a walk in the park ? {OPEN!}

[snow !?]

brightspark
breeder of riverclan

Brightspark paced towards the perfectly circular - too circular to be natural - pond filled with catfish. She knew she was in a little danger fishing on her own - some of those fish were her own size! - but she knew that if she was planning to have kits sometime soon, she would have to bulk up or risk losing one or two of them to dysentery or malnutrition. She had gone through the heartbreak of having a runt die in her first litter and she knew how hard it was to know it was all her fault, that if she had just tried a little harder she could have saved the kit. But she was not going to get hung up on the 'what if?'s. That would only serve to send her into spiralling depression.

Staring into her rippling reflection, Brightspark smiled at herself, instantly cheering herself up. A smile always saved her from the bad thoughts. Dipping a paw into the crystal clear waters, she yelped loudly as a huge fish glided past her with that eerie feeling of icky scales that fish always had. She was a Riverclan cat, born and bred, and she had this. She had this. Dipping in again, claws outstretched, she grimaced in sheer determination. Leaning even far over the pool, further, further she stretched, under almost all her weight was over the shimmering water surface. If she just stretched a little further, she would be in reach of a perfect-sized catfish swimming idly just over there. Concentrate, Bright, you need this. Think of the orphaned kits in the den. Think of those kits you're going to have! She stretched out as far as she could, and even further when-

Sploosh. Gasping for air but only breathing liquid, Brightspark surfaced with a rush of glorious, life-giving oxygen flooding into her lungs. She was alive, she had not drowned in this fake pool. But drowning was now the least of her worries. Treading water - like every Riverclan kit is trained to do from the moment they are old enough to walk - she watched in horror as a huge block of the squirming, slick grey bodies swam towards her, teeth bared and whiskers trailing in the water. Pawing desperately at the pseudo-bank with her claws and teeth, she could not get a purchase on the muddy ground. "Hel-" she gurgled, going under as a fish the size of her body bit down hard on her leg and pulled her under. Fighting to the surface, she got in one good lungful of breath and managed to scream out before she was fighting for her life, blood - her own and from the swarming fish - staining the now-murky waters. "Help me!"

[Elmo]

Rainlegs
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After seeing to the days patrols, both hunting and boarder, and listening to all the problems her clan mates had to dish out, the Representative of Riverclan had stuck out on her own. She was not a cat who enjoyed the company of others, nor was she a holder of great patience. She was short tempered and moody, but she hadn't been chosen to help run the clan because she was popular and kind, it had been because she knew how to lead a group, how to fight and organize. Of course, her struggle to get this far had not earned her many friends. Her days where lonely, filled with nothing but duty. It was an existence that only made her more moody, and more snappy. But she didn't mind because in her mind, friends didn't matter. Keeping the clan alive did.

She rolled her muscled shoulders as she turned to follow the stone path, eyes a mixture of the sea and sun fixing on her hunting spot. She pride herself in being just as good a hunter as she was a fighter, and the Catfish Lake was the best place to prove her skills. Of course, one must always practice caution when hunting at the two-leg made pool, for there were fish that swam in its depths that would rather eat them. They had lost an apprentice or two to the cat eating fish. She was close enough now to hear the water, splashing. Her ears perked, splashing? Her pace quickened, curious now, were the fish jumping about? A question answered when a scream sounded in the air.

Rarely was she ever surprised, but the sound had been so close, so frightened she jumped. But the shock was quick to fade and with a determined glare she bound forward, muscle rippling under a chocolate pelt. She paused only to leap onto the ledge, pausing once again, but only long enough to register the cat. Leaning down she snatched at Brightsparks scruff, pulling her forward and out of the water.

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Snow, snow, its here to stay, raining blood on my heart today

[snow !?]

brightspark
breeder of riverclan

Desperately yanking the thin but painful teeth out of her hindleg, Brightspark snapped at another fish, the salty taste flooding her mouth with both the water and the blood. She was about to give up all hope of ever getting out when suddenly she felt a fierce force yank her up by the scruff. Was it a handsome tom, perhaps a loner, come to rescue her? Or maybe one of her own clan? She lay, eyes closed and exhausted, on the bank and panted, spitting out the water which still lay in the bottom of her lungs. The scruff of her neck ached where her rescuer had pierced the skin, and she knew she would limp for at least a few days on that hindleg, now running with sticky blood - her own - but she was ever so thankful.

She opened her eyes and the hugest smile appeared on her features as she recognised her representative, Rainlegs. She panted, still lying on her back and looking at the upside-down chocolate-coated cat with her gorgeous, sparkling green eyes. "Oh, Rainlegs, you're my hero, you know that? You're absolutely positively amazing! I can't believe you saved my life! I would've died in there without your help for sure and I know it took you a lot of effort and I can't believe you were just in the right place at the right time to save little old me and-" She cut off short, realising she was gushing. "I'm sorry, Rainlegs," she said, getting to her feet and shuffling her paws in embarrassment. She hoped the usually introverted cat would not just brush her off. After all, her incessant talking was often a nuisance and she knew the representative probably had much better things to do than walk around saving the lives of the members of her clan.

[Elmo]

Rainlegs
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The she-cat glanced down at her soaking clan-mate, eyes sparkling with her annoyance. She dismissed Brightsparks words with a flick on her slim tail as she turned away. Why the hell was a Riverclan cat drowning for anyways, a question that threatened to slip out between her gritted teeth. Of course, normal ponds didn't have cat eating fish either. Heaving a heavy sigh she twisted her head to look back at her clan-mate, "what the hell were you doing in there? I'd ask if knew about the cat eating fish, but something tells me you do now." Her voice came to a halting stop and he turned fully to face her once more, "get up, it's leaf-bare, your soaking. We had better head back to camp so that our Doc can put you to rights before you catch cold."

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Snow, snow, its here to stay, raining blood on my heart today

[snow !?]

brightspark
breeder of riverclan

Brightspark's cheerful demeanour visibly withered under the positively obvious condescension of Rainlegs. Her tail flicked, her eyes rolled, her voice dripped with emotional pain, as if the stupidity of the brown tabby she-cat was too much for the representative. Still, she felt a little resentful, like she did not really deserve to be treated so much like a silly kit doing something they were told endlessly not to. After all, she might have died in there, with those vicious cat-eating fish. At the words of the chocolate cat, Brightspark slowly and silently rolled herself onto her feet, testing out her injured leg. "Of course, Rainlegs," she muttered softly, looking down. Walking forward, she hissed slightly at herself as a twinge of pain shot down the delicate tendons of her left hindleg, but she re-focused all her weight onto her other three legs and walked on behind Rainlegs towards the Riverclan camp.

[Elmo]

Rainlegs
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She didn't miss the look her sharp words had caused, and to be perfectly honest she didn't care. However, when Brightspark winced she slowed her walk, pressing a broad shoulder against her clan mate's to help her move on. "This is why we don't lean over the fountain," she meowed gruffly.

She might not care about her clan mates feelings but she did care about their health.

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Snow, snow, its here to stay, raining blood on my heart today