Roll with the changes [open]

[Kody]

It was the sun that woke the orange tom, it's golden rays easily seeping into Aztec's poorly dug den. Grumbling as he lifted himself drowsily from the earth, he made a mental note to dig his den deeper so the raising sun wouldn't wake him so early. Diurnal cat or not, he wasn't much of a morning creature. Sleep stiff limbs carried him out into the open, a massive yawn causing his eyes to shut tight. Stretching his lithe form, he dug hooked claws into the earth, leaving ugly scars. It took him a moment for his body to awake completely, but once he had, he noticed the light snowfall. Pale blue eyes traveled toward the sky, attempting to locate the sun, which happened to be hidden behind the clouds now that its duty of waking the orange Tom was done. Aztec glared at the sky, mumbling under his breath as he turned his back on the location the sun should have taken.

This was his first day in his new home. Home. That sounded pleasant, and felt just as good. It was nice to have a place to belong. And the first thing he was going to do here? Hunt. He was starving! "At least that's what it feels like." Aztec spoke aloud, not that anyone would hear. His stomach rumbled in protest just then, as if urging him to hurry up and find food. Aztec simply scowled, moving instead in the direction of Swimmers lake. He could hunt near there, knowing that he'd have a better chance of catching prey near the lake. What was that saying? Two birds with one stone? Yeah, that was exactly it, and that's exactly what he could do by going to the lake; quench his thirst, and hopefully find himself an easy meal.

It didn't take him long to shrink the distance between him and the lake, quickly bringing the chilled water into view. A dark mass marred the perfection of the snow covered ground, the calls of crows growing louder as the tom cat crept closer. He was careful to keep himself close to the ground, steps slow and stealthy. This might be his only chance to get himself a decent meal for a few days, he didn't want to spoil it. Closer. Closer. And then he sprang, his long stride eating up the distance between the crows and himself before they'd even noticed him racing toward them. By then it was too late. His eyes locked on his target as the bird left the ground. "Not that easy bird!... Aztec grunted as he launched himself right into the air, paws outstretched, hooked claws unsheathed.

The startled call of the bird told Aztec he'd hit his mark. In mere milliseconds the tom pulled his catch toward his jaws, holding the bird there as he righted himself before he hit the ground. He'd quickly put the bird out of it's misery and resumed his trek to the lake, which was barely 20 yards from where he'd caught his crow. Settling on the bank of the lake, Aztec dug into his meal.

[.lavvie.<3]

Always KNOW that YOU shine BRIGHTER
Than ANYONE does!

Lavena purred softly as the sun slowly shone its brilliant tongues of light through the small dent under some roots, a dent that she picked as her own home within her colony a long time ago. She stretched her sun-dipped paws out and kneeded the soft soil that laid underneath her as her bed, stretching before she got out of her tree-embedded den. Somehow, the young she-cat had felt a great sense of self-worth and importance over the past moon; maybe it was the fact that she had reached the age of twelve moons a half-moon ago, which meant that she had survived through all four weather changes. Though she knew that wasn't something that was worth celebrating, Lavena let her pride get the best of her anyway and tried to bring it into almost every conversation she had. She had a feeling that it annoyed her fellow colony members, but frankly, she didn't care one bit. Living was something to celebrate, right?

Levena pranced quickly away from her den when her paws touched some wet snow that happened to penetrate the leafy canopy above her, and shook her paws out. She glared at the snow and flicked her red-tinted tail in annoyance. 'Doesn't matter if that crap's made of water. It's cold. And... mushy. Definitely not something that screams out 'Happy day!' to me.' Lavena thought. Suddenly, the oranged-starred she-cat brought her train of thought to rest of the snow that was hidden beneath the trees and bushes, and she had an urge to run back inside and screw the whole day. 'Hmph. But what would that acommplish?' Lavena sighed, sucked up her petty pet-peeve, and walked farther out of her families' home. She had things to do today.

The first thing that came to mind was trying to find her older brother, Bain. Lavena hadn't seen him in moons, or at all really, since the day that he left. She knew that he probably was living his own life, but they were related. It didn't hurt to pop in and say a, "Hi, Lavena, what's up?" did it? Now the fact that he hadn't sent a little fume of anger and annoyance through her, and she picked up her pace and fluffed up her tail. Maybe he claimed a territory around their colony. It's not like Bain would leave her; she knew her brother. He was loyal, for the most part. Lavena opened her mouth and tried to pick up her brother's scent, even though the snow would have washed it away if he was long gone. But if he was around, she would find it. He wouldn't just leave her...

The black femme found a scent that smelled closely like her brother's had and followed it, with the thought in mind that maybe his scent had changed a little. "Baaiiin! Are you there?" The small she-cat piped up. She started to pick-up her autumn-colored feet at a faster pace that lead her towards the lake. Soon enough, she thought she saw the familiar-colored pelt of her brother near the waterside, and started to dash towards the tom. "Ha! You thought you could hind forever, didn't ya, Bain-y?" She purred, calling the tom the nickname she called her brother when she was younger. But Lavena had picked up too much speed in her excitement in finally seeing Bain. The night-furred she-cat tripped over her own footing and tumbled over past the tom and into splashed into the freezing winter water. "Nonononononononononononoooooo!" Lavena cried, trying to gain some sort of sense of direction.

I'll wave good-bye watching you shine BRIGHT!
Yeah, I'll wave goodbye, tonight...

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[Kody]

Aztec knew it wouldn’t take him long to finish off his meal, and already his mind was racing, planning yet another hunt. Perhaps he could find himself a rabbit? “That sounds…yummy,” the tom mumbled through a mouth already stuffed with crow. A content purr rumbled in the toms’ chest as he finished of his crow, his eyes scanning the white landscape until he found the perfect place to bury the birds’ remains. Huffing, the orange cat grabbed the carcass by a wing, and pulled the bird across the snow until he managed to get it to his choice burial spot. Dropping the wing and giving his head a shake, he spun around and began working at the frozen earth.

“Darn winter.” Aztec grunted, an exasperated growl escaping the tom as he turned his back on the devoured bird, moving back toward the lake in hopes for a drink and maybe a chance to groom his now dirt covered paws.. He’d only just made it back to the lake when a feminine voice rang out over the land. Confusion crossed the toms face as he turned back around, searching for the cat that had apparently called out. It had been impossible to make out what the feline had said, so he sat, waiting, guessing this stranger would call out again. Either that or he wouldn’t hear one more sound from the mystery cat. Perhaps he was hearing things? With a scoff, the tom shook his head, grimacing. That wasn’t even an option.

“Ha! You thought you could hind forever, didn't ya, Bain-y?” Bain-y? Aztec grunted, displeased. Surely, the cat wasn’t speaking to him. But if not him, then who? Aztec’s eyes narrowed, only to widen in surprise when he spotted a she-cat barreling toward him. “Oh, crap… Aztec nearly squeaked, ears pinning to his skull, his mind racing. What should he do, hop out of the way and possibly let the she-cat throw herself right into the drink, or stay where he was and hope his bulk could stop her in her tracks. Aztec braced himself, deciding to; hopefully, keep the she-cat from falling right into the icy water. No good would come of that.

So when she lost her footing, He watched in dismay as the female tumbled right past him, managing to throw herself right into icy water. He’d made a futile grab for her with his paws, but she’d been out of reach by the time he reacted. Now, he could only hope she knew how to swim. If not, he’d just have to go in after her. Settling himself right on the bank, he extended a paw over the freezing water, hoping she’d be able to see and hear him. “This way, little lady!” He called, bracing himself to throw his own body into the freezing water if she didn’t respond right away. No she-cat was going to drown on his watch. On his first day as a territory holder, let alone.

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Ick. Bad post, I apologize.

[.lavvie.<3]

Always KNOW that YOU shine BRIGHTER
Than ANYONE does!

ooc:// it's all good ^^ at least you posted :3

The cold water felt like a thousand claws her clawing at her skin. Lavena wasn't sure which way was which as she spun around in circles, and she panicked when she couldn't find the location of the surface. Her paws flailed about helplessly as she tried to find some sense of direction, and she looked for some sort of light that would indicate where the surface was. It didn't necessarily help, either, that the water wasn't as clear as it seemed to be; it was more of a dark green, and looked the same all around her. But finally she turned in a way where she saw light shining, and swam towards it. "This way, little lady!" She heard as she made her way upwards, and suddenly she was confused. Little... lady? He would never call her that. If anything, he'd scuff her ears and call her a mousebrain, but in a more adearing, brotherly manner. He had a weird thing against showing affection; she remembered that. So... did this mean that she was wrong?

Lavena gasped for air as she reached the surface, and stayed there for a couple of heartbeats, trying to get used to the burning feeling the water was giving her before paddling towards the bank of the lake. She deliberately ignored the paw the orange tom held out for her, mostly out of anger at her brother and anger at the tom for not being her brother, and shook her starry pelt out. The cold air against her wet fur made her shiver and she froze right then and there, despite the fact that she wanted to run away from this tom as soon as possible. Lavena felt like she couldn't move, like she was literally frozen to the core. She managed to curl into a tight ball and tried to warm her fur by licking it with her tongue, but she wasn't sure if that would acually work. Well, she assumed it was worth a try. Maybe the tom would think that she had everything under control, and would leave her alone. But he'd be a real jerk if he did that, in her eyes.

Lavena managed to look at the tom with her narrowed yellow eyes, and murmured, "So, I guess your name's not Bain, right?" with her raspy voice, though there was a light hint of sarcasm, humor, and annoyance all mixed together. She didn't expect her voice to be so hoarse-sounding, but then again, she hadn't expected to have such a lovely swim in a lake that was just full of freezing and searing cold water, either. This day wasn't turning out to be the best for her. That was assumed a couple moments ago.

I'll wave good-bye watching you shine BRIGHT!
Yeah, I'll wave goodbye, tonight...

[/size][/color]

[Kody]

Relief washed through Aztec when the female surfaced, albeit gasping for breath. At least she was breathing. Aztec expected the female to make a mad dash for his outstretched paw, so when she ignored it and swam right past it, he frowned and sat up, glancing at his paw. He assumed there was a reason she refused his help – a nasty spider sitting on his paw maybe? So when his paw check came away clean, he couldn’t help but feel a little hurt. He’d just wanted to help for goodness sake!

Grunting, he lifted himself from his spot near the water’s edge and moved back a bit, clearing the way for the soaking wet she-cat. He wasn’t quick enough, however. The female shook herself, flinging water Aztecs way and he could do little but stand there in the spray of icy water. And that added insult to injury. Hurt feelings and a wet cat. Huffing, he shook his head and sat himself down a few feet from the female, his curiosity keeping him from simply bolting and hiding away in his den like a frightened kit. “You’ll freeze to death, you silly girl.” He grumbled, lifting himself and circling the she-cat until he sat in front of her. He didn’t want to startle her with his nearness, but she needed to dry herself as soon as she could. Aztec wasn’t going to wrap his dry body around the soaking wet female, what good would two wet cats do? But he could help dry her fur. Slowly, as to give the female a chance to retreat, he lowered his skull toward her, aiming to lick the wet fur around her face that she couldn’t get to.

He chuckled lightly when the female spoke, a mix of emotion evident in her voice. “Nope, not Bain. Aztec.” He grinned at the she-cat, his gaze drifting off in the direction he recalled the Sunset colony camp was, and for a moment, he thought about sending her on her way, back to the safety of her home. The craving for companionship had him saying, “I have a den, not far from here that you could curl up and dry off in.” It was a simple offer, and if the female refused, he’d let her go on her way.

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B'awwww. Poor Azzy's feelings got hurt. &YAY for another short post. GAH.