~c.a.m.p~ {skyclan rocks the ridge!}

[frosty ♥]

Bravepaw's ears twitched as she answered and felt himself turn hot with embarressment. Whenever he was caught looking at or doing something with Silverpaw and another cat had seen or had noticed he would always feel embarressed.

The grey tomcat nodded his head and charged off but managed to throw his head over his shoulder to call, "thanks!"

And he was gone.

{{-MOVING BRAVEPAW TO THE RIDGE-}}

[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

"Yes, I know Inkpaw is always trying to impress Dreampaw" Ravenfeather answered calmly. "But...Well, I guess thats just how much he loves her. I know, you probably love her as much as he does, you just don't try to overwhelm her with tricks and showing off to her." Ravenfeather honestley didn't know exactly what to say, because he could tell Dreampaw was starting to like Inkpaw a little. "Maybe I could talk to Inkpaw" Ravenfeather finished, giving Cloupuff a sympathetic glance, then walking over to Azelealeaf again.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Cloudpuff nodded. He forced himself not to bristle with agitation as he saw Ravenfeather walk back to his sister. He settled down in front of Musicsoul's den again, awaiting the medicine cat's return back to Camp as he tried to avert his gaze from Ravenfeather and Azalealeaf, willing himself hard to not dash over there in defense for his sister -- again.

--x

Azalealeaf watched as the tomcat apprentice stalked off quickly, probably in pursuit of Silverpaw. She purred slightly as she looked around, seeing that Cloudpuff seemed more relaxed then he had been in the beginning of the day.

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[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

Ravenfeather stopped when he was halfway over to Azelealeaf; he knew Cloudpuff would be upset with him. He decided to go to the warriors den to take a shart nap.

He opened his eyes and was in a forest, near the ridge, but everything seemed to be glowing. Ravenfeather thought he must be dreaming. Then he scented the sweetest scent; of wild honey and flowers. Soon, he saw her. "Gentlepaw!" Ravenfeather almost squealed like a kit when he saw his love. HE bounded over to rub his cheek against hers, then sat down next her, his ebony tail intertwining with her ivory one. "Gentlepaw, I missed you so much." He murmured into her ear. "Why have you come to visit me?" He asked, guessing the answer.
"To tell you that I am okay with you loving Azelealeaf." Gentlepaw murmured softly, her voice like a wind whispering through reeds. "I only want you to be happy. I love you, Ravenfeather, and I always will. And when you join StarClan, hopefully not for many moons to come, we will be...together." Gentleplaw meved hesitantly. For if Ravenfeather joined StarClan, then Azelealeaf did, what would happen?
"Ravenfeather pressed close to Seltlepaws dazzling white pelt, even glowing more with the stars shining in it. "I must go now, Ravenfeather." Gentlepaw got up, and looked at Revenfeather with soft lavender eyes, then walked away. "No!"Ravenfeather called. "Don't go!" His eyes filled with tears, and he watched Gentlepaw until her starry white pelt couldn't be seen.
He found himself sovving when he woke up, his paws wet, and shiny lines coming down his face from tears. he walked out of the den, feeling the warmth of the sun shining down on him. "Gentleplaw" He whispered her name to himself, feeling the sadness and happieness of Gentleplaw visiting him in his dream.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Azalealeaf returned back to the SkyClan camp after hunting, feeling rather dejected. Since it was late leaf-fall, there had been almost no prey. She had returned with a meager sparrow and a small vole. It would easily feed a single cat for a proper meal, but come the cold weather, no cat would get a "proper" meal. She ignored her mouth watering at the sight of the fresh-kill pile, not paying attention to the nagging emotion inside her that made her want to go to the small fresh-kill pile and eat half of it. No, she wouldn't do it -- she was too loyal to her Clan to do such a thing as that. Besides, Northstar would never forgive her if she did something like that. Neither would Cloudpuff.

A light layer of snowflakes had fallen upon the ground, dusting everything in a sparkling, frosty color -- the color of her pelt, to tell the truth. As Azalealeaf's dainty paws fell onto the ground, they sticked to her snowflakes. It was rather cold to tell the truth, but Azalealeaf rather liked the cold -- it was certainly better than the scorching hot weather of late new-leaf and all of leaf-green.

Azalealeaf glanced around Camp, looking for another cat to speak to. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ravenfeather come out of the warriors' den, looking rather desolate and lonely. Pity welled up within her, but she could feel Cloudpuff's golden gaze burning into her pearl colored pelt. Not wanting to get him even more agitated then he currently was, Azalealeaf remained still, settling down where she was.

Her tail curled around her lithe frame, resting on top of her paws lightly. She turned her head to give her pelt which was puffed out against the cold a few licks with her rough pink tongue. Although this procedure helped warm her a bit for a while, once an icy wind blew by, she would instantly be chilly again and she would shiver slightly despite being not bothered too much by the cold.

She looked around the Camp, admiring the sight of the frost that was lit up by the sun which was nearly overhead now. Everywhere around you, everything gleamed with the light snow that had fallen before. Even the heather had a rather crystalline look dotting its prickly plants. She tilted her head to the side, closing her eyes for a brief moment and clearing out all thoughts from her mind. There were very few times that she could catch like this -- undisturbed, quiet, and to herself. Whenever she did get these brief moments, she always snatched the moment up quickly to empty her mind and emotions out of her.

--x

Cloudpuff watched Azalealeaf intently with his eyes, marking down every move she made in his mind. His tail twitched back and forth with impatience, willing Musicsoul to return back to Camp quickly so that she could vouch for his getting the honey hive filled with sweet honeycomb for her. He could almost imagine Dreampaw's face when he relayed the story of how he had completed a nearly impossible task -- getting honey for Musicsoul when the beehive still housed and contained bees buzzing around quite furiously and ferociously.

He saw his sister shiver but made no effort to go over there and to press against her side in attempt to warm her. Protectiveness flared within him again, but it was easily subdued while Cloudpuff tried to think of a better way to warm himself against the harsh and brittle winds of late leaf-fall.

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[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Inkpaw and Dreampaw padded back to Camp, side by side, their pelts ever so faintly brushing against each other. Once there, Dreampaw left Inkpaw to deposit his crow in the fresh-kill pile where it would make at least a medium sized bulk within the small fresh-kill pile. Dreampaw winced slightly as a gust of wind pulled through.

Inkpaw had turned from the fresh-kill pile just in time to see Dreampaw wincing and shivering from the cold. Quickly, he darted up to her and pressed himself firmly against her pelt, not even bothering with the fact that she might pull away. All he cared about right now was getting the she-cat he loved to feel safe and warm from the leaf-fall that would soon transform into leaf-bare.

Dreampaw didn't pull away from Inkpaw's touch for he warmed her right side greatly. She attempted to surpress yet another purr, but couldn't help it because it tickled in her chest too much. As the purr came out, she was surprised at how it sounded and hoped that Inkpaw didn't realize what the purr had ben filled with.

But Inkpaw did -- immediately recognizing that the purr was light and tender and... was it? Yes! It was filled with something extremely close to affection. His heart and hazelnut eyes danced as he looked at her, filling his sense of sight and sense of smell with Dreampaw -- her glittering silver tabby coat and her sparkling multi-colored eyes as well as her sweet scent.

Breathing in Dreampaw's scent, Inkpaw found it rather difficult to determine what the scent really was like. Honey? Heather? The fresh air? Flowers? Well, he didn't know the exact smell of her, but he did know that she had a sweet aura of scent that always surrounded her.

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[Agii♫]

How fragile we are, how fragile we are
So fragile we are
We just don't show it
Shoot down the stars



It was behind him now, and as Smokesoul turned a hazy mind to the fresh-kill pile where a she-cat bent down to place a sparrow and a tiny vole on it. Dimmed golden eyes skirted over the pile, and with a heavy sigh, the thick gray-coated tom dropped his gaze from it. This Leaf-Fall was truly taking some toll on the prey, and only to follow suit would be the Clan. Only to hope that this was only his poor judement in this--and most everything else--the warrior stared solemnly at his wide paws.

He turned from his paws to the sight of the two famoused apprentices padding in. For once, as the warrior blinked slowly, he saw that the fiery Dreampaw seemed at ease around Inkpaw, and had apparently made an effort to stand him. A flicker of a smile spread across his rounded jaws, and slight amusement dappled his gaze. Quickly they vanished as deep guilt began to flood him. Smokesoul swallowed uneasily and turned away, shifting his attention to Cloudpuff.

But as he did this, a peculiar sight came to his eyes, and immense interest and fear engulf him. Shoulder blades tightened as he stared wide-eyed at the sight before him. Swiftly he moved forwards, padding steadily towards the thick-furred silver she-cat that walked in. He stopped just before her, and as she looked at him with stubborn jolly, eyed the figure beside her warily.

--x

It never took long to get from one place to another, and it had taken not but a few minutes to get to the camp. The she-cat smiled proudly as she stepped through the ferns, a frosty tinge of fallen snow clinging to her silky coat. Turning her bright, fiery sapphire eyes to the felines around her she drank in the subtle sense of peace in the Clan's happenings, glad that they all seemed well and at ease.

But what she brought in would most certainly change that.

Foxflower padded in proudly, long bushy tail held high as her attitude heightened once she caught the awed glance of Smokesoul. Smirking as he came up to her, she tilted an ear backwards so as to keep the siamese kittypet close in range if any cats were to be hostile. The adept sense of him brought with her the predictable notion that he wanted to have a say. She smiled as he glanced to her anxiously, and leaned forwards to part her slim jaws.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.

"Relax," she replied easefully, "this girl's got a fire that just screams to be a warrior. Don't worry 'bout a thing, hon. Where's Northstar? I've gotta get this girl to her before she has a heart-attack on me."

Smokesoul narrowed his eyes. "She won't have a heart-attack," he growled back defensively.

[Battooth]

As the three friends finished their meal, Mistheart paused. "Anything smell strange to you?" she asked. Flamefoot and Onespot shrugged, each sniffing the air. Flamefoot's fur bristled suddenly. "I know that smell," she hissed, swinging her head around. "What're you doing with a kittypet in a warrior's camp?" the ginger yowled angrily to Foxflower as she caught sight of the warrior and kittypet with her. She stormed over, baring her teeth threateningly at the siamese.

Onespot watched his sister go, rolling his eyes. At Mistheart's questioning glance, he meowed, "She's never liked cats born out of Clans. She's fine with you because you were born to a warrior mother and father, even though you switched Clans. But because kittypets and rouges are born in different... circumstances, Flamefoot feels that they're not up for the warrior way of life." Mistheart stared at her bristling ginger friend and then at Onespot at the tom slipped over to stand beside Flamefoot. His face was emotionless as he regarded the kittypet. Although Mistheart couldn't see his face, she could see the way his fur lay completely flat on his back, and could almost feel the air of calmness emmanating from the tom. She realized as Onespot brushed against Flamefoot that he hadn't joined his sister merely to look imposing, but to be able to stop her from doing anything rash- which Flamefoot was bound to do any moment now if Mistheart knew her friend well enough.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Mai looked at the tomcat who had spoken to Foxflower. She tilted her head to the side, wondering if all the cats in this... this... Clan would be as hostile. Having never had her pride and dignity questioned, hurt passed through Mai's ocean colored eyes at the cat's mistrust in her. Well, she couldn't really blame them -- she would probably have done the same thing.

Confusion caused her to stare at Foxflower for help, wondering if the she-cat would perhaps assure her and explain to her what was happening. Mai thought long and hard as she looked around at the cats in the clearing. Some were minding their own business while some were glancing her way. Some faces looked hostile while others looked completely placid as if they hadn't a care in the world whether Mai joined the Clan or not.

"I'm not going to have a heart attack," Mai meowed simply, surprised at the sheer confidence her voice had. She had expected it to dance and quiver and shake, but it didn't. Out of the corner of her eye, she viewed two smaller cats -- a silver tabby she-cat and a black tomcat. Gazing around, she discovered that she hadn't been the only one looking at the two cats. A white cat was glaring at them through golden copper eyes that made Mai hold her breath.

--x

Cloudpuff was glaring at Inkpaw especially when he saw Foxflower come in with an unfamiliar cat in tow. His fur bristled. First Inkpaw had to try to steal his love and now Foxflower was bringing in kittypets? He stood up, claws working furiously at the ground as they sheathed and unsheathed. He had almost made up his mind to charge at the kittypet when he finally took in everything about her with his eyes.

She was stunning in his eyes, with a creamy colored pelt as well as black tints in it. As she looked around the Camp, he noticed that her eyes were of a sparkling blue color. No! Dreampaw, Dreampaw, Dreampaw! How can I give her up for a /kittypet/? Cloudpuff thought furiously to himself, trying to repeat the silver tabby apprentice's name in his mind.

But the kittypet was beautiful in his eyes...
Love at first sight?
Perhaps.

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[Agii♫]

She turned and took a bold step towards, ears locking forwards in what appeared to be dominance. Arching a thin brow, the silver she-cat arched her neck defiantly, tail curling and standing erect as she glanced over the angry Flamefoot with tinged affection.

"Don't go off your mind, hon. She ain't gonna do nothin'."

With that Foxflower turned back to Smokesoul, whom had taken a gentle sniff to Mai. Bringing him back with her connecting gaze, she let out a deep breath. "Where's Northstar? I've gotta get Mai to her before anyone else thinks of any harm to 'er."

The grey tom blinked slowly, drinking in the sweet, tame scent of the siamese kittypet. Tamed? Smokesoul's whiskers twitched in disbelief as his somewhat foolish senses managed to pick up what ever his friend had been picking up about this 'Mai'. He did see what Foxflower saw in her.

Ears flicking in slight awe, he turned once Foxflower's fiery voice caught his attention, her eyes irritated and anxious. Swallowing, he tilted his head to the side. "Inkpaw just got a good scolding from her--she's in her den I suppose," he replied quietly.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"Inkpaw?" Mai meowed uncertainly. What a strange name! "That's a strange name," she stated simply although she knew that all these cats probably had strange names. The way Foxflower spoke was completely different from the rest of them -- most of them seemed so formal and so stiff, unless they were the ones showing signs of hostility.

She was rather embarrassed to have her Japanese tinted accent, but there was nothing she could do about it. She shifted her wait from one side to the other, uneasiness growing within her. Glancing up at the sky, she could see that this was the time where she would be eating daintily out of a bowl if she had stayed with her Twolegs.

"I've heard from passing by cats that you speak of those flabby faced creatures with almost no hair besides on the top of their heads as Twolegs," she meowed simply, looking around and hoping that one of the cats had heard her and was going to respond to her.

As fear grew within her, she noted the fact that she could almost feel someone's gaze burning into her fur. Looking around wildly, she saw the same white cat with golden eyes staring at her. Looking away shyly, she studied her left paw to give her something to do. "That cat over there. Who is he?" she meowed uncertainly.

[/size]

[Battooth]

"Mai's a strange name, too," Flamefoot hissed. She growled as Onespot shouldered her out of the way, standing in front of his sister. He glared behind him at the ginger she-cat for a moment, then looked back at the kittypet.

Onespot glanced over at the cat Mai pointed to. "That is Cloudpuff, one of our warriors." He paused for a moment, watching Flamefoot with her fur still bristling. "I must apologize for my sister," he meowed to the she-cat. "She isn't comfortable with cats born outside of a Clan." Flamefoot shook her head. "I'm fine with cats born outside of Clans s'long as they keep their noses out of our business!" she growled. "I'll be over with the warriors. Keep away from me kittypet." She spat out the last word like a lump of death berries, then stalked towards Mistheart and meowed, "C'mon," before stalking towards the warrior's den. The gray she-cat followed her angry friend meekly, sending an apologetic glance over her shoulder at the new she-cat.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Mai blinked as she watched the retretaing figures of the two she-cats. Hurt flashed through her eyes before the anger that soared in and remained there. How dare they call her names and taunt her. What /was/ a kittypet in the first place? She was surprised at the she-cat's extremely bitter tone and how hostile she seemed.

Mai wasn't one to easily get frustrated, but she did. The glance that the gray she-cat had sent her before she darted off with her friend and the apology that the tomcat made for his sister should have made her feel better, but it didn't. Pity. That was all it was. Mai was too proud to look to others for pity -- it wasn't in her nature.

She opened her mouth to say a few sharp words in response to the cat who had apologized for his sister, but clamped it shut. She didn't want to stir up troubled feelings within a group that she wanted to perhaps take her in. "It's all right," she meowed, her voice stiff and strained.

--x

A flash of white and Cloudpuff was at the kittypet's side. He himself had witnessed Flamefoot's snapping remarks. Well, he had to admit, he himself wasn't really sure that he wanted a kittypet in the Clan, but she was just so... beautiful in his eyes.

His tail-tip rested lightly on her shoulder and he shivered at the mere contact. "It's fine," he began after a while of fumbling his words in his mind, "some cats here won't welcome newcomers all to heartily." He forced his copper eyes to meet the kittypet's strong blue ones.

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[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

Lilypaw unsheathed and sheathed her claws, digging up the hard earth at the sight of Inkpaw and Dreampaw sitting together. 'Why?' she asked, looking up at StarClan. 'Why does Dreampaw have to fall in love with Inkpaw, why does he have to love her? Why can't he love me? Dreampaw hated him in the first place, so why couldn't you make him love me when there was a chance?' Lilypaw felt very angry with everything, even StarClan. She walked past Dreampaw and Inkpaw, giving Dreampaw a look of hatred and envy. She went to the fresh kill pile and looked at a scrawny vole, but she didn't fell hungry at all, so she sat diwn a few fox lengths from Inkpaw and Dreampaw, looking at them, her blue eyes blazing.

Ravenfeather saw Azelealeaf take a few steps towards him then sit down. He walked over to her, and sat down, pressing his ebony pelt against her white pelt. She was so different from Gentlepaw, but yet he still loved her. Azelealeaf was hot headed, and gentlepaw was, well, gentle. But they both had the same dazzling white pelt. Ravenfeather sighed, glancing at Azelealeaf quicly.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Inkpaw blinked, flicking his ears absent-mindedly in Lilypaw's direction as he glanced around, looking to see what all the commotion around Camp as about. After a while of his hazelnut gaze spread everywhere around Camp, he found that Foxflower, one of the SkyClan warriors, had brought back an unfamiliar cat. Breathing in the air, Inkpaw tilted his head, mystified at the scent. "What kind of scent is that?" he meowed, trying to figure out what it was.

"It's a kittypet scent, mouse-brain," Dreampaw responded lightly, looking in the direction of the kittypet with Foxflower. It seemed as if Flamefoot had just shown a piece of her mind towards the kittypet before leaving with Mistheart. Although she had learned that kittypets lived the soft life with Twolegs, this kittypet seemed rather... different. It was odd, but she couldn't quite tell why.

Through her multi-colored gaze, she saw Cloudpuff speaking to the kittypet. Something was in his eyes, something that she had seen many times before. Affection, was it? Could Cloudpuff actually fall in love with this kittypet as in love at first sight? Mystified, Dreampaw continued watching to see what would happen between the two of them.

--x

Azalealeaf purred as she felt a warmth in her side a Ravenfeather pressed against her. "Hello," she meowed faintly, looking around Camp to see what was happening. A large amount of noise was happening at the entrance to the Camp. Wondering what it was, she directed her gaze towards the source of the noise.

Surprised, she saw Flamefoot and Mistheart entering the warriors den, Flamefoot looking rather perplexed while Mistheart seemed distraught. Onespot was with Foxflower, Smokesoul, Cloudpuff, and... a kittypet? Strange. Azalealeaf's mind sought answers as she looked at the group of cats.

And then, she recognized a look in Cloudpuff's golden copper brown eyes as he looked at the newcomer. It was the look he had often had in his expression when he had gazed at Dreampaw before. "Looks like Cloudpuff's found someone else," Azalealeaf meowed, amusement dancing through her eyes as she watched her brother stuttering and stammering when he spoke to the new she-cat.

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