Coralfang slipped between the stems of tall, golden grass, her dappled tortoiseshell pelt blending in naturally. Sharp yellow eyes darted about—she had lost sight of her prey.

     There. 

     In between a swath of tiny orange blooms and a clump of grass tendrils, her target's fat flanks quivered. Coralfang's ears were flat. She flicked her tail slowly behind her, approaching the creature. Land hunting is so much easier than sea hunting, she thought. Suddenly, the sleek she-cat froze. The prey's head had twitched—it was looking almost right at her with its big, black eyes.

     Coralfang was nothing but sunlight shining through a bramble and dappling the earth. The huntress was still as a rock. Her prey looked away.

     Suppressing a sigh of relief, Coralfang was on the move again. She was close to the prey now; no more than the length of a gull's wingspan was between the hunter and hunted. Letting out a fierce yowl, the lithe tortoiseshell leaped, needle-sharp claws extended. In the split second before she landed, her prey startled and nearly pushed off with its strong hind legs. But Coralfang's leap had been timed. She landed and sank her claws into the rabbit's flesh, holding it still so she could deliver the death bite. The rabbit was soft and plump in her mouth; Coralfang had to force herself to not take a bite.

     Triumphantly, the she-cat carried the dangling rabbit and trotted back to her companions.

     "Good catch!" Warblerspring praised, the pretty gray-and-white patched she-cat licking her muzzle. Coralfang blinked, unable to speak through her mouthful of rabbit fur. Stormrunner lifted his plumy, silvery black tail and nodded.

     "Was that battle-cry really necessary, though?" the tom laughed, his lips quirking into a grin.

     Coralfang's ears burned.

     Warblerspring twitched her whiskers. "We'd better get back to camp now. Fallensky doesn't like for anyone to be away from the cove for too long now, especially with how aggressive RainClan's been acting lately."

     Stormrunner's smile shifted to a mild frown. "What's up with them, anyway? We didn't do anything to make them suddenly behave so offensively."

     Warblerspring sighed and shook her head helplessly. "Spottedsky is a very ... enigmatic cat. I don't think anyone ever fully knows her intentions when she does things."

     The black tom snorted. "More like suspicious. I wouldn't trust a RainClan cat to tell me where dirtplace was—they'd probably direct me off a cliff instead."

     Coralfang cast her glance to the right, where the meadow gradually sloped down to the beginnings of the rain forest. Tall trunks loomed, and the canopy was a thick blanket of dark green over the forest. Ominous was the best word she could think of to describe it. Often, Coralfang had wondered what it was like in RainClan territory ... rainy, she supposed. Most likely humid, and dark.

     Stormrunner's smooth voice interrupted her thoughts. "Well, standing here grumbling won't change RainClan. Tabbies can't change their stripes. Let's head back now."

     Coralfang started out of her musings and glanced behind Stormrunner. The gull he had caught flopped on the crumbly soil with splayed white wings.

     The three collected their prey in their jaws and retraced their steps through the meadow, heading for the cove. Unlike CliffClan, their cove had a gentler slope encircling the ocean. A few brave trees even clung to the mountain, whereas the cliffs belonging to the opposite clan were steep and jagged. The cove also had a high-up area called the Ledges, which hosted a flock of gulls. It was useful—it drew the prey right within CoveClan's grasp. An area at the edge of the cove was broken down, rocky with clumps of tough grass growing here and there. This was CoveClan's portal to their beach—and it was an excellent asset to keeping their camp safe. The beach was inaccessible unless you crossed that strip of land, and it was guarded by night.

     The hunting patrol curved toward the low point of the cove cliffs. The ground steepened, and soon they were walking with the base of their tail higher than their heads. Then, they reached the sandy strip which snaked along into the ocean from the low point of the cove, an area of jutting rocks and rough shore. The air was salty and warm, a sea breeze ruffling their pelts. Coralfang breathed in the familiar scent of the ocean and heard waves crashing.

     The patrol quickened their pace and crossed the low point. They padded along the edge of the beach, where tussocks of sand grass sprouted and rustled in the wind. The long grass ceased brushing her pelt as it thinned, eventually leading to a beach with white sand.

     The cove came into view, and Coralfang felt a swell in her chest. Surely CoveClan has the most beautiful home, she thought proudly.

     Aquamarine waves tipped with white foam rippled at the shore, gentler than any other spot in the cove. The sandy beach had been chosen as CoveClan's camp for a reason. Further out, the ocean shifted colors, alternating a deeper sapphire color and tropical teal. Large waves rose and crashed methodically, the sun shining their crests white when they reached their peak. Coralfang couldn't tell for sure—the sun glared off the water in the direction she was looking, but it looked like a small pod of dolphins were leaping out of the water to the left, just outside the cove. It was not an uncommon sight.

     Coralfang passed the elders Silversplash and Mudfall, who were sunning peacefully on the sand with slitted eyes. She padded toward camp to deposit her rabbit in the prey hole. The camp—cave was probably a better word to describe it, loomed in front of her. It was made of huge, smooth boulders which were stacked and tipped against each other in a manner that looked precarious, but was really quite stable. There were palms and green scrub obscuring the entrance, which was an opening between boulders large enough for two cats to fit through at one time. At the top and to the front was a gap, just big enough to allow sunlight to spill in, and small enough to keep the camp cooler than outside and relatively dry during rainstorms.

     Coralfang slipped through the opening and padded across the sandy floor of the camp. Placing her rabbit in the hollowed out prey-pile, the tortoiseshell then turned, flinching when she came almost nose-to-nose with Stormrunner.

     Quicker than a fish, she squirmed aside to allow him access to the prey-pile—when all she wanted to do was step closer. But that would have been foolish, Coralfang reminded herself, averting her eyes.

     "—gull with me?"

     Coralfang blinked and snapped her gaze back to Stormrunner's deep green one, which was trained on her. "Er, sorry, what was that?" she mumbled.

     Stormrunner shook his head. "Always so absentminded. I was asking if you wanted to share my gull with me."

     Coralfang's ears twitched. "Sure." Was that too short? Too casual? "Thanks," she added.

     Stormrunner shrugged with a smile. "No problem. I could never finish the whole thing anyhow. Want to go eat on the beach?"

     "Yes!" Shut up, Coralfang, her mind snapped at her. You sound like a kit. "Er, if you want to, that is ..." she trailed off.

     But Stormrunner ignored her awkwardness and grabbed the gull, dragging it out. Coralfang took hold of a limp wing to help him carry it. They maneuvered themselves and the bird through the exit, and carried it to a smooth patch of sand just out of the water's reach.

     Sitting, Coralfang bent her head to lick her chest fur flat. She ran a quick paw over her ears while Stormrunner took the first bite. Bracing her paws on the gull's soft white body, she sank her fangs into the wing and wrenched it off with a snap and riiip! Then, she proceeded to carefully pluck the gray wings off of the bird. "It must have been a young one," she observed.

     "Hmm?" Stormrunner mumbled through a mouthful of meat.

     Coralfang continued plucking the gull's wing of its smooth gray feathers and answered between yanks. "Well—pluck—it has sleek—pluck—feathers, not ratty like old gulls have. And—pluck—its body is pretty plump."

     Stormrunner nodded. "Mhm." Suddenly, the tom looked up, swallowed, and raised his tail to someone. Coralfang dropped a feather and twisted around to see who he was addressing. "Pearlmoon, come join us!" the tom invited with a friendly swish of his smoky black tail.

     A soft-looking she-cat with fur whiter than the whitest clouds looked up from the shade of a palm tree and blinked sky blue eyes at them. She nodded gratefully and then turned back to the little brown swirled tabby next to her. Murmuring a few words to her apprentice, she sent the young green-eyed she-cat back into camp and then padded lightly over to them. On her way, her eyes were so focused on Stormrunner that she tripped over a small piece of driftwood and lurched forward with a surprised squeak. When she rose again, sand was smashed into her fluffy pelt and she blinked in confusion.

     Coralfang let out a sharp laugh. Classic Pearlmoon. Glancing at Stormrunner, she saw that he was twitching and trying not to laugh.

     "It's okay," Pearlmoon sighed as she shook out her pelt and padded up to them. "I know I'm always so clumsy. No need to spare my feelings—I'm already accustomed to the fact that I'll never be a graceful she-cat, not like Coralfang is." Her blue eyes flitted to Coralfang admiringly for a moment, and Coralfang acknowledged the compliment with a small smile.

     "Here," Stormrunner mewed, snapping his wing off the gull. "You can have the body."

     "Thanks!" Pearlmoon's claws slid out to grasp the plump body of the gull, and without hesitation, she dove in. Her head snapped up instantly and she spit out a mouthful of feathers.

     "I was waiting for that to happen," Coralfang mewed.

     "Ugh, I always forget to pluck before I bite," Pearlmoon complained, spluttering.

     Stormrunner leaned forward. "There's one stuck in your chest fur." He swiped out a paw and batted the feather away.

     "Thanks."

     Coralfang turned her attention back to her own piece of the gull. Finally, she was finished plucking, and the feathers were all in a neat pile to put into her nest. Sinking her fangs into the thickest part of the wing, Coralfang relished the feeling of snapping its hollow bones. Crunch—crunch—crunch. Gull wasn't her favorite prey—too stringy for her tastes, but it wasn't as bad as sea horse, at least. And it was satisfying to crush the thin bones of birds. When she had finished her wing, Coralfang realized that Stormrunner and Pearlmoon were hardly started and deep in conversation.

     Slightly annoyed, the tortoiseshell collected her bunch of feathers and transported them into the camp. Noticing the queen Shimmerfish eyeing her feathers, Coralfang quickly veered away and ducked into the warrior's den. It was dark and cool inside, and filled with little dips in the sand which were lined with nesting materials. Coralfang's nest was in the back of the den, with a wall of rock walling her in on two sides. Stepping around Shellcrack's sleeping form, she made her way over to her nest. Coralfang opened her jaws and let the feathers flutter down. Tucking several strays back into her nest, she arranged them quickly, then tamped them down a bit so they stayed put.

     Quietly, she exited the den, careful not to wake Shellcrack. A slender, golden-brown she-cat with dark rosetted fur was grooming herself by the tunnel of rock and shrubs that led out of camp. Briefly, her cool turquoise eyes flicked up to Coralfang.

     Since decency required it, Coralfang dipped her head to her former mentor. In a motion so quick it might not have been there in the first place, Urchinsting gave a rapid nod to Coralfang and then went back to licking her paw with long, slow strokes.

     Brushing past the lithe warrior, Coralfang wound through the tunnel of shrubs and palm tree trunks with ease. Many cats liked to joke that Coralfang had inherited most of her personality and lissomeness from her mentor instead of her mother. In fact, Coralfang's late mother, Turtleheart, was often said to be the exact opposite of her one surviving kit: sweet, open, clumsy, extraverted, everything that Coralfang was not.

     Not that it mattered. Turtleheart had died giving birth, and not even Coralfang's three littermates had lived through it. Coralfang was a survivor—she grew up without a mother, without a father, without littermates, and she was just fine with that. Love is a curse. Love makes you weak, Urchinsting had taught Coralfang—and from what she gathered from her clanmates, it was pretty much required to love your kin. Still, she hadn't completely been able to protect herself against that cursed emotion ...

     The sand was barely marked by Coralfang's light pawsteps as she made her way down to the water's edge. The sunset tide was coming in, white foam drifting up to her paws and then slipping back down. It seemed ... slightly rougher than usual. Far out, huge blue billows were visible rising and crashing, but in the cove, the teal water was rippling with small waves. A brisk breeze had whisked into the cove, coming from further out at sea. It whipped Coralfang's eyes with salty scents and a cool temperature, bringing with it the promise of a shower.

     Or ... more than a shower?

     The sun was descending toward a cloudy gray horizon. The wind picked up speed continually, and something about the briny air and rough seas bothered Coralfang.

     "Can you sense it?" The deep, gruff voice made Coralfang jump. She hadn't noticed that the dark gray skywatcher had padded down to her. His dark amber eyes roved the ocean's surface, and his long fur got whipped and tangled in the wind. However, he remained stolidly still and sat upright.

     Coralfang narrowed her eyes. "I'm not sure what you mean."

     "Vengeance belongs to SkyClan ... we will be punished," came the grave answer.

     Coralfang had an inkling of where this was heading, but she lashed her tail across the sand and asked, "How?"

     Stonegaze's hard eyes met her own as he growled, "A hurricane is coming."

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First impressions??? 

What do ya'll think of Coralfang, Pearlmoon, and Stormrunner?

| Unedited as of 12/18/22 |

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