ooc; I haven't role played in ages.. let's see if I still got it in me.

A small grey tabby had curled up into a tight ball and was taking an afternoon nap. The sun was brutal this newleaf day and the cool shade from underneath the Sky Oak was a sufficient escape.

Crookedtail let out a long soundless yawn as she fluttered her eyes open. And to her shock the she-cat was looking her late son in the eyes. He had died a few moons ago from the dreadful greencough that struck havoc though the once powerful AutumnClan. Yet now he was sitting in front of her as if nothing had ever happened.

His fur was dark and sleek, nearly the opposite of the light brown and white he had when he was alive.

He's dead, I know that much. This must be what it's like to see a cat of ShadeClan. The crippled she-cat thought to herself in awe.

"Articgaze. . ." She murmured under her breath.

Hastily cutting her off the tom mewed, "I love you mother." And began to fade away.

"No!" Crookedtail cried out, jerking her head side to side trying to find her son somewhere in the shadows. But he was gone, not a trace left.

"CROOKEDTAIL!" Shouted a young voice.

Fluttering her eyes open once again, Crookedtail, found herself still asleep underneath the greak oak. It was only a dream, she thought grimly.

"You know it may not be so safe to sleep out in the open like that," Sandpath a new apprentice of ThunderClan mewed softly. She was a pretty she-cat with a delicate body with a most unusual tan pelt with tiny speckles of brown and black. And with her a red tom with short legs much like Crookedtail. Though what he lacked in speed he made up in strength.

"Maybe she just wanted to be dragged away from it all. I would too if I was as crippled as her. Should change her name to Crippledlegs." The red tom mewed bluntly.

Shocked, Sandpath let out a short gasp. "Redbird! That's no way to talk to a former deputy. She has more knowledge of the warrior code than any other cat I think!"

The shaddy figure sat, watching her mate with a smile. Her pelt was hidden in the shadows of the day, the shadows of the trees and dens. As if she was a shadow herself. Ashencloud's gray fur was not visible to anyone, except she would be to Arrowstar in a moment. She thought back to the day she had had her kits, no medicine cat was there to help her, but her mate was there, loving her and encouraging her. Licking her head and telling her it would be ok.

She smiled sadly as she thought of her kits. Berryshade was still alive, but Blossomcherry, Sedgetail and Smokefoot all resided with her in ShadeClan now. She slipped out of her spot, staying in the shadows, knowing she would disspear if even a paw was hit with rays of sun, up to Arrowstar, laughing softly and letting her scent drift around him. He would be the only one to see her. "How are you my love?" she whispered lightly, a smile on her soft featurs.

The former ThunderClan deputy laughed and slowly got to her paws, her crippled front legs nearly struggled under her weight but didn't give way. "Oh no Sootstorm, Redbird here was just about to apologize weren't you Redbird?" Crookedtail mewed looking the tom over carefully.

The she-cat was a fair cat but when it came to utter disrespect for one of higher status or of older age, Crookedtail wouldn't stand for it.

- - - - -

Redbird was a small tom and now with all eyes on him, he felt even smaller than before.

He looked to his leader to Sandpath to Crookedtail and then to Sootstorm who had recently arrived. His jumping gaze rested on the she-cat with the crippled limbs and long crippled tail. She was no bigger than him and he was only six moons old. How did a cat as small as her and with a tail so long and useless could ever be chosen as the deputy of ThunderClan? Most likely if it weren't for her newly crippled legs she would still be deputy.

The sun got hot and the shadows around them thickened. Redbird could feel the many eyes of ShadeClan staring him down and waiting for him to utter the words "I'm sorry."

"Just say it Redbird!" Sandpath nearly yowled.

"I'm. . .sorry that you're crippled," Redbird mewed with a smirk.

Crookedtail's eye blazed and another cat seemed to jump from her pelt leaving the other Crookedtail behind. And this he realized was why she was the former deputy of ThunderClan.

- - - - -

"I am crippled because I fought for what I believed in and what I knew to be true. There should be four clans around the lake who can be unified if needed, but we are far to different to ever truly become one. And in that I lost my legs and I lost my life of what I've always wanted to be. A warrior." Crookedtail looked to the sky and the shade around her, she could feel all the cats of days past were around them. The eyes of StarClan were burning through her and the pelts of ShadeClan she could feel pressing close to her flanks.


ooc; Thyme: StarClan cats come to the clan while dreaming because they're far high in the sky. ShadeClan cats can see them while their awake because they live in the shaded areas on the earth.

Sootstorm nodded to Crookedtail, watching as the crippled cat slowly got to her feet. It was a painful sight to watch. This cat that used to be so strong, the deputy of ThunderClan, was disabled and couldn't really do anything at all anymore. Sootstorm looked down at her paws for a brief moment, grieving for the elder.

She glanced up when she heard Sandpath mew something urgently. "Just say it, Redbird!" The apprentice spoke. Sootstorm's gaze went back to Redbird. She studied his face, his expression. At that moment, Sootstorm knew that Redbird was going to blurt out something smart.

"I'm sorry that you're crippled." He mewed, a c-ocky grin pasted on his face. Sootstorm dug her claws into the ground. She hated that. Absolutely hated it. No apprentice or even a warrior should talk to any senior warrior that way, with such disrespect. Sootstorm had to use all of her self-control to restrain herself from clawing off Redbird's little ears.

She heard Crookedtail's voice. As she listened to her words, something inside of her just made her want to fall to the ground in awe. Instead of ripping the apprentice's tail into pieces, this cat used words, instead of claws. At the same time, she pitied the older cat. Her words were correct. Crookedtail had fought for what she believed in with all of her heart. It really wasn't fair that it had been her to have become crippled. Why not a different, more deserving cat like herself? Only StarClan knew. And, well, ShadeClan.

Sootstorm glanced at Redbird. "She is right. A young cat like you couldn't even begin to imagine what it is like to be in a situation like hers. Think before you speak next time." She mewed.

Ashencloud smiled softly, his pain reflecting in her own green orbs. She let him walk towards her, and saw his body moving a little more stiffly then when they had been younger, 12 long moons ago, 24 when their kits were born. []"Your not lost without me love...I'll never ever leave you. I'm in your heart always..."[/b] she purred, longing to come out of the shadows, these horrible shadows. Live again, breath and run and play and love again. Oh her heart ached. It wasn't true that ShadeClan cats didn't feel pain. She felt it all the time. Her heart was broken, and it would never be the same again.

"They miss you too. And you have Jinxpaw, our grand-daughter loves you, she's just busy is all Arrowstar, my love." she whispered, closing her eyes and taking in his scent. Oh she never wanted to leave him. Why did she die of greencough. She should be alive right now, right here with him, scolding apprentices, helping elders, appointing deputies. She should be there for him, by his side. "Why have you left me?" the words came from his maw and she knew he was trying hard not to blame himself.

Her eyes fileld with tears, and she let them fall from her eyes down her cheeks, dropping in the sand. "I didn't want to, I don't want to." she choked out the words, and let her voice drop. She took a deep breath in, she needed to tell him why she was here. "Arrowstar, my baby, my love. I will always love you. But I should mean nothing to you anymore. I can't be there and you need to find someone who can be. Love, forget me, please. Find someone else who can love you can love back...for me." she let the tears fall and she stood, wrapping herself around him in one last loving guesture. "I will love you...always." she whispered in his ear. She looked at him, into his deep golden eyes once more, and was gone.

A long furred blck slender she-cat strode from the warriors den timidly, peering around before exiting fully. Her long ellegant legs made her body glide swiftly and gracefully over the shrubby looking terrain of ThunderClans home camp. Her violet eyes glistened and she looked around warily, noticing the largish group of cats surrounding an elder of the Clan. Her head swung in the other direction quickly as she scented...Arrowstar? Her orbs narrowed in confusion as she saw her leader crumpled on the ground, wailing about...Ashencloud! Oh heart ached for Arrowstar, as she remembered his mate. Who had been killed of greencough along with three of his four kits last leaf-bare, in AutunmClan. His mate must have been visiting him from ShadeClan, or still was. Eveningsong couldn't quite see.

She trotted over, concern thick in her eyes. "Arrowstar?" she breathed slowly, not to suprise him. Her eyes searched the trees for a shady shape, but she saw none. "Is she still here? Are you alright?" she said, backing off a little, if Ashencloud still was here she didn't want to get in trouble for being conerned about her leader, and that taken the wrong way by his mate.