*gasps* *drops everything I'm doing right now*  CLOUDED?!?! *squeals* *tacklehugs*

OH MY GOSH-IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!!!!!!! 

I've missed you!!! Lots! Not sure if you'd remember me though, but oh my goodness, it's so good to see you even if it is only just for a bit!!! :)

How are you? How's life? Do you still have your AEs around somewhere? 

Gah-I'm just all over the place right now, sorry. XD

*hugs again* So good to see you again!!! :)

TOP TOP TOP TOP TOP TOP TOP!!!! :)

The Song of the Rocks, Part 2:

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Two icy blue eyes glittered in the foliage like tiny shards of ice, then with a near-silent hush a feline shape crept out, breaking into a quick trot once he had left the bush. There was a slight chill in the air that day, odd for the warm season. Rock Patch fluffed out his pelt as he followed the trail he’d worn with hs pawprints many moons before. Some days Clover Runner had tagged along behind him; some she hadn’t. Rock Patch rolled his eyes as he thought of her today, dark gray tail spiked out like a bristlecone behind her.

“ ‘Ehh, I can’t come, Rock Patch,’ ” he muttered, mimicking her worried mew. “ ‘Ehh, what if Frozen River finds out? Ehh, I’m too scared…’ well, she can whimper at the dens all she likes. I just know I’m going to find something great today--” Rock Patch stopped cold as a rancid stench suddenly caught his nose. 

It took him a second to identify the source of the scent, and the next to realize what it was. 

“Fox!” he hissed.

Just as he said it, two blazing amber eyes appeared in the foliage, and with a chilling scream the fox shot out at him, jaws snapping in the air where Rock Patch had been just a heartbeat ago. Whipping around, Rock Patch launched himself away from the fox, hitting the ground running. His claws dug into the earth and ripped up clods of dirt and plants roots as he frantically sped away, the fox just on his tail. Rock Patch could feel the fox’s hot breath on his fur, hear its slavering jaws, and when saw a dark hole in front his nose, he plunged blindly in, mind crazed with fear. 

Earth showered down around him, choking hm as he breathed it in and sticking to his eyes. With a crash Rock Patch landed on the floor of wherever he was, and not wasting a second he took off again, running until he couldn’t hear anything else. Then he collapsed on the ground, chest heaving with the sudden exertion. Only then could he sneeze the dirt from his nose and try to figure out where he was. With a cold sting of dread, he quickly recognized the sloping, dark tunnel walls and the unearthly chill in the air. 

Without even knowing it, he had chased himself into the tunnels--and he didn’t know at all where an exit was. 

Slowly Rock Patch got to his paws, listening for even the slightest sound. The silence echoed all around him, stifling in its stillness. Rock Patch hefted himself into motion, stepping so quietly his paws made no sound on the stony floor. For what seemed like an eternity he wandered around the maze of tunnels, one dark stretch leading into another. Finally a sound came to his ears, so faint he nearly missed it. It was a drop of water striking the ground, a quiet tapping in the otherwise deathly-silent caves. 

Rock Patch pricked his ears, attempting to discover the source of the water. After a moment he deduced it was coming from somewhere just up ahead, so he began to make his way towards the water, a little louder and faster. In his haste to escape the terrifying tunnels, though, he veered around a corner and smashed into a solid stone wall, a bolt of pain shooting through his paw as it folded against the wall. Yowling, Rock Patch jumped back, electric shocks running up his paw whenever he set it on the ground. Gritting his teeth, he tried to follow the dripping of the water, awkwardly limping along until the tunnel spread out into an expansive cavern. Rock Patch stopped on a shelf of rock jutting out over the cave, staring with trepidation over the side. 

Just beneath him was a thickly flowing band of water, a dark river cutting through like a claw. A tiny spark of hope flaring inside his chest, Rock Patch glanced around him to see if there was any way down from the shelf. On his left side, a clump of rocks led down to the river, and though they looked dangerous, Rock Patch decided that he had to get off somehow. So, curling his injured paw beneath his body, he carefully lowered himself down the rocks, making absolutely certain the a rock was stable before he stood on it. After an agonizingly slow descent, Rock Patch stumbled out by the river, his paws scraping on the sandy shore. 

As he looked over the water, he suddenly realized how thirsty he was, and quickly shoved his muzzle into the river, flinching at its icy sting. Still, though, he drank his fill, then pulled away crumpled, exhausted, by the river until sleep swept down on him.  

-------

For three days after that Rock Patch wandered aimlessly about the tunnels, searching for any path to escape from the depressing silence. Each time he went out his wrenched paw ached, and his heart longed for the surface world; with sunshine and trees, with friends and kin, with noise and something other than this terrible, dark silence. Rock Patch’s stomach was always empty, and what meager food he could find only consisted of tiny fish from the river, or a mouse foolish enough to stray into the tunnels. 

One day while he was dragging himself around the tunnels, still searching though he had no hope of finding an exit, he came across what felt like a steep incline. Leaning forwards, Rock Patch traced his whiskers along it and felt ground-up stone and earth, ascending to a small speck of light in the ceiling.

Cautiously, but not letting go of a hope of freedom, Rock Patch unsheathed his claws and sank them into the wall of earth, curling gravel beneath his paws. With an effort he shoved his uninjured paw forwards, grasping higher on the wall, and hauled his body upwards. The roof above his head was low and tight, and often Rock Patch’s ears were flattened by the sheer rock. Eventually, though, one painful movement at a time, Rock Patch began to smell the scents of the forest, and started to imagine that he could be freed from the tunnels’ prison. 

With a gasp Rock Patch’s head erupted from a slit of earth, emerging into the forest he called home. Excitement exploded in his mind, and with a massive push he heaved himself out, finally leaving the last traces of the darkness behind. For a moment he stood still and dazed, his head spinning from happiness and relief. Then black spots fuzzed in his eyes, and he stumbled for a moment, his paws trembling, and crashed muzzle-first onto the ground. 

“Rock Patch?” someone above him said. 

Rock Patch looked up and met two wide eyes, deep green and belonging to Dove Storm. Immediately she pounced on him, covering his head with rasping licks. “You’re alive!” Dove Storm mewed, her voice heavy with relief. “But you look dead on your paws…” Dove Storm paused for a moment, letting the silence lengthen between the two cats, then quietly said, “W… where were you?” Oddly enough, Rock Patch didn’t snap back indignantly, defensive in his answer, but instead answered her calmly and readily. 

“I… I was in the tunnels,” he replied, to Dove Storm’s gasp of fear. “But I didn’t go there on purpose, I promise--wait, how do you know what the tunnels are?” Dove Storm looked away, a shadow falling over her face. Gently she put her tail on his shoulder and started to lead him back to the dens, talking all the way. 

“At first we thought you had just been out hunting and forgot to return, but after a moonrise or two, I realized it was more than that. Frozen River demanded someone tell where you were, and that’s when Clover Runner spoke up… she told us you had found tunnels on your own, and how you were most likely down there. But she couldn’t find the entrance, and after another day we gave up hope…” She cast a look at Rock Patch, who stared back with exhausted blue eyes, and gave him a small smile. “But now you have come back.”

Rock Patch simply nodded to that, his mind working, and before he knew it he and Dove Storm were padding into the dens, where a few other cats were milling about. Rock Patch stopped short as a large tom with smoky-white fur and sharp blue eyes leapt across the clearing, his lip pulled back in a scowl. “Frozen River,” Rock Patch murmured, a twinge of uneasiness striking him as more cats emerged from their dens to watch, whispering among each other as they stared at Rock Patch. 

“Rock Patch,” Frozen River returned, pacing up to Rock Patch. “What are these tunnels, and why did you vanish into them?” Rock Patch hesitated for a moment. Still he was reluctant to tell anyone what he had done in the tunnels, how he had visited in secret for many moons.

Finally, scuffling his paws, Rock Patch admitted, “I was chased by a fox into the tunnels, and I couldn’t find my way for such a long time.” Frozen River narrowed his eyes, tail flicking. Rock Patch swallowed, aware that Frozen River knew there was more to the story than that. He inhaled a deep breath, quelling an arrogant temper that threatened to rise up. For a second he considered how being alone and forced out of company had diminished his rashness, and as he did an idea struck his mind like a badger’s claw. In one swift movement, Rock Patch brushed past Frozen River, ignoring the tom’s cry of surprise, and sprung up onto the boulder, yowling to draw all the cats’ attention to himself. Frozen River moved to stop him, but already cats were filling up the clearing below Rock Patch, and angrily Frozen River stepped away, waiting for Rock Patch to speak. 

“If you haven’t already heard,” Rock Patch began, his voice echoing around the dens. “For the past four sunrises I was trapped in a maze of tunnels beneath our territory, split by an icy-cold river cutting through them.” Rock Patch waited for the shocked murmurs and comments to die down before continuing. “It was… a difficult experience. I was cold and alone for many nights, with little hope of escape. But the trial, as much as I suffered, was also… life-changing. I feel like a new cat, a… better one. And therefore, with Frozen River’s permission…” Rock Patch shot a glance at Frozen River, who was looking hesitantly intrigued. “I want to put in a system where the youngest cats of our group will spend a night in the tunnels, to prove their worth to not only us, but themselves.” 

“But what if they get lost?” a gold-and-ginger tabby named Sun Song called out, her long tail twitching uneasily. 

“They won’t,” Rock Patch said evenly, meeting her eyes. “Because before each trial, I shall go into the tunnels and help them find their way.” A black and white tom, Lightning Strike, jumped up, snarling under his breath.

“Come on, that’s nuts!” he snapped at Rock Patch, his pelt spiking along his spine.“Why on earth would we agree to do this?” Next to him, though, Quiet Leaf was looking thoughtful. 

“No, there’s sense in what he says,” she mused, loud enough to be heard by everyone. “It could teach our kits a valuable lesson, help them become stronger in their later seasons.” Rock Patch nodded gratefully at her, bounding down from the rock and landing in the middle of the cats. They swelled around him like a pool of water as he stretched out his paw, placing it on the ground. 

“Kits before they enter the tunnels will be called softpaws…” he said. Then he unsheathed his claws, stirring up the dust. “And after they have left, they will be called sharpclaws.” Nearby him, Frozen River hesitated, then reluctantly dipped his head. 

“I suppose… I suppose we could try it out,” he said, to Rock Patch’s start of delight. Excitement tingled along his spine, his mind momentarily lost to the rest of the cats, who were rapidly talking among each other. If they really created a tradition, with softpaws and sharpclaws and those dark tunnels, that would make him… 

Rock Patch-- the very first sharpclaw.