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[Uzu]

A black cat slowly crept out of a burrow in the ground that had once housed a rabbit. Well, it obviously didn't any longer, because the rabbit was comfortably in the tom's stomach. The eyes of the small creature examined the area, keeping quiet as he stretched his limbs. On this territory, Midnight was meeting three other animals. Surely, they were all nearby, however, he didn't know how nearby they were.

Midnight crawled a little further into the territory, looking around every few minutes to make sure no patrols were nearby. Surely leaving the corpses of clan cats wouldn't be good. It wasn't like he already didn't have problems with that he didn't bury his meals half of the time, leaving scraps on WaveClan territory without thinking about it until he was a day's walk away.

"Silver?" he meowed quietly, glancing around. There weren't too many rocks, so he realized he'd have to look to the trees for the she-cat. He wasn't too worried about not spotting the foxes. They were far larger. Ivy and Shadow would be easy to spot! He looked around again, continuing his walk. He assumed that the group would probably be either completely separate or two would be together.

His ears pricked, hearing scuffling in the bushes nearby, and opened his jaws to taste the air. A juicy mouse taunted his tastebuds as he instantly dropped into a crouch, sneaking towards the creature before pouncing, easily grabbing the mouse and killing it, before sitting down, and glancing around, debating on if he should eat it now, or wait until the others came to see if any were hungrier than him. It wouldn't turn out well if his companions passed out from hunger.

[Bronze]

The dark shape of Shadow slunk around the underbrush. He saw Midnight looking up to the trees, then killing a mouse. He was probably looking for Silver. The fox couldn't understand why Silver was so intent on staying off the ground. She-cats always had been beyond him, though perhaps not so much as the other gender in his own species. He decided that he'd been waiting for Midnight to spot him long enough.
"Y'know, we don't all practically live in trees," he told the cat, stepping out of the bushes. "Great catch, by the way," he added, indicating the mouse. He stretched, revealing his full large size, then sat down.
"The stupid Clan here still hasn't noticed us. I'm positive that being in a Clan or Tribe too long does something to their brains," he remarked somewhat absently. It was true that the foursome had been hunting on the other creatures' territory for nearly a moon now, and it seemed unlikely that they'd even been discovered, much less seen. "We haven't even been hiding our kills!"

[aciddwolf]

Ears pricked, Ivy made her way towards the cat and fox. Her eyes scanned over the two, easily picking out that the fluff-ball cat was not present. It seemed she had gone unnoticed until she moved out from behind a few trees. "Aren't you glad that you aren't of a tribe, then, Shadow?" she spoke soothingly, looking between the males, thinking for a moment, as if reassuring herself that the term Tribe was correct for a fox, before nodding a little to her own thoughts.

She soon found herself sitting with her tail curling partially around her legs, a few mouselengths away from Shadow, and looked to Midnight. "I was thinking of something during my nap earlier. Your names are connected in a way. Midnight and Shadow, I found it amusing," she mused, glancing up at the sky for a moment. "Very tree-covered here. That connects to your names too. Trees make shadows," she informed the two. Though Ivy may have found it interesting to point out the obvious, she only made herself sound stupid to see the reaction of her parnters.

[Jaqi]

A brown cat, striped with black all along her body and head, peered down with green eyes from a high branch. Two foxes and a cat stood in a small clearing, surrounded by bushes. It would have been an odd sight to see foxes and cats in such proximity if it was not for the fact that this brown cat was amongst their ranks as well.

Silver lightly dropped to a branch a considerable length lower from her original one and stood there, a metre or so above her three companions, avoiding at all costs to touch the ground.

'Funny you should say that Ivy. That's exactly the kind of thing a Clan or a Tribe member would say,' she said cooly to the female fox, referring to the stupidity of her comment. Despite the fox being larger than her, Silver could never remember to keep the sarcasm out of her language.

She eyed Midnight's mouse for a while.
'We should get a move on,' she said, eyes narrowed as they normally are, 'I saw a couple of cats or foxes moving in this direction a distance away. They were far away, I can't be sure whether they're from a tribe or a clan. We can avoid a fight if we move now. Of course, after Midnight decides whether she wants to eat her kill or not.' She added, sneering slightly. Silver had no intention to be harsh, but that was the only way she knew how to present herself.

The cat leapt onto the next branch, gazing down at the three of them.

[Uzu]

Really, Midnight wasn't very surprised, when Shadow showed up, seeming to already have picked up his scent by time he came out. "Hey, Shadow," he mewed, "I know you don't live in a tree. Bigger animals are easier to spot. A small cat travelling by tree is not," he retorted. The tom was, however, a little surprised to see Ivy so close behind the other fox.

His ears twitched, fighting back a purr of amusement at how airheaded the fox could be. "You're really something else. One should wonder how you managed to live so long with those thoughts," the black cat stretched a little, spotting Silver as she spoke to Ivy. His eyes seemed to scan over the she-cat, before looking to the mouse. "Do you want it? I thought I was hungry when I heard it, but whoever wants it can have it. If it's really necessary to, I'll bring it up to you," his whiskers twitched. He did find it fairly entertaining that the cat hated the ground so much, but surely mice were not in trees.

"Seriously, you can't figure out if it was a cat or a fox?" the black cat's tail twitched, seeming a bit surprised. It was usually fairly easy to identify the two species. Just looking at the group from a distance, one would probably notice easily that two were not of the same species as the others. What an odd sight it would probably be for a clan or tribe to see. "Since we're on cat territory, shouldn't it be cats?" he blinked a few times quickly.

[Bronze]

"Wow Ivy. Midnight and Shadow and trees. That's great," Shadow told her, rolling his eyes. he was pretty sure that the female fox had won the least-understandable animal award, or would if it existed.

"Hey Silver!" he called to the she-cat that wasn't silver. He too wondered why foxes would be on a Clan's land. The rogues hadn't heard about any fox-cat alliances other than their own. "Foxes? I thought the cats and foxes here were too stupid to be one group and actually try to get more power. Why would the foxes be on Clan land?" he asked the cat. "And aren't foxes big enough to not be confused with you cats?"

He swished his black tail in the dirt, waiting for anyone to counter his logic. He'd hoped for a little more resistance on the Clans and Tribes' part. This was getting to be just plain boring. Maybe they could give an even clearer sign of their presense and attack a hunting party! Somehow he suspected that that kind of aggressive behavior wouldn't be quite so welcome in his companions' minds.

[aciddwolf]

Ivy almost seemed to be smiling at the comments she got. "Well, I have my reasons for seeming as stupid as a tribe or clan member, sometimes," she looked at the cat. "But there are connections between them, you'll have to admit."

"Actually," she looked to Shadow, "some foxes are cat sized. I don't see why there would be foxes on this territory, but I have seen some really small foxes before that could probably be around the size of an adult cat," she barked. Really, hearing about the patrol, or whatever was within the clan territory, now she only wanted to confront them. It would make her day much more interesting, however, kept her thoughts her to herself and herself alone.

"Does anyone wonder why nobody's tried to stop us? I've seen no real increase to patrols, as none have run across me yet, and by the sounds of things, they've yet to run across any of you."

[Jaqi]

Silver stared her three companions, waiting until they all finished talking.
'Finally, Ivy makes some sense,' she said, rolling her eyes.
The cat swished her tail back and forth.
'As I said,' she continued heavily, 'they were very far away. If any of you, for some reason, think you somehow have exceptionally better eyesight than me, then I welcome you to come up here and take a look for yourself. But then again, logically, it would be cats if we are in their territory. I can't be sure.'

The brown fluffy cat stalked on her branch, pacing forwards and trying to see where the other group of cats or foxes were now. But the forest was too dense, and she saw no other presence apart from themselves.

Seeing that the other rogues won't moving she jumped down onto a high rock beside Shadow.
'Look, are we moving or not? Or are we trying to provoke a fight?'

Knowing her companions, she could guess what they were thinking in their minds. But Silver, although battle-hard and strong, tended to avoid fights when neccessary. Why get her fur dirty when she didn't have to? Not to mention the possibility of landing feet first on the ground should she fall off a tree branch.

[Uzu]

Midnight looked over the two foxes, then to Silver. Ivy had made a little sense, but still, foxes and cats were normally easy to identify, even from a distance. He could have teased the cat, however, didn't really feel that starting any sort of argument at this time would be a good idea. Any animal seeing the group arguing - or even two of them - wouldn't help them look strong, or potentially dangerous. He wasn't really sure how lightly the she cat would take it.

"Well, I don't really care if we stay or if we leave," he mewed finally. "If I did, I would have started walking already. I'm waiting for everyone to decide." He looked at the mouse, pawing it once with his claws extended. "I don't want the mouse anymore," he finally decided, pushing it away from him.

[Bronze]

Shadow was about to say something, then froze. He smelled the air, and what an interesting story it told!

"Hey guys, I think we may have company pretty soon. I smell fox, and maybe cat. Guess you were right, Silver. There might be foxes here after all," he apologized to the cat. He was kind of hoping for a confrontation, but like Ivy, he didn't say anything. Hopefully the group would get pulled into a fight anyway. Then again, if they were outnumbered, maybe not so hopefully.

"I don't really care either," he lied. "But if we're going to attack, shouldn't we do it while we still have some element of surprise on our side?" he asked. He complemented himself on his tactical reasoning, and held his head a bit higher.

[aciddwolf]

Ivy looked over her companions, smelling the air. "Fox... how odd, but refreshing, to smell," she mused. "No offense to you two," she looked over the cats, "but I'm starting to get sick of just smelling cat. It's understandable, of course." She shifted. "It's strange that you were correct, though, Silver." Her tail twitched, and the vixen looked towards a few trees, then back to Shadow. "Doesn't really matter to me, one way or another, we'll be amused, right?"

======

Sandheart hurried towards the group, and hid herself behind a tree that was next to a bush, giving her a little extra concealment from the foxes and cats, her eyes widening viewing the group. Foxes and cats... together? True, it was possible, but a little surprising. She sniffed the air a little, and spotted a dead mouse near the paws of a black cat, which seemed to have no intentions of eating it. Were these the rogues that bothered each clan and tribe? Slowly, the fox began to back away, planning to hurry back to Snowstar when she was far enough away that she wouldn't be spotted.

[Jaqi]

At the other's comments, Silver smirked. She felt no need to gloat over something she was correct about when the others openly accepted that she was right. Presently, her keen nose picked up the presence of foxes.
The brown cat, her fur as unkempt as ever, leapt up the nearest tree and up several branches until she reached the middle height of the tree.

There, her narrowed eyes detected movement. It was only slight and had the figure not moved, she would not have seen it at all. She could just make out a tanned coloured animal moving slowly backwards.

'Midnight, Shadow! Behind you!' Silver growled, her fur bristling.



ooc: as acddwolf wrote 'Ivy looked over her companions', i'm gonna assume that Sandheart was closest to Midnight and Shadow..

[Uzu]

Midnight shifted a little, examining his mouse again, then looked at Ivy, "no offense taken. You smell pretty bad too, in numbers, at least." He lifted his head, hearing Silver say something, only taking a second to process the thing stated. Something was there.

"Shocking," he meowed in sarcasm, leaping onto a small rock, and then leapt towards the fox, and then moved towards the rock, "anyone want to entertain themselves with a tan furball tonight?" he meowed, his claws extended.

[Bronze]

Shadow chuckled darkly, and stood up. The small fox was probably too terrified to move. Situations like this must overload Tribe foxes' already limited little heads. He did a great running leap over the tan fox, just to display the power of his superior size.

"Be nice Midnight. It looks like she's just a pup that wandered away form her mother. Oh wait, it's full grown! Who knew that being in a Tribe stunted their growth as well as their minds?" he teased in a voice dripping with cruel sarcasm. He bared his teeth at the tiny thing, and laughed coldly again. "I don't see why we should even bother with this one, guys. She's not big enough to put up much of a fight, and that's what makes it fun."

Inside, Shadow was bubbling over with glee. This whole thing might be worth their while if some of her friends showed up. This one was clearly only here to use her small size to spy on the four. It was unlikely that she was really expected to fight.

[aciddwolf]

Ivy jumped up onto the rock that Midnight had launched himself off of, her paws fitting almost uncomfortably on the rock, as she looked around. "Surely a small fox is not all alone?" Surely, she meant that she was looking out for others. The fox shifted slightly every few seconds, trying to focus on any movement in the scenery beyond her companions.

===

Sandheart let out a quick yelp of surprise, knowing it should carry to at least one of the ears of her tribemates. She jumped backwards, managing to avoid the claws of the black cat, but found herself almost instantly in the path of the large fox that hovered over her now, after his jump. Really, the sandy pelted fox wasn't afraid of him, compared to seeing Bramblestar, this fox was nothing.

Healers weren't expected to fight. They were rarely thought to be allowed to fight, by young cats and foxes. Especially in the gentle fox's mind. Her eyes widened a little, in a second of intimidating, before emitting a small growl, "get off this territory, and any other!" she barked loudly, baring her canines at both the cat and the fox, her head whipping between the two. It seemed she was debating which to focus on. Her eyes layed on the fox. Though small, she found it an advantage when it came to attacking vital points, which would be harder to reach with the small cat, which was probably only around her size. Remember what I was taught as an apprentice, she thought, before jumping at the fox's throat, planning to take a bite into it.

Though Sandheart was more a lover than a fighter, but rogues were rogues, and she didn't want to be devoured by two cats and foxes. She didn't want her tribe to look down on her for dying to cats, especially, and Bramblestar, who despised cats. He would never let Roaring Skies forget if a tribe member, especially of a high rank, lost their life to a cat. Rogues did nothing for her or the tribe, and did not believe in the Tribe of Countless Stars. This was to defend herself. Her tribe, and everything else. She had to at least prove that the rogues would have more to deal with if they stayed in anyone's territory than they had thought. Tribes weren't stupid. These intruders were. If she couldn't hold them off until her tribe got to her, what would others think? What would she think with her last breath? She didn't want to have either happen.