[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 400px; text-align: justify;][listen to this while you are reading: ]
A year.
He was alive for almost a full year- through loneliness and isolation, depression, struggles, injuries, capture.
This almost-full-year seemed more like seven, and he had grown up. He had grown up a lot, from a kitten to where he was now.
He remembered the times when he was a kitten- playing around, trying to get into fights and running into the woods to play with the woodland creatures who taught him some German back on the old territory. His short apprentice days, filled with hard work and determination- starving himself hours on end so he could provide more for his clan than he could for himself. He always put them before himself in acts of selflessness, he never thought much about himself.
The tiger attack which left him more determined than ever to prove he wasn't disabled, and he succeeded despite his moments of doubts and that one breakdown in which he went running to Fraiser.
He lost his tail and the viscous attack which almost left him skittish but he climbed out of that hole just like he had climbed out of the struggles of loosing his tail.
Then the move.. joining them on the journey to a new territory under Harrierstar's rule before she disappeared. The dragon eggs he found, kept warm enough to hatch, and raised. How were they doing? He didn't know, he didn't speak to them in a long time. Maybe they became apprentices, or old enough to leave and flew the coop to live on their own.
He hoped that they were well, and they weren't hurt or dead.
There was his depression which left him almost immobile, inactive, for almost a full month or two where a lot of things happened before Ichigo became the leader. Then his capture, which left him with more horrible wounds- gah, he wouldn't be able to burn those images out of his head and he would never wish torture on anyone. No one deserved that pain, and that fear.
Yet he returned, still as determined as ever but..
He lost his hotheadedness, he had calmed down a lot since he was an apprentice and a kitten. He started to go with the flow, voicing his opinion occasionally and once in a while stubborn- but now willing to admit his defeat if he was wrong instead of trying to prove he was right in a pointless argument.
Maybe it was the depression, or all the struggles he faced.
So many injuries, and deaths.
First the young kitten he couldn't save against the fox who scarred his face, then his parents- family members, O'Fraiser and Cambrian. His aunt disappeared, he had heard Quarternote had died- his brother went missing. Those were the important ones, the ones he viewed as close to him or who he should have protected- there were more but he couldn't think of them at the moment.
A lot had happened, he could barely believe it but here he was reminiscing again.
On the cliff that overlooked the ocean, the ocean in which he always lived by and how he could tell he was home- born and raised in Hawkclan and never leaving willingly.
He was adorned with bandages and cobwebs, but a leather hide armor covered some of it. It had blue jewels embedded in it, made-by-paw from Cambrian. His adoptive 'mother', despite the male tiger being a male- he was the 'mom' and O'Fraiser was the 'dad' and they had adopted him.
With this, he was laying in a broken-ish basket that had a red plaid blanket shoved into it. It was the basket which he carried the dragon eggs, and had found all the blankets before to keep the clan warm on their journey tho no one really took any. He remembered giving three to the cubs who.. he didn't know where they were.
At least it protected him from the inches of snow on the ground that was a result of the blizzard- it was cold, he wasn't afraid of it, but he didn't want to get frost bite again for sitting out on the cliff at the late hours of the night.
The chilly wind was already enough for him, he didn't need snow anymore.
There was also the wilted flower crown above his head, it was a gift from Cherrypaw who was deceased- just like the flowers that made up the crown on top of his head. He missed her, she was his first love and would always be.
It was so hard to forget, and he always felt a pang in his heart whenever he thought back on it. She never made it to warriorship with him, she hadn't even been close. Yet while she was on earth, they had a fine time together. Playing together, creating things together- it was one of the happiest times he had ever had. He was fond of her, and she made him happy.
The only other happy times was around his family, most of them was gone besides Ichigo and he didn't know anyone else- Harrier's kids who were older than him.. he hadn't seen them around in a while.
Speaking of them, he didn't have his cloak anymore. He still believed he was a cloaked member (and he was to remain oblivious until he was back in the family, in which case everything would presume as normal as if he was never disowned), but he figured that someone must have gotten it when he was captured by Shadowclan.
That made sense in his mind.
A heavy sigh left his maw as he recalled such memories, green eyes flickering open to stare at the starlit sky that hung above the ocean with the moon full of light. He knew Starclan was still watching down on Hawkclan, they had to be. They just.. had to be, his faith was still strong.
Just look at what they were doing now- lighting up the ocean and giving them light to see by.
He would be with them one day, he'd join their ranks when his time called but that wasn't today.
He still had many years ahead of him, tho it was a matter of survival. There were wars yet to be fought, despite preferring peace over fighting which was once again a surprise for the once aggressive tom- and there were creatures that needed to be taken care of, and a clan which needed members to hunt for them. Especially for the little ones who he was always awkward around until he had to try and raise his own.
What would this year be? What would the second year of his life be like?
How would this summer play out?
There were a lot of opportunities, especially once he healed from his recent injuries.
It was going to be a long year but-
Wolfram was going to do his best to make it a bright one.[/fancypost]