Toadpounce's Exile[OPEN]

[Pitou]

**Toadpounce**

The dark tom stalked silently across the open ground, keeping low. His dark pelt had always given him a disadvantage on the open plains of Windclan's territory which he'd had to learn to compensate for, though it gave him the advantage in the tunnels he spent so much of his time in. During his exile he'd found an abandoned den under the shade of the trees to pass his time in relative safety. The shade of the trees did make catching prey an easier chore for Toadpounce than he'd experienced previously. He pounced and landed on an unsuspecting blue Jay, killing it quickly. His increased catch efficiency was good as he was exiled going into leafbare.

He picked up the bird and carried it back to his temporary den. He had a small pile started with a scrawny mouse and a rabbit kit, but instead of dropping his blue jay with the others he decided to pluck it immediately and eat it swiftly while it was still warm. He hadn't allowed himself many warm meals, unsure exactly when his next catch would come so he'd spaced out his meals conservatively. This was his first stint completely on his own so he figured he couldn't be too careful. It was perplexing to Toadpounce, he'd always felt so alone and had always really been alone but now he knew just how much having a clan around him provided. He'd never really taken the clan for granted but he now had a deeper understanding of alone.

[Hopeless]

~ ... ~
@Ravensong

The huge grey tom stalked slightly as a shadow through the terrain. Life had become rather dull lately, and after Grim Wolf's death the group had lost motivation for their tournaments and he hadn't felt the satisfaction of sinking his claws into an opponent's in what felt like forever. But that wasn't what he was looking for today, battle with anyone outside was even more boring. Oh and there there was this little thing called 'eating' that every being had to do every once in a while to, you know, stay alive. So that was his mission today, to find something tasty enough to eat, bonus points if it wasn't actually poisonous, this time.

A slight grin cracked up his face as the sweet smell of prey scented the otherwise tasteless winter air. But when he had followed it and was ready to pounce, she found that it was already dead, and seemingly being seated by someone else, pitty. But the hunt wasn't over, there was still a little trick up his sleeves he called talking, that could get you something about as well as his next favorite thing, clawing.

Rising up from his spot like a large, silvery shadow he stalked up to the other cat. "ooooh, what you got there? Prey? oooh, I see, precious hu." His raspy voice was low and calm, but his slight grin and yellow narrowed eyes told of his amusement in the whole thing. Tilting his head to the side he let a heartbeat pass before opening his mouth again to speak "I don't suppose you could care to help out a fellow wanderer in hunger?" It was clear the other cat wasn't familiar around here.

[Pitou]

@Hopeless

**Toadpounce**

The dark tom was going in for his last couple bites of his blue Jay when a low raspy voice startled him. He swallowed the large bite in his mouth and rose to face the other tom, licking his lips subconsciously. His eyes darted over the stranger's physique; he seemed like a cat that was no stranger to fighting for what he wanted. Toadpounce glanced quickly to his prey then looked back at the tom. Toadpounce was never much of a fighter and he wasn't any good at talking himself out of situations, which was why he generally tried to simply avoid bad situations by removing himself. But he figured he now found himself in a bad situation.

The stranger's words were friendly enough but what little Toadpounce knew of social cues, he could sense the underlying threat. The sudden tension in the air made Toadpounce's pelt prickle with anxiety.

Toadpounce put on an eye-reaching smile, tilting his head innocently. "Oh, yes, I did catch some freshkill. There's a decent amount to my surprise in this area. I'm sure you'd already have known that though. I'm a little new to the area, just passing through though." He glanced again at his meager pile of freshkill. He wasn't sure how much longer he'd have to make his meals last or when he'd be able to catch another so letting any go sent another shock of anxiety through him but he turned to the tom with his smile, "Oh, of course! I have plenty. You're more than welcome to take a piece. Hunting is much easier when you have a full belly. Something about the not needing it gives us a little extra patience which actually ends up helping with our catch rate. Interesting how that little backwards logic goes, huh?" He laughed lightly, nervously.