WindClan: Life Before 2023's Fire

[lone]

Originally Posted by CandyFlossCat

"I smile!" The apprentice objected, her ears flattening. She glanced at the sky, giving a tiny sigh, the caracat turned with hesitant eyes. "Fine, Hailpaw, i'll have fun today." She mewed with annoyance, her tail curling. Caracalpaw still glared at him. "So, what should we do for 'fun?" She asked, tilting her head. She knew deep down she'd regret this, but what was there to loose? A whole day of training could be made up, getting Hailpaw off her tail couldn't. Caracalpaw waited patiently for his response, hoping this would be out from under her paws soon. 'What have you gotten yourself into, Caracalpaw? She thought.

The tom grinned, his smile almost as wide as his face. "That's a good girl." He purred, as though he were talking to a kit or someone beneath him. Though he would never do that to most apprentices, he was teasing Caracalpaw; maybe because it was more fun to do so. "We? Ohh..." His voice trailed off and his ears went back slightly. Truth be told, he hadn't planned on spending the day with a grumpy apprentice. But, it appeared that he was going to end up spending the day with a grumpy apprentice anyways-- otherwise Caracalpaw probably wouldn't stay true to her word. "Alright, I'll come along. But only to keep you to your word, got it?" He mewed semi-sternly. Being stern was not really 'Hailpaw's big thing...' sure, he could do it sometimes, but he wasn't very good at it. It didn't sound like he was being too serious, more like he thought of this as one of his new games. "I guess we can take turns picking things to do. I'll go first-- I say we race! Racing is always fun. I love racing. Have you ever raced even though you boycott anything remotely fun?" He mewed all in one breath. Yeah, Hailpaw wasn't exactly one to take things slow and easy.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by CandyFlossCat

Meadowsong, instead of telling him that probably meant the leader thought he was going to make trouble, nodded and gave a smile. "Great.." she mewed.

He nodded," I know."

[Phoenix Flames]

Originally Posted by CandyFlossCat

Meadow nodded her head. "Good, but this'll help." She positioned her legs a bit different than he had. "Try like this."

"Okay.", Rushpaw responded. He tried the fighting technique again. "Did I do it right, this time, Meadowsong?", he asked.

[Brunch]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

"Very well." His expression changed to one of amusement, mixed with frustration at the younger cat's constantly impatient, or bored, or angry tone. Why? Why couldn't he just be... happy. Happiness was always just out of reach. True happiness, the kind that came from deep down, could be found eventually. It just took a little bit of time. After a moment, Obsidiansky took the stance-- a perfect hunter's crouch. "Down low. Eyes ahead. Weight balanced. Don't move." He was speaking calmly, clearly, as carefully as he could to make sure that Rainpaw would understand. For a few moments longer he remained in the stance so that the grey apprentice could take a look and see what was going on before he stood up. "No one's expecting perfection today." Obsidiansky waited for the tom's response, half-expecting some snarky comment or rude snort, followed by a challenging glare. Even on this day, he was learning a lot about Rainpaw. A lot meaning that the tom was arrogant, snarky, and rude. But... he was also hurt, and the black feline could see a loyal warrior in the making.





"What?" The tom's expression changed to one of confusion, but in the next second she was crying. Oh StarClan, why was she crying? What had he done wrong? "Wait, no, I didn't--" But it was too late. She had gone. She had run away, and left, and now he didn't know what to do. Go after her? Was it too soon? And, he wasn't even sure. Yes-- he could sort out his feelings perfectly well, he was a grown tom! But, he didn't have time to think before he went racing after her, his ears pinned back to his head, not daring to look up or where he was going. Everyone had said love was blind. But this brought a whole new meaning to the words, and Obsidiansky wasn't quite sure if he was doing the right thing here. Oh no, no, no... this wasn't okay. This would never be okay again. Why had she run away? You love someone else, don't you? Love? Love was a strong word.

Love was a word he had sworn he would use carefully, he would use gently, he would use it only when he absolutely and completely meant it. Love was a word of power. It was something special, unique, and irreplaceable. He was in the territory now, following her. This was something that couldn't wait, it needed to be sorted out as soon as possible. This was something that he knew was going to cost him time. Do I love her? But, he could use the time doubly-- to find her, and to ask himself that question. To answer that question. There was no way to ignore the fluttery, butterfly-winged feeling that he always got. There was no way to ignore the way that he felt. But was it love, or a crush? Perhaps he was just crazy. He'd been in love before and even now, he could remember it... or was he just remembering what had happened? It was the faintest memory, playing at the back of his mind.

And now he was trying to remember. Trying to pull that painful memory fowards, all the time learning from rejection, learning to heal... he was pulling it fowards now, bringing everything he'd tried to forget back. Love was strong. Love was a power.. Love was a gift. Love was a choice. He could choose to love her here. He could choose to make her so happy. But if it was an illusion, would it just fade away? He would not go. No matter how hard things got. He wouldn't walk away from a cat who needed him... but it wasn't fair to either one to remain in a dream. It was time to talk to her so he could figure things out, and he would need time. Time. A precious thing there was only so much of. He needed time to think. Time to find her. Time to realize. Because yes, there were other cats that he had feelings for. Crushes, perhaps? Crushes or... or maybe love. And it was time to sort them all out.
@Cloudy

Hearing the thumps of her pursuer behind her, Canineheart tried to run faster, but she couldn't. She knew that by any moment Obsidiansky would be next to her, trying to talk to her. That's not what she wanted, not at all. She needed to run away, to get away from him, to try to piece together her shattered heart. Why did he say that so accusingly, as though she did something wrong? Was it wrong to see if Obsidiansky felt the same way about her? Canineheart knew it was a definite no, but she knew that she had broken something between them, running away like that. She could have just played it off as though she were trying to figure out if he really found her to be a friend. She didn't, though, and ran away with tears in her eyes. Canineheart's fears had always been in the back of her head, warning her that she would get hurt by him. Though she would never admit it, the reason why she never spoke to flirtatcious toms was to protect herself from being hurt. The voice in the back of her head would always whisper, He never loved you, he'll just hurt you at one point.

A sudden bubble of anger burst, one that she had been holding for a long time. It wasn't Canineheart that was doing things wrong, it was Obsidainsky, always seemingly alluring and kind when she needed him. It was probably just a setup to lead her on and to make her think that she was loved, only to be stamped on by him. It wasn't her. She didn't want this. She never wanted friends. If that was what he thought he was to her, a friend, she knew better now than to trust him.

As the padding of Obsidiansky got closer, she felt mud dabble at her pawpads, signalling the nearing border. Fuming, Canineheart turned around, her emerald eyes having a wild glare to them, and her back arched as though she were about to attack. "It's a ploy!" the warrior practically yelled at the chasing Obsidainsky, "I should have known better than to trust you!" She yelled accusingly, "I should have known that you were going to lead me on and then hurt me!" Her voice broke, "So, let's just forget that we ever met, and be out of each other's lives, okay?" Canineheart shuffled her paws, "You got me, now you can leave me..."

[wickedvirtues]

Originally Posted by Chameleon

He nodded," I know."

"Anyways... what do you plan to do when you become deputy, and even possibly leader? With the Clan, y'know"

[wickedvirtues]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

The tom grinned, his smile almost as wide as his face. "That's a good girl." He purred, as though he were talking to a kit or someone beneath him. Though he would never do that to most apprentices, he was teasing Caracalpaw; maybe because it was more fun to do so. "We? Ohh..." His voice trailed off and his ears went back slightly. Truth be told, he hadn't planned on spending the day with a grumpy apprentice. But, it appeared that he was going to end up spending the day with a grumpy apprentice anyways-- otherwise Caracalpaw probably wouldn't stay true to her word. "Alright, I'll come along. But only to keep you to your word, got it?" He mewed semi-sternly. Being stern was not really 'Hailpaw's big thing...' sure, he could do it sometimes, but he wasn't very good at it. It didn't sound like he was being too serious, more like he thought of this as one of his new games. "I guess we can take turns picking things to do. I'll go first-- I say we race! Racing is always fun. I love racing. Have you ever raced even though you boycott anything remotely fun?" He mewed all in one breath. Yeah, Hailpaw wasn't exactly one to take things slow and easy.

The jumble of words made her strain her ears to understand the information he told her, surprised he could manage so much in a single breath without even taking a breath. She sighed, but had to admit, racing sounded fine. "Fine, and yes, I've raced before. I don't hate all fun you know, just the fun that keeps you up at StarClan knows when laughing randomly." She mewed, flicking her tail and stretching out her limbs. Did this tom think she was a mouse-brain? She wasn't a liar! "And by the way, we start... NOW! First one to the starting line gets a ten second head-start!" She joked, racing off. "Come on, Hailpaw! You're gonna lose at this pace!" She yowled, waiting for him with pricked ears to begin the actual race. (Inserts happy Caracalpaw here)

[AbsurdJinx]

Originally Posted by Nighty

It wasn't exactly the answer she was expecting to hear. Forestpaw was think more like an 'Oh okay nice to meet you Forestpaw' kind of thing, but no. Of course, if he was her grandfather I'm sure he wanted to know. But why did he want to know? If he had left Singe alone and not cared for him, why did he want to care for them? It didn't make much sense to her, but she didn't have much time to ask due to his next remark.

"Singe named me. I was one of the ones that he named." She commented, memories rushing back of her and Singe, the close bond she had shared with him. She wanted that life. She didn't want to have to deal with Broken or anything else, but she wanted to be with her Dad. "He told me that I was named after the forest fire that swept through Windclan and Thunderclan."

"And yeah, I know that Bucknight started the fire to establish the rule in Thunderclan and Windclan. He said I was strong, and unpredictable. He said I had a capability, like him, to take command. He told me just after he had to run away, that he said my warrior name would have been Forestfire, but that it wouldn't be. He wanted me to become leader there too you know.." She looked up at her grandfather. Did he know this? Did he know Singe's soft spot? Did he know anything about his son besides that he was once the evil leader of Windclan?

Forest remembered her question then. "Mumblenose, if you didn't care for Singe, why are you so adamant about caring and getting to know me?" She asked. She didn't want to sound accusational, she just wanted to know his reasoning. She wanted to know what kept him for being with her father. She wanted to untie this overly complicated knot that was her family history.

Mumblenose shifted uneasily, casting his now-nervous gaze onto the ground. He watched the grass move below him, and his shadow dance with every single movement. His ears flicked frequently, a silent sign that he was thinking deeply. How would he answer Forestpaw's question without sounding like an awful cat? He couldn't. He closed his eyes tightly, almost like he could escape the question through his purposeful lack of eyesight. He would inhale heavily before exhaling shakily, and his forepaws fidgeted before him. Finally, Mumblenose looked up until he met Forestpaw's gaze. His eyes were flooded with sadness and regret.

He was aware that, eventually, the two of them would discuss their family history, but he didn't expect the topic to come up just yet. Mumblenose knew his history was quite dark, which was one of the reasons he was reluctant to relive it. He was not knowledgeable of Singe's soft side. After all, the two were on negative terms. However, he liked to believe that his son could find kindness - even for those outside his family tree. And when Singe became leader - a cruel one, at that - Mumblenose took it upon himself to show Singe what kindness was. He had hoped Singe could be a caring leader. Though it didn't go so well, and it was very appropriate to say Mumblenose failed.

The fact that Forestpaw was named after such a horrendous event seemed to shock Mumblenose. It was in that fire that WindClan was introduced to evil. And he mentally shivered at the idea that Forestpaw had the capability to become a leader like Singe. He didn't want his granddaughter to follow in his son's pawsteps.

``Do we need to discuss such a serious topic so soon?`` Mumblenose laughed nervously. In an effort to distract Forestpaw, he changed the conversation. ``How are you settling in? In WindClan, I mean.`` He adopted an uneasy smile, forcing his anxious movements to stop.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by CandyFlossCat

"Anyways... what do you plan to do when you become deputy, and even possibly leader? With the Clan, y'know"

He replied," As deputy I just do as the leader wants and listens to him and advise him. As leader I would chase the DS out of the forest. I'd prove to the other clans that our clan is strongest afterwards by chasing Skycclan out since like, they aren't a real clan. Then the others would respect me of-course. Then maybe if a single cat crosses the border I'd attack there clan and wipe out there medicine cat's supply. So all the clans will respect me, We'd be more superior than Shadowclan. Heck, I'd even take in outsiders if they proved they are loyal and useful in fighting and hunting."

[wickedvirtues]

Meadowsong pulled her ears back with a weak smile, her paws felt weak below her. "Great.. uh.. i'd better go patrol or something.. bye Yewpaw!"

She rushed off, ears pulled back.

[wren]

@moonfang




Blood soaked chest, tear filled eyes, pain filled heart.
Dark brown paws carried a muscular Tom, his claws raking the dirt as he pulled himself ahead. Leaping a fox length each time. He had watched the only one he loved... die. Right by his paws when he had nothing to do. Nothing he could have done. He had padded out into the open expecting there to be something bloody at onyx's paws. Bleeding out under his own claws. How it was supposed to be. How it always was. What he had found was reversed. The fiery eyes of Hannibal slipping into the darkness a moment later. Like a snake slithering away from its kill, disappearing out of reach. Onyx coughing out his own blood. Drowning in it. A predator turned prey. Hunted for the satisfaction of hannibals own bloodlust. Ajax tripped on his own paws and stopped. Slowing to a trot as he sat. Weeping. The thought ripped Ajax in half. Made him shake with fear and regret. He knew this was going to happen. He was saying it, he explained, he refused and finally gave in. Onyx had talked him into it and now it was over. With the flash of claws and a shriek. The body hitting the ground and laying admist the grass. Dying.
Left to be viewed by those he adored. He still had to get to Lilith. Tell her. The other side of the triangle. Someone he still had tense feelings towards. But someone he knew he would be able to trust in the future, somebody he would be able to connect with in the future. Over the death of onyx. Ajax slumped to the ground. Laying in the grass for a moment letting the breeze ruffle his fur, cool his face from the tears that hadn't been wiped away.

[ sorry short I'm heading to bed now! ]