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Post by aero ❥ on May 6, 2012 21:20:03 GMT -5
In every inch of his weary body, he could feel it. The tug that only grew stronger with each straining step. He was almost home, almost back to the moors that he yearned for so badly. To look upon the faces of his beloved clan. That was the only reason he was alive, after all. Because he knew they were waiting on him. And she was waiting on him. The gorgeous calico who had somehow taken his heart. At first he hadn't been so sure of these feelings, no, it took a while. Stupid. But as he was forced below that foul water, the burn filling throat, lungs gasping for life - her face flashed through his mind. All he cared about was fighting for the air to survive for her. He had already crossed recklessly through Tempestclan land, traveling as far as possible from the lake shore. The water... he would go into a frenzy if he got too close. Under his aching paws the land was slanting upward, turning grassy. The pines were all but gone. Heather was waving, rejoicing his return. His warm yellow eye fought to shut, to give into impending darkness. But he would not let them. So instead his mind played darker tricks, conveying the vivid memories first of getting taken. Two-legs cornering him on the lake near the edge of Zephyrclan territory. He had been looking for Orioleflash, when they had thundered from the brush to circle him, back against the lapping waves. He had fought, slashing a male's forearm. The crimson had gushed upon his fur as the furious boy scruffed Runningfox, shoving him hard into the box another had provided. They had taken him far, somewhere along the way they journeyed by monster, the roar rising around him, vibration in his paws as the growl enveloped his world. When the lid was finally lifted, his next nightmare began. The two-legs, young and all males, pinned him at the neck, scrambling for a better hold as the feral tom had writhed under their grasp, screaming for Starclan to free him. They blessed him with no such mercy. In the stone room, a basement somewhere, they filled a massive bucket with dirty, metallic smelling, tainted water. In the fluorescent lighting that flickered from time to time, the water looked green, splashing brown in it's darker depths. They had picked him up, taping his legs together so he could no longer fight. "Let me go! Pieces of foxdung! Don't do it! STARCLAN, STARCLAN HELP ME-" His yowls meant nothing as his head was violently forved under the ice cold surface. He immediatly sucked in a mouthful of water, choking only letting more seep into his lungs. I'm going to die.
Runningfox was prassed against the soft grass, body heaving in terror of the recollection. His claws were deep into the earth, fearing if he let go, he might drift into total insanity. I have to keep going. As if a force was trying to pull him backward, the orange tabby struggled to drag himself along the ground. Sunlight bathed him, but he had no idea what time of day it was. As he kept fighting onward, more memories clawed their way to his weak mind. When they finally let him up, blackness swirling his vision, water pouring from his mouth, chest and throat on hellish fire. When he had finally caught a breath of air, he was under again. This repeated most of the night, until he blacked out from exhaustion and lack of oxygen to the brain. He wasn't quite conscious when they were riding in the car, him cramming in that box that was too small, fur still soaking wet. But he could recall when they stopped, opening the monster, and swinging the box, sending him flying. He hit the jagged pavement hard, scraping his ears and hip, his ribs easily bruised if not broken. Then they carelessly tossed the box at him, which bounced off his exposed side, knocking the short breath he had out of him. Peeling out, the two-legs drove away. It was certain death, lying helplessly in the middle of that wide alley. But however later, (he recalls no certain amount of time) he awakened, and managed to crawl to the shelter of a storm drain on the road off the alley. Inside were sticks and leaves, trash, and rats. Most scattered, diving into other holes and crevices, but an aggressive two attacked. How he mustered the energy to dig his claws into their firm bodies and sink his teeth into their tender necks, the warrior still doesn't know, but on top of the damp leaves, hard sticks, and foul trash he curled up and ate the bile rodents, passing into a deep sleep shortly after. His handsome face was hardly recognizable, covered in dirt and filth. The insides of his ears were caked with black, and his fur was greasy and sticking out in various directions. He looked like a diseased, flea infested rogue coming over the bluff of the moor, stumbling, tripping. He was still tall and largely built, but his muscle had eaten itself away and he was thin and under weight. As his bright yellow eyes scanned the distance, all he saw was himself wandering through the maze of Trenton, and then traveling the extent of farms and fields without knowing if he was truly going the right direction. Now standing on a hill above the rolling green, he inhaled broadly, savoring the smell of home. |
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Post by lily ♫ on May 8, 2012 20:43:55 GMT -5
Confusion laced her mind, even as she tried to forget everything that had happened in the last few moons. And now, as the small calico let herself take off, wind in her fur, everything seemed to slowly fall into place. Orioleflash would have to change, as much as she hated that. It was a crime for the prickly gal to try and change herself; she'd always been this way, for as long as she remembered. Sure, she didn't get along very well with many of her clanmates, but they stopped giving her a chance a long time ago. 'Would changing myself make everything easier?' She pondered, her subconscious delivering her body toward the outermost reaches of the territory, the few rocks, trees, and small rivulets in a blur all around her.
'I never had to change for Runningfox. He took me for who I am. Who I was. Am I still the same now?' Orioleflash asked herself, pausing to tentatively taste the air using both her nose and then her mouth as her mind began to play tricks on her. A familiar musk seemed to find itself entwined with the wind, and the calico simply snorted and shook her head. 'Wishful thinking, that's all it is. A memory. He's gone; he has been for moons.' Orioleflash reminded herself bitterly, letting her bright saffron eyes trace the horizon wistfully as the sun silhouetted a pale orange tabby cat.
Her breath caught in her throat as she gasped, her blood running cold and her fur standing on end as her heart skipped ahead, almost burning as it began racing, her pulse quickening as adrenaline rushed through her veins. "No!" She breathed, her voice shaky and her vision clouding. "Stop it! Just stop! This isn't funny anymore!" Orioleflash snapped, shaking her head as tears flew off her face from the quick motion before she blinked long and hard, staring at the ghost of a cat she had once known.
"Runningfox!"
Her paws carried her frantically to him, her small frame providing her with speed rather than elegance, though still giving her a good deal of gracefulness even as she took longer and longer bounds, nearly tripping over herself. Orioleflash was the most excited she'd been in moons and as she finally reached him, her entire body began to tremble. "Dear StarClan, it's actually you!" She managed to choke out before she burst into deep, racking sobs, pressing her head into his chest, ignoring the dirt and the grime as her tears spilled into his pelt. "StarClan, how I've missed you and your damn little lines." Orioleflash cried, refusing to pull herself away from him.
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Post by aero ❥ on May 10, 2012 21:04:52 GMT -5
half of my heart is the part of a man  who has never truly loved anything TAG: NAME WORDS: HERE ONE LAST THING: NOTES.
His long legs shook, feeling too weak to hold him up. Exhaustion overwhelmed him, his tongue was so dry, so desperately dry he wouldn't have known the feeling of water if his mouth had been full of it. His tail dragged behind him, he had nothing left. His legs trembled his breath heavy. He would never limp his way to camp. Never see his family, his brother, his father, his friends, his home. His father. They hadn't had a good relationship, weren't close. Runningfox had never given the older tom a chance. The handsome orange tabby had banished him from his life, his crime though in the past always lingers somewhere presently in the warrior's heart. But salvation was the bud of mercy's seed, and the grudging son no longer felt as compelled to distance himself from the older cat. In his nightmare experience, he felt a feeling that had long evaded his heart. An ache, a missing - longing - a love for his grey father. It was time to forgive after all these moons. But stumbling, another face he would never get to see pushed him to his paws. Orioleflash. Her beauty, calico fur soft and her touch loving. From the beginning, when she had given him nothing but nastiness and sharp tongue. Doing everything in her power to demolish him, lose him among a crowd of disinterest. But it was his nature to be persistent. He still remembered the day she had opened up, her armor finally bloodied and dented so deep it fell away, exposing a she-cat that took his heart and wrapped herself around it.
The memories made him smile, though his face hurt from the simple action. Smiling in the face of death. But his eyes, still burning until his body turned to ash, and still they would be the last ember to fade, saw something in the distance. It moved, stopping, staring at him. It's death come to take me. A coytoe, a dog, badger, fox? What was it? When he blinked it was racing towards him at a frightening speed, his heart skipped. He was more than halfway to the afterlife, but the idea of a violent end broke him. Should he just close his eyes? He didn't want to see his body, broken and maimed, before he ascended into the sky. He stood, lids folded over his eyes. When he felt his killer hit him, fur soft and smelling of Zephyrclan, he gasped, chin folding over her head protectively. His eyes flew open, new energy flushing his limbs and spirits. "Dear StarClan, it's actually you!" How was it his heart had managed to find him out on this moor? She was his heart, how did she know? Was he so blessed by Starclan? He looked up at the pristine blue sky. Thank you, his faith had never been strong, but now it was secure. "Starclan, how I've missed you and your damn little lines." A tiny smirk quaked across his lips. "Missed my lines?" He croaked, thinking of a thousand things to say to that. Instead, he basked in the moment, giving a few gentle licks to her head. "Don't waste anymore tears on me Orioleflash." He murmured, muzzled pressed close to her ear, warm breath tingling. As long as she was here with him, he would survive. His nightmare could not reach him. He pulled slightly away, looking for his own eyes. They shared an almost identical pair. He wanted to see himself in their reflection, make sure this was real and not a cruel trick of the mind. He gazed at her, this moment blistered into his memory as the best of his life so far.
oh with half of my heart |
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Post by lily ♫ on May 10, 2012 21:23:06 GMT -5
She was in awe of him, her heart beating rhytymically to a song known only by them. His pale orange tabby pelt was dirtied, scars new and old alike criss-crossing his soft flesh, some wounds still fresh and barely caked over with blood or scab. In all honesty, he looked horrendous, though her saffron golden eyes remained soft, her expression and her mind, too, inside a complete daze. Never had she in her entire life found a tom so desperately attractive, his appearance, his being, his entire soul drawing her nearer and nearer both physically and emotionally. "Yes your lines you flirty.. tom!" Words failing to come to her as she scanned his body, resting her gaze upon his own, nearly mimicking each other in color, as she sniffled, face dampening.
His delicately rough tongue grazed the top of her black and orange tabby head, dragging through the fur affectionately, nearly causing her to hyperventilate from such a simple action. Runningfox. His scent, as tainted as it was now by the sharp twang of metal and infection, remained the same after the few but long moons, the very musk of him flinging her back to one of the first times they had encountered each other. Orioleflash's dampened fur, the way he seemed to hit on her and sweet talk her between each of her hisses and sharp retorts. He teased the good out of her in a way no one else had ever been able to, as long as she had lived.
She nearly choked on her words as he almost scolded her for crying, his breath warm in her ear as she tried her best to stop her desperate tears. It was no use, though, for Orioleflash was experiencing nearly every emotion known to have ever existed, her breaths quick as her heartbeat tried again and again to resume normalcy. Pulling back from him, she shook her head, eyes glazing over with fear as she recognized how weak he was, how soft his words were, how different and yet still the same he was all at once. "We.. We need to get you to Toxicwanter. You need help." The calico stressed, her small bodice still heaving as she gulped air down, trying her best to steady herself. "I can help support your weight if you need me to. Just..just let me know what I can do, alright?" Orioleflash told him, nearly pleading him to allow her to help. Her concern was explicit in the way it flashed across her face openly, her emotions so unguarded that one might think her to be an entirely different cat, but it was no time for bitterness or exasperation; Runningfox had come back after all.
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Post by aero ❥ on May 12, 2012 16:27:43 GMT -5
half of my heart is the part of a man who has never truly loved anything TAG: RUNINGFOX WORDS: 579 ONE LAST THING: He's going to ask about his dead dad soon D;
Her tears soaked into his heart, welling it to the brim. His own smoldering gaze was exhausted by the water that threatened to seep from their warm depths. He wasn't one to cry, but so many things were twisted up inside him. Overwhelming joy, baffling shock, curiosity, pain, unbearable fatigue. Why her tears fell didn't matter, but the fact they were tugged on the chain that bounded him to her. His own face moistened, and his lungs heaved with a jerking inhale. How she must have felt all this time. Abandoned, lonely, worried, maybe frustrated and angry. He couldn't help but run through his mind again her feelings. "Yes your lines you flirty.. tom!" He grinned at her trailing words. She was so cute.
He thought about life before her. He saw it now, how he was more of a child playing foolish games. She-cat after she-cat, as many as Zephyrclan had to offer. He even flirted with she-cats from others clans! But he was smooth. Handsome pale pelt with deep, fiery tabby stripes that flared in the sunlight. A warm yellow gaze that melted hearts. And his long lean muscular appearance. He still had it, but it would never be the same. Nor would he want it so. She was one of the last rolls of the dice, the untamed and mysterious. The neglected, harsh, impossible game he had heard could never be won. At first it was a game, yes. He had striven harder to gain her trust, get close, than he had to for any other female. Once he had infiltrated, he would do his work and be done. But when she finally let her walls down, let him see inside what was hidden under an ocean of cold distrust, he walked away with a sense of privilege. That night he had thought about his feelings, himself, her, and the game. Vicious, the game ate you from the inside out, and he was a monster for playing it. They way she made him feel, how good, sweet, kind, and funny she was made her too good for him. Too good to get hurt so badly. And if he couldn't have her the way he was, he would have to change. And he did, and the more she enveloped his heart. Runningfox could never go back.
"We.. We need to get you to Toxicwanter. You need help." The tabby's eyes blinked, coughing before he could reply. "He's still here?" Something smelled foul about the make-shift medicine cat. Everyone had been in a hurry to accept him and his knowledge of herbs. But he had never trusted the strange cat. The idea of being stuck in a nest in his den was outrageous. "I can help support your weight if you need me to. Just..just let me know what I can do, alright?" He was lucky to have her. That she cared so much about him. "Just another excuse to be closer to you." He wheezed, leaning against her. She was smaller than him, small compared to him, but he needed the help truly. He felt about to collapse. The last of his tears had dried, and he limped toward the direction he remembered camp was. "Does this mean you'll be taking care of me all the time too?" His foolish questions were only to break up the grunts he voiced as he staggered along. He didn't want to scare her with his condition any more than she could see.
oh with half of my heart |
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Post by lily ♫ on Jun 3, 2012 10:15:10 GMT -5
Her feelings of disbelief battled with her feelings of relief, her saffron eyes demonstrating just how confused she really was, but her stern expression told Runningfox that she was serious; she would get him to Toxicwinter any possible way she could. Glancing up to his own warm, yellow-hued gaze, she looked away quickly. His devilishly handsome grin, even with how rugged he was now, was enough to set fire to her cheeks, a blaze hidden most beneath her patched orange tabby and black pelt. "St-stop looking at me like that! This is serious!" She cried, though she was now unable to keep from smiling, trying to hide it in a deep frown, her expression faltering as she looked back at him again and again.
Orioleflash gave him a strange look, but then looked toward camp. "Of course he is! We still needed him, even after the sickness." She quipped, caught off guard by his reply to her earlier statement. Stiffening slightly as he leaned against her, the calico's thoughts ran back to one of her first encounters with the flirty tom, after she'd fallen into the stream on that chilly day. Resting her head on him for a moment, she looked up at him. "What did I ever do without you?" Orioleflash whispered, her voice breathy as she spoke.
As they started to camp, she winced with his every grunt and gasp of pain, though he didn't let silence fall in between their steps too often. Shaking her head at his latest question, she smiled. "Hmmm, let's see. I cried when I first saw you, I could barely speak when I realized it was you, and I'm right here now, carrying you home. Do you think I'm just going to run right back to my life before?" Orioleflash teased, though her words held truth in them. "I'm going to take care of you, even after you're better." She told him, stopping to look him in the eye. "And even if you won't have me then, I'll wait, just like I have for all the moons you've been gone. You're not getting rid of me, you flirty tom." Orioleflash spoke without her voice quavering, her words strong, speaking her mind, her thoughts, even what her heart felt and was telling her. A smile graced her features, waiting for him to answer before they carried on.
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Post by aero ❥ on Jun 3, 2012 16:26:39 GMT -5
half of my heart is the part of a man who has never truly loved anything TAG: RUNINGFOX WORDS: 821 ONE LAST THING: I thought maybe since he mentioned the old leader Oriole could inform him of the new one, leading to the news of his dad? ;o
"St-stop looking at me like that! This is serious!" Ahh. Quite so my dear. Quite so. Runningfox was in no better condition than he was five, ten, twenty minutes ago - but inside he felt better. Twenty minutes ago his will to live was little more than a distant mirage, and now it was helping him struggle along. His strained heart beat, weakly, but beat all the same with a heaviness of love and thankfulness. His eyes closing to fix on eternity now widened ever lively and warm. His muscles were still debilitated and ached, his fur smothered by filth and flesh scarred and wounded but in his mind it was alright. There was a saying, he recalled it then. Getting there is half the fun. And in these past moons he had experienced so much fun.
The pale tom didn't recognize her odd look, the expression he saw didn't register. "Of course he is! We still needed him, even after the sickness." Oh yes the sickness. That's why we needed him in the first place. He had forgotten the illness like he had forgotten the taste of fresh-kill; it was all a vague memory. He looked down at the grass, small meadow gnats flickered above the blades, lazily floating around them. He imagined what it would of looked like if he had collapsed here, dead from exhaustion alone. Flies at his eyes and mouth, his corpse eaten alive by the moor and maggots. The battered warrior felt as if he was going to be sick. "Well I can't wait until Paintedstar throws him out one of these days."
"What did I ever do without you?" That quite stab of guilt sliced into his side. Like he had thought before, he was sorry. Sorry for leaving her to grieve, to worry, to be alone. It hadn't been his fault, but as all good souls know, whether it's their fault or not, they will always feel as if they could have done more. Runningfox felt that way now. But the way she said it - it lead to more. She wanted him, the manner suggested she needed him. And there was no sweeter feeling. "Hmmm, let's see. I cried when I first saw you, I could barely speak when I realized it was you, and I'm right here now, carrying you home. Do you think I'm just going to run right back to my life before?" The feeling grew sweeter. "I'm going to take care of you, even after you're better." Starclan knew he needed it. The torture - literal torture - he had gone through were mental inflictions that would not heal as fast as his physical wounds. He would need her then more than ever. "And even if you won't have me then, I'll wait, just like I have for all the moons you've been gone. You're not getting rid of me, you flirty tom." He barely noticed they had stopped moving, his body screamed in agony just the same. But the screams were hushed, and he felt as if serenity had dawned on him. She was his, and he would be her's. That was how his life would be. Somewhere deep, an untouched part of himself that existed outside the depths of madness his former self had been swallowed by....was horrified. He would not lie. That part caused him greater pain at that moment then imaginable. It was pleading him, begging, scared. It made him scared. That part was the part of a man who had never truly loved anything. And he, giving himself up to Orioleflash, loving her as he loved himself....terrified that part of him. If he silenced the feelings, his former self would be gone forever. The flirt, bachelor, player - user - would be banished. The single life gone. His eldest fear would come true.
To settle down, have a mate, maybe even kits.
Before, he had thought singularity had been freedom. Now he knew different. He knew it was all fun until you had nothing left to live for. On the edge of death as a player, what was the idol that kept your heart beating? She-cats? Late nights? Your next meal? No. No no no no no no no. Survival required more than that. Runningfox looked at Orioleflash with a passion not even his trained eyes could begin to describe. "Orioleflash I will never make you wait again. The day I rid myself of you will be the day I join the stars, because I love you. I will always love you." His confidence had never been greater. "And nothing of this world will ever change that." That part of himself uttered a final moan. And was gone. He waited for a few moments before his paws began to protest with his own weight. (Which wasn't much.) "Now let's keep going before my eyes turn to roses from staring at you too long." Roses, the flower of love, you still got it. He grinned and began to hobble onward.
oh with half of my heart |
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Post by lily ♫ on Jun 7, 2012 21:56:23 GMT -5
It was more of a wince than a frown, but either way her expression was unpleasant as he mentioned one of their former leaders - Paintedstar. And, just as Orioleflash prepared herself to inform him that the female leader was no longer with them, she was reminded that Ripplesurf, Runningfox's father, had passed in his abscence. "I...I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Runningfox," The minute calico started, pausing their awkward hobble-walk, her eyes wide and remorseful, "but Paintedstar is gone.Your father too, has..passed." She murmured quietly, wanting to take all of his pain away with just a few soothing words. But, alas, that would not happen, nor would it help, but the small ZephyrClan female would try anyway. "I'm so, so sorry, Runningfox." She tried, sorrow filling her saffron gold eyes, her pupils large and her expression full of remorse. Pressing into his side, they paused once more before continuing on.
As they paused once more and he spoke those words she so desperately needed and wanted to hear, her heart stopped, just as her paws did right in their tracks. "You..you love me." Orioleflash repeated, stunned, as he continued, before she had a chance to speak again. "And until the day I go to live among the stars, I will be yours. I will care for you and nurse you back into the tom you once were and into the tom that you have become." She promised, eyes damp from the words they had both spoken, turning to him, wanting to stop right there in that moment, to always remember how she felt in that one moment - that single point in time - and never, not ever let herself forget it. "I love you too. It feels like I always have...I just...couldn't tell you. I was so alone when you were gone, but let's not dwell on that." She told him, shaking her head a few times before gazing into his own yellow eyes with her golden ones. "Runningfox, let's go home." She half-pleaded, her smile gracing her maw as a gentle breeze ruffled both her fur and the tall grasses all around them. As he complimented her, she chuckled, looking down before peering back up at him. "There's the flirty tom I've always known."
ooc: he needs to react and then i think we're done here! C: <3333333
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Post by aero ❥ on Jun 8, 2012 21:49:40 GMT -5
half of my heart is the part of a man who has never truly loved anything TAG: Runningfox WORDS: 1602 ONE LAST THING: OMG SO LOOOONG. FIGURED HE MIGHT AS WELL GO OUT WITH A BANG, BUT NOW HE SEEMS LIKE A MENTAL CASE. XDD & I SWITCHED THE ORDER OF WHAT SHE TOLD HIM, HOPE THAT'S OKAY.
"You..you love me." Runningfox nodded. "And until the day I go to live among the stars, I will be yours. I will care for you and nurse you back into the tom you once were and into the tom that you have become." He felt touched, touched by love, but happiness, by fate. "I love you too. It feels like I always have...I just...couldn't tell you. I was so alone when you were gone, but let's not dwell on that." He knew she had felt abandoned. He knew it. So sorry my love. "Runningfox, let's go home." It was almost a plead, and he felt the same inside. He just wanted to get to the next chapter. "There's the flirty tom I've always known."
He was happy. "I...I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Runningfox," He was lifted and glowing inside. Her words meant nothing because nothing could ruin this feeling. "but Paintedstar is gone.Your father too, has..passed." He didn't hear her at first. Not at first. But when he comprehended the words, his mind eagerly rejected what it was beginning to understand. He looked at her, warm yellow eyes frozen. "What?" As if he hadn't heard. He didn't know why he smiled."Paintedstar is gone?" (Turn that frown upside down) His spine shivered. "My father?" His voice cracked on -ather; hair bristling against the cold that suddenly overwhelmed him. "You're lying. You're lying." He leaned closer to her, his face inches from her's. "Don't you lie to me." His words were hard and low, but intense. His eyes empty except for the water that filled them, brimming, and then spilling down his cheeks. They left clean paths of pale orange among the dirt. He knew she wasn't lying. And he wasn't mad at her. He didn't want to scare her. But he was so afraid himself. He stumbled back, away from her and her support. He caught his footing and found his own balance. "That can't be," He continued denying, shaking his head quickly. "I didn't even, I," Drip. Drip. Drip. His tainted tears fell into the grass. "I didn't even get to say goodbye." He wasn't talking to Orioleflash anymore. He was speaking to himself, to the insanity that was already threatening him, creeping ever closer.
"Mom why wont you eat? He asked with innocent annoyance. The young orange tabby sat a fox length from his calico mother, staring at her with his bright yellow eyes. She had the same eyes, for she was the one that had given him those eyes. "I'm not hungry Runningpaw." She answered patiently, smiling with a motherly tenderness. "Why don't you eat it?" She suggested, gesturing towards the fat mouse that sat just within her reach. He frowned slightly, gaze flickering down to the kill. It was late leaf-fall, and prey was beginning to get scarce. Rabbits were keeping closer to their warrens away from the drawing cold, and now smaller prey were frantically preparing their little shelters for the bitter coming season. Runningpaw had picked the fattest prey from the pile to bring her. She hadn't been eating well, this the wistful tom had noticed. "I'm not hungry." He retorted, smart mouthing her stubbornly. Her smile remained, but the life faded from it. "Come here child," She uncurled, and he grudgingly padded over, plopping down beside her. Her lithe body folded around his, and she pressed her cheek against the warm crook of his neck. "Don't worry about me. You have enough to worry about - you're an apprentice with a lot of duties. Hunting for our clan, protecting our territory, all of these are becoming very important as leaf-bare sets upon the forest." The sun was setting, the brightest stars were shining through the twilit eastern sky. She flicked her tail to them now. "Our ancestors are watching you Runningfox. You must carry on the tasks they no longer can, you must become a strong warrior to provide for Zephyrclan for moons to come. They're counting on you, and so are we." He gazed at the shining silver points, listening closely as children do. "I'll become one of the greatest warriors Zephyrclan has ever seen, and the whooole forest will know who I am. You'll see." He yawned, laying his head on her forearm. Forgetting about the mouse, he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of being a magnificent warrior. Swiftrose buried her face in her son's fur, sending a silent prayer to Starclan.
His fur was filthy with dirt, claws aching from ripping at the cold hard earth. The tears were still fresh on his face, hot against the frosty air. The sky was dark and grey, leaf-bare well upon the forest. The tabby apprentice was standing alone, the camp full of sorrow and sickness. He heard a choking coughing from the medicine cat's den, and the sorrow started all over again. Looking up, a large grey tom was entering camp, expressionless. New tears burned in his hateful yellow eyes, but these were hot with anger. He quickly approached the tom, bumping him aggressively. "You didn't even have the decency to help bury her!" Ripplesurf's blue-grey eyes seemed to look right through him, haunted. "I did! I dug her a frozen grave, the one you put her in!" Runningpaw screamed, pushing the warrior again. This time the larger tom pushed back. "Don't you ever speak to me like that." He snarled, nose barely touching his son's. "Don't you ever!" Their eyes locked, and in the frosty depths of the blue-grey abyss that haunted look still remained - because he was looking into the hateful eyes of his dead kit-mother. They were identical, and identically hateful. It was a curse. "You've never been there for us, not me, not Luridpaw, not Rabbitpaw, none of us. You're not a father, just a monster." He spat, sickened he turned away. Ripplesurf stared after him until the young tom disappeared out of camp, out of his sight. Many of his clanmates were standing around him. "What the hell are you all looking at?!" He yowled, challenging anyone to even breathe a word. He escaped into the warrior's den.
"Can I talk to you?" He asked hesitantly, looking at the tabby she-cat. "Alone?" Runningfox narrowed his yellow eyes, considering telling him no, but them turned to the she-cat and smiled handsomely. "Meet me at the same place tomorrow." With a wink the warrior got to his paws, following his father away from the heather's shade. "You're probably thinking how much of a whore I am," He laughed, unconcerned. "No, actually I was thinking we could go for a hunt." Ripplesurf meowed. not looking at his suspicious son. "Why." Runningfox wasn't taking another step. The grey tom turned, sighing internally. "I thought we could talk...or something." "What's there to talk about?" His bitter question hung in the air. It was a long silence. "I just wanted to spend some time with you." Moments more of the same silence. "Have a good hunt." The older warrior watched as the younger padded away.
Runningfox has loved his mother. When she'd died, all he had were his siblings and his sorrows. Since kit hood all he could remember of his father was his absence. When Runningfox has become a warrior, that was the first time his father had ever wanted something to do with him. And the orange tom just couldn't accept that. Until now. He had been looking forward to finally having a relationship with his father; Ripplesurf. And now he was gone. Torn away by the clutches of death. It didn't matter how he had passed, but that he was no longer here. He too was in a grave. "I'm sorry Dad." Tears ran down his cheeks, and he looked up at the too bright sky. "I forgive you." He sobbed, sucking in jagged breaths. "I FORGIVE YOU!" He howled at the sky, hoping the grey tom could hear him. Now I'm the one that left you. So we're even. He thought, maddened by grief. The feeling of never getting to tell someone you cared for them - knowing you left that person with last memories of you hating them...and not ever being able to set things right was unbearable and unknown to many. He was one of the lucky few, he guessed. Crumpling to the ground, not all the sunlight could have warmed him. He jerked and sputtered, crying out his heart. I love you Ripplesurf. Do you hear me? "Do you hear me!?" He yelled, pushing his face into the grass. "What if he never knows..." Such pain. He had drowned the sadness of Paintedstar's passing with his father, but it was all the same. Death left a grief that always felt the same. He didn't know how he had made so many tears, it must have been his last reserves of water. His head pounded. Legs weaker than before.
"Our ancestors are watching you Runningfox. You must carry on the tasks they no longer can, you must become a strong warrior to provide for Zephyrclan for moons to come. They're counting on you, and so are we." His mother's words echoed in his head. It made him remember Orioleflash, how could he forget? They were in love. He had something to live for. Taking a long breath, he slowly got to his feet. Without a word, he staggered on without her aid. He was sorry she had to see that. But he hoped she kept true to nursing him back to the tom he had become. Because the tom he was right now was broken and devastated. And so, so tired.
oh with half of my heart |
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Post by MiNTY♥ on Jun 9, 2012 13:55:42 GMT -5
xx closed
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