breath : open

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    Howling wind weaved through the territory, plumes of loose snow floating along the currents. Though the day was young the sky was dark, the sun hidden behind thick looming clouds. Along the territory, plundering through the snow, walked a small apprentice with squinting eyes and bristling fur. She moved through the heavy wind with all the strength her body could muster, each paw step onto the cold ground jolting her with chills that ran down her spine.


    Dawnpaw had been avoiding her destination. It had been too long since she had spoken to the tom, too long since she had had the chance to express her appreciation of their friendship, of his mentorship. Without warning he was gone; StarClan had betrayed her, taken her mentor and crushed her spirit. She was angry then and she was angry on her short journey to the grave where Otterstar lay.


    This is your fault. The voices in her head had grown relentless in recent days, the stress of losing her one friend overwhelming her. She ignored them, kept moving, kept her focus on the ground in front of her. Snow gathered on her blue fur, camouflaging her body. It was only the sparkle of her hazel eyes that would make one realize there was a feline walking through the land.


    A bird chirped, its voice rising above the wind, and she jumped in surprise. Foggy air formed as she breathed and the feline found herself no longer strong enough to keep moving. Pain lodged itself in her, a stone settling in her stomach, her legs as if they had become part of the earth itself.


    Otterstar... I miss you.

    Leafpaw approached her older sister, sitting next to her and gave her a soft look, then peered down at the grave. "It wasn't your fault sis... none of this... it was his time. You're going to be stronger becouse of his memories and the times you had with him." she smiled, "i love you dearly, you know that right more then anything in this world." she purred and then sighed.Being the runt was hard.. she knew deep down she wouldn't be great, never A deputy or leader. A medicine cat? Heh. A funny thought, she would be a normal warrior that what she hopped. To be great in her own way, her sister though. Maybe leafpaw should be calling her dawnstar.

    Dawnpaw jumped when her sister came into sight, her words lost to the wind and the deafness of her ear. She leaned against Leafpaw after a moment, appreciating the comfort of her sisters touch. She had just managed to catch a little of her sisters statement and found herself full of angered sorrow. "I feel like I should have been with him. I was his apprentice; it was my job to keep him safe just as much as it was his job to keep me safe."


    I just don't understand. How could he lose all nine lives so fast?" She shivered, hr ears pressing to her skull. "What did Sootstar do to him that was so bad?"

    hun... its ok, honestly your only 11 moons old and he was a full grown leader! You couldn't protected him, no one saw his death but StarClan and they must of thought it was his time. Maybe it was too...no one can be certain leafpaw said placing her tail on her sisters shoulders trying to be close to her. Thrushstar could be liying, all cats are capable of liying and from what I heard he isn't the nicest cat ever. Sootstar might of just, taken food off of there land once when he was Sootpaw? I mean come on! Think about it! All us young paws- love to do some bad things! she joked. or maybe! And this is a stretch! He came in, and did nothing! There a thought!

    Crikes it was cold. "Was this where Otterstar was laid to rest?" He asked quietly. He never got to meet their former leader. He'd heard of cats with reinforced claws being able to rip a leaders lives out with one quick slash down the stomach. He shuddered just thinking about it.

    "Sootstar admitted, Leafpaw!" She yelled, stomping her paws with a whine. "He admitted to killing him! I don't care what he did in SkyClan, I don't care what Thrushstar said." Dawnpaw huffed, stepped away from her sister and ground her paws into the snow. "All that matters to me is what he does to WindClan; to my family."


    "Was this where Otterstar was laid to rest?"


    Ears perking and attention averted, she looked over to Stormhaze. She wondered about him, hoped that she had made the right call in arguing against Sootstar to have him join. "No, but we're close to where he was buried."

    "Can I visit the grave even though I didn't get to meet him?" He asked.

    "Yeah, it's... It's just this way." Stepping in the direction of the grave she paused and looked at the duo. "I think, this is my first time to visit him." The wind howled and she looked to the sky, wondering if her leader was safe in the heavens, if he was rejoined with his lost family members. She walked then, taking the path she knew to find the grave of her mentor.

    "Thank you." He replied, padding after her.


    low muse again :(

    "Stormhaze, is it?" She spoke slow and began to pad toward the grave site. It took a few minutes of walking and the wind continued to howl, whipping against her fur. "It's cold today. Leafpaw, are you coming?"

    "Yes." He replied. "Isn't it always this cold in leaf-bare?" He asked.

    "Not all days are super cold," she murmured, recalling a few weeks back when the day had been quite nice with the sun boring down. It had been a nice reminder of the weather to come when leaf-bare finally ended, though it felt like it would last forever. "Is this you first leaf-bare?"

    Seeing as he was only nine moons old, though with what he had been through he felt much older. His old twolegs had always kept him inside in the winter when he was little. "Technically yes, it is." He answered.

    "Then you should be Stormpaw." Her comment was passive and she continued into further conversation. They continued to walk, their pace slow. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but why did you come to WindClan?"

    "Stormpaw? I chose my name myself. It was much better then-" he cut himself off as she continued asking him something else. "I ran across the Black Snake and through farmland to escape from the twolegs and stumbled onto the moors before Cardinalsong found me." Sure it was a shortened version. She probably wouldn't have cared for the whole story anyway.

    "As a WindClan apprentice you would have to take the name Stormpaw until you're warrior ceremony." Her tail flicked as they came upon a spot where the layer of snow dipped down, where there were particles of disturbed earth showing against the stark whiteness. "What's Black Snake?"

    That was a disappointing thought... he shook it off. Whatever it takes I guess. "A Black Snake is what the creatures with huge round paws race across carrying twolegs in them." He explained.

    "You mean like a thunderpath?" She tilted her head, confused. She'd never heard of a Black Snake before. Glancing down at the ground, she shifted her position, curling her tail tight around her body. "This is where he's buried." Her voice cracked and she shook her head, her emotions heavy and straining.

    "ThunderPath?" He asked. Before sitting down. "If that's what the monsters run on, then yes." So this was where Otterstar was laid to rest. He bowed his head in silence in respect.

    "Yeah, that's what the monsters run on." Her voice was quiet as she stared at the grave, unsure of the emotions she was feeling. Sadness was looming, the strongest of the others, but there was a small strange sensation of relief running through her. Otterstar was at rest in a place where nothing could go wrong, where he could never be hurt again.


    "It's so weird, him not being here. I half expect him to just come walking through camp, you know? Like it's all a big joke."