lover of the light ✦ wolfstar & open

[FALCONFUR]

[style=width:350px; height:20px; background-color:#333333; color:#ffffff; font-family:georgia; font-size:9px; letter-spacing:1px;line-height:40px; text-align:center;] [/style] [style=width:330px; background-color:#cccccc; overflow:auto; color:#000000; padding:10px; text-align:justify;][style=width:330px; text-align: justify;][style=font-family: georgia; font-size: 10px; line-height: 130%; text-align: justify;]In the quiet lull of the morning, the WindClan camp was all but deserted. Falconfur rose from his slumber after a peek of sunlight stretched past the gorse thickets surrounding the warrior's sleeping spot. If there was nothing more the gray tom hated than violence, it was wasting a moment of daylight. Rising to his paws, he stretched his sore muscles and gave a loud yawn. Padding from his nest, the deputy trotted out to the fresh-kill pile. Two of the Clans younger apprentices were tugging on a separate end of a small rabbit. Narrowing his eyes, the small deputy padded up behind them. He stood, waiting. One of them, a thin white she-cat, squeaked and her eyes widened. She instantly dropped the prey. Her partner voiced his disappointment in her giving up so easily. She signaled to Falconfur. And, within seconds, the deputy had tow grovelling apprentices apologizing profusely at his paws about how childish they were acting. A fond smile stretched across his face and he chuckled. "C'mon now, enough of all that."

He picked up the rabbit in his jaws and handed it to the little white she-cat. "She-cat's first. And they're always right. Best remember that," he winked at the taller male. With a grin, he picked up a smaller rabbit from the pile. He dropped it at the young tom's feet and nosed him towards the apprentice's den. "Go on back in there and eat. The smell of fresh-kill will send the whole Clan out here. And dawn patrol hasn't come back yet, it looks like it." The apprentices, much happier than they had been moments before, took heed of the deputy's words and bounced back into the apprentices' den with the rabbits tripping them under their paws. Falconfur sighed and chuckled again before choosing a small mouse for himself. Though his eyes had been on the rabbit, he didn't have any need to take nutrients from growing apprentices. He picked up his morning breakfast and held it in his jaws. Surveying the Clan, all his usual eating spots were available. Purring, he trotted over to a small patch of sunlight and sat down.[/style][/style]

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[WOLFSTAR]

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She'd been sitting just outside of her den, soaking up a little bit of sun and quiet before the camp filled with other cats. Her azure gaze was half closed, a small purr coming from her throat when she heard the dispute. But, after a glance at the freshkill pile, Wolfstar merely chuckled her herself, amused by the little game of tug-of-war going on over a rabbit. Her entertainment was soon interrupted, however by one of her favorite clanmates: Falconfur. He had always shown to be a good warrior and had thus became her deputy when she became the leader. Taking a moment to watch him fix the problem in the most considerate of ways, she couldn't help but smile a little, rising to her white paws.

She stretched, her back arching as her mouth opened into a wide yawn. Then, the lithe she-cat padded across the camp to stand over Falconfur as he was just about to enjoy a mouse. "Pretty tough apprentices we've got, eh?" Her voice was light had a hint of amusement as she settled down beside him. "Dawn patrol hasn't been back yet?" she asked, glancing toward the camp's entrance. "Who did you send out, anyways?" Her gaze moved to look at him as he ate.

It was around then that the black-and-white she-cat's stomach grumbled. Her tail gave a flick and she rose to her paws, making a quick dart to the freshkill pile, looking it over and grabbing a rather sad looking vole. She carried it back toward her deputy and settled back in. "I hope they get back before the rest of the clan wakes, stomachs grumbly, whining for some food," she mumbled between bites.

Wolfstar finished the little mouse in all of maybe three bites, but it satisfied her enough to lay back and give one of her paws a lick, running it over her ear. The other flickered as the sound of birds in the distance filled her ears. She sometimes wished she could mimic them, but instead she seemed to make her own music from their sounds. A small hum moved through her as she hummed along with the birds, her eyes closing slightly.

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[FALCONFUR]

[style=width:350px; height:20px; background-color:#333333; color:#ffffff; font-family:georgia; font-size:9px; letter-spacing:1px;line-height:40px; text-align:center;] [/style] [style=width:330px; background-color:#cccccc; overflow:auto; color:#000000; padding:10px; text-align:justify;][style=width:330px; text-align: justify;][style=font-family: georgia; font-size: 10px; line-height: 130%; text-align: justify;]Falconfur wasn’t aware of Wolfstar’s viewing of what just happened. Through the silence of the morning, he heard her chuckle. Flicking his gaze over to where she was dozing, he was ashamed to realize she was watching. He knew she didn’t want him to punish such young apprentices for what was still kit-like behavior, but he probably could’ve been a bit sterner with them. Sighing, he took a bite of his mouse. A shadow fell over him and he gulped the meat down with a quick breath. He inhaled and looked up into the face of his leader. He exhaled in a soft sigh and grinned. “Ah, Wolfstar! Good morning! Erm, they were… a bit rambunctious. This early in the morning on what I assume was their second or third day they are rather excited, yes. I couldn’t be too hard on them though: the art of competition is something you don’t want to break. I should’ve warned them to stop fighting. You know how I hate it.” He added thoughtfully, taking a slower bite of his morning meal. He was quite the conversationalist and almost always had something to say. Sometimes it was a bit overbearing, but his Clanmates seemed to enjoy his vicariousness. Falconfur never thought much of it until he became deputy. He looked around and saw the other deputies - how curtly they spoke to one another – and became a bit self-conscious.

“The dawn patrol? Hm, no it appears not. I think they had something of a late start this morning though. Poppyclaw was complaining of bellyache: woke me up with her tossing and turning, actually. She was supposed to lead the patrol, so they had a bit of a mix up this morning. In the end it was Larchtail, Ryebelly, Sootfur and Pebblepaw who went, I believe.” He counted in a hushed whisper to himself. The dawn patrol had been quite frazzled this morning with one cat short. It was a rule of Falconfur’s when he organized patrols to never let one go with less than four cats. Other Clans were sometimes extremely rude on the borders and it was better safe than sorry. “That’s why I sent the apprentices’ to their dens. Leafbare isn’t yet over, we’ve still got a good two moons of it. Any ideas of apprentices for this season’s games? I think Juniperpaw is a wonderful choice: small, soft-spoken, always brings back quite a bit of prey despite the weather.” He was talking of a rather tiny apprentice with almost zero fighting skills. He never liked to choose based on that. Wolfstar, having won the games herself, may have a different say in the matter.[/style][/style]

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[MAPLEGAZE]

Ears twitching as the soft, but high-pitched mews rose from her kits' throats, Maplegaze stirred from her rest with a light groan. Opening her dark green eyes, the queen lightly lifted her head up from the ground, gazing at the two small kits that were curled beside her. She had just kittened about two moons ago, having a small tom and a small she-kit. They both had the beginnings of a long coat as she had herself, though the tom seemed to have a bit shorter pelt. As they mewed softly to one another, they gradually fell back to sleep, much to her liking. She may have loved her kits, but to hear them crying out for her all the time...Well, it could get a bit tiring. Flicking her tail in an impatient manner as she remained there on her side, she gradually stood. She would take the time she had to leave her resting place and enjoy the moments of silence. Careful not to disturb her two precious kits, she silently crawled out of the nursery, taking a bit longer to leave as her long pelt caught on the twigs that covered the entrance.

As she managed to squeeze her way out, she happily shook her fur, her ears pressing forward for a moment as she glanced around the clearing. Hardly anyone was out, thankfully. Even though she knew all of her clan members, she had never been a very social cat. At least, not as social as most others. She enjoyed being left alone rather than being surrounded by other cats. Kneeding her paws into the snow beneath her, her front end sunk towards the ground as she stretched her forelegs, her claws unsheathing for a moment before she straightened herself out. Running her tongue over her muzzle, Maplegaze quietly trotted up to the fresh-kill pile, pausing for a moment to watch Wolfstar and Falconfur. Her ears twitched as she caught a few of their words, but paid little mind to them before padding closer. She gave no verbal greetings to either of them, stepping a bit to the side before sniffing faintly at what little remained in the storage pile.

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[WOLFSTAR]

[style=width: 400; height: 100;][/style][style=width: 370; height: 400; background-color: efe9d2; padding: 15px; overflow: auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 10px;]Wolfstar chuckled and flicked her tail dismissively. "I don't mind. They're young, let them have fun. Though, arguing over who gets the largest rabbit probably isn't the most polite thing to do. Oh well." The she-cat had found it amusing. Had she not, she probably would have interjected herself. Young apprentices needed time to release their energy; she remembered times when she acted that way, so she usually let it slip. As she listened to him, her blue orbs glanced around the camp lazily, as it seemed like a lazy morning. Her sights landed on Maplegaze, a young queen. She was only a little jealous of the she-cat and spent quite a lot of time watching her, even visiting her kits. the tuxedo she-cat loved kits more than anything and was always so proud to see new ones come into the world. Returning her eyes to her deputy, the she-cat frowned a little. "Bellyache? I hope that's all it is. Poppyclaw went to see Dawnheart, right?" she asked lightly. Although a bellyache might have been nothing to worry too much about, the she-cat would always worry. And the fact that it had caused a bit of confusion for the morning patrol made her shift on her paws. So that's why they were late? Giving a nod, she seemed to understand better. "If they're not back, we should send some warriors out to hunt. Perhaps those apprentices could go along? Earn back the big rabbit?" Her eyes flickered with amusement at that idea.

Soon, they were discussing the games once more. Thinking over the apprentices they had, Wolfstar let each name roll around in her head for a long while. Finally, one seemed to stick. "Juniperpaw is a pretty good choice, but I fear she would need a lot of training if she were to survive the fighting. I wouldn't want her to get hurt. We should keep her in mind, though. I'll speak with her mentor about doing a bit more fighting sessions. I also like Thrushpaw. Although he could talk your ear off for days, he seems pretty strong. And smart. He'd find his ways through the tunnels easily." As she mentioned the tunnels, she recalled how they smelled and how scary it had been. She even recalled the tom she'd worked with, Smokeclaw it was now. A sad smile seemed to cross her face before she flicked her tail to dismiss the memories.

Taking a moment to look back to Maplegaze, she said, "The dawn patrol should be back soon if you want to join us. We were just discussing which apprentices would do best in the Games coming up. What's your opinion?" It was just like the leader to ask such questions. She was always seeking the opinions of her clanmates, wanting to have as many as she could so as to make the best decision for the Clan as a whole. She knew the queen wasn't much of a conversationalist, but that didn't always matter. A bit of company was always nice, anyways. "And how are your kits? Growing like weeds, I assume?" It always surprised her how quickly kits became apprentices. Soon, Maplegaze's would be apprentices. That was at least four moons off, but still such a short time if one thought about it.

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