[Deleted]

[atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][style= height: 450px; width: 20px; background-image: url(http://www.colourbox.com/preview/3815938-89128-blue-and-green-leaves-seamless-pattern.jpg); float: left; margin-left: -15px;][/style][style= height: 450px; width: 20px; background-image: url(http://www.colourbox.com/preview/3815938-89128-blue-and-green-leaves-seamless-pattern.jpg); float: right;][/style][style= height: 430px; width: 350px; background-color: 666666; padding: 10px][style= border: 1px solid #BBBBBB; height: 100; width: 100px; margin-left: 5px][/style][style= font-family: georgia; text-align: right; font-size: 22px; line-height: 70%; text-shadow: #000000 -1px -1px 2px; margin-top: -100px; margin-right: 20px; color: 002200]warrior of nightclan[/style][style= font-family: georgia; text-align: right; font-size: 35px; text-shadow: #000000 -1px -1px 2px; line-height: 70%; margin-right: 20px; color: 224322]roughthroat[/style] [style= margin-top: 5px; font-size: 10px; text-align: right; font-family: tahoma; width: 200px; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-right: 10px]TAGS Heli with Grackle COUNT 451 NOTESTralala[/style] [style=background-color: BBBBBB; height: 295px; width: 320px; padding: 10px; text-align: justify; font-size: 10px; font-family: georgia; color: 444444; overflow: auto; margin-bottom: -50px]The NightClan tom was beside himself with a mix of emotions as he stood at the center of camp, fluffy tail lashing and blue gaze searching. Roughthroat had not been able to sleep the night previous. While in the biting early times of NewLeaf and with his active presence within the starving clan, this was not unusual -- what was unusual was that his thoughts had been occupied solely upon one person -- another senior warrior, Gracklefire. Roughthroat usually thought of his own well being or the well being as the clan as a whole. He did not usually get too caught up in personal matters and had once deemed them as incredibly frivolous. Even as he stood, eyes forced awake by thoughts, Gracklefire danced through his mind. The beauty of her obsidian pelt and the fragility of her heart had touched Roughthroat in a way no other cat had. While the temperamental she-cat had initially been cold to the muscular tom, the two warmed up to one another quickly and the tom quickly realized that Gracklefire's somewhat sour mood was mostly due to the cursed life she led of forming bonds and creating lives, only to have them crushed before her into death's dust. The NightClan she-cat's beauty was not the only thing on his mind, however -- because their relationship had been more than simple looks, words, and emotions -- it had been physical. Roughthroat had only just made a connection with the bruised Gracklefire before such an event had taken place. We only had really just gotten to understand one another and I went and ruined it, the NightClanner thought, casting his eyes to the early Newleaf sky. While the dark gray tom did not regret his actions or feelings for the she-cat, he did turn over the sequence of events that day over and over in his mind to make sense of something that might qualify his relations with the feline as proper. He could come up with nothing. Now, he waited for Gracklefire to appear in camp. He had no idea whether the she-cat was actually in camp or if she would be out hunting all day -- but the tom did not actually want to find out. Hesitancy gripped him as to what she might say to him about things. While he wanted to find her and talk to her, he did not want to seem desperate for her presence. He wanted to "bump" into her. Even though he had been standing in the same spot, getting a good look of all of the NightClan camp, since he had rose from the previous sleepless night. How is she doing? [/style]

[style= font-family: tahoma; font-size: 7px; letter-spacing: 2px; text-align: center]coded by JIN of PRE & BTN[/style]

[Hellion]

It had been a few days since her night with Roughthroat and ebony she-cat had oddly been cool headed about the entire thing. She was no fool to what went on between she-cats in toms and Gracklefire wasn't about to let it get awkward, unless of course Roughthroat wanted nothing to do with her after it, well she had already faced that music and came out the victor of the two, yet this time she was grown up. Far more content with how she would react and in fact if something did become of their night together, she treat it as her second chance and live her life, if Roughthroat wanted to be apart of it then bless StarClan, but if he didn't she'd be accepting of that.

Flicking her tail she returned with Shadepaw and his mentor behind her, the threesome had patrolled the border and felt the still cold air on their pelts. Leaving the two tom-cat the midnight colored she-cat ventured toward the last few sun spots inside the camp, curling up she tired to rid the frost from her limps and in silent hopes pray for kits to grow in her belly.

[Deleted]

[atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][style= height: 450px; width: 20px; background-image: url(http://www.colourbox.com/preview/3815938-89128-blue-and-green-leaves-seamless-pattern.jpg); float: left; margin-left: -15px;][/style][style= height: 450px; width: 20px; background-image: url(http://www.colourbox.com/preview/3815938-89128-blue-and-green-leaves-seamless-pattern.jpg); float: right;][/style][style= height: 430px; width: 350px; background-color: 666666; padding: 10px][style= border: 1px solid #BBBBBB; height: 100; width: 100px; margin-left: 5px][/style][style= font-family: georgia; text-align: right; font-size: 22px; line-height: 70%; text-shadow: #000000 -1px -1px 2px; margin-top: -100px; margin-right: 20px; color: 002200]deputy of nightclan[/style][style= font-family: georgia; text-align: right; font-size: 35px; text-shadow: #000000 -1px -1px 2px; line-height: 70%; margin-right: 20px; color: 224322]roughthroat[/style] [style= margin-top: 5px; font-size: 10px; text-align: right; font-family: tahoma; width: 200px; float: right; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-right: 10px]TAGS Heli with Grackle COUNT 225 NOTESIt sucks.[/style] [style=background-color: BBBBBB; height: 295px; width: 320px; padding: 10px; text-align: justify; font-size: 10px; font-family: georgia; color: 444444; overflow: auto; margin-bottom: -50px]The gray tom's searching eyes came to a sudden, committed halt once they came upon anything remotely black in coloration. As Roughthroat stared out, it seemed also as if NightClan was a genetic jackpot for grays, whites, and blacks ... The NightClanner's mind wandered briefly before he spotted a familiar coated she-cat arriving in camp, another warrior and Shadepaw in toe. Roughthroat was respectful of Gracklefire's interaction with the others and though he wished to chat with the obsidian she-cat, he did not want to involve outsiders. If asked, Roughthroat would own up to his relations with the pretty she-cat. Roughthroat was not ashamed of his actions, certainly. His impusivity was completely justified, counting his intense feelings for Gracklefire surmounted so quickly. The tom did want to keep personal things quiet as much as he could, however. Once Gracklefire was alone, the dark gray deputy approached her, blue eyes focused. "How are you doing?"

[/color] Roughthroat asked, tail swishing calmly but inner thoughts going wild with his blunt nature. Such a question was loaded, with multiple meanings and suggestions. If Gracklefire was done with him or had not come to terms with the relationship, Roughthroat simply was asking a friendly question clan cat to clan cat. Roughthroat felt that no matter how she answered to the tom's question, the nature of their relationship could be dug up.
[/style][/center][/td][/tr][/table][style= font-family: tahoma; font-size: 7px; letter-spacing: 2px; text-align: center]coded by JIN of PRE & BTN[/style][/center]

[Hellion]

Her eye saw him before he was close enough to speak to her, the shadow she-cat lifted her head up to show she respected the gray deputy with a nod of greeting. His question followed soon after and the senior warrior wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to heart.

Did he wonder if she was carrying his kits? Or was he more concerned if she wasn't, maybe keep up the relationship until her belly was warm with kits. She had grown fond of the deputy and wanted to keep their relationship alive, with or without kits in her belly. However, she also was aware of that possibility that he wanted nothing more than to claim their kits and be on his way.

Gracklefire knew it wasn't fair to keep him waiting on her reply so instead she rose up to crossed her paws in front of her and relaxed her shoulders to keep herself calm. " I am doing well Roughthroat. Just a little tired but I'm sure it's the long cold season." She meowed her ears flicking slightly, her tail curling to tuck beside her belly.

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[Deleted]

The dark gray tom stood over Gracklefire like a gray cloud, bright blue eyes watching her intently and fur slightly prickled with every moment she spent without responding to his, at face value, simple question. Clearly there was something up with the senior warrior that was causing her to hesitate in speaking. Is she thinking of the right way to tell me to buzz off? Roughthroat wondered, though felt that she of all cats would be least likely to waste her time with thinking of ways to let him down easy. From his experience with her, Roughthroat felt that she was emotionally impulsive and was bitingly honest. If she really had wanted him out of her sight, she would have spoken up already; maybe before he had even gotten a chance to greet her and ask her his question. What is it, then? the gray tom felt and flashed her a guarded, yet puzzled look.

After moments that felt like several eternities, Gracklefire shifted positions and spoke. 'I am doing well Roughthroat. Just a little tired but I'm sure it's the long cold season,' Gracklefire meowed in what he regarded as a casual, if not somewhat withdrawn tone. The deputy's ears twitched back at her words. Though Roughthroat was of course glad that she was doing well and not angry with him with his rash actions, but wished that she would get straight to chatting about the past night and stop playing "games". Roughthroat sighed, blue eyes sizing up the petite she-cat. It sounded as if he would have to be the bigger cat in this situation. "So, the other night," the tom mewed, clearing his throat before speaking such an introduction. The dark gray tom settled down from his standing position to become level with the obsidian warrioress. After settling down to his haunches, the deputy glanced around to be sure that no one was around to listen in to their conversation. Roughthroat didn't want the details of their relationship to get out before he was ready. Gracklefire was a very personal part of his life."If you have my kits, I promise to always be there for them," Roughthroat meowed in a quiet, gentle and intimate tone. The tom took a pause again as he watched Grimpaw cross over the NightClan camp. Though the deputy did not think him to be nosy or one to spread such information, the gray tom still did not want the leader's sibling to catch their conversation in passing.

"I will be here for you," Roughthroat added, voice slightly stronger to suggest that he meant what he said. The dark gray tom was very forward in his conversation and feelings about Gracklefire, though in reality was completely unsure about what to say or do. The tom was wading into such foreign waters -- not only because of the unusual nature of he and Gracklefire's relationship, being physically intimate so early on, but in general. Roughthroat in apprenticehood had been too focused on tracking foxes and training with his mentor to even notice she-cats or have enough time to talk with one. He was like a newborn kit learning how to walk.

[Hellion]

She knew it was coming, no doubt in the body position and his tone of voice, he too was replaying the other night and surely she wasn't prepared to make a choice on their relationship. Would she like to be committed to him? Would so like to be known as Gracklefire the mate of Roughthroat, deputy of NightClan. It was status thing no doubt and her mother would be proud for her daughter to have raised herself to high, an elite she-cat to claim herself the lover of a noble and respected deputy. However, the horrors in Gracklefire's past kept her weary of the situation of saying yes or saying no, accepting the ordeal as new step in her life rather she was ready or not.

Pushing herself upward as his words echoed in her ears, the solid ebony she-cat curled her tail around her now upright paws and looked forward, presenting herself as a noble she-cat a Queen among the common folk. It was her upbringing and oddly enough it better suited a royal court then a Clan life. Rumors had it that Lizzardhiss was a she-cat warrior that favored the ways of the nobles, a ruling monarch and their loyal subjects. Gracklefire carried herself as such, however she kept herself silent, unsure of how to answer him, those handsome blue eyes begging to be let into her heart.

His mention and promise of being there for their kits was expected but not the other agreement, it caught her off guard and the night painted she-cat wasn't sure how to react. "Roughthroat it is expected of you to care for the welfare of your kits, after all the your heirs and your own flesh and blood." She spoke then paused, thinking back to her relationship with Mudstep, the fear sinking in again. "However, I don't expect you to care for me as anything more then the vessel to your offspring. We weren't mates before the that night and right now I don't know if you want to be or if I am ready myself. It's better we both understand that NightClan needs strong warriors and we are two strong warriors, you are the deputy for StarClan's sake. With that said I am honored to be the mother to your kits, but I don't want to tie you down to a she-cat that you aren't happy with." She spoke her voice steady but cold, her heart reforming around a thick layer of ice, her bright amber eyes looking into his cold blue eyes but reflecting her need for love and warmth that her mind had so readily denied her.
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[Deleted]

I will go down with this ship 
And I won't put my hands up and surrender 
There will be no white flag above my door 
I'm in love and always will be  



R O U G H T H R O A T;; 
Brilliant blue gaze gradually darkened with every word the senior warrioress spoke. Gracklefire's voice was daggers, his chest open and unprepared for the sharp spikes. His heart was open to hers -- why wasn't hers? 'Roughthroat it is expected of you to care for the welfare of your kits, after all the your heirs and your own flesh and blood.' 
The words of Gracklefire were expected, yet still harsh in phrasing and tone. Of course, the storm colored tom had always vowed to protect and care for his young -- even if his mate was not beside him. Roughthroat would have left such a concept unsaid, had Gracklefire been more trusting in nature. The black she-cat had been hurt so often by so many; was it unusual for him to desire to be there for his blood relations? Of this, he had not been sure. 


'However, I don't expect you to care for me as anything more then the vessel to your offspring. We weren't mates before the that night and right now I don't know if you want to be or if I am ready myself. It's better we both understand that NightClan needs strong warriors and we are two strong warriors, you are the deputy for StarClan's sake. With that said I am honored to be the mother to your kits, but I don't want to tie you down to a she-cat that you aren't happy with'

The  words Gracklefire spoke only became harsher the more she went on. Roughthroat felt like he hardly knew Gracklefire; and this was quite true. He had only just gotten acquainted with the she-cat before he had 'spent the night' with her. In a moment of idiocy, the tom had thought that him declaring his support for her [and not only the kits] would be a cause of celebration for the obsidian she-cat. What is wrong with him declaring support for her? And more importantly, what is wrong with her? The tom thought, scanning her black face and wishing that she would just break down. Is there even a part of her that cares for me? Or is it really true, in her mind? Is she the vessel for the kits and me simply the one to help her make it happen? The more the tom thought, the more his vibrant eyes began to blaze with spinning, out of control emotions. The anger that swept over the large gray tom's features was merely a shell around his soft insides. The tom was hurt; hurt that he wanted to give it all up for her, and she nothing.


The words the deputy spoke were somewhat unnatural for his character though still remained convincing. Tone mean and grating, eyes blazing, the tom who had always been somewhat of a heartthrob became stone. "What is wrong with you? Why do you go about your life acting like you aren't even alive? When are you going to admit that you can't go through life alone?" Roughthroat asked and took several steps forward so that he stood very close to the she-cat; so close that his angry, ragged breathe pushed against her fur. "Who did this to you?" Roughthroat asked, fur bristling for a moment before turning around and taking several quick steps backward. After a few steps, the tom turned around and shook his head at her. He had offered her help and it broke his heart to know that she could just throw it away so easily like that. "I am the deputy "for StarClan's sake,"" Roughthroat meowed, for a moment his tone somewhat mocking before, with a curl of his lip, turning harsh.

"I have work to do."

IWILLGODOWNWITHTHISSHIP

[Hellion]

He had baffled her ! He spoke to her as if she was in the wrong, when in truth she was simply living up to her mother's upbringing. It wasn't her fault she was raised to think she-cat ought to find the strongest male and bare the strongest kits. Lizzardhiss had done that and Gracklefire was the offspring of that mating, she was a excellent huntress and rivaled many tom-cats of her apprentice days on being quicker and stronger. It was her mother's belief that helped her become the warrior she was today.

Roughthroat however didn't see it that way and in that moment Gracklefire was faced with a horrific fact, her mother's life style wasn't so easily accepted and practiced through out NightClan, she was alone in her beliefs aside from her aging mother in the elder's den. When he was close enough for her to feel his breath against her whiskers and wanted to cower, he was powerful and that stirred a respect within her, but also a type of fear.

His words were cruel and although they had their truths she felt as if she was target and wanted to lash out at him but her eyes simply narrowed and stared at him harshly. He wouldn't understand her upbringing, and the black she-cat wasn't sure how she'd tell him how she truly felt.

Gracklefire didn't want to be alone, but admitting she wanted love again was going back against her hatred for Mudstep. Allowing Roughthroat into her heart was in a sense forgetting her first kits, those darlings she lost so many moons ago. Could her heart allow her to let their memory fade? Mudstep and them be pushed aside into past and forgotten memories. She knew that at some point she'd need to let them go and allow their memory to fade, but she knew that how rough the deputy was with her, he had his point.

Without ceremony he excused himself, claiming he had work to do, but Gracklefire knew she had done something to the handsome tom to hurt him inside, just how she was hurt so long ago. With a large amount of spite in he words, Gracklefire spoke. "You never cared enough to want to know what happened to me! You know nothing about me other then what I can offer to you. You think I the fool for accepting this role as a she-cat, you are the tom to take advantage of me. So don't act to high and mighty Roughthroat when you are just as bad as Mudstep." She hissed harshly at him, standing quickly to her paws and storming off, away from the handsome deputy, knowing that deep within her belly there would be growing his kits, and part of her no matter how scared it was wanted him to chase after her, tell her everything was alright and she not just a vessel.

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