let the rain fall down | OPEN

. CUNNERSTAR .
Whatever the day brought it, something was always spectacularly surprising and something was always such a drag. Something was always bound to bring his eyes to life and send them into a gleaming fit of excitement...and something was always going to dull them out, making his heart sink into a mundane state of hibernation. He had learned that life was going to be that way...by that
way it was sketchy and uncertain. The weather at the exact moment was
backing up his previous thought as the sunshine rays of happiness that
once filtered through the particles of dust floating around in the mixed
gases began to dissipate and be replaced by an overcast like state. Clouds were forming, building and accumulating in mass. The air was becoming damp and that certain smell of rain was beginning to penetrate the otherwise flowery aroma that hung in the air. Tada mother nature, thanks for that element of surprise, that actually was going to make his day rather than ruin it. You see Cunnerstar, unlike many of the cats, enjoyed the rain. The cooling sensation it almost always brought was something that nothing else could quite compare to. And the way it made the flora and fauna alike flourish was something that he always found awe in.

Once upon a time, he hated the rain. Hated the very thought of getting his paws wet, his long fur plastered against his muscular form had been something so awful that his nose would wrinkle up in disgust for days upon end. Those days had been long ago, back shortly after Boaheart had died. Anything that could be mistaken for, or a cause of grief, was going to cause him pain. Back then he had let anything negative consume him. His very heart pumped black liquid and his soul screamed in agony. The memory was always a vivid one, often a nightmare when it did decide to pop up out of nowhere. The
ginger and white tom wasn't sure that it would ever leave him. The
mewing of his kits, oblivious to what had happened as they were placed
next to another nursing queen...their eyes unopened and listening skills undeveloped.  But he, he was aware of it all. The beautiful warrior, his mentor, his best friend, his mate, the mother of his kits...she had been taken from him. All at once he had become sour to others around him. Abandonment of the kits he could only deem as necessary. They were the only ties left to her...and
he needed them gone. Many times did he think of pushing them outside of
the clan, another would adopt them, take them in. They would be gone.
But never could he decisively accept that as the final answer. Even if he would of, his father had countered the thought with an emotional heart-wrenching lecture. And now they were warriors, Coypufoot and Iguanastripe. Through trial and tribulation they had made it and he accepted them proudly as his own. As their own, even if she no longer was with them physically, spiritiually she was everywhere.

Shaking his skull, he jarred the memories out of his head, throwing them out to the open air as the first drop of rain hit him quite fully on the nose. Green eyes blinked astonished at the sensation of the rain hitting his fur. It would never get old. Stretching his aging body out, his bones gave a few groans and cracks of
protest before he was fully standing. He was a large cat, muscular by
all means and quite healthy, though his hearing was beginning to fail
him and he could only wonder how long before he would need a cat by his
side to help him catch words that he missed. Cunnerstar would not be stepping down from his leadership anytime soon, especially not for faulty hearing. There were ways around it.
Besides he was picking up on reading the movements of others maws quite
nicely, and his intuitions when hunting or fighting were still intact. As far as he was concerned, nobody needed to know of his small problem until he was nearly deaf. He moved further to the left, knowing that there was a rather large mangrove with a quiet hiding spot. Squeezing his large body through the curving roots he curled up under the tree...enjoying the sound of falling drops.