MILK MILK LEMONADE // prey stealer

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    well, that expedition all the way to thunderclan sure was a flop. kaian had returned to his siblings empty-pawed, and they all ate sleep for dinner for another night. he couldn’t believe the hypocrisy of the forest clans, or that he fell for pumpkinstar’s ridiculous “let’s talk this out” scheme. half an hour of getting pretentiously lectured on why he was wrong was all that was. her agonizingly calm voice played on repeat in his mind, faking sympathy, pretending she cared about her fellow cat. she played me like a fiddle, the rogue thought bitterly as he stalked through the long grass of windclan. not anymore. this time there would be no “talking.” kaian was here to get food for his family and no self-righteous prairie barbarian was going to stop him.


    there was little cover in this territory, and kaian didn’t like it. the red tabby’s bright pelt was clearly visible through the dull grass, so he didn’t even bother trying to conceal himself as he caught his mouse. i’m here, so why try to hide it? he wondered what would happen if the cats who lived here did find him, if they were any different than that other clan. doubt it.

    "You know... normally, I ask for your name and why you're here. But considering you aren't even trying to hide it, why would I?", the maine coon tilted his head as he approached, his loud voice filling the silent fields for a few seconds. He honestly didn't care if the guy took the mouse, Bearstorm had quite frankly lost confidence in his own clan. he wasn't quite sure why just yet, but he guessed he would understand someday. And until then, he could as well stay and sort of 'try' to be a part of Windclan, even though he knew fully well that some loner instincts would never disappear. Which was also why he didn't care, as he knew how hard it was sometimes to find something to eat when you didn't have a territory to hunt in.


    "So your name will suffice, for now", he meowed, a faint smile on his maw as he stood there. While he was ready to rumble, he'd rather just wait and see what happened. He would let the guy run if no one else arrived. If others did, however... Well, then he probably had to fight. Not that he cared. He loved a good fight, after all.

    I DON'T WANT A BANDAID, I'LL ONLY RIP IT OFF —

    Bearstorm wouldn't stay alone, however the pacifist medicine cat wouldn't generally want to fight. However, Cloudcatcher did have a suspicion that Bearstorm wasn't afraid of fighting this cat, especially with some of his recent behavior. "Mm, hello." The tired tom lashed his tail, sky-blue eyes showing nothing but unconcern for the situation. Loners got hungry too.

           

    We've got to hold on, to what we've got — JasperStar — WindClan —


    JasperStar spotted the mouse at the strange tom's feet, and knew what was going on immediately. He didn't smell like one of the other clans, which was odd. Was he a loner? JasperStar approached quickly, and seeing as Bearstorm had already asked for the cat's name, he wouldn't repeat the question. He was curious to the male's motive. JasperStar recalled how his brother, Ferret, had met his downfall. Hungry and alone, he'd tried to take prey from these very moors. The leader at the time had denied him the prey, so Ferret had told them to kill him, as he'd have starved anyway. And they had. JasperStar had once been a loner, and knew how hard it was to find food. "What is your business here?" The leader meowed, though it was obvious the tom was taking prey.

    suddenly kaian was surrounded. he didn't look all that surprised. instead, he lashed his tail in annoyance. he'd been expecting something like this to happen, but it didn't mean he was pleased about it. instead of answering the stream of questions, the red tom snorted, closing his eyes pretentiously. "you forest cats keep such a tight grip on your borders i'm surprised your paws don't pop off," he meowed, a line which could be perceived as a compliment to a territorial cat, but one which was meant as an insult.


    he turned to the cat who asked him his business, amber eyes smoldering with annoyance. this tom had the same commanding air as that pumpkinstar chick. oh great, was this another one of the clan leaders? "gee, i don't know, why don't you try using your eyes?" he snapped. probably not the most respectful or smart thing to say, but kaian didn't care. these cats didn't want him to take home his prey, and that was why they didn't deserve his respect.

    We've got to hold on, to what we've got — JasperStar — WindClan —


    JasperStar ignored the border comment, it was true that clan cats were territorial. JasperStar wasn't on the lookout for rogues or loners whenever he patrolled though, he wanted to be sure that other clans, such as BloodClan or DarkClan, weren't trespassing. They had territories of their own, and had no business on WindClan land, especially in the start of green leaf. But a hungry loner, as this tom seemed to be... JasperStar wasn't going to chase him off immediately.


    His whiskers twitched at the toms snarky reply, but nothing more than that. "Alright, I see you have a mouse from WindClan's moor. You plan on taking it. Is there not adequate prey else where?" JasperStar knew the answer to that question too, or thought he did. Apparently there wasn't, or the tom wouldn't be here. He likely wouldn't admit how much he needed the prey, whether it was a lot or a little. Just like Ferret. JasperStar wasn't going to let the tom starve, but maybe they could talk for a few more moments.

    "And your name, please", the warrior added, noticing that the loner hadn't quite given them his name. "It makes talking about this so much easier", he added, flicking his tail slightly as he spoke. This guy certainly wasn't a friendly one, or at least not at first sight. Maybe the hunger had something to do with that. Or maybe he was just like that, even when full. Not that it mattered. Bearstorm knew fully well that he was a lot worse than this guy. Pushing those thoughts away before anything could happen, he focused on the conversation between Jasperstar and the trespasser, tilting his head slightly as he waited.

    kaian resisted letting out a loud, frustrated growl. enough with the dumb questions, already! “no, i just love stealing,” he snapped sarcastically at the leaderly tabby. turning to the other tom, he snorted. “do you really need it that bad? i mean, i’m the only one you don’t know here. besides, i didn’t come here to talk.” he contemplated making a run for it, but these cats were damn fast. and there were three of them. he really did have the worst luck.

    I DON'T WANT A BANDAID, I'LL ONLY RIP IT OFF —

    The snark was getting on the tom's nerves. "I'm sure the three of us understood you needed the food, and we were going to let you have it. However, if you keep being rude towards us, I'm sure Bearstorm here would be fine chasing you off." The medicine cat spoke with a monotone voice, his eyes partially lidded. Cloudcatcher had more important things to worry about.


    As if he was confirming his threat, he attempted to place his paw on the mouse, trying to keep the stranger from taking it and running.

           

    We've got to hold on, to what we've got — JasperStar — WindClan —


    JasperStar figured he should just tell the tom to take the mouse and be done with it. He clearly didn't want to be here anymore, and was just getting angrier the more they tried to talk. It was Greenleaf, they could afford to let the tom have his kill. JasperStar could tell his cats were getting fed up with the tom as well, though he wished that Cloudcatcher could've refrained from touching the tom's prey. The leader didn't think this type of tom would take kindly to that. "If you give us your name, you're free to go. Take the mouse, you need it more than we do. But I don't suggest you come back, unless you're thinking of joining our clan. If you want a steady supply of prey from our territory, you'll have have to join us."

    "Chasing him off, having a bit of a spar... I don't mind either way...", the maine coon mused, shrugging as he spoke. "But I'd rather see him leave with his mouse, though. It's not like we're short at the moment", he added, briefly thinking back to the times he'd been a loner. It was pretty tough to find food if you didn't have a 'fixed' hunting spot, certainly not when most good spots were indeed taken bij clans or other groups. If you were alone, you didn't really have much of a chance. So he was all for giving the guy this one mouse, but he had to agree with Jasperstar on the second comment as well: if they returned a second time, they wouldn't be so kind.

    An ivory coat bobbed beyond the group, his mentor, Bearstorm, and the medicine cat were circling a young stranger. One who's ribs were so blatant they could be strummed. A mouse lay caught under Cloudcatcher's paw. The scene was staring to make sense, but Sunpaw approached keeping a fair distance.//trackpost

    LUCIAN's aka "sunpaw" ART & TAGS

    I DON'T WANT A BANDAID, I'LL ONLY RIP IT OFF —

    "I'd like him to talk this out civilly with us." Cloudcatcher commented towards Bearstorm and Jasperstar, his paw not moving off the prey just as his eyes didn't move of the stranger. "And I'd figured he wouldn't want to leave without his catch, so I'm holding it until we get somewhere talking to him." Maybe some sort of an agreement could be found here, but only if this kid was willing to work with the Windclanners.

           

    more and more of the moor cats approached and kaian snorted. was it really that hard to chase one cat away? after cloudcatcher took his mouse away he growled in irritation, but the fear of losing it kept him calm. at least they were being more generous than the thunderclanners. “i’m afraid i can’t join you guys,” he meowed in response to jasperstar. “got two little siblings at home and i’m sure you don’t want their mouths to feed too, seeing you’re so stingy even with one mouse.”


    the cat who stole his mouse spoke again, and this sent kaian spiraling into rage. he knew those words, he knew exactly what they meant. struggling to keep calm, the red tom flattened his ears and lashed his tail. “and by ‘talk civilly,’ you mean to give me an ultimatum, right? you’ll let me have the mouse, but only if i promise never to hunt here again.” his eyes burned with anger at the emptiness of cloudcatcher’s fake empathy. “well, i’m an honest cat. i don’t make promises i might not be able to keep.”

    I DON'T WANT A BANDAID, I'LL ONLY RIP IT OFF —

    Cloudcatcher's own ears flattened slighty, his mouth curving into a frown. "No, actually," The medic started, the tip of his tail flicking back and forth. "I don't know what Jasperstar would say, but I was doing to offer the idea up of letting you hunt here." Part of him didn't even want to open that idea up, but he knew he would feel even worse later on. An alternative plan was already forming in the medicine cats head, slightly spacing out in the conversation.

           




    Condorheart



    The snowshoe stood off to the side as she watched her clanmates react to this thief, her blue eyes stuck to the little mouse that had caused all this fuss. She understood the code, that they were required to chase out any trespassing cats but yet- Her blue eyes shifted to the thieving tom, his name is what he refused to give up. Was there a reason to it? Maybe, maybe not.


    "We know his scent and his appearance," Condorheart said stepping forward. "Why is his name necessary? He could easily lie to us what it truly is." The molly brushed against Cloudchaser in attempting to lightly nudge him off the prey so she could return it to the stranger.

    "Is it true you have little siblings?" She inquired softly.



    kaian cocked his head to the side, eyes narrowed at the tom's words. he wasn't expecting that. his emotions were still high, and he wanted to keep being rude, but he'd can it for now. then another feline showed up, a pretty she-cat this time. he watched her try to pry the mouse from under cloudcatcher's paws, blinking in confusion at her apparent kindness. "y-yes," the rogue answered her softly-voiced question. "mora and baya. they're not really my younger siblings, but they can't hunt for themselves, so..."


    he trailed off, finding himself lost in her deep blue eyes. his brain was static, until suddenly he registered what was said before and he shook his head, amber eyes fierce and focused. "hey! i wouldn't lie about my name. i'm kaian."

    "I just like to know who I'm talking to", the maine coon replied coolly, shrugging slightly as he responded. There were so many other reasons he could add, but he doubted they would like them, so he just let it be. Plus, it would be the same as admitting that he was getting more and more 'agressive' with every passing day, and that was certainly not a good idea. Maybe he had to talk to Jasperstar about it. Maybe.


    And then they started talking about the mouse and the possibility to hunt in Windclan territory. While definitely not against the idea, he couldn't help but wonder if his clan mates would be so willing to allow this kind of thing if it had been leaf-bare. Was it something they hadn't thought of, or were they planning on allowing him for a certain period of time? He wasn't sure. "Anyway, nice to meet you, Kaian. I'm Bearstorm, as you might know by now as some of my clan mates mentioned. Let's just say that I lived your life before I joined. If it makes you feel better, I'm quite sure Jasperstar wouldn't mind taking your little siblings in either, whatever their relationship is to you. As for their hunting skills, we have enough cats in Windclan who can teach them."


    It felt strange for a moment. To be so nice. And the fact he thought it was strange, was strange on its own. Strange.

    We've got to hold on, to what we've got — JasperStar — WindClan —


    JasperStar tilted his head when he was told the tom had siblings. Other cats he needed to look after. JasperStar wouldn't turn away the hungry tom just because he had other cats who'd need food as well. The tom said he couldn't promise not to hunt on Windclan land, and JasperStar could at least appreciate that he wouldn't lie to them. When Cloudcatcher spoke up again, JasperStar looked at him hesitantly. He wasn't exactly keen on the idea of having another cat hunting on their territory, not when they already had BloodClan basically doing that. But, maybe they could make some kind of deal, or agreement to help this tom.


    Condorheart showed up next, and JasperStar knew she'd be able to come up with some solution that would work for everyone. She excelled at that, and was the current reason why DarkClan and WindClan weren't at war. She had good reasons about his name, and JasperStar decided they might as well let it go, since she was right. Her words prompted the tom to give it to them anyway though, so it didn't matter. The names of his siblings, too. Mora, Baya, and Kaian. "I'm JasperStar, and as Bearstorm said it's nice to meet you. He's right, you and your siblings are welcome in my clan if you decide to join us. We could teach you all how to hunt, or if you know how already, perhaps you'd benefit from hunting with others." The last part may or may not be correct, depending on Kaian's hunting style, but it was a possible plus. "About what Cloudcatcher said... If you don't want to join us, but are still hungry, perhaps we can work something out."