[Deleted]

Shadowclaw stretched, reaching out with his front paws and clawing out the ground. The tom had just woken up with his denmates right behind him. Lionstar was giving out duties to the clanmates, sending him along with Sprucefur , Nightpaw, Badgerpaw, and Gorsetail who was leading the patrol. He bowed his head to his leader and then walked off with his clanmates. As Shadowclaw stepped out of the camp, he breathed deeply smelling the sweet smell of leaf-fall off the trees. He looked at his clanmates, there was a hint of pride in his eyes, this was his home, his one and only home.



The big tom was not much for words, so he merely followed Gorsetail. Keeping all of his senses on high alert, he did not like the fact that a loner has been terrorizing the clans, especially his. He was determined to keep his clanmates safe, if he had his way he would be on every patrol that went out. However, no one would allow him to do so; it frustrated him knowing his clanmates would be in serious danger every time they went outside the camp. The mere thoughts made his fur stand on end. Shadowclaw shock out his fur, “Gorsetail, there should be no trouble with Lightningclan right?” He was curious if there had been any quarrels with the other clan, he knew vaguely of their want for the forest which marked the border.
With the threat of the loner and leafbare, they did not have the resources to get into a fight with another clan Treeclan did not need another threat on their paws.

[Fawn]

46 Moons || Senior Warrior || Tom

there's a light that you give me when I'm in shadow

It was one of the coolest mornings the Clan had had in a while. Suddenly glad instead of embarrassed that he had brought Feathercloud some rabbit fur for her nest, he smiled briefly at the silvery tabby she-cat before rising to go join the latest patrol being organized. He was right on time, too, as Lionstar directed him to join Gorsetail's patrol—and to bring Badgerpaw with him. He summoned the she-cat from the apprentices' den, and then spared a brief minute to check his pelt for bits of moss and dead leaves leftover from his short nap. Once everything was in order, Sprucefur gave his pelt a good shake and joined the steadily forming group.

"Won't be long until we wake up with frost on the leaves," he mewed quietly to Badgerpaw, not wanting to interrupt Shadowclaw's conversation with Gorsetail. It didn't surprise him that the younger tom was leading—he was a respectable cat, and a few seasons shy of being a senior warrior himself. Gorsetail was a good choice to lead what with all the tension between the Clans lately. NightClan was eerily quiet, but LightningClan seemed to be making their presence known whether TreeClan wanted them to or not.

"Keep an eye out for any prey, Badgerpaw." He instructed his apprentice, keeping up that same low murmur, his ears pricked for any unusual sounds. Hungry from a busy morning's work clearing out the elders' dens and the dawn patrol, Sprucefur's mouth watered at the prospect of a mouse crossing their paths. He should have eaten before they left, but there had been little time.

there's a feeling you give me, an everglow

---
Word Count: 270 Words
Tags: @marshymutt Phoenix @zen @sky
Notes:

[Phoenix]

i wish everyone was loved tonight and somehow stop this endless fight

In the time he had been Nightpaw’s mentor, the tabby warrior had learned that his apprentice was not a morning cat. While Gorsetail did not have a particularly hard time rising soon after the sun, it took some effort to rouse the black tom and get him out of his nest. Of course, he knew why: Nightpaw was, as his name suggested, more at home under the light of the stars, and though he hadn’t caught the apprentice out in camp during the witching hour (if only because he himself hadn’t been awake at the time), the warrior hardly suspected that the apprentice’s habit of watching the stars would have ended. Gorsetail did his best to accommodate his apprentice’s somewhat unusual sleeping habits (for example, he was more inclined to let Nightpaw sleep in when he could), but the warrior also knew that to bend the rules too much would be doing the young cat no favors; although accommodations might be made for apprentices, the life of a warrior held no such promises. Waking early was something the black cat would have to get used to eventually, but when the tabby cat glanced back at the sleepy apprentice following him, he still felt a little bad interrupting what was probably much needed sleep. Nightpaw always looked so tired…

Their group of five padded along the LightningClan border, and Gorsetail was not particularly surprised to find himself at the head of the group. But it was a lonely position. He was a cat who appreciated being able to fall into step beside an old friend, content to follow instead of lead, and he longed to walk alongside Sprucefur in the back of their patrol. It seemed as though an entire season had passed since he had last had the chance to talk with his old friend, but while patrols were hardly the best times to have a conversation, he would take what he could get. An ear flicked and he cast a brief glance toward Lionstar’s brother, but his attention was captured by Shadowclaw. Though he was not the most approachable feline in the clan, the younger tom had proven himself to be a dutiful and hard-working warrior, and those types were always appreciated.

”We are on fairly good terms with LightningClan,” Gorsetail replied thoughtfully, tail tip flicking. Indeed, the border had been quiet thus far, and the scent markings left by the dawn patrol had begun to fade. He would not be surprised if they ran into a LightningClan patrol. ”However, you heard Frozenrain’s warning. It’s best to stay alert.” The StoneClan she-cat had brought word of an ambush set by LightningClan for part of StoneClan’s land on the night of the Gathering. She had been rather vague as to whether or not their neighbor’s had succeeded in claiming the contested land, but Lionstar had appreciated that Hawkstar would think to warn them. If LightningClan wanted to expand their territory, then they would look next into stealing the open woods from TreeClan. With the weather growing colder and the dens full of apprentices, they could not afford to lose any hunting ground to Firestar and her clan.

Behind him, he heard Sprucefur murmur something to his apprentice and caught the tail end of the instructions. He nodded and glanced back at Nightpaw. That was a good idea. ”Yes,” He agreed, gesturing at the older tom. ”Don’t stray too far, but if there’s any prey around, it wouldn’t hurt to bring some back to camp.” The tabby warrior did not have any intentions of hunting – he wanted to keep an eye on the border – but he wouldn’t stop the others from doing so if the opportunity arose.

just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

gorsetail | treeclan | warrior | Fawn @zen @marshymutt @sky

better days | background image

[Deleted]

I'm here standing at the edge,
staring up at where the moon should be...

---

Blearily, Nightpaw had pushed from his nest when Gorsetail woke him and followed his mentor out into camp, not even stopping to give himself a quick grooming, which meant bits of pale moss stuck to his black pelt. He did his best to pay attention, hearing something about a border patrol, before more cats gathered around them and he plodded out of camp after them. He yawned, his bright green eyes half lidded as he padded on not paying much attention to anything, simply following the tails in front of him. He missed the first bits of conversation, the voices of Shadowclaw and Gorsetail buzzing meaninglessly in his ears like bees. However, the walk did him some good, and he began to wake up more with the exercise.

The more he came awake, the more realized how chilly it was this morning. His fur fluffed up against the cold even as Sprucefur mentioned frost. Nightpaw had been born during leaf-bare, so though he had experienced snow, and likely frost as well, he did not remember it at all. He had only been born toward the end of leaf-bare, after all. Hardly more than a moon after his birth, newleaf came to the valley. He was about to ask Sprucefur about frost when the older tom told his apprentice to keep an eye out for prey, and Gorsetail turned to him tell him much the same thing.

Now that the conversation had turned to prey, he realized how hungry he was, his belly rumbling quietly. His left ear twitched back as he silently reminded his stomach that he wasn't supposed to eat before he had seen the queens and elders fed. Even if he did manage to catch something in his sleepy state, it was going back to camp with him to be offered to some other cat. That wasn't any incentive not to catch anything, of course, just a reminder not to expect relief from his hunger just yet. Whiteclaw had told him that hunger sharpened the senses, so maybe his hunger would cancel out his sleepiness and he would be able to catch something after all.

He paused to scent the air, the morning cool and crisp, making it easy to catch the slightest scents. He wandered back into TreeClan territory a little way, being mindful not to go far as Gorsetail had said, but it wasn't like he was going to catch anything with four other cats tromping through the forest ahead of him. He turned his attention toward the task at hand and managed to catch a mouse gathering seeds by the roots of a tree. On his way back to the patrol, feeling as though a single mouse was a suitable enough catch since this was not in fact a hunting patrol, he accidentally flushed a young rabbit from from its hiding place and without stopping to think, took off after it with the mouse still in his jaws.

He spotted his patrol, and the rabbit veered a wide path around them before shooting off into LightningClan territory and far beyond his reach. He slowed near the border, looking after it briefly as he stood a tail length from the scentline, before turning back. Well, after being startled by the sudden appearance of a rabbit and the thrill of an unexpected chase, he was awake now. His whiskers twitched in amusement as he padded back to the patrol, wondering if he should find a place to bury his mouse for them to pick up on the way back to camp.

---

No regret 'cause I got nothing to lose,
so I'm gonna live my life as I choose, until I fall.

Fawn
Phoenix
@marshymutt
@sky

[Deleted]

Bitter winds and the prospect of frost permeating the forest she loved so dearly were the last thing Badgerpaw wanted to think about. The tuxedo kitten shuddered at the mere thought of snow covering the ground, of having to hunt in a frozen, colorless land in the hopes of finding some scarce food for her clan. Such trials were simply a part of being a warrior, she knew that, but her underlying fear of failure had managed to grip her once more.

Badgerpaw couldn't help but practically visualize her clan covered in a thick blanket of snow. Cats scattered around her, all thin as twigs and eagerly awaiting her as she walked through the entrance of camp with nothing but a meager mouse in her mouth. The thought had her shaking her head to remove the thought from her mind. Why did Sprucefur have to remind her? She was doing just fine before he said that and now....

The two-toned apprentice gave an eager nod to her mentor at the mention of keeping an eye out for prey. It didn't help her worries, but it would certainly get her mind off of the situation for a while. Not to mention it would be best to get some hunting in now while prey was still fairly plentiful. It wasn't long however, before the amber eyed cat spied a mouse in the distance and she broke from the patrol,stalking off after her prey.

It was quick, and before she even had time to process her actions completely, she was already upon the rodent. A swift killing bite to the throat and she had begun to dig a hole for her catch, soon enough padding back over to the patrol as though nothing had even happened.

Words: 301 Tags: Fawn Phoenix @zen Notes:

I'm not the one who wants to hurt you