HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN? // THUNDERCLANNERS

[HOWLINGSTAR]

// Takes place after this thread
@BASILWHISKER @BURNSTORM ! @MOUSENOSE
Open to both ShadowClanners and ThunderClanners who chose to follow the patrol

As soon as they arrive at the spot where Basilwhisker reported the warrior to have fled, Howlingstar plants herself there with her head held high and her eyes narrowed. She waits with all the patience she needs for a ShadowClan patrol to come by, and as soon as she spots them she waves them down. "ShadowClan! I apologize for disturbing your patrol; I'm sure you're very busy but we only need a moment." She waits for them to stop and turn their attention towards her and her clanmates. She flicks brown ears towards them, her expression clearly troubled. "Earlier today, a ThunderClan warrior fled across your border. We have reason to believe he abandoned us, according to what my warrior says. Have you found him? I fear he may still be in your territory, or he may have cut through to the other side. Either way, if you find ThunderClan scent, that is why." She pauses as she smells blood in the air, mixed with the acrid stench of the thunderpath, but shoves it to the back of her mind, believing it to be crowfood or a recent hunting patrol's kill.​

 

[Needledrift]

Needledrift had fallen back to allow the others room, to give herself room, really. Chilledstar had everything in hand, Starlingheart and Magpiepaw would take good care of the strange bloodied tom. Now, it was a waiting game to know what would come of this strange event (she tried her best to ignore how Chilledstar would rather approach Betonyfrost than her... it felt like a blow despite the rationality that Betonyfrost could speak clearer than she...)

A rustle stirs her out of her thought spiral, the scent of more ThunderClanners sending a shiver down her spine. She stands a little straighter, her head turning just in time to catch Howlingstar herself at the border, tailed by... him. That was the other cat! That pointed cat that had left his clan-mate to die! Needledrift stares at him, tilting her head to catch a glimpse around his brown tabby leader. She flicks her ears in acknowledgement of Howlingstar's words, her eyes only flicking back to the other she-cat's face once she pauses for an answer.

"There was a ThunderClanner, a big golden one. He got pushed in front of a monster, got hit. We pulled him off the Thunderpath, but the one who pushed him ran off and-" Her tongue goes most of the work in her speech pattern. The words felt thick and misshapen as they came out of her mouth, her jaw only opening and closing so far to form the syllables. It is frustrating and painful. She tries her best not to show it, opting instead to point towards Basilwhisker with one paw. Him. ​

 

[BURNSTORM]

Burnstorm follows his grandmother to the border, already feeling tired and wanting nothing more than to return to his nest and rest in the shade. The heat in green-leaf was brutal for a cat with his coat. Thick plush fur was a blessing in leaf-bare but a curse in the warm moons. He finds himself opening his mouth to pant on more than one occasion while they walk back through the forest to the border he and his patrol had come from. He doesn't complain though, simply presses on. This was important, after all. A clanmate had run off - one with plenty of reason to but still. They very well had to at least try to find him. He knows that it is an honor thing, as much as he disliked Sunnyday he was still a ThunderClanner. Or at least was one.

When they stop at the border he is thankful for the respite. He stands just behind Howlingstar as she calls out to a ShadowClan patrol and watches with impassive golden eyes as they veer in their direction. When they approach, a gray and white warrior with a crooked jaw steps forward out of their ranks but her explanation is confusing and it leaves his head spinning. Pushed? That couldn't be... But then she lifts a paw up and points. He follows the gesture and feels the fur on his neck rise "Is this true?" he asks, fixing his intense stare on the tom in question. Basilwhisker was alone with Sunnyday, he would have ample time to do it, and a motive as well. Lichenpaw was his brother and Sunnyday's former apprentice. He just cannot wrap his head around the fact someone like Basilwhisker would comit such a violent act, against a clanmate no less. He hated the tom too but he would much sooner let the tom trip up on his own and be chased out then kill him(or attempt to) in cold blood.
​

 

[BASILWHISKER]

⋆⍋ With his brother attending the pointed tom trails behind, pelts close together but not quite leaning on the tortie. As the patrol headed forth, he slowed just enough to keep a good distance away. There, he began his confession, for Lichenpaw's ears alone. With the assumption they would find Sunnyday's remains on the Thunderpath, Lichenpaw deserved to know. There wasn't a single secret between the two of them, after all.

"I started an argument with him." He began in a low raspy tone, trying to avoid the insistent tickle in his throat. "I started to get... mad, but in a different way. I've never felt it before." He took a moment to pause before deciding to simply come out with it.

"I pushed him, Lichenpaw. I only meant to chase him out but the monster came and... he's dead. I killed him."

They get closer to the Thunderpath and the nausea stresses his nerves. Normally kept so collected and apathetic, Basilwhisker couldn't maintain it, not after what he had done. Not when facing it.

He felt his gut slowly sink when he noticed the tinge of blood had grown faint. Not a good sign, was he wrong? He couldn't have been. Sure he didn't stick around for more than a second after watching the collision but surely there was no chance surviving...

But there had been. Basilwhisker's sights fixated on where Sunnyday's body was, where it was supposed to be still, and looked at Lichenpaw blankly.

This is bad.

A ShadowClan patrol was present and Basilwhisker prays to nothing in particular that they hadn't been there to see. Stars be damned, he hadn't been thinking at all. She stared at him, and he met her gaze back. They pulled him off the Thunderpath, so he was alive? He wondered if he had been stable enough to shre anything. He watched as the she-cat pointed to him and his jaw went tight.

Does he lie? It had gotten him this far, right? Why would Howlingstar have reason to believe the ShadowClanner over her own warrior? The temptation is there, to continue the lie, but he doesn't know enough. If Sunnyday was still alive he would have more than just this ShadowClanner's words against him. He would have his victim's, too.

"It's true." He answered Burnstorm, but did not look to the others. His gaze fell back to where he had last seen Sunnyday on the concrete before them. "He did not run away. I pushed him. I was angry, neither of us heard..." The monster. Too caught up in the whirl of emotions. Fear, rage. But there was no use explaining what he wanted to happen. He prepared himself to face against the reactions from his Clanmates. His leader, and those that had followed to witness it.​

 

[LICHENPAW ❁]

————— ❁ —————
SOMETIMES I CAN'T BELIEVE IT

Lichenpaw sticks close to their brother as they tail the patrol, a growing sense of unease prickling under his pelt. He hovers, a shoulder there for Basilwhisker to lean on if he needs it. That feeling of wrongness from Basilwhisker's return persists, but he doesn't push. His brother will tell him if he needs to know.

He does not react, at first, to Basilwhisker's low voice. He's never been one for discretion, always too loud and too much. The worried grimace on his face remains unchanged, but... He locks eyes with Basilwhisker as they walk. I'm listening.

An argument. Just as Lichenpaw had with his old mentor all those moons ago. It didn't lead to anything good then, either. Lichenpaw doesn't ask what the argument was about; he doesn't need to. And that anger — that, he knows too. The image of bloodstained claws and Sunnyday's state-still stance as Lichenpaw tore into him comes to mind. He wills it away, quelling the nausea that threatens to rise up in his throat.

Lichenpaw thinks he knows where this is going. That his brother gave Sunnyday a reason to run.

Except — I killed him, says Basilwhisker, and Lichenpaw freezes, stumbles over his suddenly unmoving paws, eyes widening. He's dead. Sunnyday is dead. The nausea rises up again as Lichenpaw pictures his body, monster-mangled on the Thunderpath. Maybe he should be glad. Maybe he should be jealous that it wasn't his claws that did it. But it doesn't feel like justice, it doesn't feel like vengeance, like vindication. It feels mindless. Lichenpaw feels a little sick.

Basilwhisker has blood on his paws now, then. That's okay. At least the blood is deserved. Maybe Basilwhisker can find satisfaction in that, in the way Lichenpaw couldn't.

Oh, they've reached the Thunderpath now.

And the truth is out before Lichenpaw can get a word in, a ShadowClanner telling of pulling a golden tom from the Thunderpath, pointing a sentencing paw at Basilwhisker. She doesn't say whether he's alive.

Basilwhisker doesn't try to lie. Neither does Lichenpaw, jumping in when his brother's words run dry. "It - it was - it was an, accident, right? You didn't know - you just - you weren't trying to - to - " His own words catch, smile faltering. He's not sure what he's trying to accomplish. Sunnyday deserved it, right? So it shouldn't matter, but...

The eyes of everyone on his brother feel like a circle of wolves about to close in. Lichenpaw was certain he'd be the one to mess up like this first; Basilwhisker's always been the more collected one. "It was an accident," he repeats, softer, eyes not daring to look away from Basilwhisker.

I'M MOVING PAST THE FEELING !
————— ❁ —————

.°❁ info ; visual

• //
  ​
• LICHENPAW named for the lichen on the trees of his home.
  — he/him or they/them. 13 moons.
  — thunderclan medicine cat apprentice, mentored by berryheart.
  — bears a near-permanent nervous grin.
  
  primary character, high activity. penned by saturnid.​
• "SPEECH"
  ​
• 

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[HOWLINGSTAR]

Howlingstar's eyes fall to the blue she-cat with a crooked jaw. Though her words are awkward, the tabby can understand just fine and leans forward in focus. She describes a big golden tom - yes! That's him! So they've seen him! But she continues, saying he didn't run across, he was pushed. It takes her a few moments to let the information sink in. When it does, and all eyes are on Basilwhisker, she slowly turns to face him, expecting him to deny the accusation but he admits to it instead. Her heart drops to her stomach, whiskers quivering.

"You did what?" The question comes out as little more than a whisper, the shock of it all freezing up her limbs. "He was hit by a monster and you- you left him to die?" Horror etched across her face, she suddenly swings her head back around to look at the ShadowClanners, eyes wide. "Is he alive?" The question that is likely on every ThunderClanner's mind. Did they pull an injured warrior off of the thunderpath, or a cold corpse?​

 

[Needledrift]

She tilts her head slightly as the patrol begins to unravel, worried looks and hushed tones obvious even from a distance at her words. It takes several heartbeats, but Howlingstar turns back to her side of the Thunderpath with another question. Is he alive?

Needledrift nods slowly, an exaggerated motion so the leader can see her wordless answer without much confusion. Yes. Despite all the blood and the lack of response she had received from the big tom, he had been breathing when they had pulled him back to the shadows. ​

 

[Sundewtail]

She arrived a little late to the scene, but when you're tiny compared to everyone else, you have to be careful in the mud. She will not die by sinking in soggy dirt. She looks between the patrol across the path and to Needledrift, piecing together what must be happening. It's easy to figure Howlingstar is here about Sunnyday when he didn't come back... Who knows what that warrior told her.

"He is back at our camp recovering." She calls. "Not sure if he's well enough to travel, though...." She adds. Howlingstar likely wants to see him, but Sundewtail isn't sure he's okay enough to walk. She's no medicine cat, but she figures after nearly being killed on the thunderpath, she wouldn't want to move either.

She looks at Basilwhisker. It seems he has admitted to his actions, which means she doesn't have to further call him out on what happened. Good, she hates confrontation. She wonders now, what she is about to witness. Was he going to get mauled? She doesn't think Howlingstar is like that. No, she'll probably be more civil than that.

What a day its been.​

 

[CHILLEDSTAR.]

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

---

a low grunt came from the leader as they stepped closer to needledrift and sundewtail. he was alive, sure, but he was definitely worse off than he was when he left thunderclan territory. there is a bit of a pause– a beat, a moment— in their thoughts. they wonder what howlingstar intends to do with the attempted murderer and the victim. she's not sootstar, so she wasn't terribly unpredictable in that manner, but still, chilledstar trusts no one. they move their tail with an unamused expression. trouble in thunderclan's supposed paradise.

"certainly isn't. you've got your answer, howlingstar. he's a little worse for wear but he's alive"

they answer, blinking very slowly. they felt annoyed already that so much thunderclan activity was happening. tch. how unamusing.
​

 

[HOWLINGSTAR]

She breathes a heavy sigh of relief. "Thank StarClan," She murmurs breathlessly, eyes downcast as she takes a moment to think. She lifts her gaze once more to call across, "Please, may I come see him later, after he's been treated by your medicine cat? We can bring herbs to make up for your lost stock. But first," She swings her head around, now-cold gaze pinning Basilwhisker. "I need to deal with my warrior." Once Chilledstar gives her their answer, she will dip her head graciously, before turning towards her clanmates. With a sharp jerk of her head, she beckons them all back to camp. Basilwhisker has committed one of the worst crimes a warrior can commit. On top of that, he has embarrassed them all in front of ShadowClan. With fury burning in her gaze, she stalks back to camp.​

 

[CHILLEDSTAR.]

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

---

the leader blinked at the request. it is simply the mention of herbs that allows them to be kind about their next response.

"very well. tomorrow night, meet me back by the border and I shall escort you to camp. you can bring one warrior along. wouldn't want all of you knowing where our camp is."

with a flick of their tail, they turn and beckon their own warriors away, with a low grunt. they would be sure howlingstar made good on her promise of herbs. stars know that shadowclan needed them.
​