walking travesty , open

[Dawn]

"Someone told me long ago, there's a calm before the storm. I know, and it's been comin' for some time." It was growing darker and darker, and he still had no idea where he was. Wearied, exhausted, Horizonpaw dropped to the forest ground and buried his face between his paws. He didn't know how to feel; he had never been sad before. He had never been on his own before. It was a terrible feeling, whatever it was, that welled up in his chest. The worst he had ever experienced. Running over the past quarter moon in his head, he worked to gather the pieces of the beginning, which was easiest to understand. Rain had began falling, slowly, the beginnings of a storm, and no one had been worried. But it hadn't stopped. The moorland was consumed, greedily washed over by torrents and torrents of water. Water, everywhere, filling every crevice and den, every rabbit hole, everything. Streams that had been mere trickles became roaring rivers, hungrily desiring to possess more and more of the territory. Prey fled, and hid, and died. Cats were swept away and found hours later, barely clinging to life. Horizonpaw hadn't eaten in days. And then the climax of the storm. It had not seemed like rain, no. It was the entire sky itself that crashed down around them that night. The lake, urged on partly by the moon, partly by the winds that had always been his clan's allies, raged supernaturally. Horizonpaw gave a soft cry, flattening his ears and closing his eyes tightly. Zephyrclan was destroyed. He was lost. And his parents were gone. He tried to grasp the thread again, continue with the events chronologically. It was the only way to make sense of any of it. He woke up alone, curled on a patch of moorland shielded by a low growing bush. The other apprentices were no where to be seen, but cats were running everywhere, and, impossible to believe, the flooding rose before his very eyes. The big orange tabby that had appeared out of the darkness seemed like a savior to him, a fallen Starclan warrior there to guide him to safety as his ears filled with terror. It was his father, hauling Horizonpaw to his feet. His mother was no where to be seen. He tried to ask where she was, tried to argue, but his father would say only one word: "Go." So like a cowardly kit he had fled, because he was young and little yet and he listened to his elders. Horizonpaw didn't see his parents again. He knew not what became of them, only that he had looked everywhere he could, and it was night again, and they were not by his side. He didn't even know where he was now- Vertigoclan territory, surely, but the way to the camp, or even to other cats, was lost to him. The young apprentice had finally given up. His body could take no more, his feet were too tired. Here he lay, trying to work through what was going on.

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[aero ❥]

It had been a horrific scene indeed, but some cold, instinctive blanket veiled half the pain she should have been experiencing. The sorrow and remorse of her clanmates seemed petty, and she could not relate to their dismays. Therefore she could not comfort them, and sought a haven away from any duties others would expect from her. What she did pity was the loss of borders and territory - that she, Cascadespray, had to live among swine of other clans. Everyone knew her disapproval to clan mingling, how she hated outsiders. Now it was as if she bathed in their presence and stench. Frankly she was disgusted, and made it very plain if a Vertigoclan or Zephyr cat decided to try to get cozy. Her hostility had left her on edge since Tempestclan had arrived in this forsaken place. The lithe she-cat traveled at a fair pace through the unfamiliar undergrowth, grumbling with every step. "Cascadespray, go hunt." "Cascadespray, fetch some water." "Cascadespray! Those mongrel idiots should go serve their own needs! I am not their servant!" She hissed under her breath, in case another hunting warrior was around. A hunting party had been sent off, she was ordered to go along with it. She was tired of orders, and there had been a lot of them lately. Half the 'unable' cats simply cried insanity or depression, so they were the pitied ones. It was cats like her that were punished for their insolence. "Damn them all." She declared, stalking through an open clearing. She looked to the sky, sparse clouds a good omen for the day. They reflected in her blue eyes; marine hints glistening.

As she looked back down, her thoughts returned to their previous state. In her opinion all of this was foolish. Tempestclan should just take what they needed, and make the mountainside theirs. The others clans could go fish. They had the most cats, and even though they were outnumbered two to one if the other clans joined together, most of Zephyrclan were starved and weak. It was only Vertigoclan that posed the threat. And with numbers superior to theirs, we would overwhelm them. It was a fine idea to the beautiful warrior, who wouldn't mind leading the battle itself if it came down to it. She could see it now; Tempestclan weaving themselves among the Vertigoclan camp, no one suspecting anything. And with her fierce battle cry a surprise attack would claim certain victory. It was day dreams such as this that kept her spirits up in such dark times, no matter how savage that seemed. She almost walked right past the small pile of orange fur and bones slumped against the ground not five fox-lengths from her.

The she-cat froze, lavish glare narrowing to accusing slits. Her neck bristled, and she took a tiny step towards it. It's ribbed sides gently rose and fell - so clearly it was alive. Her face, split right down the middle with a black half, was bitter. A dark thought whispered to her, for her to keep walking. To act as if she had never seen the unwell cat and let it die out here. It was weak, and only the strong survived. But even buried under all of her selfishness and chill was a heart, and it tempted her closer, chasing the dark whispers away. Looming above the tom, she sniffed at him gingerly. Zephyrclan, a mere apprentice. Screwing up her nose, she jabbed at it with a pale orange paw. "Wake up you runt." She scowled, giving another hard poke to the ribs. "You've got five seconds before I leave you here." The elegant female did not jest, and just to still be here was a significant show of kindness. Cascadespray's claim of friendliness did not extend past the blood of her own clan; to think her harsh would be unfair. She always gave fair warning. What are you going to do with it when it gets up? If it gets up? It hadn't occurred to her that she needed some sort of plan. Why did saving something have to be so difficult? And time consuming? She sighed, a scowl on her face. This pitiful looking creature had better be worth it. No better than some of my clanmates! She thought, shaking her head at the resemblance. Half of those rats were just laying down waiting to die as she stood there over this pest.

[Dawn]

"Someone told me long ago, there's a calm before the storm. I know, and it's been comin' for some time." He had been drifting. Horizonpaw was all high, bright spirits, but now he was drifting into deep sleep, unable to carry on. He had never been this low, felt so hopeless before. Something jabbed him through thick orange fur, cushioning an undernourished moorland frame. "Wake up you runt." And then another. "You've got five seconds before I leave you here." A low, unexpected growl rumbled in his throat the first- then, as the second blow fell, the orange tabby leaped to his paws and whirled to face his attacker. The apprentice stared into deep, translucent pools of blue, flecked with greens and yellows. One was submerged in black, lined at the harsh edges with fiery orange, the same true with the she-cat's maw and the other half of her face. In short, she was the most beautiful cat Horizonpaw had ever seen. Despite the rarity of her facial markings, the rest of her slim body faded gradually to cinnamon and cream, the fur sleek yet obviously protective in the way it overlay. "What...?" Realizing what words- and in what tone- had just come from the gorgeous femme's mouth, he snapped his own jaws shut and collected himself. She was hostile. Still... wow. Wow. Horizonpaw lowered his amber eyes and coughed, feeling the dryness in his throat. "You're from Tempestclan," he stated, taking a cautious step back from her. "What do you want with me? And another question if you please, where are we?" He sighed, remembering his situation. Even the lovely warrior standing before him, some sort of celestial savior that had been sent to hearten him on, could not ease the fact that his parents were missing. He was, essentially, an orphan. Gawking over strangers would not do anything to return his mother and father to him. Horizonpaw gave himself a shake and set his eyes once more on Cascadespray, keeping his face carefully devoid of feeling. Except for confusion and a trace of hurt, which lingered there even as he tried to brush it off.

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[aero ❥]

Cascadespray snorted as the ball of fluff growled, shoulder fur beginning to rise along with her neck fur. Unappreciative little snot, She snarled inside her head, brilliant gaze stabbing ruthlessly at him. She hadn't bet on him springing to life - almost in her face and then having the audacity to look her in the eyes. She jumped back in surprise, orbs wide and searching. It took her a minute to realize he was speaking, and almost missed what he said. "What...?" Cascadespray fluffed her ruffled fur, shaking off the stupidity she had displayed moments before. Well, her reaction was stupid to her. Giving him an annoyed-but-curious look, she cleared her throat expectantly, as if he was an intruder that should explain himself. "You're from Tempestclan," The orange apprentice took a cautious step back from her. "What do you want with me? And another question if you please, where are we?" This was outrageous. Impeccable. "Of course I'm from Tempestclan!" She hissed, lip curling in disgust. "And I want exactly nothing to do with you." She spat, raising her head as if she were superior. "You were in my way, that's why I stopped." The beautiful she-cat was so vicious at the tongue, it was as if an unseen cat had spoken from behind her. How could someone so angelic have so much spite? She tossed her bi-colored head, as if she had already spoken too much. "Do you have shit for brains? We're on Vertigoclan's forsaken rock of a territory - Runt." She growled, including her nickname for him just because she could.

Obviously the Zephyrclan cat was in a bad way, but then again, you could only expect rage and rudeness from Cascadespray if she gave you the time of day. That is, unless you were a tom warrior. If she had found, say, that Wraithlight fellow (Was that his name? She wasn't all sure.) she would have been batting long lashes and helping him up. But Horizonpaw was not of her interest, nor type, though as long as they were big and handsome the promiscuous girl didn't truly have a type. And inter-clan mixing? No that just wasn't her - though she found herself checking Vertigo and Zephyr toms out more often all the time. Tempestclan was getting boring, and extending her reach to other clans could prove rewarding...
The calico had kind of zoned out, but refocused on the apprentice once again. She didn't even know his name, nor did he know her's. But she didn't need to know. I'd call him Runt either way. She smirked to herself, sheathing and unsheathing her claws idly. A yellowhammer fluttered overhead, singing cheerily as it dove from branch to branch around them.

If it had been in her power, she would have hunted the bright bird down and bitten it's throat out; she couldn't fly or climb trees, alas. For some reason it's call was bouncing through her mind like a spiked ball. Examining the tom again, looked shell-shocked, as if something tragic had happened to him. The sadness in his expression was so familiar it made the pretty warrior sick. She saw the look too often, by all of those pitiful cats that were still sobbing over the flood and it's havoc. Weakness. That's what it was, and Cascade almost accused him of it - but maybe he had suffered enough already. She knew nothing of him, so she couldn't determine what he could still be so sullen over. Not like I care, Cascadespray thought bitterly.