The H.E.A.R.T.S. Way Of ((Asking))

[streampaw]

<sub>Duskwing..

Heaving a sigh, he returned. His head was low, his eyes, dull. Something had been taken from him. He knew that she wouldn't love him. Not anymore. He had been taken from her life, as she was from his. But maybe. Maybe she still longer for him as he did for her. Hardly, he hissed. Hardly.....

But either way, he'd still have to tell her. He'd have to let her know. But how? He spat at himself in frustration. He told himself, time after time, to let her go. To leave her behind. His head hung in befeat. He could never let someone like her go... He'd just have to hurt like this.... But maybe if he told her.... Maybe the pain would be less....?

Either way. He still had to leave.

Duskwing must have been losing his mind. Caught up in the want to be his father, he lost all that meant anything to him. He had vanished from his clan and tried to be his father. But oh how much it cost him. And what did he get from it? Nothing. But, had he not tried to be his father, he never would have come back. He'd still try.

But in his absence, what had become of her? Mudstorm. He stopped denying it. He loved her. He needed her. But it was unsafe, dangerous, for her to love him. So, he would leave her. Her, and the clan. What lay before him now, he couldn't see.

Well.... He could see part of it.... He would outdo his father, Hawkclaw. He would...... Thinking back, he remembered some of the things his father had done. Catching birds in midair. Leaping through the branches of trees. Jumping from tree to tree. Leaping thrugh birars and brambles without getting caught. All of these seemingly magical things. He knew that his father was blessed by Starclan. If that was so, then he must have been blessed too!

Duskwing, distracted by the memories of his father, turned toward the river, looking at a tree. Its branches were seperated slightly, making the jumps longer. Unsheathing his claws, he dashed toward the tree. Claws scarred bark as she ran up the trunk. He propelled himself from the trunk to a branch. Then another. Another branch was cleared. But the next one ended in disaster.

He braced himself to leap, but as he pushed off of the thinner branch, his hind foot slipped, breaking the built up power. His leap was broken and he glided oddly toward the target branch. Flailing his paws, he grasped the branch, only to have his claws fail him. They ripped through the bark, sliding towards the bottom of the branch. Oddly, his force was great enough to sling him beneath the branch. His claws pulled free.

He flipped, hind over head, as he fell from the tree. He flipped and spun, unable to control his fall. He glanced at the ground. Three.... Two.... One.... He braced for impact.

Cold.... So cold.... Everything spun..... It was weightless..... But so very cold.... It stung.... It hurt..... But at the same time, it couldn't feel anything.... Just the stinging, numbing cold..... Where was it....? Was this....? No.... That place wouldn't hurt.... But did it hurt...? It didn't know.... It couldn't hear. It couldn't see. It couldn't feel. It couldn't breathe. But it spun and flipped, being pulled into the cold. Cold..... Cold..... Dark..... Darkness..... Icy darkness.... Nothing left.....

It was loud..... It could hear..... But it couldn't at the same time.... What could be left for it now.....? Just icy black..... Cold darkness..... Endless..... It would follow..... It was stalked by this.... The Darkness.... It was in it..... It could see it.... Feel it.... Know it.... The Darkness..... It was cold. So cold. It looked at the Darkness. It was growing. Fed. Growing..... Taking its life. Growing.....

It saw something. It was dark. So dark... But in the darkness, two lights emerged. Two blazing flames..... Fire. These flames danced, enticing it. But soon, they vanished, replaced by two amber eyes. The eyes looked at it. A face appeared around the eyes. The face twisted into a sneer. A snarl.... Disgust.

It knew the face. It knew it..... The amber eyes.... The cold sneer..... The look of disgust.... All of it.... It knew..... The face was a creature's..... A feline's..... A warrior's..... A deputy's.... It was two faces. Two cats...... Hawkclaw...... The face vanished. It was the only thing left.

It all came back like a flood.

Suddenly, without warning, the cold seemed more severe. It hurt all over, the numbing, stinging cold more severe than before. It hurt...... It could feel again..... Soon, other parts of it began to hurt. It could feel itself..... An arm stung numbly..... The same one hurting horribly..... Its lungs ached..... Its head throbbed.....

Soon, the rest of it woke up..... It could think...... It needed to breathe..... It tried to inhale, but the cold stopped it..... It tried to smell..... The cold was still there..... It heard again..... Rushing...... Swooshing..... Swishing....... Roaring....... Echoing silence...... It kicked instinctivly. It heard the sound of the movement...... It heard it echo.....

It knew something...... It needed air..... But this cold was not air..... It needed light...... But there was none....... It kicked....... It felt something....... Particles brushing it...... That was not air....... Something hard and sharp slammed into its shoulder....... It tasted..... It tasted blood..... Its shoulder hurt...... Stung...... Ached....... It kicked out blindly. Fighting........ Thrashing...... Struggling...... It needed light......

But there was no light..... It needed sight...... Against instinct, its eyes opened........ They burned...... Burning...... Stinging....... Aching....... Cold. But, it saw light....... It kicked...... Going towards the light...... Closer....... Closer....... Closer.... Closer..!

It couldn't hear. It couldn't see. It couldn't breathe. It couldn't feel. It couldn't move. It couldn't........ It couldn't....... It can't.............................................

'I can't die....!'

Eyes opened. A body moved. Lungs took in air. He was alive. He drifted toward the shoreline. His body ached. It all hurt.

Reachind land, Duskwing dragged himself away from the icy water, shivering in the wind. He was weak. Almost dead. He would die if no one came to his aid. And right now, there was only one cat he wanted to she. One voice he wanted to hear.

"Mudstorm.....!" he called weakly. His legs shook violently and he fell to his side. His breaths came as vicious pants and weak huffs. He quivered and shook, his whole body cold and numb. He lifted his head weakly, looking around, only to let it fall to the ground again. "Please, Starclan....... At least let me tell her this....... Please let me see my Mudstorm again..... Please....." His amber eyes closed.

"Mudstorm........"




ooc;
Word Count; Wow! 1166 words! That a record for me!
PRIVATE;; Mudstorm.</sub>
[/sub]

[kowala]

``Mudstorm.

Languid movements overtook energetic ones as Mudstorm walked through the shimmering woodland. Last days rain had left delicate little droplets of liquid to decorate the tree leaves just so, and to soften the dirt under paw. Her green eyes scanned the area around her with jovial thoughts.

This leaf-bare won’t be too bad, she thought to herself quietly as she padded farther into the woods, images of petit animals and glistening foliage running through her thoughts like a raging river. Her mind was oh so busy; she thought that she was going to fall over if she did not rest for a while.

Mudstorm stopped in her tracks and laid herself down on the muddy yet still firm ground. The sun that shone trough the green above her warmed her pelt and her eyelids slowly drooped from sudden fatigue. The background sounds that she still heard slowly hummed into a soothing lullaby as Mudstorm decided on taking a short nap. She almost fulfilled this wish until hear ears picked up a voice that she has wanted to hear so badly but in a tone that she never wanted to hear.

With her heartbeat booming like distant thunder, Mudstorm leaped from her spot in the sun and sprinted full out to the frail voice that had called her name. She felt like her paws had wings attached to them as she soared over a fallen log blocking her path. Adrenalin rushed through her pounding heart and fear and worry streamed down her veins, pushing her limbs to the point of anguish. That call was a siren that repeated itself noisily in her head and the pounding of her footfalls, the intake of breath and the beat of her panicky heart made her head spin in ways she never thought it would.

And we’re nothing short of invincible…

“Invincible?!” she screamed out breathlessly. She felt her speedy pace slowly declining with her growing exhaustion. She grit her teeth and brought herself back to her original speed, a cry of pain escaped her lips as her foot fell in a small dip in the earth.

It starts again, can you feel it? It takes your breath away… stop saying that we’re invincible.

"How can anyone say that we're invincible?! We're just-!" Mudstorm's little rant was stopped short from the fact that she carreened down the slight slope. Her vision tumbled with her flailing body and nausea soon rocked through her whole body. She was spinning and falling and spinning even more when she finally came to a hault beside a river.

"What the... No! DUSKWING!" Her screech echoed violently around the clearing and it disturbed the silent peace the forest around her had carefully assembled. There, before her, was Duskwing. He was laying ever so still but the indication that he was still alive was the rise and fall of his chest. Mudstorm felt as if she was frozen to the spot but her panic got the best of her and she reacted.

She practically threw herself on top of Duskwing and started to lick his shuddering body.
"No, please, Duskwing! Open your eyes!" her frantic chants kept going on like that and she herself felt as if she had fallen into the river, for she was shivering. The quakes moved all down her body and jumbled her thoughts but she still kept her whole being aware of Duskwing.
"Please..." she mewled, "please, just open you eyes and look at me..."

ooc;Oh my, I'm so sorry for not typing sooner! I feel like such a horrible person
WordCount;631
Comments;The fact that I'm done finally is a good enough comment I would think xD

[streampaw]

<sub>A cry echoed through the silence. It was like the voice of an angel. It called his name. In this dream-like state, all that he could think was, 'I really must be dead. The angel is calling me to her.' But suddenly, his shoulder throbbed. This was no dream. This wasn't heaven. It was hell. He felt a warm weight be thrown on top of him, followed by the gentle carress of something familiar. The voice begged, begged him to awaken. Suddenly, a whimpering groan escaped his lips. He sighed deeply, trying to move. There. A tiny shift in his body. His face twitched and his eyes opened.

Duskwing blinked a few times, his vision watery and blurry. Then, it came to him. He could hear Mudstorm's desperate voice, begging him. She was the angel he had heard. "Mudstorm...... It's okay......" He could see her face, and he purred weakly. He tried to lift his head, but he fell down, hissing in pain. He looked at his shoulder, seeing the blood pouring down from a huge gash. The leg was twisted viciously and oddly, and he knew it had been fractured. Sighing, he pulled his good arm beneath him, forcing his head upward. He weakly nuzzled Mudstorm's wet head. "Mudstorm, I'm okay..... It'll all be okay.... I'm just a little shaken.... And hurt.... My left leg is injured badly, and I think I hit my head, but I'm okay." He thought back to how he ended up like this.

'With her in this state, I can't possibly go...... It would be far too much for her.....' He pulled away from her head, licking it once. "Mudstorm..... There's.... Uh.... There's something that I should tell you..... Actually, there's a lot of things I need to tell you......" He spoke softly, as if not wanting to wake a child, gazing into the distance. "I mentioned my sister before. She is of Shadowclan. But, she is also of Thunderclan blood. My father was a Shadowclan warrior, and my mother, one of Thunderclan. But my only sister, my only sibling, the only one I had left after mother died, she left for my father. I felt betrayed, but I still love her."

"But, when I'm around you, I get that same fuzzy feeling in my chest. It's warm, almost like, no matter what, my heart will always have room for you." He coughed suddenly, bringing his head down fast. Catching his breath, he continued. "I guess that means that........ I..... I think that I........ What I mean is......... Mudstorm......" He turned his head, facing her. "I think I love you.......... He nuzzled her head softly. "I've never felt this way about any other cat, not even my sister. But..." He pulled away. "I still feel like I owe my sister. Like there is some unspoken debt I have to her. I feel like my place is with her. Or at least I did."

He licked her cheek softly, nuzzling her neck. "Now suddenly, I think it is with you, where ever that may be. Mudstorm, please..... Tell me how you feel...." He was stopped by a violent shudder. His shoulder continued to throb, and his body ached with numbness. He layed back down to his side, sighing in pain.


OOC; Whoo. Pain in the butt love thread! Dusk is having a moment. He still thinks he's about to die.</sub>