Bonjour! Les prochain quartes chapitres sont planifiés. La traduction de la Guerre des clans en français est... So so in the French version Leafpool is Moonleaf, Cherrytail is Cherrywing, Greystripe is Greyfeather, Ivypool is Lily-I-don't-know-what-because-I-stopped-reading-French-warrior-books, Apprentices are not paws, they are clouds, and kits are not kits, they are smalls or paws, BUT warriors can also be called Small, Paw, and Cloud. Anyways, it's different.
Well, that was random, anyways, Hi! I have the next four chapter's plot planned, no more writer's block!
For the random guess and name the cat. Yes, it was Berrynose, everyone got it right, and I liked all the NTCs:).
Pandean: Thank you for the OCs, I will make them appear later on
I-really-hope-not: I just noticed I left out a previous OC of yours, oops, I'll make sure it come in to the story later. Also, thank you for the new OCs, I especially like Heatherflame, to be honest you just might have given me yet another plot point.
Cascade of Raining Ice: Thanks!
On with the story. And for the people who didn't read some of the writing in my last chapter, what Icepaw has is asthma.
DREAMS, THOUGHTS, AND THINGS OUT OF MAIN CHARACTER'S POINT OF VIEW ARE IN MAINLY IN ITALIC.
Icepaw stood in the water for a moment, blinking the water out of her eyes and thanking her thick fur for the way it blocked out most of the freezing water, leaving her with only the annoying feeling of wet fur. Shaking herself, she scrambled out of the water to see Dustfur running towards her.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Fine," she mewed, "The stream gave me a good landing," she mewed, hiding the evident panic she had felt beneath the influence of the flickering scene. The sun was already beginning to warm her back, and at those words of confirmation, her mentor grinned again, and Icepaw held in a laughing sigh, already predicting what would come next.
"Well, from what I could see through all these leaves, perhaps I should've went for something other than a willow, you evidently lost focus. For this move it is very important that you concentrate because it can be dangerous if your claws snag. Now you can try that again and then we'll go practice one of the more basic moves, also more ideal to use in battle as it takes less time and calculation ," Dustfur mewed.
Nodding, Icepaw unsheathed her claws once more swiftly reaching the branch she had previously used for the battle move. She hesitated before looking down, confusion creeping through her thoughts with the memory of the storm scene. Now that she had time to think about it what she had seen was freakishly similar to what Waterpetal had described as the flood night from nearly seven moons back. She clearly remembered the silver tabby shudder as she told her of uprooted trees and flooded camps. She let out an inaudible breath of relief when the mirroring waters, echoing the soft silver and golden shades of the sun, faced her, the unclear waters long since left behind.
Inching closer to the middle of the branch, she peered down through the rows of un-orderly branches, with the light of the sun they almost looked like a silver web, or as one might say, the intricate paths of destiny, if there was such a thing. Focusing on the branch beneath her, a hint of her stubborn pride showing through, she made a task out of not failing.
Adjusting her paws beneath her, she first let go of the branch with her front paws, thrusting them forward while using the movement to find the right moment Toledo down completely. Once again ignoring the minor scratches she was getting from her fall through the growth, she unsheathed her claws once again, holding back her instincts to scramble for a hold, which were unusual for a Skyclan cat. Squinting her eyes in fear of getting one scratched, she reached for the branch she had been aiming for, digging her long claws into it. Exhilaration and feet seemed to combine as she swung down from the branch diagonally, not failing to note the bit of sharp pain that came with bending her claws the wrong way until she let go.
Time seemed to slow as she fell, a feeling that she was beginning to feel familiar with, an opportunity to evaluate what was happening in battle, or so that was an example she named when asked.
The tricky part of the move turned out to be the landing. It was a part of the technique to use her momentum to avoid breaking her claws, but the omitted detail was that that momentum kept her going until she was in danger of landing flat on her back. Striking out forward with a front paw in attempt to regain whatever balance she could possess in thin air, she found herself hitting the still cold from leaf-bare water with all four paws, although her back paws brushed the surface first, however much Dustfur had demonstrated by landing with his front paws first.
Instead of jumping right back up to the surface, she found herself opening her eyes underwater, surprised not to find the sting that other apprentices described while complaining about swimming lingering there. A glint caught her eye, and she reached down to where a small grey pebble engraved with tiny pieces of quarts. Unsheathing her claws, she hooked them onto the rock and tried to hauled it upwards, careful not to let it fall back down. The oxygen in her was making her rise again, she realized, and she struggled to get a good grip and the pebble, not wanting to go back yet.
At that moment, she gasped, letting the last of her oxygen supply escape through her mouth as jaws clamped around her scruff and hauled her to the surface while she flailed to get free out of instinct. Breaking the surface, she gasped for breath, finally finding back the familiar need for more air. Then, she looked around to see her mentor glaring at her.
"Are you trying to drown!" He yowled, long fur bristling as he paced before her.
"I was fine." She muttered.
"You have to be careful." He stated the obvious, "Skyclan cats can't swim."
Icepaw bristled, but didn't protest.
"Let's just get back to camp. You can clean out the elders den and then eat." Dustfur sighed.
_ Linebreak
Back at camp, Dustfur dismissed her with exasperation in his tone, making sure she kg
New that she was to collect moss with Frostpaw and clean out the elder's den. Spotting Frostpaw at the edge of the clearing with her littermates, feasting on a finch, she retreated to the far end of the clearing, underneath a looming oak tree, and waited for the white she-cat to finish eating.
Having nothing else to do, Icepaw scanned the clearing. It was mainly empty, she noticed. Pebblestar was sitting on high-branch, watching over the clan while muttering things underneath her breath. So she wasn't the only one watching. Moments later, Fernmist padded out of the medicine cat den with what Icepaw recognized as thyme. Holding her breath, Icepaw watched as the blue-grey she-cat padded over to the leader. The latter only hissed, unsheathing her claws with a mad look on her face as Fernmist carefully backed down from the tree.
Icepaw would have like to be shocked, but it wasn't uncommon knowledge that the dark grey tabby leader sanity looked to have been lacking, although who knew how much of that was false rumours. Mostly cats just left her alone, muttering occasionally about the fact that they needed a strong leader like perhaps the deputy, Tallbark. Turning a watchful eye somewhere else, her gaze locked with Frostpaw's who had not joined in to the constant chatter of Sunpaw and Stormpaw, icy blue eyes staring at each other, evaluating each movement.
One thing was for sure, Frostpaw had not missed a single one of the anomalies that revolved around the clans. What she did not know is if Frostpaw had noticed something that she had not, for the she-cat seemed to lose focus less easily than she did. Or so, it was not exactly that she lost focus, no- it was more because she sometimes focused on something so much that it led her to different paths and the outside world got shut out by her thoughts. However much she would have liked to describe herself to... herself; she knew there was no way of explaining one's being with words. Now about Frostpaw, she had no way of knowing what the blue-eyed she-cat thought.
Thinking of Frostpaw, the following had dipped her head to her littermates and was padding over to her. Instead of talking, the she-cat simply sat down, evidently waiting for them to leave. Why the she-cat rarely talked was a mystery. She was not shy, every cat knew that, but she still barely spoke, and when she did, her voice was raspy, as though it had gone dry from underuse.
Without speaking a word, Frostpaw padded off to the forest, signalling for Icepaw to go the other way- North. Nearly sighing in relief, veered to the direction of an old and unused two-leg path that she knew was lined with boulders on the side, boulders that were covered in particularly soft moss.
As usual, she did not let her guard down, gaze sweeping the forest around her ears straining to catch suspect sounds, and mouth open to catch more smells. There was no way she was letting any cat surprise her at the edge of her territory. All that came back to her was the perpetual rustling of leaves overhead and the chirping of the returning birds filling the air with their sound. She noticed that the breeze was not particularly strong, and was confused when she noticed a nearby burch trees leaves swaying more intently that the rest, the sound like a bug at the corner of her ears. Turning around, she stared intently at the birch for a moment, looking for a sign, any sign, that something was there that shouldn't have been there.
A creeping sense of suspicion rose in her mind as the tree just as suddenly stopped moving. Taking one step closer to the pale figure of it, all while hesitating, doubt clashing in her mind as many different possibilities arose. It could have been a squirrel, she might be being paranoiac. Then again, it could be any cat, or it could be Fernmist-what if she had found something out? What if Swallownose had- Why was she even thinking about the insane red tom? Why did she even think she was being stalked in her own land.
Taking another step, she lifted her head, staring intently at the tree in a way that she knew freaked Flamepaw, her calico littermate, out. She blinked, thinking she must be imagining the flash of bright white she could see concealed behind the tree. By now it was more than simply possible that something was hiding there. A that moment, a stronger breeze flowed through the branches of the spindly tree, rattling its branches yet seeming to leave other trees in peace. Shaking her head in confusion, Icepaw turned away, heading back to her destination, failing to properly take notice of the scene unraveling behind her.
But what what doesn't see is not what one doesn't know.
_linebreak
A sunlit tree stood out in the middle of the forest, spindly and immaculately white.
It's leaves yellow-green, tinted and shaded like a sketch made from shadow and light themselves.
The sky clear, sending dapples of light down onto the forest floor in a delicate pattern, giving everything a star-like glow.
Before the tree stands a cat, with fluffy silvery-white fur,hesitantly stepping forward.
But the fur of the individual is not what catches the eye, no- the eyes themselves are.
Stormy grey with a hint of sky-blue and tiny green and brown dapples.
Although the tree is the focus, not the cat.
Or perhaps the focus is beyond the tree, to what hides inside.
A moment later, and a gust of wind ruffles the grey she-cat's fur, rattling the still-young tree's branches together.
The other cat then turns away, shaking her head in confusion.
The cat did not see, she was already walking stiffly away, but the onlooker did.
For just a heartbeat, the branches parented to reveal a white she-cat, paws, ears, and tail-tip ebony black with eyes of a sky blue.
Her long fur swayed with the tree, revealing a hidden scar, remain of deep and jagged wound.
The cats eyes flickered in surprise and relief for a moment, then regain the calm composure, cold and calculating.
Then the branches stopped moving, and the cat slunk back down to the bottom of the tree, following a path of shadows to the south, failing to notice the faint glow that came with the breeze, like glowing embers mingled with the light of the stars, although any being could tell that this creature had nothing to do with any ancestors.
The scene shifted again, the light fading to a turmoil of muddy blue as the onlooker struggled through the current, desperate to escape the predicament looking before her. She felt herself jostled from side to side, surprised to feel no pain there despite the overpowering fear that took hold of her.
She gasped, oxygen escaping her screaming lungs as a massive shape started slowly inching towards her path, then much faster, until it was crashing through the murky waters, until it had crashed into her and the scene went black. Or so the scene went black moments after a glowing like fading embers sparked above her, as bright as the brightest star, before retreating as darkened too over.
_Linebreak_
Icepaw woke up with a jolt, the panic of the dream slowly fading but the memory of it vivid as ever. It had been the same scene she had seen while training. And from the corner of her eyes, she could see sky blue eyes gleaming, cold and calculating. There was something more about the flood night, she knew, something that other cats were keeping from her.
And, another chapter completed! Please read and review!
QOTD: What do you think about Frostpaw and the dreams?