If You Jump (OPEN)

[Kestrelflight]

"I'm yours tonight,
I'm yours, if you can break me down.
Break through these walls I hide behind..."

Kestrelflight was content, in a way. She was as content as she could be. The sun was warm on her tabby fur. She had escaped camp for the momentl claiming to be taking a quick border patrol. In reality, she needed time to walk and be at peace. She needed time to regain her serenity and soothe her much frazzled nerves. Her tail swished back and forth against her back legs and her paws were almost silent as the brushed against the long blades of summer grass near the river banks. She had always loved the river and so it was here that she came in her time of unease.

She sat on the bank, curling her tail around her paws. The water looked cool and inviting, but Kestrelflight made no move towards the water. She had learned early on that the river was deceptive. It looked calm, gentle, harmless. Yet it was so easy to get caught in the current, swept away and beaten against the rocks, only to be washed up on the banks broken and sodden. It wasn't a problem for larger cats or good swimmers. Kestrelflight was a good swimmer, her leg muscles were powerful. The problem was that Kestrelflight was abnormally tiny. There were even some apprentices that outsized her, a factor she was well aware of. And so she had a healthy respect for the river, knowing full well just how powerful it was.

She sighed quietly, her tail now flicking gently at her side. She was tired, not physically but emotionally. She missed her siblings terribly and since they had departed she had been alone in Riverclan. Her clanmates had never had particularily friendly feelings for her, but at least with Eaglewing and Falconheart - she had had someone by her side. Now she was alone, and it pained her more than ever. She drew herself up, her eyes defiant. She could survive without her siblings. Truthfully, she didnt have much of a choice. Her tail flicked back and forth and she stared out across the river. Giving in would prove all those who hated her were right, but they were wrong.

SNAP!

Kestrelflight's ears perked and she turned to see who had been careless. Perhaps a chance had come to prove her own worth.

"I'm yours tonight,
Come and break me down.
Won't you break me?"

Character: Kestrelflight
Tagged: X
Word Count: 495
Listening To: Wherever You Will Go - The Calling
Comments: X

[Czarina.]

Bronzestar did not trust the river.

Not to say he was not a strong swimmer, as he had always been quite an athlete in the water. No, it was not his life that he feared losing in the clear depths of the water. He did not trust the river because it was so unlike him. Bronzestar was quite like the rock he sat on, always the same, firmly set in his beliefs and morals. Not the river! The fickle water was always changing, flickering from gentle to powerful, dangerous to benign! There was no rhyme or rhythm to the water! The only thing predictable about the river was it's inevitable betrayal of anyone who thought it a friend.

Maybe it was because his sister had loved the river so much. Linnetsong, her name was like poisonous honey to his ears. Sweet, but deathly if you let it get to close. Linnetsong had loved the water, to see her move in it was like watching just another powerful wave. When Linnetsong swam there was no denying her Riverclan heritage. None the less she had left him. Like the river she had shocked him with a turn that he could never have foreseen. Surely that was the reason for his mistrust.

He rose up from the warm rock, catching a summer breeze as he did so. It was not proper for a leader such as him to sun bathe on rocks and dream of lost sisters. She had made her choices and he his. There was nothing left to do but live with them. With these thoughts he began walking along the river, deep in thought.

Thinking made him careless. He was not paying attention to the scent of she-cat wafting over the breeze towards him, and he definitely was not paying attention to his paws. "Mouse dung!" He hissed as his foot collided with a sharp bit of reed which made a audible cracking sound. He licked his paw roughly and gingerly set it back on the ground. The pain, however slight, had broken the spell of thought and brought Bronzestar back to earth. He inhaled deeply and deduced the scent, "Kestrelflight?"

Kestrelflight. She was not necessarily Riverclan, which gave Bronzestar reason enough to mistrust her, but she and him shared something. Bronzestar could not hate the brown tabby as long as she had siblings who were not true. Bronzestar could not hate what he understood so well. He felt as if she was one of his kind, and that was why it was perfectly natural for him to step out of the cover of the reeds and murmur, "Greetings, Kestrelflight."

[Kestrelflight]

"I'm yours tonight,
I'm yours, if you can break me down.
Break through these walls I hide behind..."

"Greetings, Kestrelflight." As Kestrelflight realized the deep bass voice speaking to her and the scent that had finaly reached her belonged to her leader, she dipped her head respectfully. Her eyes flitted away from Bronzestar's, she was shy by nature and the presence of her clan leader only intensified her natural impulse to avoid conversation. She had hoped for a chance to prove her worth, specifically maybe to an apprentice. She was all for small steps. Being approached by her clan leader was not a small step, nor one she was willing to even consider taking.

Her gaze flicked briefly to meet Bronzestar's, catching the tinges of mistrust in his eyes. Her eyes flitted away once more, settling on the pebbled riverbed. Her ears twitched and her tail tip was curling and uncurling around her paws nervously. She spoke in a hushed voice, she was quiet naturally but with only the trickling of the river in the background, her voice was perfectly understandable. "Good Afternoon, Bronzestar." She would have left it at that, but felt a need to explain why she was simply sitting on the riverbank and not patrolling or hunting. She felt like she had been caught disobeying the Warrior Code.

That isn't exactly difficult to do... She thought with a tinge of bitterness amidst the sorrow. By living, breathing and existing, she broke the Warrior Code every second of her life. She should never have been born, yet here she was a warrior of Riverclan. She was Half-Clan, a filthy monstrosity. Bronzestar was right to mistrust her, yet she still craved his acceptance. It was a no win situation for her, yet one she had resigned herself to. She shook herself lightly, turning back to Bronzestar. Her eyes held their characteristic tranquility and she bowed her head towards her leader once more.

"I had intended to hunt, though lost myself in thought before I could. I apologize for that." She stood gracefully, even from a good distance away from Bronzestar, her tiny form in comparison to his was evident. She was incredibly small, and sadly fully grown. But that was how the cards of fate were dealt. She padded a few steps before sliding effortlessly into the water. Her paws struck out as she headed for a larger stone near the middle on which she intended to perch for her hunting.

"I'm yours tonight,
Come and break me down.
Won't you break me?"

Character: Kestrelflight
Tagged: Bronzestar
Listening To: Break Me Down - Tenth Avenue North
Word Count: 500
Comments: And so it begins...