[F]eeling.[O]ld

[Mossmask]

[We've got to hold on]

She was exhausted.

Mossmask struggled to keep her eyes open, hissing in slight annoyance that their heavy lids were working against her. True, she did come out here to relax for a bit, but it wouldn't do to doze off and sleep through the hunting patrol she was on later.

The long-haired ArcticClan beauty stuck a paw in the lake, the icy chill that Leaf-fall had granted it making her shiver, making her wake up a tad. Mossmask washed her face with the cold water, hoping that it would make her more alert for the rest of the day.

Like most of the other senior warriors, Mossmask had taken on extra duties to help the clan, practically fulfilling the role of deputy.

StarClan bless Banditfrost; there better have been a good reason that you took him during the Great Move!

[/color]

And her beloved Foreststar... A deep sigh escaped Mossmask as she thought of her leader, her mate. He had fallen ill near the end of the Great Move and had been unable to perform needed ceremonies. Mossmask figured that most of the sickness was due to grief, but when he stayed in his new den for over a moon, the whole clan knew it was serious.

Thus, Mossmask and others worked together as they performed the deputy role, while the younger warriors and apprentices were dears in helping wherever they could.

[Ready or not]

"Mossmask...?"

For an instant, Mossmask believed that she was seeing a younger Foreststar, but her senses chided her, telling her that it was her daughter Cuckoopaw. The young black-and-white she-cat padded closer to her mother, looking very similar to her father except for her deep blue eyes.

"Hello dear," Mossmask greeted, rasping a quick tongue over Cuckoopaw's head. Amusement flickered over the warrior's face as the apprentice immediately began to flatten the fur on her head after the act.

"I was looking for you," Cuckoopaw said, her tone casual, a tad flat. "I wanted to make sure I was on the Dusk Patrol tonight." Mossmask paused a moment, thinking, before nodding confirmation and the subject was dropped.

Instead, Cuckoopaw asked, "What are you doing out here?"

"Feeling old,"[/b] was the prompt response.

Cuckoopaw snorted. "That's a great way to spend your time," she said dryly. However, like her mother, Cuckoopaw sat down by the gorgeous lake, and mother and daughter sat in comfortable silence with one another, their thoughts leading them down different pathways.

[You live for the fight when it's all that you've got][/blockquote]

"Livin' On a Prayer," (c) Bon Jovi[/i][/size]

[[Ridge] of [Sapphire] light]

[^]Cardinalvoice[v]

Her pelt bristled against the light wind of the leaf-fall day. She flicked her tail behind her as she sighed and trotted through the land. She wasn't out for any reason other than she felt like moving. She was begining to feel her age, but it wasn't that she was old, she was merely...well rounded in her areas of knowledge. She had seen much in her 25 moons. She moved over the snow with elegance and grace her paws moving perfect and never ceasing movement. She lifted her head from where her ice blue eyes had been concentrated on her paws and where they fell. Her eyes found a small opening in the trees in front of her. Her ears flicked forward hearing the lap of water against the rocks of the shore of the Crystal lake. She slid through the entrance and paused a look of surprise on her face.

She could see the pair, but her mind was playing tricks on her. She shook her head blinking rapidly and let the pair come into focus again. Mossmask, she knew, on the right, but the left...her mind scrambled for understanding, Foreststar? She thought but the voice that spoke cleared everything up. She sighed again and shook her head once again. Cuckoopaw. She thought. She flicked her ears and moved forward her paws silent as owl wings. She spoke her voice soft and her eyes understanding. "You know Cuckoopaw, you look just like your father." She said before slipping beside the old apprentice, overdue warrior, and pulled her haunches beneath her letting her tail fall around her paws and cover them. She looked over to Mossmask and shook her head. "Feeling old eh?" She said and smiled lightly. "I pray for Foreststars health everyday. But I fear Starclan has something else in mind." She flicked her tail, and looked over the lake. Her heart was true, and her faith in Starclan was unwavering. Some cats were blaming Starclan for all the deaths, for all the sickness and for the lack of leadership, but she blessed them, praised them even, for the trials their clan was going through. she smiled sadly and lifted her paw to dip it in the water, and unknowingly like Mossmask, ran the water over her face.

Words: 397
For: Mossmask and Cuckoopaw
Posting as: Cardinalvoice
Notes: um...should be awesome? haven't played her in a while.

[Mossmask]

[We're halfway there]

[/color]

Cuckoopaw's ears pricked up as she heard the other warrior approaching. Glancing at Mossmask, the younger she-cat saw the faint smile on her mother's maw, indicating that Mossmask had sensed that the newcomer was the older warrior's former apprentice, her best friend.

At Cardinalvoice's first comment, a smile graced Cuckoopaw's features. "I would have been his exact mini-me if I had gotten the same color eyes as he does," she said. With a roll of her eyes in dry humor, she added, "It's all Bramblepaw's fault. He took Foreststar's eyes."[/color]

Cuckoopaw's slight smile fell, however, when Cardinalvoice mentioned that StarClan may have other ideas for her father. Her short pelt bristled at the idea; StarClan couldn't take another member of her family away! Blue eyes shimmering, the apprentice looked to her mother, searching the long-haired female's face for any readable expression.

What Mossmask was wearing was a thin, pained smile. "I pray that they don't,"[/color] she said, her voice calm in response to her friend's words. A sigh escaped her as she looked into the lake. "I hope they have enough cats up there for whatever they need. I hope that Foreststar can remain with us for a little while longer.

"...But I don't want him to suffer any more than he needs to,"[/color] the older warrior said. Cuckoopaw's heart seemed to adopt a bit of the Leaf-fall's chill at her mother's words. Mossmask, shaking her head, then added, "I just wish I could understand why all this is happening..."[/color]

[Whoaaa-ohhh, livin' on a prayer][/blockquote]

"Livin' On a Prayer," (c) Bon Jovi

((...The "whoa" part was weird to type. XD And, out of curiosity, what does the "minus 27" mean at the end of your post, Spotty?))[/i][/size]

[[Ridge] of [Sapphire] light]

[^]Cardinalvoice[v]

Her eyes drifted from the lake towards Cuckkoopaw as the apprentice, should be warrior spoke. She flicked her tail and smiled in response, "Yes, toms always do seem to think they need something, don't they?" She said and looked back out across the lake waitign for Mossmasks response. Her mind drifted to the journey, She had traveled with her clan, and the other clans, she had made friends, and she planned of keep some of them. She thought of her mate, HUnterstealth, it had been almost a week since she had seen him. She sighed sadly knowing that maybe it was for the best. HE had been talking about kits again, and she just wasn't ready. She didn't want to bring kits into a clan that was leaderless at the moment. She shook the thought from her head and looked over as moss mask spoke.

""I pray that they don't...I hope they have enough cats up there for whatever they need. I hope that Foreststar can remain with us for a little while longer...But I don't want him to suffer any more than he needs to....I just wish I could understand why all this is happening..."

Cardinalvoice nodded slowly without saying anything. She didn't know how MOssmask was feeling, She couldnt understand her friends pain. Hunterstealth was her first love, as Foreststar was for Mossmask, but he wasn't sick. She imagined how she could feel if he was, if he was dying and she didn't know how to help him. She felt tears swell in her eyes and she stood Her well muscled and sleek body moved around the pair and onto Mossmask's other side. She let her tail fall around her friend as she sat down beside her. "I know I can't say I understand, but I know that if Hunterstealth was sick...I would be in shambles. You are like a rock Mossmask, you can do this." She smiled at her friend and nudged her a little with her head and spoke again, her voice soft and even, "Starclan will show us the way, they will give us answers, we only have to wait." She siad and flicked her tial slowly agains Mossmasks side.

Words: 386
For: Mossmask and Cuckoopaw
Posting as: Cardinalvoice
Notes: this can lead into the dream post if you want Mossy....

[Mossmask]

[Take my hand...]

Mossmask's ear twitched at Cardinalvoice's words, the older warrior's facial expression impassive, emotionless. Dully, as she lay her head on her paws and her eyes drifted shut, she said, "Yet rocks can easily be worn away by the weather's fury."

[/color]

Cuckoopaw's short-furred tail fluffed up as much as it could in alarm at her mother's words. Mossmask was supposed to be strong, supposed to be optimistic about bleak situations; true, it was one of Flowerpaw's inherited traits that Cuckoopaw found annoying at times, but deep down, the she-cat appreciated it.

The apprentice glanced up at Cardinalvoice as Mossmask finally allowed sleep to overcome her, Cuckoopaw's blue eyes shining with distress and a hint of anger at what was going on with her family. Wordlessly, the black-and-white she-cat curled up against Mossmask's other side and let her mother dream...

The navy blue curtain was pinned up by sprinkles of white light, stars shimmering against the dark sky. Mossmask watched as a few danced and shot through the cosmos, her jade eyes reflecting the brilliant lights as they swirled around her.

She stayed quiet, apparently having already come to terms with where she was. She wasn't sure why she was here, yet her heart was calm as she waited.

But she wasn't prepared to see the stars come together and form the outline of her beloved, wasn't prepared for her heart to break just yet.

"No..."

[/color] The word was choked out as the starlit tom gazed at her, a sad smile on his maw. He came closer to catch Mossmask before she collapsed, nuzzling his nose against the long fur on her neck. "Foreststar...I can't--"[/b]

"You'll make it, I swear." His words were a whisper, yet Mossmask was convinced that they had echoed across the heavens. "I'm sorry I could not stay. Please, live on for me, for our kits, for the clan. Our son will need your guidance when he steps up as leader..."

No... No, don't drift away... Why are you leaving?! Mossmask's words would not emerge from her throat; they were caught between grief and bewilderment. Foreststar was giving her that same, sad smile again, and she wished with all of her heart that she could have returned it. Her mate was beginning to vanish, and her eyes thought that they caught sight of a couple of other forms -- her mother, her son, Darkeningsky, Snowstorm, Featherpelt, and other dear clanmates -- nearby, but her eyes were fixed on Foreststar.

Right before he completed dissipated and she was cast back into darkness, she heard his last words to her: "I'll greet Flowerbloom and Copperpaw for you. I love you..."[/blockquote][/i]

Mossmask woke with a start, almost knocking over poor Cuckoopaw, her green eyes wide and wild. "Foreststar, no...!"

"What the--Mom?!"[/b] Cuckoopaw blinked as she watched her mother fled, dashing back toward the camp as if a rather large fox was chasing her. With barely a glance at Cardinalvoice, Cuckoopaw ran after her.[/blockquote]

[Whoaaa-ohhh, livin' on a prayer]

"Livin' on a Prayer," STILL (c) to Bon Jovi

((Thanks for the opening, Spotty. I hope this works... I'll go and make a new thread in the camp, continuing this.))[/size][/i]

[--|Sootie|--]

//You have great taste in muic Mossy XD

[EllPlaype]

Amoxicillin Carbonic Acid Amoxicillin Online Low Cost Amoxicillin 250mg Ml Sussan Side Effects <a href=http://cialisong.com>cialis</a> Vendo Cialis Domicilio Amoxicillin For Urinary Tract Infections Doxy No Prescription Needed