S H A T T E R E D

This roleplay is only for IceClan members*

The two sisters, Iceclaw and Snowlily return back to their old home in IceClan.. only to find the fortress empty, the tunnels dark and everywhere silent. The ancient IceClan members (lol) were gone without a trace.

Snowlily glanced around the Iceclan fortress wearily. Her paw pads were tired and worn down from their journey back home after visiting so many territories. Her eyes betrayed her as she tried her best to hide her exhaustion but the flash of sorrow at what was once the great, impenetrable IceClan fortress for now just stone cold walls and empty rooms. There was no life remaining inside and even the scent of the past Iceclan cats grew stale and nearly indistinct. Her eyes searched the length of the walls and passageways as she tried to guess how long it's been since the last Iceclan warrior had left. "It's been like this for moons now...." she mewed quietly to Iceclaw. The walls echoed with the slight sign of life that her words brought as she padded into the fortress. Snowlily was sure they were the first living things to occupy the fortress in many moons. "how long have we been away now?"

Iceclaw was ahead of Snowlily, busy sniffing the snow-covered ground, her tail sweeping gently sideways. Although everything was the same, she felt an empty feeling. She glanced up for a moment, her eyes closed and when they opened, they were fiiled with a deep sadness. "It must have been about seven moons..." she murmured.

A sudden new energy shone in her icy blue eyes. "Well, since we're here. Let's rebuild the camp."

Snowlily was still in shock that Iceclan had just disappeared. They just up and left their territory? What happened? she struggled to keep her expression blank as she took in her surroundings. The air was stagnant and powered snow and dead leaves were strewn across the ground, gathered mostly around the entrance , though piles had collected randomly against the walls. "Yes, but where to even star. There's so much here that's ruined and so many things to do." she mewed in response. Her paw pads felt cool on the stone ground. It was a comfortable change for her. Compared to the harsh desert lands and the snowy mountainside, this was her comfortable middle ground. Snowlily took in a large breath of air and let out a sigh as she remembered the way her home had once been. Iceclan was never large but it wasn't dead either.... I wouldn't even mind seeing Pain here now. "Right. Let's have a look around the rest of the fortress and try to figure out what damage has been done. That should help us come up with a starting place." Snowlily mewed to Iceclaw now sounding much more confident.

Iceclaw nodded in agreement. As she approached her old den, she heard a soft thump. Her ears pricked and her eyes narrowed. Prey? Predator? Let me find out. She caught a flash of silver and found herself staring wide-eyed at a kit in the snow, rolling about, oblivious to her presence. She could barely believe her own eyes.

"Lily!" she called out. "Look what I found!"

Her entire body tensed up instantly as she heard Iceclaws cries. Snowlily's fur stood on end and her eyes flicked from side to side listening for signs of danger. Is the fortress not as empty as we though? her mind flashed back to he time when a pack of rabid wolves infested a cave in Iceclan territory. Maybe this is where they moved to and that's why the other Iceclan cats left. But that doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't Shuriken have fought for the fortress? Her heart raced as she bolted through a few short passage Before she came skidding to a halt in front of Iceclaw half winded. She looked over Iceclaw carefully then shot her a confused look. "What's wrong? You look like you're fine?" she mewed questioningly.

Phoenixwing plowed through the thick snow, wincing at the thought about how clear her ginger pelt was showing, like a drop of crimson blood in the endless white expanse. Get used to it, you can't stay in the forest anymore. She slid to a stop beside the boulder, eyes closed in pain as she tried to ward of the memory vainly. How she'd travelled around the Clans for a few moons, happy, but missing her brother, Dragonclaw. The despair and agony when she found him gone, his scent stale upon her return. Run away, run away, she mocked herself as she tackled the difficult snowy slope again. Phoenixwing was shaking with exhaustion, but she had to go on. Suddenly, she scrambled to a stop, her paws making a deep trench in the snow. Phoenixwing stretched her pink nose forward, sniffing again to make sure. Two cats, fresh scents... Instincts taking over, Phoenixwing dragged herself to one side and curled up in a fluffy heap underneath a pine bush for shelter and rest. They would find her surely...

Icee's black and white pelt was hard to see, as he had rubbed it in snow for camouflage, a technique he had learned when he was brand new in IceClan. He jumped through the thick parts of the snow, leaving marks behind where he landed. Finally, he got to the point where he could just walk through the newly fallen snow. He yawned, and stopped to take a rest much to the content of his weary legs. ith a huff, he sat down on a rock. His blazing green eyes narrowed as he saw a flash of ginger jump into a pine bush. A deep growl rumbled in his throat, and he unsheathed his claws. He walked over, and sniffed the bush. "Who's in there?" He growled in a deep, threatening voice. His tail lashed back and forth, and his black ears were flattened against his black head, showing he was clearly agitated.

Phoenixwing's head snapped up and her lip instinctively curled at the sight of a snarling, hostile cat. Her ears pricked forward in surprise as she recognized the black and white fur. "Icee! You have to help me," she pleaded. "Don't you remember me...?" Phoenixwing slid out of the pine bush, shaking the delicate, powdery snow of her thick coat to reveal he distinctive fire-pattern on her back. She didnt know why in StarClan he was doing up in the mountains, but...

Petalfrost's lungs burned eachtime she took a breathe of the icey cold air, and her paws burned with an icey fire, but she had never felt so alive. "Leaving the tribe and that wretched burned hot desert behind was the best decision I've ever made!" Petalfrost thought happily, the thought giving her a surge of energy. Petalfrost was so distracted by her thoughts that she stumbled into snow-drift and she tumbled down a small hill. Petalfrost gave a shocked yowl as she skidded down the slope, but her yowl was quickly cut off as she tumbled face first into the snow.

"Ahh...Ahhh....Ahh..Choo!" Petalfrost sneezed out a mouth-full of snow, and then she shook stood up, and streched out each of her fore-legs and hind-legs in turn, she blinked the remaining snow out of her eyes and glanced up. "Ohh...Looks like I'm here.." Petalfrost mewed, staring at the massive Fortress wide wide blue eyes. "But where is everyone?" she wondered aloud to herself.

Icee's green eyes showed confusion, then he blinked in recognition. "Phoenixwing! What's wrong?" He said, worry evident in his face. "Are you in trouble?" His voice deepened, and he looked around for a threat. Icee twitched his ears as he heard voices close. Very close. A growl rumbled in his throat, and he narrowed his bright green eyes. "I hear voices," He growled, his voice a low and threatening tone. Wait, he thought. I know that voice from anywhere! It's Iceclaw! He motioned with his tail for Phoenixwing to follow him, then ran over to Iceclaw. "Ice!" He screeched in utter joy. "Who's with you?" He asked, until he saw Snowlily. "Your white fur fits in so perfectly I couldn't even see you," Icee joked, laughing. He had never been so bright and bubbly.

He saw a cat fall into the Fortress. "Who are you?" Icee snarled, flattening his black ears to his black head, and black tail lashing back and forth. He narrowed his green eyes, and pulled back his lips to reveal razor sharp fangs. "Kitty! Is that you?!" He asked, and blinked again, not believing his eyes. He opened his mouth, and scented Tribe and desert. "It must be! How are Cheetahpaw, Northpaw, Frozenpaw, and Shrewpaw doing? Though they must have the warrior names I told you to give them," He purred, but his heart dropped at the thought of abandoning his kits.

~ @.@ confusing...~

Phoenixwing padded up to Snow, eyes wide. "Where's Shuriken and everyone else?" She stopped suddenly, as that sentence brought back unpleasant memories. She gritted her teeth, but the words burst out of her mouth anyways. "Dragonclaw's gone!" Phoenixwing gasped, glancing back at Iceclaw, Icee, and Petalfrost. She was glad to see them, but why were they here? Sighing heavily, she sat down in the snow, her ears angled back to Snowlily.

"Icee!" Petalfrost purred, her blue eyes alight with excitement, and she leaped to her paws and shook off the last bit of snow off her pelt. "Of course they have their Warrior name mouse-brain! Though you outta call them Northclaw, Cheetahfur, Shrewfang, and Frozenlily now!" she said, and gave him an affection blink and mewed "What are you doing here? Because I've come to join Iceclan!" she declared, but the stopped dead when she heard Phoenixwing's terrible words. "Dragonclaw's gone too? And where's the rest of Iceclan?" Petalfrost's questions bubbled up, but she cut most of the questions off before she could ask them. Stiffling a yawn, Petalfrost relaxed and mewed "So what now, Snowlily?"

Snowlily blinked in confusion between Iceclaw's startling cries and the sudden flood of cats that seemed to be pouring into what used to be Iceclan's fortress. She looked around at all of the warriors, carefully studying each of their features. After they had all finished speaking she waited a few heartbeats to gather her thoughts before speaking, "I know he's gone Phoenixwing. I know" it came out as a near whisper as her eyes betrayed her, showing a slight hit of the pain the name still brought, "and I am so sorry." she continued as she took a deep breath and sat up straighter now and let out a stifling sigh. Snowlily leveled her voice as she continued. "So I understand that Petalfrost and Icee are here to come to what was once Iceclan, but Phoenixwing, what about you?" her tail flicked back and forth as her eyes shot in Phoenixwing's direction. Her eyes were still clouded in pain but she hit it now with a much softer, more sincere gaze.

Phoenixwing sighed, her breath stirring the fur on her laws as she gazed down at the ground. "I'll stay," she whispered, feeling like each word was stabbing her as she gazed down at her former home in the dense forest. "I don't know how long I'll last here, but I'll stay." Phoenixwing gazed at Snowlily sorrowfully. "My friends are here, so this is my home now." The dead branches of the tree groaned and rubbed against each other, producing a tortured cry that was echoed silently by Phoenixwing's heart. She closed her eyes and thought, Goodbye Dragonclaw, wherever you are. I hope you're safe, somewhere far from StarClan...

I wonder what happened to Dragonclaw though... It seems weird that he would just abandon his sister. What exactly does she mean by GONE anyway? Snowlily closed her eyes and shook her head for a moment trying to work out the next step they needed to take. When she opened her eyes again they were filled with a look of determination. She was empathetic to Phoenixwing's situation and honestly could understand a bit about how she felt, though probably not on the same scale, but at the same time she needed to find a way to build a new home for all of these new warriors. "Well now it is us that make up Iceclan. Our only choice now is to rebuild. I assume you are all ready for this since you have all chosen to come here?" she paused for a moment as she looked over the warriors once again, this time studying their expressions. "I don't know and I wont pretend to know what happened to the past Iceclan warriors. What I do know is that this territory has been empty for moons and the odds are not good that they will be returning anytime soon, if ever. If we are all going to stay here it is going to take a lot of work. Now do any of you have any suggestions on where to start?" Snowlily mewed decisively but still leaving room for the others to respond.

"I'm so sorry, Snowlily, Phoenixwing," Icee said, searching for words that could help. "I know you two were closest to him." He pushed his paws against the soft, newly fallen snow, and purred. This felt much better to them than any EarthClan grass, or Tribe of The Falling Darkness stone. He let himself sit in what used to be the IceClan Fortress, and breathed in all the familiar smells. The one that he had loathed the most, the one that he had missed the most, was gone. The smell of all the IceClan cats. Icee moved closer to the original IceClan cats, and looked at Iceclaw sadly. He wondered if she missed Cheetahfur, Northclaw, Frozenlily, and Shrewfang as much as he did. He wondered why she had left him with the kits. He wondered why she had left IceClan for the Tribe. He wondered why... As his mind was raging with questions, he asked nothing. He moved his green eyes off of Iceclaw's blue fur, and onto the delicate, soft, newly fallen snow. He sighed, and forced himself to to keep the tears inside. He just missed being friends with Iceclaw, and seeing her. If he had any feelings for her, he didn't show them in any way other than friendship. He twitched his ears at Snowlily's question. "The rooms?" Icee suggested with no thought what so ever.

Whiteout paused beside a pine, running his tongue along his jaws as he strived to get rid of the taste of squirrel that blanketed his usually keen sense of smell. This area of the mountain he had never been to, but the prey was fantastic and the squirrel hadn't even since him coming as he crept over the snow, blending into the glittering white. Whiteout tasted the air, cool wind ruffling his long pelt as he faced northward. The trees seemed to whisper, but that puzzled him. Here were no leaves this time of year on the oaks, and pines didn't rustle. He bounded toward the noise curiously, and the whispering soon cleared into the voices of cats. Whiteout skidded to a stop and turned to leave. But why did his instincts cry out, Stay! He hesitated, his tail tip quivering as his two-colored eyes peered beyond the trees. He spotted a white she-cat, a ginger tabby, a black-and-white, while the others were hidden from view. Hardly believing that he was doing this, Whiteout picked his way out into open.

Phoenixwing shook off some of her sadness and cleared her throat. "Icee had the right idea I think. We need to check the rooms, in case some other animals have taken up residence there since IceClan's absence. Plus we need to have a place to sleep," she went on, thinking rapidly, just as a flash of blue and green crossed her line of vision. Phoenixwing whirled around, a snarl rising to her lips, as her eyes fell on the familiar looking white tom.

Whiteout flinched, instinctively bristling as every eye turned to him. The white she-cat, he'd seen before, when hunting. The ginger tabby was always seen with a huge, dark brown tabby tom, who was absent. He'd glimpsed them every once in awhile in the forest.... And the others, some he had met. Whiteout refused to meet the eye of the blue-ish she-cat. She'd left him, not that he blamed her. It was his fault that he was away for so long and so often, but... Making up his mind, Whiteout stepped forward cautiously, his eyes flicking around. Finally he spoke, "What are you doing here? The other cats left here moons ago. They headed away before dawn broke, all of them. I just thought they were leaving to visit someone. But they never came back."

Iceclaw flicked her tail at the kit on the ground. Her eyes were full of confusion. "How did a kit come here?" she asked to no one in particular.

"A kit!" Petalfrost mewed adoringly, leaping to Iceclaw's side. "It looks very young. Maybe a moon old?" she mewed studying the small shape. "The kit's so cute! Can I take care of him?" Petalfrost mewed, longing in her mew as she gazed at the small shape, a motherly affection lighting her eyes. "After all, I did leave my two new-born kits with the tribe." she mewed sadly, then shook it off and looked at Snowlily then to Iceclaw and mewed "Can I please take care of the kit?!"

"Where did a kit come from?" Icee bit his lips to hide the smile that was coming. "Iceclaw, who are you seeing?" He asked, but there was actually some confusion evident in his bright, bubbly green eyes. He curled his tail around his white paws, and yawned. "The snow feels great on my paws," He commented, kneading his claws into the soft white blanket of snow. Shaking his head, he forced himself to keep his thoughts on the big idea. "Shuriken wouldn't just leave. He'd fight to the death for the Fortress, Pain too," His green eyes clouded over in thought. "It just doesn't make sense..." He thought aloud.

The kit stared at her with wide eyes. "Mummy?" it squeaked, tumbling forward and crashing into her. Iceclaw watched with amusement, her tail twitching. "Why not?" she replied. "I miss my kits too....."

Thinking of her kits she had left in the tribe, she felt a deep sadness.

Petalfrost's eyes light up with amsument and she purred at Icee's remark. "I miss Banekit and Snakekit deeply. Maybe I should of brought them here with me, but they wouldn't of made it through the snow..." Petalfrost thought sadly, feeling a pang of jealousy hit her when the kit called Iceclaw mommy. Shaking her head, she tried to clear all the jealous thoughts out of her mind and then she tried to put on a happier look and she looked at Iceclaw and mewed embarassedly "Sorry about how I acted over the kit. I-i just miss my little ones. Do you think I could help you take care of the kits?"