[C]uriosit.y [E]xploratio.n

[chocolatefur]

[C]uriosit.y [E]xploratio.n

Waterbrook travel down the beach line towards the old abandon ship. She always been curious what's inside the ship, she heard that there's rat gang in it that attack cats. At first, she thought it was just a tale to scare kits.

She had been here before, to hunt with her mentor. But, he never took her inside or ontop of the ship, he feared that the rats will attack.

Now that Waterbrook is a warrior, she's free to explore this place. She wanted to see if it's true that a rat gang do live in here. Yes, she very well knew the risk if there are, in fact, rats that attack cats here. But, she'll be carefully, isn't she always careful?

Waterbrook stalks up to the ship, her eyes look into the large hole in the side of the ship, the reason why it sneak. She walks slowly up to the hole, she looks inside, but she only see darkness.

Wait... isn't that a glimmer from two small eyes?

[Amber]

Shallowpool stepped towards Waterbrook, flashing her a charming half-smile. "Hi...what are you doing here?" His meow sounded around the area, breaking the silence. Then he frowned as he spotted he glimpsing into the dakness of a hole in the ship. "Whatcha looking at?" he querried, tilting his head slightly to the side. He sat down, wrapping his tail around his paws. The young warrior had always been a kit at heart. "Is it something cool? May I take a look?!" He was excited now, jumping to his paws.

[chocolatefur]

Waterbrook blinks at the meow of a tom, she looks over at him. She realize he was right next to her, looking straight into the hole.

"Hello Shallowpool!" Waterbrook meowed happily, glad to see her fellow clanmate here. It was going to be boring exploring this ship alone.

She blinks. "I heard rumors there's a gang of rats in there. I want to check it out to see if it's true!" She flicks her tail. "Along with exploring this ship, too. Also, I heard there's a way up to the ship that only Beachclan cats know. I'm excited to check this ship out. How about you?"

[Fallentear ||]

A loud, frightening squeak sounding from within the hole that Waterbrook was looking through. Scrabbling was heard inside the hole, carrying on for a few moments before stopping and being replaced with dead silence. A gray paw-as big as a cat's- popped through the hole with a loud, squeaky growl. This was one menacing rat! Wait...rats growled? Not a heartbeat later, the gray and white splotched body of a young tom shot out and rammed into Shallowpool. Sootpaw had tackled the warrior with a loud yowl.

He sat upon his perch of the tom's chest and began to laugh hysterically. Sootpaw rolled off of the young warrior, still laughing. "You shoulda seen your eyes...both of you! They got as big as an owl's!!" Still gigling, he sat up and looked at them both with a spark in his blue eyes. "I went in there, and I killed a rat. You know, they don't taste too good...I didn't see the whole gang that has been rumored," He paused, and his meow grew a bit more serious and ominous, "But they could always be hiding somewhere in the shadows..." He winked. "You guys wanna go in there and check things out, so we can all get a better look?"

Sootpaw had always been shy around others, but since his medicine cat training had began, he'd learned to have more faith in himself...and had grown quite confident as well. His fur bristled with excitement. The rat he'd killed was still in there, and he wondered if they'd be able to eat it. When didn't a growing tom think of food?

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[chocolatefur]

Waterbrook's eyes widen with fear. The rumors of there being a rat gang is true! She remembers the Elders telling her that the rats were huge, maybe the size of a cat even! Though, another elder had to correct the storyteller that they weren't big as cats, the size of the gang is huge and can bring a clan of cats down in the heartbeat. Waterbrook was reminded that it was a kit tale and she stood by it. Until now...

But, when she saw a young apprentice tackle Shallowpaw down, her heart went back to a steady pace and she lets out a breathe of relief.

"You surely got me scared, Sootpaw," Waterbrook purrs amusingly. "I thought I was going to faint! Guess we'll have to keep a good eye out on you."

She give her fur a good wash to flatten it, the surprise had fluff her fur up. "I never thought rats were good. Nasty little creatures they are. I prefer fishes, at least they don't go after cats... I hope they don't." Her eyes widen a bit at the thought.

Waterbrook shook her head. "Nah, that can't happen." She looks at Sootpaw. "Anyways, I love to explore this place! Where should we check first? I'm sure there's a lot of places in this boat! It's a shame that the twolegs let this go to waste! I'll never understand them, sadly."

[Amber]

Even Shallowpool was laughing, and then without warning he kicked his hind feet, launching Sootpaw straight into the air...and into the ship with a thud. Shallowpool scrambled to his paws, laughing his head off. "Sure we can get a look!" he said between giggles, "If you can recover and catch up in time!"

The tom leapt through the hole, dissapearing into the shadows. There was silence for a moment, then suddenly screams of fear and pain were heard. "AAAH!" There was dramatic thuds every now and then. "GET THEM OFF ME!" Inside Shallowpool stifled a laugh. He waited a second, then popped his gray paw out, squeaking like a rat. He was a very small cat, almost as small as the kits he acted like.

His claws were unsheathed, and then he pulled his paw back inside the darkness. And then he jumped out, screaming for all to hear, "BOO!" He landed right in front of Waterbrook, laughing again. He spun around and jumped back through the hole. Inside he grinned, waiting for the others to come. Its pretty dark in here, he thought, Wonder who could live he...

His thoughts were cut off as a tiny body sprung on him, then another, then another..."HELP ME!" he screamed, struggling to get them off in the darkness. He was sure the others would think it was another joke, but it wasn't. "HELP ME! I'M NOT KIDDING!" He ran to get the rats off - straight into a wall. They fell off and he crashed to the ground, dazed. "Ow...help....."

[chocolatefur]

Waterbrook's fur fluffs up, but she heard a muffled laughter and knew Shallowpool was joking around, trying to scare them. She purrs amusingly, she enjoy this trick. Now she fully believes that there's no such thing as a rat gang.

"HELP ME! HELP ME, I'M NOT KIDDING!"

At first, she thought Shallowpool was desperately trying to get them into the ship to trick them into thinking he was being attacked by rats.

But, Shallowpool didn't sound like he was joking, there was no muffle of the laughter. He sounds serious, he needs their help! They have to help him, what if the rat gang is attacking him?

"I'm coming, Shallowpool! Hold on!" Waterbrook runs into the dark hole, she didn't even realize her fears of the rat gang, she needs to rescue Shallowpool. She quickly search around, it was too dark in there to see Shallowpool. "Shallowpool! Where are you?"

[Amber]

"Over here!" he called, growling at the rats. "Get....off....me!" he yowled angrily, slamming himself into the wall on purpose, causing them to fall. He ran towards where he thought he heard Waterbrook, bumping into her and skidding to a stop as she fell to the ground. "Fox dung!" he cursed as a rat jumped onto his back, latching on.

[chocolatefur]

Waterbrook tumbles backwards, she blinks. She felt tiny teeth chewing on her fur. She quickly shakes the rats off of her pelt, she shudders a bit.

"Come on!" Waterbrook told Shallowpool, she puts her tail on his shoulder. "Let's get out of the ship! We'll get these filthy rats once we're outside and we can see them."

She quickly escapes from the heart of the abandon boat, she made sure her tail was still on Shallowpool's shoulder.

[Fallentear ||]

Sootpaw was still laying dazed on the deck as all of this happened. By the time Waterbrook had rushed in to Shallowpool's rescue, he had scrambled over and reached the opening that led to the black room within. Leaping inside, he stood beside the entrance with his powerful shoulders jutting upwards, adding a powerful look to the black outline against the sunlight streaming in. His tail lashed, and he called out, "Quick, this way!" to direct them to the exit. Bounding forward a few paces, he let out a ferocious snarl and raked his claws across the flesh of a rat, which promptly dropped dead to the ground from it's perch atop Shallowpool. A quick follow up attack with his other forepaw clubbed another rat off of his clanmate.

Sootpaw heard claws scrabbling and peered into the darkness with his keen blue eyes. The ground was no longer visible as it was swarming and pulsing with rats that crawled menacingly across it's surface. Crouching down and facing them, he let out a vicious hiss and backed away slowly, claws unsheathed. He lashed out at one or two adventurous rats that leaped at him, sending them flying sideways. "Hurry!" He prompted, an undertone of fear being noticable beneath the urgency. His limbs began to tremble, but he quickly steadied himself. Now was not the time to be chicken!

[/color][/blockquote]

[Amber]

Shallowpool, too, began to tremble at the sight of so many rats that now made up the floor below. But he had to be brave. He pushed back his fears and let out a yowl of fury. "Get away from my Clanmates!" He jumped forward, biting one rat and landing his both front paws, claws unsheathed, on two others. Three down...about a hundred to go, he'd guess. He bit another, and another, falling to the floor in a writhing twisting mass. Rats began to swarm over him, and he stood up aruptbly with a violent shake. Now from where he is he could spot the exit. "Come on!" he yelled, his voice hoarse from all the yelling, and his wounds stinging in a very unnatural way. He didn't know what these rats were carrying, but it wasn't good. He by far had been the one bit the most, having been in there the longest and tried to protect the others. "THIS WAY! Come, on!" He, himself, made a break for the exit.

[Fallentear ||]

Sootpaw turned and fled, the rats gaining courage from this and scampering quickly at his heels. A few leaped, and some missed while others managed to latch onto his tail. The weight increased as more caught up to him, and he howled as the mass of rats upon him multiplied, and then converged over him. He crouched with his eyes closed, feeling fangs sink into his fur and some even met his skin. A furious growl started deep in his throat and then burst out as a loud yowl as he threw his head back. He thrust upwards, sending almost all of the rats flying off of him. Power surged through his legs, and it didn't even feel like he was in his own body as he thundered forward faster than he ever had. The remaining rats on his body squeaked and fell to the floor as if suddenly stabbed by invisible claws.

Sootpaw pushed through the exit moments after Shallowpool, the sunlight hitting him in the face like a slap. He felt dizzy from the sudden change of lighting, and as he blinked the bright dots from his eyes, he felt a rat climbing up a hindleg...and then another...he turned and saw their glowing red eyes looking up at him, and saw a few more adventurous ones coming out. They had followed them out! Obviously, these things weren't going to leave them alone so soon! Sootpaw leaned forward, balanced on his forepaws, and kicked out his hindlegs like a donkey, sending both rats flying. Whirling around in a circle, he searched for an easy escape from the deck. Instead, his eyes were drawn like magnets to the creeping tendrils of a bramble that had grown on the abandoned ship.

Instinct...or maybe something more...made something click in his mind. With his jaws he carefully clutched a thornless part of a branch closer to the base and ripped it off. Weilding the weapon, he charged into the fray and swung his head to and fro like an angry bull elepant. The spiny branch swept away the frontal attackers and knocked rats flying sideways like bowling pins, blood flying through the air too. The rats slowed, uncertainty swelling like a disease through the ranks as they saw this strange, yet effective method of battle.

[/color][/blockquote]

[chocolatefur]

Waterbrook escaped the abandoned ship, her heart race as she pant. She felt like she was going to faint, she never seen so many rats, all of them were vicious and lusting to rip them apart with this sharp teeth. Teeth of death...

She begins to breathe slowly, she needs to relax her body and get her heart working smoothly. Panic will cause fear, and fear is what the rats need.

"Is everyone alright?" Waterbrook turns around and looks at the two toms. Her eyes widen when she saw Sootpaw changing after the rats. "Sootpaw, what are you doing?!"

She thought the young apprentice was asking for a death wish. But looking closer, it was reveal that Sootpaw was actually scaring the rats with the bramble branch.

Good thinking. Waterbrook thought to herself. The apprentice did have a sane mind after all. She looks at Shallowpool, maybe they can scare the rats out of the ship.