sensitive topics one million crabs || Crab Congregation

[Redpath]

((Tw: Thoughts about dead bodies and also an actual dead body being eaten by crabs ))

Windclan has dumped their corpses into the river and while Redpath is sure the fish and other denizens of the water enjoy the meals, those who have to drink from the river do not. Pulling bloated corpses from the river is starting to take its toll on her mental state. Sure, these are enemies. But bloated corpses aren't pretty, and she hates the sight of them. It seems like every day since they got back she's pulled at least one out. She hates it.

She hates Windclan. She hates that such vile cats exist. She hates that the river is polluted with death. She hates that it all happened in the first place, hates that they lost so many to Yellowcough....

She is full of hatred. Hatred and anger and grief. Her heart hurts, her body crushed with fatigue and lacking the will to carry on. Yet she must, because she can't give up.

No matter how badly she wants to go to sleep for an eternity, she forces herself to rise each morning.

She walks along the river today, looking for the best spot to fish. The water grows colder by the day, but she's too tired to truly care. The sky is cloudy and the chill in the air seeps through her pelt. Truly, a dreary day.

But. Something catches her hollow eyes..... Just peeking around a rock she sees a wet corpse, and she bares her teeth in frustration. She is filled with the urge to drown the next Windclanner she sees- hold on.

What are those.

She stares at the corpse as she examines it and sees an uncountable number of TINY CRABS feasting on it, as well as a few bigger ones. Her sworn enemies....The crabs....

"WHY ARE THERE SO MANY OF YOU...." She wails, dramatically exasperated. "AND NOW THEY HAVE A TASTE FOR CAT FLESH.... THIS IS TERRIBLE."

She dares not move the body, she does not want the fury of a million tiny claws pinching her. Her greatest enemy.... growing in number by the day AND being well fed.... Truly, this is terrible news. But its also a distraction from the pain that plagues her, if only for a little bit. And hey! The next Windclanner she kills can be fed to the crabs! This is excellent news!​

 

[bubbleburst]

"GOT A LITTLE CASH NOW SO THAT SKIRT IS DIOR"​

Bubblepaw is doing a menial task: sorting through reeds to see which are dry and thick enough to make suitable reinforcements from. It's tedious work, but she doesn't mind it. It's the closest to crafting and decorating that she can get without actually doing it. She's in a daze and thinking about nothing in particular when Redpath's shriek cuts the air, and Bubblepaw comes damn near faceplanting as she races to the source of the cry. The river isn't far from camp, and she finds the warrior quickly.

Relief washes over the silver tabby when she realizes that Redpath isn't in any sort of danger. "I thought something terrible had happened! What- oh..." Bubblepaw's reprieve that Redpath is not being attacked or injured is short-lived when she realizes what the horrified warrior is looking at. It's another of the faceless, nameless rogues that WindClan has unceremoniously dumped into their river. Except now instead of floating and rotting down the river and on their shores, it seems that the crustaceans have surfaced to clean up the carrion. Bubblepaw grimaces, muttering a singular "Gross..." as she shudders.

"Does this mean the crabs will start trying to eat us?" Bubblepaw asks pointedly, her disgust giving way to look of horror rising on her face. If what Redpath has said is true and the crabs have a taste for feline flesh, does that mean they will begin being hunted for sport? Bubblepaw leans away from the corpse and the crustaceans that have begun to feast on it. They are small enough that she feels she could fight them off, but a whole horde? A shiver goes up Bubblepaw's spine at the thought.

​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[Moonbeam]

Crabs were not something Moonpaw liked to see... well ever. She wasn't scared of them, just didn't enjoy messing around with them due to their painful claws and odd way of walking, and now they were feasting upon the corpse of a rogue - well former rogue in this case. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she came near before backing away, ears pinning to her head for just a moment as she remembered the patrol to the ThunderClan border soon after they had taken camp back. "We need to... move them." But she still couldn't find it in her to move, frozen in place as she looked away from the carrion before them and to the warrior and apprentice that had made the trip with her - "Is there a stick or, or rocks we could throw at the crabs to get them away?" They had just worried about rogues they didn't need to worry about foxes or raccoons coming into the territory to hunt due to the body of a trespasser.

A sudden snort of a laugh came from Moonpaw's maw as Bubblepaw asked her question and Moonpaw shook her head, "If they do I think they'd have a hard time hunting us, even the kits in camp would be able to fight these guys off even if they're a little... creepy." It was a little scary she'd admit, thinking about a horde of crabs swarming camp to hunt down cats to eat. If they wanted to hunt down cats she was sure they would have done so already, right?

☾₊ ⊹ give me a ghost of a smile

• 
  ⋆ ratkit - ratpaw - moonpaw - moon???
  ⋆ female - she/her - 6 moons
  ⋆ homosexual - not looking
  ⋆ apprentice of riverclan
  ⋆ peaceful powerplay allowed
  ⋆ attack - "speech" - thought
  ⋆ penned by tikki

​

 

[Aspenhaze]

Hearing the conundrum, Aspenhaze searches for the cause of distress. It’s no surprise when the cause of concern was one of the dead rogue bodies that WindClan had dumped onto them. Cleaning the corpses up has not been easy on the tortie point’s conscious either, though they’d never admit that. They try to push through it with their morbid jokes, but the sickening sight bites into their brain just as much as any normal cat. On top of that, their water source was getting polluted at the time they needed it most. How frustrating. How on point for WindClan.

At first glance however, Aspenhaze certainly didn’t spot the crabs that were gnawing their way through the soaked meat. It’s a sight to behold, a sight very unpleasant, but they feel as if they can’t look away. The circle of life entrances them as they miss any of the conversations going on, only snapping back into focus when they sense the pit of dread bubbling to the surface. More of a mess to clean up… they let their awe shake away as they try to put together what little they caught of all the words spoken.

“I’m sure it would be easy to just paw them away so we can take care of this corpse. And no, they won’t try to eat us, Bubblepaw. They just saw an easy catch, and indulged. Simple as that.” It almost feels like they’re trying to assure themself as much as the apprentice. Crabs aren’t something they’ve feared before this moment, but now they understand why Redpath hates them so much. Maybe not to the same degree, but they certainly weren’t to be taken at face value any longer.​

 

[Redpath]

Her cries of despair have garnered company, and now they too have borne witness to this disaster. The children of her nemisis.... Feasting upon a fallen enemy and all she can do is watch. Look at them. Not a damned care in the world. She IS however, apologetic that she scared Bubblepaw.

"Sorry, I didn't come out here expecting to see..... This, today." She says. She didnt even know crabs ate meat until today. Life is just full of surprises!

The natural order of things is just running its course and she wonders if they'll eat the whole thing until just bones are left like birds do. Redpath is surprised and disturbed at her macabre train of thought and wonders if its because of everything thats happened recently. Death has permeated the forest, hanging over it like morning fog. At least those who were buried wouldn't meet this fate.

She hopes her body is eaten by something else AT LEAST. she will not become food for her sworn enemies.

"I dont think they hunt....They usually scavenge, but who knows..... Maybe they'll LEARN to hunt." She says. Wouldn't that be something??? But she's confident that cats are stronger and always will be. "If they do, we can just eat them." She adds. THEN what will you do, you little pinchy bastards???

Moonpaw is right, they do have to move them and get rid of the body, huh.

"Don't try to touch them, have you ever been pinched before?" She says. "Once they pinch you, they don't let go and the more you move, the harder they clamp down." She explains. She knows from experience! She feels the phantom pain of the crab induced injury that had her out of commission for a bit. She remembers ALL THE TIMES she has encountered these fiends....All the times she has been pinched....

Truly, they were created by some foul god or entity to plague the river.

"Though....The little ones probably don't hurt as bad.... Maybe we CAN nudge them away..."

She dares to be optimistic. Could this be a fatal mistake? She won't underestimate these hellions......​