open{all 52 cards in a row

[crowfrost]

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[atrb=background,http://i39.tinypic.com/bhjcxf.jpg] PROWLING through ShadowClan's pine forest was a single solid black cat. A tom to be exact, as pitch black as midnight's darkness when no moon shone. Light, icy blue eyes flashed in the small patches of sunlight that fell through the trees' branches, dappling his fur and making his eyes flicker. His gaze was fixed stonily ahead, tail tip twitching as he walked. Crowfrost walked like a panther on the hunt, purposeful and smooth, all lean muscle and gleaming well kept fur that looked as sleek as raven feathers. In his jaws, the ShadowClan deputy held a dead starling, his prize of the day. Since new-leaf had was blooming strongly through the territory, it should be a thing to rejoice for, the return of prey. Not for Crowfrost. Not today. TO say the least Crowfrost's mood was as black as his pelt. Slinking through the camp's thorn tunnel, the light-eyed deputy prowled toward the fresh-kill pile and dropped a starling on top. The pile itself was slowly recovering from the leaf-bare lows as prey ventured out from hibernation and deep dens. Why then should his mood be so dark if prey was again beginning to run through ShadowClan's forest? The answer was simple. With new-leaf came the apparent idea that no one had to do as they were told. Just as he'd risen from his nest to send out the dawn patrol, Crowfrost had been confronted with an apprentice bickering loudly with her mentor and then in turn bickering with Crowfrost when he stepped in. He'd very nearly clawed the young cat's ears off for her blatant disrespect. His day hadn't gotten any better regarding apprentices when he'd discovered not one but two of them slinking a little too close to the SkyClan border. The last thing the clan needed was trouble so he'd promptly shooed them back to camp and reinforced the border. MULTIPLE times as he hunted through the new growth, Crowfrost lost prey to a patrol tromping through, full of warriors evidently so unobservant they didn't realize they were interrupting a hunt. Quite frankly, the starling shouldn't have been all Crowfrost had to offer the clan at this point in the day but thanks to the continual influx of cats with no brains in their heads, it was all he had. If it wasn't an apprentice blundering through training, it was a warrior too dumb to answer their own questions about patrols. Hadn't he only yesterday given clear orders to the patrol leaders for today? Hadn't his assignments been clear enough? And just where in StarClan's name was Phantomstar? DARK tail twitching to and fro in a tell tale sign of bad mood the dark-pelted deputy snatched a mouse from the fresh-kill pile and prowled toward the fringe of camp. The strong odor of a cedar filled his nose as he dropped into a crouch on a soft bed of dead needles under said cedar tree. Curling his tail around so it rested just beside his front paws, Crowfrost's icy gaze tracked a trio of hunters as they trooped in to deposit their catches. The tip of his tail twitched in annoyance. It was the same trio of fools that had foiled his first near catch, a nice fat rabbit. It had slid through his claws when one of them leaped and collided with him, evidently having targeted the same prey as well. Crowfrost's claws flexed in the soft pine needles under his feet but he made no comment as the trio moved along, back out of camp talking among themselves. THERE were days when the small pale-eyed tom wondered why he ever stood up that day and agreed to be Phantomstar's deputy. It was a question he just had to ask on days like these when the warriors he helped lead just seemed to get in the way. It was just one of those days when he wanted nothing more than to be left by alone to hunt and patrol so he could straighten out his thoughts. Unfortunately no cat in the clan could seem to understand that. Everything seemed to demand his attention. Who was assigned to patrols? Had Phantomstar reviewed apprentices yet? Could he observe training? Which border needed patrolling first? Silly, petty questions that normally he just answered in a short, to the point manner. Today though they just made his tail twitch with impatience. IT didn't help that Crowfrost's sleep had been disturbed last night thanks to his oaf of a brother. No matter where he curled up in the warrior den, Nightclaw tended to find him. Normally he didn't mind, Nightclaw was his brother and all. The resemblance was amazing between them, both sleek and black but Nightclaw with amber eyes and Crowfrost with blue. It didn't help that Nightclaw taller and heavier than Crowfrost, built with more muscle than his smaller brother. Nightclaw was in general, a traditional warrior, full of dreams of grandaur and leading the clan to victory in battle. In Crowfrost's humble opinion his brother lacked the brains for such things but it wasn't Nightclaw's mind that had disturbed his sleep. It had been the fact that his brother was notorious for twitching in his sleep, dreaming very actively to the point where he'd kicked Crowfrost quite soundly in the belly during the night. He'd curled in on himself to protect his belly from further assault from his dreaming brother only to have Nightclaw quite soundly whack him in the muzzle. Since Nightclaw slept like the dead, there was no waking him and no matter how he moved, Crowfrost remained a target for his dreaming sibling which meant being rudely awoken every so often by his stronger brother. That was why he'd woken in a mood already fairly stormy, achy and bruised from the night. SINKING his fangs into the mouse at his feet, Crowfrost closed his eyes and just tried to breathe and focus on some sort of inner peace. If StarClan didn't grant him better patience, he would probably take a swipe at the next cat that approached. Focusing on the mouse, he ate slowly, and didn't bother to look around camp as he heard warriors come and go. Just as he was finishing his meal, a shadow fell over the black tom. The fur along his shoulders bristled and his claws flexed. "IF it isn't of dire importance I suggest you turn around and leave," Crowfrost growled, closing his eyes and not looking over at whoever had come to stand beside him. In his mind, he counted heartbeats. If the cat either didn't say something of importance or turn around and leave in ten heartbeats, somebody was going to be losing their ears. Tagged:: open Words:: 1119 Song:: "New Low" by Middle Class Rut Notes:: NA [/style]