.//Over the Hills and Far Away

[Sparrow]

[atrb=border,0,true][bg=black] Light paws and sharp claws, tail down and ears up, dirt on your belly and away you go. Fly, fly, fly. Touch down, snap of jaws, curtains close and listen to the sounds on the other side. With quiet motions, the only silence you'd ever find in his life, Redbird slowly placed his paws one by one on the soft soil of the forest. Twenty yards or so from snakerocks, his ears were pricked to hear anything approaching him, but for all the attention he was paying to his surroundings an adder could stalk, approach, and bite him before he ever knew it was there. His attention was focused, instead, on a small mouse a taillength or so in front of him. Crouching down to spring, the ginger warrior swiped a raspberry-coloured tongue nervously over his lips before pouncing. …Too far. The mouse scampered away with a frightened squeak and with a playful growl he followed after it in earnest, pinning it beneath his paw after sprinting for a few yards. A lucky catch, to be honest, but he would take what he could get. Great gold eyes looked down at the motionless mouse corpse before him and the ThunderClan warrior wiggled in delight. "Caught one! Caught one!" he crowed to no one in particular, his whiskers twitching in mirth, before getting back up to his feet and shaking some loose soil from his bellyfur. He didn't hunt often, and certainly never near here, where the forest was so overrun with snakes, but it didn't matter really - and it certainly was fun to go all out once in a while. He picked up his catch in his jaws and frisked away, prancing like a kit and kicking up as much loam as possible while he did so. The sound of dirt pellets striking the ferns behind him was an awful lot like rain, or so he thought, and he looked at the overcast sky with hope before examining the forest for a convenient spot to bury his catch. word count: 339 audience: Zephyr/Whosoever comments: Short, crappy post. Sorry about that.

[{Otter}]

Silence and sneakery did not play any part in the movements of the lean tomcat making his way through the underbrush of ThunderClan's forest. Oh yes, he knew where he was. Just the other day he had traveled into ThunderClan and come across an exceedingly friendly cat named Stormheart. And though Stormheart had told him before to wait at the border if ever he wanted to speak to him, well...Zephyr didn't want to sit around all day, and he saw nothing wrong with venturing back into the territory. Besides, he needed to talk to other cats anyway.

Muscles rippled like snakes beneath a solid, blue-gray pelt, but grasses and bushes rustled loudly around him as he trotted easily through the forest, head and tail held high and ears perked up. Gray-flecked eyes swept the land around him as he searched for any sign of a cat. Small, gray nose sniffed the breeze eagerly but scented nothing, and as he continued to travel, he became more and more discouraged. Where were all these Clan cats when you needed them?

Finally, a distant sound caught his attention, and Zephyr froze in his tracks, ears swiveling to the side as he listened. Yes, a small bit of rustling, much less than he was making. At first he figured it was just a squirrel, but as he listened, he was suddenly able to make out words.

"Caught one! Caught one!"

Just two words, and he understood them both. Curling his tail in pleasure, Zephyr turned at once and shot off in the direction of the stranger, lean body moving as quickly as possible (which was not terribly quickly, as his body was made for climbing and swimming). After just a few moments he fond himself jumping out of the forest and into a small clearing covered in rocks, and as he skidded to a startled halt, he gazed back at the forest in confusion. Now why had he not seen this coming?

Well, it didn't matter now. Cheerful gaze shifted around as the scent of a stranger swirled in around him, and after a moment his eyes rested on a dark ginger tomcat heading back into the forest with a mouse clamped in his jaws. This cat was...well...frolicking. Confused, Zephyr sat down and tilted his head to one side, ears swiveling in opposite directions as he attempted to understand what this cat was doing. ThunderClan sure didn't seem to do things like other Clans. Stormheart had been unusually friendly, and this cat...was very cheerful. Well good, then! Shaking himself free of thoughts, the blue-gray tomcat trotted after the ginger warrior, saying nothing but instead waiting to be noticed...though he had a feeling it would take a bit of time before this particular cat managed to notice his presence.

[Sparrow]

[atrb=border,0,true][bg=black] So enthralled in his ventures and triumphs was he that he noticed nothing out of the ordinary as he pranced here and there, looking about for a suitable place. An oak tree ahead looked promising - one couldn't go wrong with an oak tree, as a general rule of paw - and he danced right up to it and began to dig a small hole, listening with pleasure to the winter birdsong. A cardinal and a chickadee seemed to be having a battle of voices, and their song spun a net of music within the air, a chorus of chick-a-dee-dee-dee's and soft chirrup's. Personally, he was partial to the cardinal - the chickadee seemed fairly hoarse today. And the cardinal was a red bird, just like him, afterall. Spread before him was a small hole - nothing spectacular, mind you - but it served its purpose. He dropped the mouse in it, aranging it with his paw to lay on its back and then looked at it somberly and said, with gravity, a solemn form of eulogy, as though at a funeral, his whiskers twitching as he did so and his ginger pelt smooth and unruffled for once. "Poor Brownwhisker, he had a good life. A mate and a hundred little mouse-kits back in his day. He died in battle, as every mouse-warrior should, and never had reason to regret." He looked up sharply at this, then turned to glance at the strange-looking tom behind him, taking in his scent and immediately identifying him as a loner. Strange eyes, that one has. Like the moon, and the moon, and the cat in the moon, and the cat in the moon is he, is he, and the cat in the moon is he~ He chuckled lightly at the melody in his thoughts, something akin to a nursery rhyme, and his face lit up with mirth once more. "Well, come on then, Silvereyes, say your respects to our dearly departed mouse-warrior over there. He'll be so upset up if you don't, such a tender heart he is! Breaks my heart to have to eat him eventually, but such is life" and here he inserted a theatrical sigh. "Well, come on then, up you go." At this he moved away from the freshkill, a pleasant smile stretched broadly across his face, and he stepped back to allow the strange cat with the silver eyes move forward, not caring whether he did or not. He didn't make any move to introduce himself either - keep the loner guessing, don't ruin the game - and he waited to see what the cat would say or do. Something about the other tom seemed... vague, somehow. Why was he so loud in his approach? word count: 447 audience: Zephyr/Whosoever comments: Poor Zephyr. He was right about cheerful, but he'd have every right to be bewildered too xD

[{Otter}]

Frolicking cheerfully toward a hole in an oak tree, the strange cat placed the mouse on the ground and...talked to it. Though he talked fast and used some words Zephyr had never heard before, the tom's storm-gray eyes widened slowly as he comprehended some of what was said. Poor Brownwhisker? This cat had named the mouse?

Head tilting far to one side, Zephyr stared in confusion at the strange ginger cat. As Redbird spoke, an understanding crossed the loner's mind, and his tail shot high in happiness. This cat...this cat had liked this mouse! They had been friends! What Zephyr had thought he had seen (namely, a cat catching a mouse) had instead been a friend lifting up another friend to bury him!

Though he didn't quite understand why a cat would make friends with a mouse, Zephyr knew he couldn't judge. How many cats thought him crazy for having a dog family? And he would certainly give his dog family a proper burial. And if another cat had been near, then...well, he would have wanted someone to respect their relationship. When the Clan cat turned, saw him, and showed no sign of surprise, Zephyr's tail-tip twitched in confusion and happiness. Goodness, these ThunderClanners were bizarre....

"Well, come on then, Silvereyes, say your respects to our dearly departed mouse-warrior over there."

Silvereyes? A frown of confusion creased Zephyr's face, but he chose to ignore the odd word and focus instead on the others. "Say your respects". Well, he had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but since this strange ThunderClanner had backed away from the mouse and was looking at him in a rather eager way, Zephyr decided this cat wanted him to...talk. About... the mouse? Well, I never knew this mouse... he thought, giving Redbird an odd look. But, I guess if my sister died, I'd like any cat to say something, so...

"Mouse...good?" he mewed uncertainly, padding forward to poke at the small body. He shot the ThunderClanner a sideways glance, not wanting to insult the warrior's lost friend. "I...no know. But...you say...mouse warrior. So...had family. And...brave." He shrugged and backed up, giving Redbird an imploring look. Had he done this mouse justice? Sure, his words were broken and uneasy, but it was the thought that counted, right?

Word Count;; 363
Muse;; better than it's been in awhile, but still not so great
Notes;; heh heh heh, Zephyr thinks the mouse was actually Redbird's friend.

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