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Post by Dawn on Dec 28, 2011 12:45:24 GMT -5
COYOTESMOKE. [/color][/u][/b][/font] word count: 775 tagged to reply: orioleflash, played by lily. [/blockquote] It was a frigid, icy day. The sky above was gunmetal grey, stretching endless and cloudy. It was only midday, but it had been drizzling miserably since dawn, when he had awoken. The dim atmosphere of the moors cast an odd light to the tom's fur as he padded across the expanse of cold, tough grass. Coyotesmoke was a very pallid furred cat, something like a washed out siamese. Even more notable than his soft, moon kissed fur, however, were his huge green eyes. Walking with a graceful, completely Zephyrclan stride, their verdant depths reflected the moorland they scanned. Not entirely just green, they also flickered with hints of yellow and amber, and at the corners, flourished in pretty teals and blues, when caught by the light. However, the tom wasn't a very handsome sort overall. Listening attentively atop his head were rather over-sized, bat like ears, and after him trailed a long, thin white tail. While Coyotesmoke's body was, in itself, graceful and dignified, he was a scrawny thing himself, appearing underfed. He looked far, far older than his mere twenty moons, a step closer to becoming an elder, in fact. But he moved with a swooping stride that recalled youth and energy, and though his fur was damp with rain, he appeared as though ready to race after any sighted quarry, should one arise. The moor was not a pleasant place to be, this day. It was like a murky, dead sea, and he could only hope that from the hardy grass something worth taking back to the clan would leap. It was almost too much to wish for, to spot a rabbit; but the weather, however dismal, had been mild as of late, and he sought a stream that was not frozen over. There was always a small chance that he might find something there, maybe a frog, half-living, as they were in leaf bare? Nevertheless, he wished to find a cracked brook anyway. Coyotesmoke's tongue was dry and warm, as he had been wandering the moorland most of the day, with only a bit of rainwater to drink. He might have stopped and lapped at the droplets coating the grass, but the old yellow fronds were dead here, and were rough enough to cut his tongue should he try and steal some of the precious water with a lick. He bent his head, instead, to sniff the ground, but found it devoid of prey scent. There were advantages to his big, ugly ears, though, and straining them as he lifted his head, Coyotesmoke thought he heard the slightest trickle, somewhere over the rise ahead of him. With vibrancy the pale tom-cat bounded up the hill, tail lashing behind him. At the top, however, his paw caught a pooled bit of mud clumsily, and he slipped, beginning his descent down the other side of the hill more quickly that he would've liked. He managed to half catch himself, paws grappling for hold, at the midway point, but the grassy slope was simply too wet. Coyotesmoke lost his hold and went tumbling all the harder down, landing with a sickening crunch some fox lengths later. He gave a hiss. "Looks as if I've found the stream." [/color] Coyotesmoke growled bitterly, feeling sharp, cold water bite into the ruff of his neck and soak him through his winter coat. It seemed like these sorts of things always happened to him. The stream had a small opening to it already, from which he had heard it singing softly. Everything else was iced over, but thinly, so that when his slight weight had crashed down upon it, it had been smashed. The crystals fell into the running water, breaking away over the tiny source. Still spitting with fury, he pushed himself out of the water and gave himself an extremely violent shake. It made his fur puff up all the more, particularly around his neck, but he could still feel the shivers coming on. The warrior quickly began to lick himself, pausing only when he heard a very soft 'plink!' A fat raindrop fell to the surface of the stream, and soon many followed it, stopping all progress and wetting Coyotesmoke's fur all the better. "I hate my life."[/color] He growled, giving up trying to get warm and instead settling for having a drink of water. He was too far from camp to hope that he wouldn't be shaking from cold by the time he finally made it back; his best option would be to hunt for a clump of evergreens, and try to take refuge from the downpour there. It probably wouldn't last long; leafbare rain never did.[/blockquote] [/center] [/size] |
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Post by lily ♫ on Dec 28, 2011 13:21:00 GMT -5
O R I O L E F L A S H
Her small frame and bodice rarely gave her much grace, except when she was running. In the warmer moons, she ran simply for the joy and the adrenaline, but in the colder moons, Orioleflash ran for warmth. The grasses crunched beneath her feet as she pushed them down into the ground with each time her feet lightly touched the ground. In ZephyrClan, the land always seemed to look the same; clear and shiny either from dew, mist, fog, or even ice. But now, as it drizzled, putting a damper on any cat's mood who was out and about in it, ZephyrClan seemed to be such a dreary place.
The gloom seemed neverending, but surprisingly Orioleflash had been caught in one of her better moods, though if she stopped to look closely, the dreariness of the half-frozen moor would all but give her a fit as she much appreciated sun and snow over this sort of weather. So, the calico kept her pace, slowing down only once when she neared the stream that crossed through the Clan's territory. Cautious as she approached, the female caught her breath and paused to remember the last time she'd fallen in.
Orioleflash had been with Stormtrick and Runningfox at the time, and it'd been a chilly spring day. She'd even had an unusual sunny disposition about her, that is, until she was shivering on the bank, soaked to the bone, much to the amusement of the two toms. Rolling her eyes at the memory, she flicked her tail lightly at one of the frozen fronds of yellow-hued grass, about to check the water to see if it was frozen or still running. Her ears twitched amiably as she caught the soft murmur of running water, but the calico near jumped out of her black and ginger tabby pelt when a voice spoke from nearby.
"Oh my Stars!" Orioleflash exclaimed, stepping back with a gasp. Turning her head wildly to find the source of the haunting voice, she quickly spotted a tom that had just tumbled down one of the slopes. "Dear StarClan, Coyotesmoke! Are you alright?" The female cried, rushing closer to the tom, whiskers twitching with cruel amusement. It was such a funny sight, and she'd nearly missed it!
Biting back her laughter as her eyes began to water from the effort, her half-smile half-smirk spread across her face. "Y'know, I've gone and done just about the same thing once." She told him as he emerged from the stream. Orioleflash couldn't help but chuckle at him, knowing he'd have her tail for doing so. "Give yourself a rough shake, and we'll find some cover until this rain starts to let up, alright? And maybe if you're nice and don't yell at me right away I'll even sidle up along you and try to block some of the wind, hmm?"
ooc: orioleflash; caught in one of her better moods for sure. [/blockquote][/blockquote][/center] |
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Post by Dawn on Dec 28, 2011 13:53:51 GMT -5
COYOTESMOKE. [/color][/u][/b][/font] word count: 682 tagged to reply: orioleflash, played by lily. [/blockquote] Coyotesmoke gave a start, and almost fell in. "What the-!?" Not only that, but he was nearly choking on the bit of icy water flowing down his throat. It went into the wrong tube, and he coughed, tail lashing wildly with the effort. His green eyes streamed, and when he looked down at the grass, it was all out of focus. His pale brown nostrils were flared as he attempted to breathe, and when he finally caught his breath, the tom blinked tears from his eyes. Not tears of emotion, of course, but tears brought on from his choking fit. Blurry eyed, he was in a fit of rage now, seeing as how the voice had disturbed him and nearly brought on his death. Who had it been? Who had wanted to cause his destruction, and bring him to such ruin, when already his day had been going so terribly? The voice was female. Crescentfrost? The name of his deceased mother happened to be his first absurd guess. It hadn't really sounded like her, though... The pale tom-cat whirled around, his huge green eyes narrowed and glaring, face distorted in a snarl. No! Not Crescentfrost, but another just as cruel! It was one of his idiot clanmates, Orioleflash! "Dear StarClan, Coyotesmoke! Are you alright?" He bristled at her, still baring his pointed, ivory fangs in complete menace. "No, I'm not 'alright,' Orioleflash!" He sneered. Coyotesmoke felt a sliver of paranoia, afraid that some other cat was waiting to come and spook him again, and send him, thrashing, into the stream. He looked around wildly, then spluttered, "D-Don't you know I could have died!" The tom could tell her 'concern' was nothing but false, and he noted her amusement with burning shame and anger. Oh, how he hated her! She was probably planning that, just waiting there to scare him when she saw him go tumbling down. His eyes widened with this suspicion, and he drew away from the female, looking fearful for a brief moment. "Y'know, I've gone and done just about the same thing once." His glare returned, but he remained silent, only thinking to himself plaintively, Who cares? He definitely didn't. He hadn't come out here, entirely alone, to here some stupid story about how some female had gone and fallen into the stream. She was probably up to no good anyway, the vixen! He was crouching now against the ground, wet fur clinging to him and showing how skinny he was. Coyotesmoke's ribs were countable; it was simply his natural build, to be thin and very lightly built. He couldn't help it anymore than he could help his long, winding tail, or his ears. "Give yourself a rough shake, and we'll find some cover until this rain starts to let up, alright? And maybe if you're nice and don't yell at me right away I'll even sidle up along you and try to block some of the wind, hmm?" Reluctantly, because he knew he was being helped and ought not to refuse it, the tom gave himself a shake and sent water flying. It didn't do much good, as the rain that was falling simply went about soaking him even more thoroughly. Find some cover...? He blinked. Try to block some of the wind...? Coyotesmoke snorted. What was she doing, being helpful? Didn't she want him to freeze to death out here? Wasn't that her goal? He warmed a bit more to her instantly. The way to get on the fiercely alone and independent tom's good side was always going to be taking care of him. He was usually a vile enough sort to keep others from trying it, though. "Er... really?" He hesitated. Though his hatred for her had vanished, he was still as cautious as ever. Perhaps she was simply playing a joke on him, trying to get his hopes up that he'd be warm. Perhaps when he thanked her, she would simply race off, laughing to herself, abandoning him... leaving him all alone. He shivered, feeling a little pang of sorrow. "You'd really do that? For me?" [/center] [/size] |
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Post by lily ♫ on Dec 29, 2011 11:31:36 GMT -5
O R I O L E F L A S H
It was as if Orioleflash's eyes were stuck rolling in an infinite loop, especially around this tom. He was as miserable in the Clan as she seemed to be, though he seemed outright wretched despite everything. 'At least I cheer up from time to time.' The female thought to herself as she listened to the smokey brown and white tom. 'He never seems to, but then again, it is the middle of leafbare and he's chilled to the bone, not to mention soaked through.' "Well sorry, Coyotesmoke
[/color]" She retorted, lashing her tail back and forth. With an eyeroll she dismissed his aggressiveness, and stepped closer to the tom. " Really? You would have died with me standing right here? Now, let's don't be ridiculous. I can swim quite well, thank you, and I wouldn't have let you drown![/color]" Orioleflash muttered, wondering to herself why he was so against everything. Then again, she felt like it was just herself against the world everyday, and she wasn't much different about things. Shrugging, her bright golden gaze bore into the shivering tom, impatient for him to sway one way or another. He looked so confused, lost even, especially after she had offered him help. With a sigh, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes once more, and nodded to him. " Yes." The calico replied, trying to relieve herself of the exasperation this tom seemed to throw at her like a twoleg threw balls of snow at one another. She nearly grew cross as he double-checked to make sure that she was really being serious, but her gaze softened, as did the rest of her expression, and the tom seemed to tug a bit of sympathy from her heart too. " Of course I would, Coyotesmoke. I'm your clanmate. Both of us might be a bit prickly, but we still have feelings and we still get hurt. I'd throw a rather big fit if no one helped me and I knew they were able![/color]" Orioleflash explained, stepping closer to the tom. " Now, shall we look for cover? I believe there's a dip in the land just over those few rocks further down the stream.[/color]" The she-cat meowed pointing with her tail, and came up along the side of the tom. A chilly wind burst across the land, causing even Orioleflash to suffer from a slight shudder, but she knew that Coyotesmoke was in a worse position, and it wasn't worth complaining about.[/justify] ooc: coyote's a cutie. he brings out the better side of oriole, haha. c: [/blockquote][/blockquote][/center] |
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Post by Dawn on Dec 31, 2011 18:12:29 GMT -5
COYOTESMOKE. [/color][/u][/b][/font] word count: 661 tagged to reply: orioleflash, played by lily. [/blockquote] He listened in silence, wide-eyed, as she made her retort. He could see her irritation growing. "I wouldn't have let you drown!" Coyotesmoke shivered, glancing at the little stream. He could swim alright, and he knew he wouldn't have drowned. It was something else entirely to have someone else tell him they wouldn't have let him. If he had truly fallen in deep, floundered, unable to catch his breath, would she really have come to his rescue? Plucked him out of the water like a fish, and cared for him as she said she would do now? It seemed unbelievable. If she really would have, he doubted any of his other clanmates would. Coyotesmoke was a talented hunter and a good mentor, but if he died, he wouldn't be missed. After all, everyone hated him. The leader, Paintedstar, hated him; but then, she barely had time to see him at all. Then, there were the warriors. They, too, had learned to ignore him, pass by him without word, sick of his attitude. It was true! Even the apprentices hated him. He didn't have an apprentice of his own, but Coyotesmoke was sure that if he did, that apprentice, too, would hate him. He was used to being an outcast now. He made up his own friends, talked to himself, entertained himself. The young warrior had stopped listening to cats that claimed he was 'crazy' and no longer heard the mutters as he passed, the hushed conversations when he entered the warrior's den. Coyotesmoke looked around hesitantly. He was still unconvinced that Orioleflash really cared about his life, and he was quickly looking around a possible accomplice. Someone in on the joke, waiting, ready to laugh, and laugh... I can't stand the laughing. He didn't notice her visibly softening, too busy also looking for some place where they- no, he- might be able to take cover. It was important to get out of the rain as soon as possible, whether she came along or not. He didn't have time to waste on feeling humiliated and insecure; really. If he was out much longer, he'd probably catch his death from the cold. Coyotesmoke could just imagine his mother's face when he greeted her, post death. "I told you so. I told them all, right from the moment that Coyotekit was born- he'd come to ruin, he would, the nasty little rodent. He was the runt, did you know? Surprised he didn't die like all of the others, besides dear Twilightkit. Ugly little monster, even as a kitten. But no, he survived until he was a warrior, shocking as it was he even got a name, and now, just as I knew, he's come to join me early. Well, off with you, 'son!' We've talked quite enough for a lifetime." Listening to Crescentfrost speaking in his head, he was so startled when Orioleflash replied that he nearly quite fell into the water for the third time that day. I'm really on a role. He watched, feeling detached, as the female stepped even nearer to him. A part of Coyotesmoke longed to recoil, to leap away, which would probably be the ultimate insult for this kindly, beautiful example of a warrior. My life. MY LIFE! She cares about my life. It's just, well, amazing. Really. His head whirled a little at the thought. "Now, shall we look for cover?" He nodded, far less cautiously. Coyotesmoke peered at Orioleflash with wide green eyes, as she stepped even nearer. "Yeah..." [/color] The cream colored male agreed, a bit absently. He didn't think a 'dip in the land' would be much use, seeing as how it was raining and all, but he didn't want to point such things out to his savior. She might abandon him yet. Everyone did, after they got to know him, or even before. Coyotesmoke didn't dwell on these thoughts as he followed her, willing to be guided toward whatever 'cover' there was to be had. [/blockquote] [/center] [/size] |
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