[reddykins]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

A small smirk spread across the tom's maw, but he said nothing. Sometimes Gannetpaw could have some pretty jerk-like tendancies. Such as, teasing others. It was a balance of kind and sarcastic that was sometimes off, and sometimes just right. If you were lucky it was just right. Sometimes he was annoyingly friendly and kind, sometimes he was more boastful and sarcastic. On the bright side, he obviously trusted Redpaw not to be that harsh towards him. If he distrusted her, he wouldn't have said a thing. Probably would have been shyer. More nervous. Not quite willing to tease. "Okay, okay, your majesty." The words were muttered under his breath as he headed further into the bushes, muttering about Redpaw being a "slave driver" and how he wouldn't "stand for this" or something like that.

There was nothing rustling in the bushes at the moment, and any prey-scents (other then that vole that he had missed earlier) were stale. Not even Gannetpaw's eyes could pick up anything, even though his other senses were much more reliable. The black and white tom shifted his weight, picking up his paws and watching the bushes as though anticipating something big happening in the next few minutes. But, there was nothing - not that he was thinking of, anyways. Frustration swept through the tom as he watched the bushes. There was still nothing. Time ticked on, and Gannetpaw was beginning to grow bored. Yet he remained there, having the patience to do so (thank StarClan) and deciding that he wouldn't give up on this hunting expedition.

The Clan needed that prey.

A scuffle, barely loud enough for him to hear but loud enough so that his ear could just barely pick it up, sounded in the bushes. Could it be that vole? No, it was too small for that. Whatever it was, Gannetpaw sprang - and instantly broke the neck of something small and furry. A shrew, an adolescent by the looks of it, and one who was not particuarly fat, was under his paw when he lifted it. Great. That would feed... a few kits, a litter if he was lucky, depending on how greedy the kits were. Gannetpaw dug a small hole, burying the shrew. If there was one - surely there were more somewhere. A family, perhaps? Maybe the adolescent had siblings who had recently left the nest or something? At least, the feline could hope. He hoped Redpaw was having some better luck then he was - maybe she had stumbled upon some fatter carp or something.

Much time had passed since Redpaw had first heard the gentle scuttling from deep within the undergrowth. Her tail lashed as she dug her claws into the mushy soil, frustrated. "Pray to StarClan it wasn't something big, like a squirrel," the apprentice bitterly murmured to nobody but herself, sighing. It wouldn't have been anything like a squirrel - they hardly strayed over to RiverClan territory, and the noises that were made were much too silent to be anything as plump as a squirrel.
It could've just been a really scrawny one, a voice in the back of Redpaw's mind tried to convince her. She shook the thoughts away - nothing would get done if she decided to dwell on the missed prey. Besides, Redpaw had left the land-hunting to Gannetpaw, after seeing his spectacular performance with the vole. The thought made her whiskers twitch in amusement, though the apprentice managed to turn tail and pad quietly back to the riverside. She loomed over the rushing waters, her shadow cast over the harsh ripples.
This was the complete opposite of everything Honeypool had taught her regarding hunting fish. The technique was to not let your shadow loom into the river and alert the fish you were there; it was one of the first rules of hunting fish. Though at this point, Redpaw was getting frustrated and impatient, ears picked and listening for any sign of a carp in the water.
Maybe, Redpaw began to daydream, just maybe, if I stare hard enough at the water I'll spot a carp! ...Yeah! That sounds fair enough. And I'll drop it on the fresh-kill pile with my other fish, and those ShadowClan scum will be all, "Oh, Redpaw! You're truly a selfless cat! First, being oh-so kind to us ShadowClan cats taking refugee, and secondly, sharing your prey? Why, they 'ought to give you your warrior name right no-"
The apprentice's greedy thoughts were interrupted by a sudden splashing coming from the river. Redpaw flinched at first, though regained her cool, the fur flattening along her spine. O-oh! She thought, amber eyes growing wide as her claws unsheathed instinctively. A carp! A-a-and it has to be a big one for it to be splashing this loudly! Licking her lips in anticipation, Redpaw got into proper position (or something at least a little closer to it), diverting her shadow from looming into the river. Her ears flattened against her wet fur, paw raised as she tried to spot the location of the carp. Suddenly, a sleek figure flashed in the corner of her eye, to the right, though when Redpaw struck the water, only one of her claws struck a scale as the carp fled in the water.
"You won't get away from me that easily!" Redpaw growled beneath her breath, recoiling from the water and giving her thick coat one last shake to free the excess water from earlier. The calico narrowed her eyes, leaping into the river in pursuit of the carp. She'd covered basic swimming maneuvers with Honeypool, and luckily, Redpaw was much too stubborn to even think of drowning, even if stubbornness wasn't what measured her swimming skills. The apprentice was just lucky that the river wasn't gushing water as roughly as it could've been during a storm, and Redpaw's calico-colored head bobbed up above the waves. Her fur was damp and plastered against her skin, though the river wasn't as deep as she'd thought, allowing her to stand on the tips of her paws if she tried hard enough. Redpaw glanced back at the water going downstream towards her, holding her breath as a wave consumed both the young she-cat and the carp she was pursuing. Opening her eyes beneath the murky riverwater, Redpaw blinked as she caught sight of the sleek carp that had escaped her earlier.
She paddled through the water, extending her foreleg as far as it would go in an effort to snag her claws beneath one of the scales. It felt her many vibrations, however, and with a flick of its huge tail, fled deeper down the river. Redpaw grit her teeth, irritated. She felt her throat tighten with the lack of oxygen and resurfaced, breathing in heavily. Bitter, the young apprentice managed to drag herself to the side of the river, panting and dripping wet. Redpaw hoisted herself out of the riverbed, shaking off all the liquid that covered her body. A shiver ran down her spine, but the feline was much too irked to be bothered with the cold. She would survive, anyways - the worst thing to happen was that she would develop a little cold and have to visit Geckoleaf and Juniperpaw. Digging her claws into the mud, Redpaw stormed off further down the river in an effort to find more carps that were hopefully less clever.