A fight between Thunder and a Raccoon

[Raccoonstar]

*please note that this happened a little while ago, and is a flashback.*

RACCOONSTAR

Raccoonstar was sitting in his den alone...and then he remembered the time he fought with Thunderheart. He remembered it as if it was just a sunrise ago...

"Raccoonstar padded up to Thunderheart. 'Thunderheart?' he said, with a small hint of an angry tone in his voice. 'Can you come with me to the hunting grounds alone? There is something I need to say to you.' He padded to the deepest part of SnakeClan hunting grounds, where there happened to be a small clearing surrounded by flat rocks that Raccoonstar called the StoneCamp. He led Thunderheart into the heart of StoneCamp, a huge silver stone at least ten fox-lengths high that Raccoonstar called the SilverLedge. He jumped Thunderheart to the top using ledges. 'You like Moonfire, don't you?' Raccoonstar said in an accusing tone once the two both got on top of the SilverLedge. 'You like her, and wish to become her...mate, don't you?' he spat the word 'mate' out. He waited for his reply, though he already knew what Thunderheart would say to him."

[Kat]

Upon entering the camp from a solo hunting trip, Thunderhart glanced at Raccoonstar's den. He remember of when he was an apprentice and he wanted to be leader. This thought spurred a flashback as he headed to the warriors den.

Raccoonstar had called him away from camp, angry. What he was furious over, Thunderheart hadn't a clue- he didn't remember doing anything bad.
Surprisingly, Raccoonstar led him to a rocky clearing that Thunderheart had stumbled upon when he was an apprentice. Thunderheart had used to pretend that it was a camp, and he was the leader.
As Raccoonstar had led him up on what Thunderheart had called Skyledge, Thunderheart remembered thinking about how beautiful the stars looked from up here, and that he could show Moonfire this place.
When they got to the top, Raccoonstar spoke again. Thunderheart was surprised as the hostility in his leader's voice.
'You like Moonfire, don't you? You wish to become her.. mate!'

Thinking back on it, Thunderheart remebered thinking that Raccoonstar had almost shouted the word, although now he knew that he hadn't.

Thunderheart stammered, overwhelmed for a moment. He thought, trying to get his cool back on- he had been so scared!
"No, Racconstar, that is not the case. While I do enjoy her company, that is not my... main goal." He didn't know how else to say it. Now, he did think that Moonfire was very pretty, and had a great personality.

Thunderheart smiled at his old self. I feel closer than ever to Moonfire, he thought as he curled into a ball for a nap.

OOC: I know, Thunderheart is supposed to be with Moonfire, but this isn't real time. And that last sentece was perv-ish. Why does Thunderheart bring out my disgusting side?

[Raccoonstar]

RACCOONSTAR

"Raccoonstar was pretty sure what Thunderheart had said was a lie. 'Well...she is pretty and has an amazing personality and is a great warrior...and I love her. And you cannot interfere, or I will personally RIP YOUR FUR OFF. Do you understand?! She is mine, and I will be an incredible mate for her. You, Thunderheart, should LEAVE HER ALONE! I ask again, do you understand what I am saying?' Raccoonstar yelled. He knew he was showing off and putting himself above Thunderheart, but he had the right as leader. He meant every word. 'I NEVER want to see you with Moonfire again! Even after you are in StarClan!' Raccoonstar had an angry look in his eye that turned his eyes a piercing blue. Raccoonstar's fur was fluffed out to make himself look bigger, and his claws unsheathed. He meant it when he had said he would rip his fur off."

OCC: gawd Raccoonstar's acting like a TOTAL BLOWHARD. i kind of hate him right nau. but he's too cuddly to hate...but i feel SO bad for Thunderheart...sorry bout this! Raccoonstar's idea, not mine....well...actually....

[Kat]

Thunderheart watched, wideeyed, as Raccoonstar yelled. At the end, though, Thunderheart's pride kicked him in the butt. He barred his teeth at his leader, a small, young part of him reminding him that his mother would be furious if she ever found out. When Raccoonstar had finished, Thunderheart defended himself.
"NO! You can't do that, even as my leader!" Thunderheart shouted. "I will do as I please on my spare time- in no way am I violating the warrior code!" Without thinking, Thunderheart continued. "The only reason she is deputy is because you are in love with her!"

[Raccoonstar]

RACCOONSTAR

"Raccoonstar was furious! Only recently had he fallen in love with Moonfire. 'ENOUGH!' Raccoonstar yowled. 'I chose Moonfire for her skills, intellect, and power. I do NOT let love get in the way of my Clan, unlike some warriors I know!' By the look on Thunderheart's face, he had hit home. 'GO AND NEVER RETURN TO THIS PLACE, AND DO NOT FORGET WHAT I HAVE TOLD YOU! NOW!' Raccoonstar watched the warrior flee with wildly angry eyes. He sat there, gathered moss, and created a second leader's den on the top of the Silverledge. He hunted, and found a mouse, two voles, and a sparrow. He placed the voles and the sparrow on top of a place he would make his fresh-kill pile. He ate the mouse, and fell into a deep sleep."

Raccoonstar had apologized since then, but tensions between the two were still uneasy. Raccoonstar had decided to let Moonfire choose, and would respect her decision. He did secretly hope for him to be chosen. He decided to visit StoneCamp, which he now called StoneClan; a hidden, one-cat Clan of the forest; and padded up to the leader's den, or as he called it now, SilverDen; for it's secret connection to Silverpelt; and sat. He gathered another few mice, voles, birds, and squirrels to add to his now-protected fresh-kill pile. He ate a vole and went up to SilverDen to sleep.

[Seafeather]

Skyleaf

Skyleaf hunkered down, and left the camp. The sparse trees and undergrowth provided little cover, so she stuck to the shadows where she could become one of them herself. She was going to a place where she would often sit and talk to StarClan. Often they never answered but a few times she fell asleep and had dreams with them.

Skyleaf turned invisible as she walked. She came upon her little thinking place. It was surrounded by rocks, and in the middle a ten tail-length high rock stood in the middle. She climbed a near tree and jumped to the rock. To late she noticed the sleeping figure. She landed square on top of him.

"Oof!" She exclaimed. "Racconstar! Why are you here?" She asked tentatively. she noticed anger and worry in the leader's eyes. She would be here to listen. Whether he liked it or not.

[Raccoonstar]

RACCOONSTAR

Raccoonstar was surprised at Skyleaf's sudden entrance. He'd thought StoneClan was his! "I just came here to think." Skyleaf's gaze told him that she needed more information, so he told her everything. His flashback, and all it included, and everything up until now. Skyleaf's gaze was full of shock. "I don't know how it happened," Raccoonstar tried to explain. "It just all came out at once, and I am very ashamed of it. After the experience, I think I learned to be a bit more mature and make better choices." Raccoonstar's words were truthful. "This... was the place we fought at.... it brings back memories I would prefer stayed hidden."

[Seafeather]

Skyleaf

Skyleaf listened carefully to the worrisome leader. She had to be honest with him. He was the clan's leader. But not just the clan's leader, to be more personal, he was her leader. So instead of lying to him to keep from hurting his feelings and from being grumpy (even though she knew that most medicine cats get grumpy as they get older).

"Raccoonstar...why is the real reason you picked Moonfire for deputy?" Shock crossed his face. She knew that he never picked Moonfire for the reasons he told Thunderheart. He was in love. Blinded by love. A very wonderful thing...but so dangerous, oh so dangerous.

"Raccoonstar, do you honestly believe that you can handle a mate right now? I mean, StarClan know's that you just became leader only a few moons ago. You are very well respected. But this squabble has to stop!" Skyleaf almost started to shout. "Look, what I'm trying to say is, you and Thunderheart are almost at a point where you are the laughing stock of SnakeClan. You stare at Moonfire while she eats, while she hunts. I've even seen you staring at her from your den and into the warrior's den! It's like you're stalking a mouse, so to speak. Just be yourself around her. Be Raccoontail, the nice, gentle, easy to talk to version of yourself. Not Raccoonstar, the mighty leader, who those are afraid to come up to." She softened her gaze. "Just...think about things." Skyleaf hopped down from the rock, and as she left she sang a familiar tune. No one hears her singing voice unless she's in the woods. Where she feels the most safe.

"Winds in the leaves,
Sun in the sky,
rain pouring down,
hush kit don't cry..."

She passed a tree where her voice finally cuts off at the chorus.

"Claw marks on his sides,
Enemy trailing behind.
Follow me,
Follow me,
Follow me to the edge of the sky..."

[Raccoonstar]

RACCOONSTAR

Racconstar smiled at Skyleaf as she left. She had a beautiful singing voice, and her advice was equal to that of StarClan's. He'd be Raccoontail, the gentle warrior, for a while, and if it worked, he'd just be Raccoontail, the leader. "Oh, Skyleaf." He'd said after she had gone out of earshot. "Had you not chosen the path of a medicine cat, you would have been mine in an instant. That shall be my last words as Raccoonstar. From now on, Raccoontail shall be my attitude!"

[Kat]

Thunderheart narrowed his eyes at the memory. No longer wanting to sleep, he got up and went out of the warriors den. No one was around, the queens and their kits asleep. He heard soft singing coming from teh elders den, so he decided to go and check it out.

Petalmouse was singing softly, Brokenjay half-listening and Yarrowfoot asleep. Thunderhear picked up the song immedately, he had heard it often as a kit.

As the sun rises
And dawn ends
The sure-footed warrior
Hunts again
Claws sharp
Sense alert

Beware, my friends, the warrior's wicked wrath
He kills without second thought
His anger uncontained
His strength unrelentless
His revenge unserved

[/blockquote]

Brokenjay sighed. "We don't sing as much as we used to. When I was a young warrior, the elders sang every night. It was a privilege to sing with them."

Thunderheart tipped his head to the side. "Why don't we do it anymore?"

"There is no place to do it. It used to be on the SnakeClan IvyClan border, right inside our territory. IvyClan would come to listen. But when Fernstorm, our best singer, died, IvyClan took it away from us. The camp doesn't carry sound well enough for my taste."

Petalmouse sighed. "If only we had a place to do it."

Thunderheart smiled. "I have an idea. Follow me!"

[Seafeather]

Skyleaf

Skyleaf just stepped through the rock tunnel when Thunderheart shouted out something to the elders.

"I have an idea. Follow me!" He had said. He leaped out of the tunnel with the elders closely behind. Well I have nothing to do but not sleep. Skyleaf didn't like to sleep. She seemed to feel her patients pain more in her sleep. so she only got the few hours of sleep from late moon high to early sunrise when the herbs were best picked then. She followed after them. She was remembering her singing as she left Raccoonstar behind her. Oh, how she loved to sing! Some told her that, right next to Fernstorm, she was the second best in her clan. Now that he is gone, she was the best. But Skyleaf didn't feel happy, in fact she felt sorry for the loss of a life. But again, he did live a full one.

Skyleaf followed the elders and Thunderheart to the place where she just talked to Raccoonstar, though he had left. She bounded up on the rock. And started to sing...

"Sweet new-leaf is here,
in the air...
everywhere...
Sweet new-leaf is here.

Windy leaf-fall is there,
in the air...
everywhere...
Windy leaf-fall is there.

Cold leaf-bare is here,
In the air...
Everywhere...
Cold leaf-bare is here.

Warm green-leaf is there,
In the air...
Everywhere...
Warm green-leaf is there...."

Everyone begins to sing. The elders start first. Their old voices giving such an age to the song, that no one cat could do. Their voices interweaving with each other in harmony. Some high, some low, some off key, but all beautiful. Other's started to come. SnakeClan was there, taking seats near the base of the giant rock. The queens sang high, the toms sang low. The kits even sang in their high sopranos that sounded like the trickle of a spring. All harmonious, all beautiful.

[Raccoonstar]

RACCOONSTAR

Raccoonstar followed Skyleaf after she had left using an unused path in the shadows. He followed her to camp, where the voices of SnakeClan sang out. He sang from the shadows, his low but smooth voice standing out. This was his voice, different from the toms' group he was supposed to be in. It was like a silent river, slow and deep, but also sparkling and beautiful. He'd have to sing more often. SnakeClan never sung anymore. Raccoonstar padded up to the Great Rock and changed the song while others followed.

"I know two cats; the she-cat sits in the deep, dark woods.
Hunting blackbirds; he watches leaves; he wears some as hoods.
She's got a secret she has never let out;
A tom she thinks he never knew about.
She hasn't seen him in at least two years.
The mention of his name doesn't bring on tears.
If you ask her, "Are there any regrets?"
She'll tell you, "No," but she never forgets.
It was the kind of love you never recover from.
Even though she found another one
To take his place,
She never will escape the truth.
At times like this when the moon is right,
When the air is foggy like it is tonight,
She'll think about what might have been
If she had just held on to him.
I know a tom who has done it all;
He has swam the rivers; climbed the mountains, big and tall.
He lives very close to the river blue
With a beautiful mate, lovely kittens, too.
But there's a she-cat he still dreams about;
Certain things he has learned to live without.
If you ask him, "Are there any regrets?"
He'll tell you, "No," but he never forgets.
It was the kind of love you never recover from.
Even though he found another one
To take her place,
He never will escape the truth.
At times like this when the moon is right,
When the air is foggy like it is tonight,
He'll think about what might have been
If he had not let her slip away from him.
I heard about a she-cat who said she never regretted anything she'd ever done.
Such arrogant words always seem to be spoken by those who then die young.
So here am I looking at you.
Oh, tell me, what are we gonna do?
Am I destined to be your regret?
Are you that one I'll never forget?
Moons from now, will we curse the day
You let me let you walk away?
Isn't this too dear a price to pay
For the freedom of going separate ways?
This is the kind of love you never recover from.
Don't tell me that I'm gonna find another one
To take your place,
I never will escape the truth.
At times like this when the moon is right,
When the air is foggy like it is tonight,
I'll think how sweet life could be
If you would stay with me, oh stay with me.
This is the kind of love you never recover from.
Don't tell me that I'm gonna find another one
To take your place,
And try to face the truth.
Let me hold you close tonight.
The fog has lifted, the moon is so bright.
Think how sweet life could be
If you would stay with me, oh, stay with me.
This is the kind of love you never recover from.
This is the kind of love you never recover from."

He finished the song along with the rest of the Clan, then returned to his den so that the songs of his Clan would lull him to sleep.


OOC: I DID NOT WRITE THAT SONG! I just changed the words a bit to make a "parody" of some sort. Here's the real song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq9gJCD1UM8

[- - -evening ||]

SLASHSNOW

Slashsnow watched from the shadows, her heart breaking at every line, every word, every pharse. Her heart breaking because she knew that Raccoonstar was singing for another, another cat, not her. She filled in her own lines:

I feel my heart, for it is full of sorrow,
a breeze that caries through the wind.
I smile and I lower my eyes...
when you walk by my side,
thinking about another