and i stepped aside ( open - joining )

[align=center][img width=410 height=204]http://i.imgur.com/UYzSfJs.png[/img][fancypost borderwidth=0px;width: 450px][justify][size=7pt]By the stars, how long had it been? How long since he'd had somewhere dry to sleep? How long since he'd really lived with other animals, as part of a community? How long since he'd been able to get a full night's sleep, without some other, younger cat moving him on to claim the dirty resting spot he'd found for the night? Too long, that's how long. It had been far too long.

Filmy yellow eyes surveyed the lush forest - filled to the brim with prey even in the midst of leafbare! - and the old tom moved forwards at a cautious pace. He knew he was trespassing, but the shelter the trees offered, the sheer warmth they offered after the wastelands he'd travelled through to escape the city, had been too much for him to resist.

He hadn't recognised the scents from the boarder marker, so assumed it was a Clan ( or even a group ) that he hadn't come across before. Considering his track record, that could be seen as a good thing, despite its increased risk of attack. After all, what Clan wanted an old, half-starved tom wandering around in their territory? What Clan would even accept him into their ranks?

That was why it was wiser to sneak into the territory, grab a bite to eat and get out without a scratch. Even the Gods knew that Theodore wouldn't be able to fight even a puny apprentice in his state.

His belly rumbled loudly, reminding the bicolour just why it was that he'd ventured onto the bit of claimed territory. He needed to eat. His belly was shrunken more than it had ever been his whole life, and his muscles were quickly going to waste as his body fed on itself in order to keep going, to keep running, to keep surviving.

It would probably be a kinder fate if these Clan cats did come across him and ended it right here.

Scenting the air, Theodore dropped into a crouch, peering at a skinny squirrel. It might be thin, but as he saw it, the piece of prey had more meat on its bones than he did on his. It would sustain him for at least three days, he calculated, although that was if he could catch it first.

He drew himself forwards, steps slow and calculated, if a bit heavy, amber gaze fixed solely on his next meal.

[align=center][img width=410 height=204]http://oi63.tinypic.com/29e6eld.jpg[/img][fancypost borderwidth=0px;width: 450px][justify][size=7pt]Even if it would have been kinder to die right then, Theodore still felt his chest tighten with panic, and he drew himself up, spitting angrily at the husky. When the canine made no move to lunge for him, the old tom allowed his muscles to loosen just a tiny bit, although he still remained tensed and ready to flee, not that that would do him much good.

Flicking his remaining ear towards the recently vacated bit of land, Theodore would meet the stranger's gaze unflinchingly, despite his very real urge to flee. "Theodore Tormenta," he replied, voice a quiet rasp. "I'm hunting." He left it at that, waiting to see what the larger animal would have to say.