[ti]Private[/ti]playin' with fire [p]

[foggy]

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Dusk loved patrolling, whether it was a border patrol or supervising the prey-hunters, she loved being outside. However, it was something she had to take serious, especially when it came to protecting the prey-hunters. They were all agile and skilled hunters - the tribe never went hungry, but the hunters were also the most at risk from being taken away by a swooping eagle. They never developed the muscle that Dusk and other guards had from their rigorous training, so Dusk always felt more obligated to take care of them. Privately, she would always believe that it was the home-guards who kept the tribe working. Without them, the tribe would continuously lose prey-hunters to dogs and other threats, which in turn meant less food. She knew that both roles were necessary for the tribe but she felt that the home-guards were slightly more necessary. Dusk was biased, of course, but it would take a lot for her to change her mind.

The cream-furred feline kept her beady eyes fixed on the path in front of them, since the sky was blocked off from them by the thick cover of trees, eagles weren't likely to be a problem, but the dogs that had appeared to the to-be part not so long ago was a concerning matter. She really hoped dogs weren't going to suddenly break through the foliage, it was just Dusk and Storm on this patrol, and by the looks of the incredibly lithe she-cat walking beside her, Storm wasn't going to be any help against a physical threat. It was clear that her partner for the patrol was a prey-hunter, from her mosaic pelt to her silent pawsteps, so Dusk felt compelled to make sure that both returned home safe, especially since it was just the two of them and their safety rested purely on her shoulders.

When they started to reach the deeper part of the forest, Dusk began to walk a little slower to try and control the sound of her steps. Unlike Storm, she didn't have a silent walk, she usually had no need for it, silence didn't matter when you were fighting. However, she knew that being quiet was important to catching prey, and since she wasn't willing to let the huntress out of her sight, Dusk would have to quieten down. That was another thing that Dusk felt proud of, there were always ways that home-guards could adapt themselves to fit the role of a prey-hunter, albeit a poor one but perhaps enough to survive in desperate circumstances, but a prey-hunter trying to be a home-guard? That would only end in tragedy. The tonkinese cat spared a quick glance to her partner, the thought only propelled her desire to keep her safe, seeing as so much could be a threat.

[M'Lady]

She hated it sometimes, when home-guards had to accompany her on patrols. Sure, the bumbling things were often amusing, but right now it was clearly not what she wanted. Dusk was clearly making an effort to be quiet, and that effort was so clearly not working. She was just about as graceful as a lumbering bear. Storm usually like homeguards, too, if only because of their ridiculous logic they used to justify things. The brutes were all about honor and duty. Sure, she hunted well for her tribe, but it often seemed like those cats didn't even know how to have fun when they were kits. Finally, she paused in her silent steps, and turned to set her glare upon the home-guard.

"Why don't you just hang back here, for a moment?" She hummed ever so softly, her voice barely louder than the rustles of their surroundings. She sounded a bit exasperated. Did she not hear how loud she was being? Compared to Storm, the home-guard was moving with no caution and shouting every bit of the way. "I won't be far off, you'll hear if there's trouble," She continued, her tail slightly curled to avoid brushing the needles that littered the forest floor. "Just give me a heartbeat to track something down without you hanging too close to my tail." At this rate, the home-guard would scare everything in the area away, and Storm desperately wanted to catch the few grey squirrels she could before Dusk ruined it. Oh this would be so much easier with another prey-hunter on the patrol! She didn't like spending too much time with other cats, but at the cost of her own social aggravation, she would if it meant she could get this beetle-brained brute off of her for a minute or two.

[foggy]

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If Dusk sensed her companions gradually growing frustration, she didn't show it. Prey-hunters rarely left camp without a home-guard escort, and Dusk would make it a rule if she had the power to, so to have a prey-hunter feel caged by their presence was ridiculous at this stage. It was just something they had to accept. They wouldn't be huffing when a bear or an eagle came at them. Not that Dusk would ever wish something like that on any prey-hunter, even the most infuriating ones. Apparently, Dusk must've been worse at silencing her steps than she thought because it seemed like Storm had been building up with vexation for a while. Remarkably, though, the mosaic-pelted feline's voice was ever so soft, barely even a whisper on the wind. If Dusk had been standing a little further she would've completely missed the she-cat's words, but there was no denying Storm's tone. She was annoyed, but why? Dusk had been perfectly cordial, even going that little bit further to help out her companion. Her efforts weren't appreciated, though.

In response, Dusk flicked an ear and opened her mouth to respond, trying to be as quiet with her voice as Storm had been. Of course, the home-guard wasn't used to speaking quietly. She was either grunting loudly during combat practice or not speaking at all during a sneak attack. There was no in-between. "You know I can't allow you to just go off alone. What if something happened to you?" Did prey-hunters not understand that they needed to be protected whenever they were outside the camp? They were too valuable to the tribe to just be allowed to wander away by themselves, especially if they didn't have the skill to fight off an enemy. Dusk would be perfectly happy to explain all this right now, but she didn't think that Storm would appreciate that. Her companion seemed a prickly one and Dusk was ever a considerate cat, even if her efforts weren't recognized. "I know you won't be far off, but you don't know what's out there. They could attack quicker than it takes me to reach you, and it's not like you'd be able to put up much of a fight." It sounded a little blunter than she'd meant it to, but Dusk didn't notice such things. How could facts sound anything less than right?

[M'Lady]

Oh, if Storm was going to act even remotely civil, that chance was gone now. Much of a fight? Much of a fight?! If it didn't go wildly against Tribe law, she'd show Dusk just how much of a fight she could put up. Instead, she whirled around completely to face the home-guard, her movements as silent as the evening breeze, as her low hiss slithered through the air.

"You're strong, home-guard. That's all you are. Just because you only have one redeeming quality doesn't mean that I, that prey-hunters, only have one too. We're quiet. And we're faster than you. Faster than you could ever believe. Faster than an eagle and quicker than a rabbit. If I managed to get myself in trouble, you'd better believe that I'd be able to handle it long enough for your tail to get there." She grumbled, ears pressed back against her head.

"You know what? Follow me. I'll show you exactly how quick we can be, and maybe you can let go of your all mighty superior home-guard attitude for once. There's a reason we have two ranks, because both are important for our survival. Get used to it."

She turned on her paws and delved deeper into the woods after that, not giving Dusk a chance to respond to her last comment. She tasted the air, searching for something she'd be able to dig her claws into that wasn't her companion. Finally, she scented squirrel. Either it was too stupid to hear the home-guards paws, or perhaps it was just busy. She inclined to believe the former, but no matter. She silently dropped into a low crouch, the fur of her belly just barely brushing the forest floor. Carefully, she dragged herself forward on her paws, placing one after the other. And then suddenly, with a burst of movement from her hindlegs, the slender she-cat darted forward. The squirrel never saw her coming, and soon it was merely a lump of silver furred prey held in her claws. She straightened after that, still not making a sound in case others were close by. Scraping dirt over the prey to mask its scent, she made a mental marker of where it was, and then continued on her way without a second glance towards the home-guard.

[foggy]

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It appeared she had been tactless once again. The home-guard leaned backwards in surprise as her companion swirled around with such passion that Dusk was surprised that a hurricane didn't suddenly start up. Although, perhaps it did, in Storm's eyes. The hiss surprised her, Dusk had just been explaining her reasons for wanting to protect her, she was stating facts. Great, she now had to spend time with an angry, irrational tribemate, who was clearly not ready to listen to reason. If that wasn't enough, Storm felt that he pride was hurt and had decided to 'prove' to dusk that she could do her job.

"One?" She felt her own temper sparking, but fighting fire with fire wasn't the best way to go about this. Dusk was willing to bet that Storm had more fire than all the home-guards combined. The prey-hunters could afford to be irrational, though, the homeguards could not. One irrational mistake in the heat of battle could cost someone a life, the worst that could happen to a prey-hunter was... they lost a squirrel? She took a breath, "I understand that you are fast, and that you'd be able to keep control of a dangerous situation until a home-guard saved you, but that's the point! You need a home-guard to save you, at the end of the day, you wouldn't be able to fight it off, and since us home-guards are so slow, we need to be close by to do it for you." She had no idea why Storm was acting so defensive, perhaps it was why she'd been chosen for the prey-hunter path, she ran on emotions, while the home-guards were able to control them.

Dusk was about to start speaking again, when her patchy-furred 'friend' seemed to have reached some kind of decision. Dusk huffed, but ultimately followed behind her, it was best to let her get it all out her system. Maybe then, she would be willing to listen to the facts. "You say we're both equal now? Yet you just said that the home-guards had only one 'redeemable' feature while you had many." If she wasn't slightly scared that it would set her feisty comrade on another tirade, Dusk would've rolled her eyes. Storm was a bit of a hypocrite, then, or just illogical when angry.

However, it appeared that she didn't have to worry about causing another outrage because Storm had already turned back around and stalked off. The tonkinese shook her head, thinking that whoever had asked her to chaperone this patrol was going to get a stern talking to about asking her for a favour ever again. She hurried after Storm, trying to catch up, but by the time that she had caught up, Storm had already caught something. "All that's proved is that you can do your job," her aqua eyes watching as the critter was dutifully covered by the earth. "You don't get a 'well done' for doing what you're supposed to do, how was that meant to prove anything?" Oh, wait, apparently they were off again. "I'm sorry that I've hurt your delicate prey-hunter pride, but try and think rationally about this, being fast doesn't ensure your survival." Dusk hoped that speaking wasn't going to be a wasted effort, she got the impression that Storm was the type to ignore words she didn't like.