Now comes the mystery

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Blueberry
"Everybody wants to go to
StarClan; but nobody wants to die."

The sun was shining too brightly. Golden locks of the yellow star reached her sleepy eyes. Blinking them open, she winced as she tossed herself over to the other side to avoid the sunlight. Eyes were blue, a timid hue, but they were white. Cats thought she was blind from the time when she was born, but she proved them wrong.

Her mind was still in the dream mode until she realized it was sunhigh. Sunlight! Her eyes shot open wide. She missed her dawn patrol she was supposed to be in. Hopefully, Haggarstar would not be displeased with her absence.

If Icebreath, her mother, was still alive, she would scold Blueberry for being childish. But, but, but Blueberry was really tired. She hunted the whole night, while rabbits were out, feeding on the green plants. Seven rabbits were killed last night from her claws and teeth. An expert huntress, she did not brag about it. Many told her that she was only being modest. Modesty had nothing with this. She only wanted to help her clan by using her best abilities. After all, she knew she was not well at fighting. Not like Icebreath.

Grief came on the young warrior's muzzle. It was only a few seasons, but Blueberry still missed the silver tabby with a sharp tongue and a loving nature. Her mother passed away of old age, after moving into the elders' den.

The young warrior remembered how much her mother had faith in StarClan. Stories of feline spirits with stars in their pelts were carried into Blueberry's ears when she was a kit. Icebreath was well known for her storytelling. Blueberry had to laugh at the silver queen's witty words, "Everybody wants to go to
StarClan; but nobody wants to die." That was a couple of days before her departure.

Blueberry remembered the time when she was there at her mother's deathbed. Blue eyes stared into Blueberry's blue ones, as if they reflected each other like a mirror. Icebreath gave her daughter the biggest smile, "You are so much like him." Her eyes gently closed as she whispered her last words, "Now comes the mystery." It was as if she knew when it was her time to go.

Blueberry clawed the memory away. It was too difficult to replay that in her head again. She felt something warm and wet on her cheek. Touching her cheek, light blue orbs found a tear. "Oh," she softly whispered. The word was taken away by the wind, brushing across the camp.

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[F E A T H E R]

The sun was high in the sky by the time Featherwhisker opened her bleary eyes. The silver-gray she-cat groaned softly as she stretched her limbs out around her, hopeful that no one would get caught by her stray legs. After she was content with her stretch, Featherwhisker brought her legs close to her and melted in relaxation. The sun was warming her as she lay in her nest of feathers.

Featherwhikser turned her head towards Iceheart's nest. He had started to sleep closer to her in the past few nights, it was a gradual thing that Featherwhisker hadn't noticed until she woke up yesterday with him snoring content beside her. This morning however, Iceheart was not there. She briefly remembered him mentioning something about a patrol today. She herself wasn't due for a patrol until later today and so she still had some time to spare before they set off.

The silver she-cat stood and took in the rest of her surroundings. The only other cat in their nest was Blueberry and her own sister Ashflame. Featherwhisker wondered where Ashflame had been last night. She and Iceheart had stayed up rather late, almost moonhigh, out in the moors and had returned late. Iceheart hadn't noticed but Featherwhisker knew that Ashflame wasn't in her nest. Her sister was up to something but she couldn't figure out what.

Featherwhisker looked away from her sister and padded away from the nests. The hunters had been out early and there were already enough pieces of fresh-kill for the clan to have. This was the great thing about Green-leaf. Even Dawnclan, the usually underfed compared to other clans, got plenty to eat.

She picked up her favorite, hare, and turned back towards the nests, wondering if she would be seen as lazy if she went back to her own. Featherwhisker was about to head over there when she noticed that Blueberry was now awake. The pretty she-cat looked rather distressed and Featherwhisker couldn't help but be curious. She padded slowly over to Blueberry and placed her hare infront of her.

"Would you like to share?" Featherwhisker asked, tilting her head to the side. "I can't eat all of this on my own." She and Iceheart had eaten before coming back to camp last night to prevent them from starving in the night.

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"Would you like to share?"

Light blue orbs glanced down and found a hare. It was one of the prey she caught last night. Sighing, the warrior nodded, "Sure, thank you."

"I can't eat all of this on my own."

Blueberry had to laugh. Featherwhisker was right. The hare was big enough for two DawnClan cats to eat it. Cats inside DawnClan always tend to eat a lot of food to keep their energy up. All of those running, sprinting, and walking around the moors always burn calories up pretty fast. As she fondly took the first bite, she savored the taste. "Ah, thanks. You are my lifesaver."

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Featherwhisker watched with passive eyes as the she-cat sighed but nodded her thanks. She narrowed her ice-blue eyes very slightly at this, wondering what the sigh was for.

'Ah, thanks. You're my lifesaver.' Featherwhisker purred lightly in happiness and took a few moments to think of what to say. When Featherwhisker brought up a blank, as usual, she settled with sitting down and taking a bite out of the big hare between the two she-cats.

Featherwhisker ceased her eating for a moment and furrowed her brow. "You seem troubled." She mewed softly, knowing the look as it crossed her face many times before. "Is everything alright?" She may only be a new warrior but she was no stranger to heartbreak and trouble. Her family problems alone were enough to make Featherwhisker want to sleep all day and have to face no one and explain nothing.

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You seem troubled.

Blueberry had to give in. She could not step back and lie to this new warrior. Featherwhisker had her family issues, Blueberry knew that. She wished to confide everything to Featherwhisker. She wanted a friend badly she could feel tears beginning to form. Ever since her mother's death, Blueberry wanted to get away from all pain and grief it caused for her. To get away from this big, empty loss inside her heart. She wanted to scream that she was not okay. But no sound came.

Is everything alright?

"No." She said, looking up into Featherwhisker's eyes. "I miss her. Icebreath..." Her voice faded. Inhaling deeply, she had to close her eyes.

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[F E A T H E R]

Featherwhisker flinched at Blueberry's words. "Oh course." She murmured. She had lost both of her parents in a way. Her father had left the clan and never returned and her mother had disappeared one night, only StarClan knows why she abandoned everything to get away from the father of her kits.

"I miss my father too, just like you must miss Icebreath" She said, looking into the she-cats eyes. "I may not know if he's alive or not, but I miss him as if he was in StarClan already." She looked away at this point, unable to hold the distressed she-cats gaze as she continued. "But you have to live your life, looking for the things that everyone looks for. Happiness, friendship," Unconsciously Featherwhiskers eyes drifted over Iceheart's nest. "and love." She returned her gaze to Blueberry. Featherwhisker felt guilty for saying these things only because she was only just beginning to learn these things herself.

She had found friendship and happiness with Iceheart but had no interest in love. She felt very grateful towards him and the rest of her clan. No one here judged harshly and were all rather forgiving. Save her sister Ashflame though. Featherwhisker looked towards the sleeping body of her sister, wondering when their next fight might be and what it'd be about. Ashflame still resented Featherwhisker, blaming her for the disappearance of their mother.

Featherwhisker winced when she realized that she too blamed Ashflame and their mother for Talon, her father, leaving the clan and never returning.

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Blueberry listened with content. This feline was a couple of moons younger than her, yet she felt that Featherwhisker had lived more than she did. Blue eyes caught the spot where Featherwhisker glanced at. It was Iceheart's nest. Iceheart? Yet, she did not ask about the tom. Questions began forming inside her mind, but she could not bring herself to question the younger warrior.

After all, Featherwhisker was right. She should stop feeling depressed and move on. However, she only knew this one tiny thing inside her heart that kept her alive and breathing: she will never forget the cat that gave her life. Nor the witty quotes that Blueberry's mother shared with her. Icebreath was going to stay in her heart. Even she had a trouble believing in StarClan, she strongly believed that she will meet her mother again. One day in future, with white stars in her pelt. "They are difficult to find, Featherwhisker," the silver tabby warrior finally found some words. At least, she spoke the truth. "But that's the point of living as a warrior. Achieve or die trying."

She asked another question, to change the touchy subject, "How's Ashflame?" Blueberry had no clue about Featherwhisker's sister's fury. She only thought that the two sisters got along pretty well. If she was wrong, she would know soon.

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Featherwhisker nodded at Blueberry's words but flinched at the mention of Ashflame. Blueberry, being a young warrior when most of the fighting occurred, probably didn't know much about the two sister's past. "She's... She's alright." She stumbled over her words, unsure of what to say. "We don't talk much..." She looked guiltily away. Blueberry might resent her for not taking advantage of having some family left.

"She's been... distracted." She looked back toward her sisters sleeping form. "Staying up late, disappearing into the night..." She wondered where her sister was going at night. Featherwhisker looked quickly away as she saw Ashflame begin to stir from her deep slumber.

"She might just be training again." She murmured. "She did this a lot when we were apprentices." Featherwhisker found it easy to catch onto certain skills, social skills aside, and she quickly became great at what she did. Ashflame on the other hand took days and days of practice and hard work just to get to an acceptable level for a skill. Featherwhisker believed that Ashflame resented her slightly for this too.

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Blueberry felt as if she asked a wrong question. This, she winced slightly, made her feel like an idiot. Everything she had said seemed wrong. At the minute, she desperately wished she was half as witty as her mother. Icebreath was a genius with words. A gifted storyteller, that was. Ashflame did not hang that much with Blueberry, but Blueberry could tell Featherwhisker's sister had a fierce temper.

Blueberry nodded at Featherwhisker's statement about her sister training again. She had seen Ashflame training once in a while. She scooped in the training fields to check on her clanmates sometimes. To make sure that they were all right. In fact, she had not been to training fields since she was an apprentice. That was a couple of seasons ago.

She missed the feeling of long green stalks caressing against her pelt, fully transforming her into a gray shade of rock, fooling the prey that glanced in her way. The sweet smell of the wildflowers came in her nose, making her sneeze. "A newbie," she heard her mother laughing. Icebreath was behind her. "Even right here, you can touch the sun during the day. But during the night, if you wish to touch the stars, you can. Just close your eyes..."

Blueberry shook herself back to the reality. "Oh." She did not want to trample into Featherwhisker's family business, but she could not help to have a big heart. "Is she dating anyone?" Her eyes sparkled lightly, half teasing. (Back to her old self) "After all, you said she is distracted...staying up late...disappearing...what else could it be?" A tiny smile, to lighten up the conversation.

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Featherwhisker's head shot towards her sister's gray form. Ashflame... seeing someone? What if that someone was from another clan, what if this 'relationship' was putting her in danger. Featherwhisker opened her mouth to retort that her sister would never be seeing someone when she realized that she didn't know her sister at all... They hadn't held a civil conversation since the two were kits in the nursery with Dawnlight.

"Maybe..." Featherwhisker meowed, still thinking about it. "Now that you mention it... I have seen her talking to Infernopaw more lately." But that didn't mean she was romantically involved.

Featherwhisker turned her gaze back towards Blueberry. "But If I make this assumption with her and Infernopaw that means she could think the same thing about me and Iceheart." She felt her fur prickle, there was no shame in becoming friends with Iceheart, but she feared that people would think that the two DawnClan cats were romantically involved... this was something Featherwhisker was in no way ready for. Featherwhisker closed her eyes tight.

Love is not real, love is your imagination, love is not needed.

The silver-gray she-cat opened her eyes again and purred slightly. "Ashflame could use someone to loosen her up a bit." She laughed.

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Infernopaw? Ashflame? Wow...Blueberry was really living under a rock. Deep within the grief and misery for a few seasons back then, this gave her a huge wake-up call. With mourning for her DawnCl- StarClan mother, she knew she had to move on. This newfound fact made her blink, knowing that she still had a long way to go. Nothing will mend the empty, pathetic loss inside her heart. Only time will. With time passing by, it will soothe her, numbing the pain. Being fit and ready for a fight with an enemy clan cat, this utter loss was far painful than a claw in her fur...

With thoughts spinning and twisting around about Icebreath, Blueberry thought about Featherwhisker. She had seen her with Iceheart several times, but she did not think they had gotten closer. Were they?

But Featherwhisker looked bothered. She did not look like a young she-cat in love. No spark was there in her eyes. Iceheart was mooning after her, basically drooling after her. Blueberry did not blame the white tom. Featherwhisker was really pretty.

Blueberry felt a pang of jealousy. A bit. No toms ever give a good look at her. Unlike Featherwhisker, Blueberry yearned love. Her heart ached for it.

She laughed at Featherwhisker's joke, telling her, "What if they are together? That ought be interesting."

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[atrb=background,http://i44.tinypic.com/vxmf7c.png,true] Featherwhisker watched Blueberry with wary eyes as the she-cat seemed to study her. She wondered what Blueberry was thinking, Featherwhisker often wondered this about other cats. Every time she thought she understood someone, even a little, they turned around to surprise her. Featherwhisker gave a tentative lick to her front right paw. "That would be interesting." She purred, her voice light. "I hope Infernopaw is up to it because she's quite the handful when angry." Featherwhisker, of course, spoke with experience. She was always on Ashflame's bad side, sometimes she wondered if she'd ever be on her sisters good side. It seemed unlikely to happen. A calming wind brushed through DawnClan camp. The warm wind brushed her long gray fur back and smoothed it out. Featherwhisker closed her blue eyes for a moment and enjoyed the breeze. One wonderful thing about DawnClan was its open airs, you could always count on a breeze to cool you down after a run. Featherwhisker, for no reason known to her, was struck with the sudden urge to talk to Blueberry. Not just talking like they were at the moment, but really talking. She wanted to confide in Blueberry, share her worries. "Can I... talk to you about something?" She widened her eyes at her sudden words. She almost never acted on instinct like this. "About... Iceheart." She looked shyly away. She and Iceheart were getting closer, each time they did something together, whether it be innocent hunting or that night on the moors, she felt herself get closer to the tom. She was scared, scared that she might develop feelings for him. Scared that he would return these feelings. She didn't want anything to happen. What Featherwhisker was feeling was probably just attraction... 'Love is not real, love is just imagination!'

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((OOOH...I absolutely love the purple-lilac colors!!! And nice post))

All of sudden, Featherwhisker seemed to act differently than before. Blueberry did not expect her to blush that easy and look shyly away. This was entirely new, probably one of Featherwhisker's sides that she had not seen yet. This bashful act actually brought out her true beauty, charming toms with her cute blushes and shy gazes. Blueberry realized that she truly would never be the same as her.

With jealousy, she pushed the green monster away. This was not her. Iceheart? Oh, Featherwhisker was...confused. She assumed it must be something about love. Blueberry had to admit to herself. She had never been in love before, though she lived for thirty moons now. Icebreath told Blueberry that she had a couple of lovers in the past, but Blueberry never met any of them.

Was Icebreath lying? Or she was too good at hiding them? Who knew.

"What about him?" She imagined the white tom with blue eyes.

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