A Friendly little hunt (Bolt/Open)

The small silver shecat padded up behind the two toms and cuffed her brother over the side of the head. "Yeah, Dolt. What he said." She then looked at Shadowfrost, light blue eyes wide and innocent. "By the way, what were you saying? Sorry. I wasn't paying attention. I just figured it wasn't important."

Raven winked at her brother and grinned. Shadowfrost was working on a hunting patrol it seemed and irking her brother. Ravenface did not mind it -so long as the deputy remembered that was her job and the silver shecat did not take being stood up at her own job very well.

"Right then. You, me, Dolt, andddddddd-"

A huge passing mountain of soft white fur caught the shecat's eye as it walked past and she reached out a paw to snag the queen by the shoulder -or leg rather. Ravenface was not tall enough to grab the massive queen's shoulder. "-Swanstrike. There you are. Good to see you. That makes three capable hunters. That should work, right Mr. Deputy?"

The queen seemed quite shocked and surprised, taking one look at the Cedar Clan Deputy and trying to make a hasty retreat but Ravenface took one look at her, one pointed look at the Nursery where Swanstrike had recently abandoned her to take care of all the kits, and the queen knew she was sunk. She settled down miserably without further complaint. She owed Raven one and she knew it.

Raven turned when someone tapped her shoulder, thinking it was Swanstrike being timid as usual. Nope. It was Boltfang. He got her. Drat! The shecat playfully hissed at her brother and trotted ahead, flicking her tail dismissively. Psh. She did not need him. She was a lady. She was-

"Funny story..."

-going to flay his fur.

The shecat whipped her head around to snap at the irritating tom- If he really wanted a broken leg she could certainly oblige him- but then he was off in the woods chasing something. He came back half a tick later with a mouse, preening like a birdbrain.

"Hey, watch this, Swanstrike," the shecat growled, lowering her shoulders to prepare to leap on the tom. "I'm going to catch a rat."

Ravenface hesitated though when she noted her friend was not paying her any attention. Swanstrike had paused in the walk, ears turning. Oh? When had she become a hunter? The large shecat started to walk toward something, then looked at Shadowfrost and decided to stay right where she was. Oh good grief. The tom was not going to bite her! Was he? She looked at the grey striped deputy. Nah. He might be all bite and no bark, but Ravenface still did not peg him as the time to attack a clanmate. She sniffed the air, trying to figure out what Swanstrike had seen. She smelled...

Marigold -rare. Rotting roots. Thick pete moss. Bearded moss. Lavender -oh she would have to grab some of that later. Daisy. Blueberry leaves. Sweet grass. Mint. Cedar bark. A hint of pine on the wind and maybe a redwood somewhere. She also smelled... Snake's eye? Oh great. She must have missed a bush.

Ravenface thought she had pulled out all of the dangerous plants around the camp. Apprentices were notoriously stupid (almost as much as Warriors) and she did not trust any of the growing kits not to be complete mousebrains putting anything and everything that could get them killed into their greedy little maws as soon as they were assigned a mentor and allowed to leave the camp in a few moons. She would have to come back and yank it later. As for right now she still did not smell anything prey related.

Besides mouse of course -which she highly suspected came from the cooling prey in her smug brother's jaws. Oh she was so leaving a burr in his nest tomorrow morning. None of those smells were very helpful. Swanstrike could have scented a coyote and Ravenface would have been none the wiser. Still, there had to be something over there, right?

The silver shecat got into an awkward crouch...type...thing, and sort-of stalked over in the general direction the queen had been looking.

"Ah! Raven, wait. Don't-"

The whispered warning came too late as the shecat startled a rabbit that had been hiding in the undergrowth. It darted away in a flash of brown fur and the silver shecat streaked along behind it, disappearing into the night and making a huge racket as she crashed her way through the plants and vegetation, starling a few nearby birds who squawked loudly in reproach before taking flight. So much for the prey around here.

Swanstrike winced. There was no way Raven could catch it now, but the queen supposed her friend could be congratulated for trying, right?

The forest was dead silent for a second. Then-

"Pfft"

Swanstrike put a paw over her mouth to stifle the laughs that bubbled up through her. That was just so... Raven! The large white shecat could not contain her laughter. It came as a welcome relief from the tension brought on by Shadowfrost. Raven was simply Raven, nothing more, nothing less. She was never intimidated or afraid to be anything other than exactly who she was. She had a fire inside that the soft-hearted queen deeply admired. She was odd, and rash, and yet her very simple liveliness was infectious.


"You're sister is a worse hunter than you are Snotfang."

Swanstrike sobered at the sharp words from the Cedar Clan deputy.

"Snotfang? Ooooo Good one. Let me try. How about... Braindead? Oh wait. Ha. That's you, since only someone without a brain would play with fire, or, in this case, a cat that could clearly wipe the floor with you. Tell me, does stupid run in your family or are you just gifted?"

That is what Raven would say, but Raven was off chasing a rabbit. 

"Shut your mouth!" Swanstrike could snarl, "You should be named Snakefrost since the only thing that ever comes out of it is venom. At least real shadows are silent."

But she simply was not that aggressive.

"I would say you will end up all alone," she could mew softly, "but I see you already are. So let me just ask, Shadowfrost, Deputy of Cedar Clan, are you happy? Do you sleep well at night, by yourself in your nest? I don't really want to hear the answer. Personally, I don't care a lick about you, but you should care enough about yourself to give an honest answer. Acting like a kit calling names will bring you no happiness, and you would be a fool to think it somehow could."

But she was not that wise or thoughtful.

Swanstrike was simply a cat. A large one on the outside, true, but a soft, quiet one on the inside who just wanted everything to go right in the world and had no concept of viciousness or cruelty. She found herself biting her lip and crouching down under the deputy's sharp gaze, despite it not being directed at her, wishing Shadowfrost would just be quiet or go away.

Instead, Boltfang was the one who left, with the deputy snarling and stomping off in the other direction. Swanstrike had a choice on who she would follow. Boltfang was infinitely nicer, but Shadowfrost... he was the one that was supposed to be leading this mission. Swanstrike certainly did not want to disobey him and further anger the icy tom. 

She really did not have to think about it. It was hardly a choice when you knew the answer immediately.




Raven had her entire arm stuck up the rabbit hole, frantically scrabbling around when her brother showed up. She was covered in dirt now and grunted as she tried to claw wildly for the escaped prey.

"I know this looks bad, but this is all part of the plan," she lied sharply, then yelped as the infuriating beast chomped down on her paw. She hissed and redoubled her efforts.

"I'm sorry for what Shadowfrost said," Swanstrike whispered quietly to Boltfang. "I think you are a great help."

"Wazzat?" Ravenface asked, not truly paying attention. How did cats do this? It was impossible!

"Nothing," the white queen replied quickly, her voice louder, but Raven had already forgotten as she scraped uselessly at the hole. Ugh! Stupid rabbit!

"Oh let's just go grab some honey from that tree over there. I'm sure the bees won't mind. You first," the shecat grumbled as she fought to catch the darn thing.

"Would grass work?" Swanstrike asked meekly behind her. Raven rolled her eyes. Yes, Swanstrike, because grass is very sweet. Not.

"Probably not," she ground out through gritted teeth. Swanstrike was a sensitive cat. You had to wear kitten gloves when you talked to her. The silver shecat knew that of course but that didn't make it any easier to- "Ack!" The furry rabbit bit down on her leg this time with is blasted sharp little teeth. "WHY YOU LITTLE-" the shecat spat, furiously clawing and scraping. "When I get my claws on you, you are snack time! You hear me, furball?!" she hissed in fury.

"I think the whole forest can hear you, Raven," the large white queen tried to coax gently. "Maybe if you calmed down and listened to Boltfang-"

"I am NOT one of your kits and I don't need to calm down and I DEFINITELY DO NOT NEED TO LISTEN TO MY BROTHER! I'VE GOT IT!"

Swanstrike closed her mouth with a snap and looked helplessly at Boltfang, her face apologetic. Ravenface might be Boltfang's sister, but as her friend, Swanstrike considered herself to know the silver shecat more, even if she actually knew very little. She felt bad she could not control the fiery shecat when she got like this, but the large queen doubted anyone could.

Both shecats froze.

Ravenface blinked.

She pulled her paw out of the hole and sat up, looking contrite.

"Sorry," she mumbled quietly.

Swanstrike said nothing. This was a first for her. She had never seen Raven listen to someone besides herself before. Her apology was not even sarcastic! That was... incredible. Wow. Uh. Right then. Score one for Boltfang. The queen idly wondered if he could give her lessons on that. Wow. Ravenface still had not said anything. Not one witty, snarky comment for a full 10 seconds. Incredible. Well, if she had any doubts about the power of a sibling's bond they were sure as sugar cleared up now. That was... 

Wow.

"You're an ass," Ravenface mewed simply with a shrug. "It's okay. Swanstrike was going to find out sooner or later." The shecat grinned, a bit of her cockiness returning now. "It's only fair since your sister is a total bitch."

Swanstrike was staring at her friend in horror. She could read the expressions on the queen's face clear as daylight. She was shocked that Raven would be so crass with her own brother! When the tom was simply trying to help her and was apologizing! Even though she had been the short tempered one! Yeah. Maybe Swanstrike was right. Maybe Ravenface should be humble and kind for one second of her selfish life, but why start now? What if she did it once and started a trend? That would seriously suck. Besides, who cared about being normal? It was drastically overrated in Raven's opinion. And besides, she and Boltfang had never been normal. It was one of her favorite things about her brother. She wouldn't change it for anything.

Ravenface looked back down at the hole.

"Now be a good ass instead of a hard ass and tell me how to get this thing out," she told him. It was kind of like asking for help. In a very not-asking-demanding, Raven-like way.

Ravenface's blue eyes turned sharp and icy as a frown marred her pretty silver face at her brother's words.

"What did Shadowfrost do now? Don't tell me you've actually been listening to the stuff that comes out of his mouth?" she mewed suspiciously at her brother.

Swanstrike saw the obvious train wreck this conversation was about to create and began looking around for a stick, as per Boltfang's instructions. She picked a fair sized one up in her teeth and held it for inspection before the black splashed Warrior.

"Will this do?" she asked hopefully, but Ravenface tugged the stick out of her jaws and spat it out on the ground.

"No one is messing with bees. Leafbare is going to be on our heels soon and I'm not dealing with the swelling, infections, or allergic reactions their stings will bring on so put that one out of your mind," she said sternly. 

"What did Shadowfrost say?" she repeated, cold eyes narrowed, this time on the much more susceptible Swanstrike.

The queen's ears dropped and she looked to Boltfang for help. "Uhm... nothing really," she hedged. "Uh....Shouldn't we be worried about the rabbit?"

"Rabbit Shmabbit," the silver Medicine Cat grumbled.

Now the queen was very confused. What was a Shmabbit? Oh dear. What did that mean? Was a Shmabbit a word for a type of rabbit? Or for a body part or something? She knew a fox's tail was called a brush because one of her kits had wanted to know back in the Tribe. Was a Smabbit a rabbit tail? That didn't sound right. Maybe it was a claw? Uh oh! Did rabbits have very big claws? Swanstrike did not like very big claws. They were always so sharp! Speaking of which, was Ravenface's leg okay? Had the rabbit's shmabbits gotten her? She was bleeding a bit. Not a lot, but with such pale fur it stood out quite obviously. Raveface did not seem to be concerned but the queen still worried. The Medicine Cat, while fierce of tongue, was still such a small cat, even smaller than most Clan cats and they were pint-sized themselves! Swanstrike wondered if- oh no! Where shmabbits poisonous? Did rabbits have poison?! She didn't think so, but she only knew about Mountain hares, which were much bigger than these forest bunnies, and even then she did not know too much other than they ran fast and tasted good. Oh dear. Oh dear. What if Ravenface was poisoned? Was she going to die? What should they do? Swanstrike looked to Boltfang in terror. Poor Ravenface! She was going to die! The shmabbits had gotten her!