Post by Dawn on Mar 5, 2011 21:18:37 GMT -5
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* DREAMFEATHER
So many things these eyes have seen,
People I've met and places I've been
The day was fair and clear, something to be cherished. It was New Leaf, two days before the four clans would gather beneath a full, bright moon. Tempestclan territory enjoyed rich new foliage, green leaves glinting with moisture, prone to the rustles of prey. It had rained the day before, a gray, chilling day, not entirely miserable but not a day to warm one's pelt either. Now it had cleansed the forest and the great tree and the souls of the cats themselves, the sky empty of clouds, a vibrant blue that was almost tangible, the sun a brilliant ball of fire. Even a cat who seemed so empty of feeling as the Tempestclan deputy, Dreamfeather, relished in the warm rays, wanting nothing more than to soak them all into her pelt and create a circle of light there, giving her energy into even the darkest of days.
Dreamfeather was eager to take advantage of this day, knowing that there would not be many of it's kind in spring. She was also remembering the many days of rain and storm that had come before this, when Starclan had delighted in doing nothing more than sending torrents of icy droplets down onto them. It was enough water to kill the brilliantly colored flowers in the territory, but those at the roots of the tree where Tempestclan made camp were used to soaking up moisture from the damp earth, and flourished, drawing her eye each time she woke. The silver bengal took part in the Dawn Patrol, allowing another anticipative warrior to take the lead as she brought up the rear. Once she returned to camp it was close to sun high, and the cats drew about to see who would go on the Sun High Patrol.
"Cougarleap."[/color] She addressed the green-eyed tom, her senior by just one moon, politely and with a hint of warmth in her tone. "You will lead the border patrol. Take Rabbitstep, Boneshard, and your apprentice, Oakpaw, along with you. Be sure to renew our scent markers well; other clans might be keen to take advantage of us if the rain has not been as kind to them."[/color] She would send out a hunting patrol by evening, trusting that many cats would take to hunting on their own while the sun was at its highest. Thus she trotted off into the territory with a nod to Cougarleap, knowing that her orders would be followed. She longed for time out of the warriors den, under clear skies with a dry pelt and the constant drip of rainfall out of her ears. Dreamfeather let her mind wander as her paws took their own path, feeling the rough of dry grasses and delighting in the cool feel under her paws as she splashed through wetter territory. Knowing that, while it seemed no more than a few minutes had passed in her ambitious run, she had been running for a time when she reached the woods. Her paws slowed then, drumming the earth at a quick walk, then completely touching, as she caught her breath and reveled in the cool shade upon her lustrous silver fur.
It was such a lovely day that Dreamfeather might have done nothing more than stroll through the territory, had she not been deputy, as was to be announced at the gathering in just two days. She felt it her duty to hunt for the clan, as she always had, and hunt well, returning with jaws full of prey. Through the grasses, green and waving together with a slight breeze that blew prey scents toward her, the she-cat spotted a robin. There was a patch of open ground, where the rich, loamy soil would contain bugs, which the red breasted creature obviously sought vivaciously. This was all to her advantage, as the fat creature, its middle poking out and covered with brilliant red-orange, was completely distracted. It was digging about in the dirt with a dull yellow beak, looking for its next meal. Even better, the scuffling made a slight sound to cover any she might make.
That's not going to happen. Dreamfeather would not bear the agony of missing her mark, taking very seriously the phrase that one should 'work as if someone was watching.' All cats missed at times, herself included, and she would brush it off before any company she had along, but when she was alone Dreamfeather over-analyzed her mistakes. She crouched low now, so low to the ground that her pallid belly fur brushed it as she drug herself forward. Agonizingly slowly. Waited, her breath rasping low in her throat. The robin went about its business, but she didn't think it would last much longer, and let her legs extend, leaping forward and sinking her claws into the creature's back. She flipped it swiftly and bit it expertly to the neck, a deep killing bite that settled the birds struggles and ended its life.
Killed by a predator while searching for one's own prey. This was how life was, and Dreamfeather accepted it. She buried the bird and then went on to look for new prey. There didn't seem to be as many cats hunting in this area as there were back in the meadow, but she thought that, tasting the breeze, another might be out here, seeking solitude. She hoped to avoid them, but then, also thought that she would like to run into another, to talk and for life to be simple. To have easy friendships with her clanmates, and not always to feel like she had to prove herself to everyone time and again.
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