The Windclan leader hurried forward and sniffed the air. The smell of blood shocked her but she didn't flinch. "Hailstone!" She called, wondering where the she-cat had chosen to shelter. "Ochrepaw! Bluebell!" She'd brought six warriors with her to help the injured cats back to camp. If only they had medicine cats to help them! The gray she-cat sniffed around, hoping to catch the scent of one of her clanmates.
OOC: Shorty. :P
Fireflight hurried after his leader, the burly longhaired male keeping half an eye on Dreamstar's back. No matter what she said he could see she had been hurt and was plainly exhausted. The last thing they needed was her to collapse or make any injuries worse.
His heart skipped a beat when he heard the names Dreamstar was calling. His friend was here! He pulled in a deep breath and shouted loudly, his broad chest swelling. "Bluebell, can you hear me? Bluebell?" Surely every cat in a mile radius had heard the big male's call.
Tagging at the end of the six was the young Thunderclan warrior, Echostream. Her eyes widened at the scene of battle. This was intense! She thought. She listened to Fireflight calling for his clanmate, the urgency and worry evident in his tone. A sudden surge of jealousy gripped the she-cat and she fiercely pushed it down. Stop it! Just because he's gone on a few hunts with you doesn't mean he thinks you're anything special. Besides, he a Windclan cat!
Trying to busy her mind with something else, Echostream placed her nose to the ground, trying to find a Windclan scent.
Bluebell lay sprawled across the ground. Her fur was matted with dirt and blood. Suddenly she heard a familiar voice. Fireflight?" she thought. Two familiar voices. Dreamstar is back! The WindClan warrior was relieved. She gathered her strength to reply. "Over here!" she called. Her voice was tired. Cats were coming to help! At least it wasn't BloodClan. Bluebell flinched at the thought of the big ocelot attacking her. She had never been taught to fight wildcats. Could they hear her? She couldn't walk after two BloodClan cats had attacked her legs.
OOC // Is it okay if I joined? I was too late for the original thread. xD If you want me to leave, I'm fine.
Mossnose bounded along, his usually smiling, unperturbable face anxious and drawn. There were cats out there - WindClan cats! - that needed help, and he was going to help them. Being his typical rather unobservant self, he assumed it was to be a kind of one-man operation, where he would be the hero and save the poor, innocent cats. But he would do whatever it took. He fell into step with Fireflight.
ooc: continued from over in the other thread.
ic: "Hailstone, can you get up?" said Waterskipper. "Can you walk?"
"I--I can stand, yes." Hailstone was shaking as she got to her feet. She tried to put her weight on her slashed leg, and it only could take a little weight before it buckled. She was going to have to get back to camp on three legs. "What if I never run again?"
Ochrepaw was lying where BloodClan had left him, in the badger den on his side. The red-point tomcat wheezed as he tried to find where the cat calls were coming from, but everything was so hazy. It seemed as if they were coming from all over. "Help!" he called, but he realised that his voice was barely more than a whisper.
"Ochrepaw, I'm coming! Help is here!" Lunecry left her sister's side to go see about her fellow clanner. When she found him he was a wreck. "Are you--Oh, Starclan--come on. Come on, we're all getting everyone together in one place then we can all get back to...well, wherever we're going to."
Mossnose sniffed anxiously, trying to catch the scent of Hailstone, Ochrepaw or Bluebell. His whiskers twitched. He could detect nothing; there was so much to search through, so many possibilities! The only thing that could make this hunt worse was if it rained, and, luckily enough, the sky was cloudless. He snuffled around in the undergrowth, tail lashing behind him. He sincerely hoped they'd be all right.
Ochrepaw staggered dizzily to his feet, swaying from side to side precariously. He carefully stepped out of the badger den and was grateful to feel the wind on his face. The fact that he was at least in his own home made him feel a great deal better. However, he had to get medical attention soon, or he could end up dying...
"Come on, just lean on me and I'll get you back to the others," said Lunecry. "Dreamstar's got us all gathering in camp." It was so strange, and creepy, to be home at long last, and caught in the midst of such a disaster. She drew close to Ochrepaw and aligned her body sidelong with his.
Shadesong ran over, fully awake now. She looked around, it seemed there was a battle.
"Bluebell!" Fireflight could only just hear the sound of her voice, but his nose told her where she was by the scent of her blood. He bared noticed Mossnose beside him, his anxiety was so strong. Seeing that the rest of his clanmates were being taken care of, he dashed to Bluebell's side, his heavy paws thudding as he skidded to a halt beside her. Relief at finding her alive mingled with the horror at finding her injured. Bending over, he pressed his nose thankfully into her neck fur. "It'll be all right now." He spoke as much to himself as he did to his friend. "Can you stand?" His eyes flicked to her badly torn legs and he winced. That didn't look promising.
Echostream could hear Fireflight speaking to his clanmate and the concern in his voice did little to improve her mood. But still, she wasn't a mean-spirited cat and she didn't wish harm on anyone. Not even pretty she-cats who happened to know Fireflight. She padded over to Orchepaw, shocked at his injuries. He wasn't much younger than she was - these Bloodclan cats really must have no morals. "Can I help here?"
((OOC| Raven - AWESOME Scar pic! Best villian ever!))
Mossnose bit his lip. Now that he was actually at the helping part, he was at a loss. His ears flicked back and forth wildly as he looked at anything but the cats. He wanted to help, but at the same time, he didn't know how. He was the type of cat who needed orders. He stepped backwards hastily, nearly tripping in his haste.
"Mossnose!" called Waterskipper as she came out of the elder den, with her daughter Hailstone limping alongside her. "We got Hailstone and I think Lunecry got hold of Ochrepaw, I heard him down that way. "If you want to help just stick by here, I don't know whether Dreamstar wants to bring us back to Thunderclan or just stay here."
"Cricketstride," said Hailstone, aware now that her mate still had not shown up. "Has anybody seen him at all?"
Waterskipper shook her head. "No, I haven't." Her face took on a cold, hard look. If this was the way that tom was going to look after her daughter, his pregnant mate, she had a few good words prepared for him. It was true that the patrol had gone out pretty quickly and he simply hadn't been around at the time to join. But then...the patrol had disappeared for days and Cricketstride still hadn't appeared or even asked her, Lunecry or Mistfling about where Hailstone even was. Then when Dreamstar had returned with a call for help, he still hadn't been in.
Ochrepaw was grateful for the help, and he leaned up against Lunecry's side. "Is everybody else okay?" he asked, a worried look on his face. What if they had died while he was just lying there? His stomach twisted with discomfort, and he glanced around nervously as he looked for the rest of his Clan mates.
Mossnose's expression shifted to one of badly masked relief as some orders were issued his way. "Okay, thanks!" he called back to her, more grateful than he let on. It wasn't so awkward, now that he had something to do. He padded over, still a little tentative, to the elder's den, and poked his head inside. It felt odd to be in WindClan camp again, he reflected, inhaling the dusty, musty air of the den. He hadn't been here in so long. He had expected some hallelujah moment, some lightening of some ineffable burden, but there was just a kind of out of place feel about it. It was so... different. He didn't even know if he belonged here anymore. Everything was so confusing, since the fire. He shook his head irritably, tail twitching. Of course he belonged here! This was his home.
<blockquote>Waxingdaisies, taking a strong, leaping run, each step propelling her for a brief glide, had finally caught up after turning around to talk to Flowerkit, and stopped gracefully, skidding slightly. She looked around, and sniffed for the captured warriors. It disgusted her, that some underground scum that had the lack of dignity to call themselves a "Clan" could actually take several WindClan prisoner. Too late for grief, though, the deed had been done. It was just her mission to make it right, along with all the others.
</blockquote>
"Don't think so," Bluebell muttered. She hated those BloodClan cats. "They attacked my legs," she added, stating the obvious. Her voice was hoarse from whimpering and yowling before. "Is everybody else okay?" she asked, worried. They hadn't looked too good. She winced as she tried to move her legs.
"So far as haven't found anyone dead yet," said Lunecry to Ochrepaw. "You, Bluebell and Hailstone seem the worst hurt. Was there anyone else on the patrol who's still missing?"
Mossnose felt pity course through him, and then hatred at BloodClan. How could they do this to innocent members of WindClan? He shut his eyes, shaking his head. He almost felt pity for BloodClan, even. They must be truly terrible.