The Strength Within

The Strength Within
Written By: Gracesyn Powell
Edited By: Jessica Malley



Acknowledgements

I would like to, very sincerely, thank Erin Hunter, the wonderful Warriors, Seekers, and Survivors writer because she, quite frankly, helped me want to get out of my little nutshell and into the creative world of writing.
I would also like to thank Jessica Malley, my awesome editor, Goddess Mama, and my best friend for being there for me whenever I needed someone to look over my story.
Lastly, I would like to thank Elise M. Powell, also my Mama, for allowing me to become what I want to be, what I feel I had to be, to feel happy. I appreciate you and your neverending unconditional love.


Adherences
VentusClan
Alpha Male - Hawkspirit - Light brown 'tabby' rascal. : Gamma : Dustpaw
Alpha Female - Flightspirit - Pale tan dappled vixen. : Gamma : Littlepaw
Beta Male - Freedomstar - Dark brown 'tortishell' rascal.
Beta Female - Gingerstar - Ginger vixen.
Medicine Fox - Ashtail - Dark gray vixen with silvery orange 'tabby' stripes. : Gamma : Swiftpaw


Warden's - Fighters and hunters for the Clan, without pups.
Quailchase - Slender gray-brown vixen.
Smudgestripe - Silver-gray rascal. - Gamma - Yellowpaw
Blackwhisker - Black vixen with pale gray 'tabby' stripes.
Stumpystep - Short brown rascal. - Gamma - Nightpaw
Dawnpoppy - Light silver dappled vixen. - Gamma - Onepaw
Frostpelt - Bright white vixen. - Gamma - Longpaw
Crookedfoot - Pale gray rascal. - Gamma - Tallpaw


Gamma's - Next generation of Warden's, and one Medicine Fox Gamma.
Tallpaw - Tall, pale cream vixen. - Mentor - Crookedfoot
Longpaw - Long-tailed, dark gray rascal. - Mentor - Frostpelt
Onepaw - One-eyed vixen, gold-silver color. - Mentor - Dawnpoppy
Nightpaw - Pitch black rascal. - Mentor - Stumpystep
Swiftpaw - Short, small fiery red rascal. - Mentor - Ashtail
Littlepaw - Small white vixen. - Mentor - Flightspirit
Dustpaw - Dusty brown rascal. - Mentor - Hawskspirit


Empress's - Mothers of the pups.
Specklefur - Speckled pale 'tabby' cream vixen. Litter of five, Crookedfoot's mate


Dignitaries - Retired Empress's, Warden's, Medicine Foxe's, Beta's, and Alpha's.
Halfface - Ragged ex-Warden. Dark gray with black streaks.






TerraClan
Alpha Male - Treespirit - Dark brown-black russet rascal. : Gamma : Willowpaw
Alpha Female - Earthspirit - Beautiful 'calico' vixen. : Gamma : Mothpaw
Beta Male - Brackenstar - Silver-brown 'tabby' rascal.
Beta Female - Leafstar - Pale silver-cream 'tortishell'.
Medicine Fox - Spottedfoot - Spotted 'tortishell-tabby' vixen. : Gamma : Brindlepaw


Warden's - Fighters and hunters for the Clan, without pups.
Tornnose - Ginger-brown rascal.
Jaggedear - Brown russet rascal. - Gamma - Gorsepaw
Tawnyheart - Black-brown vixen. - Gamma - Runningpaw
Rockpelt - Stone gray rascal. - Gamma - Smallpaw
Brownclaw - Brown-silver 'tabby' rascal.
Mudtail - Muddy brown-gray vixen. - Gamma - Barkpaw
Starkbelly - Dark brown rascal.
Morningpoppy - Beautiful dappled brown vixen. - Gamma - Squirrelpaw


Gamma's - Next generation of Warden's, and one Medicine Fox Gamma.
Willowpaw - Dark golden 'tabby' vixen. - Mentor - Treespirit
Mothpaw - Pale cream-orange rascal. - Mentor - Earthspirit
Brindlepaw - Strange cream-gold striped vixen. - Mentor - Spottedfoot
Gorsepaw - Dark orange-cream rascal. - Mentor - Jaggedear
Runningpaw - Long legged pale silver vixen. - Mentor - Tawnyheart
Smallpaw - Small silver-orange rascal. - Mentor - Rockpelt
Barkpaw - Bark-colored vixen. - Mentor - Mudtail
Squrrielpaw - Bright orange-cream 'tortishell' vixen. - Mentor - Morningpoppy


Empress's - Mothers of the pups.
Patchthroat - Golden brown leopard spotted vixen. Litter of two, Jaggedear's mate.


Dignitaries - Retired Empress's, Warden's, Medicine Fox's, Beta's, and Alpha's.
Deadface - Retired Warden. Rascal, dark brown 'tabby'.






IgnisClan
Alpha Male - Flamespirit - Russet with golden-red 'tabby' stripes with a white tail-tip. : Gamma : Gingerpaw
Alpha Female - Sunspirit - Beautiful roan vixen with orange 'tortishell' markings. : Gamma : Thistlepaw
Beta Male - Coalstar - Dark orange rascal.
Beta Female - Fiercestar - Flaming red-orange vixen with a golden dappled pattern.
Medicine Fox - Lionbrook - Massive rascal of a pale cream-orange color. : Gamma : Goldenpaw


Warden's - Fighters and hunters for the Clan, without pups.
Spidertail - Small black rascal. - Gamma - Cinderpaw
Shadewhisker - Dark brown-red vixen.
Tigerstripe - Light brown 'tabby' rascal. - Gamma - Crowpaw
Dappleshine - Dappled reddish-orange vixen. - Gamma - Russetpaw
Boulderclaw - Dark silver-black rascal. - Gamma - Rowanpaw
Cedarwing - Fluffy pale orange vixen. - Gamma - Redpaw
Sagefang - Dark silver-orange rascal. - Gamma - Mousepaw
Birdthroat - Silvery-white vixen. - Gamma - Thornpaw


Gamma's - Next generation of Warden's, and one Medicine Fox Gamma.
Gingerpaw - Ginger roan vixen. - Mentor - Flamespirit
Thistlepaw - Dark cream, gray streaked, rascal. - Mentor - Sunspirit
Goldenpaw - Golden 'tabby' rascal. - Mentor - Lionbrook
Cinderpaw - Silver-orange vixen. - Mentor - Spidertail
Crowpaw - Dark gray rascal with black 'tabby' stripes. - Mentor - Shadewhisker
Russetpaw - Russet-roan vixen. - Mentor - Dapplepelt
Rowanpaw - Dark red rascal. - Mentor - Boulderclaw
Redpaw - Fiery orange-red rascal. - Mentor - Cedarwing
Mousepaw - Dusty silver-brown vixen. - Mentor - Sagefang
Thornpaw - Dark silver-gray rascal. - Mentor - Birdthroat


Empress's - Mothers of the pups.
Fernbrook - Slender, white-black vixen. Litter of four, Spidertail's mate.
Midnightfrost - Black vixen with pale silver 'tortishell' markings. Litter of six, Boulderclaw's mate.


Dignitaries - Retired Empress's, Warden's, Medicine Foxes, Beta's, and Alpha's.
Sandfur - Previous Medicine Fox. Dark red-black vixen.
Featherheart - Previous Empress. Dark golden-cream 'tabby' vixen.







AquaClan
Alpha Male - Marshspirit - Silver rascal with dark gray 'tabby' stripes. : Gamma : Reedpaw
Alpha Female - Riverspirit - Dark silver vixen with unusual black leopard spotting. : Gamma : Creekpaw
Beta Male - Waterstar - Light silver with pale cream 'tabby' markings.
Beta Female - Evenstar - Pale gray with golden brown stripes and white flecks.
Medicine Fox - Streampool - Black with pale silver-gray mottled 'tortishell' markings. Gamma : Jaypaw


Warden's - Fighters and hunters for the Clan, without pups.
Bluetail - Blue-gray vixen. - Gamma - Pebblepaw
Stormcreek - Dark gray rascal. - Gamma - Silverpaw
Clawstripe - White rascal with ginger splotches.
Darktail - Reddish-silver rascal.
Volepelt - Deep gray vixen. - Gamma - Webpaw
Leopardwhisker - Mottled silver-white vixen.
Icefang - White-gray rascal. - Gamma - Moonpaw
Cloudpoppy - Pale silver Vixen. - Gamma - Graypaw


Gamma's - Next generation of Warden's, and one Medicine Fox Gamma.
Pebblepaw - Pale black vixen. - Mentor - Bluetail
Silverpaw - Silver vixen. - Mentor - Stormcreek
Webpaw - Dark gray-white rascal. - Mentor - Volepelt
Moonpaw - Pale silver-black vixen. - Mentor - Icefang
Graypaw - Very dark gray rascal. - Mentor - Cloudpoppy
Jaypaw - Darkish silver rascal with pale cream flecks. - Mentor - Streampool
Creekpaw - Light red-orange rascal with handsome golden dapples. - Mentor - Riverspirit
Reedpaw - Musky gray vixen with beautiful silver-black 'tabby' stripes. - Mentor - Marshspirit

Empress's - Mothers of the pups.
Brightcloud - Bright orange-white vixen. Clawstripe's mate, litter of five.
Poolflower - Dark gray vixen with black 'tabby' stripes. Icefang's mate, litter of three.


Dignitaries - Retired Empress's, Warden's, Medicine Foxes, Beta's, and Alpha's.
Owlspirit - Previous Alpha Male. Dusty brown with darker brown streaked rascal.
Oakspirit - Previous Alpha Female. Slender orange-gray vixen.









Our Prophocey


Five will come,
One will die,
To truly repesent Spirit.

The One of the North must go where the wind blows.
The One of the East must go where the grass grows.
The One of the South must go where the fire glows.
The One of the West must go where the waters flow.
And The One of the Center, the Spirit, will go where the dead roam.

And in the Five will come peace and unity once more,
Never again retelling the story of the battle of the blood.






































Prologue
The moonlit meadow was peaceful. Ancient, forbidden warriors of SpiritClan shone above, reflecting upon a small, tranquil pool of water.
Slowly, but with no hesitation, eight fox figures emerged from the surrounding tree line of Lunae Meadow, four carrying the deep, mysterious, calming scents of vixens, the other four holding the strong, musky, thick scents of rascals.
A pair of silver-gray foxes padded from the West, sitting down and leaning forwards to touch the water with their slender, small, pointed muzzles, shattering the calm, peaceful surface.
Scarlet-orange foxes came in from the South, sitting a little ways away from the water, but laying down so that their own muzzles touched it.
From the East streamed dark brown, mud-streaked foxes, skidding to a stop just before the water, dropping gracefully to their haunches and touching it with their muzzles.
Last padded foxes with long legs, tails, and they had lighter pelts, and they came from the North. They, too, sat in front of the water and touched it.

Raising her muzzle from the water, the vixen of the West, Riverspirit, spoke, her voice quiet, but it radiated power, and disaproval. "Hawkspirit, Flightspirit. You are late. SpiritClan would not approve." Riverspirit's bright blue gaze caught the amber-golden one of Hawkspirit, the rascal of the North, and the beautiful pure gold with strange silver flecks of the vixen of the North, presumably Flightspirit.
Flightspirit reacted harshly, raising her haunches and snarling with such vile anger that it shocked Marshspirit, Riverspirit's mate, enough to make him shudder away from the surface of the pool. "You do not know what SpiritClan disapprove of, Riverspirit! Challenge me again and it will be the end of your lives!"
"A death threat, Flightspirit? No, lets not be irrational. The full moon hangs in the sky, and therefore the truce is active. Never in my reign have an Alpha's Meeting been adjorned due to a threat of another. Let us not have it happen now." Spoke up Flamespirit, the rascal of the South, and his mate, Sunspirit, the vixen, nodded, agreeing.
"Fine. But this is not over!" Growled Flightspirit, dropping to her hind paws with a final glare at Riverspirit and Marshspirit.
"Then allow the Meeting to begin!" The only Alpha's that had not spoken where those of the East, and now, Treespirit, the rascal, did speak, touching his nose more firmly to the water and closing his eyes, sleeping.
Following suit, each Alpha bent his and her head down to the water and finally dreamt the dreams from SpiritClan.
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Hours later, dawn approached, touching the sky with a pale pink hue, promising a sunny day.
Sixteen eyes, all at once, opened. They showed hope, excitement, joy... Yet they held faint traces of fear, and a revealed knowledge that made them nervous, and lastly, newly found wisdom glowed in their eyes.
Sunspirit, the vixen of the South, spoke slowly, pronouncing each word as if it where foreign. "Five foxes shall join our ranks?" Her lip curled in confusion, her eyes crinkling in question.
Flamespirit, her mate, replied in a husky, sleep-laden voice. "SpiritClan are mysterious in their all-knowing judgement and wisdom." Standing, Flamespirit touched his tail tip to Sunspirit's shoulder and together they raced from Lunae Meadow into the Southern forests beyond.
Knowing they must return, each Alpha stood, gestured goodbye's to one another, and then disapeared, letting the sun rise in a final word of banishing the moon until the next night.




























Sky
Warmth swept throughout the fluffed-up pelt of Sky, the tan-cream tabby rascal beloning to no one but himself.
Of course, his four well-known, well trusted, and very kind friends helped to fill his otherwise void life with adventure, making him laugh and smile when the days were hot and lonely.
His best riend was Soul, a slender black-silver vixen with suprisingly beautiul blue-gray eyes that reminded Sky of the full moon.
Everyone, meaning Rock, Blaze, and Rain seemed fixated upon Soul, which was, in Sky's mind, perfectly understandable. Sky himself adored the vixen and would, oddly enough, pledge his life to end in her name.
Appearing from the quiet and darkness of his den, Sky padded into the clear, cool night, sitting down a few tail-lengths away from the nearby foaming river. Wrapping his tail neatly around his paws, Sky raised his muzzle to the moon, or as he liked to call her, Luna.
At that moment, Soul came forth from the small place that was the foxes camp, touching her silvery-white tail tip to his shoulder in a gesture of welcome, of acceptace. She sat nimbly down beside him, her face tilted up towards Luna as well.
Sneakily looking at Soul, he caught her eye and he nuzzled her gently, licking her ear and then continuing to stare at the beautiful night sky silently.
Her voice, clear and calm, slid around the rascal like a sweet fog as Soul spoke. "Have I ever asked why you call the moon Luna, Sky?"
Replying calmly was an effort for Sky since this vixen made his blood pump harder, his breath come faster, his mind race, his heart leap into the air. "No, Soul, I don't believe you have." He spoke reasonably, but could hear the slight tremors in it that betrayed his emotions.
"Then why don't you tell me?" Soul's voice had gone soft, quiet, and her blue eyes bored into the golden-green ones of Sky.
"In the ancient rumors of the five warrior fox Clans, they are told to have a wonderful, forbidden, secret language that created peace throughout them. My... My mother fell in love with a rascal from the Clans. His name was Smudgestripe. I knew him breifly, since my mother decided to stay in VentusClan until I became old enough to decide whether I wanted to join them or stay with my mother if she continued to move around often. Smudgestripe, and my mother, taught me the language. Luna means Moon in it." His voice was hesitant and held a vunerability that the truth left in his heart.
"Do you know any more words from the language?" Soul sounded mildly curious, but the strongest emotion in her voice was worry, as if she could sense that this subject was highly sensitive for Sky, and that he was telling her the raw, cold, hating truth.
"A scarce few. I know what each of the Clan's names mean. Ventus is Wind, or Air. Aqua is Water. Terra means Earth. And Ignis is Fire. My favorites are, obviously, Luna. Her counterpart is Lunae, which means Moonlight." Sky replied, his voice warm and showing that he trusted Soul with this truth.
<i>Why do I feel I can trust her?</i> Thought the rascal silently, the whisper in his head voicing his distrust in most foxes that he came across.
Inwardly shaking his head and snapping his jaws, he listened closely to Soul's response.
"I like the language. It does, indeed, sound ancient and forbidden. Care for a hunt?" She abruptly changed the subject, though Sky could see that her curiousity was thinly restrained.
"Soul, you know I trust you. I will answer any questions you have for me." Sky's voice was soft, and quiet, but had lost its warmth, which was replaced with a growing coldness that reacted instantly whenever someone blantantly left something in Sky's past be. He ducked his head low, muzzle pressed to his chest as he tried to reason out the feelings in his heart and mind.
<i>I, truly, care for Soul. Why can't she see that?</i> He wanted to bark his sadness, then give into the calm sincerety that shadowed Soul's wonderful, pure, beautiful face.
"I know you trust me, Sky. I just don't want to pressure you into trying to tell me everything at once. Pasts are hard things to accept, and I know this. I understand it. I 'm giving you time to try to work through it, to try to breathe. You just got into our little group; I completely understand that you might be feeling like an outsidder, like someone who's not welcomed or wated. You <i>are</i> wanted here, Sky. You make us a whole, and not individuals without one another." Soul spoke quickly, finishing in a rush.
Blinking back a gleeful yip of happiness, Sky pressed his muzzle gently to her ear, shoulder, and finally her flank in gratitude. "Yes, Soul, I do happen to care for a hunt." He replied to her earlier question, grinning from ear to ear and licking her muzzle joyously.
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Returning a few hours later with fresh-kill dangling from his jaws, Sky padded into the small, but comfortable, camp that the five foxes had made. Soul's den rested in the center, while the others crowded around her.
Sky's den was in the North, followed by Rock's, which laid East. Next came Blaze's den, in the South, and lastly, Rain's den, in the West. The fresh-kill cave was located between Rock's and Blaze's den.
Easily sliding the two squirrels, thrush, and vole into the small opening just large enough for him to slip two paws into, he padded over to the nearest den, smelling the light, clean scent of Rock, the vixen that loved the earth, and in doing so, created the series of tunnels that led from the camp to the river, and under all of the Roaringroad's that intruded upon the foxes territory.
"Rock! Rock - it's time to get up!" The rascal barked into the entrance of the den, growling and shaking his head in mock annoyance.
Swishing his tail and then disappearing in time to see Rock, a boulder-colored, calico vixen with light brown dapples yawning and stretching on the outskirts of her den, Sky also noted that Soul had already awakened Blaze, the fiery orange rascal that was padding from his den and snapping his jaws, ears laid back, to awaken himsel.
Great. That left Rain.
"Rain? Rain, it's time to get up. We have breakfast." Sky's voice had gone soft and sweet, comforting and commanding, all at once.
Rain, however, was already awake, grooming her beautiul silver-white tabby pelt and shaking the remnants of moss, feathers, and softened brambles from herself.
Her curt reply set Sky at edge. "Yes, Sky, I've noticed. Thank you." Her response was smooth, and her crystal blue gaze caught that of Sky, and he turned his head, annoyed.
Obviously, she was hurt, and Sky's instant reaction came without him realizing it. "I'm sorry, Rain. I didn't mean to offend." He left, oddly calmed by her breif presence, her voice, just like he was Soul.
<i>Soul... No! Being distracted by Soul is not the solution! I must help my friends in survival, in keeping themselves alive and fed, and should not be swooning over a single vixen!</i>
Allowing himsel to smile, Sky padded rom the entrance of Rain's den, slowly making his way towards the center of camp, his head and tail drooping, ears laid flat against his head in anger, and sadness, but mostly fear, fear of being rejected.
"Sky? Sky, are you all right?" Soul's voice carried over the wind that had suddenly picked up, reaching Sky's ears and soothing his aroused nerves.
"Soul, you worry too much. And yes, I'm fine." He kept his voice carefully emotionless, protecting his feelings from harm.
"O-oh, okay." Soul stuttered in reply.
<i>Stuttering? Soul? Not possible, never!</i> The rascal thought with an inward smile. He nuzzled her gently, but it didn't hold the normal affection that he expressed for this special vixen.
"Can you come to the river with me, please? I have to fish for Rain or else she'll claw my ears off." Sky joked, then his facial turned serious. "Plus, the river, I think, is a great place to think." He left the sentence at that, though he desperately desired to say, <i>And I like being with you while I think.</i>
He said it quietly, and he awkwardly raised a paw, licked it, and drew it over his whiskers and ear, then placed it back on the hard-packed ground.
"I'll of course come to the river with you! We need all the fresh-kill we can get right now, what with winter coming along and everything." Soul had leapt to her paws, excitedly circling the waiting rsacal with a delighted gleam in her eyes.
"Soul! Calm down." He smiled now, his ears tilted forwards with intrest. Sky stood, swished his tail in beckoning, and padded from the camp entrance and towards the river that laid to the East, splitting into the two that encircled the camp, creating a quiet, calm aclove, away from the rest of the noisy world.
"I can't calm down, Sky! I'm just so excited to fish! I know you taught me only a few moons ago, but still, I think I'm a pretty decent fisher. I mean, really, c'mon. You see Rain's face after I bring her back fresh-kill!" Bouncing along at his side, Soul was speaking with a joyous air around her, and her tail twined with Sky's.
"Okay, okay! I get it, your a good fisher, Soul. I understand that your happy; so am I, but just calm down!" His voice held merriment as well, and he laughed with a small wink at the vixen as they reached the river.
"Thank you, Sky." Soul said suddenly as Sky began to tower over the edge of river, making it so that way his shadow hardly fell upon it as he searched for fish.
He jerked back as if she had snapped at him and bit his ear, hard. "For what?" His voice held concealed suprise, but also somehow he managed to sound hurt. Sky was sure it confused Soul and not only Sky himself.
"For being here for me." Gently pressing her muzzle into his thick, fluffy pelt, Soul nuzzled Sky with true affection.
"I don't deserve to be here! I'm nothing but a mouse-brain with no love!" He hissed, leaping away and baring his jaws in anger, but sadness shone in his eyes.
"Sky? Why are you doing this?" Soul sounded close to tears, but Sky remained headstrong on his journey, his path, to destroying Soul without meaning it.
"I'm doing this because I love it here, but I don't deserve to be near you! I don't think that I belong here, Soul..." Sky's hard demeanor slipped as he said, "I love you, Soul, with all of my being. I just don't think I should." He choked back a sob, whirrled around, and disappeared into the ferns and reeds beside the river and ran, ran away from Soul, the vixen he loved.





























Rock
The dream came again, and Rock knew it.
Rock dreamt of starry foxes with hard-to-see faces. There were eight of them; in each dream, they told her their names.
Four were vixens, and the other four were rascals. Rock could tell from the scents.
The four vixens were known as Birdspirit, Groundspirit, Wildspirit, and lastly, Streamspirit. Next came the rascals; Eaglespirit, Sandspirit, Fangspirit, and then there was Pebblespirit.
Why they had 'spirit' at the end of their names, Rock was lost.
"Hello, Rock. You are welcomed into SpiritClan." The voice of Birdspirit, who always seemed to be calming and unsettling all at once, came to Rock's awaiting ears.
"What is SpiritClan? Maybe I don't want to be welcomed, to be wanted here! I don't even know you." Rock cried, leaping to her paws, raising her muzzle, and howling.
"Calm yourself immediately, Rock! You are acting like a mere pup in the presence of eight of perhaps the best Alphas the forest has ever seen!" Commanded Fangspirit, who stood next to Wildspirit, clearly his mate.
"You have no right to tell me what to do! I don't know what an Alpha," here Rock spoke the word slowly, tasting it upon her tongue, "is, or who you all are! And nor do I care. Get. Out. Of. My. Dreams!" And with a final, violent jerk, Rock was awakened by Sky, the rascal she had befriended a while ago, telling her it was time to get up.
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Padding sleepily from her den, Rock stretched, yawned, and settled down to begin grooming her ruffled boulder-colored pelt, feeling the comfort of the earth, solid and clean, beneathe her eagerly awaiting paws.
"Rock! Hello, Rock." Rain, the pretty silver-white tabby that always seemed to sense others unease, spoke quietly, but beckoned her a moment later.
"Yes, Rain?" Rock asked, keeping polite and cool, though her paws itched to be racing over the plains and away from the fear that was instantly brought into her soul after each time she dreamed it.
"I just wanted to see if you would please show me how to hunt in the trees like you can." Rain was obviously very nervous, ducking her head and then awkwardly licked the dark gray splotch of fur on her chest, making a rumbling in her chest.
"Of course, Rain! I'd be honored." Growling in the form of a purr, Rock gently pressed her muzzle into Rain's left ear, smiling kindly and then standing, padding quickly and quietly out of camp, watching Soul and Sky leave right in front of her.
"Where are we going?" Rain's voice sounded behind Rock, though the vixen had known that she had been following.
"We're going from the river so that way Soul and Sky can talk. I mean, seriously, you can see how the other look at one another." Rock threw Rain another smile, then continued. "We're going North, to the grasslands and then, after that, the forests. I'm so excited! I've never been there with someone else. But we'd better head to the tunnels just in case of the stupid Twowalkers." Stiffling a small laugh as Rain wrinkled her nose at the mention of the network of tunnels underneathe all the Roaringroad's, she padded onto the moor that stretched until the horizion that was quickly lightening with the promise of a warm, sunny day.
"Its so beautiful." Rain breathed, smiling at the sun and tilting her head up to recieve its clear, calming light.
"Indeed." Replied Rock, breathing in deeply. Though she did desire to run and play and mock-fight with Rain, it was time for training, and this she understood well. "There's not much art to tree-hunting. You climb up a tree, then you stalk prey by hopping silently from branch to branch. After you pounce, you kill, and then eat, your fresh-kill. Simple. Want me to show you?"
Rain's eyes had gone wide, and her mouth had flopped open. "Easy? Simple? No art?" She squeaked, very clearly baffled by Rock's easy attitude with tree-hunting.
Rock smiled and nodded. "That's right. Here, I'll show you." They had, by that point, reached the trees and now, Rock chose a old, ivy-invested oak, quickly reaching out with her claws and catching them in the wood, testing her grip, then skimming up the rest of the tree, waving her tail for balance.
"Oh, my! What are you doing all the way up there?" Rain shouted from below.
"Shh! You'll scare off all the prey from here to the river!" Growled Rock, shaking her head in disdain.
Easily catching her awaiting eyes, a squrriel hovered over Rock's head, waving his tail and cocking his head from side to side.
Scrambling up the bark with grace and ease, Rock glided closer to the squrriel, smiling cruelly before reaching out with her claws, catching it perfectly and bringing it to her jaws, snapping his neck.
Tossing down the kill, she hurridly jumped down beside him and nudged it towards Rain, who was wide-eyed yet again.
"Go ahead, eat it." Rock urged quietly, sitting back on her haunches and sighing softly.
Glancing at the food, then taking it from Rock gently, Rain began to eat the fresh-kill, hesitantly at first, but as soon as the flavor hit her tongue, Rain instantly began to chew it more quickly, finishing in a few, quick greedy gulps.
"Like it much?" Rock joked, nudging the vixen with a small smile and a flick of her ears. "Now, you try."
"I can't! Your so graceful and perfect at it, Rock. I'll look like a mouse-brained fool against you!" She replied bluntly.
Rock shook her head and then nuzzled Rain gently. "No, you wouldn't. You'd look new at it, and unsure how to do it. How about we do it together?"
At this, Rain brightened a tad. "Okay... Together. That I can handle." She replied, her voice shaking slightly as she spoke, but her eyes shone with stubborness and determination.
"Good. Now, I'll go first, then you follow me. All right?" Rock said, raising her paws and clutching at the bark with ease.
"Okay." Rain nodded, clutching the bark as well with sharp, curved claws that retracted with a sudden gasp and shiver from Rain's direction. She fell, heaving a huge breath when she was able to stand again.
"Rain! Rain, are you alright?" Rock slid down the tree, leaping the last tail-length to to ground, shuddering with impact and then racing directly to Rain, who was unsteadily wobbling to the tree.
"I'm fine! I just want to try again, okay?" Rain snapped, glaring in Rock's direction and then padding back up to the tree, gripping its strong, sturdy bark with her paws, extending her claws and placing her hind paws right behind her front, then began to climb, her head stretched up. She reached one of the lowest branches just as Rock was climing up behind her, gazing down at the ground with wonder. "Its so.. High." She murmured.
"That's kind of the point." Rock responded, trying to hide her hurt and pain in her voice with a nonchalant flick of her tail.
"I know. But, wow, I'm really tall." She smiled slightly then continued to jump from branch to branch, jaws parted to taste the air for fresh-kill.
Scuttling above her head was a mouse, and Rain stood onto her hind paws and reached out with her claws, spearing it through its stomach with mercy, then snapping its neck with a final shove off the tree, sliding down the bark and then landing with a faint, muted thump and then passing it to Rock, who was jumping down from branch to branch.
"Thanks." She nodded briskly, eating with such a frenzied gratitude that it shocked even Rock herself. Finishing with a final swipe of her jaws, she glanced up sheepishly at Rain.
Finally realizing how late it was, she instantly leaped to her paws, exclaiming, "We've been gone far too long! C'mon, lets get to camp." She raced down the hill, gracefully speeding into camp to see Soul crouched over a body, marred and broken, with tears making darker streaks across her muzzle.
She raised her head, looking directly into Rock's eyes, and she murmered, "Its Forrest. He's been gravely injured."





























Blaze
The sun beat down upon the pelt of a reddish-orange tabby rascal, his head tilted up towards the welcoming, loving light of his ally.
Suddenly, Soul, the leader of the five foxes, came into camp, another fox slung over her body, matching her slender, graceful frame.
"Its Forrest. He's been gravely injured." She murmered to the newly-arrived Rock and Rain, the beautiful vixens; Rock was boulder colored, her pelt also streaked with brown, like the earth that she seemed so closely affinitied with, Rain a small, frail-looking silver-white with bright, sky-blue eyes.
Soul suddenly snapped into action, the saddened look in her eyes fading to show the once-familiar determination. "Blaze, Rock, get to my den, grab my store of herbs, and then get back here! Rain, I need you to find Sky, because we need all the help we can get. After you find him, send him home, then go out to find the other foxes around here."
Rain nodded, and then was a mere blur racing from camp.
Rock was already headed towards the den that was Soul's, centered in the middle of the clearing. She beckoned with her tail shortly to Blaze, who had scrambled to his paws and was galloping after Rock with a pant escaping his jaws.
"No fox can easily be injured like that." Rock breathed as she raced back out, Blaze hard on her paws as she dropped off one of the stores, racing back for more. Blaze, however, stayed, focusing on helping massage all over Forrest, the night-black rascal that was Soul's brother, friend, and companion in the hardest of times.
A broken cough came from his parted jaws, and his eyes rolled open to show dark blue depths, matching the velvet indigo of the night. "Blaze?" He whispered, having another spout of coughing. "Where's Soul?" Forrest asked, struggling to try to get to his paws.
"Shh, brother, I am here." Soul's voice said gently, her eyes catching that of her brother's. "I'm here." She repeated slowly, firmly, but kindly, pressing a paw to Forrest's flank to stop him from standing. "Here, eat these herbs with water, eat, and then rest in my den." She suggested, handing him the vole that Sky had brought into camp earlier, along with the water-soaked ball of moss, and also the herbs.
Choking down the herbs, water, and eventually the fresh-kill, Soul and Blaze helped the young rascal limp to Soul's den, where he rested in her nest. Exiting the den silently, Soul followed Blaze to exit of camp.
Rain, then, raced in, Sky hard at her heels and her jaws parted in a pant. "He's here!" She flopped down, flanks heaving and her eyes closed with exhaustion.
"Where. Have. You. Been?!" Hissed Soul, hackles raised in anger, annoyance, but mostly sadness, her fur fluffed out, claws unsheathed.
"I've been hunting." Came Sky's curt reply, dropping a bit of fresh-kill at Soul's paws.
"You've no need to hunt! We have plenty of prey." She replied angrily, her lip curled in a snarl.
"Calm yourself! You'll upset our paitent." Rock's voice came softly from the East, where she sat, her tail swept over her paws elegantly. She raised her head, and with dark amber eyes flecked with gold and green, looked upon Sky, Soul, and even Blaze in consideration.
"You're right, Rock. Thank you." Soul breathed in deeply, her eyes closing breifly before she opened them again, rage and sadness dimmed. "Sky, thank you for catching fresh-kill. I am grateful for you. Meanwhile, let myself, Rock, Rain, and Blaze breif you upon recent events."
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Blaze listened silently as Soul told the story, from the beginning.
"I was in the forest, looking for Sky, since he and I spoke and he went to catch fresh-kill. I called for him, but he wasn't around. I heard someone grunt, then bark, and I thought I saw dark fur, so I padded over and saw Forrest, marred and bloody."
Soul had to take a deep breath to continue. "I asked him what was wrong, where he was hurt, but Forrest was unconcious, so I slung him over my own body and padded back to camp." She finished in a rush, her head low.
"You did everything you could, Soul." Blaze heard himself saying softly, touching his tail tip gently to her shoulder in a caring, kind gesture.
Soul flinched as though he had stung her, but the rascal was too prideful to notice.
"I did, but I don't think it was enough." She replied brokenly.
"But, Soul, it was." Sky spoke up, softly touching his nose to her shoulder.
Instead of flinching, like she did with Blaze, Soul leaned into the touch and growled, purring in the fox way.
"I tried.." She sighed, then stood up fully and cleared her eyes by blinking. "Alright. Well, we have got to get new herbs for healing in store, and then catch more prey. Rock, Rain, please go tree-hunting again. Sky, Blaze, please remain here, watching over camp, while I go herb-searching. Thank you." She stood, swept her tail over the hardened earth, then padded from camp.
Blaze, following Soul's instructions immediately, padding calmly up to the outcropping rock nicknamed Watch Tower by the foxes because you could look up over all the dens, into the forests and praries beyond and see anyone that approached, or left.
Sky was right behind him, facing North while Blaze directed his gaze South.
Sky's voice was deep, thick with odd emotion that Blaze had never heard of before in Sky. "Thank you, Blaze. Thank you for helping her, for helping everyone here. Including me." He muttered, clearly idnigant at thanking his fellow rascal.
Blaze had no need to ask who 'she' was. He had a pretty good idea. "Your welcome, Sky. I have a question, though."
"What?"
"Do you love Soul?" Blaze's question held no anger, nor rage. It held mere curiousity, laced with understanding.
"I.. I think I do. I'm just not sure, Blaze. I don't know whether she loves me back." Replied Sky, a little shaky but otherwise truthful.
"I think I understand that, Sky. I'm not sure I love anyone here, for sure, but I certainly think the one is out there, waiting. Somewhere." He finished a little awkwardly.
Sky chuckled, though not unkindly. "I know that there is someone out there for each and every fox, Blaze. I'm just not sure if Soul is my one." Sky looked up and then sighed, watching his Northern horizon keenfully.
Sighing and turning from the North to face Southward again, Blaze gave a slight snort and then continued watching.
Suddenly appearing from the East streamed Soul, Rain, and Rock, all carrying things in their jaws. The warm, clean scent of fresh-kill greeted Blaze's parted jaws, then the sharp twang of herbs recently picked.
"Welcome home!" While paying attention to the horizon, Blaze had missed that Sky had jumped down, padded over to Soul, and gently licked her forehead in greeting.
"Thank you. All is well?" Soul's reply came faint in the breeze that had picked up, and Blaze had to strain to hear the young vixen.
"Yes. The horizon stayed clear throughout your absence, Soul." Sky replied, his voice smart but cautious, since he could probably see the strange, cold, out of character look on Soul's face.
"Very well." Nodding, Soul dissapeared into her den, the herbs that had been dropped picked up and obviously placed in her private store.
"Blaze?" A voice came from the West, and Blaze could tell by the sweet, gentle scent of a vixen that it was Rain.
"Yes, Rain?" Blaze's reply was smooth and soft, but very clear against the whipping wind.
"I was wondering if you would help me fish later?" Rain asked, padding up to Blaze's lookout spot and sitting beside him, wrapping her tail neatly against her paws, her muzzle pointed towards Blaze.
"Sure, how about now? We do need all the fresh-kill we can get." He replied, smiling slightly and then pushing his muzzle into her pelt gently.
"Now is great!" Rain leapt to her paws and licked his ears with joy then narrowed her eyes, clearly embarrased at her open happiness and love for him.
"All right." Blaze smiled again and headed towards the river, padding through the thorn tunnel, his head and tail held high.
<i>Maybe I love her.. Maybe Rain is my one.</i> The rascal thought hesitantly, ears flicking back to capture the soft, quiet padding of Rain following him, hesitant at first but growing more and more bouncy.
"I hear that you learned to tree-hunt?" Asked Blaze, looking into the clear, cool blue eyes that he loved.
"Yes! Rock showed me right before Forrest turned up and all this drama started." Rain waved her tail, the tip flicked back slightly as she struggled to not burst out a joyous yip.
"I'm glad, but I'm sure, being a watery kind of fox, you prefer hunting?"
"Mostly, but tree-hunting is very sufficent for fat, juicy squirrels, whereas I'm mainly the only one who will eat the salmon, minnows, and pinkfish from the rivers. I know Soul appreciates a nice salmon, though." Rain replied, keeping her voice open yet guarded; Blaze could tell.
"Very nice. Ah, here we are!" Blaze nodded at he river with his slender muzzle, somehow managing to find it upon himself to smile, though emotions raged beneathe his tough, arrogant, aggressive exterior.
"Thank you, Blaze." Rain smiled slightly in response, bending over the river to catch a flying fish in her mouth gracefully, snapping his neck and then laying it over Blaze's paws.
A cold, sickening jolt ran through Blaze as the icy water touched his paws, and, spitting, he leaped back, fur fluffed up and eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
"Blaze! Calm down." Rain's voice came through the automatic brain of Blaze, awakening him from his temporary daze.
"Sorry." Raising his gaze hesitantly from his paws and the fish, Blaze stared into Rain's eyes with a small flick of his tail.
"I promise, Blaze, next time I won't place the fish on your paws, but really, that was a bit dramatic." She chuckled good-humoredly, and caught Blaze's amber-gold gaze and held it steadily, clearly annoyed by trying to cover it.
"Thanks." He replied sheepishly, looking at her pelt, glossy and shiny underneathe the hot sun, which had reached its peak.
"It is not a problem, Blaze." Rain smiled slighly, then nuzzled him towards the fish.
The pinkish blue hue of the pinkfish made Blaze want to shudder, since it reminded him of a blood-stained river.
Touching it roughly with a claw, Blaze decided, why not? Bending his neck out, Blaze gripped the fish firmly in between his teeth and ate it, avoiding the bones, and with happiness, buried them in the riverbed.
"Not bad, huh?" Asked Rain, smiling, her head and neck lowered over the river and her claws outsretched with a fat minnow dangling nimbly from one of the blackish-gray talons.
"Not bad, indeed." He replied, joyous again.
"Good. I get this one, then we'll catch more for the others, all right?" Rain asked, sighing and eating her minnow. After finishing it, she swiped her pink, sand-papered tongue over her whiskers and muzzle to catch the remnants. Also burying her bones, she padded up to the river and taught a young rascal, madly in love, how to fish.





























Rain
Rain was joyous upon her return to the camp, Blaze trotting contentedly at her side with a small smile on his face.
"Thank you, Rain." Soul suddenly appeared at Rain's other side, flicking her sliver-white tail tip gently to Rain's flank in greeting and thanks.
"Your welcome. It really wasn't at all a problem." Basking in Soul's praise, she watched as the beautiful black-gray vixen padded off with the fresh-kill hanging limply between her jaws.
"Well. I'm going to go take a nap while the sun is still out." Glancing upwards, Rain watched as Blaze walked away, tail high and straight at his back, waving goodbye.
Nodding slightly, and blinking her sky blue eyes, Rain padded to the fresh-kill den and grabbed a still-warm squirrel, gripping it firmly on its small spine. Slowly walking across the camp grounds, Rain thought over the events of the day.
So far, Forrest had arrived, and had been gravely injured, but soon after being discovered, treated with medicine and herbs from Soul's private store. Rain had explored with Blaze, catching fish in the abundant river near the camp and had further improved her relationship status with him, hinting that she liked him more as a mate then a friend. Rock had become wiser in the last couple of days, and had clearly become expeirenced in tree-hunting and Rain had also learned how to do so as well.
Today hadn't been the worst day, but nor the best. She had most definately had better, but also not.
<i>I shall go and visit Forrest, groom him, tend his wounds, feed him, then go to sleep after eating.</i> Rain decided, heading to the den that was centered almost perfectly in the camp.
Soul's den was made of a hollowed out tree trunk of a beautiful, but dangerous, weeping willow tree surrounded with ferns, bracken, and a small trickle of water that only ran after a good storm. Her nest was lined in beautiful stones, feathers, and moss, with softened and weather-worn bracken, recently collected and unthorned. Another nest, tucked neatly into the corner, was also made in a similar fashion; in this nest, however, was not the slumbering shape of Soul, lithe and gracious.
In this nest was the dark brown, black and cream striped shape of Forrest, with shattered and broken breaths racking his body. A weak cough vibrated dimly around the den, and as Rain approached, a broad and handsome head rose, and Rain heard a deep, calming breath be taken.
"Rain." The small word and short way it was said was normal for Forrest, for he was not one for long talks. Forrest was instead a fox of wisdom and hidden, ancient knowledge.
"Yes, Forrest. It is I." Replied Rain, dropping the squirrel gently at his side and nuzzling him on his flank. "I came here to redress your wounds, give you fresh-kill, and ask if you would like a grooming. It'll help get rid of pesky fleas and anything that could infect you."
"That'd be greatly appreciated, Rain. Thank you."
"Welcome." Bending down to inspect the damage, and using a light and gentle touch while doing it, Rain rubbed her wide, curved paws over his body, rolling his shoulders and legs into a more comfortable position, working her way down to his tail, where a nasty slash ran down the side and up to the tip. "I've never seen wounds like these before. What inflicted them?" Rain murmered, keeping her tone quiet and respectful, in case Forrest had fallen asleep.
It turned out he hadn't, but Forrest's voice was rough with grogginess, as if he had been recently sleeping. "Badgers."
"Badgers?! But their bites are deadly!" Rain replied, eyes wide and paws thumping heavily back onto the floor of the den.
"Yes, I know." Forrest's voice was now gruff, and he was clearly annoyed but was also trying to hide it.
"Alright. I think I collected some burdock, chamomile, cinnamon, chervil, and dock earlier. I'll be back in a second; do me a favor, Forrest, and start twitching and moving your limbs, please." Rain padded to a small cleft in the wall, fox-made with more moss, bracken, and feathers, but mostly stones, heavy and slightly bigger then the pebbles laid casually against Soul's nest.
Reaching her paw inside, she felt for the root and leaves of burdock, the stem of chamomile, a slightly prickly but smooth surface of cinnamon, the strange wetness of chervil, and lastly, dock, rounded into a fine point.
Chewing up her herbs into a polutice, and adding the sweet cinnamon ontop, she padded back towards Forrest, carrying the mixture in her jaws gingerly, attempting not to spill it onto the sandy floor.
Sitting at Forrest's side, she pressed the leaf upon his fresh-kill to both lessen the bitterness and force him to eat it without vomiting, Rain pushed the squirrel to his paws and watched her paitent gulp it down obdiently, but heard him comment, "Yuck. I knew they'd be foul!"
"I sweetened it quite alot, Forrest, so it should have been better than without the cinnamon." Replied Rain, smiling slightly.
"Thank you." Responded Forrest, joining her in her smile. "Now, can I just have a tad more on my wounds, and then can I please have a good grooming? A terrible flea has been biting at me all morning and I cannot stand it." Growling the form of the unique foxish purr, he laid down again, but left plenty of room on his nest for Rain to curl in beside him.
Purring as well, Rain circled him and added the polutice to his wounds, cleaning them before and after to thoroughly disinfect them. Beginning at his head and working her way down, she groomed the rascal with happiness, continuing her purring and then finishing a moment later.
Standing and shaking off the remnants of moss and feathers, she padded out and headed towards the cleft of rock that held all the caught fresh-kill, following her previous plan to eat then sleep after tending to Forrest.
Sliding her paw into the den, she reached for a fish, slimy but tasty, and ate it hurridly before trotting to her own den, circling into her den with a grateful blink at the swath of bright silver stars against the darkening skies, sleep claimed Rain with a soft caress of a promise to dream again.
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Dreaming was normally peaceful for Rain. This night, however, it was not.
Eight foxes were gathered around a small pool of water, heads tilted down towards the gently rippling and lapping waves that threatened to claim their paws.
Two, however, stood out against the rest; silver pelts glittered with stars that paled in comparison to their beautiful coats.
"Streamspirit, Pebblespirit." Rain greeted the rascal and vixen warmly, padding up to them to touch muzzles affectionately.
"Rain!" They purred, but the welcome was not echoed by the rest of the foxes gathered. Rain remembered their names clearly - Birdspirit and Eaglespirit sat North. Groundspirit and Sandspirit faced East, Wildspirit and Fangspirit South, and lastly sat Streamspirit and Pebblespirit, facing West.
"You know of the prophecy, young one. You know what you must do." Wildspirit, the vixen of the South, spoke, her voice ringing loudly and cooly against the whispering winds and the bubbling of the water.
"I do know of it, Wildspirit. I respect you, certainly, but I do not accept the fact that I would have to leave Blaze." Rain's voice held caution, wariness, and slight fear, but it held steady and calm.
"But, Rain, you wouldn't. Blaze has a choice whether he will truly join IgnisClan, or if he will remain a noble and respected loner." Replied Sandspirit, Wildspirit's mate. His voice was careful, but hinted hope.
"If he left his rightful Clan alone, he wouldn't truly be a member of the Five, would he?" Rain paused, then added when no one answered, "So I thought. I want to remain myself, without being a part of the prophecy, without my mate. I do not accept it, nor do I wish to."
"Rain.. You have no choice." Birdspirit, speaking from the North, decided to come into the conversation with her light and ferocious respone.
"I do have a choice! It is my life, and therefore, I control it." Rain's own voice was feirce and held no trace of the earlier fear.
"No, Rain, you do not have control of everything in your life." Birdspirit replied, her green-gold eyes glittering with anger.
"But don't you see, Birdspirit? She is correct." Pebblespirit said, his voice soft and quiet. The yip was echoed firmly by Streamspirit, who said, "Yes, Pebblespirit is right in that point, though I disagree with Rain in her main idea; the fact that SpiritClan holds no power and control in her life." Looking directly at Rain with peircing gray-amber eyes, Streamspirit's silver pelt rippled gently against the pale, silver light of the moon.
"I never said that your Clan held no power in my life. I simply stated that I was not one to be directed by your ways and your path. I would, of course, be willing to be with Blaze if my, or his, position in our seperate Clan's was not judged by others, and possibly your Alpha's. This is not true in the traditional warriors code of ethics, and those ethcis I choose not to follow."
"The SpiritClan ethics must be changed, anyhow, Rain. We could make exceptions for each of the unique relationships that have been formed along the way of the path on your way to becoming one of the Five." Groundspirit, the rascal of the East, spoke smoothly, rising to his paws to pad over to Birdspirit. Nudging her gently to her paws, he circled back towards Sandspirit, and lastly Streamspirit.
"Goodbye, Rain. We expect your answer by tomarrow, at moonhigh." With a final lick to the ear, Streamspirit began to fade, Pebblespirit shadowing her. Last to leave was Birdspirit, and she left with a dark look to Rain.