sensitive topics IN THIS HANDMADE HEAVEN // dissappearance

[Puddlepaw.]

I WANT TO BELONG
LIKE THE BIRDS IN THE TREES ​

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puddlepaw & 13 moons & demi-girl & she/they & windclan apprentice ​

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Puddlepaw should know better.

In truth, she does — she simply can't find it in herself to care. Guilt still nips at her insides as the days pass, as Bunnyglow gets her name. But they all know she won't be the same - wont be the kind of warrior she wanted to be. So many apprentices had wandered into that snowstorm, and out of all of them, only Puddlepaw had come out inscathed. Untouched not because of something like fate or luck ... but from cowardess.

In the end, its too much. She's nearly a warrior anyways - if she were a moor runner, she would've already gotten her name even.

Her mentor is busy, talking to someone further ahead on the patrol - and in the end, nobody notices when she slips away through another fork in the path. The sound of idle chatter grows further and fuether away, replaced by the steady thrum of the thunderpath overhead. The gleam of fresh sunlight is enough to soothe frayed nerves — she's always enjiys this, the peace and quiet. For a moment, she stands in the open air, head tilted back to face the sky.

Breathe In.

Breathe out.

SCREECH. CRASH. THUD.

Pain is the first thing that echoes through tattered mind. Pain, and the taste of blood. Mismatched blue eyes blink, slowly, dully. Not quite aware. The world is upside down, spinning almost. There is a taste of ash, the acrid scent of the thunderpath. Burnt rubber. Shouting - unintelligible, yowls not from another cat but from twolegs. Furless paws reaching out towarss her, cradling her against a blue pelt —

And then nothing.

In the end, by the time Windclan realizes her absence, she long gone. Only twisted peices of Monster, dark black tracks, and a smattering of blood and fur are left to tell her story.

Perhaps, in the end, it is better that way.

━ actions & " speech, " & 'thoughts/quotes' ━

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B L U E B I R D S ━ F O R E V E R ━ C O L O U R ━ T H E ━ S K Y

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[Brackenscar]

Brackenscar flitters around near the front of the patrol, tail swaying as her attention remains solely on Russetpaw as the leader of the patrol guides them across the territory. "What do you think of Horseplace?" She has to remind herself that she was his second mentor, meaning that he had already seen the territory for the past moon. Surely that meant that he had to have seen Horseplace before, in a way she's trying to uncover his stances on things. What Dustleap had taught him, if anything at all given their very brief time together. She doesn't mean this in a harsh way, it's a factual statement at the end of the day if she tries to distance herself from the tragedy. Out of curtorsey she looks over the rest of the patrol, trying to keep an eye out for familiar faces in the crowd. If she's lucky maybe she would see Puddlepaw, no doubt making some strange remark or looking uncomfortable with the influx of noise that stems from the chatter.

Only she can't seem to find the apprentice. Words fall short as she looks over to their mentor, frowning as they seem to be mid conversation. "Where's Puddlepaw?" She asks, concern delicately laces her hostile tone. Out of fear she glances back down to make sure that her own apprentice was next to her, sighing in relief when he was. Brackenscar is insistent to look for her, parting from the patrol with Russetpaw in tow, not without giving the others ample time to join her in her search. With the rise of DuskClan she fears the worst, hoping to not find another body within the territory. Eventually they seek out the Thunderpath, they had passed near it on their travels but she isn't so sure that the apprentice would be near here. She should know better.

"No-"

It escapes her out of reflex. A heaved breath of stolen air ripped out from her lungs. The metal carcass of the monster and blood paint a horrifying image, she's ready to deny that it was her friend that was struck but she can't deny the scent. Brackenscar's reminded in that instance of that eerie kid in the nursery playing with a stone they barely hear her command for Russetpaw to stay clear from the Thunderpath as she herself steps closer to it. Stopping before paws can reach the asphalt, bile collecting in her throat as she fights and barely wins to keep it down. "I- She can't-" she mutters to herself, thinking about an empty nest that will be waiting when they return. A lone pebble matching their own will have to be dug out from it, there's a sense of urgency when thinking of retrieving it.

"She can't be dead" They whisper horrified, the feeling of a body next to their own causes her to jolt and whirl on whoever it is. "There's no body! She must be nearby" She yowls in conviction, their paws carry a harsh tremour at the notion of a much darker fate. That Puddlepaw must be out here somewhere, moments away from dying and so alone. Though wouldn't she like that more? It would be quiet? No, they think rather selfishly that she must not want that, Puddlepaw has to be out here living because who else would try to eat the weird things in Horseplace? Who else is she supposed to stargaze with when they can't sleep? They're not ready to not see her friends face when they exit the tunnels together.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎‎‎‎ ‎ OH, IM JUST A GIRL ꕥ WHATS MY DESTINY ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• ooc. @Russetpaw (apprentice tag but no pressure to post <33)
• 
• 
  Brackenscar ✩ They/she, Tunneler, 16 moons
  
  
  ⸙ A scowling, tiny calico with large ears.
  ⸙ Mentored by Scorchstar | Bluefrost.
  ⸙ Speech, thoughts, attacking.
  ⸙ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted ( underline and tag when attacking ).
  ⸙ All opinions are IC only.
  penned by Juice.
  

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[SEDGEPOUNCE]

Where's Puddlepaw? A simple question that sets off a terrible chain reaction. There's no sign of her around Horseplace, from the fence to the pond to the barn. They look for her high and low with hardly a whisker to show for it. With every new place, the tension grows—in Brackenscar especially, whose frantic concern has her wreathed in authority.

Then they reach the Thunderpath. Soot-black streaks, mangled, abandoned metal. Blood.

"Brackenscar," Sedgepounce starts, heart in his throat. A grim cloud has begun to gather over his head, shadowing him in foreboding memory. He wasn't by the Thunderpath when he...It was the Twolegplace, its polluted riverside, when Twolegs found him.

He hopes to catch their eye. "We can check the bushes around here. Maybe—she got thrown by the monster," Sedgepounce can't smell her, but the air of the Thunderpath is always so clogged with smoke. His eyes trail along the road's edge. "But...if we can't find her..." The sentence hangs in the air. Unwilling to be finished.

There are some things worse than death, Sedgepounce thinks.

ooc. —

• 
  
  

  sedgepounce is the current deputy of windclan. he's a long-legged tomcat with dark taupe fur and high white. much more of a pacifist compared to scorchstar, he tends to come across as a bit of a pushover—however, he's inwardly quite savvy with clan politics, and tends to judge others harshly based on past actions.

  mentoring rimepaw, previously mentored bunnyglow
  26 moons old / ages every 21st
  penned by bellus / TAGS

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