First && HIGHROCK && meeting }}

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Cloudpuff's eyes narrowed in surprise when Mai's name didn't utter from Northstar's vocal chords and onto her mouth. He tilted his head to the side. Looking back, he saw that Mai had a rather confused look on her face as well. "Don't worry," he reassured her, "I'll speak to Northstar and ask her what happened."

Even though Cloudpuff sounded determined, it was true that he was rather afraid of his leader. Still, he had to do it for Mai's sake. Flicking his tail in a gesture in which to show the cream-colored she-cat to follow him, the white pelted tomcat moved up towards the Highrock. He didn't know if he would be welcome to just randomly leap on to the Highrock, but he did want Mai's naming ceremony to happen to show that she would officially be part of the Clan.

Leaping up onto the Highrock from the curtisy of having powerful haunches, Cloudpuff hesitated for a moment and looked back to see if Mai could manage the leap up. To his amazement, the she-cat did. "Nice job," he purred to her warmly before turning back to his leader. Approaching Northstar, he was glad for one thing: that Aspenwind was deputy and he would get to see a friendly face before having to make his request known yet again to Northstar.

"Northstar?" Cloudpuff asked, surprised at the confidence in his voice.

[/size][/font]

[Agii♫]

Gaze doused in horror, her heart began to crawl to her throat, tight and uneasy with bile that steadily rose up from the pits of her churning stomach. Lean muscles protruded from her creamy, peach-leopard-marked coat, fur rising along her nape and spine with pure unease. No, that couldn't possibly be him, not his voice. Long, rounded ears shook at the ends, her whiskers trembling ever so slightly. What if it was? What if it had been him calling her name?

She was caught on a string for a moment before being detangled by Cloudpuff. Swallowing, she did not turn herself to face him completely, but merely stared on ahead, searching in vain for Moonrun with empty, burning eyes.

"Yes?" she replied, her voice quiet, though drowning in venom she had not expected.

--x

She had heard him.

Heard him!

Although his moment of what seemed to be pure confusion swept over him, the obsidian invisible blinked slowly, his multi-hued eyes clouded with paranoid fear and exhilaration. Why was he here? Could he go back to StarClan? Was he still dead? Why was this happening?

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Before answering, Cloudpuff watched his leader with a confused expression written across his face. Was something wrong with Northstar, probably one of the greatest leaders of SkyClan? Or was he just imagining things? Thoughts flickered in his mind vaguely, but Cloudpuff decided to ignore them.

"Northstar, what about Mai? Is she not to be accepted in to SkyClan? I believe that with the proper training, she could easily fit in. Foxflower's got a good sense of choice when it comes to bringing in kittypets," the tomcat meowed, choosing his words carefully as he timidly looked up at his leader. Looking back at Mai, the sight of her eased his slight bit of fright [squee, that rhymes x3].

[/size][/font]

[Agii♫]

Balking for one more moment, she found the words loosely, slowly moving her small jaws with meticulous care. "Yes," she answered slowly, body stiff with thick confusion, "She will have a name by the end of the day." Cream chest expanded and deflated with shallow breaths, unable to keep herself calm in these circumstances.

What in StarClan's words was going on?

--x

Cloudpuff? Oh, yes, he remembered him; last time he saw the speedy ball of fun was when he was merely a kit. Oh, how long it had been. But his mind was twisted with other confusions and mysteries, most of which yet to be called unknown by himself. Breathing out slowly into the cold air, he emitted no steam, for the deceased warrior was still dead, however not... all.

Moonrun blinked, eyes flickering to the siamese she-cat that stood behind the furred warrior, studying her face for a mere moment before turning back to his love with wide eyes. He was alive on the inside; still with a warm, beating heart that longed to feel the fur of his love once more. Yet now that was far beyond his reach.

Or so he thought.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

By the end of today? Today was nearly around the corner -- why not now? Impatience flashed in Cloudpuff's golden copper colored eyes, but he knew better than to speak back against Northstar's words once she had made a decision. "Very well, Northstar; thank you," he meowed, lowering his eyes and giving a dip of his head, flicking his tail to indicate Mai to do the same.

With that, Cloudpuff leaped off of the Highrock and back in to the center of the SkyClan Camp, Mai right behind him. Seating himself in the midst of the Camp, he let out a surprised purr as Mai gently seated herself next to him, her pelt lightly brushing his. It was a start and Cloudpuff had a delighted look in his eyes as she directed a purr of her own in his direction.

[/size][/font]

[Agii♫]

Giving no notion of a reply she turned, eyelids becoming heavy again as her breathing evened out from the momentary stress she was undergoing. All of this; Leaf Bare was upon her shoulders fast, and already a layer of snow had formed. What was she doing? Moonrun wasn't alive, she had to keep telling herself that. But, she had heard his voice; she swore it. What if it was merely her imagination? What if it was just the fact that it was the anniversary of... of... The she-cat could not think straight, feeling her heart skip several beats as it quickened unnaturally. Feeling dizzy, the leader staggered, lithe paws now becoming heavy with distraught as hot silvery beads rolled down her soft ivory cheeks, striped with peach markings.
Oh, she couldn't be weak, not now. There was still a kittypet to be made a warrior; apprentices to train, food to stock the fresh kill pile and a medicine cat to find. She couldn't do this, she just couldn't.

When the two had left, he had felt an oddity about them. Had they noticed their leader's discontent? No, surely not. Swallowing from obsidian lips, the tom flickered his eyes to the leopard-coated feline whom he had grown so attached to, more yet even now, and with a sprite of fear coming across his blue and gray eyes, walked with silent paws over to her and pressed himself around her, whispering words of comfort. "Oh, my love, oh, Northstar. Don't give up, please, I don't want to see you like this."

The reasoning that something had unhinged the leader was evident to any clan cat older than twelve moons; indeed, most personally to the two silver and smoky-gray felines whom gazed with concerned eyes up to her. Waiting with patient minds until the ivory tom and the kittypet had left from her side, Foxflower and Smokesoul leaped up to Highrock to join their beloved companion.
The sight of tears from Northstar made both of their hearts lurch, and as Smokesoul's brows trembled with difficulty from releasing tears of his own, the diva she-cat wrapped her immensely thick furry tail around their leader, pressing her cheek against her leader's shoulder in a deep sign of compassion and comfort. "It's not your fault honey," Foxflower said, her voice soft and raspy with a dimmed fire. Slowly, Smokesoul moved himself beside Foxflower and curled his tail around Northstar, whom wept openly in the comfort of her two trusted companions.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Something was wrong with Northstar, she could easily see that. From behind her leader, the she-cat sat in her dutiful spot, but she was gazing at the three cats huddled together in front of her. Northstar. Smokesoul. Foxflower. Two of the three had been involved in the tragic accident that had happened on this date, a while ago. Exactly how long ago, the she-cat wasn't quite sure.

There was one more cat that had been in the accident. Moonrun of StarClan. The one who practically now carried Northstar's heart; no wonder why SkyClan's leader looked so broken up now as she remembered the events of the past. A concerned look spread across the she-cat's face, but she didn't want to intrude to try to give her leader any comfort or soothing in case Northstar didn't want her to and simply wanted to be with old friends.

The she-cat looked down at the situation below the Highrock. The cats weren't noticing their leader's slight breakdown. There were Inkpaw and Dreampaw, still cooing to each other. A bit of a purr, despite the serious scene on the Highrock, trembled in her chest as she saw the two apprentices.

There was Viridianpaw and Pebblepaw. At once, the she-cat's eyes clouded with affection as she saw her son seated with the orange-and-black marble colored apprentice. Although Aspenwind didn't exactly know Pebblepaw too well, if she were enough to make Viridianpaw love her, than Pebblepaw was already worthy of being likeable.

And then there were other cats -- slipping and sliding amongst the snow-lined ground, sharing some kind of joke, arguing, and a dozen other things. Still, most didn't even take a second glance at the Highrock.

Most cats when they became deputy usually expected a congratulations group from the other Clan cats, but Aspenwind was glad when she didn't receive a whole collection of cats wishing her well. It would've been nice, but for the sake of privacy for Northstar and the others, Aspenwind simply padded out further to speak to those who needed something.

It was a great honor, this being deputy and all. Aspenwind sat back down a few paces away from Northstar to contemplate about being deputy, not wanting to leave the Highrock. It wasn't because she was proud of her situation [although she was] -- it was the fact that she didn't want Northstar disturbed by anyone when she was in such a... remembering state.

Hearing pawsteps nearing her, Aspenwind looked over her shoulder. Seeing that it was Twilightleaf... with Rosepetal, a purr of amusement sounded in the air. It seemed like while one love had gone terribly wrong in the Clan with Northstar and Moonrun, there were multiple other affections growing.

"Yes?" Aspenwind meowed quietly as she padded forward to meet them so that they wouldn't get a close up of Northstar's grief.

"We'd like to be congratulatin' you on becomin' deputy," Twilightleaf meowed to the deputy, dipping his head as a sign of showing his respect for Aspenwind. Despite the fact that he had French bloodlines in his veins, his French accent had been diminished greatly over the period of time he had been with SkyClan. Rosepetal gave a nod after Twilightleaf's words to show that she congratulated Aspenwind as well. Although she didn't speak, the look in her eyes told Aspenwind that Rosepetal truly was giving cheer for her becoming deputy.

"Thank you," she murmured softly, giving a dip of her head back towards the two cats.

[Oooooh. Long post. o:]

[/size][/font]

[frosty ♥]

Silverpaw stared at Northstar as she wept, she heard many times how the tomcat she loved had died. She felt her heart lurch, her icy-blue eyes glittered with sympathy, Silverpaw felt a warm pelt brush against her and adverted her eyes away to gaze at Bravepaw. He gave her a gentle lick in between the ears; "she'll be okay" he murmured quietly then drew himself closer to her but the she-cat apprentice could feel his unease and knew he didn't mean what he said. Silverpaw blinked sadly, watching as her leader broke down in front of the Clan. How hard it must be for Northstar.

The silver she-cat pawed the ground uncertainly as she watched her mentor and Smokesoul, was this the end of the meeting? Or were they supposed to watch as the great SkyClan leader cried in front of the Clan? Silverpaw glanced at Lionclaw to see he had stopped messing with Aquasky and was watching Northstar with loyal understanding, his amber eyes flickered to Aquasky and be motioned for her to come sit next to him. All of his flirty ways vanishing like mist in the morning. Bravepaw's warm pelt made it a little more durable to watch this happen but inside a small voice squeaked, wishing it was Eagledance instead which made Silverpaw's tail twitch with a nervous start. She looked up and fallowed the tomcat apprentice's gaze... it went straight to Dreampaw which made Silverpaw cock her head ever so slightly to the side. Odd...

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

When Inkpaw noticed that the she-cat apprentice he loved had suddenly stopped responding to his affections with her own, he looked at her, a look of concern passing through his eyes. Instead of speaking any words, however, he just followed her luminous multi-colored gaze up to the Highrock. The sight that greeted him wasn't a sight that Inkpaw liked; it was the sight of Northstar, with Foxflower and Smokesoul beside her, weeping.

Immediately, Inkpaw turned to look at Dreampaw. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, to bring back the more affectionate part of her currently, but something was wrong. Entirely wrong. He had no idea what was wrong with Northstar, and that was bad enough, but the black pelted tomcat apprentice saw that Dreampaw was looking in a different direction than the SkyClan leader currently.

Again looking in the same direction as Dreampaw with his bright hazelnut colored eyes, Inkpaw was confused when he was greeted with Bravepaw and Silverpaw. Something inside Inkpaw told him that it wasn't Silverpaw Dreampaw was looking at -- it was Bravepaw. At once, a heat of protectiveness and fury burned within him. He had worked so hard to get Dreampaw to love him and he wasn't about to let her go all too easily.

"Dreampaw," he murmured softly, getting the she-cat apprentice to turn her head and look at him with a questioning look in her eyes. "I love you." It wasn't as if he had already said this phrase enough already; he just wanted to be sure for one last time that Dreampaw truly meant what she said when she told him that she loved him back.

--x

Dreampaw looked at Inkpaw, a startled look passing through her viridian and azure colored gaze at his words. Of course he loved her; hadn't she known that since... ever? Still, seeing Northstar in her state of grief and sorrow, Dreampaw couldn't quite get herself to say the words of 'I love you' back to Inkpaw. She let out a soft purr, but that was all she could manage since her gaze now went back to Northstar.

Why had her eyes, for a fleeting instant, lingered on Bravepaw and Silverpaw? Confusion passed through the features on her face, but she quickly made them melt away so it appeared as if nothing were wrong. She had felt Inkpaw stiffen beside her slightly when she had looked at the other two apprentices.

"I love you, Inkpaw," she murmured quietly back, managing to get it out. She broke her gaze on her leader for a few brief moments to look in to Inkpaw's eyes before looking back at Northstar.

[Agii♫]

It was a feeling as such she could not shake off; a horrible, guilty feeling that swept through her to cause these crystals of pain to roll down her soft cheeks. A certain helplessness crept over her, enveloping her thickly into a cloak of pure envy and depression. She wanted her love back, she wanted him back so badly. Her body took the motion of shaking, violently, as sobs slowly broke her down. Detachment was only the surface of what she felt in the clan, for soon she feared she would not be able to feel them anymore. For how long or how soon, she did not know. The drowning she-cat only prayed that it would never come.
Eyes closed, Northstar's faith became broken, and her silent tears and soft gasps for air that she so hard tried to choke into her deflating lungs became almost poison to her. Why couldn't she have gone with him? It had been her love that had been taken away from her, her love that fought for her when his life was so cruelly ended.
Nobody said it was easy.
Nobody said it would hurt this much.
The leader, with immensely guilty realization, found that near most of the Clan was watching her breakdown. Claws flexing in controlled anger, she lowered her head, fangs bared as she clenched her jaws in agony, the smooth rock below her becoming dark with cold tears. She did not want this.

Torture, yes, that's what this was.
The invisible crept beside his love, pressing his body hard against hers and wrapping his neck around her shuddering shoulders, brows knitted together tightly in pain. "Oh, my love, my love. My love, Northstar." He had realized by this time he was indeed still in the paws of StarClan, yet he was not with them entirely. Something had brought him back to earth, and now he was to walk it--for how long he did not know. Moonrun was not sure even if this was consciously happening; Northstar never broke down like this, not since his death.

[frosty ♥]

Bravepaw watched as Dreampaw's eyes connected with his own for a few quick heartbeats, he wasn't exactly sure why was staring that way but the tomcat eventually broke away when Inkpaw saw where Dreampaw was gazing. He could see the anger gleaming brightly in those hazel-nut eyes, Bravepaw turned to gazed up at Northstar and finally decided it wouldn't be best just to watch her break down in front of everyone. He knew this had delayed his chance at getting a mentor.
It didn't really matter right now.

He touched his nose to Silverpaw's ear and she drew her frosty blue eyes to his face, "lets go, I don't think she wants us watching" he murmured softly and stood up. The metallic silver she-cat glanced at SkyClan leader before getting to her paws, she padded toward him and without noticing he went to her other side to block her from the icy wind. He glanced at the apprentices' den, it was probably warm in there. The beautiful she-cat appentice gently brushed passed him and retrieved a plump vole for them to share, he knew they had been hunting so they didn't have to ask.

Silverpaw seemed to understand what he was thinking for they joined up again and slipped silently into the den, the warm air rushed upon him and soon enough the ice on the tips of his fur began to melt. The two apprentices sat in the back and began to get the snow off each other, it was throughly relaxing even though something horrible was happening outside. Bravepaw was still very confused on why he had looked at Dreampaw above eveything else outside but even that slipped away as he settled down and ate their delicious smelling meal. After a while the grey tom glanced to his side to see that Silverpaw had fallen asleep, he gave her a few rasps with his tongue before covering her with some moss to make sure she stayed nice and warm.

[Agii♫]

(( -moving Northstar, Smokesoul, and Foxflower onto another thread inside SkyClan Camp- ))