Loney Days [o]

[birdcat]

Heat. It was all around her, burning her and filling her lungs, making it hard to breathe. The slender feline twisted and turned, wishing for the heat to go away. But suddenly it was closing in, there was no escape... With a jolt, the black she-cat awoke to find herself in the middle of the camp. She had fallen asleep early in the day and now the sun had moved to hover right above her. The warmth from the sun brought back memories of the fire that had swept through the camp about a year ago. It took many lives, including her leader's, which left her in charge of the clan.

Stealthstar rose to her feet and stretched, wishing away the memory of the fire. With a sigh she looked around the empty camp, remembering when it was full of activity. Those were the days, she thought with longing, her light yellow eyes closing at the memories. But with another sigh, she opened them and walked toward the small pile of fresh-kill. The pile was small, but it reflected the number of clan members, making the leader remember again the days of abundance.

She grabbed a sparrow from the pile and walked to a rock and jumped on top of it, settling down to eat her meal. As she took a bite, she chewed slowly welcoming the taste of the bird. After the first bite, she paused and gazed out at the empty camp, suddenly losing her appetite. Looking down at the sparrow, she sighed, hating the emptiness that settled in the pit of her soul. Stealthstar had no living relatives, no mate, and no children. She was alone. Even if she wished to have kits, she couldn't. Barren, that's what the old Medicine cat had told her. With yet another sigh, she pushed the sparrow off the rock and curled up into a ball, letting the loneliness settle in her.

[acez]

- - wrenfeather

It wasn't unusual for Wrenfeather to come slinking back into camp. The she-cat had the unhealthy habit of having her own schedule, as a fact, in order to avoid her patrol duties, Wrenfeather had snuck out of camp and had lounged near the foggy cliff, in hopes that she wouldn't be found out. Of course, she enjoyed the few extra hours she had alone. Whatever it was, the warriors den always seemed to make her dreams sick with worries and bad memories, where as the fog seemed to wipe away any dreams she had.

With cautious eyes, Wrenfeather weaved her way through boneclan's definable wall. She had managed to catch a mouse unaware and had taken that to bring to camp. Letting it drop on the miniscule fresh-kill pile, Wrenfeather's ears flickered to the back of her head to observe it. they should appreciate the effort.

[/color] She thought with a lackadaisical sigh, slumping to the ground. Usually she slunk into camp and disappeared, it was rare for her to contribute anything.

Picking at the fresh-kill pile with an outstretched claw, she sniffed delicately at the other kills that the other warriors had brought in. Seeing nothing that really interested, she threw her head away and prowled away to relax in the sun, enjoying the heat while she still could. Knowing my luck, someone will drag away to do something stupid.[/color] She grumbled aloud. With a huff, she slumped in a pile of mottled fur, yellow eyes glazed over as though the small walk around camp had drained her of all effort. [/size][/blockquote]

[birdcat]

Sleep, it had come fast and efficiently taking the Boneclan leader deep into it. As her chest rose and fell, her paws twitched with dreams. She smiled as the dream world took her to a place she always wanted to be. Nuzzled up next to her stomach were three small kits; they pawed at her as they nursed. But then suddenly the dream turned dark as her kits were taken away from her. Crying out, she went after them...

Twisting and turning, Stealthstar slipped off of the rock she was resting on. Hitting the ground with a light thud, the pure black female opened her yellow eyes and looked around. It was just... A dream, she thought, pushing herself up to sitting position. Her fur was ruffled by her dream and she began to lick it down. Her clan could not see her freaked out or else they could lose faith in their leader. With a calming breath, Stealthstar stood, taking another look around the camp.

This time the camp was not empty, it housed a single warrior, Wrenfeather. Slowly the Boneclan leader walked over to the lump of the she-cat resting in the sun. She let out the sigh, this warrior was worse then a apprentice sometimes. Most of the time Stealthstar talked to her like an apprentice; it was wrong to do, but she couldn't help it. Wrenfeather was one of the laziest cats she had come across; I wonder if this is what a kittypet is like..? she asked herself with a shrug.

"Wrenfeather," she said quietly as she gave the warrior's shoulder a prod. "Time to wake up, we have duties to attend to."

[acez]

- - wrenfeather

She had barely been asleep, just on the borderlines of resting, ready to dive straight in to the world of darkness. But no, someone always seemed to disrupt that nice feeling and replace it with one of annoyance. Wrenfeather had two choices here, wake up or ignore them. She liked the latter idea, ignoring them. She tried to ignore the sound and the nudging but she couldn't help but feel her ears twitch and knew it was too late. Damn the warrior who had decided to disrupt her.

Groaning, she cracked open an eye and merely glared, as the sleep cleared from her eyes and found staring into the almost identical yellow eyes of her leader, Stealthstar. One sliver of her, managed to remember she had just damned them, but mostly, Wrenfeather managed to stay rather annoyed and tired. Uh, no. Pretty sure I did my duties.

[/color] She growled, covering her eyes with her paws, tail curling even tighter around her body. Her efforts in trying to stifle a yawn was futile and her mouth twitched as it opened like a fanged cavern as she yawned. Closing her mouth, she moved a paw and stared just a little longer at her leader, Stealthstar. She desperately wanted to ask her leader what she had been up to, what duties did she do, but that course again had two paths. One, Stealthstar gets angry, starts talking, and Wrenfeather had the ugly habit of falling asleep when someone ranted at her, and couldn't afford Stealthstar's wrath.

The other path, of course, was being amused, laugh off Wrenfeather's words and drag her out on a duty anyway. She really hadn't moved a lot, and hunting sounded like a huge effort. What she could do right now, was try to drag the conversation on as long as possible. [/size][/blockquote]

[Fallout]

rooksong, warrior of boneclan

Keeping himself to a distance, as he often did, Rooksong watched Stealthstar try to rouse Wrenfeather from her nap. Disgust was in plain view upon his battle-scarred face, his large ears tilted back in irritation. A Clan could not function if its warriors were lazy slackers with no movement or motivation to do their jobs right. They weren't like him, determined to finish a task and do it well without any hesitation. Working was what he did best, and he did it to the full extent of his abilities.

With heavy pawsteps hitting the ground, tracing dragging pawprints through the dirt, he padded over towards Wrenfeather. He kept his disapproving glare, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was about to chide. Chiding was one of the things he did best. It was his own form of motivation... hissing and growling other warriors into doing their jobs. Wrenfeather was older than him, though not by more than a few moons, however that wasn't about to stop him from reprimanding her.

"There's never a lack of things to do around here," he growled, his tone biting and harsh. "You may think that you're done with your duties, but a warrior's work is never done." He was not expecting to be received kindly; he never was. Nonetheless, he had said his piece, and that was that.

[birdcat]

The ebony she-cat narrowed her yellow eyes as the warrior before her glared. Stealthstar was not pleased at this response that was given to her and as leader of the clan, she deserved respect. At this her tail flicked slightly in annoyance and she stopped prodding the lazy warrior. Sighing, she stood up and stared down at Wrenfeather knowing that forcing this reluctant warrior to work was useless. "One day, you might not have such a nice leader," she said softly, shaking her head. Such a waste, she thought, turning away from the other she-cat.

With her back to Wrenfeather, she started to walk toward her discarded meal only to be stopped by a voice. Looking over her shoulder, she spotted Rooksong talking to Wrenfeather. Listening to the words he spoke, Steathstar couldn't help but agree with them. But they way he spoke disappointed her, for a warrior should never speak harshly with one another. With a small shake of her head, she walked over to the two felines. "You speak the truth, Rooksong, but harsh words never get anything done." She was quiet for a moment, then spoke again; "Why don't the three of us clean out the dens? Before you say anything, I know that that is the apprentices job, but seeing as we have no apprentices, the job falls on us."

[acez]

.wrenfeather.

Yep, anger. Somehow, deep down inside, Wrenfeather knew it. She had that effect on people anyway, making them angry. Call it a gift, if you will. Whether it was an action or some words, it didn't take much from Wrenfeather's mouth to cause the fur to fly. However, even with the leader's brisk words, Wrenfeather's body still delayed on moving. Her brain was saying, alright, let's move. people are watching. but her legs were saying, screw you. Even her mind and body quarreled.

Ready to move, well, sort of, Wrenfeather was given the chance when all but someone she liked decided to enter the fray. With a angry eye, she looked at Rooksong look down on her in disappointment and anger. Yet rather acting sheepishly, she merely tilted her head and sighed. She got those looks many times before, another warrior's didn't really matter.

With a turtle's speed, Wrenfeather, stretched, her body uncoiling like a snake as she hid her annoyance under a coy, uncaring mask. You say that, yet you reprimand me on my lack of duties, where as you fail to do any contributing but nag at me, which only seems to be wasting oxygen.

[/color] 'seriously, show you have something between those ears of yours' Her look said as she stared at Rooksong, as she pulled herself in a sitting position. She couldv'e said it aloud, wouldv'e too, she could feel it on her tongue, yet she held back. She was in the dignity of the leader, she can always diss Rooksong later. And Wrenfeather would without hesitation.

yeah, sure. let's do it.[/color] Wrenfeather mumbled, raising her hind leg to scratch her ear, secretly pleased. No hunting or patrols, just moving some moss. It was the easiest thing other than sleeping, if this was a punishment, than Wrenfeather would happily get in trouble more often. Rolling her shoulders, she got to her paws and made a move to go, waiting for any words from Rooksong or Stealthstar.[/size][/blockquote]

[Fallout]

rooksong, warrior of boneclan

At Wrenfeather's words, Rooksong let out a vicious hiss. He barely processed what Stealthstar had to say, for all the rage that was welling up inside of him. He was doing his duty. He was doing his duty in prompting another cat to do their job. He gnashed his teeth together, his crooked jaw sliding from side to side. He caught the suggestion to clean the dens from Stealthstar, and briefly acknowledged it with a swish of his spike-furred tail.

"If someone wasn't around to nag you, you'd sit here like a stone in the sun all day long," he argued. He turned to Stealthstar. "I'll try to watch my tone next time, but I will not sit idly by whilst warriors become kittypets." He glared at Wrenfeather through amber slits, growling all along. She was slowly standing, with much emphasis on the slowly part

That's a miracle straight from StarClan -- her standing at all, thought Rooksong bitterly as she got to her paws. He looked towards the nearest dens, eager to perform the chores -- and perhaps to have a chance to out-do Wrenfeather. That won't be difficult, he thought smugly. With newfound ambition glittering in his orange eyes, he turned. "Right, let's get to it," he meowed.

[birdcat]

The leader sighed, she hated when her warriors fought among themselves. If you must fight, then save it for the other clans, she thought, shaking her head. Fighting like this was such a waste of time and energy, there were things that needed to be done. Right now that was cleaning out the dens and bringing in more bedding. As the warrior she-cat spoke, Rooksong replied with aggression, making Stealthstar sigh once more. "Now, now, enough of all this you two!" she snapped, getting tired of the fighting. "I don't want my warriors acting like... Like fresh apprentices!"

She wasn't one to get angry very often, but that didn't mean she couldn't. With a slight lash of her tail, she nodded to Wrenfeather and Rooksong. "Now I don't want anymore fighting out of you two," she spoke quietly, turning toward the elders' den. "And I'd also like you two to work together on cleaning the dens." Before anyone could protest, she slipped into the den and started to clean.

[blah, bad post. And sorry this took so long]

[acez]

This close dude. This close. Wrenfeather swallowed a hiss and settled for whipping her tail back and forth. She wondered how much trouble she would get in, if she attacked Rooksong. Rooksong, seriously what kind of name was that? For a guy. Her ears pinned to her head, Wrenfeather had to glare at the black tom, who had bothered to get all nitpicky on her. Uh, no. She was a warrior, and she was going to be a warrior in her own way.

Stalking after the two, she managed not to grumble but to pad the mossy bed into a tight ball, glowering. All her anger, focused into some tiny, compact thing. With a swipe, she sent it flying out of the den. Barely giving it a glance, she turned to start again on the other remaining beds. Seriously, they needed apprentices. Not that she didn't want one, that would be some serious burden right there. Like, who wanted to drag their tail around at dawn, following some bothersome kit who couldn't tell a fighting crouch from a hunter's stalk? She growled tightly, whiskers twitching ferociously. One lazy afternoon, gone. Cleaning some den, a task she hadn't done in moons, many, many moons. And with him? Together? over my dead body.

[/color] She hissed, before swiping at yet another mossy bed, pushing herself in Rooksong's way. On purpose, she might add. Starclan help the soul, if she was going to be miserable, then he was going to be miserable too. [/size][/blockquote]

[Fallout]

rooksong, warrior of boneclan

Briefly, Rooksong dipped his head in respect for the Clan leader. He began to clean out the dens, removing the moss, only to find himself being showered in it as Wrenfeather hurled it out of the den. He tried to remain collected, taking out the moss he had chosen to remove in a much more dignified manner. Instead of tossing it around like a kit with a leaf, he added bitterly. Any chance he had to out-do Wrenfeather, he was going to take it, even if it met he was cleaning out the dens slower than she was.

But then she began to get in his way. Irritation with the fact that she wasn't 'doing it right' kept flooding his mind. He let out an irritated growl, and his ears pressed against his head in anger. "Watch what you're doing!" he spat. "Didn't you ever learn how to properly clean out a den? I suppose not, since you were probably laying like a lump on a log while everyone else was working." He sneered, and with his shoulder he forcefully bumped her out of the way. His orange eyes were glowing with intense hatred now. He didn't have the patience for little games of petty bothering like this.

Rooksong growled again, "If you're not going to do this job correctly, maybe you should just stop and let me do it... so that you can get back to being a lazy kittypet."