{{Too Long}} Shadie/Feather

[F E A T H E R]

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[atrb=background,http://i33.tinypic.com/1t7ehw.jpg] Featherwhisker walked quickly out of camp and headed the opposite direction her sister Ashflame had. If Ashflame felt like being moody about the smallest of issues then that was her problem. She seemed to be set off with the smallest of things this past moon and Featherwhisker was getting tired of apologizing for her sister's additude. They were newly made warriors now and acting the way they did back there was what apprentices did, not respected warriors. Picking up pace, Featherwhisker began to run through DawnClan territory. This argument of hers and Ashflame's was immature and she felt a pang in her gut as she remembered the look on the warriors around her. They looked so embarrassed to be caught in the crossfire. She ran blind for a while, running where her paws took her, but soon she realized that she was awfully close to the river. Slowing her pace, Featherwhisker realized that she was on the border with MistClan. Walking along the bank she was soon near the cross with MistClan, DawnClan and MoonClan. Nettlepaw... she'd been so busy with apprentice duties and becoming a warrior that she had no time to meet up with him. Could she sneak over to see him now? Would he want to see her? It had been a while since they'd seen each other. A few moons, last time she had seen him was just after she'd become an apprentice. Featherwhisker took a tentative step towards the MoonClan border, by going over there she would be taking a huge risk, a bigger one than before. When she was younger and first stepped over she had the excuse of being a new apprentice, but that wasn't the case anymore. She was a warrior now. Featherwhisker jumped onto a rock near by, one that had others near it so she could jump across. As she landed she realized that these stones had been recently used too, and it wasn't a DawnClan cat, it was a FireClan cat. She had little time to figure the scent out and she had to jump again to keep her balance. Featherwhisker wobbled a bit and felt her weight shift in the wrong direction and she knew that she might fall into the crashing water below. Thinking quickly Featherwhisker jumped to the next rock and then to the sandy shores of the river. Featherwhikser let out a sigh of relief when she felt her paws hit solid ground. She had never liked water too much. Featherwhisker looked up and saw that MoonClan territory was before her. The darkness of the trees gave her shivers. Looking to her left, and then her right, Featherwhisker made sure that there were no MoonClan warriors around before sitting down, her tail flicking at the cold water. She turned her gaze towards the cold forest and let her blue eyes wander. The forest always managed to chill her bones and pray to StarClan that she was never trapped in there. Running would be impossible amongst all of those trees.

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[&. SHADiE]

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[atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,false][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,396,true][bg=071c01] The pine trees always felt like home. Everything about it was familiar; from the smell, to the darkness that the forest provided. A dark tabby tom walked aimlesly through the territory of MoonClan. Why? Well, why not. Being in camp on a warm green-leaf day wasn't the most exciting ever. Except for recently, of course. Nettleheart. No longer Nettlepaw. Nettleheart. He liked the way the words formed in his mouth and on the tip of his tongue. Finally, he had been made a warrior! But now that the whole yay-congrats-on-being-a-warrior-now thing had died down, everything was back to normal. It wasn't until he distinguished the faint smell of DawnClan that he broke through his daydream. His paws must've carried him over here. But why? The trees started to get thinner as he made his way leisurely toward the border. He stopped just before the last of the trees gave way to grass and meadow. A warm breeze made its way toward him, and with it, a memory from many moons past. He remembered a small she-cat, a small, rather pretty she-cat, by the name of F- Suddenly, his ears pricked and he tasted the air. DawnClan. Yes, he was close to the border, still on MoonClan territory, but something wasn't right. This scent was far too close. His body immediately crouched down and he instinctively retreated farther into the darkness of the pine trees. MoonClan cats held advantages with being concealed in their forest, especially with his dark tabby fur. He crept closer to this mystery cat, all his training as an apprentice flooding over him. He heard running water and.. finally, he spotted her. She seemed familiar, but adrenaline clouded his thoughts. Nettleheart stood to his full height and growled deep in his throat. Hackles raised, he stalked toward the intruder.

[F E A T H E R]

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[atrb=background,http://i33.tinypic.com/1t7ehw.jpg] Featherwhisker stared into the dark forest in front of her. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. Iceheart was probably looking for her by now... The silver-gray she-cat looked back towards the moors again. Maybe she should just go back. With any luck she would avoid any cats from both MoonClan and DawnClan, though will all honesty... Featherwhisker wouldn't mind meeting up with Iceheart again. Blue eyes widened when she saw a flicker of something in the forest. One one side, Featherwhisker hoped it really was Nettlpaw... on the other, Featherwhisker knew that he was a proud member of MoonClan and might not want to ever see her again. She had pretty much blown him off while trying to become the best warrior she could be. Featherwhisker took a deep shaky breath and turned towards DawnClan territory again. With any luck she would meet up with Iceheart and talk about their day. It was only a few moonrises ago that two cats had shared an... eventful night out in the territory. The pretty silver she-cat froze as she saw something stalk towards her, a warrior of MoonClan obviously. It's hackles were risen and it was hissing. Featherwhisker started to back away, but before she did she noticed the cat's eyes. "Nettlepaw!" She hissed, finally recognizing who the cat was. "It's me..." She hesitated. He hadn't hesitated to fight her last time she had strayed onto MoonClan territory. "Featherwhisker... Featherpaw" She finished akwardly. He knew her as Featherpaw, not Featherwhisker. She wondered if he was a warrior yet.

[&. SHADiE]

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[atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,false][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,396,true][bg=071c01] He froze mid-step, as if an invisible barrier had formed between them. "Feather..whisker?" He repeated slowly. His amber eyes looked her up and down in astonishment and he sat down on his haunches. "This can't be the same cat that I found all those moons ago?" He chuckled lightly before continuing quietly, "you've grown." Moments passed and his usual slow, easy grin spread across his face. "I'm Nettleheart now," he said proudly. "And I like your name. Featherwhisker. I think it suits you." He looked into her eyes for a few heart-beats, remembering their last encounter. Why had he let himself forget about her? He then shook his head as if to clear it. "But anyway, how've you been? How's the...prey?" Nettleheart mentally kicked himself. How's the prey? Did he really say that? He was such a mouse-brain. But what was he suppose to say? They weren't just silly apprentices anymore. She probably had a mate already, and was happily living in her Clan. For some reason, the thought sent a pang through his heart. His claws sank absently into the hard ground, disliking the absence of pine needles under them. There was that, too. How they were both in different Clans. Just talking like this was breaking the warrior code. Well, he never was one to follow it exactly anyway. Still, the thought still made his nerves on edge. He glanced behind him, already knowing nothing was there, yet expecting someone to discover them. Thus the work of guilt. Suddenly, another thought came to him. "Featherwhisker, why are you here? I mean, not in that way.. it's just it has been awhile and...," he let the question trail off. Why was she here? He didn't feel threatened at all, which he found amusing since she was technically still an enemy cat. Nettleheart glanced at the rolling plains of DawnClan then back to the pretty she-cat in front of him, curiosity playing in his eyes.

[F E A T H E R]

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[atrb=background,http://i33.tinypic.com/1t7ehw.jpg] Featherwhisker relaxed visibly when Nettlepaw dropped his defensive stance. He remembered, she could see that in his eyes. 'you've grown.' Featherwhisker couldn't help but roll her eyes. "No really?" She joked. "I hadn't noticed." She had grown a lot bigger since her first days as an apprentice, it would have worried her if she hadn't. She wasn't the only one who had grown, Nettlepaw was quite a bit bigger too. Her suspicions were confirmed only moments later. "'I'm Nettleheart now,' the tom mewed, "And I like your name. Featherwhisker. I think it suits you.' Featherwhisker purred. "I wish I could take credit but it was Hagagarstar's idea obviously" She mewed, laughing slightly. There was a still a slight akward air between the two newly named warriors. "I like your name too." Featherwhisker tilted her head to the side at this question and laughed. "Prey is... good." She purred, the situation was slowly becoming less awkward... finally. Featherwhisker watched as the dark tom turned his eyes back to the forest, obviously on the look out for his clan mates. 'Featherwhisker, why are you here? I mean, not in that way.. it's just it has been awhile and...,' The silver-gray she-cat froze at the question she couldn't answer. "Honestly?" She mewed. "I don't know." She averted her gaze. "I had a fight with Ashflame and I just... ran for a bit and ended up here." She shouldn't be here, there were a lot of reasons for her not to be here, a few being the warrior code and her new... unnerving feelings for Iceheart, being a newly named warrior. If she wanted to prove her self to the clan she couldn't be caught in MoonClan territory... again. Featherwhisker tried to change the awkward subject. "How long have you been a warrior now, Nettleheart?"

[&. SHADiE]

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[atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,false][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,396,true][bg=071c01] "No really? I hadn't noticed." she had meowed. "You must have though," he mewed innocently. "You're almost as big as a squirrel now." He paused for a second before grinning ear to ear at his joke. Strange how so many moons apart could feel like just a few days. Other than her obvious physical size, he didn't mention how he also noticed her ice blue eyes or soft gray fur, so pale the only term he could only think to describe it would be silver. Cats in MoonClan generally didn't have such fur. Coats of tabby and darker colors were common. "That's good prey is good." Nettleheart chuckled. At least his stupid comment didn't make him look like a total mouse-brain. He looked up toward the sun, the golden orb easily seen through the branches of the trees. He stifled a yawn. The heat was making him sleepy. "It's been hot out. Parts of the bogs have dried up, I even caught a bird that was pecking around there. I haven't had once since I was an apprentice!" He didn't mention the fact that with the bogs drying up, they had to go farther and farther into the territory to fetch water. Many newer warriors were assigned the task, like himself. Imagine his horror, fetching water like an apprentice. Nettleheart noticed the slightest movement of her posture as she went rigid from his question. Her eyes moved away from his and he felt the sudden need to comfort her. She just seemed so delicate, and he could tell already that today hadn't been the best for her. "I had a fight with Ashflame and I just... ran for a bit and ended up here." "Look at me," he said gently, tilting his head to he met her gaze again. "It's going to be ok. She's your sister, right?" He tried to remember the cat she called Ashflame, but could only take hold of a dim memory from a Gathering. She looked either exactly like Featherwhisker, or nothing at all. He couldn't remember. "She'll forgive you, or you'll forgive her, eventually. Sometimes you just have to just step back and take a look at things from another perspective." Nettleheart didn't have any siblings, but he had experienced other apprentices and their brother or sister problems. No matter how bad they got, somehow they always made up. Suddenly he felt self-conscious. Where had that come from? That sudden burst of compassion? It had felt so natural telling it to Featherwhisker..but..Great StarClan. She probably hadn't meant to tell him something so personal, much less expect some kind of consultant from him. He almost let out a sigh of relief as she changed the subject. "I was made a warrior just last moon, Featherwhisker." he meowed, matching the way she had said his name. He blew air out of his nose in an annoyed fashion. "I would have been made a warrior sooner, but there were some... difficulties. You should have seen me, sleeping in the apprentice den. They weren't even half my size!" His amber eyes wandered darkly. "Twilightstar stepped down, so we have Oceanstar now. They didn't get to my ceremony until then." his voice lowered when as he said the latter. He understood that the troubles of the leader came before most other things, he just couldn't shake off that bit of anger that told him he had been forgotten. Nettleheart cleared his throat. "Um. Anyway. When did you get your name?" His usual smile crept onto his face.

[F E A T H E R]

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[atrb=background,http://i33.tinypic.com/1t7ehw.jpg] Featherwhisker purred at this joke, surprised at how easy it was to be around Nettleheart. Meeting like this were suppose to be filled with fighting with both words and claws. Not teasing each other like they were from the same clan. Featherwhisker's eyes widened slightly. "Is your clan getting enough food and water in the drought?" Usually it was DawnClan who first when thirsty. It didn't occur to many cats that even in the shade of trees rivers were not protected from drying out completely. This went for the bogs too. Featherwhisker silently fretted over the thought of Nettleheart and his clan mates not getting enough to drink. Were some cats going to die of thirst if this kept up? It was one of the hotter green-leafs the clans had seen in quite a while. The silver she-cats eyes widened when Nettleheart suddenly tilted his head and looked straight into her eyes. 'Look at me' She did, and once again she was captivated by the similarity to her mothers eyes. Such a pretty color. 'She'll forgive you, or you'll forgive her, eventually. Sometimes you just have to just step back and take a look at things from another perspective.' Featherwhisker's breath caught in her throat at Nettleheart's comment. She wanted to move towards him and nuzzle her self into his jaw. Luckily, a bird's caw overhead snaped her out of it and their eyes broke apart. Two cats from different clans should not be this close. They should not be talking at all... Featherwhisker let out a quiet, almost silent sigh of relief as he changed the subject. She had heard that MoonClan changed its leadership, she hadn't realized that it had affected Nettleheart personally. "It was really recently actually." She meowed, thinking of her and Ashflame. It was the first time in a long time that they actually spoke. Both excited for what was to come. They spent their silent night in contentment. That understanding between the two cats hadn't lasted long though. It was only a few days later that they had begun to fight... again. It was like nothing had ever changed. "Ashflame and I passed the hunting assessments with flying colors." She purred. "I didn't do too great on the fighting assessment but Ashflame did really well." She remembered Ashflame's eyes. They were almost scary to look at. There was a flame within them that Featherwhisker had never seen before. She had desperately wanted to become a warrior. More than anything before. There was a stronger determination than her own in those eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised if Ashflame became the best fighter in our clan." She purred, "She's done so well." Featherwhisker didn't add that her sister had trained for a long time after everyone else had left to perfect her moves. Featherwhisker had managed to perfect them long before, it was just something Featherwhisker was naturally good at. Ashflame seemed to work twice as hard to get to the same level as Featherwhisker, and then surpassed Featherwhisker after hours and hours of training into the night. "I'm still determined to beat you one day!" She purred, shaking her haunches as if preparing to spring at the bigger warrior. This got her thinking. What if they did have to fight one day. She didn't know if she could hurt the mottled tabby tom. If there was ever a border fight between the two clans Featherwhisker didn't know what she'd do. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

((OOC; God I love you xD Thank you so much for making long posts. It makes it easier to make long posts too xP))

[&. SHADiE]

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[atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,false][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,396,true][bg=071c01] He liked this. He liked this... a lot. Talking with her. Being with Featherwhisker was different than being with some else, someone from his own Clan. She seemed to accept him for being, well, him. Even if he was from a different Clan. Other cats he talked to always eventually brought up the topics of duty or hunting. To him, those conversations always turned sour, it was as if someone had started with 'how's the weather?' it made things lame and expected. With Featherwhisker it was like a breath of fresh air. He didn't have to prove to her how useful he was to his Clan. Talking about duty or hunting in their separate territories would make things awkward. How much he liked having her near him scared him. He knew that he should turn around and head back to camp without looking back, and forget ever meeting her. Better yet, he should chase her off the territory. But instead he did neither, and these conflicted feelings seemed to grasp his heart and glittered in his amber eyes. And then there was the question that all cats like him had to face, "what if the next time I saw her was in battle?" At her question, Nettleheart hesitated for a few moments. Not long enough for things to become uncomfortable, but long enough for someone to notice. "Things are fine, more or less," he finally meowed. "We have to go a little farther to get it. It's a pain, but we need water. Things should be ok." I hope. He knew that DawnClan was one to suffer from drought, too though. "Water is doing fine over there, I hope?" The last thing he wanted was Featherwhisker suffering. He shouldn't care. But, he did. Suddenly a bird call sounded from above. He looked up toward the trees, almost absently. "Do you ever hear birdsong in DawnClan?" he asked, curious. It seemed like a useless question, but he wanted to know. Being in the forest hearing birds and rustling pine needles was normal. But in a place without trees... how strange it must be. If Featherwhisker let out an audible sigh, he didn't notice. "Ashflame and I passed the hunting assessments with flying colors. I didn't do too great on the fighting assessment but Ashflame did really well." "You must be pretty fast to catch all those rabbits then, eh?" he said with a crooked smile. He wondered what it would be like to run like that, free without anything in your path. The only running he ever did was in the forest, of course, but he had been dodging tree trunks while doing so. "And I bet you did fine on the fighting part. Of course, you'll never be as great as me." he teased. Nettleheart again couldn't recall an exact image of Ashflame. So he just nodded when Featherwhisker told him she was probably going to be the best fighter in the Clan. A strange feeling entered him, what if he faced DawnClan's best fighter, Featherwhisker's sister, and was forced to fight her? Could he, would he, be able to harm her, if needed? She obviously wouldn't know who he was. He however, would. "I'm still determined to beat you one day!" "Yeah, keep dreaming," he purred in response. "I'll believe that the day a StarClan cat comes down to tell me himself!" His eyes widened in mock horror as she prepared to leap at him. 'I'm a warrior of Moonclan' he thought suddenly and bitterly. 'How can I be doing this? This isn't allowed.' And, the strange thing was, at that moment, he didn't care.

((Hahaha I was just about to say that! Thanks for writing all these long posts, too. Makes my part easier and more fun<3))

[F E A T H E R]

Featherwhisker sat down, letting the breeze carry her away. She listened intently to Nettleheart, taking in every word. There was something about being around this tom that calmed her, maybe it was the easy way she could talk to him, or the way his eyes shone as he spoke to her.

She wouldn't ever admit that cat's in her clan disliked her, but there was an obvious awkwardness when ever they were talking to both Featherwhisker and Ashflame. It was almost like they expected that they were to take sides on the most recent argument. This disappointed him, a lot of cats could not see past the two sister's history.

It was then that Featherwhisker started to guiltily think of Iceheart. The gray tom was probably looking for her right now. Possibly worrying about her. The two had grown close after their night spent out on the moor and began to talk daily. She even noticed herself slightly move closer in the warriors den to him every night.

Shaking her self she rid thoughts of her fellow DawnClan warrior and focused on Nettleheart. 'Water is doing fine over there, I hope?'

"It's all right..." She admitted. "Could be a lot worse, could be a lot better. Some of the rivers are going dry. Our elders are complaining that the water is too far away. Even the grass has no moisture."" She sighed and stared at her paws. "I'm scared for the clan, in all honesty."

The clan was getting thirstier by the day. The summer heat was unrelenting and there were more and more cats in the medicine cat den due to being out in the heat too much. It wouldn't be too much longer before an elder or kit died from lack of water. It was terrifying to think about.

Featherwhisker blinked at his sudden change in topic. Birdsong? "Once or twice." She mewed, looking up into the shadowy trees. "It's rare that we get a bird close enough to the ground to actually hear its song." The birds that DawnClan mostly saw were eagles soaring high in the sky. The only 'song' cats ever heard from them were the screech as they descended on the camp in leafbare, desperate for food.

The silver-gray she-cat grinned, thinking about the race she had with Iceheart the other night. "Very fast." The meowed, laughing at the thought of other clans trying to catch a rabbit on the moors. "It takes a lot of training, and even then you miss a lot." She missed prey all the time, it wasn't so bad in green-leaf but she knew that once leaf-bare arrived the clan would need all the prey it could get. There was no room for error.

"Oh of course, almighty warrior." She bowed down slightly to amuse him. "I shall never be as great as you."

She purred, then acting on instinct she meowed, "But I can try!" She pounced, paws stretched forward. She managed to hit his shoulders are knock him off balance and the two cats tumbled on the ground as if falling down a hill. Each of them with their legs tangled in knots.

((Now too lazy to use my table XD oh well...))