Laughing Song (open)

[lakeripple]

The day was warm and pleasant. It was a beautiful day and the river shone a clear, innocent blue. The water bubbled in laughter, laughing at the troubles on the land. Fish flopped happily through the waves and you could see strait to the shiny pebbles at the river's bottom. There was moss there too, and the moss made the bottommost layer of the water blue-green, like the ocean. This color was the exact same as a cat that stood there. Lakeripple's eyes were the ocean. They were all she had left from the place of her birth.

For a moon or so now, those ocean eyes had been troubled. They were not touched by the river's laughter. The were deep and sad and full of an indescribable pain. The river could giggle all it wanted, but life up here wasn't fair. It had never been fair for Lakeripple anyway, but now she had nearly had it. A great battle was coming and they were on the bad side. And why were they there? Because of her! When Froststar had been gone it had been up to Lakeripple to make the final decision, join FireClan or not. And out of fear for her kits, she had decided to help FireClan. But she knew it was wrong. Everyone knew it was wrong.

FireClan had done terrible things. And it wasn't the Clan as a whole's fault. It was their deputy, Foxcloud. Foxcloud had come to WaterClan and made the demands, not the leader, Burningstar. Perhaps she could have refused Burningstar, but Foxcloud... She had punished cats before by taking their kits, and she wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Lakeripple's own brother... one of his kits was in Foxcloud's custody. This was who Lakeripple and the whole of WaterClan was sided with. A kit-stealer.

And she would always feel guilty.

[wolfwarrior4jesus]

"Hey mom," a calm tenor voice called out, the sound drifting far ahead of it's owner. A tom, slight due to youth, emerged from the shadows of the forest and into the glowing sunlight. The only sound that disturbed the peace of the forest now was the soft gurgling of the river as it rambled on its way, oblivious to the cats that sat near it's bank.

Cedarpaw could feel waves of guilt emanating from Lakeripple, and that concerned him. He had a protective streak- he hated to see any of his family members hurt or stressed physically or emotionally- he preferred to take it upon himself and spare them the pain. "Mom?" he repeated, stepping cautiously closer, as if she'd break if he came too close. "What's the matter?" He sat down next to her, his blue green eyes radiating concern. "Everything's okay right now, right? No signs of trouble, so..." he prompted...

[lakeripple]

Lakeripple looked up at her son as he came down to the river. He was still a little shorter than her, but not by much. Cedarpaw would be a strong warrior, so much like his father. If, of course, he survived this battle.

"Cedarpaw," she purred. "Nothing of course. Everything is fine." Her eyes flashed as she spoke the lie. Yes, everything was just perfect if you didn't think of the fact that WaterClan was allied with a twisted monster. "You haven't seen Cherrypaw, have you? Dawnflight was looking for her..."

OOC: Birchpaw will be up and active again, he's just been re-adopted. And Pik might be taking Cherrypaw...

[Spottedshadow]

Mistpaw stumbled through the woods. She'd heard Hollypaw(sorry WW4J) talking her sleep. She was mumbling something about Dreampaw. Who is Dreampaw? Mistpaw asked herself. She wanted to ask someone who'd know, or at least tell her. She looked around blindly, the spotted her mother. "Lakeripple!!!" she called. "Lakeripple!!" She barrelled towards her. "Oh, hi Cedarpaw. Um, do either of you know about a 'Dreampaw'?"

[wolfwarrior4jesus]

Cedarpaw caught the flash of her eye, and knew she wasn't telling the whole truth...but there must be a reason he was keeping it from him; perhaps it would be better if she talked with Eagletalon, her mate, instead of her son about what troubled her... He decided to let it go, for the moment. But he was also stubborn- he'd hang onto this until he had an answer.. The silvery tom shook his head. "No... I haven't seen her in awhile. Perhaps she's off daydreaming while looking for herbs?" He meowed, flashing a wry grin. "She's done that before. Birchpaw and I caught her at it when we unexpectedly came upon her while hunting. Speaking of Birchpaw, I wonder where he is..." He mused. Cedarpaw's tail flicked on the ground, scattering a few stray emerald leaves, and they briefly took flight, only to fall to the ground again. "Mom," he asked quietly. "Is there going to be a battle soon? Everything's so tense- it's like a storm that's approaching, not yet here, but you can feel when it's going to break loose because everything gets stifling and muggy....That's what this feels like..."

(yeah, I saw about Birchpaw, but didn't know about Pik perhaps taking Cherrypaw! ^^ YAY!! Cedarpaw, Crowpaw, and Mistpaw are getting thier siblings back!!!!! )

[lakeripple]

Lakeripple noticed that Mistpaw had come and heard the question about Dreampaw. She didn't answer right away and instead stared out over the water. "A battle is indeed coming Cedarpaw. And what is wrong is that we are on the wrong side. I have never felt this way... But I do feel that we are on the wrong side." Before turning to Mistpaw, Lakeripple took a deep breath. Dreampaw was a mystery, something that had never been solved. "Dreampaw is Hollypaw's sister. She vanished when she was a new apprentice. At the gathering, SkyClan had a new apprentice, Dreampaw." Lakeripple closed her eyes. She had briefly taking care of Hollypaw and Dreampaw when they were kits, but she had been farther along and had no milk left. Brooksplash had quickly taken over.

[wolfwarrior4jesus]

(wow... we must have posted at the same time, Spotty, because your post wasn't there when I posted ; oops for the mistake- that's why mine is...out of context now =P)

Cedarpaw shrugged. "We're bound to Fireclan, not to Foxcloud." he meowed. "Perhaps our clans can turn against her?" he sighed. "Her hold over Fireclan is strong..." He looked surprised. "What? Hollypaw had a sister?" He'd never expected to hear that! Then he remembered- he dimly remembered a she cat that had been Hollypaw's sister- it had been a long time since she'd left Waterclan, as a kit too..Hollypaw must miss her a lot, but she never spoke to him about her, and the two of them were close.. "She's in Skyclan? Why did she leave?" he asked. "What went wrong that Dreampaw felt she had to leave?"

[lakeripple]

Lakeripple frowned. "Her reasons were never found out. If anyone would know, it would be Hollypaw, or maybe Brooksplash." She closed her eyes and remembered the pretty little she-cat with the big ears. "Their mother was Waterpetal, and the two were born about five moons after you, Cedarpaw. Waterpetal died giving birth, and her last words were to name her daughters. The kits were brought to me for reasons I do not know. Brooksplash was in grieving for the death of her only kit of her most recent litter, but she still had milk. Within two days the kits were in her care." Lakeripple blinked away the memories. "Dreampaw was a sweet young cat and I miss her dearly. I just wish I knew why she had left and could have prevented it."

[wolfwarrior4jesus]

"Really? I wish I knew why she left... I have this feeling Hollypaw doesn't know why Dreampaw left either. She doesn't let it show," the tom meowed, looking around the forest before settling his eyes back on his mother and sister, "But some nights she's muttering, a dream obviously, about Dreampaw, which turns to a whimper. I can hear her asking, pleading with Dreampaw not to go, and her demanding answers on why she left..." Cedarpaw's ears drooped. "I wish I could do something, mom... I hate seeing Hollypaw like that..." He sighed and toyed with a stick on the ground. His claws sheathed and unsheathed, scoring furrows into the ground...