DANCING IN THE DARK - ember

[Rain]

Tonight was one of those sleepless nights, the kind where you toss and turn desperately trying to find a place in the nest where you feel comfortable. Eventually, you give up, you push yourself to your feet and you leave with a sigh because you know any attempt at sleep is futile right now. It was like that for Rain tonight.

He leaves the safety and comfort of his den and in the mouth of it he sits. The clearing is so empty at this time of night, the moon is bathing everything in its pale glow, and it's eerily silent. It makes him shudder and long for the business that he usually finds solace in during the daytime. No, Rain was not a creature of the night at all and he was not meant for solitude. Regardless, there was no point for him to try and go back to sleep now. He was wide awake.

The silver tom tilts his head backward, searching the night sky for stars. A fond memory comes back to him of when he was a kit and he would play a game of making images out of them in his head with his mother and his sister. He flops onto his back now and raises a paw, closing one eye as he brings his paw from one star to another, connecting them and making lines in his mind. He knows it's silly, and he knows he must look strange, but no one was awake anyway, it's not like anyone would see him being so childish.

/ @ember
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[emberstar]

HANGING ONTO HOPE​

Time had lost all meaning at this point. It wasn't until she glanced up that Ember realized exactly how late it had gotten. She had noticed when it grew dark, of course, but she had not paid it any heed. Her hunt wasn't done yet. Not when she had caught so little. Her expectations were skewed, she knew that. She wasn't yet used to working in territory so well trodden. It felt like she had to work so much harder for just one catch. If she had spent this much time hunting when she was on her own, she'd have more prey than she could carry by now.

Her ear flicked as she wandered into camp, a squirrel and a vole dangling by their tails from her jaws. They were all she had to show for hours upon hours of effort. There was no point heading back out for another attempt. Catching anything else would be even harder so late at night with all the prey hidden away in their dens. Besides, even though adrenaline was still coursing through her veins for the moment, she could feel her exhaustion beginning to set in. No, she was done.

Dropping her prey, she caught glimpse some movement out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes found Rain, grasping up at the sky like a newborn kit. She couldn't help the giggle that bubbled up at the sight. "I don't think you're gonna be able to pull them down." The molly told him, padding over to take a seat right beside him. She leaned over to whisper. "Though maybe if you ask with enough 'leaderly authority' they'll come down to you."​