REDRUM / BATTLE THREAD 3

[CICADASTAR]

this thread takes place after the pine cats have gotten their reinforcements! please remember to keep one character to one thread, so if your character is active in one of the other two threads, they can't come here! also, do your best to tag any extensive violence, gore, or death, just so everyone knows what they're getting into in each post. this thread will be locked when StarClan intervenes, but you are free to continue plotted pvp in private threads to its conclusion if you'd like.

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− ♱ ABOUT : they’d had enough. moon upon moon playing nice with the kittypets until they ran them into starvation, killing or scaring any prey that dare cross their path. they sat back and got fat while his colony plucked away at frogs and lizard, chewing away at thin bones and too - tough tendons. lazy, fat twoleg pets had starved his colony for long enough. they would return to their nests, whether they wanted to or not. the bicolored smoke leads a patrol of the marshlands soldiers forward, keeping himself low to the dew - studded ground, keeping to the layers of shadow lying just beneath thick underbrush. briar had called for war, should the pets refuse to head back where they belonged ; a war that could have been won long ago, before rain and his posse grew to the size it was. it would have been much easier to chase off a couple of frightened, gathered pets than it would be a colony of misfits — rogues and loners alike had banded with the behemoth of a silver tabby now, padding their numbers with excess mouths to feed. the early morning sun begins to peek just over the pine - studded, the bitter bite of cool air seeping through wispy curls and chilling him, blood pumping adrenaline through his now too - thin body. the incident in the pine forest had led him down a path of rage ; cicada stands tall now, lined up in the clearing along with two separate marshland patrols, teeth bared and orbital audits pinned flat to the slope of his skull. the heavens are painted in watercolor pinks and baby blues, thick streaks of red sunrise bleeding through the scattered clouds like a wound itself.

they'd awoken early that morning, and as the rise of dawn stretched its cold fingers over the star - studded heavens, cicada would make his rounds. check on quiet, check on the freshkill pile, check on the soldiers that bustled about the early - risen camp ; fur bristling and muscles taut with the promise of war. the spike - furred ebony felidae had led her initial group with the intention of offering them one last warning. it had gone unheeded.

the second patrol bursts its way from the undergrowth in a wave of hisses and snarls, the mottled bicolor at its head. cats were already flying, fur torn in scraps and blood flying. he scopes out the battlefield through slitted pupils, before tossing his head towards the sky. they were prepared for this, for a fight ; he just hoped they wouldn’t scream for mercy once they've been beaten enough, like the dirt - colored tomcat who’d attempted to steal from right under their claws. his heart pounds wildly, a thrashing songbird battering already - aching ribs with sudden anxiety. they were prepared for this, “ drive them out! “ the tom yowls, the curled fur along his spine bristling with rage, icecap eyes alight with fury, “ send them back to their twolegs with their tails tucked. “ his tone is alight with a fiery rage, long, curved claws unsheathing from snow - dipped paws. they would have their forest back, and even if it had come to the point of taking it by force : so help him, they would.

out of character information translations

• − CICADA ; he / him, roughly thirty two months old, marsh group member
  − tall black smoke tortie chimera with icecap eyes and curly fur, homosexual
  − speaks with a german accent, attack in #171717, penned by antlers
  
  
• none.

​

​

 

[BERRYHEART]

Pride and arrogance brought them here, and though he would always claim he had no part in the bloodshed, within Berry's gut twisted the sickening feeling of regret. Neutrality clung onto like breaths pushed that feeling down for the mottled tom, but still- he questioned whether his heart was truly in this fight, and he questioned how innocent he truly was by being a bystander. Trap kept shut, mess of a mouthful tightened, his eyes rove the clearing they occupied. Blood would soon soak the soil here- it was hard to think about without feeling nauseous. And oh, the pointlessness of it all. Cats would be slain here, likely for nothing. Cats who they knew nothing about. They claimed they had all of the information they needed to call for a war, but they did not know these felines personally. Each motivation was bound to be unique- but when supply was dwindling, Shadow could not justify the slow process of negotiation. Only ultimatum.

Placed on a side by birth, he stood among them now, a dullness in olivine eyes. Surely he would soon come face to face with a pine cat, perhaps one who fancied a weak opponent- with his odd number of paws, lopsided jaw and perpetually-sleepy expression, he likely looked an easy target. That was his blessing, that was his ambush. Claws sprung from an icy prison, though his body did not jolt. As fur flung about and yowls of pain and victory cleaved the clearing, green eyes befell a she-cat whose pine-scent clung to her pelt, marking her an enemy. If she met his eyes too, there would have to be a stand-off.

/ engaging with @Springpaw !​

[ PENNED BY PIN ]​

 

[ASH]

The fur along Ash's spine is rising long before he's stepped paws into the clearing at Fourtrees. His eyes are round as twin moons, clouded with worry for himself and his groupmates. A black tail sticks out straight behind him, its tip twitching nervously, and jet-colored ears swivel as he catches the yowls and snarls of other cats.

The copper tang of blood hits his glands. He freezes, but Cicada's mottled figure is stark against the watercolor horizon as he yowls for the marsh cats to attack.

"It will be okay," Ash murmurs to Cloudy, who's padded into the war with him. Her bravery has made this bearable, winnable, even; for her, he will be a fighter and a credit to Briar's colony.

Before he'd left, flanked by his friend, he'd found his mother. Pink noses brushed, damp and cool with morning dew. Her green eyes had been softer than he'd ever seen them, limpid with her love for him and her pride. Ash had felt weak when he'd left her side; Twilight is fighting somewhere, too, and he fears for her the way he fears for Cloudy, for Sandra, for Salamander...

He grits his teeth, steels his resolution. There's no turning back now. His gaze lights upon another pelt, a cat smelling of spice and forestry. "Hyah!" He kicks up his heels and charges the cat, his heart fluttering like bird wings in a broken nest.

// he's attacked some pine cat; it can be an NPC or a played character :) he's getting killed by someone else but a brief battle is fine
​

 

[BONERIPPLE]

Anticipation crawls along her spine like the tapping if spider's legs. She knows what it is like to fight for survival. At a young age her kithood was stolen from her and all she knew was survival before she came to this land and this colony. She will not see them suffer, she will not turn her back on the cats that need the food more than others. And most definitely more than tbe soft paws of the kittypets running arouns their forest. She even doubts that they have the skills to actually fight them off and so she moves upon the dawn. The only real thing she wishes for is thst her sister makes it out of this alive to continue to lead her colony. For if Bone shall fall then the other can still protect those that she could not. She is not with the first wave that goes to give one last chance. Nor the second that tells they did not heed the warning. Which makes everything more real.

Her muzzle is set in a grim line as she follows after Cicada. Even though she has healing wounds she can not stop to think about them. She must defend her own and even with the sounds of the yowling, the sounds of pain and even the sounds of the dying she thrusts herself forward. Her claws sink into the soft flesh of a cream colored tom, his yelp of surprise not stopping her movements as she bites down on his shoulder. They should have left while they had the chance. Blood greets her tongue and stains the white of her jaw as he struggles to get her off. Yet she clings on like a beast, a monster hellbent on his destruction.​

[ PENNED BY RHOS ]​

 

[emberstar]

HANGING ONTO HOPE​

Cries of an attack had startled her awake. There was no time to think, no time to ask questions. No, Ember had raced out of camp with her groupmates at her side before had so much as blinked the sleep from her eyes. Her paws thudded against the ground beneath her as she tried to clear her head of her lingering drowsiness. Dull sensations slowly roused her to full consciousness. Yowls and screams echoing through the trees. Tumbling and mixing pelts in the distance. The rusty scent of blood on the wind. It was hard to believe she was awake. She half believed that this was some sort of twisted nightmare, the guilt of her failure to protect Finch exaggerated a thousandfold.

Then she was in the thick of it.

All around her cats tore at each other with tooth and claw, senseless violence coating the land in dark red hues. It was like nothing she had ever seen. She had been in a fight before, sure, but this was on a scale larger than she had ever imagined. For a moment, it was all she could do to regard it with wide eyes.

No longer than a moment though, because her friends were in trouble, and she couldn't sit idle while they fought for their lives. She buried her feelings and focused her mind, eyes scanning the battlefield, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. It was all too much for her, but maybe if she focused on a single cat, a single fight, then she could take them one at a time. Her gaze affixed itself to a grey molly, already entrenched among the chaos. Fighting against her friends.

With that, she burst into motion.

The tiny flame-point wove between friend and foe alike, slipping under outstretched claws and around tumbling bodies. Her gaze did not leave that grey pelt. Her target was larger than her, but that was as much a weakness as it was a strength. If anything, it should put her in her comfort zone, She was used to fighting larger opponents. At least, that was what she hoped. Without another thought, she dove under the she-cat. Seeking to lash out at her legs and send her toppling down to the ground, then quickly slip out the other side as to not get caught underneath the falling body.

// attacking @SALAMANDER ​

 

[salamander]

Though unsupportive of the invasion, Salamander joined her fellow marsh cats into the depths of the pines. Paws treaded on soft needles as the scent of blood left a metallic taste in her mouth. Her teal eyes scanned the battle, searching desperately for her family, and stopped on a small black and white tom. Ash?! The foolish boy had decided to engage an enemy. Salamander winced at the sight. No, no, no. He was too young - he was too inexperienced.

"Ash!" Rule number one on the battlefield: never be distracted. The blue molly knew this one well but the sight of the tom that she'd taught engaged in battle horrified her. Hadn't she told him to stay back? Hadn't he promised he wouldn't do anything stupid? Unfortunately, there was no time to think as sharp razors dug into her legs.

The attack stunned the molly, Salamander mentally cursed her distracted state and caused her to lose balance. Thankfully, the older and skilled warrior rolled to the side the second she tumbled to the floor. In a blink, Salamander was already standing on her four paws once again. Her tail flicked back and forth in annoyance as she swiveled on the pine cat who had snuck through her peripheral view.

She leaped backward before crouching low to the ground, protecting her underbelly. Unblinking eyes watched her opponent and, when she thought she saw the opportunity, she pounced toward the younger she-cat as if a huntress seeking to strike down her prey. Sharp teeth sought flesh as they attempted to bite down on an exposed shoulder blade. If successful, Salamander would keep her grip tight and attempt to brute force Ember to the ground.

Salamander needed to dispatch this little gnat quickly before the youth of the colony were harmed.

ooc:// responding to @ember. legs are bleeding and she tripped but recovered with a quick roll before hopping back onto her paws. ​

 

[CHAR]

Had be been surprised when one of the cats who'd gone to hunt had returned, frazzled and frantic, bleating about Briar waging war? Not entirely. Char has felt in his bones that this has been pending, creeping forward the way a wildfire starts at first, until every pine tree in its wake has exploded into charred pine needles and splinters.

His jaw is set in a grim line, his moss-colored gaze searching the writhing bodies for his companions. He sees Ember grappling with a blue female, but Ember can hold her own.

A familiar-looking tortoiseshell is crying for his cats to drive them out. Char curls his lip as he stalks toward the fool. "How many times we gotta tell ya bogwater drinkers? This is our home."

Char rushes Cicada, aiming to use his forepaws to sweep Cicada's legs out from under him.

// attacking @DISTANT CICADA
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[Cloudpaw .]

✵ ღ ☾ I'LL LET YOU DOWN - In all honesty, a part of Cloudy wished she could have forced Ash to stay back at camp, the wishful thought only snowballed as they neared the Four Tree’s where the battle had already begun, and battle cries were already being carried by the breeze.
She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, even though she had tucked her nest beside Ash’s for extra comfort, which in the end only backfired as two realizations crossed her mind throughout the night. The first being how much she had begun to rely on Ash’s companionship, even in the measly several days they have truly known each other, something had just clicked for her. She had confided in him, and him her, it was now only instinct to search for him first in a crowd now. The second being that she was no longer alone, not in the sense she had been before, but with that came the nervous conclusion that Ash was now all she had, the only one she wanted close.
That stood true as she pressed her alabaster flank to his freckled, her features now in their relaxed state and sharper than ever before, her eyes narrowed in determination to disguise the anxiety she had for her friend.
It will be okay. He murmurs from next to her, and Cloudy catches herself leaning in to press her nose to his cheek, seeking even the briefest moment of comfort.
Yet, Ash is already lurching forwards, throwing himself into the battle without a second thought, a bold move that Cloudy would have never expected from the tom.
She follows his lead, her eyes fixating as a pine cat rushed toward them, undoubtedly about to serve as the hero for Ash’s opponent.
Cloudy lunges, claws extended and a battle shriek on her lips, towards the cat, aiming to tackle them to the ground before they could reach Ash.

[ can be an NPC or a played character! Involved in a plot later down the line but a brief battle is perfectly fine <3]
❝ Speech. ❞

IF YOU LET ME TOO CLOSE​

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[emberstar]

HANGING ONTO HOPE​

A shadow fell over her, and Ember whipped around to find her opponent already back on her paws. In an instant, she recognized the skill of she now fought. Nothing like the kittypets she had sought to train back at camp. Worry bubbled up in her belly. How were her friends faring against such foes?

She did not have time to look. Her gaze stayed locked on the grey fur in front of her. Watching for the slightest tensing of muscles as the molly settled into a crouch. She doubted she'd get any other signs of the impending attack.

One fluid motion sent the larger warrior flying toward her suddenly. Her reaction was quick. Though not quite quick enough. She felt teeth on her shoulder, tearing into her flesh in the moment before she pulled away. The rusty scent of the air sharpened. It was still a victory, however. What was important was that she had been fast enough to avoid jaws clamping down on her. Had that happened it would have come down to a contest of strength, and she had no illusion about who would win that.

If the cries around her were anything to go by, it would have been her end.

Once she slipped past her opponent, she spared no time. Racing around to get behind her as quick as a hare. Her jaws sought the grey She needed to stay out of reach and range as long as she could, use speed and size to her advantage. Her jaws sought the larger molly's tail, aiming to bite down and pull as hard as she could. Aiming to yank her off balance once more.

// responding to @SALAMANDER shoulder torn but slipped away without being grabbed or pinned. attempting to bite tail.​

 

[yarrow.]

⚘  in character   out of character   character tags   reference

• 
  ── ( ᴛᴀɢs. )  The call of battle had pulled her forth, not as a participant but an unwilling watcher, a sufferer of two different violences. She knows these cats on both sides. She remembers living with those in the marsh, and the kindness of the pine cats in taking her in. And now, in this strange and empty clearing, she would lose both of the families that she had once had. The loss that she had yet to experience still mutes her– at the edges of the clearing, Yarrow cannot force herself to action. Her heart is beating uncomfortably within her chest; she is more aware of it now than she has in many earlier moons. She sees the strength of Salamander's assault and wants to help as much as she wishes to help ember. And so she does nothing. She stands there, her dull eyes wide with fear, of all things, and tries to breathe.
  
  [ not attacking anyone, but open for everything! ]​
  
  

  ---

•  
• n/a​
•  
• ──── yarrow, eventually yarrowtongue.  cis female,  she - her pronouns.
  ──── approximately five years old,  though age unknown. ages the first.
  ──── sexuality unknown, presumed to be wholly disinterested in others.
  ──── lilac silver ticked tabby with curly fur  and deep,  muted olive eyes.​
•  
• 

 

[ASPHODEL]

Asphodel had been one of the first cats to volunteer their service in the upcoming war. Since Rain's colony had invaded the forest, stealing food that rightfully belonged to the marshland-dwellers, the lilac sepia had advocated for reclaiming the territory by force.

No one gets by in life with words alone. And finally, Briar had come to her senses. They must protect their own.

With a victorious yowl, Asphodel's eyes gleam as they watch one of those kittypet bastards flee into the trees, splattered blood leaving a distinctive trail. "That's right! Run back to your twolegs with your tail tucked!" They sneer, their tail lashing.

Their gaze rakes over the battlefield. White fur stands out from the crowd, a plumpness that only the cushy life of Rain's group could bring sending a snarl ripping from the feline's throat, the thick scent of pine clinging to him. Asphodel lunges towards the pale-furred tom, claws outstretched, aiming to tear into pampered flesh.

[ attacking @Blinding Star ! ]​

 

[CICADASTAR]

− ♱ ABOUT : war unleashed before him ; hellscape undone by the kittypets foolish refusal, the howling screeches of felines unknowing of pain felt claws latch into their flesh for the very first time. there were a chosen few littered with scars ; loners. rogues. wanderers who had taken up with the fat, lousy intruders. unsurprising. he knew how they liked the mooch, loitering on their territory and mingling between opposing forces, plucking up pretty to carry over the pine tree line. the smoke could recall a couple of the faces that flitted before him ; berry, bone, salamander . . and a looming, familiar voice that assaults him from the left. his head jerks around, catching the scarred tom cat at the last second, his paws hitting cicada’s heels and sending him stumbling, landing heavy on his left shoulder. he knew this tabby, shared breaths and threats with him at the fourtrees before hunger dissolved into fury, desperation. using the force at which he’d stumbled, the marsh lander would attempt to launch towards the tabby’s marred face from the side, claws outstretched towards his eyes. should he succeed, he would try to latch his claws in place and sink his teeth into the delicate skin around his temple to jaw.

/ responding to @CHAR ; knocked off balance and now aiming to claw his eyes via off - footed pounce. if he succeeds, he will attempt to latch onto the side of his skull with his teeth.

out of character information translations

• − CICADA ; he / him, roughly thirty two months old, marsh group member
  − tall black smoke tortie chimera with icecap eyes and curly fur, homosexual
  − speaks with a german accent, attack in #171717, penned by antlers
  
  
• none.

​

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[GRAYSTORM]

( ♚ ) Gray sneers, his claws tearing clumps of fur and flesh from a fleeing cat's haunches. Something to remember me by, his mind growls.

He'd never wanted it to come down to this, but his group's starving. Whatever it takes to ensure their survival, he would do. Even if it means getting his paws dirty.

Movement in his peripheral vision draws his attention onto a scarred dark tabby tom who knocks over Cicada. Gray's lips peel back into a snarl, his eyes flashing. This is our home, the scarred tom declares. His claws flexing, Gray lunges and aims to grab one of Char's hind legs between his teeth. If successful, he would jerk his head in hopes of upsetting the other tom's balance. "We were here first, you mangy bastard," he hisses.

[ attacking @CHAR ! ]​

 

[Blinding Star]

( ✧ ) News traveled fast. News of your typical, small-scale hunting party running into a full-fledged battle party. Not the result of one out-of-line warrior, but led by Briar herself. Backup, Blaise had called for. Interested, Blinding Star had cocked a brow.

And here he finds himself, in the midst of raking claws and gnashing teeth. Battles echoed throughout the clearing, some flying past with a series of vicious snarls, and others no more than ice-cold venom, sharp, precise blows being exchanged between both parties. Not a few moments after streaming into the clearing, his ears prick at the sound of paws skittering toward him, and… some sort of childish battle cry? Star faces the perpetrator, a bicolor tom, clearly young. The only reaction he offers is the lift of his brows.

Star does little more than sidestep, leaning into the move with exaggerated grace. He makes a point to leave his tail just barely within the tom’s grasp, a whisp of fur he could have snagged if he were only a little faster. Or at least, that's what he wants him to think. He lifts his head, tilts it to the side. He’s amused, though his face didn’t show it.

The other body behind him takes a few moments to register.

In a twist of white fur, he narrowly avoids Cloudy’s grasp. The lunge is sloppy, inexperienced. With a glint in his eye, he reguards the two. Both young, nothing he could properly sink his claws into, lest he becomes as lowly as a swamp rat himself.

This situation is... unfamiliar, jarring. He's experienced enough in battle, but in a setting like this... Sights and scents clashing, the clearing transformed into a blur of fur and claws. His reaction times are slower. Blinding Star squeezes his eyes shut, opens them again. And another sound, another─

He whips around to face Asphodel, a large, sturdy thing. His eyes blow wide. Hackles rise in the acknowledgment of a threat. He thinks back to his spar, to what Ember had tried to do. With a choked breath, he drops down and lunges forward to slash at their underbelly, frantic.

[ Narrowly dodges @ASH & @Cloudy . ; attacking @ASPHODEL ]​

 

[CLEOPATRA.]

]

the smell of blood, fear and overzealousness. a battle. a battle that had been brewing for so long, and now the pot hath runneth over, spilling death and decay into the very depths of the forest. the pharaoh lifted her head, taking a few quick sniffs of the air with a devious grin painted on her face. she wanted to fight. not kill, no. that was pointless, even to someone as selfish as her. because if she killed her opponent, how would she watch them sulk and scream in embarrassment. how would she be able to boast in their face about how much better she was than them? killing took away that joy. ​

as she stepped to the battlefield, watching cats clash and fight, her brows slightly raised with slight interest. boring. boring. and even more boring. for a moment, her eyes landed on cicada. oh, the poor sap. she still can taste that victory on her tongue but it wouldn't be fun now to win against him again, would it? younger cats weren't much of a threat, either, but they were fun to toy with. the fear in their eyes was enough. so she had her target. cloudy. name unbeknownst to her, but they seemed like they could use some fear in their tummy.

"hey, kit!"

she called out with a small glint in her eyes, hoping to draw her from whatever it was she thought she was doing.

"where'd you learn to fight, frog-breath? hm? that's not really doing much, is it? come on, show me what you got then, flea-brain."


//INTERACTING WITH ( @Cloudy . )

​

[ YOU MUST REALLY LOVE ME ]​

 

[CHAR]

Char is prepared for Cicada to retaliate, but is taken off-guard by the speed at which he does. The mottled tom stumbles, off-balance from Char's attack, but he uses the momentum to swipe straight into Char's face.

There's a raw, stinging pain from the five-pointed piercing attack that surrounds his right eye. Flesh is torn, and blood begins to seep right into the socket. He's blinking the crimson away, trying to see through so that he can barely sidestep what would have been a devastating blow to the side of his face near his ear. Teeth scrape instead of puncture, due to his evasive move, and he is grateful he's avoided the worst of it.

The charcoal tabby snarls, a blistering sound that rumbles between them like thunder, but before he can prepare to attack Cicada again, he's jerked backward. His snarl bursts into a brutal scream of rage and pain as teeth needle into the soft flesh of his hind leg.

Char stumbles as the leg gives up. He can't spring at the gray tom, but he does turn the good, steady half of his body and aims a heavy paw at his left eye with all claws splayed. "Corpse-breathed swamp rats," he hisses, pulling his claws away. The blood is streaming into his gaze more rapidly now. He turns his single seeing eye onto the mottled bastard who's half-blinded him.

"You're all a bunch of crow-hearts, drivin' us out of the only home we have," he growls, breath ragged. "I'll give ya plenty of carrion to feed off of after we drive ya out."

He attempts to push Gray away from him, focusing on rearing up despite the wrenched hind leg and bearing all of his weight down on top of Cicada in an effort to pin him. If successful, he will attempt to aim a bite for the soft spot between Cicada's shoulder and neck.

[ half-blinded by @DISTANT CICADA ; jerked off-balance by @GRAY ; slashed at @GRAY 's left eye and attempted to push him away; attempted to bear his weight down on @DISTANT CICADA and bite between his shoulder and throat. ]
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[BONERIPPLE]

The heat of battle still rages on strongly and her opponent has fled from her clutches. She watches as he quickly scurried away on limping limbs and she has half a mind to go after them, yet something else catches her gaze. Something that makes her eyes widen in sharp intensity of her molten gaze. She jerks herself forward as she sees a Pine cat going for Cicada, her claws unsheathing and pushing her quickly to cross the gap. She means to stop whatever next blow is coming. She means to stop these invaders by any means necessary and she jumps. Her claws strike Char against his side and sends the both of them tumbling in a ball of fury across the ground. She feels his claws bite into her flesh, jarring pain tightening her limbs but she strikes out even as her own blood drips from her wounds. Bone hisses in fury and her teeth snap. They snap through flesh, they snap through muzzle.

She shakes harshly though not strong enough to tear anything she does hear a popping sound. Blood spurts onto her tongue and she quickly lets go of the cat's throat. Those eyes that were once wide in anger are wide in something else. She can see him, laying there, blood gushing from his bitten up throat and oddly enough she feels perturbed. Such a small sense of it but it eats at her. This is the first time she has watched a cat die besides her parents, but this is by her own paws. Her choice. It's almost unnerving but this was his choice to fight. They could have left, right? They could have been safe but they threw that chance away. Many excuses run through her head. She did this to help Cicada, she did this to help Grey. She did this to protect the colony by any means necessary. Any means.

Given permission to power play Char's death
@CHAR ​

[ PENNED BY RHOS ]​

 

[CHAR]

In his haste to attack Cicada, he's forgotten to keep himself aware. He's not been in a battle of this scale since his young days, and he's blindsided yet again by another swamp cat.

There's a flurry, a trade of blows and bites and gouges, and Char stares into the furious amber eyes of the black and white she-cat he's seen at too many border skirmishes. He wants to rant at her the way he'd done to Gray, to Cicada, but he's losing. His eye is bloodied and dark, and he only partially sees her jaws closing around his throat.

There's pain, but it's startlingly brief. He's stunned, in limbo, numb, and in that moment before all is dark, he thinks of the day he stumbled into Rain's forest. Wounded, solitary, preparing to move on without ceremony as soon as his scars healed over.

He hadn't. He had stayed. He had died for a home he could not help keep. His eyes glazed over, and there was nothing.

[ tl;dr he's dead ]
​

 

[GRAYSTORM]

( ♚ ) A victorious laugh rumbles in his chest as his teeth dig into the soft flesh of Char's leg, his lips curling upwards into a smirk as the scarred tabby's snarl morphs into a scream. With a yank of his head, Gray sends the older tom plummeting to the ground. Char twists his upper body, and before Gray could react, claws are directed towards his face. His eyes widen, and he jerks backwards. Speed has never been on his side, though. He's too slow, and the daggers hook into the delicate skin of his lip. Pain rips up the left side of his face, tearing flesh and-

A scream rips from Gray's throat. The left half of his world is drenched in red, sticky and warm.

He stumbles back, one paw clutching at his destroyed eye as his breaths come out in ragged gasps. Char sneers at them, but he's drowned out by the ringing in Gray's ears. Spitting blood, he snarls. "You... You son of a-"

A flash of black-and-white startles him. Gray hisses in surprise, his right eye blown wide. Bone sinks her teeth into the vulnerable flesh of Char's throat, and within seconds, it's over. Char crumples to the ground, his mossy eyes glazing over. Damned rat deserved it, he tells himself.

He should've retreated, licked his wounds and called it quits. But he doesn't, too determined to repay the favor for his fucked up face. Gray scans the battlefield with his good eye, his claws itching to dig themselves into his next opponent.

The pale figure of Asphodel collapses in the corner of his eye. Gray swings his bloodied head around, his hackles rising. Asphodel is sprawled across the ground, blood pouring from their underbelly. Above them stands a white-furred tom, his paws stained crimson. Gray lunges towards him without a second thought, yowling.

An eye for an eye.

Gray twists his head so that Blinding Star is in full view. He rears up on his hind legs and aims to bring his paws crashing down onto the white tom's head, hoping to tear into the other's eyes. Whether he is successful or not, Gray would spin around and aim to kick Blinding Star in the chest with his hind legs in an attempt to knock him backwards.

[ half-blinded by @CHAR , attacking @Blinding Star after seeing him kill @ASPHODEL ]​

 

[ASPHODEL]

Asphodel relishes in the way that their opponent's eyes blow wide. "Scared, kittypet?" The taunt rolls off of their tongue with ease. Their first mistake; focusing more on provoking the enemy than watching for a counterattack. Foolishly, they underestimate him. No kittypet could best me, they think. A dangerous thing pride is in the midst of battle.

Quicker than they could react, Blinding Star ducks beneath them. Asphodel hisses, trying to leap out of the way from the tom's claws, but they're slowed by their bulk. The soft flesh of their underbelly is ripped open with ease. They gasp, and now it is their turn for their eyes to blow wide. The pale-furred feline stumbles, blood gushing from the deep wound and splattering across the inside of their legs. The world spins. No, not yet. They still have to protect their home.

They try to whirl around to face Blinding Star once more, to deliver a few more blows, but their trembling legs give out from underneath them. Asphodel collapses, flanks heaving. Their vision fades to black.

Their flanks do not rise again.

[ dead :) ]​