||maddened by the .S T A R S.

[Roxie !]

OOC// Mmm hmm. I realized that I haven't posted with Nighty in like, forevah...so here we are. Despite the lyrics being from Sweeney Todd, I actually listened to two Avenue Q songs for inspiration xDDD. Cookies if someone guesses them!

Green Finch and Linnet Bird,
Nightingale, Blackbird,
How is it you sing?
How can you jubilate
Sitting in cages,
Never taking wing?

The Thunderpath wasn't exactly an ideal piece of territory for either of the Clans that shared it. A cat couldn't do much hunting here, because most of the prey was frightened away by the enormous monsters that raced down the black path frequently. And the herbs were flattened and filthy here; no use for medical purposes. But as every ShadowClan warrior knew, the Thunderpath was still an important place, because it marked the boundary dividing them from ThunderClan. And of course, boundaries had to be patrolled...even by the most unwilling of warriors. Today, that meant Nightheart. Her lip curled slightly in disgust. She hated this place. It was disgusting and horrible, and the long expanse of the road stretching down either side into the far-off distance made her feel more lonely than ever. She'd always avoided coming here, if she could help it. But today, there was no denying that it was her turn to patrol the rotting place. At least it was mid-day, when the Thunderpath was safest and most bareable. In the morning and evening, there seemed to be an endless amont of monsters flashing past, but at sunhigh the air was clear and it was easy to see and scent the monsters coming. And hear them, of course. StarClan knew they made more than enough noise.

The black she-cat sighed unhappily. Yes, this was just another patrol. Just an average, mundane day in ShadowClan. Wasn't warrior life supposed to be thrilling? Dangerous? Rewarding? Nightheart sniffed, quietly showing her contempt. Yeah, right. The most dangerous thing that happened around here was the occasional hunt near the bee hive in the Silent Forest! To tell the truth, she was feeling a bit depressed. She just...didn't know what to do with herself. Every day was indistinguishable from the one before it. She didn't feel that she was doing her Clan any good; she didn't feel as if she had a purpose in life. She wanted a purpose, she wanted to feel useful so badly. But she just...couldn't see the point in anything she did anymore. Was this what StarClan had condemned her to?

Worst of all, Nightheart felt trapped. Smothered, so to speak, by the expectations and rules and routines that crowded her each day. Was this what freedom was? Was she just too cynical for her own good? She wanted to believe this...but it was just so...

Outside the sky waits,
Beckoning, Beckoning,
Just beyond the bars...
How can you remain
Staring at the rain
Maddened by the stars?
How is it you sing anything?
How is it you sing?

"Ugh!" She spat aloud, lashing her feathery tail from side to side. How did the other cats stand it? What drove them to live their lives? Was it loyalty? Nightheart couldn't see how; she certainly felt a pull of loyalty toward ShadowClan, but it felt more like a begruding bind than a honorable emotion. Was it fun that drove them? Adventure? Exhilaration? But what excitement could they possibley be having when every day was the same: the heat of green-leaf, the hunting, and the patrolling...no, not that either. And then, there was...she scoffed at the mere thought. Some cats claimed that their very reason for living was their mates...how sickeningly sweet. Love was nothing but a misleading game that blinded you to what was important and life, and always left you hurt and alone. That was one thing she knew. It always ended. It had to. So what was the point. Hunching her shoulders miserably, Nightheart ducked her head and padded on. Why couldn't she just be happy?

My cage has many rooms,
Damask and dark.
Nothing there sings,
Not even my lark.
Larks never will, you know,
When they're captive.
Teach me to be more adaptive.

A monster on the Thunderpath zoomed by, its hot wing blowing Nightheart's ebony fur and ruffling it. One of the monster's large black paws skidded in a nearby puddle, splashing muddy water onto the warrior. She let out a hiss of alarm and then a grumpy huff. Why her? Why did it always have to be her? Perhaps it was because she was a useless furball, and the world was telling her 'Go away. Go plague someone else's life!'. Perhaps it was because she truely and honestly did not know her reason for being alive. But she was trying to find it. She was searching so hard. Wasn't that enough? Or was nothing ever enough to please the great and mighty StarClan? She narrowed her emerald eyes, lifting her head to stare vengefully at the sky. Nightheart was definately not in a pleasant mood today. It didn't help matters any that it was so hot out here today...she could have sworn that the pads on her paws were being burnt to crisps from the heat.

She glanced down. Wait...it wasn't her paws, it was the path. She'd been so mindlessly lost in her own vague thoughts that she hadn't even noticed that her path had strayed from the curb. Nightheart blinked, and looked around. Well, it was best to get off as soon as poss--

ZOOM! Before she could even register the sound, a monster raced into view at full speed. Nightheart's eyes slowly widened. Just in time, she jolted back into reality, and almost too late at that. With a sharp yowl, she dove out of the way so quickly that her forepaws slipped from beneath her, sending the ebony she-cat bowling down the slight slope and into a nearby thicket on the other side of the path. Shocked and slightly sore from the whole encounter, Nightheart tried to pick herself up...only to find that she couldn't raise her head very far. The thick brambles she had rolled into snagged her thick pelt and compromised her position so that she couldn't move more than a few inches. Irritated, she pulled harder, intending to rip away from the thicket. The brambles held firm. Becoming angrier, Nightheart twisted and snapped at her restraints, snarling slightly as her stuggling became more and more violent. This was useless, she realized. She was only making things worse.

Speaking of things getting worse...a familiar scent drifted by. ThunderClan. She'd been in such a hurry to get out of the monster's way that she hadn't paused to think which way to leap. This was the ThunderClan side of the border! "Great!" She growled, "Just...fantastic. This...is...not...my...day." With each word she pulled a bit harder, only to give in, panting, a moment later. Now what was she to do? How did she explain herself if a ThunderClan patrol happened to come by? I don't. She answered herself. I need to get out of here...and fast. But at that moment, she just didn't see how she could.

Green finch and linnet bird,
Nightingale, blackbird,
Teach me how to sing.
If I cannot fly,
Let me sing.

[Roxie !]

OOC//Doublebump.

[le Dawnz]

[[OOC//
Snap! I was suppose to post here wasn't I? xP My bad, I didn't really get the hint did I? lol Wow, I am sooo slow. Sorry! Oh, and hey! I recognize those lyrics, since I finally got around to watching Sweeney Todd, xD. Kinda funny the way Anthony and Joanna fall in love (well, lust, anyway) at first sight literally.//

[le Dawnz]

[[OOC// -gigglesnort- Nightheart needs an apprentice. //

[[IC//

As far as hunting goes, Shadowclan’s swampy, pine-scented territory could not have been richer with prey. But the prey seemed almost trivial to the dusty brown warrior that stood scraping dirt over yet another catch. He’d come back for it later, but for now, it needed to be tucked away from the other, less civilized beasts of the forest. Badgers. Foxes. ShadowClan has seen neither a badger nor a fox in moons. Dustfall almost wish one would amble along at that moment. He could use a good fight. And if he hurt in the encounter, all the better. At least the physical pain would distract him from the real aching.

These days were filled with meaningless tasks. Hunting. Patrolling. What else was there? There was Copperpelt, he supposed. And Sandstorm. But nothing else. Nothing to keep him from his haunting thoughts or alarming dreams. His loyalty was not a drive, but a device. He was loyal to his Clan. He always was. He would hunt. He would fight. He would risk his life. When his sister had told him their father had died, he’d sensed her shocking depression and held off his grief to console her instead. He’d prized his only daughter’s life more than his own.

Yes. Dustfall knew loyalty. Dustfall was loyalty. But it made little more than a scratch in his life. A meager, inadequate, barely noticeable scrape on the soft pad of his paw. Nothing held any significance in his life anymore. He didn’t know how he’d gotten there. He just was. He was sure he could find reasons, if he cared to try. But what was the point? The past was the past. It could do no good if brought to the present. So Dustfall thought only of this day. Never of days past, or days to come. There was nothing to look ahead to. Nothing needing to be remembered. It made life simple. It made life plain. It made life boring and inconsequential. What was he supposed to do now?

He let his thoughts distract him as he drifted through the thinning trees toward the Thunderpath. It marked the border between ShadowClan and ThunderClan. As his paws gravitated toward the tar path, a part of his brain registered that there would be a border patrol coming along soon. Perhaps he could persuade a member of the patrol to help him carry his catch back. He’d caught enough fresh-kill for two trips. He paused at the trees’ edge and sat on the forest floor. The pine needles were soft and spongy beneath him. As he waited, he ran his tongue over ruffled patches of fur. He hadn’t groomed himself in days, and realized now that tufts of fur were sticking out, and his pelt was covered in a thin layer of dust. His paws were wet from hunting in the marshes. Newleaf having arrived, the forest was wetter than usual from the rain and melting snow. But Newleaf meant new life, fresh plants, and more empty duties.

Dustfall let his mind wander as he washed himself. When his fur was clean and smooth, it still looked dull. There was no shine as there had been at one time. But he didn’t notice. He curled his tail around his paws and looked toward the Thunderpath to see if the patrol had turned up yet. He looked up in time to see Nightheart padding onto the black trail. The she-cat stopped the look around in confusion when a monster came into view. It approached quickly. Dustfall leapt to his paws and bounded toward the path. But Nightheart had already jumped clear of the metallic beast. Stopping at the rim of the path, he scouted for more monsters. Not many came by at this time of day, but there were sure to be more with Greenleaf just around the corner. He waited for the black warrior to reappear on the opposite side of the path, but minutes passed by and she still had not returned. Concerned now, he checked again for monsters before darting across the Thunderpath and into ThunderClan territory.

He found her tangled in a web of brambles at the bottom of the gentle slope. Amused at her quiet mumblings as she struggled to free herself, an unexpected purr rumbled deep in the tom’s throat. It surprised him. He hadn’t purred, or shown any pleasure or amusement in anything, since Copperpelt’s warrior ceremony. It felt strange. Good, but strange. As he trotted down the incline, ThunderClan scent washing over him like the river overtaking a drowning cat. His ears pricked forward, listening for voices or paw steps. Everything was silent for a moment, and then he could hear something dart through the undergrowth, followed by a vole’s choking squeak cut short. There was a hunting patrol nearby, and from the sound of it, they were getting closer and closer to Dustfall and his ensnared clanmate.

He rushed to her, not bothering with a greeting of any sort. There was no time, and his voice might alert the ThunderClan hunters to their presence. He pulled Nightheart’s fur from the tangled thorns with his teeth, being careful enough not to bite her, but not enough to keep from accidently marring the skin beneath her fur. She might feel sore for a bit. He was sorry, but they had to hurry before they were caught on the wrong side of the border. He hoped the strong toxic fumes of the Thunderpath combine with the freshly caught prey close by would disguise their scents. Not that it would matter if they didn’t make it back in their territory fast enough.

[/size]

[Roxie !]

OOC//Lmao!! You know, she really does.

The pads of the warrior’s paws grew sore as she tore them against the forest earth in an attempt to escape. Chained to the land of her enemies, Nightheart was growing both exhausted and humiliated as the minutes ticked on. If a ThunderClan patrol found her like this…they’d do worse than attack her. They’d probably laugh in her face. The proud she-cat would have rather been hit by the monster that had just barely missed her. Her hazy green eyes closed briefly as she stilled altogether, her sides heaving as she panted for breath. Too late for those thoughts now. She’d have to clean up her own mess, and quickly.

It was a good thing Dustfall hadn’t stopped to speak to her at all before leaping to her aid. If Nightheart had been given a chance to converse with him before hand, her embarrassment and her independent nature would have driven her to quickly reassure him that she didn’t need help. He probably wouldn’t have listened to her anyway, but even so. As it was, the ebony warrior was entirely too caught up in her dilemma to pay much attention to anything else, as if blocking out the scents and sounds around her would somehow deny the inevitable presence of nearby ThunderClan warriors. And so she startled considerably when her clanmate rushed to her aid, initially only feeling the sting of her fur being pulled from the scraping bracken. The sensation sent a jolt through her body, and the natural assumption that an enemy warrior had stumbled upon her at last entered her mind. Nightheart whipped around as best she could in her awkward position, her teeth glinting as she bared them in a vicious snarl…only to come face to face with a familiar brown tom. This cat certainly wasn’t of ThunderClan; this was Dustfall, a warrior of ShadowClan, like she was.

For a moment, she was too taken aback to say or do anything. But as she stared at the tom, she realized what he was doing: trying to free her. The she-cat’s ears twisted back to flatten against her head. So now she had to be helped out of danger like some newborn kit? Trying to cling to some final shred of her dignity, Nightheart opened her mouth to say something—anything—without thinking. “Oh!I…no, that’s alright, I’ve almost got it—” She stammered, speaking as casually as if she were just having trouble dragging a particularly large hare back into camp. But it wasn’t much use; they both knew that she wasn’t getting out of this one by herself. With a sigh, Nightheart turned back around and tugged, and, thanks to Dustfall, managed to pull herself free this time—though it wasn’t painless.

Nightheart leaped forward, staggering slightly with the sudden momentum of pulling lose from her binds. Gingerly, she turned around to face Dustfall once again. She opened her mouth to speak, and then abruptly closed it again. Her eyes widened slightly. It was only now that the true urgency of the situation hit her. They were…in ThunderClan territory! What were they doing standing around?! Bitterly, the black cat reminded herself that this was all her fault…she couldn’t let the brown tom get in trouble because of her own stupidity. Thank you’s and the like would have to wait. Quickly, Nightheart scented the air and gazed around. The roadside still seemed quiet, and there were no patrols nearby…but who knew how long that would last. Hastily, she flicked her tail at Dustfall. “C’mon.” The she-cat muttered awkwardly, whipping around to face the Thunderpath.

She looked to the left, and then to the right. There didn’t seem to be any monsters coming, and she wasn’t going to wait for another chance like this. The ShadowClan warrior darted forward, sprinting as quickly as she could across the path. The cement felt hot and sticky under her pads as she dashed, and she could only think how grateful she would be to leave this place behind her.

The instant her paws hit ShadowClan territory, the tension seemed to melt out of the she-cat's shoulders. Nightheart paused there, about two fox-lengths away from the road's edge, to catch her breath. Her instincts were almost physically pulling her deeper into her Clan's murky homeland, but she managed to stay where she was and wait for Dustfall. The tom probably wasn't far behind her, and she supposed she did owe him a thank-you. Nightheart winced slightly, her cheeks growing hot. She still couldn't believe what had just happened to her, and the more she thought about it, the more foolish it seemed. She snorted angrily and bent her head to smoothe the ruffled fur on her chest under the pretense of nonchalance. In fact, after being tangled in the brush, her whole pelt would probably need a good cleaning.

[Roxie !]

OOC// Bump!