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Aug 10, 2019 9:12:25 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Aug 10, 2019 9:12:25 GMT -5
Mousepaw was crouching low to the ground with his ears pivoting around, only to be stopped by a rather annoying call from Shadowpaw. Sighing heavily to himself he rose back up to his paws and slowly turned to look at the other apprentice. “There’s already been a lot of time wasted. Think about how much time it’s going to take to round the rest of the cats back up.” Mousepaw pointed out, thinking it was better to keep going than have to backtrack to get the rest of the splintered patrol. Not to mention that meant being stuck with the unbearable fish pelt again. It felt like they’d be chasing their own tails around in circles.
The silver she-cat behind them watched the two for a moment before clearing her throat. “There’s safety in numbers. We’re going back to get the rest of the cats.” She mewed with an air of finality that made Mousepaw shut his mouth before he could think to argue again. Sighing she flicked her tail certainly not any more excited about the prospect of the Windclan apprentice being put in a situation with Jaggedscar again. The unfamiliar scents though were enough to make her cautious about moving forwards with two apprentices. Turning around she moved to leave the moor. She flicked her tail in beckoning the two apprentices to follow her, ignoring the sour look on Mousepaw’s face as they moved forwards.
Hazelrunner frowned at the mention of the Dark Forest nipping at their heels. She wasn’t wrong and she didn’t think her friend realized just how true that was. It did warm her heart to see how committed Leafpaw wanted to be to her clan because she felt like it was the right thing to do. She breathed out softly looking over Leafpaw for a moment. “One of the hardest things to learn is how to get back up after you fall. That’s the first thing that you need to get more practice at. Once we’ve gotten through this I’ll do anything I can to help you become the best warrior you can be for the clan. It’s just as much mental training as it is physical. You aren’t as far off as you think you are I promise.” The young warrior mewed with a much clearer picture of what was needed to help her friend.
She couldn’t hide the slight bit of surprise that came to her eyes when she heard the bitterness dripping from Leafpaw’s mouth. She’d very rarely ever heard her say anything negative about the deputy. There was a lot more to this than just meets the eye. “You know you can talk to me about anything any time.” The warrior mewed softly before lapsing into silence for a good few minutes. It wasn’t an offer for Hazelrunner to butt her head into the middle of a situation where it didn’t belong, but at least a promise to listen if Leafpaw wanted to vent more about what was behind her frustration with Ravenfang.
“Exactly, it’s an insult. You aren’t supposed to be proud of being called fox-dung.” He seemed equally as astounded by the fact she couldn’t figure out that fox-dung wasn’t a term of endearment. How was he supposed to know what mister meant? It sounded too much like the twolegs’ horrible sounds they made for his liking. He scrunched up his face still not seeming particularly satisfied with that explanation. He paused to watch her crumple back at a memory of her mother suddenly came into her mind. He contemplated if he should tell her about Starclan. She probably wouldn’t understand it entirely, but he didn’t really know what else to do to help her with her grief. He wasn’t much for affection or consoling others. “Us clan cats all know our ancestors and loved ones go to live together in Starclan. They guide us and show us the way. I’m sure she’ll be watching you kit and looking out for you. I’ve seen Starclan cats with my own eyes.” Frogstrike casually explained as they went, brushing over the fact that he hadn’t seen one in so many moons. Maybe it would help her in some way. Maybe not and it would make her think the forest cats were that much more bizarre. Who knew? Their trail was slowly drawing towards the entrance of the barrier separating them from Windclan camp. Frogstrike stopped contemplating for a moment if he should actually risk his neck by going inside. There was a good chance if he did he might never come out again. Sighing reluctantly he trudged on knowing he couldn’t break his promise to the kit now. Even if he was working against a ticking clock.
The Shadowclan tom straightened his leg not bothering to look towards the she-cat or be anymore cautious moving about than he was. Turning sharply he moved to exit the den, still swaying a little on his paws. “Try hissing again. Useless she-cat.” He hissed to himself as he staggered back into the clearing. The scene made it rather clear how he’d gotten his wounds. A she-cat was being held down by other cats, her pelt and face cover in blood. The tom lumbered back towards her with burning eyes, ignoring the blood trail he was leaving behind. The intentions were clear in his eyes. He wasn’t going to stand for a she-cat nearly gutting him like this.
(Thanks for the heads up. Sorry I took a while to reply I’ve been volunteering all week)
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Aug 10, 2019 15:04:49 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Aug 10, 2019 15:04:49 GMT -5
(No worries, hope youre doing neat stuff c:)
Shadowpaw felt the point that Mousepaw was making as he mentioned gathering the separated and ill-tempered cats back together to proceed on their mission. Not only would it be a time consuming reunification, they would also have to deal with the heavy tensions between Leafpaw and the two Windclan cats beforepaw, or on the way. Saying it wouldn’t be fun was quite an understatement. But Shadowpaw couldn’t help but feel the anxiety of going towards whatever might await them with only a warrior and two apprentices more strongly than the difficulty they would face reuniting. At least the cats were on one side in whatever challenge they faced...sort of.
He tried to hide the relief from his face as Silverfang commanded them back without room for debate from the matter; he turned away as he didn’t want to draw the ire of Mousepaw as he silently thanked the Riverclan warrior for her strong and unbudging tone. He couldn’t say anything that would match anything close to the firmness the warrior had spoken with and Mousepaw was not likely to listen to much of any protest the lesser apprentice would have. He knew he’s have to thank her later, but for now they would have to think about dealing with the situation between Jaggedscar and Leafpaw. Apprehension was ready to creep its way into his pelt once they caught sight of other clan cats, and he nervously glanced towards Silverfang to vainly search for the magical answer that would make this recently dealt wound close itself, yet could find nothing. “Would you like...me to go find Leafpaw...?” It was a quiet question directed at the Riverclan warrior—he didn’t know if Silverfang would want to speak personally with Leafpaw or alongside Jaggedscar, but he at least wanted to tell Leafpaw that she had to make it clear, at least to Silverfang, she hadn’t meant what she said how it had sounded. But he wouldn’t unless Silverfang was okay with him padding to get her himself. He didn’t want her to feel like he was trying to give Riverclan a feeling of being underpawed in the matter. Yet, he had to push to the back of his mind that he wasn’t certain if he would show the same reservation for the other accompanying Riverclan warrior.
Leafpaw’s gaze lifted up as Hazelrunner explained that becoming the warrior she wanted to be was more than a game of hunting and fighting practice. Leafpaw truthfully already knew that, but it wasn’t an easy task of keeping that in mind when she was failing at everything she tried. Their time wasn’t unlimited. She only had so much time to fail before Nightstar was upon them—and therein lied her problem as Hazelrunner promised her help. Whether her friend meant through this situation specifically or through the darkness approaching them, it always felt like there were promises of training and help that always broke down once the unexpected bit at their heels. She cast her gaze back upon her paws, trying to keep from outright pessimism from interrupting and bowling over everything her friend had said. She was prepared to voice her fears that they wouldnt have time when her friend somewhat uncomfortably offered her paw for whatever Leafpaw’s comment had been stemming from. She realized with the uncomfortable silence that lingered between them for a long while that her comment had been somewhat....ill-conceived on her part.
She shook her head and told herself to leave that behind. It didn’t matter in the face of what threats they were facing, right? She steered her thoughts back to what her friend had been saying before. “I feel like we keep saying that, and then six things go wrong and it never happens...” she murmured quietly. It was truly the root of why she was feeling quite alone and left behind—al paws had been called to deal with these problems and as a result Leafpaw was left without much to help her out. Shadowpaw and Mousepaw, as well. “I don’t know. Maybe more things will go wrong.” She pushed herself up onto her paws after a bit of a pessimistic and close-minded comment seemed to close the conversation. Again, it seemed like she was leading herself into a hole she couldn’t climb out of in her mind. “We should probably keep looking for Rainstar.” Her voice wasn’t holding much emotion, just absent-minded duty.
“Ooooooohhhh.” The kit quietly murmured as she batted at her eyes. She seemed relatively absent of his response until he brought up his mother and how things functioned in the clans. It seemed to interest her, yet she had never heard of something like that from her mom. “Really? You’ve seen them? Well, is it only for your ancestors? Or is it for all cats? Is...is she happy up there? Or does she not go there because we didnt live with you?” Her onslaught of questions was reinvigorated as Frogstriked seemed to hold her an olive branch of hope. For such a young kitten, it might be at least the smallest comfort to know she wasn’t gone in the sense a kit might think of it, but it wasn’t going to jeep her from grieving her crying by any means, as it seemed to only delay her tears as she had to attack him with questions once more.
Whispersong’s eyes narrowed once the tom-cat had turned away, but she didn’t realize fully what was occurring outside until she saw his path and stepped closer to the entrance of the medicine cat’s den. Her narrowed eyes widened in horror as she saw the sight of several Shadowclan cats pinning down what must of been a Riverclan she-cat by her estimation. She stared in horror as she immediately understood what the tom’s intentions were and what she had enabled him to do by at least slowing his blood loss. She felt her legs paralyzed as every inch of her heart yowled at her to stop him, but her eyes saw how many cats were holding down the she-cat, and she knew where their attention would turn if she gave them the opportunity so easily of avoiding Frogstrike’s interference for the fresh she-cat.
“Don’t look. Just don’t look.” In the Shadowclan nursery, a young she-cat was trying to stand in front of both the other she-cats and the kit’s gazes as the commotion outside had caught their own attention. It was only a matter of time before one of them had tried fighting back again, and Ebonypelt knew this was the way their lives were going to be now. Since they had watched Dawnstar die and Nightstar had lost his son to another clan, there was no more order in the eyes of Starclan. Any she-cat who couldn’t rip the throat of a tom open was never left alone—such had been the case with Tawnypelt, yet she herself was no longer in their ranks. So here she was, trying to keep the other she-cat’s eyes from the horrid sights that would take place. There was nothing she could do about the sounds.
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Aug 11, 2019 11:31:47 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Aug 11, 2019 11:31:47 GMT -5
(I definitely did I helped at my local county fair it was a lot of fun, but now I’m worn out!) Silverfang didn’t want to take any chances, even if things were made more uncomfortable for it. As they set about going to get the other clan cats she was focusing her attention on what needed to be said and done to keep things together until the more pressing issue was resolved. Every scenario ended with Jaggedscar turning and bolting back to camp, taking this as an excuse to drive a wedge between the two clans. She understood part of his vitriol for the Windclan cats, especially the daughter of its deputy. She frowned shaking her head and moving on to another possible solution. It was a way to keep herself from thinking about her own hurt that was still lingering in the back of her mind. The Shadowclan cat’s voice drew her back out of her thoughts to the present. Tipping her head she turned her pale eyes to him seeming to be determining just what behind his words. Drawing in a deep breath she knew there was no way, but forwards. “Yes, bring her to see me.” She mewed in a steady quiet way, silently turning her head to look in the direction of her still wounded clanmate. She was almost surprised to see him still dutifully here instead of already back in camp to speak to Otterstar. Just as much as Shadowpaw wanted her to understand that Leafpaw hadn’t meant it, she wanted Leafpaw to understand just where she and Jaggedscar had come from. Jaggedscar hadn’t always been like this, maybe hints of this new demeanor were there, but now it had come out in full force. As his clanmate she knew him better than the Windclan cats would. Maybe that is why she was willing to really talk with Leafpaw. Moving forwards she trotted along fixing her eyes on the monolithic problem in front of them. The silence that followed was already enough to let her know that Leafpaw wasn’t convinced by her promises to help. Even if Leafpaw couldn’t help how she felt, it didn’t make it any less uncomfortable for Hazelrunner. She wanted to be there for Leafpaw and Shadowpaw, help them grow and realize that they were great cats and would be great warriors soon. That wasn’t as easy to do now that the whole of the clans had been flipped right on its head. Her promises were harder to keep and see through to the end. The young warrior knew she didn’t have some all perfect answer that would fix it all. Now more than ever though she felt a sharp divide between her and Leafpaw. She sighed softly to herself, slowly nodding her head and clambering back to her paws. “Of course.” She mewed flatly laying her ears down flat against her head. Sighing heavily to herself Hazelrunner’s whole mood seemed to change, feeling more than a little sting from seemingly failing to help Leafpaw in anyway. “We shouldn’t go out too far.” She mewed as she turned to look ahead, pulling up her shoulders. He blue eyes were somewhat dull when looking back at Leafpaw, before proceeding on. The rejection from her friend since kithood only compounded with the two missing Windclan cats made Hazelrunner’s paws feel much heavier and clumsier than they had been in the many moons since she was a kit. Still, she pushed her chin forwards and continued on. She only paused when she saw the three cats off in the distance making their way back from the direction of the Horseplace. She watched them for a moment trying to discern from their expressions if they might have been successful or not. Frogstrike looked away to hide a roll of his eyes as the kit released yet another borage of question on him. He had to ask himself which was less irritating to him, the questions or the wailing. In the end he decided the questions were much easier on the ears. Now he was left feeling more like a queen in a nursery trying to explain Starclan in the best way possible. “Yes I’m a medicine cat, that’s part of my job is to communicate with Starclan.” The part of the job he was wholly failing at unfortunately. “There are a pawful of cats from outside our ranks that go to Starclan. If not there are other stars they can walk with. The cats of Starclan never have to worry about hunger, there is always prey and all the cats live together. They also are able to watch over the cats they care about the most.” He tried to keep himself from giving the kit too much false hope, but anything was possible. It was very possible that her mother was alive in some other set of stars. The tribe had their own beliefs of what happened to their ancestors. Surely Kittypets had something like that. The petite tom frowned as the shadow of the camp barrier fell over him. “Don’t be scared, they aren’t going to be happy to see me.” He frowned before clearing his throat. “Shadowclan cat here trespassing on Windclan territory! Is any cat going to bother to deal with this!” The yowl rung out loud from the tiny tom’s lungs. He taunted the Windclan cats on the other side of their barrier hoping to draw cats out without making him have to waltz his way into camp himself. He was already preparing himself to be pounced on by any number of warriors. “Nightstar could probably take this place easier than Riverclan.” He muttered darkly to himself. He couldn’t fix the mouse-brained cats who couldn’t even help themselves. As the tom, Wolfjaw, staggered towards the pinned she-cat, she began to fight and thrash harder than before. No matter how much she struggled though she was no match for the much stronger healthier warriors holding her down. She was already thin with an unkempt wiry coat. A few of the cats holding her down moved aside to let him lumber past. The whole clan had practically halted now to watch what was about to happen, or to turn away to avoid the grizzly sight. He rose a claw up to strike the she-cat on the side of her face, drawing his claws down her face, causing a loud yowl of pain before another blow to head silenced her. The she-cat’s cries of pain and terror echoed through camp, seeming to go on for what felt like moons. Eventually she was left laying there defeated, no cats bothering to hold her down as she laid there with a completely deadened look in her eye while the rest of her face was scratched and torn up beyond recognition. With shallow raspy breaths she had a rather glazed look to her eyes not seeming present here anymore. She didn’t have any reaction when Wolfjaw seized her by her scruff and drug her towards the nursery to be left to either live or die.
Barging in to the middle of the nursery he paid no mind to the she-cats or kits in the den, practically throwing her to the floor. There he left her much to the horror of the she-cats inside the den. He stopped briefly to look at Ebonypelt. “Nightstar was clear, everyone has to see what happens to disobedient she-cats.” His warning was clear as he hobbled out of the den. His cobwebs were already bloody and falling away from the worst of his wounds. The tom laid himself out in the middle of camp talking amongst the other toms seeming rather satisfied with himself afterwards. He seemed mostly unfazed by the deep wounds left by the she-cat.
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Shadowstartheleader
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~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Aug 11, 2019 20:03:23 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Aug 11, 2019 20:03:23 GMT -5
(Sounds like a lot of fun ) Shadowpaw dipped his head without saying anything else, anxiety worming its way into his throat as her response meant that he got to be the bearer of the awkward and difficult summons for Leafpaw. He left without looking back at Mousepaw and prepared to search for Leafpaw and Hazelrunner, taking his nose to the air immediately despite being pretty certain of the direction that the two had gone when their plans had changed. He didn’t want to be responsible for any more wasted time than they had already lost. Yet as he found their scent trails in the direction that he had remembered them traveling, it took him a couple seconds for him to register that his memory had been correct and his gut instinct wasn’t driving him the wrong way. It was a strange feeling that he unfortunately didn’t have the time to acknowledge and think about a moment. He followed along the trails, needing a very short time before they were distantly in sight, and he pulled in closer without much mind for the conversation that they may have been having as they rose up and began walking again to continue the search. “Leafpaw!” It was a gentle call as he wasn’t certain of exactly how heated the she-cat’s pelt was in this moment, and he added a call to Hazelrunner by name as he approached closely. “Mousepaw found the trail of Rainstar. It leads into, or past the horseplace. We’re not sure yet, but...Silverfang and I thought we should get everyone else first.” He didn’t mention Mousepaw’s aversion to the idea directly. He glanced briefly at the face of Leafpaw and tried to take in some information, but she only really looked tired, her eyes a little dull as she gazed back at him. Glancing at Hazelrunner he noted that even her gaze seemed a little dull despite the full night’s comfortable rest that they had managed. He quietly pulled in a deep breath. “Leafpaw, umm...” his gaze danced around her fo afew moments, tracing her paws before he forced himself to look into the gaze of his friend. “Silverfang asked to speak with you. It kind of sounds like she wants to straighten out what you....what you meant, so...” he bit his lip as anxiety was creeping from his throat down into his heart. “I...I think she will listen...” he pulled in a deep breath as he prepared to risk her clawing his eyes out. “So I think it might really help Windclan and Riverclan if you apologize to her.” As soon as the words left his mouth he visibly tensed, like saying something in an almost-commanding way was grounds for Leafpaw to remove his throat from his neck, but as he nervously stared at her, her reaction was minimal. Leafpaw’s claws dug into the moor underpaw as Shadowpaw mentioned the other Riverclan warrior, and did a bit of a dance around mentioning that she might be more receptive to hearing Leafpaw out and be willing to hear an apology. Could she apologize? Already? She had said what she had said seconds ago, and she didn’t even know, having conceded as she did, that she could be near Jaggedscar and truthfully give an apology for what she had said. She felt no remorse towards him in particular, just more for the general pain she had inflicted on Riverclan with what she said. She sucked in a breath and turned her gaze to Hazelrunner with a tiredness and desperation in her eyes, for a few moments, almost asking her to tear down whatever pride was trying to keep her from doing the right thing. Her mind flashed with an image of Applepaw’s dismay and hurt as he was told what Leafpaw had said. And she had to think about Ravenfang dealing with a furious Otterstar, believing that Windclan had officially scorned the aid of Riverclan. Even given how much lack of sympathy that Ravenfang had been giving her as of late, she felt a pang of guilt as she thought of her father having to try to fix the broken, already fragile link between the two clans. She finally released a heavy and tense sigh as her gaze drifted back to Shadowpaw. Her own face filled with a little bit of anxiety which left her a little pale. “Okay. I’ll go talk with her, and...” With the picture of the fragile Applepaw in mind, she almost couldnt say no to making the apology. She gave a second sigh, this one far more from a place of exhaustion. There was almost an immediate stirring as Frogstrike called at the entrance of the Windclan camp. Lavenderfur himself pulled away from his kittens, which contributed to a little more distress from them, as he heard little more than the word “Shadowclan” and was hurrying out of the medicine cat’s den. When he pulled close to the entrance and stepped in sight of the outside, his eyes narrowed for a moment as he saw Frogstrike, and then loosened a little as he stared in confusion at the kitten beside him. She wasn’t much older than his own kits, but he could see a hard trail of wetness in her cheeks and tears’ residue in her own eyes. The sight was awfully confusing. Ebonypelt said nothing, not even meeting the warrior’s gaze as he spoke about obedience. Until the cat left the den, she didn’t move. Once had had, she hurried to the side of the she-cat and tried to gauge the wounds. She stared down in horror at the completely maimed face, paralyzed by the sight and knowing that no cobwebs were going to fix this mess, if she even made it past this night. The medicine cat was next to useless for anything but patching up the warriors. For whatever reason, Whispersong had remained in his den despite her wounds being much better—most cats in the Shadowclan camp could guess why he had kept her. As Ebonypwlt gazed upon the warrior at her paws she let out a mew of pain. “I...p-please just...say something. Can you hear me?” It was a tiring hunt, but Tawnyface didnt know what else to do. Lingshadow had been basically thrown aside now that he was reinjured and she was feeling his pain as the tough warrior was meant to only sit and heal. Inaction was one of the worst fates for a cat of their toughness. She wanted to help him in some way, but there was honestly nothing that she could do. So here she held a vole and a crow was buried closer to the camp. As she approached with the vole in her jaw, she noticed the figures standing far away, yet very near to the camp. It didn’t worry her much, yet as she pulled closer she began to realize that it wasn’t a Windclan figure.
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Aug 12, 2019 14:09:40 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Aug 12, 2019 14:09:40 GMT -5
The Riverclan she-cat halted, pausing to watch Shadowpaw’s retreating form quickly move across the moor. She stood there for a few moments longer feeling her own new wave of anxiety come over her. It was going to be a bitter piece of prey to swallow attempting to talk with and empathize with a young cat who had blatantly insulted the entire clan. She implied that the death of their leader was something they could have prevented, even though many of the cats who might have tried to help were busy fighting for their own lives. Taking in a deep breath she shook her head collecting up her thoughts again before turning her head in the opposite direction Shadowpaw had gone off in.
In the distance she could see the outline of the scarred white tom staring across the moor at her rather expectantly. She could never think of a time she had felt more defenseless and exposed then this moment. Her clanmate was just waiting for her to get close enough, he felt the need to make sure she saw things the same way he did. If he could convince the Riverclan deputy of Windclan’s malicious intent then Otterstar would have no other way to see it himself. That was one reason Silverfang wanted to speak with Leafpaw on her own...away from Jaggedscar’s biassed ears. “Mousepaw.” She mewed abruptly, suddenly remembering that there was another apprentice still with her. “Run and let the other warriors know what you found. Don’t mention anything about Leafpaw and I to Jaggedscar.” With that order she turned away to walk in the same direction Shadowpaw had gone, looking for a place that might be shielded from the sight of her clanmate. This was all assuming that Leafpaw agreed to come apologize that was.
Mousepaw wore a frown rather often these days. He was still frowning when Silverfang ordered him to go run to inform Hawktail and Jaggedscar. He hated the thought of being made to run after warriors like a green apprentice, especially having to try to walk egg shells with the Riverclan tom around. There was once again no room for argument however as Silverfang departed before he could grumble something out. Sighing the turned and raced off towards the pair of toms who were standing so far apart from each other he was probably going to have to either yowl it out loud enough that they could both hear him, or scamper up to both of them. He didn’t feel like yelling out so he made his way up to Hawktail first, the less likely of the two to rip his throat out immediately, if only slightly from the looks of how overly frustrated and tense with anger he appeared to have radiating off him. “Hawktail. I found Rainstar’s scent towards the Horseplace.” He mewed quickly not wanting to stand around longer than he had to. This cats were the last ones he wanted to be fumbling his words around.
Hazelrunner perked up as she watched Shadowpaw’s form slowly get bigger and bigger as he moved towards them. The tenure time though he seemed to have his eyes trained on Leafpaw. She sighed softly as he came closer some of Leafpaw’s exhaustion seeming to have transferred over to Hazelrunner although she didn’t feel any more exhausted than she had been before. Her ears went up at Shadowpaw telling Leafpaw that Silverfang was wanting to speak with her. First there was a silent look of apprehension that softened the tiniest bit with Shadowpaw quickly adding that Silverfang might be more receptive than her clanmate had been. Drawing in a deep breath she looked towards her friend meeting her eyes for a long moment. If she wanted to make amends for what she’d said this was about the best way she might be able to do it before everything grew too large to where no one of them could contain it.
“It’s worth a try.” She added a quiet bit of encouragement...although it was hard to feel like her words were going to do anything at this point, her confidence already shaken. She carefully watched Leafpaw, slowly nodding her head in silent support when she reached her conclusion. Hazelrunner managed a smile relieved that her friend was willing to put her pride aside to do the right thing. That was how she was choosing to see it at least. The young warrior turned as she saw the Riverclan she-cat coming to stand a little closer, standing out rather starkly against the yellowish-green grass of the moor.
Frogstrike tensed up at the sound of the steering on the other side of the barrier. His eyes briefly moved towards the kit breathing ink a deep breath. She really had no idea how much of his own pelt he was risking for her right now. He frowned when his sight of a cat was actually a rather disheveled tom. He returned the favor with a poisonous glare of his own. “Took you cats long enough. I hope you are better at this if an actual threat happens to come walking up.” Growling loudly he put on a much more sarcastic almost taunting tone than he had taken up with the little kittypet. He wasn’t about to let the Windclan cats see what he was doing as anything close to kindness. Kindness was weakness after all. He started doing what he always did, just started talking. “Look, this kit lost her mother to a dog. Her twolegs are nowhere around. I have enough of a heart left not to drag her to Shadowclan. She needs help.” He leaned down to nudge the she-kit towards the Windclan warrior.
With this he took a half-step back. He wasn’t about to stick around longer than he was welcome. His ears slowly rotated back towards the figure coming up towards the Windclan camp entrance. Frowning as he quickly turned to see what other cats he might have to deal with. He sighed loudly when he caught sight of an all too familiar former clanmate. Even from this distance he could recognize the once vicious she-cat who had fallen so far after killing one apprentice. It was at that moment he considered his odd of surviving the greatly diminished. “Wonderful.” He muttered taking another half-step back leaving more bloody pawsteps in grass under paw.
The Riverclan she-cat’s face was a horrid and startling sight for just about any cat to see. The smell of blood was almost just as overwhelming. Her eye stared off into the far corner of the den other wise almost completely unresponsive or giving any indications she even hear anything Ebonypelt was trying to say. With a ragged breath the she-cat’s dull eye slowly drifted towards the Shadowclan she-cat. “I-I...” It was all she could manage to croak out. Her voice was barely a hoarse whisper.
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Shadowstartheleader
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~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Aug 12, 2019 15:10:09 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Aug 12, 2019 15:10:09 GMT -5
When he spotted the approaching form of Mousepaw, Hawktail perked up a bit from the flustered and irritated state he was in, already hoping for some form of news to a good effect, something to stave off this hostile distance between him and Jaggedscar and the impending explosion Jaggedscar might have at any moment. It was surprising he had even maintained rank with them, and after Jaggedscar’s awful take on Hawktail’s attempts to soothe things out, both of them seemed about ready to claw the others’ eyes out if there weren’t a half dozen tail lengths between them. As Mousepaw delivered the news the warrior seemed to release a little of his tension and breathe a little more. “Thank Starclan. Let’s get there now then. Go tell the fish-pelt.” He muttered more to himself than any other cat. He then took strides in the direction of the horseplace, glad to be moving further into Windclan than Riverclan’s own territory. At least they would have the wind to guide them and help them find the scent they were seeking.
The moorlands left no secrecy to the approach of Silverfang, and Leafpaw readied herself for whatever coldness that was awaiting her. Shadowpaw had promised that she was willing to hear Leafpaw, but that might not mean much if she didn’t withstand in the face of the warrior’s questioning. Of course, the apprentice didn’t know how strong of a stance Shadowpaw had taken for her, and that he had already planted the fact that Leafpaw could not truly believe the Riverclan cats passively watched their leader dethroned from the clan. Her confidence in her ability to confront her comment so soon did not match the ability of Silverfang to listen after hearing Shadowpaw’s words. Shadowpaw, having slipped off to the side and made himself content being small beside Hazelrunner, simply stared with a mix of hope and anxiety as the two she-cat’s watched each other as Silverfang approached the apprentice. If this went poorly, he was certainly the Riverclan warrior was going to look at him in no friendly light ever again.
Leafpaw wasn’t confident enough to seize the first word, though her mouth was the first to open. The fact she had said this only minutes ago made her feel like almost any apology might ring hollow and empty, so she hesitated as her anxiety spiked heavily, her pelt going hot with uncertainty as she fumbled for words. She wanted to look to her friends for help, but she knew how bad that would make her look in front of the Riverclan cat. Now that she seemed to be the one who had to fix the clans’ problem, she seemed to have no sense of what to say or do. It was even harder than their struggling deputy made it seem. At least he usually could say something.
The prey dropped at Tawnyface’s paws as she quickly caught image of who was standing at the entrance, and before too long she had crossed the distance between them and was practically sandwiching Frogstrike between herself and Lavenderfur. If there wasn’t a kitten being shoved around and looking generally lost, she would of shoved him to the ground and pinned him like crow-food. “What in the name of Starclan are you doing here?” It was a hoarse hiss that was hiding some amount of uncertainty about how to feelvseeing him again. She had plenty of wounds just like in her time in Shadowclan, but these were patched and treated carefully unlike the way she would normally show the wounds off as a deterrent. It would seem to a Shadowclanner that she had softened considerably in a short time.
Lavenderfur listened, incredibly confused and uncertain how to take this whole situation. The kitten was now staring up at Frogstrike with a confused expression, and while he couldn’t know this, she was taken aback by the sudden change of his tone. Still, Lavenderfur couldn’t hide his suspicion that there was more behind this. Scenting the air, he caught the scent of the kitten and almost gagged. Well, she was from the Twolegplace. Frogstrike wasn’t lying about that. Narrowing his eyes at him again, he wasn’t going to let him out of this so easily. “And why bring her here? The home of your new mortal enemy?” There was venom in his voice, as the tom-cat felt the responsibility of all of his mistakes that only occurred because of Shadowclan’s dive into evil. Now he faced one of the cats and could put it at Frogstrike’s paws. “Don’t pretend you’re doing this because of some semblance of a conscience. What are you really after?” Another Windclan cat had come to stand beside Lavenderfur, a young yet injured warrior. He too narrowed his eyes at the sight before him. He was ready to strike if the cat made any aggressive move against Lavenderfur.
They were being spent to near death one by one. The stronger she-cats were being beaten and used by the tom-cats, and Ebonypelt didn’t know how they were going to find a way out of this disaster if theyvkept losing cats who could put up a fight. Feeling a hard sense of defeat come over her, she dropped off of her shaky legs and pulled closer to the figure in utter shock below her. She probably wouldn’t make it through the night. “Shhhh......” she quietly cooed. “I’m here.”
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Aug 12, 2019 17:16:27 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Aug 12, 2019 17:16:27 GMT -5
Jaggedscar had practically a murderous look in his eyes as he glared toward Hawktail. It was likely that one of the two of them would end up dead if either one of them shortened the unspoken agreed upon distance. That was the minimum distance the Riverclan tom needed from this sniveling Windclan cat. The only thing that kept him out here was a want to see He narrowed his eyes first as his clanmate turned away from him and then only more so when Mousepaw went right to the Windclan tom exchanging words before Hawktail abruptly took off back in the direction of the open moors. Frowning he watched the apprentice turn towards him mutter something under his breath. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously he opened his mouth to say something before Mousepaw blurted out rather quickly. “Rainstar’s scent was found near the Horseplace. That’s where we are all heading.” With that the apprentice sprinted away in pursuit of the older tom. Jaggedscar glanced back towards his clanmate who was suspiciously stagnant on the moor. Huffing he rolled his eyes and stalked forwards. She would just have to catch up with the rest of the cats. While he might suspect something was going on just behind his back he had no proof of it and was also rather focused on following the first solid lead they had and wrapping this all up as quickly as possible. He certainly wasn’t complaining about not having to look at the disrespectful Windclan apprentice.
Silverfang stopped just short of the group of young cats. While she made sure her expression didn’t show it, she was equally apprehensive of the apprentice’s approach. Drawing a deep breath she stood tall staring at her for a long moment. Silverfang wasn’t sure that the apprentice would be able to give an meaningful apology so soon after it happened. She was positive she wouldn’t be able to give that sort of apology to the tom she had first managed to insult. The she-cat stood expectantly as she opened her mouth wanting her to say something, anything that might make this easier to get through. When she didn’t Silverfang had to draw in a long slow breath through her nose. This was much easier said than done. “We should speak about this somewhere private.” She mewed looking briefly past her to Hazelrunner and Shadowpaw. She didn’t need them to apologize. This was Leafpaw’s alone to answer for in the end. Shadowpaw’s confidence in his friend left her expecting more than the intervening silence that lapsed between them. It looks like it was left to her to fill the silence. She looked towards the patch of low growing shrubs nearby. It was the closest to privacy they had available to them.
She motioned for her to follow before disappearing out of sight. She reluctantly forced herself to sit down, even though she was feeling the need to move, to be somewhere else. “Leafpaw I need to know. Did you mean what you said? Do you really think we let our leader die by choice?” She mewed a strained note in her voice. She caught herself before she devolved into questioning the young cat’s intentions without giving her any room to respond. She clamped her jaw shut furrowing her brow as she looked to Leafpaw, for confirmation or denial. She was not only listening to her words, but clearly scrutinizing Leafpaw’s body language and posture. She had to be certain she knew what her intentions had been with the damaging insult. The cold wind blew her fur aside rustling the bushes they were taking shelter in. Her gaze never left Leafpaw.
It took everything Frogstrike had not to flinch when Tawnyface practically barreled into him. He stood stead fast minding where the kit was so he wouldn’t chance accidentally trampling her in the process. Frowning he looked over the she-cat who had once been feared by some warriors. Now she only vaguely resembled that she-cat now. “How the mighty have fallen. That’s a pretty cold welcome to give your clanmate, or have you already forsaken your own clan?” He knew every word was only serving to dig him deeper and deeper int a hole that might be his own grave. The medicine cat didn’t have any other defense mechanism that he really had against the growing number of enemies surrounding him. He didn’t have much time and it appeared he was out of options as well. The end of his tail lashed. These cats had no idea how much time was of the essence.
The small tom snorted as Lavenderfur questioned his true motives. Starclan forbid a cat like him have some kind of a heart, never mind the fact that three of his former clanmates were all bumming around their camp. He held back a more venomous comment as yet another Windclan cat appeared. If the second Windclan cat was waiting for him to make the first attack he was going to be left disappointed. “Alright then I’ll turn myself around and march her right into Shadowclan camp. Is that what you’re wanting?” His eyes flicked towards the kit before frowning and quickly turning away. There was no way for him to explain why he’d changed his demeanor so suddenly without warning.
The she-cat’s head jerked to the side at Ebonypelt’s sudden movement moving out of her visibility. All she could see was the blood starting to run into her eye. The she-cat gave a rather low and pitiful noise. The fear of death was on the forefront of her mind. “I-I....” She tried agains to no avail to get any meaningful words. The Riverclan she-cat was concision enough to realize that she was going to die here, no where near her home clan among cats she didn’t know. Her babbling turned into pitiful strangled sobs.
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Aug 12, 2019 19:32:02 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Aug 12, 2019 19:32:02 GMT -5
A heavy and horrible sense of dread crashed down upon Leafpaw as the Riverclan warrior proclaimed that they needed some privacy for the conversation that they were going to have. As she had to forcefully move her paws in the direction that silverfang had pointed to and then began walking, she felt the tiny amount of confidence that she had mustered drain away in the duration of a heartbeat. So, this was the way she died. Privately torn apart by a righteously angry Riverclan warrior. She couldn’t even turn her head to look back in desperation to the two cats behind her, having to follow along with the warrior until they held some privacy from the two Windclan cats. Her gaze was noticeably more anxious, her eyes a little wider and her shoulders more tense. She was afraid as she was out iof sight of any bailout her friends could give her. She was alone in facing this matter.
An experienced warrior would have been able to keep her body posture firm and tempered, but Leafpaw seemed ready to turn tail and run in fear at the slightest aggression. She was scared of facing the retribution for her offensive and heavily insensitive mistake. As the direct query was laid at her paws, Leafpaw couldn’t tear her eyes away from the warrior. There wasn’t a question within her mind—No. she hadn’t meant it. But the difficulty she had finding and choosing the appropriate words was confounding her ability to seem genuine to the she-cat. All she wanted right now was the protective shoulder of Hazelrunner or Ravenfang to deal with this.
She had to respond now. She knew Jaggedscar would never in his life give her this opportunity, and she still felt the weight of Otterstar turning against him in response to their her actions. She forced herself to pull in oxygen and tried to let the honest truth spill forth from her maw. “Jaggedscar pushed me to the total edge. He tried to find a reason to deny us from seeing Ottterstar, he has been looking for reasons to conflict with us, and he heavily criticized me for being....for being downcast! Instead of banding together in the face of Shadowclan he has been looking for reasons to nip at his only alloes!” Leafpaw’s voice was dripping with desperation for Silverfang to understand, but so far it hadnt sounded like she was giving much more than excuses for her actions.
She took in the expression and reaction of the warrior in front of her. Silverfang was hard to read beyond the obvious indigance of the implication that she had stood aside as her leader was myrdered. In this moment, analyzing the warrior, Leafpaw remembered the question put at her paws, and she managed to realize how off topic she had strayed. “Listen, I...” she shrunk back ever so slighty from the warrior as she knew this was the moment to face Silverfang’s wrath, or her tempered ear for the apprentice’s perspective. “...I said what would hurt Jaggedscar...” her gaze turned from the warrior downwards to her own paws. “...and said something that hurts all of you instead.” It was more of a murmured mew than the bold, admitting statement that a trained and responsible warrior might say. Hopefully the warrior could see her youth and her inexperience, and could see her insecurity having to deal with an angry warrior.
“P-please...” her gaze nervously rose from her paws to meet the warrior’s once more. “My friend has told me how...he...he told us what they’re like...I didn’t mean that you could of acted and chose not to. Thats not...not true. I just...” she tried to recall her train of thought when Jaggedscar insulted her attitude. When she pulled a blank on what she had been thinking about saying, it became totally clear to her that she hadn’t thought. She had responded...with total fierceness and no careful, tempered logic. She gave an exasperated sigh. “I said something that implies you all were wrong, because he pushed me over the edge, seeking fights between our clans instead of against the real enemy.” She was about to continue speaking, but she quickly realized she was starting to lean into making excuses for what she said, again. She shook her head like an active acknowledgement of the fact that she was doing so. “Please, don’t think I meant what I said. When I said it, I just wanted to get back at Jaggedscar.”
There was an intense nervousness from Shadowpaw as the two cats padded off. “Are they going to be okay?” He quietly murmured at Hazelrunner. “Leafpaw looks scared.” He could see it clearly. He knew the feeling very well and couldn’t help but naturally want to pad after them to at least nudge Leafpaw forward. “She said something that was....obviously wrong, but I...I thought maybe Silverfang would talk with us here...” he trailed off as he felt that he had mistakenly assumed the situation might play better with them there, without thinking that the Riverclan warrior might pull Leafpaw away. Stress filled the apprentice and his anxiety flared up noticeably as he couldn’t stay off his paws, and as he raised up he started padding after them for about half a dozen steps, before he felt the gaze of Hazelrunner on him, as well as the pressure of actually approaching Silverfang on his own next to the apprentice and saying something, or at least silently supporting Leafpaw. He turned back on his paws towards Hazelrunner. “Will she be okay? Sh...she looked so...” his worry spilled forth clearly in his face as he glanced towards the lone bushes of the moor, and then back to Hazelrunner. “I...I told Silverfang to...to give her a chance, but...m-maybe she...L-Leafpaw looked so...” Shadowpaw gulped nervously, and took a couple pawsteps towards Hazelrunner. He didn’t quite know what to think of this situation. “Do...do you think she really feels bad about what she said...?” The words were quiet, like he didn’t want any other cat to her him voice his slight doubt of his friend.
Tawnyface’s eyes filled with anger and her lip twitched as the medicine cat from Shadowclan taunted how she had fallen from the status she had in Shadowclan—one of the few she-cats who would not be used and thrown aside. She was powerful, and it kept her safe in Shadowclan until she left. She felt the urge to show him what she was worth after his taunting, but Lavenderfur spoke before she could do anything to put the tom-cat in his place.
Lavenderfur gritted his teeth and glared hatefully at the tom-cat in front of him as the Shadowclanner made something of a valid point about pulling the kitten into the pit of evil that was their clan at this moment. Lavenderfur blamed Shadowclan for everything that had gone wrong recently, and he couldn’t pretend that this Shadowclan cat had bad intentions bringing the kitten here instead; but it brought him to a cognitive dissonance where he did not want to acknowledge that Frogstrike was doing something virtuous. Though he hadn’t noticed the warrior at his side, he took a bold step forward with his claws beginning to pull forth from his paws. “Then tell me why I should let you return and help heal more fox-hearted, conscious-less pieces of dung kill more innocent clan cats?”
Tawnyface began stepping even closer. She pulled so close that Frogstrike’s nose touched her own, and then she kept pushing forward, raising a paw to push him even further if he would not back down. She heard what Lavenderfur said, but she didn’t seem to leave Frogstrike any chance to respond. “He knows what he is permitting!” She said it in a loud and audible hiss that left Lavenderfur staring towards them and the kit in a total and utter confusion. “He doesn’t care about how far Nightstar can push a cat into evil.” She pylled her claws out, lumbering over the diminutive tom-cat and beginning to raise her claws up. “Maybe I should end your aid to them now.” It was a claim that dripped with malice—The Shadowclan she-cat seemed to make a threat better than the bluffs the Windclanners might have made, perhaps a result of her being raised in the shadow of Nightstar’s influence. “I could save these softer cats a lot of pain.”
Ebonypelt tried to keep herself composed above the Riverclan she-cat, but she couldn’t keep the tears from starting as another cat slipped into the throes iof death before her. “J-just...just wait! Y-you....the pain is going to end soon, o-okay?” It was a quiet whimper, as she tried to keep the cats outside the den from hearing them. “Don’t worry. You’ll be better really soon, and then...” If only Frogstrike cared the singlest bit for these injuries, they might be able to help these hurt she-cats. “J-just snuggle with me. Come on.” She pressed her muzzle up against the only part of the she-cat’s muzzle that didn’t bleed from wounds.
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Aug 12, 2019 21:15:19 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Aug 12, 2019 21:15:19 GMT -5
Silverfang was staring at Leafpaw expectantly with unrivaled intensity. All her attention and expectations were resting on this apprentice’s tiny shoulders to explain herself well enough to justify what she’d done and make her understand why she had truly said such a horrible thing. They were unrealistic expectations for Leafpaw to reach, to expect her to be able to speak with the forethought and understanding of a much older cat, not that of the young inexperience cats she still was. That fact was made even worse by her forced isolation from any cat she might try to lean on for support. In these moments Silverfang needed to truly realize that she was a scared apprentice nothing more. It shouldn’t have been at all surprising that she fell short of those expectations, her first real solid thoughts she expressed was to immediately complain and lay the blame of Jaggedscar, the real intended target for her insult. Silverfang straightened her spine a little. An truth she might find in Leafpaw’s pleas for understanding were swallowed up in the seeming need to lay blame elsewhere first and foremost. It wouldn’t matter to Otterstar, Applepaw, or any other cat in Riverclan what Jaggedscar had done to possibly provoke her. The clan would stand behind their own and would condemn Leafpaw without question. The end of the she-cat’s tail twitched like a snake coiled ready to strike. It already felt much easier to selfishly stop listening and stand behind her clanmate. It was hard to admit the faults of the cats after they had become so closely bonded together by their shared trauma and will to survive. Those things could very easily blind her and keep her from hearing anything she could possibly say.
There came a long low breath at Leafpaw’s attempt to answer her questions being not being much more convincing to swaying the Riverclan she-cat to feel anything other that utter contempt for Leafpaw. She had still meant to target a single cat with one of the most painful things that could be directed at the fragile clan cats. Would Jaggedscar have deserved it even it had been made clear it was just meant for him? It was difficult for her to say. Her claws carefully slid out digging into the dirt under paw. It was one of the few ways in which she could express her pent up feelings of frustration with few other avenues to truly sort out her own feelings. She carefully looked towards the scared thing in front of her. “Neither one of you were in the right. Directing that kind accusation at any cat...especially a cat like Jaggedscar without knowing what really happened in our clan is irresponsible.” She mewed her tone flat, but the word irresponsible was sharp and barbed. Silverfang held her upright unmoving posture as she sheathed her claws with another breath in. “That doesn’t make what Jaggedscar did any less irresponsible either.” There is was the slightest glimmer that there was hope that she could change her point of view enough to empathize with what Leafpaw was trying to make her see. It was going to be a slow process however. She focused in on the thought of what Jaggedscar had done to drive her to this point
Jaggedscar’s determination to sever ties between the two clans would be the detriment of every clan, especially Riverclan. He had practically made the perfect storm to make sure that was the case. “Do you truly regret what you said, even if it was meant for Jaggedscar’s ears alone?” Her next question was a loaded one and also an extremely important one to her personally. Would the she-cat only be willing to be regretful because it was a cat other than Jaggedscar that had heard it. Would she be willing to apologize to the tom she clearly had a distinct hatred for at the moment. She wanted to know if she was willing to go that far. “I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. I know how difficult of a cat Jaggedscar is to deal with. He clearly had every intention to push you to the extreme.”
Hazelrunner visibly stiffened when Silverfang called Leafpaw away, moving the conversation out of sight. Her stomach dropped like a heavy stone into the water. She stared after her friend with palpable anxiety creeping into the back of her throat. The fear of what might happen to Leafpaw one on one with Silverfang, a she-cat who clearly been affected by her insult personally. It felt like a rather dangerous and precarious situation to be in. She only ripped her eyes away from the bushes when Shadowpaw began padding towards the bushes seeming intent on poking his head in on the conversation. She shifted and silently looked his way until his common sense got the better of him and he slowly moved back towards her. She couldn’t say that she wasn’t tempted to go peak around the bush and try to be silent support for her friend when she clearly needed it most. “I do...” She trailed off not convincing even herself. While she saw her friend seem to be remorseful she also wasn’t ready to apologize so soon after it happened. “We have to trust that she’ll be alright.” She mewed as she pulled her eyes towards Shadowpaw her tail twitching anxiously in a rheumatic and repetitive set of movements.
Frogstrike wasn’t even given a fair chance to respond to Lavenderfur questioning. Instead Tawnyface took the liberty of answering for him. He hissed lowly in his throat being driven back by Tawnyface’s sudden intrusion into his personal space. He was forced to retreat back a pawstep angling himself awkwardly with three warriors closing around him quickly and a kit close at his paws. He should keep his mouth shut, he should have found a way to worm his way out of this. Now would be a good time to focus on defending his own character and right to even live, unfortunately defending himself meant going on the offense for him. Tawnyface had managed to strike a personal nerve with the slight tom. “And what did you do? You knew what he was doing and when you had second thoughts you ran. You and Lilyheart have one thing in common you are both half-blind and only want to see things one way.” There was no where to go from here, so he was pushing with everything he had his eyes not leaving the she-cat even when her claws went up in a clear threat. He sat down flat on his haunches and craned his head to the side to expose his neck.
“Go ahead. Do the whole of the clans a favor and put down an defenseless medicine cat half your size with a kit present!” He wasn’t a good cat, he’d never pretended to be one, but why was he being condemned for the crime of apathy? It made him angrier to see Tawnyface pretending as if her choice to run from her birth clan had been the noble and honest route to take when she was ready to threaten end his life. He didn’t try to bring up the few good things he’d done to help the cats escape Shadowclan or at least survive. He didn’t try and do it to make his life worth more to these cats. It probably wouldn’t help his case anyway. He was sure most of the cats in Shadowclan and the rest of the clans would be glad to be rid of him so, who was he to get in the way of that?
The Riverclan she-cat’s eye filled with tears that went sliding down her face mingling with blood. Her weak set of cried were rather weak and pitiful. She had already given up hope of living past the night, knowing there was going to be no help coming. She had given up hope living after the cats had moved to pin her down. She moved her muzzle to touch the Shadowclan she-cat’s muzzle. Her croaking cry turned into a dampened weak attempt to purr. It was a feeble attempt to show appreciation to the one cat who was willing to show her some kindness in what seemed to be her finial moments.
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Shadowstartheleader
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~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Aug 13, 2019 0:24:26 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Aug 13, 2019 0:24:26 GMT -5
Leafpaw felt an inescapable sense of dread overcoming all other emotions as the reaction of Silverfang wasn’t sympathetic at all. From Leafpaw’s perspective, she wasn’t able to see in any way how Leafpaw was pushed to do what she did. Of course, Leafpaw struggled to see that the warrior couldn’t hear excuses for what Leafpaw had said. She simply wanted honesty. Saying it was all Jaggedscar’s fault for what happened was neither productive nor absolving for the Windclan apprentice. Leafpaw’s face swelled up in guilt and shame as Silverfang sharply pointed out how badly her comment to Jaggedscar had come out to all of them. She desperately searched for an amount of resolve to pull herself together to say something. She felt this conversation heading in a negative direction due to her own inability to say much more than that Jaggedscar was at fault.
Then, she felt Silverfang give the smallest, slightest tail-length of mercy as she spoke about Jaggedscar’s responsibility in the matter. She almost cut the warrior right off, but she heard more coming from Silverfang’s mouth and silenced herself. She pulled in a sharp breath at the question that the warrior placed to her. Even asking her if she could give an apology was something of a sign to Leafpaw—yet Silverfang was asking for more. Would she apologize to every cat in Riverclan? To Otterstar? To Jaggedscar. She felt a set of claws grip at her heart as the exact problem she had considered was placed at her paws. She pulled in a second, deep breath as she faced the hard stare of the warrior. She could feel the challenge, as Silverfang pointed out that Jaggedscar was a hard warrior to give some sort of apology towards. If it wasn’t already high enough, Leafpaw felt amxiety begin to spring from the fur on her pelt.
“It was only meant for him,” she began with a quiet mew, but her volume increased as she continued. “But I shouldn’t of said that to any Riverclan cat, or any cat at all.” She was dripping with worry and anxiety that her words would not come across as genuine, that Silverfang would not believe a thing that she said. Leafpaw, feeling the responsibility that normally a deputy would feel, felt likr the warrior would believe it was only a save face. “I’m sorry!” She blurted it as a tremendously strong set of claws raked itself across her heart. “I didn’t mean it like...like you...” she bit her lip and stared ahead at Silverfang. “I...I know you did what you could...” she wanted to acknowledge that she didn’t mean the Riverclan cats hadn’t fought with every claw they had to save their clan—yet still, she failed to answer whether she could apologize to a cat like Jaggedscar who sought a reason to conflict with them. Her response didn’t directly answer whether she regretted, to every cat of Riverclan, that she regretted what she said.
Shadowpaw’s gaze dropped to the floor as Hazelrunner gave an almost empty response to his anxious and scared question. He could feel the lack of confidence in Hazerunner’s words, and it left him feeling worse than before. He looked back on the bushes as he felt something pulling him to give support to Leafpaw, though he didn’t know how his presence could even help her in the slightest when he had nothing to truly give her to help. His gaze finally set itself helplessly on Hazelrunner as he gazed forward at her. He recalled Hawktail’s own anxiety after Leafpaw had spoken out against Jaggedscar, anf the silence that had confounded their group. They were not in a good place, only left to await the results of Leafpaw’s conversation with the Riverclan warrior. “W...we can’t do...anything...” he mumbled quietly in the presence of the warrior who had done almost everythingto help him adjust. It was an awful feeling to be so helpless, but it wasnt particularly new to Shadowpaw. He had been here many times before—but this time, someonr he cared about was involved, and that made it just that much harder to sit still and wait.
It was obvious that Frogstrike struck a hard nerve as Tawnyface flared up in anger as the Shadowclan medicine cat compared her so brisly to the medicine cat’s injured state. It was about the hardest insult that he could of thought up in his precarious position and Tawnyface didn’t seem ready to show any mercy as he brought her to such a low comparison. Her claws were suddenly at his throat, sinking in with barely a moment’s hesitation, though they didn’t cut his throat open like many of the Shadowclan cats’ claws would have. She dragged him down below her gaze as she stared into the awful, pathetic tom’s eyes, about to speak as another voice interrupted her.
“W-what are you doing?!? What is wrong with you?!? He saved me from a dog! D-don’t kill him, p-please!”” The kitten brought hesitation to the softened Shadowclan warrior, and her wide, begging eyes, after a few moments, brought Tawnyface to (violently) throw Frogstrike down at the ground near her paws. “Just give me a reason.” She whispered a hiss near his ear as she planted a paw on his forehead, letting her claws start to sink into the hard surface for a couple seconds, before the anxious mew of the kitten beside him drew her claws out. She looked down at the tiny form in front of her for a couple seconds, her blood boiling from the insult. “Don’t you dare think my...my fall-“ she spat the word he had spoken, “-is at all comparable to what you’re watching Nightstar do everyday. It...Its far beyond what....what a conscientious cat could...”
Lavenderfur couldn’t help but stare at Tawnyface a moment as she spoke. Something he hadn’t expected to see from her seemed present in this moment. Even if she had displayed some level of preference for the Shadowclan way of things, it also seemed she displayed a barrier for what was acceptable, as she voiced her disapproval for what Frogstrike was bearing witness to.
Tawnyface’s voice rang clear. “Get your pathetic self out of here, you vole-hearted whelp.” It was a sharp command that left no flexibility for arguing. It seemed in this moment the only thing keeping her from ending him was the kitten. She didn’t seem to notice the eyes of Lavenderfur on her as she dealt with the situation, or the kitten staring at her fearfully, wondering exactly who’s paws Frogstrike was laying her in with this group of clanners.
Ebonypelt didn’t hesitate to meet the touch, feeling a mix of horror at the sight of how badly she had been mangled, with a need to help the she-cat feel somewhat comforted in this moment. Whether she made it through the night this bloodied, she needed some form of comfort now, and there were no brave Riverclan she-cats left to step forward and press their muzzles to her’s in order to help her feel just a bit more comforted. She sent a prayer to Starclan that with a muzzle to support her, the awfully bloodied cat would make it one more night, but Ebonypelt wasn’t going to place her hopes on it. The vicious tom had paid her back three times over for the damage she had done to him. She was missing an eye almost, the orb left bloodied, scarred and almost completely ruined. “I-i’m here...” a tear fell down her cheek as she pulled in closer. “You won’t be alone ever again, I promise.” Whether it was here....or in the streaking stars of Starclan.
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Aug 13, 2019 12:00:35 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Aug 13, 2019 12:00:35 GMT -5
Silverfang sighed when Leafpaw worriedly blurted out that she had meant it for Jaggedscar, she shouldn’t have meant to say it to any cat. It was a step in the right direction in the she-cat’s eyes. From the way Shadowpaw had been talking she had expected Leafpaw to be able to admit her mistakes easier and willing to make amends with the cat she had targeted to begin with. Instead she was willing to apologize to Silverfang however, even if it was a rather hasty apology. It was hard to be moved by the apprentice’s attempt to apologize. Silverfang frowned not hearing an answer to her question, she never directly admitted she would apologize to Jaggedscar. That was probably going to be the bare minimum of what was expected of the she-cat once word of this all got out. It would be what Otterstar would want, not Jaggedscar, but if she was willing to apologize than it might derail her clanmate’s narrative of Windclan’s malicious intent.
Her eyes carefully searched Leafpaw’s face the distress clear in her voice and actions. She could believe that she hadn’t meant the insult entirely at least. Even if she wasn’t completely convinced herself she wasn’t heartless enough to let Leafpaw be thrown on to the mercy of the Riverclan cats, Jaggedscar wasn’t the only one who would take this as an opening. Jaggedscar was just the most vocal about his contempt. She made the effort to soften her expression hoping to give the young cat some sign that she could relax. Beyond that the she-cat was silent for a pawful of moments gathering up her thoughts. “I believe you Leafpaw, at least that you were doing it reactively not maliciously.” Silverfang finally relented coming to a conclusion after a long mental back and forth in her own mind. It wasn’t an easy conclusion to come to in this already messy set of circumstances. “I can’t promise that there won’t still be consequences, but I will at least see to it that Otterstar knows what Jaggedscar did to contribute to all this.” It wasn’t much of a promise, but it was the best that Leafpaw could hope for from a cat that might have condemned her otherwise.
Hazelrunner let her shoulder’s droop down as Shadowpaw echoed her own thoughts. She shifted uncertainly not liking the feeling left her to grapple with, but he was right. There wasn’t anything they could do besides hope that somehow Leafpaw would be able to convince the Riverclan she-cat that she wasn’t completely heartless. “Do you know what made her want to talk to her in the first place?” She asked with a slight frown as turned towards Shadowpaw with the question now suddenly on her mind, a way to distract herself as they waited for the outcome of this conversation that they didn’t know the outcome of yet. Had something been said to Silverfang to convince her to give Leafpaw the chance to defend her actions.
The small tom gave a strangled yowl as Tawnyface’s claws hooked his throat and threw him to the ground with an embarrassing amount of ease. His back slammed against the solid ground underpaw. He stared up at the she-cat his eyes wide. This was honestly how he would expect to die. He was practically just waiting for the she-cat to finish the job. Gritting his teeth he could feel the blood rolling down his face from the fresh wound on her forehead. He barely heard the kit’s plea for his life over the sound of his own thundering heartbeat that was drowning every other sound out besides Tawnyface’s sharp whisper in his ear. Breathing heavily he shot back up to his paws pushing past his disoriented feeling that made him stumble with his first two steps. Wavering on his paws he took off sprinting across the moor leaving sloppy blood soaked pawsteps in his wake. He didn’t slow down until he’d left the moor in wake and was running until he made a jump across the bank to the Shadowclan side of the river.
Wincing he landed with a crash on the opposite of the bank rolling several feet. Growling he hauled himself to his paws as he glared over his shoulder in the direction of the moors. Hissing to himself he stood there for a few moments breathing heavily. If he stopped to consider what Tawnyface haddaid he might realize that she was right to a degree even if that though it was a bitter thing to swallow, at least partially. A few good deeds werne’t going to erase what he’d already done. Growling he turned away shaking his head and limping back into the shadow of the towering pines. He was sure he was going to quite the sight to see limping slowly into camp, slipping on the blood from his pads, stinking of Windclan and Twolegs, and having nothing to show for it. The only thing what was overpowering his own stink was the sharp scent of blood filling the air.
The tom screwed up his face glaring towards Wolfjaw who was laying on his side in the middle of the camp. He was covered in fresh scratches and wounds that were poorly treated with the cobwebs awkwardly slanted and awkwardly placed. Whispersong’s work if he had to hazard a guess. It was at that moment that he stood in the clearing wondering what should he do? It was a moral division for him able to smell where the overwhelming scent of blood was coming from with a long trail of blood leading him in the direction of the nursery. It would be better if he turned away and went back to his own den. Minded his own business. Everything attempt he’d made to help an other cats had blown up rather spectacularly in his face. Lashing his tail he hobbled off towards his own den pausing when he spotted the blood smearing the walls. A spike of panic ran down his spine until he saw Whispersong still alive although looking shaken. “What happened?” He mewed with a frown as he stepped around the bloodstained floor of the den.
The Riverclan she-cat seemed settle down the tiniest bit at the Shadowclan she-cat’s presence. There was heavy silence that fell over the den. She shrunk back in panic when she saw the form of a tom moving across the clearing. She was able to only see well enough to see the outline of cat that was enough to make her afraid of the tom coming back, not realizing that it was actually the medicine cat returning from Starclan knows where. It was enough to send her into a sudden and panicked fit of irregular breathing.
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Shadowstartheleader
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~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Aug 13, 2019 15:12:44 GMT -5
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Post by Shadowstartheleader on Aug 13, 2019 15:12:44 GMT -5
Leafpaw couldn’t say that it wasnt relieving to hear that the warrior believed she hadn’t meant exactly what she said, but she felt a bit of anxiety lingering in her stomach. She promised to let Otterstar know how Jaggedscar had contributed to the mess, but Leafpaw had figured that should be an assumed part of the conversation already. Still, she knew that Silverfang was trying to give her a break even as she was presented by something of a flimsy apology by the Windclan apprentice. She forced herself to dip her head respectfully and she mewed “thank you,” though her eyes, still sparkling with some worry, gave away that she still wasn’t feeling the pressure removed from this entire situation.
In a final effort to try and cross whatever bridge of forgiveness she had missed, she blurted out what she felt might lay some nerves at rest. “When you talk to him, t-tell....tell Otterstar that I’ll apologize, r...right to him if he needs it.” She analyzed the warrior for a response, trying to see if it seemed at all a good offer or if Silverfang would just take it as a ditch effort to win more points back with the clan. If it would help climb out of the hole she dug by being driven to snap so hard, it was something she believed she could do. It was just a sentence, right? Walk into Riverclan, avoid as many sneers as she could from the gathered cats, march up to Otterstar, and apologize for what she had wrongly said. Easy, right? It was still a step away from what Silverfang was expecting: an apology to Jaggedscar. In reality, any cat could dismiss a hundred apologies if she wouldn’t apologize remorsefully to the cat she said it too. Of course, she already knew that Otterstar wouldn’t make the matter that simple. It was likely he would want to make a show of her apology to really put the she-cat in her place for her comment. Or, maybe he would be feeling merciful about the whole thing.
Shadowpaw sighed with anxiety and began padding circles around where he had stopped himself following after the other two cats. They had only just found the scent trail of Rainstar, yet already Leafpaw was losing her cool, Silverfang was seeking to figure out what sort of retribution was needed, and Jaggedscar was already out to sabotage whatever means of alliance they were struggling to keep their claws into. For his first serious patrol, things were not going that well, ans he didn’t really have any way to make any of it not be such a mess, naturally he wanted to turn to hazelrunner to fix whatever she could, but she was already here in agreement with him that there wasn’t anything for them to do about it. He stopped his pacing as she tried to figure out the cause of Silverfang’s wish to speak about the outburst. He didn’t know the best way to say it at first, as his intention hadn’t exactly been to land them in how it was playing out now, but he would have to of course mention his persuasion was involved, though he wouldn’t have called it that. “She was pretty hurt by what Leafpaw said,” he bit his lip thinking about the venom she had delivered the insult with, that had made it feel real even to him. “And she asked me if I thought they stood by and did nothing while their leader died, and I said of course not. And I tried to say that she didn’t really believe it-“ he averted his gaze a little. It had been hard to tell with how heavily it dropped from her lips, but he had still made the claim for her and hoped it would be enough to bring Silverfang to speak with leafpaw on her own. “I think Silverfang needs to hear Leafpaw’s perspective before she makes her judgement. I think she can tell how hard Jaggedscar is making this for us.”
It would have been so easy for Tawnyface to end the life of such a small tom-cat, but she was put off by the kit’s plea and the claim of how he had helped her. Fought a dog? There was no way in the length of Rainstar’s nine lives that Frogstrike was ever going to go tooth and claw against a dog to save any cat except himself, and he would run before he would even do that. She snapped her fangs after the medicine cat until he was speedily on his way out of the moorlands. Then her gaze turned back to the situation still here. She could see the wary eyes of Lavenderfur on her, and she gazed him down for a number of seconds until they were interrupted by the sound of the kit speaking up to them.
Lavenderfur was starkly reminded of just how powerful a cat Tawnyface was as she threw Frogstrike about like prey and sent him flying from their lands without a single delay. It was easy to forget how much damage she was capable of doing if she decided Windclan was no longer where she wanted to be, He only now seemed to notice the fresh wounds that the she-cat had, but he didn’t have any time to speak to that and figure out that she played an essential role in saving his kittens, before the one nearby was squeaking at them again.
“He said you were nicer,” Cupcake had taken a few steps back from the warriors, which was only a tail length or so on her small and ungrown form. Her wide eyes weren’t dropping any tears now, instead fixated fearfully on Tawnyface. “Why did you do that to him? He helped me.”
The warrior at the side of Lavederfur pulled away and began padding towards the medicine den, though this revealed his badly hurt and patched back right leg was still in no position to move itself after the reclamation of Riverclan. He poked his head into the den and looked over at Speckleflower near her two injured kittens. “There....There is a kitten at the entrance. A dog uhh....her mother....” He stared at the kits for a couple seconds. Maybe he shouldn’t...describe this too deeply to them. None of them looked in particularly good shape. “Frogstrike brought her, so that we would give her a home.” His voice was hoarse but still gave away his overall youth and pain that he was in from having his leg torn up. “I....don’t know if you...could at least let her lie at your shoulder until Rainstar returns?” He could see how haggard and exhausted Speckleflower seemed. “I could ask the elders instead.” A kit to bunk with Longshadow after his rejection by the deputy. It might have been a recipe for some kit-food.
Well, Frogstrike’s response to returning to this was less startling than Whispersong might have expected. But she was certainly expected by the condition that he was in. Her eyes widened at the small trickles of blood on the too of his head, not a dangerous wound by any means but a sign of some form of distress he had been in. “Are you okay?” The briefest concern flashed in her eyes as she stepped closer to get a better sight of the wound, but she seemed to conclude it wasn’t secretly a lethal blow and she regained her normal ‘neutral’ gaze of the cat in front of her. “One of the cats...” her gaze drifted past him towards the nursery, repurposed as the any-cat-not-a-tom den. “...one of them fought back this time. She got him really well. He came in here and about bit my head off getting him cobwebs, so I wasn’t going to get him more or get closer to fix him up better.” Her voice had moved to a low hush, as she didn’t want the warriors outside to have any chance of overhearing how she spoke of Wolfjaw.
The poor maimed she-cat’s panicked flare up brought her eyes to follow outside the den, where she could see clearly that Frogstrike had returned. It was about time the mouse-dung had got back to them. Now he was going to waste a bunch of cobwebs on Wolfjaw and maybe have a few pieces left for their dying victim. She likely was throwing herself into danger of being maimed herself doing this, but she could not stand to watch this cat die while Frogstrike was licking the aggressor’s wounds.
She marched out and into the view of various warriors, as well as Nightstar sitting at the mouth of his den to witness the spectacle that occurred. She boldly strutted pas the camp from the nursery into the mouth of the medicine den. She completely ignored the medicine cat’s prize Windclanner, not wanting to turn any of the aggression on her. Whispersong wasn’t in a position where she could do much. “We have a cat dying over here. Her eye has been practically clawed out of her skull. Does that sound familiar? Anything you’d like to do to help?” It was an aggressive challenge, something that had been building in her that she had done well to hide for as long as she had—but now she was on the edge, just waiting for Frogstrike to give her a reason to do something rash.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:15:23 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Aug 13, 2019 18:15:23 GMT -5
The Riverclan she-cat carefully got to her paws offering a bow of her head as well, equally as stiff as Leafpaw’s. Neither one of them were terribly satisfied with how the conversation had turned out. They both clearly wanted more from the other. Silverfang wanted more than what appeared to be an flimsy excuse for an apology and Leafpaw wanted her to offer more than a flimsy attempt at easing her worries with half-hearted reassurances. She paused when Leafpaw nervously blurted out something further to try and redeem herself offering to apologize to Otterstar directly. It was her final attempt at saying what she thought the Riverclan cats wanted and needed to hear. She flicked the end of her tail in momentary thought. If it had been Shadestar than such an apology would probably be dismissed in favor of apologizing to the warrior she had meant to hurt in the first place, but with Otterstar she knew that wasn’t going to be the case. “I’m sure Otterstar will appreciate that.” Silverfang spoke earnestly, knowing he would forgo any sort of apology to Jaggedscar in favor of seeing the apology for himself. “For now, let’s focus on bringing your leader home. In the meantime leave Jaggedscar to me. He’ll leave you alone if he knows w is good for him.” The she-cat mewed with a light frown as she looked in the direction of the Horseplace. “Stay close to your clanmates.” The Riverclan she-cat cautioned, as if she needed the warning to not go near the Riverlcna tom, she moved to emerge from out of the bushes. “Go joint your friends and leave the rest to me.” It was the she-cat’s final attempt to put the apprentice at ease. Stepping out of the brush back out into the open she blinked when she caught sight of Shadowclan apprentice warning circles into the ground going round and round. With one last look towards Leafpaw she quickly turned to move off in the direction of the Horseplace to follow along with the rest of the patrol.
Hazelrunner tilted her head as Shadowpaw admitted he might have something to do with convincing the she-cat to talk with Leafpaw. “Do you think she’ll be able to understand Leafpaw’s perspective?” She mewed worried as she looked towards Shadowpaw with a concerned expression. Clearly things had gone awry with how Shadowpaw had expected things to play out, to leave him feeling so anxious about the two of them talking out of sight. It gave her room to doubt what might happened they weren’t able to see eye to eye. She strained her ears to try and pick up anything on the wind. She tensed when she spotted Silverfang moving out of the bushes. Holding her breath she watched the she-cat take off in the direction of the Horseplace. She gave her an anxious look as she saw Leafpaw emerge as well. Looking towards her she hesitated opening her mouth, watching the apprentice’s reaction to decipher how the conversation with Silverfang might have gone.
The call had gone out through camp and spread like wild fire. She had been too busy fretting over her kits to hear just what was being said. She stiffened when her mate bolted up sending her kits into a new fit of panic. She stared after her mate with momentary confusion before the responding calls around the camp reached her ears. “Shadowclan” was the only thing she needed to hear. In her mind that was the worst possible scenario was becoming reality. “Hush!” She mewed sharply to her kits standing up in the nest rather stiffly. Proudpaw turned around rather sharply and went to stand in the entrance of the den. Both cats were looking towards the entrance of den just waiting for the inevitable horde of Shadowclan warriors to come bursting through the camp walls. Any warriors who were hearted enough to stand on their paws were hurrying out of the dens seeming to expect the same outcome. The only thing that seemed to come however several moments later was the sound of yowls coming from the other side of camp. She exchanged a hesitant look with the medicine cat apprentice. Speckleflower tightly encircled her two kits still unsure of what was to come next.
The queen was still protectively shielding her kits when the injured warrior limped into the mouth to the den peaking inside. She didn’t breath easy even knowing that it was one of her own clanmates. “A kit?” She echoed looking at the young warrior in the utter disbelief. Proudpaw pulled a face at the mention of Frogstrike. What in the name of Starclan was going on here? He’d never known that tom to do anything even remotely charitable or anything that wasn’t self-serving for that matter. “You’re positive it was him?” The apprentice questioned with a frown seeming not to realize that there was kit here, that could possibly be injured. Speckleflower looked momentarily to her kits. Mentally and physically she was spent and in no shape to look after another kit. Her own frightened kits felt like looking after newborns almost.
“No, don’t bother the elders.” She mewed, having already seen Longshadow stomping around out front of the elder den practically ranting and raving. The kit would be eaten up and spit out in there. She didn’t need to understand the full circumstances of what had brought the kit here. The little the warrior had let slip in the prescience of her kits was enough to let her know that the kit needed help. She tried to ignore the uneasy feeling that came over her at the thought of the kit having been with a Shadowclan cat. “Bring her here.” She mewed doing her best to offer a smile although it was a very strained smile. While she waited she looked towards her own two kits. There were both clearly spooked from the sudden burst of activity and the the absence of their father again suddenly. ”Please behave. I’m sure this kit is just as righted and scared as you were.” She mewed firmly to both of them trying to push aside her own anxieties and uncertainties about all of this.
Frogstrike was hardly fazed by the sight of blood littering the ground. It might be easy to blame it on his own near death experience eclipsing his concern whatever happened here, but he had become alarmingly desensitized to the sight and smell of carnage and blood. It had only become more and more common over the past few moons. It was becoming a daily and almost mundane occurrence. He also wasn’t dwelling on the split second of panic he’d experienced when he wasn’t sure if that blood had belonged to Whispersong. Her brief bit of concern for him was also not something he dwelled on. It was probably just tied to her concern about her own safety if anything were to happen to him. “I’m alive.” He mewed flatly, although that fact was called into question far too many times today for his liking. Sighing he turned around to follow her gaze towards the commandeered nursery. He drew in a deep breath as she filled him on what had happened. “Welcome to the joys of being a medicine cat. I’ll have to look at his wounds.” He muttered with a shake of his head. “If they get infected he’ll take it out on the cat responsible for patching him up.” Frogstrike was going to have to work double time to make sure that Wolfjaw’s wrath didn’t come back on to Whispersong.
The medicine cat had already written off whatever she-cat he had made an example of. She was probably as good as dead by now. Not to mention that Nightstar’s ever present eyes were going to be watching his every move. His appearance and lack of herbs was probably going to draw questions from Nightstar or Petalstream if they didn’t have some other cat to target. Frogstrike quickly snapped his head towards the entrance as Ebonykit just barged her way into the den like it was her own. He could seem to find any peace today. The world was practically out to get him. Drawing in a sharp breath he wanted to take a swipe at the she-cat in front of him. “I’m not a miracle worker.” He hissed in frustration, not just at Ebonypelt, but hearing Tawnyface’s words in his ear. “It was her decision to fight back not mine.” The words weren’t for this nameless dying she-cat, seeming to have a much more personal note to them. He had warned Lilyheart. He’d done everything he’d could to keep her somewhat sheltered. He couldn’t possibly save every cat. If that is what Starclan had meant for him to do they wouldn’t keep putting him in situations that made that reality impossible. He had nothing. He had been low before and now with a day lost on gathering anything he needed he was sure to have nothing left if he tried to save this dying she-cat. All he could think about were the obstacles that were laid out in front of him. Anyone of them could end up getting him killed.
“If I go in there before treating Wolfjaw then the rest of you cats will just have to figure out how to heal yourselves.” He remarked turning his back to the two she-cats. He sighed looking through his herb stores. He rolled out a few bright red yew berries. “I’m not going to risk my hide by letting the whole clan watch me give preference to a she-cat. Is she even part of our clan?” He questioned coming off as rather insensitive to a suffering cat. He turned to look towards Whispersong. “Come help me get some herbs together.” The tom mewed even though she didn’t know one herb from the next. He had something in mind, if Ebonypelt didn’t manage to get in his way that was.
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
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Aug 13, 2019 21:42:29 GMT -5
Post by Shadowstartheleader on Aug 13, 2019 21:42:29 GMT -5
(Getting hone late tonight and then i can actually color code my posts again so its not a giant blob of black ink)
Leafpaw wasn’t certain whether the warrior was speaking from honesty or politeness as she encouraged the idea of apologizing to the leader, but she simply let it be for now. She knew she already seemed like a desperate cat, and if she continued pushing ways she could make the Riverclan cat feel better right then, she likely was going to begin coming off as dishonest or at least disingenuous. She clearly absorbed the instructions and nodded in understanding, not even needing to be told to stay far from Jaggedscar’s claw-reach. “I understand. T-thank you.”
As she turned to pad back to Hazelrunner and Shadowpaw, she took account of the fact that the conversation left neither of them feeling too much better towards the other, but when Shadowpaw had said she wanted to speak, she couldn’t imagine that it was going to go swimmingly anyways. With a quiet sigh to herself once she was tail-lengths away, she wondered how she was going to tell Ravenfang that she mucked up so poorly and then didn’t really manage to patch it up in response much at all. Just another thing that he could get angry at her about. Her eyes fell down to the floor in front of her, and as she emerged from around the bushes and approached her friends again, it might have gave the impression that it went very poorly.
When she lifted her head, she took stock of both of them, Shadowpaw staring at her with wide eyes that were sparkling with anxiety. Though his reaction was a little too strong for the situation, he felt that he had put his own pelt down on the Thunderpath by saying anything at all to Silverfang. She blinked at him as he seemed to want to hear her speak but at the same time didn’t want to hear the response to the unspoken question. “She just said that...she’ll tell Otterstar that Jaggedscar...aggravted the situation into occurring, and...well, she said she believes me, that I didn’t really mean what I said about Riverclan.” She gave a defeated shrug. “Maybe that is all that we could of hopes for. I don’t know.” The quiet sigh said that she might have been feeling differently about that conclusion. She had really messed this up.
Frogstrikevonly seemed to be giving more and more reason for Ebonypelt to hate their medicine cat, he would only think about his own pelt and future threats to him. He was nothing more than a coward who would accept any evil if it meant that he could claw his own hide into a few more days of survival. Her lip quivered as the tom implied his death was soon to follow if he went to the she-cat first, and though she knew in the back of her head that that was true, thinking about watching the maimed she-cat slowly die an awful and excruiating death pushed her into a dangerous mentality. Her claws began sliding out as she took a couple pawsteps towards the little tom who had turned away from her. Before she could draw dangerously close however, Whispersong took a shaky step in between the two of them.
It was either her larger figure or the fact it was a Windclan cat trying to stop her, but Whispersong could see the uncertainty in the other she-cat’s eyes as her glare moved from one cat to the other. The two she-cats silently exchanged stares for a long trickle of moments as Ebonypelt tried to figure out why she would even try and protect Frogstrike’s pelt. Whispersong gave a shake of her head. “He’s doing a lot of what he can under the crushing paw of Nightstar. “ it was an intensely quiet mew with nervousness in it. He didn’t want to expose herself or the cat keeping her alive and from losing her personal dignity. “Please, just let him do what he has to to keep from getting himself killed, or even more of the she-cats. If he dies, who will they blame? Not only Frogstrike, but your friend too. And who knows if they’ll risk that happening again?” She saw the dangerous glint in Ebonypelt’s eyes. She was ready for violence and wasn’t thinking much for her own pelt anymore. She had seen too much violation and evil.
She could see it was not exactly enough. “And soon....” she took a couple risky pawsteps towards Ebonypelt, pulling her head to the side to check for any eyes and ears. “...we’ll get freed.” It was only a whisper, not even particularly meant for Frogstrike’s ears though he couldn’t imagine he thought she planned to remain imprisoned forever.
When Speckleflower drew closer, sounds of conversation were clear as Lavenderfur was trying to tell this kit that they were not a very violent clan, but that the cat who brought her there was part of a dangerous group of cats. It wasn’t having much effect as Frogstrike was the kit’s only data point and she didn’t have much faith in these cats, especially with the heated former Shadowclanner nearby, analyzing the kitten with deep piercing eyes that weren’t helping the kittens confidence.
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Aug 14, 2019 12:19:39 GMT -5
Post by wildcharm on Aug 14, 2019 12:19:39 GMT -5
(Awesome, I hope your vacation was fun ^^)
Hazelrunner stared after Silverfang’s disappearing flank until Leafpaw trudged her way out of the bushes with her eyes downcast. This gave Hazelrunner the distinct impression that it had gone rather poorly. She sighed softly to herself as she watched her friend slowly make her way back over to them. Slowly she took a step forwards to walk out and meet her friend halfway. When she finally answered the silent question floating over both their heads the she-cat paused seeming surprised to hear that all things considered...it had gone better than her reaction might have led them to believe. It didn’t sound completely hopeless...at least to Hazelrunner, but she had no idea what kind of tone the conversation had taken. Sighing she slowly approached her friend, despite her earlier attempts to provide solace had been ineffective before.
”That’s something at least. You’ve done everything you can for right now.” The young warrior offered standing beside Leafpaw. The outcome of all of this seems to be put solely in the paws of the Riverclan cats. She glanced back at Shadowpaw as he seemed to take personal responsibility about all of this, having been the one to convince Silverfang to come speak to Leafpaw. The warrior silently racked her brain for what the two of them needed to hear at a time like this. No words came to mind, failing her when she felt like she needed them most. Instead she became aware of the fact how alone they were standing on the moor. Looking out towards the moor she breathed heavily. With everything going on it was hard to prioritize everything. Rainstar, Whispersong, and situation with Leafpaw were all things vying for her attention. “Do you want to start towards the Horseplace?” She mewed with a light frown as she looked around the empty moor.
While fully aware that he was playing a dangerous game by turning his back on Ebonypelt, but he wasn’t in any mood to bicker with the she-cat. If she wanted to take her frustrations out on him then let her try. He had more important things to do and arguing with the already irate she-cat was counter productive. He plucked a few stems of thyme laying it out in a large leaf.
He frowned when he heard pawsteps coming behind him. He turned his head sharply when he heard Whispersong’s voice. He didn’t know if he should be grateful or a little irritated since the walls practically had ears. Drawing a deep breath he turned back around to secure the thyme into a bundle. He settled on being grateful, but wasn’t in any mood to show it right now. He didn’t want word getting out that he actually might have a heart. He didn’t need anymore of a target on his back than he already had. He couldn’t exactly help any cats if the rest of the clan was suspicious of them. That was something else he didn’t have time to explain that to Ebonypelt.
If he heard Whispersong’s quiet assurances about being free soon he didn’t make any real signs of it. Of course it was a small den so it was more than likely that he did. His silence was the closest thing she was going to get to support in front of other cats. Instead he continued to bundle up herbs. Frogstrike picked up the bundled up thyme. Sighing he approached the two she-cats. “If you want to do something useful, give your friend this. It will help with the shock.” The tom interrupted dropping it at Ebonypelt’s paws. “If not keep standing around talking.” He muttered before snatching up a second bundle. Pushing his way out of the den he left the two she-cat alone in the den to go check on the entitled warrior.
The queen slowly nudged her kits aside with assurances that she wouldn’t leave them alone for long. Frowning she slowly moved towards the entrance to camp. She paused at the scene she walked into. It looked like Lavenderfur was trying unsuccessfully to convince the kit that they weren’t scary. The moment she got a whiff of the she-kit’s scent she understood why. Tipping her head she looked over the kit trying to understand just what had happened here. The more she thought about it the less sense it all made. She sighed when she noticed that Tawnyface was looking at the kit so distrustfully. Speckleflower stepped around her mate giving him a silent look before approaching the tiny kit. “Hi little one.” She greeted the kit. The kit couldn’t be much older than her own kits. Despite how she might have gotten here she was clearly shaken after being left alone with several probably rather imposing scary forest cats. She did her best to smile to the kit.
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