(snakes) and .sun.shine

[mushu]

Stray, golden leaves crunched underneath the mottled warrior's paws as he padded slowly towards Snakerocks. He skirted the Great Sycamore and shivered as he felt how cold its shade was. His ears twitched uneasily in the realization that a chilly leaf-fall and even more ruthless leaf-bare were not far off.

The pale, early, leaf-fall light warmed his dark pelt again as he moved out of the shade. Viperstrike felt all his worries melt away as the sunshine dappled his coat. The scrabbling of prey alerted his senses and he paused, crouching down. Very slowly, Viperstrike drew himself forward, pawstep by pawstep, until a tiny vole came into view. He twitched his ears in satisfaction, glancing around furtively for any adders, and pounced. The vole realized it was being preyed upon too late and Viperstrike finished it off with a swift bite to the neck.

"Thank you, StarClan." He murmered, scraping some dirt over his prey before ascending the final gray stones of Snakerocks. He placed his white paws carefully among the cracks and crevices, still keeping an eye out for the creatures that lent him his name.

Finding a large, flat rock, Viperstrike stretched out upon it, sheathing and unsheathing his claws in contentment.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

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[atrb=background,http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj298/yellowstar11193/Tables/Swallowfang2.png] Sunlight leaked in through the dappled canopy, spotting the she-cat's dark fur as she stalked through the forest. Her stride relaxed but alert, her ears swiveling around in all directions for any other signs of life. Her jaws opened slightly, taking in the scents of her home and drawing in a mixture of vegetation, ThunderClan scent, and mouse. Content with those familiar smells and not scenting anything out of place, she continued on in the direction she knew led to Snakerocks. Her stubborn apprentice, Rookpaw, was doing chores for most of the day and Swallowfang wasn't needed for patrol until later on today, so she had decided to put her free time to use catching prey for the Clan. Of course, every ThunderClan cat knew that Swallowfang could easier catch her own shadow than she could catch a squirrel, but that didn't stop her from trying when she was determined enough to hunt. The female paused, scenting the air once more as her ears twitched at a sound nearby. Letting her golden eyes trail across the forest ground until they found the source of the noise, she found with the sight of a squirrel. The tiny reddish creature was sniffing around the leaf-littered floor, oblivious to her presence. Immediately Swallowfang dropped to the ground, her attention trained only on the soon-to-be prey and nothing else. Slowly she crept closer, placing her paws carefully so that they would not crunch under the dead leaves that would all too easily prevent her from making her catch. The squirrel spotted her. Before she could blink, it was already sprinting away, dashing over the ground in all directions until it finally launched itself onto an oak tree trunk. Howling with fury, Swallowfang threw herself after the creature, leaping onto the trunk after it and climbing up several body lengths until she lost sight of its tail through the leaves. "Fox dung!" She hissed at her own failure, digging her claws into the bark to ease some of her frustration before slowly making her way back down, hind legs first. Shaking her fur out, the now-agitated warrior set off again, stalking closer toward Snakerocks. Perhaps there would be some prey there that was stupid enough to be caught by the black cat. As she entered the clearing of Snakerocks, she paused in her tracks. Instantly her fur fluffed up and her tail bushed threateningly at the sight of a cat laying on one of the stones. Certainly no ThunderClan cat with half a brain would just lay on the rocks, hoping some adder would come out and strike them. So that could only mean- wait... "Viperstrike!" Swallowfang hissed out, stalking further into the clearing as she recognized the tom as one of her Clan mates. "Finally living up to your namesake, hmm? Or are you tired of being such a mousebrain and waiting for an adder to kill you?" Her fur lied flat on her shoulders again and her tail-tip twitched with irritation, but she glared up at the tom as she waited for a response.

[atrb=background,http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj298/yellowstar11193/Tables/Swallowfang2.png] First time posting with Swallowfang's sexy table. ^.^

[mushu]

"Fox dung!" Viperstrike ears twitched in amusement as he heard his Clanmate's frustrated yowl. Opening his mouth slightly, he scented the air and his guess as to who it was was confirmed. The dark-pelted warrior drew himself up into a sitting position, draping his sriped tail around his white paws as he spotted Swallowfang making her way towards him.

Viperstrike liked and respected each and every cat in ThunderClan but found the dusk-colored she-cat especially interesting. She seemed off-standish and cold but Viperstrike considered her more independent and unique than anything else. He certainly wouldn't allow his good mood to be spoiled by her dry humor. For some reason, he felt his spirits lift even higher because of her.

"Please, Swallowfang, it may be sunny but its certainly not warm enough for the adders to come out!" He responded good-naturedly, despite the she-cat's clearly disgruntled mood, "I'd like to think of it as living up to my namesake, actually. And I can handle them, thank you very much." His whiskers twitched slightly and his pale green eyes glimmered.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

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[atrb=background,http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj298/yellowstar11193/Tables/Swallowfang2.png] Swallowfang's tail twitched slowly, sharply, back and forth like the tongue of an adder that was about to strike. Perhaps one of the poisonous snakes would come from the rocks right now and strike the mousebrained tom. She wouldn't be surprised, nor would she be sorry. Although it would be a shame to lose a valuable warrior from a Clan that was already dwarfed by its rivals, Swallowfang was starting to question Viperstrike's competency at this point. "Unless you're StarClan or some sort of adder expert, I would refrain from making assumptions unless you want to lose your life." The she-cat scoffed, rolling her eyes. Her paws took her closer to where the tom was sitting on the flattened part of Snakerocks, stopping only when she was a couple foxlengths away from the base of the stone. She eyed him suspiciously as she went on, "I'd like to see you so confident when you're faced with one of them. There could be an adder behind you right now and you would be so scared you would lose your pelt!" Swallowfang laughed, more amused than she should have been as she imagined the scene.

[mushu]

"Perhaps I am an adder expert," Viperstrike meowed in good humor, determined to lighten the she-cat's mood, "You've no idea what I can do." He gave his chest a couple, quick licks, keeping his pale eyes on Swallowfang as he did so. Rising from his sitting position, he stretched out his front paws and arched his back. Gathering himself again, the mottled warrior leaped down from the rocks to stand beside the black she-cat.

"Are we going to stand around here like elders and chat all day," He mewed good-naturedly, flicking her shoulder with his long, striped tail, "Or would you like to continue hunting?" He added cautiously, silently praying to StarClan that he wouldn't get his ears clawed off... Or worse, that she would twitch her whiskers and stalk off.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

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[atrb=background,http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj298/yellowstar11193/Tables/Swallowfang2.png] Swallowfang's laughter died down as the tom went on talking, effectively ruining her amusing mental image of Viperstrike being attacked by one of the elusive reptiles. Toms; always keen on attempting to make themselves sound more tough than they were, she thought with another roll of her eyes. "Sure, sure, and I'll believe that when I actually see it. I've never seen you hurt a fly, much less an adder. And fresh-kill doesn't count." The she-cat watched her Clan mate as he stood up, stretched, and then leaped down to the ground, wondering how it was she managed to run into the rather irritating tom. "Don't you have something more important to do? A patrol or something?" Swallowfang muttered, her hackles slightly raising as she felt his tail brush against her fur. "I could have sworn I heard Whitethroat call your name for the sunhigh patrol." While she managed to stop herself from snapping much more than that, she looked at the tom through narrowed eyes and held back any other comments she had at the tip of her tongue.

[mushu]

Viperstrike felt his hopes of an amiable hunting outing die in his throat. He plucked self-consciously at the ground, trying not to let his disappointment show. Swallowfang clearly wasn't warming up to his friendly demeanor and he, or ThunderClan's elders, queens and kits, didn't have the time to wait for her to come around.

"Hm, I don't think so. I was on last night's moonhigh patrol." He meowed flatly. His tail tip twitched, not quite in irriation, as he met her challenging gaze steadily. Viperstrike was trying so hard, couldn't she see that? He could feel his belly burning in frustration at the black-pelted warrior. He was only trying to make hunting more enjoyable, and she acted like he was pulling her tail.

"Well the Clan needs fed. I'll see you around, Swallowfang." Viperstrike's last words were thrown over his shoulder as he padded away from her, his ears pricked for the sound of prey as he tried to push the disastrous meeting from his mind.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Despite Swallowfang's spiky and irritated demeanor, her overall annoyance at the world and particularly for this tom she caught lazing around while he should have been working, she was somewhat surprised when Viperstrike simply turned tail and started to walk off. Sure, she was not in the best of moods and didn't have the patience to deal with cats that irritated her at the moment- though when did she?- that didn't mean the tom had to just brush her off. Whatever the reason for it, whether he was truly hunting or just wanted to get away from the sharp-tongued warrior, Swallowfang simply responded with a lash of her tail and perpetual attitude of "so what? I can take care of myself."

"Well, go on then!" Swallowfang snorted in irritation, "and I won't tell the deputy about this when you actually manage to bring something back!" Turning in the other direction with her ears flattened down and tail twitching, she stalked further into the forest. What a pointless meeting, she thought as she tuned her senses for any more signs of prey, hopefully this time prey that would be stupid enough to be caught. She at least had to bring something home as well to keep from humiliating herself. That happened much too often for her liking.

((Weeeell, that was sad. xD Thread over now?))

[mushu]

((sures, yellow x3))