Chapter Text
Germanystar padded through the overgrowth, tail swishing carefully as he eyed the bank of the river. Behind him stood a small, focused Japancat, who was pointedly raising his paw ready to dive it into the body of water. The tuxedo's bobtail twitched in anticipation, before a splash sounded from behind Germanystar, making him flinch as water droplets hit his pelt. He turned, his fluffy chin grazing against his bandana as he watched Japancat seize a fish out of the open water.
"Nice catch," The dark pelted cat said, turning to the other as the smaller cat held down the fish with sheathed paws. The prey flopped pathetically under the grip before sharp teeth sunk into it, and Japancat brought his head back up to meet Germanystar's eyes. "Thank you." He mumbled against the scales which was now in his mouth.
The two had gone on a hunting trip together, which also substituted as a patrol round their territory. Germanystar sat, blinking concentrated eyes at the end of the river where the water turned a murky green. He frowned, his tail coming to rest on his paws.
The water had been strangely more polluted than usual, causing fishing to be dangerous without proper inspection of the river. Italycat had even come running back to camp once, bawling his eyes out because his paw had gotten stuck in a can of metal while he had tried to fish. The two-legs had been at fault for mishaps such as this, and Germanystar was sure of it.
Diluted red dripped from the now dead prey and Germanystar gestured to the side. "I'll try catching something myself before we get back to camp, I don't want the others going hungry." Japancat tilted his head in agreement before trailing off the path with Germanystar.
At camp, housed Austriacat, Italycat, Romanocat, and Prussiacat (who was hopefully keeping order while Germanystar was gone). The two brown pelted brothers had decidedly not eaten from the kill pile before everything had run dry that morning, leading to this hunt. Germanystar, the stern cat he was stalked through the long patches of grass, entering the surrounding forest. Their territory crossed at a thin line between the river and the edges of the forest, which had been agreed upon between AxisClan, AlliesClan and ScandinaviaClan respectively. Though some cats-Prussiacat and Romanocat-had complained about the territory placements, it was either they split the forest as a whole or take the river.
Japancat had adamantly not let up losing the river, so done was done.
Through the greenery and fallen bark of the trees, he made sure to not slip up in any way which might scare prey away. That meant avoiding all stray twigs which stood a perfect mishap to make noise and orange-colored leaves which was ought to make a big crunch if stepped on.
The forest wasn't a practical hunting ground for stealth, but it sure did supply a whole lot of prey. Germanystar preferred it as a food source since he was not the sharpest at fishing and he enjoyed the rush he got when chasing a stubborn mouse from its place of hiding.
As Germanystar turned a tree, he felt the breeze slowly flow across his snout, and he felt his heart spring into action immediately.
His pupils sharpened into thin spikes, and he gaped his mouth open an inch, letting the wind blow the scent of surrounding prey his direction. Germanystar snapped his head to the side, the rustling of bushes catching his attention. His ear flicked to one side, and he motioned for Japancat to lay low. The tuxedo lowered himself down to the ground as gestured to, adjusting the grip he had on the fish as he followed suit in Germanystar's direction.
Claws now scraping the ground, Germanystar let himself be led down to where he was sure prey lay. It smelled of... A vole? He couldn't make it out quite sure, but it didn't matter.
Movements soft and sure, he stood ready before the hidden prey, readying himself to pounce.
With another shift of the grass, the cat bounced off his hind legs and into the grass. He landed on the turf, landing on the prey. Germanystar felt fluff under his paws, maybe a squirrel? He didn't remember squirrels being this big, that's for sure. Squirrels didn't hiss or show of razor-sharp teeth in response to being attacked. Squirrels didn't meow either, unless Germanystar was hearing things. Or, unless it wasn't a squirrel in the first place.
"Dude!!! What's your problem-I didn't even do anything!" Mewled a nasally, high voice. Germanystar flinched back in shock, drawing his claws back almost immediately. Under his paws squirmed a big, infuriated cat, who was writhing under the grip of the other above him. His beige pelt shone in the sunlight which shone through the cracks of the trees above them, and he was swatting at Germanystar's arms while trying to squeeze out from under him.
In an instant, now recognizing the cat he'd pounced, the cat jumped off him. With some struggle, up stood the other in front of him, carrying an exasperated expression. It was Americastar, the leader of AlliesClan. Americastar, the cat who was now sporting pieces of wood and sticks in his slightly matted fur, hackles raised and tail waving angrily.
"Germanystar! Get off our territory!" He growled, taking a wary step back. Germanystar stepped back himself, shaking his head. "This is a misunderstanding, Americastar-" The large cat averted his gaze from the other leader, his tough facade faltering as he looked to the patch of grass he'd once been. Germanystar paused, glancing behind to what the other was looking at.
A confused, timid Japancat stood, his front legs sticking out the grass as he watched the scene in front of him. "Uhm, maybe we can work this out through words? What Germanystar did was just a mistake." He said, dropping the fish to his paws to speak.
Germanystar looked back to Americastar, who just scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Listen here! I don't wanna see any of AxisClan stepping paw in our forest again," He exclaimed, lifting his chin up proudly. "If you do and try to attack me again, well-I'll have to bring all my clan members to drive you dudes out of here with force, so get lost!" Americastar droned on before bursting away into the trees, most likely back to his camp.
The two left behind stood awkward, looking at one another with faces of bewilderment. "What was that all about? This isn't even his territory." Japancat muttered before picking his prey up once again. So much for a hunting trip, only to bump into one of the most annoying cats Germanystar knew.
Speaking of hunting, that vole smelled even closer now...
Looking down, there was the corpse of a killed vole, two bite marks on its stomach. Germanystar looked up once more before snatching it himself. "Let's go," He mumbled through fur, pointing his snout to out of the forest.
He certainly had a story to tell the others back at the clan, that was for sure.
ᗜ⩊ᗜ
"Germanystar!" Italycat beamed, rushing over to the bombay's side. The two returning back from patrol let their kill fall to the ground, "Hello, Italycat." Germanystar licked his lips before greeting the other back. The cat insistently nuzzled himself between both Germanystar and Japancat, making the two sigh and nuzzle him back.
"You brought back food! Do you mind if me and Romanocat start eating quick? Please?" He said, "He tried to attack me because he was grumpy because we didn't have any mice left for him to eat, really! He tried ripping my pelt off right in front of Prussiacat-you should have seen it!" The cat reiterated once again, tears pricking the sides of his eyes.
Germanystar nudged the prey forward to Italycat, giving him permission to scoop it up before he bolted off to the warrior's den.
"Brohaus!" Prussiacat yowled, suddenly, stepping off the rocky platform he'd been resting on. "You're back, how did your fishing trip go?" The albino smiled, his sharp teeth standing out as he came to round his figure to Germanystar's side. Japancat had already wandered back to the medicine cat den, ducking under the vines which fell over the entrance before disappearing into the darkness of the cavern. The leader sighed, looking off to the side.
"Me and Japancat ran into Americastar on our territory." He told him, seeing his brother gasp animatedly next to him. "Huh?! Did anything happen?" Prussiacat asked, now interested. "No, just a run-in and him threatening to fight us if we 'stepped paw in his forest again'." Germanystar snorted.
"That guy is so full of himself! I don't know how the other cats put up with him." Prussiacat shivered as he spoke, shaking his head and bandana with it. Germanystar hummed in agreement, ducking into the leader den together.
Prussiacat, ironically while whirring on about Americastar's arrogance sat his happy ass down onto Germanystar's bed of moss (almost right on Hasch Stick, which Germanystar was less than happy with), ranting on about AlliesClan. The leader continued to debate with the albino how if push came to shove, they could easily defend themselves. With an equal number of cats in AlliesClan and AxisClan, it should be fair game. That is, if the warriors in AxisClan even tried to take training seriously.
"You're crazy, I don't think Austriacat would fight back even if he was getting thrashed by the scruff." Prussiacat said, rolling around the cold stone floor of the den. That was true, which was a major setback for the entire clan. Germanystar growled, bunching himself up on his brother's moss bed as his tail coiled in on itself.
Despite the fact the leader had been persistent on training with all the other warriors, either they were too lazy to participate or backed out before it even started. It annoyed him, leading to multiple outbursts of annoyance. Germanystar, blinked down at the dirty ground. He didn't want to dwell on the subject, but it wasn't something they could just, forget.
He stole a glimpse to look at his brother, who was grooming himself. Crimson eyes looked upside down at the leader, and Prussiacat grinned lazily, his pupils dilated.
"That's it." Germanystar stood, ruffling his fur and striding right back out the den. "Huh? Brohaus! Where are you going-?" The albino's words died out as Germanystar exited it, pushing through the reeds covering the den and standing outside it.
Looking around, Austriacat was lazing in a sunspot just as usual, Romanocat and Italycat were arguing among each other about whatever two Italian cats could, and Japancat was tucked away in the dark medicine cat den, most likely sorting herbs if Germanystar were to take a guess.
"Dear StarClan..." He murmured under his breath, lowering his head as he walked over to the elevated platform of the camp. It was so empty here, and the worry that dug into him harder and harder by the second was chest-tightening. The lack of dedicated warriors in their clan was no doubt a big problem which needed to be fixed.
He needed to recruit more cats to AxisClan.