Nighttime Walk (P)

[Timberpaw]

The moon was floating over her head, tiny stars poking out from the deep purple band of sky. Eclipse always wondered what stars where, and why Upwalkers called them that. They looked important to her; sometimes lots formed into a cat, or they told her some signs. That was why she was in the forest. She didn't know what they wanted. She heard that some cats even called them StarClan, whatever that was. Those cats lived around here. Maybe she would ask one, if she had the courage to. She always kept to herself most of the time, as if the scar of a rogue was always marked at her heart. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake of being so shy. She always flinched when someone called her name, like a mouse terrified through the fur. Breathing in, she opened her mouth and tasted the air around her with her tongue. Cats. The scent was so overpowering that she wondered if she had trespassed into a territory. Would they kill her? She had fast, quick claws that could hurt them. She would be stronger than one. Digging her long, white claws into the soggy mud under toe, she wondered why her paws had carried her to this unknown land. She was in the heart of a forest, oak woods surrounding her at all sides, suffocating her. A shivered ran down her spine, making her tail twitch nervously. She loved being in open moors rather than dark woods full of shadows, but she liked how quite it was. It seemed like nothing could interrupt her stay here, not even an attack. A growl came from Eclipse's throat, echoing, making an owl hoot loudly, mice scramble over the leafy forest floor, and nighttime birds call a chirp of alarm. Lips curling, she stalked forward, large muscles flexing under her short black-and-brown coat. She blended in well here, with all of the darkness, and her chocolate brown splotches looked like tree bark. No cat would think that she was here. She would only be here awhile...

The sound off bushes rumbling cut off her thoughts. Alert, she crouched down and scrambled into large bushes that would hide her well. She prayed to her parents lives that her scent would be well-hidden from whatever was out there. After a couple of heartbeats, she calmed down a bit, and released her grip on the earth. Brown dipped ears pinned, Eclipse poked her head from the thick bush to see a large bird pecking at the ground. She didn't know what kind it was. She never saw any bird in the small town beyond the Upwalker place, mostly small mice and rats. Shaking her pelt, she crawled under the bush, brambles snagging at her dark fur, but she didn't care. This place was somewhat scary, and she wanted to run away at the moment. Her muscles tightened, but something told her to stay and wait for what was coming.

[Winterfrost]

Twistedpaw...

A lone nighttime stroll has done no one any harm before, Twistedpaw thought, grumbling low under his breath as he walked, the curses he was muttering barely audible. No cat in the Clan will know that I left. After all, walking isn't breaking the warrior code. Maybe Summerfeather might think it is, but who cares what that runt thinks? Twistedpaw, for one, didn't care what his mentor thought, because after all, he wasn't going to flat-out tell her that he'd been walking alone in the middle of the night. That would be just plain stupid, as well as guarantee the task of changing the moss for the other cats and looking for tick in their pelts. Ick! That was not the way he wanted to spend his time as an apprentice. He wanted to be in the training hollow every day and night, practicing fighting on Summerfeather so much that she had bruises and scars to match the pretty little one on her shoulder. Twistedpaw's movable claws dug into the ground, his wrenched one stayed still lifelessly, as he thought of the scar on his mentor shoulder. She'd gotten it from a fox, Twistedpaw know because he'd been there. She had been left with only one small scar, while his mother had died instead! Twistedpaw longed to have the two trade places... so that it was his mother with the scar and Summerfeather dead. Maybe then I'll actually have a decent mentor instead of a worthless runt that's smaller than me. Twistedpaw sneered, his lips curling back over his teeth. It was all Summerfeather's fault that his mother was now in StarClan. If she hadn't been such a tiny little cat, his mother wouldn't have felt the need to protect her and fox wouldn't have killed her! It was all Summerfeather's fault and Twistedpaw knew that there was no way he was forgiving that she-cat for causing his mother's death.

Pushing all those thoughts out of his mind, he padded through the small area of trees that GaleClan claimed, enjoying the feeling of the thorns scrapping through his thick pelt. A soft scurrying sound drifted to his ears and he stopped in his tracks, dropping down on his haunches into an abrupt crouch. With light paw steps, he glided over the leaves tentatively, the scent of mouse filling his nose. He remembered back to the hunting lessons Summerfeather had taught him only yesterday in their second training session. Walk with light paw steps. Control your breathing so it's quiet. Don't make any sound. Flatten yourself against the earth, till you're as small as you can possibly be.... Twistedpaw snorted. Well that's not too hard for Summerfeather, he thought, lashing his tail. Only when he turned his gaze back to where the mouse had been did he realized his mistake. Don't make any sound. Darn it, he'd make a sound. "Stupid mouse," he hissed. Why couldn't the prey have no ears? Why couldn't they run and curl up at the hunter's paws, begging to be eaten? Ah well, he didn't feel like hunting today anyway. GaleClan had plenty to eat. Scowling, Twistedpaw surveyed the woods, looking for anything that could hold his attention long enough for him to forget about his mother and Summerfeather. Suddenly, a scent drifted on the breeze, making Twistedpaw's muscles turn rock-hard. Rogue. The apprentice growled and felt his fur fluff up. It was in GaleClan territory! Could the mouse-brained idiot not smell the scent-markers? Claws ripping at the grass, Twistedpaw wondered if he'd better go back to camp and report the rogue to his Clanmates. I'm no kittypet! I am Twistedpaw and I fought a hawk! I can take on a pesky little rogue! Fur bristling, he shoved his way through the brambles and straight into a tortoiseshell she-cat.

[Timberpaw]

Eclipse's belly touched the smooth, cold forest floor, eyes stretched wide. In the distance, an owl hooted, making her thin, black pelt crawl, like she had thousands of ant scrabbling on her, like fleas. Ferns rustled in the soft breeze, making her sway to and fro. She felt like a leaf, ready to blow over. Her muscles felt stiff, her heart pounded in her chest, trying to escape. She heard prey rustling along, but she was to afraid to eat. Her stomach churned, remembering the scent marks that she has passed, but she had been too lost in thought to sniff. Trying to calm herself, she thought, Remember the dreams, Eclipse. Think of what "StarClan" said. 'Follow your heart Eclipsem-' Then there was blood flowing up like a river, washing at my paws, sucking me down into the red. More whispers followed me around, chanting 'Look up! An eclipse!' Whatever that was. I looked up to see the moon black, like the sky around me, but the sun peeking out from behind it. The moon disappeared! Was this StarClan angry? But the voices continued, 'It an eclipse... moon that will save us! Then her dream had faded. That was while she was passing up the scent markers, so she didn't even realize that they were there. She shivered. What if some cat came up and killed her before she had a chance to explain? She gulped, and her heart thumped harder as she realized how much danger she was in. The breeze changed somewhat, and she caught a scent of a cat- tom. They were usually the most aggressive. But it was young, maybe six moons. Would it know how to fight? Or would it be blood-thirsty? She saw many of those in the city, and knew when to hold her tongue when she spoke to them. They had flashing claws, stronger than a lion, and would rip someone to shreds if they disobeyed them. Cats fought every day there, so she was hoping for some peace here in the forest, much as it creeped her out with all of the long shadows.

She felt her fur prickle. Paws trembling, she stood up, and opened her eyes wider to see a dark brown, black and white tabby tom with bright sea-green eyes. Mockingly he stared at her with hatred piercing her. Feeling held, she wondered why he was so brave. He was only a kit! A kit-be... she reminded herself. Shaking her coat, she know knew that there was nothing to be afraid of. Dipping her head with respect, she growled, "Erm, hi." The shyness flooded back to her, and she flinched under his gaze. He looked like powerful Death-bone back in the town. But the large tom that she used to know had no white, blood-stained claws, and hawklike yellow eyes that made her sink into the ground when she saw them. His side-kick was Skullcrush, who was a bit smaller with rippling muscles, over-sized paws, pure black. They had tons of followers, like Clawedeyes, Crowedheart, Fireflame, Icegrowl, Leechbite, Frostedgaze, and the strongest: Swordclaw, a white tom with amber eyes. He was the third-follower, who used to live in the forest, but found Death-bone. They talked for a while, with Eclipse spying on them, and heard Swordclaw say that he was 'dead'. So Death-bone got some of his rogue friends and attacked Swordclaw with sheathed claws, and the white male cat never came back to the Clan. They shed kittypet blood, and when the Clan cats came, they predicted that he was dead. Eclipse lived in kittypet gardens then, and watched the whole thing. She thought that it was cruel to leave a good life like that, kill the poor kittypets, hurt town-cats, leave his family, and pretend. It was all a joke. Narrowing her eyes, she added crossly, "What do you want?" Her teeth grid, her amber eyes stared at him with equal hostility.

[Winterfrost]

Twistedpaw...

Fur bristling, Twistedpaw jerked his body out of his stance and anyway from the furry orange-and-black-wall-of-a-cat he'd ran into. A hybrid of a hiss and a snarl rose from inside his chest and escaped past his teeth in a satisfactory rumble. His claws were instantly unsheathed, the feeble and useless one on his front paw feeling like it was glowing in a neon light, shining so bright as if to show the rogue his talisman of how much strength and courage he contained. The fur along his spine, neck, and tail was prickled and stiff from anger at the rogue. Stupid she-cat! he thought, flexing his uncover claws. What did she think it was doing, coming here into GaleClan like it belonged? Like she was part of the Clan? No! No stupid rogue would not gain the best of Twistedpaw! Because he was a Clan cat and he had more strength in one of his paws than this she-cat had in her whiskers! He was the strongest apprentice there was in his Clan, and he knew that he would also be the best warrior, even though he had the worst possible mentor as a teacher. His muscles were strong and thick, especially the ones on his shoulders, perfect for having powerful blows in battle. At the thought he flexed his shoulders and the muscles underneath his fur rippled in response, showing his potential strength to the rogue in front of him. His pelt, which was a mixtures of different shades of brown, gray, tawny, black, and white, was puffed up to much, making Twistedpaw look two times his normal size, much to his content. When the she-cat spoke, Twistedpaw felt the irritation peak higher within his blood and body. Hi? His mind hissed at her words, gripping and ungripping at his thoughts like his claws were doing to the ground beneath them, ripping up the grass into shred till there was only mud under his paws. He was bristling with annoyance and anger and the only thing she could say was hi? The meager idiot! She should be rolling onto her belly to show submission to him. After all, he had the upper-paw in this situation. And what do you want? Was she that stupid? Twistedpaw was beginning to think that his cat was dimmer than Summerfeather. Naw, not as dumb as Summerfeather. She's off the scale in that league. A wicked grin twisted on the apprentice's face at that thought and it seemed to rise his spirits up a bit.

Lips curled back over curved fangs and teeth, he spat in the she-cat's face, hoping that some of his spit landed on her muzzle,"Hi? Don't say hi to me! You're a rogue and you're on my Clan's territory! And Clan cats are rough and vicious, in case you did not know." He dug his claws into the ground once more for empathize on what his words were trying to convey to her. "And 'what do I want', you ask?" He laughed but it was a humorless laugh and showed far too much teeth to be friendly. "What I want is for you to get off my Clan's territory... or you'll have to suffer the consequences. So I suggest you just stuff that tail of yours between your legs and get out of here before I have your ears as a trophy." He swatted a paw at her face, barely missing it by only a whisker. He hoped that she would listen to him and run; he wasn't in the mood to have to take a rogue she-cat back into camp as prisoner. But if that's what it came down to doing, he'd do it by force, even if she fought against him. Sizing her up with his sea-green eyes, Twistedpaw guessed that she wasn't much of a fighting type of cat. Her legs looked scrawny, her shoulder muscles were slim under her tortoiseshell marked fur, and her soft, round mustard coloured eyes didn't seem like the kind that could hold anger in them. It'd be fun to beat her up before she ran off though. Twistedpaw's claws itched to rank across her flank. Serves her right for invading GaleClan territory!

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//OOC: The second paragraph was four times as long but then my browser backspaced so I lost all my work. /sigh/

[Timberpaw]

Eclipse stared at him, hostility burning in her stomach, melting all of her feelings. This cat was obviously stronger than she was, but Eclipse wasn't backing down without a fight. No, she would just look weak, and he would get to tell his family how he beat her, or he might even lie and say to them that he killed her. Eclipse knew of tooth and claw, how to use them of course, but she rarely unleashed her power, so she was pitifully horrible at it. The evil gang of cats told her to unite with them, but she had refused. They nearly killed her, but that was forever ago, many seasons put past, and all of the scars had healed. They were called BloodGang, the leader Death-bone. Shivering away from the frightening past, she concentrated her yellow gaze upon the tawny colored cat. He was still young, but looked so strong. She shuddered once more by his looks. He looked so close to Death-bone that it seemed like she was staring at the town leader right now, cowering in fear. Blinking away the thought, she narrowed her eyes in the darkness, staring into his sea-green eyes. She heard his meow, and was almost shocked by it. A Clan? What in the name of "StarClan" was a Clan? Was it like a Gang? Maybe. But I don't think he'd be to welcomed if I asked him. His really rude for such a young cat. He's acting like a side-kick, ordering me around like I'm a kit-be! her mind snarled at her. She ripped blades of grass under his claws, shredding them into a pulpy mush. Growl upon her lips, Eclipse snapped, "You'd better not be ordering me around, kit! I'll claw your eyes out and rip them from you! I'll feed you chokecherries if you're not careful! Take a step back, kit-be. I'm not doing no harm. You're the one that's causing all of the trouble! And what consequences would than be, you piece of rat meat? A wittle scratch upon my swoulder? A Clan, mmm, so you speak of? I do not understand what you mean, forest cat."

Talking a small step forward, she realized that she was shaking. Eclipse's paws were trembling all over, her whiskers twitching as she stared down at him. Did he really think that he could beat her? She looked down at his unsheathed claws, and saw how horribly long they were. They looked like they were re-enforced by dog teeth, but they weren't. Eclipse was almost scared out of her pelt, but she reminded herself not to think about what he said, or what damage he could to to her. "My ears as a trophy?" She cackled evilly, ears pinned on her skull. She hissed, "Bring it on, you scrap of meat. An older she-cat like me can beat a hardy tom like you. You think that you're all tough. Well you're wrong! I'll shred your skin until you're strips!" Gritting her teeth angrily, she knew that there was no time to lose. Bunching up her muscles, she leaped into the air, long legs scrambling in nothingness, aiming herself for the brown, black, beige, and golden tom. Stupid kitten! She landed squarely on his back, hoping that she would knock him to the forest floor.