To Become a Lion (Sign-Up Only)

[Loinfire]

Sign up here

The day was like any other of late, the harsh burning sun hung high in the sky, a bright yellow orb too strong to look at and everywhere its rays touched lay destruction. The once soft brown mud had dried and cracked, the parched earth now covered in a fine layer of dust which clung to the furs of cats leaving them dirty and brown. The herbs and plants had shrivelled; their stems bent and yellow.

Sunhigh had devoured the shadows and there was no relief from the scorching presence of the sun, the Queens had retreated to the Nursery, trying to keep the kits cool and prevent them from over-heating but the rest of the Clan continued on. Hunting patrols came and went, bringing the minimal amount of prey they’d been able to find, the searing heat quickly took effect on the fresh-kill until it better resembled crow-food.

A young ginger-furred apprentice moved forwards, his shoulders were slouched and his paw steps dragged across the ground causing clouds of dust to billow around him. Clenched in his jaws was some moss, his keen sense of smell meant that the odour was particularly pungent and so he dumped it near the edge of Camp with relief, he’d just finished his duties of replacing the old bedding for fresh moss and with a heavy sigh allowed his body to fall to the ground.

Lionpaw lay awkwardly on the hard soil with his limps sprawled out; amassing a huge amount of effort he rolled onto his back, closing his eyes from the sun’s harsh glare. The ridiculous heat caused his skin to prickle with sweat and his muscles ached with dehydration but the young tom couldn’t summon the strength to move to the apprentice’s den.

His mentor was somewhere else, presumably going about the countless duties she had to do before the day was through, one of those duties was yet another training session with Lionpaw and the amber-eyed tom awaited it eagerly.

The apprentice opened one eye lazily, the Camp appeared almost deserted and he let out an audible sigh. The tom rose to his paws with slight hesitation, the overheated soil had caused minor burns on the pads of his paws leaving them tender and sore.

With careful pawsteps the tabby tom slunk forwards, heading towards the salvation of DuskClan territory where the trees towered upwards, their scorched, yellow leaves desperately trying to shade the forest floor from the burning sun.

The DuskClan apprentice overestimated the amount of time it would take for him to hobble to the training grounds and after a long drink from a nearby pool and an extra moment to allow the cool water to seep into his fur Lionpaw settled himself amongst the crispy leaves that had fallen from the canopy above.

He waited.

However, moments passed, a few more dying leaves fell to the ground, shrivelled and brown but Silverstar had yet to show herself. The fault, of course, lay solely with her apprentice, who’d arrived too early and failed to find a sufficient way to occupy himself.

Se he began thinking.

Idle things at first, such as ‘that leaf is the same colour as Posiepaw’s eyes’, although he was sure his sister would loathe to be compared to a decomposing leaf, but it was true. The leaf had hardened, dried out from the lack of rain and curled in upon itself, the green of life leeched from its veins so that it turned brown, but the light squeeze through a gap in the trees above and filtered through the transparent leaf, turning it a vivid hazel colour.

But it does not do for a young cat such as Lionpaw to dwell on idle thoughts, and within moments they’d turned sour. Leaving him occupied with the thoughts that lay not at the surface of the pond but in its murky depths, thoughts that planted roots and grew, grew until, like an oak, they stretched high into the sky and left everything else in their dark shadow.

And he needed answers.

The long-bodied tom rose sluggishly to his paws, his joints creaked in complaint, having become accustomed to the position he held them in for so long and the young cat had to stretched his back before he could do anything else.

When his muscles felt loose, the determined apprentice stalked forwards, easily passing from shadow to shadow, avoiding the heat of sunhigh. Driven by his single-minded thoughts the young cat failed to notice anything, determined as he was to reach DawnClan territory, and that which lay far beyond it.

The Cave Pool.

Word Count: 768

Note: Only those who have signed up for the Kits and Apprentices part of the plot can reply to this post.

[Smokepaw]

Smokepaw's claws extended and she felt adrenaline pumping through her vanes. Her soft green eyes floated up to the top of the large oak tree. The branches got small up at the top and Smokepaw knew she could only make it up so high.
She was glad her mentor gave her the day off. Though she could have lounged around the camp all day, she knew that her tree climbing skills were not the best and she needed to practice.
Bunching up her muscles she prepared for her ascent. she leaped and didn't land quite where she wanted. She had a long way to climb. She pulled herself upwards in a particularly awkward manner. She sunk her claws deep into the bark, pulled herself up and repeated. It was tedious work and her muscles were aching by the time she was halfway up. She stopped and was completely silent. A ginger figure stood just below her. She couldn't tell who it was. Silent, like a cat should she dropped down on the next branch, hoping to surprise the cat below her. Things didn't go as planned. Her claws didn't stick in the slim branch and she slipped. Adrenaline was replaced by fear. She squealed as nothing but air separated her from the ground.
With a thud, she landed on the ground, mostly on her feet. It jolted her joints, knocked the breath out of her and she nearly fell over but she tried to compose herself as best as possible. Now recognizing the cat she blinked quickly.
"Hello Lionpaw." She said now able to breathe somewhat normally, though let out a small cough. She tested the movement of her joints. They would ache for a while but nothing felt broken or severely hurt. "What are you doing out here?" She wondered if it sounded suspicious, like she didn't want anyone to see her. Like she was doing something wrong. I think that fall knocked some of my brains out, she thought. She knew most of the clan didn't trust her anyway and she didn't want to make things worse. "I mean, I didn't expect to see anyone else out here." Nope, still suspicious. One more try. "I didn't want anyone to see me, well, fall." Still embarrassing but less suspicious.