dawn patrol. {chilling memories}

[dawn]

Savannahsky ~
My boy builds coffins he makes them all day
But it's not just for work and it isn't for play
He's made one for himself
One for me too
One of these days he'll make one for you

[/color]



The evening before, Savannahsky had approached the deputy after a signal from him. They spoke quietly for a moment, and then she nodded and padded off, heading to her den. She would get to sleep early, chasing dreams of flying frogs and other silly things her mind could dream up. The deputy had told her that she would be leading the dawn patrol the next day, and the Tempestclan warrior knew she wouldn't be up for it unless she got a bit more sleep.

That night she dreamed that the sun was falling. A shadow of cold, icy darkness wrapped it, and then it was falling, filling her green eyes with it's terrible beauty. From the face of the falling ball, a deep ebony warrior yowled, battering the sky with his claws and tearing away great chunks of the azure sky. Her body jerked, feeling her muscles tighten sharply in sleep, expecting to be crushed by the ball of frigid fire.

Savannahsky woke in the darkness, trembling from her nightmare. Her calico fur, dark chocolate, orange, and white, was ruffled wildly about her and her lungs ached from gasping for breath. She peered around, half expecting the jet tom to stare back from the shadows. A night breeze whispered mournfully against her pelt, and, from where she clung to the branch of a massive tree, claws digging in at the sides, Savannahsky turned her green lights to the moon. It was just before dawn, and, after sitting up slowly, her sides still heaving with terror, she began to wash her fur, pressing down unruly tufts.

When she had calmed herself, and her eyes had adjusted to the inky blackness, she turned and leaped from thick branch to thin, finally hitting the bottom and smacking life back into her tired paws. She tasted the air, praising the soft, calming wind, and her feet led her to the what she thought was the sleeping form of Cougarleap, curled up about the roots of the tree. She stared at the cat for a moment, and then realized that it was actually Swiftriver and was startled by her mis-assumption. Still, she didn't seem to have woken him, and so, on extremely quiet paws, she danced away, nearly falling from her light footing as she made her way around the wide trunk. Savannahsky then gave a sigh of relief, recognizing the cat this time after looking at him for a long while. Then, feeling slightly unnerved by having memorized just how he looked, she shook herself out of it and spoke. "Cougarleap!" She said in his ear in a whisper, placing a large paw on his shoulder and prodding him gently. "The deputy wants you on dawn patrol." After waking him, she left him to get himself up, and turned, leaping up onto the first branch of the tree and ducking into a hollow.

The warm embrace of the tree surrounded her as warmly as her own mother's scent. The quiet snores and sounds of sleeping felines filled it, and convinced her to walk even more quietly, seeking out Tigerspark. When she found her she gazed down at the tri-colored she-cat a moment with a small smile. Savannahsky had always been fond of the tom-boy cat, and was glad that her patrol would not contain any sharp tongued cats who would make the early time a bad one. "Pssst, Tigerspark." She whispered, even more quietly than before, lightly nudging her side. "You're on my patrol with Cougarleap. Ready to go?"





[/blockquote][/size]

[Dusk]

The evening before had been a rather tiresome one, with the warrior having gone out for some late night hunting in hopes of catching some nocturnal prey unawares. The tabby-and-white tom's trip had been successful when compared to his attempts earlier that day; he'd been able to snatch up something from the fresh-kill pile without feeling as though he was taking after giving nothing to the clan in return. Worn out, Cougarleap had been unable to bring himself to claw his way up the tree and simply went to sleep nestled among the roots at its base.

He should have known that Starclan would find some way to cause him grief for doing good. Having drifted into a fine, dreamless sleep he would have easily slept until just a few hours before sun-high. At which point he would have gotten up, stretched and groomed, and sat around searching for someone to give him orders or otherwise be supplied with some sort of conversation.

And so it took the warrior a moment to realize that he wasn't dreaming when an all too real paw shook him and the breath of another cat puffed gently in his ear. Blinking slowly, the lazy tom raised his head in time to see the retreating form of Savannahsky -that was Savannahsky, he thought- leaping into the higher reaches of the tree. Cougarleap considered ignoring the younger she-cat's message and returning to sleep, but then he recalled that it was not smart to bring the wrath of Voidstar upon oneself. With a quiet groan he forced himself to sit up and ran his tongue quickly through his pelt in a quick, rough washing. He could still be thorough, but there was no time for him to go through his usual grooming paces which surely would have lulled him back to sleep.

With a now refreshed pelt, the bi-colored cat walked out of his place between the roots to take a seat in the lush grass surrounding the camp. Vaguely, Cougarleap wondered who else would be on the patrol. There were quite a few options; hopefully no one that the tom disliked, or that utterly despised him for that matter. That would be particularly unpleasant. As the thought crossed his mind he raised his bright green gaze searchingly to look through the thick branches of the tree. Whoever else was one the patrol was in the lower boughs, so it was not likely to be the deputy or leader. Well, the tom had enough patience to wait.

[LYNX ♥]

xx closed,
because dawn is gone.