pafp WARM WELCOME ☄. *. ⋆ HORSE ENCOUNTER / INJURY

[GOLDEN.]

"I can't say I'm loving this neighborhood so far..." The comment rumbles light in his throat, trailing off as he falls slack-jawed to take in the scents of the moor. They'd hit him hard the moment the bunch of them had left the cover of the forest, a unique sort of stink that promised far from good things, in his opinion. Perhaps it was in poor judgement that he continues to tread forward, dry grass flattening between cracked pads. A glance behind tells him that his littermates are following, good─ even if Pigeon's limp makes him wince.

The brilliant sun that soaks through his fur, unhindered by branches swinging overhead almost makes up for whatever small terror his senses were being assaulted with. Almost. His nose scrunches up, reeling as that scent suddenly intensifies. He isn't subtle with his snort of distaste. "Geez, Stormy, you roll in something' nasty earlier, or─"

His jaw falls slack.

Sloped head, beady eyes, quaffed fur running along an unnaturally-long neck and hunk of a body, spotted brown-and-white. Long legs packed with hard muscle run into hard blocks of wood rather than soft-toed paws. It's... a hell of a creature. And conveniently, it's barreling right toward them.

A disbelieving grin stretches upon his features as the abomination draws closer. He forces his fur to lie flat, ignores the gooseflesh rising upon his neck. It doesn't stop. It seems to come faster, even. Golden clenches his jaw, his smile quickly growing frantic. "Guys─"

The thump of heavy hoof meeting dirt snaps him into action. In a golden blur, he darts away from the creature, jostling Pigeon in an attempt to give his sister a boost.

[ caught in a bad spot as TBD (Red tobiano pinto mare) speeds around; please wait for @pigeon ! tagging @STORM &. @honeytwist as well, no need to wait for them! <3 ]
​

 

[pigeon]

"It.. has a pe-peculiar charm?" came the hesitant, tired response. Pigeon tried to look at the positives. Keyword: tried. There was nothing to love about any of this. But this was her fault. Nothing surprising about that. It was always her fault that her family ended up in uncomfortable situations.

A fox had inflicted a nasty wound, one that looked far too inflamed, when she tried to hunt in the forest. She'd failed miserably and, being the bad luck magnet that she was, had gotten a leg stuck in a fox's burrow. Three paws shakily followed her older brothers with her left back paw lifted so it wouldn't have to bare her weight (though, in comparison to most, she was a complete featherweight). Her leg throbbed and burned but she bit back her pain. At least, any verbal sounds of pain; there was no way to hide her contorted face or the watery look in her eyes.

Her nose crinkled, the same scent assaulting her as it did her brother. "Gol-Goldie!" she attempted to chastise him for his remarks against Stormy but.. she couldn't. She was too tired, too weak. It didn't help that her body was so frail, ribs poking easily out from her pelt thinned by malnutrition.

Besides, there would be no time to talk. A creature that mimicked her nightmares raced towards them. The ground rumbled as thunderous hooves thumped around the moors. Fear left her frozen until she felt the encouraging push of her brother. Right, she needed to move. Unsteady paws limped forward - anywhere that would take her away from the monster. She wasn't fast enough, though. Despite Golden risking his life for her, she'd still been caught.

A hoof stepped on her tail and a shrill cry escaped her lips as she felt bones shatter. Thankfully, the sudden noise seemed to cause the mare to change paths... although it was hard to tell. Pain fogged her brain as she opened her mouth but the only sound to come out was a pained squeak before she crumpled to the ground. No amount of adrenaline could override the pain. The blue tortoiseshell, hazel eyes wide, appeared to be going in shock.

"I want my mommy." At least, at least her brothers were safe... right?
​

 

[Dandelionwish]

He'd caught maybe two field mice this entire time being out and it was getting ridiculous. Those horses had ended up being more of a pain than he expected them to be when he first spotted them roaming the moors at a distance, loose from their fence at the barn. He left the barn just for it to follow him, no one would laugh at that joke but Pa and he wasn't here with him. The hunting group Dandelion had joined had roamed off closer to the forest where the stomping equines didn't disturb the ground so badly, but he was still trying his paw out in the tall grass. Call it stubborn pride maybe, but he disliked his favorite spot being so uprooted by outside sources. Those damned things probably scared off every hare for miles. Even from here he could hear them stomping about in some kind of frenzy that-wait. Why were they stomping about?

Dandelion sprang up onto a nearby tree limb, bent into an arch near its tree and making for a neat little bowing perch that let him poke his head up over the long grass without much struggle. At a distance he spotted what looked like one of the red mares kicking up a fuss though from this angle he couldn't determine what it was causing it. Had a dog gotten loose? Dandelion hooked his claws into the tree trunk next to him and began to scale upward even higher in an attempt to put a piece in this here puzzle. It didn't take much height to let him gaze down at what were clearly the colored pelts of cats being circled by the wild mare as she panicked in the flighty way horses often did. They were going to get trampled to death if they didn't get out of there! With a spring the dark-legged apprentice jumped down back to the branch, then just as quickly to the ground before bounding forward to the scene with his tail high and head up. He'd dealt with horses before, it wasn't often they got loose back at the farm but the few times they had enough loud noise sent them scurrying away from the scene like the weak-hearted cowards they were; so he did as he'd done once long ago when he'd tumbled into the stable. He started to yell. A loud 'whoop' of a yowl escaped the young tom as he burst through the grass forward to the other cats huddled there, voice piercing and shrieking and drawn out in a holler of 'YEEEEEEEHAWWWWWW!' that had the already jumpy horse diverting fully from its gallop and making its way away from them. Something had already spooked her given the speed she took off and his mismatched eyes dropped to the smaller of the cats on the ground with a grimace at the sight of her tail. That'd explain it.
It was hard to tell if the mare would come back around, horses weren't exactly what he'd call the smartest sort so he made his introduction quick as a whip, "Name's Dandelion-beggin' yer pardon for rush'n ya, but ya'll need to scoot along with me 'fore we get more hooves comin' down! Can ye walk, do ye need a lift? It's safer near the edge o'the trees nearby if'n ye can make it!"
Then he could figure out how to get Honeytwist out here or find someone to fetch her.

ooc; left if vague if the horse fully left or not in case ya'll wanted more tension!
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[honey]

Honey does not know how she feels about the horses. On one end, they didn’t bother the cats much and some had even grown fond of them, but in the other end, they were trampling all her flowers and marigold patches, and the latter was one she especially needed shes out and about looking for more till a shrill scream splits the air, full of pain and Honey is a streak across the moorland. Her heart is racing and she could only fear the worst at this point, someone had either gotten gravely hurt or possibly even a death.

She skids to a stop as her gaze softens as she enters the scene, swallowing hard as eyes flicker between multiple younger aged cats on their land. Ones tail was bent a crooked angle and their paw looked more than inflamed, she inwardly cringes at the sight. Shes not sure how much longer she has until the stupid horse makes a round, so she lurches forwards to attempt to grab Pigeon’s scruff, hopefully trying to haul her away as she looked to the others with pleading eyes. "I’m here to help," she promises ears flattening at the sound of hooves against earth. "Focus on where that thing is going and get out of the way." she has to set her attention on the shocked tortoiseshell, otherwise infection would begin to set in, and the poor thing already seemed to be in a bunch of pain.

Dandelions here, and his words drone in one ear and out the rest as possibilities of treatment flicker through her mind. She didn’t know how to fix broken bones though. She swallows hard. She knew how to combat infection, address the minor wounds one would get, but she never expected to have to deal with such a bad sight so early on in her career. It makes her stomach churn and anxiety act up as she thumps a foot against the ground, biting her lip as her mind ran through thousands of thoughts at once. "One of you, Dandelion- I need you to get actual dandelion, and I need one of you other ones to get the roots of a comfrey plant. It’s, ah, uh, its a plant with blue flowers. Mon ami, all will be okay, okay? Dandelion I don’t want to drag her there, someone just- keep the horse away. I can’t risk anymore injury to her tail. It’ll be okay, I promise." she tries to give Pigeon a lick on the ear, her claws kneading desperately in to the ground. She feels like a failure, the fact she can’t do more. Oh Starclan, why me?

"Cobwebs, too, please."
​

"speech"​

 

[MALLOWLARK]

Mallow had taken to watching these horses, their strangely-long limbs carrying strangely-long bodies while strangely-long faces dipped to graze on grass. Surely that wasn't a nice meal- a mouthful of greenleaf moor-grass, yellowed and dried by the sun, surely tasted like a mouthful of dust! Apparently they didn't care that there was no flesh and blood in their diet, though... they cared more for flora, for dandelions, and not the cat! Good thing they weren't vicious... they'd be no match for those huge maws, snapping them up like flies....

Well, he had thought they weren't vicious. Commotion nearby warned him that prior perceptions might be wrong.

Honeytwist's tone was urgent, and as Mallow ambled toward the scene and heard her request the delivery of cobwebs a nod jostled his cranium quick as a flint-strike and he was off. Much slower than the more nimble Windclanners, his pace was still a little impressive for a cat of his stature. Between two stones or boulders or rocks or whatever they were called was splayed a spider's home, and around a paw he wound them.

His grin faded not the entire time, even as grey eyes snapped to stare for a few moments at the injured one. His mother's grin had always brightened his spirit- so sharp-toothed and wide eyed, he flashed his unintentionally terrifying expression at the collision victim, one paw raised in the air to protect the cobwebs as he made his bounding return.

Beside Honeytwist did he eventually plop himself, holding out his aw as if is was some sort of cobweb-dispenser.​

[ PENNED BY PIN ]​

 

[STORM.]

A hulking blue-gray shadow looms behind his pale brother like the stormcloud that is his namesake. Pale eyes like new fire sear the horizon, the rolling fields of heather and grass sprawling before the three cats. Wind batters his long fur, and despite the heat, he does not welcome the sensation as it whips against his skin.

He'd been irritated when Golden took the lead, but he'd kept his comments to himself. Pigeon needed someone reliable to help her, he reasons. Their sister limps along, the unpleasant stink of her fox bite a stark reminder of how ill-equipped they are on their own.

Storm's scarred ears flick, unamused, at Golden's comment. "I don't roll in things. That's you. I--"

He's interrupted by a burst of noise, a sensation like the earth shaking beneath them. He turns and stares, half in shock, at the immense beast galloping their way. Shiny red in the sun, hair flowing and glossy in the wind, it charges towards them with blank dark eyes in a long, alien face.

Storm's hackles rise as he bunches his spine. He gives a low yowl, a warning to the creature, but the thing doesn't seem to hear him or care. It blitzes towards them, hooves narrowly missing Storm's tail as he manages to dodge the whirlwind of action. He rolls to the side, heart pounding and legs feeling weak. The adrenaline shoots through him like fresh flame. "Bastard," he snarls, scrambling to his feet with claws exposed. "I'll--"

In his haste, he's forgotten Pigeon, lame from her infected wound, and her shriek of agony pierces the air. Wide, horrified eyes find his sister's dappled tail trampled, mangled beyond belief, and her eyes are cloudy and blank with shock.

"Damn it!" Storm lets out a long, burning hiss. "I'll bring you his hide!"

He whips around, gaze scoring the moors for the creature, but instead finds a tawny blur chasing it away. Another cat, one with an odd scent and an odder voice. The cat is young, younger than them, and open, friendly. Storm doesn't have the capacity to say anything -- he's stunned into silence.

An adult slides toward them from the grass, reddish and white with dual-colored eyes. She goes to Pigeon, demands they get out of her way. Storm gives himself a shake, jostled out of his forced quiet. "Who the hell do you think you are? Back off of her!" He lashes his tail, glare flailing from Honeytwist to Dandelion to Mallow. "If you touch her, I'll make sure you go home in worse shape than her!"

He winces at his own words. Can they really help her? He doesn't know how a cat could. Her tail looks a mess, beyond repair. Surely there's no plant in the world that can cure that.
​

PENNED BY MARQUETTE​

 

[GOLDEN.]

Not fast enough.

Pigeon shrieks as she's caught in the crossfire, practically a whisker out of harm's way, only to be caught by her tail. The thunder the creature brings with it dissolves as quickly as it came, veering away from the group with a shrill cry, as if it were the one injured. Golden's lips draw back in a snarl, any form of composure dropping the moment Pigeon is in harms way. Not again, not another. He's bristling, heaving heavy alongside his brother. A loud cry, danger. Bright luminaries scan the moor. So much open space, so many openings. Beasts ran rampant around the place, they—

A voice, thick with an accent, strange with their words. His blood is still roaring in his ears, lips are still drawn back in a snarl as he whips toward the stranger. Dandelion, or so they claim. He fails to see why such information would be offered so willingly, and now of all times.

Another stranger, and then three. The molly, sweet-furred with odd eyes murmurs orders through bitten lips and clenched teeth. It does nothing to ease the bristling of his fur, and for a moment, he's silent, eyes narrowing into slits at the rather presumptuous crowd. He doesn't find himself disagreeing with Storm's outburst, no, not at all. His nostrils flare at the strangeness of all. "Don't touch her," the hiss comes out, instinctive.

His body remains still, meanwhile, his ears swivel toward those steps that quake the ground, growing quieter with each held breath. The beast is gone. New problem now.

He spares the large, pale tom a glance before his gaze is focused on the molly again. He seems to obey her orders (and she better be relieved, cause he sure as hell wasn't.) The picture wasn't quite right. They were too friendly, too... put together. Who knew why this terror of a tom put so much faith in her, running off to go on the little treasure hunt she's enacted.

Deep breath.

His jaw ticks. Bristles of golden fur begin to lie flat. A strained smile tugs at his lips. He exchanges a glance with Storm, before meeting the molly's eye. "Look," he begins, a sickly-sweet purr suddenly cold in his throat. "I'm not sure what your deal is, but we don't have anything to offer you. We're already short on legs and tails," he adds, tone dropping into something dry. "You be on your way, and we'll be on ours soon enough. Sound good?" he says, voice lilting into something cheerful, though he would offer Pigeon a look. I'm sorry.

His voice lowers into something soft. "Can you walk, Pidge?"​

 

[pigeon]

Shock caused eyes to remain wide open - unblinking. She couldn't feel her tail. She couldn't feel her tail. Though she tried, it would not budge; instead, she was rewarded with dreadful pain. A pain with such an intensity that she had never felt before. Pigeon had been injured and sick a lot. Her life had always been disastrous. But this pain? It couldn't be described.

Body limp, she allowed herself to be dragged away from the scene of the hit and run. Her brothers' protests fell on ringing ears. However, they didn't look happy. She should say something. Escape from this unknown cat's grip and return to them. Though her voice sounded far away, Pigeon was capable of hearing some of the she-cat's words. Mommy? She grasped onto them, the voice keeping the darkness from consuming her vision.

"You be on your way, and we'll be on ours soon enough. Sound good?" Goldie... Stormy... Right, they were waiting for her. They were - wait. Why were they so far away? Ears flattened against her skull as she finally realized the situation. Cats surrounded them. And the molly talking? That wasn't her mommy she desperately called for in her mind. Panic caused her breath to hitch and quicken.

Pigeon always knew she'd be to blame for the demise of her remaining family.

Please don't kill us, please don't kill us. Spare my siblings. Unfortunately, her mouth wasn't working and she could only wail to herself. They were outnumbered. Well, outnumbered due to her. Even if she was well, she'd be of no use in a fight. "Can you walk, Pidge?" No. She couldn't. However, Pigeon knew she needed to - for their sake.

The blue tortoiseshell struggled to her paws, wincing as she accidentally pushed down on her injured leg. Her lip quivered, a whimper escaping her clenched teeth. She couldn't worry her brothers, though. She needed to be tough. For them. Do it for them. Before these cats wrapped them in cobwebs so they'd be unable to move (an impossible feat but that's where her mind went).

"Go-Gol..." Pigeon didn't even get a full step away from the cinnamon tabby when her body tipped over. Everything was so blurry.. and her eyelids.. were suddenly so heavy. But she couldn't - Goldie and Stormy were waiting for her. She tried to crawl away but only managed to drag herself a mere inch. She focused on the radiant fur of Goldie and Stormy's piercing eyes. "St-Sto..."

"Ru-Run." she begged her brothers.
​

 

[Dandelionwish]

"If we wanted ye hurt we'd have left ye to the them 'orses." Dandelion frowned at the immediate hissing and mistrust but he understood. He could not begrudge the cats their concerns or fears because whether good intentions or not they were strangers in a strange place and the trio seemed to have had their fair share of hardships already from the looks of it; the little silver molly's leg didn't look too good and he was pretty sure he saw her limping before the horse got to her.
So even knowing he might get clawed for his efforts the point tom thrust his face forward to speak to the duo without cowering or shying back, "We wanna help-please let Honeytwist look at'er, she's a real smart cat who knows what stuff to put on hurts!" With a flick of his tail he whirled around to do as asked, nearly running into Mallow but managing to only brush shoulders in his hurry to go fetch himself as instructed.
Dandelions! They were useful for healing? He had no idea, what a fun thing to learn about his namesake flower. He'd been named it only because he recalled Ma having a fondness for flowers (herself being named Daisy) and wanting to spread that fondness to her kits. Now it had more meaning, something that lightened his steps as he moved swiftly to the golden heads of the blooms sprouting in patches across the field. A quick snap of his teeth ripped them up into a bundle and he raced back to deliver them to the medicine cat and the scared trio before her.
Dropping the bunch of plants he lifted his head up to Golden's strained pleas and felt his chest tighten. 'Course he was expecting them to owe the WindClanners for this, that a simple kindness had to be paid back-what had happened to these three that they thought that way? The injured cat was trying to encourage them to leave her now and Dandelion bit down hard on his wheat stalk in unease. It wasn't pity in his mismatched gaze but understanding-they must have gone through a lot together.
"Ye can pay us back by helpin me figure out what a dang comfrey is so miss Honeytwist can try to fix this tail situation-! Ah'll go with ya!" He gestured with a flick of his own unbroken tail in a direction he recalled seeing blue flowers. "Longer we sit out 'ere arguing, th'more likely 'nother one of them fool 'orses is gonna come stompin' in."
​

 

[Duskfire]

I WANT SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS​

---

Dusk had felt the ire of Honeytwists words before, back when Hunts Phesants had joined the group. The french shecat had seemingly had no problem snapping at him and putting him in his place for offering anything short of a warm welcome to the stranger in their territory, despite the fact that they'd technically been tresspassing and eating Windclan prey. Sootstar had little patience for outsiders, especially those that refused to acknowledge and respect Windclans claim to the land around them, and more often than not these loners and kittypets were chased away unless they were wise enough to join. And so he knows this entire situation could go south real quick, because theres no way their dark-furred leader was going to be happy with honeytwist wasting supplies on strangers when they could have gone toward the clan instead.

And so when the large copper-gold tom made his way over alongside the others to investigate the commotion, it was with a frown set into his lips. Dandelion and Honeywist seemed eager to help, and Dusk could understand why they'd want to hep the teary-eyed girl, but he still wasn't entirely sold on the idea himself.

"Sootstars not going to be happy about you using supplies on cats that aren't from Windclan." the spotted male notes, not unkindly, with a glance toward their healer. He liked Honeytwist, found her to be a reliable and capable shecat, and while he would guess she was strong enough to deal with sootstars beratings it still wasn't something he wanted her to have to deal with. So he shifted his gaze to the trio and spoke to them directly. "We haven't seen you before on these parts of the moor. If you don't intend to join our group you'll have to leave once Honeys looked you over." And again, he had to be the voice of reason, the bearer of bad news. But he didn't mind- someone hd to do it.
​

---

windclan warrior - male - 17 months - homosexual - polyamorous - single - tall, strong bengal tomcat

 

[honey]

What was motivated by the good of her heart, with nothing but pure intentions had turned south quick. What looked to be her siblings burst in to anger and she had to swallow back her own bitter retort. She had been there, once before, a younger cat of spitfire and protectiveness- though hers was for her parents, not any sibling. "I'm not gonna back off. You're gonna have to trust me." she keeps her voice cool as Mallow returns, as Dandelion retrieves the flowers. "We're not gonna let anything hurt you, I won't let anything hurt you guys." her tone is gentle, eyes flickering between her clanmates- and then Dusk comes up and she bites back a groan of annoyance as he speaks of Sootstar. She had kits of her own, just like Honey did, and as two mothers surely she'd understand where Honey was coming from. These were young children who could die if wounds were left untreated. "I'll deal with the repercussions later, Dusk. Please- they need help."

She turns back to Pigeon. "You're gonna be okay, cherie. Breathe with me, okay? In, and out. In, and out. Focus on me, mon amour." she slips, lets a pleading pitch that lasted no more than a second, but all while her heart thumped as she stared at the wounds. Was this something she could fix, was this something that she could even help with?

What do you call a medicine cat that can't heal?
Useless.

She looks back at Mallow, whose grin is spookily ever-present, his paw wrapped up in cobwebs and she finds herself slightly less jostled by her thoughts. Her clanmates, they believed in her, she couldn't let them down and show them that she had no clue what she was doing. "I'm going to help her, now, you may step close, or you can choose to go with Dandelion, but I will tell you what i'm doing, okay?" she refers to the two younger toms whom had a little outburst, gesturing to them. "Dandelion, its used to help soothe the pain. I'll treat her bite first. Ah, Dandelion, while you're at it, could you fetch marigold too, s'il te plaît? Marigold stops infections when chewed and applied." she had totally forgot about the herb, silly her, it was one of the three that she knew for certain, especially back in her street cat days. She had gotten a ton of nasty scratches, which had all turned out okay with her silly little flowers.

She feels like throwing up as she takes the cobwebs from Mallow, grabbing just enough but not all of them, turning her attention back on to Pigeons tail. "I lied, i'll bind the tail first with cobwebs. Ma cherie, it will hurt, okay? But you're strong, very strong, just stay with us, okay?" she'd decide she'd want to get the marigold to apply to the wound before anything else, or she runs the risk of infection. She attempts to place a soft paw on Pigeons tail base before trying to wind her paw with the cobwebs tightly along the crushed tail. Her stomach churns. She'll pray, tonight, for Starclan to answer how the hell she heals bones. It was obvious, to stop it from moving, to stop the constant flow of pain from moving it because it just makes things worse when you're in pain, but other than that she was completely clueless.

She feels a little less than help right now. Right now, she feels nothing more than Starclans stupid jester.
​

"speech"​

 

[Magpiespark.]

I'VE ALWAYS LIKED TO PLAY WITH FIRE​

---

Maggie supposes this is what she gets for wandering off on her own. She'd grown tired of storms nagging and whinging, the bickering of her brothers grating on her ears. The mottled tortoishells had rolled her eyes and stormed off in a huff - determined to scout ahead. She was plenty big and strong, not like pidge, so she'd figured she could do just fine all on her own. She didn't need goldy to look out for her, though he was by far the most tolerable of the bunch. Yells and shouts and the feeling of the earth quaking underpaw is the only warning she gets, before a familiar screech rings though the air, sending every hair on her pelt prickling with fear. Someone, or something, has hurt her sister.

Magpie is hardly more than a blur of smoke as she flings herself through the grass, skidding to a halt with pelt fluffed up and eyes narrowed. "Who the hell are you?" she doesn't care that this isn't their home, their territory, this is her family - and having missed all the action, she can only assume one of these strangers is at fault for her sisters injuries. "You- you- you leave pidge alone!" her words are emphasized by a strong lash of her bottlebrush tail, and she's one wrong move away from thrashing the nearest cat.

Explanations and consoling words are met by deaf ears, but as orange-gold gaze catches sight of the one called honeytwist soothingly talking her sister through some kind of treatment she pauses, head tipped as the words catch in her throat. This cat at least doesn't seem like someone who needs a walloping. "Why are you helping her?" she says instead, still warry but with the reality of the situation crashing down on her she's no longer ready to attack first and ask questions later.

// late but oh well