River of Diamonds

[cinder]

The morning was warm, even though the sun had not taken to the sky yet. The heavy velvet curtain of the night still hung over the river that snake its way through the forest. Stars glittered in the sky like the small crystals filled with light. The first birds were beginning their songs, telling the world that the sun would soon make its way to the sky. A lazy fog drifted over the water, making it look all the more magestic, water glittering in the now dim light.

The sun was starting to awaken, and so was the earth. More and more birds joined into the song and welcomed all of the other waking creatures back to life. All of the small critters of the day were coming to life, and the creatures of the night were going to sleep. Nothing in the camp of cats had yet come to life, but they were coming closer to wakefulness by the moment.

Within the warriors den, cats lay here and there in their nests, some curled in bals, other streached out as odd angles. The deep breathing of the cats was rhythmic and soothing, but one cat rested uneasily. Her breathing erratic and uneven, air coming in and out of her lungs in gasps and small mews of discomfort. Her paws moved sparadically, as if she were running while leaying on her side. The silver fur on her smal lethe body stood on end, and her small chest heaved as the dream continued in her mind. Her pretty face was pinched into a sad expression, and tears rad down her cheeks, leaving trails of dark on her face.

Within her mind Morningsong saw her deepest fears played out. She was running through the forest, her feet pounding against the earth in a fast rhythm. She was chasing two cats through the forest, two older cats, and she herself was young again only a few moons old. As she chased them, a large animal, one that she had never seen before came out before them. The two cats stopped dead and turned to her, looks of horror on their faces. The thing reached out and took the forst cat in its jaws....

Morningsong awake with a scream and jolted upright. It was just a dream, but it had felt so real, they always did. It had been a long time since she had gotten a good nights sleep. Morning looked around to see if she had woken any of the other members of the warriors den, but it seemed that they were all still slumbering. Slowly, she got to her feet and padded to the main camp, her breathing coming back to normal. Smooth muscles rippled beneath her pelt as she moved, making her coat look almost like the river itself. Slowly she padded out of the camp and to the edge of the river.

Morningsong slid into the water and savored the feel of the water and current against her. She let the water wash away all of the felings that the dream had stirred up, and let the steady strength of the water calm her. Morning stood there for a few more moments, and then pulled herself from the glimmering depths. She sat on the banks and gave herself a bath to clean herself and remove some of the water from her coat, and then trotted back to the heart of the camp and laid down on the clearing. She had better lay here so that she didn't wake anyone else up, they would all be awake and ready to start the day soon anyway.

As she lay in the clearing, her mind ran wild with what it was that could possibly be wrong with her.

[Goldenpaw]

Goldenpaw
I'm learning to breathe, I'm learning to crawl ~
(I'm finding that you and you alone can break my fall)[/i][/color][/size]

First light found Goldenpaw lying in her nest in the apprentices' den, as it usually did. As the early rays began to heat her long fur, she stirred and opened her eyes. The day was already warm, she noted drowsily; it would be perfect for fishing in the shade.

The other apprentices were still asleep, but she stepped carefully around them in order to get to the entrance of the den. The camp was so still as to seem empty for the moment, but the scent trails she picked up seemed to indicate that, this time, Goldenpaw was not the first one awake. Morningsong, her mentor, had awoken first.

There was a noise in the rushes outside the camp, and the apprentice shrank back into her den. From its protective shadow, she could see... that the noise was none other than Morningsong returning, damp, from whatever expedition she had made.

A few moments of watching reassured the small blue-silver-gold-patched cat that she had nothing to fear, no enemy was going to arrive, and accordingly she padded out into the clearing again. Her mentor looked a little strange, but Goldenpaw couldn't quite understand how or why. Something that smelled a bit like fear hung around her--but that couldn't be so, could it?

She sat down within Morningsong's line of sight and meowed her greetings to the older she-cat. Sleep still tugged at the edges of her mind, but it was beginning to wear off by now in the warm light of the day. And curiosity was beginning to take its place; rather than suppress her questions, the apprentice asked outright, "What were you doing out there?"

(I'm living again, awake and alive)
~ I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

[/size][/color][/right]

[cinder]

As morningsong lay in the clearing of the camp, the first of life began to show. She smiled as she senced that it was her apprentice Goldenpaw; laughing slightly when she saw the younger cat jump back into the apprentice den as she aproaced. After she was laying in the clearing, the younger cat came back out of the den, and approaced.Morningsong gave her a quiet greeting as she approached.

"What were you doing out there?"

Goldenpaw had always been one to be honest, usually it was a quality that Morning valued, but by the look on the apprentices face, she was guessing that she had seen more than she wanted her to. She had not had on the mask of perfect calmness that she usually wore. Not counting on someohe seeing her, she had let the mask slip a little and let all of the pain and confusion show through.

Her attention came back to the smaller cat. She looked her over and thought for a moment before she gave an answer to the quwtion that had been asked of her.

"Always the one to ask the question that is on her mind arent you? But that is how you learn, it is a good trait to have, and will help you as an apprentice. I went out for an early morning swim... And what might you be doing up at the crack of noon?