Frozen dreams {ENG & OPEN}

There were moments when she forgets the life she had already lived. The things she had already seen. She sometimes forgets all she had lost and all she had loved. She couldn't believe that she was a mother now, of four kits, who were now nine moons old and training to become warriors. She never wanted to become a mother. She never wanted to give her off-spring a terrible life. But she was a mother now and she had given them a terrible life, but she was looking at it differently now. Her kittens were strong, filled with hope and with her guidance as a mother, she could give them better lives. And that is what she wanted to do. Yet, she felt sad, a feeling that she hated to feel, yet existed to torment her.

It was cold and the little creek was frozen. Newleaf still seemed far away. She had gone out hunting, on her own, but her thoughts had impeded her and that is why she was sitting at the little creek, mourning all she had lost and all she had loved. She realized that she had never had a moment to mourn. And there she was, alone, at the frozen little creek.

{open}

It was another heavy day as the young warrior went hunting again to entertain herself in her lonely life. Others never really cared about her, but she did care about them. Mousetail always went hunting on her own at this time, to see some beautiful nature. The snow was cold and wet, but she thought it was comfortable. Sooner or later the snow would be gone. She would miss the wet feeling below her paws, the glittering, soft snow. Mousetail couldn't find any prey on her way, it was all gone for now. She sighed and looked at front, seeing a little frozen creek. She doesn't remember seeing it before, but many things were new for her on their own time. She was never on this side of the territory, and exploring was fun. She ran a little until the edge of the creek and looked at it. She sat down, until she realized another orange pelt of another cat. The tabby didn't recognize her from here, but she thought she didn't have to. She just sat down and relaxed.

Sighing she closed her eyes for a moment. She felt a cold breeze caressing her ginger fur. She pictured her mother, Innerstar, her brother, Ravenheart, Thornclaw, her little sisters, Lionstep and Swiftclaw and her lost sister, Littlestream. She pictured the old days when everything was still well. And then, when the sound of crunching snow reached her ears, the thoughts disappeared like melting snow in sunlight. She pointed her ears and looked up. She saw Mousetail sitting a few tail lengths away. "Where you creeping up on me?" She asked with a slightly humorous tone. She lifted her self en got closer to Mousetail. "No luck with the hunt?" She then asked. Maybe the two could hunt together. Russetfur realized that it had been stupid to let herself be distracted by her sad thoughts. Yes, she missed her family. Yes, she missed the old days. But she wasn't going to get that back and with mourning, she wasn't going to feed the clan.

Mousetail continued relaxing until she heard the voice of the cat. 'No i was not creeping up on you, i was hunting and i didn't catch anything so i came to relax a little', did she say. When the cat came closer she recognized her. Mousetail didn't know how it would feel to miss or mourn over family, as she nearly has none already. She just has her mother, only her. And even she didn't care a lot about her anyway. She stared into the creek, thinking that she had to go back to hunting soon. Then she looked at the ginger cat. She was a lot of moons older then her, and she must have gone through a lot. She even had a big family. The tabby thought, that she has such a great life, and she still had to see what she could do with her own.

Mousetail was many moons younger then she was. The small grey tabby she-cat still had a whole life ahead of her. Russetfur remembered wondering how her own life would turn out to be. Now she didn't know what she had to think about her own life, all the decisions she had made. Nevermind was one of them, the ex-Shadowclan warrior who was now a Bloodclan member and the father of her own four kittens. She didn't regret her kittens, but she did regret Nevermind.

"We could try to hunt together? There might be a chance that the two of us catch something," she suggested. However, Russetfur suspected that it would still be difficult with the freezing cold and the falling snow. "Times are tough, but we must hold on," Russetfur then spoke, partially to herself and partly to the other.

Mousetail nodded and agreed with the request of the ginger warrior. The times were tough, each decision could bring a lot of glory, or big mistakes. She had to take these wisely. But this wasn't the hardest leafbare she ever went through. There were harder times. But somehow... This one just felt tougher then the ones before. The silver tabby stared at the frozen creek, seeing how her biggest memories faded in. But she had much more to make, her life hasn't even really begun yet. She still has so many chances to take, but she doubted.

A little while later she stands up, and starts to smell for prey. Mousetail could feel a little breeze on her soft fur, while she looked at the bright grey sky.

Mousetail didn't seem to be much of a talker, but that didn't bother Russetfur. She wasn't much of a talker either. Mousetail seemed to trail off in her thoughts and that's when Russetfur started to try to pick up some sounds or scents. Mousefur also started to move, stood up and looked at the sky. "Don't think we can catch birds from the sky," the ginger she-cat noted. With a flick of her tail, she proceeded to go. "Let's see if we can find a hole where the small animals sleep. Maybe we find a nest," she then suggested while walking down the Little Creek. It was a possibility. Snowflakes whirled around as a windbreeze ruffled her fur. But then she noticed the faint, foul scent the wind was carrying. She wrinkled her nose and looked sideways at Mousetail to see if she had noticed it too.

Mousetail started to sniff. Yes, there was this one scent that caught her attention. 'Do you smell this one scent?', did she whisper. And only then she noticed the bright blue eyes of the ginger cat looking at her. She must've already smelled it, did she think. The silver tabby was an overthinker, but atleast she does what she thinks is right. She looked around, everywhere, and a snowflake flew with the breeze past her eyes. Only this scent was that mattered now at this moment. She didn't pay attention to the whirling breeze or the snowflakes. She only payed attention to the ginger cat and the scent.

She decided to follow it, and still kept looking everywhere.

Mousetail picked up the strange scent as well. As Russetfur looked sideways at the grey she-cat, she asked if Russetfur had smelled the scent too. "Yes, let's follow the trail," she then suggested. Russetfur picked her nose and tried to determine where the scent was coming from. And then she stepped away from The Little Creek towards the bare bushes, beckoning Mousetail with her. "I've got a bad feeling about this," she muttered under her breath. The four, sour scent grew stronger and stronger and she noticed something rotten about it. Death? The thought crossed her mind and for a moment she was afraid that the scent was coming from a clanmate or a family member. And then she picked up the ominous scent of... "Fox." She then again looked at Mousetail. "Stay close and alert," she spoke quietly. As she continued walking she then noticed the red fur and the limb body of the fox, stuck between silver, shiny claws. A trap.

Mousetail recognized the smell as well. She kinda felt bad about this. And before no one knew, they saw a dead fox and big, shiny claws. This couldn't end well. The dead fox smelled rotten and it didn't make her feel comfortable. The feeling freaked her out inside. She didn't want to show that she had a small stress to Russetfur. That would've been a shame for her. She didn't dare to look from who or what the claws were, but she could smell it was big danger. Mousetail took a step backwards, and instead she looked at the ginger cat.

Mousetail was remarkably quiet. Russetfur automatically took the lead, getting closer to the dead fox, but Mousetail remained behind. The ginger senior warrior looked at the dead fox and the silver claws in which he was trapped. She frowned and felt a chill running through her spine. She remembered the prophecy and felt like this could be a sign from Starclan. "If it can kill a fox, it can also kill a cat," she spoke, trying to keep her voice steady. "And I think twolegs did this." This silver claw didn't look natural, so she couldn't think of anything else. "And maybe there are more," she then continued. She kept staring at the dead fox, observing it. This must've been an awful way to die.

Mousetail remained quiet. She couldn't find any words to say. They were in danger. Of those stupid twolegs. The tabby always felt there would come a moment like this- a moment where the danger begins. But she tried to remain calm. But staring at these silver 'claws' did just freak her out completely. Somethimes she would've just wished that twolegs didn't exists at all. If this could have to do with the prophecy, we should find out soon enough, or some cat of us can end up dead like this fox, did she think. Thinking thinking, always thinking. She would never do an action before overthinking it. This had to be logical. She looked around to see if there are more signs of twolegs. And then she got this chill through her spine when she saw that tree shaking. Her ears went down and she observed everything, while her heart started beating faster. 'This really doesn't feel comfortable... I feel like were being
stared at.'

As Russetfur was observing the dead fox, studying the silver claws, Mousetail was watching the trees. She remained quiet. At this point, Russetfur would've liked some input. The ginger she-cat stepped closer to the dead fox and the trap, assuming that it wouldn't attack again. It was holding way too tightly to the dead fox. Just when she wanted to speak again, it was Mousetail who spoke. She said that it wasn't feeling right, she felt like they were being watched. Russetfur looked up, right at where Mousetail was staring at and indeed. The branches were rustling and the sound of footsteps approaching reached her ears. "We must hide," she said urgently. She looked around for a hiding spot, maybe Mousetail would spot a good hiding spot.

She looked around everywhere, hearing the footsteps coming closer. The silver tabby spotted a small cave with a giant bush next to it. Maybe they could hide there? So she ran to it and hid in the small cave. It was dark but empty. And the smell here was only from prey, but it was very old. Mousetail was scared.

What do we do now? Hide forever? Will they find us?, did she think. She had to get over this overthinking, it really stressed her out. With her bright green eyes did she stare at the moving trees and bushes. The footsteps appeared louder.

Mousetail was scared, very scared. The scent of her fear stung in her nostrils. Of course, Russetfur was also afraid, yet she remained calm and calculated the situation. Footsteps approached nearer and the scent of twolegs grew stronger. Russetfur followed Mousetail into a hole, surrounded by bushes. It smelled of rabbits, but the scent was stale. Russetfur observed and then saw the tall appearances of twolegs, with the nakes pink skin. One of them bowed down, well they spoke a strange language. They sounded pleased, though. The fox was removed from the trap and lifted by its tail. The twolegs looked at it, sounding happy. Then they walked away. "I hate twolegs," Russetfur snorted. "Why would they catch a fox? Twolegs truly are weird," she continued. She shuddered and after a moment, she finally left their hiding spot. "We must repost this to Acorndust, this cannot mean anything good," she noted.

'Maybe we should head back to the camp now', did she say and left the hiding spot too. She looked around if everything was safe. Mousetail started to become calmer and followed the frozen creek again where they came from. The thoughts in her head were very negative. The silver tabby didn't want to see any cat getting trapped like that too. They had to be cautious as they could return. Maybe there were more traps like these. Who knows? 'Maybe we should also take caution on our terrain. They could've put more of these silver claw things'. She sighed. Mousetail watched her steps.