[ti]Private[/ti]Seldom is Heard

[indie]

In the moment she finally saw movement, her breath would catch in her throat. Tensing her muscles into the thick of the fresh blanket of snow, she'd narrow her pale amber eyes. Quietly observing. Strategizing her approach further out into the frozen meadow. A single hare had dared to venture out into the chilly dawn. Coming to forage for itself under the orange, pink, and lavender hues of the fading night. And while the powdery ground beneath her concealed most of her lower body's movement in a hunter's crouch. It was melting, soaking into her belly fur from the close proximity of body heat. It was miserable. But she was focused. Determined in her own right. Wanting so badly to return to the clan with that hare.

        After what seemed like ages of tiptoeing and subtle movement, she had closed the distance between herself and her chosen prey. Coming between it and it's underground escape. Leaving it to be just him in a relatively open meadow. No place for him to go. Nor run, nor hide. And just as he'd bury his face to the ground again, Dawnstream would lunge. Making a dash to cover as much ground between her and the hare as she could in her allotted time.

        While the snow slowed her pace down some, it was a powdery cushion beneath each foothold. Quieting her assault altogether. And just about the time the hared had picked his head up to look around, she was just about on top of him. It dashed off in a serpentine pattern. One that was easy to predict. And after a short chase, she was able to lunge. Claws sinking into the flesh at its sides. And just as it drew its breath to shrike in pain, the huntress clamped her jaw into the back of its neck. Twisting its neck in a flash of a movement. And after a final moment of struggle. Its body went limp in her grasps. But only when she was sure that it's life had faded from its physical being, did she release death grip. Admiring her catch as she sent a silent prayer to StarClan for the life that would help MistClan through this difficult season. While it was certainly scrawny, it was of large size. And she had confidence that it would be able to feed a couple warriors at least.

        Though, in theigh peak of her chase, she didn't realize just how close she'd gotten to the MothClan border ...

[KingHarry]

Littledash wanted to see the river. He knew it was wrong to cross into MistClan's territory, but it wasn't like he was going to be there for long, was it? It was going to be an in and out trip - he'd see the river and then leave. No lingering, no hunting - no doing anything bad. 

Smokegaze always told him not to go anywhere near MistClan territory. They were bad, he said - it was their fault that their parents died. Littledash was a little dubious of those claims but - as he always did - he listened to his brother, happy to be the more passive of the two. Anway, Smokegaze probably knew best. He was a clever cat, even if he was a little thuggish at times.

But Smokegaze was busy right now. His wayward apprentice had turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Yes, it meant that Littledash had to listen to his brother complaining more than he usually did, but it also meant that his brother was more occupied than usual too - something that allowed him to find time to sneak out of camp without the other following him for once.

So yes, he wanted to see the river. Hey, maybe he'd even be able to see the waterfall in the distance too! Littledash wouldn't go anywhere close to it, of course - he didn't want MistClan to know he was there - but it sounded pretty and so he'd rather like to catch a glimpse of it.

His small body stuck to any cover he could find - bushes, thick foliage, that kind of thing - as he snuck across the border. It was unlikely that there would be many MistClan warriors out and about at this time in the morning but he wanted to be careful. After all, it was better safe than sorry, right? Especially when you weren't exactly the most physically imposing warrior in the world.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't make it far before he came across exactly what he had been trying to avoid - an enemy warrior. Littledash froze on the spot. Oh dear. What was he supposed to do now? While he may be hidden for the moment, the meadow was a very open place and so it was unlikely that he would remain undetected.

Mind you, a small part of his mind was utterly traitorous and almost wanted himself to be discovered. StarClan, she was gorgeous... Littlegaze's pale green eyes couldn't help but linger on the MistClan warrior - Dawnstream, he remembered. In fact, he was so busy focusing his attention on her that he didn't notice a stick behind him as he slowly began to back away - one that he promptly stepped on, creating a loud snapping noise.