Title: xin.the.autumn.leavesx
Description: Firestar Remembers
Aiko-chan - December 29, 2006 03:24 AM (GMT)
Autumn leaves of red, orange, bronze and yellow fell around the camp, blowing every which way until they settled down on the grass, the brown grass, dying with each passing moment. The clearing of ThunderClan camp was covered with leaves, and as warrior stepped out to perform their duties, whether it be patroling, hunting, or training their apprentice, seem to look at the leaves with a dull rememberance.
The lichen parted from the large boulder in the middle of camp, and for a moment, as the sun glared, it seemed pure fire had just stepped from the bushes without harming it. But as the fire moved away from the boulder, the sun was covered and the flame took the figure or a cat. A fire red tabby, to be exact.
His green eyes traced around the camp, the same gleaming of rememberance that was in the other cats eyes. Rememberance of 4 seasons ago, when BloodClan claimed the forest. Fear had gripped the hearts of the cats of the entire forest like talons. It was nearing the 4 season mark, the one year 'annaversary', to put it bluntly, since the attack on the forest.
Firestar shook his pelt, watching as the final leaf fell from the nearest tree. A cold wind blew, and he shivered. Leafbare wasn't far off; he could feel it in the air...
Wren - December 29, 2006 05:17 PM (GMT)
From within the branches making up the warrior's den, a certain gray tabby was still sleeping, his paws twitching slightly as his ear flicked. In his dream, he was chasing a peasant, its sweet aroma as real as ever, causing his mouth to water even in sleep. As he bunched his muscles and sailed through the air at the bird it turned its head to him and opened its mouth in a 'squawk'.
Graystripe's eyes snapped open as he gasped sharply, mind reeling as the forest faded away and the prey-scent faded from his memory. He shook himself sharply, recognizing the interior of the warrior's den and the familiar pelts around him. Stretching his limbs out carefully, claws extending slightly as he yawned, he stiffly walked out of the den, ducking under the branches to emerge in the slightly chilled air of the time before leaf-bare. He shivered slightly as the cold air met his unprepared pelt, and turned his head to lick his shoulder, eyes traveling around the camp fondly.
His time in RiverClan had been short-lived, he knew that, but he still marveled at how ThunderClan's camp was out in the open compared to RiverClan's. When he had come back, it had made him feel a bit insecure and he was almost convinced that they would be attacked, as every Clan was with BoneClan. Graystripe sighed slightly, turning his head to look up at the baring trees above the camp with something akin to pain. Every morning was the same, he would wake up to the scents of ThunderClan and remember the three scents that were missing, the three scents that had belonged in RiverClan from the beginning: Silverpelt, Feathertail, and Stormfur.
Just then, a flash of color caught his eye, and unlike many of the other warriors, he immediately recognized the flash of fire emerging from the leader's den. Who else could resemble walking fire than Firestar? The deputy got up and walked towards Firestar, marveling once more at the strength rippling under his friend's pelt. At the moment, the leader looked no more powerful than the average cat, but Graystripe knew the damage Firestar could deal in battle better than any other ThunderClanner.
"Firestar," he murmured, bowing his head slightly before pressing his nose to his friend's pelt with a small purr of both amusement and fondness. "Usually when you look so troubled, it dooms us all," he teased, but then sat down, drawing his tail around his paws as his tone turned serious. "What's troubling you?"
Aiko-chan - December 29, 2006 08:25 PM (GMT)
Firestar sighed again, flicking his ear as a single leaf landed on his ear. His green eyes scanned the clearing again, and he caught sight of his friend and deputy, Graystripe, padding away from the den toward him. Trying to push his memories away, he purred in greeting, pressing his own nose into Graystripe's head.
"Graystripe," he meowed as if he were a warrior and not a leader. He started to shake his head at Graystripe's question, to deny that anything was troubling him, but what was the use. Firestar sighed, flicking his tail in response. Graystripe seemed to be able to read him like a book.
"It's just..." He lifted his gaze away, looking at the sky, the gray sky. "So many things have happened since I came into the forest. Just last year BloodClan nearly killed us all." He stopped, blinking his bright eyes. After a moment of silence, he continued. "I just wonder if something else is going to happen." Everything had been so quiet for the past 4 seasons, and Firestar was beginning to feel uneasy. He shook his pelt, shaking away the forboding thoughts that filled his mind. He straightened up, looking at Graystripe.
"Anyway, how are things?" he meowed a bit more cheerfully.
S.t.r.a.i.g.h.t.j.a.c.k.e.t - January 2, 2007 01:35 AM (GMT)
"Of course something is going to happen."
The voice was a she-cat's, and it showed both amusement and regret; a difficult trick to master, and one this cat did with ease.
From the shadows of her den limped Cinderpelt, her eyes glinting. She waved her tail as she added, "We can't go our whole lives sitting on our rumps, now, can we? Something always happens, trust me. Maybe it won't be something bad but maybe it will be. That's life, my friend."
She tapped Firestar with her tail before turning to Graystripe. She nodded her head. "Hello, Graystripe. How are you?" Her words contained sympathy; StarClan knows Graystripe must still be hurting. Those were his kits he left behind all those moons ago; they were alive, but it must still hurt him.
Aiko-chan - January 3, 2007 12:35 AM (GMT)
Firestar purred when he heard his former apprentice's voice. He turned, meeting her with his gaze when she exited the den. Her limp...it still put an ache in Firestar's heart, another reminder of his past, and the forests. But seeing her, a medicine cat like Yellowfang, full of wisdom, it made Firestar wonder if she ever regretted getting hurt on the Thunderpath that day, and whether he should still wish it never happened.
"You're right, Cinderpelt," the leader meowed, sighing heavily. "I know something will happen, but I hope it's nothing like Tigerstar....or BloodClan." He remembered seeing Tallstar dead on the ground, and he shuddered, remembering the other warriors lost. Firestar returned Cinderpelt's tap with a flick of his tail on her crooked leg.
Wren - January 3, 2007 03:52 AM (GMT)
Graystripe mewed in amusement at Cinderpelt's appearance, tail tip flicking on the ground as she spoke to Firestar. It was true, something was always going to happen. When they had considered Tigerstar down for the count he had appeared as the leader of ShadowClan, and as soon as Scourge had killed him BoneClan became an even more dire threat than Tigerstar. At Cinderpelt's inquiry as to how he was feeling, he merely blinked before sighing heavily, averting his eyes to stare at the trees around Camp.
"I'm the same as always, Cinderpelt," he mewed before turning his eyes back to see Firestar fondly flick the Medicine Cat's twisted leg. He stared at them for a bit, and a small purr escaped his lips. Firestar thought of Cinderpelt like a kit, Graystripe knew that, but the way that Cinderpelt reprimanded him every now and then reminded the gray warrior of a mother scolding her kit. "Happy and lonely at the same time," he murmured, finishing up his statement as he blinked and shifted his gaze to the ground, kneading it between his paws as he thought. "Its hard, but I still think it best to be with the Clan we were born into," he tilted his head to the side, looking at Firestar, amused. "Guess you should go back to being Rusty if that was completely true though."
He turned his head to lick his shoulder absently, staring at the entrance to the camp. He knew the way to RiverClan as well as he knew how to hunt and fight. There would always be a part of him that would miss swimming on a warm day, or fishing in the rich stream that surrounded them. But those days were gone, he was in ThunderClan again, and here among the trees of ThunderClan he would remain.