Three toms and a she-cat (Hunting Patrol)

[Amber]

Toms were nothing more than mousebrained fools who didn't know anything. It was a good thing ShadowClan wasn't being led by a mousebrained tom. The whole Clan would be in ruins, and decisions that mattered would never get done. That was just her opinion, though. She had yet to meet a tom that wasn't a piece of foxdung. Okay, so maybe for a short while she could tolerate Oakstorm, and well actually didn't mind him being around her. But then he had gone and turned on her, like everyone else in her life. He had shut her down, just when she had finally admitted for the first time in her life that she actually liked someone. She had become a mousebrained fool, to think that he liked her back. It was like being in the nursery all over again, when she found out she was half-Clan. She had played with the other kits, and when this piece of information was revealed the friends she had were not allowed to play with her, or ignored her. It was then she stopped caring what others thought of her, and she began to do whatever she wanted. She had pushed herself to ignore all comments and prove she was worthy of being a ShadowClan warrior. And so she had, becoming a warrior after many moons of hard work.

Now here she was, leading a hunting patrol. Then again, look at who was coming with her. She had Fogpatch who was pissing her off, Oakstorm who really pissed her off, and Foxfur...maybe Foxfur hadn't pissed her off yet, but he was still a tom, he was bound to do it eventually. Leave it to her to get stuck on patrol with all toms. Probably because she wouldn't dare try to flirt like any other she-cat would. Her heart had already been broken, she was about to open it up again, not for any reason. Not after what Oakstorm had done to her. It didn't matter how much he was trying to talk to her now, he could talk all he wanted she wasn't going to listen to his pathetic excuses. Nothing could excuse what he had done to her, nothing would ever bring them back together, back friends like they were. He could go rot in a pile of mud for all she cared. The more she thought about it, the more that sounded like a wonderful idea. A smirk came across her face at the thought. Now that was a perfect plan.

Shrewfang stalked through the forest and as they reached the Burnt Sycamore, she looked around to the group of cats following. Her eyes were glaring at Fogpatch daring him to piss her off again. She wasn't even going to look at Oakstorm. "I'm going over there to hunt alone. If anyone even bothers to come near me expect to receive the fury of my wrath. Trust me, if you value your life you will not come near me." she hissed. Of course that was mainly for Oakstorm, but she might as well inform the other two cats aswell. She then began to wonder what Fogpatch's fur would look like lining her nest in the warriors den as she stared at the tom. The wimpy stench would probably keep her awake at night. She stalked off, leaving the rest of the patrol to fend for themselves. She wasn't going to babysit them, they were all warriors who knew how to hunt, just as long as they got prey she didn't care if they hunted together or alone. But she had made it clear that she wanted to hunt alone. If they wanted to keep the fur on their pelts, they would be wise and keep far away from her for the time being.

Clearly she was at a maximum pissed off level, just a slight push could send her over the edge. And they were out of camp, so the witnesses would only be them. Shrewfang sat down for a moment to collect her thoughts and clear her head. If she wanted to catch some prey, she would need to stop thinking about all of these stupid toms. With a sigh she looked at her claws which were flexing in the dirt. She really had worked herself up about these useless toms. It might take a while to calm down.

[:c a i:]

Right. Now, it was clear that Shewfang was beyond furious at this point and ready to remove the head of anyone who dared to disobey her. Obviously, she wanted absolutely no-one to follow her at this present moment, and anyone who did would probably die.

So, Oakstorm followed her.

He padded after her steadfastly, an almost chilling calm about him. For someone who was about to try and sort out an extremely volatile and hugely angered she-cat, his calmness was out of place. Especially since he was perfectly aware of the fact that what he was doing was probably going to get him killed. Every cat in ShadowClan - or any Clan - knew not to approach an angry Shrewfang. Still, Oakstorm decided that if what Shrewfang had said, if she really did feel something for him, then he might be safe from decapitation for at least a few seconds. Maybe he would be able to say some magic words and dissipate that rage in that time.

Hah.

Yeah, right. And badgers might fly. Still, it was too late to back off now, since he was within scenting distance of the she-cat. For a moment, Oakstorm said nothing, but merely slipped up beside Shrewfang, his sturdy frame broad and tall above her. He studied her, watching her claws flex and unflex and realised he had better start talking before those claws were turned on him. He drew in his breath, releasing it in a long sigh, his expression troubled as he began to speak.

"What am I going to do with you?" He murmured, voice very low. "I know you want to kill me right now. But please, just let me talk." He looked at her with a bittersweet affection. "You never stop to give me a chance to prove I'm not fox-dung, do you? But the one time you did, I threw it back at you..." Oakstorm shut his eyes briefly, then opened them wide to look at Shrewfang, speaking utterly truthfully, but looking torn about what he was saying.

"It wasn't because I didn't love you back. Believe that. It was because... You shouldn't choose me. I wouldn't be good for you. Look what's happening now! I've hurt you already before we even got anywhere." Oakstorm shook his head in self-disgust. "What does that say about me? That I'd end up causing you more trouble than it's worth. The last time I thought I loved someone, I gained nothing and lost everything. And that is why I couldn't say it back to you."

Maybe if he were sensible, Oakstorm would have just left Shrewfang alone and let her go on hating him. Better that than starting something he was too scared to finish. Though he might be a joker, always laughing and jesting, on the outside, on the inside he was still raw. Still scared of actually jumping head-first into something and running the risk of hurting himself and anyone who might get involved. Yet he couldn't bear letting Shrewfang think he'd turned on her because he didn't care about her. That was a lie too far. It was impossible for him to let her go on being angry and hurt because she thought he didn't love her in return; he had to at least offer her the courtesy of knowing the truth. Even if he couldn't give her what she wanted.

[spike]

Foxfur was still cranky and it was clear by the emotionless look on his face. Yes, emotionless meant cranky. The slim tom walked just behind Shrewfang and Oakstorm and still in front of Fogpatch. He hated knowing that the gray-and-white warrior was so awake and cheerful this early. It was practically dawn! Why were they even hunting now? The over-populated Clan, perhaps? Maybe that was the only reason. What could they honestly find this time of day? Frogs and toads retreated to their rivers because of the intense heat from the sun. Snakes might come out if they found warm rocks but it was bad hunting time for them too. Birds weren't common and they had too much mud to allow them to catch the very rare mouse.

No, it was a bad time to hunt and yet Runningfrost had sent them anyways. Were there so many warriors and other cats that needed to be fed? They were only bringing in four extra mouths! Well, Poppyfrost did have her kits so that was four more. But they were just kits! Foxfur knew his thoughts were all revolving around this morning but taht didn't mean he wasn't angry still.

Foxfur pondered whether to fetch Shrewfang and mention his concerns about the hunt but he turned that thought down as he remembered the threat that Shrewfang had given him. He really disliked that temperment but whatever. He just turned sharply away from the direction he had seen Shrewfang and Oakstorm go. Hopefully he could escape the whole group.

[Amber]

Ooh, this cat really had a death wish. Just when she had calmed herself down, and her claws were able to relax she felt a presence near her. She thought it was probably Fogpatch, that tom didn't know when to stop, and her earlier threat still was standing, she would tear his coat apart. The queens probably wouldn't mind some new lining for their beds. And the kits could bat around the eyeballs that she was going to rip out. That would keep them entertained for a while, right? Instead of batting balls of moss, they could bat around useless cat eyeballs. That sounded like a fun game to her. That plan was sounding more and more fun. It would show him not to anger her again, and give the message to anyone who even thought about getting her angry.

Shrewfang's lovely thoughts were interrupted by him. The only cat who could stop her planning and make her realize how much she hated him. It wasn't Fogpatch after all, it was someone worse. When he began to speak she was going to claw his face, but something inside was stopping her and she wished it would just shut up and give her control over her body again. "Fine. I'm listening." she muttered. "But if you even mention about what I said the other day..." Shrewfang knew her threat would work, she wouldn't have to finish her sentence, she would let the tom figure out the rest.

And then he began to speak in his babbling little way. There were no jokes, no jests, but truth. Was this even possible for the tom? Wait...did he just admit that he liked her too? No, he couldn't have, he had already rejected her. Oakstorm now had her full attention as she put aside her anger for a few short moments. And now the tom was actually putting a smile on her face. He was no good for her? This was actually his funniest joke yet. He wasn't the one who scared half the cats in the Clan, or better yet all the clans. He wasn't the one who had chosen to stay with her mother, and leave her father behind, knowing that he really wanted a chance to know her. But he was right, he had hurt her. It took more than anyone knew to hurt this she-cat. But somehow he had managed.

"Just hurting me in the first place I'll have to give you credit for. It takes more than you can imagine to shake me up like this." Shrewfang said with a sigh. "But unlike whatever you have had in the past, I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying here. I chose to stay in ShadowClan, I could have an entirely different life, but I chose to stay with my mother, and look how that has turned out. I finally found someone who I can actually trust, and you think you have issues? Look into my life and tell me I don't have issues. Please do, and then we can see who really is the one in over their head." Noo! He was turning her into a soft little kittypet. "But at least now I know the truth, and thank you for that." she murmered. Wait, had she thanked someone? She really did need to go find Fogpatch now... She stared at Oakstorm in awe. It was brave to stand up to her and speak, but to pour out emotions was well...unheard of.

"I can't believe I am saying this, but something is telling me to forgive you. I have no idea what it is or why it is wanting me to. But I think I understand why you did what you did. Just because you have been hurt before, doesn't mean I will hurt you, or leave you." Shrewfang would really love to bang her head on a tree right now and escape from all of this...crap.

[:c a i:]

Oakstorm looked at Shrewfang, troubled blue-grey eyes looking pained. This wasn't what he had intended to do. He'd wanted to explain, yes, but he hadn't banked on Shrewfang actually forgiving him. He'd planned on hastily blurting out exactly what he'd been thinking when he'd run out on her the last time, and then beating an even hastier retreat. But now it seemed like another twist was being created in their rather unorthodox tale. She was accepting him again, even though he'd already proved that he was more of a mess than he appeared to be on the outside, and that he was more than capable of causing her pain.

"This... This isn't what I came here to do. I just wanted to tell you the truth, because you deserved that much. But... I didn't want you to fall for me again. I told you already, you'd be better off with someone different. I'm no good at relationships." Oakstorm paused, a heavy silence settling in for a moment. "But maybe that's not a good enough reason to stop this. If... if we're meant to work this out, then maybe he will." It was almost like he was having a quiet argument with himself out loud. He sighed agitatedly, trying to make his mind up. What now? Stay and work this out? Or run away again?

"I don't know if you know about my brother or not." He meowed quietly. "Foxclaw. Looks like me. But smaller." Why did he feel the need to add that? Because life was one big competition between him and Foxclaw. They'd never stop. "We aren't exactly close anymore. Used to be. But that was before-" Oakstorm hesitated. "-before we both went for the same she-cat. Turns out all it takes to ruin a family for life is a pretty she-cat." He laughed humorlessly. "Since things went sour with Foxclaw, I've just stayed out of all that. Safer that way, you know?

"This is new to me. I'll probably ruin things a dozen times over. I'll probably make you hate me, and we'll fight and scream and we'll never be one of those harmonious couples who gets old together without having had so much as one proper argument. Is... is it really what you want? It's up to you where we go from here."

[Amber]

Why did she have to open her mouth and speak? What was it about this tom that actually made words that weren't threats come out of her mouth? Great, she was becoming one of those cats. A cat that actually cared about something other than themselves. Yes, she respected her mother, to a certain point, but that was it. No one had ever worked their way this deep into her life. Her father had just begun to and look where he had ended up, alone in another Clan. And here he was speaking again, going on about falling for him again. No, she wouldn't fall for him, she couldn't. Shutting everyone out of her life was her specialty, it had worked for many moons. Even though it left many afraid of her, and keeping their distance she was fine with that. It kept her in her own little bubble where no one hurt her. Her walls were never down, her guard always up.

"Yeah, and I'm the world's best at a relationship." Shrewfang muttered, unable to keep that comment to herself. "I doubt anyone would want to be with me anyway. Look at how much fear I put into someone just by looking at them. Trust me, you have a much better chance of finding another she-cat than I do another tom. Not that I'm saying that we are, or anything, just pointing out a fact." Great, now she had gone and gotten herself confused. Shrewfang stopped talking and listened to him, rolling her eyes in the process. He was just babbling now. But once the mentioning of his brother began she stared at him. Yes, she had heard of his brother, but not from Oakstorm himself. "I understand all about being safe. Keeping distances." she agreed.

"I never expected anything to work out like I planned, and here I go actually letting someone in my life." she murmered. Glancing back to Oakstorm she thought a few moments then let out a large sigh. "You are right, we won't be harmonious, but what in life is? We both have had our share of disappointments in our lives, we can at least try to have someone that is with us. And another thing, it doesn't take much for me to hate someone, for example I really despise Fogpatch right now and want to rip his fur out." she chuckled at the thought of ripping the tom's fur out. "Sorry, got distracted for a moment. Where was I? Oh yeah...Just being apart from you these past few days has driven me a little crazy and I have been on edge. I don't think anyone has ever made me that mad in my life. I hate saying this, but you have crept your way into my cold heart, whether you realize it or not. But I am willing to try if you are, but if you even think about telling anyone I will rip your throat out. I don't need everyone in the Clan thinking I have gone soft and will be joining the kittypet lifestyle."