fisherman's pier [open]

It was in fact a dreary day in the Riverclan camp. Ashenmask found it difficult to shake the last bits of sleep from his bones, even after attending the dawn patrol this morning. All was silent, even the prey- though still plentiful. He sat in front of the warrior's den for a few moments, trying to collect his thoughts for a few moments. His tail wrapped neatly around his paws he sat observing the life of the clan cats around him move forward, while his sat on pause while he figured out what he was going to do with himself to be productive. The apprentices had cared for the elders, the dawn patrol he had been on brought back a couple of pieces of prey, however the pile looked a little dwindling- even in Greenleaf. It was clear that some warriors had not been on a hunting patrol yet on this cool grey morning. A small breeze ruffled through his bi-colored fur, making him shiver. It was too cool for Greenleaf, and he hated the cold. Most of the time in leaf-bare he spent either complaining about the cold or curled up in his nest trying to escape it hoping the warmth from his body would in turn warm his nest. He shifted his striking blue gaze into the warriors den, picking out his nest from the rest of them, even if it looked like a normal lump of moss and other soft things that he had managed to find to weave together it looked different to him because that is what he considered his "home base" of operations most of the time. It's where he slept, it's where he conversed, and it's where he spent his time to think about what was going on in the clan and what he could do to help out. Today, however, he decided to do this outside of his home base and watch life in the clan camp continue throughout the day. He recognized the warriors that were in camp by name, however one was not among the rest, a pretty little she-cat known as Cypressflower. Ashenmask had secretly kept his eyes on her, never saying a word however- he didn't know if pursuing his interest would make his firey sister Embersky jealous. He cringed at the thought of his sister's jealous wrath. But he soon got over it when he had a brilliant idea- maybe he would go hunting, maybe catch a few fish to bring back for later.

He took a second glance at the fresh-kill pile as he perused past it, tail held high as he seemingly, aimlessly wandered over to the camp entrance, taking a look back at the camp to make sure at least one cat had seen him leave "I'm going on a hunting patrol!" he decided to announce his leaving the camp, just so cats would know where he was. He didn't like to have his loyalty questioned for going to catch some fish when most cats had thought he had left to do something dumb. Most cats in the clan seemed to not like Ashenmask, sometimes they questioned his loyalty when he went out hunting frequently, when in essence he just wanted to get away and to clear his own head.

He sighed as he stepped into the reeds that surrounded the clan camp. Walking slowly with his maw parted slightly, drinking in the scents of the hazy day. The air tasted stagnant, even if there was a slight breeze, he screwed up his face- stagnant air meant easy hunting but it left an extremely awful tasted within his mouth. He swiped his tongue around his lips, stopping for a moment praying to Starclan that the stagnant humid taste would soon be rid from his mouth. His eyes flicked upward in his stance staring angrily at the grey covered sky "Stupid clouds, why don't you just bring the sun back! Make my hunting easier..." he mumbled to himself, the end of his sentence wavering as he looked back down to his inky black paws, thrashing his tail somewhat annoyed that it had to be cloudy today. He shook his head and continued to pad onward toward the direction of the lake. He couldn't make up his mind whether or not he would go to the half-bridge and risk being seen by the numerous twoleg kits that would run around and make their thunderous noises as they drank from shiny cans and splashed about in the water scaring the fish away, or just go a little way south and head to the shore of the lake to find a pool of little silvery fish that he could easily catch and bring back to camp. He shrugged deciding to skip the lake all together and head over to the stream, he knew some of the larger fish will be in the shallows soaking up the warmth that remained in the water from the sunny and warm day that was yesterday. He quickly turned tail and headed towards the stream that flowed through the Riverclan territory. Stopping every few seconds to taste the stagnant air.

Luckily the stream wasn't too far from where he had ventured. As he padded forward, he quickly stopped, his ears pricked as he heard splashing about in the stream. Opening his maw slightly he tested the air. Though it was hard to determine the different scents through the stagnant taste of humidity that their territory received on cloudy days in Greenleaf, he could pick out the scent and sound of the rushing stream, the scent of fish and blood, and the scent of a riverclan cat. It took him a moment to think of who it could be, and he took another drink of the air around him. After some thought he figured out the cat that he has now come into contact with "Cypressflower..." a wave of curiosity washed through him, however he was entirely relaxed, ready to impress. He checked himself over, making sure his coat was perfectly groomed. He nodded in approval and then stepped forward out of the clump of reeds that he was standing in. His blue eyes fixed on the female and the situation that she was in. The long-furred female was crouched over a fish, her tail calmly waving back and forth and she waited for the fish to stop twitching in it's final moments, her blue eyes fixed directly on the silvery creature very intently. He didn't want to startle her, so silently he padded until he was directly in front of her and sat down, curling his tail neatly around his paws before he spoke "What is a pretty little thing like you doing out here hunting alone..?" he paused for a moment looking briefly at the she-cat, and then to the stream "I'd be more than happy to help if you'd like." a smile formed on his face as he paused for a moment to watch the stream rush over the larger rocks that sat in it before looking back to the she-cat his eyes glowing with excitement.

He kept his blue eyes on the female, he fluffy fur whisking around in the soft breeze that had been blowing, to the relief of Ashenmask, the stagnant air was beginning to feel almost suffocating to him. It seemed to take her a long moment to think of the warrior of which she was looking at, blinking owlishly at him, her blue eyes glowing with thought as she stared at him in that moment. A sly smile graced his lips as he waited for her response. When she had finally recognized who she was looking at she had sat up from her crouch, mimicking the position he was in, her long fluffy tail with inky black markings on it- similar to his- wrapped itself neatly around her paws. When she had finally sat up completely, his back went rigid. He noticed the slight difference in size between himself and the lovely female that sat before him, he almost found himself looking down on her- no thanks to his long slightly spindly legs he would guess- After she had registered his comment, he noticed her fur fluff up slightly, her eyes glowed with interest almost as intensely as his had. "My comment went over well then, I'd assume." he internally praised himself as he watched the female, waiting for her to respond, the sly smile still sat upon his maw. He almost felt as if his paws were tingling slightly, the tip of his tail as well. He thought about it for along moment and decided that he liked the feeling. He quickly pulled his gaze from the female to set it back on the rushing stream again, shimmers of fish in the water flashed in his vision, and excitement about the hunt ran through him like a lightning strike. When he noticed he was loosing his focus, he wrenched his eyes away from the stream and the faint silver glimmers of fish and set it back upon the female that sat in front of him. Paws and tail still tingling slightly, sly smile still upon is visage. She now returned the smile that Ashenmask was now seemingly wearing permanently- he had no control over his facial muscles at this point.

She straightened herself up completely, smoothing her fur out- it had been sticking out in strange angles from the water, and once it had been made smooth she spoke "I noticed how small the fresh-kill pile is, and decided to do something about it." she mewed her eyes twinkling slightly, she took a pause for a short moment, her head falling slightly to one side before she spoke once again "But there wasn't anyone else going out on a patrol, so I had to go alone." She paused once more, her eyes wide as she stared at him, her head still slightly tilted to one side when she finally answered the second part of his question "Now that you're here, though, I'd love some company." She cooed to him, his eyes glimmered with interest as she fell silent. His sly smile grew slightly, almost into a full grin "I must look extremely stupid at this point... he silently reprimanded himself as he watched the female closely. A short, simple movement from her caught his eye, tilting her head into the other direction ever so slightly and lifting her chin up high, he could tell that his comment had gone over well in her mind. She was preening over it, and holding back to say something that would force him to say more- he could tell. His eyes glimmered in amusement for the female and he could not help but no hold his tongue "Anything for a lady such as yourself, Cypressflower." the words fell gracefully from his mouth, and once his sentence finished he threw a small wink at her, and then proceeded to turn his head to the water once more.

Movement from the female had grasped his attention as she lifted one paw from the muddy riverbank, and then placed it down just a little harder to get to the packed earth underneath. He watched her bury the fish in the most precise hole he had ever seen dug to hide prey in, ever, and then daintily place the fish right in the center of it. "I haven't been here long, so I've only caught the one so far." She mewed, quickly looking up from the fish she had buried and smiled at him. All in one fluid motion she returned to the edge of the river, jumping down into a crouch once more. She had settled herself close to him at the edge of the river, her thick fur brushed against him as she breathed, her tail flicking him in the shoulder before it centered itself to balance her. The felling of her fur brushing against his amplified the tingling feeling in his paws. He felt pleasantly warm.

When he pulled himself out of his own head, his eyes glittered with interest, he proceeded to move in the same fluid motion that the female had done, nestling himself into a fishing crouch as close to her as possible without disturbing her focus, and just far away enough so when he struck at the water he would not hit her with his paw or with the water. Usually when he fished he favored his right paw, which was exactly the same side that the female sat beside him. Slowly his focus turned razor sharp on the water in front of him, he shifted his weight so his right paw was poised and ready to strike. Excitement of the hunt was beginning to overwhelm him slightly, amplified by the female that sat beside him. Slowly he started to lose himself in the water in front of him, waiting for a silvery shape to swim below his paw. The anticipation was beginning to kill him slightly.

She smirked at his comment, and his eyes glowed. He was in. Excitement shot through his body as she crouched by the shore with the female. His paw still poised to catch a fish at any moment. He was so used to hunting and fishing alone that he was ready to impress the female even further with something other than his flattery. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her give the fluffy fur on her chest a couple of licks. She turned to study Ashenmask's features for a short moment before mewing coyly "Flatterer", her comment made him smile and he looked to her to think of a response. His sly smile grew as he though of the perfect response to throw at the female "It's not flattery if it's true." he purred to the female, swishing his tail so it touched her flank. He waited a brief moment before turning his eyes back to the water. He placed his paw down on the muddy riverbank to re-adjust his fishing crouch, quickly lifting his paw once more, poised to strike at a fish once again after regaining his balance. 

Both his and the females attention was wrenched away from each other when a small splash echoed from the stream. His eyes quickly flicking to the surface of the stream a few rabbit hops into the stream. Ripples broke the pristine surface of the stream where I fish had previously disturbed it. He saw a flash of silver within the water and his excitement grew. He stifled a small laugh when he realized the fish had breached the surface to be able to catch a leaf that had fallen onto the surface of the water, and it was now swimming down to the bottom with a large leaf sticking from its mouth as it gummed at it. His eyes sparkled with amusement as he looked to the female, who was obviously amused by the mouse-brained actions of the fish. 

He could feel her tail swishing back and forth, the air created from her fluffy tail brushed across his sleek short coat, a shiver went down his spine but he did not care, his mind was elsewhere. He could see her adjusting to get a better view of the surface of the stream- Now, if this was his sister he would have pushed her into the stream and died of laughter as his sister pulled herself from the stream, her fur clogged with water, she would spit insults at him as the two of them meandered back to camp, but he would not dare ruin his chances with this female by ruining her silken fluffy coat with the water of the stream. As she adjusted her tail brushed down the length of his flank and down his tail, the tingling in his paws began again, this time with more intensity. He couldn't help but purr quietly, he couldn't help but feel like this female will have him wrapped around her paw by the end of their hunting excursion, and he did not care.

He placed his paw down on the muddy ground once more, his inky paws kneading at the soft muddy earth of the riverbank, though it was muddy it was not slippery like it was in leaf-bare, he knew because with all of this nervous shifting he was doing right now he would have surely slipped into the stream at this point, though he was definitely far from afraid of taking a little dip he wouldn't want to make himself look like such an oaf in front of the female. He re positioned himself into a fishing crouch and waited. The female was still, it seemed like she had been lost in thought for an eternity at this point. 

A quick flash of silver jumped in front of her, and made it's way toward him. She may have been distracted, however he was far from it. As the fish reached the perfect striking point, his inky paw shot into the water with force, he quickly scooped the fish from the water, claws grabbing into it's rough scales as it flew from the stream and onto the bank. He quickly moved to the fish- without bumping the female- he pinned the fish down and gave it a quick bit in the exact place that his mentor had shown him. Killing the silvery being with one swift bite. Once the fish had stopped twitching, he picked it up by the tail and carried it over to the place where she had placed her first fish. He dropped it into the hole that Cypressflower had dug and turned to her. Frustration clearly spread across her face.

He padded up to her side, and placed a tender lick just behind her ear "Don't be frustrated. We still got another fish." he purred to her in a comforting tone. He blinked at the female awaiting for her response. He laid down next to her, wrapping his tail around himself, the tip of his tail landing between his front legs. The tip of his tail twitched slightly as he looked back out onto the surface of the stream.