[ti]Open[/ti]A Mouse Hideaway

[KingHarry]

"Keep your eyes open - there may be rogues in here." Goldenmane instructed as he and his hunting patrol slunk into barn attached to the twoleg farm in MistClan territory. "Just like the mice, they'll be looking for a warm place to stay." Not that the barn was particularly warmer than the world outside, but at least there wasn't a layer of snow across the ground under the roof.

"We can take a rogue or two. There's a whole patrol of us." Tigertooth pointed out in return, fully confident of his words. Any rogue would be outnumbered and probably starving too - unlike the clan cats, who were surviving by supporting each other.

The hairy, golden cat simply hummed in return. He was sure that they could take any rogue too, but he'd rather not get into any fights. Maybe that was just his age, though. He wasn't the oldest cat in the clan, no, but Tigertooth was still younger and a little more foolhardy.

"Right. There are likely to be mice somewhere in here. Shall we-" Goldenmane's words were cut off by a few harsh coughs. Oh dear. It seemed he was coming down with some kind of winter sickness too. When they got back to camp, he'd see the medicine cat about it, he supposed. "Shall we split up and look for prey?"

[ladyspectral]

Honeyheart had moved to the twoleg barn ever since the frost began to spread. The town was cold, and as the prey in the park vanished the cats went hungry. In the barn the mice grew fat on the grain that was so abundant, and one could even say they flourished. Her tail twitched as she eyed the group of cats from her warm hay bed, tailtip twitching and ears pressed forward as she listened.

Be careful, there may be rogues here.

The irony of the statement nearly forced a purr of amusement from the she cat. She remained silent for a few moments, glancing down to the tips of her artificial claws as if to reassure herself. For a moment she questioned herself, before she stood from her nest. The hay rustled under her paws as she stretched herself out, padding fully into view. "Well, you aren't wrong about the rogues, I suppose." The small and rather scrawny she cat meowed in reply, a sneeze interrupting her. "I suppose it's comforting that even clan cats have problems with illness in winter."

Her heart thrummed in her chest like a woodpecker drilling into the trunk of a tree as she eyed the patrol, eyes narrowing in suspicion.