CrestClan | Southern Territory: Low City

Since the territory is split into two parts, CrestClan defines each part of their land as either on the cliffs, or below the cliffs.
Below the cliffs is the Low City where the main portion of the clan’s territory sits. Many buildings stretch as far as the eye can see, but not all of it is safe. Occasionally things will fall, causing the cats to need quick reflexes, but otherwise the hunting is good, with a lot of variations of prey available, but watch out for sneaking snakes.

Frostedstep padded slowly through the low city, her eyes scanning the terrain. She jumped slightly when she heard a crow, twisting in the direction of it. "This place is so creepy, no matter the time of year," she muttered to herself, glancing toward Foresthowl. "How are your mate and kits, Foresthowl?"

"They're doing well," Foresthowl couldn't hold back his purr. "Twilightkit's a little small, but he'll grow."

"I'm sure he will. Especially since he has you and Hollycrest as parents. You're both incredibly strong warriors." Frostedstep purred and scented the air, flicking her ears about. "Hopekit was quite small at birth. I remember that it wasn't believed that she'd make it."

"She's bigger than Twilightkit now," Foresthowl purred again, jumping a crack in the ground like it was nothing. "I just... I wish they'd grow up faster almost. I want to teach them how to be warriors."

Frostedstep glanced at the older warrior and purred. "My mom always talked about how she wished we'd stay little, so we weren't at risk. I can understand that, as well as you wanting to teach them. To give them ways to protect themselves right?"

Foresthowl nodded. "They're a little annoying too, I won't lie," he joked, then pricked his ears. "I hear rats."

Frostedstep giggled, but stopped upon hearing his statement. She twitched her ears and nodded. "About how much do you think we'll be able to bring back? Three each if we're lucky?" She mewed and glanced at him with a grin.

Foresthowl's whiskers twitched. "Maybe. I bet you can't carry four," he challenged.

Frostedstep puffed out her chest and narrowed her eyes playfully at him. "First one to catch four wins! Meet you back here?" She crouched and waved her tail, curling it so the fluffy end of it rested above her head.

"Deal. No cheating!" Foresthowl immediately darted off into the building, purring at himself.

"I'd never!" Frostedstep squealed and darted off to where she'd scented rats, leaping over fallen rocks and landing quietly on her paws.

Foresthowl smirked a little to himself, blinking a few times to let his eyes adjust to the sudden darkness and parting his jaws to let the scents waft into his mouth. He pinpointed a few separate scents, but his ears pricked as a muffled squeaking made it to him. Adolescents! Perfect!

Frostedstep moved about slowly, avoiding areas where she scented too many rats for her to handle. Instead, she followed the scents of smaller groups, picking off an individual one when it wandered off. She leaped quietly onto it, biting sharply down onto its neck.

Foresthowl crept up on the nest, practically vibrating with excitement, and leaped, only to discover that there were many more rats than he'd though. "Frostedstep!" he howled, racing out with a dozen rodents on his tail.

Frostedstep paused in her preparation to leap at a second rat. She whirled and darted after the call, her eyes widening at the sight of the rats. Part of her wanted to make a snarky comment, but she simply leaped forward. "Why didn't you pick them off, Foresthowl?!" She groaned, exasperated.

"I'll explain later!" Foresthowl leaped up on to a hunk of fallen concrete, turning and hissing at the fang-toothed rats, but only seeming to make them angrier.

"Idiot. But a handsome one." Frostedstep rolled her eyes and split off into a separate direction, hissing and snarling at the rats to make a group of them follow her. "You deal with those ones!" She continued running, panting.

Foresthowl nodded, swiping at the first rat and catching it off guard. One of the other rats leaped up, claws scrabbling harshly against the stone, and he managed to slam his paw down on its head.

Frostedstep pulled herself up onto a low hanging ledge, swiping her claws through the neck of a rat as it scrambled up toward her. She bristled in fright, hissing and stomping on one that got too close, digging her hind claws into it.

Foresthowl let out a shriek as one grabbed his tail, whipping it wildly to make it let go, and clawed another that tried to climb the rock. "Useless...little..." he hissed, finally biting down on the neck of one of the rodents and feeling it go limp, triumphantly watching the rest of them scurry away. "And don't come back!"

Frostedstep slammed her front paws down on two adolescents, unsheathing her claws into their neck while the rested scurried off. She had a bite on her leg, and it stung sharply, making her hiss. With a huff, she picked up the four she killed and wandered back to Foresthowl. "Are you okay?" She called, muffled by the tails of the rats.

Foresthowl nodded, leaping down and crushing the spine of the last rat left. "I'm good. We should probably see the medicine cats," he mewed a little sheepishly.

Frostedstep nodded with a heavy sigh. "Grab the rats you killed. Better to bring them back. Food is food." She nudged the first one she'd caught over to him. "I'm carrying four already, so snatch that one please," she mewed.

Foresthowl looked at the four he'd managed to catch, then back up at Frostedstep. "I already have four too."

Frostedstep groaned, gauging the weight of the ones she had before picking up the other. "Can't waste food," she mewed and started walking back.

A golden tom trotted through the streets, his enormous figure sending rats scuttling into the shadows. Lion felt himself drowned in the scent of unfamiliar cats.

OOC: happy new year everyone

Quill walked up behind Lion, nose crinkled as he sneered. "You really think we should be here?"

"I don't see any harm," the young tom chirped, "They might be friendly!"

Skystreak cautiously slid down the cliffs and clambered onto a tree, surveying the surrounding area. He spotted two cats and narrowed his eyes. Intruders? How'd they get this far past our borders?

Quill rolled his eyes, not admitting that the way his paws left prints on the strange cold stones intrigued him too. “Why don’t we just hunt and go?”

"That sounds alright!" Lion mewed, "Ooo I smell rats. You think we're near a nest."

Skystreak clambered down the tree he was perched on to challenge the two then froze as he got a better look at the cats. One was the ugliest cat he had ever seen, spiky and dripping greenish drool. The other was twice his size with a shimmering gold pelt like a lion.

"Like you'd win a fight with a rat," Quill sneered at Lion, irritated.

Lion puffed out his chest. "Fight? I could step on them by accident and kill them. With my size your weird sticky fur I doubt they'd stand a chance."

Skystreak, bristling charged towards the two strangers.

Quill rolled his eyes, taking a step before a weight crashed into him, knocking him off balance. "Hey!" he yowled, immediately flashing claws out towards his attacker.

Skystreak yowled and sank his jaws into the rogue's fur, gagging and rearing back at the taste of his spiked fur.

Lion looked on, vaguely amused but ready to help the older cat if this stranger were to somehow get the better of him.

Quill threw the disoriented cat off, jumping to his paws and hissing loudly. "Ah, a local," he sneered.

"Wh-who are you-what-" Skystreak panted.

"I'm Lion!" Lion mewed cheerily.

Quill shot a glare at Lion, then looked back at the cat. "You stink like this place, do you live here?"

"I stink?" Skystreak spat, bewildered. I thought rogues only existed in elder's tales...

"Like rotten birds," Quill sneered back, flexing his claws again.

"You smell and look as though a hawk dragged you through entrails," Skystreak growled, "What is wrong with your fur?"

ooc: skystrak 

ic: Quill glanced at himself, then back at Skystreak. "I could say the same about your squirrel tail," he snorted.

OOC: shhhh
IC: Skystreak bared his teeth and shoved his ears forward. Lion stepped between the two. "Hey, hey, calm down. We don't need to fight! What's your name?" Lion mewed. Skystreak shrunk back for a moment, then resolved his fighter's spirit and leapt at the enormous tom.
Lion staggered as the much smaller cat rammed into his chest and dug his claws into his neck. Lion yelped and shook himself, knocking the tom off, then pinning the small grey tom to the ground with one paw. "Uh, what should I...do?" he mewed questioningly.

"You're too much of a coward to kill him, so give him some injuries to care about and we should go back," Quill sat down, lazily grooming his ear with a paw.

"When my Clan hears about this you're all dead!" he snarled, "Release me so I can tear your ears off and bring them back as a trophy, we'll all-" he was cut off as Lion put his other paw over his mouth.

Quill huffed, slicing a line down the side of one of the tom's hind legs, slightly hoping he'd bite Lion's paw. "Come on, let's leave this flea-bitten mouse."

Skystreak screamed in agony, twisting under Lion's paw. Skystreak shakily regained his ground as Lion got up and followed Quill. His mind screamed at him to get revenge but the wound on his leg felt as though rot was creeping through him. I need to get home...quickly... he thought, limping back towards camp.

Quill crinkled his nose as they walked off. "It smells like bird droppings here."