There's No Stream, So Why an Eel?

[Zeitung]

Heron

---

Chiara walked around. They were extremely tired, from both lack of sleep and the fact that despite hunting all morning, they hadn't been able to catch anything. They sighed, sitting down. Before long, a mouse scurried across their field of vision. Crouching low, Chiara stayed silent, slowly creeping up to the mouse. Quickly, they pounced, only to have the little animal run away with a loud squeak. Collapsing in defeat, they realized they'd probably go hungry, at least for now. This was unusual, usually Chiara was a good hunter and fed themselves well. Thus, they weren't very good at dealing with hunger. Their stomach growled, but they ignored it, lying down in an attempt to sleep, though it wouldn't come.

[Heron]

Eeltail slicked along the Sunsetclan border, deciding that it was best to give a quick patrol before she fell back in an attempt to hunt. Her lean, slick pelt shined and stood out grossly against the snow, her belly dragging a snow path as she crouched. Ears alert, and jaw wide, she inhaled. What was this? The scent of another passed along her tongue and she stiffened slightly. Her muscles flexed as she crept along the border, stepping over it carefully. Here, she was unprotected, but she knew that she could easily pass back over into the safety if a random, hungry rogue were to try to pick her off. Let them try!

She spotted the other creature sitting in the snow, looking defeated. Right away, Eeltail knew this was not one of their own, nor another clan cat from a different clan. A kittypet, perhaps? Upon closer inspection she could see no collar, so Eeltail stood her ground and lifted her head. Daringly, she approached the other cat with enough of a safe distance in case a fight broke out. "A bit close to our border to be sleeping, rogue." Eeltail warned, one of her hind feet still on the safe side of Sunsetclan. She truthfully didn't know if this was a rogue - one of the troublesome cats that roamed in their own groups - or a loner, a simple cat that was not trustworthy but liked to be alone. She braced herself.

[Zeitung]

Chiara was startled by a voice. Tearing their eyes open, they jumped, putting more distance between the clan cat and theirself. They usually would have tried to appear unaffected by the cat's sudden appearance, but honestly, they couldn't be bothered right now. Ear flat against their head in fear and confusion, they spoke. "I'm not hurting anybody, and I'm close to the border, not on it..." They said, trailing off. Though they did retaliate against the cat verbally, for most it wouldn't be much once you put into consideration that Chiara was finding it hard to stand.

[Heron]

"Hurting anybody doesn't matter." eeltail replied cautiously, eyeing the cat in front of her. She stayed where she stood, noticing that the cat was regarding her with flattened ears and a bit of fear. "Why are you so close to our border?" She was going to come off as bit paranoid, but with the sickness and the leaf bare she couldn't take a chance with stray cats trying to find food on their territory.

[Zeitung]

"Why wouldn't I be?" They spat back, surprised at how argumentative they were being. Usually, Chiara would simply walk away. "I'm not actually tressingpassing, so what does it matter? I'm just trying to find some food, okay?" They said, rolling their eyes. They had realized something - be hungry made them snappy. Interesting. Regaining some more posture, Chiara stood up and put their ears back upright. "I've seen your clan's warriors close to the border as well, why don't us loners verbally - or physically - assault you guys? Perhaps it's because you don't actually cross over, hm"