Intruding

[Synkah]

Synkah was looking for trouble, or at least, it would seem like that was so. He had been wandering, by night, through the territory. The moon was like a huge white eye in the sky as it began to wane.

He had been in the mood to hunt something different than the occasional rat or mouse he would come by in the Twolegplace, and scavenging could only offer so much. He wanted something delicious and fresh. Something he knew he could find if he sneaked into one of the Clan territories. They could spare a piece of prey with him. After all, it wasn’t like he ate much.

He passed by ShadowClan, not really in the mood to get his paws muddy, and he only barely managed to slip past a ThunderClan patrol, but WindClan seemed barren enough. Maybe he’d catch himself a rabbit.

The small black tom slipped quietly through the heather, remembering to keep alert for other cats but also sniffing out prey. His mouth began to water at the scent of rabbit flooded his senses. He leaned to the right slightly and saw the wiry creature. With the wind blowing stiffly towards Syn, he knew that he had a chance at this catch. Plus, he was quite wiry and quick himself.

He dropped into a crouch and began to slink forward quickly, his tail twitching with excitement. He didn’t usually hunt, and so it was all he could do not to start meowing at the prey. Without any warning the rabbit tore away from him. Instinct told Syn to leap into a run at the sight of his fleeing prey.

Predator and prey ran a high speed chase, weaving and dodging through the sweet smelling heather until finally, Syn gave a tremendous leap at the rabbit, tripped it, and bit down into the back of its neck.

Panting from the effort, he realized that he was crouching in front of a rabbit burrow. He gave a mrrow of laughter. One more leap and this rabbit would have been home free! Synkah felt a surge of pride as he tucked in to eating his prey.

[♫Serenesong♪]

S E R E N E S O N G !

Serenesong departed from camp, her green eyes glowing in the semi-darkness of evening. Wind buffeted at her white fur, throwing it carelessly to one side while her tail lashed involuntarily with the air currents. She lowered her muzzle and quickened her trot, heading deeper into the WindClan moors. Tops of empty hillsides were silhouetted against the setting sun, and a slight chill rippled through the grass. The taste of dusk and leaffall filtered into the deputy's jaws, bringing with it the familiar tang of rabbit. Her head swiveling, Serenesong searched out its source, and her emerald gaze locked onto a small figure in the distance. Narrowing her eyes, headed for her prey, letting her paws fall lightly in the long grass.

Serenesong neared her target, and swung wide in a circle to avoid letting her scent have a chance at traveling to the hare's sharp nose. Crouching, the white she-cat began to creep forward with small rapid steps. She felt her hind legs bunch, her heart speeding up at the thought of the chase that would follow. But an explosion of sound from behind made the rabbit leap into the air, but by the time Serenesong had jumped out of hiding and started forward, it was gone into an unseen burrow.

The deputy's tail lashed this time of its own volition, whipping around with great annoyance to see what had cost her her prey. The shape of a young apprentice loomed at the top of the adjacent hill, a limp rabbit dangling from its jaws. Eyes narrowing, Serenesong tried to remember if any apprentices were out hunting, but her mind told her that there weren't any this young currently in the clan. Firecry's kits were close to apprenticeship and about this size, but they shouldn't be out of camp. The she-cat advanced cautiously, her eyes glimmering with suspicion.
[/size]

[Synkah]

Synkah was too busy eating his catch to even notice another cat advanced towards him. He had just figured that he would catch the rabbit, eat, and then head back to the Twolegplace. He wasn't going to hang around, but he didn't want to drag this thing all the way back and probably have it stolen from him anyways.

Bunch of scavengers, he thought darkly as he bit into the rabbit. Not that I'm much better. He almost laughed but continued to eat his rabbit. Everything tasted so much better if it had been stolen from someone. This was even better since it was fresh-kill. What he stole in the Twolegplace was usually crow-food, not that he minded. He was usually hungry enough to not even care.

Nearly sated, Synkah sat up and licked his lips thoughtfully. He still wasn't aware of the she-cat approaching him from behind. He angled his ears to listen to what was behind him, but all he heard was the wind, or so he thought. He drew a paw up and began to lick it.

[♫Serenesong♪]

Serenesong neared the cat, a tendril of unfamiliar scent curling towards her. Unfamiliar, but recognizable. BloodClan. The she-cat's lips curled into a menacing snarl, her ears plastered back and hackles raised. Her green eyes glinted with sea-ice, yowling an unspoken challenge; what temerity this mouse of a cat had, to come creeping onto WindClan territory and feast it's worthless stomach on WindClan prey? Oh, it would learn its lesson. The deputy's unsheathed claws grazed the top of the ground gently, and she decided to find out how long this cat's innards were.

An ear-splitting screech split the air, resounding off the moors as Serenesong pelted out of the long grass and made up for the chase she had lost earlier. She caught a look of utter surprise in the intruder's gaze just before she was on top of him. [/size]

[Synkah]

A screech cut through the howling wind and Synkah leapt up and spun around just in time to see a blur of fur launching itself at him. He ducked quickly, but she easily would have landed on top of him.

Synkah yowled and rolled onto his back, not worried about exposing his belly because he quickly began to rake at the she-cat's underside with his thorn-sharp claws to get her off of him.

He was ready to take what she threw at him. He hadn't come all the way out here just to get a decent meal. A skirmish was always a bit of fun. However, he knew the odds could quickly turn against him on this unfamiliar terrain.

Had Syn eaten until his stomach was distended, he probably would have regretted it. He had learned from previous incidents never to eat until his belly was sagging. He always left himself a little hungry so that he could stay fast, alert, and on his toes. He knew very well that being a small cat offered no room for error.

[♫Serenesong♪]

Serenesong hissed, her turn to be surprised at this small cat's ferocity. Close-up, she could see that he was indeed full-grown, despite the fact that she was over twice as big as he was. The she-cat rolled as well to get her underside out of his reach, at the same time trying to use her size to crush him. Serenesong leaped to her paws, whirling around to receive a vicious blow to the cheek, and returned a harder one to the BloodClan cat's shoulder. Fur and claws flew, and the two rolled around locked in combat before breaking apart at the base of the hill. The white cat's fur was streaked in crimson, her flank stinging as well as her cheek and ear. Serenesong eyed the intruder, her muscles tightening, and waited for him to make the first move. [/size]

[Synkah]

It was quite sad to be smaller than the windblown WindClan cats, but Syn was. Yet, despite being so small, he could be quite vicious. He also hated to run and would, if given the chance, fight ferociously until he had either won, or knew that he was soundly beaten. Syn never stuck around to let himself be killed. He wasn't crazy. He valued his miserable life.

This fight was intense. It was more than the ferocious scuffles he had over scraps of food or chasing a cat away from his sleeping area. He had not only intruded upon this cat's home, but also stole prey. He knew it was wrong, but he did it anyways. He wasn't about to starve, and pickings were thin in Twolegplace. He wanted a real piece of prey and he had got it. He also got a wild-eyed she-cat tearing out clumps of fur and ripping at the skin beneath.

He felt her claws tear into his shoulder and he screamed, but still fought harder, aiming a bite for her foreleg.

When they broke apart at the base of the hill, Syn could feel the blood trickling down between his fur like hot little ants. He could feel more scratches along his sides. He knew that fighting more would be pointless. It wasn't like he had anything to defend.

The little black tomcat stood there, fur fluffed out, back arched and tail held low. His yellow-green eyes narrowed as he stared at the white she-cat defending her land, her prey, her honor.

Syn flicked his tail. "Don't worry, Clan cat, I'll go." He said in his charming little voice. "You're too pretty to be shredded, anyways." He added, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

[♫Serenesong♪]

Serenesong's snarl curled back even farther. "You've got some nerve, haven't you?" she asked sourly, taking half a pawstep forwards. "Well, you'd be too pretty shredded to give up the opportunity."

The deputy felt her hind legs snap against the ground, and she flew towards the tomcat with her claws outstretched. Her opponent met her with a well-practiced blow, throwing her off course. Serenesong rolled once and leaped back upright, aiming a pawful of unsheathed claws at the BloodClan cat. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of respect for this feline's fighting ability; though definitely not any for his ethics. Well, what's to expect from BloodClan? she asked herself vaguely, her mind revolving around the task of beating the wiry brown tom.

[Synkah]

Syn's lips pulled back into a crazy little feline-smirk. "I've been told that before." He said in reply to the white she-cat saying he had "some nerve".

He didn't get a chance to reply to her. A blur of white flew at him again and he ducked low, racing forward and lifted his paw, claws unsheathed, to give her something to think about.

He wasn't going to give up easily even if there was nothing to gain but infamy among this Clan and all of the others. He was already almost certain that he wasn't a favorite among BloodClan. The only reason nobody did anything about him was because nobody could do anything about him.

It could be said that Syn could have been an excellent Clan cat had he been given the chance. However, the chance had never come. Syn had been born a feral kitten in some dirty, old tire in one of the many Twolegplace alleys. Two years later and he was here.

Syn spun around to face his opponent again. He raced at her, appearing to dive for her left side while, in a single instant, he dove to her right, slashed at her side, and then dashed away. He didn't like to hang around to see if he could get smashed or not. Syn preferred moves that required speed, cunning, and did not require him to be in close-quarters with his opponent long enough for them to use their size against him.

[♫Serenesong♪]

Serenesong received the blow with a hiss, and dashed after the BloodClan cat as he darted away to avoid close combat, reaching out a paw in attempt to trip him, as she often did with the rabbits she hunted.

There was no way she would back down to this cat, not on her territory and not over the bones of her prey. The sky was darkening rapidly, the tip of the blood-red sun melting into the horizon. It threw orange and pink light onto the clouds even after it was gone, but that too faded quickly.

All Serenesong could see of her opponent now was his dark silhouette, spinning and clawing in response to her attacks. She could smell the rabbit on his breath, which drove her determination to beat him even farther. The deputy would make sure he wouldn't look upon the moors of WindClan and the prey it harbored with sly desire anymore, especially not with the deepening of leaffall and the imminent shadow of leafbare. Times would be hard, and there would be much more to worry about besides thieving trespassers.

[Synkah]

Syn hissed as claws hooked in front of one of his hind paws. He hadn't seen that coming. He tumbled into the ground and rolled. He knew instantly that this could be very bad. If this she-cat wanted to, she could kill him like she would a rabbit. What harm would come of it? Killing a roguish BloodClan tom could easily be justified.

A jolt of fear tore through him for a heartbeat and then, as he rolled over, he leapt to his paws, slashing at anything. He refused to let this WindClan cat get the better of him. He didn't care if she was bigger than him. It was still a well matched fight. The only thing that could turn the tides would be one more WindClan cat.

He didn't pay attention to the setting sun, he was used to the dark. The night was his only friend and ally. He would do most of his moving around starting at dusk and then finish looking for scraps at dawn. He didn't know about his opponent. He didn't know her habits like he knew his.

"Will you fight me until you collapse, Snowy? Or do you want to come to terms?" He asked, as he leapt out of her way. "I can be agreeable, you know." He crouched, ready to leap at her, ready to hear if she'd listen. He doubted she would. He wouldn't had he been in her place.

[♫Serenesong♪]

Serenesong saw an opportunity. Ignoring this BloodClan cat's nickname for her, she paused her fighting and tipped her head a little as if to consider his offer. Careful to stay on alert and ready for an attack, she asked sweetly, "Terms? And what terms would you agree to?"

The white she-cat sheathed her claws purposefully, but secretly kept the muscles in paws tense so the sharp points would come sliding out at a moment's impulse. It would have added to the effect to sit down, but that was too risky.

[Synkah]

Synkah was pleased that she listened to him. He had begun to think that he would be bald by morning if this she-cat pulled anymore fur out of him.

"Yes, terms." Syn said, taking a moment to sit down a lick his shoulder, but remaining alert to his enemy's movements, if she did move. She might just be glad that Syn had sense enough to form words into sentences.

"Oh, well," Syn flicked a piece of dry blood off of his tongue. "First off I think we should introduce ourselves to each other formally" He added, his eyes glimmering. "I'm Synkah, some cats call me Syn." His little voice was confident, and charming.

He tilted his head, "And yours?"

[♫Serenesong♪]

"I'm called Serenesong, though a few call me Seren." The white she-cat responded in a friendly tone while eyeing Synkah furtively for any possible hole in his alertness. There were no reasonable terms she could think of that she would agree to, though. If it was just 'you get off my territory, I leave you alone' - where would the compensation for the stolen rabbit come in? And more importantly, if she let him off easily this time, who says that he won't come back for another hunting trip when his lowly stomach emptied again? But it was silly to say 'you crouch down and let me claw your ears off, then you leave and everything's called fair'.
Perhaps Serenesong would just bide her time and see if any help wandered by, or if this cat would eventually let his guard down. For now, friendly might be the way to go; to shred him she'd have to get shredded as well. They were too evenly matched to risk a full-out battle until one of them collapsed.

[Synkah]

"Seren. That's a very pretty name. Better than 'Snowy,'" he laughed at his own stupid joke. "Ahh, but, back to business."

Syn sniffed, realizing that his nose had been scratched. He licked his paw and ran it over his nose a few times, stalling as much as cleaning his wound.

"I'll bring you back food in exchange for the rabbit and letting me keep what is left of my fur," of course, the last part was joking. He had plenty of fur left, but he felt like he needed to lighten up the situation just a tad.

He wasn't sure how well his plan would work. Food was scarce enough as it was in Twolegplace without trying to bring back prey to this pretty white she-cat for stealing one of her scrawny rabbits. Then again, nobody said he had to actually come back.

Syn thought he might come back, though. It would give him an excuse to sneak back over here and see Serensong, even thought she probably would rather see him flayed with his fur lining nests for queens.

"How does that sound?"