. stepping stones :: rushclan

[Guest]

[ sorry about my lack of posting, guys. school's gone crazy. ]

[crescent + cheep]

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cedarpaw awoke with a start, his thoughts tearing away from his nightmare, making him glad to awake, even before he saw that most of the cats were already awake. there was only one thought in his head; get out of the dark den and breathe in some fresh air. he needed to find sagewhisper, his mentor, to train his fighting skills. he'd never really been a fighter, he was much more of a hunter and swimmer, but he never wanted to feel as helpless in the waking world as in his dreams, and that was what drove him through his training sessions more than anything else. stepping out of the den, he met a small commotion; there was a loner in the camp, or at least he looked like it, and orchidnose obviously didn't. anger surged through him in an instant - who did the tom think he was, sneaking into their camp and stealing their food?! his fur stood up on end as he looked at the thin and frail tom. couldn't he hunt for himself? they had to feed a whole clan for starclans sake! with rosepads and orchidnoses kits coming soon, they would have even more mouths to feed, they couldn't afford anyone stealing prey. why hadn't anyone noticed? only orchidnose seemed to have spotted the intruder thus far, and her shout should have alarmed others. well, he didn't want to yowl in alarm; it would scare the tom away and they would be none the wiser were he came from. for the time being he stayed where he was, a little unsure what to do, but determined not to let the tom escape. as he stood, he wondered where ivypaw, his sister, was. she wasn't in the den, and he knew she usually got up earlier than him, so maybe she had gone on dawn patrol? it pained him that he and his sister were so rarely together; they trained separately and when they trained together, ivypaw was so focused on getting things right she never seemed to have time for him. and she thought skycloud was amazing, better than he thought she was, but ivypaw would not budge from her opinion. she was so stubborn at times. sadness welled up inside him; if they were already growing apart, what would happen when they got older? he wished for them to be connected again, to share tongues and talk about how they would become leader one day. he never doubted his sisters ambition to become deputy and eventually leader one day; he felt she had the skill and the ambition to get there, but then, maybe he was biased. she was his sister after all, and he held her dear to his heart. she loved him too, he was her brother, he knew that, he just wished she would show it more.


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she had awoken before dawn, slinking out of the den, past her brother and the other apprentices within. ivypaw had always been a cat who awoke early, no matter what, and she had grown to love it, and didn't fight it, watching the sun rise on a daily basis. the sky had been illuminated slowly, sparkling not only in blue, but in many different colours; an amazing sight, like every day. soon, the first cats had awoken and began to populate the camp, but ivypaw was waiting for skycloud, her mentor, to emerge from somewhere so she could train. skycloud was likeable in her opinion, in fact, she was one of her favorite cats around, but maybe she was biased because of her standing as her mentor. finally, she spotted her emerging from the forest, prey hanging in her jaws, making ivypaw feel guilty she didn't use the time before dawn to hunt. she just didn't want to miss anything that happened within camp, but perhaps she should think more about the whole clan than herself. definitely. jumping down from her perch, she made her way towards oakrise and skycloud, her eyes sparkling, waiting impatiently beside them, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. orchidnoses exclamation made her look around, startled to see a loner by the fresh-kill pile, thin and muddy. he looked like he needed the prey badly. that was no excuse to steal their though. unsure what to do, she prodded skycloud to make her look at the loner. her mentor would know what to do, she always did.

[[ sorry my muse kind of left me for ivypaws post ]]

[phenomenon]

[ sorry for my absense and no posting. :s i'll try to post when i can again. i'm super busy with various things. mostly things relating to school. sorry for the inconvenience. i will try to post soon. ]

[Guest]

ｍｏｏｎｓｈｉｎｅ.

⊰ ｒｅｃｋｌｅｓｓ, ｉｒｒａｔｉｏｎａｌ ａｓ ｙｏｕ ａｒｅ, ｙｏｕ ａｒｅ ｓｔｉｌｌ ｄｅａｒ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｏｎｅｓ ｗｈｏ ｌｏｖｅ ｙｏｕ.

ｍｏｏｄ: slightly irritated
ｒａｎｋ: deputy
ｃｒｕｓｈ: ha

“i think we’ll have to see when more cats wake up,” moonshine says warily, slitting her jade irises. she makes a mental note to keep an eye on hawkfur; his head has gotten too big for his shoulders. she spots autumnleaf and smallfire; she tries to arrange patrols in her head. if she were a human, she would be the kind that needs to write everything down, someone not as good as remembering things. it’s definitely not ADD or ADHD, though; she’d probably be much friendlier if it were. “however, you can lead a border patrol with autumnleaf, oakrise, minnowpaw, and cedarpaw, if you’d like.” she’s not sure why the names all congeal in her mind; she isn’t sure of a lot of the things that happen to her, though she tries to catch the reasons like she catches her prey, with sharp claws that seem to go through her thoughts as if they’re smoke, she’s become a sort of machine, though no one would guess, she hopes. she wonders what’s happened to whitefoot; her brother has disappeared, so it seems. her eyes scan the clearing, they brush over the pelts of these cats she’s come to know, her own opinions of them pricking the inside of her skull as she identifies them by both scent and name. she’s come to love rushclan, the eternal gasping of the waterfall and the enormous maw of the cave they make their home in. moonshine finally returns her gaze and attention to hawkfur. “anything else?” she asks coolly.

tags ;; hawkfur

ｗｈｉｔｅｆｏｏｔ.

⊰ ｉｎ ｆａｃｔ, ｔｈｅ ｗｏｒｌｄ ｎｅｅｄｓ ｍｏｒｅ ｎｅｒｄｓ.

ｍｏｏｄ: cheerful
ｒａｎｋ: warrior
ｍａｔｅ: orchidnose

whitefoot grins goofily at his apprentice. he’s always been a bit of an idiot; not to insult himself, but it’s true. he nods towards ashpaw. “yeah, a lot of training.” if he were a dog, his tail would be wagging with excitement right now. whitefoot’s always wanted an apprentice of his own; he’s had to overcome his own obstacles. being a loner has put him in a position that has led him to worrying he won’t get an apprentice of his own; now that he has one, he’s thrilled to the point of squealing, but only orchidnose knows about that. the black tom nearly dances around ashpaw, dipping and swooping, tail swishing, whiskers twitching, eyes shimmering as he darts to the camp entrance. he’s nearly bouncing on his paws as his eyes search for his sister; finally, they come across her. moonshine is currently being interrogated by hawkfur; if ashpaw and whitefoot can sneak out quickly enough, they might actually be able to get some training done. he ushers ashpaw towards the entrance with his nose. “go,” he hisses urgently. the sooner they can get out of here, the better; usually he’d be doing this with orchidnose, and he doesn’t want to think he’s replacing her with ashpaw, but moonshine is notorious for picking on her brother, and whitefoot wouldn’t want his apprentice to see him terrorized by his little sister on his first day of training. that’d just be humiliating. the air is crisp and cool outside; it’s a good day for hunting.

tags ;; ashpaw

[indefinite,]

__Ｒｉｄｇｅｓｔａｒ.__

→ { ᴛᴏᴍ } . { 48 ᴍᴏᴏɴs } . { ʟᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ } . { ʜᴜᴍʙʟᴇ }

ｄｅａｒ ｒｉｄｇｅｓｔａｒ,

ｄｏｎ'ｔ ｔｈｉｎｋ ａｎｄ ｊｕｓｔ ｊｕｍｐ．

ｆｒｏｍ,

ａｎｏｎｙｍｏｕｓ.

-----the grey and white tom looked up from where he was enjoying his breakfast, meeting the lovely gaze of his mate, autumnleaf. a rumbling purr sounded in his throat as she rubbed her muzzle against his and he licked her cheek in return. he forced a smile apon his face, and well, his eyes followed the lead. they shone like the sun that bounced off glaciers. "morning. how did you sleep?"
but ridgestar could see she wasnt following it. he'd figured he was doing a pretty good job, but well, autumnleaf knew him better than he knew himself. if anyone, she would be the one to notice it. she was a very good observer for someone who was also ambitious. or... maybe she just put two and two together when she saw that he'd yet to clean himsefl up from waking up up this dawn. he pulled his ears back, cheeks flushing, though it was hardly noticible under they grey on white. he put his eyes to the floor like an apprentice being scolded by her mentor, which was what he felt like doing when he caught a glimpse of civitpaw and minnowpaw, but he held his tongue. he also held very still as she plucked the piece of leaf bedding from his fur. he could see the look in her cedar brown eyes, the ones he had fallen for so many years ago. they were seeking understanding and well, ridgestar wasnt willing to give it up at the moment. as he opened his mouth to change the subject, she got to him first.
-----he knew he couldnt fool her. why even try? but he wasnt about to fess up everything, but he wasnt going to lie either. "just side tracked, i guess. timberclan and their little games have been rattling my mind since last nightfall. i can't seem to get much sleep." he kept his eyes locked, not allowing a bit of betrayal. they were his to use for hiding, not for her to use for finding. "don't worry though. the battles will soon be over and we'll triumph. theres a reason we came here to live in this gorge many seasons ago. this is our gorge. we belong here and timberclan belongs up there. thats how its always been and until the wars over, and we have beaten them, putting an end to their little plot, i'll get some sleep soon." so maybe he was a liar.

tags ;; autumnleaf.

__Ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇｆｌｏｗｅｒ.__

→ { sʜᴇ-ᴄᴀᴛ } . { 73 ᴍᴏᴏɴs } . { ᴇʟᴅᴇʀ } . { ᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀʟʏ }

ｄｅａｒ ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇｆｌｏｗｅｒ,

ｌｉｓｔｅｎ， ｙｏｕ ｄｏ ｉｎｄｅｅｄ ｍａｔｔｅｒ．

ｆｒｏｍ,

ａｎｏｎｙｍｏｕｓ.

-----before i would have wished for the lavish lifestyle of an elder. i mean, who wouldnt have? to not have to do duties so early in the morning, to so late? to have food hunted for you and be fed first for once. i never had to leave the comfort of my den, and if i ever did that was by my choice and my choice alone. i could bathe in the sun all day until it went to rest behind the hills, feeling the warmth seep through my skin and calm ever muscle in my body. i could share tongues with cats and be the one that stayed behind when they went off on a patrol or hunting. but that was just it. i was to stay behind. i'd forgotten everything i loved about my life, everything i had before i retired. i couldn't believe i'd forgotten what it was like to run freely through the forest, feeling the cool breeze on my face. i couldnt believe all those jokes me and the other warriors were making during patrols and all the fun times we had. heck, even border scurmishes were fun, the feeling of triumph afterwards when the opponent fled back to their own camp. and catching my own prey? i didnt like the killing part, but the fact that it put my mind to a challenge everything a little critter was speeding just whiskerlengths from my claws. to feel needed and useful, bringing back food for the queens to feed their kits or dropping a squirrel by for briarfall. i'd forgotten it all but oh it came back to me, sitting here in this isolated den, watching cats arise with the dawn to go out and do what they loved and what they got to do. while i was sitting here in this musty old den, unneeded and illuseful. i was no longer an important necessity for the clan except a cat to gather up dust where she sat. if there was one thing i forgot the most, it was the relief on the past elders faces when they finally did pass.
-----i rose from my paws, arching by back and stretching out my paws as far as they could go, that is until i heard a familiar pop and went back to my normal stance. from the glowing light just outside my den i could tell dawn had made her appearance and it was time for the day to begin. granted, it wasnt like i played any big part in the morning duties but it was nice to feel apart of the buisiness of the morning. i padded outside the den, taking a seat in the shade of my den. it was a bit chilly for an early morning, the frosted dew still on the rocks. down in the gorge, it wasnt bushes and trees that bordered our camps, no greenery was down by the water, but instead large boulders with crevices as dens and exits. i preferred it this way anyway; it felt safer. settling myself, i began to lap and smooth down my nappy pale ginger fur, ruffled from my sleep. after all, with having literally no importance left in the clan, all i had left was to make myself beautiful.

tags ;; nobody.

__Ｍｉｎｎｏｗｐａｗ.__

→ { sʜᴇ-ᴄᴀᴛ } . { 8 ᴍᴏᴏɴs } . { ᴀᴘᴘʀᴇɴᴛɪᴄᴇ } . { ʙᴏᴜɴᴛɪғᴜʟ }

ｄｅａｒ ｍｉｎｎｏｗｐａｗ,

ｓｔｏｐ ｔｒｙｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｇｒｏｗ ｓｏ ｆａｓｔ．

ｆｒｏｍ,

ａｎｏｎｙｍｏｕｓ.

-----minnowpaw shied away from him when he swatted mud at her, a shriek of laughter coming from her. it was loud enough to make the badgers run. this was the most fun she'd had since the war between rushclan and timberclan had begun, since rushclan had gone into starclan praying, constant battle training, never any fun mode. and some of the surrounding cats thought it was funny, she could tell my their chuckles! but of course, there was always that one cat who took his tail too seriously. it was just her luck she happened to be awake at the time.
-----minnowpaw looked up at the she-cat, eyes wide with a look of innocence. hopefully she would buy the act. but then civitpaw stepped in and with his tone of voice... he sounded like he was taking responsibility for the whole thing. someone told her once that she should try to be more like him. she did try, once. it was too hard. and now here he was, owning up to her mistakes when she had more mud on her than there was by the river. minnowpaw felt guilty, until civitpaw swatted more mud at her and then pranced around her, like he was a deer or a hare. wow, he was good. maybe she should try to be more like him, then maybe she could get away with alot more she thought to herself, purring as he nudged her to follow him out of camp and to the river. and for once, she was perfectly content. for once she wasnt unhappy that she wasnt out kicking some timberclan tail or dragging back loads of fish for rushclan. no, now she was perfectly fine with just... walking. walking besides civitpaw. there was no one she knew she would rather walk with.
-----but then as soon as he suggested a game, that feeling had blown away in the wind. she bounded ahead of him, tail and sights high. she walked backwards to still face him and talk, whiskers twitching in uncontrollable excitment. "oh, yes yes yes. i dont know about water tag though. the last time i won and you pouted for days." she sat down on her rump in front him instantly, mischief in her eyes at the memory. and what many memories with civitpaw she did have. her tail flicked across the forest ground, small clouds of dust surrounding the tip. her blueish coat was still matted and full of mud, but regardless, it didnt hold down her spirits one bit. and neither did civitpaw.

tags ;; civitpaw.

[eiznek]

ｔｒｏｕｔｃｌａｗ

. . . .i open my eyes, welcoming the warm sunlight that streamed into the den, warming my stormy grey fur. i heave myself up, my old joints creaking in rebellion to my sudden movement. my old bones ached, as they did every morning. oh what i would give to be a young warrior again, fighting timberclan, hunting for the clan, sleeping among my clanmates in the warriors den, training my apprentice. but my time as a warrior had ended long ago and retirement awaited. me and my beautiful mate morningflower decided that we'd retire together, for dieing alone would be the most miserable thing i could ever think of doing. i couldn't imagine a single moment without my beautiful mate. slowly i padded outside, squinting as the early morning rays spilled upon me as the river does to our camp when it floods. i waited patiently for my old eyes to adjust to the blinding sunlight. when my vision cleared the camp played out infront of me. warriors hurrying out to train their apprentices, our deputy moonshine organizing patrols. the same routine that has held our camp together for generations and generations to come. what dawned on me was that even though the heavy threat of timberclan lay over our heads like a thick blanket, no cats seemed to be acting any differently. they all strode with their heads held high, mischief gleaming in their eyes. we were all well fed and the fresh-kill pile was piled to the top. the clan was thriving. kits were to be born soon and the apprentices were getting along wonderfully, for my moss bed seemed to be replaced every day. as my eyes skimmed faces, they fell on one particular. morningflower, of course. i lumbered over to her, nodding hello to the various cats that i passed.
. . . ."hello darling," i purred as i approached her, rubbing my cheek against hers. i couldn't help but admire her well-groomed fur, for i had no idea how she could always keep up with it. honestly, i never gave a mouse-dung about my pelt, though morningflower always made sure it was groomed properly. now that i was actually thinking about my pelt, i realized how nappy it must look. it probably stuck out in various places, ruffled from my sleep.

[phenomenon]

[ Sorry for the late post. I finally found some time to catch up on some roleplay posting. c:
And...since Saige. hasn't repsonded to Amberpaw with Warblerfrost, I justed reposted Amberpaw's post.

@indefinite; I did Redfoot's post now. And...I'm a little confused where Minnowpaw is with Civetpaw? xD Sorry, but I am busy (and lazy) so I don't exactly have a lot of time to read through posts right now. I can rewrite it if it doesn't fit where Minnowpaw really is. Sorry for the confusion. :s

ａｍｂｅｒｐａｗ.
[ she-cat ] - [ 11 moons ] - [ appprentice ] - [ intelligent ]
ｔｈｅ ｐａｉｎ ｏｆ ｌｏｓｉｎｇ ｄｅａｒ ｏｎｅｓ ｉｓ ｃｏｓｔｌｙ.



-----Heart pounding thirty miles per hour. Paws flying off the ground. The wind blowing streaks through her soft fur. This was what she enjoyed. Running freely through the wind with absoultely no destination. Freedom from life, freedom from bondage. Not that Amberpaw didn't want to work hard and become a warrior, she just loved freedom.
-----Leaping over a rock, she plunged into the river with a purr. Oh, and the river. Running, swimming underwater, and herbs were her favorite things. Taking a deep breath, she dove underwater. Now, this was a trick she had learned herself. Swimming underwater required practice and willingness to choke on lots of water. Kicking her hind paws, Amberpaw flashed open her yellow eyes and gazed at the bottom of the river. It was full of life. Unlike the forest, reeds, or grass, the bottom of the river was a whole 'nother world.
-----Flowing with the current as if a breeze was blowing it, the river plants litered the bottom like trees. Stones of all shapes, sizes, and even color added to the dazzling effect. Swimming lower, Amberpaw noticed a small group of minnows. She swung a paw at them and smiled when they scattered and regrouped again. She was running out of air, her short dive was coming to an end. Kicking powerfully upward, Amberpaw gasped as she broke the surface. She smiled to herself as she swam to the riverbank. Water. Her Clan's, RushClan's, greatest weapon and ally. She shook the water from her fur and smoothed it a little with her pink tongue.
-----SCHREECH! Amberpaw's head snapped upward at the direction of the sound and saw a hawk circling above her. Uh oh...time to leave! She thought. Leaping from her spot, Amberpaw shot forward at an incredible speed. That hawk usually showed up in her dreams and tried to disrupt them. Every dream it was in, the hawk tried to grasp her in its talons. And it came very close one time. Too close for comfort. And now, here was Amberpaw running away from the hawk again. She shot past trees and veered around rocks. Her ears were pressed against her head as she propelled herself forward. In her dreams, she always had the speed of the wind. Faster than any other cat ever before.
-----Crashing painfully out of some bramble bushes, Amberpaw bolted out into the wide open field. SCHREECH!! Panic suddenly filled Amberpaw's head as her fur stood on end. She could see the shadow of the hawk as it came closer...and closer... Suddenly, the ground stopped and Amberpaw was too late to stop. She fell screaming off the cliff to her death.
-----Amberpaw jolted awake and was rapidly breathing. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in attempt to slow her breathing. It was just a dream...
-----Amberpaw yawned and stretched as the morning light shined into the apprentice's den. She lay there for moment soaking in the morning smells and remembering her nightmare. The sun's rays through the brambles tickled her face and made her wrinkle her nose. It reminded of the bramble bushes she had hastily run through as the hawk chased her in her dream. The smell of apprentices waking up and some already trotting out the entrance snapped her back to reality.
-----Scrambling to her paws, Amberpaw realized she was going to miss the dawn patrols. She quickly smoothed down her poofy white and brindled fur. She trotted outside and took in the sights. The Clan was buzzing with activity. Cats were emerging out of their dens ready for the day's duties. She noticed her mentor, Warblefrost, talking to Moonshine, the deputy. Hurrying over, Amberpaw put on a bright, cheerful smile. The kind she always had. The kind that made her yellow eyes stand out and shed light in any darkness. She sat down near Warblefrost. "Good morning, Warblerfrost! Are we going on the dawn patrol?" Amberpaw asked with eagerness clearly in her voice. She looked forward to sniffing out herbs ad maybe run or swim.

tagged;; warblerfrost, moonshine, anyone nearby - occ;; waiting for Saige. to reply with Warblerfrost

ｒｅｄｆｏｏｔ.
[ tom ] - [ 28 moons ] - [ warrior ] - [ wise ]
ｋｅｅｐ ｙｏｕｒ ｈｅａｄ ｕｐ, ｉｔ ｃａｎ'ｔ ｌａｓｔ ｆｏｒｅｖｅｒ.

-----Redfoot woke up rather late... Usually, he was always one to be on time. If he wasn't, something was wrong or he had a good reason to be late. Nevertheless, Redfoot was ashamed to be one of the last cats to wake up. How could he miss dawn patrols and training Minnowpaw?
-----Redfoot stretched while he was still laying on his side. He sat up and opened his jaws in a wide yawn. If it wasn't for that disturbing dream last night... He felt a shiver run down his spine and shook it off. No matter now, he could think on his dream later. Right now, it was time to attend to duties. And being one of the senior warriors, he had a lot of experience and knowledge. He was known as a great cat to go to for advice on just about anything. About being a good warrior or other problems. One of his key traits was that he was a great listener. He would never make fun of you nor tell anyone your secrets.
-----Blinking off sleep, Redfoot padded out the warrior's den. He stretched and flexed his claws out. He sniffed and still could smell the morning scents. The melting morning dew, the slight haze in the air, and the sun's rays lazily stretching through. It was going to be a wonderful day.
-----Now...where was Minnowpaw? Redfoot thought as he looked around RushClan camp. He padded over to the apprentice den and took a peek inside. No, Minnowpaw wasn't here. She scent was stale so she must have left her bed a while ago. Redfoot took a step back and sat down. He looked over at the deputy, Moonshine, a pretty she-cat but firm as stone. Maybe Minnowpaw went on a patrol? Redfoot felt shame wash over him. What a good mentor he was turning out to be! He couldn't even find his apprentice! And now, thanks to his laziness, Minnowpaw probably went on a patrol without him.
-----With spirits a little low, Redfoot padded over to Moonshine as saw she was assigning patrols. He sat a little ways away from Hawkfur. He nodded to Hawkfur with a smile and dipped his head in greeting to Mooshine. "Hello, Moonshine. I'm ashamed to say this, but have you seen Minnowpaw? I can't seem to find her." Even though, Redfoot felt embarrassed, he was never afraid to ask questions to find his faults or admit his mistakes. His easy-going attitude and flowing speech held respect and politeness to whoever he spoke to. Any cat who spoke to him felt special. Redfoot liked the feeling when a sad cat comes to him and leaves happy and joyful after speaking with him.

tagged;; hawkfur, moonshine
occ;; minnowpaw and civetpaw are not in camp, correct? xD sorry, i'm a little confused and i don't really have the time to search back through posts. :s

[moon.]

{{ SORRY! working on post o-o.