[[Green Eyes &&; looking past them; it's a new day

[Agii♫]

It had been a few days since her breakdown, and still she was moving languidly with pressure from her Clan and the tasks that she had put off. She had forgotten apprentices that needed to get mentors; forgotten to get Mai into the Clan and give her a valid name. All of this weighed on her stiff shoulders, however through these long hours of remorse and depression, she had managed to pull herself together.
Inkpaw needed to be trained soon.
While these thoughts broke what was left of her heart, the leader had strung a malicious string into her mind. There was something wrong within the Clan, and she could sense it. Something deeply disturbing that had pricked her to become more aware of her family--her Clan. What she needed to do now was to focus on her Clan and take care of them better. Oh, if only StarClan would help her through all of this.
Haunting thoughts kept pressing her, and to this very hour when she emerges from her den, only urges her to become stronger still.
Blinking open with bright, mossy-green eyes, she still did not hold a full keen-awareness in her gaze, however it seemed more friendly, more approachable than the previous day of the meeting. Sunlight filtered down from the bare trees, casting down light golden shadows as the late morning light began to slowly melt the snow that had collected, no longer a smooth layer, but now a full inch and a half deep. Ivory paws sinking in some as she padded out, Northstar watched the frozen crystals as they glittered before her, developing almost a clear, dream-like glow across the dried heather that dotted the camp. The few trees that did stand, bare and naked with snow, sent a few plops of snow to come dancing down to the earth. Peach ear twitching, the she-cat smoothly side-stepped as a tree attempted to wet her with it's snow. Smiling small, but gentle, the leader continued on her way to the middle of the camp, the comfortably cold breeze giving her new life in her ivory, peach-leopard-coated body. Glancing around placidly, Northstar searched slowly and easily for her apprentice, for today was the day to begin his training.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Gently, ever so gently, the sun's golden rays peeked up from over the side of the ridge, spreading its light over the whole of the SkyClan inhabitance known as their Camp. Even though the sun was giving off a source of visual images, it was offering no source of heat to the SkyClan cats. Therefore, the morning was relatively chilly, carrying a slight, bitter cold edge to it as it settled in for a while.

The apprentices were basically just balls of fur laying close to each other for warmth. In this assortment of different pelt colors, an obsidian colored one of these began to shift slightly. A head popped up, exposing bright hazelnut colored eyes. This was Inkpaw; the conceited, annoying-in-every-which-way, extremely affectionate with a good heart apprentice of SkyClan, underneath the mentoring of none other than Northstar, the leader of his beloved Clan.

With his pelt fluffed out around him so that he could keep the maximum amount of body heat drawn to him, Inkpaw stood up and looked down at his fellow apprentices in the den. Next to him, still asleep, was Dreampaw, the silver tabby she-cat apprentice his heart felt for greatly. Lowering his head, Inkpaw gently touched his muzzle to hers and brushed his tail along her flank. His actions were brief and light, for he didn't want to wake Dreampaw in her sleep, for she looked extremely peaceful and at ease.

Things were going smoothly between him and Dreampaw, considering that a few moons ago she had wanted nothing at all to do with him. Inkpaw was not a cat to doubt things, but he couldn't help but acknowledge the slight hint of it that loomed in the back of his mind. He had caught the fleeting instant in which Bravepaw's and Dreampaw's gazes had connected a few days ago, and Inkpaw still wasn't sure what it meant. It could just be by accident. Inkpaw didn't want to ask Dreampaw, for he feared the fact that maybe she would get angry at him for not believing that she truly did love him.

Padding out of the apprentices' den, Inkpaw selected his way through the snow. Pausing in his escapade through the cold frozen liquid, he looked around to see if anyone else was in the Camp clearing. Indeed, there were a few cats milling about. Scanning the SkyClan Camp, Inkpaw caught sight of Viridianpaw and Pebblepaw -- the two of them sharing tongues at the edge of the Camp. A slight hint of amusement passed through Inkpaw's eyes as he saw his shy friend trading words with the orange marble colored she-cat apprentice, but it soon disappeared as he continued looking around for someone to speak to.

There. There was Northstar, in the midst of the clearing. Inkpaw bounded over to her in a couple of leaps. He was surprised that he didn't fall; he was certainly getting a little more graceful in the way he moved instead of thunking around everywhere. Holding his head high at the fact, Inkpaw didn't quite notice a stone embedded in the snow. He tripped over it and landed near the paws of his leader with an 'oof.' Well, looks like he wasn't quite as graceful on his paws as he wanted to be. Yet.

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[frosty ♥]

A bundle of grey fur laid contently in the apprentices’ den, the tomcat’s belly exposed as he rolled over in his sleep though in the back of his mind he could feel a pelt that he guessed was Silverpaw’s. If one was too look closer, to look for the beautiful metallic silver fur, it was not there but in her place was cold moss. Bravepaw was instead curled closely up to Dreampaw, his head was near her own, where was Silverpaw then?

The she-cat apprentice was sitting outside the SkyClan entrance, her glittering eyes unfocused as she gazed out over the moors where the sun was straining on its way over the grassy hills. Silverpaw blinked slowly then bowed her head, what was she supposed to do? She was disobeying StarClan for having affections for the tomcat of Eagledance, she breathed out rather shakily. Bravepaw, what of him? Why couldn’t she just fancy some tom in her Clan instead? She was only an apprentice!

“Let me know that I’ve done wrong…. when I’ve known this all along” she sang softly under her breath, “Go around a time or two… just to waste my time with you.” Silverpaw gazed up at the lightening sky with a soft sigh, “Tell me all that’s just run away… find out games you don’t wanna play. You are the only one that needs to know…I’ll keep you my dirty little secret… don’t tell anyone or you’ll just be another regret… my dirty little secret. Who needs to know? When we live such fragile lives…” the she-cat smiled lightly, “it’s the best way to survive… Go around a time or two… just to waste my time with you. Tell me all that’s just run away… find out games you don’t wanna play. You are the only one that needs to know…I’ll keep you my dirty little secret… don’t tell anyone or you’ll just be another regret… my dirty little secret…” she trailed away uncertainly before falling silent, her eyes played with emotion that was all mixed together.

Meanwhile the grey tomcat was stirring sleepily, when his dark blue eyes opened all he saw was a blurry figure of silver fur, unknowingly he purred quietly into Dreampaw’s ear and gave her a gentle lick. Bravepaw blinked a few more times, yawning while he slowly gained some energy, he guessed it was dawn. After everything fell into place he realized it was Dreampaw that be slept next to, his ears pricked in surprise. Where was Silverpaw? While he pondered he forgot that the tabby in front of him could easily wake up now and wonder why he was standing over her.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Outside, the sun continued on its ascending in to the sky, shining its light amongst all the scenery that was the SkyClan territiory. The morning, however, was icy cold and no birdsong rang out like when it did during new-leaf and leaf-green. Silence was the sound that engulfed the whole entire ridge, disturbed only by the slight disturbance of foliage by the wind or by small creatures darting about -- what creatures there remained, that was.

In her dreams, Dreampaw had subconsciously felt the touch of Inkpaw as he lightly touched his muzzle against hers and brushed her flank with his tail. She hadn't been startled at that in her mind, causing her sleep to not be disturbed. However, a little while after Inkpaw's departure, she heard a purr and received a lick from another who wasn't a tomcat. Immediately jolting awake, Dreampaw looked around wildly.

Sleep clouded Dreampaw's viridian and azure colored eyes, and she blinked them a few times rapidly to try to get the fogginess out of her eyes as she tried to determine who had completed those actions. The only apprentice inside the den she could see who was awake was Bravepaw. Confusion lit the silver tabby she-cat's eyes as she stood up, tilting her head to the side as she observed the tomcat apprentice with a sense of perplexity.

"Bravepaw?" she murmured softly in a questioning tone.

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[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Air currents, titled as winds, blew by at a rapid pace as if they were in a hurry to get somewhere. From far off, the faint sound of a few shrill notes of an animal's calling were taken and repeated by the winds as they continued to advance across the whole of the SkyClan Ridge, sending a chill to all the cats inhabiting the SkyClan territory currently.

Rays of sunshine were reaching the earth of the SkyClan territory, but they weren't particularly increasing the small and fragile amount of warmth that remained. It was true that they provided light, but no cat could stand the cold long enough to sunbath in the rays long enough to get even the slightest bit warm. Indeed, this was a sure sign that leaf-bare was here.

Snow lay on the ground, a light layer of frozen, crystalline looking liquid. The sun's light bounced off of the ivory colors, causing everything to appear brighter than they really were. Frost had crept overnight to embrace the large amounts of heather, the few, sparse trees that stood on the ridge, and the whole of the SkyClan Camp.

In the midst of all this white was another white figure. This was Raindance, a she-cat warrior of SkyClan. An amused expression lined the features of her face as she glanced around the Camp, her azure colored eyes catching the sight of Inkpaw bounding up to his new mentor, Northstar. There was Viridianpaw and Pebblepaw, cooing to each other with soft words as they shared tongues with a new sense of tenderness.

Love was doing well for some of the cats of SkyClan, that was for sure. There were two queens in the SkyClan Nursery, with two proud fathers inhabiting the warrior den of SkyClan. Dreampaw had finally fallen for Inkpaw, after many moons of frustration and anger from Dreampaw. Still, Inkpaw had persisted. That showed you how much endurance and never ending patience actually worked if you loved the other enough.

Spotting Lovepaw, one of the SkyClan apprentices, sitting by herself, Raindance padded over to the she-cat. "Lovepaw," she meowed as a greeting to the apprentice, giving a slight dip of her head, although it wasn't too deep, as Lovepaw was not only an apprentice, but a fellow Clanmate and respect was already well established in all of the minds of the SkyClan cats.

Lovepaw turned at the sound of her name, seeing one of the warriors of SkyClan moving towards her. "Raindance," she responded in a soft tone, giving a deeper dip of her head towards the warrior out of habit and out of respect towards Raindance. She rather liked Raindance; the warrior was more laid-back and seemed to have a relatively clear mind.

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[Agii♫]

Finally the obsidian bundle of energy caught her attention, bounding and leaping towards her with an eagerness only he could harness. For once in what seemed like twelve moons, a small smile spread across ivory lips, peach-tipped ears pricking forwards as sparks of happy calmness ignited within her.
She could feel her love resting against her, smiling with her.
Closing her hazel eyes for a brief second, Northstar inhaled slowly through her rose-hued nostrils, taking in the crisp air of bareleaf. Then, as the small "Oof!" from her apprentice came to her ears, she was brought back to attention, blinking her wise eyes open with a twitch of the whiskers and a small smile.
The ivory and leopard-printed feline turned her head in a small notion to show Inkpaw the direction in which they would be going and started at a slow pace through the snow to the training grounds. As the silence and small tongue-sharings of a few other apprentices licked her ears, the leader now truly felt that she could move on for the moment.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

At first, Inkpaw didn't quite understand what Northstar wanted him to do and just stood there like a waiting chicken. Soon, however, he got the idea that he was to follow Northstar as his leader and mentor began padding at a slow pace. Following her, Inkpaw wondered what he could say. Passing a glance over his shoulder, he gave a soft purr to Dreampaw, still probably sleeping in the apprentices' den.

"What're we gonna do today, Northstar?" he chirruped brightly, moving after his leader in large bounds. Since Inkpaw wasn't exactly a full warrior yet and Northstar was larger than him, it almost took two of these bounds to keep up with one of Northstar's stride, although the slowness of her movement did help a little.

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[Agii♫]

"Well, since you seem to be filling up with spunk, Inkpaw, I think we should work on your agility," she replied surely, emerald eyes glancing down to the onyx tom beside her.


(Oh. My. God.)

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"Where are we going to train? Are we going with someone else to train? Are we going to bring Dreampaw with us? What agility building techniques do you have in mind for me? Who was your mentor when you were an apprentice? How old were you when you became a warrior?" All these questions came from Inkpaw as he continued to chatter on and on, not even pausing in between to let Northstar hear his words and answer them.

{ OoC--
You're telling me. oo; }

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[Agii♫]

Blinking at his quick chattering, the she-cat released a slow breath, blowing steam from her small pink nostrils.
"You will be training with me, alone, at one of the tallest ridges in all of SkyClan," she replied easily and steadily. "My mentor is up with StarClan now. He trained me so that I was just fourteen moons when I was a warrior, and proud of it." Northstar curled her long, leopard-striped and splotched tail up into the air for more balance as they exited SkyClan camp. Rocky ridges appeared before them, tree-less as frozen clumps and patches of heather now speckled the snow-covered boulders. It had not taken long for her rose-hued pads to touch the cool stones of one of the ridges, using her flexible toes to grip around slippery rocks. However within a few elegant bounds and leaps, she had left the earth's ground, and had now entered at a small cliff--although very high for any feline. Glancing upwards, she judged it's size skillfully, stopping at the base of the monstrous cliff.
"We will train here for now. Once you get better we may climb higher," she said, turning to Inkpaw with a sober gaze.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Inkpaw, though slightly shaken at the height of the cliff at this point and the prospect that he would have to face higher ones, looked up at his Northstar, an earnest look dancing in his eyes as he listened to what she had to say. "Well, I'll probably be a warrior at thirteen moons!" he meowed excitedly to Northstar.

"So," Inkpaw meowed, "what do you want me to do? Run up the ridge a million and five times?"

{ MOVIN' INKPAW TO THE SKYCLAN RIDGE FOR TRAINING }

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[Agii♫]

(( -moving NORTHSTAR to SkyClan RIDGE for training with cutie-pie Inkpaw- ))

[frosty ♥]

"Hm?" Bravepaw meowed in a puzzled tone before his eyes adverted to Dreampaw's face only to see her gazing up at him with bewilderment, ears burning he took a step away so that he wasn't standing over her, his tail flicked nervously. "Oh-- er..." the grey apprentice started off rather awkwardly and continued like this, "I just thought you were - um - I didn't mean to - erm - sorry Dreampaw," Bravepaw said rather fast, he blinked at her apologetically before backing away from more so that they weren't nose to nose.

The grey tomcat had been in such confusion to where Silverpaw went that he hadn't realized that Dreampaw was still there. Bravepaw's ears pricked forward, they were the only two in here, was that supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing? It made him embarrassed that was for sure but at least he didn't have any other making fun of him for his mouse-brained accident. Bravepaw gave her a cheesy grin and regained his voice, "Um, yeah, sorry about that..."

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Dreampaw's eyes remained on Bravepaw a little longer than she knew Inkpaw would've liked, but she couldn't help herself -- she was normally the observant type. She stood there, a slightly bemused expression on her face as Bravepaw stammered in front of her like there was no tomorrow, then attempted to recover and cover up his stuttering.

"Look. Bravepaw. It's all right. I'm not going to kill you, although if Inkpaw were here, he'd most likely say different. As long as I don't mention this to Silverpaw and you don't mention this to Inkpaw and you don't mention this to Silverpaw and I don't mention this to Inkpaw, then we're okay. We're not going to die," the silver tabby she-cat apprentice meowed. Even though her tone of voice was rather calm, she knew that she herself was somewhat babbling on and on, something that she did sometimes when she was extremely anxious or embarrassed. In this case, it was a mixture of both.

"You all right there? You're not going to faint on me or anything, right?" Dreampaw asked, her voice soft, somewhat still hinting with confusion.

[frosty ♥]

Bravepaw's ear twitched as she spoke about Inkpaw and Silverpaw, he nodded his head as she spoke, something he did often to Silverpaw when she usually explained or told him something. A smile was placed on his face as she asked him whether he was going to faint or not, "Nah, of course not" he purred with amusement. "Just thought that you were going to cuff my ears for that," Bravepaw added in a friendly voice before flicking her ear with his tail.

"Do you know where they went anyways?" He asked casually after glancing around the apprentices' den to see if they suddenly appeared or whatnot. Whiskers twitching with curiousity, Bravepaw's dark blue eyes adverted away from his surroundings and connected with Dreampaw's. A strangeness pricked at his pelt, almost like it hurt to look at the features of her face, he didn't know why. Suddenly he remembered the other day when their eyes met and he had felt this strange sensation. Bravepaw didn't know what to call it actually.


The grey tomcat blinked and turned away to look through the entrance of the den, the sensation that tugged mercilessly at him began to fade away. What was wrong with him?