tears of indigo [open]

[lyric ♫]

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[bg=080305] He waited, crouched within a short patch of still-green wheat, watching that large pool of water before him. The tom was thirsty, but dared not go there without knowing it was safe. No area in his clan territory felt as out in the open as the rock pond, which meant it was more dangerous. Not because of potential clan ambush, but because it was easier for birds of prey to pick off any cat that dared step near there. His tail tip flickered repeatedly and his ears swiveled, checking for the slightest unusual noise but all he heard were the noises of prey and the flow of water radiating from the pond. Not to mention that annoying sound of the thunderpath in the distance. His eyes narrowed, and he thought about what he would do for Spottedpaw's next lesson, which would happen that evening. He had leader responsibilities now, so his training schedule was slightly different than the other warriors. It seemed like moons before Spiderstar jutted himself up from his resting spot and approached the rock pond quite cautiously. He'd come here because he'd grown thirsty from the morning's duties, and the new heat of new-leaf didn't help much either. Especially with his long black fur, which conducted heat like bees produced honey. Cautiously still, he hunched over the pond's edge and began lapping up the water. It was murky, but then, what natural water source wasn't? In fact, he loved it. It gave the drink character. He was just glad he didn't have to deal with any fish here. As he lapped at the water, he wondered what BrookClan did if they got bit by a fish while they drank and then he silently chuckled at the amusing thought. He would've never been able to deal with it if he had to spend a single day in that dreadful place, suffering through the disgusting taste and slimy texture of fish. It took all of his might not to just gag at the thought. Then, a sound. Rustling from within a patch of greenery. Might as well, he thought, taking a silent step back from the pond. It must've been a vole, making its way toward the water for a drink. But when Spiderstar parted his maw to take in the prey-scent, he was shocked to discover that it was actually a crow. GoldenClan would be happy to receive one of those, not that they were rare at this time of year, but his clan absolutely loved the taste. He turned sideways and crouched, making sure to store almost all of his weight into his back legs. The crow came into view only a moment later, when it jumped out of the undergrowth and into the open. It proceeded to make its way toward the pond, dipping its beak and then swallowing each gulp of water as if it hadn't noticed the leader's presence at all. When Spiderstar became about a fox-lengths within reach, the crow jerked up and waited. It knew something was wrong and it was the perfect moment to strike. The crow took flight straight up, but the tom was ready for it. Using the strength that he'd stored in his back legs at the start of the hunt, he jumped and raked the crow with his claws, pulling it down to the ground with a thud; stunning it long enough for him to make the final killing bite to its neck. Never leaving his grip, he stood up with the crow dangling from his jaws. Victory was his, but then, that was no surprise. words: 599. muse: good. ooc: anyone is welcome. c:

[ϟlightningϟ]

As soon as Icefire saw the hunting stunt ended, her white fur burst into view. Her bi-colored eyes glittering with mischeif. "Nice form, Spiderstar! That crow will be one heck of a meal for a lucky warrior tonight!" she grinned. "This place is my favorite! I love the water here." a purr rose into her throat. Her once snowy white paws were now stained brown from the dust along with a few patched of her now off white body. "Man, I need a good groom! This dumb ol' dirt clings to me like a bee to honey!" she exclaimed. "Oh, and for that great hunting, I've got a treat for ya!" Icefire paused for affect. "You get to hang out with your favorite ex-apprentice, lil' ol' me!" the white she-cat said brightly, making it sound priceless. "And if you're nice, I won't pester you too much, no joke!" Icefire announced with a sly grin. "Bet that makes you feel quite lucky, eh, Spiderstar?" she said, jabbing him in the ribs with a light laugh. "Man, we should hang out more often! I haven't seen you in what seems like forever!" she said while doing a few goofy tricks to get a laugh out of the stern black tom. (Sorry for the short post, I felt like I was droning on in a convo all by my lonesome. XD)

[lyric ♫]

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[bg=080305] He chose a spot closer to the greenery to bury his kill, away from the water. If it decided to, not that it smelled like it would, but if it decided to randomly rain then he didn't want the pond to wash it away. If it did, he was not the type to go swimming after it like BrookClan could. Especially not after his terrifying kithood experience which involved water. He could barely stand the sight of the stuff ever since then. He'd just finished piling the dirt back over his crow when he heard yet another sound, this time not from prey but from cat. It was too big of a sound to be from a prey item. Judging by the smell, it wasn't threatening, however. His left ear flickered and he turned around to face the cat once she leaped out into the open. It was a fellow, rather annoying if you asked Spiderstar, GoldenClan warrior. 'This place is my favorite! I love the water here.' He lashed his tail outwards; same old Icefire. Just as hyper as ever. "Good for you, but as for me, I can't stand it. I only came here to grab a quick drink," he yawned out. "The crow just happened to get in my way, so I snatched it up for the clan." Of course, he did give thanks to StarClan for it. Regardless of his beliefs on politics and war, he believed in his great ancestors just the same as most warriors. And any warrior who didn't believe, he figured was just ignorant. He grunted, almost giving the impression that his breath might've even sent a puff of dust flying off of the ground. "Do what you want... No one said you couldn't hang around me," he murmured in a low tone, his fierce yellow eyes, almost flashing warmly for just a moment, never leaving the white she-cat's sleek figure, "Just know that I'm not going to groom your fur for you." The large black tom sat with his tail wrapped around his paws, the tip of it still twitching mind you. "Why are you even out here? If you're not assigned to any patrols, you should be taking advantage of this time to rest up," he meowed, of course with only one thing on his mind. "You never know when some cats might ambush us," he growled, referring to that clan he hated the most, which lie in wake across the stream's edge at the southern part of their territory. words: 420. muse: good. ooc: get over yourself, spiderstar.

[ϟlightningϟ]

"oh come on, Spiderstar!" Icefire said, seriousness creeping into her eyes. "You should be able to be yourself with me by now! We've known each other so long, it just seems right to." she said, nudging him affectionately. "And I never expected you to groom me, silly! I was making conversation! Plus, all it takes is a good shake to get this dust out!" before the warrior even finished her sentence, she was shaking herself violently to get the dust out of her medium length fur. At the end of all the shaking, her tail poofed out a d she was all snowy white again.

She paused to look around warily. " hmmm, I don't see any attacking cats. I'm out here for a run. Gotta stretch my muscles just in case!" the white warrior stretched her legs and grinned happily. "oh and I wasn't assigned to anything," she paused to sigh. "I honestly came out here to not only run, but check on you. You have been gone for a while...and....I was kinda worried. Icefire admitted, gazing at him uncharacteristic shyness. She now sat still in the same posture as Spiderstar, awaiting his response.

[lyric ♫]

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[bg=080305] Spiderstar had a look of certain amusement as he watched Icefire shake out her fur quite wildly. He had to admit, even he thought that her snow white pelt was beautiful. Like glistening snow in leaf-bare, it shone brightly against the sun. Not to mention those eyes, he thought, as his own golden orbs were drawn into hers. Any tom, he knew, would be lucky to get such a she-cat. If only they could put up with her random hyper activity. "That's why it's called an ambush! You don't see them until they attack," he chuckled out, surprised to find himself starting to have a good time listening to the she-cat. If he kept this up, he would surely fall in battle; the battle that was certain to come soon. He knew it was only a matter of time before both clans were all rested and prepared for the war to resume. Then a thought popped into his head, a thought that he'd never had before. Would he make a good father? Was it the right time for kits to even be in the nursery? He shook his fur out, trying to rid himself of such things. He became more alert as her voice suddenly changed from hyper to slow and sensitive. She was worried? He'd never had another cat say that to him before, not from anyone including his parents. Not even after he'd gone away to a battle with BrookClan and came home with fairly severe wounds. It was always just expected of him to be alright. "Don't be a mouse-brain," he growled bluntly, turning away from Icefire to face the rock pond with his back hunched. Since it had reached sunhigh, the water from the pond glistened brightly beneath it. He thought about going to take another drink but decided to wait, as he decided whether to continue this conversation or not. He had other things to do, after all. It was a good few moments of silence before Spiderstar started back up with a low voice, "But I'm not," he murmured. It was always hard for the tom to express his feelings to anyone, so he was unable to make eye contact with her from that point on. "I'm not alright, I mean," he clarified quickly, before she had time to ask what he was talking about which would've surely left him even more embarrassed. He groaned, looking up at the clouds and then away from Icefire's stare, trying to find the courage to continue speaking. "Icefire, I'm pretty damn confused to be honest," he growled quickly and stood up, pacing around in circles but making sure not to make eye contact with her. He told himself that he was talking to no one just so he could even continue. "My heart tells me this is a time for peace, but my body and soul tells me to fight!" he let out a long growl. After a couple more heartbeats, he stopped and sat back down with his body hunched over in that gargoyle way he liked to sit but still refused to make eye contact with the she-cat. "If Stripestar, that fox-dung, declares war then... I know I won't be able to refuse him." Spiderstar sighed, almost relieved to get that off of his chest, and then collapsed to his side and began licking his neck fur flat. He half hoped that Icefire would just ignore his irresponsible and most unleader-like worrying. words: 577. muse: good.

[ϟlightningϟ]

Icefire's eyes filled with surprise as he told her how he felt honestly. Of course it wasn't romantic feelings, no, the conversation was still on war. The she-cat didn't mind though. She was happy he was being honest at all. "Spiderstar, I believe Stripestar is feeling the same way as you are. I've been hoping the war wouldn't start again, but I too have a feeling that war will start again. Hopefully it won't last as long as the previous one though. And maybe this time we'll have allies to suffer along with. I would rather live in peace and fight only on occation, but I think I was destined to fight. That's....all I know. That's all any of us know. War and fighting, death and sorrow, and pointless hate. Truthfully, I'm tired. Tired of worrying about my comrades when I go into battle, tired of needing to train because I know we'll fight instead of training to keep in shape, tired of all of the hate. But, it's inevitable. I despize it, but there's nothing I can think of to stop it. If I do fight again in a long war, I hope it's for the last time." she sighed, ears drooping in defeat. Her shoulders sagged in an uncharacteristically tired way. "I'll do anything for my Clan though. Even fight to my last breath." Icefire finished, looking at Spiderstar with a sad smile. Her eyes were knowing and full of stories. Too knowing for such a young warrior.

[lyric ♫]

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[bg=080305] Spiderstar grimaced. He knew that a warrior's life was unpredictable. One could wake up in the morning full of laughter and friendship, but then go to sleep that same night and never wake up again. Heck, one of them could die right that second, in the middle of their conversation if a predator decided to attack. It wasn't uncommon for coyotes to visit their territory, hoping to snag one of the twolegs' chickens, then turn its attention towards the clan cats. But war was a different matter. Cats would die in war, and that was a fact. Had the clans strayed so far from the warrior code that they would even kill without mercy? He knew he would, for sure, and Stripestar also would. After all, they had before. His yellow eyes glistened with sorrow as he remembered one BrookClan cat, in particular, that he had slain. She was a smaller tabby she-cat, he'd remembered seeing a time or two beyond the streambed. What was her name? Littlebird... Littleface... no... Littlevole, that was it. She hadn't even seen him coming, which just made the memory all the more painful for him to bare. He wished he could take it back, but he couldn't. It was something that would likely haunt him for the rest of his nine lives, and probably even beyond that. He prayed that StarClan would still accept him into their ranks after everything was said and done, but then he wouldn't blame them if they didn't. "So... you would... follow me if war began again?" he asked slowly, finally turning to look the she-cat in the eyes. He certainly didn't like the way that she was talking, like she hoped the war would take her life if it resumed. Surely that couldn't have been what she was trying to say, right? He almost wanted to ask her, but was too afraid to express anymore worries on to her. It just wasn't in his personality to talk about things like that to anyone but his deputy or Finchclaw. The warm breeze picked up, ruffling the tom's longer fur along his tail and neck, but it felt rather good if he did say so himself. It also blew Icefire's scent right into his maw, and he was surprised by how delicious it was. It was a scent not soon forgettable to anyone that caught whiff of it, that was for sure. words: 402. muse: good.

[ϟlightningϟ]

"Of course!" Icefire replied immediately. There was no hesitation in her voice as she answered. The white she-cat smiled as the breeze ruffled her white pelt as well. She noticed the strange expression on Spiderstar's face and cocked her head to the side curiously. "Spiderstar, what're you thinking about that's making you make a face like that?" Icefire purred. She found it quite attractive the way he looked so thoughtful yet surprised. he's so cute!" she thought happily. The young warrior was glad to be able to see expressions other than distant or angry ones. I wonder what he thinks about me....I pester him so much, he ought to hate me... the mere thought of Spiderstar hating her made Icefire's facial features unconsciously crumbled in despair. Her ears drooped again, her thoughts depressing her.


The more she thought about her ex mentor hating her was one she was more than unable to bare. Her usually bright eyes darkened as she lost herself in her thoughts. Many of them were negative. And dragged her deeper into thought and uneasiness. Icefire's eyes shifted from her paws to Spiderstar, a question screaming from their depths. (wow, that was more poetic than I'd intended XD)