A Distant Heart

<sup>Firestep rushed through the reeds toward the river. Late, late, late! Firestep paniced. He had told Snowflower not to be late, but here he is running late himself? He was such a mouse-brain! Over-sleeping on his "date"...

Firestep was relieved to see the all too familiar river as he raced down a slope, but instead of just running over to the she-cat he ungracefully slipped from the wet grass and rolled down the uneven ground, his rolling motion stopping as the ground went even again. On his back, he looked up, his gaze meeting Snowflower's. His only excuse was, "Don't say a word. The ground was slippery."</sup>

Snowflower grinned at him. "Yeah, I did that too." she said. Her fur was wetter than usual and had some river weed clinging to it.
"Except I feel into the river." She giggled and looked at him.
"You really think the clans will attack during this weather? I mean come on? Even a Riverclan cat would be mouse brained to even try and swim that. She pointed to the raging river with her tail. "I'm just lucky I'm such a strong swimmer and that I didn't fall to far from the edge. Still, no fun. I have something in my fur, don't I?" she asked.

<sup>Firestep rolled his eyes, sneering. Getting up he shook his fur, then looked at her up and down. "Yeah. Water and mud." he teased, yawning. "But you never know. That's what the Clans want you to think, see?" he meowed in a know-it-all fashion, slipping beside the she-cat and pointing his tail up ahead.

"There could be a Clan cat spying right behind that bush for all we know." he grinned, bumping Snowflower's shoulder. "Maybe even a rogue hungry for your flesh." he continued on in his spooky voice. "I wouldn't blame the rogue. Every cat would want someone as beautiful as you."

Firestep's eyes widened. Did he really just say that? No! He couldn't have! The ginger tom hissed, then stepped back. "I mean...er...l-let's just patrol." he blushed, turning around and stalking toward the other direction.</sup>

She laughed.
"Any cat who doesn't have to be out in this rain would have to be crazy to want to go out in this weather." She stated. "So that should count out rouges." She said. "However Shadowclan might be mouse brained enough to attack. They're always greedy for more land." She sighed.
"You really think I'm pretty? I mean I haven't been able to look after my pelt lately, what with all this rain and mud, and now river weed. I most likely look a fright."

<sup>Firestep froze. Why did I have to say that... "Eh? I-I didn't mean that..." he meowed, then snapped over his shoulder in a desprate attempt to change the subject, "Just forget about it and come on!"

Firestep slowed down his stalk as the two headed over toward ShadowClan's border. Both border markings were faint due to the rain, which caused the RiverClan warrior to mark the border so it was more fresh. For now, anyway. Sighing he looked around, blinking his eyes against the falling rain. "No ShadowClan cats..." he meowed, narrowing his eyes. "But we still have WindClan cats to worry about."</sup>

Snowfeather added her own mark to the border.
"Yes, we should check the other border." She said walking in that direction. "Windclan would be more of a threat... after all the elements are no bother to them." She walked ahead, her tail in the air as she moved.

<sup>Firestep shrugged, "All Clans are an equal threat to me." he growled, actually hoping there would be at least one Clan cat to cross their border. Patroling was a big bore, especially in this kind of weather. It just made everything worse.

Attempting to start up some kind of conversation he meowed, "Hey Snowflower..." sneering, he jumped in front of Snowflower, facing her with a playful grin. "Guess who I am." he saidas he flexed his muscles, trying to look like he was showing off and acting pretty.</sup>

"That's not funny." She said, but giggled and jumped on him.

"Silly." she said, gently cuffing the tom's ears. "Come on, let's go." She said walking along. Then she stopped and crouched low.
"Look." she said, pointing with her tail. It was a fat duck.

<sup>Firestep licked his lips hungrily as he set his eyes on the duck Snowflower was directing him to. "Heh, I got this one." he whispered, crouching low and already stalking toward his prey. Carefully, he took one step at a time, imagining he was about to capture an enemy cat.

He paused, aiming. Then with a grunt he lunged at the bird, his claws unsheathed and ready to sink into his prey's flesh. But his aim was incorrect, missing and giving the duck an advantage to take off. Falling on his side he hissed, his unsheathed claws sinking into the damp ground instead of a duck's skin.

"Mouse-dung!" he spat, getting up and licking the mud off his pelt. "I almost had it, too!"</sup>

"You should have let me take it." She said.
"I'm an expert at hunting birds." She held her head up high.
"Well, there are lots of ducks around here and they don't seem to bright." She indicated to a small flock of the fat birds ahead. They were undisturbed by the flight of the other duck.

She crouched low and stalked forward, her movements were stealthy and she spied one duck that seemed to be moving more slowly than the others. It held its wing at a crooked angle.
"That one." She whispered and slunk closer. Only when she was nearly touching the duck did she leap. Her claws sank into the bird, who started to flap, smacking her with its powerful wings. Snowflower held on for deer life.
"A bit of help here?" She grunted.

<sup>Firestep snorted, "Oh, and I thought you were an expert at hunting birds?" he teased, "Aw, if I help I might just loose your prescious catch...Hmmm...should I or not...?" grinning, he sprinted toward the struggling she-cat, leaping onto the bird and holding it down. Opening his jaws he snapped his fangs down on the duck, killing it.

"Oh, well it looks like I killed it without messing up. How surprising." Firestep meowed, an amused expression on his face. "Shall we take a break? I didn't get too much out of that duck, plus it isn't a hunting patrol or anything." Firestep said, still grinning slightly.</sup>

"It's a big bird." She reminded him.
"It should feed half of the clan." She grinned. "And plus, it had strong wings. I think it takes two cats to bring down a duck. They can give a beating with their wings." She giggled a little and sat beside him. The duck sat in front of them. "When do you think it will stop raining?" She muttered.

<sup>"I could have pinned the bird down with one paw if I tried." Firestep boasted, looking down at the corpse. "Though maybe your right with the Clan thing...I bet everyone is sick of fish and frogs and would enjoy some real meat..." the tom shrugged, not really caring.

"Who do you think I am, StarClan? I don't know." Firestep muttered. With a sigh he meowed, "I really don't know. I'm just praying its soon. This rain is getting on my nerves big time."</sup>

"I hope it's soon too." She said looking at the dripping skies.
"I can't take much more of this rain, it's driving me crazy." She sighed and looked at him.
"And it is so cold at night."

<sup>Firestep glanced at Snowflower, "Yeah...it feels cold all the time actually." he meowed, getting up. Stretching his front paws he grunted, "Well...let's get this patrol over with so we can get back to camp. I'm sure the Clan'll be pleased to see the bird we caught." burying the prey half-way he raced off, heading for WindClan's border.

The tom stopped, his chest heaving. Marking the border once more he stared in the direction of WindClan territory, the only scent carried in his mess was fresh WindClan scent. It looked like they were keeping track of their border well. Glancing over his shoulder he meowed, "Do you think there is a reason behind all this rain? Like StarClan is trying to tell us something?"</sup>