show the apprentice that water was ok, and you weren't going to drown every time you went there. She had looked for Rissingdawn, to ask him to do it but she couldn't find him anywhere. So, she took on the responsibility herself.
They soon stopped and Moonwhisker became aware that they weren't alone. "Good morning Starredmyst," she meowed calmly as she nodded in greeting to the leader's daughter. Falconpaw looked up, breaking out of his daydream. "Hi Starredmyst," he echoed.
He looked behind her and saw the ocean. He started in imagine his father in the ocean, but he stopped himself. I can't think like that, if it was his time it was his time. StarClan's will, he thought.
Moonwhisker noticed Starr's wet pelt. She chuckled, "Whenever I see you, you always seem to be wet," she said playfully.
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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Jun 30, 2008 12:37:41 GMT -5
Starr's ears flicked back as she heard paws on the sand behind her. Moonwhisker, and an apprentice she didn't recognize. The she-cat sighed; she'd kind of wanted to be alone.
"Morning," she answered the two cats, hiding her irritation with a polite laugh. "I do get wet a lot, don't I?"
She paused, glancing at the apprentice. She wasn't in the mood for a chat, but if manners demanded it -- "I'm sorry, but I don't think we've met before. What was your name?"[/color]
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Post by რoonwhisker on Jun 30, 2008 12:46:36 GMT -5
"It's not a bad thing," Moonwhisker replied to her, smiling.
Falconpaw looked up, "Oh, I'm Falconpaw, and I suppose you'd be the famous Starredmyst," he meowed, beaming at the she-cat.
"Mind if we join you?" Moonwhisker asked politely, already knowing the answer. It wasn't like she could say no.
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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Jun 30, 2008 12:51:00 GMT -5
"Uh -- yes, I'm Starredmyst." The idea of being "famous" was a little unsettling, especially considering that at the moment, Starr preferred to be "alone" -- and "famous" and "alone" do not mix well. She sighed.
"Of course you can join me," she answered, resigned. "StarClan knows you'll catch more fish than I will. One of them just slapped me in the face when I tried to catch it."
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Post by რoonwhisker on Jun 30, 2008 12:59:16 GMT -5
Moonwhisker chuckled again, "Alright," she meowed, looking to the water for any signs of fish.
Falconpaw nodded and meowed, "Nice to meet you." Then he followed Moonwhisker to the edge of the water. He was careful not to get his paws wet. He leaned over the water, and the thought came to him that this must have been what his father was doing right before he... he shoved the thought away, not wanting to think about it.
He jumped, startled as Moonwhisker's paw broke the water's surface, but the paw came back empty. "Mouse dung, almost had it..." she muttered.
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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Jun 30, 2008 14:37:49 GMT -5
Starredmyst stared at the water, waiting for a fish to magically appear under her paws; now that the other cats had come, she had to actually try to catch something, rather than just use it as an excuse to get out of camp. Unfortunately, the Magical Self-Catching fish chose not to appear, and after two missed ordinary fish, Starr found herself growing increasingly edgy and irritated by the two presences near her.
She took a deep breath and told the frustrated side of her to take a walk. A surreptitious glance told her that Moonwhisker hadn't caught anything yet, and that Falconpaw hadn't even set a paw to the water; this faintly encouraging sign was enough for the she-cat to drop her dignity and beg for a little help.
"So, Falconpaw, has your mentor taught you much about fishing yet?" she asked, hoping to turn the conversation to something along the lines of, "Let's-have-Moonwhisker-teach-you-so-I-can-learn-too."
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Post by რoonwhisker on Jul 2, 2008 15:47:19 GMT -5
Falconpaw looked up, "Oh, Rissingdawn? No, he hasn't yet. Well, he was going to but then he ended up hunting with Snowsong..." he meowed, trailing off."Well, we might as well teach you," Moonwhisker said, "Right Starredmyst?" she added, smiling at the she-cat.
His ears perked up, "Yah! That'd be great," he meowed happily, it would be nice to learn and not have to sit there like an idiot.
"Right, well with fishing, you have to be patient. Just remember that the fish will come, eventually," she meowed, pausing for breath, "And once you spy one, you have to be quick with your paw, and snatch it while sticking your claws into it at the same time, and don't let it see you either."
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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Jul 2, 2008 16:04:25 GMT -5
"Uh -- right," Starr answered with false enthusiasm when Moonwhisker attempted to include her in the training session; she sat in complete silence and pretended to look knowing while the deputy explained the basics of fishing.
Crowfood, I KNOW all of this, but it doesn't work when I put it into practice. Perhaps I've just got a talent for catching demonic cat-hating monsters...
Even as Moonwhisker finished her short speech, Starredmyst caught a silver flicker out of the corner of her eye. With a soft hiss of satisfaction, the she-cat turned, tail flicking.
"Watch me, Falconpaw -- you do it like this."
I hope.[/i]
She waited, impatiently, as the fish meandered back and forth around the rock. It hadn't noticed the hunters on top of it; it was moving quite casually and made its way closer to Starredmyst. Careful not to let her shadow fall on the water, Starr leaned out --
Her paw flashed out and hit against smooth scales; sharp claws unsheathed and dug into the tender flesh. With a rush of satisfaction Starr dragged hard on the fish --
And the fish didn't come out of the water --
Instead, it yanked hard on her paw, pulling away from the rock and very nearly dragging her with it. Starr let out a yelp of surprise as she lost her grip on the rock and got a faceful of water; hurriedly, she let go of the fish to keep from being yanked in entirely. The fish arced its body around and she had a brief moment to realize it was the largest she had ever seen -- and then in a flash it was gone, leaving only a pink mist on the water in remembrance of Starredmyst's talons.
The she-cat spat a word after it that she wouldn't have used in her father's presence and groaned, just about ready to hit her head on the rock.
"I stand corrected. It's a conspiracy, I tell you!"[/size]
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Post by რoonwhisker on Jul 3, 2008 6:40:12 GMT -5
Falconpaw looked to Starredmyst, it looked like she was demonstrating how to catch a fish. He looked happily at her, waiting to see her-- not catch a fish. He laughed, "Well, I bet you hunt better than you fish," he meowed.
Moonwhisker laughed as well. "Like this," she meowed as she noticed another fish. With the flash of a paw she had it in her paw, then next to her, dead. "I was always a better fisher than I was a hunter," she meowed.
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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Jul 3, 2008 9:28:14 GMT -5
"Well, I bet you hunt better than you fish."
Not exactly. Starredmyst ducked her head, temporizing, "Well -- I don't think the prey in the forest have a grudge against me. But, uh, I prefer fish, I don't hunt much."
She sighed as Moonwhisker made another perfect catch. "As a general rule, Moonwhisker, you're better at most cats than both. Father's whims aren't the only reason you're deputy."
However, that comment turned Starr back to her earlier thoughts, and she edged away from the other two, staring moodily out over the water.
Father's whims...I just said that in front of an apprentice, didn't I? Oh, well. No one's going to ask who told him that if he does repeat it; the gossip's common enough nowadays.
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