The pads of Patchpelt's feet were sore, but it had been well worth it. Her little band had made it home safely. Her sleek, glossy coat was damp with sweat and rain, but Patchpelt didn't mind because she was in such good shape. The journey had been better for her than she really knew. It had made her think like a true warrior, protecting her little clan, and making decisions that were anything but easy. It had also put more meat on her bones, as well as the others too.

It hadn't truly hit her how bad of shape the clan had been in when she left, but returning now she could see it in the dull, defeated gazes of wandering warriors. Kits played near the nursery and Patchpelt felt a surge of emotions run through her. I have to save them.

Trotting off to speak with Eaglestar, Patchpelt bunched her powerful muscles and leapt to the top of the great rocks to her leader's den. Pausing in respect, Patchpelt yowled, "Eaglestar! I have important news for you!"

Stretching in glorious relief, Redpaw stalked into camp with his head held high. He had grown quite a bit on the journey that had taken many moons. He knew that he was a warrior, even if his name was that of an apprentice. On the journey, he had shown his positive qualities many times: jumping to Lilac's aid without hesitation, protecting the she-cats from the dog attack, and the few other minor details.

As cats greeted them, Redpaw felt like he actually belonged. Another thing he had learned on the journey was when to open his maw or keep it closed, though he still struggled with that. Dipping his head to Hawkmask, Redpaw frowned. Every cat seemed skinny as a twig. The mice we caught were bigger than those new kits, he thought sadly.

When a bold, white tom walked up to him, Redpaw stared at him with bored amber eyes. Flicking an ear to the side, he gave a sarcastic look. Who is this? he wondered as he tried to remember the tom's name. Snowkit maybe. Mentally nodding his head, Redpaw remembered the tinny wimp. "You have your apprentice name yet, kit?" Redpaw asked a bit harshly. Guess I need a little more work than I first thought.

Meanwhile, Firtail brightened when he heard the familiar purr of Hawkmask's soothing voice. His tawny-gold pelt had dulled considerably in the past few moons. Even with his hunting help, the clan was slowly starving. Yet he made sure to clean it twice a day to keep his ebony rosettes distinct for him to blend with the foliage. "I would love to go hunting with you," Firtail made sure to purr the last part as he teasingly flicked his tail-tip over her nose.

Arching his back, Firtail let out a glorious yawn as he reached forward with a forepaw. Licking his chops, he meowed, "What do you think they have to say? Patchpelt took off like a rabbit to Rainst-" He stopped as saddness flooded him. She won't know about Eaglestar. None of them will. Or Falconwing. Looking at the gathered cats, Firtail was struck again by how different the cats were in the clan.

Though, he could spot the kin. Shadowpaw was the striking, grayscale image of his mother and Littlepaw her father. Poor, poor kits. Shaking his head, Firtail nudged Hawkmask gently on the shoulder. "Why don't we ask Grayheart and Painfullpaw to join us," Firtail asked. "It would be good for them. Grayheart just lops around here and Painfullpaw misses having a mentor."

OoC: So amazing! <3 I love your writing, Stray. ^.^

BiC

Dipping his head to Thistlestorm, Windprint, and Larkpaw, Swiftdarkness prayed to StarClan that their patrol would be quick and safe. Dusk was coming and, having become the deputy, Swiftdarkness had decided that earlier patrols would be safer than having later. He wanted the best for his clan, yet he didn't know how he could accomplish this with the starvation. The snow was melting, but the frost was holding the forest in deadly clutches. It left many warriors cold in their nests at night and morning.

The lost of Sunflare, a seemingly healthy, young tom, had been horrifying. Swiftdarkness still remembered the day his cold form had been found. Lifeless and emaciated, Sunflare had made an ultimate sacrifice for the clan. The tom had given up his food for others, and it had cost him his life. Such a brave and noble warrior, he thought fondly. His own stomach wrenched with hunger pangs.

A commotion drew his attention to the entrance to the camp and Swiftdarkness felt a thrill of emotions run through him. Standing tall and sleek, Shadowpaw stood in the gathered cats that he had thought to have lost. But all of them looked safe, better than safe really with their fit forms and glossy coats. A rumbling purr erupted from deep in his heart to pour out his throar as his kit - no his warrior came to him. His lovingly, playful nudge almost had Swiftdarkness tumbling to the ground, but the old warrior held strong. "Oh, Shadowpaw, you've come back to me," Swiftdarkness rasped as he licked one of Shadowpaw's slightly torn ears. My kit, my beautiful kit.

Glancing behind Shadowpaw, Swiftdarkness knew that his sapphire eyes shone with pride at the sight of his youngest kit still hale and hearty. How proud I am of you, Shadowpaw. I don't even know what words to say. You've kept your sister alive, and that was no simple task with Littlepaw, and you brought her home with you.

Sobering when Shadowpaw delightfully asked for his mother, Swiftdarkness felt the empty void in his chest grow. His eyes became deadened, and he sadly noted that his kit had the same ex
pression. Too young, are you, for that look. Licking his lips, Swiftdarkness hung his head shamefully. "She loved you so much, Shadowpaw," the ebony warrior whispered hoarsely, "don't you ever forget that. Falconwing has-" a lump choked him, but he continued, "She watches over us through StarClan, Shadowpaw. She died in honor, protecting her clan and loved ones."

Grief filled him again as Swiftdarkness relived the sight of Falconwing's lifeless, mangled body. She had been so youthful and vibrant when they were younger, but the harshness of the world has broken her tender soul. For that, Swiftdarkness hated it but continued to live. He lived to better the life of his clan, selfishly for his kits. Though, looking into Shadowpaw's eyes, Swiftdarkness knew that he had already failed.

Nodding Hawkmask smiled. "That sounds good." she stated and smiled. "I'll go find Painfullpaw. You can find Grayheart. We'll meet back here." she stated and padded to find the apprentice. Spotting Panthergaze she smiled lightly at him and went off to find the mute apprentice. Spotting him she prodded his side and he looked up. "Would you like to join Firtail maybe grayheart and I in a hunting patrol?" she asked as she smilled. Seeing the toms ex
pression he got up and nodded. Noding she motioned for him to follow.

 Painfullpaw followed and waited with Hawkmask. He didn't mind being near the she cat for she rarely ever shivered at his looks. The only time she ever did in shock was when she had seen his scars as a kit. He knew Hawkmask had been fooled by his fathers kindness and it probably shocked all the clan when he was almost killed. He hadn't been able to save his littermates when the attack had happened. He promised to never live his hugest failure down.

 Snowkit sighed. "Not yet. I think everyone still thinks I'm a new born. Mouse doung. I'm older then my two littermates. And they're 7 moons." he stated in a snarl. Hearing the tom who he had learned was Tarnocht chuckle he glared slightly to the ground. I'll ned to see if Mistsoul has an idea that could help me. I will get rid of you Tarnocht. He thought and hissed at the black tom. Looking up he stared at Redpaw like the tom was the same age as him. "Falconwing has died. I thought you should be informed." he stated and sighed. "I must be off." he stated and padded away from the older tom. Heading to where he knew Mistsoul would probably be. Poking his head in he breathed in the scents. "Mistsoul? Are you here?" he asked as he kept himself ready incase Nightfall was in a snppy mood. Or Gentleheart for that matter. She seemed to be rather snappy just like his mother Emeraldrain. Tarnocht certainly had told him to just kill the old broad and get it over with. But Snowkit knew better. And defied the tom.

 Shaking the snow off of his black pelt, Blackwolf padded grouchily after his apprentice and snarled. "Hurry up and find something Featherpaw. Or I'll call you Featherkit again" he spat and went off to find a mouse or thrush. As he spotted Panthergaze and Starpaw. Two toms he wanted dead more then anything. "Oh look. The loners are with eachother agian. What a coincidence. I'm surprised Hawkmask isn't tagging along with you. Oh right. She went after another tom. And sadly...it's not me. You two sicken me. Loners. What's wrose is that I have to see you both everyday. And the scrawny cat become a warrior. How pathetic. Starpaw you're so small you couldn't even catch a mouse if you're life depended on it." he snarled and padded out of the bushes. These cats made his blood boil and wanted to tear their throats.

 Name: Hawkkit -Shatteredkit- (Shatteredpaw) {Shatteredrose}

Nicknames: Dead foot, stump

Age: 16 moons

Position: Warrior

Gender: She-cat

Birthplace: FireClan

Residence: IceClan

The Appearance:

Eye Color: Shallow light blue

Coat Color: Very deep ginger tabby

Scars: Torn ear, lost foot, other pelt scars

Distinguishing Features: The dark pelt color, lost paw, torn ear. 

http://th02.deviantart.net/fs51/300W/f/2009/269/1/3/Hawkfrost_by_Fiercesoul.jpg

 The Personality:

Loves: Her Clan,

Likes: the smell of horsetail

Dislikes: Being disabled and teased because of it, not being able to hear from her left ear

Secret(s): My father is Nightclaw of FireClan, and my sisters aren’t related to me

Weaknesses: Fighting, swimming, hunting, hearing from the left side of her, running

Strengths: Sharp toung, free living almost :P

Pet Peeves: not being able to run

The Other:

Scent: Dried leaves from fall

Crush: -Open-

Family: Father:  Nightclaw Mother: Jayflight

Mate: Uh, no.

Offspring: No thank you…?

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:R32Px5lWQvASHM:http://www.freewebs.com/moonstar-sunstar/Honeypaw.jpg&t=1 

  Name:  / Larkspur

 The Basics:

Additional Information: Vengeful, full-scale planning type. Brilliant cat actually. But uses it for the wrong reasons. 

ooc; Fail.....  

 Rosepaw looked up at her mentor, her crystal colored eyes smoldering with grief, "It is okay." she choked out, her mouth feeling as dry as ever. "Can... Can we train now?" she asked quietly. Rosepaw missed her mother, but she knew she wasn't coming back. Ever.  Standing up, she brushed her smooth cream flecked rose pelt on her mentor's.  Tears streaming down her face.

Nightfall listened to Starpaw, " You have been coming along quite nicely," she meowed, "Are you sure you don't want to go out training with Windprint today?" He hasn't for quite some time now, every time I p*censored* Windprint he smells of worry.

Featherpaw's torn ears flicked, a bolt of lightning pain stabbed through her. "Right," she hissed, "I will then." Featherpaw don't mess this up! her voice meowed to her in her head. "I won't!"  she yowled out-loud.  Feeling her paw's begin to shake, she turned away from the nasty glare from her mentor. "I hate you." she hissed at him, all her anger flooding over her.

Stomping into the sand covered land, fear shook her to her tail tip. No.... she knew that her mentor had shreded her ear before, He may do it again. she thought. "I won't let him!" she hissed her voice shacking as she padded through the sodden snow. 

"I will be a better warrior... I will be!" she hissed flexing her long ebony claws into the sand mixed snow. Her crimson fiery eyes were burning with anger as she padded through the territory. Tasting the air, she smelt something like a shrew.  Spinning around quietly, she noticed the creature.  Leaping over and landing on it, she tore it to pieces, her Claws sinking deeply into the tiny creatures flesh, covering her paws caressed in blood.

OoC: Eklipse, you're post isn't fail. You posted much more than a one or two liner, so you should be proud. ^.^ I look to improve my posts more and more, but I don't call any of them fail. Well, except that one, remember? It was like one sentence long. Never doing that again. It's a little too late for me to post, so I will do it in the morning. Oh, and they are still in IceClan. I didn't think we could leave just yet to the new land because the other clans would be left behind. =/

Lilac stared at all the cats, trying to recognize their faces and scents. One, with the distant smell of a fresh forest breeze  stood out. He was so much taller, and his coat.... It was amazing! She trotted forward slowly, and kept herself lw, to show no harm. "'Scuse me, I'm Lilac, what's your name?"

Cheetahwind jumped a mile into the sky. "Who are you?" He hissed. The giant cat intimidated him, but he would fight to the death to save everyone else. He swished his tail threataningly.

OoC: Thanks Siri -blushes- but it's not that good.

BiC: From the very first moment his father spoke to him, Shadowpaw knew something was seriously wrong. Swiftdarkness looked slightly more ragged and a haunted look adorned his normally bright eyes. Even the gentle nudge of affection seemed to almost send the older cat tumbling, something that seemed surreal. Then he started to talk about his mother and the sense of dread swept through the black tom, who instinctively took a step back.The last words Swiftdarkness spoke sent claws into Shadowpaw's heart, shredding it until it almost ceased to beat. Letting out a breadth he did not realize he was holding, he laughed loudly, ears flat against his skull. 

"Thats...thats funny father." He meowed, voice wavering. "It almost sounded like you said mother was dead." Another chuckled broke through his throat, but it sounded hallow even to his ears. Staring at Swiftdarkness, he opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to make sense of the others toms words. He was lying, he had to be lying because he could not believe Starclan had the power to be even more cruel then they already had shown themselves to be. But how could they take Falconwing? She never hurt an cat, she was so lively and sweet. To him she was the light of the clan that made living every day so much more then just bearable.

It was then he realized tears were streaming down his cheeks, flattening the fur there and creating rivulets through his normally glossy fur. "She's really dead." He whispered to himself, legs suddenly giving out on him and he let his belly plop onto the ground. "Mothers really gone." Looking up, he tried to meet Swiftdarkness's eyes. "What..." He choked out. "What happened?"

---

Starpaw jumped as Nightfall spoke, fur on the back of his neck prickling with embarr*censored*ment. "Err, I could I guess." He sighed bitterly and walked closer to Nightfall so no other cat could hear him. Even though she she-cat was slightly sharp of tongue and hard to get along with at times, Starpaw trusted her over every cat except Panthergaze and Mistsoul. "I don't feel worthy to be Windprint's apprentice." He whispered, scuffling his paws. "I'm just going to humiliate him because I can't do anything a normal apprentice can do." Looking up, he blinked sadly. "I can't fight, i'm to slow and clumsy. Not to mention I bruise easier then most." He spat bitterly. "I can't hunt, seeing as I can't run more then a few steps without tripping over my own paws. What good am I to the clan?" He asked, hoping she could give him some answer. 

A part of Swiftdarkness broke when Shadowpaw laughed so heartlessly. He knew it wasn't at him or at the death of Falconwing, it was in denial. Utter disbelief that Falconwing had actually left this place to go to StarClan. He looked down at his stick-bone paws as tears burned in his eyes. They began to fall to the icy ground and Swiftdarkness watched as they couldn't even melt through to the soil. How funny, the ground is as frozen as my heart. His silent tears took too much effort for his weakened body, so the drops slowly ceased.

Swiftdarkness knew that it would take time for his kits to understand that their mother was gone. At times he couldn't believe that she was gone, often finding himself purring to her in the morning only to find her spot in his nest empty. Swiftdarkness knew that his heart had followed Falconwing to StarClan, but two pieces remained and he would love them until it was his time to join her. Until then he would fight for every breath for his kits.

"What...what happened?" Swiftdarkness heard Shadowpaw ask. Those were the words he feared the most. He didn't want to tell his son about how Falconwing had slowly lost her mind or how mutilated the monster had made her body. He wanted to keep this horrid knowledge to himself, to protect his kit, but he knew that Shadowpaw wouldn't stop until he knew. He would ask another warrior, and they would tell him. So he knew, deep inside, that it was best for him to tell his son.

Licking his lips, his mouth suddenly going dry, Swiftdarkness opened his mouth to speak then paused. Changing his mind, he whispered softly, "Here and now is not the time, Shadowpaw." Pressing his nose to his son's cheek, Swiftdarkness took in his scent, revealing in the fact that he was home and safe. "I will tell you the story when the sun is high tomorrow, and Littlepaw needs to hear it as well," he meowed. Then sternly added, "Don't ask others to tell you. I want to be the one, but for now let me love the two kits I thought were lost to me." Closing his sapphire eyes, Swiftdarkness rubbed his chin over Shadowpaw's head, even though his son had grown taller than he.

Pulling away slowly, he motioned with his tail for Shadowpaw to follow as Swiftdarkness loped awkwardly up to Littlepaw. Though she was still small like her name implied, the she-cat had grown as well. "Little one," he rasped, "I've missed you so!" Licking her cheek, Swiftdarkness pulled back to stare down into the eyes that would haunt him day and night. Just like her mothers, just like Shadowpaw's too. How he loved that Falcowing would be remembered in their eyes, yet it would be a daily reminder to him now of what he lost.

ooc; Just for the Sake of the Original DITF We should bump it up, just to say that It has been alive for a whole year. ~East and my Idea. Siri:: Thank you! And I do remember that mini post. It was cute! xD

bic;

Nightfall breathed deeply, as the cool breeze smoothed her black fur. Moving her head up to the sky, she meowed, "You make it so hard for me to answer, Starpaw." Pressing her black nose to his silver head, she murmured, "You will never be an emberas.sment... " Letting the words slide smoothly out of her mouth, she whispered. "I am the real embera.ssment." I am related to 2 murderers, and still can't tell the rest of the Clan, let alone my own sister! Lifting her head, she padded back into the herb den.

Checking over the stocks of herbs, just to make sure everything was in it's precise spot, she knew that the dream she had received from StarClan meant now. Gathering the broken leaf dust carefully with her back paws, she pushed it onto a aspen leaf, and wrapped it neatly with her paws. Sweeping the remains into a pile she dipped a leaf into a little pool of water and mixed it into the herb dust, making a sweet-smelling poultice. Nightfall scooped the mixture into a larger leaf, closing it tightly.

Feeling the refreshing slice of wind through her fur, she set the aspen leaf down in front of the small apprentice, and dropped the other leaf down in front of her paws. Breathing in she meowed, "Show me your spot in the Clan." Letting the sent of dried herbs seep into her nostrils,  she turned to him.

"Open the leaf wrap before you, and let the dust fly onto you." Taking a few steps back with her leaf wrap, she sat down and curled her black tail around her paws, Only one herb will be attracted to his fur Nightfall. Meowed a deep voice in her head, He will find where he belongs from this, then after. You know what to do. "I know." breathed Nightfall. The wind was blowing toward Starpaw, and she knew this would work out wonderfully.