{tiger tiger burning bright}open

[}M.idnight]

She felt her heart soar when she caught a glimpse of orange fur between branches. 'Blazeheart, you actually came.' She felt a small smile crawl across her mouth. 'So StarClan might have heard her after all.' She felt so relieved. She felt him try to move the tree, twice, but it didn't move an inch. Her heart dropped a little, but she still held faith that he could help her. She looked at her leg again; still bleeding. She looked back up and saw a glimpse of his face. 'Oh no. Must have been a branch. I'll fix him up when I get out of here.'

She heard him ask if she could move her foot, and if she could feel her leg. She looked back at it, a twitched her foot a bit and a searing pain crept up her leg. She let out a painful hiss. She gritted her teeth. "Yeah, I can move it. It hurts like about a thousand claws sticking into my leg, but I can feel it." She mewed through clenched teeth.

She placed her paws firmly in front of her shoulders and gave a hard shove, trying to push the tree off of her. It didn't work and only sent more pain though her small body and caused her to hiss again. Her claws sank into the ground, making deep gouges in the forest floor. She hated this, she felt so useless. "I'm sorry about this, Blazeheart. If I hadn't followed you, none of this would have happened. I'm foolish and just a nuisance to you. I'm sorry for this." Her mew was soft and full of guilty.

She tried once more to shove the heavy tree off of her back and once again, nothing happened. More pain shot though her and more blood trickled out of her wound. She just lied back down in defeat. This was pointless. 'I shouldn't have come out tonight, it would have been much safer to stay in my den.' She let out a long sigh and laid her head on her paws, waiting to see what the tiger tom's next move was.

Word count: 356
Characters: Petaldawn & Blazeheart
Background song: Bother by Stone Sour
Notes: :3

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/6945r8.jpg ] RELIEF swept the TigerClan deputy as Petaldawn reported that she could feel her foot and leg. It may hurt but it was for her own good. If she could feel it, there was a chance she may not have crushed it beyond repair. Laying the tip of his tail against Petaldawn's shoulder as she apologized, he looked at the tree, trying to figure out how he was going to move it. It was just him and he wasn't too keen on letting Petaldawn lay pinned while he went for help. With their luck, she'd be struck by lightning again. Well, maybe it was just Blazeheart's luck as of late but still, there was no need to go taking chances and it didn't look like she was bleeding out from anywhere in particular so it wasn't as though time was necessarily of the essence. He just needed to think and start small, work his way through the problem the way his mentor had taught him to many moons ago and how he had taught Thistledown and Cedarstripe, his apprentices. BOUNDING back over the larger branch, Blazeheart took a hold of the smaller branch pinning Petaldawn's foot. It wasn't nearly as sank into the mud as the larger branch, seeing as it was smaller and thus lighter. It took some work but he managed to heave the branch up enough to relieve the pressure it had been putting on Petaldawn's foot. Holding it aloft for a moment, mere inches from her foot, he braced his paws in the mud and with all his might flung the smaller branch away. It clattered away into the mess that was the rest of the tree. "THAT should feel a bit better," Blazeheart muttered, not particularly paying attention to if Petaldawn heard him. Turning to regard the tree, an idea came to his mind, making his amber eyes flicker for a moment as inspiration came upon him. "As soon as you feel the branch moving, start crawling forward," Blazeheart instructed calmly, approaching the branch from behind so he stood next to Petaldawn's hind legs. "It'll hurt but just for a moment and you need to be as quick as you can." WITH that, the tom unsheathed his claws and began to dig at the rain-softened ground. In moments his paws were black with mud but he kept digging, tossing globs of wet soil, moss, roots and whatever else came up, away from the branch's base. He pushed his paws under he branch to dig a groove into the earth, slowly working his forelegs under the branch until he dug deep enough to push his head and shoulders through. It took some time but Blazeheart worked quickly until he wedged himself under the tree branch alongside the blue medicine cat. Unlike her however, he was not pinned on his side. He buried his paws deep in the soft earth to brace himself and began to heave. MUSCLES contracted under his pelt, rippling and straining as he pushed the branch upward, the brunt of its weight falling on his shoulders. An occasional grunt rose from the tom as he slowly struggled to stand upright enough for Petaldawn to wriggle out from under the branch's oppressive weight. His muscles burned but he finally got to a point where he could lift no further and stood with the branch levered up enough for the medicine cat to escape. His limbs shook a bit but he held firm, claws dug deep into the mud to keep himself from sliding and losing his grip. Such a mistake would potentially injure both of them and that simply was not allowed to happen. "HURRY," Blazeheart growled, huffing a quick breath, "this thing is heavy..." Tagged;; Petaldawn Word Count;; 620 Background Song;; "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor Notes;; :3

[}M.idnight]

Petaldawn listened as the tiger tom hopped back over the large branch that was pinning her. She was curious as to what he was doing, but that question was soon answered as the sharp, stinging pain in her foot started to disappear, leaving only a slight throbbing pain where the small branch had been. She moved it again, and was happy to know it was more than a twitch this time. She was relieve that is wasn't broken.

She heard Blazeheart say something about crawling out from underneath it when she felt it moved. She nodded if only to herself and got herself ready for the task. 'Wow, he doesn't seem to be much of the mouse-brain he was awhile ago.' She giggled to herself. She felt the branch shift a bit and immediately went quick, muscles twitching under her blue pelt. And then, it was time.

The tiger had dug a large enough hole in the muddy ground to wedge himself him and heave the large branch up a little bit above her body. She was glad for her small body right then. She heard grunts and groans coming from him and knew she had to hurry up. 'One false move and this whole thing would get ugly.' The grim thought floated around in her mind. She started to wriggle out, paws and claws digging into the mud to help pull her out. If she dragged herself just a few more inches, she would be free. Her hind paws digging into mud, her wound getting splashed with the wet soil, and helped push her the rest of the way out from the branch.

"I'm out; let it drop!" She ordered him. She took a few steps from the fallen branch and sat down next to the bundle of herbs she tossed away before she was pinned. 'Too bad I didn't find any poppy seeds. I could use one.' She thought with a frown. She pulled the bundle between her front paws and opened it up. 'Surprisingly, everything is still pretty much dry.'

"Blazeheart, you can come over here now." She mewed. She held out her hind paw and looked at the damage. She winced again and began to clean the wound of mud and debris. "How is your eye doing?" She asked between licks. "It's not too deep is it? I hope not." She stopped licking and looked up at the deputy. Her golden eyes grew softer and a small smile plastered on her maw. "Thank you very much. I would have never been able to make it out of there without you. You did an amazing job."

Word count: 437
Characters: Petaldawn & Blazeheart
Background song: All The Same by Sick Puppies
Notes: Aww, yay Blaze!

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/6945r8.jpg ] FEELING the rain-slicked fur of the tigress next to him moving, Blazeheart dug his paws further into the wet soil to keep his paws from sliding. At last he heard her yell that she was free. For a moment he was unsure of what to do, lunge forward or slide back and hope not to crush his spine or his skull. For a moment he stood under the heavy branch and tried to decide. Glancing left, then right, he made up his mind. Neither option was that fantastic but oh well. Muscles bunched under his black striped pelt and a moment later the tom threw himself backwards, ducking his head to his chest as he back pedaled away from the branch. It fell with a loud splash and Blazeheart was nearly sent sprawling when one of his back paws caught rain-slicked grass but he managed to right himself. TWITCHING his whiskers so that diamond-like raindrops fell from them, he looked at the fallen limb, contemplation bright in his honey colored eyes. His fury was gone, burnt out in the heat of the moment, in the seriousness of knowing a clanmate was hurt and needed rescuing. Situations like this, they were the reason he was a deputy. WARILY padding around the end of the branch, Blazeheart sat back on his haunches and curled his tail around his paws. Normally black, white and orange, Blazeheart looked nothing like his normal self. His dignity had taken a hike and at the moment he was a mess. It was almost impossible to find the orange and black under the splatters of thick mud and he looked smaller than normal due to the rainwater flattening his pelt to his muscular frame. His whiskers drooped as raindrops fell from them and his pelt or what little that could be seen of it, was three shades darker than average. "MY eye is fine," Blazeheart told the she-cat coolly. "The scratch is shallow. I think it's best to get back to camp before StarClan chooses not to miss next time." HIS words weren't necessarily meant as an insult, just a bland statement. Swiping his tongues around his maw, the tom kept a grimace from his face as he tasted the tang of his own blood. Standing up, Blazeheart didn't bother to try and shake the water and mud off. Instead he padded over to Petaldawn. His steps were slow and almost lazily, simply because he was tired both from his previous irritation with the she-cat and the actual physical strain of moving the limb. He stood next to the she-cat and looked down at her quietly for a moment. "COME on...let's go..." HE lowered his head and nudged the she-cat's shoulder a bit. His keen gaze flickered to Petaldawn's hind leg. A deep gash ran along it. The fur was splattered with mud. They would need to get back to camp so Flutterpaw could patch up her own mentor. His scratch, it was minor, nothing to worry about. She however might have an infection from all the dirt and whatnot. He didn't know much about healing but Blazeheart knew infections were no fun and often lead to sicknesses that may even end up being fatal. Tagged;; Petaldawn Word Count;; 537 Background Song;; NA Notes;; sleepy...short post...

[}M.idnight]

She smiled slightly as he nudged her shoulder and padded towards camp. She re-wrapped her bundle and picked it up in her teeth. She shook her now dark brown pelt, only a few patches of blue peeked through. Rising to her paws, pain flared up in her leg, causing the tigress to sink her claws into the wet earth. She limped quickly to catch up to the tiger to ahead of her. She looked over at him and brushed her forehead across his shoulder, as a sign of affection. She was gratefully to him, but was still annoyed by how he talked to her earlier.

She looked down at her paws, seeing that her prints where smaller than Blazeheart's. She sighed. 'Thanks mother. I probably would have been an average size tigress if you didn't ignore me half of the time.' It was a mean thought, but a very true one. Her family didn't like her, all because of her coloration. It made her different, somehow weaker than the others. As she passed by puddled, she caught a glimpse of herself and nearly laughed. She looked even smaller when she was wet, pelt plastered to her already small frame.

She glanced back up to the muddy orange tiger beside her. "What made you come and rescue me? How did you know I needed help, when you were so far away?" She asked suddenly. She was curious as to how he knew. StarClan knew she wouldn't have really known. She slowed down, and tested her leg to see if she could put any weight on it. She put her paw on the ground and nearly fell over. 'Well that's just perfect. And I need to go and collect herbs soon.'

She sighed and hurried back over to the tom. 'He saved me tonight. I owe him something. I just don't know what. He probably wouldn't accept anything anyway. He doesn't seem to like me much seeing as I was a loner not long ago.' She shrugged slightly and flicked her tail across his flank. 'He doesn't seem to be as hateful now. I would still like to know what's eating at his mind though.'

Word count: 362
Characters: Petaldawn & Blazeheart
Background song: Geeving by Abandon All Ship
Notes: Sorry about this taking me forever to put up; I thought i was going to take my driving test today. Turns out the DMV isn't open on Mondays. :/

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/6945r8.jpg ] GLANCING at the blue and now brown tigress every now and then, Blazeheart kept his steps at a slow, almost lazy pace. He was already bigger than her so his strides put him ahead of her but with her being injured he didn't want to get too far ahead. He doubted she'd swallow her pride enough to ask for help, especially after his earlier display of rude stubbornness, but still he wanted to be close enough to catch her if he had to. No need to go making the injury worse because he went ahead and didn't notice her faltering or falling. That wouldn't do him any good at all, nor the clan for that matter. They needed a functioning, healthy medicine cat. There would already be questions asked in the morning as soon as Flutterpaw caught sight of her mentor's leg all torn up and her pelt plastered with mud. It would be something of scandal if the clan found out Blazeheart had been out at night with Petaldawn. Though medicine cats had been known to have kits, it always made a clan antsy when it happened and there was already enough scandal sliding through the shadows of TigerClan without Blazeheart adding to the rumor mill. PAUSING when he saw Petaldawn testing her foot, he tensed when she nearly fell, ready to leap over and help. Relaxing when she righted herself, Blazeheart twitched his ears at her question. Looking over at a nearby oak tree, Blazeheart's amber eyes followed its trunk upward to its fan of branches. The storm was losing its power now, winding down to little more than a heavy shower with occasional growls of distant thunder and one or tow flickers of lightning. It was interesting how quickly things changed, especially storms. One minute all was calm, the next it was raging and threatening to tear the world apart before it was all over again and the sun rose to find no sign of the previous carnage. Except for the occasional fallen tree, as was tonight's case. "I'VE been around enough storms to know when lightning finds its mark. When a tree falls, I go to check it," Blazeheart told the medicine cat, his golden gaze skipping from the oak's branches to the blue she-cat. "And...I've been trapped like that before when I was an apprentice. Took all night for someone to find me. Now I always go out in the storms to wait and watch. There's always at least one other...restless...soul." When he spoke his last sentence his eyes flickered strangely. They always did when he said certain things, a mere play of the light across the intense golden orbs. Looking away, he began slowly walking again. "It's hard to be at peace when the sky wages its wars." LIKE most things he said, Blazeheart's words had a double meaning. Dragonstar was, probably without even knowing it, waging a war within TigerClan. It they weren't careful it would rip them apart. The more he thought about it though, maybe that was a good thing? Divide the faithful and the faithless, purge TigerClan of the creatures that crawl in its shadows seeking the nests of loners, rogues and other clan she-cats. Or toms in some cases. Find out how many tigers were truly warriors of their clan and see how many simply wore the title like they wore their stripes, simply because they were born with it. Blazeheart would not stand for faithless warriors, never. Not in any clan he served in. TigerClan was founded on strength, stealth and cunning. To lose their values to the vile blood of other clans or loners, it was disgraceful and would never be allowed. To expose Dragonstar, to make others aware and have many eyes watching, it would make it harder for Dragonstar to hide. They would find his tramp and put an end to her. Give Dragonstar the chance to flee or die at the claws of those he had betrayed. It seemed like the only answer. SHAKING his head, Blazeheart glanced over to make sure Petaldawn was keeping up. Tagged;; Petaldawn Word Count;; 673 Background Song;; "Have You Ever Felt the Rain?" by Creedence Clearwater Revival Notes;; ^^

[}M.idnight]

She hurried up to Blazeheart; paws falling into step with his. As she walked, her paws splashed into every puddle in the ground, even if she was trying to dodge them. She could feel her paws getting tired, since she'd never had an injury like this and making her limp. 'Ugh this bites. I can't even put any weight on it. I'm sure Flutterpaw could fix me up just find though.' She looked over at the tiger tom, catching his eye as he looked back to make sure she was okay. She flashed him a smile as she hobbled after him and walked beside him.

As she walk though the slick mud and wet grass, her good back paw slipped and she fell sideways into the deputy. She flattened her ears and quickly regained her stance. "Sorry about that, I didn't plan for it to happen." She said lamely. She coughed to clear her throat, eyes wandering down their path.

"What made up want to be the deputy of TigerClan? Have you always wanted to have a higher power in the clan that just a warrior?" She asked with a curious glace at him. She knew the only reason she was allowed to be the medicine cat for the clan was because they didn't have on at the time she arrived in the clans. And due to the fact she knew how to heal cats. She was curious to know why he wanted, or was chosen, to be the deputy.

She let out a soft chuckle. "I'm sorry if I offended you with my question. It's just that I like to know how some cat get their power in a clan. I know the leader chooses most of the time, but sometimes it seems like the clan chooses, like the case in our clan sometimes." She muttered the last part, not knowing if the tom had heard her or not. "And speaking of leaders, how come our's is always gone? I've hardly seen him since I arrived here." Her gaze dropped to her paws, but traveled to Blazeheart's face after a short while.

Word count: 354
Characters: Petaldawn & Blazeheart
Background song: the wind outside whipping past my windows
Notes: Sorry that this took me half of forever, my muse and patience were shot yesterday. -_-'

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/6945r8.jpg ] SOMETHING Blazeheart was learning quickly was how the blue pelted she-cat was full of questions. She was almost like an apprentice in a way. Thistledown and Cedarstripe, his former apprentices, had been full of them. It had never bothered him like it did some warriors. He found it interesting to see which questions they would ask because that told him a lot about the apprentice. Thistledown had been fairly typical in most ways but he had always had a good sense of humor and a dependable work ethic. Cedarstripe had always asked tactical questions or questions about why things were the way they were. He'd been as keen as sharpened clwas from day one and though he hadn't heard much from his last apprentice, Blazeheart was proud of him regardless. He was proud of Thistledown as well, for what he had become. PETALDAWN though, if she had been his apprentice he would have thought to be wary of her keenness. She asked difficult questions and those sorts of questions, well, it came down to politics. The clans claimed fairness and justice and all that but really, it came down to blood each and every time. How to explain that to a cat not born into it? Blazeheart had been soaked in it since his birth because his father too had been a deputy, just short of leader. He'd been replaced by Dragonstar, not helping the white tiger's case in Blazeheart's mind since he'd become leader when his father's death was still fresh. "MY father was the clan's deputy," Blazeheart told Petaldawn, not looking at her, instead looking at the path that laid ahead, soggy and misty after the rains. "He would have been the leader but a few moons before the clan leader at the time died...a band of rogues cornered a patrol. They were lions." Blazeheart's claws flexed in the mud without him really thinking about it. Aggression flickered in his eyes, shadowed by pain but he shooed it away like an annoying fly, closing off his expression again. "The rogue lions killed my father, mother and sister. It didn't help when a former rogue took his place as deputy." He was talking about Dragonstar and when he spoke, his eyes flashed dangerously. "Dragonstar never knew anyone in the clan, never cared, that's why you haven't seen him. He doesn't care. He made me his deputy because I was convenient. The clan knew me, trusted me, trusted my father's legecy. They were safe with me." BLAZEHEART stopped in his tracks, his eyes looking downward at his paws nearly black with mud. A few late drops of rain dripped past his ears, catching his whiskers and making them twitch. For a long moment he simply stood and stared before drawing his gaze to Petaldawn. His amber eyes were hard as stone and as serious as they'd ever been. "DRAGONSTAR doesn't care about TigerClan," Blazeheart told the she-cat, his voice flat and serious. "He prefers the company of a lioness over the clan that took him in and gave him their trust as their leader." Blazeheart's eyes burned in the post-storm darkness, his words rougher and more angry. "He is the worst sort of traitor." Looking away, Blazeheart started walking again, not looking at Petaldawn, absentmindedly stepping in front of her to brush debris from the storm out of the way for her. The motions were mechanical, automatic, no real thought behind them. WHY was he talking to her anyway? Sure he needed the rumors to spread now but she wouldn't tell, she'd already told him she didn't gossip, supposing she wasn't a liar. That was understandable though now that he wasn't buzzing on his aggression and rage at Dragonstar's betrayal. She was the medicine cat, a good ally to have assuming she would be worth anything. That didn't explain why he spilled his gut about his father being deputy and his murder. Obviously Badgerstripes had died but Blazeheart hadn't had to tell her his mother Orangeflower and his sister Copperlily had died too. That was...more than he'd shared with anyone. Most of the clan remembered it because they had mourned. He and his brothers hadn't been the only ones to hold a vigil on the night of his death, half of the clan had joined them because they had admired Orangeflower's fighting spirit or Copperlily's sweet compassion. Still, Petaldawn probably hadn't even been around then. Why tell her when he hadn't told anyone that didn't already know? He'd never even talked about it, though Thistledown had tried to make him once when he'd been raging after a good for nothing former rogue took his father's place. He hadn't even wanted the deputy's spot, he just hadn't want it to be defiled by a rogue that no one knew anything about. Still, why tell Petaldawn? THE train of thought bothered him so he pushed it away, tucking it into the back of his mind and determinedly not looking at her. Tagged;; Petaldawn Word Count;; 829 Background Song;; "Second Chance" by Shinedown Notes;; holy moly i did not even think i was writing that much

[}M.idnight]

She watched as he stopped walking. She listen to him pour his heart out to her, his eyes going though several changes in intensity. Her heart went out the deputy. She knew how must feel, at least a little bit. She never had to see that happen, or hear about it. Her parents hated her and her siblings hated her as well. Sadness crept into her gaze. She felt bad for him. 'Lost most of his family has got to be the roughest thing in the world.' She thought bitterly.

Petaldawn watched as he walked away, clearing the path for her and felt a small flicker of irritation. She didn't need anyone helping her out, even if she was injured. She gripped her bundle of herbs in her teeth and quickened her pace. As she reached his side, she could almost swear she saw a flicker of sadness. Her heart jumped in her chest. She couldn't help him, all she could do was offer an ear; that is if he wanted to talk. She rubbed her forehead against his flank and shoulder to show him the she did care about him and she didn't seem heartless. "I'm sorry about you're family." Was her lame reply. She didn't know what else to say.

She felt a small spark of fury burn in her belly when the tiger tom said that Dragonstar was consorting with a lioness in another clan. She let out a small hiss, but looked guilty when she did. She didn't mean to hiss out loud. 'It probably seems weird for him to hear me hiss at something the leader, a former rogue, did, when I'm merely a rogue as well.' She lowered her head. 'I wonders if he thinks I'll do something like that, too. I'm sure he's not fond of me anyway considering I wasn't clan born.'

She kept her head lowered, but couldn't help glancing at Blazeheart every so often. She just kept quiet. 'He really hates loners and rogues doesn't he? That makes me feel tons better.' She looked down at her paws; they looked nearly black with mud and dirt and her claws had so much debris and grass under them. "I better not do anything to get on his bad side then. Otherwise I'm going to be hated, just like Dragonstar." She muttered louder than she probably should have.

Word count: 395
Characters: Petaldawn & Blazeheart
Background song: Judas by Lady Gaga
Notes: Yay! more muse!

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/6945r8.jpg ] THE sound of Petaldawn's hiss only mildly surprised the orange deputy but he dismissed his surprise quickly, brushing a branch out of his path with a smooth sweep of his paw. It was probably for show anyway. Whether it was to cover Dragonstar and pretend to disapprove of his consorting or just to try and stay on his good side, Blazeheart didn't care. Either way her 'sympathy' about the Dragonstar problem and the loss of his family, it was all fake. For as good of a medicine cat as she was supposed to be, Blazeheart didn't believe for a second that there was real thought or feeling in her body. She was fake. Standing in a place where StarClan's beloved were supposed to stand. She was a rogue. A loner. An outsider. A traitor in a loyalist's fur. The thought swam through Blazeheart's mind and made his jaw clench, not that he'd let her see it. She could think of him what she wanted but no one would change his mind. He'd never met a loyal former loner. StarClan wouldn't smile on the heretics, on the killers and plotters that sought only to destroy families, traditions and order. DRAGONSTAR was trying to tear TigerClan apart whether he knew it or not. Well fine. Let the divide begin. Let it tear the clan apart. Let the loyal drive out the false and broken. It would be StarClan's will, whatever would come of this. TigerClan would suffer, brother fighting brother, sister slaying sister. If that was what it would take, Blazeheart would lead the way for the loyal to stand from the ashes of traitors and build the clan up better than ever. 'I better not do anything to get on his bad side then. Otherwise I'm going to be hated, just like Dragonstar.' WHETHER Petaldawn actually meant for him to hear or not didn't matter because he heard it anyway. His ears twitched and his lip curled in distaste but he kept himself from turning and snarling at her. Let the blue tigress think what she would about him. Love him, hate him, believe him, it didn't matter. She'd be a conveniant ally but she was far from irreplacable. Blazeheart had done more for Dragonstar than Dragonstar realized. He'd killed rogues and loners out to take clan land, he'd even dabbled his paws in the killed of a few inconvenient meddlers that planned to spy on TigerClan and take information back to other clans. He'd never done anything the easy way so whether Petaldawn would stand beside him, stand on the sidelines or stand beside Dragonstar, it made no difference. The clan would be the final judge in Dragonstar's fate and Petaldawn knew nothing of a clan when it descovered a leader's betrayal. It was a thing on its own, a new brand of fury and wrath and bloodlust. It would be something she wouldn't soon forget. "THINK what you will," Blazeheart growled, paws splashing quietly through puddles as he padded toward camp. "Loners wouldn't know what it's like, to feel the sting of betrayal in your bones. That's why it's so easy for your kind." HIS words were spoken with frank distaste, as though he detested having to say them but knew they were necessary. He would never understand the detachment of loners. They didn't care. It had to be because they weren't raised beside their clanmates. They weren't born in a nursery with four other tigresses nursing their kits. Their kits didn't grow up admiring the older apprentices and battle-scarred warriors. They weren't taught respect and selflessness, they weren't taught how to serve others first, how to win a battle without slaying their enemy. No self control. No dignity. No faith. That was what put the clan cats apart from the loners and rogues. When one warrior, especially a leader, when rogue...it ripped a wound in the clan that would take a generation to become a scar and then that scar would never truly vanish as long as the elders told their stories and apprentices grew up seeing the scars it left on their clan's loyalty and faith in their leader. Petaldawn didn't understand but soon...soon she would. Blazeheart wished it didn't have to happen. He'd rather serve a rogue leader than ahve to tell his clan their leader had done them wrong. Tagged;; Petaldawn Word Count;; 724 Background Song;; "Not One of Us" from Lion King 2: Simba's Pride Notes;; blah....

[}M.idnight]

The Maltese tigress felt the prickle of hot fury underneath her blue and mud colored pelt. She felt her ears flatten against her head and her lip curled up. "Well, I'm sorry for being a loner. I'm sorry I'm not good enough to be in a clan. And I'm sorry that you think I'm just a lower life from." She spat at him and quickly limped to take the lead of the orange pelted tiger. "I should have never came to your clan. I would have been much better on my own." She broke into a three-legged run. Her eyes burn with hurt and anger. 'I'm a fool for thinking I could do something right in my life.My mother should have let me die. I'm nothing but an outcast.' She growled and felt the hot sting of tears in her eyes. 'Just great... All I need is for the deputy to see me like this.'

She started to slow when she thought she was a good distance from him. She refused to look back to see if he had followed or not. She sat down and let her bundle of herbs slip from her maw. "Great StarClan this wound burns, especially when all this mud caked in it." She muttered to herself. Bending her head down to her gash, she began licking and picking clumps of mud out of the wound. She tasted the salty tang of blood but that was to be expected. Once the medicine cat was sure the wound was clean and clear of debris, she opened her bundle and took out the cobwebs. 'Good thing I collected these earlier. I'm don't want anything else getting in there. An infection could be awful.' She covered the gash tightly with the web and was satisfied with it.

She stood back up again and looked behind her. She growled and walked off, her leg still useless as ever. She needed to get home. Flutterpaw needed some practice and now she has someone to practice on. She laughed to herself. 'Little Flutterpaw. Such a good apprentice, and always ready to learn something new.' She felt a flicker of happiness in her sea of annoyance and hurt. She missed that little apprentice of her's right now. 'I should be home soon. Then I won't have to deal with Blazeheart.' The determined thought swam into her head.

Word count: 392
Characters: Petal and Blaze
Background song: Different by Pendulum (Pandora radio)
Notes: Gah took me forever to post something! Forgive me?

[Bast]

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/6945r8.jpg ] BLAZEHEART couldn't stop from curling his lip at Petaldawn's little outburst. Silly she-cat, bursting into tears over something so simple. A simple fact was all he had stated, it wasn't his fault she couldn't take the truth. She was probably crying and running off because she knew it was true. All loners were destined to betray. It was a fact of life, a staple in every story the elders passed down to kits, true to their bones and blood. It didn't matter what the clan did to teach them otherwise, that it was wrong and that they should see the clan as family. TigerClan had gone so far as to grant Dragonstar leadership for StarClan's sake! If that wasn't merciful and a fine example of giving someone a second chance, Blazeheart didn't know what was. What did Dragonstar do with that fine chance, a chance most clan cats aspired to their whole lives? He threw it away for the sake of some good for nothing LionClan tramp. They weren't even the same species! Every bone in Blazeheart's body recoiled at the wrongness of it. SADLY however, the ginger tom knew he couldn't just let Petaldawn storm off. He was on TigerClan's side, not out to be her enemy. As much as it burned him to think it, to aknowledge it even, she was the clan's medicine cat. By some fluke she was their medicine cat. Gifted as Flutterpaw may be, the young she-cat was nowhere near ready to take over if Petaldawn decided to up and leave. If she did, it would prove him right but it would also leave TigerClan in a poor spot. SNARLING to himself, Blazeheart picked up his pace to chase down the blue she-tiger. It wasn't hard to do considering she had all of three working limbs and was tired and had no experience fighting on three legs. Such an experience taught a cat how to be quicker on three limbs when they had to be. Not that she'd know anything of it. FIXING Petaldawn with a neutral gaze, the tom strode beside her, easily matching her lopsided pace. "Stop being so sensitive," he growled, not much heat in his voice. "For now you're the medicine cat and sadly that'll have to be enough. Flutterpaw will replace you sooner or later and as long as you don't go around murdering the injured and ill I don't care if you were born a badger. The loners I hunt are the ones that have done wrong to the clan that gave them everything. The ones that are too weak to deserve StarClan's mercy and kindness." HIS words came out sharp and direct like the orders he so often barked in the early morning when he was still grumpy from being woken up to give out patrols. He didn't look Petaldawn in the eye and he didn't stand close as though to offer comfort. He stood as a deputy should, a respectful distance but close enough to let her know he was focused on her. To leaders of the past, Blazeheart would have been the ideal deputy, not letting this little problem with Petaldawn go until later to be cleaned up. To Dragonstar he was nothing and part of that lack of appreciation was what irked the ginger tom. Dragonstar didn't understand what he had, right in front of him. Instead he went seeking the company of cats out of the clan, out of their species. It was sick. Petaldawn being huffy and upset was the last thing he needed to put up with right now, the last mess he wanted to clean up but the one that needed cleaning up right now. HUFFING quietly, the tom lengthened his strides. Tagged;; Petaldawn Word Count;; 622 Background Song;; "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White Ts Notes;; meh

[}M.idnight]

Petaldawn shrugged of the tom's words. She was tired and didn't have any patience with the deputy right now. She lifted her nose and walked off. 'Nice to know that you care so much, mouse-brain.' She snarled in her mind. She didn't want another lecture on how ignorant she was being or how much loners were just filth compared to a clan cat. 'Selfish fool. Clan cat probably started out as loners and rogues!' She dropped her head slightly, she kept her teeth on her tongue to keep her from saying anything. She could almost taste the tang of blood as her canines closed around the side of her tongue. She had nothing to stay to this tom.

She closed her eyes slightly as they walked. She was getting pretty tired and the gash on her leg wasn't helping the situation. Letting out a large yawn, she looked up at the sky. She saw as the dark storm cloud rolled across the fabric of the night above. She could catch glimpses of the moon and stars behind it. 'Oh StarClan. Give me strength to make it home and not have to claw this arrogant tom's throat out.' She sent up a pray, but started to think it was pointless.

She lowed her head back down and doubt clouded her golden eyes. 'Maybe Blazeheart is right. StarClan might have chosen me, or it might have just been the clan, seeing as they had no medicine cat at the time. Maybe StarClan doesn't want anything to do with me. Maybe if what the tiger tom is telling me, I will betray the clan... No, I won't let myself do that. These are good cats whether StarClan is by my side or not, I will stay faithful to TigerClan.'

She looked at the powerful tiger next to her, but looked away. She doubted that he cared much if she lived or died, just so long as she took care of his clan. She snorted and rolled her eyes.

Word count: 334
Characters: Petal and Blaze
Background song: A Beautiful Lie by 30 Seconds to Mars
Notes: xD

[Bast]

-thread complete-