[ et je veux ta revanche ] (tawnywhisker)

[Crowzerplorodon]

Today was pleasant. Yes, it was very dry. The clans had not been graced with snow or rain in the last few days and already it could be seen on the ground. Patches of dirt cracked from the lack of precipitation, evergreen trees were turning brown, the river had shrunken to a strangely low point. And yet, every morning, a thin layer of frost covered the ground. It was quite perplexing to Silverflower, and at the moment, with nothing to do seeing how Mistpelt had yet to assign her a task, it was the only thing on her mind.

The sun had made a decent climb in the sky by this point. Most of the clan had woken up from their sleep to be greeted by the warmer-than-usual morning. Silverflower was sure that if she stuck her head into the warrior's den there would not be a single soul in there. And yet, the camp seemed practically empty. The occasional cat would walk by and nod to her, yes. But really it felt like everyone else had been sent out on one of Mistpelt's orders. Silverflower hadn't been ordered anywhere by anyone.

So there she sat, in front of the warriors den, paws curled under her chest as she watched the clouds roam in the sky, thinking about how there wasn't any precipitation. Maybe, she mused, going out to hunt without being ordered to wouldn't be so bad. The clan could always use prey and it wasn't like she could be scolded for bringing back something the clan needed. And hey, who knew, perhaps she'd bumped into a friend out there. Oh how she could use some company.

Yet Silverflower didn't move. Her blue eyes focused on seemingly nothing in the distance. If she closed them, one might think the she-cat had fallen asleep. Or maybe one would think she had learned to sleep with her eyes open. Could cats even do that? The thin she-cat wondered, tail twitching slightly. That would be an interesting accomplishment. Going to sleep while your eyes remained open. One could surely fool a lot of cats by doing that! Giving the appearance that they were still awake and alert.

The she-cat giggled slightly, closing her eyes in mirth as her tail wrapped around her small body. Ah, sleeping with eyes open indeed.

[glowlynose]

Hm. This is strange. Leaf-bare is nearly here, yet the earth is warm today. Praises be to StarClan, for they have chosen to grace us with such pleasantness! A joyful grin spread across Tawnywhisker's face as she returned from her successful hunt. Such good fortune was unusual at this time of the year; the icy claws of leaf-bare had taken hold of the land much earlier countless times before, or so the Elders told. FogClan was thriving, though, and Tawnywhisker chalked this down to StarClan's blessing. They must have chosen FogClan to share their bounty with this season, for her clanmates' pelts were glossy, and no sickness rent the camp yet. In fact, there had barely been a cough from any cat in the clan since they had settled here. This must indeed be blessed ground.

"Good morning, Silverflower! StarClan's blessing be with you on this fine day." The she-cat's pawprints were left clearly in the thin layer of frost that covered the ground as she sauntered easily over to the silver-pelted warrior. Of course, she made sure to deposit her catch on the fresh-kill pile before making her way to the solitary she-cat. Silverflower appeared to be quite at ease, though mews of dissent had been making their way through the clan as of late. It was unusual, thought Tawnywhisker, to see any cat so peaceful when the entire Clan seemed to be sparked with an underlying tension. It took something special to do that, and the mottled she-cat found herself gaining an admiration for the content silver warrior even before a single word escaped her lips to reply.

"We are indeed blessed with such prosperity, and so soon before leaf-bare. It is unusual, don't you think?" Tawnywhisker smiled easily at Silverflower, her tail curling around her forepaws as she sat down. A blissful sigh escaped her throat and she flexed her shoulders, working out the kinks in the muscles.

[Crowzerplorodon]

Getting distracted was a common occurrence in Silverflower's life. Common enough that she would hope her clanmates understood if she spaced out for a second and ignored them. It would be horrible if they thought she was ignoring them just because she felt like not listening to them. Oh no, Silverflower enjoyed listening to her clan mates more than anything in the world. They often had things of worth to say. Nevertheless, thoughts of cats with open eyes and sparkling frost had managed to keep her from recognizing Tawnywhisker until the she-cat had taken a seat.

“And with you, Tawnywhisker,” she said with a smile, unfocused on her words and really just repeating what her clanmate had said. “It's very true. Having such a warm day in the midst of what's looking to be a harsh Leaf-Bare is a rare blessing indeed.” She giggled softly, mostly to herself. All this talk of blessings and StarClan was too amusing to pass up. For a moment she wondered if Tawnywhisker actually talked like that, or if the weather had gotten into the she-cat's mind. Silverflower glanced over.

Probably the latter.

“You're beginning to sound like Mistpelt, Tawnywhisker,” she said sweetly, blue eyes mingled with innocence. Oddly enough, a lot of clanmates had begun to sound like Mistpelt. Silverflower didn't know whether to be annoyed at how conformed they were all being or feel joy that her clanmates were coming together under one being. Unity was good, she decided, gaze downcast.

“It's been rather dry lately,” she commented, taking her mind off whatever negative thoughts she may have. “I do hope it rains. The river will dry up at this rate and the poor elders will have to make do with just little bits of wet moss.”

[glowlynose]

How unusual, thought Tawnywhisker, how strange it is for Silverflower to consider this dryness a curse. It will surely snow soon, and it would be much better for snow to come than rain anyway. Rain would just freeze and turn into ice. Tawnywhisker absentmindedly licked a patch of white fur on her chest. Her nose wrinkled when a strange sour smell crossed her path on the breeze.

"Ugh. Brightnose must be tending to the Elders' ticks with mouse bile again. It's such an unpleasant smell," she spat. Yes, it must be the scent of mouse bile. No other thing on StarClan's good territory could have such a rank smell.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What was that you said? Something about Mistpelt? Hm, haven't spoken to her in a while. How is she doing, do you know? I'd much like to know what you meant. Y'know, the whole similarity thing. Am I really that much like her?" Tawnywhisker cast a quizzical look at Silverflower. What an odd thing to say when you barely know a cat. I mean, for some cats, that could be very offensive. Not that it offends me, being compared to our illustrious Deputy. I just can't help but wonder what she meant. The mottled she-cat smiled at the silver-pelted warrior, hoping to convey that she took no offense to her statement.

"I'm sorry, Silverflower. That must have seemed incredibly harsh of me. Allow me to rephrase. What do you mean, I'm 'similar to Mistpelt'? I haven't interacted with her enough to be able to make such a judgement about myself, not that it would be negative or anything." Tawnywhisker nodded with satisfaction to herself. Yes, that had been much better.

[/center]

[Crowzerplorodon]

Her sensitive nose picked up the revolting scent as well, though Silverflower would never have brought it to attention. It would create too much displeasure to those who were not able to scent the vile smell. Then again, it was very strong. Anyone could scent that, she decided with a flick of her tail. Tawnywhisker did. I'm sure we're not the only ones. Oh no, I probably could have brought it up if Tawnywhisker had not. Not that it would make for very fair conversation.

“Yes, I think you're right,” Silverflower said with a nod, voicing her agreement. “But I think it has a smell like that for a reason! It must be to scare off those silly ticks. Make them never want to bother our lovely elders ever again. Oh no, one whiff of that and even the bravest tick would be out of there.” She giggled softly at herself, amused by the image of a large tick running like a headless chicken because Brightnose was approaching it with a moss soaked in mouse bile. Quite entertaining. Then her eyes went wide, slightly terrified at the thought of giant ticks. Dear – that'd be a sight! Ticks were small for a reason. Large ones would just be horrifying. Could cats even kill them? Would they be like nasty badgers with no eyes? Could mouse bile even work on giant ticks? Unpleasant thoughts not a nice day make, she reminded herself quickly, blue eyes darting back and forth.

Taking a few deep breaths, Silverflower felt calm return to her, soothed by the gentle breeze in the air and the sound of cats moving around camp. Ticks were small, they'd never be large. Brightnose could always take care of ticks. Mouse bile was nasty. “Oh no, not harsh at all, Tawnywhisker,” Silverflower finally said with a yawn. Gosh, she had worn herself out from thoughts only! “I believe I was the harsh one, making a comparison like that. I should really think before saying such things! Silly me. Oh, but, it's not like it was an insult, oh no. Mistpelt is quite a lovely she-cat, I would say. A fine deputy, fine indeed.”

Feeling shaky again, the young warrior took a few deep breaths again, allowing herself a moment of peace before continuing. “It's just, the way you speaking. So refined, so thoughtfully. And blessing everything – it's very nice. A lot of cats are starting to speak like that. She giggled, feeling very relaxed all of a sudden, despite her previous anxiety. “Almost like a little piece of StarClan's come down to visit us.”

ooc;
i gotta say. haven't been pleased with a post since this one in a long time - dunno why.

[glowlynose]

Tawnywhisker cast a worried glance toward the sky. Now that she thought about it, Silverflower was right. The dryness of the past few days was indeed a cause for worry. No rain had come to replenish the river, their main source of water, in at least a half-moon. The plants that still bore green leaves were beginning to show signs of the drought; they were becoming shriveled and, for lack of a more original term, dead. Ah, and there had yet been no snow. In fact, the only moisture that seemed to grace FogClan territory, aside from the river that was now covered with a sheet of solid ice in most places, was the frost that came each night while the world slept, unaware of the troubles mounting against it. But now it was day, and the direness of her Clan’s situation dawned on her with a strange finality as the warm breeze swirled about her, tickling her ears.

If no rain or snow came soon, cats would start dying from thirst. A cat would die of thirst before they died of hunger, but all her clanmates seemed to be concerned about was prey. Prey, prey, prey. Food to keep the hunger of so many cats at bay, if only for a short time. Oh, how she hated her hunger. How she hated the fact that hunger seemed to be at the forefront of FogClan’s thoughts instead of thirst. They hunted, and that seemed to be all they ever did anymore. “Feed your Clan before yourself,” boomed the Code, but what if there was plenty of food even without everyone contributing to the pile? The lack of water went starkly unnoticed. In the flurry of rumors and constant hunting that permeated the Clan, one absolutely vital necessity was forgotten: water. As long as there were still some places on the river not covered with ice, no-one would think about water – no-one, of course, except for two worried she-cats.

Tawnywhisker’s gaze now turned to her Clan. They were milling about, seeming to be utterly unaware of the misfortune mounting against them. She would do anything to protect them from invasion, from sickness, from any calamity, but she had finally met her match. She was powerless against the forces of nature that dictated her circumstances. Nothing could be done about the lack of water except praying to StarClan and keeping up hope.

”Say!” she exclaimed, her whole countenance brightening with a sudden thought, “What if you and I went across the entire territory looking for water? When we found some, we could bring it back to camp and store it in a safe place. Maybe dig a hole to keep it in. Then we could have a little pool of water in camp, and we could refresh it daily.” Tawnywhisker grinned broadly, hoping that she had just found a new business partner. She could get Shrewpaw to help… and maybe Silverflower’s apprentice would help them. They could be the Water Patrol, ardent crusaders on a daily quest to keep the Clan’s thirst from overwhelming them!

”Now, I’ll understand if you don’t want to come with me. If so, I will bear the consequences of a self-appointed mission on my own. You needn’t worry about Mistpelt or Owlstar’s punishment that way.” Tawnywhisker abruptly rose and stretched her muscles. Too long already had they rested. Now it was time for them to do something for their Clan. She cast a carefully calculated look at her silver-pelted companion, and raised a whiskered brow almost tauntingly. Who would Silverflower choose? Would she choose her Clan, who needed her help if they were to survive, or would she choose to remain behind and bow to the authority that was barely fit to govern the Clan? After all, she had been sent on no task. And, thought Tawnywhisker with a mental sneer, you can’t very well do anything unless you’re told to.

[/center][/justify]

[Crowzerplorodon]

Was... Was she hearing Tawnywhisker right? Was the she-cat actually suggesting they cross to the river, bring back water, it somehow store it in a hole they could dig? Because if she was, Silverflower was very surprised that no one had thought of the idea yet. It was simple brilliance, the warrior mused, a pleased smile crossing her face. Traveling to the river was no hard task, especially for two very capable warriors like Tawnywhisker and herself. Bringing back water would not be difficult either - they could carry it in moss or things of the sort. Brightnose may be able to help them with the specifics. And then they could dig a hole where the water or wet moss could be stored, and then cats could lap from that! Like a puddle, except, it was made by cats, and not natural rain. Oh how she wished it would just rain. Not that this wasn't a good idea and all, it's just, real rain might wash away the dryness in the air and in the hearts of the cats.

Silverflower smiled, glad that Tawnywhisker had decided to talk to her today. Doing this would definitely be a good idea, and the cats of FogClan would be thankful for the help! And, it was probably going to get them further than if they just hunted, like everyone else in the clan seemed to be doing. Oh yes, creating a personal pond of sorts was brilliance. "What a spectacular idea, Tawnywhisker! I would love to help you in creating a pool of water for the clan. It would be much easier to access than the river. We could even create more than one puddle, and cats could be assigned to them each day... like patrols!" She giggled, ears twitching in delight as her tail quivered.

She stood quickly, paws finding bearing on the dry ground sooner than you could say mouse. "Oh no, I would love to come with you, Tawnywhisker! FogClan needs water, and Mistpelt nor Owlstar could get mad at something like this. And if they do, well, I'll take some of the blame too! You needn't take all of the blame on your shoulders, Tawnywhisker... It's rather noble, though." With a few licks, she smoothed down the fur on her shoulders, blue eyes bright with excitement and anticipation. They should probably get going now, before they were called out by some other cat and made to go on a patrol. Not that patrols were bad. It's just, Silverflower was pumped to go with the other she-cat and bring back water for her clan.

"Shall we?" The words were spoken softly, all excitement momentarily drained out of the silver warrior as she gazed at the camp's exit, imagining the sound of rushing water and ice already.

ooc;
k. this was crap.