sensitive topics the things we lost . badger attack

[jitterbug]

The dense undergrowth of ShadowClan territory provides a familiar sanctuary for Jitterbug. The scent of pine needles and damp earth is comforting, and ey relishes the cool, shaded environment. Ey has always felt at home here among the shadows, away from piercing eyes of others. Jitterbug had woken early, and hadn’t been able to sit still for long, instead resolving to go out on a walk, and perhaps try to bring some prey back as well. As ey is moving, ey is on edge, eir eyes constantly darting around, ears twitching at every rustle. A flicker of movement to the left makes em jerk, a small tic that sends a shiver down eir spine. A bird, nothing more. Ey mutters to emself, an attempt to calm and reassure emself. "Bird, just a bird. Just a bird."

As ey moves deeper into the forest, a low growl rumbles through the air. Jitterbug's heart skips a beat, and ey freeze, ears straining to pinpoint the source of the noise. The wind shifts, just a moment too late. Just as ey catches the scent, a large creature barrels out of the bushes—a badger, its eyes gleaming. Jitterbug's initial reaction is to jump back, a startled yelp escaping eir lips. The shock gives way to adrenaline, eir heart beginning to rapidly pound. The badger lunges, its claws swiping through the air. Ey tries to dodge, but the beast is faster than ey expects. Pain erupts from the back of eir neck, searing and hot, as the badger's claws rake down and across eir face. Ey shriek in pain, stumbling back to try to get away from the badger. Blood pours from the deep gash, blinding em in one eye and matting eir fur. Panic and fury mingle as ey face the snarling creature. Despite the pain, eir mind is clear. Ey knows that ey has to do something. Ey hisses fiercely, the sound cut off by a tic that makes eir jaw snap shut with a click.

Eir mind is racing. Ey had to be smart about this—ey can't match the badger's strength, but ey could outthink it, or perhaps at least outrun it. With a grimace, ey darts to the side, running for a dense thicket where ey could gain some cover. The badger follows, its bulky form crashing through the underbrush. "Think," ey hisses at emself through gritted teeth, eir words half-swallowed by a tic, jaw unwillingly clenching tight. A solution occurs to em, and after a brief moment, ey manages to duck to avoid another swipe from the badger and push emself to run faster. Jitterbug dashes towards a tree, squeezing through the narrow gaps between the branches as ey rapidly climbs up the bark, quickly maneuvering emself out of the brute’s reach. The badger roars in frustration, its larger body struggling to follow. Ey glances back, the motion causing another wave of pain to crash over em now that the adrenaline is beginning to wear off. Ey bites back a sound, hoping that being out of the badger’s reach and staying quiet is enough for it to lose interest. The badger, unable to follow em, growls lowly and lumbers off.

Breathing heavily, ey takes the opportunity to try to calm down. From the safety of the higher branches, ey watches as the badger finally leaves, its growls fading into the distance. Exhausted, in pain, Jitterbug leans against the trunk, eir vision swimming. "Camp… gotta get to camp," ey mumbles to emself. The wound on eir neck and face throbs with every heartbeat, but ey knows ey can’t stay here. Once ey feels enough time has passed, ey clumsily climbs down from the tree, beginning to walk back in the direction of camp.
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[Duckshimmer]

*+:｡.｡ Unlucky.

When Duckshimmer left camp that morning, she expected to have a peaceful patrol. Alongside the other members of her party, the nice evening weather, and the still flourishing but thankfully diminishing frog population, what other outcome was there to expect? Certainly not stumbling upon the walking corpse of a young Jitterbug.

At first, Duckshimmer wasn't sure what to make of the exhausted creature staggering towards her. In an instant, her spine arched and a hiss parted her jaws, the scent of blood and badger so thick upon the bloodied hyde of the ebony-coated animal that she almost mistook her clanmate for Jitter's own assailant! But when she finally took in those familiar blue eyes, a uniquely blue to Betonyfrost's jade green but sharing a similar eye-shape nonetheless, the panic in her chest took on a different form.

"Jitterbug, dear!" A strangled gasp escapes her, dropping her raised hackles to instead lunge forth. She's no medicine cat, but she heard a thing or two about not jostling the injured, so she hesitates at the last second before making contact with the young warrior. Still, there was no time to waste, and as gently as she could, she pressed her flank against Jitterbug's, aiming to hook her shoulder under eir's should ey need someone to lean on. "Who did this to you?" she can't help but ask, already a righteous fury bubbling in her chest.

Once she gets her paws on whatever did this to Jitterbug, Starclan help their soul. Not that there would be any saving it once she digs both her paws deep into their gullet and inch by inch drag out their intestines through their esophagus until the bastard's mouth is full of the taste of their own fucking shit!

*+:｡.｡ Updated 12/15/23

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  GENERAL:
  ⚜ Duckshimmer
  ⚜ DFAB— She/Her — Bisexual
  ⚜ 30 moons — Ages 1 moon every month real-time
  ⚜ Mother to Singepaw, Swallowpaw and Sneezepaw
  ⚜ Shadowclan — Warrior
  
  
  
  
  
  COMBAT:
  ⚜Physically hard | mentally hard
  ⚜ Attack in bold #ffa98f
  injuries: None currently

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[SHARPSHADOW]

The swamp was unrelenting. It's a lesson well - learned by them all now. Especially by those who've lost family to the curl of its claws. And so why, why, why was Jitterbug out alone? Frantic grey eyes rush in alongside Duckshimmer's concerned blue. Sharpshadow practically trips over herself in her desperation to reach the young warrior before they could collapse. It's not as if he had some healing touch, it's not as if they very well couldn't bleed out between here and camp, but stupidly, Sharpshadow rushes forward as if everything would be fine, so long as she gets there in time.

Sharpshadow comes to Jitterbug's other side, a second shoulder if they needed one. " Not who, but what. Can we ever get a break? " The warrior reeks of badger, yet another thing they would need to add to their list of potential dangers around every corner. No leaving without a warrior, then two. Would it become four now? An entire patrol you'd need with you, to ever leave the barely - there sanctity of camps walls? Sharpshadow bites down on her lips, holding back the questions she wanted to fling their way. They needed their strength to make it to Starlingheart, right now...

" The story for why you're out her better be... good. Don't tell me now, " he grits. " S-someone tell Starlingheart we're coming, " in the weak imitation of an order, he says.​

 

[MIREPURR]

FETCHING @Starlingheart​

When Mirepurr had decided to tag along and join Duckshimmer's patrol, they had hoped for a peaceful day- and oh, how wrong they were. If they were a less sturdy cat, they'd have probably decided to learn this lesson many moons ago; that the marshes are not safe and no amount of company Chilledstar orders to avoid their Clanmates going out alone, trouble would always find them, one way or another.

Scents of blood and badger hit their nose and cause them to flinch, almost as if the two have manifested into something physical and slapped them. The reek of predator and strong tang of iron coat their tongue... truly, they've lost count of these surprise attacks by this point.

Side by side, Mirepurr arrives with the rest of the patrol to the scene, and their voice echoes Duckshimmer's own. "Jitterbug!" Eir normally dark, charcoal fur is tainted, and it's a miracle ey even manages to stand. Mirepurr takes a moment to listen to their surroundings but the badger has already left the scene of the crime. Probably for the best - whatever amount of desire they all feel for revenge, it would not be the sharpest idea to fight it with Jitterbug still here and clearly suffering.

"On my way," they meow to Sharpshadow, pelting through the undergrowth at top speed. With such severe wounds, they decide to try and get Starlingheart here first instead of painstakingly drag Jitterbug home, lest ey bleeds out on the way. Just stay alive til then.
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[Snowlark.]

[ ༻❄༺ ] Would seem that the marsh's curse once again struck Shadowclan, reminding them all that it could be any of them. He walked close to his mentor, yellow eyes calm, expecting today to go smoothly, of course that was until they stumbled upon eir injured and reeking of Badger, which made the young tom's fur begin to rise on his spine, Mirepurr already going ahead to warn Starlingheart of their arrival with an injured clanmate. Would the marsh take Jitterbug too? A shaky breath came from his lips as they watch Mirepurr disappear in the distance.

His gaze then focused back to Jitterbug with a frown on his maw. "Would the marsh ever let us have our peace" he murmured softly, paw shuffling awkwardly unsure what he could even do other than to stick close to the patrol until they arrived back at camp with eir in tow to get them checked out and...hopefully Jitterbug would live to see another day. Shadowclan did not need another claimed by the dead, not anymore, not after all the other deaths they have. His stubby tail swishing a bit nervously, everyone here already had been quick to eir's side so...Snowpaw was all but dead weight in this situation unless Starlingheart or another asked for assistance.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── You ve wasted your life , but thanks for applying ──┐‎

• 
  "speak""Thoughts"
  
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  Snowpaw ❄ He/Him, apprentice of Shadowclan, 9 moons.
  ⭃ Lithe long hair blue lynx sepia with high white, and yellow eyes. Stubby tail, permanent resting bitch face
  ⭃ Hailfreckle x Mudsplash
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted (ask first) / / underline and tag when attacking
  ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by Ryn ↛ @/Rynnaro on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

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[CHILLEDSTAR.]

chilledstar wonders why they set rules at all if so many cats are going to disregard them. every single time something like this happens, they're forced to pretend like it doesn't wound them that their clan just doesn't fucking listen. why be leader at all if they're not going to be listened to? it would be easier if I wasn't. but I am. suck it up, and do your duty, chilledstar. betonyfrost was going to have a field day with this, wasn't she? maybe she would blame them for not loving her or whatever was going on in her mind. but this was not about either of them, was it? chilledstar huffed as they gently looked over jitterbug, and eir wounds. nothing they could do for it. they're not a medicine cat.

"it won't. but we can stay strong and fight back like hell. help em to starlingheart. anyone that is free, let's go. we are going to see how far this thing is away from here. I'll be damned if anyone gets hurt and for fucks sake, stop leaving camp alone!"

they're tired of repeating themself but they seem to keep doing it. how annoying.

———————---***ALL OF MY FEELINGS ARE GONE***———————---​

I LEFT 'EM ALL ON THE FLOOR✧ MAN WHO'S TO BLAME IF YOU DON'T LOVE ME NO MORE

•  
• — black feline with a white marking across their face, a white chin, a white right front paw, and blue eyes. chilledstar is covered in scars, the most prominent ones being the one across their face, and the one across their neck.
  — 46 moons old; ages the 3rd every month
  — they / them pronouns
  — aromantic / homosexual ; currently not looking / looking
  — child of JAGGED and RAVEN
  — shadowclan ; loyal to shadowclan ; other info if applicable
  — mildly difficult to befriend ; trusts barely anyone; trusts no one outside of shadowclan
  — "speech", thoughts, attacking
  — peaceful powerplay allowed

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[Starlingheart]

Starlingheart is prepared for emergencies such as this, but it never gets easier seeing her clanmates in pain. Especially when it was something that could so easily be avoided by just listening for once. But the warriors of the marsh are stubborn, a trait she has been dealing with and cursing since she had first taken up the mantle from her aunt. With no apprentice to help her, she immediately enlists Mirepurr as her stand in. "C-carry this.. please" she says, quickly nosing a bundle of cobwebs in the direction of the chocolate-coated warrior, letting them lead the way back to where the warrior had been last they'd seen them, her own bundle of herbs clutched tightly in her jaws as they swiftly weave through the pines and marsh.

When she arrives, she cuts straight through the other cats to Jitterbugs side. "I can st-stop the bleeding and treat them but we- we need to get back to camp sw-swiftly. Whatever attacked them could still be out here" her lone eye skitters about the shadows, as if afraid that at any moment there could be something lurking in her blind spot. There were plenty of warriors here, but she had no doubt that the smell of blood and the thought of easy prey would attract something soon...

"Hey- hey I'm here it's okay" she coos softly, the voice she had once used on her kits when they were troubled. With one paw, she holds the cobwebs in place over the worst of the wounds, the ones she would need to treat before they could move them but she is only one cat and she finds herself almost ready to cry at the thought that with Magpiepaw gone, everything had become so much more difficult.

She would do what she had always done in the past when tragedy faces her, however. She would grit her teeth and she would push through it. With one paw in place she chews the herbs, removes the cobwebs and spreads the pulp on the wound before quickly replacing them. "D-do you think you can eat these?" she asks as she holds dandelion seeds up to their mouth, forcing her voice to remain calm despite the tumultuous feelings spinning around her head like a hurricane. If she let go now, she would be lost in the storm, and Jitterbug would be swept up alongside her. Collateral to feelings spinning out of control. She would not allow that to happen.

( ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. ) fly me up on a silver wing

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  STARLINGHEART SHADOWCLAN MEDICINE CAT; SHE / HER ; SISTER TO PITCHSTAR, CHITTERTONGUE, NIGHTSWARM, SKUNKTAIL, AND LILACFUR. MOTHER TO NETTLEPAW, FLINTPAW AND GHOSTPAW.
  

  A skinny she cat with short black and white fur littered with scars and one singular green eye.

  ✦ Easy in battle + has little to no formal battle training
  

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