reality is such a dreadful thing.

[ber !]

The clan was beginning to wake up when Oakstar and Maplestep returned to camp. In his jaws he clutched a brightly colored parrot and a fat water vole as well. He headed straight for the fresh-kill pile in the middle of the clan. He dropped the water vole then took the parrot for himself. He dropped it off in his den before walking out.

He watched his clan interact. Two apprentices were heading out to train with their mentors, bouncing excitedly, while the elders sunbathed outside their den. He saw a quick flash of the medicine cat darting out of the nursery over to her den.

He let out a small purr, enjoying his clans closeness more than usual. The tom was in a good mood, and he had to admit it was because of the morning spent with Maplestep. He shook his fur out, remembering excitedly the encounter with the alligator. 

In all honesty he had loved the battle, the way his life had been in mortal danger. It was insane, a life or death situation. But he remembered his clan needed him, and the remembrance of the caiman brought him leaping onto the tree stump of a giant redfur. 

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the tree stump for a clan meeting." he yowled the ancient gathering of a clan.

[Cloudfeather]

Maplestep trotted in, dropping the voles into the pile then lying beside it. She began to lick her fur when Oakfur's voice rang out, making her look up. She sighed, she just wanted to fix her fur from falling. But she'd have to attend the meeting first.

Trotting over she lay below, licking her side fur quickly. She washed her paws over her ears as she tried to fix herself, she suprisingly hand't minded falling in the water. She'd found it somewhat funny. She chuckled quietly, shaking her head slightly.

She waited, watching all the other cats come and gather around. She was suprised at how many there actually were.

[ber !]

Oakstar watched the cats gather beneath the stump, different colored eyes locking on him. He waited till they all quieted down before meowing loud and clear, his voice ringing throughout the clearing. 

"When Maplestep and I went hunting together today by Starlit Stream, we had an unfortunate incident with four very large, very aggressive caiman." The leader waited while a large murmur of worry disrupted the clan. One queen with two kits yowled out, "Oakstar, are we safe?" He watched her tail curl tightly around her kits in a protective manner.

Oakstar started speaking again, hushing the voices below him. "We narrowly escaped with our lives, and I would have lost a life if it hadn't been for a she-tiger mistaking me for one of her cubs." More shocked meows emitted from the throng of cats below. He waited for them to die down until he spoke again.

"Cats of Great Jungle Clan, do not fear. The tigress was on her way to her homegrounds just outside our border. She is no threat for us, nor did she bear the smell of our enemies the Wild Cats," Oakstar comforted them. They visibly relaxed. "We should be safe from the alligators as long as we stay downstream. And because there is not very many attacks, mentors have been forgetting to warn their apprentices of the lurking danger. Remember, if you see a log in running water, it's most likely a alligator. Avoid them at all cost. Their jaw power is strong enough to crush a full-sized cat like a twig. That is all." 

Oakstar leaped down from the stump, paying no heed to the murmuring and whispering. 

[Cloudfeather]

Maplestep stood as Oakstar jumped down and stretched, bounding over to her leader she smiled,"Good job handling those cats! You should have told them about the abundance in voles today though...", she said and shrugged. She knew it wasn't neccessary but she thought it would be nice if cats were out hunting since the prey was so lazy and sitracted today.

She walked with him then glanced at the fresh-kill pile, wondering where the parrot had gone. She then remembered Oakstar had dragged it into her den. She sighed and shuddered as she thought about the Cayman. So many teeth...

Snapping out of her thoughts she looked at him and sighed,"Sorry if you said something and i didn't respond. Just my thoughts are being bipolar...", she said and shrugged.

[Ink]

Ears pricked slowly as the she-cat lifted her thin frame form the warm caress of the dirt. That voice held power in it, and even as Blackstorm truly didn't notice whom it belonged to, she responded to that ring of truth. Power. Almond eyes lay level with the dirt, watching the grass blow through itself as the lanky warrior made her way to the summons. She'd been out of the camp at the time; just outside, watching the jungle with distrust. Whatever this meeting was meant to be about, it would be about trouble. That's all they ever were about, after all. Or at least the ones the woman had stored had been about nothing else. Perhaps Blackstorm's mind was not a thing to base normality on. No. No perhaps, this was a certainty.

Crude humor having set a blank quirk upon the feline's dark lips, Blackstorm joined her fellows with more rapture then she may otherwise have admitted. Clan gatherings were an important business after all, just not a business this particular warrior took as a necessity. Seated and silent, Blackstorm looked about herself with some small amount of disdain. It was well hidden under that layer of constant detachment, but still there. So loud they all were. Loud and pushy. They wanted to know, but were unwilling to stay quiet long enough to hear the information they demanded. Soon enough they quieted, slowly. Silence. A heart beat of silence in the constantly bustling camp. Blackstorm's tawny chest rose slowly, breathing in the golden noiselessness before it was lost to the tabby leader's baritone.

Caiman? Aggressive creatures. Cataloged as omnivores. Kit killers. Apprentice killers. Not generally warrior killers. Bigger then. more aggressive. Not normally pack oriented creatures. Had something occurred to bring the four into a hunting party? Dark brown eyes narrowed, turning their focus to that of Maplestep before they slid back to Oakstar's limber frame. Questions should crop up. Demands to know answers, but Blackstorm was unwilling to pounce upon the urges. What she cold not divine for herself she had no right to know, after all. It was the way of the jungle. Curiosity failing her as it always inevitably did, the warrior sunk back into her depressive state. Watching, always watching; but never reacting. trained eyes followed after the tabby tom's retreat, pausing on the conference for a moment before Blackstorm stood.

Padding around her clan mates with her normal alien grace the creature came to pause slightly behind the two, looking for all the world as if she were about to die of boredom. "Good evening." No other words spilled from that dry grated voice. She spoke in a rough tone, the music of the words falling into a deeper pitch then most she-cats. It was recognizable at least, the two would know whom was speaking without having to turn around. Blackstorm paused there, having nothing else to say. Best to ere on the side of public decency then to remark on Maplestep's words, or question anything else. It was best to keep the crueler thoughts, the more demented turns of fancy to one's self after all.

[ber !]

Oakstar snorted at Maplestep's words playfully. "Why don't you get up there and try to make a better speech?" he challenged coolly, settling his rump upon the ground. He was amused by the she-cat, but generally clan meetings didn't discuss the wealth of prey. It was for side conversations. Suddenly Oakstar felt annoyance creep up on him. There was only bad things to report, it seemed. 

Thus enters oblivion, her pelt sleek and glossy and her eyes blank and emotionless. Oakstar automatically felt interest creep into his fur, making him stare at her for a second. He soon replied to her, eyes meeting hers. "Good morning, Blackstorm," he meowed, his voice just as monotone as hers. 

What about this she-cat drawed his attention? So little things could capture the leader's interest. His mind suddenly grew warm as he thought of the thing that made him happiest: blood. Oh, what beautiful life giving liquid. How badly he craved it in between his claws. He shivered before turning his attention back to the two she-cats.

[Cloudfeather]

Maplestep lay by them. She looked between them, suddenly feeling discomfort prickle her pelt. She nodded at Blackstorm,"Hello Blackstorm, I was actually going to come find you after this and ask if you would like to come hunting later this evening.", she said and nodded to the she-cat. She had noticed the look her leader had given the she-cat which is what had made her uncomfortable, she felt like she was intruding.

Standing after a moment she shuffled her paws, obviously feeling awkward as she chewed her lip,"I can go if you'd like. I do not wish to intrude if you two would like to discuss something...", she muttered.

Maplestep's ears were pressed close to her head in nervousness and discomfort. Her amber-gold eyes looked up at the two cats as she waited for a response. As usual she was smaller than both cats. She looked back at her six toed front paws, feeling extremely out of place. She was the size of a large apprentice but even then the cats were small. She counted her toes and frowned inwardly, she hated the amount she had.

[Ink]

Bleak eyes followed the stare, burrowing into the opposites with as much unseen intensity as the previous. It was odd, to be looked at with such demanding eyes. Not a thing the generally anti-social creature knew how to react to. Thus Blackstorm put up a front, the normal kind. Bridges rose as the walls came up, blinding out the world until the thin warrior saw nothing but what peeked through that little barred window right before her nose. How Blackstorm hated conversation. How awkward and stupid it always ended up making her feel. Fur prickled, follow the ripple of Oakstar's own dusky pelt. Social ques fell from the sky like rain, every notion invisible to the rumpled she-cat and her blind emotionless eyes.

A flick of the eyes gave Blackstorm another notion of annoyance. Morning. Well the last time the woman had looked up the sun had been falling from the sky. Evening then. Not now. A frown pressed itself into the blank mask, whipping into the thing some sense of a living creature. Ears flicked, sharp and black tipped as those deep ocher eyes turned to Maplestep once again. Was it really necessary for everyone to say hello? Blackstorm had been the one to approach after all, there was no point in the others expunging energy on such a useless task as greeting. Another confusing glint of behavior that the bengal warrior would never fully understand nor utilize.

Those dead eyes had wandered, turning almost awkwardly away form the two, as if to prepare to move on when Maplestep spoke up again. It was with some amount of tepid confusion that Blackstorm returned her concentration on the other she-cat. Why would she need to go elsewhere? It was not as if Oakstar and Blackstorm herself were about to have some secret all inclusive chat. No vocal ques had been given. The sharp black stripes atop the woman's tawny brow furrowed, dredging downward into sharp angles. "Pardon?" Whatever was going on in Maplestep's normal mind? Ignorance could be a form of bliss, but it was also highly annoying.

[ber !]

Oakstar glanced at Blackstorm, then at Maplestep. He was confused and it seemed both she-cats wanted to leave. Suddenly he felt angered with them for not liking him. His tail lashed slightly before he spoke, his voice cold and malicious. "If you have no desire to talk to me, Blackstorm, don't come over and say hello. And Maplestep, if you're that desperate to get away, just leave already." 

Without waiting for a response he stalked away, using all his willpower to keep from attacking them. Not because he disliked them, but because his anger usually triggered his bloodlust. 

The tom slipped into his den without another look back. Immediately he went to the bird, which he had planned to pluck and use its feathers as decoration in his den. But, so blinded by rage, his claws ripped through the flesh, tearing off the feathers. He had no desire to eat, just to destroy.

Soon his sharp claws met blood, and he purred in sick joy, flexing his claws. He bent down and ripped its throat open. He dug his snout in it hungrily, lapping the pool of dark blood gleefully. Oakstar had to resist the urge to roll around in it as he tortured the parrot's lifeless body.

[Ink]

Confusing. Normality was confusing. Apparently she hadn't been doing anything correctly. Blackstorm's head tipped forward, nose turned to the ground as she glared, expression going from blank to burning in an instant. Not at Oakstar, he had every right to question those around him. It was self loathing that rumpled the she-cat's conscious. She'd been slightly shocked that her leader hadn't gotten aggravated with her before this, after all. It couldn't be easy dealing with a creature much like herself. Grimacing slightly at the truth in the tom cat's words Blackstorm lifted her skull to look after the skulking figure as it vanished into the shadows.

Any other cat and Blackstorm would have simply shrugged and left. Oakstar was different. He was important, in ways that demanded her loyalty and prompted the urge to follow after. Apologize for her own short comings. Frowning deeply, and utterly ignoring Maplestep Blackstorm turned to pad after him; the important one. Oblivion was calling, it's silky fingers curl about her chest and demanding to know when it's quota would be filled. These situations always brought it up. The yearning. Anxiety so well hidden behind walls and iron bars had to be released eventually. The poison had to spill, and it went so beautifully mixed into the scarlet life.

Blackstorm came to pause just outside of the den, drawing the smell of battered prey across the roof of her maw upon it's opening. That jaw closed upon it's hinge, the mind seeing for once a trait she could identify. The stripes curved about their tawny canvas seemed to shift slightly as Blackstorm took her seat, long ringed tail wrapping around as it was accustom to doing. At some point Oakstar would wake from where ever it was that he had gone, and he would call her in or send her away. Which ever he preferred. Blackstorm need only speak up once and then guilt free she would be freed from the urge and be left in her floating soundless peace. Staring off into the rest of camp Blackstorm parted her pale jaws once more. "My apologies. I am unaccustomed to... conversation. I'm not good at it."