|-| JointClan |-| Part 10 |-| Shadows Rising |-|

(YAAAY! PART 10!)

((You ready guys? WHo wants to start?))

((I will! =D))

It had only been a few moons since the ground tremors had started. They had all pretty much gotten used to it, but it was still frightening, in Stripepelt's opinion. The ground tremors had seemed to be getting closer and closer to camp, and Stripepelt envied any of the younger kits and such that didn't know what was going on. What were they going to do?

Branchstar was in her den. Wolf hadn't been talking to her for a while, and when it did it was very short. Kira and herself hadn't done anything wrong, really, they hadn't wanted to startle the Clan more.. Right?

Speckledkit, Smokekit, and Treekit all bounded around their mother excitedly.
"Can we go out into the camp?" Treekit begged.
"Yeah! Can we explore?" Smokekit put in.
"Well.. Don't disturb anybody, and don't cause trouble, and I suppose that would be alright." Pufflefeather sighed, watching her kits race off out of the nursery and into the camp.

Kira padded over to Branchstar, wanting to ask so many questions. His heart fluttered at a certain few. Perhaps if he said them discretely, he wouldn't seem rude. Or if he did, he would seem ignorant. Oh Starclan, why did all of his thoughts have to contradict themself?

((Oh Starclan, why do all of Suburbia's characters have this moment in their life? XD))

((I think StarClan likes to torture your characters. With me, I don't need StarClan to torture them, I just have me. xD))

Branchstar looked up, looking happier at seeing Kira. She always got this fluttery, floaty feeling in her stomach when she saw him and was with him. She recognized that as the same feeling she had gotten with Wolf.. But not anymore.
"Did you need anything, Kira?" Branchstar asked, blinking into the present, and out of her thoughts.

"I just, uhm, wanted to talk," Kira replied. The butterflies seemed to multiply as he started getting nervous.

Branchstar felt her heart pounding, mind racing. Talk? About what? Was it bad? Or good? Or, or, or..
"Sure! What about?" She replied, managing a fairly cheerful tone.

((Wait... since when is Brackenheart a deputy? Did I make him one and forget?))

(I couldn't remember who Larchstar had picked so I just put him in.. ^.^")

Branchinz wrote:

and Stripepelt envied

((*intense evil laugh and oohface*
...*points to avatar* His name's Envy.

Also, what happened to Lightningstripe and Dusktalon? Can Lightningstripe fulfill the prophecy soon?

...*can't remember what the prophecy was in the first place*))

Dawnfrost shifted her paws nervously as the newleaf sun looked down on her. Springtime: the time she had been wishing so hard not to come. It would be so hard to live with this when she always had to restrain herself around Croweyes. It was so hard to act indifferent. She nearly shivered with the effort every time they got within tail-lengths of each other. Sadly, she sighed, boring holes into her paws with her eyes.
((...That was an exaggeration.))

Raincloud's ears flicked as she heard Dawnfrost's wordless lament. Was something wrong? The medicine cat contemplated her past, remembering when she had acted exactly like that in front of Stripepelt. But... who was it with Dawnfrost that made her act this way? Not wanting to intrude on her daughter's thoughts, Raincloud recalled something else. She had fallen in love against the warrior code, and apparently, so had Dawnfrost. Was her family cursed or something?
Of course not. Raincloud shook her head at the exaggeration, clearing her mind.

Lightningstripe stretched, looking for his brother. Where had Dusktalon wandered off to this time? Hopefully, he wasn't outside the camp; at times like this it seemed dangerous, even to hunt. Lightningstripe flattened his ears in anger at the Twolegs, wondering how they could be so arrogant and oblivious. Blinded by a mild rage, he stepped out of camp when no one was looking; with how sunny it was, it would be easy to find a smoky gray cat.
He searched among bracken. The tabby occasionally scented the air, but it was always saturated with Twoleg scent. Every time he attempted to detect a whiff of his brother, he ended up gagging at the stench. There must have been some other way. As a small tremor was inflicted on the ground, he dug his claws into the soil, listening.

Dusktalon crept among the undergrowth, his ears flattened and his tail down. Tenaciously he crept closer to the source, trying to determine what it was. He forced himself not to retch with the intense odor of Twolegs, holding back the reflex with all his might. Whenever he could he refreshed his nose with the smell of any leaf that wasn't already stained with the scent. All the while, he kept his sharp blue eyes out for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. He also kept an eye on his paws to make sure he didn't step on anything left by the Twolegs. At the thought of the word, he let out a growl, immediately trying to keep it quiet.

Croweyes looked up towards the bright sky, examining the clouds as if they were prey. He stretched for a moment, considering going out on a patrol. His ears flicking at the thought, he proceeded to the leader's den.
"Larchstar?" he asked in his flat voice, his pale blue eyes gazing into the depths of the den. With no answer, he entered, looking for the tabby leader inside the den.

Stripepelt growled as one of the smaller tremors seemed to rock the whole forest. He dug his claws into the ground, almost baring his teeth in the unexpected rush of anger at the humans. Why couldn't they build somewhere else? Why did it have to be JointClan? Only StarClan knows.

Smokekit sniffed the air, and her nose was flooded with overwhelming scents that mingled and mixed, sweet and sour, tangy and bland. His tail stuck up, and he motioned to his sister and brother to follow him.
Treekit followed at once, smelling the overwhelming smells as well, and wanting to explore. As they neared, Speckledkit looked hesitant.
"Maybe.. Maybe we shouldn't, Mom said not to get in trouble!" Speckledkit squeaked, looking worried.
Smokekit rolled his eyes. "Scared?" He teased, and Speckledkit snorted. "As if."
"Then let's go!" Treekit said, eager to explore.
They padded past the brambles, into a den, where the leader of the group which happened to be Smokekit, smacked right into Raincloud, tumbling backwards in a mess of clumsy limbs.

Branchinz wrote:

Branchstar felt her heart pounding, mind racing. Talk? About what? Was it bad? Or good? Or, or, or..
"Sure! What about?" She replied, managing a fairly cheerful tone.

"I wanted to talk about... Wolf. Remember when he found Moonstar's scent?" Kira asked.

Branchstar's eyes turned painful for a second, but she grasped on her false cheerful mood quickly. She nodded.
"Yes, what about .. Wolf." She forced the name out.

"We were just exploring!" Speckledlkit squeaked. "I told them not to, but they wouldn't listen." She added matter-of-factly.
Smokekit batted his sister over the head lightly. He purred, then looked up at Raincloud.
"We're sorry.. Are we in trouble?" He inquired, trying to look innocent.

"Well, he reminded me of when we were 'slaves' and how you... You gleemed in the sun," Kira said, making up words. It was harder than he thought.

((That's okay. Brackenheart probably doesn't wanna be leader though x9 ))

Larchstar heard a voice outside her den, and looked up a moment later to see Croweyes stalking through the entrance. Her ears flicked; it wasn't unlikely that members of the Clan would come see her for some reason.

"What is it, Croweyes?" she asked, rising to her paws.

Branchstar nodded. "M'hmm.." She remembered quite clearly.

Speckledkit gave a sigh of relief. Smokekit and Treekit rolled their eyes at her.
"Your.. The medicine cat, right?" Speckledkit said, looking around the den in wonder.

"Well, I kept thinking and I realized that I l-" Kira was about to admit but pulled himself back.

Branchstar suddenly felt her hammering heart stop for a moment, but Kira had stopped in the middle of his sentence. She somehow suspected what he was going to say, but wouldn't say what she thought aloud, it would be embarrassing if she were wrong.
"You what?" Branchstar asked softly, her mind suddenly reeling again.

((Superhighlights, anyone? :D))

Raincloud nodded at the kit's question. "Yes, I am. If I retire then Dawnfrost might choose one of you as her apprentice, if you work hard." The gray tabby smiled at the kits.

Croweyes bowed his head respectfully for a moment, then meowed, "I was thinking of going on a hunting patrol, if I have your permission to."

Treekit and Smokekit didn't seem at all interested in the medicine cat anymore, they were edging towards the den, wanting to explore other, more exciting places. But not for Speckledkit.
"Wow, really?" Speckledkit said, looking curious. "What exactly do you do when your a medicine cat, Raincloud?" Speckledkit asked, eyes big.
Smokekit looked at Treekit, and whispered quietly. "I wouldn't want to be medicine cat apprentice, or medicine cat for that matter, I'm going to be the best warrior in the whole Clan!" Treekit nodded in agreement to his brother's words, and whispered back. "Not if I do first!"

Branchinz wrote:

Branchstar suddenly felt her hammering heart stop for a moment, but Kira had stopped in the middle of his sentence. She somehow suspected what he was going to say, but wouldn't say what she thought aloud, it would be embarrassing if she were wrong.
"You what?" Branchstar asked softly, her mind suddenly reeling again.

"I love you," Kira whispered on the verge of tears. Not that he knew why, it was just his instinct.