Gotta Be Somebody's [Blues]

[{darkles}]

Cold wintry sunlight streaked through the gaps in the sparse trees, casting a stripy glow over the marshy soil that was ShadowClans territory. Normally dark and damp it was somewhat strange to see the place so filled with light. It looked almost beautiful, if you didn't count the rotting tree stumps and foul smelling earthy bogs that littered the floor, in varying sizes and shades of murky green. Nearly all the leaves had fallen by now and lay heaped against the roots of the trees. A few still clung desperately to life, hanging frail on the branches above. The sky was a dazzling blue, the kind you get just before a frost as if nature was apologising in advance. The tranquil scene was punctuated by birdsong and the distant roaring of the shadowed falls as it sent it's ever flowing load cascading into the pool below. Atop one of the aforementioned rotting stumps sat a fiery red tomcat, his pelt bristling in a vain effort to keep out the bitterly cold wind. He sat quite still, his long tail wrapped elegantly across his forepaws, head tilted to the right in a quizzical fashion and a faraway expression on his face that made him look almost laughable. As he sat, the sunlight moved from behind one of the leaf stripped trees, catching his pelt in its glare. It blazed brilliantly - the darker stripes blending with the rest of his fur to create an image of fire and flame. He shuddered violently and dropped into a crouch, apparently short of breath, and yet his eyes turned their misted gaze towards the leaves on the soggy ground. Without warning they had been whipped up into a frenzy by a sudden harsh gust of wind from the south. It had a tang to its scent, the strange yet unmistakeable smell of Twolegplace. All the while a terrifying noise sounded in the cats ears, a great snarling and growling that was louder than every Warrior in the forest put together. The tom swayed feeling nauseous at the sickening roar. Between the thunderous noise he heard the softer voice of an old Clanmate, Beechflight;

'They will come.
A long-standing enemy of the Clans,
an old feud returned. RUN!'


The last word was screeched to StarClan, sending waves of pure terror into the ginger cat that he knew had nothing to do with himself. The message ended abruptly, all noise cutting out into the softer and more gentler sounds of nature. He felt the sun warm his pelt again and realised that he was shivering violently. A single thought crossed through his brain - tell Duskstar. It seemed that StarClan foresaw trouble for all of the Clans and if the terrible snarling was anything to go by, this would be worse than anything they’d ever faced. Standing straight the tom leapt down from the stump and stretched out his front legs in the sunshine, it was hard to imagine such danger in the peace that currently surrounded the Clans but it wouldn’t take a genius to work out that something was stirring. The scent of Twolegplace and that awful sound.. as he padded slowly through the well scattered trees the feline tried desperately to put the two together, but his ideas came to nothing. He made a mental note to tell the other medicine cats at the next half-moon gathering, though he knew he wouldn’t forget easily.

This tomcat’s name was Russetstripe, trusted medicine cat of ShadowClan. It was his duty to help protect the Clans, and that was exactly what he intended to do.

--I still believe it's you and me, 'til the end of time.

[suzzi]

Stormpaw had been out in the swamp, trying to memorize all the scents of his clan's territory so he would know if any new herbs popped up. Of course, nothing new would be growing for a while. The frost that threatened to overtake the swamp would kill off any budding plants that tried to make it to a new life. He had been sitting on a dying tree stump, his eyes closed and inhaling deeply, when he sensed something new, something familiar. A scent he breathed in every day. Opening his eyes, he saw the familiar fiery orange pelt that greeted him every morning.

"Russetstripe!" Stormpaw exclaimed, running out to greet his mentor. What could he have been doing out here all alone? Stormpaw wondered, but he quickly shook off the thought, remembering not to doubt his mentor. Russetstripe moved with passion and urgency, and Stormpaw quickly caught pace with him. "Is something wrong?" he asked, his eyes widening. Was someone hurt? Did he have to treat them? Was someone in his clan going to DIE! Stormpaw's thoughts clouded with doubt of his abilities. Could he save someone? What was he doing? There probably wasn't anyone is danger anyway. But then... what was wrong? Stormpaw was dying to know.

[{darkles}]

'Russetstripe! Is something wrong?'


The cry came from somewhere on his left. The ginger tomcat turned sharply and slowed to a stop in time to see his young apprentice, Stormpaw, come bounding out of the undergrowth to meet him. It was the first time he had noticed the little tom which was unusual for Russetstripe - his nose was particularly keen, so even if he couldn't have seen the grey cat he should at least have been able to smell him. He shook it off, assuming it was because he had a lot on his mind, and smiled gently at the enthusiastic glint in Stormpaw's eyes.

'Can you not see the sun shining and hear the birds singing?' he joked, 'Nothing too troublesome has occured recently, but I must speak with Duskstar urgently. You may accompany me if you like, as my apprentice you should probably know anyway' His neck fur refused to lie flat as he heard, once again, the echo of the newest prophecy. Though he supposed it wasn't much of a prophecy at all, more a warning. StarClan were good at giving warnings when they were due but every time they did so he wished they would not, for they almost always became true to life, whether it was a bout of greencough or the threat from another Clan. Russetstripe beckoned the little grey feline with his tail and led him through the familiar territory, using paths and trails that he knew better than he even knew himself. He passed a small clump of catmint - one of the few that lay scattered around the territory, and paused to sniff at the herbs giving a satisfied grunt when he saw they were growing well. They would need as much catmint as possible this leafbare, StarClan had been hinting that it would be one of the harshest yet.

'A medicine cat's supplies are not all stored in his or her den' he told Stormpaw, 'More than half lie somewhere in their own territory. You should be certain to check how they're growing as often as possible. Do you know why this is?' Aah so they needed to talk with Duskstar - that didn't mean he couldn't train his apprentice at the same time! It was like treating two illnesses with one herb, and twice as fast. The red striped tom trotted along at a fairly fast pace, not yet beginning to run. He was aware that Stormpaw had littler legs than him, though so far the small cat had done an excellent job of keeping up with him.

[suzzi]

Stormpaw listened to his mentor closely. Urgently. Duskstar. What? It hit Stormpaw then: Russetstripe had gotten a message from StarClan! Stormpaw was so excited, his tail started quivering. His first prophecy as a medicine cat apprentice. Was it good or bad? Optimistic or ominous? Stormpaw hoped for the best and meowed confidently, his chest puffed out, "Thank you Russetstripe. It means a lot to me that you would allow me to come with you."

Stormpaw watched as Russetstripe sniffed at the catmint and did the same as he passed by. "Do you know why this is?" Stormpaw thought hard. It took him only a couple seconds to come up with an answer. "You never know when you might need some herbs, and you should make sure you know where they are and that they're in good shape?" he guessed, his voice getting higher at the end of the sentence. He was unsure about his answer and scolded himself. One day he was going to be a medicine cat. There wouldn't be a mentor to guide him along and answer all the hard questions. He would be making choices for his clan by himself, with only StarClan to guide him. Stormpaw cleared his head with a brisk shake and moved faster to keep up with mentor, moving effortlessly.


[[OOC: Sorry it's so short. I got really distracted and my computer closed out when I was just about to post my long version, so I had to kind of improvise. ]]

[{darkles}]

Greatly surprised by the younger toms speed and stamina, as well as his effortless use of logic - something some cats appeared to lack in severe quantities - it was a while before Russetstripe replied. He had picked up the pace again, channelling a pathway through some of the more overgrown trails with his normal endless amount of energy. His tail flicked and twitched as he nuzzled through a patch of brambles, sucking his body even skinnier to be able to squeeze unharmed through the snagging thorns. They were about two thirds of the way to camp, having begun their jaunt much deeper into ShadowClan territory.

'Precisely, well done Stormpaw' he called over his shoulder as he whisked his tail out of the brambles and turned abruptly to wait for his apprentice to scramble through, expecting him to take a smidgeon longer. The ginger tom remained standing and gave his chest fur a few brief licks, barely out of breath at all. He glanced around several times, trying to find something else to quiz the small gray cat with, and his gooseberry green eyes were caught by the fluttering leaves of a marigold, possibly the last living one for several seasons. Russetstripe had assumed them all dead by now. He hadn't found any in the past moon and the temperatures were still plummeting. Padding over to it he stood directly behind it, tail waving, and glanced at Stormpaw.

'Do you know how to recognise marigold when it's not in flower?' He asked, remembering the time he had mistaken marigold for primrose when there had only been the leaves to go by. His mentor had never let him forget it and by doing so Russetstripe had never forgotten either. The tom sat down, grinning at the memory, and prepared to grill Stormpaw on the recognition and use of marigold in medicine - for his own benefit of course.

The sky had a pinkish tinge to it now, as the short days ended earlier by the week. It didn't bother the medicine cat. Duskstar could wait five minutes more for his news, it wasn't as though it was desperate. StarClan were surely brooding over something, but he was certain that whatever it was would arrive after leafbare, and not before. The thought comforted him slightly. It meant he had more time to train his charge before their fate was unleashed upon them. So really, it was better to dawdle on the way back to camp and teach the little tom some herbs, as opposed to dashing back like mad hares and having Stormpaw know very little when it mattered most to the Clan.

--I still believe it's you and me, 'til the end of time.