Dawn is here

[Amber]

As the sun poured into the bramble covered warriors den, it meant one thing had happened. Dawn was here. Dawn was the time of morning that the hunting patrols and border patrols were sent out. Dawn was a time when a few of the members of the clan were waking up, while others snoozed. Dawn was a peaceful time of the day. A time that Snowstorm loved. Peace and quiet, was hard to come by at times, but when it did come by, it felt awesome.

The white she-cat padded away from her nest in the warriors den, and into the camp. The sun showed off the silver in her white pelt, but not as much as the moon did. She shook off the dirt that had accumalated during the night and her light blue eyes looked at the camp. Yes, it was definately peaceful. A yawn escaped from her mouth as she sat down and took a glance at each of the different places in the camp. The nursery, then the apprentices den, and her eyes stopped when she saw the leader's den. She wrapped her bushy tail around her paws, and waited for someone else to awake. Someone to talk to. Someone to share a good time with.

[Zelda]

[shadow=black,left,300]"Blackclaw, do not worry about me, please, I am safe, and with the--"[/shadow]

~-~-~

The tom woke with a start. A soft light slid through the bushes of the Warriors' den and settled on his dust-brown pelt. He unsheathed his claws and dug them into the soft earth beneath him as he stretched and yawned. It was a new day. A fresh, crisp morning scent leaked into his mouth and nostrils. A time to forget about yesterday's worries and move on. Though something was troubling him. Lightstep, Blackclaw's mate, had disappeared yesterday, and he hadn't noticed until he curled up to sleep last night, for she usually curled up beside him. He was so tired though, so he forgot, until his dream...

~-~-~

[shadow=black,left,300]Blackclaw was at Fourtrees, staring up at the great oak giants, when she bounded from the branches.
"What about Blackpaw?" she asked.
Blackclaw blinked. That was the first thing she had ever said to him. To suggest his name.
Wait, what is happening? the confused tom thought.
Lightpelt giggled. "Is that a yes?"
Blackclaw closed his eyes and opened them. He was still at Fourtrees.
"Blackclaw, do not worry about me, I am safe, and with the--"[/shadow]

~-~-~

"What a weird dream... I think... I'll go look for her later. She's probably... Helping out with the queens or the elders or something... She's such a helpful little busy-bee..." he murmured hopefully, yawning as he walked outside.
He looked at the sky, blinking the crust out of his eyes.
"Good morning, Snowstorm. Sleep well?" he mewed as he padded over to the white she-cat.

[Mirepaw]

Frozensky blinked open her eyes, frowning with annoyance. The light sleeper had been awakened by the sound of voices. It was much too earlier for chat!

The tortoiseshell cat rose to her feet, bumping into her young son Shardkit as she went. If she was awake, he may as well be awake too! She wouldn't have Shardkit growing up to be lazy, not as long as she was around!

Shardkit yawned quietly, his bright eyes mirroring the light of the sun creeping into the nursery. He was almost a mirror-image of his mother, only his size and paws were different.

Frozensky walked to the entrance of the nursery and glared at the two cats. Just stood their and glared. Shardkit watched with a detached and sleepy interest, still deciding whether it would be worth it to try and fall asleep again.

[Amber]

Snowstorm let out a sigh as she looked up towards the sky. Her thoughts drifted to something that she had lost a year prior to this day. It was the one year anniversary of her sister's death. Now if that didn't cheer anyone up...sarcasm is such a funny thing, but not to this she-cat. Sarcasm was cruel, and something that she wished could go away. "Stormpaw." she murmered, remembering the scent and the sight of her dead sister.

Her attention was stirred from the sky when she heard the voice of a tom, which had actually somewhat suprised her. Snowstorm shook the thoughts from her head as she looked at Blackclaw. "Good morning to you aswell. And I slept as well as I usually do. Whether it is good or bad, it is a decision that is tough. How about yourself?" she questioned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


What was all the commotion about? Why was there cats up this early? Ahh, the thoughts of young Thornkit. The kit with the troubled past. His light green eyes blinked open as he heard all the noise inside the nursery, to see Frozensky and Shardkit. The black tom hoped he wasn't interrupting anything, after all, he did make a promise to himself that he wouldn't be angry like his mother had been. The kit got onto his paws and padded beside Frozensky. "Is something wrong?" he asked, now becoming curious as to what the she-cat was looking at.

[Mirepaw]

Frozensky wheeled around and turned her glare on the kit. "What's wrong? What's wrong is that cats are taking it upon themselves to wake others by making a clamor!" she said, uncaring that she was screeching herself. Her fur was puffed up, and in the dim light she appeared quite frightening.

Shardkit was unaffected by his mother's rage. He'd grown used to it. Deciding he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, he rose to his feet with a final yawn and nodded coldly at Thornkit in "greeting".

Shardkit did not move from his spot, he simply stood still and straight. Even his tail hung stiffly down from his body, his ears perked up, his legs fully outstretched. Only his eyes seemed uncaring and even sleepy, betraying the morning's effects.

[[Nightwood]]

Shadedstar lay in his den silently, listening to water dripping just outside. Every time the water made contact with the ground, the sound pounded in his ears. It was calming him and starting to take his mind off his troubled past. He thought about it often, and was always wondering how his mother was doing with Starclan.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.
Now it was actually starting to get annoying. Constant dripping in the silence...
He stood up and searched for the origin of the sound. He found that water was dripping off the entrance of his den. He shook his head, riding his mind of the hypnotizing sound. He slowly made his way out into the center of the clearing to greet the sun. It felt good on his fur after the long night. He quickly noticed the other cats that had awakened so far and took stock of where each one was.

[Zelda]

"Me? Oh, I slept fine. I had a strange dream, but it was probably nothing. I'm going to go out for a hunt, tell Shadedstar if he wonders where I am, yes?" Blackclaw asked, then trotted over to the camp exit. He looked back at the apprentices' den.
Don't worry about me, Molepaw, Gingerpaw... If you need me, I'll be there. the tom thought, lowering his dusty-brown head for a moment, then raising his black stump of a tail and padding into the forests of ShadowClan.

+-+-+

A ginger-colored she-cat yawned and stretched, then rubbed her eyes with her paw.
"It's too ea---rly...." she stretched out the word "early" in another enormous yawn. Her teeth shone like tiny little white daggers in her mouth. "Molepaw, wake up." The cat prodded a bundle of fur in a small decline in the corner of the den. When the cat wouldn't wake up, the other she-cat raised her head and stalked out, taking in the beautiful sights and sounds of early dawn. Gingerpaw spotted Frozensky and a few kits, and Snowstorm awake.
"G'morning." she said, to no one in particular, or maybe, to everyone in particular.

[[Nightwood]]

Shadedstar watched as Blackclaw left to hunt. He stretched and took another glance around at the cats in the clearing before noticing Nightwood padding out of the warriors den with a furious look on her face. He frowned and waited as she approached him.
"I can't believe those two! I really think you should say something to Ravenwing and Hawkwing, Shadedstar. It's getting out of hand." She almost shouted at him, her eyes blazing.
He sighed and tried to smile. "At least they aren't clawing each others faces off. I'll see if I can do anything about this. Those two used to be inseperable."

[Mirepaw]

Frozensky turn to see what this newest offense was, sighing when she saw Shadedstar was involved. "It figures," she muttered darkly, her claws kneading the ground in anger and annoyance.

She stomped over to the two cats. "Whats going on, so early in the morning?" she asked, almost hissing. Shardkit stayed behind. She hadn't told him to come, so he had decided to remain in the nursery for now.

[[Nightwood]]

Shadedstar replied to Frozensky without looking at her. "Hawkwing seems to be pestering his brother again."
"It's not just Hawkwing being a jerk." Nightwood said, cutting in. "Ravenwing's finally talking back."

"Just shut up already, will you?" Hawkwing's irritated voice came from the warriors den. He crawled out and headed straight for the exit, not wanting to be stuck in the camp any longer with the brother he now hated.

[Mirepaw]

Frozensky could have laughed in scorn and amusement at the same time, but she held back. Barely.

"Are you sure it's just Hawkwing against Ravenwing now?" she said, still holding back her laughter. "You both seem to be supporting your apprentices. As well you should, but don't you think you're getting too involved in arguing who's to blame? If you ask me, it's both of them!"

[[Nightwood]]

Nightwood glared at her. "Why don't you just go care for your kit, eh?" She shot Shadedstar a warning glance and turned to walk away, pausing before she did so to add in, "I really think you should do something before Hawkwing attacks his brother. I really don't know what's gotten into him lately." She sighed and walked away.
Shadedstar watched Hawkwing slip through the exit and disappear. His brother was left on his own to lay outside the warriors den. It couldn't possibly end in a fight, could it?

[Mirepaw]

Frozensky smirked at Nightwood as she walked away. It had been fun, but now the novelty of an argument was growing old. So, she took Nightwood's "advice" and returned to the nursery, flicking her tail abruptly at Shadedstar as her "goodbye".

She settled down on the nursery floor and watched Shardkit idly. He was still standing, almost like a statue. His eyes were trained on his mom, the blue in them visible as the sun was at his back. She nodded slightly to him and he sat down, sighing slightly with relief.

[Amber]

The white she-cat nodded as she heard Blackclaw. "I sure will. Hope you have good luck finding decent food." she called after him. She blinked as she heard Nightwood and Shadedstar converse, and sighed as she saw the two brothers. Some things never changed. Snowstorm smiled as she saw Frozensky, and thought about talking to the she-cat later.

She got back onto her paws and wondered where they were leading her. After a few moments, she noticed that they were taking her to Shadedstar. As she saw him she nodded a greeting. "You seemed troubled." she murmered, looking at the leader.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thornkit was taken aback as he heard Frozensky. He didn't like yelling, it made him remember his past. He swallowed hard and just nodded. After all, what else was he suppose to do? A huge sigh escaped from him as Frozensky left. He smiled at Shardkit and padded over to the younger kit. "Morning." he said, not caring if Shardkit responded or not.

[Mirepaw]

Shardkit turned slowly to Thornkit and just stared for a while. "Morning..." he finally said, slowly. In fact, all his movements seemed slow: turning, speaking, walking. Then again, it was morning after all.

Frozensky blinked an eye open and peered at Thornkit. He caught no interest; however, and she simply rolled over so her back was facing him, grumbling something about cats that were too hyper for their own good under her breath.