Are We The Waiting?

[Shadow Da Smiffster]

The morning was still dark, the sun having not yet risen from its sleeping position under the mountains. In the distance, the tops of city buildings could be seen, and a breeze carried the scent of the warriors of the Clans past to the one lonely Feline making her way out of her nest. Over the years, Ashpelt had defended this place with all her being and soul, but her pride in his home was beginning to diminish. It was hard to keep up the age old tradition of protecting the boarders when there was no one that even wanted to start anything lately. Not only that, but things were much more solemn around here now that several cats had died from mysterious means. Icepool had said something about poison, but no evidence of such things had come up around RiverClan yet.

A sigh escaped the she-cat's mix's maw as she stared up at the horizon expectantly. Once again, insomnia had struck her late in the night, and so Ashpelt did what she did best, run. She ran around the length of her territory many times in the hopes that she could at least find something living, but not even prey was present that night, leaving her not only tired and lonely, but hungry. Thankfully, Ashpelt knew there was enough prey in the fresh kill pile that would satisfy her later.

Another sigh and a few minutes later, and finally the sun rose over the mountains, sending warm rays of light to Ashpelt's fur. She closed his eyes in bliss, wondering if anyone else would ever be able to feel this kind of peace with her ever in her life, or if she was doomed to die alone. Even her few friends were much too different from her to truly understand how she felt most of the time. Understandable, for a character like her anyway....

A strong wind picked up, sending Ashpelt out of her trance and crashing back down into reality. There was a strong scent of something foul in the air... the poison? Grimacing, Ashpelt stood up, and wandered towards the river....

It was the rushing waters that were reeking so badly! Did Nightstar know? What about Icepool? But then there was always the possibility that something had just died down there. Should she check? But then, what if the rivers really were poisoned and she died? What use would she be if she was dead anyway? There was nothing she knew that could help their leader or medicine cat from StarClan. Plus... being dead would frankly just piss her off! Nothing to do up in those stars, right?

Another sigh escaped the she-cats maw as she sat herself down, staring at the waters with blank eyes. Something was happening, change was in the winds... but what?

This Dirty Town,
Is Burning Down In My Dreams...

[squirrel]

//whoa this sucks D:
-------------------------

Icepool rolled over and stared out at the lightening cream sky the sun just hardly rising, a single pale star remaining, defiant of the changing of the time from night to day. As she watched with her bright icy blue eyes, the star slowly faded as the sky changed further and a pawful of clouds skittered across the sky lazily, taking their time to their mysterious destinations.

Icepool sat up, ears pricked. Her apprentice, Snowpaw, was not in the den. The nest beside hers was empty, though slightly warm and the sweet scent of her younger sister still lingered in the air; she had to have only just left moments before Icepool had woken up. Last night Icepool had told her apprentice that she should leave early in the morning to collect herbs before the weather changed for the worst. The medicine cat wasn’t particularly nervous, but she had been having a strange unsettling feeling within her for the past moon.

She did not want to take any chances with her Clan. As a medicine cat, it was her responsibility to care for her Clanmates and keep them from harm. Icepool reflected upon this as she walked out of the camp, ignoring the peaceful sounds of her Clan sleeping, the sound of healthy warriors and apprentices. It reassured her little as she followed the fresh scent trail of Ashpelt, curious as of to where the cat had gone. Much like Ashpelt, Icepool frequently left the camp, especially when she was restless.

The young medicine cat’s ears flicked uneasily back as she felt something rumble beneath her paws. The ground – no her whole world – seemed to be shaking, the leaves falling off of the trees, birds taking flight with loud calls of alarm. Icepool yowled in alarm and stumbled forward, her soft nose colliding with a rock; the chaos around her instantly subsided, and she jerked her head up, ignoring the throbbing pain.

W-what was that? she thought wildly, veering off to find Ashpelt. She could at least confide in someone. She didn’t want to be near her Clan right now – she was too confused and upset. The world thundering and shaking around her gave her a sense of dread. She took a deep breath and looked around slowly, examining the dew on the leaves and grass, the gentle way the moss hung on branches. And then she listened. There was no sound that she could hear – no normal birdsong that had once filled her mornings. An odd thought occurred to her.. had StarClan sent the birds away? Dread filled her as she scurried onward, following the scent trail.

Soon she could smell something.. off about the air, a tang to the air that hadn’t been there before. With a small distressed mew, Icepool crashed out of a clump of reeds, halting when Ashpelt came into view. With a small sigh of relief, the medicine cat padded over to the she-cat, unable to hide the alarm growing inside of her.

“Hello. Couldn’t sleep?” she meowed, her voice calm and neutral. She didn’t know the warrior well, but she supposed it couldn’t hurt to at least talk to her, perhaps find out if she knew anything about the strange scent in the air if she had noticed it. Fervently, she hoped the cat hadn’t noticed though the medicine cat doubted she didn’t; the stench was hard to miss.

Icepool smelled death in the air.

[Icey]

<sup>Snowpaw let out a small yawn as she made her way through the ferns; her mentor had asked her to gather herbs in the morning, and she was truthfully exhausted. The sun was still making its way up obviously, because the light seemed barely visible. Which just makes this so much easier. She thought, wishing the sun would just come up already. Everything would be a lot easier to see that way.

Stifling another yawn, she trotted towards a clump of bushes, hoping to see any sign of bright purple flowers. She could have grabbed some ferns she had seen earlier, but she knew for a fact that they had way more than enough ferns stocked. They were so easy to find anyway, and she also wanted to impress her older sister-- which she wouldn't do if she were just to bring ferns back.

She drove her thoughts back to when she had first awaken, she remembered looking through the stock to see what she should try and find. Horsetail. Now having something specific in mind and knowing just where to look, Snowpaw made her way towards the river. Horsetail was usually hiding somewhere near the river, and hopefully she would manage to spot some in the marsh.

The river looked rather strange, or at least smelled strange. Flattening her ears and wrinkling her nose in disgust, she backed up a little. If the river is like that, than the horsetail might not be so good. Great, this brings me back to square one on what I should search for. She sighed, but maybe above looking for herbs, she should find Icepool and ask her what her thoughts were. But I should probably find something before I bug Icepool.

Ready to turn away from the river, she paused. She saw the black fur of her sister, and another cat... Ashpelt? Snowpaw shook her head, I can't let them see me. I need to find herbs before I go over there. I don't wanna look like a complete idiot. She headed in the opposite direction now, frustrated. The river was the best place to look for herbs, and now of course something was clearly going on with it.

Far enough to feel safe, Snowpaw sat down, curling her fluffy tail around her paws. Okay, I'll search for juniper berries, and gather them in ferns. I know we need juniper berries, and bringing back extra ferns is perfectly okay, besides the more we have the better. She walked through the forest, pleased by the gentle breeze sweeping through her fur. The walk wasn't so bad, since it was a nice day at least.

She stopped at a bush, and surely enough there were clusters of the blue berries specked all over the bush. Praise Starclan. She leaned her muzzle forward to take a clump full of them; she had to be extra careful with them in her jaws so she wouldn't rip through their tender coating. Juniper berries could be extra useful anyway, if something was going wrong with the river, Juniper berry might just be needed.

Keeping that in mind, she decided she would make several trips until she got every single one out of that bush. Snowpaw ran closer to the entrance of camp where she had found ferns. The green plants were still there, of course. She dropped the berries to bite into the ferns, tugging until she managed to snag a few of the plants. She rolled the berries carefully into the ferns, wrapping them into the plants for protection, and so they'd be easier to carry.

I'll head back and 'accidentally' run into Icepool, tell her I came here to look for other herbs, and when she sees what I have I can talk to her about the river, then go back to camp and drop these off and gather more. Happy with the decision, she dragged the mixture of herbs towards the river yet again. The smell was putrid, whatever was in that river was enough to make her skin crawl. Maybe it's Two-Leg business. Stupid creatures.

Snowpaw spotted Icepool and Ashpelt, and neither one of them looked very happy. Nervous now, she slowly walked over to them, dipping her head. Dropping the herbs at her paws, she warily looked up at them. "I came here to look for horsetail, but..." She trailed off, gaze fixed on the river. "I wasn't sure if I should get any because the river seems kind of strange. The only thing I have found so far were ferns and juniper berries... I figure if something is wrong with the river, juniper berries would be our top priority to gather, since cats drinking this might get a bellyache, right?" Although I can't imagine any cat being mouse-brain enough to drink out of a river like this, so hopefully it won't be a problem.

She could hardly stand the smell of the river, and just looking at it made her feel like her fur was being rubbed the wrong way. She shuddered, trying not to inhale the fumes of the rushing water. What could possibly be making the river like this?</sup>

[Shadow Da Smiffster]

“Hello. Couldn’t sleep?” a familiar voice called out. Ashpelt blinked in surprise, her ears flicking back and forth a few times before registering who it was that had appeared. Icepool. Just the cat she wanted to see. Still, she couldn't help but smile. Ashpelt wasn't always the most social cat in the world, but she enjoyed company at times... and with her feeling so uneasy about the river, it was a relief to have someone around. Especially someone like Icepool, who might know more then she did.

"Almost never can these days Icepool. The winds have been carrying a dark air about them. Younger cats don't sense it, but us senior warriors do. Something is coming our way... and I don't think its the season change, though Leaf-fall is coming soon...." Ashpelt trailed off, her eyes solemnly staring out at the river. "Something is wrong with the river Icepool. Don't tell me you don't smell that."

"I came here to look for horsetail, but...I wasn't sure if I should get any because the river seems kind of strange. The only thing I have found so far were ferns and juniper berries... I figure if something is wrong with the river, juniper berries would be our top priority to gather, since cats drinking this might get a bellyache, right?"

The appearance of Snowpaw didn't surprise Ashpelt much. She was Icepool's apprentice after all... but the warrior did not know how much of this should be passed along to a youngster. She glanced at Icepool warily, wondering if she would send the younger cat away, but when she didn't, Ashpelt muttered a quick good morning to the apprentice and then focused back on the river.

"Well, I don't know what's wrong with it, but I certainly hope that drinking won't be a problem. Drinking and fishing. We catch fish from here too...." Ashpelt trailed off, gulping suddenly. "Icepool... do you think the water has to do with the sick elders and kits that have died in the last recent months? I've noticed the prey I catch here has had sunken in eyes lately. I never eat the heads, but I do remember thinking it was weird... what if they carry disease? I figure you would be the right cat to ask..."