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

[Ten]

The rat swerved out of harm's way with the deft movements of experience and bared its teeth as Frailheart's limbs touched the earth. She had missed, but not by much. The rodent's eyes glinted in the soft light of the outside as it snapped at her nearby flesh.

Frozenheart rushed forward. They needed to close in - now.

[Gosh]

Just a few seconds ago adrenaline had been the thing that powered Frailheart. Now it was fear, as she managed to dodge the rat's jaws. She recognized, just as Frozenheart did, that the rat hunt needed to end soon, or it would possibly be the end of one of their lives. She, too, hurried forward.

[Darky [Megan]]

Redstream nearly halted in surprise when the rat headed towards her. She let her instincts grasp hold of her and leapt in a pounce, hoping Frailheart wouldn't copy her.

[Gosh]

Frailheart saw the rat, and she instinctively crouched down, as though she was going to pounce. Then she realized that Redstream was already leaping for the rat, and she resumed her former position, hoping she didn't look like a fool.

The yellow she-cat could feel her stomach aching. How nice it would be if Redstream could end this, if she could munch down on solid meat. She could almost taste it.

'Snap out of it, Frailheart,' she told herself. 'We're not done yet.'

[Ten]

The rat produced a violent squeal as Redstream's claws dug into its back. It flipped onto its side in hopes of dislodging her, limbs flailing, and reached over its shoulder with vengeful jaws.

Frozenheart batted at the rat's face, claws unsheathed, trying to foil its attempts to bite Redstream as well as increase its bloodloss. Scarlet splattered the white cat's paws.

[Darky [Megan]]

Redstream froze in momentary shock, amazed that she had actually caught the rat. She pressed her claws into the rat's flesh, instinct and reason telling her that the sooner she killed it the sooner the risk of being bitten would be gone.
Meowing in thanks at the help Frozenheart provided, Redstream continued what she was doing, feeling the adrenaline slowly but surely beginning to fade away.

Speckledclaw slowed her pace as the familiar smell of rat blood filled her nostrils, telling her that the rat had been caught. She arrived at the scene and noted the messy technique Frozenheart and Redstream were using to silence the prey.
She decided to wait and sat down nearby. In this case, additional participation would probably cause more harm than good. There were already four claws and two sets of cat teeth in the fray anyways.

[Ten]

Together, Redstream and Frozenheart were enough of a force to send the rat toward its end. Even dying, however, it had enough energy to squirm and twist and gnash its teeth. In Redstream's momentary hesitation, it tried to bite her forelegs and thrashed its body in movements that, though they would not allow it to escape alive, made it more difficult for the two cats to keep hold of it.

[Thistle]

A bulky form watched this scene from a distance. Perhaps he could eat later once the other cats had killed the rat and satisfied their hunger, but that might leave nothing but bones. Slatefoot lolled his tongue out. Rat meat was exactly what he wanted after a fight.

A minute passed. A white tom and a she-cat were making good progress, but the rat would not surrender.

So he spoke, padding closer to them. "Need some help?" he offered, unsheathing his claws. He didn't wait for an answer. The tom lifted a fore paw and brought it down quickly, trying to silence the writhing rat.
Unfortunately, his aim wasn't very good; his claws landed near the rodent, but there was so much blood that he wasn't able to confirm whether or not he had caused any damage at all.

[Ten]

Frozenheart shot the newcommer a glare. They didn't need his help. Besides, he suspected that this tom was only here to get some meat for himself. A low, cautionary growl rumbled in his throat, warning Slatefoot that no one was allowed to eat until the three she-cats had their fill.

[Thistle]

The white tom growled at him.
Slatefoot was caught by surprise, and backed a few paces away. Frozenheart seemed like a formidable opponent, strong and experienced. The blue-gray cat was more of a feline who picked on the cats that seemed weaker than him. Of course, stupid cats like Grimykit were fun too.

Slatefoot masked his uncertainty by putting on an 'I don't care' look, and stepped back to watch.
He would have to wait after all.