[reddykins]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

As another cat - Redpaw - emerged from the bushes, Gannetpaw scrambled to his paws with an air of someone who's been caught stealing. Although he soon regained a more... confident expression on his features. "Ha, you should have been glad to witness a leap like that. It's going down in Clan history." He retorted in a boastful tone, optics sparking with sarcastic pride. The tom glanced up and down the she cat, of course noting the carp that was in her maw. Moments later she had dropped it at his paws, and he gave it a quick look of acknowledgement. "Compared to the stuff I've been trying to catch, that's as good as anything." He snorted. And that was the truth, compared to the scrawny things that Gannetpaw had seen (and attempted to catch), Redpaw's carp was pretty good. Good enough, anyways.

The feline nodded at her remark about continuing hunting. That was probably the best thing to do, maybe he would find that water vole again. Or something else. Something better. The more reckless, and boastful aspects of his personality made him more competitive as well. But at the end of the day, they were all hunting for the same reason. To feed the Clan - scratch that, Clans. And their other major goal, staying alive while hunting. Hey, Gannetpaw had heard stories! Stories about cats disappearing, and - ugh, it was horrible to think about. Kidnapped by twolegs.

Killed by foxes. His eyes slitted and his sense of pride flared, making his fur bristle a little. By nature? Gannetpaw was quite kind, but of course matters of pride could cause him to become a little less so. His nose twitched as Redpaw flicked it with her tail. "Do that, Redpaw, and I'll tell everyone -" His voice cut off as he realized that he didn't actually have any leverage here. "Uhh... nevermind. But you get the point," He mewed with the slightest of purrs rumbling in his throat. A sarcastic comment came to mind, and Gannetpaw spent a minute making sure that it would sound appropriate for the situation before he actually let it slip past his maw.

He did not, after all, want to sound stupid. There was that minor anxiety that still remained within him. "Besides, if you come back talking about me, your parents are going to think you've got a little crush. A little boyfriend. Even though you and I know they would probably love that, wouldn't they?" The sarcasm became richer in Gannetpaw's voice and he shot the she cat a mischievious look.

"Hey! Leave Russetstar and Whisperblaze out of this!" Redpaw muttered, rolling her eyes. She shot Gannetpaw a quick amber-eyed glare. "And it's not like I have time for... that, anyways, furball! I've got priorities - like feeding our Clan." She turned her muzzle towards the thicker undergrowth, scraping some dirt and leaves over the fish, making a mental note to come back for it once their hunting expedition finished. Redpaw nudged Gannetpaw off in the direction of the bushes, her ears still warm from his previous teasing. "Now hush up, mouse-brain, and go check the bushes for something! I'll go down by the riverbed. Don't want to have to drag you back to camp soaking wet and shivering because you took a tumble... again."
Without waiting for the response, the calico apprentice hurriedly padded down to the swollen river; thick with the heavy rainfall, though not wide enough to threaten the hospitalized Clans with another flood. Redpaw licked her lips anxiously, her whiskers still dripping with the excess water she'd dove in a while ago to catch that carp. With her brilliant amber eyes trained on the murky liquid, she narrowed them in an attempt to spot out any stray carps that had been driven downstream by the storm. Her claws unsheathed and ready to strike any fish, Redpaw brought her muzzle close to the water.
She huffed, "Nothing... aw, rotten luck!" Her tail swished, mirroring her bitterness, though Redpaw's ears immediately perked at a soft scuffling; just barely distinguishable past the roar of the rushing water. Pressing her body against the ground, Redpaw breathed in the air, only able to scent the dampened bark from trees, and the mud her paws thudded against. And without proper land-prey hunting training, the calico she-cat knew she had a slimmer chance of catching whatever prey was out and about than Gannetpaw leaping for that water vole. However, this didn't make the apprentice feel any less determined; Redpaw continued in a rather shabby hunting crouch, ears pricked as she tried to listen for the scuffling sound once more, and locate the prey at the source.