- owlstar ▷ hawk ▷ oceaneyes ▷ rune ▷ lynxpaw ▷ river ▷ shadowpool ▷ sunrise ▷ dusty ▷ opal
falconclan was in ruins. flames licked at every corner of their once great rein over the territory. their camp. destroyed. no cat really knew how or why the fire started. they had received a prophecy but nobody grew any attention to it. that was a downfall that was yet to ever be forgotten by the now dead clan. everything, was gone. the long and wide territory that stretched for acres, their home in the center of the oak wood forest, was destroyed. even the two-leg town that bordered them to the east, was destroyed. there wasn't a single soul left who was spared. all but the four.
this is the story of owlstar, shadowpool, lynxpaw, and oceaneyes. the story of how their once great clan, was burned to ruins because they didn't listen. they didn't see the signs. "as the day becomes night, like a hawk swooping through the sky, a great flame will turn bright, and without a breath, they will meet their might." the prophecy foretold it. it was so clear to them now, what it meant. but it was too late. they were the four.
---
it had been over two moons since the fall of falconclan. the four have taken shelter at any place they possibly could. in old barns housed to angry twolegs. ditches in hills that gave shelter to blowing winter winds. everything was relentless. until they finally found themselves near another barn. country side seemed to roll on for miles from their height, with nothing to be seen besides great, towering claws that pierced the sky [ mountains ] that they called "sky-claw". its the only true place they knew where they were headed for. they figured if they were to reach the sky-claws, they would be safe. in some cases they were right, but that would be over another two moons before that were to happen.
as they found themselves in the barn, they noticed something was off. tasting the air, oceaneyes scented something, or someone was near. as she whipped around, she was barreled over by a dark brown almost black and orange tom with light, hazel eyes and large canines slightly sticking out from his maw. "t'why are you 'n ours home..?" the odd tom asked. he was rather large in size, definitely not someone you would want to mess with. but his voice was not threatening. it almost put oceaneyes at ease if it wasn't for the fact that he had her completely pinned and she was at the mother of all disadvantages. her back legs kicked out, nailing him in the soft of his stomach and launched him off. her body spun around on the ground and she jumped to her paws, on the defense. it was just him and her, they were alone as she had offered to go scope out the place as they waited. she was the only one of them who was a warrior after all, and they didn't need owlstar loosing anymore lives, he already lost one to the fire from inhaling too much smoke. if it wasn't for shadowpool and lynxpaw's quickness, he would have probably lost more. "we're looking for shelter. our clan-... home was destroyed. we need a place to rest before we leave on our journey once more." she narrowed her bright blue eyes, her fur was slightly puffed up but it was more cute than anything to the tom. "i see." his head cocked to the side slightly and he sat on the ground, licking a paw and bringing it over his ear in a laid back manner. this put oceaneyes at ease, knowing he was at ease. "rune." he simply stated. "what?" she looked dumbfounded and she set her guard down, padding over to sit near him so they could talk. "'tis my name lassy." she was caught back by his accent. not really realizing how thick it was. "oh! i'm uhh, oceaneyes." she beamed. he really wasn't that bad of a cat, really opening and accepting honestly. his rough and tough exterior really made her think otherwise. "r'eally suits yous well." he smirked, "anyways... yous can all stay here in my home fer' as long as yous need. jus' don't be a stranger m'kay?" he smiled lightly at her and she could feel her heart swell in a way she didn't know it could. great stars what is wrong with me..? I know love at first sight is a thing but... i just met this tom and i'm already acting like a stupid kit swooning over an apprentice!. she offered a smile back "sure thing! and thank you very much rune, it means a lot to us." he nodded his head and stood up, "also you mentioned a 'our'? is there anyone else here?" she asked, her head cocked to the side. "oh yes yes! I want to have yous come meet my friends. we's live here for long times. long times. the up-walkers don't minds us. dusty, hawk, n' river are up ins th' rafters above." he exclaimed and she looked up, noticing just now a dark brown tail falling over the side of one of the beams and a faint shadow of some cat eating a mouse also showed on the wall. she absolutely love his odd speaking.it wasn't every day that you met a cat with an accent. "ahh up-walkers? is that what you call two-legs?" she asked in confusion. "ah yes, two-legs is what yous call them? here wes call them up-walkers." and laughed in a relaxed fashion and then called down his friends. soon enough, a fully chocolate brown tom followed by an all grey tom jumped down from above. the brown tom and light green-forest eyes with a fairly defined face and the grey tom had piercing light blue eyes. then a smaller cat came down from above. a long-furred tabby brown she-cat with vividly blue eyes like oceaneyes. lynxpaw would be happy to have another cat her age around. she hadn't really been herself lately after the whole fire. "ahhh hello stranger! my names river!" oceaneyes laughed at how open this young she-cat was. lynxpaw would get along with her well. "greetings, the names dusty." the chocolate brown tom nodded, he had an incredibly lethal looking body. "i'm hawk." last but not least, the full grey tom mewed. he had an odd aura to him. oceaneyes couldn't put a paw on it but she knew he had to be the leader of their rag-tag gang. he just had a large sense of leadership to him, something she hoped wouldn't cause problems down the way with him and owlstar. she meowed her hellos and finally went to go get her clan-mates. she exited the barn and called them in. there didn't seem to be any tension at all, thank the stars. everyone got along well. lynxpaw and river were off in the corner mock-battling. hawk and owlstar were having a civil talk about their two groups. shadowpool was talking dusty's poor ear off about herbs. oceaneyes smiled and she turned towards rune. she gave him a smile that said 'thank you.' and he returned it with a purr. his tail lanking around behind them out of everyone else sight and slightly resting it over oceaneyes. and honestly, she didn't mind at all.
---
everything was silent. her eyes were lightly shut and the only sound was the mesmerizing noise of crickets and grasshoppers hidden within the long grass of the fields. everyone else was asleep in the barn rafters. hawk's group was nice enough to make nests for them. even though it's been a day, everyone was bonding well, especially her a rune. her eyes opened with a sign. her heart felt torn as she forced herself out of her thoughts. the distant memory of fishclaw was still fresh in her mind. even though its been over two moons now, she couldn't deny that she missed his smile every waking moment. she was scared. oh so scared that her mind was just playing tricks on her. that her heart was taking over and making rune a current filler for the pain in her heart from her lost love. she didn't realize rune was next to her until he shouldered her side and gave a questioning look. she sighed once more for what seemed like the thousandth time tonight and gazed up at the sky towards what she imagined to be starclan. "sorry i'm just... conflicted at the moment." she murmured, "everything has been moving so fast recently in our lives. my life. i don't know how to think clear anymore, rune." he made a small tsking noise. " 'tis but only a period in yous life lassy. everythin' happens fer' a reason. it may cause pains and hurts deep inside yous, but these things happen 'cause yous destiny is bound fer' somethin' else." he didn't mean to sound like a wise elder at all but it really seemed like it. it brought oceaneyes to tears. she nuzzled into the side of his body and her tail wrapped tightly around him, he did the same. "thank you...", her voice was hoarse from forcing herself to not cry but it just made it completely worse. "anytimes lassy." rune's face was warm and kind. they sat like that for a long time, it didn't seem that long to them, but as the sun rose, they realized they should get back down to the rafters.
