Looking for Adventure

[rushingwater18]

I; Breezepaw, apprentice of Chasingclouds of DarkClan; was walking out of the apprentice's den, shaking out my silvery-blue fur. My bright green eyes looked brightly around the clearing, my ears twitching back and forth. I looked for someone, so that i could ask where Chasingclouds was. I didn't see anyone looking my way, and my ears drooped. I had been looking forward to the hunting expedition that my mentor had promised me.

I padded out of the warriors den, my paws itching for a run out in the forest. I noticed Breezepaw sitting outside the apprentice's den, anxiously grooming a paw. I padded over to her, purring.
"I think that paw is good an' clean now, hun." I said, grinning.

I looked, up my face heating up.
“good morning, Mistress Patchydapple.” I said, lowering my now wet paw. “Have you seen Master Chasingclouds?”

”No, my dear, I’m afraid I haven’t.”

”Oh. Thanks, anyways.”

[Shinko]

((He's awfully formal for a cat.))

Briartooth padded into camp, his limbs heavy with fatigue. He was just returning from the newly instated midnight patrol. With that rogue on the loose, Flamestar and Falconbite weren't taking any chances. Still, the green eyed tom wasn't accustomed to being out so late for so long, and he was falling asleep on his paws. His eyelids slid downward seemingly of their own accord, and a misty greyness obscured his vision for a few seconds. Shaking his head roughly to clear it, the tom continued the epic journey from the camp entrance to the warriors den, a singly word echoing in his head over and over again. Sleep...

Unfortunately, Briartooth had been on a sunhigh hunting patrol and helped Fallowpaw to gather tansy on the opposite site of the territory before taking that midnight patrol. He collapsed, utterly spent, just as he was stumbling past Breezepaw and Patchydapple. Within moments he was asleep.

[alkaryco]

Hollyheart was feeling a bit bored until she saw Briartooth collapse in the middle of the camp. Falconbite was taking the time to look a half-annoyed eye at the gray tom, but sighed in defeat and moved on.

And so it was Hollyheart's problem to deal with. Purring in delight, she picked up her still-sleeping prey by the scruff and began dragging him through the cave, followed by the now-amused gaze of the deputy. She dropped him by the river, spitting out gray fur and, if a cat could grin, an ear-to-ear almost disturbing smile would be on her face. With a shove, Hollyheart launched him into the river.

[katsura]

Duskfur was amused. Severely amused, in fact-- so much so that he wanted to see it done again-- a cat thrown into a river, he meant, to wake up with a cold shock. Hollyheart? No, his beloved sweet-smelling way to power was too fragile for a dip into the cold river. And so he focused in on the annoying fur ball that he sometimes called a deputy. He had never been very smart, per say, and figured 'what a great idea this is'. Smiling like he'd just caught a rabbit that would feed the fattest cat in the Clans, he strutted over to Falconbite and shoved him past a shocked Hollyheart and after Briartooth into the water.

[Shinko]

The cold shock of the water brought Briartooth back to consciousness all at once, and he reacted instinctively with a gasp; unfortunately, his head was underwater when he did so, and he found himself gagging on a lungful of water. His mind was still fogged with fatigue, and the lack of oxygen wasn't helping matters. He couldn't tell which way was up, and he was starting to panic when a second large shape followed him into the river; he could just make out the black fur of the Clan deputy. Well at least he knew which way the surface was, and after a moment of frantic paddling his head broke the surface. He gagged and hacked to clear his lungs as he paddled wearily towards the bank. He could see Hollyeheart and Duskfur looking entirely too pleased with themselves. Growling inwardly he waltzed right past Hollyheart glaring at her and pointedly not looking at Duskfur. Just when the obnoxious tom was starting to puff himself up (clearly meaning to continue his amorous advances on the deputy's sister) the grey tom loosed a well placed kick. This would send Duskfur tumbling, not towards the water, but into a deep mudbank just beside it. <i>Let's see him strut around with his fur plastered to him and his tongue tasting like mud!</i>

[rushingwater18]

OOC: that's just Breezpaw's way. She learned it from Patchydapple, and now it's just a habit. XD and Breezepaw's a girl.

I stared at the cat’s stumbling and pushing each other around and into the river silently for a moment, then burst out laughing. I had never seen the deputy so indignant before! It was more than enough to make one laugh.

I looked at the young blue she-cat with a stern look on my face. “That isn’t funny, Br-“
There was a splatter of mud as Duskfur was sent careening into the mud, and then I joined the apprentice in laughing. I managed to pull a mock-straight face on as Chasingclouds walked into camp with a piece of prey dangling from his jaws.

Duskfur was laying in the mud, and I snorted. Then I saw the deputy in the river.
Well, it’s now or never.
I leapt into the water, splashing around like an idiot.
“H-hey guys!” I said, choking on some water.
“Master Chasingclouds!”
I turned my head to see Breezepaw staring at me with befuddlement and amusment on her face. She raised an eyebrow.
“What are you doing?”
“Erm…getting out.” I said, clambering onto the shore and shaking my fur out so that I looked like a tabby puff.

[katsura]

Duskfur spluttered indignantly, looking at HIS beautiful fur in ruins. Ruins! He growled and faced Briartooth, snarling. "What'd you do that for?" he screeched. He had just been trying to impress HIS beautiful she-cat, HIS lovely prize, HIS way to power, and now his handsome, she-cat-drawing pelt was all muddy. He sheathed and unsheathed his claws angrily, and pounced, claws unsheathed, at Briartooth.

[alkaryco]

Hollyheart knew that this was her fault for pushing Briartooth into the river. As was her specialty, she made a rash decision quickly and dove between Briartooth and Duskfur, taking the full brunt of the dark gray tom's attack. She had not had time to deflect the attack (as she had really not thought this through), and his claws ripped savagely into her chest as his teeth connected with her throat. She was thrown back, skidding several feet until she rested on the bank of the river, drowning in her own blood. Falconbite made an admirable falcon impression as he clambered out of the river, soaked to the bone and furious. He, in turn, gaped at Duskfur in disbelief. "What have you done?" he sputtered. "What have you done?"

Falconbite leapt at the gray tom and held him down, claws sheathed but his eyes narrowed furiously. "I will kill you if my sister dies!" he howled, foam dripping from his mouth in his rage.

[Shinko]

Briartooth rounded on Duskfur, his green eyes seething with rage, "It was a joke you fox-hearted piece of crow-food! And much milder than you deserved, padding after Hollyheart with no intention of ever loving her, caring only about how she could help you to gain power!" He turned to Chasingclouds, growling, "Keep an eye on Hollyheart." Much though he longed to sink his own claws into Duskfur, he was not going to break the warrior code. Besides, Hollyheart needed help now. He bolted back into the camp, yowling at the top of his lungs, "Blazetail! Fallowpaw! We need help!"

His conversation with the Clan leader was abruptly interrupted by a screech from the entrance to the camp, and Blazetail launched himself out of his den faster than a falcon in a dive. "Briartooth, stop yowling like a ninny!" he growled, "What's wrong?"

"Hollyheart's hurt! Duskfur tried to attack me because I pushed him into a mudbank, and she got between us! She's bleeding all over the place! Please, Blazetail, you have to-"

He gestured with his tail for silence, darting back into his den and emerging with a mouthful of herbs, including goldenrod, comfrey, and marigold. He also had cobwebs lathered to his paws. Indicating that Briartooth should lead the way, the two toms raced back to the riverside.

"Make yourself useful," Blazetail growled to Patchydapple, shoving the pile of herbs at her, "Chew those up and mix them into a poultice. Try not to waste the juices. Falconbite, Breezepaw, lick her wounds to clean the mud off of them, but not too roughly, or you'll rip them open wider." As he spoke, the medicine cat started to unwind the cobwebs from his paws so that he could lay them over the wounds once they were cleaned and medicated.

((Yay! I get to actually do something medicine-cat-ish for the first time! And I get to boss everyone around!))

[rushingwater18]

I nodded fervently, crouching down next to the she-cat, my eyes wide. “Hollyheart…Hollyheart, please….um….just…answer me or whatever. And don’t die. Please.”I said, feeling awkward with my words. I had always kind of admired the she-cat…
Breezepaw shoved me aside, and in a very most un-Breezepawlike manner, said “Oh, let me.”

I likewise crouched down next to the she-cat and started trying to clean her wound. She liked around the clawmarks, feeling the salty tang of blood on my toungue and trying not to flinch. It was the best I could do for her, being a small apprentice myself.

Breezepaw and Chasingclouds were both next to Hollyheart, so I bit the nearest herb and started chewing, the leaf getting mashed up in my mouth. I grabbed another and shoved it in, too, trying to mix as much in mouth as I could. That would make it easier when it came time to mix all of the herbs. I spit out that concoction and bit the other herbs, mixing them in my mouth as well. I spit them both out and mixed the two mixtures, creating the poultice. “Here.” I said, shoving it toward Blazetail.

[Shinko]

The tom nodded, accepting the chewed up herbs. "It'll do." He scooped it onto a rock by the riverside to keep the precious juices from seeping away into the ground and turned back to Hollyheart. Noticing that Falconbite was preoccupied with Duskfur, the medicine cat spat with frustration. "Briartooth, you help Breezepaw clean Hollyheart's wounds, since a certain furball over there is too busy throwing his weight around to prioritize!"

The grey tom did not need a second telling. At one he knelt beside the she-cat, rasping his tongue gently along her wounds to clean them. Since Duskfur had been so liberally slathered with mud when he launched his attack, the wounds were filthy. Blazetail was badly worried; even cleaning and medicating them, she was still likely to get an infection. He hadn't realized when he left camp that it would be this bad.

"That's enough," he growled finally, shooing Breezepaw and Briartooth away with his tail. He padded over to the she-cat, took a pawful of the goldenrod, comfrey and marigold poultice, and began slathering it over her cuts. Once it was applied, he rubbed gently with his paws to get it to seep into the wounds and spread healing juices into her blood.

[rushingwater18]

I stepped back quickly, giving room for Blazetail. I was breathing rather heavily for only licking someone. I cleared my throat, looking up.
"Master Blazetail, is there anything else I can do for you?"

I stepped up next to Breezepaw and licked her head. "She'll be all right, Breezepaw." I said, fervently hoping I was right. I looked over at Chasingclouds and swiveled my ears toward his apprentice.

I took that to mean that I should take Breezepaw out.
"Hey, Breezepaw, we'
re..um....we're going hunting at sunhigh, kay?"
She nodded absently, and I turned and walked to the fresh kill pile, my ears and tail drooping.

[Shinko]

Blazetail glanced at Breezepaw, shaking his head. "Scoot, kit. I've got all the paws I need now." He stood, glancing at where Falconbite was still ignoring him with a glower. "Blazetail, help me pick Hollyheart up, will you? We need to get her back to my den."

The green eyed tom nodded, burrowing his teeth in the she-cat's scruff. Blazetail nodded, "Gently, mind. We don't want her injuries to open further." The ginger medicine cat helped Briartooth drag Hollyheart into the Camp. Once they had reached the medicine den, he growled. "I'll need some moss for a nest."

[alkaryco]

Hollyheart's eyes flew open and she let out a mangled screech of pain as they picked her up. Blood bubbled out of her mouth and trailed behind her. She couldn't breath! She started to fight the grip on her scruff, drawing blood into her lungs and choking on it. A bit of air came with it, but not enough. Her pupils dilated and she convulsed, finally hanging still in Briartooth's jaws, mouth open and still dripping blood. Her eyes were open and glazed over, a dim look of fear trapped deep within them.

Falconbite looked on with a sigh, shaking his head. This wasn't how he had imagined his sister dying. He would have to find a nice place to bury her, he decided to himself. Maybe with their brother, Riverpaw. She had always liked the stream, though. Perhaps he could find a nice, quiet bend in it to lay her to rest? He was contemplating this, feeling quite sad, when Hollyheart gave another strangled gasp. She was a fighter. Falconbite would give her that much.

But not enough that he wouldn't start to look for a burial site for her. She was a goner, he had already decided.

[Shinko]

Blazetail's fur spiked, and he snarled, "Hold it, put her down!" As Briartooth obeyed, the medicine cat darted around to Hollyheart's head, seeing blood bubbling in her mouth. "Curse it all!"

She was drowning in her own blood. The gash in her throat was deeper than he'd realized. If he didn't act quickly, she was going to die. He turned to where Patchydapple was still standing and snarled, "Get Fallowpaw. I want Fallowpaw here yesterdary." He turned back to the she cat. Without looking up he said, "Falconbite, go to my den and get me some juniper berries. Once I clear her airway, she'll need them to help her breathing. They should be easy enough to identify, they're the only berries in there." Realizing that the deputy <I>still</i> hadn't moved, he turned his head and screeched at the top of his lungs, "YOUR SISTER STILL HAS A CHANCE TO SURVIVE THIS IF YOU WILL GET UP OFF YOUR SORRY RUMP AND ACT LIKE YOU GIVE A MOUSETAIL! FOR STARCLAN'S SAKE, YOU'RE THE DEPUTY <I>START ACTING LIKE IT</i>"

Turning back to the she-cat with a hiss of purest disgust at Falconbite's apathy, he directed Briartooth to pry Hollyheart's jaws open to widen her airway. While the grey tom was doing that, Blazetail massaged her chest to force the blood she had breathed in out of her lungs.

((Capslock hurts my soul, but I wanted to really get Blazetail's point across. Italics just made it seem softer, like he was whispering))