[Silver]

Take my all, I surrender

You will die another day

The sun had long since set over the world and for one pale furred she-cat it was the time she longed for the most. This place, this quiet and beautiful place, it was her one solace in a world that didn't see her as anything other than a beautiful she-cat to be catered to. She was so much more though; though using those foolish idiots was sometimes fun. They just...they never saw her, not one of them. They saw silky pale fur and piercing eyes and heard the words they wanted to hear. It was a fun game most of the time, but on nights like tonight...well Larkfeather just longed most desperately for one that really just saw her.

She was a terrible hunter, not because she never tried, but just because she'd never been good at it. No one saw that she tried and tried and tried but often failed. No one saw the bruises and the broken confidence behind her flirtatious smiles. They were fools, all of them, and so she would use them so that for a moment she could feel like maybe she mattered. She didn't matter though, and she knew this, but it was nice to pretend for a moment. Even when they looked straight through her, even when she knew they only spoke words of praise because they thought she might care about them. She hated it! All the false promises and favors and lies; but what did it matter if they gave her what she needed?

She could use them to get what she needed then go on her way; leaving them to be the ones that were hurt. What did she care? They didn't see her, none of them. So if she hurt them it was their own fault, and at least they might understand one tiny bit how she felt every second of every day of her life. Worthless, unwanted, not good enough; let them feel even a sliver of her pain and maybe that would make it all worthwhile. She wanted them to suffer. Let them be heartbroken and jaded just as she was; let them realized that love was just a fools fantasy. What did she care? StarClan had abandoned her long ago, so what was the point if she didn't do something to ease her own jaded life? 

Tonight though...tonight her demons were too close so she'd come to the one place that had always offered her solace. Star Field, with its long grasses and the little stars that came to dance among them every night; it made her feel a little less like a lost kit and more like just maybe she was important in some way to the grand scheme of things. Even now she watched the little stars come and dance around her; easing the violent hatred inside her soul with their little lives that were so fleeting. To them, she was just another piece of such a big world; she wasn't good or bad. That was...a nice feeling to have once in a while. So she sat and watched the little stars as they danced and glowed around her. 

So what if no cat alive really saw her? If she could still sit here and watch her little stars and feel some sort of peace within herself, what else did she need? It made her feel that maybe, just maybe StarClan hadn't completely abandoned her after all. If only for this moment, with her beloved little stars; she mattered. Not much, but she mattered and that was everything one so often easily overlooked.

LarkFeatHeR

LIGHTNINGCLAN WARRIOR

[Fawn]

It was unlike him to be out so late. Truth be told, he had misjudged how much evening he'd had left when he'd gone out to hunt. The stocky brown tom had ended up chasing rabbits by dusklight, which worked out just fine, given that it was a time when they were most active. Dawn and dusk, the hare and rabbits came out to forage, though they'd adjusted their schedules due to so many wild cats in the area.

It wasn't uncommon to see a rabbit in the moorlands during sunhigh - when LightningClan cats were more interested in escaping the heat than catching prey. Mudpelt deposited the two rabbits he'd caught to the fresh kill pile, and left again. One more had been buried near the star field. Trudging on weary paws, Mudpelt's already serious features darkened as he realized he couldn't remember where exactly he'd left the rabbit.

The possibility of a patrol going through and bringing it back wasn't something he really wanted. Mudpelt caught his own prey, and he dutifully carried it to the fresh kill pile - no matter how far, no matter how tired. Trying to let the scents of his last hunt help pinpoint a location, Mudpelt's jaws parted, his yellow eyes sweeping over the tall grasses.

The scent that reached him wasn't rabbit, exactly. With a small jolt of recognition, Mudpelt took a few steps towards it. It's Larkfeather. He froze, ears pinning back with uncertainty. The RainClan cats had the Willow Stream, and LightningClan had the... Star Field? He didn't know for sure; he wasn't very good at picking out 'romantic locations for couples', but he was pretty sure someone had said something about this. Robinflame, maybe.

Scenting the air again, Mudpelt was surprised to find that Larkfeather was alone. Mudpelt felt a compulsive urge to speak to her; it felt rude to just pass by as if she were invisible. Besides, maybe she'd seen that rabbit he'd buried somewhere. Bolstering his courage, the dark brown warrior stepped through the grasses, his eyes widening as he found the beautiful she-cat somewhere in the middle; the moonlight was making her already pale pelt glow like a star.

A star surrounded by lots of little stars, as if they'd flocked to her.

Mudpelt stared. He wasn't trying to be strange. He really wasn't. He wasn't trying to be anything, he wasn't even thinking of anything; just appreciating how much she looked like starlight. As if hit with a sharp stick, Mudpelt blinked and shuffled his paws as soon as her eyes found him. He cleared his throat a little too loudly.
"I—hello, Larkfeather. You're very pretty here—it's very pretty here." A sharp sting of embarrassment made his pelt prickle. His ability to give a pretty she-cat a compliment without fumbling over himself was non-existent. And even then, he'd just been trying to say something nice about the Star Field. She likely got compliments all the time; one more would hardly be worth remembering. Especially from a tom who had gone back to being a mere acquaintance, after nine moons of limited interaction.

519 words - Silver - notes

MUDPELT

lightningclan warrior. 31 moons.

you may encounter many defeats

but you must not be defeated. in fact it may be

necessary to encounter the defeats so you can

know who you are, what you can rise from

how you can still come out of it

background image | maya angelou | table by phoenix

[Silver]

Take my all, I surrender

You will die another day

She'd heard his approach, of course she did, and she felt herself droop in quiet rage and sorrow at her rare moment of alone time being ruined by some favor-seeking tom. Then she realized it was only Mudpelt and her delicate shoulders lifted, tail curled around herself as she gazed over at him. She snorted lightly at the words that came from his mouth that she supposed were meant to pass as a greeting. Or maybe he was trying to flirt, hard to tell with this one. Mentally sighing to herself, she stretched and rose to her feet as she donned her mask once again to hide her true self. Instead she smiled sweetly to the tom and padded over to him; knowing that some of her beloved little stars had landed on her and now made her fur glitter with their light. She didn't mind.

Her voice was soft and sweet as she in turn greeted the tom that had so clumsily greeted her. "Hello Mudpelt; what has you out here so late? Were you hunting? Or maybe...were you meeting someone here? It is very lovely to look at; after all. I've heard some of the other she-cats call it romantic even. Me, I just enjoy sitting and watching the little stars float around in the air around me and above the water. Such fleeting little creatures they are, but I do adore how they give their light to this darkness. It makes it...very fine indeed." She'd almost told him the little stars made it not so lonely; which he didn't need to know. Giving herself a mental shake, she let out a soft purr for the tom and gave him her full attention. Maybe he'd go away if she gave him a bit of attention. Or maybe he wouldn't, but it was worth a try either way. 

LarkFeatHeR

LIGHTNINGCLAN WARRIOR

Tags | Fawn

[Fawn]

Mudpelt, for all his logic and reasoning, could not fathom why her talking about him meeting someone here made him flush beneath his pelt. Unused to these feelings (he hadn't felt them since... since Pinkcloud), the stocky tom, his pelt appearing black with the absence of sunlight, cleared his throat before answering. "I was collecting a kill. I've misplaced the rabbit I caught, and I was scenting for it when I scented you instead." The response sounded lame, even to him.

As if StarClan wished to reach out their paws and save him from drowning, Larkfeather was capable of keeping the conversation interesting on her own terms. She spoke of the stars. Of the fireflies. He watched them glow and darken aginst the downy white hue of her pelt. "It's very..." A soft pause, as he sought the right word. "Peaceful. I apologize for intruding. I can go at once, if you'd prefer some privacy."

Larkfeather was the kind of she-cat who didn't often have time to herself. Mudpelt hadn't kept his senses hypertrained on her - and he didn't need to, to understand how popular she was (with all except her brothers) and how often cats were vying for her attention. Mudpelt did not want to be another fly buzzing in her ear, even if he was almost certain he could remain absolutely quiet beside her.

A stoic companion, able to appreciate (at least for a few heartbeats) the stillness and the beauty of the fireflies.
Dovesong, would you have liked this place? Would you have visited here with Windstrike? Mudpelt stiffened, bracing himself against the low tide of melancholia that washed in every time he mused on his parents. Mudpelt could not turn off his thoughts. He rarely made an effort to be completely blank of mind; he couldn't be a proper warrior if he refused to confront the things that upset him - even if they were his own thoughts.

Their deaths were not allowed to tarnish the precious memories of his mother and father that he did have. That didn't stop the ache in his breast when he thought of more questions he'd never had the opportunity to ask. Realizing he had let his gaze wander over the field, staring like he'd been frozen in place since leafbare, Mudpelt made an awkward dip of his muzzle in apology. What if she had said something, and he'd missed it?

Then he would just have to apologize (again), a common occurrence with the beautiful warrioress that he just couldn't seem to break.

407 words - Silver - notes

MUDPELT

lightningclan warrior. 34 moons.

you may encounter many defeats

but you must not be defeated. in fact it may be

necessary to encounter the defeats so you can

know who you are, what you can rise from

how you can still come out of it

background image | maya angelou | table by phoenix

[Silver]

Take my all, I surrender

You will die another day

Pale green eyes went wide for a moment in a quiet sort of shock as Mudpelt acknowledged that he might have interrupted her rare moment of alone time before he then offered to leave her to her quiet time again. He even apologized for StarClan's sake! What an unexpected reaction from the tom, and it had certainly surprised her. Well then...she realized his mind was elsewhere and she had to wonder what he was thinking about before shaking herself because it honestly didn't matter; now did it? He did deserve some sort of reward for managing to surprise her since it was so hard to do, but what should she give him?

An idea struck her and she padded back to his side, leaning against the dark-furred tom so that their sides touched. She gently purred at him and tapped her tail against his back as she felt his attention shift back to her. He probably hadn't been this close to a she-cat in a while and she found herself enjoying the attention while it lasted. He was....just like all the others, wasn't he? She had to remind herself about that fact more than once and it sent a chill through her to remember. He didn't really care about her, he just wanted to be close to her because he found her attractive.

In that case she'd just play with him a bit. He said he'd come here looking for a misplaced kill; she just happened to have found one earlier. She rose and moved away from him, going to her little hideaway and came back with his kill. She kept up her amused purr and placed the food before the Warrior. "Here I think this is what you were looking for, am I right? Wouldn't want you to go back without it, after all." She let disappointment color her tone so he'd think she was sad that the prey was all he'd come there to find. She did want the return of her privacy, but because he'd said something that had surprised - an ultimately upset - her she was playing her game with him just to see what would happen. Who knew, maybe he'd surprise her again. She doubted it, but she'd been wrong before.

LarkFeatHeR

LIGHTNINGCLAN WARRIOR

Tags | Fawn

[Fawn]

The earth-brown tom seemed to turn to stone at the altogether unexpected contact. He flushed beneath his pelt, and his tongue felt heavy and sluggish, unwilling to move - which was probably by the grace of StarClan. He'd never been this close to a she-cat he wasn't related to; cats did not willfully snuggle up to him, and Mudpelt's heart was pounding in his ears so loudly, if Larkfeather told him it was interrupting the crickets, he would have believed her. No matter how impractical.

Feeling overwhelmed by Larkfeather's scent all around him, Mudpelt gratefully took a breath when the beautiful warrioress moved away to fetch something - or had simply deemed him too boring to interact with, and left - and did what he could to get himself centered. Stoic by nature, a brief break in the natural state of the tom's mind was soon corrected - though he had fireflies in his stomach now, that were making him self-conscious of his every move.

She is your Clanmate, first and foremost. He'd already interrupted her private time. He had no right to feel like a lovesick tom in her presence when she just wanted a bit of solitude. Mudpelt stood awkwardly still, right in the place she'd left him, and his broad features registered mild surprise, then appreciation, as she reappeared with a rabbit in her jaws.

It was his catch from before.
"Thank you, Larkfeather. You saved me a long evening of searching." He dipped his head in gratitude, moving in to pick up the rabbit. There was... disappointment in her tone, almost as if she didn't want him to leave. No, he was imagining it. "Goodnight, Larkfeather," said the stoic tom courteously, looking briefly to her eyes (but not too long, to avoid losing track of precious time). "I hope you will forgive my intrusion."

He was all work and no play, as his siblings like to phrase it. Actually, they liked to phrase it as 'the heaviest, fattest stick in the mud in the entire valley' - and this was true, in some cases. Yet as the stocky warrior turned and made a definite path for LightningClan's camp, he had to fight the urge to glance back at Larkfeather. To have one last little glimpse of her coat gleaming in the moonlight and the fireflies dancing all around.

391 words - Silver - notes: Finished?

MUDPELT

lightningclan warrior. 31 moons.

you may encounter many defeats

but you must not be defeated. in fact it may be

necessary to encounter the defeats so you can

know who you are, what you can rise from

how you can still come out of it

background image | maya angelou | table by phoenix