A Howl In The Night

[Fernpaw]

A dark shape sat, silhouetted against the bright moonlight sat on Lone Hill. Amber orbs glimmered as the silver beams of light were caught in their bright pools. Ear pricked attentively, the she-cat's eyes scrutinized the woods in front of her. Their dark shape rose up in front of her and around her, surrounding her on all sides. Their leafy branches reached up, clawing at the sky. Somewhere, a bat screeched and flapeed it's wings, while an owl---the night predator---glided silently by, a dead mouse hanging from it's talons.

Suddenly, from behind there came the faint howl of a Two-leg's dog. It rose and fell, crying of loneliness and despair. Unlike most cats, Swiftclaw admired and loved dogs. She had lived with many of them, and though they thought she was a bit odd, they considered her as part of the family. Dogs instinctively love pups, and adopt pups that aren't their own. So it had happened with Swiftclaw. A mutt had found her---a small, starved scrap of a thing, searching for her family---and had taken care of her till she was healthy and strong again. Swiftclaw had become a great friend to the dogs, and still sometimes visited them.

Because of this, the fiery she-cat knew at once the owner of the plaintive howling. He called himself Slasher, and he was a mangy mutt who roamed through the alleyways, snuffling for something to eat. Often, Swiftclaw helped him, bringing him some prey from her part of the forest.

The she-cat listened till the dog's howling faded, swept away be the breeze. Then Swiftclaw threw up her own cranium and a strange howl-like yowl rose from her maw. It was a blood-curdling, heart-wrenching sound, imitating the plaintive cries of Slasher. It rose from a bear's growl to the wind's scream, echoing in and out among the trunks of the ancient trees. At the end, Swiftclaw turned back towards the dogs habitat, listening...

The reply came back almost at once. The melody rose and fell, and this time Swiftclaw joined in with Slasher's howl. Their strange and unearthly duet slid through the forest, waking animals and cats with the strange song. When their lungs were starved for oxygen, and their voices were strained from lack of air, they paused, panting.

Swiftclaw stood up, peering over the treetops to the bright, winking lights of Two-leg Place. Suddenly, Slasher's voice rose, soaring above the treetps once more. His canyon-deep voice climbed and octave, then faded. The dog repeated this song, grateful of a duet partner. Swiftclaw sang a note and slid up the musical scale to harmonize with another dog, a housepet named Salo. Another dog joined in, from the high pitch Swiftclaw guessed it was a small creature. Probably that fat dachsund called Marty. The dachsund glided up to a note even higher than Swiftclaw's. More dogs joined in this sweet chorus. A dog with a deep howl slid up to a note lower than the she-cat's. Two more dogs joined in---Louie and Bo Jingles---harmonizing together in a low pitch.

Their music gave the foxes pause, as they stood erect, listening. Then, the final dog let loose a note, she began howling low and soared up to take a silver note below Marty's. The song ended abruptly.

In the silence, Swiftlcaw almost smelled the approval as the dogs yipped and yelped to each other on what a wonderful song that had been. Most cats thought the she-cat eccentric and wild---who wouldn't? A cat who sings and talks with dogs?---but she liked to be on her own. She knew that if she ever needed help, she could turn to these dogs for assistance. Swiftclaw had the gift of Dogspeak, the ability to speak and howl with dogs. They had cared for her, and had become her closest friends and allies. She didn't need friends in her Clan, she had plenty of friends in teh cobblestoned alleys, where ematiated forms lay.

No cat knew the dark alleyways and side passages of the town as well as she. No cat knew how to avoid danger and where to find scraps to eat, becuse she had been taught. No cat knew as well as she.

((I lurve my crazy kitteh! *huggles* I think she's awesome. And I don't know about yu, but I think that this is absolutely, positutely one of the best posts I've ever made.))

[Chaos]

Unearthly howls twined their way into Chaos' ears. She froze, trying to pinpoint the sound. There! Lone Hill! She headed over, alternating between curiosity and fear all the way. As she drew closer, she saw a feline form blocking out the stars. It had its head tilted towards the moon, and it appeared to be the source of the strange wailing. For a second Chaos hung back, then with a surge of determination quite unlike her trotted up the hill. Swiftclaw! She should have guessed! Chaos and Swiftclaw had never really talked, apart from exchanging insults once in awhile, but what she knew of the other she-cat was most definitely strange. Apparently Swiftclaw had befriended the dogs who lived in the alleys near Twolegplace. Swiftclaw could, Chaos had gathered, speak their language. She almost turned back at that, but her newfound bravery hadn't quite worn itself out yet.
"What, may I ask, are you doing here? You're probably making enough noise to rouse StarClan, and certainly enough to awaken normal cats who're just trying to get their beauty rest."

[Fernpaw]

Swiftclaw turned her head slowly, directing her amber orbs toward the she-cat. Silently, the she-cat narrowed her gaze, looking at Chaos. Slowly, she lifted her paw to her face and proceeded to lick it clean from any imaginary specks of dirt, displaying her entire concern for the whole proceeding at large.

"Beauty rest?" she questioned, amusement highlighting her strange, lilting voice. "You need all the rest you can get if that's the case." A hoarse purr rumbled in her throat for a few moments before dying away. Swiftclaw's eyes looked curiously at Chaos, "What are you doing here?"

[Chaos]

Anger burned behind Chaos' level gaze, but she knew better than to show it. Showing emotion, regardless what, gave other cats a hold on you. Besides, Swiftclaw had obviously been trying to anger her. No amount of insults would make Chaos give her that satisfaction. She took a deep breath, pushing down her feelings. "What am I doing here?!? You've been, as I said, making enough noise to wake StarClan! Any sensible cat would have come down here before to investigate. It so happens that ShadowClan is rather short on sensible cats at the moment." There! Sharp replies, she had learned, cut off questions from all but the most determined cats. Normally she might have just left, but she intended to stick around for awhile. Not that she'd ever tell this to anycat but Sabbath, but the real reason she had come here was that Lone Hill had a beautiful nighttime view, one that was sometimes enough to banish the dark fears and memories that still resided in Chaos' heart.
"So, why are you here? It must be more than just wanting to jolt us all awake, though you've certainly done enough of that."

[Fernpaw]

Swiftclaw looked levelly at the she-cat in front of her. "StarClan is short of sensible cats?" she repeated Chaos' statement, turning it into a question. Amber orbs burned into Chaos, "I trust that you are not one of the sensible ones. If you are, we are all in trouble!" not a expression of amusement flickered over her features as she stated these words. Fiery pelt shone glossily in the moonlight, and golden eyes glowed softly in the faint light of the moonbeams.

Swiftclaw opened her maw to say something else, when she was interrupted. A familiar howl soared out over the treetops, shattering the silence. The she-cat cocked her dial, her gaze going past Chaos, turning in the direction of the howl. It was Slasher, again. Swiftclaw growled in exasperation. This time, the mutt was not howling just for the pleasure of singing. He was carrying a message. A message that the she-cat would much rather have not heard. His plaintive howling cried, "Swiftclaw? When are you coming to bring me more food?"

The she-cat sighed, turned and tilted her cranium up towards the sky. Normally, she wouldn't allow any cat to watch her howl to her friends, but Slasher needed his return message, now. Swiftclaw was tired of being nagged every night for food. Besides, Chaos coudln't understand what she was about to say. No cat could.

A strange, yipping/yowl rose from the she-cat muzzle. Though Chaos couldn't understand, Swiftclaw was sure that the message was clear enough. It spoke of exasperation and annoyance.

"Slasher! Leave me be! If you keep asking, I'll never bring food to you! It's hard enough trying to sneak food out for you, plus having to bring some for the new pups besides!" Swiftclaw shook her head, as the last notes of her eerie yowl died away on the night breeze.

[Chaos]

Chaos stared, wide-eyed, at the she-cat who spoke so casually the language no cat should ever know. Then she realized she was staring, and changed her expression to a much-too-sweet smile. "Very nice. A lovely song, I'm sure. Thank you ever so much for seranading us all. " Her face resumed its customary scowl. "Now, may I remind you that not all of us want to be seranaded? Most of us would prefer our sleep, come to think of it." Finished, she tilted her head back to look at the sky. "StarClan's bright tonight. Mangy, flea-bitten, murdering idiots that they are, they're bright tonight." Had she really said that out loud? From the way Swiftclaw was staring at her, she was pretty sure she had. Horrified, she bit her lip and turned away. Then she thought better of it. If Swiftclaw thought she'd just blurted that out, she'd have a hold over Chaos. How, she didn't know, but Chaos was paranoid. Better for Swiftclaw to think she'd said it on purpose. She turned to face her unlikely companion, daring her with her eyes to say anything.

[Fernpaw]

Swiftclaw rolled her eyes, exasperated, and turned to Chaos, "Dogs. Think they can get away with anything." Amber orbs looked coolly over at the she-cat, gleaming softly in the moon light. The fiery she-cat surveyed the rough feline before her, a calculating look on her face as she surveyed the she-cat. If Swiftclaw was astonished, disbelieving or horrified, her face portrayed nothing of her emotions.

"So, not a StarClan fan, huh?" Swiftclaw asked, her voice bubbling out of her maw in her strange, lilting voice. Like water, her voice poured out of her lips, like sweet water slipping over and around small rocks in a stream.

[Chaos]

Chaos snorted. "No." Her voice turned sarcastic. "How did you ever guess? Are you perhaps a mind-reader? Or did those dogs tell you?" She checked Swiftclaw's face for a reaction; in Chaos' experience, a cat's differences were almost always a sore point. After having her inner soul read like a book, she wanted to make Swiftclaw smart for the knowledge. Besides, the other cat's lilting voice was beginning to calm her down from her initial anger. She didn't want to be calm. Anger lent strength; calmness only encouraged one to let down her guard. Again she looked at Swiftclaw; the other cat's face was expressionless. More than ever now, Chaos wanted to ruffle that calm. "So, dog-speaker. Have you ever truly fought your own battles, or do your friends fight them for you? I don't recall ever seeing you fight."

[Fernpaw]

Swiftclaw surveyed Chaos, eyes shining softly in the moonlight. She mewed softly, "Dogs know many things, but what they talk is entirely different." The fiery she-cat's mew lilted softly, it's soothing tone carried across the wind. Her calm unruffled, the feline looked silently across at her blunt companion, her silent gaze boring into Chaos' figure.

"Whether I have truly fought my own battles or no is not something you should conern yourself with," Swiftclaw meowed, her pink tongue cleaning the fur on her shoulder. Bright amber orbs gazed into Chaos' own angry pools, "You should concern yourself with what you have done, and what you will do. You are angry, Chaos, angry at the world and at others. That is something that I will never understand. I was angry at the world for taking my family away, but I never blamed those around me. I knew they never could and never would play apart in the tragedy I had suffered. In time, I reconciled myself with StarClan. Whatever had happened, it all played apart in my life. If my family never had disappeared, I would never have found this wonderful family of dogs that I have now.

"You, Chaos, are not yet willing to forgive. You are angry at everyone and everything. That is something I will never be able to understand. You disappoint me, Chaos." Swiftclaw shook her head, leaning forward as her strange voice poured forth from her maw. "I always looked at you and thought you were a cat strong enough to overcome anything life threw your way. I thought you could conquer whatever happened to you, without a flinch. It appears I was wrong. You cannot conquer the one thing that you seek refuge from. Yourself." Swiftclaw drew away, shaking her head again. She repeated softly, "You disappoint me."

[Chaos]

Chaos' brain whirled with the flood of new information suddenly thrust upon it. Swiftclaw's circumstances weren't that different than her own had been, when you looked at the bigger picture. Families gone, left to fend for themselves... It was when they had chosen what do do with them that the two cats' paths had split. Swiftclaw had chosen the path of healing and acceptance, and Chaos - Chaos had chosen anger and bitterness. Chaos had chosen to hide her weakness under a thorny cover. Then, in her mind's eye she saw dark, rage-filled amber eyes, so like and yet not like her own, orange tongues of flame licking the dark sky, and the agonized screams of doomed cats. Her uncharacteristic self-analysis yielded in a flash to anger. Swiftclaw had no right to do this to her!
"You and I are more different than you pretend. Your family cared for you before they disappeared. You can still hope they're alive and well. You were never betrayed!" she spat. She knew she sounded insane now, but she didn't much care. Maybe it would teach this stupid yellow she-cat to think twice about angering her! "I was betrayed by everyone, most of all StarClan! I was happy and well-cared-for by my mother in my early years. She understood me, no other cat has ever done that!" Except Sabbath, but Chaos didn't mean to betray all her secrets... "Darkleaf was a brave and loyal warrior in her prime. She never deserved to die, but your precious StarClan cut her down like a Twoleg cuts down trees, and with just as much remorse!
"See this scar in my ear? That was a gift from my father, whose name I have vowed never to speak. I got it when I found out that at the same time he was courting Darkleaf, he was also courting five other she-cats. Upon hearing that, I refused to see him. He... didn't take it well. This scar was meant to be a death blow, had I stuck around to take it. He is alive and well, living as a loner outside of Clan territories. Tell me that's not StarClan's own cruel little joke, played at my expense!"
Dark amber eyes burned with sudden anger, hidden just under the surface for moons. Nocat knew this part of Chaos' story; the episode had happened too long ago, and the fire had helped in destroying memory of this bit. None of the Clan was ever too keen to talk about it to the younger cats, either. "I tried to tell the rest of ShadowClan, when I came back and said that my loner father was in ShadowClan territory, that he had tried to kill me. I even showed them my bleeding ear! The medicine cat gave me herbs for it, but they wouldn't believe me, wouldn't even go check to see if it was true. This was after Darkleaf died, she would have insisted they listen, had she been there. They tried not to let me hear the whispers; they didn't think I'd understand even if I did, me being but a young apprentice at the time. But they underestimated me. I heard them say I'd probably given myself the ear nick to get attention!
As quickly as it had come, the surge of anger left her, leaving her muscles as limp as a dead mouse. Despite her weakness, her voice was strong and certain as she snapped, "I disappoint you? You disappoint me! Never judge somebody before you know the whole story!"
[Psycho kitty! Heh heh heh]

[Fernpaw]

((Craziness! *screams and run for cover* Lol.))

Swiftclaw waited patiently, listening to this tirade. After the end of Chaos' mad speech, the she-cat said queitly, "Are you through?" Her lilting voice echoed in the awkward silence, bounding over the hill as the fiery she-cat stood, "Becuase if you are, I have dogs to meet and things to catch. If you get my meaning." Amber orbs bored into the black she-cat's, "I have something better to do than listen to some other cat's rantings about her life. Rather pathetic, don't you think?"

Swiftclaw turned, tail waving jauntily behind at Chaos as she trotted away.

((Sorry, my muse is gone!))