TAGS — [ tldr: knocked to the ground by cicadastar, got up and kept running for the exit until she was stopped by hailstone's attack. dodged it and turned to flee in the opposite direction, but tripped and fell; subsequently pinned down by willowroot. escaped thanks to nightmareface's interruption; currently running around with snowspark and waiting for an opportunity to flee the camp. ]
It's not long at all before someone notices her — just her luck. Her stomach flips when she hears the shout, upon which she looks over her shoulder to see another apprentice giving chase. Breathing heavily through her nose, she puts on an extra burst of speed, kicking up snow in her wake. They're young — easy to outpace. But then they alert
everyone, sending a ripple of fear through her small frame.
Just keep moving. She redirects her pale gaze forward — and is suddenly slammed by something solid and
strong. The force shoves her roughly away, throwing her legs out from under her and sending her sprawling on the ground.
Karma, she thinks vaguely. The impact knocks the wind out of her, and the herbs out of her mouth.
She gasps at the sight of her assailant towering over her with a fearsome expression, one that's difficult to lock onto when the world is spinning from the fall. Her dizziness doesn't make it easy to reorient herself, but after a few long moments she shoots out a forepaw to pull the scattered catmint back into her jaws, which she clenches tightly to secure the leaves between her teeth. The next challenge is getting back on her feet; eventually she manages to clumsily drag herself up to her full (unimpressive) height as quick as she can and then takes off again on unsteady paws, nearly tripping and falling over in the process. It would be insanely embarrassing if she didn't have literally everything else to worry about.
There's the exit! She's so close to freedom, she can almost taste it... until a dark-furred warrior suddenly passes her and turns to block her path through the bramble entryway. It takes all of her self-control not to part her jaws as she gasps again, spinning around and running away to avoid the tomcat's slashing claws. Even if she had the skill or confidence to fight him, it would be foolish to risk her precious cargo. With any luck, a WindClanner will lure him away at some point, but in the meantime all she can do is keep circling the camp and avoiding any attackers who try to stop her.
This is short-lived; between the snowy terrain, her panic, and her lingering instability from her prior fall, it's inevitable when she trips and tumbles unceremoniously to the ground again. This time she manages to cling onto the herbs, but not without her chin slamming against the earth. She grits her teeth as pain flashes through her muzzle and tries to stand, but paws slam her back down before she can get very far, pressing down on her chest with a force that makes it hard to breathe. It doesn't help that she's so out of breath already from all the movement and fear. The hissed demand is frightening, as is the furious look on the molly's face; if this weren't a life or death situation, with so many sick clanmates at home, there's a good chance she would've relented and handed over the catmint to save her skin — or at least considered it. But that's not an option, so she holds firm and
attempts to scratch at @willowroot with a dainty, clawed forepaw.
She's starting to lose hope when suddenly another cat joins the fray, but this time the attack is directed toward Icepaw's assailant, thank StarClan. The relief she feels at the sight of her mentor's drooling face is unmatched; she could cry tears of happiness as she manages to wriggle away amid the diversion and make yet another run for it. It's not long after that Sunstride's voice roars over the battle's cacophony, commanding them to retreat. It's no wonder — it feels like the amount of cats on the battlefield has doubled since the WindClanners first arrived.
There's still the issue of the exit being blocked, but Icepaw has absolutely no intention of being the cat to clear the path; she's far from the strongest patrol member and she doesn't have it in her to intentionally try luring the warrior away. Instead she just goes back to aimlessly running about to avoid being stopped, ultimately catching up with Snowspark and trying to keep pace with him for extra protection — strength in numbers. He's pretty battered, though, and losing steam. Maybe not too much strength, then. But, if push comes to shove, she'll do what she can to help him.
