Unwanted Baths- not fun (open)

[mystic]

Lizardpool
^{As the pebble disturbs the still pond.}

Lizardpool padded along by the water. Her tail up high as she kept an eye out for a scurrying mouse or a juicy bird. She flicked an ear and looked over her shoulder at something she had heard. Then she shrugged and shook a little. It was nothing. Both her ears flicked back. This was Greenleaf. There was supposed to be prey aplenty. That's what happened during Greenleaf, but no. All the mice, every last bird, vole and rabbit was hiding from her. Not from cats in general. Just from her, Lizardpool.

It was rather infuriating. And quite embarrassing. The tan she-cat flicked her tail slightly and kept on walking, her head down and ears forward. She'd find those mice and bring back at least three or four to the clan for a good meal. Her nose quivered as she saw a mouse coming to the water's edge to drink. Slowly she slunk low, then crept forward barely moving. She didn't risk making a noise, or startling her target. No, that couldn't be afforded. Her tail was kept low, unmoving.

The warrior could almost feel her muscles uncoiling. She sprang forward, claws unsheathing. That mouse would be hers. However the small creature seemed to notice its impending doom and scampered out of the way. Now there was nothing for Lizardpool to dig her claws into. She felt her feet hit the wet stone beside the stream. She felt herself loosing traction. Everything happened in slow motion.

SPLASH! The soaked cat let out a loud scream and scrabbled, dragging herself out of the water, spluttering. Then she sat on the edge of the stream, her teeth chattering. "T-there has g-got to be a better way to take a bath." She mewed, looking back at the water. Taking a deep breath she puffed her fur out as best she could, and hoped that no one had seen her little mishap. However fate would not be so kind to her. She spun around as she heard a twig snap. "Who's there?" Lizardpool called, trying to see who the cat was.

[●Sparrow»]

BUZZARDSTAR::

Buzzardstar was thinking inside his den, his head was to the floor and his eyes dull. He would never get used to this being his den, ever, even if Cloudstar had only been it's residence for two moons. He still felt as if he was intruding on sacred ground, though he had no reason to think of it that way, it just seemed like it should be. His green eyes began to glance over at the ball of moss he had kept from Cloudstar's nest. Was it odd that he still kept that? Just resting his gaze upon the messy ball of moss reminded him of their latest struggle, like SkyClan needed anymore after what had happened to the few remaining cats from the old territory. The image of the fox was clear within his head, and every time he thought about Robinpelt and Stormfire getting hurt made him shudder. Still he had thought he planned the attack carefully, and yet his warriors still got hurt. Not all of them, but still he had hoped to get them out of there before it got that way. Luckily Sunpelt was able to tend to them pretty well, he was happy to have her there. Still his eyelids closed and all he could think about is what he should have done.

Cloudstar would have gotten every one through it with no marks at all.. he thought lowering his head even more. He was a failure to the clan, they deserved better, someone far better than him. He would never be as great as Cloudstar was, if only he were still here. Things would have progressed far more, and he could still be Buzzardtail the loyal deputy that only had to think about what patrols to send out next. Apparently fate had it's own plans for him, and now he had to rebuild his Clan and their spirits with their new home. They also had to establish a connection to StarClan, back at the old territory it was the Moon stone, but was there such a thing here? Surely there had to be something remotely similar, StarClan wouldn't desert them.

Buzzardstar found anger prickling through his fur as he swiped his paws harshly at the ground sending up moss and sand in the process. He could never forgive the original Clans for forcing them out like they did. They could have all died, and would they have cared? No, would they have sent others to help them? No. His eyes narrowed and he forced himself to his paws before walking to the den entrance and sitting down. His eyes ran along his Clan as they slowly woke up, some went out on a patrol, mentors and apprentices planned the day, and even others decided to share tongues with one another. It was amazing to think that most of their Clan mates now were once loners wandering the area, and now it was as if they had been here with them for their whole lives. That small thought allowed his green eyes to soften a bit, and he heaved a sigh. He needed to go for a walk and clear his head. Pushing himself to his paws he easily hopped down onto the trail that lead up to his den.

His form rather gracefully walked down the slope until he jumped to the bottom. He paused once or twice to dip his head in greeting to the others before he turned toward the waters. He was glad they had a good connection to a water source, some Clans had to travel way out into their territory for some. So he turned and headed down the slope into some undergrowth. The undergrowth that would open up into the rocky waters, and their border with MistClan. Well the bushes down river served as the border really. Weaving through it easily the lithe ginger colored tom angled his ears forward as he heard a splash of water. His heart clenched as he thought of one of the apprentices falling into the current. His worry faded at the sound of a voice up ahead."T-there has g-got to be a better way to take a bath." His head tilted slightly in curiosity before he continued treading softly until an animal near by snapped a twig. The leader flinched slightly and turned to glare at the area in question before the voice called out.

His green optics flicked back toward the source before he stepped out of the undergrowth to see a damp warrior. One he noticed as Lizardpool, his face was stone like and unreadable. "Its only me." he mewed cooly, his expression blank as he stared her plain in the face. Stop being so rude, if your uptight you will make others uneasy he told himself. He raised and eyebrow quizzically. "Decided on a little swim?" he questioned his tone was slightly teasing this time to hopefully lighten the mood just a bit.

[mystic]

Lizardpool
^{As the pebble disturbs the still pond.}

The she-cat looked up at him. "Oh, it's you." she said, not sounding worse for wear from her soaking. She sighed and shook herself looking a little embarrassed. Not only had some cat walked in on her after falling into the water. It had to be the leader of all cats. Both her ears flicked back and she gave a little sigh. "I didn't mean to fall in the water." She said. "I missed the prey I was aiming for. Well I didn't miss, something spooked it." She sighed and curled her tail up around her paws rather gloomily.

"So, what are you doing out here?" He asked. "Aside from catching me in one of the most embarrasing moments of my entire life." She added, her tail flicked again and she sighed a bit then looked up at the sun. At least it was getting hot out so she could dry her fur off before she caught greecough or something worse.

[●Sparrow»]

BUZZARDSTAR::

The ginger tom cat could see the startled expression on her face as she turned to see who had spoken to her. His eyes glinted in amusement though only for a moment, until that sliver of emotion faded from his face, his green eyes glanced past her and the unfazed waters. It was funny how the river could take a hit, get splashed, and still manage to look untouched. Though the water's usually rippled their annoyance this was different, the currents would take out the ripples almost as soon as they were made and they would even back out into the current. It was one of the worlds many wonders, one of the things that needed pondering. Like why it had a current in the first place, and where it wanted to go. Though he knew the answer for the current, this water came from a mountain somewhere. Most likely somewhere past MistClan and the downward slope from said mountain added to that of the waterfall caused the water to constantly be moving.

The thought of it all fascinated him in a way, and surprisingly relaxed his once troubled mind, if but a moment. Though it seemed that Lizardpool had noticed the ginger tom cat and he glanced back at her, trying to focus his attention off of the river currents now. Judging by the look on her face he could sense surprise and utter humiliation, though Buzzardstar wasn't really fazed by it. He didn't think any less of her for it, besides he had his fair share of trips and falls believe it or not. Still he stayed quiet while she composed herself a bit, enough to acknowledge his presence. The ginger tom cat dipped his head in a more formal greeting now that the moment was over. The tom cat sat back on his hunches now watching the she-cat calmly, ears angled forward to hear what she had to say. His tail neatly fell over his paws while the lithe and tall tom sat straight.

He listened patiently as she started to speak to him about why she fell into the river in the first place. Talking about the prey she had been chasing and how it got away, in a way he admired her for her honesty most others would make up a completely off story and expect him to believe it. "I missed the prey I was aiming for. Well I didn't miss, something spooked it." she told him and he nodded slowly, it happened, one moment the prey is in you grasp and the nest its scampering off with a smug look on its face. So to show his agreement he nodded slowly, eyes calm so not to make her feel any more embarrassed. "Prey always have a few tricks, they find an opening and they take it. Even in a state of panic." he mewed his voice kind of monotone this time.

"So, what are you doing out here?".... "Aside from catching me in one of the most embarrasing moments of my entire life." Buzzardstar gave a small chuckle, his green eyes glowing with slight amusement at her words. A small smile was placed on his maw as he said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." he mewed meaning the whole falling into the water part. To make sure she knew what he meant he flicked his ginger ringed tail toward the river before letting it fall at his side. Letting his smile slowly fade he had hoped to avoid the other question all together, but alas it came up. He should have expected that much from anyone, but he was going to tell the truth. "Just out for a walk, I needed to clear my head." he answered, ok he told most of the truth. Really he didn't want to bother anyone with his problems, they were his and he intended to leave everyone out of them.

[mystic]

Lizardpool
^{As the pebble disturbs the still pond.}

Lizardpool nodded slightly. "thank you." she mewed. "I'm not sure this is something I'd like getting out among the cats of the clan." She shook herself again and sat, listening paitently as he told her about how prey tended to manage to run off when it could. She chuckled softly. "Well, so would I." She said. "I wouldn't want to end up as someone's dinner." She eyed him and yawned a bit. "However, the clan also needs to eat. So it's not good for us when prey escapes." She sighed and shook herself. "In fact that was the only bit of prey I've seen all day, I think something scared them all back into their borrows." She cast a wary glance at the sky, searching for an birds of prey. There was nothing.

"Hopefully whatever scared them off doesn't think cats are good meals." She added, her voice very serious.

[Bear]

If you need help with contests I would love to apply to help. I don't do very many contests here on DrA mostly because I have no way of doing great prizes, but I hold regular contests on Deviantart and other websites. As for why I would like to help, meh I like to stay busy and I have a lot of fun helping and running interesting contests. Contests I would like to run would probably be various themed art contests. Writing contests are great as well if there are enough good judges willing to read through entries. Anyways, I would love to be of assistance should you require it. ^^
Here are some examples of contests I have ran. All of them are usually held on DA since I've not been able to do prizes here on DrA. Here is a link to my most recent contest that actually concluded not very long ago. distortedgirl66.deviantart.com/journal/33539160/ I also help with contests in the group Species Directory, on DA and helped do some judgeing and gave away prizes for their most recent contest for Objectable Creatures. (sorry cant link it because of our new CSS for the group some of our older blogs were moved and I can't find them).