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The day has been hot. The sun, heavy and swollen with the green-leaf heat, has taken over the white-blue stretch of sky the can be seen from the mountain top. The gorge where MountainClan makes their home is bathed in its warmth, the grey stone drinking it in gladly. But there are few to enjoy the sunning stones this day.

Sunseer, a black tom with splashes of orange and cream looks over his home with sad eyes. The blue and green orbs flick from the empty medicine cat den to the quiet crevice where the elders used to sleep to the dry, cracking bed of mud where the river used to run.

It had been moons since the river ran freely. He missed the sound. Sunseer looked back at his own den, quiet and empty. He missed a lot of things.

He had spent most of the day in the Cave of Visions, staring pleadingly into the beams of sunlight that pour through the cracks in the stone. Nothing. He had heard nothing from his spiritual ancestors since becoming the Sunseer. Only silence and headaches... Cats were dying, why weren't they helping them?

Sunseer lay outside his den, his chin on his paws and his eyes closed, fighting off a headache with the tip of his tail twitching. His ears twitched, someone was approaching.

'Why aren't you doing something?' 'Who will be our new deputy, Sunseer?' 'Who will save us now?'

He imagined all of the questions his clan must be thinking falling out of the mouth of the young warrior as he opened his eyes and lifted his head. Blinking in the hot sun, he stared at her a moment before gesturing her to come closer. His vision was going. He knew it would be gone eventually, as it was with all Sunseers. The she-cat before him was dark, but her markings blurred. He opened his mouth and let her scent pour over his tongue.

"Silverstreak, yes, of course."

Splitnose was sitting on a ledge grooming not far from where the leader was perched. He'd been debating going to talk to their leader, either to ask questions or offer comfort. Until another cat took the option out of his paws. He did look up at Sunseer when the young female asked her questions. Every cat was wondering the answer to those questions. Except maybe him. Sometimes.

But right now he was interested too. Slowly he got up and padded closer. Splitnose nodded to Sunseer as he sat down to listen.














Coming up the path, he spotted his sister approaching Sunseer. Stormsong sighed to himself. What was her rashness getting her into this time? The young grey tom pounced up the path. He stopped a moment at the top to catch his breath. He was thin, very thin.

The famine was affecting him too, despite his efforts to hide it from his sisters. He waited for the weak spell to pass then approached too. What had his sister asked?

"You're not leaving without me?"

Though it was phrased as a question, the manner of the words meowed from the orange-dappled tom coming up the hill was more in line with a demand. One of the more recently-appointed warriors, it could be argued that Dawnstride bore a chip on his shoulder: one that had only grown bigger with the passing of his mentor. The older cat had barely stuck around to hear him take his warrior name before, just as the river, she too had dried up and left them. Blaming her for something she couldn't help was a waste - he wasn't a kit anymore, and he knew that. But it was easier, at times. Easier than watching the clan she'd so loved waning away around him. More bearable than acknowledging the feeling that there was nothing he could do to stop it.

In the meantime, Dawnstride grew. He hunted and cared for the clan as best he knew how, going to exorbitant lengths to find prey and making sure he maintained the patrol routes he had learned as an apprentice. Most days, all that did was remind him how much the land had changed, though. How much it withered, just as the members of their clan did. That didn't help the bitterness.

The warrior came to a stop in their midst, awaiting a response from Sunseer as to whether or not he was invited to accompany them. Deep inside, he wouldn't blame them if not; he'd not been the most inviting of characters as of late. Belligerence was simpler than facing facts, and surliness was a better defense than tears. And all in all, if he was a bit withdrawn from his clan-mates, it was only because he didn't know how to share with them the lament in his heart.

But who among them could know that? Instead, there was nothing but flinty green eyes on their leader, a stance that seemed - whether intentional or not - vaguely accusatory, and a steadily-flicking tail to signal the displeasure that was otherwise absent the tom's dour features.

Blinded By Silence

Dawnpaw listened from a ways away and flicked her ear. Her mentor was headed out on patrol. That meant she could go too... Right? Right. So she padded out after the group, quietly. She hid behind a rock, padded softly across stone and behind a tree. She peeked out her ears twitching as she stalked her way along behind the group. She had heard Sunseer talking to Silverstreak about apprentices, but how would she prove to be a warrior. It wasn't like there was a lot of opportunity to shine right now. Unless she could bring the water back... which Sunclan couldn't even do. She could be the best hunter in the clan... well... she could try but well, there were already great hunters.... and lack of prey..... and while she tried hard, anyone could see that, what would her assessment be... how much prey would she bring back when there barely was any in this heat. She stepped on a dried leaf and jumped a bit. Shoot and here she had gone unnoticed so far. But that noise startled a large luscious mouse out of hiding and she nearly fell over herself. Prey! For the clan!

"Sunclan guide my paws!" It was a whispered plea as she went after it.She dashed past the other cats as she was on its tail her paws rushing as it headed for a hole. She cut it off and leaped for it. She landed with it between her paws but heard a crack as the stone started to give way under her meager weight. She scrambled, the mouse scrambled but mouse and rock fell away as the ledge broke and she hung on to the edge. She clawed the rock, flaying her claws as she tried to pull herself up.

As they left the camp and headed into the thin woods that lined the gorge, Sunseer sighed heavily at Splitnose's question. "I know I should, it's just..." His heart felt as though there were stones in it, it hurt, thinking of Morningsky. "Yes. Soon. The clan needs strong leaders right now, I'll do my best to choose someone who will fit that role." He flicked his tail and moved ahead.

The older tom pawed silently through the underbrush, his mouth open to allow the scents of prey to wash over his tongue. But today the woods was silent. No birdsong, no chattering squirrels, or rustling leaves. Everything was dry. Dead.

And then, there it was. He dropped into the hunter's crouch as he had done countless times in his days as a warrior. His mismatched eyes scanned the forest floor-- there! He spied mouse, nibbling some dried grass seeds.

Paw step after slow paw step, he crept forward until he was at last in pouncing distance. He leaped and with a with a deft paw, flung the small animal into the air before batting it back down, stunning it. With a quick bite, he ended it. He licked the blood from his lips and smiled, it tasted a little like hope.

Sunseer carried the mouse with him as they walked, worried some other scavenger might find their prey. It was hard, watching his clanmates struggle as they moved through the woods. Everyone was hungry. His own mouth watered as the scent of mouse filled his mouth. But he stared forward with determination, eyes set straight ahead.

The sun was getting heavier as it began to sink in the sky. They reached the boarder of their territory with little trouble. But that was to be expected of a dry, dead wood. He set down the mouse a moment and addressed his patrol.

"We're nearly there. Everyone, come." He nudged the small mouse forward, "Take a bite and then look for moss for us to soak in the spring. We must bring back water to the kits and the sick."

Suddenly, his earns pricked and Sunseer opened his mouth. Now that the mouse was out of his teeth, he could scent something odd on the air. Was it...? No.

"Do any of you smell that?"

He closed his eyes and drank it in. Without a doubt, it was the smell of water. But something else was there too.

The scent of Twolegs.

Littlepaw had been off cleaning the medicine cats den, again. She liked to clean out the dead herbs at least once a week. While she knew that she technically had no right inside the den, Littlepaw couldn't let it rot away. Besides, cleaning it alongside the elder dens was an easy enough task and offered her a nice routine while the clan struggled to find one.

She hadn't necessarily seen most of the party leave, but Dawnpaw slinking by had alerted her something was happening. Curious as always, the petite cat slipped free from her self-assigned task and traveled after the cats. Dawnpaw had gotten fairly far ahead of her, but the sight of Goldenleaf's tail tip vanishing in the distance led her to the party, able to catch her fathers question in time.

"Smell what?" She mewled gently, taking a second to sniff the air. What was that? She didn't recognize that scent. Her nose wrinkled, a paw lifting as she settled onto her haunches.

'Two-legs. What could they be doing here?'

That was the smell of a two-leg? It was foreign; not one with the land they called home. She cast a glance at Stormsong before looking back at Sunseer, awaiting some kind of order or explanation.

"They don't belong here," came out the tense voice of Goldenleaf as she padded into the clearing. She glanced once at Dawnpaw and Littlepaw, mentally approving that some of the 'paws had managed to come by. They needed more experience.

"They smell like danger. I don't like it," she added, nose twitching as the fairly skinny cat settled. She had gotten used to ignoring the hunger pains, although the feeling of fear was not something she could ever grow accustomed to. She had enough of the constant panic and terror — she was ready for their lively clan to return.