SnakeClan Camp

[fαllεη •]

• • • škypãw

Deep in the back of the cave, near an old tunnel carved into the red rock by water and time, a small, warm voice joined itself to Eveningpaw's, harmonising with her. It wasn't perfect --it sounded a little rusty, and occasionally missed a few notes-- but it was there, however quietly.

Skypaw was a little terrified at the entrance of the she-cats. He'd just been in the middle of a tricky melody, and had only just heard them coming in. He'd scampered over the cave as far and as fast as he could, until he found the little escape tunnel. If they came near, he'd be out like a shot --at least, as fast as he could with his bad leg. But Eveningpaw -for he recognised her voice as she spoke- had started to sing. And then Skypaw had decided to join her. A voice like that surely deserved to be accompanied, even if its accompaniment was a little rusty.

The music flowed from his lungs like water from a spring. His chest rose and fell like a bellow, in time to the rhythm of the words. It was the most fun he'd had since Kitescreech had been Kitepaw, and his best friend had been an equal match. But this was new. It wasn't a 'fun' that could be brought on by physical means... This was fun for the mind and fun for the spirit. 'Which is why StarClan gave us song.' Few cats seemed to have sung in the camp lately, which saddened him. But whenever he came here, he could forget his twisted paw (the name his leader had wanted to give him had been just that: Twistedpaw), and he could forget his bad sight and numb paws. Singing made everything better.
Eveningpaw had a lovely voice for one so young: high and sweet. Odd, since he didn't recall ever hearing her sing before. But a sweet ripple of song grew in the cave. 'Come on, Eveningpaw's friend,' he almost stopped singing to whisper. 'why don't you join in?'

---

((OOC: I'd prefer it if you didn't find him; he'll escape through the tunnel first ^^))

[Raccoonstar]

FALCONPAW

Falconpaw heard the sound of a badger. It was near where Eveningpaw and Hazelpaw were training! He raced there and saw them running toward some sort of cave. Falconpaw surprised the badger with a scratch to the eyes, but it threw him off with ease. He ran ahead and matched up with Eveningpaw and Hazelpaw. "That'll slow him down a bit, and it will be harder for him to see," Falconpaw yelled. The badger was crashing toward the apprentices, and not doing well. Raccoonstar must have also heard the badger, and was now scratching and biting the badger with all of his might. It was tremendously slowing down the creature, so the three had time to escape into what Eveningpaw kept calling "the RockCave." The three ran into the RockCave, and saved themselves. Falconpaw saw Raccoonstar clawing at the badger, and now at least four other warriors were driving it off. They clawed, bit, and pushed the badger until it fled. "Good riddance!" Falconpaw heard Raccoonstar say. The badger was gone. But where were Thunderheart and Moonfire? Weren't they supposed to be watching Hazelpaw and Eveningpaw?

RACCOONSTAR

Raccoonstar heard the badger's cry and saw Falconpaw racing ahead to fight it. He was not going to let him do this alone. He raced after him with four warriors a few fox-lengths behind him. They all clawed and bit at the badger, and Raccoonstar saw that Hazelpaw, Falconpaw, and Eveningpaw had hid in a cave. The badger screeched and fled. "Good riddance!" Raccoonstar said. The warriors also fled for home, and Raccoonstar and the three followed. They were safe. For now.

[- - -evening ||]

[glow=teal,2,300][shadow=white,left,300]EVENINGPAW[/shadow][/glow]

Eveningpaw trailed off in joy, they were free! The badger was gone! She quickly scrambled to the front of the cave and looked out; no badger.
She had some regrets, she liked singing, that was one place where no one could hear her besides Hazelpaw and herself. The clan must sing more, she thought.
As she headed out, she could hear the sweet song that she had sung, echoing throughout the cave walls. Except, it wasn't her voice, it was a deep gravely voice; a male's.
The cave is singing, she thought. What a wonderful place!
She made a note to come back here often so she could sing to herself alone. No one would ever find her, she, Hazelpaw and Duskpaw, were thee only once who knew about it....so she thought.
She stayed a minute, to listen to the "wall's" rough, but gentle voice, and then headed out of the cave.
"Common, Hazlepaw," she meowed, "I wouldn't be surprised if Moonfire and Thunderheart were still there!"
She started to pad forward, when she heard a sound....
Mouse!

OCC: That okay Fallen?

[//Sunneh// is FuMiNg]

Hazelpaw

Hazelpaw tilted her head to listen to the echos, mystified, then nodded. "Let's go."
She froze when she heard the sound of small paws scratching against the stone fur. Without taking her eyes off of the mouse, she flicked her bushy tail as a silent signal to Eveningpaw. They would catch this one together.
She dropped into the hunter's crouch, then jumped forward. The mouse started to scamper away, but Hazelpaw swatted the mouse towards her friend. She held her breath. Eveningpaw would have to act quickly if she wanted to catch it.

[- - -evening ||]

[glow=blue,2,300]E V E N I N G P A W[/glow]

Startled, Eveningpaw let the mouse slip through her paws, she quickly chased after it. She knew that she had about no chance of catching it, but she thought to try her luck.
Luck was on her side today -well, except for the badger- and she quickly over ran the mouse....to smack head-first into a rock.
Ouch!, she murmured dazed, and then she blacked out.
Her -what-you-call-dreams- where fumbled and mixed up.

Eveningpaw padded through a twoleg den.
A twoleg den? When in StarClan's sake would she be there? She padded through to the twoleg den, the color was....what was that color? It wasn't a color she had ever seen! She decided to call it fwashwa, she liked that name! Suddenly, she heard a twoleg call out. Her fur spiked up and she heard it shriek, the most unpleasant sound she had ever heard. The twoleg howled and grabbed a long stick with pointed edges and started to swipe her.
Get away, she hissed, you piece of foxdung, get away!
The twoleg kept swiping her.
Suddenly, one of the spiny edges caught her in the face. As she yowled out in pain, the twoleg's shiny ground disappeared under her feet.
She was falling.......down......down...................down..........down down..........down..............down.....................

She blinked into reality as she felt something warm oozing down the side of her head.
"Ouch," she murmured again.
It was blood, and fresh blood by the taste of it. She wasn't really hurt, but the back of her head was covered in blood for some reason! She turned around to inspect it. There was a small gash on the side of her head. It wasn't deep, nor was it deadly, but it was enough to make her woozy and put her out for a few....minutes? Hours? Wait! How long had she been out?
As she pondered this, she felt another warm substance oozing onto her paw. Had she hurt her paw too? She looked down. What she saw, was not what she expected.
This mouse was lying dead at her feet. Apparently, it had bashed it's head too, but wasn't as lucky as she was. When she realized it, she and the mouse did just the exact same thing! Does that make her a mouse? prey?
She shook her head, she was still dazed, she must be mousebrained!
As she raised her head, she saw the anxious face of Hazelpaw staring down at her.
"I'm okay!" she meowed determined. As she tried to raise, the earth shook, she was so dizzy!
"Help me up, please!" she meowed to Hazelpaw.

OOC: Sorry, i just randomly blabbed on and on and on, i was bored! :/

[//Sunneh// is FuMiNg]

Hazelpaw

Hazelpaw yelped in surprise and concern for her friend as Eveningpaw pounced blindly at the mouse, hitting her head on a rock. Blood welled from a gash on her forehead.
"Eveningpaw, are you okay?" she asked anxiously, but Eveningpaw didn't respond.
"Is she dead?" she murmured to herself, but her question was answered when Eveningpaw lifted her head and said, "I'm okay! Help me up, please!"
Hazelpaw carefully grabbed Eveningpaw by her scruff, then lifted her to her feet.
"Come on," she mewed, exhausted. "We better get back to our mentors. They're going to have our tails for disappearing like that."

[- - -evening ||]

[glow=blue,2,300][shadow=blue,left,300]E V E N I N P A W[/shadow][/glow]

Dazed and confused, Eveningpaw tried picking herself up once again with Hazelpaw's help. Her balance was way off, and she slid back down once again while Hazelpaw wasn't watching. Her pelt burning with shame, and her head clouded with confusion, Eveningpaw blurted out the first thing that came to her mind - "I don't think Thunderheart of Moonfire are missing us!" As she regained some of her strength and energy, she picked herself up once again, and to her satisfaction, was able to stand still and upright.
She thought about what she had just said, a blurt of a thought in her head. As she pondered on it, she realized it was true, Thunderheart didn't care enough to train her, he only cared about Moonfire, who didn't know who she cared for. It was so unfair! Why did she have to get the no-brained mentor? In the past day, he hasn't taught her anything, or answered ANY of her questions!

Eveningpaw stumbled to the clearing where Moonfire and Thunderheart were. Her pride burning with shame for being knocked out, and her head full of grief for her lost apprenticeship.

"Hazelpaw!" she meowed, "We need a plan, a plan to get Moonfire to decide who she really likes! We can't go on like this! It's like they don't even care about us! What are mentors for? In there case it's to teach us nothing! Absolutely - Positively nothing!! I want to learn to be a warrior! Not just sit there while my mentor stares off into space!
She sat down breathing heavily, 'They don't care at all!.." She looked up into Hazelpaw's big round eyes, "Yeah, I'm overreacting i know, K? It's just that I want a mentor who will actually teach me!

[//Sunneh// is FuMiNg]

Hazelpaw

Hazelpaw listened, eyes wide, as Eveningpaw spoke. "I don't think you're overreacting at all. In fact, you're spot-on. But what can we do about it? Do we talk to them straight-on? Or do we arrange something behind their backs?"
She shuffled her paws, unsheathing and resheathing her claws. Hazelpaw knew how Moonfire was feeling; she had a small crush on Falconpaw, and it was hard to concentrate on training when he was around. But she didn't stare at him all googly-eyed and forget all about what she was doing!
"How about we trick Moonfire and Thunderheart into thinking that the other invited them for a walk through the woods," Hazelpaw suggested. "They both like each other, and it will show them how eager they are to be with each other."
She flicked her bushy tail in satisfation. "Unless you have a better plan," she added.

[Raccoonstar]

FALCONPAW

Falconpaw stared at Hazelpaw as he left, but only for a second. They shared a glance that was magical. His face showed a longing for her, and hers a longing for him. He knew that when the two were warriors, Hazelpaw would be his mate. Then a thought struck him. Would Hazelpaw want kits? Was it too early to think about this? What would he name the kits? He knew that it was way too early to be thinking about kits with a she-cat that he wasn't even in a relationship with yet. He did like the name Firekit, though. He thought he knew it from somewhere. And Jaykit, and Squirrelkit and Lionkit! He liked these names but would Hazelpaw? All of these thoughts filled his head as he raced home.


OCC: Haha ^^ Get it? Firestar, Jayfeather, Squirrelflight, and Lionblaze!! LAWL Falconpaw's rather stereotypical!

[- - -evening ||]

[glow=blue,2,300][shadow=blue,left,300]E V E N I N P A W[/shadow][/glow]

Eveningpaw listened carefully. Her ears pricked with awareness. She kind of felt a little guilty. She knew that Hazelpaw liked Falconpaw, it was so obvious! Everyone thinks that they are being secretive and forbidding when they fall in love. They think that no one knows who they like. She knew that she would not end up like that, she liked no one, and no one liked her.

Luckily Falconpaw wasn't here now; he was at camp. Hazelpaw would have embarrassed herself if he saw her now. She looked at her friend, her ears hot. She could feel the heat radiating from them. She rolled her eyes. Is this what everyone only thought about now-a-days? She sighed, it was so boring!

She looked up at the sky, the wispy white clouds were slowly moving across the sky, a perfect day. But she knew better, there was a storm on the horizon. She could smell it. Even the sweet perfume of the flowers and the strong scent of the IvyClan border didn't mask the dreariness in the air. She smelled the air -dampness. As she touched a leaf on the side of the trail, it wilted with her touch. Oh, Sunkit, why did you have to go? We could have been a great medicine cat if you sister hadn't taken that job.

As her mind traveled farther and father away, her eyes were motionless. Suddenly, she saw Hazelpaw move suddenly, and she snapped back into focus. She made up her mind - "No, you plan is terrific, i just think that we should get Raccoonstar to go too, it would be all the more dramatic!" she finished smiling.

[//Sunneh// is FuMiNg]

Hazelpaw

Hazelpaw could feel the awkwardness in the air as she finished speaking. Eveningpaw obviously knew she liked Falconpaw. Was her affaction for him that obvious?
Shoving those thoughts behind her, Hazelpaw listened intently as her friend spoke.
"Perfect!" she exclaimed excitedly, her paws scuffing the ground as she jumped up eagerly. Then she hesitated. "But what if it starts a fight? They all like each other, and, even if it doesn't end in violence, it will most likely end in heartbreak."
Hazelpaw let out a small snarl of frusteration. "How can we do this without hurting anyone?!"

OOC: Sorry it's so short, but I GTG. XP

[Raccoonstar]

RACCOONSTAR

Raccoonstar was sitting in his den, thinking. He loved Moonfire, but would she choose him? What would happen if she chose Thunderheart? What would he do? The Clan needed kits, and he wanted a mate...but who? Could Slashsnow like him, like he had heard an elder say? Probably not...she probably knew of Moonfire and Raccoonstar's relationship and decided not to. But would Moonfire choose him? Was it only half a chance, or more...or less that Moonfire would choose him? Raccoonstar woke himself, and pushed away his worrisome thoughts. He decided to go on a solitary hunting patrol for some quiet. The Clan was rather noisy today, and this was not what he needed. He caught a large mouse and brought it back. Falconpaw picked up and wolfed it down in the apprentice's den. Raccoonstar chose a vole and sat just outside his den as he ate. He was observing, and trying to figure out why there was so much noise! Was there a rumor Raccoonstar hadn't heard?

[- - -evening ||]

[glow=blue,2,300][shadow=blue,left,300]E V E N I N P A W[/shadow][/glow]

Eveningpaw rolled her eyes to take some of the tension out of the air, "Oh, Hazelpaw! Raccoonstar is obviously mature enough to not start a war, wasn't that one of the main reasons why he was made deputy, and then leader?" She looked at the doubt on Hazelpaw's face, she really didn't believe what she said, and truth be told, neither did Eveningpaw herself, "Anyway, Raccoonstar will be able to cope with it, he is leader as i mentioned, and he should open up his eyes a bit to other cats around him, Moonfire is not the only cat that is interesting, and some cats might even be interested in him."

As she said this, she allowed herself a grim smile, she was very observant when she wanted to be, and she had noticed that Slashsnow started to stray very near Raccoonstar recently. She also noticed the looks that Slashsnow made when he talked to her, and her expression when he was singing about Moonfire.
Poor, Slashsnow, she thought. That song was enough to break her heart, and she still didn't stop giving Raccoonstar those looks.
Mousebrained toms!

Her smile quickly faded, would she ever be like that? So in love with a cat, that she would never give him up until she died? She snarled in disgust. How could any cat be like that? She was even disgusted with Hazelpaw -though she didn't show it. Cats were wasting their lives, the only reason cats mated, she thought, was because they were horrible fighters, or hunters, or maybe they were just plain mousebrained! She would never end up like that! Not even if StarClan wished it!

She thought back to Slashsnow, and how heart-broken she was every time Raccoonstar ignored her. No, she would never be like that.... Suddenly, she had an idea, "Hazelpaw!" she meowed in triumph, "we should send Slashsnow too! You know, because Slashsnow likes Raccoonstar." She looked at her friends face, nope, she didn't know, "Well, I noticed that Slashsnow likes Raccoonstar, so if we get them all together, Moonfire could go with Thunderheart, and Slashsnow with Raccoonstar! What do you think?"

OOC: Coony, I would really appreciate it if Raccoonstar, or any other cat did NOT know about Slashsnow's love for Raccoonstar, thanks! ^_^

[glow=red,2,300][shadow=red,left,300]MOONFIRE[/shadow][/glow]

Moonfire sniffed the air, it was heavy with the scent of rain. Stormclouds were moving in, causing the sky to darken, making it a dull and ugly gray. She sighed, she had to stop gazing off into space! What would have her mentor told her,'Moonpaw, you have to pay attention, that is the key to survival!' Yes, she remembered him well enough. She sighed, she hoped it wasn't going to rain so soon, she had wanted to take Hazelpaw to refresh the borders, they were getting pretty stale, and she didn't want any attack very soon. She looked around, the usually merry sounds of the forest were silent, and the slight breeze before, that ruffled her pelt, was now still. She started to ask the apprentices what they were doing, but then a quick look around showed to her that they weren't there. How long had she been daydreaming? She padded toward a small hill, and she got a wiff of Hazelpaw's and Eveningpaw's scent, mingled in with bordem and curiousity. As she went farther along the trail, she smelled something that made her fur ruffle up, and her back arch -
Badger!

[//Sunneh// is FuMiNg]

Hazelpaw

Hazelpaw flexed her claws as Eveningpaw spoke, shredding the grass beneath her paws. “I know there isn’t going to be a war within our clan! How mouse-brained do you think I am? Why is it that, though your scent has barely faded from the nursery, you act as if you’re my mentor?” she snapped, perhaps a bit too harshly. Rage coursed through her body like a bolt of lightning. Sometimes it seemed as if Eveningpaw didn’t know her at all. Sometimes it felt as if Hazelpaw didn’t know herself at all.
Immediately regretting her display of irritation at her friend, but not willing to admit that she overreacted, Hazelpaw turned her head to glare at a nearby anthill. Her lips barely moved as she resumed speaking.
“Whoever Moonfire rejects is going to live with it his entire life. You know that saying that the elders always say? ‘All wounds heal with time’?” Hazelpaw let out a bitter laugh. Her normally warm and playful blue eyes were as cold and cynical as a cat that had lived out most of her life in misery. “Well, they don’t. They never heal. They may seem to fade away, but they never heal. And, someday, that wound is going to be torn open again, as fresh and as agonizing as ever.”
She swiped the air with a paw as she said the word “torn”, and then laughed again. She paused as she noticed a puzzled and, yes, slightly frightened look on Eveningpaw’s face. Taking a deep breath, Hazelpaw calmed herself. She felt just like Eveningpaw looked. For a moment there, it seemed as if she was a different cat. And that scared her. It scared her even more than snakes and death did.
“I…I just don’t want to help inflict that kind of pain on another cat,” Hazelpaw said haltingly. Her lips silently formed the word, “again”, but that couldn’t be right.
She waited as Eveningpaw continued speaking once again. Her eyes brightened as her friend suggested sending Slashsnow as well.
“Perfect,” Hazelpaw said. “That fixes everything. Well, as long as Raccoonstar finally realizes that the she-cat he has always wanted is right in front of him.”
She frowned, feeling a bit dizzy; it had been a long day, and Hazelpaw was starting to feel weak with fatigue. But she continued.
“All we have to do is find a way to convince all four of them to meet each other in the forest. We could-”
Hazelpaw stopped as she felt a drop of rain hit her forehead. She squinted up at the sky, flinching as yet another raindrop hit her face. “We better get back to our mentors,” she said. “Let’s discuss this in the apprentice’s den.”
They weren’t too far from Thunderheart and Moonfire, and Hazelpaw could smell the mentors alarm and worry as the apprentices approached them.

OOC: She is not what she seems...

[- - -evening ||]

[glow=blue,2,300][shadow=blue,left,300]E V E N I N P A W[/shadow][/glow]


“Whoever Moonfire rejects is going to live with it his entire life. You know that saying that the elders always say? ‘All wounds heal with time’?” Hazelpaw let out a bitter laugh, sounding ugly connecting to her pretty face.“Well, they don’t. They never heal. They may seem to fade away, but they never heal. And, someday, that wound is going to be torn open again, as fresh and as agonizing as ever.”
Hazelpaw swiped the air, as if lashing out to an unseen enemy.
“I…I just don’t want to help inflict that kind of pain on another cat,” Hazelpaw said haltingly." she watched as her friend silently moved her lips, again. What did Hazelpaw do to inflect pain on a cat? She watched her friend silently out of the corner of her eye. She wanted so badly to know what Hazelpaw meant, but she had enough sense to be quiet.

She pretended not to notice Hazelpaw's earlier issue, with her bossiness, but truth be told, it hurt! She knew that she had been bossy, but she was so excited on getting them together. She didn't mean to sound bossy, and she had thought that her friend had knew that.
'I guess not," she muttered to herself, out of Hazelpaw's ear contact. Hazelpaw was a lot older than her, and more mature she realized, she guessed that her 'friend' wanted to be treated that way. She had thought that they had shared something ,more than that, something past age and matureness. She was obviously not as observant as she thought that she was, for Hazelpaw wanted to be respected. She clawed the ground silently, her paws raking through the dry dirt.

Hazelpaw wobbled, she looked dizzy and stricken. Eveningpaw slowly padded up to her side, and tried supporting her. Haltingly, though. Was this one of the things that Hazelpaw didn't like? Did she want to look strong without help? But when she didn't protest, Eveningpaw kept faithfully at her side.

"Why is it that, though your scent has barely faded from the nursery, you act as if you’re my mentor?” those words flashed bacfk to Eveningpaw -she saw red. Her mind was on fire, her lips a silent structure. Was that what Hazelpaw wanted? She would tolerate being the lesser, because she knew that was her part, but she was not a kit, even if she was just made an apprentice a moon ago, she was not a kit.

Rain started to fall, first in small tear drops, and then in huge pails, soaking Eveningpaw's pelt. She missed Hazelpaw's last words, probably some words of rebuke, she thought. She turned away from Hazelpaw,"'Yes, Hazelpaw," she meowed, laying the words on thickly and stiffly, "If that's what you want," and she turned away, racing back to Moonfire and Thunderheart, not caring what they had to say to her.