Nightmare; {Minty}

[cedarclaw]

Careful when you open, it’s easy to be broken

Sweet dreams…

That was the voice that whispered a deathly, melodic voice to the tiny she-kit. True, the voice was deathly but it too, was melodic and cheerful. All in a sickening way was the voice cheerful. The she-cat twitched in her dream, and what a dream it was. In her dream, she saw her father. Her father…oh he was a different cat. Her father was murderous in such a violent way, every time she thought of him a shiver was sent down her spine. That was the spine that her father wanted to crush. Spottedflower – actually Spottedkit – in that dream – okay, flashback rather – was playing around with her siblings. She was young and she was free. She didn’t give a care to the world. That was when her father and mother went out for a hunt. It was supposed to be a simple hunt but only her father returned. She never trusted him afterward. She seemed to be the only one who didn’t trust her father. He was a loyal warrior and always was he true to the clan. He came back no trace of malice or ferocity in his eyes, his green orbs only showed sadness, panic, and worry.

No, she never believed that look. Her father started to get crabby as the weeks went by. No one seemed to care. It was so clear in Spottedflower’s flashback. Her father strolled into the nursery to check on his ‘Little Ones’. It happened every day. It was the same every day. He would play with them for a small while and then leave for some other warrior duty he had to perform. He promised the 3 kits of the litter that he would help them until they became apprentices. Oh, such lies he told. One by one the kits started to end up with scratches on their bellies, forepaws, and everywhere else. Oh, the queens would say, I suppose they’re just getting too strong for each other. What a joke that was. The 3 kits tried to tell the other queens that they weren’t doing it but they never seemed to understand. How Spottedflower wished they would have understood. She would have had her two siblings sleeping by her side if they understood. How misunderstandings could change the outcome of everything. For good or for bad, and unfortunately this turned out for the worse.

One morning, the she-kit woke, her one sibling, Flowerkit, was gone. Spottedkit knew it was hopeless. He’s grab them one by one. She supposed her father already knew because she refused to speak to him. Never did she utter one word to him after her mother was gone. The queens were baffled. First their mother went missing, then one of their sisters. It was only Spottedkit and her brother, Mudkit, who were left. After Flowerkit was gone, the queens stopped letting their father visit them. They were taken in by the other fathers and queens as their foster children. They were only allowed to see their father when all queens were present. A few moons later, their fifth moon, actually, Mudkit was gone. Oh, how Spottedkit was devastated. She refused to let her father see her, even with the queens around. She was next and she knew it. That one night he came for her was the day before her apprenticeship. He was actually going to try to kill her in the nursery. How stupid. What a stupid mistake. He slashed one sharp claw along her face. He drew blood. The queens awoke and called out. That was when he muttered those two bittersweet words to her and rose his paw up.

Sweet dreams…repeated his harsh and unforgiving voice.

In the strangest fashion, you start a chain reaction

Her heart pounded in her head. Spottedflower gasped awake. She was drenched with sweat and she was panting. She hated that dream more than anything. It rarely came and she wished it never did. She never wanted to come face to face with her father. Sure, he was dead now and probably in the hell pit, but she could never be too sure. She looked around nervously. Good, no one had woken to her loud stirring. She sighed, exhausted and pushed herself to her paws. She toppled back into her nest. For some odd reason, that dream never ceased to make her more exhausted than she had been when she slipped into her nest to fall asleep. After that nightmare, she could never return to sleep and would always spend that day brutally tired. It was still dark outside, so she slipped quietly out of the warriors den and into the cool, fresh air.

Ah, the stars were out that night. And, joy! So the moon was out too, what perfection. There were no signs of any clouds in the velvety black sky. Why was it so early in the evening? She thought she had fallen asleep when it was that dark outside. She sighed and looked up at the bright pale orb floating in the deadly blackness that enveloped her. It was her favorite thing to watch at night. Sure, the stars were lovely like they always were but they were the same. The moon was always different at night. Something was always changed. It was a little past half, that night. She loved the moon during gatherings. Most of the time she would sit away from the group and just stare up at the moon; not even listening to the words the leaders shared amongst themselves and their clans.

Sighing, the she-cat actually laughed out loud at herself. She was seriously still standing? The more she thought about it, her legs felt like lead. She could really sit so she sort of…plopped down. She sprawled out on the cool, hard ground. Her sweat was cooled, her heartbeat began to recede, and she calmed down. Finally she had reached the point of relaxation. It seemed like she was always tense. She rarely relaxed. She always wanted to push herself to be the best and serve her clan as well as she could. At night she could relax. She actually hadn’t felt this whole in a long while. She loved the feeling of relaxation. Surely she would tense up if someone was out and about at this time of night. She wasn’t very…tranquil after that dream.

ooc;

I told you I'd come up with something good during that four hour car ride <3

[MiNTY♥]

ooc;; CC camp in underground so just pretend they are out in the territory.

A great bengal tom cat lay at the end of one of the tunnels into his camp. Half in the moonlight, half hidden by the shadows. He wasn't really asleep though, he was just pretending to be asleep, one of his eyes was open to no more than a slit, but this way he could still see all that he wanted to. Which wasn't much really, he just wanted to keep an eye on things while resting his muscles. Few thoughts tumbled through his head, but those that did he managed to resolve quite easily. Icepaw? He would do some more training with her tomorrow, maybe she could do with some training in tracking? He could always arrange for a couple of other cats to help him, to see if she could tell them by scent. Maybe he could catch a bit of prey and hide it, telling her to go and find it. Some might think that was a bit cruel, but really there was no harm in it. It would be a good way for her to improve her senses. Maybe she would enjoy it, the last apprentice he had, had liked it. He himself had also enjoyed it, but that was quite a long time ago. Plus Icepaw was Celestialclan and not Tempestclan, but these cats would get tougher, that's what he wanted.

Then there was the matter of a new deputy, Warcalling had disappeared, he had left a reasonable amount of time, longer than any leader normally would allow, but they saw no signs of him passing away, so it was not going against the warrior code. Why did it have to be the perfect choice that disappeared? Warcalling was as strong as he, noble too. Personally he preferred strong cats, and not to be too sexist, but males. It was always females running about as leaders these days, he was glad he wasn't the only leader who was a tom, there was Dewstar too. He would have to chose someone though in the end, and there were a lot of good choices. He liked to run Celestialclan in a certain way though, and he wanted them to become a tougher clan, so he would have to chose another who would support him in keeping the clan up to his standard's, he knew what he was looking for in his new deputy, male or female. Wolfmask might have been a good choice, but the tom was old now, and it wouldn't be long before he was to become and elder. He decided that he would have a look tomorrow and see what talent managed to catch his eye, and hopefully he would stop checking out other she-cats. An almost cheeky smirk played upon the resting tom's maw.

It was just when he opened his maw to yawn, that he heard a rustling somewhere above him. His maw silently snapped shut and he listened, his ears alert for any noise. Nothing, it was time to refer to his scent glands. Opening his maw to get a better taste of the air, he took in a deep mawful of air and rolled it through his scent glands to taste it. Spottedflower! He smirked once again, and stood up, shaking out his pelt then smoothing it again with his tongue. Slipping out of the tunnel he went to go and find her. "Spottedflower m'dear, what are you doing out her all alone?" He purred quietly.

Stunning she was, totally stunning. He cursed himself to stop thinking along these lines, but it was hard not too. The light of the moon made her pelt more silver than normal, it almost glittered when she moved a little. Her eyes were a pale sort of lime color, but yellow too. He prowled slowly over to her, not the way a tiger could when stalking an attacker or something similar, but the way one would when it was looking to impress another. You really will need to learn to resist all those good looking she-cats, since there are plenty of them around here. He chuckled to himself, before reaching Spottedflower's side and taking a seat with his tail wrapped around his paws.

[cedarclaw]

It was just a dream, only a dream, the she-cat had to keep reminding herself. The she-cat shifted her position so she was sitting, leaning against the opening of the tunnel to the warriors den. She sighed and glanced up at the sky once more. Oh, how lovely it was. The black velvet seemed to put her at peace and the endless expanse of stars and well, everything.

Spottedflower m'dear, what are you doing out her all alone?

Okay. She jumped. She jumped quite high. The she-cat cleared her throat awkwardly. He would ask questions. Who was it? Oh. She recognized the voice of Bengalstar. Lovely. What was she doing out here all alone? Oh, well, Bengalstar I just had a dream about my murderous father, what about you? Keeping tabs on everyone in the camp? She wanted to reply with. But, no. She was just..jumpy.

The she-cat attempted a false smile and turned to look at the golden tom. His blue-green eyes were a lovely color. "I.." she paused and shook her head. "I just had a nightmare, no big deal.." she meowed with a nervous chuckle. She hoped he wouldn't ask anymore questions but who knew? It was such a beautiful night. She couldn't care less about her stupid nightmare but the dreadful voice kept playing around and around in her head. Swallowing, she shielded her face, hopefully her eyes didn't give away any scared or frightened emotions.

Sighing she looked back at Bengalstar. "Why aren't you fast asleep like..well, everyone else in the clan?" she meowed lightly with a small smile. A tired smile. She wasn't wide awake. She jumped awake at the dream but the silence of the night was putting her back to sleep. She curled her tail around he paws and looked at her small paws. It had took long enough for her to realize she was kneading the ground anxiously. Why was she like this?

"Every good leader needs some rest every now and then," she purred, blinking tiredly at the tom. Sure, he was a big flirt around the she-cats but she couldn't help but keep her vision fixed on his green orbs. They were so clear. And his pelt seemed really silky. Sort of like hers, but a different color. She had a silver pelt, he had a golden pelt. Their eyes were sort of the same, but his were different..just..she didn't really have a reason, they were just different than hers.

She parted her jaws in a large yawn, her ivory colored, sharp teeth shining in the night. Blinking sleepily, she tried to clean the blurry vision of hers. It would probably be dawn soon anyways. If she could just stay awake for a little longer she could continue out her day. She smiled, as if in a daze, the voice coming back into her head. It repeated itself in that sickeningly, melodic voice. She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head.

[MiNTY♥]

How much better looking the she-cats tended to be in Celestialclan, they weren't always as nice in Tempestclan. Maybe it was just the proud and confident way the she-cats of Celestialclan carried themselves, then again, aggressive was right up his avenue too. Ah, you naughty tom cat Bengalstar.

To his own dismay it wasn't long before his conscience decided now would be a good time to cut in. Ah but Bengalstar, what about Divinemoon, what happened to being honorable? That annoying little voice that you just wanted to smash with your paw, yes, that would be it, right there at the worst moment, as always. Divinemoon? Well yes she was beautiful too, but he hadn't spoken to her in a while. Was she avoiding him just because he was leader now? He had always thought that she wanted that for him, now he wasn't so sure. He honestly couldn't see what her problem really was, apart from the fact she was so beautiful, but that wasn't her problem of course, it would have to be his for a change.

Then another voice seemed to cut in, he liked this one better. But you are a pretty handsome tom yourself Bengalstar, leader and good looking? You could have any she-cat. This voice he warmed up to again, it was probably the side of him that belonged in the place of no star's speaking to him this time, as opposed to the voice of his side that belonged in Starclan. He usually did the right thing, but what was to say he always had to do the right thing? After all, it wasn't like he had to just stick to one she-cat, this was his clan after all. I mean, it would be nice for the clan to welcome a new litter of kits, they hadn't had a new generation of kits in quite a while, wasn't it about time they had another? Celestialclan had basically everything you could ask for, but with some cute balls of fur running around that would make the clan stronger, wouldn't it just make everything that much better?

"I need to make sure she-cats like you keep out of trouble." He purred in response. Not that he would ever think Spottedflower guilty of being in any sort of trouble, she was honorable enough to be one of the last of his warriors to be caught in anything of the sort. After all, he was just having a little fun out here. Harmless. Wasn't it?

He blinked with a little surprised, but soon noticed her pale eyes were watching him. He turned to look at her and tried his best to keep his maw from turning up at the corners. "Saying I'm not a good leader, bad influence on the kits am I? Spending time alone with a very beautiful she-cat." He teased. Just the small details that some she-cat's had, made them better looking than others. The way their pelt looked in the light, how glossy it was, their eyes, if their features were sharp or sort, their personality, how sleek they were, and oh the list could go on. However, when Bengalstar saw something he liked, he would know it straight away.

[cedarclaw]

The she-cat's lips turned up at the corners at Bengalstar's remarks to her own responses. The she-cat snorted. Her, beautiful? Of course she would never admit that she was beautiful but she did sit up a bit straighter at the mention. She did like the look and feel of her pelt, but she definitely wasn't the prettiest she-cat in the clan -- not by far. Was she? Oh, she didn't know and she really didn't care. She looked back at the sky and sighed. What to say?

She tried to avert her gaze from Bengalstar. "Yes, I'm quite the troublemaker," she grinned, her whiskers twitching. She shot him and innocent look which turned into another grin. She couldn't keep an act going. She wasn't really the best dramatist. Smirking at his other remark, she turned to look him straight in the eyes. "You're the most terrible.." she stopped short because she was very close to laughing.

She cleared her throat and smiled. "No, you're the best male leader there is, all of the kits love and admire you," she sighed dramatically. She grinned and brought her gaze back to her paws. She had stopped kneading the ground but she couldn't help but feel a little nervous talking to the leader. She never really had any conversations with him that didn't involve something related to the clan.

Sure, he had been known -- well, is known to be a big flirt but did his very...well, lets be honest here, did everything he said make all she-cats feel..special or was she the only one who really fell for his looks and his funny, smooth words? She sighed and was internally confused. She didn't know what to so, go back to sleep or continue chatting until the sun had risen? Both sounded equally pleasant.

[MiNTY♥]

He couldn't deny the fact that he was quite enjoyng himself out here tonight. It was pleasant, meaning the weather was quite calm, it wasn't warm, and it wasn't cold either, it was strangly still. The sky was very clear, so he could see the moon, which reminded him of the gathering that was on the horizon. What would happen? What could he expect from Tempestclan? Not that they could lay a paw on him. They never could. His tail twitched a little as he thought of this. What if a patrol met them at the border? Would they attack? He would lead all the border patrols he could, he would make sure they didn't think they could get away with anything, just in case.

Tomorrow, it would be the day he named the new deputy. He really needed time to think alone, but he was so restless when he began to think about it. He had to focus. Warcalling was gone, and that was that. His fur bristled slightly as he thought about this, but then Spottedflower's meow brought him back out of his day dream. "Yes of course, I saw you out eating before the clan!" He teased. Of course this wasn't ture at all, she would never do that, and both of them knew that. She was too good.

"Terrible?!" The leader gasped with a fake shocked expression. "Fine then." He hissed failing to keep the humoured tone out of his meow and turned his back on Spttoedflower, flicking her in the nose with his tail. "Now that sounds better, but I think I prefer terrible." He teased, turning back around. "You look tired Spottedflower, maybe you should try and get some rest, my den will be free tonight if you want to get away from the other warriors for a change, I am staying out here, I have a lot on my mind, like a deputy, and I need to keep my eye on Tempestclan." He meowed.

[cedarclaw]

Spottedflower chuckled lightly as she listened intently to his every word. "So I could call you a terrible leader in front of every cat in this clan and you'd be completely fine with it?" she teased. Her heart was beating wildly when he turned around and flicked her on the nose with his tail and she laughed for a short while.

Ah, yes. The did have to keep an eye out on TempestClan. They were -- after all -- enemies now, right? After that huge battle, they just had to be. The she-cat cleared her throat. "I'm not that tired," she meowed with a small smile. "How about we go on a moonlit patrol? There's enough light from the moon," she meowed, nodding toward the sky. "Unless you'd like to stay in the camp and watch for any misbehaving kits?" she meowed with a smile.

"And thank you for the offer to nap in your den, I make take you up on that offer sooner or later," she purred, looking toward the opening to the underground camp. She looked back up to the sky and pushed herself to her paws. Maybe he'd follow her if she wandered off into the territory alone. Who knew? He was a flirt, after all.

[MiNTY♥]

The large spotted tom chuckled. "Of couse, I like being the bad tom, I mean it's not like Tempestclan are going anywhere fast, but they wont cross me, we have to be ready, thats why I want Celestialclan to be tougher, I mean it's been said we are next in line to Tempestclan, we all know who the true goodies are in this valley." He meowed. Of course they were strong and brave, of course good too, they would never turn away another cat, would they now? They all knew who the nicest cats really were, he was making sure they didn't get mixed up with Celestialclan.

"Aren't that tired? You certainly look it." He teased with a smirk. Ah, moonlit, the she-cat could have just said patrol, but no, it was a moonlit one, how romantic. Keeping a straight face he nodded. "Yes a patrol would be good, of course I can't have anyone who isn't willing to try their best in the clan anymore, and I think I will give apprentices to the more experienced and tougher cats, not that I doubt anyone in particular, I just think we need to be ready, for anything and everything." He meowed. Deputy. That nagging thought teased him again, and again, and again. Why wouldn't it go away?! He wanted to just push all those thoughrs out of his head, but it wasn't happening.

He watched as she began to slowly move away, was she really going out? No, he wouldn't let her go out on her own, he knew how those leaders and cats with high positions got selected to be murdered, they were out on their own, thinking they were strong enough to take on more than one huge Delirium cat. He wasn't that stupid. He would have been out in the terra normally, but because of that gang he had settled with sleeping very near camp. "Oh will you now?" He chuckled and began to pad after her.