days pass by -

[Dusk]

He shivered as the cold wrapped around his body, engulfing him, eating him up slowly. He could feel himself sinking, the wind blowing, cats yowling, him dying. His eyes opened quickly and he jumped up, his head going back and forth wildly. A calm breath exited him as he realized he was in no sort of trouble, he was in his cold, outdoors camp, with other cats huddled around him. The sound of yowling cats within his dream had scared him silly, he could still hear the dying breaths, the blood splattered everywhere, cats lying around. And not just from their own clan but all of the known Clans. He sat down, wrapping his tail around his legs, giving reassuring licks to his chest as he sat there, unsure what to do and not wanting to really do anything at this point.

[moonpaw]

Moonshadow awoke from the jump of one of the cats in the den. She peeked up and saw him looking around, then licking his chest. Her eyes were tired and heavy. "What's wrong?" she asked as she yawned. "Bad dream?" She lay back down and yawned once more. She didn't wait for an answer from Thunderstorm. "Whatever, it's over go back to sleep." She ten closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

[Dusk]

He looked up from his licking. "It's never over." He muttered, mostly to himself since Moonshadow had decided to go back to sleep. With those sorts of dreams, no cat would want to go back to sleep. Or at least those like him, who detested the battle between the clans and wanted it over, finished, done with. It would take more than just one cat to finish it off and more bloody, dead bodies. The yowls of dead cat's still echoed in his head, it stayed in the back of his brain, despite him not wanting it there. He wanted to go and prod the she-cat awake, so he could have someone to talk to, someone who would distract his thoughts but at the same time, he didn't want to bother her, she had been obviously very tired if she had fallen deeply back in sleep just like that. Glancing around, he sighed, there were no cats to comfort his thoughts and push them back.

As carefully and silently as he could, he made his way towards the entrance and pulled himself out into the cold night. He would be tired later and would fall asleep but right now, he was awake and alert as any cat would be if they had come back from a hunting patrol or even a border patrol. The wind ruffled his fur, making him shiver, especially his exposed chest that he had licked, making the area more prone to getting cold.

[●●●Elli!]

Thunderstorm was not the only cat who had been unable to sleep. Crystalshadow stood in the snow outside the camp entrance, gazing at the stars. There was a lot on her mind. The war, and her conflicting emotions about it. Her mate, and the fact that he was a part of a different Clan. Many a night she slipped out of camp and shivered on the wet, slushy ground, praying to StarClan that she would find her way. As of yet, there was no answer to her prayers.

At the sound of another cat's pawsteps, Crystalshadow turned around. "Thunderstorm?" She was surprised to find another cat outside the camp this late at night.

[Dusk]

"Hm..?" He muttered, awake and surprised that another cat was here. He sniffed the air, catching a whiff of Crystalshadow's scent, the most recent, apart from his own. "Crystalshadow?" He mewed, padding over to her direction. So, the night was alive with more than one cat, both had something up on their mind or they would have both woken up and gone back into deep sleep like Moonshadow had. "Why are you up?"

[●●●Elli!]

"There's so much on my mind, I was having trouble falling asleep," she murmured. She knew he probably expected her to go on, but she didn't want to tell him about Willownight. She also didn't want to admit that, despite the fact that she knew the war was a bad idea, she felt like it wasn't something SkyClan should try to stop. How could their Clan understand the hatred VortexClan and VoidClan felt towards each other? She took a deep breath and looked over at the tom. "What about you?"

[Dusk]

He sighed, looking at the ground, staring at it like it would fall open and swallow them up, so that he wouldn't have to speak, save his embarrassment. "Er.." He paused, letting a deep breath out, "I had a dream of yowling cat's, cat's dying, blood. It bothered me. I just want this mouse-brained war-thing to stop" He mewed, clawing at the snow.

[●●●Elli!]

"I know what you mean," replied Crystalshadow. It was true. She'd seen the last battle between VortexClan and VoidClan, and it had been terrifying. The scent of blood had filled the air and the snow had turned scarlet. She shuddered. Sensing the other cat's embarrassment, she added, "It's nothing to be ashamed about. I've had nightmares about the war, too. When I do, I always come out here and pray to StarClan that it will end." She didn't add that she also had nightmares about the death of her mate, or that when she prayed to StarClan she prayed that he would stay safe and well.

[Darke]

"But like most dreams, it never does..." said a hollow voice. "Like the war, things are changing, but bad dreams will never stop, no matter what's going on." from out of the dark shadows walked a dark gray cat, it was Ripstar, the leader of SkyClan. "Life has always been this way, even our ancestors have dark dreams... Even the happiest of cats do." he looked towards the ground and sighed with regret as he remembered the dreams he suffered with as a kit. The sky was clear and the tip of the mountain was relatively warm, but he was chilled with memories and pain. "You two shouldn't stay out here for too long, but I know how comforting it is out here, so stay as long as you want. Goodnight, and may StarClan clear your clouded minds." Ripstar's figure disappeared into the night as the winds cooled the mountain air.

[Dusk]

Thunderstorm glanced at the she-cat, nodding but not saying a word in the darkness that was becoming lighter as morning, or rather, dawn came around. At the sound of another voice, as well as scent, he turned to look at Ripstar, who was speaking, his words too, rang true. He let a shiver run through his body, their leader had scared him, not in the sense of the war had, but in a different way, as he watched Ripstar leave and disappear.

[●●●Elli!]

Crystalshadow stared after her leader. She'd always known he was a wise cat, but she hadn't known how deep the veins of knowledge ran within him. His words brought her comfort, though she still felt guilty and ashamed of the secret she was keeping from her Clanmates and Ripstar. The snow sucked at her paws and she realized with a start that she'd been standing in the same spot for quite some time. A glance at the sky told her that morning was on its way. She turned to the tom and mewed, "I think I'm going to try to get at least a tiny bit of sleep." As she padded back into camp, however, sleep was the last thing on her mind.