Ice on {Speckled} Roses - {Frozen, Frail, Red}

[Ten]

Though Frozenheart had eaten before that day, he wasn't sure that the others had, and he was beginning to feel hungry again himself. He began scanning the area for possible prey. Most of the rats in sight were robust and healthy. The major exception to this was one fatigued, agitated rodent with tremors in his front paw.

[Gosh]

Frailheart surveyed the rats in the area. She, too spotted the fatigued rat who seemed agitated. 'I don't know, though,' she thought. 'If it's sick, it might pass on its sickness to those who eat it.'

[Ten]

Frozenheart looked at her and saw she had mutual thoughts - this rat was diseased. He watched it twitch, snap, and begin a quarrel with another rat. However, if they didn't go after this one, their only other choice might be one of the strong rats. The white tom was not a decision maker. He'd leave that up to Redstream.

[Darky [Megan]]

"Better be safe than sorry," grunted Speckledclaw, reading what was on the other cat's minds. She had no qualms about taking down healthy critters anyhow. Narrowing her eyes, calculating the distance of the rats at the same time, Speckledclaw crouched, ready to pounce.

Redstream had little knowledge of hunting, so, pretending to know what she was doing, the cat mimicked the older warrior an looked at Frozenheart and Frailheart,

[Gosh]

Frailheart glanced at Frozenheart nervously, but then shrugged and copied the other two. 'Everything will be fine,' she thought. 'But if I'm going to back out, now is the time.' The part of her that wanted food internally battled with the part of her that had common sense, and a smaller internal battle was taking place inside as well: if things went wrong, should she run or stay and help? 'If I wanted to save my neck, I would have to run. But what would that say about me? I shouldn't leave these cats in their darkest hour,' she thought.
Shaking her head a little, she tried to get rid of these thoughts. 'Everything will be fine,' she reassured herself.

[Ten]

ooc| If no one objects, I'll be playing the rat. I've found I enjoy that role.
bic|

From his observations, the group had opted to try for one of the stronger rats. Frozenheart tensed. He had plenty of perilous experiences with foolish decisions in hunts and didn't want to add to his collection. However, unless he bailed out now, he might not have a choice.

The rats scurried on in their daily pattern. Frozenheart trained his eyes on the closest of them and gave an occasional glace to the others for a signal.

[Darky [Megan]]

ooc
Sure, I've got no problem with that.

bic
Speckledclaw could guess from skill an experienced warrior from a newly named one, and the fact was that she was nearly always right. She glanced at Frailheart and Frozenheart and hoped that her eyes held reassurance. The tom looked like he had seen a lot. The other she-cat just looked puzzled.

Ears perked, the speckled tabby shot forward, swerving right and then returning to a direct run at the rat at a different angle, meaning to distance it from the others. Redstream followed suit.

[Gosh]

Frailheart was beginning to remember what her father had taught her those moons ago. Frailheart did the same as the other two she-cats, genuinely hoping that she would get some real food out of this. And she even felt an unfamiliar feeling of exhilaration, and for a second the illusion of strength descended upon her. For a second, that is; after that Frailheart felt normal - or as normal as you could feel while pumped by adrenaline.

[Ten]

With the three she-cats coming at it, the rat began to run. Frozenheart bolted to cut it off, but the crafty creature began weaving through obtrusive rocks and other rats. The white tom signaled to Frailheart and Speckledclaw with a few deliberate flicks of his tail. They needed to position themselves at the rat's sides and begin closing its escape paths.

[Darky [Megan]]

ooc
"... comming at it, the rat ..."
Coming, Ten?

bic
Speckledclaw snarled as she pounded after the rat. These other rats were a big problem. Reflecting Frozenheart's thoughts, the she-cat came at the rat from the right, hoping that Frailheart wouldn't follow her into the right and instead cut the rat off from the left.