* FALLING IN AND OUT AGAIN {tc meeting !

[* CAMTIT !]

the air was crisp with the soft coldness that gripped the camp, though it wasn't unwelcomed; it would be one of the last days of leafbare and that meant that thunderclan would thrive again. though the feeling cold, it was a good feeling. sunlight dappled the sandy ravine that thunderclan had called its camp, the tall oak and birch trees looming over the empty clearing. it was not empty for long, though; a slender feline figure appeared halfway out of a den beneath a tall boulder, stretching it's limbs and parting its maw to reveal a dainty pink tongue. the feline emerged fully, his dark chocolate tabby pelt glistening beneath the warm rays of run that shone through the slight fog that had encircled the camp. the tom turned to briskly lick down his fur, ruffled from a night's slumber, before padding leisurely towards the freshkill pile to daintily pull a chaffinch towards himself. making quick work of his meal, thornstar licked his lips as the prey settled in his belly. satisfied, the tabby tom quickly got to his job. leaping up to the top of the highrock in a single bound, thornstar was obviously a formidable warrior, one of the many reasons he had been chosen to lead his clan by the previous leader, sunstar. turning his head toward the sky, the tabby's emerald eyes glimmered. sunstar, am i doing as well as you hoped? are you still watching over us? it had been nearly two moons since thornstar was made leader, the tragedy that had claimed sunstar's final life still hung over the forest like a badger, it's maw curled up into a dark smile to reveal a set of thick, gleaming teeth. bringing his attention back to his earlier mission, thornstar shook the thoughts from his head. i'm thunderclan's leader now, i can do this. "let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the highrock for a clan meeting!" the tabby's powerful yowl projected through the clearing, a soft echo chasing it. as cats gathered beneath him, thornstar's emerald green eyes gleamed, grief still brimming in his dark leafy pools. "last night a tragedy fell upon thunderclan. we lost a great and noble warrior. duskfern will be missed for seasons to come." he began, trying not to let his grief for his friend overwhelm him. "but we cannot dwell on this sadness forever. as we all know, a clan cannot be run by a leader alone. the time has come to appoint thunderclan's new deputy." eyes scanning the clearing, thornstar noted that his clanmates were still grieving, but they looked hopefully to him. starclan please let me make the right choice. he prayed silently, tail tip twitching. "i say these words before starclan, that the spirit of duskfern may hear and approve of my choice. the new deputy of thunderclan is flamestride." the usual chorus of name-chanting began and thornstar dipped his head to the ginger tabby as he approached, ears twitching as their noses came into contact with one another. turning back towards his clanmates, thornstar took a breath before speaking again. "flamestride will assign the dawn patrol now, any spare warriors will help to rebuild the camp's eastern wall. long live thunderclan!"

[[ foks ]]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,340,true]

[atrb=background,http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv347/lovelywarriorlynx/foxnose2.png] he shivered in spite of himself, for all morning he had been announcing in his head that the weather was fine- great, even. just a little on the brisk side, of course, but starclan no, not cold! but there he sat, wishing for a moment that he could sprout an extra layer of fur for the sake of comfort. at the thought, though, the stocky fellow gave a peal of laughter at his own idea, thinking suddenly of the shedding that would occur when spring had finally sprung, and cringed through his mirth. starclan forbid he should ever grow a second winter coat, anyway. after all, he decided, he'd seen far worse weather. he just wished the air would warm up in a hurry. when he narrowed his frosty seafoam eyes, he inclined his head to peer skyward, through the tree's bony, leafless limbs. the sky offered no promising hues of blue, but the small feline had his hopes raised anyway, despite the next shiver that danced down his spine, ruffling his short tabby pelt. when a familiar call of a deep male voice rang through the camp, the blue-eyed cat bobbed his head, as if it were the exact que he had been waiting for, and slipped gracefully from his den to join the gathering group just as the leader instructed. with his ginger coat already in pristine condition, the tom wasn't particularly bothered by his duty to sit near thornstar, and slipped through the crowd to settle himself at the base of highrock, resting his ears since he already knew the message thornstar had planned. while the ginger's heart did ache for his passed clanmate, he had long ago decided grief was never worth showing, and kept his face warm and distant, keeping his thoughts to himself as usual. thornstar's announcement seemed to echo through the forest camp, and in the brief silence that followed, foxnose let a serene grin to overcome his broad features, his own type of congratulations for the new deputy, flamestride. he said nothing when the other ginger tabby came forth as the ceremony instructed, but did dip his head in a genuinely friendly manner, looking forward to the strong young fellow's help with his new higher rank.

[ruth]

mottle heart - - - - -

It was difficult for Mottleheart to realise that Duskfern was actually gone. It was only last night! Oh StarClan, let him be watching over ThunderClan for moons to come. She distracted herself with hunting, bringing back two mice and a squirrel by the time Thornstar had called the Clan meeting. She had no doubts about what it was, and as she licked her maw clean of her catch she left the fresh-kill pile to join the gathering of cats. Mottleheart kept a brave face, the one thing she was able to do during these times, and glanced around. There were many able bodied warriors here to take Duskfern’s place, so who would it be? She kneaded the ground in anticipation, but there was no denying that she was upset about her deputy’s death. She just always had her eyes on her future in ThunderClan, which was not entirely a bad thing.

Settling near the front, keeping her eyes on Thornstar, her heart admittedly sunk when he did not say her name. But she would be sure to be happy for Flamestride, and after a moment of trying to find her voice and drowning out her own negative thoughts, she joined in the chants. Of course he was a good decision, he was as good as any of them. Mottleheart just felt that she was a tiny bit better. Well, if Thornstar felt differently, she would just need to up her game and stand up for the Clan even better. She did not get her warrior name for nothing, after all!

“Flamestride!” she chanted, however she was one of the first warriors to stop her chants. Jealousy was a terrible thing, but Mottleheart never felt that she was a very jealous cat. She just knew what she wanted, and when she didn’t’ get it she was disappointed - a completely natural thing. There was no jealousy in that equation! Well, not to Mottleheart at least.

TEMPLATE BY VIKA OF CAUTION.

[* CAMTIT !]

was it the awkwardness of losing a friend in general, or was it thornstar's own awkwardness that made him so jittery? the chanting of his clanmates barely eased his pain, but the tom held a light grin across his maw in any case. leaping gracefully down from his perch, the tabby tom padded towards his most trusted comrade, foxnose. oh yes, they both shared the same fate. or at least their fates were comparable. thornstar would be the one to deliver all the bad news, he would be looked up to in order to keep thunderclan strong and intact. foxnose was the one who must deal with starclan, thornstar shuddered. he couldn't imagine knowing all the secrets that starclan had to offer, and while some were good, others would be much, much worse. ears flicking lightly, the tom wondered how foxnose could decide what to tell the leader and what to keep to himself. thornstar's paws itched as he realized that he must have lived a long time without having been told anything by foxnose, and the tabby secretly pondered what the ginger tom might be hiding. "morning, foxnose." he meowed finally, tail curling. "i can't talk for long, i was just wondering if perhaps you needed to collect some herbs today. in any case, i will tell hushpad that her duty is to assist you in any way that you might need." he meowed, not allowing the tom to speak. leaning forward to touch the medicine cat's nose, thornstar quickly whisked away to deliver the duty to hushpad, who blinked at him and nodded. "alright!" she mewed. thornstar quietly wondered if she had ever been in a bad mood before, her upbeat but reserved attitude was always confusing to him.

turning to pad away, thornstar almost slipped into his den before he noticed mottleheart, who sat looking somewhat dejected, though the tom couldn't put a paw on why. "morning, mottleheart. how have you been?" since everything in thunderclan had thus far been somewhat busy, thornstar felt like he no longer had the time to get to know his clanmates. mottleheart was especially unknown to him, it seemed like they were always in separate places. "i was wondering if you could be of assistance to me? i'd like to quickly take a walk up towards the ravine, i'd caught a magpie and a squirrel and i'm afraid they won't fit in my mouth alone." he meowed, tailtip twitching.

__________

"flamestride! flamestride!" hushpad chanted, whiskers bouncing happily with her words. sure, it was a sad day. but they would soon see flamestride in starclan, and hushpad didn't see a reason to cry over someone who is basically on a vacation. the pretty she-cat was about to head out through the thorn tunnel when thornstar padded up to her and gave her a mission. hushpad nodded politely, pale green eyes shimmering. with a quick goodbye to her leader, hushpad turned to pad over to foxnose. "foxnose! i've been assigned to you. is there anything you need?" she mewed, tail whisking the air behind her.

[chill ♦♪]

the slightly chilly air dug into pallidstrike where he lay just inside the entrance to the warriors den, curling in on himself as he waited for the clan meeting he knew would be coming soon. though the white tom hadn't been close to duskfern, he could still feel the heavy fog left by his death hanging around thunderclan's camp, affecting him just as much as any other cat. they'd exchanged many a friendly conversation, and been on their fair share of patrols together. it wasn't as if duskfern was just another figure around camp, no, he was the deputy for starclan's sake. he would be sorely missed by all.
just as the thought slipped his mind, the familiar sound of thornstar's voice reached his ears, drawing him lazily to his paws. pallidstrike could already tell that the meeting was going to be a downer for him from the way that he could hardly pull together his usual crooked grin. he wasn't big on the doom and gloom of ceremonies that had something to do with death, but it had to be done, right? sauntering slowly toward highrock, the pale pelted tom finally took a seat, turning his olive eyes to his leader. just as he expected, he found himself letting out a heavy sigh as he listened to the proceedings, only brightening up slightly as the new deputy was chosen and the meeting came to a close. "flamestride! flamestride!" pallidstrike chanted alongside his clanmates as the ginger tom took up his new position. taking a moment to step forward and congratulate the new deputy, pallidstrike awaited instruction as to how he'd be spending his morning, his mood slowly warming with the weather.

[kelby [♥]]

maplenose's mottled form lay curled in a tight ball. though her nest had long been piled high with feathers and moss, the gripping chill of leafbare somehow managed to penetrate the tabby through to her skin. maplenose's tail wrapped over her closed eyes, forcing out the gentle daylight that filtered through from above. her mind was racing, though her form was entirely still. her thoughts were mostly consumed with the now lifeless duskfern, and her sympathies went out to thornstar. though maplenose didn't know the tom personally, she had noted the twos friendly relationship. as if her leader had heard her thoughts, his voice rang out across the camp, calling the clan together for a meeting they all knew would be coming. forcing herself from her warm nest, she made a point to clean the moss off her flanks before stepping through the exit of the warriors den. as her body moved slowly out into the open, an icey breeze swept over the camp, chilling the she-cat to the bone. as she shivered, her swirled tabby fur stood on end, making her appear larger than normal. her coat was already nearly double the thickness it would be in greenleaf, but maplenose simply couldn't tell. the thought of warm sunshine made her shudder even more. as she slunk to the edge of camp to observe the meeting unfolding before her, maplenose's amber hues moved from cat to cat, watching each of their expressions as the new deputy was announced. flamestride is a good warrior, he'll make duskfern proud. she thought as she quietly called out his name. maplenose's ears perked up as thornstar spoke over the dying voices of her clanmates. dawn patrol...oh, i hope i'm not chosen! if it's cold in camp, it's got to be freezing out there! i hope newleaf arrives soon. shivering again to herself, she stood and immediately made her way toward the eastern wall of camp. perhaps if she volunteered to help there, flamestride wouldn't pull her from her work.

[chill ♦♪]

it only took pallidstrike a few moments to realize that flamestride was probably too busy to assign him something to do. hey, the tom had only just been assigned deputy; he probably had every cat in the clan coming up to him wondering what to do after thornstar's announcement. sure enough, pallidstrike could see thunderclan cats all around him, and made the decision that he'd be content working on repairing the eastern wall of camp. giving thornstar and his new deputy a last respectful nod, the pale tom backed through the group of cats milling about, peering above the dispersing crowd to see if there were any other cats working yet. at first it appeared that he would be alone, and his spirits fell significantly. as he made his way slowly toward the wall however, he spotted a brown shape that seemed to melt into the hidden spaces, doing a fantastic job at avoiding his gaze. it wasn't until he finally reached the wall that he recognized the cat standing a tail length away from him, standing alone and in silence. "maplenose!" he knew the she-cat wasn't the most outgoing, but any company was welcome in the friendly white tom's eyes. standing up straigher, pallidstrike stepped forward toward the pretty tabby she-cat, tabby tail twitching back and forth jovially. "so, do you want to get started? i don't know that we'll get any more help; i'm pretty sure this is the less interesting job choice..." he tilted his head to indicate the lack of cats coming to join them, then grinned crookedly, kneading the ground with a forepaw as he waited for a response.

[kelby [♥]]

maplenose cringed inwardly as she heard her name being called from somewhere downwind. the voice was clearly male, though the she-cat couldn't pinpoint which of her clan members it was. as she turned and caught a glimpse of white, she let a sigh escape her lips. it was just pallidstrike. at least he was one of the more docile cats in thunderclan, and more importantly, he wasn't flamestride. she dipped her head in greeting, her tail flicking close to the ground as her eyes darted from his feet to his ears and back again. she shuffled her paws nervously and turned away to occupy herself with her work, lifting a bit of moss in her mouth and shoving it into place in the wall. it would make nice insulation against the cold. she nodded a little as the tom spoke, looking up into his eyes for a brief second. "less interesting, but warmer. the last place i'd want to be is out in this cold." she murmured with a shudder, reaching to pick up some twigs. as she weaved them carefully through the moss, her thoughts wandered. i have to do this right. i can't look like a fool in front of pallidstrike. i can't let anyone see me fumble over my paws like a kit.. she fretted. as if on cue, maplenose went to reach for the next set of sticks, and managed to knock the little pile over. twigs scattered, rolling a few tail-lengths away from the pair. she wanted to claw her own ears off for being so clumsy, and her cheeks went red with embarressment. "sorry!" she said at once, scrambling to gather them back up. great job, maplenose.