Burning Sun [open]

[Cardinal]

The day barely reached the forest floor, scattered with grasses and broken branches from the previous year. Overhead, the canopy of leaves was painted a dark pine green, branches blooming with oak, maple, pine and many other leaves and needles and below a clearing in the blanket of darkness was a clear, crystalline pool of water. A stream gurgled lightly on the edge of the clearing.

A white paw extended into the clearing. Emerald green grass gave way underneath the appendage and Cardinalsun crawled slowly from the surrounding trees with caution. In his metallic gaze lay a toad, sitting on a warm grey stone that was half in the pool and half on the land. The grass made not a sound as the tom creeped forward, paws careful in their path to his prey. Grey fur tweaked along the edge of Cardinal's tail.

With a quick pounce, he slapped his heavy paws on the toad's back and pierced his fangs into its broad head, elicting a crunch from the skull. Cardinalsun picked up his catch and trotted over to a bowl beneath an oak tree on the edge of the clearing, settling down and taking ravenous bites of the toad.

[Duskcloud]

The lightly swayed the branches above the ground,making the sunlight shine off and on.A dark tabby shape slid out of a bramble.Her pale green eyes glinted like emeralds in the pale light.A mouse darted for cover.Duskcloud moved swiftly.Quickly she slapped one of her tiny paws down on the mouses tail.It let out a low squeal.The warrior ended it's life and it's pitiful noise broke off into deadly silence.

Gently she picked up the mouse tail between her razor sharp teeth and carried it over to where she had his her lizard earlier.Suddenly the breeze picked up again and it blew the scent of one of her clanmates.Cardinalsun.

The warrior quickly buried her mouse next to her previous catch and began to snake through the forest,toward the scent of the deputy. A frog hopped along her path and she killed it quickly.This prey was for herself.

Soon, the forest broke and she spotted the gray furred deputy munching on a toad.Slowly he eased into the small clearing and padded up to the deputy.She crouched down a few tail lengths away from him and took hungry bites out of the slimy frog."Good hunting,eh?"she said between bites.[/size]

[Muun]

Wolfpaw ran into the small area. Seeing the two cats, he hissed, "Shhhh!" dissapointment and embarrassment flashed in his eyes. He and Foxpaw weren't supposed to be out of camp. The grass rustled intensely as a mouse ran into the clearing with Foxpaw hard on it's heels. The mouse, distracted from everything but Foxpaw, ran streight into Wolfpaw's clutches. "I told you it would work!" Wolfpaw proudly meowed. Foxpaw was concentrated on something different.

"You- you won't tell Chaosstar that we were here, will you?" She asked, her ears lay flat as she attempted the puppy-dog face. She hated getting caught. The apprentice crouched down. Wolfpaw rolled his eyes at his sister's attempt.

Wolfpaw loudly meowed, "Well, it was your idea."

[Duskcloud]

Duskcloud looked up at the sound of meowing. On the other side of the clearing were two apprentices of ShadowClan, Wolfpaw and Foxpaw.Her pale green eyes widened then become annoyed but not angry."What are you doing away from camp?"she asked the apprentices, annoyance leaking into her soft voice.

Then she turned back to the gray tom"What do you think.Should we tell Chaosstar?"she asked, her gaze going back to the apprentices.[/size]

[Chaos]

Eyes of ice blue glittered from the shadows as he hid in the holly bushes; watching the cats in front of him. Shouldn't he have been angry at the fact that the two apprentices had ventured off without any warrior, or without letting any cat know where they were going? Chaosstar tried his best to find the anger he should have felt, but no true anger came to him.

Well, not until he remembered that dream, anyways.

The silver and dark gray tomcat slipped out of the bushes, his face twisted with disapointment. "Foxpaw, Wolfpaw, what is this about you two sneaking off and not going to tell me?" he growled. He wasn't angry at the fact that they had snuck off. Chaosstar was more afriad of what could have happened to the two young cats.

'Beware of the one who lurks in the shadows'

Those words echoed in his head as he remembered the vague dream of the she-cat, Frozenlilly, who had came to him. Chaosstar was very frightened by the dream, and didn't know what he was going to do. Had Howlstar, Moonstar, or Angelstar recived a dream like he had? Or was it just him?

Snapping away from the thoughts, the leader glared at the two apprentices. "You know I am going to have to punish you two, right? Maybe I'll just leave you two behind when we go to the gathering; so you can guard the camp and take care of the elders" he murmured; flicking his tail. Chaosstar's gaze flickered up to Duskcloud and Cardinalsun. "Were these two with you the whole time since the time you came here, or did they just follow in secret?" the Shadowclanner demanded; his tail lashing back and forth.

[Duskcloud]

Duskcloud flattened her ears to her skull at the icy look in Chaosstars eye's.She suddenly felt bad for the two apprentices.Slowly her brain started to work and the truth slipped from her mouth before she could stop it"No, they just showed up a few minutes ago."the dark brown tabby admitted.

She gave the apprentices an apologetic look and then looked away.She was never one to snitch.She was that way because her brother was a cat that got in trouble a lot.As a kit he would always sneak away and she never told.Well, a lot of good that did, she thought bitterly.[/size]

[Muun]

Foxpaw laid her ears flat and tried to disappear. She stared hard at the dirt, as if it was the whole reason they got caught. She started moving her paws a little, letting some energy out. She hissed in her mind, "Stupid dirt! I hate you! Why are you here!?" The reddish kitten turned her angry gaze to the mouse that they'd caught earlier. Her pelt burned with embarassment as her brother began to speak. "Nothing too smart-alec, please?" She almost meowed out loud.

~-=-~

Wolfpaw gave a hard stare at Duskcloud as she blurted that out. His pelt was bristling. He turned to look at his sister, hoping that she would back him up. Why was everything so difficult!? He marched up to his leader and looked up in his face, even though Chaosstar was over twice his size. The apprentice was stern-faced as he swiftly meowed, "Believe me, you wouldn't want to leave us at the camp. Two apprentices guarding the elders and kits against the big strangescents? We'd just bolt either way, be the strangescents there or not!" Wolfpaw's whiskers twitched, hadn't Chaosstar noticed the strange smells and big dog-like things? Him and his sister named them strangescents after their, well, strange scent.