What an *ODD* meeting ((Brushfire))

[malice]

Maliceheart yawned as he lied up on one of the tree-limbs near the barn. His amber, almost red-looking eyes were focused on the setting, where everything was, where every creature stood. The dogs seemed to like sitting on the porch of the Twoleg Nest, while the den where the chickens were all sleeping was on the other side of the barn. Everything was so much easier after the sun went down, because everything inside that fence was asleep. It was twilight, so the sun was just setting. Soon, it would be the perfect time to hunt, as long as he wasn't heard.

The black tom wasn't hunting there in a dare or anything, he was hunting there because he wanted to bring back something bigger than a mouse, and he hadn't been finding much prey lately. He hated returning to camp empty handed, even when he was an apprentice... Still, in those days, he had his mother to tell him "better luck next time" or some other words of encouragement. Every day he felt like he was disappointing her more while she watched him from StarClan, and the thought ate away at him.

Yawning again, he stretched across the branch lazily, waiting for the sun to hurry up on it's trip away. Patience was key, and he had a lot of it, enough to spare. He would wait all night if he had to, but he wasn't returning with nothing again, he wasn't going to fall behind anyone else!

"I can wait here all night, dogs..." he hissed, more to himself than the dogs because they were too far away to hear him. He watched the sun set, closing his eyes and pausing as he tried to think out what he would do. Maliceheart always over-analyzed everything and thought every move through, making him one dull cat to be around, which probably explained his lack of social skills.

[brushfire]

A shadow cast of the trees as the sun set, making Brushfire's red collar let off a strange shade of reddish orange that made one squint to see it if they truely wanted to. It was like looking at a dulled sun. The red in her redish brown fur showed pesifically on this time of day.
Though through whatever time of day it was, Brushfire's eyes remained the greenest of green eyes.

The darker brown of herself remained that brown. It was one of the only parts of her with no red, pure brown that showed purely pale. On the backs of her lyed ack ears were white cirlces that reflected strange messages in a differant language that cats did not understand.

Her green eyes scanned the building in the distance and she heard dogs bark, but they were far away. Had she wandered this far after all? Hmph. Her kits could wait, she wanted to explore this part of the territory.

The further she went the more she was curious to reach the building in the distance. What was the barn like? It did not matter. Yet. Then the trees got thicker and more frequent. She stopped and looked around, trying to catch scent of any cat she could find.

[malice]

Maliceheart opened his eyes when he heard rustling in the distance. At first he payed it no mind, expecting it to be a bird or something which would have flown away by this time, but when it continued in his direction, his muscles tensed ever-so-slightly. It was too stealthy to be a Twoleg, which would have walked clumsily through the woods.

Standing up on the tree limb, he darted toward the base of the tree and climbed to a higher branch, his abnormally long claws were better for climbing than they were for fighting. His gaze followed the path which the sounds followed, his curiosity peaked. He hopes that it wasn't some group of foolish apprentices who would ruin his hunt with their idiotic games. He hated games, and this was another reason he was an outcast, because he never really took some time off just to have fun.

He waited until he caught a glimpse of a brown pelt, and a red color. A kittypet? No, he soon recognized her as the lynx-cat warrior, Brushfire. She and her brother were the largest cats in the Clan, their mother was half-lynx. He had heard the stories, but it didn't matter what she was, he wasn't going to risk letting her ruin the perfect opportunity...! When she walked under the tree-branch, he saw his chance and pounced down, landing a few mouse-lengths in front of her, staring at her coldly with narrowed amber eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a harsh tone, his bad mood being reflected through his voice. He was very hostile at times, but most cats just had to deal with it for two minutes before it was over, so it wasn't as bad as it could've been.

[brushfire]

Brushfire kicked him off with her poweful back legs easily, but just shoved him off gentally so she could get up. She shook her long fur and gave a purr that sounded like a lion's warning growl, only shrunk to cat size. She gave a smile that was either of sarcasm or wickedness, it depended on how one saw it.

"I'm here because I came, myself, to get out and hunt. You think four kits is easy? I'm not afraid of you, either," se gave a slight laugh that was only of dark sarcasm and curled her massive tail around herself. "My big brother and parents are much scaryer than you!"

Her eyes narrowed, making them seem even more green, if it was possible, her ears bending in strange ways, sending off Latin messages only big cats would know.

[malice]

Maliceheart blinked a couple times after being kicked off by the other warrior. He stared at her, scowling, extremely mad that was smiling in such a sarcastic way. His ears flattened against his head as he hissed slightly, his fur bristling. Just who was this she-cat, and just who did she think she was?!

"Well, I'd prefer you leave... I have everything planned out and you'll ruin it if you go in there!" he snarled, staring harshly at the she-cat. He paused when he heard the comment about her brother being scarier than him, and took merely a second to choose a comeback, "We'll, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but not all of us can be giants like your brother and you...!"

Yes, Maliceheart could be a real jerk when he was annoyed. He was annoyed because she had not only defended herself against his attack, but kicked him off as if he were a kit attacking a warrior. He turned around and began to pad over to the fence, scanning it and jumping on the top of it before looking down and double-checking everything.

[brushfire]

"I'd hate to ruin your plans Mally," she purred wickedly, "But you'll just have to squeeze me in. I'm meeting my brother here today. I'll be quiet, I promise."
Still smiling and purring with her deep voice that sounded like the lightning striking ground shrunk to the almost silent breaths of each single rumble of her purr, she made the promise like a kit promising a best friend or a sibling, but the darkness of her inner urge to shoot everything back at him to make him go mad still lingered in her extreme green eyes.

She watched his every move with morbid interest, like even she was planning the options of his next act and how she would reply in her strange ear languages with the seemingly light-reflectant white circle markings. Just through her fur showed a small tag-like thing attatched to her collar, it was nver visible until now; it was a black pendant that reflected violet or ultrapurple-like light, and was in the shape of a cresent moon, or a half-eaten donut, either one.

[malice]

Maliceheart heard her call him "Mally" from his new perch on the fence, and almost fell off as his muscles stiffened and his fur bristled. He grumbled something before looking back, and hearing her promise to be quiet. He nodded, feeling a little bad about snapping at her a few minutes before. He didn't know what her brother was like, but he hoped that he wasn't even half as sarcastic as Brushfire.

"Fine, just-... try not to do anything stupid..." he mumbled, embarrassed again that he was apologizing to her in his own. He signaled for her to jump onto the fence, and when she got there, he directed toward the dogs with his paw,

"Their Twoleg feeds them at around this time, so they nap as they wait, and then pig-out..." he explained, "...That would be a perfect time to sneak in and get some of the chicken, as long as we stay in the shadows and avoid making noise..."

Wait... Why was he explaining this? He never told anyone what he was planning, it wasn't like him...

[brushfire]

The end of the lynx-cat's extremely fluffy tail twitched in interest as Maliceheart told her his plan, and her ears flicked, listening to the sound of the dogs.

"If there's anything I was taught to do," she flashed him a glance that was smiling and winking, "It was to remain completely quiet when stealing something. Thank my mother for that!" She raised her head to the sky and said, making fun, "Thank you Moondiamond. Eee hee hee hee!"

[malice]

Maliceheart watched the dogs carefully, making sure that they were asleep and that none had their beady eyes open, watching out for him. When the back tom heard Brushfire laugh, he frowned again. He didn't smile much, and she was lowering the number of times he did so by every second. He hopped down quietly, waiting for the she-cat to follow before moving along the fence, his black pelt difficult to see apart from the shadows.

He didn't say anything as he worked his way over to the chicken coop, repeatedly glancing over at the dogs. He wasn't really scared about having to outrun them, since the fence was close and he could run very fast, he was more afraid of failing all together. He paused outside the chicken coop before squeezing in through a small opening near the door, looking around for a big fat chicken.

"Once we kill one, the rest go crazy and make a lot of noise, so be ready to run," he whispered, waiting for Brushfire to make the first move. The chickens were all asleep, but as soon as one was disturbed, the rest had a "My spidey senses are tingling! Danger!" moment.

[brushfire]

Brushfire wanted to abject, to say she was used to hunting chickens because of LeafClan, but she kept still and just nodded. Her smile had faded. It was almost as if she were copying Maliceheart's concentration and succeeding. All she did, was follow.

[malice]

Maliceheart watched Brushfire nod before getting ready to kill one of the chicken. He crept up to one, seeing ti stir slightly but continuing. He tilted his head, opening his jaw, and bit down on it's neck, a little blood spurting out it began to flail. The rest of the chickens awoke with a jump and began squawking and flailing their wings, running all over to coop.

"Run!" Maliceheart yelled, waiting for Brushfire to get out before he did. He knew that the Twoleg would be out with the stick which shot fire and the dogs would be surrounding the coop if they didn't hurry. This was most dangerous part of the whole hunt. Had Brushfire gotten out yet? He looked up to see...

[brushfire]

Brushfire was already across the fence, and had halted herself in her tracks to wait for Maliceheart. Had he gotten out yet? Was he caught?

The fur on her neck had risen, making her look two times bigger. Some of it was held down by the collar. She knw about chickens and dogs and twolegs with their thunder sticks that shot fire. She knew well about fences and how to avoid them, because it had been LeafClan's only food. But LeafClan had also killed dogs that got in their way, and when the chickens awoke they would continue to kill them until all cats on the patrol had one or two dangling from their mouths, while the two outside faught off the dogs.

But this was differant, there was only her and Maliceheart. She was not in shock like her fur told her, she was calm and her breathing was normal. But the more seconds Malice was gone in the mass of commotion the more she felt mews of question slip her mouth.

[malice]

Maliceheart was sure that Brushfire had gotten out, and now was his turn. He squeezed through the hole, running as fast as his legs could carry him. The Twoleg had just walked out of the house and jumped with surprise at the sight of seeing the cat dart out of the chicken-coop with the chicken. He ran inside for his guns, and the Twoleg kits watched, one screaming and pointing, the other howling with laughter.

The dogs had already jumped up and were close behind the black tom, barking and snapping at his tail and legs. He saw Brushfire and the fence, and leaped up, barely avoiding getting his tail yanked back down by the dogs. He didn't stop, however, until he was over the fence and back on the ground on the other side, panting. He had never been chased by a dog before, and his mentor had only mentioned a few things about them... They had looked so much smaller from his perch in the tree!

"They reacted faster than I though!" he panted, his head down as he dropped the chicken to breath, and after his break for only a few seconds, he picked it back up again and continued, "We better leave before the Twoleg lets the dogs out or comes out with the stick, just in case!"

[brushfire]

Brushfire agreed with a morbid hiss to the dogs across the fence.
"I heard 'ya, we better scram!"
Brushfire sprang forward a couple steps, then stopped. Her green eyes widened and she froze, her tail curling close to her belly. Things flashed for her. Fire. It was there then it wasn't, mixed with thick smoke.

The dog barks faded into gunshots and the shouts of the twolegs faded into even more gruesome commands of murder from other twolegs.
And everything was dying. Cats were consumed by the huge fire. She had started this. Her and Twilightclaw. She was watching again, her own creation being burned down. The lemon trees. She had planted and took care of those trees. They were massive, like her, for trees of their kind, but now the tart smell of buning lemons mixed with ash filled her lungs. She heard a bang. Louder than thunder. Louder than lightning hitting ground, louder and more abrupt and sharp sinister than her own voice. She heard Maliceheart trying to wake her up, to snap out of it.

But the roaring of flames still pounded in her ears as she did, and she sprung forward, dodging everything. Deep in the back of her head wished Maliceheart was following, was ahead, or even okay. She dodged every falling, burning tree or anything that fell to snatch at her long pelt.

She blinked and the real forest came back. She halted to a stop and shot to look back. "Mally!" she called. She did not want to lose a Clanmate to her memories.

[malice]

Maliceheart watched as Brushfire ran ahead of them. She looked scared, even terrified. What was wrong? They were over the fence and away from the dogs! He ran as fast as he could to catch up to her. The lynx-cat wasn't only the largest cat in the Clan, she must have been the fastest as well!

Eventually, he had her in his sights. She was dodging nothing! There was nothing there, nothing in her way, but she would maneuver as if her path were blocked and it was raining trees or something. He saw her stop, and skidded to a stop not too far behind her.

Mally!

She called him that name again! He grumbled something about the name as he panted and walked up next to her, trying to figure out what was wrong without asking anything. That, however, did not last too long.

"You okay?" he asked, looking up at her with narrowed amber eyes. He was suspicious, and curios, "What happened back there? You ran as though the dogs were chasing you!"