Hunting in the Pines (Tigertail & Hollowstar)

[Twilidramon]

Pine-scent flooded the air as Tigertail slipped out of camp, Hollowstar just behind. The birds were quieter here, preferring to huddle up in whatever shelter they could find in the prickly, thin trees. Needles covered the forest floor, sunk into the marshy mud and stacked on top of one another until it made a springy - albeit prickly - carpet.

"So," Tigertail asked, "where to first?"

[Spade♠]

Hollowstar followed Tigertail out of camp and paused beside her. He thought about her question for a moment before shrugging. "Well, we could try over that way," he meowed. He pointed with his tail towards a deeper part of the forest. The trees were a little denser now so they would have a better chance of finding prey out of their dens. The water soaking up through the bed of pine needles was clogging his fluffy paws, but the thought of something fresh to eat was enough for him to ignore the unpleasant feeling.

[Twilidramon]

Tigertail made a face. "Sure," she replied, "but keep a lookout for the trees. They're falling over now that the thaw's loosened their roots."

She started heading for the dense wood, keeping her eyes peeled and mouth open slightly for any sign of prey. Her belly spurred her on, rumbling like thunder inside of her. It helped her ignore the wetness dragging her paws.

[Spade♠]

Hollowstar flicked his tail dismissively. "As long as we don't take a whole patrol up one tree at the same time, I think we'll be alright," he meowed with a light smile. He walked beside Tigertail, holding back the urge to make conversation. One must stay quiet to hunt and being silent was one of Hollowstar's specialties. His ears were pricked and his whiskers quivered as he tried to pick up some sign of prey.

[Twilidramon]

It wasn't long before Tigertail spotted their first prey - a robin, pecking at the wet soil in search of worms. Tigertail dropped into a crouch, raising her thick-furred tail to signal Hollowstar. She glanced back at the leader and then nodded at the robin.

He could have the first catch.

[Spade♠]

Hollowstar halted when he saw Tigertail drop and her tail flick up. Following her lead, he crouched and looked up to where she had pointed. His yellow eyes squinted as he tried to spot the prey. Finally, he spotted the bird, too absorbed in it's own hunting to notice the cats' presence. He smirked as he crept forward, placing his paws in such a way that he was able to advance quickly and silently. He paused once he was close enough to pounce and took a deep breath to steady himself. After a waggle of his rump, he launched himself at the bird and cut it's cry of alarm off by breaking its neck. He stood over the freshkill and turned back to his Clanmate with a purr. "Good eye," he meowed.

[Twilidramon]

Tigertail sat up and licked her chest fur. "Good catch," she replied. 

She looked around while Hollowstar took care of burying the prey. She opened her jaws - prey-scent was flooding the area, but hunting in one spot was probably not the best idea. Their prey wasn't completely unintelligent - they knew what blood on the ground meant.

"Let's try for one or two more here, then move on," Tigertail suggested. She glanced at the robin, patted down with needles and half-dry dirt between the roots of a pine. "I don't know about you, but I'd like something without feathers."

[Spade♠]

Hollowstar nodded to show he agreed with Tigertail's decision. "Yes, that's a good idea." Truthfully, he didn't mind feathers, but he was feeling lazy today and if he could get something in his belly without having to pluck feathers, then he would get fuller faster and that was always good. "You better get the next one or else I might start to think I'm doing all the work," he teased with a playful flick of his tail.

[Twilidramon]

Tigertail flicked her tail. "Don't worry," she chuckled, "I'd never hear the end of it if you did all the work."

She opened her jaws and let the prey-scent flood in. The smells were intoxicating, elevating her hunger to new heights. She pinpointed the smell of a mouse and dropped lower, keeping her pawsteps silent as she padded through the woods.

The mouse was there, poking at a pinecone. Tigertail had plenty of time to position herself behind it - only once did it look up, tiny nose twitching, to check for predators. This laziness proved to be its downfall when Tigertail leaped, her powerful hind legs propelling her into the air. She landed and killed the mouse with a swift bite.

She lifted up her catch high, unable to hide the pride she had in her catch.

[Spade♠]

Hollowstar lifted his tail in order to be more easily seen as Tigertail looked around with her catch. "Well done!" he meowed, trotting over to her. "It's good to see that it's so easy to find prey now that it's warming up." That was usually the case, though. Prey became more plentiful in warmer moons, but that didn't mean it wasn't welcome whenever it started happening. Leafbare had made his Clan thin, even he was relatively skinny under his thick black pelt. It wouldn't be too long before ShadowClan was back it it's powerful, well fed self again.