Caɾղaցe Ɱօօղ ~𝙰 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌

6 🌙

"You need to lean back farther," Tinypaw advised Rowanpaw, while Crescentpaw kept her own gaze fixated on the quiet waters among the pebbly stream-bed. This particular channel was quite thin, and closer to Greenleaf Twolegplace- so that the cats could hear them shouting and hollering from afar within the tall, water-logged grasses.

"It's a wonder we can even catch anything with them shouting so much!" Rowanpaw complained and flicked a bit of water from her whiskers, then wrinkled her snout with annoyance. "Why did we even choose this area?" She sneered.

"We didn't want to run into the sunhigh patrol, remember? They usually follow the bend around the thickest part of the river when they leave. And Emberfawn is hunting with Lagoonstripe in the marshes. I heard Quietdew mention it before we slipped out."

"Well this is still stupid," she growled crossly. "Besides; I'll only get ridiculed or told what I'm doing wrong here. I'm going to hunt by myself." With her fringed reddish-brown tail held high, she rose and began to stalk down the sandy shore.

"Someone put mouse-bile in her prey again?" Crescentpaw looked pointedly over at Tinypaw, who nodded and cracked a smile.

"I wish I could say I was guilty, but nope- she just acts that way. My, she's as testy as a fly." Tinypaw murmured lightheartedly as she leaned back from the water. With her ears pricked and muzzle tipped at an angle, she focused before feigning towards a shadow that she had thought was a fish.

"Mouse-dung frogs. Get out of my way!" Tinypaw hissed, lashing her tail and then quieting herself.

"Well, we could always send her Mother's way."

"If only," Tinypaw sighed agreement, and twitched her whiskers mischievously. Her black pelt rippled along her spine, shining where the light hit it as she moved.

Crescentpaw was only kidding, of course. She didn't actually despise her bark-brown sister- despite how repulsive her bad attitude could be, it was sort of understandable.

"What do you think the clan will do now that-"

"Hey! I found trapped prey!" Someone began yowling from beyond the overhanging water-reeds and switchgrass. The wind tugged on their stems gently at first, and then they violently began rattling and shaking. Rowanpaw hopped out a moment later, her ears pricked with enthusiasm.

"What do you mean?" Crescentpaw asked her russet-furred sister before hearing Tinypaw curse in annoyance, probably about her actually-a-fish-this-time fish being scared off.

"There's this weird mesh-contraption thing inside the sedge grasses near here. It's by the greenleaf Twolegpath," she said, her eyes focused on them as she breathlessly gasped for more air. "And I was trying to scent for a mouse or vole when I found it! It's got an entire carp inside."

Rowanpaw's yellow eyes were wider now, as if she were excited and proud. "I tried to get it out myself but it looks tricky. There's a flap that I need some other cat to keep pushed open for me, I think." Their littermate looked more and more apprehensive as she continued to ask for her sister's help. But Crescentpaw was quick to nod before Rowanpaw could react negatively again.

I don't want her to storm off for the dozenth time this week. Even though this idea seems dangerous, Rowanpaw deserves the thought of us at least taking a look. After all we were kind of just joking about her. Good thing she didn't hear...

"Where is it?" Crescentpaw blinked her dual-colored eyes at her sister, her fur beginning to bush with excitement at the prospect of free prey. Maybe it really can be that easy.

"But it sounds like a Twoleg thing. And it's too close to the paths that they walk in Greenleaf," Tinypaw reasoned.

Impatiently, Rowanpaw began to flick her tail to and fro, opening her jowls to argue. A dragonfly flew above their ears as Crescentpaw cut her off.