oh, oh, luxury .. search and rescue

[S A B L E T U F T]

can we leave it behind? — The moment the sun's rays had crept back to release the night, Sabletuft's paws were up and ready to go. Anxiously he had paced the tunnels for the moment to arrive, the fur along his tail raised in spines as he thought over his execution. They couldn't wait much longer to scope out the camp, or whatever remained of it, for whoever got left behind. He knew there was a risk of facing off the swamp dogs again, and he knew he was asking several of their warriors to put their lives on the line for those who got left behind. But he couldn't sleep, he couldn't rest a moment until he knew what and where those who didn't meet them at the tunnel were up to.

Quietly he crept around the hollow for higher ground to look in below, and his heart sank. The dens had been completely decimated. Just as he had assumed, the tree stump for the elders had been dug out further and the branches surrounding it in pieces like brittle twigs. The bramble bushes were recognizable if only from location, but otherwise most of the foliage had been stripped or crumpled from the beasts laying and rummaging through them.

Sabletuft's jaw tightened as he looked at the damage done. Their home, treated like twoleg trash. He could feel his rage beat against his chest, the beasts were lucky not to be around anymore, he was ready to claw into them after this.

At least, Sabletuft couldn't see any bears. The scent was still overbearing and strong from them brushing against what looked like nearly every surface possible, telling from the several clumps of swamp dog fur that swirled across the ground with the wind. The tuxedo turned behind him to address the cats that had volunteered with him. He huddled closer so they could all ehar him over the winds. "Watch out, they could still be here."

With one last glance over his shoulder, Sabletuft would descend into the hollow, starting with the medicine den below him. tags​

 

[Maggotfur.]

EYES COVERED IN INK AND BLEACH​

maggotpaw | 07 months | female | she/her | physically medium | mentally hard | attack in bold mediumpurple

---

​

It has been a long, stressful, intense few hours. Though she does not regret her decision to hide, not after watching powerful paws swipe at chilledstar and the others, the not-knowing has her set on edge. She's not alone thankfully - the only saving grace for her sanity. Well, that and the fact the monsters seemed content to simply lounge about after taking over the camp, rather than snuffle around poking their noses into the dens. The usually anti-social feline huddles in the back of the medicine den, flank pressed against @Crowpaw. as they wait. It's the sound of pawsteps that catch her attention, shoulders hunching as she tenses. But it's too light- to be the hulking figure, and teal gaze widens. "Pst! hey!" she whispers snappishly, hoping to catch sabletuft's attention - and that of whoever has come with him. "Is it safe yet-?" She's not going to move until someone else checks - she rather enjoys living after all.

​

 

[Crowpaw.]

Change your mind​

---

Crowpaw shifted closer towards Maggotpaw, as his ears curved forward, paws tucked close to their chest while copper eyes stared at the enterance of the medicine den. By now, the apprentice was caught up in all the events of what had happened since they had been resting within the den from their previous injuries. Ears flicked slightly as Maggotpaw hissed into the direction of where the sound had come from, Sabletuft by what it seems. "Where is everyone else?" he softly inputted, eyes wide, bears...in their territory...How could this of happened?​

"speak""Thoughts"​

 

[smogstar]

A cascade of events has unfolded in the short span of time since they were displaced from their home, none of which overwhelmingly pleasant. Friends and family were missing, their leader was on the mend from their first life lost, and an entire season's worth of tension cast a heavy cloud over everyone's hearts. Smogmaw's dense veneer of hardheartedness has nigh on dissipated in the present circumstances. With so much hanging precariously in the balance, he finds himself longing for everybody's safety, so a return to the clan's mundane status quo can be feasibly achieved.

Joints tender and paws exhausted, the deputy trails in Sabletuft's stead. Familiar scents waft through the air near ShadowClan's camp, in tandem with faint traces of lingering danger, and hints of freshly-torn-apart soil. The raging winds serve as an added level of difficulty for this already-wearisome task, for he can hardly hear the lead warrior's remarks over the whistling gusts that sweep across the lowlands. Fortunately, he needn't the other tom's words to instil a sense of caution within his system; getting his skin torn to tatters by an irate bear isn't far up on his bucket list.

The patrol's initial stop is the medicine cat den, which was just about the only location in camp that hasn't been reduced to debris. Soulless eyes skim over the hollow's dismantled dens as they verge on Starlingheart's cave. He'd been holed up in here with the wounded at the time of the ursine invasion, along with a few others who'd sought refuge inside the rock formation. Ears would pivot forward at the sudden emergence of a voice, soon followed by a second one, whom he identifies as belonging to apprentices. "Maggotpaw. Crowpaw. It's safe to come out." Both names are put forth in a harsh whisper, one twinged with a nominal amount of anger. It would appear that, out of fear, Maggotpaw had disregarded his directive to aid the wounded in escaping. "We're holed up in the thunderpath tunnels, as Chilledstar had ordered, and some'f us are now looking for the stragglers," explains the gravelly tom, his gaze flicking behind him for a moment. "Have you seen anyone else? Halfshade 'n my kits are gone."​

 

[Maggotfur.]

EYES COVERED IN INK AND BLEACH​

maggotpaw | 07 months | female | she/her | physically medium | mentally hard | attack in bold mediumpurple​

---

If smogmaw had expected her to be in any state to listen during the chaos of the meeting - well, that's on him, isn't it? Blue eyes stare blankly and uncaringly at him, not a single regret in her mind. Besides - crowpaw had been stuck in the den too, unable to leave as easily, so perhaps it'd worked out for the best that they hadn't left while the bears were still awake and roaming. She would've been a bit... annoyed, if he'd died. "They left when you did," she says instead - had he not witnessed his mate slip out alongside the others? This is why she hates adults - always giving orders and fussing about, and yet never around when it matters. She hates that halfshades kits get the love she never had, but she does feel a bit sad for them - lost, forgotten, abandoned in the midst of these horrid monsters. She wonders if any of them have been eaten. Pushing those thoughts aside, she hauls herself to her paws, shoulder twinging with stiffness from laying for so long. She goes to give her fellow apprentice a nudge, eyes cold and face blank.

// tw: thinking about kits getting eaten rip
​