"We're not even downhill yet." Kestrelspeckle reassured with a little scoff, continuing onward. "I'd say we'll be fine anyways. Like Violeteyes said, we're Snowclan warriors." he added with a smile to himself, turning back to glance at his following friends.
The wind was seeming steady, however, whipping up snow; naturally, that snow would fly right in his face. He was slightly annoyed, but he like to think it would die down.
"Okay. Well. What do you want to do?" he asked her, a questioning glace.
"Ah, yes, if you insist." Kestrelspeckle nodded. "The most important thing is to drop to the ground, no matter how snowy it is." he demonstrated, sinking to the ground with his belly touching the snow. "The only thing that should be up is your legs as you stalk."
(OCC: omf I've been so inactive my god)
Suddenly Kestrelspeckle didn't feel too well. His paws seemed to get heavier for some reason; he couldn't feel his paws in the first place, before he got in the snow. Even when he woke up, his paws were heavy, and before that. But his paws were feeling kind of, useless. Limp. He ignored it for the day, but as he tried to step over snow drifts, he would trip on himself.
Growling at himself and pushing the thought aside, he tried to continue leading on ahead, ignoring their chatter to focus on getting those herbs. But once again he stumbled, and he cursed under his breath. Kestrelspeckle didn't want to be melodramatic or seem weak, however, and he was held by his pride. So he kept fumbling over his steps, still trying to walk normally. Snow stuck to his fur, which made him want to get down to dry land as soon as possible. A little numbness from the snow wasn't going to stop him!
Trying to distract himself, his tried to answer Violeteye's question about no snow on the mountain. "Probably not. It seems like the snow is endless every day now, so the snow was probably continuing in our ancestor's days." he grumbled, trying to kick snow with his front paw. That ended badly, as he face planted in the snow.
(OCC: omf so sorry about my lack of activity ;w; )
Kestrelspeckle then continued to walk, the only thing visible and moving was the top of his legs as he stalked, keeping his tail in the snow. "Remember to keep your tail low, still, and snowy. Tails are often give aways to prey!" he piped, flicking snow off the tip of his dark tail.
Kestrelspeckle immediately shot out of the snow, his dark face covered with the white stuff.
[size=5pt]don't take that wrong[/size]
"N-no! I'm fine, honest. My paws are just a little, uh, snowy. The clumps of snow were annoying me, so when I was trying to get it, er, kick it out, I tripped over a, a rock. See?" Kestrelspeckle stammered, refusing Violeteye's offer. Kestrelspeckle was a pretty heavy cat, and didn't want to burden Russetcloud. He felt bad, as well. Why did Violeteyes get off of him? She might be pregnant. 'Course she wasn't going to walk. And she was rather short too. Russetcloud couldn't take both of them.
Biting his paw and drawing a little bit of blood without feeling it bad him a tad worried. But it was fine, he could still walk anyways. And as long as he could walk, he was fine. He was determined to get that parsley and any other needed herbs. "Go ahead and stay on Russetcloud. I'm alright."
(OCC: God I've been gone longer than I thought. I'm so hopping in for this. Forget our other RP about her just finding out that she was pregnant, eh? xD)
Kestrelspeckle shuffled on the ground, dragging back a hare from his long and boring hunt. It took him a millions tries it seems for him to catch just one of those stupid things for Snowclan. Now he was starving, and he had to give it up to Snowclan, for anyone else who wanted it. He was so ready for a long, long, long nap. Maybe a hibernation, even. Who cares what season it was. He was done for.
He saw a little space in between a pine tree, where he could possibly rest without being disturbed. "Do I hear talking?"he thought to himself with a little shrug, tossing the hare casually into the snow. He didn't care. Couldn't dig it up or anything. He started to pad over to the spot, but something smelled, well, odd. A sinking feeling in his stomach told him to stay away from it. But was that figure of white Violeteyes? And Russetcloud and another upset feline, running away, was it? What was going on?
Kestrelspeckle was extremely reluctant to do anything, so he sat on the ground and watched the two, his pelt bristling with an uneasy feeling. He wanted to check it out, but yet, he didn't. He stomach rumbled and barked at him, but it certainly wasn't because of hunger. Blinking a few times, he hesitantly started to walk very slowly towards the location of the two, feeling worse with each step. He stopped a few tail lengths behind Russetcloud, merely staring. With horror, with curiosity, with anger? Even he didn't know. He didn't dare speak, but observe.
"A good idea to hide from both prey and enemies is cloaking yourself with snow and stalking. Only do this if you have very, very thick snow! It's hard to get warm out here, so with hunting, only cloak your tail." Kestrelspeckle warned with a little smile, getting up to his paws and shaking everything off of him.
He shivered a bit, as the wind was kicking up considerably. "Starclan, lay off! I'm cold." he grumbled.
"Try not to slip. Yeah, trying to walk on those stones is asking for embarrassment and a busted lip, eh Kestrelspeckle?" he growled to himself under his breath very quietly, though he appreciated Violeteye's thought. "N-no, I'd rather not. Thank you both, but I think I got it." Kestrelspeckle laughed, putting on a weak and forced smile.
But when he tried to walk again, he caught himself as he tripped yet again. The blood from his paw was getting a little heavier, and he decided to put his pride away, for now. "A-actually. Um, let's see what you can do, Russetcloud. Try and carry a fat ball of fur on your back, haha!" Kestrelspeckle grinned, trying to make it sound like a challange. He would never admit that his paws were practically lifeless from spending the whole entire 2 days out in it. It didn't matter which season, the mountain's weather could change from hot to cold at any moment. He hardly kept count on the seasons! It was either cold or hot, and he was cold.
"Are you sure it's okay? Violeteyes, you can't possibly walk in that snow, right? You'll sink." he purred, teasing her as he bunched up his haunches, preparing to jump while waiting for Russetcloud's reply.
"Do you want to go back to camp, Wildpaw?" he asked her casually. He acted like he didn't care, but his whiskers were about to freeze out here. He secretly wanted to go back/
He caught Violeteye's eyes, and she merely dipped her head at him. Kestrelspeckle had to force himself not to glare, and he blinked. "How can she just be so calm?! It flusters me so. Females." he thought to himself with a grim, small grin, the tip of his tail twitching slightly. He didn't even want to assume why that cat ran away, and he didn't want to know what he knew. But he couldn't do anything about the truth. "It's just, so, so soon." he mumbled, taking in a breath.
Kestrelspeckle flexed his claws into the ground, trying to pretend he didn't hear or understand what Violeteyes was talking about. Deep inside he had to accept the many things he found out the past few days including this day, but this was, well, it was just too soon! Way too soon! Too soon for Kestrelspeckle to comprehend, and he slowly shook his head. He honestly wanted to just walk away.
"Violeteyes," Kestrelspeckle murmured, closing his eyes, "tell me that what I'm thinking that was about was wrong. And tell me that smell is just prey. Or Russetcloud." he laughed weakly, trying to ease both Violeteyes up and him up. He had a feeling that didn't work, however, and he had mixed emotions about what had just recently happened. And he tried to stop all too familiar images from his past from flashing into his eyes. If his swampy eyes were to be open, they would be frantic.
"Let's go-" he started, padding away, but a horrible cracking noise occurred and flew to his ears. He didn't want to look up, as he knew they were downhill and it was windy. But it was there; an avalanche, a ways a way from them uphill. It was coming down fast, and wherever he looked, the sea of snow was coming towards him. Panic struck, and he looked at Wildpaw.
"Wildpaw, run, run!" he meowed frantically, nudging her along as he started to run.
(OCC: Oh yeah, action.)
He turned back to see Wildpaw running, fast but not faster than the snow. Kestrelspeckle couldn't even outrun the snow, and he could feel the wind of it. "I take it back, Starclan! I was joking!" Kestrelspeckle cried out, though he knew avalanches were natural and common. Wildpaw was, however, lagging behind slightly, and they had to run to a pine tree or something! Running back towards Wildpaw, he took a hold of her scruff and ran hard and ran fast, his pawsteps thudding heavily as he did so, panting.
Wildpaw was heavier than most apprentices, yes, but Kestrelspeckle was bigger than most warriors. They balanced eachother out well, and he tried his hardest to run.
Kestrelspeckle opened his eyes, feeling sympathy and empathy for Violeteyes. He knew what a dead kits looked like, and a guilt wracked mother. Except the guilt wracked mother from the past; Kestrelspeckle shook his head furiously, looking down to his paws and refusing to hear anymore. He felt guilty from his past, and looked up one more time, at Violeteyes. "I...I'm really, really sorry, Smallfe- er, Violeteyes. It had to be this way." Kestrelspeckle mumbled in a dull tone, frowning at her. He tried to direct his attention away from the blood on the ground and to Violeteyes.
"Do you need anything, water, lamb's ear...?" he asked her uncertainly, his voice dimmed down to a very quiet tone. He needed a breather, honestly, but he couldn't just walk away just yet. He needed an excuse for Violeteyes, but he knew all too well that only time could help Violeteyes with this. It was a bad thing that happened, unfortunate and regrettable. Nostalgic memories flooded to him, dark ones. Violet looked so fragile and frail after what had happened, just like..well, he wished Violeteyes didn't have to go through with this. He couldn't even imagine how she felt about such a tragedy. How any she-cat would feel about something so sad happening. Kestrelspeckle wished he could do something for her.
(OCC: Kestrelspeckle has a dirty little secret about something. That's why he's acting funny. :B Dundundun!)
Kestrelspeckle could feel the snow starting to brush against his pelt, and he realized he couldn't run anymore. He couldn't even see anything but Wildpaw beneath him, the snow being so strong. Setting Wildpaw down, he locked his legs together and stood in front of Wildpaw.
"Brace yourself!!" he yelled over the rumble of snow, as it toppled.
Seeing a flash of the dead kit's body got him furious, especially Russetcloud's glare at him. What was his problem, anyways? Was sympathy not appropriate for the situation, or trying to ease the tension laced in the air? If anything got him through tragedy, it was distraction. Serious, lingering reminders is what he would hide and run away from. Kestrelspeckle was trying to comfort her. No need for Russetcloud to act like a, a "bastard", a word he assumed canines used. Canine speak.
He had to bite hard onto his tongue to keep from giving Russetcloud a what for, and instead he kept his flaming glare on the snow; or the kit. His eyes shifted. He needed an anger excuse.
Wincing as Violeteyes mentioned his mix up, he lashed out. "Nothing!" he snapped, immediately regretting it. He shut himself up and shook his head, looking at Violeteyes with an apologetic stare. "N-nothing. Forget everything I've said, okay? I think Russetcloud's got this. I-if you need me, I'll be up ahead. Make sure no feline has spoke of anything or any cat is waiting, alright?" He didn't wait for an answer as he turned back around, starting to walk.
(OCC: Look a little into his past. I've mentioned it in the past thread. c; Maybe we could do another thread trying to figure out his secret? After this intense thread however, LOL. So into this. cx)
Kestrelspeckle walked grudgingly to the nearest tree, definitely feeling drained in motivation after what had happened. He wouldn't dare complain, however. Climbing a pine would be an easy way to see if any felines were nearby, and to clear his thoughts. Distraction, distraction. He was a selfish cat.
Making his way from branch to branch, evading the prickles from the pine, he got high up in the tree. He saw no feline in the way, and he was thankful for it. Instead of going on, however, he stayed on the branch and crawled to the edge, his limbs dangling from the edge as he let out a sigh, keeping a watch on Russetcloud and Violeteyes. He was worried of them both.
Blinking at Russetclouds reaction at, well, something, Kestrelspeckle also watched intently to see what was going on. He was curious enough to climb down the pine tree and find out, but not stupid enough to. Kestrelspeckle did, however, hop down and few branches, nearing the edge of each one of them. As he hopped on a lower branch and squinted, he could almost make out an image of a cat, of some sorts? A pretty large one. It's fur stuck out in the white territory, as did Russetcloud, and he seemed upset.
Kestrelspeckle huffed, laying down on the end of the branch to watch what the hero would do. Bad attitudes highly affected him. "Ha! I could care less. Russetcloud's got this. With no other spying cats nearby, I did my job. Now for a show." he thought to himself with a slight growl, observing the action. But as he faintly heard his name, he instinctively dropped his pride and lept off of the branch to hear Russetcloud better. "I'm here! What do you need?" he asked him, his fur on end as he hissed slightly. He was a few tail lengths from Russetcloud, but definitely careful as he glared at the creature. Of course! It was a wolverine! Not an uncommon sight up in the mountains, but surely an ironic one.
(OCC: No, I got it. |D )
Kestrelspeckle didn't even know what Russetcloud wanted him to do, but assuming it was something to do with luring it away from Violeteyes, Kestrelspeckle stuck with it and started lashing out at the wolverine. "Hey, look! Can't you see I'm big and meaty? Come and try and get me, you mange ridden dirtball!" he chanted with a growl at the end, spitting and feinting charges at the creature.
Kestrelspeckle wasn't thinking, but he knew Wolverines were more thick than they were fast. Kestrelspeckle could surely out-run him, right? He didn't really care anyways, or had any time to think. Kestrelspeckle backed away from the coming Wolverine, prepared to run or fight if he had to. He shot a quick glance at Russetcloud and Violeteyes.
Kestrelspeckle laughed flatly, looking at his fur. "My beautiful fluff is natural." he meowed with a little sniff, flicking the tip of his tail as a sign of greeting. "The name's Kestrelspeckle. You, my curly friend?" Kestrelspeckle greeted in a casual tone, getting up from laying down and stretching. It was still a little windy, but it was seeming to die down. From his stomach being so warm from laying down, however, it was still pretty cold to sit up. "Oh well." he thought to himself with a shrug, sitting down on the log and facing the yellowish tomcat. He wondered how he had even noticed him.
(OCC: Wow, a response. xD I wasn't expecting anyone to. ;w; )
