cure for me | hawk

[Halfshade]

Halfshade never really climbed trees. There was no trees where she used to live that were near enough to practice and the ones in ShadowClan were bowed and flimsy and didn't seem to be too sturdy when it came to holding a cat, but they did have a few that shot upwards and towered over the territory, giving it a nice shroud of shade in the warmer months and and excellent cover from the snow now. In her hunts she did not often look upward, but today she did and found her mismatched gaze drawn to what was very clearly a large nest tucked within the corner of two adjacent branches and tucked neatly away where it would not have otherwise been seen except from her exact angle; all around it was other branches, heavy and obscuring and she felt a tighteness gnawing in her stomach at just the idea there might be something worth grabbing inside it. Hatchlings? Eggs? The nest was large so it was probably one of the predatory birds who often laid eggs in the cold seasons, which made this all the more risky a venture. Halfshade sighed, but when she'd left the freshkill pile was nearly bare and there were kits in the nursery who hadn't eaten. One big egg would be enough nutrients on its own.
"It's worth it." She cursed under her breath and began to slowly scale the tree, carefully placing pawsteps to avoid sending herself tumbling and putting their harried medicine cat to work more than necessary; she didn't even know if Starlingheart could mend broken bones. 'Bad thought to be having this high.' Shaking her head the torbie continued upward until finally she dragged herself up onto the neighboring branch to stand, slowly rising onto her paws to peer across at the nest and see if her struggle had been rewarded with anything at all. She almost gasped at the sight of the four perfectly rounded eggs just sitting there, huge in size and not a bird to be but now the fun and certainly not annoying part of trying to get them all down. The torbie stepped over carefully, perched herself by the nest and starred at her prizes. At most she could carry one in her mouth and climb down and then back up, it was the safest method and the one that would ensure she didn't break any of them accidentally with avarice so he carefully dipped her head and plucked up the first; paws carrying her over to the branch she had clambered up and with careful backtracking she made her descent to deposit the egg on the snow by the tree. Well, that was one...
The queen sighed, this was going to be quite the workout to do this three more times but it will be worth it. Once she got them down she could go enlist someone to help carry them back so upward she went once more. It was only when she had one egg left did she realize how dark it was getting, the urge to just take what she had and go was there but the torbie shook her head and scaled back upward to finish the job. It was as she went to clamp her teeth around it that the snow piled on the branch near her head burst into a shower of pale white, dousing her in the flakes and starling her into biting down where the egg cracked in her jaw but did not fully break. In seconds the simple task turned deadly, the bird screeching there next to her now was a hawk of some kind with a sharp beak and sharper talons and Halfshade scrambled back to her branch to try and climb down only for it to slam into her and nearly knock her off the tree. A fall this high would be fatal, she knew that, and she also knew she would not be allowed to climb down carefully with this screeching demon on her back so she started to climb higher to try and lose it in the thick branches above all while it dove at her and clashed its claws into bark, just missing tearing her to pieces each time.

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[Rainecho]

Rainecho was not a brave she cat by any means of the word. She wasn’t a hero or anything, just a cat who felt as if she had nothing to loose. She had heard the cries of the hawk and at first, had thought nothing of it, had turned to go back to her normal duties all the while pitying whatever squirrel or bird had strayed too close to the creatures nest. But then she heard something familiar, something that made her ears stand straighter and angle towards the sound. The cries of a cat. At the sound of Halfshades voice she goes sprinting towards the tree, mismatched eyes peering up through the branches. Her heart roars in her ears as she looks at Halfshade being battered by the brown creature and then looks at the eggs on the ground. Even a mouse brain could guess what had transpired here.

A frown pulls the corners of her mouth downward "Fuck" she whispers quietly to herself before she executes the plan she had quickly devised in her mind. "HEY UGLY!!" she screeches at the top of her lungs, hoping the hawk would turn its attention to her. "LOOK WHAT I HAVE!!" with that she leans down and grasps an egg in her mouth before taking off through the trees, hoping the brutish creature would follow her and leave Halfshade to get down the tree and to safety. It was an along shot, but if the hawk did not give up on trying to attack her clanmate she wasn’t sure what else she could do. There was no way she was taking on the thing alone, even with the two of them it would be difficult if not impossible. Her heart threatens to beat out her chest as she runs, egg clutched tightly in her mouth and a silent prayer sent to Star clan that the hawk is following.
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[FORESTSHADE]

The striped she-cat sniffs at the air with parted jaws, hoping she'd detect at least the faintest scent trail. Alas, nothing. She clicks her jaws shut in disappointment before releasing a sigh, turning on her heels to head back around the Burnt Sycamore to head closer to the thunderpath. She's only startled when she hears the sound of pounding paws against the frozen ground and her head jerks up, ears angling to try and pinpoint the location but she isn't fast enough.

The body of Rainecho collides with her own and the two are sent tumbling in a tangle of fur and tails. Forestshade lets out an oof as she hits the ground, the wind knocked out of her. "What are you doing?" She groans, forepaw pushing her clanmate off of her so she can properly sit up. What in StarClan could have the warrior sprinting about in the middle of the territory?​

 

[ROOSTERSTRUT]

The angry screeches of a bird of prey is what draws Roosterstrut's attention over toward one of the evergreens, where Rainecho is at the base gazing all the way upward. It's dark and hard to tell, but he can barely make out the form of Halfshade as she scrambles for dear life to escape the deadly talons. What had she done to piss that thing off?

The young warrior glances toward the pile of eggs nestled against the trunk and it immediately clicks — ah, that explained it.

He parted his jaws, about to ask Rainecho what course of action they should take next when the fellow warrior tried to get the hawk's attention and took off running with one of its eggs in her jaws. Roosterstrut wasn't sure if that would tear the avian's attention away from Halfshade, so he figured he should jump into action before something bad happened. ShadowClan had suffered enough this past season, they couldn't afford to lose another warrior in a tragic accident.

Roosterstrut sucks in a breath before launching himself at the tree trunk and sinking his claws into the bark. His muscles strained to steady himself; he didn't have a ton of energy as it was. "Uh- hold on!" He calls out to the she-cat above, though finds himself hesitating to ascend any further. What if he endangered himself? What if he ended up falling or the hawk began to focus on him? Roosterstrut wants to be brave, he wants to be selfless, but panicked thoughts began to crowd his mind and distract him.​

— * ✰. ooc information recent events * ✰. —

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  ✰ ROOSTERSTRUT
  —— amab, uses he/him pronouns. sixteen moons old. warrior of shadowclan.
  —— laid-back young adult who utilizes humor and fun in order to distract from serious matters. he is a decent warrior, though he hesitates to take risks.
  —— link to tags. @ on discord for plots.
  
  roosterstrut is a vibrant orange tabby tom with pale green eyes. he stands at a height ever so slightly above the average. his fur is long and whispy and his tail is especially reminiscent of a rooster's. he sports a signature, goofy smirk and a mischievous glint in his eye.
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[CHILLEDSTAR.]

DON'T YOU GIVE ME UP, PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP​

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desperation does a lot of things to a lot of different cats. in shadowclan's case, it made them fucking stupid. climbing had never been chilledgaze's strong suit. they didn't need to climb. what the fuck was up with needing to be in trees, anyways? they weren't a damned bird, and they weren't a thunderclanner nor a skyclanner either. they had no real reason to need to climb. halfshade had found her way up within the trees, eggs being the taunt of the day. she was stupid for even trying, but the hunger that gnawed at them all made them do the most frog-brained of things. chilledgaze wouldn't have bothered but that doesn't make halfshade's little conquest unreasonable. stupid? without a doubt. but somewhat justified, given the cards that starclan dealt to them.

"halfshade's climbing up a tree to try and get away from that hawk. smart move. dangerous, but quickly thought."

they tell forestshade, quiet enough to not draw more attention to them.

"theyre trying to distract the bird long enough to get halfshade down. let's just hope no one dies. we've seen enough of that."

they grunt, ears twitching. there wasn't anything they personally could do that wasn't already being done. if they could assist, they would, but for now they'd just make sure that halfshade didn't fall and break every bone in her body. what a sight, a rather unwelcome sight, that would be.
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