understand ME

[IVYSONG]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #343434; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #5f9131 solid; border-bottom: 10px #5f9131 solid; -moz-border-radius: 50px; border-radius: 50px;] do not doubt yourself ( WORDS ) 417 ( TAGGED ) SILVERSTEP ( STATUS ) COMPLETE the feline sat motionless. a slight breeze rustled her fur, sending the recently groomed hairs into little ripples that ever so slightly tickled her body. she paid no heed to the wind. instead, her eyes gazed out over the water, or more accuretly, ice. the lake near the half-bridge was frozen over. snow littered the ground like so many white flakes. slowly, ivysong's eyes blinked. she was thinking, about life, about leaf-bare, about clan life and about which herbs she needed to collect. a few of the elders back at camp were complaining about stiff joints before ivysong left the camp to get away from all the hustle and bustle that was going on. she figured she better pick up some more herbs to make a poultice for the elders so they would stop complaining. honestly though, ivysong knew that half the time, the elders' joints were fine, they just liked the attention. of course, she could not ignore their wishes, as she would never hear the end of how she was not a suitable medicine cat. ivysong scoffed. not a suitable medicine cat? those elders must be getting old. she was a great medicine cat, she knew that. she knew all the herbs and all their many uses. so what if she only had one good eye, she didn't need two. ivysong rolled her eyes, then settled them back on the lake. it was a gorgeous day out, and she was not going to let her brain take her places she did not want to go today. she would not doubt herself today. today was her day. her day to revel in the gorgeous bright day. her paws were getting a bit nippy from the slight breeze that came now and then, so she curled her bushy tail over them, solving the problem. sitting at the end of the half-bridge was one of ivysong's favourite things to do. it was a great place to just relax, especially when there were no two-legs around to ruin her day. those creatures were ruthless, she knew, and so she kept away from them, far away. she hated that they always came during green-leaf, her favourite season to sit by the lake. oh well, ivysong was only one cat, and one cat could not make the two-legs change their ways. ivysong sighed contently. everything was going good today. nobody had bothered her so far, and she could finally relax by herself, something that was a very big luxury these days. tranquility at it's finest

[Deleted]

[newclass=lauzlol03]width: 372px; height: 380px; overflow:auto;background-color: #000000; font-family: georgia; font-size: 9.5px; color: #fff; text-align: center; padding: 10px; line-height: 105%; -moz-transition: all 1.0s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 1.0s ease-in-out; -o-transition: all 1.0s ease-in-out; opacity: 0.0;[/newclass][newclass=lauzlol03:hover]width: 372px; height: 380px; padding: 10px; font-family: georgia; font-size: 9.5px; overflow:auto; line-height: 105%; color: silver; background-color: #000000; opacity: 0.9;[/newclass]

[style=width: 392px; height: 400px; background-image: url(http://warriors220.webs.com/Moonstripe.jpg);][classy=lauzlol03][style=width: 350px; height: 1020px; background-image: url(http://images2.layoutsparks.com/1/116134/picture-perfect-star-silver.gif);][style=width: 363px; height: 50px; background-image: url(http://images2.layoutsparks.com/1/142966/silver-glitter-hazy-satin.gif);]

✯ SILVERSTEP ✯
but you still have all of me

:: it was cold, she mused quietly. so cold, even for this time of the season. the leaves of the trees, trees she thought she'd never see again at certain horrific times in the last moons, had become so bare as the weather shifted, crisp greens turning a dull and quite dead brown before breaking off and falling to the ground, forming a never ending blanket of debris that crunched with each step taken. the sky above was clear as crystal, not a cloud to bee seen, and as blue as the lake. very few songbirds fluttered here and there, the few species that remained around this time, the sweet songs that they sang into the wind a welcome tune in the ears of one who had been denied that simplest of pleasures for so, so long. the sun's rays, as useless as they were for warmth at this moment, somehow managed to warm even the most damaged of hearts, reaching down into the depths of one's soul and caressing each and every bruise and scar that had been left behind after so long. for moons upon moons, all she'd known was darkness and horror, starvation and hopelessness as she was stored away in a metal cage beneath a twoleg nest, kept in damp conditions that carried the threat of illness at all hours of the day and night. all around her, she could hear the moaning of other cats, all suffering the same fate she was. some were nursing queens, with kittens too small and too weak to survive such harsh conditions that it was no surprise to hear the sorrowful wails of the she-cats who had gone to sleep with their litter only to wake up a while later to a mother's worst nightmare realized. what was worse was sometimes the twolegs would forget to take the dead bodies out, or worse, forget to feed the nursing mothers - the results were enough to make even the most hardened warrior vomit as queens saw no other way but to devour their own children, only to have a tom, reeking of illness and filth, thrown in no more than a day afterward so that they could repeat the cycle.

that had been her life for the last thirteen moons, living in that hell. the twolegs had tried to do the same to her - they'd thrown in many a tom into her cage hoping to get kits from her, but silverstep refused to yield. she yowled, she clawed, she bit, she killed, and when the twolegs would return, they'd discover a she-cat who was not with kits, and the decaying corpse of her would be suitor. they could've killed her after the first time she'd done it, they could've just left her there to rot and never spoke of her again, but no. a cat of silverstep's coloring was rare and valuable, too much so to just toss aside. so they kept her fed as much as they desired to, they kept throwing toms into her cage, and when she kept killing them, they resorted to other means to get her to cooperate with their wishes. to keep her from clawing her suitors, they cut her claws, and cut far too close to the quick to keep them short for as long as possible, and began placing more aggressive and larger toms in her cage. it didn't faze her, she'd fought bigger, and once she sank her fangs in, there was no escaping. other times, they'd tried to break her spirit by having her go without food for longer periods of time before introducing toms, and in those few instances... she did what she had to do to keep herself alive. she wouldn't die, she wouldn't go quietly into the night, not without a fight. no matter what her captors did to her, whether they threw the cage with her in it, prodded her with sharp objects, or forgot to feed her for days at a time, they couldn't break her. then, one day, more twolegs stormed her captors' nest, and removed all the cats from that dark hole... all but her; she'd escaped the moment they'd opened the door, ran and never looked back, staring straight for the sun, for home.

yes, indeed it was the thought of home that had kept her going all those moons, all those horrible moons in the dark. whenever her resolve wavered even slightly, she remembered that she had a home in the forest; her darling children were waiting for her, her brave thunderstorm, her dashing tigerfang, and her little hawk-kit, all awaiting her return. hawk-kit would be an apprentice by now though - no, chances were he was already a warrior! oh, how she couldn't wait to hear his warrior name, to speak it on her own tongue! tigerfate was awaiting her too, she hoped. her beloved tigerfate, father of her children and one of her best friends. foxbite was waiting too, and her dear mentor, if she was still alive. yes, everyone was there, awaiting her, and she'd kept them waiting long enough. those were the thoughts that kept her going now, kept her paws moving even though each step was sheer agony against her raw pawpads and broken claws. she'd not stepped foot on grass or stone in so long, and she couldn't even enjoy it. she'd not walked away from her trial by fire without scars either - each tom they put in her cage was more aggressive than the last, and they had their claws while she had none. they'd torn her ear, ripped her pelt, and just before the raid on the nest, the last tom they'd put in there with her had sliced a shallow cut in her throat. in that place, without medical help it had quickly started to fester; she could already feel infection beginning to seep into her body. at any time, she could collapse as the sickness took hold, but still she pressed on, traveling around the edge of the lake to get back to the forest she knew.

now, here she was, broken, fast becoming sick, missing her claws and bleeding with fresh wounds, but alive and still standing if not a little delirious. she'd no idea where she was, no idea where to go next. she'd no idea she was heading in the right direction, only that she wouldn't be able to take another step sooner or later. sheer will had kept her going this long, and it was now the only thing keeping her straight up the only thing blocking out the pain. then, she stumbled, her back half dropping to the ground against her wishes and forcing her to drag it behind her, although her attempts were for naught. in desperation, the she-cat began to call out, a weak and pitiful sound akin to a kit's mewl, but it was all she could muster in her state. 'h-help... s-s-someone, pl-please...' she whispered out.

[/classy][/style]

[IVYSONG]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #343434; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #5f9131 solid; border-bottom: 10px #5f9131 solid; -moz-border-radius: 50px; border-radius: 50px;][style=background-image: url('http://i49.tinypic.com/pn7z8.png'); width: 400px; height: 265px; -moz-border-radius: 50px; border-radius: 50px;] [/style][style=text-align: center; font-family: megrim; font-size: 42px; text-transform: lowercase; letter-spacing: -3px; color: #edf2ef;]do not doubt yourself[/style] [style=background-color: #deddd9; font-family: georgia; font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: center; padding: 3px; color: #000;] ( WORDS ) 533 ( TAGGED ) SILVERSTEP ( STATUS ) COMPLETE [/style][style=text-align: justify; padding: 10px; font-family: arial; font-size: 10px; line-spacing: 11px; background-color: #edf2ef; text-transform: lowercase; color: #000;]as wonderful as tranquility was, it was always short lived. this, the riverclan cat knew. no matter how far she strayed, how she wished she could have a moment to herself, something always aroused her, someone always needed her. of course, she was not one to hate the constant attention. in fact, she loved being needed. it kept her feeling important. and if a cat were not important here in the forest, what did they have to live for? ivysong lived for her family, for her clan, and for her work. this is why, when a faint mewling could be heard in the distance, she did not just ignore it, but instead her ears pricked, she focused her attention, and she listened for it again. the sound was like that of a kit, wanting it's mother. it was a sound of confusion, that of being lost, and to put it simply - utterly pathetic. there it was again! very soft, but nearby. without a seconds thought, ivysong took two bounds off the half-bridge and onto the snow-covered land. she send snow flying as she quickly changed directions and raced parallel to the lake, keeping the shore within her vision. ivysong kept her ears trained for the soft mewing noises she heard. it no longer sounded like a kit. it was an older voice, but very weak sounding, like this cat was badly hurt, or worse, near death. suddenly, the silver flash of tabby fur caught ivysong's eye. there, laying in the snow near the bank of the lake was a cat. red was seeping from wounds and the cat looked very beaten up. ivysong's medicine cat side of her instantly took over. she rushed to the cat, her eyes wide in alarm. "what has happened?" she cried out while she looked the cat's body over. the silver feline looked horrible. instantly, the smell of festering wounds clogged up ivysong's nose. she knew this cat needed her help, and fast, or she might die. from the cold, from infection, who knew what would take her first, but ivysong knew that it was inevitable that this she-cat was not going to live if not treated. ivysong looked around for anything that might help this poor feline. not much could be found, as the snow had set in and all her supplies that would help a poor cat with infections and the such were back in her den. just as she was about to give up, she spotted some cobwebs on a tree. at least it was something. she quickly ran over and swirled them up with her paw. carefully, she pressed them onto the wounds that did not look like or smell like they were infected. "i have to get you back to my den. can you walk? i will help you. you must have courage." ivysong pleaded, scared for the cat's life. if this cat could not walk, she would have to run and bring supplies to her. she would rather not, as the warmth of her den would do this poor girl good. "i will do everything i can to help you." she repeated, begging with her eyes for the cat to answer her. [/style][style=background-color: #deddd9; font-family: georgia; font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: center; padding: 3px; color: #000;] poor silverstep =( [/style]