REDRUM / BATTLE THREAD 3

[ASH]

His first blundering attack against the tall white tom had been for naught; the kittypet had looked down on him, clearly not taking him seriously, and told him to get lost. Ash's pride is bruised, but there's a dull ache of relief in his chest, too. He hadn't really wanted to hurt the other cat. And in turn, he hadn't wanted to get hurt by him. Things are working out fine for him so far, right?

That is, until the ever-present Cloudy abandons his side, eyes gleaming with fury and fixed on a smirking pine cat who beckons her close with taunts. Ash is grateful for Salamander's interference, but it doesn't last long--the she-cat who had taught him how to defend himself is soon fighting off another pine cat, and it's just Ash watching Cloudy get pinned.

His pulse quickens, then stills. No. Not Cloudy. Not her. His mouth is dry as sand. Move, Ash. Do something. Move your paws. His friend. She's kicking and spitting at her attacker, and there's fear now where there was once fury. He can smell it even through the thick of battle, the stench of blood and death that surround them.

"Leave her alone!" He cries out, his voice sharp amidst the din. Dirty-white fur fluffs up, makes him look almost grown, almost formidable.

Ash charges Cleo, aiming to spring onto her back and drag her off of Cloudy. He attempts to dig his foreclaws into her spine and bite random spots on her back.

// attempting to save @Cloudy . , leaping on @CLEOPATRA. 's back
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[CLEOPATRA.]

cleo's brow raised as she allowed herself to be pinned by an overzealous she cat. a gentle brow raise as she was spat so angrily at, making a familiar chill crawl up her spin. suddenly, even in the midst of the battle, a purr rumbled in her chest as she drew her tongue across her muzzle. ​

"mmm. i do so love a molly that can threaten me. too bad we're kinda in a middle of a claw clash, hmm?"

her honeysuckled voice laughs out before she just rolls her eyes.

"if you are so worried about them, why bring them into a war? you stupid forest cats did this yourself! i'm only teaching them a lesson that you were too frog-brained to give them!"

she doesn't have to say anymore as ember takes her away. she'd have to thank her later. rolling off the ground and brushing herself off her gaze turns back to cloudy who was quick to tumble over her. with a hiss of frustration, she pinned the younger cat down, her gaze dancing with something unreadable.

"idiot. you're nothing but a lily-livered kitten! crawl back home where you belong! this isn't a fight for you."

the pharaoh moves to lift her paw, and claw the air right in front of her face to scare her for a moment before her body tenses at the feel of claws in her back. she is quick to get off of cloudy, turning her attention to her attacker, growling out a frustrated curse, as she moved to shake him off, claws lashing out in pure defense before she felt her claws digging deeply into flesh. it wasn't until she took a few deep breaths in that she realized what she'd done.

" i...is that...?"

she swallowed thickly, her breaths becoming weak and shaky, an uneasy smile on her face.

"n-no... you stupid kit! you stupid dumb idiot of a kit! I wasn't going to- I didn't mean to! why would you do that! get up, mouse brain! get up!"

it was no use. she began to laugh quietly to herself, tears falling down her face. she... was a kit murderer. it wasn't supposed to happen. but she would never forgive herself. she had to get out of her. she didn't want to stick around any longer. she only squeezed a few more tears out before dashing off of the battle ground.

// OUT.

interactions: brief former interaction with @SALAMANDER , taunted and threatened @Cloudy . , and killed ( accidently ) @ASH
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[ YOU MUST REALLY LOVE ME ]​

 

[ASH]

He latches onto her, but his claws don't have the grip he'd like. She's startled, and she leaves Cloudy alone--that was his goal. The molly he clings to begins to shake him off as if he's a flea, and he slumps hard to the ground. Wide yellow eyes glaze over in fear as her razor-sharp claws begin to flail before him.

They hit him once, in the soft flesh of his shoulder. An accident, but a brutal one. He cries out at the shock of it, the pain he hadn't been anticipating. Blood paints a crimson flower against his pale fur.

The second blow is the one that finishes him. She catches him in the throat, and he's not guarded. He's forgotten Salamander's moves. He chokes, and the blood begins to seep down his chest. His body loses all tension, becomes liquid like the life that runs in rivers from his wounds.

He stares up at his killer, but in his last moments, his eyes flick to Cloudy. He saved her. The killer is running. She's crying, and then she's running. Cloudy is safe.

I did it.

He feels he can rest, now. He's satisfied. A last wheezing breath escapes him and he shudders, goes limp.

// dead
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[Cloudpaw .]

✵ ღ ☾ I'LL LET YOU DOWN - The relief that rushes through her once Cleo's weight is lifted from her chest is short-lived.​

She turned away from a moment to catch her breath. One goddamn moment.​

A familiar voice shrieks, and the sickening sound of flesh being torn somehow finds Cloudy, still on the ground, and she turns to see Cleo standing over something… a cat, now too bloodied to be recognizable at first glance as blood pours from his throat. He slumps over, it is only when his eyes find hers that she begins to scream.​

❝ ASH! ❞ ​

The cry is visceral, raw, a volume unheard of from the soft spoken molly as she lifts herself, shoulder-checking Cleo as she rushes to her friend, only for the molly to begin to run in a flurry of tears and laughter. ​

❝ Run! Run as fast as you can! I will hunt you down and kill you, do you hear me? I WILL KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING MURDERER! ❞ Cloudy screams after her, willing her paws to move after her words, but they are frozen to the blood-splattered ground, and Cloudy couldn't leave Ash behind.​

She staggers to his side, her knees buckling under her now all too heavy weight as she curls herself around the tom, her ivory fur now turning a solid crimson as she cries. ​

❝ Tw…Twilight! Twilight! ❞ she sobs, but her hoarse voice is lost in the fray of caterwauls. ​

❝ Ash… Ash, please get up, y-you're all I have! You're all I want! Please… please… ❞ her voice is dropped to a whisper as she buries her face into his flank, which has already lost its lively warmth, the warmth he always so generously offered her each time she silently moved her nest to his in the night. His eyes had lost their light, no longer would they look at her. ​

The sounds of war are tuned out from her ears as she flattens them, choking on her own sobs. ​

❝ I'm going to get you help, okay? I.. you aren't leaving me… I'm going to get you help! ❞ She trembles as she staggers to her paws, ignoring the knot that had begun to tie in her stomach, refusing to look down at her blood soaked chest and paws.​

The world around her is spinning, and her mind is thrown into a whirlpool, swallowing, she noses her way under Ash's body, delicate with his ever-bleeding wound, and she begins to stagger off of the battlefield.​

I promised you… I'm so sorry.. I promised, I promised, I promised.
❝ Speech. ❞

[ carrying Ash's body off of the battle field ]

IF YOU LET ME TOO CLOSE​

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[FINCHCATCHER]

He finds himself to be irritated with the blue smoke's actions, with the lack of a proper fight. Blinding Star would be safe, would be escorted away, he was sure of it. But, Finch wanted a fight Hadn't he deserved this? A fight? Hadn't his scars shown that he wasn't just some kid?

No, he deserved to be part of this! He deserved to leave a mark on this battle, this big change in the forest - a proper one, not just to be known as the kit ambushed for a mouse. So why wasn't the blue smoke fighting? Why wasn't she throwing better moves at him, not just some half-hearted swipe to keep him away.

He growls, giving another attempt to sink his claws into the older feline. He lifts a white paw, aiming to swipe it across her side, only to stop, paw in the air as something from the sidelines catches his eye.

A flash of white, two scraps of brown, the darker of the two looking to pounce.

"C-Cosmos..?"

He was here.

And they were going to hurt him.

He launches himself away from the blue smoke, sides heaving as he races towards the trio. He wasn't letting marsh cats hurt his brother. He promised no harm would come to him. He can't let them hurt him, he can't.

Finch leaps at the dark-furred tabby, claws unsheathed, aiming to push him out of the way. However, his light-furred counterpart gets between them, puts himself in the way of his attack. Claws sink into dusty brown fur, piercing into the young feline's skin.

His landing isn't all that graceful, and neither is his victim's - the small tom dropping to the ground, blue eyes wide, an overwhelm of blood beginning to pool around him as he struggles to take a breath. The remaining two, Cosmos and the one who was about to take his snow-furred brother are in a panic, racing towards the fallen kit.

But Finch doesn't allow his brother to go near, pushing him back with his paw.

"Go home. Now," he orders Cosmos, mismatched eyes dark with anger. A wave of guilt crashes into him as he watches his brother scurry away. What had he done?

// disengaged with @SALAMANDER - for the time being; attacking @LEAPING TOAD. - who will die in his next post
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[emberstar]

HANGING ONTO HOPE​

The moment she put herself in front of Blinding Star she was beset, as she expected. A hit landed on her side, however light. Whirling to face her foe she was surprised, however, by who it was attacking her. A tiny kit, attempting to appear ferocious. Even compared to her, he's tiny. Her ear flicked. Her claws sheathed. She attempted to give him a firm shove, get him away from the bloody scene. A move that would end up aimed more toward the second kit that threw himself in front of him.

"Stay back!" she hissed again, but this time it had none of the fire from before. It was a warning not a threat. This battlefield was no place for those so young. A voice called to her and she whirled about, feeling no need to care for her back when her opponent was only a pair of kits. Half expecting to find another, more intimidating opponent, she found Yarrow instead. For a moment she listened intently, then she nodded. "I can hold them off for as long as you need." Ember claimed, attempting a confident smile. It had none of her usual shine.

"And be careful."

Putting her back to Blinding Star and Yarrow, she turned to face the chaos. "Don't worry about me. I can hold my own." She reassured, settling down into a defensive stance. "Just get him out of here." Her eyes narrowed, ready to fend off any who might impede their retreat from the battle field.

// engaging @LEAPING TOAD. @FROG'S RIBBIT. talking to @yarrow. @Blinding Star ​

 

[LEAPING TOAD]

The flame-furred she-cat he leapt at pushes him away, but he hardly takes notice. No, he's more focused on the small white form he sees in the shadows, a form his brother is already making his way over to.

Cosmos. A friend on the battlefield.

It's clear to see the kit is scared, snowy fur shaking under leafy foliage. Anyone could see that. The brothers' approach isn't one of ill-intention. No, it never would be - this was Cosmos. This was their friend. A kit too young to be fighting.

Just like Ribbit and Toad.

His dark-tabby brother crouches forward to greet the kit, to check to see if he's okay. He sees the kit's eyes brighten in recognition, but the trio's interaction is short lived. He isn't sure what it was that made him look up, look back to the battlefield. He isn't sure he'll ever know. But the flash of orange he sees is enough to send panic through him. The flash of orange is coming towards them - headed straight towards Ribbit, towards Cosmos.

The flash of orange is going to hurt his brother. His friend. He can't... He can't let that happen!

The games he's played all his life have led up to this. He knows what he must do.

As the flash of orange flies forward, Leaping Toad bounds ahead, stepping in front of his brother - straight into the line of action. His intentions are to fight for his life, to defend the two kits behind him, but his timing is off. He noticed the flash of orange too late.

The force is powerful, the pain anything like he's ever felt. His eyes are wide in the realization, searing waves of pain running through his chest and ribs at the impact of sharp, talon-like claws.

It's too much.

Unsteady paws cause him to drop to the ground, surprised at the warm, mud-like pile he lands in. But it's not mud.

He's bleeding.

Stars, he's bleeding. He tries to take in a breath, tries so hard, but it's as if he can't remember - as if yowls and shouts belonging to his brother and friend are drowning out his ability to remember just how to breathe.

"H-help..." Salamander. He needed Salamander. She... She could help. Blurring vision tries to look for her from the ground, but is only able to meet the green eyes of his brother. He's scared. They both are. But, Leaping Toad knows. He knows their separation is imminent, permanent.

"I..." he squeaks out in his dying breath - vision darkening. He's tired, energy diminishing. "I-I'm ... s-sorry... I —" He wants to say more, but doesn't get the opportunity.

His game is over.

Leaping Toad has lost.

// dead.​

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[salamander]

content warnings: swearing, blood, grief, homicidial thoughts and actions.​

No, no, no.

Ash mirrored the move that she taught him. She thought it best that the young tom know how to defend himself, know how to flee from battle. She was wrong and utterly stupid for not realizing that Ash would put himself in danger for those he cared about. That's just who Ash was. And she fucking knew that. She knew that he had the kindest heart yet for some selfish reason she took it upon herself to train the skittish cat in the art of war. A war that never should have taken place. A war that Ash should not be - should not have participated in.

The rancid she-cat who extinguished his light ran away like a coward. Legs itched to follow, claws yearned to destroy, and teeth lusted for blood. And she would have followed - would have done anything to end the life of the molly who stole Ash away like a thief.
But tragedy struck again.

A streak of orange consumed Leaping Toad who had valiantly stood in front of his brother. Blood pooled around his small body in seconds. Salamander blinked and found herself by his side, paws furiously shaking her nephew. "Toad, this isn't the time for games." He still didn't move. "Toad, please, wake up. Wake up!" Her demanding tone fell on forever silenced ears. "You, you can't go. Fuck. FUCK! Fucking take me instead. Give him my breath. ANYTHING!" she yelled at everyone and no one at the same time.

She'd never see his smile again. She'd never see her nephews play fight and run amok around camp. Their laughter would never chime happily together in unison. Death cruelly tore the close siblings apart.

Salamander yowled and howled at the top of her lungs. But she did not cry. Tears did not fall. Instead, she saw red. With a furious battle cry, the blue mink flung herself at Finch. Every attack held deadly intentions and was fueled by an unquenchable rage. She leaped at the tom without a single thought, tunnel-visioned on the murderer. At that moment, she didn't see age. She didn't see Finch as a helpless cat who had yet to fully grow. Instead, she saw him dead. She wanted him to be dead and to pay for the sin he committed. Salamander would use any means necessary, even underhanded tactics if it meant spilling Finch's guts all over the ground.

She cursed Briar for being a stubborn, egotistical bitch who didn't possess a single logical brain cell. She blamed the marsh cats for being complete savages. She scorned the pine cats who simply didn't leave when they had the chance: the reason why this battle started. She screamed at the cream point molly who had been persistent in seeing that family die so she could protect her pathetic, GROWN ASS friends who should know how to defend themselves. Leaping Toad and Ash had been nothing but kits. She hated this cruel world for the way it punished the good and innocent.

But, most of all, she yelled at herself and her shattered promise. She'd promised her nephews that she'd keep them safe but she had been too slow, too unattentive, and too... everything. Everything except what she needed to be: a bulwark in between her family and danger. Why hadn't she insisted they stayed home? Why hadn't she told her father to lock them away somewhere safe? Why, why, why?

Right now, she'd have her vengeance. One by one, she would make them all suffer before leaving the earth to be with her nephew.

ooc:// trying to kill @FINCH. feel free to have her attack him in any way and to roleplay him inflicting the wounds on her face <3 all thoughts are ic only!!​

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[FINCHCATCHER]

He killed a kit.

Stars, he killed a kit.

He's small, and looks hardly older than Finch's brother. Another kit - his initial target - is wailing, begging for the limp body to wake up. He looks almost exactly like his victim, and it doesn't take long for him to realize it: he killed someone's brother.

He feels sick to his stomach, chest tightening at the realization. Was this kit meant to protect his brother, like Finch was meant to protect Cosmos? He'd seen the darker furred kit try to protect the lighter furred one prior to this. Was he meant to have Finch's role? Did he fail to protect him, all because Finch feared the worst at the sight of them near his own kin?

The blue furred she-cat - the one he'd run off from - stands before them now, also begging the kit to get up, only to receive no response.

Toad, he learns. His victim's name is Toad. Was Toad.

The repercussions are swift, after the blue smoke's begging stops. Finally, he gets the fight he wants, but it's far more than what he wanted. The blows are destructive, breaking skin, causing him to bleed, although not enough to compensate his opponent's loss. He's hardly able to get in an attack of his own. And it feels like he's back where he was not too long before the battle broke out - back to being jumped for a mouse, back to being weak, to being defenseless.

She deserved her vengeance - Finch knew that. However, he couldn't leave another kit without his brother. The slightest break in her blows give him a chance to make a move, and white paws reach up, grabbing both sides of his opponent's muzzle. He aims to drag his claws downwards - an effort to throw her downwards, to try to gain the upper hand of the battle.

// @SALAMANDER

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[HATCHINGSTORM]

Hatch is a seasoned fighter. He knows the ins and outs of a battlefield, knows the moves, knows the strategies. He even has the battle scars to prove it, such accumulating from many a fight, many an opponent.

But this? The battlefield before him? This was unlike anything he'd ever seen.

He'd vowed at a young age not to kill. To never kill again, rather. Even in the current battle, he's hardly marred his opponents, leaving those he's fought with the gift of a new battle scar or two - maybe three, or even four - of their own; a permanent mark of change in the forest, a souvenir of the battle, to remind them they fought within history. However, despite being a fighter himself, those around him - both opponents and allies - are more bloodthirsty.

Perhaps in the days of Hatching Bird, he'd be more reckless. Though, even then, it was never to the extent of this - never to the extent of body after body everywhere he looked.

Did it really have to come down to this? To both groups losing siblings? Children? Parents?

He wishes it hadn't come to war, but knows he made a promise to fight alongside the marsh group. So, he continues on, swiping at the nearest pine cat.
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