--You're Not Alone.

[mystickit]

Coralpaw frowned. She wouldn't be ignored. The ginger appprentice trotted up the rock and stood next to Couldystar. "Cloudystar?" she meowed, and sat down, she wasn't leaving without talking to the leader.

[.xx|d a w n [.coldascoldcanbe]]

Hearing the commotion outside, a lump of mottled fur which had been curled up, warm and sleeping in the warriors' den, peeked one jade eye open to a tiny slit. As her surroundings slowly came into focus, she realized the den was empty. All of her clanmates were outside, crowded around the highstone. Dawnshadow snapped her eyes fully open. Was she missing a gathering?

Anger began to stir inside of her that no one had bothered to wake her up. Crawling to her feet, the tortoiseshell warrior stretched out her back and slowly padded into the clearing. She caught the tail end of her leader's announcement and watched her collapse onto the rock. Tilting her head in confusion, she wondered why Cloudystar had seemed so... insane? Mad? Delirious? Why? She stepped forward slightly, preparing to eavesdrop on whatever conversation was about to be held between Coralpaw and her leader.

[grayfur]

Axel sneered and dipped his head in respect. "Thankyou, everyone," he said cockily. He turned around to face the mass of cats. "Good day to you," he mewed with sympathy in his voice. Oh yes, Axel was one cocky little kitty.

He ran up to Clo and smothered her in licks. He smiled a thankyou and jumped on her back purring loudly. He rubbed his face on her legs and shoulders, just to prove she was his.

He yowled happily and rolled around like a kitten, licking his paws enthusiastically.

"So.. Whaddya wanna do. I'm not tired," he said

happily. "Hmm, Axelflame. Suits me," he purred. Then his eyes grew sad, and he limped over to Clo. He rested his head on her paws and closed his eyes, a feeling of dread washing over him.

[the day the world went away]

The leader simply lay there while Coralpaw came and sat beside her, while Axel pounced all over her and smothered her in affection, while Dawnshadow crept out of the den and lurked around the Highstone. She just sat there, her world tipped sideways, her cheekbone grating painfully into the hard cold rock. But she didn't care.

Before they could suspect anything, she lifted her head from it's crooked position, blinking first down at Axel's fiery orange head resting on her shadowy light silver paws, then up at Coralpaw who waited slightly impatiently. "Yes?" she mewed to the apprentice, the serenely insane smile dissipating swiftly and the serious mood returning. "What can I do for you?" As she waited for the she-cat's response, she leaned forward to press her muzzle to the top of Axel's head, a gesture of affection. "Don't worry," she muttered in his flame ear, almost as if she sensed his insecurity.

[/center]

[grayfur]

Axel kept his head on her paws, breathing in her scent. It was so lovely, like jasmines on a good day. She was so warm too. Axel had never known love, only hatred and pain and suffering. He never had to work in a group before.

Axel lay there, unmoving, his eyes open. Still as a rock he sat there, cold and clammy, his red fur blowing in the breeze. It was spring, but Axel was always cold, cold because of lack of love.

Axel looked up at her, his emerald green eyes dancing like playful butterflies in the breeeze. His tail lashed like a snake trying to hunt a mouse. And yet, he was happy. "What if... they don't accept me?" he asked, his heart pounding sa if he had sprinted a mile.

[untilthis.echo]

It was unsafe to go out of the den without a queen's permission. But for once her mind was made up on its on. Setting aside her dutiful nature, alabaster-painted paws stepped frugally out of the nursery. Earthen eyes peeked from underneath long chocolate fur as the tiny kit padded out into the clearing. Her eyes scanned the hordes of cats gathered beneath the Highstone, murmuring in excitement, anxiety, or discontent. Blinking softly, the tiny kit raised her maw to look up at the Highstone, where she cat a brief glimpse of her leader.

And the rogue.

She blinked, watching the fallen form of her leader, listening to the serious tones. Everything was a blur around her, her heart ramming softly against the fragile bones of her ribcage as she listened to the cats about her. Distress. Anxiety. Dread. Despair.

Utter frantic chaos.

[I. g.o. o.u.t.s.i.d.e. T.o. m.y. s.u.r.p.r.i.s.e. t.h.e. s.k.y. h.a.d. l.a.n.d.e.d.]

[grayfur]

Axel turned around to the young kit. He seemed shy, and Axelflame knew just how to cheer him up. He quietly padded his way over, his green eyes glistening menacefully. Auburn fur bristled smoothly over his lean body.

His claws were out, a sign that he was hungry. Well, he wasn't going to eat that kit, was he? Axel's lips truned up in a shear grin of chaos, and Hs blood stained teeth sparkled in the moonlight.

Axel crouched into a hunting possition and crept up on the young kit. As frightened as he seemed, Axelflame waved his tail three times, a sign he was ready to hunt. As a keen cat hunter, he knew the ropes in which he should tug to get his meal.

[the day the world went away]

The sterling leader sighed in frustration at Axel, who had jumped down to intimidate a kit. "Axel," she called calmly. "Axel, don't. Please." Why did he have to go and try to be so arrogantly in charge? It was bad enough the clan was shaken by the declaration that the fiery tom would be joining them..Now he was trying to frighten kits? "Axel," she repeated, her silvery eyes serene but commanding. "Come here. Please."

He seemed to like trouble. He needed to learn how to control himself at times..She would have a talk with him about that. The leader pulled herself up into a more straightened sitting position, wishing she could just sleep. Sleep for an eternity...she hadn't gotten any sleep in a while. Not just that night, but the night before, and the night before, and the night before....she couldn't seem to sleep. Her mind just would not shut off. More frequently now, suicide was on her mind..but they'd never know. Not until it was too late.

[/center]

[grayfur]

Axel stopped and picked himself up. "I...," he muttered, his eyes wide in fear. He stepped back hastily, his breathing was so heavy he was almost jumping up and down. "I...," he tried to say again, but the words wouldn't form. He glanced over at Cloudystar, his eyes wide in terror.

His body shook violently, and blood seeped from his chest. His mouth was open, a small stream of blood oozing from his lips. He stepped back agin, staring at Nettlekit.

"No," he muttered. He walked backwards untill he bumped into a tree. Small drops of crimson fell onto the emerald green grass, staining it permanatly. His fur was notted and mangled, and his eyes eemed to have lost energy. he stered at his paws, which were covered in blood. "How...?" he rambled pointlessly, and collapsed on the grass, a pool of red blood surrounding him.

[l.ast of the [wild]s]

Spikeshard felt his muscles tense underneath his argentate color pelt. The RiverClan tom took an unsure pawstep back, darkened silver ears flattening against his skull as he watched the display from the newly made Axelflame. The silver bengal watched as fiery tom smothered Cloudystar with affection. Spikeshard felt a sting of hurt.

Were Cloudystar and Axelflame mates? But then...

Spikeshard swiveled his head around and gazed at Grayfur with a deep intensity, sapphire orbs flickering with confusion. The tom's inquisitive look went unanswered. I thought Grayfur and Cloudystar cared for each other.

The RiverClan warrior looked back at his achromatic leader and the sting grew. Why hadn't Cloudystar told him anything? He had not even said a word about the secret she had shared with him. Darkly tipped silver ears drooped.

However, the hurt vanished as soon as Spikeshard saw Axelflame begin to approach the nursery. The RiverClan tom jumped to his paws and was about to demand what Axelflame was thinking when the fiery cat suddenly dropped to the ground, blood spreading and staining the floor.

"What's going on here?!" Spikeshard cried, plated body tense and cobalt eyes wide.

[.xx|d a w n [.coldascoldcanbe]]

Dawnshadow, who had been standing in a shadow somewhat nearby, leaped back in alarm as the fiery tom coughed and spluttered. She winced, and shrunk back into the rock like a frightened kit. Turning away, she darted out of camp through a small opening in the [o.o I don't know what surrounds the camp...], happy to get away from the chaos breaking out around the Highstone. She curled up into a tight little ball in a shadow beneath a low-hanging branch, and closed her eyes tightly. If anyone had been looking, they would have thought she was trying to shrink into the ground and disappear. And they wouldn't have been entirely wrong.

[/blockquote]

[mystickit]

The ginger she-cat narrwoed her eyes at the newcomer, He was no good, no good at all. Something was,.. strange here. Different. Cloudystar seemed to be, somewhat distracted, or something to that effect. Coralpaw turned her atteion away from Axelflame and back to her leader. "Cloudystar, something's wrong. What is it? Are you sick?" she began, not knowing how to tell her leader she thought she was making a horrible mistake iwth this, Axelflame.

[the day the world went away]

Startled, the leader leapt to her small paws, silvery eyes widening as they took in the scene that had so quickly unfolded. Axel mock-stalking the poor kit, the fiery tom stopping suddenly, apologizing, coughing up blood. Spikeshard staring at the agonized tom with shocked cobalt eyes. Dawnshadow fleeing, bursting through the surrounding reeds and foliage. Coralpaw, pleading, inquiring if she was sick. Sick. She was ill, she knew, but she couldn't allow herself to tell Coralpaw just yet...

But in the meantime, something had to be done. She whipped back around to the apprentice and nodded her tabby head toward her shadowy den. "Wait for me there," she said, hurrying through the words. "I'll talk to you in a moment." Cloudystar held the ginger cat's gaze for a moment, then turned and launched herself off the Highrock for the second time that night, this time with panicky concern substituting the burning fury of the hour before. Anxious, she bounded up to Spikeshard, her pale eyes locking immediately onto his. "What happened?" she asked while casting a worried glance at Axel, her dimmed orbs taking in the crimson sight, the blood trickling out of unseen wounds, staining the fiery fur a darker shade of scarlet, like a sunset. It was enrapturing, in a way, how the blood seemed to seep into the ground, creating a permanent mark in the soft dirt, a darker contrast against lighter shades of tan-gray...And the leader watched, partly in horror, partly in shock, partly in fascination, while blood oozed down Axel's chin and dripped into a small collected puddle surrounding his paws.

She remained in this stupor for more than a couple heartbeats, stretched out to seem like hours in the space of thirty seconds, until the leader finally seemed to wake up, slowly dragging her silvery gaze over the scene that she had stared at in fascination, as if she had no clue of what happened. Slowly, hesitantly, the dark-toned tabby lurched forward, step by step, as if she had lead weights tied to her legs, weighing her down. She reached Axel's side, leaning down to cast a soothing lick between his fiery ears like a mother would comfort her kits. "What happened?" she repeated in a whisper, quietly muttering in his ear. "Why?"

And that hurts.
We all hurt.
We all hurt.
And I kept saying that,
Over and over...

[/center]

[grayfur]

Axel kept standing, shaking as if it was freezing out. His mouth was slightly open, and his green eyes were wide with fright. As the crimson blood gathered around him, he stood there, confused.

Axel was never good with cuts. He seemed to have some sort of blood problem. Whenever he got cut, it just kept bleeding and opened new woulds in his skin. That was partially the reason why his sur was so dark.

Axel used to be a dabby cat. When he had left his mother, blood had permenatly made his fur a light shade of red. As Axel grew more agressive, his fur only got darker.

He gave Cloudystar a wry smile. She was so deicate, so soft. All he wanted to do was hold her forever. He rested his head on her shoulder as teh warm, rough tongue washed over him. Exhausted, he closed his eyes.

"It just... happens," he told her, his vice slurred and almost impossible to understand. he lifed his bloodsaoked pawn and put it on Clo's haunches, leaving a red paw mark where tabby fur should be. "I'll be with you. Forever."

[l.ast of the [wild]s]

He didn't exactly know why the affectionate scene hurt. He only knew that it did. The plated warrior flicked his ears back in confusion, sapphire orbs slightly round with a stinging bewilderment. One moment, Cloudystar had been next to him, her icy irises staring into his dark depths for an explanation. The next moment, she had been at Axelflame's side, quietly asking him a question. The silver bengal blinked as a some sting pierced his heart.

Spikeshard shifted his paws, suddenly aware of his broken claw. The RiverClan tom glanced at his right limb, cobalt orbs turning dark with emotion. Then, the plated cat glanced up at Cloudystar, watching Axelflame place his bloodied paw on his Leader's sterling fur. A sudden jolt of white, hot anger shocked the silver warrior. Spikeshard's argent fur rose as he hitched his breath, paralyzed by the scorching feeling.

You don't have the right to touch her! She shouldn't be mates with you! Your blood is marring her pelt!

The yowls of rage and discord rang in the young cat's head, dizzying him with how furious and hell bent they sounded. That stinging pain suddenly made the tom's sapphire eyes widened again. "What's wrong with me?" Spikeshard whispered to himself, blue orbs confused. The plated warrior shook his head, ridding himself of the forbidding and chaotic onslaught of emotion.

Gulping, the argent RiverClan tom made his way over to his achromatic leader. His claw clicking and clicking, making him suddenly aware of his own imperfections. Spikeshard flinched as he padded over to Cloudystar's side, nervous and all too aware of her sterling pelt. "Cloudystar? A-Are you and A-Axelflame alright?" The plated tom asked, forcing himself to choke out concern for the crimson tom, even though his sapphire orbs only held worry for Cloudystar's well being.