sensitive topics he tells me that i'm DREAMING ✘ wires

[SMOKESTAR]

This area had been cleaned of traps, so he assumed. When he had been told it was clear he debated checking himself but realized it might look poorly to scrutinize the work of his clanmates so judgementally; he had to trust them at some point, he eventually needed to be less rigorously strict over every little detail. But it was hard trusting and it was hard letting go of his old habits, as much as he wished otherwise he had been a cautious cat since he was young and it never truly went away; it gave way to anger as he got older and his impulsive urge to retaliate against those who wronged him constantly did battle with his wariness. Burn or smolder, his only two options; he either tore like an inferno through his enemies or simmered furiously in place waiting for an opening.
Smokethroat had been informed the place was clear, Lichentail themself had assured them on return along with the rest of the group, so he would let his apprehensions go. Maybe he was too soft now, it was a thought that kept rising to the surface of his mind. RiverClan had doused him, cooled the fires, left him a stream of pale wisping smoke fizzling beneath the downpour; despite himself he could no longer imagine a life when he was not here among the river and working with his fellow cats. Perhaps softness was not the worst fate that could befall a warrior...

This hunting patrol is taking advantage of the area now being safe, another was further in the territory and he knew of one also at the riverside; with luck they would all be returning with plenty for the pile. A dark ear flicks as he looks for the rest of his own party and spots a patchy pelt in the distance. Catfishpaw is nearby, he sees her creeping forward in a low crouch; having spotted some kind of prey just ahead that he hadn't seen yet himself. Was making a fine hunter so far, his thoughts fell back to the snake she'd expertly caught a few days before and he felt a thrill of pride that the current generation was doing so well. It made him long for an apprentice once more, to have his own shadow to teach and correct; he found himself often times butting into other mentor's showing their own trainees the ropes and had to keep reminding himself to stop doing so; it wasn't his place even if he desperately wanted it to be. That long orange eye continued to watch the apprentice wistfully, wondering if maybe Redpath wouldn't mind him joining her in a brief outing to see how she held up hunting solo, when a breeze picked up. The wind stirred the leaves and bushes of the ground, pushed spindly branches from the sun's path overhead and he saw, in a brief moment, a glint ahead of the torbie. It had only been for a second, maybe he was seeing things, maybe it was dew building upon a leaf, a shining beetle carapace on the ground, but no...his instincts screamed at him that it was anything but. Smokethroat sprang forward, "Catfish-!", the apprentice's full name not even able to escape him entirely before he had darted forward to stop her; whatever prey she'd been encroaching upon had darted in his leap and her paws were still moving, stumbling ahead.

It was stupid, but he did the only thing he could to prevent her taking another involuntary step-her body leaning forward in the process of doing so as he finally reached her; he slammed a paw down into the coil of the wire. It all happened in an instant, he felt the length of the metal vine lift and snap upward around his shoulder and continue to tug up into the air. The dark tom instinctively curled to try and pull away only to be wrenched upward regardless of his efforts, hanging from the shining tightening loop from the tree and dangling in the air by his arm. The claw-like sharpness of the wire tightening and he felt it cutting in the more he thrashed so he stopped, let the red droplets now welling along the two-leg trap and his arm sprinkle downwards back to the forest floor.

---

[Ooc]
Pafp for @Catfishpaw | Tag for mention @lichentail
Added Sensitivity tag just in case for the wire description!
​

 

[Catfishleap]

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ you are the dancing queen ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

---

Her emerald eyes had been glued on the movement of some sort of little land creature, maybe a mouse or vole, it was hard to say and she didn't care to try and identify it by its smell in this moment, what would be the point? She basically already had it in her mouth. Unlike when she killed her snake she wasn't relying on instinct rather a skill that had been improving more and more over the last moon. One area her hunting was lacking however was being aware whilst stalking. There could be a hole under her feet and chances were she wouldn't bat an eye. So when the sun glistened of a silver wire her eyes forgot to inform her.

She had finally gotten close enough to see what she was going to catch, a little brown mouse, it had stop hopping around and now sat up cleaning it's little face. Her eyes turned from emerald green to nearly pure black as she shifted the weight on her hind legs and jolted forward. She didn't notice the breeze that ruffled her fur as she flew, but what she did notice was the yowl that came form Smokethroat. She broke from her tunnel vision as the hulking shadow flew in front of her, bewildered and confused she is only stopped by bumping into the shoulder of the tom as he is lifted into the air. Nothing makes sense as she scrambles up from the dust and sees the scarred tom thrashing, then it occurs, a wire was hung around his shoulder. A leftover trap, that she would have been destined for. A horror dawns across her face "Starclan." she whispers it under her breath, her mind was racing about what to do.

Smokethroat had already stopped thrashing, and now just hung there "What should I do?" she first asks Smokethroat himself, she paces in circles around him panicked but her head was still there "I'll get other cats!" before he could give any meaningful instructions she had made her own, trying to gather the rest of the patrol "Smokethroat's in a trap!" echoed through the little hunting ground. ​

---

✧ ✧ ✧ young and sweet ✧ ✧ ✧
✧ "speech" ✧

 

[lichenstar]

- content warning for implied panic/anxiety attack, imagery isn't severe -​

Hardly a word was said as well intentioned paws moved from location to locations, maws gaping on occasion to draw in fresh scents, many little sets of perked ears rotating to find the nearest tell-tale sign of life. Signals expressed in small movements of tails told the party to split up, their concentrated scent carrying on whatever small breeze might alarm prey nearby. And she was happy to oblige, pulling away to give Catfishpaw a better chance of catching something on her own.

Trailing through the sparse growth that RiverClan could rightfully claim as theirs, there was a methodical movement to each paw step as she scoured the litter on the floor. Leaves had been used as deceitful comforts to hide more sinister machinations of late... she would have no part in being a victim to it. Eyes upturned towards the canopy that offered fickle moments of shade from the sun, she couldn't help but prioritize the kind of prey that flew. It was a specialty, if anything, and one that a select few would appreciate her for. Though most preferred the fatty taste of fish, the avian option never left her disappointed.

The plump red underbelly of a robin made it easy to spot up above. The trees nearby looked sturdy enough to hold her weight... all she had to do was-

Crashing foliage from behind sent the feathered creature flying in a flurry of panic. Turning back to gaze at who had likely accidentally sabotaged her hunt, the blue point found only that same apprentice from before. "Catfishpaw what are you do-"

The urgency with which the younger molly spoke only made the chill that ran down her spine all the more sickening... A trap... in this part of the territory. But they'd just been here not that long ago looking... They'd looked tirelessly, disarming what they could find to make sure no one got caught by surprise just like this and...

This had been her section. She'd scoured it with her own two eyes. How could she have missed one? It would mean she'd made a mistake. Lichentail didn't make mistakes and certainly not that kind that got her clanmates hung up in wires. "But... I checked it myself... how..." She could feel her body going numb as the anxiety settled in. It felt like ice had stuck her paws to the ground, staring as the gears struggled to turn in her head.

She'd looked. She'd checked. Missed one? Smokethroat... Her fault. Missed. Her. Fault.

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she hurried towards where she'd last abandoned the group, desperation making her stomach sick as the reality before her eyes only confirmed her dangerous error.

My mistake. My fault. My mistake. My fault. The shame burned as hot in her belly as the guilt hung like a freezing fog on her body, unable... unwilling? to make eye contact with the tom suspended in air before them. Where... was the wire connected?

"Have to... get him down. Get him down. Where's the wire? The wire... get him down."​

 

[>Honeystone]

— The lilac femme had been around the general area while trying to locate prey of her own. She was struggling to find something over her own on land, figuring she'd venture a little further away she'd soon be stopped dead in her tracks. The sound of urgency that tore through Smokethroat's voice caused the fur along her spine to rise. Quickly, the molly would spin around to the tom now strung up by a silver strand in a tree. "Oh, Starclan!" She'd gasp in horror before running over. Hadn't all the traps been cleared? Wide grey-blue eyes flashed in the direction of Lichentail. How were they going to get him down? Twoleg's material can be so hardy!

"Catfishpaw mind your step!" She'd call out, unable to quell the panic that was bubbling up in her chest as she watched the apprentice gathering aid. Her sights would track the young molly for a moment before deferring to the dark tom hung up in the tree. There were spottings of crimson that drizzled from his arm. "Okay, okay.." Honeystone would breathe, her mind reeling at options. "How sturdy is that branch?" She'd murmur quietly, her gaze scanning it over. It was enough to hold Smokethroat.. But if it did fall with his still attached it could crush him. The she-cat's tail would thrash in frustration. "It's so tight he bled.. If we could just get it to loosen." — tags​

 

[hyacinthbreath]

Hyacinthbreath hears the trap before she sees it- that's the terrifying part. The quick 'whip!' of metal as it lifts a full-sized cat into the sky with no issue at all. He stands no chance in it's vile grips, but Catfish could have gotten hurt if he didn't intervene. That worrisome child, who's steps so determinedly- with eagerness. Hyacinthbreath makes her way over soon after the shock's passed, Lichentail's behavior catching her attention. Catfishpaw's words ring true in her ears.

Smokethroat is trapped in a twoleg trap. He's bleeding. She knew they only had so long, then- Beesong could still help him at this point. Memories of the past flick past as she makes her way over to the tree he hung from, sniffing around to try and find something to work with. "We're coming, mate! Stay as still as possible so it doesn't cut you more!" She remembers the day her family died, poisoned on the ground. The sound of groaning could be heard. Hyacinthbreath shakes herself from her memories before she begins to dig at the base of the tree. Perhaps it was something underground, like a fox trap.. She finds herself thankful for her WindClan training in moments like these before the guilt overwhelms her. ​

RIVERCLAN WARRIOR ✦ WARTORN SOLDIER ✦ 53 MOONS ✦ TAGS​

 

[SMOKESTAR]

Lone orange gaze, shoots upward into the branches overhead and he writhes against the side of the bark to maintain his footing; claws digging into the scraped texture already torn by his frantic claws moments before. Wincing, the dark tom listens as the voices under him expand, increase; from fretful yowls to disbelieving murmurs he can not quite focus on them enough to know who was there, only that they were and they were working on some way to free him from this shimmering serpent coil. Trying not to move was a struggle when he was left hanging by only his weight, wire cutting into the softer flesh under his arm and pinching fur down as it tightens like a noose; if this had gone around Catfishpaw's head she would be dead right now and he knows it and he wonders, perhaps, if the apprentice does as well.

The weight suddenly gives, he hears a crack like thunder and his mind reels back to the sharp snap of the two-leg stick that smelled of smoke and copper and pelted the forest with lightning fast strikes; but it was only the branch giving way beneath the cutting edge of the wire sawing across it as he swung. Smokethroat plummets, thankfully not so high he worries of death but certainly he worries of landing wrong or even on a clanmate and a twist in the air slams him down onto his side, just barely avoiding flattening Honeystone in the process. He blinks, lone orange eye opening and closing slowly as he orients himself from the brief moment of shock that rolls across his back. He's down and as he shakily rises to stand the now loose wire slides off him like water from a pelt and he shakes it free with a swat of a paw. Sucking in a breath he finally spots Lichentail's dejected expression amidst the others and realizes it was them who had been assigned this area. Smokethroat's nose wrinkles once.
He wants to feel angry, mistakes happened but fatal negligence like this could cost lives so he only shoots the gray molly a sharp, reprehensive look, before staggering to his feet; his leg wasn't broken, still intact, only cut along the back tucked close to his body and though it hurt it was far from a pain he couldn't handle. This could've been worse. This could've been so much more worse than what it was.
"...another....patrol. Another patrol checks the areas again before anyone comes this way." He feels the blood slide down past his elbow to his paws, great red droplets staining around the lone white foot of his right foreleg.
​

 

[>Honeystone]

—

— Just as she was uncertain of trying the weight of the branch, it gives. Her grey-blue orbs widened like moons, horror clenching the breath in her lungs. It was more horrifying than watching a baby bird falling from its nest, but it happened just as suddenly. His black pelt making him look like a falling shadow, the scent of blood following him on his descent. It felt like slow motion, maybe in her mind she was still processing how to help him while he divided the air. There wasn't anything her paws could do besides snag up the earth as she shifted her weight away from the landing sight of Smokethroat.

"Don't move too quick!" Honeystone would concern over the tom in a hushed tone. The high white molly would hunch down, sniffing his wound then traveling her gaze over the lead warrior. She wasn't a medicine cat, she wasn't even sure what wouldn't look right all she could do was watch him carefully. The she-cat's eyes would follow after the two-leg contraption that he fling from his paw upon his freedom before looking back to the tom. It took a lot for her not to immediately go to someone's aid, breaking all personal boundaries. She withheld somehow, only her peepers kept to addressing him. "That's another patrol then, you need to see Beesong." The lilac tabby would then cast her sights towards the apprentice present. "They should know.. They shouldn't bring any apprentices with them just in case "— tags​

— tags​

 

[lichenstar]

Honeystone spoke to herself in quiet breaths, words Lichentail couldn't make out beyond the sound of blood rushing to her ears. She was certain she could just fall over and die at any moment herself -- her heart beat so fast, it hadn't beat this fast in such a long time. Letting out a wheezing, anxious breath, it was the unsettling feeling of the earth sifting nearby that drew her attention from the dark tom hanging up in the canopy. Hyacinthbreath was digging.... True enough to her WindClan roots it seemed but whatever it meant, it was working.

The branch that held Smokethroat soon snapped and he plummeted the moderate distance to land beside Honeystone. She hurried forward to try to help him to his feet but the fiery glare that found her made the warrior freeze in their tracks. Her ears flattened, burned by the gaze that lingered on them with so much frustration.... He knew just like she did it was her fault.

Catfishpaw's survival had only been guaranteed by his quick thinking and almost ended by her lack of attention. It was a mistake she couldn't have afforded to make and had made it anyways... even if it was an accident, this one could've spelled death.

Slinking down to the ground as his gaze made her feel so small, Lichentail cast her eyes down and away to avoid the ire directed at her, mumbling out a very sheepish, "I'm... I'm sorry..."

Any offer she had to search again died in her throat, certain she'd be shot down since this was her failure to begin with. It was pretty much her worst nightmare; she worked often and worked hard to make sure her place in RiverClan wasn't a burden or a waste and she'd just.... overlooked an entire trap. Ears plastered to her skull, Lichentail dragged her gaze towards Hyacinthbreath just hoping to avoid the way his stare cut into her fur would go away.​