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

[Darky [Megan]]

Speckledclaw had been annoyed at the interference of the newcomer and stood up, meaning to talk to Slatefoot and tell him off. The tom's behaviour was irking her - it was impossible for her to sit still.

"'Scuse me," Speckledclaw snapped roughly, "That was completely uncalled for, and a nuisance of an act. If yer one of those scavengers you'd best be scraping leftovers somewhere else."

Redstream had been watching Slatefoot and a twinge of amusement and fright leapt up inside her as she watched Speckledclaw approach the tom. She focused back on the rat. There was really a lot of blood ... was it still alive?

[Ten]

Frozenheart relaxed when Slatefoot retreated, if only by a few steps. With a bloodstained paw, he nudged the rat toward Redstream. It twitched once, twice, and then was still.

He then lifted his eyes to Speckledclaw and nodded, signaling both that he agreed with her and that she needn't say any more. He trusted Slatefoot not to bother them further. His blue eyes slipped back to the gray tom - this time not in a glare, just a look. Unlike Grimykit, this one didn't look stupid.

[Thistle]

Slatefoot uttered a menacing hiss in response to Speckledclaw's words, his blue-gray fur beginning to bristle. He shuffled backward slightly to give her room to eat, but didn't go any farther.
He had made up his mind; he was going to eat, whether they welcomed him or not.

But not yet.

[Darky [Megan]]

Speckledclaw emitted a low growl at the tom's reaction and turned around, noting Frozenheart's signals. From what she could see, the white tom was a silent one, and the warrior wondered why. However, she wasn't about to go poking her nose in to other cats' business, so she settled with padding over and sitting by Redstream.

Redstream uttered a 'Thanks' in reply at the white tom's action, bent her head and began to eat. She finished her meal quickly, rose, and set to cleaning the blood off her paws. Speckledclaw looked around, recalling a third she-cat, and noted Frailheart.

"Come here, you, and fill your stomach," she said pointedly. She would be the last of the she-cats to eat. It was something she had done all throughout her life, just for the minute feeling of pride and generosity she got from it. It was one of those funny little things, she had told herself.

[Gosh]

Frailheart smiled, only half wondering why Speckledclaw offered it to her first. She padded towards the rat and ate her fill - although she made sure to leave enough for Speckledclaw and Frozenheart. She rose and stepped back. "This rat hunt was very satisfying," she purred.

The yellow she-cat glanced at Slatefoot. What business did he have, just sitting there waiting? Frailheart realized that he must be hungry, a scavenger, just as she always was. Except this time.

She had never offered her help, though, and she had always waited for everyone else to finish, and only then did she pad forward to see if she had been left anything. Was she any better than this tom scavenger? He didn't seem as thin as a stick (the words her father had always used to describe her), but could she blame him for trying to get a morsel?

She shook her head. Today was supposed to be a good day. She had had a real meal, for once. She began to smile again.

[Darky [Megan]]

Speckledclaw nodded when Frailheart stepped back and bent her head to eat. She took several small bites, for she meant to hunt again soon, simply for the thrill of it. Stepping back, the she-cat made way for Frozenheart to eat his share.

"Indeed," Redstream said, agreeing with Frailheart's statement. "I don't get to eat rat very often, actually. I've never been too good of a hunter. Yourself, do you hunt often?" The cat proposed the question suddenly, meaning to start up a polite conversation. She felt happy and satisfied after her meal and wanted to relax.

[Ten]

Disgusted with the lingering tom, Frozenheart took the rat carcass in his claws and flung it toward him, sending it sliding in the dust. He had already eaten enough for the day and Slatefoot was enough to ruin his appetite. While he understood that some cats were scavengers, there were was a certain code he expected them to abide by. Otherwise, they were not much higher than thieves.

[Gosh]

Frailheart watched Frozenheart give the rest of the carcass to Slatefoot. Why had he thrown away a good piece of food? Then again, Frozenheart was not like Frailheart. 'He must go on rat hunts a lot,' she thought, eying the tom. 'He looks almost well-fed.'

Generosity. Frailheart could understand that; long ago, she had lived on it. But Frozenheart's expression was not a happy one. Frailheart was not familiar with the scowl on his face; she had never seen him actually mad.
So the question remained: if he was scowling, why had he given the scavenger what he wanted?

Realizing that Redstream had asked her a question, Frailheart broke her gaze from the two toms and meowed to the she-cat casually, "Oh, I don't hunt rat much. Just every so often. I'm not the risk-taking type, mind you."

[Thistle]

Slatefoot blinked in surprise when the dead rat came flying out from the group of cats and landed with a thump! on the ground. He hadn't expected that, not at all. But still, food was food, and he pounced on the carcass, snapping at the meat that clung onto the rat's bones.

He swallowed, his belly now comfortably full. I bet that tom expects me to thank him now, thought Slatefoot with disgust. But he dipped his large head anyway and mumbled a barely audible "thanks".

Now what? There wasn't really anything to do right now; no cats to fight, no prey to hunt. (Well, he guessed he could hunt, but the rat meat was making his mind foggy and his body lazy.)

The gray tom swept his tongue over his lips and padded away from the group, but he went slowly and held his head high to show that he was not leaving because they wanted him to, but because he did.
A yawn escaped his jaws. Perhaps he should find a nice place to sleep.

[Darky [Megan]]

Speckledclaw was sharing Frailheart's thoughts at the moment, but the all-too-familiar voice in her head once again reminded her that it was none of her business, and thus she had no right to interfere. She watched Slatefoot leaving and let out a low hiss in annoyance. Really, these kind of cats ... She turned to Frozenheart and said, simply, "He's not worth it at all. Forget about it." Those were words her father had spoken to her a while ago, back when there was a time where she constantly (nearly) got into fights.

Redstream nodded in response, but found the other she-cat's expression off-setting. She had been looking at that white tom. Redstream had seen him give Slatefoot the remnants of the rat, and had been surprised, but then the answer, surprisingly, had come quite casually to her. "He must have eaten earlier," she said, without knowing she was speaking. "Some cats hunt just for the thrill."

As she spoke, she recalled the adrenaline that had pumped in her blood minutes ago and cast a glance at Speckledclaw.