Reminiscence & Dreams {open}

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Before dawn Willowstar stepped out of the camp while most of the Clan was still sleeping. The cats from the dawn patrol and the warrior on guard greeted her respectfully as she passed and although they seemed curious they did not ask where she was going. They probably guessed why she wanted to go out. She just wanted some time alone, some fresh air so she could hear herself think and totally comprehend her new life. Once she got passed the pool did she enter the forest surrounded by reeds and ferns. Half of her mind paid attention where she was moving her paws; the forest here is uneven with countless tree roots poking and tangling through the ground. The other part of her was thinking about what she had gone through the passed couple days.

Brightstar, the former leader of RiverClan died only a couple days ago. As tradition it is that Clan leader's deputy that automatically becomes the new Clan leader; Willowstar was Brightstar's deputy. And from tradition her medicine cat took her to the Mooncave. It was there that nine cats from StarClan came to her and gave her the nine lives necessary for Clan leaders. It was those moments she would and couldn't ever forget. Her heart swelled when she saw Thistlepelt among them. It made her spirit sore with joy of seeing her mate again, to properly say goodbye to him and to tell him how much she loved him.

Willowstar came by Shimmeringrocks; the most beautiful piece of territory RiverClan has and an excellent hunting source. It was here that Willowstar and Thistlepelt confessed their feelings toward each other and declared to be mates. Willowstar stopped on one of the rocks that were now warm from the sunlight as the sun's light rose through the trees.

[loki]

He moved slowly and with purpose, placing one white paw in front of the other as he walked through the forest. When Grayfeather had left camp earlier that morning just before the sun had risen he had intended on going on patrol. He knew that if he had waited for a few hours that he could have joined the morning patrol party but Grayfeather was not one who enjoyed being part of a larger group even if it was safer. Instead he had left alone, the only other cat knowing he had woken up and left being the one on guard duty. Grayfeather had walked along the river enjoying the thick fog that made his foot steps silent and concealed his movements. He had felt like a ghost wandering along the river bed feeling the chill of fog brush through his short fur leaving him slightly damp. Grayfeather had enjoyed walking through the fog far to much and before he knew what was happening the sun was up and the fog was dissipating making him remember why he had left camp in the first place.

With a soft huffing sound of disapproval Grayfeather looked around to see where he had wandered off to. He knew that he was still in Riverclan territory and that once he got his barrings he could continue with his original plan and go patrol the boarders. Seeing the sunlight touching the rocks along the rivers edge and how crystal clean the water was Grayfeather realized rather quickly that he had walked all the way to Shimmeringrocks. Despite how much prey could be found here Grayfeather had generally avoided this area because he knew that other clan cats enjoyed hunting here and since it was a very desirable place plenty of other warriors patrolled the area making it so that Grayfeather figured he didn't need to. Remembering just how popular this area was Grayfeather glanced around to see if anyone was around and frowned when he spotted his clan leader resting on one of the warm rocks. She looked deep in thought and Grayfeather was certain that she had not yet spotted him. Hoping that this was true, Grayfeather turned to hide in the forest only to have his paw slip on the smooth rocks and dip into the cool water. The sun had yet to heat up the chilly water making it far colder then Grayfeather would have expected and despite being a Riverclan cat, Grayfeather did not enjoy surprise dips in any water. With a hiss he jumped away from the waters edge in surprise, his fur standing on end briefly. When he landed he shook his paw sending cold water droplets flying. Realizing that there was no way Willowstar hadn't seen him at this point he looked up at the she-cat with a sheepish look on his face.

"I apologize, I did not mean to disturb you," He mewed meekly to her. The fact was that Grayfeather would have been much happier not talking to his clan leader at all. She had only appointed him as deputy a few days ago and he was still puzzling out why she would do such a thing. He had never tried to hide his dislike of her and so he had assumed that, despite how well qualified he was for the job, she would pick someone closer to her. Grayfeather would have preffered to avoid speaking with her until he had figured out this problem.

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Looking down at the water Willowstar saw her reflection. The previous time she had looked at her reflection was when Thistlepelt and her were sitting beside one another, their tails twining and enjoying the warmth of each others bodies. Pain swelled so deep in her chest she could barely breathe. Unable to look at her reflection anymore Willowstar squeezed her eyes tightly shut and clenched her teeth till they hurt and scraping the rock beneath her with her claws. The pain and loss in her heart wasn't just for Thistlepelt but also for her unborn kits.

Out of nowhere she heard a surprised screech close by and quickly turned. There standing by the water shaking his wet paws and looking back at her sheepishly was her deputy Greyfeather. Her pain temporally forgotten Willowstar tried to fight from laughing but she could only stop from laughing too loudly. "I apologize, I did not mean to disturb you," he said.

Calming down Willowstar shook her head and smiled softly back at her deputy. "No, it's fine. I needed some... distraction," she added hesitantly. Everyone knows what had happened to Thistlepelt but she had told no one about her pregnancy and when she miscarried she just thought she didn't want anyone to pity her. The only cat that knows is her medicine cat. Resting her tail on her paws she continued. "It's a beautiful morning, isn't it?"

[loki]

His tail twitched in irritation as he heard her muffled laughter, not enjoying being laughed at despite knowing that it was his own fault. He could not stay annoyed at her for long though as she smiled softly at him and even seemed to thank him for the distraction he had caused. Grayfeather would have thought that she wanted to be alone with her thoughts since she was so far from camp and so early in the morning. Grayfeather couldn't help but wonder what thoughts she had been thinking that she wanted to be distracted from. He knew that the past few months must have been rather horrible for her and he was actually impressed by how well Willowstar was handling everything but Grayfeather would have thought that the honor of being made clan leader would out weigh any depressing thoughts she may have.

Still, if she needed a distraction Grayfeather could not see any reason why he couldn't provide one for her. Since he was going to stay a little longer to have a conversation Grayfeather padded closer to Willowstar, walking carefully so that he wouldn't fall into the water again. When he found a dry rock that was in the sun Grayfeather sat down with a soft sigh. It's a beautiful morning, isn't it? she seemed to speak almost hesitantly which made Grayfeather narrow his eyes slightly in confusion. He knew he could be intimidating but it was still unpleasant to hear a cat from his clan speak so uncertainly to him. It made him want to say something that would help her relax but he couldn't think of any such statement.

"It is... nice," Grayfeather agreed after a moment of silence. He was not very good at small talk or comforting others. He knew that to be a good 'distraction' he needed to say something more then that though and so he searched around for something to add. "There should be plenty of prey out today."

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As Greyfeather relaxed near her in the sun she glanced around at the beauty of this place. "It is... nice," the tom replied after a moment. Willowstar glanced at the tom and smiled softly.

It was always difficult for any cat to really talk to Greyfeather. He is quite anit-social and sometimes more out alone than with other cats. Willowstar could never understand why the tom had put such a wall up, like its fine doing that with other cats but to your own Clanmates? How lonely that would be, she thought. She could understand wanting some alone time but not that much. Even after losing Thistlepelt and the agonizing pain she feels she would rather relive her life exactly as she had with Thistlepelt.

But after the battle with ThunderClan Greyfeather seemed even more distant. Not that Willowstar had tried much to socalize with the tom. She knew he doesn't like her, probably because Brightstar had chosen her as deputy instead of him. One time she asked Brightstar why she chose her instead and she told her it was because Greyfeather still needed to learn the most important thing to being a leader. When Willowstar returned from her trip from the Mooncave she appointed Greyfeather as her deputy. Many cats were actually quite surprised, she thought maybe Greyfeather included. Although many cats asked Willowstar never really gave an explanation of why she chose him exactly.

"There should be plenty of prey out today," Greyfeather said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Willowstar nodded, glancing down at the water. Bright silver scales could be seen below and without thinking Willowstar swiped with her paw and scooped up the fish in the air. It landed on the rock close to her but before it could wiggle back in the water she placed her paw down on it and swiftly killed it. Swiping with her tongue to rid muzzle off scales she turned back to Greyfeather. "Greenleaf is always the best season for prey," she meowed, licking her wet white paw. "It's even easier now that the twolegs aren't around nearly as much, if at all." she added. The Clans had barely ever seen twolegs for many seasons and are rare to see. They had heard from many rogues and loners that the twolegs have been abandoned their twolegplace and are pretty much gone.

[loki]

Flinching away from the splash of water, Grayfeather glowered at Willowstar as she killed the small silver fish quickly. She probably hadn't meant to show off but Grayfeather couldn't help but raise a skeptical eyebrow at her. Catching the fish helped make the point that they were both making but Grayfeather firmly believed that it was not a necessary show of skill. Just agreeing that there was plenty of prey would have done the job just as well.

He was distracted from the fish by her next statement. Listening to her dismiss the twolegs so easily made Grayfeather tense and his glower turn into a glare. He couldn't blame her ignorance since he had only told Brightstar about his experience but Grayfeather hated hearing her speak so easily about twolegs. Willowstar could not understand just how dangerous twolegs were since she had grown up in a time when twoleggers weren't really a problem. Grayfeather could just barely remember hearing about how the twoleggers were leaving their dens. He had grown up knowing that twoleggers were dangerous but never really thinking about it until his... experience a few months ago. Realizing that he was glaring at his clan leader Grayfeather quickly looked away from her in shame. He had let his emotions take over and control his actions. With a soft sigh, Grayfeather suppressed his feelings of anger and fear at the mention of twolegs.

"With so much prey it will be easier to train the apprentices," Grayfeather mewed while starring intently at the water.

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Noticing Greyfeather glowering at her she grew hot with embarrassment. It was not like she was trying to show off her fishing skills or make a better statement. She just spotted the fish and acted without thinking. After she spoke Willowstar was quite surprised to see the tom glaring at her. What did I say? she thought, baffled. Usually Willowstar wouldn't have tried so hard to try and get on Greyfeather's good side, but after appointing him as her deputy they have to find a way to meet eye to eye. Truth be told Willowstar had always wanted to be Greyfeather's friend but he never gave her or anyone a chance.

Before Willowstar could say anything the tom looked away. "With so much prey it will be easier to train the apprentices," he said, looking at the water intently.

"Indeed," Willowstar agreed and looked down at the water. She shifted her paws uncomfortably, wondering what she should say. After her last sentence he took it the wrong way some how. "It sure does feel different with Brightstar no longer here," she said softly, hoping that she haven't yet again provoke him in anyway.

[loki]

Grayfeather almost hoped that with this small talk coming to a dead end that he would find a way to politely excuse himself. This was the most he had spoken to anyone in months and it was on rather trivial topics for the most part. Only instead of letting the conversation die Willowstar said something that Grayfeather was completely not expecting, she mentioned Brightstar. His dark green eyes snapped up to look at Willowstar in surprise, the grief he still felt easy to see in his usually emotionally dead eyes. With a blink of his eyes the emotions were gone though, suppressed deep inside just like all of his other emotions.

"The clan will recover," He mewed softly. It had only been a few days so the loss was still fresh on every ones mind. Brightstar had been one of the few who Grayfeather had ever become close to and truly trusted even if he did not understand her choices. He had shared parts of his life with her that he doubted he would ever tell another cat but now she was gone. Looking at Willowstar, he knew that she was perhaps the strangest choice Brightstar had ever made. He still could not understand what had made the former leader pick this she cat and when Willowstar had first been chosen as deputy he had truly hated her. Now that Brightstar was gone and Willowstar was the clan leader Grayfeather did not envy the she-cat her position. After watching how she handled being a deputy and now that she was clan leader he knew that he was not ready for such a position despite how old he was and how much experience he had. It pained him to admit it, and he would only admit it to himself, but he could see why Brightstar had chosen Willowstar.

"You will lead the clan well," He reassured the she-cat.Feeling like this was quickly headed towards some sort of 'heart to heart' moment Grayfeather looked away from her again to stare at the water.