WindClan: Life Before 2023's Fire

[SuspiciousMindz]

Blazingstar rose up onto the Breezerock, his gaze looking down on the cats around the clearing. It was time for some well-needed ceremonies. He didn't mean for the cats to wait so long for them, but with all the trouble in Thunderclan, he simply didn't have time to do them until now. Perhaps doing them would relieve some stress off his clan-mates too? He knew that it would for him. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here around the Breezerock for a clan meeting!" his voice was loud and clear. One filled with pride and confidence. Despite everything the clan has gone through, Blazingstar was glad he was leader of the cats around him. They were all loyal and he knew he could rely on them all.

@InfernoFlicker @Duskflight @bad company @Nighty

[~Aesthetic~]

Originally Posted by JaxenAmethyst

(Aww Bronzepaw is so me)

(If I may, I'll bring in Spottedheart)

Spottedheart padded through the different varieties of grasses, including Fine Fescue, Bermuda Grass, Zoysia Grass, and Perennial Ryegrass, caressed her soft, though rough-drawn pads as she strode towards Almondpaw, her apprentice. "Hello, Almondpaw," she look towards Almondpaw, then to Bronzepaw. "..Bronzepaw." The calico she-cat flicked her tail, ordering Almondpaw to come near. She inhaled as a soft, scented breeze blew past her, then resumed. "I am here for your training. We will practice hunting techniques. First, show me what skills you may have acquired from other apprentices or warriors." She sat down and gently half-nodded towards Almondpaw, a sign to begin.
She turned her gaze towards Bronzepaw. "Would you like to practice as well?"

Almondpaw grunted quietly in protest he raised his head. Still, he met his mentor's gaze. He came closer, as instructed, flicking his tail from side to side. He made no attempt at hiding his untouched rabbit carcass, in fact, he looked from Sppttedheart to the prey, expecting her to say something. Barely a heartbeat passed until he dropped into a crouch, still dead silent. He closed his blue eyes and focused his senses on finding prey, specifically his nose. As the breeze blew his tabby fur back, he, he caught a whiff of a squirrel. His eyes shot open.
How'd a squirrel make it to the moor? he thought, scrunching his nose in distaste. That's ThunderClan food!
Pushing the thoughts away, he stalked it. He was unsure if himself, not having much practice with hunting at all, much less uncommon prey. As he spotted the squirrel, he dashed forward with no warning, like he'd do with a rabbit. He was sure of himself now, having being taught this strategy, but to his dismay the squirrel darted up a conveniently placed tree.
"Of all the places on the moor, the tree had to be there!" he complained, gaze returning to the two cats behind him. With a shrug, he started back.

[monfang]

Rabbitkit added to the breezerock, a happy and shyness in his gaze. Today he would become an apprentice. Oh he wondered who.

{ew short}

[spade]

Runningheart glanced over from where he was seated outside the warriors den. He'd just gotten back from a successful hunting patrol and was now smoothing down certain places of his fur that were sticking up against his reasoning. Now, the snow-white tom turned his attention to where Blazingstar stood on the Breezerock. It had felt like moons since there were ceremonies performed in WindClan, and the tom felt excited that they were finally under way. It meant that WindClan was back to regaining it's strength, and that they would soon be the prideful cats of the moors once more. With all this recent trouble he'd been hearing about ThunderClan, especially with them harassing elder warriors and even Shrikecall, the younger warrior was on edge, anticipating a battle announcement at any moment. He knew Blazingstar was more cautious than that however, that he wouldn't launch WindClan into a battle they were unprepared for. Blinking once to clear these thoughts and focus on the news to be delivered, the white tom listened carefully to see who the new apprentices and warriors would be.

[InfernoFlicker]

When Infernosky heard the beckoning of Windclan's leader to gather for a clan meeting, the red tabby responded immediately, as she had always done. Before she and her pair of companions, Russel and Jitterbug, had waddled off to bed in their exhaustion, she stopped them by placing her furry banner between them and the sleeping dens.

"Wait," She said quietly, as to not disrupt the quiet attention of the other Windclan cats as they slowly began to accumulate around the Breezerock, "Blazingstar is calling for a clan meeting. We are all required to attend. Follow me."

As she turned and led her two friends into the crowd of many-colored felids, she spoke to them over her shoulder, "Clan meetings are called when there is important news that needs to be addressed to the entire clan. This keeps every cat updated on important clan business that they otherwise might not be aware of," She paused as she continued to search for a good place among the cats, very aware of all the confused, wary, and some probably unpleasant (like Shrikecalls, perhaps) eyes that were following them. This was just as she had expected, since the trio were entirely new cats in this clan; they probably didn't even smell like Windclan yet, either, "I would expect that we are the subject of at least a small portion of the news Blazingstar is about to announce. Here's a good place to sit." She finally stopped at one of the far edges of the gathering cluster, where she often sat as deputy, since, unless times had changed, there wasn't a specific sitting place for the deputy in these kinds of meetings; it wasn't exactly necessary, after all. "Sit still and be quiet," She whispered to Russel and Jitter, who complied with stiff motion, definitely made uncomfortable by the many stares.

[lone]

Originally Posted by Suspiciousmindz

She was bounding after her friend, not stopping even though she grew frustrated time to time. Then there came a point in the run where the grass was too tall for Larkkit to spot her friend. This scared her. The unknown scared her, but she slowed her pace and walked through the tall grass, stumbling upon a narrow, but bare trail in the grass. It was odd, nothing grew down the line as it appeared to be worn down by something big stepping on it. Larkkit didn't give it much thought other than it gave her an easy way to walk through grass to find Heartpaw. She couldn't even hear her friend anymore and she was beginning to think Heartpaw left her alone in the territory. She didn't know her way around yet! What if she got lost or stumbled into another clan. The thoughts kept crossing her mind until she was stopped dead in her tracks. Straight down the oddly bare path was a beast she'd never encountered before. It was snarling, barking, and pulling harshly against the rope it was tied to. That rope lead up to something even bigger and scarier. The creature had to fur, walked on two legs and was shouting at the furry beast. Larkkit let out a whimper as she shrank to the ground, horrified of what was going to happen. Sure, she had enough time to up and run from the danger, but in that moment she couldn't move, she couldn't tear her eyes away from them, she couldn't even tell if she was breathing or not. More whimpers left her body and she began shaking violently, pleading that someone came to rescue her. This just came to show how reliant she was on her clan mates still. It was true, she really was still too young to be out here.

Oh no. No, no, no, no. Seeing her friend crouched down against the ground with a dog lunging at her, Heartpaw was frozen. This had been a bad idea. A bad, bad, bad, bad idea. It was going to be all her fault. What was Larkkit's mother going to say? What was she supposed to tell Blazingstar, since she was sure Sagewhisker would be bringing this up? What was she supposed to do with herself, if her friend were to get hurt or worse, die? There had to be something she could do. Do not scream. That was the only thing that she had to remember as she slowly crept through the grass, praying to StarClan that the twoleg kept the dog on it's rope. Swallowing nervously, her expression changed as she realized that just as long as the dog stayed on the rope, there was no way it could reach Larkkit. Her friend just needed to stay still and hope that the twoleg didn't notice her either. Some twolegs were nice, she had heard from former kittypets... or cats of kittypet blood... but some were harsh and mean, hurting cats. Perhaps this twoleg would be one of the nice ones if they did see her or Larkkit. "Larkkit," She whispered to get the small cat's attention. Okay. Now they needed to get out of here. "When the twoleg isn't looking in your direction, come towards the sound of my voice, okay? This is very important. We have to get out of here." Why had she thought this was a good idea? It had been stupid. And now her friend or her might end up paying for a mistake she had made.

[lone]

Originally Posted by Brooklyn Trees

'Do you want me to stay?'

Originally Posted by Brooklyn Trees

Her ears swiveled towards him as he spoke and she felt her heartbeat speed up again.
She wanted to say 'yes', as she surely would have had this thought not come to her as he spoke.
Why had he asked? Was he searching for a way out of this? Changed his mind? Become uncomfortable with this?
If she was truthful and said yes he may have felt obliged to stay, because this was Couragepaw and he was an amazing, wonderful tom and an even better friend. But if she said no then he would surely leave, and if he had truly wanted to stay there — like this — then she would have to see the hurt in his eyes all over again.
She never wanted to see that look in his eyes ever again, and even more than that she never, ever, wanted to be the cause of its appearance.

She nearly drew away — nearly told him he could leave if he wanted to — but then she felt his tail connect with hers and wrap around it.
If he had truly wanted to leave, would he have done that?
She sincerely hoped not as she curved what was left untwined her own tail lightly around what was left untwined of his and let herself melt temporarily back into his scent.

He had always been there, as long as she could make herself remember. That first day, when they were three moons old, frolicking about as they had just met. That was when her life had truly begun.
She had never been close with her family.
But he had meant everything to her and more. She would gladly give her own life for his or even break the rules if he was the one who asked her to do so.
She had betrayed a friend before for breaking the rules.

His question brought her back to the real world and the real time.
Anyone... else?
Who else would she ever want to be with?
Nobody else made her feel like the sight of the rolling hills of the territory did, those hills of the territory that she would one day protect.
And all her days she had imagined protecting this place beside him. One of the many things they would come to do together.

She would give anything to have been in this moment a moment longer, and she could never have wished for a better feline to be beside.
Not now. Not ever. Even when they had fought, there was nobody she would ever have wanted to be beside other than him.

"There would never be anyone I would rather be with." She murmured into his fur.
And this would never not be true.

(Sorry, it's a bit short...)

Her words gave him the pleasure that he wanted. Needed. Moonpaw. Her scent was all around him, making him feel safer then he had in a long time. She was staying. She was okay. Maybe... her fear was gone? Was he doing this right? Whether it was this or something else, he must be doing something right, because she was no longer scared. No longer frightened. It gave Couragepaw a sense of security to know this, to know that the she cat was going to be okay.
　
She was going to be okay. She was really going to be okay. He had done something right after all. "I couldn't agree more." Moonpaw was the most special cat to him in the world. She meant the stars, moon and sky to him. Just as he had thought before. Oh, how could one cat be so special to him? How could one cat mean so much to him? There was no possible explanation in his mind, in his thoughts, in his imagination. She was the only one he'd ever really... thought like this about before.

　

Oh of course there had been those little kitty crushes, the ones on the pretty older cats whom he knew would never pay any attention to him, but she was different. She was here beside him. Entwining her own tail around his, making him feel like he was on Cloud 9. Then again, he often felt like that with his best friend. Bronzepaw had been nice, and sure, he could understand that she might've been a better alternative, but no one was like Moonpaw.

　

And now that she understood? Everything seemed brighter. Like he had been looking at the world through dark tinted glasses and she had just replaced them with shining, sparkling ones. Oh, how great the tom felt at that very moment. Nothing could be better then this. Nothing in the whole world. "And you're sure you're going to be okay?" He asked, touching his nose to her ear once more. She smelled like the sweetest of flowers... only it was different too, and he couldn't quite place a paw on it.

　

Like the breezy openness of WindClan territory. Like the warmth of the nursery. Like the fresh, crisp air in green-leaf. And of course, there was that flowery scent. It was the best he knew how to describe her. It was as though she had taken all the scents of the place he had, and would forever call home, and mixed them up into her own pelt. The description sounded strange, but he didn't know what else to call it. WindClan was his home. But he would leave it if Moonpaw did... because she would take the beauty of it with her.

　

Yes, the waving grasses and rolling hills of WindClan were beautiful. But to Couragepaw? They had nothing on the she cat that he had thought of for a sister pretty much all his life, and now... things were changing. For the better or worse, he couldn't say yet. But they were definitely changing for good.

[JaxenAmethyst]

Originally Posted by Spottedheart

(Omg your OC has my username!! LOL XD!!)

Lol!

[JaxenAmethyst]

Originally Posted by Cherry Cola

Almondpaw grunted quietly in protest he raised his head. Still, he met his mentor's gaze. He came closer, as instructed, flicking his tail from side to side. He made no attempt at hiding his untouched rabbit carcass, in fact, he looked from Sppttedheart to the prey, expecting her to say something. Barely a heartbeat passed until he dropped into a crouch, still dead silent. He closed his blue eyes and focused his senses on finding prey, specifically his nose. As the breeze blew his tabby fur back, he, he caught a whiff of a squirrel. His eyes shot open.
How'd a squirrel make it to the moor? he thought, scrunching his nose in distaste. That's ThunderClan food!
Pushing the thoughts away, he stalked it. He was unsure if himself, not having much practice with hunting at all, much less uncommon prey. As he spotted the squirrel, he dashed forward with no warning, like he'd do with a rabbit. He was sure of himself now, having being taught this strategy, but to his dismay the squirrel darted up a conveniently placed tree.
"Of all the places on the moor, the tree had to be there!" he complained, gaze returning to the two cats behind him. With a shrug, he started back.

"Almondpaw, don't be discouraged! Just try hunting a rabb-," Spottedheart eyed the rabbit carcass, flies swarming around it. "..oh," she exclaimed, while thinking, How could I have not saw that earlier? "Well, just show me how you caught the rabbit. I'll be checking for any type of flaws," she ordered, a small smile spread across her face as she watched Almondpaw.

[wickedvirtues]

( @Derp Katz )

Meadowsong walked through the clearing, her pale brown pelt blown in the wind and making it ruffle against the cold breeze. She was used to the winds, she was in a Clan named after wind after all, and her thin legs moved with ease through the territory. Meadowsong parted her jaws, scenting rabbit. She saw a blur of pale white, crouching and stalking up on the creature. The rabbit took off, though Meadowsong sprinted after it, she soon caught the creature, taking it back to camp and setting it in the fresh-kill pile.