Starlit Stones (Open)

Silverstar blinked his eyes open as he stood up from the nest. As he swiped his front paw across the surface of his bedding, he could feel the usual moss, feathers, and pine bristles. Then the tip of his paw hit something cold and hard. He looked down to see something glittering through the moss. Silverstar blinked, then he clawed the layer of moss out. It revealed a shimmering stone. His ears then drooped downwards. 'We never cleaned out her nest since she died, did we?' he thought to himself. He bent forward and pulled the stone out of the nest, setting it onto the ground. He felt along the stone with his paw tips, then let out a soft sigh. 'Yeah, this was theirs... Skystar's and Ravenheart's...' small tears started to form within his eyes. His claws started to unsheathe as he held what the two left behind when they went to StarClan. No tears fell, but he could feel them start to form. 'Mother... father...' he closed his eyes.
    For the longest time after the battle, it didn't really feel like they were gone. Every day he half expected Skystar to walk into camp with a huge bird, apologizing for being gone so long. Seeing them at the Moonstone, as faint outlines, wiped away that denial to say the least. He opened his eyes again and blinked away the small tears. They were gone. Crying wouldn't change that. 'I should return this to the Glittering Stones later...' he calmly thought. Silverstar then stepped out of the small cavern that was the leader's den and padded into the main camp. There used to be all kinds of warriors and apprentices around the camp, but now... He shook those thoughts away. SkyClan will survive. He'll make sure of it.

Hawkflight's sleeping frame had been steadily rising and falling the cadence of her breaths since getting home from the insanity. The harsh battle still played in her mind, a chaos she wished to shred from her memory entirely. They were fading bit by bit, slowly but surely. The last flash of the nightmare always plagued her, and as almost on cue, shocked the she-cat into waking with a start. Shaking her head profusely, the mahogany warrior pushed herself out of her nest. The moss was certainly a comfort beneath her paws, the habit of kneading it to calm herself down quickly coming into play.

With a few shakes of her head to clear her mind, Hawkflight soon after pushed herself out of the warrior's den. It still seemed to be close to the dark of night, with few others awake. One cat in particular caught her attention, with her nimble paws quickly carrying her over to the tom. "Still an early riser yourself?" Her greeting had a warm tone to it, with a slight crack of drowsiness. It wouldn't take long for it to fade entirely, Hawkflight was always quick to wake.

Honeytooth hadn't had a hard time guarding the camp in the early morning. The tension, the wait for a new enemy, it had started to dispel in tandem with the healing of his battle scars. One across the neck - he'd been told that if it had went just a claw-length higher, it would have been the end of him. All the Clans, not only theirs, just needed to steady themselves onto their paws now. The worst had passed. He mulled over his thoughts, watching the colors in the sky change, but shifted his attention when another white cat left the warriors' den. The end of his watch wasn't all that far off, he told himself, abandoning his post to trot up to the she-cat. "Who would want to miss the beautiful transition of the sky - dark gray to light gray." he huffed, joining her and Silverfrost.

Well, Silverstar now. Their friendship had gone through many name changes, and another one didn't bother Honeytooth - it just made him think of the passage of time.

Silverstar stared towards Hawkflight and nodded. "Of course," he responded, "There's quite a pawful of work to do here now." It didn't matter how culled the numbers were. It didn't matter how beaten and scarred their warriors were. There was still prey to catch and a clan to lead.

His ear turned at the sound of a familiar white cat speaking. He raised his tail in greeting, "Hey, Honeytooth." At least his friend was still here. His tail swished to the side as he looked at the two warriors.

That was about the expanse of the warriors that SkyClan had left, minus the deputy. It was somewhat of a depressing sight, really. Almost all of the Clans had lost their Medicine Cats too, with StarClan yet to visit any of them in hopes as to who would venture to help heal their wounds and guide them. It was in StarClan's paws for what the future of the Clan would be, and she had full faith in them. There was really no other choice.

Her tail flicked in greeting towards Honeytooth, the one chosen to guard the camp for the night. It was extremely important who guarded the small Clan, as any intruder could completely decimate their numbers at this stage. "The sky is very pretty, yes." Her green gaze turned upwards to glance at the sky, the stars slowly fading as they made way for the day. "Rebuilding the rest of the camp will surely be an annoying task with this cold. Hopefully the sun lessens the chill." She mewed. The cold really was not something she favored, especially when accompanied with nightmares.

"Hopefully," the tom echoed. He was getting sick of Leaf-bare, sick of not finding one good, warm rock to lay down after hunting and enjoy his meal. "We might as well start on that once our bellies are full." The pile of fresh-kill was small, just a couple of birds. Mice were his favorite, but he saw no point in complaining. "How's the new den feeling, Stormstar?" he asked absently, as he moved to pick out some food. It felt a bit empty, not having his kithood buddy there in the warriors' den anymore.

"Yeah, leaf-bare isn't helping us at all..." he spoke. Hopefully, after new-leaf arrives, they'd have full bellies and a repaired camp. At this point, there wasn't much else to do besides hope. He tried to clear those types of thoughts away and just looked towards Honeytooth. "It's nice, though it feels a bit empty without the other warriors." he smirked a bit.

Watching Honeytooth go towards the fresh-kill pile reminded Silverstar of his own hunger. Though, he had to stop his paws from carrying him to the few birds left. The hunters need them more. "Maybe we should go hunting together sometime, eh? Like when we were both warriors?" he suggested. Granted, there wouldn't be much prey to hunt lately, but still. At least he could get out, clear his thoughts, something like that.

"Could always rejoin us in the warriors den if you get too lonely, there's plenty of room." Her joking tone carried through the air. It was also accompanied by a twinge of sadness. It was really unfortunate how low SkyClan's numbers had gotten. But of course, all the Clans were suffering the same. She had to remind herself of that. It wasn't just SkyClan, so the need for complete defense would be unreasonable. Musings ran through her mind of the harships that the other Clans would be facing, but she dismissed them as quickly as they came.

A nod came from the she-cat at the mention of hunting, along with a very large growl of her belly. Natural to leaf-bare, very little food was around to pass to each cat. "I would gladly go hunting. We can always use more fresh-kill." Birds were definitely her strong suit when it came to catching prey. The zippy little mice on the ground didn't fit her style as much, with her nimble ability to climb and leap from tree to tree. It's what gave her her warrior name after all, her nimble ability to fly across the branches in pursuit of birds.

"Oh. Are we going hunting now?" Softbreeze tip-toed gingerly out of the warriors den, stretching out lazily across the lawn. She hadn't seemed so scarred as the others; her fur carefully groomed in a way to hide old wounds. Most warriors saw scars as a symbol of honor, but she thought it an ugly nuisance and a sad reminder... "I could use the fresh air."

"The more the merrier," Honeytooth purred as cats gathered. It felt just like a normal hunting patrol, like nothing had happened. It brought him a great deal of comfort, seeing them all there. Their pitiful numbers didn't seem all that bad anymore. "Reckon we might have luck right now, with all those critters heading out to find a morning meal themselves," he mused, snacking on one of the already dead birds to boost his energy. Leaving some of it for when they returned, the tom led the way to the cave's mouth, eyeing the forest beyond.

"Shall we head out, then?" he said, circling back to address his Clanmates.

Silverstar smiled a tiny bit and thumped his tail against the ground. He was about to say "Yeah, I just need to tell Skystar I'll be leaving," but stopped himself and just said "Yeah..." He then cleared his throat and followed up with "I just need to tell Sorrelwing I'll be gone for a little while. It shouldn't take that long."

With a nod, Hawkflight stretched out her limbs. It would be fun climbing through the trees, hoping to find a crow or a robin. Not many of them were by this time of year, but it certainly would be possible. "No worries. As per usual, I call the trees~!" She mewed cheerfully, now fully ready to go out and hunt. The cool air no longer bothered her as much as it had been just moments ago, her claws and stomach already yearning to go catch some prey.

“Wait! I’m coming too!”

A white fluffy ball of never ending energy bolted out of the nursery, her thick fur protecting her from most of the cold of this season. Too bad it didn’t really help her to move across the soft freshly fallen snow, forcing her to jump constantly just to not sink and get stuck.

She hadn’t opened her eyes too long ago, and yet she already had the energy of an apprentice. However, that also meant she never really got to see her parents before the Great War took them away. This had been both a blessing and curse for the young she-cat, as she never really got to really feel the terrible pain that grief brought with it…but, at the same time, that meant she constantly felt an inexorable loneliness, an empty space in her heart that she constantly attempted to fill through interactions with other cats and a never ending curiosity about everything around her, whether it be past, present or future.

More than once she had been caught messing with the herbs in the medicine cat den and even trying to join grownups when they left…and this was clearly not the exception.

Silverstar nodded and looked towards Hawkflight, "I suppose I'll hunt on the forest floor, you'll probably pick the trees clean before sunrise," he mused. His eyes widened as he heard a young voice heading towards them. He tilted his head and stared down towards Blizzardkit. Blank eyes concealing growing concern, he just said "Kits probably shouldn't leave camp." Especially in leaf-bare. What would come of SkyClan if she got sick? The clan is slim enough already, the last thing they needed was to be at the mercy of greencough. On the other hand, it wasn't like the kit had many denmates to play with, warriors to bother, or elders to listen to stories from. He honestly wasn't sure what to do. Blizzardkit was likely lonely here, but right now the hunters would need their full focus on gathering fresh-kill to last through leaf-bare. Silverstar stared at the kit and quietly sighed.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you come with for now..." he spoke, "But if it gets warmer, I can take you to see the forest." A small weight lifted from his chest. That seemed fair enough, at least to him it did. A part of him hoped she would understand that if it was greenleaf and there was a surplus of food, he'd probably allow her to come with, but he couldn't afford any risks at this point.

"I can keep an eye on her, and the rest of the camp," Owlstorm rumbled from his spot near the entrance of the warriors' den. The mottled tabby flicked his tail, a knowing glint in his eyes as he stared at the snow-white kit. In the past, he'd seen kits try and tag along after a patrol, and more often than not, it didn't end well for them. The forest was full of things that wouldn't think twice about making a meal out of a tasty little kit - and with SkyClan's numbers currently suffering the way they were, that was the last thing they needed.

Owlstorm had eaten already, he had his choice of prey when the first hunting patrol had returned, so he was fresh and fed and ready for guard duty. It was boring work, especially knowing that the odds of anything happening were slim in the aftermath of the battle, but it needed to be done, and so he would do it.

A pair of dark grey ears perked up at the noise that came with the collection of cats growing in the center of camp. Mistedsong rolled over and stretched, flinching where one of his paws touched cold stone outside of his nest.  He stood gingerly, thankful for his longer than average coat that kept him at least mostly warm. The tom padded out of the medicine cat's den without trying to get his bearings, largely because he didn't want to think about the empty nest next to his at this early of an hour.

"Hunting patrol this early? You all be careful not to get too cold, I don't have enough herbs to manage... well, anything, really, right now," Mistedsong said with a sigh, going through a mental checklist of herbs. "Perhaps I should join you all and try to collect some," he concluded after a moment. "I could use some exercise, and Thistlepaw could use some training." He strode back to his den and prodded Thistlepaw with a paw. "Wakey wakey. We need herbs, and you need experience finding them," Mistedsong meowed somewhat impatiently.

After all of the recent events, Thistlepaw found himself to be in a pure and unadulterated sense of exhaustion. Most cats were struck with recent losses, the young tom himself included, but the tragedy to him was something simply summed up as draining. Resting in his feather-lined nest away from harassment of the creeping cold was the tailess apprentice's preferred state. His ear twitched at the pawsteps of his approaching mentor and he prayed to Starclan that the elder tom was here for someone other than him. It was a fruitless effort, deemed so by the prod of a paw. One eye opened to look up at Mistedsong, the other willed him to returned to sleep. If it weren't for the title both his mentor and Starclan had impressed upon him, maybe he would still be sleeping. With an over-exaggerated sigh, Thistlepaw rose to his paws and stretched lazily in their shared den as he casually addressed his mentor.

"You don't think I'm the best at herb finding already, Mistedsong? I've already been your apprentice for three whole sunrises." With a yawn, he finally straightened back up and offered the other cat a mild expression before padding to his side. Outside, he noted the few warriors outside through eyes that slanted against the sunlight. They all awoke so early, and with such drive too. Maybe he should have admired the warriors more in his youth. However, his casual indifference made it hard to be slighted to any particular role. Thistlepaw hardly felt honored to be a medicine cat, nor would he have felt slighted as a warrior apprentice. It simply was the way it was; such was the state of their clan right now.

Seeing more of the camp come to life warmed Hawkflight's chest. When it was just the three of them, it had reminded her just how small they had gotten to in numbers. But seeing many other cats flit about, she felt so much better. Stretching her legs, she gave a nod. "You'll be an apprentice before you know it, little one. Don't worry." A motherly side washed over the she-cat, going and pressing a gentle and affirming nose to the kit's head. After that though, she quickly pranced back to the leader and other warriors about. "I'll definitely be able to catch a few late-moving birds. If they were too slow to leave, they are surely too slow to escape me." A proud nod of her head signified just how strongly she enjoyed her warrior name.

“Awww….ok….” Blizzardkit’s ears dropped lightly upon hearing the leader’s words, stopping on her constant bouncing over the freshly fallen snow. She visibly upset, and probably a bit too young to understand why she had to stay behind yet again.

She knew that the outside wasn’t a perfect wonderland, after all, it had taken away her parents and had refused to return them to this day. Yet, she still wasn’t able to fully grasp the concept of death and danger, and, consequently, she acted mostly guided by innocent curiosity, blissful naivety and emotional impulses. She still had way too much to learn and even more to understand before she could face the world head-on as she kept attempting to so far.

However, when Owlstorm spoke, she was quick to turn around and forget why she had been all down only a couple seconds ago, starting to bounce around him again playfully “If you want to keep an eye on me you’ll need to catch me f-” Hawkflight’s nose and words caused her to get distracted, her long tail tangling itself with her legs and causing her to fall over and roll to an untouched patch of snow.

With how fluffy the snow was and her inability to move fast enough, she soon sunk into it, getting stuck…and yet the only thing she could think of during such a predicament was to ask Hawkflight one question “When exactly is 'before you know it?'”.