THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE AIR - patrol return

[Rain]

Today was different, though Rain could not quite put a paw on why, something just felt off, wrong. It was like there was a static having in the air, heavy and thick and charged with energy. He sat in anticipation of something but he wasn't sure what he should be expecting, it was just a funny feeling gnawing away at his stomach that there was a thing that was not right. Perhaps it was the fact that this afternoon's hunting patrol had not yet returned, the sun was starting to dip below the horizon, streaking the sky with hues of orange and red. Usually, he stops to admire such a sight but today the color made him shudder. Red, like blood.

He is seated in the middle of the clearing, watching, waiting, unable to do anything else. He's growing worried, should he send out more cats to search for the missing hunting party, or would that only be putting more cats in danger? It was hard being a leader sometimes, and Rain had never even expected to be in this position when he had left his twolegs home almost two years ago, it had sort of just fallen into his lap, all this responsibility. He loved that cats looked up to him, but in times like these, where the worry was almost too much to bear. He shuffles his feet, unable to sit still. Hopefully, they would return soon.

/please wait for @ember to reply
​

 

[emberstar]

HANGING ONTO HOPE​

The scene runs through Ember's head again and again as she tries to make sense of what happened. It was all over so fast. She wished she had been able to jump to Finch's defense or, even better, found a way to keep the peace entirely. They hadn't done anything to provoke the foul-smelling strangers though, had they? Unless the few sharp words the kid had said before he got jumped were enough to warrant aggression in the eyes of his attackers.

Her steps are slow as she leads the way into camp, the usual bounce gone from her step. An ear flicks. After a moment she glances up and her gaze finds Rain. She forces a smile onto her face. "Heya boss man." She greets with little cheer. Her eyes can't seem to meet his. "There was, uh, a lot of excitement today. Ran into another group of cats, the others said they're from the marsh. Well, they certainly reacted kind harsh." A weak laugh comes with her attempt at a joke. She's stalling. How she wishes she weren't the one to give him the bad news. She didn't think she was taking this leader thing seriously, and yet she can't help but feel like she's going to disappoint him.

Ember takes a breath and stands up a little straighter.

"I lead the patrol into the two of them I saw. There were two more hidden in the trees that got behind us and-" A pause. "One of them jumped Finch. Got teeth in him. He's alive but Red had to help him get back here." She glances worriedly behind her. Winces as she thinks that she should have been the one to help. How bad at this could one cat be? Suddenly she realized there was one last thing she had to add, and turned back to the leader.

"The other cat that got behind us, a midnight black molly, she told us to give you her 'deepest apologies' and that you could talk to her about it?" ​

 

[CHAR]

You'd have to be a fool not to notice how thick the tension in camp is today. That's what Char thinks. A group went into the oak forest, seeking richer prey options than what the pine has to offer. He doesn't know why Rain is so worried; perhaps they've been gone longer than he's thought.

When the head of the patrol comes back, Char relaxes visibly--until she sees the strained look on Ember's normally bright face. Char rises, scarred paws taking him close to Rain. He sits and stares with an unreadable grass-colored gaze.

"He's alive but Red had to help him get back here."

Char grits his teeth. Damned swamp cats, drawing innocent blood over a mouse. He's met groups like that in his life--far too many--and he finds himself wishing he'd been there. He might have been able to show that foxheart a thing or two for attacking a young cat unprovoked.

"They think they can walk all over us," he rumbles, giving Rain a pointed look. Surely, their benevolent leader would not sit by and let this go? Finch was hurt. Hurt over nothing. "At this rate, they'll barge in here and try to drive us out for a couple of mouse tails."

He frowns. He's not an antagonistic cat, normally. But Char has seen too much injustice in his life. It's beginning to sour him. Besides, though he won't admit it, he's begun to think of many of the cats in the group as sort of... distant companions. He does not like to think about all of them being driven away, with no place to run to.
​

 

[BLUE]

The tom has just been returning when his ears pick up on the sounds of something. One kf their patrols had encountered the marsh colony and his eyes took on a brighter note. One that was in contrast to what was said and it makes the light fade. Worry dancing behind those bright emeralds that always shone so brightly. As he neared he finds himself pondering and his stomach churning. Was Finch really attacked by them? It boggles his mind honestly and the fact that he is so young makes it even worse. He wants to believe that not ever cat is bad. That the whole other colony can't all be bad cats but it is hard. Especially with youth involved. "Of course Rain isn't going to let this pass without speaking to them. It has to be a misunderstanding. Talking will sort it all out, not fighting."

They needed to fix things. He is sure that they can live here in harmony together. It just takes time for things to settle. Yeah, of course. The grey toned tom sighs softly as he looks to Ember before frowning a little. "How did Finch look? Not too bad right?" But if Red had to help the other get back who knows how bad it really is.​

[ PENNED BY RHOS ]​

 

[FINCHCATCHER]

With help, Finch is able to make it back to camp.

He’s exhausted from the pain caused by teeth and claws breaking skin. He’s unsure if the loss of blood had slowed to a stop, nor how bad his injuries truly were. However, where snowy shades once inhabited his fur, where flame hues once lived, crimson replaced. His pelt, usually laid flat in a neat manner, was now unkempt - dried into crisp spikes along the back of his neck and shoulder.

Mismatched eyes spot Ember speaking to Rain. His ears twitch as his name echoes through the voices of others listening in. He’d be all they’d gossip about for the next few sunrises, for sure.

“ ‘M h-here…” he manages to let out. His head is pounding from hitting the ground. The cats before him double, triple, in his field of vision, blurring in and out. He feels his paws stumble forward, the world spinning too fast beneath him, and he tries his best to lean closer to the one who led him back, Red. “They… They stole Cosmos’... h-his mouse.” He needs to find another mouse to feed his brother. But he's tired. So very tired.

​

 

[honey]

Theres hustle and bustle in the clearing, but theres tension that lays between like electricity. Its suffocating and she wants to go turn tail and hide, but something beckons her forth and she finds herself nearly hurling from Finch's injuries. "We have mice in here. Cosmos okay." her voice is shaky, breathless and for a moment all she can think in is French, but it would be no good for these cats. She is feeling faint herself and she feels selfish, wide eyes and paws planted on the ground like a root.
"Est-ce que ça va?" she approaches, gently, tentatively, almost as if Finch were a glass being that would shatter between her paws. "Talking...? Look, look how they hurt him." shes about to cry, the poor thing. She has seen her fair share of injuries, back in Paris, back where the streets were cruel. Had she made a mistake to come here, seek comfort in this group? "Bad... Very bad." she looks towards Finch with a pleading look, her crippling anxiety nearly gone for a moment (now replaced with the fear of the outsiders). "You need help. Can I... Help?" her voice is quiet and shes self conscious of herself once more, but it had to be put aside, the sick feeling she felt had to be, otherwise she would be no help to anyone, anyone ever.​

☾ "speech" ☽​

 

[Rain]

He immediately jumps to his feet the moment Ember comes back into the camp, only she is alone, the rest of the patrol is not within sight. He bites his lip in concern. The lack of cats and the look on the flame points face is enough to tell him that there was indeed cause for concern after all.

He listens patiently to her message, tail, for once, uncurled and flicking back and forth behind him in apprehension and anger. Finch, of all the cats they had chosen to attack they had chosen the youngest out of the patrol? Why?

‘She told us to give you her deepest apologies’ Rain scoffs at the sentence, it was no secret that Briar and her group of scoundrels held a certain distain towards them, he bets the she cat who jumped Finch will get away with this with barely nothing for a punishment You can bet a hundred mice I’m going to go talk to her. The cats who did this will not be aloud to get away with it” he says to no one in particular, his voice a low growl. ”thank you Ember for telling me” he says with a small dip of his head

He flicks his ears as he listens to Blue’s concerned words, hoping that Ember would answer the pressing question of ‘is finch okay?’ They did not have the magic that twolegs did to heal, if he was badly hurt rain didn’t know what they were going to do. He bites his lip nervously and is about to say something to reassure them when the tom in question stumbles into the camp, his son at his side supporting him and helping him.

”Fritter’s right Finch he reassures him with a gentle smile, pushing aside all his own worries, for now. ”we take care of each other here, Cosmos will be alright, you need to rest though with his head, he gestures to the den where the nests are all laid out. Right now the best thing for Finch would be to lay down, maybe get some cobwebs on him. He wasn’t sure what else they could do right now to help. If things got really bad they would have to take him to the twolegs and well, that would be a last case scenario. Once he is turned around, away from the equally nervous faces of the cats of his group, he resumes biting his own lip in worry. He needed to talk to Briar about this for sure. ​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[Lionsnarl]

"GIRL, YOU'RE A DIME, I'M A DIAMOND"​

Dark eyes survey the scene, flitting between Ember's wince and Finch's woozy frame. Finch, who seemed a paw-step away from collapse. Finch, who was covered in blood. Tugger's eyes flash dangerously and his claws slide out of their sheathes. Talk to her, Rain echoes, and Tugger fights the urge to scoff. Obviously talking to the midnight cur isn't going to do anything. Talking to that thing wouldn't heal Finch's wounds, nor would it replace Cosmos' mouse. Pond-scum slurping thieves, the whole lot of 'em.

His tail flicks, once. Twice. His claws retract and finally he speaks, his eyes trained on Finch. "Lay down. I'll try to find something to clean your fur. We need to see how bad it is. If you're lucky, maybe one of the part-timers can take you to one of their night homes to get looked at."
Despite his current status as one of Rain's permanent followers, Tugger still held the humans that he hauled from in high regard. They had cures and medicines for most any ailment. It would be foolish, in his opinion, to squander such a possibility if it meant the difference between bleeding out and being a little uncomfortable in a house for a bit.​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[FINCHCATCHER]

The assurance that Cosmos would be fine was all that mattered to Finch.

Finch could be pushed around as much as others wanted to push him around- to sink their claws into his fur, to draw his blood- if it meant Cosmos would be safe from harm’s way. However, he hopes his brother is fast asleep in his nest, far from the nightmare-inducing appearance that was Finch’s injuries.

It is one of the newer faces to the group- at least, deemed newer by the cats who’d been living here longer than him; Finch can’t quite remember whether she was here when he and Cosmos made their arrival- that first assures him that his brother is okay, before offering to help him. The fiery tom isn’t quite sure what she can do to help, but offers a small nod of his head anyway, unsure who else would be able to help with his injuries.

Rain offers assurance as well, and points him towards the nests to rest. He nods his head at that as well, the comfort of feathers and moss and a bit of shut-eye sounding so very nice to his exhausted form. He isn’t sure if he’ll be able to get there on his own, but he’ll try his best, if need be.

But, Tugger, who mentions night-homes, urges him to lay down right there. It isn’t a nest, but he supposes it’s for the best if he gets sorted out before he’s able to go lie somewhere proper, so he doesn’t shed blood all over the den. So, he shakily settles on the ground, the idea of having to be sent to a night-home causing unease. He isn’t quite sure what happens, at these night-homes, but he doesn’t think his brother would be able to go with him. Hopefully Fritter can help him, so it doesn’t have to come to that.
​