Hunting?

[White]

The crisp morning was full with sights and sounds, Tawnywing and Havenheart paced joyfully side by side, preparing to gather as much fresh kill as possible! they purred happily as there was a gentle breeze as they padded silently on the forest floor. The river was heard in the distance rushing quietly past. Havenheart perked her ears and called to Tawny, " Come on you slow-poke!" Havenheart said laughing as she scuffed Tawny on the head.


Swiftly making their way through riverclan grounds, the two she-cats came to a small ditch filled with mud. In an attempt to stop, Havenheart skid and tripped into the mud. Laughing, Havenheart grabbed the chuckling she-cat into the mud where they splashed themselves. It was good to have fun somtimes! 'What a nice cat she is' Haven thought. Mud stuck to Havenhearts fur making her smelly and Havenheart (Loving cleanliness) said loudly, "I will have to wash this off! Come on Tawnywing!" Havenheart laughed. Padding without a word, the sun beat down on the warriors backs, drying the mud and crusting it in their fur. "YUCK!" Yelled Havenheart as she got a whiff of the dryed mud.


Finally the two she-cats arrived at the stepping stones. Jumping in, Havenheart dipped her head and swished around for a bit, strong paddles against the swift current. Tawnywing jumped in, relieved to get rid of the sticky and coating mud, jumped out. Shaking herself, Havenheart flicked her tail and started licking herself at a steady pace and Tawnywing did the same. Suddenly, Havenheart heard somthing. "Did you hear that?" Havenheart questioned. The slightest little squeek made Havenheart jump. "Sounded like kits!" Havenheart called to tawnywing who now picked her head up. Havenheart pounded away from Tawnywing, 'Sorry!' She thought. Then, slipping under thick, leafy bushes, opened her eyes to two kits.


A sandy brown tom with darker tabby stripes and spots and dark gray eyes sat mewling and grief struck Havenhearts heart. Padding lightly over to the kit, hushed both kits to her stomach. Noticing the she-cat, the other golden tabby with a thick furred pelt and crystal blue eyes got up and ran over to sniff the new cat, happy to be around a warrior. Tawnywing emerged from the overhanging branches. Havenheart looked at her and gave her a look of sadness.

[˚Reason˚]

Tawnywing
Warrior of RiverClan

[/font][/size][/color][/right]

Tawnywing padded slowly behind Havenheart as the other she cat was in a much better mood then her own. Tawnywing's eyes were drooping and the tawny she cat would yawn every so often. She was very tired from the past few night's lack of sleep. Tawnywing found herself distracted as of late, her thoughts sluggish and erratic because of the lose of Crowsnarl. It weighed heavily on the she cat's mind in every waking second and during the night, it wasn't much better. Tawnywing chuckled under her breath as she thought of how annoyed her den mates were with her. Her constant tossing and turning was upsetting all the warriors in the den and she was starting to get on the last nerve of all the warriors in RiverClan. That was why she didn't think twice when she was assigned to go fishing with Havenheart. She thought about dunking her head under the water a few times to focus her mind again.

She was snapped back to the present when Havenheart suddenly meowed at her playfully. Tawnywing smiled at the other she cat faintly and let out a wary laugh. She forced herself to race after Havenheart, but she quickly lost sight of the faster she cat., which she was slightly thankful for. Tawnywing became lost in her thoughts of Crowsnarl again, remembering his adorably small size and rough pelt that she loved to straighten out for him. Tawnywing let out a dreamy sigh before squeaking in surprise. Unlike Havenheart who tried to stop at last second, Tawnywing fell face first into the mud. The she cat slowly raised herself from the mud, an annoyed look on her face that was washed away when Havenheart sprayed her with mud.

Tawnywing allowed herself to smile genuinely and giggle a little and flick mud off her tail at Havenheart in kit-like retaliation. She nodded quickly at the thought of cleaning up, but not before shaking herself violently, splattering mud all over. She raised her aquamarine eyes and grinned at Havenheart with a lighter heart then it had been before.

This time, Tawnywing kept pace with Havenheart and sprang head first into the clear blue water. Automatically she started to move her paws and propel herself forward, past a large green fish that was almost as big as she was. She swiped at it half heartedly and watched it dart away from it. as her lungs started to strain against the lack of air, Tawnywing pushed off from the bottom of the river and shot to the top. Using her tail to steer, the tawny she cat jumped onto one of the stepping stones and started to clean herself slowly, making sure to get rid of all the mud from her fur.

Tawnywing's heart leaped as she too herd the kits. The she cat skipped across the stones to the shore and darted after her fellow clan mate. She carefully made her way under the bush and gazed in wonder at the two young kits in front of her. She opened her jaws to scent the air. "They don't have any clan scent. I think their loners. How could some leave helpless kits in a place like this?" The she cat wondered, picking up one of the kits and gently removing it from the dirty bush, the tabby brown one, and set it on the ground before her. Her heart bleed emotion for the two and curled comfortingly around the shivering kit.

"We have to get them to the clan and get Shadownose to look them over, but first we have to see if we can track the mother. We don't want an angry rouge storming the clan claiming we stole her kits." Tawnywing meowed sensibly, looking at Havenheart seriously.

[/size]

[White]

"I don't know Tawnywing," Havenheart replied looking at the bundle of golden fur curled up under her belly serching for milk, "This can't be right! We should take them back first and then look, we have no idea how long they've been out here," She explained, sniffing the brown tabby and the golden furred tom. "We should take them back to Jadestar before we decide anything permenant," Havenheart added, "Her word is law, who would leave two starving kits in riverclan territory. Besides, if it was a loner or other clan warrior we would be able to smell them, these kits must have been here for days!" She explained. Licking the young golden tom.

[˚Reason˚]

Tawnywing hesitated, she hated the idea of some random cat wondering around on their territory, but her own mothering instincts were screaming at her to find shelter and food for the kits and never let them out of her sight. She glanced down at the brown kit in front of her who was completely silent, its eyes closed and breathing too slowly for her likes. She circled the kit once, careful not to step on it, but thinking hard. She review the warrior code over in her mind; the one that stood out to her right now was one she had followed since kithood. The Clan’s well-being comes before any one Clan member’s.

She flicked her tail in indecision before compromising. "Just stay her for one moment. I'll just check the surrounding are very quickly then we can go straight back to camp as fast as we can, promise!" The she cat meowed quickly before gently nudging the brown tom to Havenheart before darting back into the bush. She opened her jaws and heaved in the scents again. There! She could barely smell the linger scent that hung constantly around the nursery back in RiverClan camp, the scent of a nursing queen. With the scent imprinted in her mind she pulled out of the bush and circled it, keeping her nose open for the scent. She quickly picked up the faint trail and followed it carefully. Taking it one pawstep at a time, Tawnywing followed the scent towards the river. The she cat stopped and cursed softly under her breath. The trail ended at the shore of the River leading towards the very end of RiverClan territory. The she cat lashed her tail before running back to Havenheart and the kits.

"Alright, I followed the trail back to the river. Whom ever that she cat was, she will not be bothering us any time soon." Tawnywing meowed, panting slightly.

[ℳintу]

^{»
♀ Jadestar.
RiverClan Leader
»}

[/sup]

Jadestar had been making her rounds in the Clan, checking in on all the cats and their business during the day. This had tired her out, as she didn't care for these so-called perks of her job as Clan leader. Her mind felt almost as numb as her paws had become after sunhigh had finally passed. Stifling a yawn, the leader decided to sneak out of camp. Often she would go with another cat, but she liked to be alone a lot more than expected of her. Checking both ways so that no cat noticed her leaving (so they wouldn't stop her with bickering or questions) she quickly slipped out of camp, in search of some harmonious surrounding.

Once she had left the surroundings of camp, she decided to make her way to the stepping stones. The dark grey she-cat had loved the stones ever since she was younger, partially because she only had good memories of the location. The river was very calming to her, and she needed to calm down from all the stress of her job.

As she approached the stepping stones, her nose twitched. There were both familiar and unfamiliar scents from the location. Her jade-colored eyes scanned the scenery, noticing the figures of Tawnywing and Havenheart. But her eyes stopped and locked on to the unfamiliar forms to her - kittens.

"Well, hello Tawnywing, Havenheart," Jadestar meowed to the cats, her tone a bit stern. "What have we got here?"

The grey-colored leader strode over in front of them, glancing at the kittens with a wide stare.

[/color][/blockquote][/size]

[˚Reason˚]

Tawnywing deliberately slowed her breathing down and regained her breath along with her calmer thoughts. This was good, the mother of the kits wouldn't' bother to come back if she header in that direction, and the stale scent said she hadn't come back since. Tawnywing gazed down at the sandy brown tom that had tried to snuggle up to Havenheart next to his brother but was buffed back by the larger tom. The kit mewled in distress before scenting Tawnywing returning and teetered precariously back towards the she cat.

The little kit purred as he curled into close to the warm comfort of the she cat. Tawnywing sigh dreamily from the kit's cuteness and leaned down to give the kit's dirty pelt a good cleaning. The moment her tongue made contact with the she cat let out a small hiss and drew back sharply. She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the kit's pelt. "Ugh! Yuck! Little one, your pelt taste awful! Its so dirt it almost tastes sour!" She screeched, hanging her tongue outside her jaws, hoping the air would suck away the taste.

Tawnywing sprung up from her position to cover the tiny kit and drew her lip back to show of her fangs at the cat who sneaked up on her. Tawnywing flushed under her fur as she saw it was Jadestar. Letting out an awkward chuckle, the she cat unwound herself from the kit to present it to the RiverClan leader. "Look Jadestar! Havenheart found some kits!" Tawnywing meowed sweetly, glancing at her friend with a fond look. What would have happened if Havenheart and Tawnywing hadn't found the two kits? How long would they have lasted out here in this harsh environment. Shaking her head free of the dark thoughts, the RiverClan warrior wrapped her tail around the sandy brown kit and gazed at Jadestar for her decision.

"I already checked the surrounding are for any scent of the mother. It appears to be that she is not a clan cat. I followed her scent to the river and it seems to be heading for the farthest border, into rouge lands." Tawnywing reported, glancing over her shoulder warily in the direction the queen had went, as if she was suddenly going to reappear and take the kits away from her.

Tawnywing turned her eyes back to the kit and dragged it closer to her body for warmth before looking at Jadestar pathetically. "Can we keep them, Jadestar? Please? Their old enough to eat mice, and Havenheart and I will take good care of them and raise them as our own!" The she cat meowed, gesturing with her tail at the little kit who looked pathetically small and ready to collapse any moment. "Come on Jadestar! You know me, I would love these kits better than their own mother ever could!"

[ℳintу]

^{»
♀ Jadestar.
RiverClan Leader
»}

[/sup]

Jadestar watched both kittens intently, noticing the remark of the brown kitten's sour pelt, making a mental note at how dirty both kittens had looked.

"Yes, I see…," she meowed, but her tone trailed off at the end as she was suddenly in thought. Her mind reeled with questions - who were these kits? Where were they from? and what was she going to do about it?

Jadestar listened to Tawnywing's explanation of the situation as her eyes shifted between both of the kits. They didn't seemed more than a few moons old - hardly able to fend on their own. There was a spark of concern in her eyes for the kitten's survival - the must be starving by now. Thank StarClan they hadn't run into any foxes or owls. If the mother was a rogue, that could be trouble. She may return to retrieve her kittens - thus putting the Clan in danger. This is where Jadestar's motherly instinct kicked in. Looking over the kits once more, she noticed how starved and dirty they were as a sign that there mother may have truly abandoned them. Had she not willingly abandoned them, Jadestar couldn't leave them out here on their own. If the kittens' mother had decided to abandon her kits, Jadestar would not leave them out to die for a parent's mistake.

Keeping kittens was a very risky decision, but RiverClan had adopted kittens before. They didn't seem to belong to any other Clan, so there would not be a problem with that. However, there would always be a worry in Jadestar's mind that the rogue mother may return. The grey-furred she-cat knew that if that would come, then they would deal with that. She had already decided what she knew she had to do.

"I know you would, Tawnywing. You too, Havenheart," she began, her tail swishing behind her. "The problem would be if the mother ever decides to return to reclaim her kin. Of course, these kittens appeared to have been abandoned for a while as they look starving and filthy."

Jadestar took a last moment of reevaluation before giving her final comment.

"… but regardless of that risk, I can't leave these two out here to die at such a young age. I'm sure RiverClan will agree with us that they need a new home, and I'm sure that they will be welcomed. You both will need to watch over them, of course, as we don't have any queens in the nursery at the moment," she meowed with a smile on her face now. She was pleased with her decision.

"Now then, there's only one thing left. I'm sure these kittens don't have names yet," she meowed, moving toward both kittens. She glanced at them for a moment, giving the gold-furred cat a lick on the forehead.

"This one shall be named Goldenkit, for his golden pelt," she meowed with pride in her voice. Then she licked the other tom kitten, and made a sour-looking face.

"You're right, he does taste sour," she meowed, partially under her breath. After a moment's thought, she smirked.

"His name shall be Sourkit, for his sour-tasting fur," she meowed, a purr following. She looked lovingly down at the two new RiverClan kittens. This had been a good decision, right?

With a glance up at the two warriors, she gave them a serious look once more. "If you please, hurry along to Shadownose to get them looked over - who knows if they're sick or not. Also, get them washed down a bit more, goodness knows they strongly need it. Especially Sourkit - his pelt tastes like mousebile!"

She smirked a bit - she had a long day today, but this was a good ending as far as she was concerned. No matter how stressful it was to invite loner cats into the Clan, she felt pleased with all the events that had happened.

[/color][/blockquote][/size]

[White]

Havenheart felt the warmth as Jadestar agreed with the decision. Havenheart would look after these kits like the sons she never but could have. "Thank you Jadestar," Meowed Havenheart, dipping her head. Sniffing the newly named Goldenkit, she carefully picked him up by the scruff, a excited mewl escaped Goldenkit's mouth. Padding to join Tawnywing, Havenheart slowly paced herself back to camp, the little ball of golden fur dangling slightly off the ground. Bouncing happily into the clan entrance, Havenhearts head held high as she sat the kit down. Knowone had yet noticed the little kits so Havenheart looked both ways and proceded to Shadownoses den. 'Goldenkit! I like that name' Havenheart purred to herself.

[˚Reason˚]

Tawnywing's expression faded as a serious look replaced it. She shared these concerns with her leader and nodded her head with a determined glint in her aqua eyes. "If the mother does come back, I will give that she cat a piece of mind for leaving kits in such a condition. I may even take a piece of her with me!" She stated raising her head with a rare fiery tone that she used. Tawnywing placed her paw gently on the squirming kits head to soothe it some, a kind smile returning to her face as it snuggled into her fur. Her heart warmed and she chuckled to herself. If I do take care of him, he will get away with anything if he snuggled up to me like that.


Tawnywing scoffed at herself for doubting in Jadestar in the slightest. The she cat looked at the RiverClan leader with a proud look. "That's the way, Jadestar. Never doubt your decisions, they will always be the right one if you believe in it strongly." She meowed quietly, so Havenheart couldn't hear her. She still remembered Jadestar's insecurities that she had revealed to Tawnywing the last time they meet.

Tawnywing gently moved the kit closer to the leader to have access to. The warrior couldn't help but laugh at Jadestar's face when she licked the kit. She doubled over in giggles as she curled the kit closer to her and nuzzled it. "Well then, Sourkit, welcome to the RiverClan family. I will be your mother now, and Jadestar over there will be like your grandmother! She's older and wise, but don't tell her I said that! She's might not like me calling her old!" Tawnywing meowed to the kit, twitching her whiskers in amusement. "And Havenheart over there will be your mother as well, see her over there with your brother? His name's Goldenkit now and don't worry, we will all protect you now. Every cat in RiverClan would lay down their life to protect you now, that's what being in a clan is all about." Tawnywing meowed sweetly, rubbing against the now quiet kit.

Tawnywing glanced up from her sweet moment to look at Jadestar at her words. Her fur flushed in embarrassment at not doing such a thing earlier. Tawnywing stood to her full height and darted over to Jadestar and rubbed her head respectfully on the other she cats pelt. "Thank you so much Jadestar. I thank StarClan every day that we have you as a leader." Tawnywing meowed honestly. She totted back to Sourkit and picked him up in her mouth.

The kit wormed at being high off the ground but quickly went limp. Tawnywing trotted next to Havenheart with a bounce in her step as they both silently went back to RiverClan camp, their mouths occupied by the kits.

She quickly went ahead of Havenheart to Shadownose's den and looked around. "Shadownose? Are you here? Havenheart and I found some kits that would be delight with your company and a check up! But be careful, this little one has a rather sour pelt!" Tawnywing suggested, gesturing to the kit she held with her tail. She placed Sourkit between her paws.