nothing so soothing as /blood/

[Ten]

That settled it, then. If Rainstripe said she was ready, she was ready, and there was no point discussing it any further -- although if she or Speckledclaw had a strategy they'd like to share, he wouldn't mind employing it, even though he figured they could get along well enough without one.

Now for the selection. Frozenheart kneaded his paws on the stone beneath them, eying the nearby rodents. Some of the more wary ones eyed him back. Their hunting party was small, so they must look for a rat that wasn't too fast or skilled at slipping away. However, he and Speckledclaw wouldn't have a problem taking down a rat with strength. Something big and slow would do. Something like... that young male a few tail-lengths from the wall.

[Darky [Megan]]

Speckledclaw nodded, unsatisfied at Rainstripe's tone of voice and turned around to go to where Frozenheart stood. She scanned the area, sizing up the available prey, and eventually found the same rat Frozenheart was looking at.

She gave him a nod to clarify that they had selected their target, and dipped into a crouch. Once Rainstripe was poised to hunt, they would begin.

[duckyaisha]

Rainstripe silently crept around until she was behind the rat they had indicated, her body pressed down against the sand. Slowly, she scanned the area, making sure Frozenheart and Speckledclaw were in position. The new part of her was awakening eagerly now as the familiar scent of rat flooded the she-cat's nose. Should she give in? It might make her a better hunter, but what if she lost control? It was safer to simply hunt on her own, and try and keep it at bay.

[Ten]

Frozenheart crouched and moved to the rat's right, blue eyes locked on his target as he sneaked closer. If Rainstripe wanted to take the hind position, she'd have to keep up -- but with her long legs, that shouldn't be a problem. Speckledclaw's duty would be to help him cut it off from escape. It wouldn't do to have all three of them chasing after the thing, he thought, unaware that the rat had noticed his unblinking stare. The hair rose along its spine, and it bolted.

[Darky [Megan]]

Speckledclaw darted after the rat as it sprinted away. It was young and quite healthy, so a good long chase was more than necessary to take it down, but she would need to hand the task over to some other cat to avoid getting tuckered out.

The rat eventually led her running after it with Rainstripe right in their path, and Speckledclaw decided she would try a pounce anyway, since Rainstripe was still there to keep the chase going if she should fail. She leapt into the air, claws and teeth bared, and landed just a few inches away from the startled rat, which abruptly changed course the second it realised Rainstripe was in its way.

[duckyaisha]

The rat had been running straight towards her for a few seconds, and as she fought with the violent part of her mind- having finally decided to call it the Other- for dominance, it noticed her, turned sharply, and ran in a different direction, sending a wave of sand towards the she-cat. Startled, she barely had time to notice the fleeing thing before the Other took control of her mind totally and completely, throwing her real personality aside with little effort. Terrified, she was shocked to realize just how little resistance she had been able to put up before it overpowered her. She had never imagined it being so strong.

She heard a loud squeal and looked down to see a piece of the rat's tail in her claws, with the rodent still squirming frantically, trying to escape. She hadn't even noticed as the Other commanded her body to run, leap, stab with claws that were, she realized, feeling sick at the thought, longing for blood. Her whole body wanted the stuff, and the smell and sight of it, usually enough to make her light-headed with fear, was making her light-headed with pleasure. As the feeling came over her, her grip on the rat relaxed by a fraction and it took off.

Rainstripe blinked, finally back in control of her body as the Other remained focused on the rats' spilled blood. She dashed after it, long legs flying as she pounded the sand with her paws. The chase was difficult, as the rat was now realizing just how much danger it was in as it ran for its' life. Finally she succeeded in chasing it towards Frozenheart, at which point the Other finally snapped back to attention. /Ha,/ Rainstripe thought as she rested for a bit, trying to catch her breath. Despite the fact that the Other had taken control of her mind, she had managed to chase the rat without it interfering. Maybe it would be gone forever soon.

[Ten]

Rainstripe and her claws were most prominent in the rat's mind and getting away from her its main priority, until Frozenheart's presence registered in its brain. It swerved left, but it had already come close enough to the white tom for his running pounce to hit its mark. His claws dug fresh wounds in its hind-quarters and he bit down on the rodent's spine. Pinned and shrieking, it squirmed and flipped its anterior to reach toward him with its gaping jaws.

[duckyaisha]

Rainstripe was gloating over her recent victory with the Other. It lurked in the back of her mind, sulking, though she now knew that it would definitely return, at least for now. If she continued, it might leave her head altogether, but fantasies aside, that was a long way off. She was content with it staying silent, at least, as content as one could be with something that was most definitely not them inside their head.

However, her mental victory celebration was cut short as she heard a loud, piercing shriek. It carried the uncanny sound of a creature in pain. Rainstripe felt a shiver of fear run up her spine as the Other bounded to the front of her head, sniffing the air, searching for where the sound had come from. The she-cat planted her feet firmly, trying to chase it out of her head. /Go away!/ she thought, though her desperate words had a hint of a pleading tone to them.

She located the source of the sound- the rat pinned under Frozenheart's strong claws. Blood once again spurted from the creature's wounds, giving the Other strength. It pushed at the barrier Rainstripe had put in front of it, shoving itself with all its strength at it, though its attempts had looked feeble before, now its constant ramming seemed to be wearing it down. The rat then tried to attack Frozenheart, and the Other burst through the wall, taking full control of the she-cat's mind once again. It moved her legs and paws until she found herself in front of the rat. It tore the rat from Frozenheart's grasp and slashed at its head.

That was only the beginning. Ignoring the small scratches that peppered her body -its body- the Other bashed the rat's skull, tore off the legs, gouged deep claw marks in its flank that cut it down to the ribs. Rainstripe tried desperately to hold it back, but it was like holding back a flood. Finally, when the Other had grabbed hold of the mutilated creature's tail, she summoned as much strength as she had left inside, and flung it aside. It fought for a few minutes, but it had done its work, and retreated to the dark corner of her mind that Rainstripe had begun to fear.

Now she examined the rat more closely. It was barely recognizable as one, looking more like a hunk of already devoured meat than a freshly killed rat. Disgusted at what she had done, Rainstripe moved her trembling paws a few steps away from the rat and retched, throwing up the meager meal she had eaten earlier. Her whole body trembled with effort, exhaustion, and fear. Each slow pawstep led her in a random direction, as she was sure neither Speckledclaw nor Frozenheart ever wanted to see her again. Eventually she collapsed against the wall, eyes staring blankly at the sand, more shocked than scared right now. But that would change.

[Darky [Megan]]

Speckledclaw had seen things being torn apart many times over before, but watching Rainstripe of all cats do it instilled a sense of blind panic inside the warrior that she had not come across for a very long time. It was a mortifying sight, seeing Rainstripe tear the rat apart with a ferocity that seemed to have disturbingly uncertain undertones, like Rainstripe wasn't quite sure of what she was doing.

Eyes fixed on the rat's flying limbs, Speckledclaw unconciously took a step back from the scene, and stopped as soon as she realised she was backing away. It wouldn't do for Rainstripe to think she was turning into a creature that others would be afraid of approaching, but in all honesty, Speckledclaw was starting to get a little cautious about the she-cat. She was behaving far strangely than any other cat of that age she had ever seen, even after witnessing gory murders. Feeling irritated, uncertain and helpless, she turned to look at Frozenheart. She wasn't feeling very hungry at the moment. She cast a glance at the pool of vomit Rainstripe had left on the sand, and sat down, shaking her head quite slowly.

[duckyaisha]

Rainstripe was shaking, curled up so close to the wall, she wouldn't be surprised if there were stick imprints in her skin.Truthfully, it wasn't helping very much. The horrific scene played over and over in her mind; she seemed unable to turn it off. To make matters worse, each time it reached the part where she had dismembered the poor rat, the Other slunk out of its corner. Rainstripe always managed to beat it back, but she was afraid of being caught off-guard and having it take her over again.

The initial sock had worn off somewhat and she felt a strange ache. Checking herself, she realized the rat had injured her worse than she had originally thought. Long claw marks disrupted the tabby patterns on her flank, and her left front paw was bitten badly. A few small gashes on her face dripped blood onto the sand, strengthening the Other. /Oh, no/ thought Rainstripe. /This is my own blood. There's no way I'm going to let you take over because I'm dripping blood./ She accompanied this with a mental shove of the thing, putting it in the back of her mind where it belonged. Actually, it didn't belong in her head at all, but that wasn't achievable yet.

She was still terrified and confused, of course, enough so that she couldn't feel the hunger raging in her belly. Her fur was matted with sand, but she didn't notice. She needed help, real help. No other cat had ever felt this way, she thought, though she couldn't be sure. It was possible there were tons of cats with their own Others but it was kind of unlikely.

Then she looked over at Speckledclaw. The she-cat was moving cautiously, carefully, as if afraid any sudden movement would mean her death. A feeling of revulsion once again came over Rainstripe as she realized it was because of her. "I didn't mean to do it," she whispered to the wall. Then louder, "It wasn't me!" The words came out of her mouth before she realized how crazy they sounded, but maybe it would help, somehow. Maybe.