stars and lizards [ gorsefur + open ]

[Wren]

sagepaw

Cold. So cold.

Sagepaw didn't mind. Her fur was fluffed up against the early leafbare cold, green eyes fixed on the perforated sky. Little eyes of light, staring down at the mountain and all the territories. The bright green lizard she always saw was basking in the starlight on a rock, beady eyes fixed on her. She wasn't watching him, but she could see him out of the corner of her eye...

Aren't you tired, Sage? one of the voices whispered, still referring to her by her old name. Just Sage. It seemed like lifetimes ago that she fled the rock slide with a dying kit in her mouth, and then buried that kit at the base of the mountain.

She sat there, watching clouds drag themselves across the sky, grabbing stars and then letting them go. The sun had gone down a long time ago, it was all dark and beautiful. Outside the cave it was quiet and sweet-tasting, like honey.

"I'm not tired," she murmured to the voices after some consideration. I think you are... another voice hissed, the harsher of the group of voices. Sagepaw shook her head. She couldn't be tired. If she was tired, she'd have to sleep... She wasn't tired.

The lizard blinked. Sagepaw cast it a cripplingly cold glare and turned her head back to the stars.

[Jitt]

.xx starlingpaw.

"Ugh!" Blue-green eyes flew open and the young she-cat grunted in discomfort. One of the other apprentices had decided to stretch in their sleep and had managed to kick Starlingpaw in the ribs. She assumed it was Tallpaw, since he had the longest legs. She stood up and turned in her nest, so that her back was toward the other cat. She closed her eyes and tried to return to sleep, but it was no use. She stood again, slipped between the other sleeping cats, and poked her head out of the entrance of the apprentice's den.

She pushed her way out and immediately shivered, It was definitely almost leaf-bare. She yawned and ran in a little circle to get her blood circulating. Her eyes scanned the camp for any sign of movement. There! She lifted her nose and caught Sagepaw, her best friend's scent. She padded over to where she was and was just within hearing when she realized Sagepaw was talking to herself again.

She stopped and sat down quietly, patiently waiting for her to catch her scent. Sagepaw and Starlingpaw has been best of friends almost from the time Sagepaw arrived. Starlingpaw was one of the few cats who wasn't bothered whatsoever when Sagepaw had her.. moments. She found her simply fascinating. Especially her epilepsy. She was so close to Sagepaw that she could almost predict when she was about to have a spell.

[Ebony]

ooc: I'm going to write this in hopes of attracting Kuri to the topic with Tansypaw/heart. x)



Mouse in jaw, the young tom was just about to sneak away from the fresh-kill pile with a juicy midnight snack when he heard the sound of voices. Skirting the shadows near the cave's walls, he paused mid-step and perked his ears. Scanning the darkness of camp, the round tabby noticed Sagepaw, and not far off, Starlingpaw. Cautiously, he tiptoed deeper into camp, until he was sure the two she-cats wouldn't see him.

Shuffling along the wall, Gorsefur continuously cast furtive glances from side to side, until he was confident enough to cross the open, sandy ground to dart to the other side. The smell of sick cats and herbs became stronger, as did the sickly snores of the warriors in the medicine cat's den. Alert for any cat stirring, Gorsefur pressed closer, aware of the silvery moonlight's growing intensity.

Gulping, the young tom held his breath, glancing back at Sagepaw and Starlingpaw one last time before gingerly sitting the mouse down near the entrance. Body low and ears back, Gorsefur peered around the open hole of the den, eyes wide and hopeful. He resisted calling out with a hiss, hoping that it was Tansyheart to be drawn out by the tantalizing scent of a fresh mouse--and not some other cat.

[Wren]

sagepaw

The stars glittered indifferently as Sagepaw watched them, studying them silently. Whatever they were, ancestors of these cats or not, they were beautiful. Behind you! one of the voices, a she-cat, whisper-shouted. Sagepaw's ears angled back, and then her head swiveled over her shoulder, green eyes focusing on none other than Starlingpaw.

She flicked her tail in silent greeting, inviting Starlingpaw to join her stargazing. No, not her, the she-cat scoffed in her ear. The other one. Sagepaw's brow furrowed in confusion as she looked past Starlingpaw at the shadowy cave. Even with her eyes adjusted to the weak starlight, she couldn't see anything at first.

"There's no one there," Sagepaw said aloud, squinting in an effort to see who the spirits were talking about. And then the brown tabby the spirits saw slid into the light. Gorsepelt? Gorseheart? Gorsefur. What a silly name, the harsh tom spirit grunted impatiently.

"Gorsefur, that's right. But what is he doing near Tansyheart's den?" she murmured, voice muddled with confusion. There was a collective sigh from the voices, and Sagepaw's ears flattened slightly. She turned her gaze back to Starlingpaw, looking a bit miffed, but brushed it away.

"Why are you still up?" Sagepaw asked curiously, tilting her head to the side.

[Jitt]

starlingpaw!

Starlingpaw decided to be polite and not eavesdrop on Sagepaw's conversation with.. Herself? When Sagepaw spoke she flicked her tail on warm greeting, "Oh, Tallpaw kicked me, and once I was awake, I couldn't go back to sleep. I noticed you sitting out here so I wandered over." It was then that she noticed Gorsefur. She watched, head tilted slightly to the side, as he laid a plump mouse outside the medicine den. She smiled as she realized what he was doing. Tansyheart! At first her mind had slipped the fact that Tansyheart was medicine cat, and then she just assumed that the two were close friends. It was the more logical explanation.

At these thought, her mind immediately trickled back to Tallpaw. Her thought-train was lost for a moment, then she shook herself and returned to the present. "I think I could ask you the same though," she said softly to Sagepaw. "Why are you still up?" Her crooked ear swiveled backwards and she pretended not to notice Gorsefur. She instinctively slithered closer to the wall of the camp and rolled onto her back, staring at the stars.

She suddenly decided that this was probably the reason Sagepaw was out here. It was early leaf-bare, and it had been a long time since she had seen the sky this clear. Soon she would see her first snow, and she was secretly very excited about it. "I don't think I've ever seen the sky so clear." Then she glanced sideways at Sagepaw, "Have you ever seen snow?" Sagepaw was around the same age as Starlingpaw, but she didn't know a whole lot about Sagepaw's past.

[Kurali]

i just wanna hold your hand
stare at you like you've got everything i need
and i can
so i will


TANSYHEART !

Even with a few cats in StormClan suffering from minor sickness, Tansyheart couldn't stay awake. Sleep tugged at her paws, and she finally lay down in the nest that once belonged to Dawnfrost. Her mentor's death wasn't unexpected, judging from the way she had seemed to know it was coming, but it did come painfully. The tortoiseshell closed her eyes, and her tiredness caught up with her. Her sleep was light, and the dreams she had were confusing.

A sweet scent awoke her, and the dreams vanished. She didn't remember them, but somehow they felt familiar - like she had dreamed them before. Tansyheart took a deep breath, and the same smell that woke her up came to her. Actually, there were two scents. One was sweet, like a piece of prey, but the other was sweeter, if possible. Gorsefur. What was he doing outside her den? Why couldn't he just leave her alone?

Stretching silently, she wondered if he would come in her den. It tore her apart to know she wanted him to. Maybe they could talk about what was going on without the watchful eyes of their Clanmates. It was night, but still some cats wandered the camp. Tansyheart sighed. If he wouldn't come in, maybe it would be better to talk to him outside with fewer cats. During the day, the camp was alive with cats not on patrol, but at night it was calmer. Snorting at her inability to say no to him and his apparent lack of common sense to stay away from her, she came out of her den, greeted by Gorsefur and a mouse.

Part of her wanted to hiss at him to go away, but she couldn't. Tansyheart told herself it was only because there were other cats around. She spotted two apprentices, Sagepaw and Starlingpaw, talking. They were probably wondering what in StarClan's name Gorsefur was doing leaving a mouse at the mouth of her den. Couldn't he just have come in? Maybe they'd suppose that he was sick in some way.

"Hello," she whispered happily to him. Despite all her complaints, she could be happy to see him, couldn't she? Looking at the mouse, she added playfully, "I don't think you should leave your prey out on the ground."

Something still nagged at her, and she looked at the apprentices. Were they watching? Surely they'd notice the two of them together.

"Would you..." Tansyheart stopped, almost embarrased. "Would you like to come in?" She asked, gesturing back toward her den with her tail.

[Ebony]

The other she-cats made him hesitant, as if he could feel their eyes watching him, as if he knew that they knew he was prowling about. Gorsefur felt quite guilty about being secretive, but he was still feeling sore from his bout with Tansyheart before her ceremony. He felt as if he'd hurt her in some way, still not completely understanding why, and simply needed to know what he had done to make her break.

While his eyes were on Starlingpaw and Sagepaw, watching for any movement between the two that would suggest they knew his motives, Tansyheart's appearance from the medicine cat's den startled him. He leaped to his paws and twisted away, before he realized it was the cat he had been waiting for. Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Gorsefur relaxed and padded quickly to her side.

"Sorry," he said abruptly, picking the mouse up by it's skinny tail. "I didn't intend to come in," the young tom spoke between his teeth, "I was hoping I could stop skirting walls and walking in the shadows for once." Though calmed, his voice held a note of seriousness, a tone that suggested--for once--he would be able to talk formally with someone.

Swallowing the guilt that hung in his chest, Gorsefur looked away and held his tongue--thinking. The banter between Sagepaw and Starlingpaw came quiet, but he could make out their words with little effort. As the moments passed, the brown tabby looked back, tilting his head quizzically.

"Do I have to act as if being your friend is forbidden? I don't think it's said anywhere that a medicine cat is not allowed friends. You need companions just as well as any cat, if there is anyone that has a problem they should think twice about it." He nodded matter-of-factly, and sat the mouse down at her paws at last, shaking his head.

"I don't suppose you planned on eating the fur anyway. A little sand won't hurt it." He cleared his throat and picked up his head, looking away again. His eyes trailed down the cavern's floor, slowly drifting to the entrance where moonlight flooded the open ledge. The crisp air and refreshing breeze seemed to make everything glow silver, even more so than in greenleaf. Nights in leafbare, though cruel, undoubtedly made everything more beautiful.