` ` stagnant winter ?! - - hunter

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/2f04vi8.jpg] "Speech" Winter was upon Hexasol again. It was a lazy, dark morning and Florence was perched up on the rooftop, gazing out at the city. A low, thick mist enveloped the city, making it hard to very far at all. The city was calm at this time, with the nocturnal animals going back to their slumber, and the dogs and cats only just waking and stretching from their sleep. The sun hadn't even appeared from over the horizon, however she could see the merged crimson and burnt oranges beginning to blossom like a bruise. The sun would soon be appearing, igniting a new day of winter. Florence shivered slightly at the cool breeze that rustled through her tawny fur, before she looked around. She'd had a pleasant night with Panja, however it was still very difficult to keep the secret up. The cats were getting suspicious, and she knew it wouldn't be long before her and Panja would be found out. She sighed. Florence began to pad across the roof. It was icy cold against her pads, however she ignored the shooting pain as she leapt towards another roof. Winter was Florence's most hateful time of year. She despised it. Lions were not created for such winters when they were supposed to have lived in the plains of Africa. Growling under her breath, Florence thought back to the year prior. It had marked the birth of her cubs. The stupid cubs of Streiter, all of whom were now a year old and ready to take on their leader. Florence wondered when she should send them on their way and attack him with viciousness. Her spine tingled in anticipation. Perhaps next week? Florence hoped nothing would come up to stunt these plans. She needed to see Streiter ripped to shreds by his own children. She smirked at the thought. Florence came to a stop at the edge of the next roof. Only now was the sparkling sun rising across the horizon. It wouldn't be long before it would be setting again, and darkness would envelope the city once again. She peered up at the bleak sky, and decided that snow wasn't falling just yet. However, she knew that nearly every winter she's spent in Hexasol, it had always snowed. Florence grimaced at the last snowstorm, where she had been stranded whilst in labour. Then those bastard Tempest dogs had attacked her and killed one of the cubs. Florence unsheathed her claws in anger, however she had nothing to swipe. Florence had been foolish last year, and had only survived because Panja had found her and saved her. Warmth flooded her chest at the memory, before she quickly shook it away. It wasn't the time for such thoughts. She stayed still against the roof, watching out at the city that would soon be buzzing with life.

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[Hunter]

She ran through the empty alleys on silent paws while the mist almost kept her invisible to the eyes of the guards above her on the rooftops. She’d been early out this morning to get better chances on catching prey, but what she’d seen in the forest had made her turn back immediately. One thing that had made her turn back to the pride lands was the fact that she’d seen them, another thing was what she’d seen them doing. No sane dog would choose to fight a bear, especially not a bear with her youngsters. They were newcomers, not just someone from the Tempest Pack, and the young ocelot thought that these nasty canines might fall in her leader’s interest. After all, the Tempest Pack was big enough in members already, and six new dogs that seemed to be just as vicious as the pack wasn’t to her likening.

She jumped up on the rooftops where a guard had seen Florence earlier this morning. Sota had heard rumours about Florence spending more time with the while male lion Panja these days, and if you wanted Sota’s opinion, then it was about time for the Iris Pride leader to take a proper mate and get some strong cubs who could take over the throne when needed. But since she hadn’t been in the Iris Pride for very long, she had better to shut her mouth instead of commenting on that subject. It was none of her business - unfortunately.

Back on the rooftops, Sota used the balance the best she’d learned as she emerged from one rooftop to another. The roofs were cold and sometimes slippery, but she knew she was too good a climber to just fall down as a piece of shit. And it didn’t take long before she found the proud silhouette of Florence. The leader was huge compared to Sota, and her majestic being towered above hers. She coughed slightly to get her attention. It looked like she’d been lost in her own thoughts, and Sota didn’t like the thought of disturbing Florence in something… important. Especially not if her majesty was in a bad mood.

”My Queen, I have information from Puzzlewood Forest that might get your interest,” she said in a solemn voice, making sure to stand straight in front of her leader so she neither would look like a sack of rotten potatoes nor look like a frozen branch. She wanted to make a nice first hand impression to Florence, especially because she’d only been in the pride for a few weeks.

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[♥Picasso]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/2f04vi8.jpg] Florence froze when a scent filled her nostrils. She turned automatically to see a fairly new member of the Iris Pride bound up to her. Narrowing her eyes, Florence took into account her eyes, wide with panic. She must have urgent news for Florence. Immediately, Florence was alert and listening as she took a few steps towards the cat. She was curious as to what Sota had to say to her. This must be urgent if she came at this time of the day, and it seemed like she'd been running a far distance as well, judging by the large, deep breaths she was taking. Florence's assumption was correct when Sota finally spoke, mentioning that she had news from Puzzlewood. Puzzlewood was many, many miles from here, and stretched all the way out of Hexasol to the next city along. Florence was quite impressed that she'd come straight from that forest to Florence. "What is it?" She demanded, her tawny fur prickling with anticipation, "Spit it out, Godamnit." If there was an attack being planned, perhaps by the Tempest, then Florence needed to call an Iris meeting urgently. If they were to be under attack, they desperately needed to be prepared. Florence winced at the last time the hospital had been attacked, and how many lives had been taken from her Pride. She wouldn't let them be unprepared like that again. Florence had scouts and guards dotted across the city and Pridelands. At least one of them would notice danger to their Pride. She took a deep breath and began to pace across the roof. The sun was getting higher in the sky and the city was beginning to light up a little more. The sun was only a hazy glow behind the mist and fog and clouds, so the city remained quite dark. She finally turned back to the cat. All sorts of thoughts were racing around Florence's head. She didn't want to lose anymore cats in the war, despite knowing that she inevitably will.

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[Hunter]

”It’s about some newcomers, my leader.” She didn’t dare to hesitate when Florence had demanded to hear the news. She’d sounded angry, and maybe a little drop of worry had been put into the sentence too? Luckily, this wasn’t about an attack, but Sota was starting to get worried about the Tempest Pack’s numbers, and these newcomers seemed like terrible good fighters. Just the kind the Tempest Pack wanted to join the little pack of theirs. ”There were six canines in the forest, many of them quite big dogs, and they fought a bear when I saw them. They seem to be a strong group, and they’re without doubt heading for the city.” She paused shortly to get her breath. It’d been a hard run to get back to the pride even thought she wasn’t a heavy feline. She hoped Florence would be relived and not irritated by the fact that this wasn’t an attack. She hoped Florence wouldn’t see this report as a waste of time. And she might be irritated because Sota had made it sound so urgent, and with the winter coming, this was a pretty good time for an attack. You could see that by looking at the mist in the air.

She realized she’d been pulling a bit away from the big lioness words. The strength in the lioness’ voice had been thrilling thoough she wasn’t snarling at her. No doubt she’d enough to think about. It looked like she really could need someone to take some of the pressure from her shoulders, but this wasn’t the time to think about that. Well, maybe Panja helped her a bit. But instead of thinking too much about it, she quickly stood straight again – one thing was to show you’d respect for your leader, another thing was to look like a scared kitten. Scared kittens couldn’t be used for much in the time of war.

”As you know my leader, the Tempest Pack has grown a lot these days, and these six canines could very well join the Pack and make it even stronger than before. We need to be more careful, especially with our young. We can’t afford to lose any member of the Pride with our enemy as strong as now,” she said, her voice both solemn and clear. Then, she held back a gulp. Florence knew very well how big the Tempest Pack was. She was a cunning creature who was far from stupid. Therefore, Sota shut her mouth to let her leader speak up her mind.

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[♥Picasso]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/2f04vi8.jpg] Florence narrowed her eyes when she listened to Sota describe the outlanders that she'd seen in the forest. It was not uncommon to see canines and felines alike travelling to Hexasol to join the war. She'd heard of them travelling miles upon miles, all to come to Hexasol. She assumes the other cities do not have such a large population or cats and dogs compared to Hexasol. Florence wonders what it is that Sota saw in these dogs in the forest that made her need to come back and report it to Florence. Florence was obviously wary of the new dogs that are arriving. It means six more canines to kill with her Pride. They were already low on felines in the Iris Pride, ever since the battle last year. Biting her lip, she turned back to the cat that was awaiting a reply. "If six large dogs can take down a bear, then I believe they must be warriors coming to Hexasol for a war." She narrowed her eyes as she looked out over the city. Six more warriors for the Tempest, perhaps. They could, however, want to join the Lexis instead. Florence couldn't be entirely sure with the little information that she'd been given by Sota, however it was beginning to make her uneasy. She turned back to glare at Sota when she mentioned the Tempest Pack growing. She was very much aware of this, and she didn't need reminding of it. However, as much as Florence wanted to send out her own warriors to kill the six dogs heading for the city, Florence knew not to waste her resources like that. If they were warriors themselves, they could balance each other out and even kill her own Pride members. Instead she formulated another plan. "Go to Panja. Tell him to increase security in the Iris Pride. We do not know what these dogs' intentions are as of yet, and they may not be interested in the Tempest Pack. They could be heading straight for us." She sighed and then looked again at Sota, "You must go back to Puzzlewood and spy on the dogs. Bring some other spies with you. Try and work out what they're doing here, and once you get enough information, come straight back here. Make sure they don't have any following groups and don't get killed." Florence had faith in the spies to keep themselves hidden. As long as they weren't noticed, then they would all safely return with information on the new dogs.

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[Hunter]

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[atrb=background,http://i52.tinypic.com/1jrxbr.jpg] She listened carefully to her leader’s words, and when she became silent due to thoughtfulness, she awaited her orders. She wasn’t sure whether Florence wanted to send her back to Puzzlewood Forest or not, but personally she was curious of the six new canines’ plans. They weren’t going to join the Lexis Tribe – if they’d wanted that, they probably wouldn’t be up for a fight with a mother-bear. Such a fight could very well be suicide if you weren’t trained in fighting. Sota picked up her round ears as her leader formulated her plans shortly and precisely. Panja wouldn’t be hard to find, because the guards usually had their permanent areas to patrol. And as for Florence’s message, she didn’t have to worry about forgetting any part of it. As a spy in the Pride, she had quickly been used to carry messages from one feline to another and to report them down to details. She was used to more complicated orders than this one and that suited her just fine. As for heading straight toward the Pride, it could actually be a possibility, but six dogs wouldn’t just attack like that without backup – unless they were fools. And if these newcomers were nothing but fools, the bear in Puzzlewood Forest would already have torn them to pieces and gotten an easy meal. As for what she was going to do afterwards, she was pleased. Well, if you could use that word for a mission like this one. And she knew just the felines for the job to accompany her back to the forest. ”Yes my leader,”she said and bowed her head before she turned her little body around to sprint in the direction of Panja’s spot. She knew he would be there even though it was early morning and she also knew that within an hour she would be on her way to Puzzlewood Forest with two other spies from the Pride. And there was one more thing she knew, but it was also a thought she wouldn’t dwell too much at. She would hate to miss this one.