(( broken is a beautiful sound )) ---OPEN

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/x26ij7.jpg] She'd needed to get away. She just had. Zyn, for all his good intentions, just got over-bearing sometimes, at least in the young caracal's opinion. This happened fairly regularly lately, really. Ever since she'd left. She didn't deserve a name, and she certainly didn't deserve the title "mother." As such, Kiya had fallen into the habit of calling her "her," "she," and in particular rages she had gone so far as to call the female caracal an "it." Sure, she'd fed them milk for a few moons. Sure, she'd loved her little daughter with the stunning blue eyes for the first bit of it. But then, things had started to blur. Kiyarei's vision had started to disappear, and she had been downright terrified and who had been there for her? Only Zyn, who was deaf and couldn't hear her fearful cries, and their mute sibling who, sure, could hear them, but couldn't comfort her. Their mother had just looked at her like she was the spawn of the devil and refused to help. There had been no more loving licks to the head, or gentle nudges to reassure her she was wanted, not after that. Their father had left, and then she had. But at least her father had tried. He had cared. He had even said goodbye. None of that could be said for the one who dared call herself their mother. There was a short rumble of a growl from the blind caracal's throat for a moment, though it was suddenly cut off as she walked headfirst into a tree, too busy with her angry and bitter thoughts to have even noticed as the scent of damp bark and dripping leaves had gotten stronger with each pawstep. Few could have been able to notice the difference between individual trees, or the increasing or decreasing scent strength with each and every pawsteps towards or away from an object or creature. But, Kiya was different. Kiya could. She had to. She wished she didn't, she'd much rather have vision than this "supernose," but she had no choice in the matter it would seem. After all, no matter how hard she wished and begged and pleaded with the universe, nothing ever seemed to change. She kept trying, though. It wasn't like it could exactly make it worse, after all. This was as bad as it got. When she collided with the tree, she found herself careening backwards for a moment, having waked into it with a relatively large amount of force considering the fact she was still small at six moons and that she'd been walking and not running. That in itself would have been fine of course, except for the recent rain fall. The leaves her paws where on, as it was most certain autumn, slipped and slid in the mud, sending her down further to her belly and then sliding down the steep drop to her left that she had been purposely avoiding - it didn't smell crowded enough to be safe, after all. Well, it would seem she was not going to be given a choice in the matter, as she tumbled down, getting completely covered in mud until she felt her paws slip away from the ground entirely and into water.Her front paws instantly dug into the soft earth of the riverbed, but it was too late and it gave way underneath the pressure of her weight and she was carried off into the water, flailing for a riverbed or a rock or something to keep her afloat and finally finding a low hanging branch; just enough to hold onto, and barely able to do that. Her claws weren't enough considering the river's current, and it was only her teeth gripping into the disgusting tasting branch that stopped her from going further. It held her head above the water but, although she was rather close to the shore, she had no way of knowing that. The sound of the river washed away the noises of the forest and the water she tried desperately to blow out of her nose drowned the one sense she relied on the most. For all she knew, she was in the middle of a river that was too fast to swim in and to wide to reach her. And she couldn't even call for help. Today was just not going as planned, at all.

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/ev9nox.png] IN all honesty, Cloudclaw probably should have known better than to go outside of LeopardClan's borders. No one, not even Wrenstar, ventured beyond them very often. This day however, Cloudclaw had found himself going absolutely mad. Between Icefur pushing him to talk to Wrenstar and seeing, but not hearing, Littlepaw mope around camp, Cloudclaw couldn't stand another moment in camp. The moment he'd made a move to leave however, it had caught Icefur's attention. At that point it had taken him quite a while to shake the she-cat loose during a hunt. The only way had been to go beyond the borders. So now the young snow leopard trekked through the unfamiliar landscape on nearly silent paws, not wanting to catch the attention of loners or rogues nearby. He hadn't scented any so far but Cloudclaw was a naturally cautious cat. Today was an exception. Normally the thought of going beyond LeopardClan's seasons-old borders wouldn't even cross his mind. Well...it just went to prove, desperate cats did desperate things during desperate times. In his mind the young warrior considered escaping Icefur's incessent chatter a desperate time. CLOUDCLAW wasn't a cat to hate or dislike anyone, especially those in his own clan, it just wasn't his nature. He may get annoyed or intimidated by certain clanmates but they were still his clanmates. The situation with Icefur was no different. By dusk he would be creeping up and apologizing before remembering exactly why he'd slipped away in the first place when she latched on to his side again. She was a friendly she-cat, beautiful to say the least and she had a good heart but Cloudclaw needed a break. SPRINGING lightly over a fallen tree, the tom paused when he heard the sound of rushing water. A river was flowing nearby, calling out to the tom whose mouth was dry and weary from his long afternoon trek. The weather, thankfully, wasn't extremely hot. If it had been, it would have only been worse since he had quite dense fur. Still he was only mortal. Deciding to find the river, Cloudclaw picked his way through the foliage, around boulders and trees and leaped a small ravine before he finally came out onto the pebble-strewn riverbank. THE river was much bigger than he'd imagined, the roar of its waters drowning out nearly everything else. The size of it shot a spasm of fear through the silver leopard. He remembered the small river he and his brother had tried to cross as kits, hunting at night as a surprise for their mother. The sound of the ice cracking and roaring waters still haunted Cloudclaw's worst nightmares. Thornkit...he hadn't survived. Still to this day it haunted Cloudclaw and at times overtook him during day to day duties, numbing him from the inside out. When it rained, when snow fell and the rivers froze, when he saw pawprints in the autumn morning frost. Little things triggered it, shellshocking him straight back into the days he'd spent trying to absorb the fact that his brother, his best friend, had died because of his stupid fool-hardy idea. IF Cloudclaw hadn't seen something tawny in the river's current, he probably would have stood and stared all day. PALE yellow orbs locked on to the splash of color in the river, shocking the leopard out of his daze. Stepping forward, he narrowed his eyes and peered through the spray thrown by the river's rushing current. It was...fur? Bounding to the very edge of the river, the tom leaped on top of a boulder in hopes of getting a better view from higher up. It was indeed fur. A small feline of some sort, too dark to be a lion, without spots or stripes, was hanging on to a low branch a few yards downstream. From the looks of it, the current was about to tug it loose. For a moment, Cloudclaw was unsure of what to do. It wasn't a clancat, so why save it? Still, it was a cat and it's life had value to somebody...if he left it to drown, his brother would surely be ashamed, be shaking his head in StarClan. LEAPING back onto the shore from the boulder, the LeopardClan warrior bounded up river until he was a little ahead of the struggling cat. From there he took a running jump out into the roaring waters. Darkness surrounded him as the water surged up and encompassed him. Instantly he regretted his choice. He hated water. Feared it. Cloudclaw struggled to find the surface, water getting trapped in his dense pelt and soaking him through, dragging him down. Finally his head broke the surface. Flailing and trying to swim, Cloudclaw spotted the struggling cat out of the corner of his eye, the current sweeping him along toward her. With great difficulty, he turned himself and let the current take him closer, steadily pushing his way toward her and the low branch. Cloudclaw tried to forget where he was and focus on the cat. It was nearly impossible but he was not a cat to leave someone in trouble, and this cat had appeared quite alone. THROWING himself toward the small cat, Cloudclaw opened his jaws, intent on grabbing the little feline and dragging it back to shore. Tagged;; Kiyarei Word Count;; 879 Background Song;; "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey Notes;; :3

[crush]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/x26ij7.jpg] It seemed like hours had passed. Her jaw ached from gripping so tight, her teeth feeling like they were about to be yanked right of her her skull by the current. Her paws flailed around desperately, trying to find bark, the solid branch she held with her mouth, something to grip with claws. Unfortunately though, her paws hit nothing but the twigs that stuck off it. She was still disoriented; she knew her head was above the water, but that was all she knew, and that certainly didn't help the poor creature. Her eyelids stretched open wider, as if she hoped that would help, but it didn't, so she just closed them, hiding the blue from the world. She was on the verge of just letting go when she felt strong jaws clamp around her. She instantly squirmed, thinking at first it must have been branches, but it seemed to stronger and her paws flew some more, pads brushing against thick, wet fur. Another feline, larger than either of her siblings. It left her confused. Who would save her? She was blind, and although she knew otherwise, most thought she was just useless. But then it hit her. This cat didn't know she was blind. He or she couldn't, had no way to tell. Not yet. She felt water gargle down her throat for a moment, not as high above the water as she had been gripping the tree. But that was okay, because then she felt the soft, damp, sandy earth of the riverbed as they neared the shore. She dug at it, desperate to get out of the water. Finally, there was soft, but solid, ground beneath her paws and she scrambled to pull away, managing to get away from the clamping jaws. She felt chilled to the bone for a moment, realizing the warmth was gone and she must be in the shade. She padding around aimlessly for a moment until she found a patch of sunlight and settled back on her haunches, twisting to run her tongue along her fur to try and remove the water, warm herself up. She didn't even say thank you, not at first. Then, she paused mid-lick. Her tongue pulled back into her mouth and she paused, ears flicking around, locating the breathing and turning her head that way, managing to look directly at him as her eyelids opened to reveal the startling blue eyes. With no clouding, she could have had perfect vision. She never had. She had had vision, yes, but it had been far from perfect and only gone downhill. Thank you. She didn't expand and her voice was quiet. That wasn't to say it was soft, of course; it was rather brisk, a little defensive. She had no reason to be, not yet, but she knew it was coming. The realization that she wasn't like most felines, that she couldn't see. The attitude towards her would change in that brief moment and it would never be the same again. Just like her father, just like her mother. And so, she waited, ever patient for it to come, but not thinking there could ever be any other reaction. --- It's Kiyarei you should be tagging, silly Bast <3 ---

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/ev9nox.png] FEELING the littler cat squirm in his jaws, Cloudclaw held on tighter as he dug his feet into sand and dragged them both toward solid ground. The strong current tugged insistantly on his limbs and soaked into his fur, easily adding pounds of weight. It would take forever to dry and when he did, he would probably look rediculous. At the moment though, Cloudclaw wasn't concerned with that, he just wanted dry land and safety. He wanted to leave the phantom memories of his dorwning brother in that river and not have them visit him again. It was unlikely though. Thornkit would always be in Cloudclaw's shadow, just like when he'd been living, back when Cloudclaw had been the confident one and Thornkit the wary one. Tonight he had no doubt Thornkit's death and his own near death would visit him in the form of a nightmare. Well, if StarClan made all dreams, Cloudclaw could tell how his brother felt toward him. Cloudclaw still carried the blame for one cat drowning, he owuld not carry it for another. AT last the land was dry and solid. Releasing the smaller cat, Cloudclaw flopped onto the first patch of dry land he found. Exhaustion tugged at his limbs and eyelids but he fended it off, raising his head after a moment when he heard no word of thanks or anythign from the cat he'd hauled out of the water. IT was the strangest feline he'd ever seen. A dark golden brown color, the cat was small, perhaps about as big as Littlepaw, maybe even smaller. Black fur colored its ears with long tufts protruding off the ends of the ears. The tail was stubby, the shortest tail Cloudclaw had ever seen on a cat of any sort. If he hadn't known better, the young tom would have sworn he'd just saved some sort of short-tailed fox. The way she moved though, that threw Cloudclaw off even more. It took steps as if it had to feel the earth, searching with its paws instead of its eyes to find a patch of sunlight. When her eyelids parted, Cloudclaw saw stunning blue eyes. Well, they would have been stunning. Instead this cat had fogging, clouding in its eyes. Cloudclaw's mouth went dry. THE cat he'd saved, not only was it young but it was also...blind. LETTING out a slow breath as the she-cat said thank you, Cloudclaw closed his own eyes for a moment before rasping his tongue over his wet front paws. "You're welcome," Cloudclaw replied between licks, determined to get the water out of his pelt. "Its a good thing your jaws are strong, I don't think I would have spied you if you'd been in the current." STANDING up, the snow leopard made sure to be a good distance from her before he shook. If his clanmates had seen him, they'd have said he looked like a wolf that had gotten wet, shaking like a wild dog. Either way it helped his fur stand up and release the water that had gotten trapped between the layers. It left him not completely dry but drier, though some of his fur stood up in odd fashions. Without a doubt Cloudclaw felt like he looked rediculous. Reclining on his haunches, he began to rasp his tongue over the fur along his back, trying to smooth the spotted fur back into some fashion of order. SUDDENLY, as if hit by a falling tree, Cloudclaw sat up and stared at the younger cat. "YOU were alone out here, weren't you? No one else fell into the river?" THOSE were questions that had not been asked when his own brother had been lost. No one had expected him survive so they had accepted his death and rejoyced in Cloudclaw's survival. He wouldn't wish that on anyone and always wondered if they would have found Thornkit in time if they hand't stopped when Cloudclaw had been found. Tagged;; Kiyarei Word Count;; 659 Background Song;; "Love Like Woe" by The Ready Set Notes;; :3

[crush]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/x26ij7.jpg] Kiyarei had taken to batting at her large ears with her paws, knocking water out, hearing the pop before her hearing returned full force and she nearly flinched at the sudden loudness of everything, then she readjusted and became used to it again, flicking them wildly for a moment to send water flying from the long fur at the tips. Next came freeing up her nose, her spectacular and necessary nose and she blew out. It resulted in an annoyed huffing sound, though that wasn't the intention. He hadn't gotten to the end of her short fuse yet, even if the water had. She could already feel the warmth of the sun drying her fur; it was too short to take long, though it would thicken with the coming of the colder weather. Still, it wouldn't be as thick as his, if the brush her paw had been any indication to how thick his whole coat was. She noticed the pause. How couldn't she? Somehow, he'd figured it out despite her best efforts. Her eyes didn't give it away, except the blue where they should have been brown. They didn't cloud or fog, though they might in the future, she supposed. Perhaps it had been her way of finding sunlight. Yes, that had to be it. Surely she hadn't looked at something else entirely, right? She didn't think so. She sniffed the air, listened to the sounds, and confirmed her face was aimed straight at him. Then he spoke, cautiously avoiding the topic. She'd rather he blatantly state that he knew, lay everything out on the line, hold nothing back. It was already difficult to read others emotions for her, considering she couldn't see. He didn't need to make it any harder for her, but he would. Like everyone else. She said nothing, licking at her chest a moment before he asked her a question. Yes, because I would have stayed completely and utterly quiet about such a fact in this peaceful moment after nearly drowning. No, of course no one else was with me! She growled. She didn't need to be polite, not anymore. She knew he knew, and she had little doubt he was already treating her differently or thinking of her differently. Everyone did. Well, everyone except her siblings, but they were at a "disadvantage" too, just like her, so it didn't count. They knew what it was like to be frowned at, to be thought of as not good enough, to have everyone assume they couldn't fend for themselves. They could. They all could, if they wanted to. She knew it. It had to be true, after all the time that had passed and they'd been on their own without either parent. They'd survived, and they'd continue to, against all supposed odds.

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/ev9nox.png] A gusty sigh of relief came from the tom as the she-cat snapped at him that there was no one else with her. Closing his pale yellow eyes for a moment, he sent a mental thanks to StarClan. If something like that happened again, Cloudclaw knew his nerves would be completely shot. Muscles loosened a bit now that his worry was seeping away, Cloudclaw twisted around again and tried to reach the damp fur between his shoulder blades. It was a futile effort but he tried anyway. He wasn't going to respond to the she-cats snippy attitude. She'd probably figured out that he knew she was blind. He'd never encountered a blind cat before but Cloudclaw wasn't too worried about it. Blindness couldn't be helped and she must know how to make due despite her youth or she would have been killed before she reached this age, and though he couldn't tell exactly how old she must be compared to the rest of her kind, Cloudclaw figured she was around apprentice age. She'd be just fine without him treating her differently or without him calling her out on her lack of sight. In his mind, such a thing was just rude. "THAT'S good, I'd prefer not to get wet again, it will take forever to dry as it is," Cloudclaw said casually. Twitching his ears to make sure he got the water out of them, Cloudclaw turned and faced the sightless she-cat. "My name is Cloudclaw, I don't know if you'll care but it seems rude to not introduce myself." IN part, Cloudclaw felt odd having to introduce himself at all. The only loners he'd ever come in contact with had been the sort that required chasing off from LeopardClan territory and he hadn't gone to any Gatherings as of late. Even when he had, Cloudclaw had hung mainly around his own clan, only occasionally catching random names in passing conversations. Either way, Cloudclaw wondered if this she-cat would have a clan name or a loner name. He'd heard of exotic cats being taken into the clans before, born as loners only to be found and adopted by clan queens that had lost litters. The only thing was, that she didn't seem like anything even remotely clan-like, making it unlikely she'd have any name but a loner name. Plus, it seemed Cloudclaw had upset her some how so she might not even give him a name. GETTING up, the young tom padded toward the river. Dropping into a crouch he did what he'd intended to do in the first place and drank. The water was cold and clear, shocking the lingering exhaustion from dragging the she-cat from the water out of his body. Moving from the riverbank, he found a patch of sunlight a bit away from the fiery she-cat and dropped into a crouch, drawing his fluffy spotted tail around his body. Pale yellow orbs found the flow of the river and his mind once again began to move toward Thornkit. The she-cat had mentioned nearly drowning at some point...it made Cloudclaw wonder if Thornkit had felt pain when he died or if it had been quiet, like going to sleep. He couldn't remeber the sensation of not being able to breathe because he'd blacked out or passed out, something like that. He just remembered waking up cold and tangled in reeds with the cries of a search party as they crowded around him, afraid he might have been dead. Tagged;; Kiyarei Word Count;; 581 Background Song;; "Forgiven" by Chris Botti Notes;; :3

[crush]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/x26ij7.jpg] Her ears perked at his name. She couldn't help it, it was so.. strange. At least, in her experience. To others, she figured, her name, and the names of her siblings, would be strange. At least, maybe. Probably, if his name was any indication. Through the soaking he'd gotten, there was the faintest trace of other cats imbedded into his skin, so he lived with others. It would be unnoticeable to most, but she was used to smelling and hearing things that others would swear weren't there. He was being so polite, she couldn't bring herself to mock his name. That was just too low, even for her. Instead, she let her perked ears relax, pretending to not be as curious as she was. Kiyarei. I was called Kiyarei, though most shorten it to Kiya. There was a bitterness that made itself painfully obvious, both in tone and word choice. There was no mention of a mother or father, though she obviously had to have one of each. She just didn't admit one as a parent, and the other had never been big in her life. Nothing new to her, nothing too stunning in her opinion. She never knew parents who cared, so she didn't expect anyone else to either. She had nothing to compare to, so she assumed it was the same for everyone. Her voice faded to something a little less bitter at the end, with the nickname her siblings - or, rather, Zyn, the only one who could speak - had given her. It was a friendly memory, or trying to teach him how to say her name when he had fought to try to speak despite being unable to hear a word he said. She had spent many hours helping him, while he had spent hours helping her when she became frustrated at herself and her life. She finally flopped down. She knew she should return; Zyn would be worried, he always worried and cared for his siblings. But she couldn't bring her tired, sore muscles to drudge up that hill just yet. It just seemed too difficult a task after her struggle in the water, and the sun felt so nice. She didn't want to return to the cool shade that played along most of the forest floor. So, instead, she continued cleaning her paws, though her stomach would be muddied beyond compare from just laying down while she was still wet. Her ears flicked around for the high, distant sounds that would signal the top of the hill she'd slid down. There it was. She strained a moment, not used to having to listen so intently. She couldn't hear even a peep from Zyn down here. Too far away, even for her hearing. Still, it wouldn't be hard to find her way back. Just following her own scent trail until she could hear her siblings, then follow the sound. So, she rested. There was no real rush, except that incessant need to be near them. You've got a weird name. Why? No one had ever labelled the caracal as polite in anyway, and that was probably a good thing, because she wasn't. Far from it, most days, and her easy-to-annoy attitude certainly didn't help in that department. Still, she was just as curious as the next cub, wanting to learn about the world, to hear things described. She'd seen for long enough that it wouldn't take much to imagine them, she'd be able to see it all in her mind's eye if she concentrated hard and someone else described it right. Her ear flickered toward the river, wondering if she should ask him to explain that. She decided against it. It was a side to her only her siblings saw, and she'd rather keep it that way.

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/ev9nox.png] AT the sound of her name, Kiyarei, Cloudclaw raised his head. He hadn't actually expected her to tell him her name, figuring most loners could care less and that she'd just be along her way. Her second question though, it through him for a loop. Strange name? He blinked in surprise. Cloudclaw had never thought his name might be odd to others such as loners. He'd never thought much about them period. In fact not every warrior even came across someone with an unusual name like Kiya's. To be called strange by a she-cat that had a name odder than his was really amusing but he didn't dare laugh. Knowing his luck, she'd get mad and attack him. Since she was small, he could easily handle her, but still, Cloudclaw didn't go picking fights. It just wasn't his style. So, the snow leopard settled for a purr of amusement as he shifted a bit to face her better. "MY name isn't strange, not as strange as yours," he said in a good-natured manner. "All cats in my clan have names like mine, well, the adults do anyway. Part of our name describes something about us, mine is Cloud. It describes my pale fur and how I tend to have my head in the clouds. The second part, claw, I guess is because I'm a good climber, I'd have to ask the leader that named me to know for sure." Peering at the younger cat, Cloudclaw tried to figure her age. It was hard to do when he didn't know what an adult...her...looked like. "I guess you'd be about apprentice age so your name would descibe something about you and then end in 'paw'." CLOUDCLAW had no idea if his explaination made sense. To a clan cat such things were so commonplace it wasn't even funny. Kits almost seemed born with an inate sense of how things were supposed to be, including what order they got named and why they got certain names. After all not all cats were the same. You couldn't very well name a tiger Spottedcloud or a leopard Stripedheart. Those names simply wouldn't make sense! Kiyarei's name was, if anything, odder than anything Cloudclaw had ever heard. He'd never heard a name that wasn't at least close to describing the person that wore the name. In his apprenticeship, Cloudclaw had met a loner named Midnight and a rogue named Fang, one had been pitch black with only faint leopard spots and the other had been a sharp-fanged tiger with a bad temper. Those names, though not clan names, had at least made sense. What did Kiyarei mean? Did it mean anything at all or was it nonsense? A warriors name was what they stood on, it described them and built them into who they were. Did that mean loners with names like hers stood for nothing? Meant nothing? "ANYWAY, leader names end in 'star', apprentices end in 'paw' and kits end in 'kit' but the first part just describes something about your personality, what you look like or something in nature." Cloudclaw pushed off his thoughts and finished his little explaination of clan names, half wishing Wrenstar was here. Being a leader, she had more to do with the naming process than any cat. What if he was telling her wrong? Maybe Wrenstar got messages from StarClan telling her what to name each kit or what suffix was sufficent for a warrior's proper name? AGAIN the young tom found his gaze drifting toward the river. What would Thornkit have become? Thornpaw for sure but what would his warrior name have been? Thornclaw? Unlikely since Cloudclaw's own name ended in claw. Thornfang? No, his brother had never been the aggressive sort. Cloudclaw made a mental note to ask his brother when he finally made it to StarClan's hunting grounds. Then again, would his brother even know? Laying his silver-furred head on his front paws, Cloudclaw wrapped his tail around himself and watched the silvery spray thrown by the river's swift current. Tagged;; Kiyarei Word Count;; 673 Background Song;; "Airplanes" by B.O.B Notes;; :3

[crush]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/x26ij7.jpg] She snorted, not believing she was the strange one for even a minute. At least, no immediately, but then he said one word. "Clan." A clan meant a group, and apparently they all went by the same naming system. That was... interesting. A bit stupid if you asked her. In her opinion, such restrictions would kill any sort of creativity the parents had; she wasn't even sure the parents had any say in any of the naming at all. It didn't sound much like they did. Even though she didn't particularly like her parents, she still considered it their right to have named her, just as it was her right to not go by her full name in order to spite them. Sounds... boring. She mumbled, though there was intrigue there as well. She'd never admit just how curious she was, of course. She was far too prideful for that, even at her young age. Though, she supposed, the naming wasn't the most interesting part. No, that was the part she didn't much care for. The idea of a clan was far more interesting than that. She'd never heard of any sort of clan, but then she was young and untraveled. Her parents had never told her stories. Her father had always promised, but never delivered. "She" had never even tried. After all, there was Zyn. Zyn couldn't hear, so there was no point telling stories. That had been the philosophy, as much as Kiya hated it. How... big is this clan? She couldn't picture anything larger than five or six; that was all her world had been, five. It had since dwindled, of course. Dwindled down to three; two she could trust and herself. She was quite happy with that, though she did occasionally wonder what it would be like if there were more. Stressful, she'd imagine. Too much wondering if she could trust them, if they were treating her regularly or not, and other such worries. She doubted she'd enjoy it. It didn't stop her from wondering on occasion, though.

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/ev9nox.png] 'SOUNDS... boring.' KIYA'S brutal honesty made Cloudclaw purr in amusement, though he was careful not to purr too loudly. With as close as they were, she'd hear either way, but he didn't want her to think he was laughing at her. More like, laughing with her. She was fully entitled to her opinion. Clans were what Cloudclaw was raised with so it all made sense to him. Naming was done by the parents and made final by the leaders. Leaders took each name a cat earned and offered it to StarClan to show the cat's progress, their strength, their courage, their growth, to the ancestors. It was enough to make young cats shiver in their spots as they awaited their new names and even made seasoned warriors sit up straighter. Still, Kiya wasn't raised in an environment where that was all she knew so of course she would think he was silly. In fact, Cloudclaw thought the same of her nonsense name. It didn't describe her at all, so how could it be part of her? Well, maybe in a way it did describe her? She was unique and he'd certainly never heard a name like hers before and probably never would. 'HOW... big is this clan?' LOOKING up at the sound of her question, the young tom frowned a bit and pondered for a moment. "All of the clans are a bit small right now, last winter was hard on everyone," Cloudclaw told the younger she-cat. "In my clan there's Wrenstar, Shadestorm, Midnight, Leaffrost, Windclaw and Feathergale. Wrenstar is the leader, Shadestorm her deputy and Midnight the medicine cat." IT suddenly struck Cloudclaw as he looked over at Kiya with her clear blue eyes and hostile attitude. She was nothing like Midnight and Cloudclaw had grown up during the time when Midnight was still the medicine cat's apprentice. He'd talked to the tom a few times after accidents or battles or scuffles on the border. The tom was quiet, calm, serene in his blindness. Kiya...she was the exact opposite. Not only was her fur light golden brown while his was black but there was the thing of their eyes. Kiya had clear blue eyes and Midnight's were amber but so clouded over with cataracts that they almost were washed silver. Cloudclaw could clearly remember being unnerved by the tom's unwavering foggy gaze until he just got used to it. It wasn't as if Midnight could help it, and come to think of it, neither could Kiya. She was aggressive because she had to be, something made her be. Midnight was protected by StarClan from the moment he was brought into camp so he felt serene. Kiya didn't have that kind of peace. IT gave Cloudclaw an idea. "IF you ever wander into the clan territory and a patrol finds you, tell them you want to see Midnight," Cloudclaw told Kiya. "He can help get you out of whatever mess you're in, if someone's sick or injured or if you just got lost in the territory. Wrenstar and Shadestorm will listen to him and he'll listen to you, so, he'd be your best bet. Wrenstar and Shadestorm might not listen." CLOUDCLAW hoped Kiya wouldn't get defensive and angry about his suggestion. He didn't want to make it sound like she couldn't handle herself because that wasn't true. She could probably do just fine if faced with a leopard patrol. Still, if she met Midnight he might be good for her. She'd get mad if she said it outright, tell him it was just because they were both blind but that wasn't it. Midnight had been a loner too, Cloudclaw could remember the scandal well, a warrioress coming back from abandoning the clan with her only surviving kit. He still shivered when he remembered Midnight telling the old medicine cat that he could see stars. Every time he looked at Midnight, he wondered if Midnight still saw them. Either way, Midnight's serenity and ease with himself and his lack of vision may be what Kiya needs someday. Or if someone she knows gets injured or ill, there's no medicine cat Cloudclaw would trust more. Tagged;; Kiyarei Word Count;; 693 Background Song;; "Someday" by Nickelback Notes;; :3

[crush]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/x26ij7.jpg] Her large ears laid back along her neck, black and white tufts tickling the elbows of her forelegs, though she ignored it. It wasn't a fearful pose, more so a shocked one, an off put one. To her, just more than three was big because it was the number she was used to. She was also used to being one of the three, not excluded from the number as a whole, and he had excluded himself in that list. It was huge, and he said that it was small! She decided then that he must have crowfood for a brain, or something, to think that was anything along the lines of "small". It was the only thing that made this make any sort of sense. ANd she made sure he knew as much. What a hare-brained idea of small! Idiot! She snorted, eyelids blinking at the last word as her ears flattened back more from the feeling behind it. They stayed slightly back, though not flat against her neck as they had been, as he continued to speak. They flattened again, eyes narrowing slightly, claws going out and in, digging little hollows in the earth at his suggestion. I can smell the clan boundaries just fine, thank you! And anyway, I can take care of myself just fine. Blindness is not the "disability" as everyone so likes to refer to it as, and it certainly isn't cause to assume I'm any different than any other caracal cub! There was a bitterness there in the last bit. If he knew, he wouldn't have been surprised. He hadn't been assuming her to be different, and deep down she knew it, but she could help but feel an undertone to his words, something slipped between the lines. She read it into almost everything now, even if it wasn't there. If she consciously knew, she'd blame her mother for it because that was exactly what the female had done with her cubs. There was a soft growl to accentuate it, ears trying to flatten even more, then perked up, ears swerving to catch soft pawfalls from up the slope. Tiny, hardly there. An odd cadence to them, something she recognized as an injured rabbit a moment later, after a second of thought. Her stomach growled and grumbled at the thought of such an easy catch. Still grumbled softly about being able to take care of herself just fine, she pushed herself to her paws. Supper's calling. And don't you dare try and help me. She growled, instantly back to a seemingly foul mood, keeping him at tail's length because it was far easier than accepting that someone besides her siblings cared. She scrambled up the wet, muddy slop, nearly slipping back down a few times but managing to hook her claws on tree roots and bushes just in time, as if she could see them. Finally having scrambled to the top, her ears rotated to catch the sound again and she fell into a crouch, her over-sensitive ears allowing her to move even quieter because she wanted to move so she could hardly hear it, not even thinking the rabbit's hearing would be worse. It wasn't far, and she wasn't surprised at that. After all, it was hurt. Not a hard kill, but more merciful than leaving it to nature's cruel hands. Her nose quivered to place everything based on scent, and then, certain nothing was in her way, she leaped, teeth finding and digging into the neck at her forepaws, killing the thing as quickly as possible, one ear flicking back towards where that Cloudclaw guy had been, trying to catch sounds from him, keep him in her radar until she couldn't anymore, not trusting enough to just ignore him.

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/ev9nox.png] IN his mind, Cloudclaw groaned. Of course Kiya would take his advice the wrong way. That seemed to be his run of luck lately so the silver pelted leopard knew he shouldn't be too surprised that it would happen here too. Oh well. It was the world he lived in, might as well get over it and adjust. He couldn't help but wonder if Midnight really could help this bad-tempered little she-cat. He was blind and not nearly as defensive and angry as Kiya. Watching her stalk off to get her supper with the snarled order not to help, Cloudclaw couldn't believe how two cats with the same disability could turn out so different. Midnight was a peaceful cat that had an air of contentment around him no matter what situation. He was sure of himself and sure of the world he lived in. Kiya...well, she was like a forest on fire almost. The anger in her eyes almost made him want to get up and flee, though he knew she'd never be able to lay a claw on him. He was a fully trained adult warrior, she was merely a tiny kit about the age of an apprentice. She may think she could rule the world just as well as any other cat but that simply wasn't true. CLOUDCLAW did have to give her points for being confident in herself at least. She believed she could do things and she wanted to it to him. Not just him. The world. Well, she could have it. Cloudclaw had never been that competitive, not since his first dunk in a river. It just wasn't worth it. Someday Kiya would get in over her head and there wouldn't be a Cloudclaw to save her, just her and the cat grinning as he watched her drown because that cat had finally been able to put her in her place. The thought made the snow leopard shake his head sadly. It was a cruel world they lived in. Cloudclaw hoped Kiya at least learned how to swim, at least enough to keep her head above the water. GETTING up and stretching luxuriously as the younger she-cat went to hunt, the LeopardClan tom padded over to a tree near the riverbank. Without even looking up for longer than a second, the silver tom sprang skyward. Claws found rough bark and the spotted tom climbed easily onto a sturdy branch. Purring softly, more content with himself in the trees than anywhere else, Cloudclaw sprawled out on the branch in the most lazy fashion possible simply because there was no Wrenstar to growl and tell them to get moving. She didn't do it often but sometimes he could see it in her eyes when she caught him up in the trees when he was supposed to be hunting. One paw hung off of the branch and his tail followed suit, flicking and twitching every now and then. PALE yellow orbs slid halfway closed as he listened to the sounds of Kiya hunting down below. He didn't even know if Kiya was going to come back and part of Cloudclaw didn't care. He didn't care for being snapped at, though he was used to it, but the other part of him was still interested in Kiya. She had more fire in her belly than Cloudclaw ever had, even when he was a kit. In a way, she reminded him of a she-cat in his clan, Windclaw. The eyes were much less passionate in his opinion but they had the same zeal to be different. CONTEMPLATING it idly, Cloudclaw lounged on the tree branch listening to the river's swift flow as he waited to see if Kiya would return or stalk off in a huff with her supposed catch. Tagged;; Kiyarei Word Count;; 630 Background Song;; "Stop and Stare" by OneRepublic Notes;; Sorry it took so long >.<