chasing after nothing great // injured

This is an archived version of FeralFront. While you can surf through all the content that was ever created on FeralFront, no new content can be created.
If you'd like some free FeralFront memorabilia to look back on fondly, see this thread from Dynamo (if this message is still here, we still have memorabilia): https://feralfront.com/thread/2669184-free-feralfront-memorabilia/.

    ✦ ✧ ✦

    //T/W for gore. This post ended up being way longer than it was meant to be so for anyone who doesn't want to read the whole thing, she's lying down in WindClan's territory after just being attacked by a dog, has wounds all over her body, the fur on the left side of her face is torn away and she's missing an eye on the left side of her face.


    Lilypetal hadn't been feeling great recently - hell, she hadn't been feeling great for a while. She didn't know if her sudden misery had come from the series of bad events which she had been involved in recently, or simply because she was starting to have a considerably more pessimistic view on life. Ever since she had been a kit, Lilypetal had been cheerful and loud, much like her sister, Brightstar. That was how she had been up until a moon or two ago. Then Brightstar had got possessed, then Brindlepaw had died, and then Wolfrunner had died, too. Lilypetal knew that she was meant to get over stuff like that. Brightstar wasn't possessed anymore, and death was a part of every warrior's life, but she hadn't gotten over it. She hadn't gotten over anything.


    Perhaps it was just because she believed that everything was her fault. Maybe if she had kept an eye on Brightstar, she would have noticed that she was possessed sooner. Maybe if she had been a better mentor to Brindlepaw, or a better sister to Wolfrunner, neither of them would have died. She felt as though she was meant to be punished for all of the bad things that had happened recently, but instead, she had been rewarded instead. The title of a senior warrior? A few moons ago, Lilypetal would have jumped for joy at the opportunity, but now, even though she was of course pleased with her promotion, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty - she couldn't help but feel as though there were lots of cats who deserved the title much more than she did. And even worse, she had been given a second apprentice, so, so soon after her first. Didn't Brightstar understand that she would be no better of a mentor to Jackalpaw than she was to Brindlepaw? She was afraid of letting her new apprentice down, she was scared, even, to get close to him, for fear that she would screw things up.


    Still, Lilypetal was forcing herself to keep her positive exterior. She didn't want to change from the cheerful, fun loving kit she had been, and she didn't want to show weakness. She was afraid to show weakness, sadness, and so on, she just didn't want cats to think differently of her. From what she knew, she was fairly well liked in WindClan. She didn't have tons of friends to show for it, but she wasn't on bad terms with many cats. Lilypetal had an amazing family, and the few friends that she had meant the world to her. She needed to look good for them. She needed to look good for everyone. That was why she hadn't told anyone about the darker things that were on her mind - for fear that they would think differently of her, for fear that they wouldn't view her as strong anymore.


    Strong. Lilypetal wasn't physically strong. She was a bad hunter and a terrible fighter, and was significantly slower than the majority of her Clanmates. She hadn't done great in her training, and occasionally wondered if she had just been given her warrior name out of pity, as she didn't remember her warrior assessment going great. Even back then, back when she had just been a young warrior, Lilypetal supposed that she had been a little insecure. But now she was doubting herself more and more, and was starting to feel even worse about herself. She didn't know why - she just wanted it to stop.


    The cream point supposed that she still had some things going for her. She was intelligent, and she was also very pretty - pretty, and yet she couldn't remember the last time a tom had padded after her. She supposed that would come in time. Still, Lilypetal knew that she was a good looking cat, with her beautiful creamy pelt and her pretty blue eyes. At least she still had her beauty.


    The slender warrior was out hunting by herself, though she hadn't managed to catch any prey. Lilypetal didn't understand why she was so clumsy, when she was so daintily built. She had nearly tripped over her paws while chasing after her last target, a small, fluffy rabbit. It wouldn't have fed many cats, but at least it would have been something to bring back to the camp. She just needed to catch something - something to show that she wasn't entirely useless when it came to any physical activity.


    The creamy molly's nose twitched as the scent of rabbit hit her nostrils, and she began to look around for her prey. It took her a while, but she eventually spotted it - a huge rabbit, perhaps the largest rabbit that she had ever seen, scuffling at the ground. Her eyes lit up, sparks of excitement running through her pelt. WindClan would be so happy if I came back with this! They would be so proud of me! The beautiful molly slowly advanced towards the rabbit, making sure that the wind was blowing towards her rather than in the other direction. As she got closer, she could feel her mouth watering. If she managed to catch this rabbit, she knew that she would be at least a little tempted to eat it while on her hunt rather than take it back to camp, but she also knew that she would probably resist. Impressing WindClan was more important.


    When she was close enough, the cream point broke into a run, chasing after the rabbit. The rabbit was fast, quickly hopping away from the feline. But Lilypetal was determined. She was going to make WindClan proud of her. She was running, running, gradually picking up speed, the world whirling around her as she chased after her prey. She feared that she would trip over or lose energy, but still, she ran.


    Then another scent wafted towards her, and panic shot down her body. A huge creature leaped towards the rabbit, sinking its teeth into the prey's neck. Then it turned towards Lilypetal, letting out an ear splitting howl.


    "Dog!" Lilypetal screeched, hoping to alert any nearby patrols to the dog's presence. She turned tail and ran away from the canine, but she was already growing tired after chasing after the rabbit. She could feel the dog's hot breath on her tail, could feel it grabbing her, and pinning her to the ground. It snapped at her neck, sank its teeth into her legs, before raking its claws deeply down one side of the she cat's face. Lilypetal screamed in pain, feeling the dog's claws gouge deeply into her eyes, feeling her beautiful fur being torn away. She pressed her paws against the dog's chest, but the dog resisted, slashing at her face again, again and again, over and over.


    I'm going to die here. The realization hit Lilypetal, and fear shot through her body. The slender warrior let out a strangled sob, desperately clawing at the dog's chest, screeching over and over again, desperate for help. At any moment, she expected to breath her last breathe.


    Then she felt the weight on her body being lifted. The world around her was too blurry for her to know what was going on, but she could hear the dog bounding away, leaving her alone.


    I'm alive - but at what cost?


    Although Lilypetal wasn't aware of it, the fur on the left side of her face had been completely torn away. Her left eye was missing too, leaving only an empty socket behind. All the cream point knew was unimaginable pain, and desperation. She tried to cry out for help, but she was in too much pain to talk. She just had to hope that someone found her quickly before it was too late.


    RAINSWEPTHEART | WINDCLAN WARRIOR | BIO


    Rainswept knew this scene well, that scent, damned yet curled upon iron talon to her, whispering through her nose.


    She happened upon Lilypetal's body, marred of any past beauty and mangled as if brambles to the holly bush. Her breath caught in her throat, as if refusing to come forth, stubborn child of reasonable fear. Eyes of olive's graced branch were wide, too wide. Her own trauma flashed before her, of the many she had seen fall victim to the creature of evil, flowing through it like Devil's ichor, they called the dog. Memories opened forth of the same bodies, bruised and bloodied with hues of deathly blues and red, that same jaw, ivory guillotine. "Oh, I - Lilypetal - I-I'll get someone -" Her voice stuttered and stopped, staccato flight of the broken wing, as if words refused to flow from her lips. She dashed off, pace hurried, wind trailing behind her. Though, she hated to leave her, all alone if only for moments, blinks of the day. " BIRDBONES ! coldpaw !" She burst through the entrance, sweat dripping from her face that was usually devoid of sweat and tears, statue of marble. Her visage was paled with fear, filling with death's white. The once well-spoken Molly couldn't even choke out more than mere sentences, short as the ocean's rolling waves. "Lilypetal! She's - She's hurt!" She choked forth, the realization roiling through blood and bile. She waited for moments, seeming like hours, fleet from her grasp like sand of the hourglass. She glanced back, rabbithearted movement, as if she could even see Lily from here.

    Dog!


    It was a regrettably familiar cry, and soon after was the frantic call for her name, a sickening thing to hear to be under so much pressure, to have so much placed upon knowing that, if it was a dog, there was probably not going to be a pretty nor a fixable scene to stumble across. And she was right, perhaps not about the latter.


    If Lilypetal thought she was any less beautiful just because of what had clearly happened to her face, she was wrong, because she had given something precious away to fight off the beast that had done this to her. Having worked in medicine essentially her entire life, one would think Birdbones got used to seeing gory imagery and gruesome scenes, but... the ebony femme doubted she ever would. It was sickening, to see family and friends like this, no matter how many other times it happened. "I'm going to need help lifting her," Birdbones said hurriedly, looking around. She couldn't do this by herself. She was too terribly weak, with brittle bones beneath her nightscape fur, "Lilypetal- if you, if you can- you'll be alright. I've got everything to help you, Rainsweptheart and I are going to help you, so you don't need to worry." With that, she would attempt to haul Lilypetal onto her back, faltering under the weight of the warrior, spindly limbs shaking, trying to force away the pain of her still-healing rib.

    living in a hurricane — 

    Crap. This was a situation that needed great care. Following the cry for help, he'd managed to come upon the injured warrior and Rainswept. Birdbones had arrived in good timing, so quickly uttering orders, the red furred bengal silently nodded. "Let me help too. What do I do Birdbones?" The urgency of the situation was quite alarming, but Lilypetal would be in good paws with the medicine cat's skills. Although, he wasn't close to the other, he honestly hoped for a quick recovery.



    /mobile

    how did you say goodbye?

    ✦ ✧ ✦

    Lilypetal was surprised that she was still awake - though honestly, she would rather be unconscious right now. The pain that she felt was excruciating - it was as though her entire body was on fire. One side of her face hurt the most though, it felt as though it would never stop hurting. She didn't know what was going on, she didn't know exactly what had happened to her, or how badly she had been hurt - all that she knew was that this was serious, and she was surely only a whiskerlength or two away from death.


    The cream point heard Rainsweptheart first, promising Lilypetal that she would get someone. The slender molly moved her lips slightly, trying to say something, anything to her Clanmate before she ran off, but it still hurt too much to speak, her jaws and neck screaming in pain. And so Lilypetal simply waited, growing weaker and weaker with every breath. It felt as though Rainsweptheart would never come back, and Lilypetal had a horrible feeling that StarClan would take her before help arrived, but then, to her relief, Rainsweptheart reappeared, along with Birdbones and Lizardgaze.


    Lilypetal could feel herself being hauled onto the medicine cat's back, causing her even more pain as she felt her body being shifted. Her wounds screamed at her, one side of her face howled at her, and she let out a tiny hiss of pain. She was grateful, she only wished that it wouldn't hurt so much. Her one blue eye looked down at the ground, feeling a shiver run down her pelt as she noticed how bloodstained the floor was. Horror gripped the creamy molly just at the sight of it. If that's how messed up the ground looks, how messed up do I look?