CometClan/GroveClan Writings (Please don't post!)

[Shadowflight13]

It was the night of the half-moon. Orchidleaf nodded to Smokestar on her way out of camp, climbing carefully down the cliff until she reached the forest floor. The sun was just setting, sitting on the horizon behind her as she made her way east. The sounds of the night began to stir around her as she padded through the forest. Crickets chirruped from the undergrowth, and once or twice an owl hooted overhead.

Orchidleaf reached the river and forded near the island, where the water was shallow enough that she didn't have to swim. She crossed to the ashen bank and set out through the burnt forest, following the blackened track that lead to the Star Pit. It was lined with fallen trees and shattered branches, felled by the meteorite as it crashed to the earth.

The medicine cat stopped when she reached the edge of the Star Pit and peered down. Lit by the half moon above, the meteorite glittered below, the lit crystals mirroring the stars above. Gingerly, Orchidleaf made her way down the crumbling sides of the pit, leaping the last few tail lengths to the bottom. Then she settled down and touched her nose to the crystals, closing her eyes.

When she opened them again, she stood on the surface of clear water. It reflected the endless galaxy above, and when she stepped, her paws left glowing ripples in her wake. After walking a few paces, the stars in the sky seemed to swirl down towards the earth, forming a cat with glittering stars in her pelt.

"Deerstar," Orchidleaf greeted the ancient cat, dipping her head.

"You must prepare, Orchidleaf," the starry cat meowed. "She is on her way."

"She?" Orchidleaf questioned.

"An apprentice, for you," Deerstar answered. "Her connection is strong, her dreams powerful. I felt her reaching towards me, following a pull I didn't even know existed, even when she was leagues away. A special cat indeed."

"Will she get here soon?" Orchidleaf asked, curious.

"Soon," Deerstar agreed. "You have a part to play in this story, Orchidleaf. Do not fear the coming storm."

"Storm?" Orchidleaf echoed. The stars began to swirl, the galaxy growing dark. "Wait! Tell me more. What do you mean?" But the dream was already gone, and Orchidleaf woke with a start at the bottom of the star pit, Deerstar's message turning over and over in her mind.

[Shadowflight13]

Dustpaw followed Honeycloud down the cliff and out of camp, into the forest, heading towards the small stream that wound nearby. They were on a moss-gathering mission, for the new nests that needed to be added in the caves. The closest place to gather good moss was near the little stream, on the logs and boulders that lined its edge. They reached the stream, and Dustpaw bounced into the water, spraying Honeycloud with tiny droplets of water.

"Hey, watch it!" she meowed playfully, scooping up a pawful of water and splashing him back. The little cream tom laughed and splashed her again, then turned and ran along the stream.

"Can't catch me!" he taunted happily, tail twitching.

"I'll get you!" Honeycloud replied, giving chase. The moss gathering was completely forgotten as she ran after him. They looped in and out of the stream, kicking up water and slipping on small stones, laughing all the while. Honeycloud finally caught him, and pounced. They rolled along the bank, soaking their fur on the damp sand. When they broke apart, it was Dustpaw's time to give chase, as Honeycloud ran back upstream. They lost track of time as they played their game, until they were interrupted by a sharp meow.

"Hey! What are you two doing?" Driftheart wove through the trees and they stopped sheepishly in front of him. Both were dripping wet with sandy pelts, and no moss had been collected. Dustpaw shifted his paws guiltily.

"I wondered what was taking you two so long," Driftheart meowed, whiskers twitching. There was an undercurrent of amusement in his stern tone. "You couldn't have gathered the moss first, and then started play fighting?"

"Sorry," Honeycloud meowed warmly, smoothing Dustpaw's spiked pelt with her tail. "We got distracted!" It was hard to stay angry at the brightness in her eyes. "It was completely my fault."

Driftheart glanced at Dustpaw, who shuffled his paws again and meowed, "Well, I started it. Sorry. We shouldn't have gotten distracted."

"Well, no harm done," Driftheart meowed gently, flicking his apprentice's ear with his tail. "We can gather it quickly together." Still sheepish, Dustpaw began to gather the moss, Honeycloud working cheerfully by his side. With Driftheart's help, they soon gathered what they needed, and worked together to bring it back to camp.

[Shadowflight13]

"Stop!" Silverstorm meowed, nose twitching. "Can you smell that?"

Honeycloud raised her muzzle searchingly, and her fur bristled. "Fox."

Silverstorm padded forward cautiously, signalling with his tail for her to stay back. She followed at his tail anyway, ignoring his his of protest. The two cats proceeded carefully, following the scent, treading lightly. The scent lead them into a clearing a little way ahead. Emerging from the undergrowth, they stopped.

A tiny fox kit sat on its haunches. As they watched, it opened its pointed mouth and let out a little cry. Its mother was nowhere in sight. Silverstorm unsheathed his claws and took a step forward, but Honeycloud darted in front of him.

"What are you doing?" she asked indignantly. "It's just a kit!"

"It's a fox!" Silverstorm meowed, bristling. "We should kill it before it causes any trouble."

"But it's just a little baby! It hasn't done anything wrong." Honeycloud glanced at the fox kit, which was so far unaware of their presence. "It's all alone."

"Not for long, I'd bet," Silverstorm growled. "We should get rid of it while we have the chance. It's mother could come back at any moment, and I'd rather deal with it while it's small, and helpless, than when it's fully grown and bloodthirsy." The fox kit squeaked and rolled over, exposing its belly. Honeycloud's whiskers twitched.

"But look at it! How can you kill such an innocent creature?" She padded from the undergrowth, ignoring Silverstorm's protests. He quickly followed her, shaking his head. The fox kit saw them and yipped, sitting up. It got to its paws and tottered towards them, sniffing curiously.

"Watch out," Silverstorm warned, but Honeycloud laughed at him, and let the fox kit sniff her. It yipped again and dropped into a playful crouch. Clearly it had never met a cat before. Silverstorm shook his head as Honeycloud began playing gently with it, causing it to roll over and yip excitedly.

"What do you want to do with it then?" her asked her. "It's not like we can keep it, and it can't stay here."

Honeycloud looked thoughtful, the fox kit now chewing harmlessly on her tail. "I don't know, twolegs sometimes take in baby animals, right? They're quick enough to chase after kits, anyway. We could lead it to the thunderpath, where those little twoleg buildings are."

"That is outside our territory," Silverstorm said. "It might work, but... can we get it that far?" He looked at the fox kit doubtfully.

"Sure we can!" Honeycloud promised. "You can make it, can't you, little one?" The fox kit looked at her uncomprehendingly, tilting its head. "Come on." She nudged the kit to its paws, encouraging it to follow her. It didn't seem to need much persuasion, and tottered after her on its large, awkward paws, yipping.

"Starclan help us, we're actually doing this," Silverstorm meowed, but followed Honeycloud, helping keep the fox kit in line. It took even longer than it should have, what with the fox kit wandering off and trying to play all the time, but eventually they crossed over their south western scent line, and came upon the twoleg buildings. The hardest part by far was getting the twolegs to notice the fox kit, but Honeycloud got it to yip again. The twolegs walked over, and the cats darted into the undergrowth to observe. The twolegs stood over the kit for a minute, then one of them went back to the building, while the other kept an eye on the kit. It began playing with the strings attached to the twoleg's feet.

"Are they going to take it?" Silverstorm whispered.

"Wait," Honeycloud breathed. They watched as the other twoleg came back, talking into a small rectangular screen. Some time later, a white monster rolled up the thunderpath, and more twolegs came out. They captured the fox kit, which wasn't hard, and took it away. Satisfied, Honeycloud finally let Silverstorm lead her back into their territory, and back to camp.

[Shadowflight13]

Littlepaw stood on the surface of a vast, flat ocean. There were no waves. Its glassy surface was perfectly still and reflected the stars above. She'd been here before, and she knew she was dreaming. She started to walk across the water, her pawsteps leaving glowing ripples behind her.

"Hello? Anyone?" she called, tail twitching nervously. Usually, she would have found someone by now. A flash of movement below caught her eye and she looked down through the dark water. A misty shape drifted past underneath, and she felt a flash of sadness. The ancient cats whose spirits had faded from so long without belief spent their time floating through the water, unable to come back to the light. She wasn't sure they were even themselves anymore; perhaps they were just impressions of emotion.

As she was looking down, another movement caught her eye, a stronger, surer movement. She saw a dark cat swimming upwards through the water towards her, glowing with a sickly red. Something about him scared her, and she took a few steps backwards. He continued to swim towards her, and she started to run.

Suddenly, the cat's massive paws erupted from the water and Littlepaw felt his claws prick her pelt. She yelled in pain and surprise as the surface of the water crumpled beneath her paws, and suddenly she was sinking, the cat dragging her down. She struggled against his grip as the darkness quickly enveloped her. All the while, the red-glowing tom was hissing in her ear, saying things she didn't want to hear. The water was filling her nose and her mouth, her lungs were screaming for air and the darkness grew deeper. With one final effort she wrenched herself from his grasp and suddenly her eyes flew open.

She found herself back in her nest in the medicine den, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She was shaking all over, her breath coming in quick gasps. She glanced over at her mentor, Orchidleaf, and saw she was still soundly asleep. Without making a sound, Littlepaw got to her paws, and the small cat left the gloom of the medicine cat den. She crossed the main cave of the camp and slipped into the apprentice den. Dustpaw was snoring, lying on his back. Littlepaw padded past him to where Lynxpaw was curled up, her fluffy tail wrapped over her nose.

Littlepaw stepped into Lynxpaw's nest and nuzzled up beside her, still trembling. Lynxpaw stirred and opened her turquoise eyes. She saw Littlepaw and felt her shaking. Without a word, the silvery she-cat adjusted herself around the smaller apprentice, wrapping her bushy tail over Littlepaw's back. They lay together, not speaking, until gradually Littlepaw's breathing slowed and she stopped shaking, sleep claiming her again. Lynxpaw closed her eyes, resting her muzzle on her front paws, and allowed herself to fall back asleep as well.

[Shadowflight13]

Lynxpaw led the way down the grassy slope beneath the cliffs and into the forest, fluffy tail held high in the air. Littlepaw followed closely behind, occasionally looking over her shoulder. Lynxpaw glanced back at her.

"What are you worried about? We're not even sneaking out this time," Lynxpaw meowed.

"Oh-- nothing," Littlepaw purred, hurrying to catch up. "I'm just a bit distracted."

"I can tell," Lynxpaw meowed. "Is something bothering you?"

"It's nothing, I just... feel like something bad is going to happen today," Littlepaw meowed. "It's just a feeling I have. It's probably nothing."

"Your 'feelings' are usually right," Lynxpaw said with a frown. "Did you tell Orchidleaf?"

"Yeah, but I don't think she believed me," Littlepaw said, shuffling her paws. "But it's fine. Let's just hurry and get what we need."

The two apprentices quickened their pace, heading for the river where it crossed the southern border. Orchidleaf was in need of herbs, and the two young she-cats had been sent to fetch them. They reached the river and followed it south, until they were almost at the border.

"Ah! I see it," Littlepaw exclaimed, hurrying towards a plant with white flowers and soft leaves. "Feverfew. This'll be more than enough. Here, go to that bush and help me collect it, just be gentle."

They began to gather the feverfew, as much as they could carry between them. They were just about done when Lynxpaw's head shot up. Littlepaw followed her gaze.

A battle-scarred rogue stood a little way down the riverbank, watching them. He stepped forward. Littlepaw grabbed a mouthful of the feverfew and began to back away. Lynxpaw narrowed her eyes and took one step forward.

"This is Cometclan territory," she meowed. "You're trespassing on our land. Please leave."

"Oh? Am I trespassing?" the rogue looked around mockingly, then looked coldly back at them, baring his teeth in a grin. "I suppose it'll be you chasing me off, yes?"

"If we have to," Lynxpaw meowed, unflinchingly. She looked a lot calmer than she felt.

"Well, no matter, I only want the tiny one, anyway... It sure was nice of you to come to the border like this on your own, save me the trouble." the rogue's eyes flicked over to Littlepaw, who glared defiantly back. "Give her up and I won't hurt you."

"No way!" Lynxpaw growled, placing herself between Littlepaw and the rogue. "I'd kill you before you touched her."

"Ooh, fiesty," the rogue commented. "Do you really think you can fight me off? I'm twice your size. We need the tiny one. I'm not leaving here without her."

"Need me for what?" Littlepaw asked, peeking around Lynxpaw's side. "What do you want with me?"

The rogue looked at her for a moment, apparently deciding whether or not to answer truthfully. Eventually, he said, "My mate is injured. I need a healer. She will die without help." He unsheathed his claws. "So you see, you are coming with me, whether I have to drag you there by the tail."

Lynxpaw unsheathed her claws as well. "Not going to happen," she growled, fluffing up her fur.

"Wait!" Littlepaw meowed, before either could attack. "It's okay, I'll just come with you. How far away?"

"What? Littlepaw, no!" Lynxpaw hissed. "You can't just--"

"I'm a medicine cat, it's my job to heal cats," Littlepaw meowed gently. "Take the feverfew back to Orchidleaf, tell her what happened. Send some cats after me. I'll be fine." She glanced at the rogue. "He can't hurt me while he needs me to treat his mate."

Littlepaw stepped around Lynxpaw, touching her nose to her cheek and entwining their tails on her way past. "Don't abandon me," she meowed quietly, and followed the rogue. He led her south, through the trees, until Lynxpaw could no longer see them.

"Never," she meowed to the empty air, then turned and ran, back towards camp, worry giving her wings.

[Shadowflight13]

Orchid glanced over her shoulder at the group of rogues she belonged to, making sure no one was looking, then put her head down and slunk away. She pushed through the browning undergrowth, knocking off a few dying leaves. She wove between the trees and stopped in a clearing. A light rain began to fall, and she took shelter beneath a large tree. Then she waited.

The rain continued to fall and the ground grew steadily muddier, and still she waited. Finally, after more than an hour, a large white tom with brown splotches entered the clearing from the other side and moved towards her. "Orchid," he meowed. "Sorry I'm late, I had to slip away. I was surprised to hear you wanted to meet again so soon. Happy, but surprised. I know this is risky for you." He moved forward to nuzzle her but Orchid drew back. He looked at her, confused.

"Glacier," she meowed, looking at the ground. "I need to tell you something." Her voice was low and urgent. He caught the fear in her scent immediately.

"What? What is it? What's wrong?" He circled her, his bushy tail flicking. "Do they know? Are you in danger?"

"Not yet," Orchid meowed tersely. "I-- Glacier, I'm having kits. Your kits."

The large tom brightened. "Kits? We're having kits? Orchid, that's wonderful news!" He purred and licked her cheek, though Orchid stayed still and sullen.

"Glacier, you know what this means," she said quietly. "I can't have them there. I can't raise kits in that environment, I won't. You'll have to take them, when the time comes." She bunched her paws beneath her belly, as if to protect the precious ones from dangers already looming.

"Orchid," Glacier looked at her, blue eyes gentle.

"Glacier, please," Orchid begged. "I can hide my condition for so long and disappear for awhile, but after they're born I have to go back. I can't leave my family, you know this. But I don't want to abandon my babies, either." She looked down at her paws again, shifting them in the mud. "Please."

Glacier moved forward. "You know I would never abandon our family. Of course I'll take them. But I promise I'll come back for you, okay? We'll be a family, we will. Promise you'll stay strong. Promise you'll wait for me."

Orchid breathed a sigh of relief. "I promise." She rubbed her cheek against his. "We'll have to name them together, don't you think?" She smiled, her green eyes shining.

"Together," he agreed, nodding and flicking his tail. "I hope they look like their mom." He laughed, and so did she.

"They'd be lucky to look like you," Orchid meowed, shaking her head and laughing. She leaned into his side. His fur was warm and his scent was comforting, like pine trees and lake water. The rain continued to fall, bouncing on the ground and off the leaves overhead. She went quiet, staring into the trees.

"Hey," Glacier meowed, nudged her with his shoulder. "It'll be okay. We'll be okay. These kits? Our kits? I will make sure they grow up loved by both their parents, even if I have to fight every rogue in that group to get you and your family out. You know that."

"I know," Orchid meowed with a sigh. "I love you, you know? No matter what happens."

"No matter what happens," he echoed, licking her ear. "I promise."

The sound of the rain filled her ears and they stayed there, quiet, just sitting together. Orchid wished with all her heart that this moment would just last forever, but she knew it wasn't to be. Someday, she thought. Someday, we'll be a proper family.