Misty Mornings [Open]

[Sunstreak]

The soft pattering of paws rushing against the forest grounds echoed along the empty and somewhat shadowed trees. A tabby tom stopped in an open clearing.

"Where am I?" A sudden familiar scent flooded in. The warrior looked over as a rustle from a nearby bush startled him. He backed away. No...it couldn't have been! "Thornpaw!" he meowed in disbelief. The familiar apprentice stared at him with glazed and soulless eyes before bounding near the edge of the Thunderpath.

No...he didn't need to see it again.../never/ again. With immense speed, he dashed after the other cat. "No! Stop it!" His cries were muffled as the familiar screech of the monster's paws on the Thunderpath.

Thornpaw...

The same striped tom bolted up, hackles raised, and ears drawn back. Sunstreak's legs trembled as his fur slowly flattened against his spine.

'A dream...' Sunstreak shook his head and slowly padded out of the warrior's den. The nightmare had taken quite a shock on him as the tom trudged to clearing of ThunderClan camp. It was almost morning, the sun rising over from the mountains, awake from its slumber. A faint breeze whispered against him as Sunstreak curled his tail.

He shuddered partially from the slightly cold morning and his unforgotten dream. "Hopefully...I can take my mind off it with some food," he muttered and padded to the fresh kill pile. Picking out a lean mouse, The tabby tom sat down and began to eat.

[Blackie]

The world seemed so alive . . .

But it was always alive for her. The pretty black and white warrior could count the few times she had ever felt truly sad on one paw. When her mother had disappeared, when she had learned she didn't have any ThunderClan blood at all, when she realized she would never meet her RiverClan father, and when her little sister, Shardpaw, had disappeared. Those were the worst moments of Teardrop's life. The rest was all good. Teardrop could never forget the immense blessings she enjoyed every day. Her four remaining siblings, the comfort of a loving Clan, her warrior name, and the sheer joy of a hunt. Even the daughter of her mother's best friend was in ThunderClan with her. There was so much for her to be thankful for!

Teardrop drank in the crisp smell of the morning. She closed her yellow eyes with content. Her jaws were full of mice, blocking part of her sense of smell. Mmm, delicious. It took a lot of self-control for the warrior not to gobble down her catches right there in the midst of the foggy morning. She purred with amusement. That was exactly what she needed to do. Just eat all her prey right outside of camp where all the young cats could see. Then Brownstar would really want to give her an apprentice!

With a new rush of energy, Teardrop bustled into camp and streaked over to the fresh kill pile. She saw Sunstreak out of the corner of her eye, but wasn't interested in talking to him yet. She needed to care for her prey first. Carefully, the she-cat laid the mice down and arranged them neatly on the pile. She put the big, fatter ones where she knew the apprentices would later see them when they came to fetch a meal for the elders. Only after she was well done did Teardrop pick out the smallest mouse for herself and turn to her Clanmate. Purring sweetly, she made herself comfortable on the ground and put her meal between her paws.

"Morning, Sunstreak!" Teardrop mewed. Her voice was eager and full of genuine happiness. Her eyes glittered. "Isn't it a beautiful morning? I just love the feel of it! Have you been hunting yet, lazy-paws? Would you like to go back out with me when I'm done? How did you sleep? Well? I slept like a hedgehog in leafbare, fantastic."

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[Sunstreak]

Sunstreak prodded the mouse with his paw as he continued to eat silently. From the edge of his eye, he caught a glimpse of sudden movement. The warrior paused from his meal to glance up; it was one of his clanmates: Teardrop. He gulped inaudibly and acted as if he had not seen nor heard her yet. When it came to she-cats- clan or not- the tom had a tendency to avoid the opposite gender. It wasn't because he hated them. It was more like...well...they were /mysterious./

And suddenly, as her voice greeted him, Sunstreak stiffened and looked up. "M-Morning," he meowed in reply though it sounded so weak and somewhat half-hearted. As her questions continued to pour out, the tabby tom stared at her, eyes wide in a frenzy. How was it that she could talk so much...without stopping? Sunstreak had to wait until she finally stopped to answer her questions; he had finished his meager morning meal while waiting.

"Y-Yes...it is a beautiful morning. Un..Unfortunately, I haven't been out yet so...I will join a patrol later." When it came to the question of how his sleep was, Sunstreak shuffled his paws. "Oh...I slept /fine./" he murmured. So the nightmare hadn't been all /fine/ but the ThunderClan warrior didn't want to ruin Teardrop's joyous morning. So he pushed it aside.

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[Blackie]

Teardrop's eyes dulled a touch and she angled her ears backward. She didn't understand Sunstreak's low greeting. It wasn't pleasant and he seemed to falter continually.Surely he wasn't upset with her? Maybe she had been to quick to say hello. . . Teardrop was used to her sister Speckledfrost's reaction to the morning. If you spoke to her too early she would be cranky with you for a moon. Her brothers were different, all responding in their own ways. Sometimes they became upset, but none of them held a grudge so well as Speckledfrost.

Teardrop swiped a bright pink tongue around her whiskers and tucked into her prey. After a couple famished bites, she looked back up at the the tom. Gently, she tilted her head to the side and looked him up and down. Her amber eyes started to glitter with amusement.

"You don't sound fine." she mewed thoughtfully. She let her gaze meet Sunstreak's with a full hard stare. Then she broke out into a purr. "Fine, don't tell me." she went on, bending her head down to finish eating. "I understand. You don't like me because I'm so obnoxious. Well that's fine. I'll just enjoy the rest of my day without put-out, sulking mouse-brains like you." She stopped suddenly, her eyes glazed with confusion. Had she said that out loud? No! She had only meant to think those things! Curse her tipsy brain!

"I'm sorry!" Teardrop exclaimed, her voice taking a high, desperate pitch. "I didn't mean it! Its just, you look so much like Sunpelt, I forgot you weren't him! Honest! I'm sorry, I really am. Don't be angry. I'll fetch you a squirrel to make up for it, I'm a pretty good hunter. I can be out and back in a second, really!" She was on her paws already, fully prepared to act on her offer. Like an apprentice, pleading with her mentor for a second chance.

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[~All I Need]

{ ALL ALONE HE TURNS TO STONE

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{ WHILE HOLDING HIS BREATH HALF TO DEATH[/color] }[/center]

Dreams didn't usually disturb Severedclaw's slumber, but his paws twitched erratically in his sleep as the unknown of chaos overcame him.
Towering sheets of rock were on both sides of the tom as he padded through the mountains; home. The familiar scent of water and moss and stone wreathed his senses and he took a deep breath, hoping to keep that scent there forever. Tendrils of ivy carpeted the path he was taking, muffling his pawsteps and cooling his heated feet. His blue eyes glittered softly in the sunset light. Darkness was coming; so what was he still doing out here in the open?
Turning off the path, Severedclaw slipped into a crevice in the rock. Immediatly, night turned off the sun and everything was quiet. The tom soon became claustrophobic, taking huge gulps of air to stifle the panic that was seeding in his gut.
"Wake up, brother."
He knew what was going to be there; the horror of it all. But the siamese seal-point tore his eyes away from the entrance and looked behind him. Evermist stood there. But not the sister he had always loved and never appreciated. She stood there, skeletal system glowing like a phantom in the darkness. Blood dripped from bewteen her ribs and souless green orbs rolled in their sockets.
"NO!"
Severedclaw woke to the sound of muttering right outside the warrior's den. Shaking the excess fear from his soul like fleas from his pelt, he padded outside to be greeted by a busy camp. Warriors parading through the tunnel like angry ants and some just slowly waking up from their slumber. Apprentices bouncecd about, some of them playing with the kits. It was so great to see the camp so untainted. So fresh and jovial.
Seeing Teardrop and Sunstreak, the gray and white tom picked a mouse from the fresh-kill pile and sat down beside Teardrop, his luminous eyes still sort of distant.
"Morning Sunstreak, Teardrop."

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