Alone (Open House!)

[☼Lichen☼]

The new leader stood tall and proud in the marshes, waiting, watching, alone. His forest green eyes stared at the tangle of thorns before him. As the wind ruffled his normally flattened fur, Lichenstar sniffed in and smelled nothing but stale fox. Very stale fox. His face was scar free at the moment, happily he hadn't been in many battles in his life. He was young and full of energy and life.

As the white sky bleeded down on him, Lichenstar knew rain would come soon. His nose twitched as he felt the first drop, then the second until a steady drizzle slowly soaked his fur, inside and out. He shivered, getting used to the cold, but did not move, even though there was the dry shelter of a maple a few feet away from him.

Lonliness crept upon him as he stood, yet he said nothing as he heard approaching paw steps. He hadn't many friends, he was quiet as an apprentice and when he became a warrior, only the old leader knew his other side. He would show more of the cats that this new leader could be fun and adventurous. Now if only the cat behind him would speak.

[Eaglefeather]

Eaglefeather padded through the marshes, her siamese form blending in smoothly with the smudgy plants that surrounded her. The scent of rain was thick in the air around the scent of the rabbit that dangled from her jaws. The rabbit was quite plump and smelled absolutely delightful. Eaglefeather felt rather proud of her catch. Who said a medicine cat couldn't hunt prey instead of herbs?

The first few, slow drops of rain began to spiral in silver orbs from the sky. Eaglefeather mumbled and hunched her shoulders as the rain splattered against her fur. She hated the rain. She hated feeling wet to her skin, and she hated the way the mud stuck to her paws whenever she had to dig up herbs in this miserable weather. Eaglefeather paused, glancing around for a petruding rock to hide beneath and wait the storm out, then spotted Lichenstar, her new leader. Eaglefeather stood there for a moment. She still could not get use to seeing Lichenstar at the head of the Clan instead of her previous leader. Wasn't Lichenstar too young to be a leader anyway? He was barely even a kit in Eaglefeather's mind. But she knew she was only comparing his age to her own; compared to Lichenstar, Eaglefeather was an old wad of dirt; a wad of dirt that had rolled into the farthest, dustiest corner of an old, abandoned den made out of a rotting log!

She cleared her throat with a small cough, then trotted up to the younger cat. Eaglefeather said nothing, just circled around the cat until his form blocked the wind. She stared at him then blinked her blue eyes a few times, blinking away the water that the wind had formed there.

((Eaglefeather is a little strange, just so you know ahead of time...))

[☼Lichen☼]

Lichenstar's creamy fur swirled in soft patterns of matted down tufts. He tossed his head to see the coughing cat, and nodded his head approvingly at Eaglestar. Now here was someone he had known since birth. She had a rabbit hanging from her jaws...something Lichenstar was very amused at.

His tail held high, he turned through the rain so that he faced her. Sticking his paw to his mouth, he rasped his sand paper like tongue over the fur and rubbed it against his tail, smoothing it. Sniffing it, he tossed his head at the rabbit and smiled.

"Hunting for her-ehhh rabbits again?"