Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Post by Shadowstartheleader on Jul 7, 2019 2:56:38 GMT -5
Shadowpaw couldn't hide the disappointed sadness from his face as Hazelrunner responded, at least at first. as Hazelrunner expressed how she took what he had said. Hold on to a memory as tightly as you can. He couldn't place exactly why, but he felt like, as she said this, it was, in some way, not accepting of how he felt. He didn't know how he could respond and word it the correct way, but Shadowpaw didn't feel like she understood how important this way to him, or maybe...maybe she did, but she simply could only believe that it wasn't worth the effort that he felt he needed to put into it.
His gaze turned back out to the water as he felt talons of sadness tearing at his heart as she told him that she could never look at him for anything besides what he was now. He began to worry that Hazelrunner wasn't going to be able, no matter what he said, to understand the perspective that Shadowpaw was coming from. His eyes burned with tears that were threatening to spill forth at any moment that they wished. he felt like the only cat who really supported him in anything he needed was tearing that out from under him as she disagreed with how he felt.
Yet, despite voicing her firm opinion on Nightstar, Hazelrunner continued and extended the paw of support which Shadowpaw thought she was ripping away. He didn't know how to take it, but she was saying, even if she didn't agree with his interpretation, that she was there to help him in any way she could. His eyes glazed over a little as he focused on the rain drops pelting at the water in front of them, and he barely managed to force his tears back. He desperately, desperately wanted her to understand why he needed to pull his father from this evil that he had fallen into. He needed someone in his family to be left. What could he do if he was all that was left? Could she understand his dilemma?
His gaze shifted slowly from the water back to her, his eyes refocusing on her gaze as finally, tears began silently slipping from out of his eyes. "I need him." It was a simple stated fact, barely more than a whisper as he voiced what he felt was the pure truth.
Leafpaw gulped as the feeling of relief continued to wash over her as Wrenflight smoothly transitioned out of their company, despite it not being that close to the setting of the sun. Still, she did not voice any protest, though she felt jarred from her previous mindset of communicating her thoughts to Ravenfang as quickly as possible. She quickly glanced about her vicinity in a panic, trying to see Mousepaw and not catching his gaze right away.
Ravenfang blinked at Wrenflight as she made a reason to leave the two of them alone, ready to open his mouth and ask her to wait, but the lingering look from Wrenflight gave him pause and, even though he didn't know what it was Leafpaw needed to mention, he got the message-his daughter needed him right now for some reason, and Wrenflight didn't want their awkward revelation to get in the way of that. Sighing quietly, he turned to his daughter and asked if they should step out of camp for a minute. When she gave a curt nod, he stepped towards the exit of the den, not seeing her lingering glance among the camp for Mousepaw.
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Jul 7, 2019 10:49:51 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Jul 7, 2019 10:49:51 GMT -5
She watched him silently struggle to keep his tears away. Maybe she could have just swallowed her words and silently agreed to go help with Shadowpaw’s quest to try to bring his father back, to bring back the cat who he saw in his memories. But, she couldn’t do that to grin and bare it. She couldn’t lie like that to Shadowpaw. Her heart sank as the tears finally went streaking down her cheeks. Sighing softly to herself she drew herself closer to him. Hazelrunner froze when he stated the fact that he needed Nightstar. Her eyes clouded over as she looked down at the tom beside her. No you don’t! He’s not the only one left! Her thoughts silently screamed. She clamped her jaw shut swallowing as she looked away from Shadowpaw. He needed to know, he needed to know that he wasn’t going to be alone if Nightstar was defeated. That heavy feeling began to press down on her shoulders again.
“He’s your family. He is apart of you no matter what is happening now.” Taking a deep slow breath she did her best to keep herself together. If she told him now then it could hurt both Leafpaw and Shaodwpaw’s life here. If she didn’t speak up then she could be setting him up more disappointment. Swallowing thickly she tried to force herself to find her voice. “I know.” She croaked softly as she flattened her ears against her head. It was all right there and yet she had to force it all to the back of her mind. “Your family isn’t completely gone yet. I promise, I won’t let it happen.” She whispered softly in his ear a conviction in her voice. It was a promise she could make it good faith, even if it didn’t hold the same meaning Shadowpaw might read into it. The young warrior gingerly licked the top of his head. “We’ll do whatever it takes.”
Wrenflight didn’t really mean to leave in such a hurry, but she also wasn’t trying to insert herself into the middle of their family. Sighing softly to herself she found her usual spot and sat down to clean off her pelt. She hesitated when she looked to the nest past Ravenfang’s that was now empty. It was where Redsky used to sleep and where Applepaw would occasionally sneak into to curl up close to his mother on rainy or gloomy nights. Drawing in a deep breath she really hoped she’d done the right thing in the end. Only time would be able to tell.
Mousepaw had ducked away as soon as they got back into camp, mostly because the two she-cats had entirely forgot he was there as soon as they saw Ravenfang. He’d managed to mostly tame his wild and soggy fur although there were still a few stubborn pieces. After he’d done that he looked over at Applepaw’s nest. He needed something to do so he decided to drag the still dry moss over to the nursery to see if it could be put use there. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but it was the best one he had. Reappearing to drag the nest out of the den he wasn’t immediately paying attention to his surroundings, missing the look from Leafpaw. That was until he paused, feelings eyes on him. Frowning he quickly looked around bewildered until he spotted Leafpaw looking towards her with what seemed like panic in her eyes. Dropping the moss from his jaws he turned sharply to look in her direction tipping his head to the side questioning why she looked like she was staring down a monster.
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Jul 7, 2019 18:51:55 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Jul 7, 2019 18:51:55 GMT -5
Shadowpaw wasn't a sniffling, sobbing mess at all, simply having tears falling down his cheeks as he held a relative composure despite them. His gaze didn't turn away from her, and his gaze lifted to keep eye contact with her as she pulled herself in closer towards him. As Hazelrunner voiced what she thought must of been going through, his head, he felt that perhaps she really did have an understanding of how he was left to feel about all of this. Closing his eyes for a few long moments as she softly reassured him that she knew what was running through his head, he felt the slightest nuzzle of comfort return to him. It was at least a little helpful to hear her say that much.
Thus, it took him utterly off guard when she outright promised she wasn't going to let his family fade from his life. His eyes opened again, wider than before as the promise left him stunned for a number of moments. He quickly tried to process what was, to him, an abrupt shift from what she had been saying a minute before about his father. Even here, he felt like there was something strange he didn't understand that she had said what she had about Nightstar, yet promised to keep him alive if it was what Shadowpaw truly wanted.
He gulped, preparing to speak as his tears had paused and there had been a few moments silence between them. He felt the conviction within her voice, but he needed to hear that this was her true word. He was set to ask her when she beat him to it, promising his family wasn't gone and that she wouldn't let it be gone. His barely opened mouth shut itself as she gingerly licked him and promised they would work together, no matter what they had to do. He couldn't help the tears that began streaming from his eyes again, but there was the slightest glimpse of a smile on his lips this time--and more, he felt the light warmth that had been holding in his chest flaring into something more potent and filling his whole body with warmth as his heart's pace rushed ahead of its normal pace. He closed his eyes and once she finished licking his head, he half-stepped and half-fell forward, burying his head in her chest and finally releasing some of the weight of his...well, the weight of everything as she promised him they would work towards the right end. "Y...you're the...the only one...the only one who..." He trailed off, not sure what words he could use to convey what she was doing for him. He didn't know what words could capture how much the effort she poured into him had come to mean to the apprentice as she worked on bringing him to believe he deserved it in the first place. Words, he felt, could not capture it.
There wasn't anything Leafpaw could do but follow Ravenfang out of the camp. Even given this....interruption? Revelation? Shock? She still needed to talk with him about the camp. The clans. The chance for escape. She needed to, at least for a minute, push the other issue into the back of her mind, for this conversation. In fact, she needed to push a lot away. There was Ravenfang's snapping at her. She still wasn't sure exactly where he was standing right now, but he was stressed. She could see that much. Any cat could see that much. She waved her tail in farewell at Mousepaw before she exited, then followed along with the deputy.
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Jul 7, 2019 22:42:57 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Jul 7, 2019 22:42:57 GMT -5
The young warrior couldn’t make herself actually ever say that she was going to defend Nightstar after all that he had done, but she also knew he needed that he needed to know that she was going to do everything in her power to make sure he didn’t loose what was left of his family. As soon as she righted herself she felt his entire body come forwards, resting his head gently against her chest. Sighing softly to herself she felt that familiar warmth and comfort course through her body.
Resting her chin on the top of his head she glanced down at his black fur, with that feeling of warmth only growing by the minute. She knew she would do absolutely anything in her power to keep him happy and safe. Her ears perked up hearing his brief struggle for words before trying to describe what this all meant to him. Even if he couldn’t manage to finish his thought she breathed contently to herself able to understand him perfectly well.
“I’ll do everything I can.” She whispered softly under her breath. All she could do was hope it would be enough in the end. “You’ve come so far, you make me so proud.” Hazelrunner added earnestly. Craning her neck to look down at his face for a moment. She could remember her first look into his eyes when she had drug him to the shore. Even though he was crying now she saw a markedly different and stronger cat looking back at her now.
Watching Leafpaw follow Ravenfang out he supposed she was getting on with telling him what she thought should be done. Shrugging his shoulders a little he went back to pulling the moss to the queens and kits. The den was noticeably empty. He heard some of the queens fretting about Speckleflower and her poor kits. Something about a fox attack. Frowning to himself he wondered if it was due to the lack of Rainstar being in camp. Every cat in camp was silently shrugging their shoulders and assuming that she’d show back up eventually. The end of his tail twitched. Something told him he should go out and look for himself. If she was hurt or something worse she needed to be found and he should be the cat to do it. He waited a few more moments until he figured Ravenfang and Leafpaw should be far enough away from the entrance to make his way out of camp to find the clan leader for himself.
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Jul 8, 2019 7:04:02 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Jul 8, 2019 7:04:02 GMT -5
Shadowpaw took the chance to exist outside of all of the other parts of their lives, taking in a long, calm breath of sweet oxygen, marked by the nearby salty water as well as the she-cat herself. Worries of his father were slowly melting under the sound of her words as she reinforced her support for him in a way he hadn’t even been certain she would back him up on. She swept his anxieties away like the torrent of the river. She promised to be there beside him, and while a moon ago he didn’t know if he would of felt the same way, right now, it was all he needed to hear.
Warmth had already filled his body from tail top to the muzzle resting against her, yet he was still unprepared for how he felt after she spoke again. As she shifted and craned her neck, rather uncomfortably it seemed to him, he pulled him head up and back ever so slightly to meet her eyes again. It seemed his tears had just stopped as he managed to end their stream amidst the warmth she had brought them, but they broke forth once more after she spoke. Shadowpaw’s heart soared as she ended with such praise as to where he had come to until today. He wasn’t expecting it and it left him completely joyous as his tears sprung forth once again and a smile formed in his lips.
Shadowpaw emitted the heaviest sigh he had ever released, though it was only so heavy because of how much relief was truly packed into it. His mouth opened and his voice cracked as he tried to speak, and his cheeks went a little red with embarrassment before he tried again. “Its all because of you,” he whispered quietly as he admired her whilst gazing up at her with warmth coarsing from end to end of his body. Hearing she was proud of him was something beyond the everyday struggle of their lives. It validated everything that it had taken to get here. To have made it through his mother’s death, to have about died to his clan’s cruelty and then almost killing him himself, to have made it past that and beyond at the guiding paws of Hazelrunner...
Maybe it made being here truly worth the effort, the anxiety, the fear. To hear those words from Hazelrunner’s lips...he hadn’t known it until now, but he would do anything to hear them again.
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Jul 8, 2019 10:37:08 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Jul 8, 2019 10:37:08 GMT -5
She blinked briefly as a new stream of tears started shortly after the others had finally dried on his cheeks. If he hadn’t been smiling and looking up at her the way he was she might have fretted that she said something hurtful. “I don’t mean to make you keep crying.” She mewed although there was a thin purr of warmth in her tone. Gazing down at him, her neck looking down at a somewhat odd angle, she beamed down to him. Every word was true. Hazelrunner felt an overwhelming pride in Shadowpaw, in the tiny obstacles he managed to overcome almost on a daily basis. It made her proud and he needed to know that. If nothing else he needed to know just how proud he truly made her as both a friend and mentor. Any feelings past that were swirling around in her chest weren’t quite as clear cut, but there was something else there that much she knew.
“We did it together. We’ve always done it together.” She mewed softly as she rubbed her cheek against his, still smiling all the while. Even if he might think that this was her doing and her’s alone, they wouldn’t be anywhere if he weren’t willing to try. At the thought of Dawnstar’s words she felt her face heat up a little. Letting out a slow deep breath she pulled her head back to look at him again. It really had moved her to see him come to stand up for her against Rowanfur, hopefully one day soon he would feel confident enough to stay up for himself without shrinking back.
“I almost don’t want to go back to camp.” The molly muttered lightly, mostly to herself. She broke eye contact with Shadowpaw long enough to look around them. It seemed so beautiful and freeing to be out here when comparing it to the overcrowded and anxious camp setting. Drawing in a deep breath of the rain and Shadowpaw she felt her whole body relax completely. She’d almost forgot there was any rain at all.
(Should we go ahead and timeskip?)
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Jul 8, 2019 13:56:33 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Jul 8, 2019 13:56:33 GMT -5
(Sure)
Shadowpaw silently nodded in agreement as he too felt zero desire to return to the chaos within the camp. He didn't try to say anything else as he settled down beside her, shifting his body around so he was gazing out over the water, side to side with Hazelrunner. He leaned his head against her shoulder as the rain, through some blessing from Starclan, slowly ran between stopping and occasional showers, but never coalescing into the storms of the previous days. Did they have to go back there? Couldn't she slip away from there for an evening? She had been breaking her back with warrior responsibilities and she'd just come back from a battle. He wasn't eager to leave and wasn't going to hurry them along in the process. It wasn't too long before he was feeling the claws of fatigue pulling at his back, drawing close to falling into a nap.
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Jul 8, 2019 18:38:04 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Jul 8, 2019 18:38:04 GMT -5
The she-cat lazily rested her cheek on the top of Shadowpaw’s head. She wasn’t ready to go back just yet so, she didn’t try to usher them back to camp before the fatigue started to overrule all of her other senses. Her eyelids grew heavy and she gave one loud yawn before closing her eyes and starting to drift off, falling asleep to the sound of the rain.
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Hazelrunner’s eyes slowly fluttered open after a moment. She tried to shut her eyes again and ignore the bright light shining right at her. She wanted to sleep more. After a moment or two of trying it became pretty clear she wasn’t going to be getting anymore sleep. Reluctantly she opened her eyes and moved her neck, feeling it pop a little only now realizing the uncomfortable sleeping position she’d been in for too long. Stretching her neck this way and that she worked to get out the kinks. She could remember last night perfectly well. After a long pause she stared down at Shadowpaw a smile appearing on her face. Purring softly to herself she felt that warm feeling returning to her chest. Despite the fact that she was sure that camp was not much better than it had been the night before she knew they most likely needed to get back at some point. Maybe it was the need to contribute that had been ingrained in her from an early age.
She lightly touched her nose to his sandy shoulder. The wet sand was drying and clumping on both their furs from laying in it for most of the night. She uncurled herself from around him, stretching her long limbs out in front of her. Sitting close to the shore she began to work trying to get the sand clumps out from her pelt. Her blue eyes occasionally moved back towards Shadowpaw. No horrible nightmares or visits from Starclan. She was grateful to get some form of rest. It painted everything in a slightly brighter light, even if there were still some grey clouds overhead. It was sunny and bright as far as Hazelrunner could be concerned.
Wrenflight had already been curled up asleep in her nest long before Ravenfang came back from his talk with Leafpaw, or at least she looked asleep. Really she had very little sleep. Sitting herself up her nest she glanced over at Ravenfang feeling bad if he was woken up by her fitful tossing and turning all night. Dreams would come and go, some of them better than others. Finally she’d just conceded to the fact she wasn’t going to be able to sleep and had just laid awake looking up towards the top of the den until she caught sunlight filtering through the gaps in the top of the den. Carefully moving to slip through the mass of sleeping cats she did her best not to wake all of them, especially Ravenfang. He looked absolutely exhausted from everything. Going to sit out in the sunlight she gazed around camp to find any signs of any of the cats who might be up and about. She still had a lot of her own thoughts to work through at the current moment so, she appreciated the moment to herself.
Otterstar sighed as he stepped out of the leader’s...his...den. He could see the crumpled up form of the Windclan cat who still hadn’t left their camp yet. Lavenderfur had been here long enough. All of the medicine cats had tried to talk him into leaving, Otterstar was pretty sure even his mate had come to try and coax him back to Windclan. Now, he couldn’t let him stay any longer. They needed to rebuild and they didn’t need Windclan or Thunderclan having more of a constant presence in their camp then they already did. Stalking over to the tom he cleared his throat with an obvious frown. “Lavenderfur, it’s time you went back to your own clan.” The new leader ignored the urge to turn and look at the medicine cat den. He hadn’t gone since he’d...thrown Wrenflight out of their camp. Wildberry reported she was better, but mentioned that Applepaw was more of a nuisance than anything. All he did was cling to his mother’s side. It didn’t seem like he could get over the fact that he had almost lost her as well. The point was his clan had a lot that needed to be done and it needed to be done alone.
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Jul 8, 2019 19:46:10 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Jul 8, 2019 19:46:10 GMT -5
Shadowpaw couldn't remember fading off into sleep, but it wouldn't be surprising that a warm cat and a calm lake would coalesce in a peaceful night's sleep. He barely twitched as she touched her nose to him lightly, seeming to be heavily asleep until she uncurled from around him and the air had its way to the warmer side of his pelt, which seemed to pull him out of his sleep just sharply enough that his eyes flickered open halfway to gaze sleepily up at the she-cat whilst she took the sand out of her fur the best she could.
It took him a few moments to remember where they were and to realize it was, in fact, the next day as the sun overhead peeked through several clouds in the sky, not too high above them. Once he realized this, he laid his head on the floor of the lake shore for a few moments longer and gave a low groan. It was the most uninterrupted and likely the longest that he had slept in a while, and though it might be weird for him to recognize this, he felt rested in a way he wasn't accustomed to.
He had to take a minute to adjust to the morning air as Hazelrunner left him at its mercy, and meanwhile he murmured a quiet greeting to her. He could see in her face something brighter than the evening before and was glad to see it, that his feelings about the re-centering effect of their evening pulling away from the stress had not only benefited him. As he finally brought himself lumbering up into an upward position, he took a long stretch which made clear that he was a fairly large cat already when he got rid of the bad posture and naturally cowed demeanor. Gazing towards her, he flashed a large smile, feeling that same warmth immediately returning in his chest as he remembered his words of the past evening. You've come so far. You make me so proud. He finally opened his opened his mouth to speak. "I think...we didn't go back to camp..." There were clear notes of humor in his voice as he pointed out their...mistake? No, that wasn't quite right. (Feeling like this might be a decent song for the two of them: )
It was a poor night's sleep for the deputy as various factors stacked upon his chest, weighing down on him with unrelenting force. His daughter had a million concerns in her mind now and had been very vocal about it, which lead to something of an unproductive argument the night before. He wanted to think of anything more than his daughter being scared enough of the coming threat that she thought they needed to leave. It had torn him apart, and his reaction as a result had not been the best. This time, though, she had bit back to some degree. What was more, now she had Wrenflight to think about. Beyond this he was frequently awoken by a mixture of the thrashing of Wrenflight who he had curled up next to at nighttime, and the stress filled nightmares spawned by their challenges against Shadowclan. As the sunlight of morning began streaking through the cracks in the roof, he emitted a quiet groan and tried to pull himself up, failing with a light thud as he fell back to his nest.
Leafpaw hadn't said a word when she returned to camp, which had been very late at night, much later than Ravenfang had. He had, thank Starclan, at least left her be outside of camp after chewing her out about how irresponsible and poor of an idea it was. She had not been prepared for how sharply he reacted to it and in a weird way, her lack of expecting it had almost led her to react more fiercely than if say, he had coddled her anxieties but still shut down her idea.
She had been surprised to not see Shadowpaw in the den, but it was only a passing thought as she collapsed in the furthermost nest from the rest of the apprentices, not expecting to get that much ofa restful sleep. At the least, she had got the crying out of the way outside of the camp.
Lavenderfur had ignored half of the attempts to push him out of the Riverclan camp and resisted the other half of them as his increased stress continued to weigh on him. not only had he almost got a cat killed, he had thrust his mate and kits into worrying about him, leaving them all to worry about where he had been and if he was safe. He currently still felt the former was the greater weight, yet he knew when he returned there was going to be a price to pay.
Such was why he was so resilient against attempts to eject him--yet there was nothing he could say when the new leader of the clan told him time was up. He could see in the stone gaze and hear in the compassion-less tone of his voice that he wasn't welcome here anymore. Looking up at the leader and trying to find words, though they all failed him, he looked around at the early risers and the sidewards glances at the two of them. He emitted a low sigh and rose from the corner of camp he had hermitted into before feeling the weariness of combat following by total lack of movement as he finally readied to move again. Not meeting the leader's gaze as he turned away, he quietly murmured an apology for the length of his stay and thanked his hospitality before readying to enter the water, not allowing himself one last glance at the den of the warrior he'd let be injured.
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Jul 8, 2019 21:05:04 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Jul 8, 2019 21:05:04 GMT -5
(I like that song for the two of them!)
She was still silently working the sand grains from her cream colored fur, when she could hear the sound of the sand shifting as Shadowpaw got up to his paws. Pausing she glanced over her shoulder. His wide smile made her widen her own. It was the first time that she could recall in a long time seeing him smile like that first thing in the morning. “I guess we didn’t quite make it did we?” Hazelrunner mewed not sounding very ashamed of the fact. For both of their sakes they seemed to need to stay away from camp for the night at least. “We’re probably lucky we didn’t get caught in the middle of another downpour.” Smiling sheepishly she hadn’t at all realized in her seemingly dreamlike state last night that they might have found themselves caught up in the middle of another massive storm. Instead though, the night had been quite serene.
Hazelrunner looked at him with an amused smile as she leaned forwards to lick some of the ruffled fur along his shoulder. After this she moved to stand up and shake the last of the sand from her pelt. Even despite the fact she should be eager to get back into camp to fulfill her duties she still was in no hurry to go back to camp even after having a restful night of sleeping. Maybe it was because of her sleep that she didn’t want to go back yet. She glanced at the large tom close to her. She might be able to admit to herself that it wasn’t just the newfound peace that made her so reluctant to go back to camp.
Her blue eyes trailed back to Shadowpaw. She opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped when she caught sight of a frog leaping out of the water not far away. Perking her ears up she quickly turned back to Shadowpaw a very playful glint to her eyes. “Let’s catch it!” She declared almost like a kit chasing after a moss ball. Laughing softly to herself she crouched down wriggling her body in an exaggerated manner.
Wrenflight flicked her ears towards the sounds coming from inside the den. It didn’t sound like either her or Ravenfang had much rest at all. Taking a deep breath she had meant to ask him how the talk with Leafpaw had gone. The glimpse of his face in the moonlight suggested it hadn’t gone well. Sighing softly to herself she carefully moved to stand in the entrance again watching Ravenfang bury his face to try and get away from the sun coming in. Hesitating for a moment she stepped back into the den of scents that weren’t quite familiar to her yet.
She went to sit herself back down in the nest beside him slipping back in between the various cats. She buried herself up close to him, but kept herself sitting up a little to help keep the sun out of his face. If she wasn’t going to be able to get back to sleep maybe at least one of them could.
With Shadowpaw gone and Applepaw back in Riverclan it was back to being just the two of them in the den like it had been before this whole mess started with Shadowclan. That didn’t matter much though since they were both in horrible moods it seemed. Mousepaw hadn’t been able to find hide or hair of their leader and had come back to the den only to fall into a dreamless sleep. It seemed that his nameless mentor had decided he was wasting his time after all. Grunting he carefully got himself to his paws stretching out his stiff limbs. Glancing across the den at Leafpaw flopped down in the far nest he shook his head and turned to go do some morning hunting. He made a note to ask him what had happened last night. Surely it hadn’t gone well, but she probably needed to be able to confide in some cat. Moving quickly out of the den he ignored his own stinging sense of shame and disappointment for screwing things up the way he had with the mystery can who had actually been helping him. Now all he was left with a useless excuse for a senior warrior.
There was no sympathy for the warrior here. An outsider that was moping around their camp for far too long in Otterstar’s opinion. Too much had changed and his clan had lost too much. Frowning he stood silently as Lavenderfur struggled to find his words before giving up and reluctantly standing up. He did reflexively glance back towards the medicine cat den. Dogclaw, yet another Windclan cat was laying in their den, while the still form of Redsky could be made out in the shadows of the den. Applepaw stumbled his way out of the den look both disoriented and on edge. Glancing this way and that he seemed sure that something was going to come out and grab Redsky away from him. He skittered across the camp, propelled faster by the eyes watching his journey across camp. He ignored the long looks of pity he was getting from the few warriors who had come out. He went to grab a fish from the fresh kill pile.
Pausing in his journey, Applepaw paused to look in Otterstar and Lavenderfur’s direction. He seemed to look right through both of them with a fish dangling in his mouth. Ducking his head he skittered back across camp like terrified prey, being swallowed up back into the darkness of the medicine cat den.
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Shadowstartheleader
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~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Jul 8, 2019 23:47:58 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Jul 8, 2019 23:47:58 GMT -5
Shadowpaw looked up at the sky as Hazelrunner mentioned their fortune with the weather. He nodded in agreement after he looked at the growing number of clouds that were looming overhead. "I guess some cat is looking out for us," he looked back down at her as he made the joke with humor in his voice. "I'm...glad." He continued smiling at her as he appreciated their luck with the ability to take that rest when they were essentially already pawsteps into Leaf-fall.
He quietly emitted a purr as she leaned forward and pushed down the fur on one of his shoulders. He was so happy that, even though she was his mentor and meant to train him what a warrior really was, they were still friends like this and didn't have a rift in between their ranks. It was never like this in Shadowclan. He stood up when she pulled away to finish cleaning her pelt and looked down at himself in the reflection of the lake. He narrowed his eyebrows a little as he saw a relatively messy and unkempt tom-cat staring back at him. Sighing quietly, he tried shaking his pelt and readied for a long grooming process. He couldn't go back to camp looking so poor, whether it was Shadowclan or not.
He was given pause as she suddenly playfully called to 'catch it,' and he had to turn to see it before he realized what she was talking about. A frog was here on the Windclan side of everything? He thought it was really only in Shadowclan territory, but it seemed he was wrong. He felt his stomach beginning to grumble loudly after their long period without eating. He lowered down into a crouch, not so much a hunter's crouch as a crouch to keep himself from being seen so easy. He couldn't help but emit another smile as he heard her laughing.
Ravenfang didn't seemed tuned into what Wrenflight was doing for a few seconds, but once her pawsteps drew near his exhausted body his eyes barely flickered open and flickered hazily over her figure standing over him. He opened his mouth to mumble something, but instead he emitted a second, louder groan without regard for the warriors around him, and started trying to force himself to get up from the nest.
He stumbled out of the nest and almost fell onto Wrenflight as he did so, his head buzzing with exhaustion and dizziness as he got up so hastily. He had to focus intensely to keep his balance and after several long seconds he forced his eyes open all the way and finally met Wrenflight's gaze. He didn't look great, his fur mangled, his eyes half-dead and his standing wobbly. "Hey." he croaked.
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Jul 9, 2019 10:54:42 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Jul 9, 2019 10:54:42 GMT -5
His joke about some cat looking out for them made her chuckle a little. She thought back to what her mother used to tell her whenever clouds would roll in at night. The stars are still there little one. They can still see us even through the murkiest of storms. Hazelrunner smile brightened a little. It was nice to think that were cats up in Starclan who would care enough to keep them dry, however unlikely that might be.
The young warrior was bowed down looking intensely in the direction of the frog unassumingly hopping along. It was her first time seeing a frog outside of maybe the one time she’d snuck in Shadowclan territory on a dare. She didn’t really understand what all the fuss was about with these little guys with Shadowclan cats, but she supposed she could find out. She waited for a pawful of minutes until she couldn’t take it anymore, barely able to stifle her bit of laughing. Waking up with a brighter outlook made her feel almost like she was a kit again. It was a nice change that she appreciated. Taking a long low breath she fixed her eyes on the frog and sprung forwards to make her first attempt at the frog. Of course her longer legs were much better suited for chasing rabbits then they were to pouncing on frogs.
She still made her best attempt though and managed to get a paw on the frog. Before she had a chance to celebrate it the slimy little thing just slipped right out from under her paw and went frantically moving back towards the water. Hazelrunner still in pursuit not far behind it, stretching out her long limbs to keep up with the frog. She was still smiling to the entire way.
Wrenflight sighed when the tom’s eyes opened and he seemed intent on trying to get himself up. “Ravenfang, you shouldn’t...” She tried to protest, but it seemed entirely too late as he groaned and clumsily moved to get himself up, clearly causing quite a ruckus with the other warriors sleeping near by. Wrenflight herself quickly sat up in her nest giving him a wary look as he teetered and tried to get his balance back. When he finally opened his eyes to meet her’s she had to stop herself from visibly wincing. He looked like a wreck. Drawing in a careful breath she moved closer to him, mostly in the event he lost his balance she might be able to catch him somehow.
”Hey.” She mewed quietly feeling bad for the cats around them as well. “You didn’t get enough sleep last night.” She stated with a light frown, sure her thrashing hadn’t been very helpful with that. “Are you sure you don’t want to get some more sleep?” Wrenflight tilted her head to the side before giving the mangled fur on his side a couple of licks, although at this point it wasn’t going to make much of a difference.
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
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Jul 9, 2019 15:03:28 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Jul 9, 2019 15:03:28 GMT -5
Shadowpaw was somewhat excited to see a frog over here again, remembering the taste of the prey that he hadn't experienced in quite a few moons. When someone was fed such a meal from their earliest memory it was hard for them to not appreciate it. He could feel the hunger in his stomach especially for the piece of prey that he had been deprived of. By the end of his time in Shadowclan he had been limited to mice and rats, but...all he wanted now was a frog.
He remembered watching frog's be missed plenty of times in his life and he knew that Hazelrunner, not accustomed to them, might be unprepared for just how slippery they could be in her paws. He knew that she would have to try to kill it before really even grabbing it, though she was getting to close to tell her, as it risked warning the frog. Instead, he adjusted from a concealment crouch to a hunter's crouch and began slowly navigating his way around, tiptoeing up to the edge of the water, trying to get opposite of where Hazelrunner was approaching from.
He didn't quite make it directly across as Hazelrunner went for the kill, but his mind sprung to activity as it slipped from her paws and it took off towards the water. It was only a few tail-lengths and he could grab it if he got to it soon enough...
He sprung forward, pushing off the ground with his legs with a strength he didn't have two moons ago, trying to predict where the frog would be by the time he reached it. Plotting an intercept course he found fortune in his prediction and whapped the frog directly in the face with his paw as he came screeching to a halt, stunning it onto its back for a moment. As it tried to reorient and spring up Shadowpaw had his opportunity and bit into its neck.
Ravenfang muttered something inaudibly as Wrenflight gave him a light protest at first, though he didn't seem eager to repeat whatever he had said. Once he had finally pushed himself up to his paws and met her gaze he tilted his head at her observation. "That bad, huh?" he mumbled quietly. "Well, I don't exactly have a choice. Its my duty." He was the deputy and he was meant to be awake before most of the clan to assign duties. There was an unkind edge to his voice, something a bit snappish that she didn't deserve but that he couldn't hold back in this waking moment.
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Jul 9, 2019 20:24:56 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Jul 9, 2019 20:24:56 GMT -5
Streaking after the frog she was more than a little surprised to see Shadowpaw taking off for the frog, managing to swat it away from the water just in time and send it sprawling on to her back. By the time she had caught up with Shadowpaw he had already sunk his teeth into the frog’s neck. Taking a second to catch her breath she turned to look between Shadowpaw and the frog. “Nice catch.” She huffed softly before taking in a couple more deep breathes to fill her lungs again. “I guess I should just stick hunting rabbits.” The young warrior smiled to herself before sitting down on the shore.
Staring down the frog like it was something that had fallen from the sky it was the first time she’d seen this kind of thing so close. It was green and seemed to have slimy or oily skin. It was a strange little creature, at least to a cat that had grown up on diet consisting of mainly rabbits. With round eyes she looked back up at Shadowpaw, looking utterly amazed by all of this. “Is it any good?” She questioned as she tipped her head one way to another before carefully moving to look back down at the frog. It sure didn’t look all that good to eat. All the same it was a nice little distraction. She briefly considered advising Shadowpaw to take it back to camp, but she was sure that it would go untouched by the cats in camp.
The end of her tail twitched as soon as his took up a harsher ton, as soon as she suggested the idea of him getting some clearly much needed sleep. She drew in a sharp breath through her nose. Slowly she rose up from the nest carefully moving her way towards the entrance of the den. “Go do your duty then.” She said rather briskly as she moved to walk past the deputy. “Just don’t forget you need to look out for yourself too.” She mewed over her shoulder before stepping out of the den and back out into the morning sunlight. She wasn’t going to start a fight about all of this, but she also wasn’t going to pretend it didn’t happen either.
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Jul 10, 2019 1:25:08 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Jul 10, 2019 1:25:08 GMT -5
Shadowpaw couldn't help his cheeks going red as Hazelrunner commented on his catch and how she wasn't likely to catch the same thing as he had managed to. He hadn't meant to make her feel bad and seemed to fail to realize that she might have been saying this with some humor in her voice. He awkwardly glanced down to the prey that lie dead at his paws as he pulled his teeth from it.
He pulled in a quiet breath as she asked him whether the piece of prey had any value to it, and while he wanted to answer in the affirmative, he had to think for a moment about the audience that the prey would entertain; a group of Windclan warriors, most likely, would be absolutely by a frog in the fresh-kill pile in their camp. Feeling rather awkward about the catch, he looked up at her for no more than a half a second before averting his gaze. "W-well...I...maybe y...you probably...w-won't like it..." He trailed off, seeming a little discouraged by the fact he had caught something that none of the Windclan cats would likely be interested in eating.
Unlike a few of the warriors within Windclan, Ravenfang could see and realize when he had spoken in a way that was clearly out of line. While he had spoken harshly to her he could see from her almost immediate reaction, as she turned her back to him and mentioned that he needed to take care of himself, that he had responded poorly and owed her a much more polite and deserving response. Wrenflight had just left her clan to be here, and she deserved only the best from him.
He seemed to awaken partially from his trance of sleepiness as she turned away from him to leave the den. He took a few hasty steps after her. He was exiting the den as she was moving into the clan camp, and he, unlike some other cats, recognized that it was better to address his mistakes as soon as they happened instead of leaving them to boil. "Wrenflight!" It wasn't a yowl or a shout, but instead a plea to grab her attention. "Please. Let me apologize. That wasn't..." He was silently praying to Starclan that she would turn around and give him a chance to take back his brisk comment in the warrior's den. The previous day had been terrible for him, but that wasn't any reason to throw all of it on her. If anything was true, it was that he needed her on his side to make it through all of this.
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