wc rebels yes & no — unfortunate situation

Sep 22, 2023
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your entire existence gives me a headache, go stand over there .
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
How troublesome. To be suspended in nothingness, not even an ounce of color to shine through the pit he stumbled into willingly. Even more helpless than a newborn kit walking for the first time—times that tasted like sweet nectar now soured in his mouth erupting a crinkle of his muzzle, helm jerking away from the half-eaten prey between massive paws.

With some effort, Fogbound stumbled from his lounging position to face the winter cold biting at his cheeks, paws hesitant for the first time in moons. It left Fogbound stiffening, lips peeled into a frown, at a loss for what to do. His other—taken by an adventurous badger—allowed blurry shadows, appeasing the curling terror that had sunk in during their retreat. It wasn’t anything worth bragging about, squinting with the effort to see who appeared in front of non-responsive and worthless that Fogbound truly thought that death would have been far kinder to the monstrous tom. He grinned, away with the frown to snort in half-hearted amusement, tossing his head up to stare ahead, unable to make out most of their temporary home with scents he’d long forgotten to curl a tail around his paws, still crinkled and in need of a groom.

He felt disgusting, dried with blood and irritated skin from missing fur, Fogbound breathed, shaking his helm with an annoyed puff of air. It was a relief, to hear that the others lived to tell another tale, and yet scolded him for his brash decisions, making the brute laugh, the sound curling like smoke. He had joked then, confident, that if he couldn’t overcome this, then perhaps he was good as dead. Oh, how those words burned now, uncertainly trickling in, but even he dared not express that to anyone. He had his doubts, that his death would be that of a celebration, gone would his charming grin and dangerous words that bled like thorns.

Fogbound hummed in amusement, rolling his shoulders back, helm poised high to calculate his next move. He wasn’t nearly as injured as some others, and perhaps with practice, Fogbound could navigate this nothingness, however temporary or permanent it would be if death didn’t knock on his doors before he accomplished it. The smokey moor runner rumbled in amusement, gaze crinkling. “A shame if I were to die, no?” He spoke, tone curling like liquid honey while pulling himself onto his paws with a swish of his tail, ignoring the feel of his skin prickling from his pathetic attempt to groom it out while navigating the unknown.
thought speech
 


The battle back in Windclan's camp had taken something from them all. Any lingering respect for a cat they might have looked up to as their leader, chunks of flesh, a home, their kin. So much had been lost - even as they all mostly considered it the right decision - but it would've been difficult to argue that Fogbound hadn't lost something more than the rest of them. As much as Rattleheart's chest ached over the seeming loss of Rumblerain, at least she was able to see. At least she could still freely navigate around the barn and help out, even with the searing pain that still occasionally ran up and down her side. The tunneler wasn't forced into using all of her other senses to get around, deprived of the wash of colors and light that the world often presented them all with. In the past she had welcomed the darkness, navigating tunnels that snatched away her sight just as easily as Fogbound's had been stolen in the battle, but that had been her choice. Not only that, but the loss of vision in the tunnels had always been a temporary one - the world coming back into sharp focus the moment any of them emerged back into the world above.

For a tunneler it might have at least been a little easier to adjust, but for a moor runner like Fogbound? She couldn't imagine what he must have been feeling.

She quite literally couldn't, consider the grin plastered on his muzzle and the amusement dripping from his words. Truth be told, she couldn't fully understand the other's attitude at the best of times - how was he not consumed with anxiety over his situation? Or more accurately, how was he able to hide it so easily? To her such a thing seemed impossible, her worry over everything often radiating off of her in nearly palpable waves. It had been a fact that her siblings had teased her about relentlessly when she was younger, though never out of any kind of maliciousness. Though she found herself wondering, vaguely, if life would be easier if she was more like Fogbound. More practiced in rolling with the punches.

Rattleheart honestly wasn't sure, though her attention was definitely captured when she heard Fogbound's rumbling, his words so casual that they caught her off guard. She looked up from her grooming - trying almost frantically to get rid of the last of the blood around her now covered wound - and frowned as she looked him over. "It certainly would be. Especially after you went through all the trouble to get here." She was sure the journey couldn't have been easy, considering he needed a companion constantly by his side. "...How's your head?" That felt like a nicer question than directly asking how's your eye, though there was some legitimate curiosity stirring within her. Did a lack of proper sight lead to more headaches? Perhaps Wolfsong knew.
[ PENNED BY EO ]
 
your entire existence gives me a headache, go stand over there .
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
His lips curled teasingly, pulling at healing flesh and plastered cobweb situated across the brunt of his wound, blinding him temporarily, or so he hoped. It was an inquisitive game of cat and mouse, perhaps he’ll live long enough to see the outcome, or will he be dragged under the surface to suffocate? He tutted, whisking a plumed tail from where he stood like unmovable stone, cautious, yet afraid, but dared not show it so openly.

“Your words speak the truth, my dear.” He rumbled, tone dripping with unwavering ease, smile still stretched across scarred lips, ears swiveling to pinpoint her general location, but made no move to turn, staying alarmingly still. After it all, Fogbound felt doubt creep forward. Useless. Something the smokey warrior hadn’t dared think about, but now it was all true.

A mystery, how exciting. He hummed in gentle amusement, helm tilting with a thoughtful look. “My head?” He repeated, tone twisting in open amusement. “Nothing more?” He prompted after a pause, tone remaining light-hearted. “But fear not, my dear, my head is well.” He further added, wooly tail tipping outward from its position to gesture lazily at his scarred face. “My eyesight, well—” He began, lips puckering, “We’ll just have to see, won’t we?” He finished.
thought speech