Hey, listen! (open)

[lakeripple]

dawnstar

[/color]

life punishes, life rewards
hey girl, what's it done to you?
just what has life done to you?[/center][/font]

Strolling slowly away from the camp, the long-haired tabby she-cat let all of her worries melt with each pawstep. They weren't important when she was alone, the night dark and the camp sleeping. When she was alone, she could be herself and just let herself smile for once. At the camp, with all her responsibilities, she felt weighted down, trapped. But out in the open air... here she could just let herself be.

Had she ever asked to be leader? Had she expected it? NO! Never! And Rosefeather seemed upset that she wasn't the leader, though that made no sense. Rosefeather had made Dawnstar the leader. She had decided not to take the job, even though as deputy it was hers to have! Dawnstar just couldn't understand why the deputy would have given the leadership away. In her mind, Rosefeather would have made a great leader.

But here she was, nine lives and everything. It seemed that StarClan had agreed with Rosefeather's decision. Heck, maybe it had been their decision. That might have made Rosefeather angry, that their ancestors had decided she was not to be the leader. But still...

Dawnstar flopped down on a hill, staring up at the stars. She frowned as her gaze wandered the sky. Could this truly be the same stars that she had seen from the rogue camp where she was born? The rogue camp that she had escaped? It didn't seem possible, but there was the Moonrise Star, there was the Ancestor Belt, everything there that had been there when she was two moons old and her mother was pointing out all the stars in their ancestor's territory. But then again, her mother had been a SkyClan cat, stolen from her Clan when she was young. StarClan was her ancestors. Perhaps they had been watching over their kin even that far away.

Sighing, Dawnstar looked back towards the camp. The sun would be rising soon, casting its garish light on everything it touched. She would have to back then, or else her Clan would begin to worry. Stretching each of her legs, the leader got back to her feet but did not move. She still had a little while. Looking back up the sky, she wondered if her prayers would ever be answered. So far, they hadn't. Maybe she just had to wait a little longer.

[Glyph]

The forest was quiet. Almost too quiet, Echostep thought, a bit disappointed. Much of the prey had yet to stir, she was sure--it was much too cold, and much too early this time of the year. Most would wait until the sun rose and warmed the bare earth before daring to venture from their nests.

Perhaps prey animals were smarter than most cats gave them credit for. Echostep certainly saw the brilliance of staying curled up in a warm, cozy nest. But prey animals didn't have whole starving clans to feed in the dead of leafbare.

So here was Echostep, stalking out before dawn again, in the snow and cold... alone, save for the memory of a single elderly tom, grinning and meowing "Overachiever!" over and over softly in her ear.

[lakeripple]

Dawnstar was jerked out of her reverie by a rustle in the grass. Her head snapped toward the sound, ears straining and nose sniffing hard. She relaxed and purred quietly. She should have known it would be her, always trying her hardest. Perhaps trying a little too hard.

"Echostep, you do realize that it is before dawn - again?" Standing up and stretching her paws, Dawnstar looked at the patch of grass she had heard rustle. "Seriously, every cat needs their rest." She leaped down the hill a few bounds and saw Echostep's ear sticking out of the grass.

Purring lightly, the SkyClan leader watched as a glow appeared on the distant horizon. "Oh, dawn is coming. Guess you aren't too crazy." She sat down to watch the sun rise, letting it warm her freezing fur. "At least not as crazy as others I know." Dawnstar watched the shining orb intently, wondering, as always, what caused her mother to name her after such an important timf of the day. She looked nothing like the beautiful sunrise. It was a serious disgrace to the dawn.

[Glyph]

Echostep's head popped out of the grass at the sound of Dawnstar's voice, ears pricked in mild surprise. She laughed quietly.

"Well, that's good to know, I guess." The tri-colored tabby smiled slightly, "Being too crazy would put a damper on my hunting skills, I think." The warrior smiled wryly at SkyClan's leader, a brow perking at the rising sun. Her voice gentled a bit from the bold, determined tone she normally used - her "apprentice ordering tone" her father had called it. "Besides, the same can be applied to you, you know."

[lakeripple]

Purring, Dawnstar nodded, keeping her eyes fixated on the sun. It truly was beautiful and she really was undeserving of it. Grinning, she looked back at Echostep, flicking her ears in mock annoyance.

"Me? Whatever could you mean? I already knew I was crazy!" The leader lay down and rested her head on her paws calmly, tucking her tail around her cold body. "But at least I'm not hunting this early in the morning. I'm resting. Being under upon sky calms me."

She looked at Echostep curiously, her amber eyes wandering over the tabby she-cat. "How often do you let yourself just relax? It's very important." Dawnstar respected overachieving very much, but this seemed a little over the top. The Clan wasn't that hungry. In fact, they were probably doing a bit better than the other Clans. They usually did in leafbare.

[Glyph]

"Sure. Let's go with that." Echostep rolled her eyes in mimicked exasperation. She was quiet for a moment, standing on the hillside and watching the sun peek over the horizon one pawstep at a time.

"When it rains." She purred softly, pelt streaked with light and shadow from the early morning sky. "I'll stand out under the ferns in the forest all night." She paused, frowning. "But not in leafbare. Even if it's a kind season, and the prey is running." She glanced at Dawnstar quietly. "Leafbare can turn bad much too easily." Both of Echostep's parents had died during a leafbare due to illness, but she wasn't going to depress Dawnstar with that news, now was she?

[lakeripple]

The leader was grinning as Echostep began speaking, but the smile slowly vanished. Leafbare, yes... She remembered all too well. So many had died. So many of her friends, her father... That's one of the reason why her mother sent her away from the camp. To escape the disease and hunger-driven cannibalism. They ate the kits first. It was a well-known fast. And Dawn had been a healthy, pudgy kit.

"Yes, Echostep. Leafbare is a nasty season. It hurts so many. It kills so many. And it leaves so many behind, wishing they were dead." Dawnstar looked at the sky, drawn to the stars and the morning light peeking over the hills. Somewhere to the west was her birthplace. She hoped never to hear about it again.

"Acorn," she hissed, her tail twitching, ignoring Echostep for a moment. It was his fault. He had been the reason that her mother had died. It was HIM. "Lightmask..." Dawnstar's ears drooped. She still loved him. Life was so complicated. She loved Galaxyshadow too, but she was a leader now.

She could never have the kits she had dreamed of.

[Glyph]

"Yes." Echostep breathed, watching the sun's ascent through doleful eyes. Her ears flattened, and her thoughtful frown turned solemn. The she-cat hadn't meant to rouse painful memories, but apparently she had. Way to go, Echostep.

"You're right," the tri-colored tabby replied quietly, tactfully pretending she hadn't heard the unfamiliar names Dawnstar had used, but fully acknowledging the sadness she suddenly seemed to exhale. "But we wouldn't be able to survive without leaf-bare, either..."