Waiting and Wishing [BC Patrol]

[fernpaw]

Fernpaw

secrets and lies will be my demise

The sun awoke somewhat reluctantly over the makeshift camp that BrookClan currently called home, stretched luxuriously, and rose slowly into the sky. It struggled to shine through the cloud dappled sky, barely penetrating the surface with its frigid rays of morning light and shimmered off the occasional patches of snow that dotted the landscape. It was a strangely cold day for late spring, but as always, clan life did not cease functioning because of a mild chilly morning.

From the center of the humble abode that BrookClan happily called home, a track of small and lightly pressed paw-prints, perfectly formed, made a straight neat line away from camp and ended at the base of a small she-cat, waiting patiently just outside. Her figure itself was not unique, a somewhat sturdy small body shape, with a lot of curves and few angles. However, with the contrast of her pelt to the surrounding area around her, it would be truly impossible not to notice her. Fernpaw was certainly not built for camouflage, her pelt a medley of rich black and burnished orange, as patched as the sky above. The bright hues of her pelt were set off by a white chest, which she gave a quick lick while she was waiting for her fellow clanmates. She straightened back up again, wide round amber-gold eyes trained on the camp before her, giving her a permanent expression of innocence.

However, Fernpaw was far from ignorant about their current situation. It seemed to her that their temporary situation was lulling them into a false sense of security, that everything would automatically be ok now that they were away from the constant anxiety of sharing space with foxes. While Fernpaw felt her heart was considerably lighter now and more curious than ever to explore her new found home, she would have been a fool to think that all of BrookClan’s problems were solved. She hadn’t voiced these opinions, although if asked, she would no doubt speak the truth, but she didn’t want to burst her parent’s bubble, as they were practically overflowing with joy. Fernpaw could not feel the same until she could be one hundred percent sure that everything would truly be ok.

She shuddered at the thought of them facing a new enemy perhaps more terrifying than the one they had left. After all, the foxes weren’t the only dangers BrookClan faced back in the old forest. The three clans…Fernpaw had heard the stories as kits, about how they were left behind, abandoned to the cruel claws of Kolette. Even though Fernpaw was sure she hadn’t heard the whole story, after all, she hardly knew a thing about Fernstar, her aunt and namesake. She was the leader before her father Swiftclaw took over at the time of her death but the way her mother’s pale green eyes shadowed at that name, Fernpaw had an uneasy feeling residing like a stone at the pit of her stomach that she didn’t know half of it. How frustrating it was to be sitting in the dark like that! Fernpaw felt like she was being sent blind into battle with all her parents’ secrets.

A small sigh escaped her lips and she shifted her weight, curling a spotted tail around her patched paws, wondering what was taking the others so long. Surely they had to be just as excited to explore the territory as she was.

[freshwater]

(it was time) finally ! finally ! he got to explore the new territory. if he were a she-cat he might have squealed in excitement, and if he were an apprentice, he might have jumped out of his bedding quite quickly and jumped the first cat he came in contact with. while his heart was still very much a kit, however, freshwater himself was not a kit. the tom slowly blinked his eyes open, his face creasing in barely contained excitement, as he forced himself to calmly rise. his long body stretched luxuriously, his black-white patched pelt catching the light as the sun filtered through the openings of his den. he yawned, his jaw stretching in a pleasurable yawn and revealed large, white incisors. he flexed his shoulders, muscles rippling beneath lithe , sloping shoulders just for any of the she-cats that might have been watching him. he caught the eye of one of the dumbfounded she-cats, winking, and she fumbled, then scowled, before stomping away.

then he laughed brilliantly, shaking his pelt and bounded out of his makeshift bedding, sending a mix of snow and leaves flying around him as the warrior rushed through him. patches of white flakes lightly peppered the ground in which he ran, sending bursts of coldness from his paws to his nose and the frigid air brushed sharply against his face, in cold whips. while the wind was cold and the sky was not particularly blue, his heart felt warm and light and happy. that was just the way toms like freshwater were.

most cats would still be in a state of mourning. just a few days ago, the so-called death of his sister, frostedpool, had been announced -- the memories of the event were a blur and so the white-splashes tom could not recall who had said it. he had been shell-shocked, numb down to his very paws at the time. when he had recovered from the cruel surprise, he had not known who had said such awful words, like ice slicing his heart and hot coal scraping his throat. if he had, that would have certainly faced a most untimely death.

freshwater had paused in his run across camp to contemplate this, his dark brows furrowing cutely and lips twitching into a frown that was, frankly, quite charming on him. he was not beautiful like crowflight or handsome like swiftclaw, yet there was a certain likeness to cats like him - a familiarness that could not be mistaken - that often had cats taking second glances. he paused, licking frosted lips, and then shook his head to clear his head of memories, shoulders bouncing lightly as he gave off a shrug of nonchalance. today was no time for distractions !

"hey, hey ! ferrnpaaw !" he called, drawling on the "er" and "aaw", while waving frantically with his tail. he flashed her a warm grin, eyes twinkling brightly beneath the frosty morning light. it was cold enough that he could see his breath, yet the excitement that surged through his veins kept him warm enough for an entire season of leaf-bare. he looked around for the other members of the patrol, tail twitching anxiously. he caught fernpaw's eye and smiled broadly. "so, what's keeping shadowflame, you think?" he meowed, careful to keep his voice light and happy, to not let the anxiety slip into his voice. nothing could have... got her, could it have?
he breathed in sharply.

[word count]: 576 words
[inspiration]: eeh. I did it fast.
[for]: brookclan patrol. shadowflame's left.

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[shadowflame]

{s.h.a.d.o.w.f.l.a.m.e}

Sunlight filtered into the Warrior's Den, penetrating into Shadowflame's dreamless sleep, rousing her gently but firmly. Blinking open light jade eyes, the lithe she-cat yawned widely before realizing that she was on patrol this morning. Shooting to her paws, strong and sturdy Shadowflame jogged out of the den, heading straight for Fernpaw and Freshwater, her tail twitching behind her. Sunlight bounced off of her black and orange pelt, the rays of light glimmering on its smooth and shiny exterior, the streaks of orange rippling like fire across her black pelt.

"G'morning, Fernpaw. Freshwater." She mewed softly, dipping her head to each cat in turn. She kept her eyes on Fernpaw, determinedly keeping her gaze averted from Freshwater, for if she looked at him too long, she was sure to forget why she was even out here. Standing, she nodded her head towards the exit of BrookClan's camp, her light-colored eyes lighting up with excitement at the prospect of a patrol. Roaming the territory, feeling the ground moving beneath her paws, feeling the freedom of BrookClan around her...this was what she loved.

"Shall we?" She meowed, her voice ripplin across the quiet-morning air like water over a rock, smooth and pure. Padding towards the exit, Shadowflame looked over her shoulder, feeling decidedly unfeminine and ugly next to pretty little Fernpaw and with good-looking Freshwater. She shoved those thoughts aside and forced herself to think about BrookClan's territory, about the patrol, about StarClan and their goodness, anything but one of the things she despised about her most....

((ooc: well, that's hatefully short...sorry guys, getting back into the swing of things.))

[fernpaw]

Fernpaw

She scarcely had time to sit down when Freshwater bounded over joyously, clearly as excited as she was to explore their new territory, although his enthusiasm was less carefully contained. She smiled softly, a flicker of her mother’s grace settling into her features and she nodded her head briefly in his direction. She didn’t think she could ever be as carefree as the tom before her, she was much slower to warm up in general, but she certainly admired it in others. In a clan that relied on close unshakable relationships, it was definitely something she needed to work on.

No time like the present though, the young she-cat thought to herself, amber eyes glowing in the light of the day. Her ears perked at the sound of more pawsteps, much smoother and softer than the ones it followed. She turned to Shadowflame, smiling in greeting. It was daunting being between two warriors and although she was determined to impress, the fear that her novice skills would eventually betray her lingered in the back of her mind.

But it wasn’t the differences in skills that was the source of the tension she could sense between them. Shadowflame kept her eyes firmly on Fernpaw’s pelt and Fernpaw could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks as she averted her gaze, feeling self-conscious.

Determined not to make any wrong moves, she nodded at Shadowflame’s question and began to follow a few steps behind her, paws scraping lightly on the forest floor. It was truly this shyness that would be her downfall. True, she was not afraid to give her opinion, if somebody asked for it that is. But between these two warriors, she would sound foolish to chatter away like a squirrel. She glanced at Freshwater, so alive, passionate, if only she could borrow an ounce of his courage and zest.

Her amber eyes made their way down to patched paws, dusty from the patrol and she mewed, “It’s a great day, isn’t it?” There, there was no way possible that could be skewed to make her sound like a mousebrain.

[freshwater]

hold nothing back, like you nothing to lose.

(i've heard that good things come) It wasn't always like this for him whenever he saw her; to feel his breath catch, to have his stomach lurch as though he had been punched in the gut, to have the world sudden spin in blurs of colors that were concentrated on only her. But the sun shone brightly from above, the cloudy-cast overhead suddenly diminished into a sudden blueness that he couldn't quite keep his eyes off of, until his attention was suddenly drawn to sudden movement, like the pitter-pattering of paws against the ground. Then there was that gleam of light and his auric-green gaze was drawn to her.

That was his best friend and eternal rival, Shadowflame, running towards him, but it didn't look like her or at least, who he was used to. Instead, an exquisite figure rushed towards them both, a swirl of colors like darkened brilliance making up the majority of her frame, and his mind was short-circuited instantly, watching the little diamonds of sun dance across her coat. He couldn't think. When she came up to them, he swallowed thickly and blinked, before shaking his head quickly -- he flashed her a wide, toothy smile, though a part of him was still slightly disturbed by the image he had seen. It couldn't have been her, could it?

"late again?" he quipped, his eyes bright and laughing with a sort of brilliance, willowed-silver and auric-lime swirling together. as she walked up to him, he nudged her shoulder playfully and eyes twinkling brightly, smirked at her. "what, having late night parties without me? or.."" his eyes sparkled mischievously under the light. "don't tell me; a tom's keeping you up?" he laughed at that, only for it to fit in with everything else he had said, but for some reason he felt his stomach drop at those words, even if he had been the one to say them.

freshwater had meant to tease her a lot more, as was the nature with both of them, but he was realizing just then that she hadn't even looked at him once yet, her eyes trained on anything but him. as if she was purposefully avoiding him. his heart lurched again, but he wasn't quite sure why, and he paused, his eyes dimming with this new realization, before straightening his shoulders and taking a deep breath.

"well, then, where to first?"" he inquired happily between both of them, his expression picking up the minute he began padding out of the clearing, the warmth of the day reaching his sunny personality. he wasn't going to dwell on the likes of Shadowflame, especially if she didn't want him to. He walked next to the darker-tinted warrior fora moment before an awkard silence fell over them both, a tension filling the air he hadn't expected. It was weird because, unlike normally, he felt that his warmth and laughter would make things even worse.

So instead, he fell in along side Fernpaw and smiled warmly at the younger cat, eyes twinkling brightly. It must have been great to be an apprentice -- well, actually, it was. Freshwater could still remember what it was like, to face each day with excitement and exhilaration as if rushing into a new adventure every day. "yup, it is, isn't it fernpaw?" he grinned wildly at her, forcing his eyes to stay trained on the younger patched she-cat rather than her older counterpart, and flicked his tail playfully against her flank. "how's being an apprentice treating you? any awesome new adventures to hear about?""(to those who wait)

and love with all you have,
like you don't have a clue what it's costing you.

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[word count]: 591
[inspiration]: owl city and the providence
[for]: brookclan patrol. shadowflame + fernpaw
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[shadowflame]

{s.h.a.d.o.w.f.l.a.m.e}

It caught her by surprise, sudden and quick, a catching of her heart in her throat. Warmth flushed her entire frame when he shouldered her playfully, his soft fur brushing against hers. But then...another tom? How could he think that? It was an absurd thought, that any tom would keep her up...who would ever notice her? She wasn't feminine or pretty, like the other she-cats. Determined to mask her feelings, Shadowflame laughed softly, her light giggle an unexpected and sweet surprise- even to herself.

"Well, would it be your business if I was? Not that any tom would notice the likes of me..." It started out as teasing but for some reason that last comment slipped out, that small glimpse into Shadowflame's insecurities and heartaches. An awkward pause followed, at least in Shadowflame's eyes, before she jogged ahead, getting away from the shame she felt for having said that out loud.

She took a few small bounce-leaps forward as Freshwater fell in beside Fernpaw, jade eyes lighting up as the sunlight fell on them. The sheer joy of being on a patrol, being under StarClan's protection, BrookClan's care, brought out a fun and lighthearted side of Shadowflame that has rarely been seen. She looked back, ears perked, tail twitching behind her. Watching the sun dance off of his eyes made her pulse quicken, her smile widen a little, her eyes sparkle a bit more.

Freshwater and Fernpaw began to speak of apprenticehood, a typical Clan step that Shadowflame had skipped. Her childhood had been so unqiue, so different, so full of happiness and heartbreak that it was hard to explain. She looked up at the sun and felt a wave of sorrow and nostalgia wash over her, as Russet's words returned. ...Look at the sun and remember these three words to carry you through life; love, faith and trust. Remember those when you see the sun...