[ti]Open[/ti]The Storm Rages On

[ladyspectral]

Honeyheart's pelt bristled, anger glowing in her green as they moved through the thickening forest. Three clan cats, two cats that left. Cedar had turned out better than the last former clan cat, but the three weighed heavy on her heart. But she continued on, and she fought. That's what made her feel at least somewhat normal, fighting. The heat of battle distracted herself from the fact she no longer remembered Lynx's voice, or the pattern of stripes on his pelt. It made her forget she no longer remembered what her precious son looked like, or what noise filled the air when he laughed.

"Tred lightly. I hear them..." She murmured to the patrol she had brought along, glancing over to Viper as the sound of voices approached. Their scent was carried forth by the wind as Honeyheart crept alongside her son, claws unsheathed and as still as a stone. The expected dawn patrol, more than likely. Her ears lay flat against her head as she watched her ginger son's ears and tail twitched, head low as he peered out between a tree that split into two trunks.

A dark she cat padded into view first, and the ginger rogues lunged from their hiding spot. Viper was the first on Pikefoot's back, Honeyheart's forepaws latching onto the she cat's haunches and artificial claws raking gashed into her pelt. The stunned she cat yowled in shock and pain as she thrashed about, the sound splitting the morning silence and more than likely alerting the remainder of the patrol to the attackers.

[Fireflake]

Scorpio the Rogue Scout

Scorpio crept alongside his mother and older brother, hanging back a bit but not for lack of direction or determination. His light green eyes were fixed ahead. His constantly puffed-up fur tingled. His paws marched quietly and a feeling fizzled inside of him that made him wish he could stomp. The particulars of this attack passed him by. Honeyheart's decision to do this was enough reason for him.

The young tom grew tenser with each passing step until his brother sprang. Adrenaline rushed through him and forced away the tired feeling weighing down on him, and the nervousness that something terrible would happen, and the desire to explore this new place. All that was left was a focused drive to join the fight. Claws unsheathed, he let out the lowest growl he could muster, then erupted from his hiding spot.

Vulture the Rogue Hunter

Vulture stepped into the fighting ground with his fur out of place and bristling like a burr. Patches of blood from a former kill already dotted his pelt. It was only a rat, of course, but he was counting on the clan cats not pausing to sniff him. Not that they'd need to, with the mildly nauseating stench already drifting from him. Lashing tail, flattened ears, teeth showing, he was quite a spectacle. His claws slipped out as his sharp blue eyes searched for the weakest enemy.

Pebbleshade and Buckleap of MistClan

Pebbleshade looked up with wide eyes at the sickening sound of a yowl. A clanmate's yowl. Buckleap's long ears pricked in alarm from further away.

[ladyspectral]

The yowls only continued, Honeyheart circling around the she cat as she struggled under Viper's weight. For a moment she stared down at the struggling she cat, staring at her for what seemed to stretch on for hours. Then her paw lashed out, digging into her throat deeply as the darker she cat let out one last screech, a primal, desperate one.

The forest went silent again.

Viper eased off the rapidly fading Pikefoot, looking to his mother and glancing to the other two toms taken with them, "This isn't a fight, this is sport." He commented, almost a purr in his tone, "We're just catching mice in a dumpster." The ginger tom looked toward Honeyheart, pausing for a moment. "Wait, where's the rest of her patrol?" For a moment he considered if they had used the now dead she cat as bait, if they had either run away or were lurking in the shadows somewhere.

"I don't know. There's usually more of them." Admitted Honeyheart, glancing about,"Back to your hiding spots, we may be able to surprise them twice."