DIRTY TOWN // chicken coop raid

[SOOTSTAR]

At dawn twolegs had been spotted on the territory, rallying up the horses, doing their best to get them back home.
As they worked Sootstar wanted to take advantage of the situation... which sounded bizarre, what could you take advantage of when twolegs were on the territory? But with the help of a few trusted clan-mates, they had come up with a plan.

Twolegs kept livestock, and not just big ones with hooves. Birds, large birds as that, known as chickens all trapped within a pen.
WindClan would feast tonight with no twolegs there to keep them safe.

So with her patrol, she sets out, and before long they arrive at their desired location. Leaping through wooden fences they eventually find themselves in the chicken pen. It wasn't very hard to find... with the obnoxious clucking noises they made... They were funny-looking creatures, ugly to Sootstar as they strutted around and pecked at the dirt for mealworms or something. They didn't appear to mind the patrol of cats gathered outside their land, a mistake. They were not the polite and respectful barn cats they were used to, they were hungry and licking their lips.

This would be the easiest hunt of their lives!

"Right here," Sootstar directs a paw to where the mesh curls upwards, providing enough crawl space for them to get in. It was a shock the chickens themselves didn't leave with how large the gap was... perhaps they were too pea-brained? That or they didn't care and preferred to stay and get fat on mealworms. "Get in there and start hunting!" She'd be right behind her warriors.

// @WEASELCLAW this thread is open!! i was just asked to tag <3
Dramamamama will be happening, you may injure your ocs, and you may manage as a team to kill a chicken or two ​

---

 

[Blacklotus]

Inkylotus

---

This seemed like a rather dangerous job, but Inkylotus felt like he had something to prove. Something to make up for in a way as weird as it might sound. He wanted to be of use to Windclan, in one way or another, and this seemed like a good chance to learn how to hunt solely based on hearing and smell. Though hunting was never his strong suit, sure he could chase down a rabbit but could never catch one unless someone else did it for him. He could only just chase it into their arms really. So, what better way to take down something than that of this 'chicken?'.

As they enared the coop, the scent of the chickens grew more and more potent. It was an unsightly smell that made him wrinkle his nose a bit and they flicked back their ears in their distaste. Would they really need to feast on these? They smell worse than a fish does after days of rotting! Though Sootstar had her reason and once she gave the cue, Inkylotus flung himself into the coop.

Sqwuaking soon could be heard as chickens took to flight or fight, mainly flight, and ran rampent in the coop. The black cat had to try to avoud being caught with talons or being launched into the wall by panicking chickens. However, he wasn't quick enough as he moved to avoid one chicken only to be pecked by another on his back causing him to bristle and extend his claws out, lashing out blindly until his claws met feathers. The chicken cawed and a talon caught the black tomcat right in the chest and he was flung to the floor of the coop.

Inkylotus was quick to scramble away and get to his feet, but now he had a long, bleeding talon mark across his chest and he was breathing heavily. These things where no joke huh? "SPEECH
​

---

a long hair black ghost tabby with anophthalmia || Windclan Warrior || tags​

 

[hyacinthbreath]

Hyacinthbreath knew better than to attack a chicken head-on by herself. Growing up near these lands, seeing chickens every once in a while- having to kill them in packs with her family. She'd remember the death of a young cat just from an angry rooster, and she wondered idly if there would be one present. If so, it just wasn't worth it. Roosters were terrifying.

As Sootstar pointed out the gap in the fence, Hyacinth gave her leader a worried look before nodding- reassured by her confidence. She darted through the gap after Inkylotus, watching his flank intently; and as he ran after the chickens. He hooked one, but the hen was much too fast- swiping him good across his chest. Hyacinth pressed against the tom's side; a rare moment of protectiveness. Not because she liked him, no. He was a member of WindClan, and it was her job to protect him and the others here.

"Can you keep going, Inkylotus?" Hyacinth asks curiously, tail lashing behind her. She didn't give him time to respond, claws lashing out at an angry hen that came towards them. She pushed her body against his own, trying to make him move in tandem with her own body movements. Like a guide.

"If you can't, then get out of here. If you can, stay at my side and swipe. I'll be your eyes. Got it?"​

 

[Hunts Pheasants]

POST CODE

• ---

  These birds had been known by White-eye before.
  
  She had smelled them the last time she was here. White feathered, a combed head, and a turkey-like wattle. They bak-kak-aak their crooning concern, dark animal eyes wary. Then Inkylotus throws himself inside, and all at once it is as if a storm has started. They scatter and converge like wind-blown leaves, sending a drift of feathers in every direction.
  
  There is the point in her vision where everything is ill-defined: light and shadow, the fuzzy shape of things; the point of stark clarity, and the confusing in between where the conflicting sides converge. It's dizzying when taken as a whole; when so many things move around her all at once. But this isn't entirely unfamiliar to White-eye. She recognizes their pointed beaks, she recognizes their talons, the way they strut their threats and the way they flee, even hindered by the sturdy wooden walls of their coop.
  
  It is Hunts Pheasants that presses forward into the fray. Their is no stealth in such a place, no reason to be anything but herself: something large and snarling. Their is a certain unfairness to it, like catching tadpoles in a shrinking pond. She needs only to swipe and eventually her claws catch something. A wing flapping desperate, wrenching against her hold, but White-eye knows these tricks. She holds tight with both of her forepaws, uses her weight and her pointed claws to hold the bird in place, and lets her teeth find purchase on the bird's neck.
  
  Beneath the bulk of deceptive feathers, it is thin. This too is familiar.
  
  There is a twist and then the bird eases from thrashes into tremors. Not dead, but something close to. White-eye leaves it where it lays, ignores the way quietly desperate talons ease their grip from where they had tangled into her fur. She moves purposefully away, drawn by the scent of blood, but stops short when she finds the source.
  
  "He is hurt already?" White-eye directs her question to Hyacinthbreath-- not even acknowledging Inkylotus directly.​

  ---

• “[color=#F09EA8][b]SPEECH,[/b][/color]”

 

[WEASELCLAW]

Though Sootstar and some of the other WindClan fools still like to comment on Weaselclaw's horse shit scent, he knows he's invaluable for this mission. The barn he'd been born in flanks them in the near distance, and the farm he's tred since he could walk is familiar under firm white paws. The clucks of the chickens in their coop -- it's familiar, almost comforting, though he has no desire to return to this place. It's no longer his home.

The scents, he finds, are as disgusting to his glands now as he likely was upon first stumbling onto the moors. Chickens, though, had always been a prize to him. He's seen foxes shoot in and out of the coop, sometimes dying for their cause, but he himself had never been brave enough to try it. The Twolegs, for whatever reason, love the nasty things. Perhaps they really are tasty.

He wriggles the muscles beneath his rippling tabby pelt, blue eyes blazing with excitement. Their first mission as lead warriors, he and Hyacinthbreath, with some of their Clanmates trailing behind them and Sootstar. Hunts Pheasants -- or White-eye, as she's known now -- is a skilled hunter, but Weaselclaw isn't sure about Inkylotus. He's never known a cat with no eyes until he'd met the black tom, but he wouldn't think it would hinder a cat too much if he could hear, taste, and smell just fine.

He's wrong, though. The poor bastard gets clawed ruthlessly by a chicken's talons, and he appears surprised as he pants behind the patrol. Hyacinthbreath, in a rare moment of kindness, lags behind, offers to be his eyes.

Weaselclaw only gives White-eye a look and snorts. "You shouldn't have come if you couldn't handle it. Don't slow us down. The Twolegs don't like hunters of any kind in here. We have to be quick." He looks to Sootstar and gives her a nod before streaking forward. There's a nesting hen, too nervous to leave the eggs no doubt warm beneath her rump, and he intends to take advantage of her stupidity.

But Weaselclaw has been away too long, it seems -- he's forgotten the roosters. A shriek of indignation and rage pierces his ears, and he turns, alarmed, as the disgusting thing charges him. "Fox-dung," he snarls, fluffing the thin fur of his pelt out and baring his teeth. No point in running at this distance, in these quarters -- he meets the bird in a flurry of feathers. It squawks and pecks him in the shoulder, and he winces from the searing pain the blow induces. With a snap of his jaws, he aims for the beast's neck, and it connects -- it by no means kills the damned thing, and Weaselclaw fears it will hardly even be fazed, but it flutters back a few steps and gives him a chance to collect himself.

// tl;dr idiot tries to attack a sitting hen and a rooster comes to fuck his day up
​

PENNED BY MARQUETTE​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

For StarClan's sake! Her inner-voice curses upon hearing within moments of being inside the pen a clan-mate had already hurt themselves. Surely the large birds weren't that difficult to take down? Suppose... they did have long talons... At last, she slips in herself and takes a look at Inkylotus, doing her best to examine him. "If you can't continue wait outside the barrier and at least help us carry these home. We'll be feasting!" Sootstar purrs confidently, her belly growling at the thought of digging into these plump birds.

With that, she begins her own hunt. The rooster that was giving Weaselclaw some trouble.
Coming to his aid she launches herself from behind the rooster and finds herself partially clambered onto its back, her claws digging into one of its wings and her other set digging into a thigh.

These birds were stronger than she expected... The rooster thrashes its wings around, even under the she-cats weight they make it difficult for Sootstar to keep her grip. With enough thrashing she lets go- its wing feather hitting the surface of her eye, causing a minor scratch. Blinking her irritated eye Sootstar looks at the rooster... at least she had managed to wound it.

// next post of mine and ill start some chaos, with some assistence the rooster being attacked could prob get taken down i'd say?​

---

 

[Coldsnap]

THE HIGHER I GET, THE LOWER I SINK
I CAN'T DROWN MY DEMONS, THEY KNOW HOW TO SWIM

---

The chaos that is quick to erupt does not seem to phase Coldpaw as he slips into the coup behind his clanmates. He scowls as Inky is struck almost immediately and shakes his head. He's not among those that thinks the blind cat is useless, but he certainly doesn't think Inky is doing himself any favors by acting so recklessly in his condition. The black tomcat might actually be helpful if he just stopped to think before h went rushing in.

He doesn't bother with stealth because that's already gone right out the fucking window, and in an enclosed space like this he doesn't think it will do much anyways. Better to act quickly, get in and out as quickly as they can. And so he aims for efficiency instead, scanning the pen and its flurry of feathers until his gaze lands on exactly what he was after. A few younger chickens, only half grown but still plump from regular feedings catch his yellow eyes, and without warning he streaks toward them. A wave of hens seem to scatter as he cuts through them, leaping up to snag one of the younger birds by the leg with a claw. Hooking it towards himself as he lends, he wastes no time in lunging forward to replace his claws with his teeth, sinking fangs deep into the creatures thigh as its wings beat at him in a panic.

Fora moment he's forced to let go, rolling away from the battering limbs, but the bird is hobbled now, staggering away a few steps before its leg gives out and it topples to the side, scrabbling to regain its footing. And in that moment, Coldpaw strikes. Pouncing onto the creature and barelling it onto its back, he sinks his fangs deep into its neck and tastes copper. Behind him he hears the screech of an angry bird as Wesel is attacked by the rooster, by he doesn't let up his grip on the bird, not until its struggles die down. Only then does he draw back, satisfied despite the fact that it isn't an adult bird, before turning to face the racket coming from behind him.

Soot and Weasel are currently squaring off with a bird much larger and angrier than the others, and with a frown the grey tomcat circles through the mess of scared hens. With the rooster focused on the other two cats he charges it from behind and just as it opens its wings to leap for Weasel he pounces. The wing is momentarily pinned beneath his weight, and he doesn't hesitate in sinking his teeth into the offending limb. The bird immediately turns to peck at him, but he hangs tight, hoping the other two cats will take the opening to attack and finish it off.
​

---

windclan apprentice - male - 8 months - a large, dark grey tabby with yellow eyes

 

[SOOTSTAR]

TW; blood, decently hefty description of major injury, gunshot
(Yes, you are free to have your ocs get injured too in any way you want B) )

Three against one... surely that was enough to take down this bird?
Now with the assistance of Coldpaw, the blue smoke leaps back into the fray with a confident yowl. This bird would be slain at their claws, and the clan would stuff their bellies with it tonight! There'd be no need for hunting patrols until at least sun high tomorrow... The horses escaping really had been a blessing in disguise, it brought them this opportunity.

Sharp claws fly at the bird, pushing past feathers, breaking through skin and at last drawing blood. Sootstar struck without mercy, again and again... It kicked its talons up at her a few times, giving her a couple of nice scratches to remember this hunt by, but nothing enough to deter the insistent molly.
With all their efforts combined, the rooster takes its last breath and tumbles to its side.

Despite having to draw in heavy breaths, a deep purr triumphantly rumbles in her throat. "A victorious hunt for WindClan!" She cheers with pride and satisfaction. It had been more difficult than she had initially imagined... they were all... more scratched up than she could imagine. Honeytwist would have some practice on tending to wounds at least. Not that Sootstar was eager to sit down for the she-cat...

"Finish any on-going hunts and lets get our catches out of here!" She meows, grabbing onto the roosters neck. Meanwhile a sudden crrrrreak noise sounds from nearby. Unknown to the feral cats, it was the opening to an old door. One hinged to a twoleg nest.

Seems the panicking chickens have made quite the noise... seems the clan cats weren't as alone as they thought they had been.

With adrenaline roaring from her victorious team catch, she doesn't even notice the old twoleg standing on his porch, pointing a-

BOOM!

An indescribable force enters from her shoulder blade and leaves her body in the blink of an eye. Her flesh was a useless shield as it tore relentlessly through muscle, fat, and the beating organ in her chest. Crimson oozes from her entrance and exit wounds as blue limbs begin to buckle and shake. With a hack, dark blood spurts from her mouth, staining her chin, her chest, and the earth below. With a thud, she collapses onto the ground. Life fleets in an instant from her wide-open eyes that still looked forward in victory and excitement.

WindClan's leader was dead before she could even comprehend what had happened to her.
​

---

 

[WEASELCLAW]

Coldpaw and Sootstar aid him, and though the creature's beak finds the tender flesh between his neck and shoulder again, the three of them manage to bring the enormous bird down. He gives both his leader and the apprentice an appreciative look, pride and excitement blooming like a spring flower in light blue eyes.

"This will feed everyone!" He lashes his tail, fueled by the adrenaline of the hunt. "Here, let me help you carry it."

Sootstar takes hold of the enormous rooster's neck, and she looks almost funny surrounded by its flared feathers. She's small in comparison, but the ruthless way she'd fought leaves no mistake to any bystander -- Sootstar deserves her role, her authority. Weaselclaw, in awe of her and of how beautiful she looks even smeared with bird blood, takes hold of the rooster's wing joint.

The two of them begin to pull the thing forward, blissfully unaware of the door creaking open. Weaselclaw knows the Twolegs are not fond of predators in their animals' dens, but he's never seen them do what happens to Sootstar. Not once.

The sound, though... the sound, which shreds at his eardrums and causes him drop the bird and yowl in pain -- he's heard it before. Never so close, and he's never known what lie on either side of the explosion --

Until now. Sootstar is whole one moment, triumph gleaming lively in emerald eyes. The next moment, Weaselclaw, on her other side, is splattered with fountains of her blood. He doesn't even have time to react before she's choking on a stream of black liquid, stumbling forward as her limbs fail to hold her. The eyes glaze over -- the eyes of the dead.

His ears are ringing. He's covered in blood. He gives a shrill yowl of panic, of pain, and crawls over the rooster's corpse to get to Sootstar. His instincts would normally tell him to run, to help the others get out of the coop, and he knows that's what she would want him to do, but --

He can't. He can't leave her. Not like this.

He's forgotten, in the frenzy, all claims she's made of immortality, of being gifted nine lives by the stars. White paws damp with rivulets of Sootstar's blood seek to close the wounds the bullet's riddled her small body with.

Wordlessly, he holds her there, staring, paralyzed.
​

PENNED BY MARQUETTE​

 

[hyacinthbreath]

The attack on the rooster was glorious, and while she had been watching Inky to make sure he didn't hurt himself further, she had indeed been trying to shove him out of the chicken coop when she heard the gunfire. The smell of gunpowder makes her grimace, and she idly thinks that maybe a chicken had been shot. That maybe something fell. She's about to leave the chicken coop when she hears Weaselclaw's panicked cry, and her neck almost breaks from the force of her swinging her head around to check on him.

Sootstar was lying on the ground of the chicken coop, almost undecipherable from the way blood coated her body and fur, sending chunks of her fur flying here and there and blood and.. chunks of something, on the ground. She feels the familiar bubble of vomit threaten to force itself from her throat, but what comes first is the shriek of Sootstar's name.

She abandons Inkylotus then- she could feel guilty later, after all. Weaselclaw's body is sunken against Sootstar's own, and she notices, then in that moment.

Sootstar is dead. Her Goddess is dead. The moonlight of their Clan was lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood.

Hyacinthbreath stumbles over, gagging softly in an attempt to control the trauma response. It was no longer the chicken coop around them. To her, it's a woodsy field full of bodies she knew once more. Foaming out of their mouths, twitching uncontrollably. Seconds later, they would go numb- and Hyacinth wails out in agony as shaky paws move to try and scoop the blood up- collecting the remnants of Sootstar's lifeblood; a twisted belief. She shovels it back, paws trying to helplessly fix what was broken.

"No, no, no.. NO! Please- StarClan, please! You gave her these lives, please give her back to us!" She shrieked out in pain, wheezing on a breath she can't seem to catch. Panicked blue eyes glance over to Weaselclaw, sees his expression- and it's a sight that's burnt into her brain once again. Why must she live through tragedy after tragedy?

Give her back to us. She's not yours. She's not yours to take! Bring her back!

Her wheezing becomes harsher as she turns to Inkylotus, then Coldpaw, then White-eye.

"What are you doing? Help us get her out of here! We- We need to leave this place, right now! Get!" She commands the cats in their presence, turning to Weaselclaw once more. "Get up. Get your ass up right n-now, Weaselclaw. We have to protect her. Do you hear me, Weaselclaw? We're no use to her dead!"​

 

[Blacklotus]

Everything Stays​

---

Inkylotus breathed hard as Hycainthbreath pressed against his side, and he gave a small nod. He was fine, it just stung a bit and was bleeding more than it should for a scratch. He moved out from behind the lead warrior in favor of trying to help out Weaselclaw and Sootstar, using his ears to find direction and claws outstretched for feathers. It was all so chaotic in that moment that the creaking was unheard by the blind cat, focused instead on taking down the bird, and he heard Sootstars' triumphant call as they took down one of the birds. He lifted his head, they did it? They actually got one! He gave a grin and opened his mouth to speak- but words couldn't be uttered.

Crack sounded the barrel.

The scent of iron filled the air and Inkylotus felt his pelt become sticky with the strong scent. Large ears perked forward, what had happened? The sound of the crack echoed in his ears, muffling everything else around him, and he stumbled a bit to gain footing. What was going on? He couldn't tell. Blood coated his black fur from his chest to his sides, and he felt like he was going to be sick from the unGodly amount of iron in the air.

Sound came back gradually, and Inkylotus felt less paralyzed to the ground. Heart jumping into his throat and fear running through his body as Hyacinthbreath panicked words reached him. What was going on? Where they leaving? The tom had only caught the tail ends of her words, we have to protect her. We're no use to her dead. What did that mean? "What happened?" He managed to choke out and his ears went back. Had something happened after the loud crack in the air? Did someone get hurt? ​

 

[LARKTREK]

Larktrek would never admit it to any of the barn cats, but the brown and white tom used to frequent the barns in his wandering days, looking to raid them for any sort of prey he could get.

Chickens were one of them. A rare occurrence, sure, as chickens were far more difficult to catch then the surplus of mice their barns seemed to hold, but an occurrence all the same.

So, this was nothing new to him, sneaking into a chicken coop to try to steal the occasional chicken - maybe an egg or two, if he was lucky. What was new, however, was not being the only cat sneaking a chance to catch a chicken. A whole patrol of WindClanners was with him, Sootstar included. It was risky, having so many raid the chicken coop, but it was a risk Larktrek was sure WindClan could deal with. StarClan was sure to protect them, after all.

He is quick to pick out a chicken and leave the group's side, blue eyes trained on white feathers, brown and white form crouching down to prepare to pounce. Before he's able to strike, he hears Inkylotus' struggle, a storm of feathers and cries erupting. Larkspur leaps before his chicken can get far, claws digging into the bird and teeth striking its neck. As soon as he's certain it's dead, he turns back to look at the shadow-furred cat, about to ask if he's okay, only for an earth shattering noise to interrupt him.

A loud bang. Sootstar falling to the ground. Blood, everywhere.

Pale blue eyes are wide at the sight. What was that? What had happened?

"Is she...?" he asks. He's hardly able to hear his own words over the ringing in his ears, but knows it's a question he doesn't dare to complete. No, Sootstar can't be dead, right? That was... Wasn't it supposed to be impossible for her to die?

He doesn't have much time to think. He knows that, if the twolegs didn't cause this, they were bound to investigate the noise. They would see everything either way. They needed to get out, to get back home as soon as possible. But if Sootstar was injured - or, StarClan forbid, dead - they couldn't leave her behind. Wide eyes look towards Hyacinthbreath and Weaselclaw, the duo now in charge, now that Sootstar was down.

"What... What do we do?"
​

 

[Hunts Pheasants]

POST CODE

• ---

  There are a great many things that happen in a short amount of time. There is noise-- so much noise!-- that seems to grow and grow until a sudden bang deafens White-eye's world. Sootstar falls from it, and White-eye doesn't need to check to know that she has died. The two-leg is still there, still holds it's weapon. They cannot stay here-- White-eye cannot stay here.
  
  "We leave," White-eye responds to Larktrek, "No prey is worth our lives!"
  
  She doesn't make any move to recover Sootstar's body, or to grab her own freshkill. Not while it's guarded. White-eye ducks out of the coop and runs as hard as she can over the moors. It was Greenleaf, why had they even bothered with those birds? White-eye had understood there to be a risk, but she hadn't known it would be one so great.
  
  //out ​

  ---

• “[color=#F09EA8][b]SPEECH,[/b][/color]”

 

[WEASELCLAW]

He barely hears Hyacinthbreath's shrieks, her shouting at him and the others to get up and leave. He does not hear Inkylotus, or Larktrek, ask what happened, what should they do?

It isn't until White-eye leaves in a flash of torbie fur that Weaselclaw is shaken from his shocked stupor. He levels his gaze, finds the Twoleg with the strange stick still pointed their way.

"Grab her, move her," he orders, his voice a rasp that strengthens with every syllable. "She may come back to life. Take her to Honeytwist."

That stick could put Hyacinthbreath out of commission before she can order the other warriors to help her and Sootstar out. Their leader is small, but she's dead weight -- and that Twoleg's attack, whatever it is, can hit a slow target.

He fluffs up his fur and snarls, a furious eruption from a throat torn with grief. "Don't look back. Her safety and their's is first. GO." He's a fool, but he doesn't think about that. He doesn't think about anything except how he'd like to get the stick away from the stinking Twoleg and maul him like the rooster.

He scrabbles over the rooster, over Sootstar, past Hyacinthbreath, and charges the Twoleg aiming at them from the coop door. He zigzags once, just as a bullet clips the thin skin of his ear. Blood streams down his face, but he feels nothing. He'll do what he has to for them to get out, and maybe, if he's lucky, he can get vengeance.

// tl;dr he's attempting to distract the twoleg with the varmint rifle so the others can get Sootstar out. if you attempt to argue with him he won't listen because he's dumb.
​

PENNED BY MARQUETTE​

 

[hyacinthbreath]

Hyacinthbreath gawks at Weaselclaw as he makes the stupid move to run towards the twoleg with the weird stick, but his shout towards her was heard nonetheless. She uses the time he gives them to move immediately, cursing as she watches White-eye dash out of the chicken coop- Trying to wedge herself under Sootstar to try and put her onto her back. She's smaller than Sootstar, but she's had to carry heavier- the bodies of her family, of her ex-mate. The memory swims in the back of her conscious, and she finds herself in that place again.

But the body isn't easy to get onto her back, and so she swings her head to look at Inkylotus and Larktrek.

"Either help me, or run!" She commands the two cats, head swiveling to look at her apprentice. Coldpaw. He was too young to die today, too young to experience something like this. She blinks at him, knowing that their relationship wasn't that close. She was merely his mentor, not his mother.

But something inside of her screamed to save the child from Sootstar's fate.

"Coldpaw. Out. Now. Run as fast as you can, until your paws touch the moors again. Do you understand me?" She orders her apprentice, giving him a desperate look. Please listen. Please obey. Just this once. She couldn't afford to lose him, not Coldpaw. Not a cat she was tasked to teach, to mentor. Is this what it was like to feel a mothers fierce love for children? She'd never birthed one herself, but the feeling is adrenaline-fueling. Painful.

Her eyes turn back to the running form of Weaselclaw, and she swears, then.

We're coming back for you, you fucking moron. Don't you dare die on us.​

 

[LARKTREK]

Larktrek can hardly White-eye's actions - just bolting without a care towards the rest of the patrol's wellbeing? Towards Sootstar's?

Sure, if he were on his own, he would have done the same, but this was far, far different than when he was on his own.

He thinks things are under control - with Hyacinthbreath making an attempt to pick up their blue leader's unmoving form - and turns to retrieve his own kill. But, another loud noise rings through his ears, and he turns back towards the scene.

He finally sees the cause of it - a twoleg with a large, booming stick. He also sees Weaselclaw running towards the twoleg with the large, booming stick, and white paws stagger forward, ready to chase after him, if it weren't for the muffled commands rising nearby.

"Either help me, or run!"

He looks at Hyacinthbreath, realizing she's struggling more than he initially gathered, and then looks towards Inkylotus and Coldpaw. He's more fit for helping than the other two - one an apprentice, the other injured.

"Go with Coldpaw," he urges the shadow-furred feline, before racing over to help carry Sootstar.
​

 

[Coldsnap]

THE HIGHER I GET, THE LOWER I SINK
I CAN'T DROWN MY DEMONS, THEY KNOW HOW TO SWIM

---

It happened so fast.

One second he was standing beside Sootstar, a smirk on his lips as they stood over the fallen bird, and the next...

He felt the warm spattering of blood across his face and chest as yellow eyes widened in horror, watching as Sootstars body seemed to tear itself open before she crumbled to the ground before him. His ears were still ringing from the noise, but he couldn't bring himself to look away from the now corpse of their leader, still trying to process what had happened even as Weasel and Hyacinth came rushing over. He swalowed thickly, trying to find his voice, trying to explain that there'd been nothing he could do- she'd just... died.

No, not died. She'd been murdered.

Turning to face the direction of the sound, Colds gaze came to rest on a twoleg. They were holding a weird stick in their meaty paws, pointing it toward them as if- as if he could throw thunder from it and stop a cat dead in their tracks. Understanding, to a degree, seemed to settle over the young tomcat, and he felt the ice that ran through his veins burn up in and flames of something hotter than anger: hatred.

Before the gun could go off again though, a form rushed by him toward the man. It was Weaselclaw, and their words seemed to snap him out of his shock as his senses came rushing back to him. Right, Sootstar. And the others too. His muscles tensed, jaw clenching in anger as he prepared to rush forward alongside the lead warrior and teach the upwalker a lesson on what Windclan claws were good for, but a second voice made him take pause.

Turning back, Sootstars blood still dripping down his face and chest, Coldpaw locked eyes with his mentor. There was a moment where the golden fire within them raged in defiance, his desire to do something - anything- to avenge their loss echoing heavy in his gaze. He had disobeyed Hyacinth before, had argued with her and stubbornly stuck to his guns on things even when he knew he was wrong, and a part of him was tempted to do it now too. It would have been easy to just turn away from her and follow Weasel, so easy...

But he didn't follow Weasel. And he didn't argue. Because at the end of the day the two lead warriors were right- Sootstar might not be gone, and there was no sense in losing the entire patrol when there was still hope- still a job to be done.

"I'm going to get Honeytwist!" he replied, because it was the only way he could justify leaving them behind. Coldpaw wasn't a coward, he would never be a coward, and there was no way he could live with himself if he were to just leave them here without a good reason. But Weasel was right- Sootstar might still be saved, and they'd need their healer if there was any chance of that happening. "Get her to the nearest tunnel and stop her from bleeding out- we'll find you!"

He turned and ran then, a dark streak across the ground racing off toward the moors. He didn't think they'd be able to get Sootstar all the way back to camp before he body drained itself of all her blood- and he wasn't sure even a medicine cat could put blood back in a body. But if they could get her to a tunnel and hide there, stop the bleeding until he could get Honeytwist...

The thought was the only thing burning in his mind as he went, paws carrying him faster than they ever had before.
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windclan apprentice - male - 8 months - a large, dark grey tabby with yellow eyes