[Deleted]

And when the day comes that I don't wake up
I'll float away full of love
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The sun shone brightly, heating the Earth. Dark burns scarred the area, a sharp contrast the the freshly blooming life. A gentle breeze shook through the leaves, and barely a single cloud hung in the sky. TreeClan could use a light rain. It would certainly help their territory heal. But prey was returning, and soon it would be abundant once again. The tranquil clearing nearly filled with wildflowers was quiet. Even the birds chirped softer as though not wanting to disturb the furry occupant.

Almost imperceptibly, the flowers rustled. Petals showered down on the lithe white she-cat as she rolled happily up amongst the flowers. It was a beautiful day. Sure, the scars from the fire were still so evident, but she knew they would heal with time. Life, and the forest, would recover.
Her wildflowers had been damaged, but not completely. There were still sections that had survived, and they had been one of the first things to regrow. The thick, aromatic blossoms were a sanctuary to her. Ever since she'd been an apprentice, she'd been coming there. She'd dealt with the loss of her brother and her mentor by laying there and contemplating StarClans plans. She had no connection to their ancestors, but her mother had raised her to believe in them.
And when she had asked who her father was, her mother simply responded that he'd been sent to her by the leaders of old. Snowfox never understood what that meant, but she had assumed her mother meant their love was fate.

A red petal fell onto Snowfox's pale pink nose and she sneezed, sending the piece of foliage gliding through the air. She exhaled heavily, closing her hazel eyes against the bright sun. It was truly a lovely day. Days like these... She never finished her thought, finding herself drifting into a gentle slumber amongst the wildflowers.

WORDS COUNT 311
NOTES Open
MUSIC Helium - Plain White T's

[Phoenix]

A small form made her way through the skeletal trees that made up their once lush forest. Ash still blanketed the ground, blackening tabby paws and collecting in piles around the bases of trees as various breezes carried it throughout their territory. Upon their return and subsequent inspection, they had generally agreed that the inferno had begun around the Great Maple and though it damaged the bulk of their territory, had not been as destructive to the forest as the amount of heat and smoke had led them to believe. According to those who had investigated, at least. Despite her loyalty to TreeClan, Littlestep had refrained from actively volunteering to nose around that part of the forest; what she had seen so far brought a lump to her throat, and she had no desire to see the damage done to the Great Maple. Though she preferred the wildflowers in the clearing to sitting in its boughs, the old tree’s beauty in leaf-fall had not gone unacknowledged by the she-cat. The young warrior did not want her memories of the vivid leaves, which in the right light almost appeared as though they were aflame, tarnished by the blackened and burnt branches, naked as though it were leaf-bare, that had no doubt replaced the lush green.

However, she could not fully ignore the effects on the flames. The fire threatened them even after it was extinguished; what prey that had not been burnt to a crisp had instead fled and had yet to return. As hunting was her main contribution to the clan, that fact never ceased to frustrate her. Paws scuffed the dirt as the warrior walked along, the trees becoming greener and greener as she strayed farther away from the Great Maple. For the most part, it seemed as though the blaze had not hit this section of the forest very hard; while there were signs of the fire, the forest had already begun to reclaim its land. A small smile touched the warrior’s lips as green eyes caught sight of a flower blooming by the base of a tree, resilient.

Paws led her on a familiar path, one she had walked so many times she could probably do so without the landmarks along the way. It led to her refuge, the clearing full of wildflowers where she could escape once and a while. Few cats bothered her here, and even if she did have company, others usually kept their distance. It was always peaceful, and part of her had always believed that the flowers had a calming effect. As she reached the edge of the tree line, the tension that had been in her shoulders slowly began to ebb away, as it always did. A soft wind rustled short tabby fur, and the she-cat made her way deeper into the clearing, unknowingly approaching a dosing she-cat. With a smile, she acknowledged the serene way a gentle breeze caused the blossoms to sway as one, attributing it as one of the calming factors of the clearing.

A flash of white fur was the only warning she received before she flinched away, very nearly walking on her clan mate. What the--! Dancing to the side and off balance, the she-cat berated herself for becoming so lost in thought that she was no longer aware of her surroundings. Working on righting herself, Littlestep recognized the white cat as a fellow warrior, Snowfox. A quiet ”Sorry! escaped her, even as she tried to keep quiet, clinging to the hope that she had not interrupted the other she-cat’s sleep. Because she had spent many days resting in the flowers, the tabby warrior knew all too well how irritating it could be when someone interrupted what could easily have been a lovely dream.

[Deleted]

And when the day comes that I don't wake up
I'll float away full of love
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She was surrounded by a haze, lost and out of control. She stumbled over roots and holes. The ground was hard and hot. Panic swept through her. The acrid smell of death hung all around. She could hear the lost cries of cats in the distance. Where were they? What could make them scream in such a way? The flames drew closer. There was nowhere safe. Nothing had been left untouched by the flames. She skidded to a halt, staring around her. All around there was fire. She couldn't move. Couldn't breath. And then...

At the sound of a noise nearby, the small white she-cat reacted instinctively. Pulled out of her restless sleep, scrambled to her paws, back arched. Though she was small, she was no pushover. If there was an enemy nearby, she would be sure to bring him to his belly. She'd been in enough scuffles to know how to fight, and she wasn't afraid to use her quick reflexes against anyone, regardless of their age.

Recognition flickered through her eyes and it took only a moment for her body to catch up.
"Oh. Littlestep, it's just you." She breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment there, she'd felt danger in her heart, but it was surely just the remnants of her nightmare. She relaxed her body and looked ponderously at her small clan mate.
"But what are you doing here at this time? Surely it's not time for the patrol to be here yet." She was sure it wasn't time yet. It couldn't be, right? She didn't feel as though she'd slept any real length of time at all.

WORDS COUNT 275
NOTES Sorry for the shortness. My brain is having issues.
MUSIC None

[Phoenix]

The speed at which Snowfox reacted both startled and impressed her. Dancing to the side to avoid any flailing paws, she regained her balance just in time to see the other warrior right herself, back arched and fur bristling. Even as recognition flashed through the hazel eyes opposite her, the small she-cat's own green eyes widened slightly. The fur on her shoulders began to rise, and her heart thudded. Muscles froze for an instant, locked in place as her mind whirred, instinct taking over in response to a perceived threat - fight or flight. But just as the white feline calmed, so did Littlestep, relaxing a moment later. This was her clan mate, a fellow warrior and one of the least likely cats to attack her. She had nothing to fear.

Ears flicked at her name, and a rueful grin spread across her face. "Sorry, Snowfox," The warrior responded, an apology jumping easily to her lips. "I didn't mean to disturb you. Should have paid more attention to where I walking." The last part was certainly true. Betraying the guilt she felt at losing track of herself, one of her forepaws kneaded the ground lightly, drawing little circles in the dirt. Her slight discomfort soon passed, however, as the subject was changed. Eager to reassure the other she-cat, who seemed almost alarmed at the suggestion of a patrol, Littlestep shook her head. "No, it's not that late. Daringheart wasn't assigning patrols yet when I left," She supplied, tail swishing. "I'm just here on my own."

Wanting to take the continued conversation as an invitation to sit, the she-cat glanced around herself. "Mind if I join you?" Green eyes strayed to the nearby flowers as she fell silent, waiting for the answer. As welcoming as she seemed, it was perfectly reasonable to believe that Snowfox might have had a desire for solitude, and if that was the case, Littlestep didn't want to intrude. While she might not have turned down company out of fear of seeming rude, the small warrior could definitely understand a longing for the peace and quiet of one's own thoughts.

[Deleted]

And when the day comes that I don't wake up
I'll float away full of love
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The white she-cat thought about Littesteps statement about the patrols. So she hadn't slept in too late. It would be troublesome if it had been a patrol that had found her. Really, she should've been hunting, not dilly-dallying around. That was, unfortunately, one of her greatest shortcomings. She wasn't lazy, exactly. She just enjoyed a certain amount of leisure time. And considering that was did fairly well in her duties, she felt that sometimes she had earned some time to herself.

She stretched out her stiff limbs, feeling joints cracking and popping. It was the troule with not sleeping well. When one had nightmares, one often awoke sore. Yawning, she slowly lowered herself into a sitting position, tilting her head to look at her clan mate. Although she loved her clan deeply, she had never really taken the time to get to know the other warriors well. She had preferred solitude to companionship. She could get lost in thought on her own without anyone thinking she was strange.

But Littlestep was was nice cat, she she knew well. She'd always noticed a sweetness about the younger cat. She nodded her head slowly, almost to herself. Then, realizing she was being strange, she shook her head swiftly to clear it.
Curling her lips into a soft smile, Snowfox nodded in response to Littlestep question. "Of course you are welcome to join me." She would be happy to have another cat near, even if only for a short time.

She considered for a moment, looking up at the sky. "It's earlier still than I had initially thought." She'd been worried, when the younger warrior appeared, that she'd had a long sleep. But that was not the case. Her feelings of unrest were not unfounded, as she had likely only been asleep for a very short time. She returned her gaze to her clan mate, still blinking sleep from her eyes. Now that any thought of danger had passed, her exhaustion was seeping into her body again.

WORDS COUNT 334
NOTES Sorry for the late reply.
MUSIC None

[Phoenix]

Littlestep
you’re in the middle of the ride
everything will be just fine
everything will be alright

- - -

At the invitation, the tabby feline gently lowered her haunches to the ground, her tail coming around to encircle her paws. A small smile flicked across her lips, and she inclined her head in a small, polite nod. Unassuming, she simply listened as her alabaster companion mused aloud, and unsure if the comment had been meant for her ears or the words has escaped Snowfox’s lips unnoticed, the she-cat refrained from answering. Far from one of the more outgoing cats in TreeClan, Littlestep did not often go up to cats whom she did not know well and start a conversation; as a result, her circle of friends, those whom she would approach on her own, was rather small and showed little promise of growing. Despite the latter being only a few moons older than herself, Littlestep and Snowfox had had limited interaction in the past, so she did not know much about the other she-cat apart from her reputation as a decent cat.

As such, when the white feline seemed to fixate on the time, she found herself idly wondering if this was a common occurrence. The moment the thought crossed her mind, she regretted it, for it was unfair. Understandably, Snowfox seemed rather shaken; Littlestep had woken her from what seemed like a pleasant rest, and she knew that she would have been disoriented as well. Changing the topic, the she-cat inquired quietly, ”How are you today, Snowfox? It’s a lovely day, and it was a smart idea to come out here to relax.” Green eyes glanced toward the sky. Unlike the forest, which had been ravaged by the fire’s unforgiving blazes, the sky remained untouched. Where the trees were blackened and reduced to their skeletons, the smoke that had billowed upward had left no mark on the clear blue. If she looked straight up and ignored the bare treetops lingering in her peripherals, then she could almost pretend that the fire had not occurred.

Following her train of thought, she offered, seeming to speak to the sky though her eyes flicked toward her companion, ”I’m glad that this place has regrown so quickly. It’d be a shame if they were ruined, too, you know? It’s so peaceful and quiet.” After watching a cloud drift across the empty blue for a moment, the tabby turned her head and gave Snowfox her complete attention, tail flicking lightly.

- - -

just do your best
do everything you can
and don’t you worry what the bitter hearts are gonna say