Post by Dragon on Aug 11, 2009 20:12:58 GMT -5
Shrewstar padded from the swallowing darkness of his cold stone den. His almost sickly looking amber eyes were shadowed by the lack of light. He could feel the warm air on his thick gray pelt. The tom raised his muzzle slowly to look over the plainly lit camp. But as his eyes did the day before he sought out the lovely face of Fawnstep a warrior moons younger then himself. Despite her bountiful youth and energy he was drawn to her as if she completed him.
The solid gray tom took a steady paw-step forward. His body went rigid as if the sunlight burned his skin like hot fire. Shrewstar shook away the nauseating feeling away and strode into the clearing. The ground was moist and squelched beneath his pads even though the boiling sun glared down at them with a vengeance. His spine began to feel bothered and hot as the sun attacked the flat surface.
With his knowing he began to notice younger warriors and apprentices skitter away from him as he passed. Fear glazed their pitiful expressions. He bared his yellowing teeth at them and enjoyed the terror in their eyes as they deported from his presence at an urgent speed. A wicked smile shaped the contours of his evil face, he could nearly laugh, but the humor in him was gone and would be lost. His lack of emotion stole the smile from his face. The leader's grimace deepened as he saw the pathetic pile of prey.
"Froglegs!" Shrewstar bellowed with exaggerated fury, his tail bristled to twice its size. His wild eyes flicked from place to place, it seemed like all the cats had run for their worthless lives. "Where are you!" Owlstar's brother whirled around and set upon the nearest soul, a sad excuse for an apprentice, Honeypaw. He looked her over, he admitted she was a gorgeous she-cat but she was scrawny and almost sickly thin. He took pity on the tiny thing and the bare edge of his voice was taken down. "Where is he!?" The apprentice flinched but didn't relinquish her steady stare.
Honeypaw cocked her ears forward and she suddenly seemed more confident in herself as she stared at her cruel leader. "He went hunting, sir." There are a point of sarcasm in her voice at the last word. Her golden nose twitched as she scoped up a slightly damp thrush from the pile and plucked the feathers from its well fed body.
Shrewstar grunted in acknowledgment but he felt proud of the thin apprentice for being confident around such a defiant foe. He whipped around around and he saw the flick of a bushy gray in the shade of the warrior's den. "Graycloud! Get your fat rump out here!" He snapped sharply, his teeth grinding. The over-weight tom cat bustled out of the den his green eyes low to the ground. The leader bared his teeth at the cowardly warrior. He spat at Graycloud's paws before continuing. "Go round up a hunting patrol, you oaf! Or you'll be sleeping in the swamp!"
"Yes, s-sir!" Graycloud stuttered submissively and turned on his heels to the rest of the clan. As if turning his gaze away from his leader had lifted thousands of pounds from his shoulder he turned from fearful to over confident. He arched himself and stood as straight as his spine would allow. His booming voice began to burble in the back of his throat before he let it out. "ALRIGHT, YOU LOT OF LAZY TOADS! TIME FOR HUNTING! CHOP CHOP CHOP! SNOWFACE, DEERTAIL, AND WOLFMIST! GET YOUR USELESS HIDES OUT THERE!" The white chested tabby roared at the top of his lungs, and he watched with satisfaction as they jerked to attention at his powerful voice.
Shrewstar's claws curled into the ground against the grating noise. He boxed Graycloud's ears as if he was a naughty kit. "Could you be any louder, imbecile?" The gray tom snorted and padded past him toward Fawnstep who had sat through it as if nothing had happened. Her pretty Burmese face seemed to glow in the sunlight, and her crystal clear eyes seemed to have an extra twinkle that day. For the first time in moons his mouth curved up into a truly gentle and caring smile. The feeling was foreign to his face and he nearly shook himself to be rid of it. He could a cool sensation go through him as if butterflies fluttered in his stomach. His hazel eyes sought out Fawnstep's blue eyes. "Will you go hunting with me?" Shrewstar asked in a quiet voice, that contained no malice or pain.
Fawnstep looked up with placid surprise and gave him a serene smile of truthful pleasure. "I'd love to." She purred, before standing and giving a long stretch. The tip of her tapped his shoulder lightly before he sprung toward the entrance. Shrewstar watched her longingly, her dainty paws made it seem like she was walking on the cloud of the sky though there were none in the sky for lengths. He walked as if he were in a dreamland where everything was right. Where he didn't have a dying urge to control everyone. Where he would just be pleased with the simple things in life, like hunting with a loved one just for the joy of it.
Shrewstar pounced forward with the energy of a young apprentice toward Fawnstep. Her dark dark brown face glanced at him for a moment before they marched on through the sun dappled forest. Their path was clear due to the lack of undergrowth. Only an odd fern obscured their path, and each of their pawsteps met the ground in sync. The old leader felt his fur tug toward her until their pelts brushed one another delicately. Her creamy brown flank was less then a mouse-length away. He could smell her intoxicating sweet scent in his nostrils. It was as crisp as cool running water and as warm as the milk in the nursery. He didn't see the trees of scenery as they trotted at leisurely pace through the tepid wood. Nothing could drag his gaze away from her chocolate brown face. It was distracting as her agile tail as it stroked his spine sending tingles through his entire body.
He wondered if she felt the same flames lick her heart as he gazed on her with the most gentle of expressions. Never had his felt so whole and true with himself since he was nothing but a newborn with his eyes tightly shut and blocked away from the rest of the cruel and unforgiving world. Shrewstar hadn't realized where they were until his paw sank a mouse-length into reeking sludge that composed of rot and decay. The gray tom turned his face up to find himself staring into a slushy field of feathery fronds of horsetail and reeds. The entire place stank of plants that no longer lived and were spoiling beneath a thin layer of pure muck. He drew his damp paw away in disgust. Not being born into the clan he led, he had never come to like padding through a swamp without the Darkclan known partly webbed feet. "Let us hunt elsewhere from here, Fawnstep." Shrewstar meowed, flicking a glob of mud from the tip of his paw.
Fawnstep simply gaze him a delicate smile and a small nod of her head to point out she agreed. She had not spoken at all during the entire trip and Shrewstar mulled over the many possibilities. His first was that she feared him and did not want to spend her time in his company. It over ruled many of his over theories due to its cold truth with other cats. But he also wondered if she was just lost for words or to shy to speak with him. He had seen her before, she was very bubbly and talkative at the wrong moments mostly during clan ceremonies when everyone was already bursting from the seems trying not to speak. Shrewstar wished she was talk now, to hear the spirit in her lively voice and look at the blaze in her eye when she spoke with a passion that he had never seen in himself.
Swallowing his courage he came toward her, his hazel eyes glinting in the faint like, a weak drizzle descended upon them making his thick gray fur muggy and uncomfortable. "Fawnstep..."He started, "Why don't you speak to me? Do you loath me like my brother or fear me like your cowardly clan mates." His voice was steady but despite his nerve his voice cracked at the last word almost regretting what he said. But he had to know what was going to be, how she felt,what she thought of him.
Fawnstep's blue eyes closed for a moment, and he could hear her breath in the cool air. Her eyes opened again, they seemed moist and emotional. Her brown tail curled around his neck in a gentle gesture of affection. She brought her face close to her sinister leader, the warrior's sweet breath brushed against his face. She could smell him, as well, she wondered weather she could get the words out before she was lost in though in his deep hazel eyes. "How can I speak when I'm staring into the eyes of one I love..." Fawnstep whispered seductively, her breathing was picking up pace in the intensity of the moment.
Shrewstar's breath was caught in his throat his mind reeled so violently he stumbled backwards. His yellow eyes were bright with surprise, he couldn't believe it. She loved him. He heard it with his own ears. She didn't hate or fear him like his adversaries. Never had he felt such a sensation of delight, not even when it was whimpering kit could he recall it. The tom cat felt himself quivering, of all the sick twisted things he had done, he had eaten kits, killed family, and crippled foes for life. But despite it all, the one he had devoted himself to delighted in his presence and yearned for his touch. She loved him. A croaky whirr came from his throat that hadn't bothered him for to many moons to count came to him. A purr to rusty to even be defined as a loving sound. Shrewstar lifted his head and smiled at her.
"Do you mean it?" Shrewstar asked with a quaver in his low voice. It seemed so immature that he sounded so young and fearful of the world. But he needed to know for sure so he didn't put what little was left of his soulless body into loving and protecting her just to be crushed. He approached her with lost passion filling his eyes.
Fawnstep smiled sweetly and gave her head a single nod. The tip of her brown tail stroked his shoulder lovingly. Her eyes seemed to welling up with tears of happiness. As if she had finally realized that her life was coming together when she came to notice her leader's soft side.
Shrewstar blinked stupidly and he came closer to her and without knowing it the gray cat buried his face in her delicious smelling fur. It tickled his face but he took no notice to it. For the first time in his life he felt tears rolling down his already wet fur. In the path of the blissful tears dark streaks followed them. He could feel her tender touch between his ears as she licked him like a mother would before he had left her and his family.
The she-cats muzzle brushed past his ear as a droplet of rain rolled down the side of his head. "We should hunt now, my dear." She purred softly. Her voice was a softhearted whisper that carried her undying passion for life and the world around her. Even though at times she was soft of a mother squirrel that scurried just out of paw's reach as it scampered up a tree to respond the the chatter of a her little ones. But right now Shrewstar didn't mind that at all right now, all he could feel was the pounding in his chest.
"Yes... Let us hunt." The leader nodded and began to focus on his clan again but as soon as he did a painful grimace came face that caused Fawnstep to look at him in confusion as the sudden change on emotion. His tears had stopped flowing, though the dark streaks remained on his face. The only sign of affection he gave was a kindly stroke of his tail down her cheek, followed by a tranquil smile that lasted a little less then a second. Then, the hard expression wore away at his face as water dripped drunkenly off his thick absorbing pelt.
The solid gray tom took a steady paw-step forward. His body went rigid as if the sunlight burned his skin like hot fire. Shrewstar shook away the nauseating feeling away and strode into the clearing. The ground was moist and squelched beneath his pads even though the boiling sun glared down at them with a vengeance. His spine began to feel bothered and hot as the sun attacked the flat surface.
With his knowing he began to notice younger warriors and apprentices skitter away from him as he passed. Fear glazed their pitiful expressions. He bared his yellowing teeth at them and enjoyed the terror in their eyes as they deported from his presence at an urgent speed. A wicked smile shaped the contours of his evil face, he could nearly laugh, but the humor in him was gone and would be lost. His lack of emotion stole the smile from his face. The leader's grimace deepened as he saw the pathetic pile of prey.
"Froglegs!" Shrewstar bellowed with exaggerated fury, his tail bristled to twice its size. His wild eyes flicked from place to place, it seemed like all the cats had run for their worthless lives. "Where are you!" Owlstar's brother whirled around and set upon the nearest soul, a sad excuse for an apprentice, Honeypaw. He looked her over, he admitted she was a gorgeous she-cat but she was scrawny and almost sickly thin. He took pity on the tiny thing and the bare edge of his voice was taken down. "Where is he!?" The apprentice flinched but didn't relinquish her steady stare.
Honeypaw cocked her ears forward and she suddenly seemed more confident in herself as she stared at her cruel leader. "He went hunting, sir." There are a point of sarcasm in her voice at the last word. Her golden nose twitched as she scoped up a slightly damp thrush from the pile and plucked the feathers from its well fed body.
Shrewstar grunted in acknowledgment but he felt proud of the thin apprentice for being confident around such a defiant foe. He whipped around around and he saw the flick of a bushy gray in the shade of the warrior's den. "Graycloud! Get your fat rump out here!" He snapped sharply, his teeth grinding. The over-weight tom cat bustled out of the den his green eyes low to the ground. The leader bared his teeth at the cowardly warrior. He spat at Graycloud's paws before continuing. "Go round up a hunting patrol, you oaf! Or you'll be sleeping in the swamp!"
"Yes, s-sir!" Graycloud stuttered submissively and turned on his heels to the rest of the clan. As if turning his gaze away from his leader had lifted thousands of pounds from his shoulder he turned from fearful to over confident. He arched himself and stood as straight as his spine would allow. His booming voice began to burble in the back of his throat before he let it out. "ALRIGHT, YOU LOT OF LAZY TOADS! TIME FOR HUNTING! CHOP CHOP CHOP! SNOWFACE, DEERTAIL, AND WOLFMIST! GET YOUR USELESS HIDES OUT THERE!" The white chested tabby roared at the top of his lungs, and he watched with satisfaction as they jerked to attention at his powerful voice.
Shrewstar's claws curled into the ground against the grating noise. He boxed Graycloud's ears as if he was a naughty kit. "Could you be any louder, imbecile?" The gray tom snorted and padded past him toward Fawnstep who had sat through it as if nothing had happened. Her pretty Burmese face seemed to glow in the sunlight, and her crystal clear eyes seemed to have an extra twinkle that day. For the first time in moons his mouth curved up into a truly gentle and caring smile. The feeling was foreign to his face and he nearly shook himself to be rid of it. He could a cool sensation go through him as if butterflies fluttered in his stomach. His hazel eyes sought out Fawnstep's blue eyes. "Will you go hunting with me?" Shrewstar asked in a quiet voice, that contained no malice or pain.
Fawnstep looked up with placid surprise and gave him a serene smile of truthful pleasure. "I'd love to." She purred, before standing and giving a long stretch. The tip of her tapped his shoulder lightly before he sprung toward the entrance. Shrewstar watched her longingly, her dainty paws made it seem like she was walking on the cloud of the sky though there were none in the sky for lengths. He walked as if he were in a dreamland where everything was right. Where he didn't have a dying urge to control everyone. Where he would just be pleased with the simple things in life, like hunting with a loved one just for the joy of it.
Shrewstar pounced forward with the energy of a young apprentice toward Fawnstep. Her dark dark brown face glanced at him for a moment before they marched on through the sun dappled forest. Their path was clear due to the lack of undergrowth. Only an odd fern obscured their path, and each of their pawsteps met the ground in sync. The old leader felt his fur tug toward her until their pelts brushed one another delicately. Her creamy brown flank was less then a mouse-length away. He could smell her intoxicating sweet scent in his nostrils. It was as crisp as cool running water and as warm as the milk in the nursery. He didn't see the trees of scenery as they trotted at leisurely pace through the tepid wood. Nothing could drag his gaze away from her chocolate brown face. It was distracting as her agile tail as it stroked his spine sending tingles through his entire body.
He wondered if she felt the same flames lick her heart as he gazed on her with the most gentle of expressions. Never had his felt so whole and true with himself since he was nothing but a newborn with his eyes tightly shut and blocked away from the rest of the cruel and unforgiving world. Shrewstar hadn't realized where they were until his paw sank a mouse-length into reeking sludge that composed of rot and decay. The gray tom turned his face up to find himself staring into a slushy field of feathery fronds of horsetail and reeds. The entire place stank of plants that no longer lived and were spoiling beneath a thin layer of pure muck. He drew his damp paw away in disgust. Not being born into the clan he led, he had never come to like padding through a swamp without the Darkclan known partly webbed feet. "Let us hunt elsewhere from here, Fawnstep." Shrewstar meowed, flicking a glob of mud from the tip of his paw.
Fawnstep simply gaze him a delicate smile and a small nod of her head to point out she agreed. She had not spoken at all during the entire trip and Shrewstar mulled over the many possibilities. His first was that she feared him and did not want to spend her time in his company. It over ruled many of his over theories due to its cold truth with other cats. But he also wondered if she was just lost for words or to shy to speak with him. He had seen her before, she was very bubbly and talkative at the wrong moments mostly during clan ceremonies when everyone was already bursting from the seems trying not to speak. Shrewstar wished she was talk now, to hear the spirit in her lively voice and look at the blaze in her eye when she spoke with a passion that he had never seen in himself.
Swallowing his courage he came toward her, his hazel eyes glinting in the faint like, a weak drizzle descended upon them making his thick gray fur muggy and uncomfortable. "Fawnstep..."He started, "Why don't you speak to me? Do you loath me like my brother or fear me like your cowardly clan mates." His voice was steady but despite his nerve his voice cracked at the last word almost regretting what he said. But he had to know what was going to be, how she felt,what she thought of him.
Fawnstep's blue eyes closed for a moment, and he could hear her breath in the cool air. Her eyes opened again, they seemed moist and emotional. Her brown tail curled around his neck in a gentle gesture of affection. She brought her face close to her sinister leader, the warrior's sweet breath brushed against his face. She could smell him, as well, she wondered weather she could get the words out before she was lost in though in his deep hazel eyes. "How can I speak when I'm staring into the eyes of one I love..." Fawnstep whispered seductively, her breathing was picking up pace in the intensity of the moment.
Shrewstar's breath was caught in his throat his mind reeled so violently he stumbled backwards. His yellow eyes were bright with surprise, he couldn't believe it. She loved him. He heard it with his own ears. She didn't hate or fear him like his adversaries. Never had he felt such a sensation of delight, not even when it was whimpering kit could he recall it. The tom cat felt himself quivering, of all the sick twisted things he had done, he had eaten kits, killed family, and crippled foes for life. But despite it all, the one he had devoted himself to delighted in his presence and yearned for his touch. She loved him. A croaky whirr came from his throat that hadn't bothered him for to many moons to count came to him. A purr to rusty to even be defined as a loving sound. Shrewstar lifted his head and smiled at her.
"Do you mean it?" Shrewstar asked with a quaver in his low voice. It seemed so immature that he sounded so young and fearful of the world. But he needed to know for sure so he didn't put what little was left of his soulless body into loving and protecting her just to be crushed. He approached her with lost passion filling his eyes.
Fawnstep smiled sweetly and gave her head a single nod. The tip of her brown tail stroked his shoulder lovingly. Her eyes seemed to welling up with tears of happiness. As if she had finally realized that her life was coming together when she came to notice her leader's soft side.
Shrewstar blinked stupidly and he came closer to her and without knowing it the gray cat buried his face in her delicious smelling fur. It tickled his face but he took no notice to it. For the first time in his life he felt tears rolling down his already wet fur. In the path of the blissful tears dark streaks followed them. He could feel her tender touch between his ears as she licked him like a mother would before he had left her and his family.
The she-cats muzzle brushed past his ear as a droplet of rain rolled down the side of his head. "We should hunt now, my dear." She purred softly. Her voice was a softhearted whisper that carried her undying passion for life and the world around her. Even though at times she was soft of a mother squirrel that scurried just out of paw's reach as it scampered up a tree to respond the the chatter of a her little ones. But right now Shrewstar didn't mind that at all right now, all he could feel was the pounding in his chest.
"Yes... Let us hunt." The leader nodded and began to focus on his clan again but as soon as he did a painful grimace came face that caused Fawnstep to look at him in confusion as the sudden change on emotion. His tears had stopped flowing, though the dark streaks remained on his face. The only sign of affection he gave was a kindly stroke of his tail down her cheek, followed by a tranquil smile that lasted a little less then a second. Then, the hard expression wore away at his face as water dripped drunkenly off his thick absorbing pelt.
