sensitive topics THE TURBULENCE WASN'T FORECASTED / heatstroke, death

[VIOLETNOSE]

It is unbearably hot. Even in the shade of the forest canopy, the scorching temperatures of Greenleaf prevail. Violetnose’s pads have been accumulating sweat since the moment the hunting patrol left camp. Which only makes her situation even worse, as the sensation of dirt clinging to her clammy paws is uncomfortable at best and downright abhorrent at worst. And with her mood continually plummeting the longer the afternoon patrol dredges on, she’s inclined to say it is the latter. Every couple of steps, Violetnose is shaking her paws and brooding over how horrible this weather is.

The sweat doesn’t even do much of anything to cool her off; not with her long, thick pelt trapping in the heat. But, even as miserable as she is, she’s too stubborn to do anything. SkyClan still needs to eat, no matter how hot the Greenleaf days grow. Retreating to camp wouldn’t help to feed her clan. Complaining wouldn’t do anything other than scare off potential prey. So, Violetnose decides to grit her teeth and bear it.

Or, she would grit her teeth, if she didn’t start panting halfway through the trek.

The scent of a mouse brings a sense of hope to the patrol. Violetnose declares that she’ll track it down, urging her other party members to continue on. It would be wasting valuable time for them to stand around and wait for her, after all.

Tracking down the mouse should’ve come easy to her; she’s one of the best trackers in SkyClan, and she prides herself on that fact. But something is off about today. She couldn’t focus on anything other than how hot she is. Her attention would drift from the scent trail, and she’d find herself a few fox-lengths away, which led to her having to try and find it all over again. Rinse and repeat. Violetnose feels as if she’s walking in circles.

“Ugh!” She shakes her head and groans. Saliva spatters across the ground. Where is she? She knows this territory like the back of her paw, but for some reason, she couldn’t remember what path she’d taken to get here. “Where did it go…?” Violetnose needs that… What was it again? A vole?

She needs that vole.

Her heart pounds in her ears as she plods along, her paws feeling as if they’ve been weighed down by stones. Drool dribbles from her lips as she pants. So hot. Violetnose is convinced there must be a fire blazing underneath her skin, she’s so hot. But she needs…

What does she need?

She careens to one side, her shoulder hitting the trunk of a tree. Violetnose groans, slowly sinking down onto her haunches. She needs a break. Just a small break, and then she’ll find whatever it was that she was searching for. With sluggish movements, she tries to groom herself, hoping that would help to cool her off. But it does little to nothing to soothe the burning beneath her thick coat.

Her eyelids begin to droop. Her body begins to tremble. Violetnose collapses fully, her tongue lolling against the grass.

As her consciousness begins to slip away, the scent of daisies surrounds her. It is so achingly familiar, despite how long it has been since she’s smelled it. Distant memories of the nursery, of burying her nose into her mother’s fur and inhaling the comforting scent of daisies.

Her mind is too addled to comprehend the true meaning of this. All that she can think is that her mother is alive, and has come to help her. With a weary smile, Violetnose chokes out one final word before she crosses the border between life and death.

“Ma…”

Exhaled on her last breath, Violetnose’s body stills.

[ tl;dr, violet has a heatstroke while tracking down a mouse and ends up dying. i never was active with her, which i regret, but i enjoyed rping her with y'all <3 ! anyone is free to have been on the patrol with her/find her. ]
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[DOEBLAZE]

The day is scorching, hotter than any Doeblaze thinks she's seen to date. The ground wavers in the distance, rippling like water and making her tongue ever drier; the sun bears down from above, an angry god cast in brilliant light and flaming brands of sunbeam raking down her back. " Here, we'll take a break, " she mrrows as she clambers down from a low - hanging branch, amidst her attempts to give @cloudypaw~ an instructive climbing lesson even in this weather. She'd thought the trees might provide some coolness in their shade, but it'd not been much better in the canopy. " We'll head to the river and get a good long drink, 'kay? "

A sharp jade eye flickers periodically towards her apprentice as the two of them make in the direction of the cool salvation of RiverClan's border, checking to make sure Cloudypaw, unused to the blazing conditions of the wild, is holding up alright. " Not much farther now, " she reassures as the pair weave between stout trunks, sticking to the shadows as best she can in the hopes of easing the sun's merciless burning against her back. They turn the next trunk, and . . .

" Violetnose? " Her eye snaps wide, the pupil narrowing to a sliver. The warrior lolls by a tree - trunk a couple tail - lengths ahead, a heap of sturdy limbs and tortie fur with a dry pink tongue poking out against the grass, saliva splattering the ground under her barely - parted jaw. She could be sleeping, coaxed into it by the heat of the day, but . . . the white - freckled fur along Doeblaze's spine bristles and rises, hair prickling cold between her shoulders and sending a shiver through oft - unwavering limbs. The stillness of the warrior is unusual, uncanny, and Doeblaze flicks her tail for Cloudypaw to stay by the tree they'd just turned as she steps forward.

" Violetno— " she starts, white paw hesitantly prodding the warrior's limp shoulder. Her voice stutters in her throat; though the fur under her paw is hot, it's that of the sun above, not a living warmth—for Violetnose is deathly still, her flanks unrising. Doeblaze swallows, hard, half - turning back towards her apprentice. We'll need a couple cats to help carry her back to camp, she thinks, ever - practical, though she tastes bitterness on her tongue at the thought.

Stepping back to her apprentice's side, torn ears swivel back against her head in thought. She's hesitant to send Cloudypaw off on his own to fetch a patrol—he'd done well doing it before, but the distance had been shorter and the situation less fraught. What if something had . . . killed Violetnose, after all, though there was no blood to be found? She has no intentions of concealing the warrior's death from her apprentice, for he'll have to brush pelts with death eventually, but she also doesn't think the two of them can carry Violetnose back to camp—at least in a way that honors her, not being dragged like prey through the dirt. The tabby mutters, " Stars . . . "

Luckily, someone comes by to at least partially free Doeblaze from her dilemma. A scruffy head swivels towards the new arrivals, and she swallows hard. " She's with StarClan, " the warrior mrrows solemnly with a nod to the limp form of Violetnose, regret pooling in a jade eye. If I'd gotten here earlier . . . " Cloudypaw and I just got here—I don't know what it was, " she sighs; death stalks their Clan like a carrion bird, shadow ever - wheeling above them all. Her maw sets in a grim line. " I'll need help to carry her back to camp. "

OOC : —

♥︎

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[Daisyflight]

"SUREFIRE, YEAH, THE SETTING SUN WANTS COMPANY"​

Simmering Greenleaf stilled, a preternatural chill ushered in. In the periphery of the living, shards of sun near softened, the night come to rest briefly. Daisyflight alit upon needle-quilt earth and took a rare lungful of mundane air. Pine scent lacquered her palette. Nostalgia went ignored, however, as Violetnose’s feverish condition crystallised.

Life sifted from her daughter’s form slowly, bled by sun-sickness. Her char flank was met with the icy tip of a tail, swept fondly in a manner done so often in the past. A gentle indicator of the calico’s presence. Despite her expression going unseen, Daisyflight stitched tight where anguish threatened to leaden her maw.

“Steady, you’re safe.” Damp with star-glitter, her nose met the other’s brow, unable to resist neatening the ruffled fur. Moons of tending to one’s kits, their every need, could do nothing to dull the blow of seeing them grown and suffering. Time stoked independence, rightly, and the separation burnt. Even when young, Violetnose had been especially self-sufficient, her forthright tone bringing her mother particular pride. But now, the visage trembled, second of their litter to be laid out beside snowy paws.

Torrid lungs eventually stuttered on one last breath. Departed vitality fizzed into being on the side of night and star. Empyrean, the nova settled with a finality that rang bittersweet- an end to the opportunities of life, but also the labours of it. The otherside was an unnatural reprieve, but Daisyflight was fiercely grateful that her kin could join her there.

Starclan was before them. “Let us be off, Violetnose.” Said for the first time in full, the warrior’s name was rasped out with a tender smile. ​

✿ ✿ ✿​

 

[Johnnyflame]

MY WORLDS ON FIRE, HOW 'BOUT YOURS?
THAT'S THE WAY I LIKE IT AND I NEVER GET BORED."​

---

Johnny heaved a deep sigh at the words, gaze landing on the still form of Violetnose with a soft shake of his head. Another cat, gone before their time. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get over the injustice of it even if he knew it wasn’t something that could ever be helped. Sometimes, bad things just happened and there was nothing that could be done about it. A fox killed a clanmate. A cat crossed the thunderpath at the wrong time. A dog got loose in the woods.

Each time it happened he felt the same sorrow and frustration, waiting almost bitterly for the day it would take someone close to him and carve out a piece of his heart with it. How many pieces could death take before there was nothing left inside? Would it leave him numb to it then? Would he even want that?

”Doesn’t look like a predator got to her, or another cat for that matter.” he noted, taking a quick taste of the air to confirm there was no other scent there but that of poor Violetnose. ”I’ll help you lift her back to camp.” he offered, glancing toward Sangripaw who’d been trailing behind him. The heat was hell today, but he doubted that it would do anything to dampen the blow of seeing a dead clanmate.

@SANGRIAPAW

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[SANGRIAPAW]

✧ The heat is overbearing, and the torbie apprentice finds herself glad to have a home to return to every day. Indoors, it’s cool and her nest is always at the perfect temperature for a good night’s rest. But she can’t spend every day inside—she has apprentice duties to do, and she doesn’t want to fall behind! So she trails after her mentor, head held high and vigilant as she strides along. Vigilance serves her well today, because she spots the body lying on the ground, recognizes it, even before Johnnyflame says anything about it. Violetnose lies in a heap upon the ground, and the girl’s heart drops. She's with StarClan, says Doeblaze. Sangriapaw wishes she could unhear the lilac tabby’s solemn words. "No—no, she can’t be," she protests, her own voice trembling with disbelief. That’s… that’s her aunt. She can’t be dead. She can’t be gone forever. She doesn’t even look like she’s hurt at all!

The girl trots over to where her aunt lies still on the ground, her paws shaking with each step. Her pale nose presses into the older she-cat’s fur, vision blurring with tears. "Violetnose, come on, wake up. Please, please…" A sniffle escapes her, even as she tries to stay strong. Tough, like she’s supposed to be. ’Cause she’s not a baby or a dumb kittypet—she’s a SkyClan apprentice, and that means a lot of things, but most of all it means being tough and acting like a warrior. Even when she wants to scream because her aunt just won’t get up. Johnnyflame suggests that they carry her back to camp, and Sangriapaw shakes her head frantically. "No, she’ll be okay, she just has to…" get up.

✧ gliding down the rainbow

• ooc: —
• 
  SANGRIAPAW ❯❯ she/her, daylight apprentice of skyclan
  ⭃ cinnamon torbie with white spotting and vibrant leaf-green eyes. bold, bright, and curious.
  ⭃ daughter of fantastream & figfeather ; sister to coffeepaw
  ⭃ mentored by johnnyflame
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
  ⭃ penned by foxlore

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[DUSKPOOL]

don't raise your voice . improve your argument .
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

It was hotter than usual with the sun bearin’ down a thousand curses, peltin’ long obsidian fur and turnin’ it blisterin’ hot. He breathed hotly, nostrils flarin’ outward in distaste. Duskpool preferred freezin’ his tail-end and rickety bones that pulsed uncomfortably. Tossin’ a glance at Chivepaw, Duskpool decided it was best time they headed back before the heat became too unbearable for the mentor-apprentice duo.

A mangled ear perked at the commotion close to them, brows creasin’ in muffled confusion, wooly plumage flickerin’ signalin’ the apprentice to follow the silent male, calloused paw pads brushin’ through the undergrowth when Violetnose’s limp form came into view. “Stay here, kiddo.” He muttered to his apprentice, blockin’ the other’s view. His breath hitched, face impassively blank, but grief clouded molten hues, helm dippin’ in respect.

Take care.

“Hey kiddo—” His timbre a low, guttural thing, molten hues flickerin’ to Johnnyflame. “—Why don’t we head back to warn Dawnglare and Fireflyglow?” He prodded, timbre monotonous, watchin’ Sangriapaw shake Violetnose’s frame.

@NEMO​

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thought speech​