I've been struck by the S O N G {Skysong}

[Twilight]

Kitten:; Mothpaw
Involved:; Skysong
Music:; Bad Romance - Lady GaGa
Notes:; When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's AMORE~

His white and brown tabby splotched pelt was not very distinguishable from the muddy banks of the river. It had been warmer these past two days, and the river had managed to unfreeze at least a tiny bit. His paw shot out and hooked into a purple tinted fish and he brought it onto the bank, dispatching it quickly. Not many fish were out, but he was managing. even though he had been out ince sunhigh on a hunting mission to be assessed by Tigerfrost and Blacksnow, he had been out for wuite a while on the river's banks, looking for fish. He figured with all the snow on the ground it would be plain senile to wait for land loving prey in the cold that was leafbare.

He hooked into another fish, his bi colored eyes traine don the river. That was when he caught a familiar scent, and realized it was Skysong. His cheeks got a little hot at the though of her seeing him out in the snow on assessment, but he pushed the thought from his mind. Though he liked the warmth on his cheeks from his embaresment, it was not something he would want her to see. He, as he had thought many times, had actually taken a liking to the she-cat. And though he had yet to tell anyone about it, he was going to pursue her once he got his warrior name.

[Quick Fox]

Skysong peered out of the bushes, staying quiet. He'd know she was there sooner or later... but this probably wasn't the best time. He would be focused on catching the fish, and she didn't want to distract him. After all - most apprentices would work hard to get their warrior name, and she was sure that he was no exception. She was ready to turn tail and leave, but the fish were sly and quick. Maybe he would need some help. Well, she wouldn't help him, just the clan... right? She kept telling herself that she should go, but she had a soft spot for kits and apprentices.

Slowly, she stepped over the bushed, and carefully aproached him. Casually, she glanced over at him, and began to talk. "Hey Mothpaw. Sorry to interupt, I just thought that you might want some company. It's pretty lonely out here..." Suddenly, she felt a wave of enbarassment roll of of Mothpaw, and felt a twinge of guilt. She didn't mean to embarass him.

"I - I can go if you want. I just thought that you might want company. Plus, the clan needs food."

[Twilight]

Mothpaw turned quickly around to her see and his hot cheeks returned. He forced it down at least slightly before answering her. "N-n-no. It's not that you are embarresing me. It's not that at all." He trinae dhis eyes back on the river and his paw flashed out and he dispatched a little green and gray fish before continuing on. "The company would be nice. Tigerfrost and Blacksnow have yet to come towards me and tell me my mission is over, as they said they would when the y though I had gotten enough, so I have no clue when I am to stop." He flicked his tail and brought it back down on the nosw, creating little flurries of fresh snow to cascade into the air and back to the earth.

[Quick Fox]

"Oh, alright. I guess I'm free to stay, since I figure that either Tigerfrost or Blacksnow would have told me to go if I was unwelcome." She looked into the river, her eyes focused on a silvery fish. Quickly, her paw shot into the water and hooked the fish. She bit it and laid it in the fresh snow, then thanked Starclan for its life. If Starclan was even there.

She shivered slightly at the cold water - it must have been just on the verge of freezing over. It was a good thing that new-leaf was on the way. She poofed her fur up to block some of the wind, and wondered what to say. Should she talk about the weather? No, that was just stupid. The other clans? He might not know... She decided to let him choose the topic of conversation, since something about being alone fishing in the river made her feel slightly awkward.

"So, uhm... what do you want to talk about? I don't really care, but we're here, so we should talk. I have no preferance though."

[Twilight]

Mothpaw twitched his whiskers as he shyly looked back into the river, wondering what to talk about. Mainly he wanted to know her feelings. "I've been curious lately, Skysong. What did you feel when Mother came into the clan, followed by Grandmother, and all the evnts that followed?" He was of course talking about when Blacksnow was brought in and suckled besides Skysong, and also when Destinycall later joined carrying the second litter of Milkystar's kits and the battles and emotions that followed. "I asked Momma, but she won't tell me, and neither will Grandma."

He shot his paw out at a fish that was larger than the rest and brought his back back up with nothing. He cursed himself silently as defiance flashed in his bi colored eyes. His poor paw. It was shaking badly in the cold.

[Quick Fox]

"Well, I find it best to not dwell on the past. That was a bit ago, when I was foolish. How was I supposed to know what to think? I only knew what my mother thought, and she looked down on your mother and grandmother. It's hard to explain my feelings, but... I suppose I could try to telll you. Understand, sometimes I don't even know why I felt the way I did, but it could be my blood, or the way I was raised." she sighed. She'd never tried to explain this to anyone before, so she was unsure if he would understand.

"Well, I suppose I should tell you who my parents are, since you probably don't know. I doubt any of my siblings have told you either. We don't want the younger generations to know of this, I suppose, because our parents were dreadful, especially looking back. Your mother and grabndmother probably try not to talk about Seamist and Crueleye, for your sake and for the sake of many others. It may still be too painful, I know how hard it is to think of the words...

"You wouldn't know about Crueleye, he died before you were norn, at Nightstar's paws. Bless her soul; but she's gone now. Probably for the better - who knows what lies ahead of us. In any case, Crueleye was an awful, flee-bitten rat. I should refrain from saying more than that, for there are so many awful things I could say. Thank Starclan he is dead, I have no doubt he went to the Dark Forest, no doubt at all. He did many horrible things, Mothpaw.

"When my mother was young, she was jeolous. She flirted with Crueleye, and ended up pregant with his kits when he raped her. Before that, she was a good cat. It all went downhill from there. She bore his kits, me and my siblings, and feared that Milkystar, Milkydew at the time, no longer loved her. At first she was a good mother, but with time she grew bad. She couldn't stand to look at us. And she especially hated that your grandmother and mother came to the clan, and 'stole Milkystar's heart'. She began to devise ways to split them up, and flirted with Milkystar, bearing his stillborn kits. Then she left the clan, and for a while there was peace. Then, on the night that you and your siblings were born, she came back, with Fireclan toms. They wounded many cats, and she nearly killed me. It was a good thing that the other clans came, otherwise I am sure that I and many other cats would be dead. For the better, Seamist died that night.

"And so you see, since she was my mother, when your mother and grandmother came, I resented them. Because of Seamist, and because I knew that I would never have a mother and father that loved me so. At least I thought. Now though, I am sure that Milkystar is my father, at least in some ways. But, Mothpaw, understand - I do not feel that way anymore. Otherwise, I would not have opposed Seamist in that battle. I feel that your mother and grandmotheer a part of this clan now, and they have surely earned it. So I no longer have anything against them. It wasn't my fault, or their fault. Seamist was the one who caused this whole mess. If anything, she is the one I resent."

Skysong looked down at the river, relieved, in a sense. Relieved that she had finally been able to tell someone - anyone - how she felt. It was hard keeping all of her feeling bottled up. She let her paw dangle over the water, until a fish came, and she hooked the fish and brought it to the surface, and then quickly killed it.

"I'm sorry for all of that. You can talk now." she mewled, slightly embarrased to have taken so long.

[Twilight]

He listened silently to her, trying to make his poor little paw warm again after it having been in the water so much. Finally he just wrapped his tail solely around the one paw and brought the paw close to his body as he listened to her story. The way Skysong told it dind't make it very scary at all, but more of an interesting elder's tale.

When she finished and fished out the little fish he finally replied. "That's akright. I don't mid it. It just means it'll be more that I will learn." He waited for about a minute, his paw finally warming up. "I don't think that they hold any prejudice towards you honestly. Momma talks a lot about you being a good warrior, and Gran says a lot about ho you've grown both in your warrior skills and your personality since she joined the clan."

[Quick Fox]

"That's good. I'd hate to have any hard feelings between us. Especially Blacksnow. When your father, Mudstripe died, she lost a mate, and I lost a good brother. I wish he was still here - he'd be so proud of you and your siblings. He should still be here... but I know that he wanted that. He was happier dying for his kits than watching them die. He was happy to be able to see you guys before he died. I know it. "

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them back. Maybe it was a bad idea, talking about the father that Mothpaw would never know... but it felt good to get it off of her chest. Still, she couldn't help wondering if it would have been better if she died instead. He had a family to love and protect, she didn't. She dropped her gaze, suddenly slightly guilty. She hoped that Mothpaw wouldn't know.

[Twilight]

Mothpaw gave an awkward sigh, looking out over the river. "I hear so manys tpries about my father, it makes me want to know who he really, truly was. I know he wasn't just some hero of a father who saved his mate and kits, only seeing them for a few seconds after they were born before being struck down. It makes me so agrreviated to not know his faults and his weaknesses. All any cat ever portrays him to be is some kind of hero who never had any faults at all." He noticed her sullen mood easily when he looked back to her.

"Hey, are you alright, Skysong?" he asked softly, sincerely.

[Quick Fox]

"Yeah, I'm alright. I just haven't spoken of him since he died, and well... it makes me wonder if he's looking over us right now. I miss him. And he had faults. He was always more adventurous. He got himself into more trouble than me and my other siblings combined. He liked to travel a lot; to go where most other Riverclan cats would not. I always admired that about him, but sometimes it got him into trouble. In fact, he was more like me than cats talk about. He was shy around some cats, secretive too. He... sometimes had trouble trusting somecats. But he was very friendly. It was only some cats, maybe because he felt like they didn't trust him; I don't know. And he held grudges. I suppose that's only natural, but I don't know. I guess we have to forgive and forget eventually. And I even remember one time when we were by the banks as apprentices and he got mud all over me. I've always thrived on keeping clean, and I remember how mad I was. But now, it's just a fond memory. I guess that it's just natural to not want to mention a cat's flaws once they've died. He was a great cat. And despite someof his flaws, we all loved him." she sighed.

Looking behind her, she wondered when Tigerfrost and Blacksnow would come foward. Skysong had seen Mothpaw's paw, and it was shaking quite a bit. She knew that it was just the cold, but there weren't too manyy fish, and they could only leave him out there for so long. He'd done a good job; she figured that they would come foward soon enough. Otherwise, she'd have to find them.

[Twilight]

Tigerfrost, Mothpaw's mentor, spoke softly from the shadows, knowing that only Skyson'g ears could hear. "Bring him back to camp and help him with the fish. His poor paw is about to drop off and I doubt he's very warm. Owlfrost will kill me for getting his brother into this condition." He gave a slight chuckle and disappeared, the order given.

Mothpaw, who had been listening intently to Skysong's words, had conveniantly zoned out when Tigerfrost spoke from the shadows and he dind't hear his uncle and mentor. He finally spoke in response to hearing about his father. "He sounds sort of like Owlfrost was, until he was picked to be the next medicine cat. don't get me wrong, I love my brother, but I was kind of mad that he got to start training so early, and already has his medicine cat name when I'm stuck as a late blooming apprentice because of FireClan."

[Quick Fox]

"Yeah, but don't blame Owlfrost. Starclan knew that he was the right cat, and they sent a sign. And Cloudrunner did need to get home as soon as possble. It was unusual how he finished so early, but I guess that you can learn quickly enough if Starclan wills it. You are a good apprentice, and I have no doubt that you will be a great warrior. Now come on, I have a... feeling that you've done enough. Besides, your poor paw looks like it's about to fall off. I'll take a couple of your fish, and we can head back to camp. I don't think that Blacksnow or Tigerfrost will mind."

She gathered up her fish, and a couple of his too, and got up. Slowely, they began to walk back to c amp together.

[Silky]

(sorry for butting in, but he has a crush on his aunt? a cat who was a warrior before he was born? @_@)

[Dewdrop]

(about the age thing, in the books it's same with brackenfur and sorreltail. So was Dustpelt when Ferncloud was born, Feathertail when Crowpaw was a kit, Brambleclaw before Squirrelflight was born)

[Twilight]

[Um... No, he doesn't. Skysong is not related to him. Skysong is the duaghter of Crueleye and Seamist, while Mothpaw is the sonOh.... *slaps self* I see what you mean Silky... GOSH! How could I be that stoopid? ]