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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2015 21:53:03 GMT
The ginger feline stood with her thick tail waving high in the air, momentarily halting as she scented the air. Her chin was raised even higher as she stood on top of the pile of rocks, pawpads aching but heart soaring with hope. She traced the rocks with her feet, gently testing each one as she started to hop down the largest pile of rocks she had ever approached. She felt like she had been doing this for ages, like her entire lifetime had been covered with pouncing rock to rock and living in tunnels. And, with how long she had been hiding and hunting in those tunnels, it seemed like it was true. It had been four nights since she left her sister to the tunnels, and she was beginning to doubt that she would ever reach these new clans - if they even existed. She had hardly rested, and she was beginning to long for the comfort of nonsensical stories and precious’s sweet mew ringing through the air with all sorts of silly interjections. She missed being six moons and full of life, tackling and wrestling with sweetie… most of all, she missed community. She missed the nurturing mew of her mother - but all those things and more seemed lost to her.
Half of her, a more fragile side, felt the sharp urge to turn tail, traipse back the full four days and more, to run all the way to where she last remembered her family residing - but she knew deep down that maddie and the others wouldn’t have wanted to wait, least of all Cherry. Cherry had abandoned their grandfather to a Human Home, after all, and she would be the first to stand up and say that they weren’t returning and that they needed to move on. She knew that Marigold would’ve complained, but eventually they would’ve moved on. If they wanted to return so bad, they would’ve found a way. And with a hiss at the thought, Diamond slammed her paw onto one of the more fragile rocks.
Wrong move. The rock, fragile as it was, kicked out underneath her immediately, and a few rocks above her began to tumble down at the same time she did. She attempted to gather herself, bunch her muscles, but she was falling, falling, and she hit the ground with all four paws, tail waving in the air as she tried to steady herself. She didn’t have enough time to process any thoughts she might’ve had, and she winced with pain as one rock slammed into her leg, and a few more close behind it. Exhaustion gleamed in her eyes as she scampered away, lifting her hind leg with another short hiss. She wanted to be there already! She wanted a home, a den, whatever it was! Heck, she’d eat Pellets and Tuna at this rate! Delirious with lack of sleep, droopy eyes pained, she kept thinking back to her family. She wanted someone to tell her it was all going to be okay. She wanted to wrestle with Precious one last time, or share tongues with Sweetie and her parents again. Instead, she remembered her sister’s fearful words as she left and shook her head, ears flattening against her head. She placed her injured leg on the ground, tapping it several times before focusing her weight on it.
And off she went again.
It was several days before she scented other cats. Her paws were still aching, rough and bleeding from the rocks that she had traveled across, and no matter of licking could stop them from swelling. She had failed miserably at hunting, and after slamming into trees unsuccessfully she began to eat bits of crowfood - so now she had a headache, was delirious with lack of sleep, and her paws were swollen and bleeding. Her eyes were fluttering, hardly able to keep open, as she finally traipsed into the CedarClan forests, hardly noticing the scent border as she stumbled past it.
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Post by Kibbles on Oct 16, 2015 5:21:32 GMT
The massive silver tom wondered the forest, his long fur brushing along the underbrush. His yellow eyes were narrowed and filled with exhaustion. His paws dragged the forest floor slowly as he stalked along the forest floor. Fur was ruffled as if he had been tossing and turning all night. What time of day was it anyways?
Yellow eyes looked up. The sun was setting. His clan would be awake soon. Maybe he should head back so that he could be put on a patrol. But he didn't want to go back. Not yet. He couldn't bare to see Crooked-eye at the moment. After Sandpaw's death. No.
To any other cat, his old mentor would seem normal. His giddy, crazy self that always wanted to make others smile. But Cavernstorm could see otherwise. He had been around him for much longer. His mentor was sad and was trying to cover it up by being happy for everyone else. He had seen the way Crooked-eye looked at the ex-kittypet. And when the sickness had hit the tom... he hadn't been strong enough to survive. And Crooked-eye kept Cavernstorm up all night sobbing about it. And he just couldn't take the tears anymore. So he left.
Cavernstorm blinked, shaking his head. He had stopped and was staring at a ginger she-cat. His head tilted with interest for a moment. How long had she been there? How long had he been staring, and not seeing her? He had been filled with so much exhaustion and his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed her. Was he even on Cedarclan territory anymore?
He breathed in. The scents around him screamed yes. Was this she-cat so inexperienced with scents that she hadn't noticed the border. No. She looked even more exhausted than he did. While he had been up for a day, she looked as if she hadn't slept in several days. He should get her off of the territory.
"Hey, you," his voice cracked and was raspy from the lack of use, "You're on Cedarclan territory. You should leave before a patrol finds you and chases you off."
It wasn't the truth. Cedarclan always talked first and acted later. But maybe it would scare her enough that he wouldn't have to escort her off. He didn't want to deal with escorting a stranger, even though that was his duty. Being a warrior was rough sometimes.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2015 6:20:30 GMT
She heard him long before she saw him - but perhaps that was the fault of two sleep clouded eyes and two sharper-than-average ears helping her out. She wasn't the quietest either, tromping and stamping leaves with her signature bloody pawprints. Still, the noises made her feel the slightest bit more alert. The steps were distinctively a cat, and a drowsy one at that... exhausted, confused, she stumbled backwards and looked around, only to see the largest cat she had ever seen staring right at her.
It felt like two average, non-affiliated cats holding a staring contest rather than a challenge from a clan cat to an intruder. She had never approached a clan cat before, and she had never really known their traditions all that well - but, well, weren't they supposed to chase cats off? Once, when Maddie and Marigold were taking her and her sisters on a walk in their kittenhood, they had come across a particularly bloodied cat who had told them wide-eyed tales of clan cats who snapped bones for a living and defended their territories with their life. In comparison, Diamond thought blearily, this new arrival was nothing. With the slowest of blinks, one eye open to watch him, she tilted her head at the same moment he did the same. But, she supposed, if that were the case Morris wouldn't have brought them down into the basin in the first place. With a sigh, lost in her own thoughts, she sized up the other cat.
He was, well... massive. There was no other way to put it. She was a pretty average sized cat, nearly fully grown if not a bit rounder; but he towered above her, and his large paws made her tail lower just the smallest amount as she took a step back. Her bloody pawsteps smeared in the dirt and she winced visibly - but the wince was nothing compared to the flinch she let out as the other cat spoke after several moments of silence. His voice was loud after the silence of lonesome wandering, and her ears flicked back for a moment. CedarClan territory.
The thought made her tail twitch with anticipation, and despite the hulking tom in front of her she sat with an audible thump, eyes glimmering despite their exhaustion. Letting out an audible sigh, she began to groom her bloody paws, hoping her paw pads would heal if she just sat for the smallest amount of time. In between gentle laps spread between her toes and her fur, she let out the tiniest of purrs, a grin spreading across her face.
“No, no,” she meowed, a tinge of impatience seeping through her voice as she shook a bloody paw in his direction. She hadn't quite made the connection that this was a CedarClan cat as well - rather, she figured he must be a loner like her. With another thwap of her tail, she continued. “Listen - a patrol is what I need. To speak with their leader, anything! I've heard about these clans, and I've been searching for, ah” - she glanced at the sky, watching the moon creep its way up the horizon - “Approximately... forever!”
With a look at the other cat, uncertain but eager to talk to another cat, she continued on. “I left my sister in the southern tunnels, and before that there was a war and a cat attacked and killed my mother and father, and the rest of my family is gone - and I miss talking to someone who isn't Sweetie; she's good and all, but... well, hiding in the tunnels for seasons isn't the best way to spend your time. Anyway, what's your name?” Jovially, as if she had known this cat all her life, she leaned forward for an answer. God, she was sleepy.
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Post by Kibbles on Oct 17, 2015 21:54:31 GMT
Cavernstorm stared at her, eyes seeming to grow even more tired as she spoke. She wanted to speak the Cedarclan's leader. Should he take her to Starlingfur? Another mouth to feed wasn't good for leaf-bare, but she could also help catch the prey. He wondered if she was even that great of a hunter. She was a bit round, so that showed a good sign. She could at least keep herself well fed. But prey was still common. How would it be come leafbare?
He shifted his weight and sat down as well, wrapping his fluffy silver tail around his large paws. She had been traveling for some time. Her bloody paw pads showed the evidence of that. And where had she come from? The Southern Tunnels? Where was that? And she spoke of the war. Was there another war or was it the same one he had been in when the Dark Forest attacked? So many unanswered questions.
Then she asked for his name.
"Cavernstorm, warrior of Cedarclan."
He wondered when the patrols would be sent out. Soon, probably. If he took her now, then they would surely pass one on their way back to the camp. Maybe he could pass her off to them and they could deal with this. No. It'd probably be best if he just took her back the camp himself.
"Before anything else, answer a few questions for me. Whats your name? Can you fight and hunt? How would you benefit Cedarclan if we accepted you?" he asked, his yellow eyes meeting her amber ones.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2015 1:34:52 GMT
Diamond blinked as the cat before her sat and curled his tail around his paws - and, considering that invitation enough, flopped down next to him as well and swished her tail out behind her. She wasn't one for pretty purrs and nice civil conversations about mice and moonlight, but her paws hurt, and this cat seemed to have a lot to say. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sat down, right? Holding her head as high as a thoroughly exhausted cat could, she began to lick her bloody swollen paws clean, eyes clouded with pain and ears flicked towards this cat with interest.
"Cavernstorm, warrior of CedarClan."
The round ginger she-cat stopped, mid-lick, to give the tom an excited look. She opened her mouth to scent him, and though she was reluctant to spring up on her paws now that she'd soothed them, she wiggled her haunches and let out a purr of absolute excitement. Cavernstorm - what a name! What a brave-sounding cat! Sizing him up with soft blinks of her eyes, she decided that he was a pretty cool cat. Cavernstorm. Cavernstorm. And, out of glee, she shouted it out - "Cavernstorm, huh? Nice name!" But the warrior was not half as jovial as she was. Stern and serious, he questioned her.
The positive air she had interpreted around her vanished, and she straightened up her head higher. "Well," she began, flashing a grin at the warrior. She felt slightly uneasy under his gaze now that he had practically positioned himself as the gatekeeper to this community - was he their leader? Pausing for a few moments, she gathered her words before speaking. "I mean, I lived in a tunnel for four seasons, so I guess I'm good at hunting... and I'll do tons of things in your clan! Sir!"
"I'm a good cat to have around! I'll fight anyone who tries to hurt you! I love being around other cats, except when they hurt my family!" With a little swipe at the air and then a wince at the pain it brought her paw pads, she lashed her tail across the dirt floor with conviction. "Are you the CedarClan leader? Can I join? Can I please join? " |
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Post by Kibbles on Oct 28, 2015 18:23:38 GMT
Cavernstorm just looked at her as she purred excitedly. His ears flattened a bit as she shouted out her absolute delight. He frowned a bit and just looked away from her for a moment. His chest expanded as he took in a deep breath, releasing it in a long sigh.
"I'm not the leader. I'm too young and inexperienced to be the leader. Our leader's name is Starlingfur. You can beg her, not me. I'll take you to her, but don't be so loud. I'm tired and its giving me a headache. And stay close. We don't need any cats thinking you're trespassing. It'll just slow us down."
He looked at her for a moment, examining her. "Do you even have the energy to come with me? Or do you want to rest for a bit? You still haven't told me your name," he said, his yellow eyes meeting her amber ones once again.
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