|
|
Post by frost2fur on Jan 17, 2007 15:44:13 GMT -5
Fernkit and Sleekkit were playing out in the clearing, pouncing on one another. Mistykit and Greykit sat inside, but weren't playing...
"So, when are we leaving?" Mistykit meowed in a hushed tone.
"We leave tonight, as soon as all the cats are fast asleep." Greykit meowed back. His normally light blue eyes were a shade of dark blue, cold as ice. For once the two agreed on something. They were going to join SnakeClan.
At about 9:00 Twoleg time, as soon as all the cats were asleep, the two kits snuck out of the nursery, through a hole they had made in a corner. As they got outside, they patched it back up, and went through another hole into the forest. As soon as this was patched, they quickly set off for SnakeClan territory. The moon shone on them menacingly as they ran off.
The next morning, Fernkit woke up to a strange sight. "Hmm... those two usually aren't up this early." she quietly mewoed, padding into the clearing. She searched every corner of the camp and could not find a single clue as to where Greykit and Mistykit were. She ran back into the nursery and woke up Flowertail. "Mommy! Greykit and Mistykit are GONE!!"
Flowertail jolted up in alarm and ran out into the clearing. "Greykit? Mistykit? Where are you two?! Get out here THIS INSTANT or else I'll have Tigerstar eat you two up!"
That usually worked... But not this time. The kits could not have heard their mother, as they were already in SnakeClan.
Needlefur woke up to his mate calling out for their kits. "Flowertail, what's wrong?" he asked in alarm. He could tell this wasn't good. "The kits are missing!" Flowertail mewed back sadly.
"I'll search for them. Stay here in case they return." Needlefur meowed, but not without first waking up Burrclaw and Mottledfire. "Get up, you two! Greykit and Mistykit are missing!"
After searching until sunset, Needlefur, Burrclaw, and Mottledfire came back with the sad news. "Flowertail... Mistykit and Greykit have joined Snakeclan."
Flowertail dropped her head low, and without saying a word, went into the nursery. She laid down, and when Sleekkit and Fernkit asked what had become of their brother and sister, Flowertail just turned around and buried her face into her fur. "My kits......"
|
|
|
|
Post by Crowfeather ® on Jan 17, 2007 17:32:11 GMT -5
After word spread round the camp, Crowfeather just couldn't peice it together. He decided that going to Flowertail wouldn't help she was too heart broken. He decided to tell Mosstar, He stood at the entrance of the den and called in "Mosstar...?"
|
|
|
|
Post by frost2fur on Apr 12, 2007 17:57:51 GMT -5
Flowertail was still heartbroken, even after a few days had past. But, as her kits were eating fresh-kill and almost ready to be apprentices, she had become a full-fledged warrior again and was expected to do her duties. On a patrol, she broke away from the other warrior and the apprentice that accompanied her.
Unable to take the loss and the sense of failure, she hung her head. Almost instantly, she passed out due to a lack of sleep. Within moments, she was in the river, and she drowned.
Needlefur heard the news and was the only one willing to go for her body. He brought her to camp, and with teary eyes, retreated to the warriors den.
"I will only come out for the ceremony."
|
|
|
|
Post by Crowfeather ® on Apr 14, 2007 22:41:58 GMT -5
Crowfeather stared down at Flowertail.. he whispered a few things before looking at the disappearing Needlefur.. he followed. "Needlefur? Its me Crowfeather!"
|
|
|
|
Post by frost2fur on Apr 15, 2007 19:04:12 GMT -5
"Yes, Crowfeather? What do you need?" A broken-hearted Needlefur barely meowed out.
He lay on one of the nests, his head lying on his paws and turned toward the wall. "What will my kits do when they wake up? Will they try to plunge to their death, too?" He meowed coldly. "They'll be apprentices soon. What if they have to help in the battle against SnakeClan? They'll recognize their brother and sister. They'll realize that their own family has become the enemy. I'm sure they'll be heart-broken. What happens then?"
"I can't protect them anymore from the truth. I couldn't even protect my own mate, a mature and experienced warrior, a loving mother with kits still in the nursery. The mentally and emotionally strongest of my kits are gone, never to hear of their own mother's death. The weak are the ones left with the pain."
With this Needlefur got up and turned to Crowfeather. "But I can't sound like a grumpy old fox. What did you want?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Crowfeather ® on Apr 15, 2007 20:01:12 GMT -5
Crowfeather stared at the ground for a little while, "I.. wanted to see if you were alright. Thats all.." he turned, and licked the dirt off his chest fur. "Starclan watches over them. Both of them, if its Starclan's will to let the secrets out, then it will just have to happen. It all happens for a reason!"
|
|
|
|
Post by frost2fur on Apr 16, 2007 7:56:38 GMT -5
"Yes, I suppose so." Needlefur meowed. "I'm all right, don't worry about me. I'll see if Mosstar will let Mottledstorm and I bury her."
"Thank you for asking, though. Usually everyone just leaves grieving cats alone."
|
|
|
|
Post by frost2fur on Apr 18, 2007 20:46:04 GMT -5
(Just 'cuz its convenient to post this bit here...)
Mottledfire decided to take a nap, so he padded into the warriors' den and laid down on his little nest, which he sprinkled with a bit of dried lavender, prescribed by Shineheart for the stress he was getting from the recent events. Breathing in the deep, soothing scent of the flower bits, he quickly fell into sound sleep.
(Dreaming)
Mottledfire was in a deep, dense forest, aware of the sound of rushing water and the deep smell of his lavender nest... But neither the water he heard nor his nest were anywhere within his sight, and he could not scent where they even generally were.
All of a sudden, he was aware of another sound: The slinking of cats, within the bushes, and he could sense their eyes staring at him. Two pairs of eyes glinted in the bushes, fixed on him. Behind him, he heard the yowls of cats, many he recognized from his own Clanmates.
He tried to yell out, to reach them, but his mouth wouldn't move. Suddenly, the image of grey fur flashed in his mind, and another image of two deserted camps, one his own. A battle was going on, and both camps were empty. Completely empty. Not even a queen or her kits left in either one. Then things went black.
The eyes glinted again in the dark, then the clearly defined claws of the cats slashed at him. They had grey fur, both paws. Both right paws. Two pairs of eyes, two right paws, and that equaled two grey-furred cats. And they were young.
And Mottledfire knew who they were. With one last try, he desperately tried to cry out. Tried to cry out, to stop his younger siblings.
And he failed. In one blow, he fell.
With a jolt Mottledfire woke up, flinging himself into the den wall because of his nest being in the corner. "It can't be true. That can't be a StarClan-sent dream. There were no words, no prophecies! It was a nightmare, it had to be." He desperately tried to convince himself of this.
But he knew what he was saying was wrong. And he had to tell his leader.
|
|
|
|
Post by Crowfeather ® on Apr 20, 2007 14:06:46 GMT -5
"Very well.." Crowfeather whispered slinking out into the clearing.. "A nice walk would be very fine!" He exited the camp and found himself racing towards the lake.. he stopped and smelled the air. He stretched and relaxed letting the sun bake his fur, and the cold water rub against his paws. Erscreech! Erscreech! "What?" Crowfeather jumped up to his paws..
|
|
|
|
Post by frost2fur on Apr 20, 2007 14:19:08 GMT -5
Mottledstorm made his way to Mosstar's den, stopping and heading the other way many times, trying to convince himself he had just ate some bad fresh-kill. He finally got to the den though, and called into the doorway "Mosstar? Mosstar, I... I have to talk to you."
Needlefur followed Crowfeather out, but stopped when he hit a sunshiney patch in the middle of the clearing. He instantly grabbed some fresh-kill and laid down. A day like this couldn't be wasted moping and grieving for what he couldn't change. Besides, they would have become elders within a few years, too hard of hearing and possibly damaged forever from battle to know the other was even there. Needlefur chuckled at this thought, then set to thinking about the kits. They had no mother now, no-one for little Fernkit and Sleekkit to turn to when they had kits... and Ravenkit was given to... which Clan was it?
"Oh no, now my memory's going, too. I think Ravenkit went to RavenClan..."
|
|
|
|
Post by marbleheat.xx. on Apr 20, 2007 18:59:17 GMT -5
Fireclaw went down to the lake to take adrink, when he saw Needlefur. "Oh, Needlefur, I'm sorry about Flowertail! But at least you know the kits are safe. So how are Fernkit and Sleekkit?", he asked joyfully.
|
|
|
|
Post by frost2fur on Apr 20, 2007 21:27:32 GMT -5
"Fernkit and Sleekkit are doing great!" Needlefur meowed back, cheering up a bit. "They are very intelligent... I imagine they'll be quick learners when it comes to training time. I wonder who their mentors will be?"
Needlefur sighed happily and looked across the lake. It was beautiful out, the lake glittering happily as the wind gently rippled its surface.
"Fresh-kill will be very plentiful today, I can tell. Birds especially, they love this kind of weather. But it won't be a good day for mice. They like the shade more, and the sun is too strong today. They'll wait until night-time or dusk." Needlefur silently realized he had changed the subject abruptly... In an attempt to mask how rude this was, he meowed, "The kits are growing very fast, though. They are lucky they were weaned before Flowertail died."
|
|
|
|
Post by marbleheat.xx. on Apr 21, 2007 10:00:41 GMT -5
"Yes, I hope I can be a mentor soon. I could teach my apprentice how to catch birds, I'm not bad myself. In fact there's one now", he said, looking up at the bird on the branch. He stood up and crawled under the tree. Being as quiet as he could he jumped in to the tree and snatched it. Then he jumped back down and sat next to Needlefur again. He took a bite and said, "Marbleheat is doing fine and so are the kits, they'll be apprentices soon too, just one more moon. They're very healthy and they like to wrestle with Sleekkit and Fernkit, too. So, I think our kits are getting along. And they're all so healthy, if Fernkit and Sleekkit need milk still I'm sure Marbleheat can spare some, we did give one of the kits away. But we still have three, she would be happy to help, our kits are getting too fat already, and I've been teaching them how to hunt a little, but I've stopped and started to hunt for the clan", Fireclaw ramble on about how Marbleheat would be pleased to help and such.
|
|
|
|
Post by frost2fur on Apr 22, 2007 12:26:56 GMT -5
"They're pretty much fully weaned now," Needlefur smiled and meowed, "But thank you for the offer. Besides, they're both so anxious to grow up, it might emberass them."
Needlefur quickly added, "No offense!"
|
|
|
|
Post by marbleheat.xx. on Apr 22, 2007 17:21:24 GMT -5
"It's no problem, but at least the kit's still have some playmates", Fireclaw sighed and started to dig a hole for the bones.
|
|
|
|
Post by frost2fur on Apr 23, 2007 21:00:38 GMT -5
"Yes, that is true. They are like kin to your kits, almost inseperable... I guess its because their only brothers and sisters are in other Clans. They have no other kin besides Mottledstorm, eachother, and I now that Flowertail is gone."
|
|
|
|
Post by marbleheat.xx. on Apr 24, 2007 15:46:00 GMT -5
"Yes", Fireclaw said as he pushed the bones in and covered them, "But I have a feeling one of them will come back, Graypaw most likely, since he was the weakest, no offense. I remember that Redkit had told me she overheard them talking about going to SnakeClan...Oh great StarClan, they've gone to join SnakeClan!"
|
|
|
|
Post by frost2fur on Apr 25, 2007 14:13:03 GMT -5
"I suppose they did. Mistykit seemed very... well, to say the least, unhappy here, and all the kits know that Greykit is her main target for taking things out on. If she went, she'd need someone to hit and yell at if they got caught, and everyone knows it."
"What I can't get, though, is how she figured it out! We have an evening patrol that could have caught her, she doesn't know how to hunt or navigate in the forest by herself, and she's got her timid brother slowing her down!" With this, Needlefur's tail flung from side to side in extreme frustration. "She couldn't have possibly figured it out herself, and Greypaw knows as much as she does about the forest. Maybe even a tiny bit less. And who knows what they could have had to fight off.."
|
|
|
|
Post by marbleheat.xx. on Apr 25, 2007 15:55:24 GMT -5
"Yes, maybe they planned before hand with help from someone...", Fireclaw sat there wondering.
|
|
|
|
Post by frost2fur on Apr 26, 2007 16:33:34 GMT -5
"But I don't know any cat in DragonClan who would be that... that deceptive." Needlefur sighed.
"But I cannot dwell on the past. Flowertail is dead, and moping won't change it. Mistykit and Greykit went off to find themselves a happier, possibly more villainous life. So what? I should be happy that they were that mature. They are more mature than any other cat I know, following their dreams for once. They went against the unnormally high odds, and for that, they are braver than any apprentice or the most experienced warrior."
Needlefur shifted his paws. They were starting to throb with pain from his weight upon them. As they settled down, he continued. "It's... it's just that I miss my family. I can't help it. I can't change it, but I wish I could. My family is fading away. Soon my bloodline will be history, with the untold stories of traitors to their Clan and insignificant, run-of-the-mill warriors who were too emotional to be strong. And for that, I weep."
With another sigh, Needlefur meowed, "My life is filled with the loss of my family, like StarClan is punishing me. My kits go, and its like a Twoleg domino chain. The young Twolegs loved them, the black-dotted, white rectangles made of some hard, harsh-smelling material. To them, they are a sign of fun. But to me, they signal my pain and the losses in my life. Once started, each one sets off something else. And it won't stop until it gets to the end." With this, Needlefur stopped talking.
Waiting for a response, he looked at his reflection in the still water of the lake.
It's pitiful. That's my face. And I don't think I'll see the old, happy face in me again.
|
|
|
|
Post by marbleheat.xx. on Apr 28, 2007 10:36:17 GMT -5
"What about Fernkit...a-and Sleekkit, you must not worry, Flowertail made her choice she would not be content without the end. She knew Fernkit and Sleekkit would be okay, they have you. The most pulled-together warrior I've ever met. Look at me! I used to be a kttypet, Carekit died, Marbleheat got in trouble because of me, and now my kits...well there my kits!"
Fireclaw looked at himself in the lake, he was much skinnier than what he was last. His muscles were stronger and his face had changed. It had become narrower. He blinked and saw himself as Jasper. A fat, lazy cat with weak muscles and fatter face. Then he blinked again and he was back to normal.
"I used to be a kittypet, a twoleg loving freak!", he said then he turned and went under a tree and laid down.
|
|
|
|
Post by frost2fur on Apr 28, 2007 15:25:17 GMT -5
"I'm sure they'll go sometime too..." Needlefur meowed. "But you're right. I needn't worry until then. I'm gonna stop moping and go back to camp. See you later, Fireclaw." Needlefur meowed before the other warrior padded away.
Needlefur padded back to camp, uplifted and happy. All he had worried about had been released from his mind for now.
|
|
|
|
Post by marbleheat.xx. on May 3, 2007 20:05:23 GMT -5
"Okay, good-day, Needlefur", Fireclaw said and went over to the water for a swim.
|
|
