my heart | stolen | gasoline burn

[Sunfreckle]

It had happened very suddenly and with such surprise he had only the time to act on his instincts rather than his logic, the second the apprentice came rushing back in a panic blurting his daughter's name out the red tabby was a blur through the camp to the bramble edges bordering it and nearly tearing them open with the urgency with which he darted by. Mossypaw, trap, thunderpath, two-legs. It was all that registered, all that needed to be said and he was already moving; his moons of being in the nursery did not slow him down but he had also never been a very fast cat to begin with and his missing limb certainly didn't help him in that department; Sunfreckle had no idea of what he intended to do upon getting to there, how he would handle a two-leg and its trap and how he would get his kit free without getting them both killed but he didn't have the luxury to be pause and think. The three-legged tom moved through the snow ladden undergrowth, nearly losing his footing several times when hidden roots weaved before him to trip him up; but each time he was able to continue his momentum as bumped and bruised as it would leave him and his determination would lead him to arriving just as the two-leg was entering his monster once more.

Sunfreckle's ears went up, the familiar yowls of Mossypaw calling for help rising from the hollowed back of the great metal behemoth and he was moving toward it in blind anger and fear, no hesitation as it began to sputter and growl; plumes of black smoke rising from its tail-end. "No-NO!" It was moving as he got to it and he lunged upward onto the flat lip near the back of the beast, unsheathed his claws but found no purchase to help him climb it. By the time he managed to hook his paw over the lip leading into the back where the apprentice's cries grew ever louder the monster had begun to lurch forward and the sudden jerking of it going from a standstill to a full bursting sprint knocked him off of it and onto the burning black stone of the thunderpath.
The tabby was forcing himself back up with a stagger as the monster began to rumble away, turning to pursue it but its speed was daunting, impossible; there was no way he was catching it despite his efforts, still rushing forward with heavy steps and gasping breath and finally when he had no energy left he slowed to a stop. Green eyes brimmed with tears that didn't yet fall and he stood there in the center of the thunderpath staring into the obsidian current of it bending around the treeline and vanishing.

Gone.

[Ooc: Lav's Mossypaw was taken by two-legs with permission! In the offchance she picks them back up again they'll return but otherwise they're considered MIA!]
​

 

[Stormchaser]

---

He had been swiping away at the crystallized snow that blanketed the camp clearing, attempting to create pathways from the den entrances under Howling Wind's orders. Another layer had fallen last night, with freezing temperatures just enough to create a thin surface of ice that was easy enough to break. His high erect ears shifted towards the gorse tunnel as thudding paws pounded against the forest floor, powdered snow kicking out from under their feet. With heavy panting breaths, the apprentice mouthed the few words they could muster before Sunfreckle thundered out of camp without a moment's notice.
Mossypaw. Trap. Two-Legs. Thunderpath.
Stormchaser's gaze widened in unfiltered fear, his golden irises flicking to the tunnel where Sunfreckle disappeared to. A clan mate was in danger. Mossypaw needed help. Sunfreckle needed an aid. The limber warrior nodded to the apprentice before dashing off behind the tri-pod tom in efforts to save his child. He cleared the ravine in a monstrous leap, his long legs working gracefully in coordinates with his lean body. Stormchaser was a bit longer than he was tall due to his Oriental heritage. His powerful haunches slamming against the ground, pushing him further and further. His gaze was focused, narrowed to slits in order to keep debris out. His maw was slacked, drinking in Sunfreckles' scent, the tinge of fear making it more potent.
Stormchaser dodged through frozen brambles, thorns ripping small tufts of hair as he ripped himself free. A clanmate was in trouble. A clanmate was in trouble. But, how would they even stand a snowballs chance in Hell to a Two-Leg? They were much, much bigger. They had those—those monsters. His jaw clenched, ivory incisors piercing the inside of his lips till he tasted the tinge of blood. He needed to help—in anyway he possibly could. Soon he could see the familiar tail tip of his clan mate, running as hard as three legs could carry him. Stormchaser commended his efforts, despite the forest being a hard obstacle to weave in and out of. Sunfreckle didn't let that stop him. Nothing could keep a father from his daughter.
The acrid scent of the Thunderpath filled his nose, the smell so pungent it made his eyes burn from it. How could creatures like that smell so foul? It was vile. A familiar yowl sounded from the inside of an idling monster—it was Mossypaw. Trapped in a shiny material, weaved closed with an iron grip. Her screams didn't go unheard. They were coming. Somehow. Somehow. They had to save her.
Until they couldn't.
The monster roared to life, spewing black smoke towards them as if it laughed at their pathetic efforts. Sunfreckle's petrified howl pierced Stormchaser's large ears, almost causing him to flinch as if he had been impaled. The panicked screams of a desperate father. Stormchaser hurled himself forwards, screaming at his limbs to move faster. He watched in awe-filled horror as Sunfreckle leaped onto the back of the monster. "Sunfreckle!" He screeched, pushing himself even harder. Blood roared in his ears, pounded throughout his limbs with the sacred strength of adrenaline. "WAIT! YOU'RE GOING TO FA—!" But it was too late. The monster sprinted forwards at a speed that Stormchaser hadn't seen before, throwing his fellow clan mate off with utter ease. He watched in horror as Sunfreckle smacked the Thunderpath with a gut-wrenchung thud, the other warrior now a tumbled heap of fur and claws.
Out of sure will-power, Stormchaser witnessed his friend stagger back onto his paws and run again at a much slower pace. He was banged up. But he still tried. The blue tom caught up to him, barely brushing his side against Sunfreckle's in silent support. He said nothing, for what could he say? That they'd find her? They had no idea the first place to even look. He sighed with a light huff, forcing himself to glance at his friend. Tears brimmed in his clanmate's eyes, and the same impaling sensation hit him once again. "I-I'm so sorry.." He breathed out, barely a whisper. He wasn't sure if Sunfreckle hsd even heard him. It was too late. They were too late.
Mossypaw was gone.
​

 

[Rabbitnose]

Rabbitnose ran as fast as he could when he returned to camp and was filled in on what happened. His heart was racing, he was filled with terror and worry. He couldn't lose another. Please, not again... Don't take from him again.

He caught up with Stormchaser, out of breath. He couldn't speak just yet, but he looked. He saw Sunfreckle fall from the monster and his heart stopped.

"SUN- SUNFRECKLE!!!" He cried out, his blood cold with fear. He raced over with Stormchaser and watched the monster leave.

Leave with his daughter. Tears welled up in his eyes as he sat next to Sunfreckle. Squeezing his eyes shut, the tears fell and stained his cheeks.


Something was breaking inside, and he wasn't sure how to fix it, or if it could be fixed at all.

"Why...? Why is this happening again...?" He nearly whimpered.
​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

( ☄. *. ⋆ ) Raccoonstripe is tired of losing, tired of their Clan feeling raw and wounded. The apprentice who bursts into camp has Mossypaw's name on their tongue, in tandem with Twolegs. The tabby's pelt prickles, and he stands to rush after Sunfreckle, Stormchaser and Rabbitnose. Surely four warriors would be enough to take on a stupid Twoleg and save the young she-cat from her damnable fate--

But they are not, and Sunfreckle is left abandoned in the center of the Thunderpath. Raccoonstripe stares helplessly at the monster that leaves them all in its wake, wishing like anything he had the speed of the leopards in his mother's ancient stories so he could rescue the tom's daughter.

He drags himself to Sunfreckle, to Stormchaser and Rabbitnose, his eyes burning with rage. "Fucking Twolegs," he spits. His claws sink into the almost spongy texture of the Thunderpath beneath them. "StarClan, watch over her." He lashes his tail, finishing the plea in his head: She'll need it, wherever she's going.​

( I CAN SEE THE SKY LIGHT UP , AND THE GROUND EXPLODE )

 

[Flycatcher]

It seems there is to be no let up in the challenged ThunderClan must endure. An apprentice bursts into camp yelling Mossypaw's name in tandem with that of twolegs. Scarcely has this panicked yell been processed before Sunfreckle darts out of camp, closely followed by Stormchaser, Rabbitnose, and Raccoonstripe. Flycatcher also follows, though he lags behind the initial wave of cats who left. As he rushes forward he hopes Mossypaw will be alright, and that when he arrives she will be fine and safe with her fathers.

However, that is not the case. No sooner does the thunderpath come into view, he sees the monster speeding off with Mossypaw in tow. All they can do is watch as the monster disappears out of view, and with it, so does Mossypaw. Flycatcher clenches his jaw as he watches the lumbering beast depart, shaking his head in frustration at the loss of another clanmate, of the loss of his friend's child. "Sunfreckle...Rabbitnose...I'm so sorry," Flycatcher finally says, looking at the two grieving cats. ​

 

[ROEFLAME .]

I TOLD YOU ONCE, I CAN'T DO THIS AGAIN​

---

Luckily, Roepaw did have some common sense, as rare as it was. Otherwise she would scream at the stars- asking why they seemed to have a vendetta against the apprentices of Thunderclan.
There’s an outburst, a flash of red as Sunfreckle sprints away, the mention of Mossypaw is all the tom needs. Flycatcher is on his paws in pursuit after the warrior, and by nature Roepaw is close behind.
Dead foliage makes an agonizing crunch as the group tramples their own path, urgency in their speed as they near the Thunderpath.
Mossypaw’s cries for help are unheard by Roepaw herself, and she can only helplessly watch as her denmate is shoved into the monsters stomach, she can only watch with her maw slightly parted as the monster rumbles away.
Sunfreckle cries now, and his mates own mournful echo’s are not long after. "What…" Roepaw’s gasp is breathless, with the shake of her head in disbelief. She doesn’t finish her sentence, instead looking towards Sunfreckle and Rabbitnose. "She’ll.. She’ll be okay. She’s strong, smart " the molly feebly tries to reassure. "I’m so sorry.."
"speech."​

 

[Sunfreckle]

Sunfreckle swayed unsteady, the tumble had hurt and his paws ached from being scraped along the rough texture of the thunderpath; but no pain could bite as fiercely as the one inside his chest right now; StarClan had claimed so many cats from his side too early and he wished for all the world that he could take them back in a display of pure blasphemy; rip them from the very sky itself and settled them back in the nursery, young eternal. He would stay there then, he would hold back his own desires for freedom and independance if it meant just another lifetime of kits clambering around his paws in the safety of a warm nest.
His clanmates murmur apologies and he turns with wide green eyes to face them, a dreaded numbness creeping down his spine. Stormchase, Flycatcher, Roepaw and in his own way Racoontail as well; he saw his own despair and anger at injustic mirrored in their glances and struggled back the kit-like cry that wanted to rise up from his throat. They had all acted as swiftly as they could, they had all failed, but he was warmed by their presence still.

She wasn't dead, she wasn't dead, at least....there was no still warm body to bury as Dovekit had been. No bloodied form like Morningpaw's neck red despite having not been prior. Mossypaw was gone, but she was taken-not killed. Surely....surely the fact the two-leg had trapped her to take away meant she was to live? The life of a kittypet, it was not something he ever wanted for his kits but he would never denounce them for it if they chose it. Mossypaw hadn't chosen it. He only prayed she would not be put in a cage as he had lived his entire life. That she could at least see the stars.
It was only when he felt Rabbitnose's presence at his side did he give a small, choked noise and turned to push his face into the other's neck ruff; closing his eyes so tightly he saw a series of sharp white pinprick stars fill the absence of his vision.
"...we....let's go..back to camp. Away from here...." An ugly fear filled his stomach, "...if there's one trap....there might be more." He would find and break each and every single one of them.

​