Living up to your name ((CLOSED))

Fracturedhawk  strode through RiverClan territory, glad to be able to get away from camp for a while on a solo patrol. Perhaps he’d end up finding prey, but if not, a simple border check was all he needed.

The tom paused to scent the air, no sign of prey, he huffed, and glanced over his shoulder, examining nothing but a snowy expanse. Looking forward again, he trekked onward, carefully placing a paw before the other and watching as they sunk slowly into the snow before being pulled away. Soon, the young warrior found himself approaching the gorge, which of course included WindClan. He scowled at the thought of them, but then a grin of satisfaction overtook him, remembering that his clan had been the ones to defeat those rabbit-chewing scum. He let out a snicker, flicking his tail as he turned and headed in the opposite direction.

Not long after that, a sudden scent of prey hit his nose, and he immediately dropped into a crouch. He flicked an ear, desperately listening for any sign of where the creature might be hiding. After a few heartbeats the tom tracked the prey to a clump of frosted over bramble.

Fracturedhawk crept forward, sure he had this catch in the bag. In a quick and powerful movement he charged forward, claws unsheathed and outstretched. He jabbed his fore paw into the bush, hearing a faint squeak from inside and feeling the now limp body of a mouse under his paw. He grinned, and yanked the creature free of it’s safety, and gave a reassuring killing bite. He grinned at the success of his catch, and without meaning too, let his tail drift toward the ground…

What came next was never to be expected.

The tom let out a screech as a intense pain shot up his tail in a burst so sudden it could have taken something as quick as a rabbit off guard. He dug his claws into the ground, crouching lower, unsure what to do, stop this rush of agony. The young cat turned around, glancing at his tail, desperately looking for the source of the pain. A shiny little bared thing stood clamped around his tail, he watched in horror as blood welled from the spot of which it clung. Wide-eyed and clueless as to how to get the strange device off, he just stood there, completely rigid, and attempting to not hiss out in pain. Oh how embarrassing it would be to see a patrol go by right now, he thought, and glanced over his shoulder just to be sure.

Trotting through the moorlands, Smokepelt came from the Thunderpath side of the territory and was hoping to get some hunting in, having finished marking the territory border. The warrior hadn't caught anything yet but decided to continue hunting since he still had the whole day ahead of him and WindClan was really in need of some decent food.

Trying to keep a steady pace so his paws didn't become to cold from the crunchy snow that kept stabbing his paw pads, the deputy opened his mouth, attempting to scent out any prey. Although rabbits and some other prey animals didn't hibernate, they stayed in their dens almost all winter and for the clan, their inactivity on the moor proved to be very annoying. Usually he was able to find prey every couple of foxlengths but in Leafbare, everywhere he went their was an unavoidable silence and all the scents and tracks were gone from the recent snowfall.

Letting out a sigh, Smokepelt made his way towards the gorge, hoping to have a little more luck on this side of the territory. A sudden strike of pain in his jaw reminded him of what Fishstar did to him and heading towards the gorge, he wondered if he'd run into any of those coward RiverClanners. If he did, they would see what a true WindClan cat was made of.

Almost reaching the gorge, the grey and white tom stopped in his tracks when an agonizing screech filled the air. What in StarClan's name... bounding through a thick patch of snow, Smokepelt kept his ears perked and head up, keeping a look out for something or someone that might jump out at him. Arriving at the gorge, he could faintly hear the roaring water of the waterfall a little ways away but nothing out of the ordinary so far.

After a few moments of standing in silence, he decided to walk along the border of the water, for he was sure that who ever screeched didn't just scream in pain for fun.

Luckily for him, the snow made it easy to spot cats with dark pelts and not long after he started walking again, low and behold, he spotted a RiverClan cat on the other side of the gorge, standing in an odd position with his rump closer to the ground. Was he taking a dump?

Curious and somewhat furious, the deputy made his way towards the other cat and soon stood directly across the river from him. "Hey!" the usually quiet tom's voice boomed, flicking his tail back in forth in anticipation. But that's when it his him, the metallic scent of blood. Narrowing his eyes, Smokepelt tried to see what was wrong with the strange cat but through the snow and reeds that surrounded the RiverClan cat, he wasn't able to see much. "What are you doing?"

Fracturedhawk’s fur immediately stood on end the moment he heard the unfamiliar voice call out from behind. Did he just ask what’s wrong with me? He thought, a little annoyed as if it wasn’t obvious enough that he had yowled in pain and the tang of blood drifted through the cold air.

He turned his head around as far as he could manage, getting a glimpse of the source of the voice. A WindClan cat!? He narrowed his eyes, now feeling slightly uncomfortable that one of those flea-pelts had seen him in such a vulnerable state. "Oh I don’t know," he finally replied, "just sitting around in agonizing pain, pretty normal activity." He hissed across the gorge sarcastically, still slightly irritated and obviously in immense pain.

Letting out a hiss at the tom's snarky remark, Smokepelt stayed where he was. "Well you deserve this, especially after what you and your clan did to us. Maybe it's a sign from StarClan themselves," the deputy said bluntly, trying to manage his true anger for RiverClan. Why should he help this cat after what they did? He should just let him rot.

Unfortunately, after a few moments of thinking things over, Smokepelt's curiosity got the better of him and he wondered why the tom was sitting by the gorge of all places and why he hadn't left yet if he was in so much pain. "Although I could care less about helping you, I must ask, why are you still here?" he started, tilting his head to the side. "If you're in so much pain, you should be scurrying home to your medicine cat. I didn't know RiverClanners were that big of mouse brains," the tom finished, just having to add the remark at the end.

Fracturedhawk pinned his ears, the left one flicking as it retreated. "I'm stuck can you not tell!?" He yowled, the pain from his tail wavering through his voice.

By now, he could feel the cold metal of the strange two-leg thing breaking through his skin, and hitting bone. Whatever it was it sure did have a good grasp on him, and he continued to do his best in ignoring the pain that overwhelmed him. "My tail, it's caught inside some two-leg thing, I can't go anywhere." The young warrior shouted again, at this point, not caring if his own clan heard him. At least they would help me, he thought, Who cares about embarrassment at this point, and turned around to face forward, his neck growing sore from eyeing the cat on the other side of the gorge.

Narrowing his eyes as the warrior yowled in pain, it was evident that he wasn't playing around. But what could possibly be hurting the tom so much that he couldn't even fight it off? Well, there was only one way to find out...

Letting out a sigh, Smokepelt knew what he needed to do.

"I'm coming over!" the tom shouted, bunching up his legs, tail flicking back and forth in anticipation. It wasn't like he wanted to help a RiverClan cat, but the guilty side of him took over and before he could rethink his choice, the tom leaped across the gorge, thankful that they were at a narrow part.

Skidding to a halt, the deputy walked through the reeds, slowly inching his way towards the other cat until he was able to see what the problem was.

Hoping the RiverClan cat didn't hear his gasp of surprise, Smokepelt stopped where he was, staring at the Twoleg thing that was biting into the tom's tail. Dark red blood seeped into the snow around the contraption and for the first time in forever, he felt bad for a RiverClan cat, for no one should ever have to suffer the horrors of the twolegs, not even the fish eaters, no matter how much he hated them.

"Well, I guess we need to get that off of you," the tom mumbled, leaning down to sniff the thing. How in StarClan's name was he supposed to get it off?

Fracturedhawk flicked an ear at the faint sound similar to that of a gasp, which he assumed came from the WindClanner. Turns out he's not as fox-hearted as I had assumed, he thought, glancing behind him again, clenching his teeth at the increasing pain.

"Of course it needs to get off me, don't just stand there!" He scowled, the inflaming pain from his tail really getting to his head, and probably making him sound more hostile than he needed to be.

The young warrior wasn't sure how much longer he could bear the pain. The cold air at least gave his tail a certain numbness, but only ceased the pain slightly, not nearly enough to stop it completely. He feared for the worst, the tom knew his tail wouldn't be the same. Perhaps it would end up falling off. He gulped at the thought, and fretfully pushed it away, not wanting to think of something so gruesome and unnecessary.

Hissing under his breath when the tom snapped at him, Smokepelt moved closer to the weird object that was half buried under the snow, wondering why he was even helping this cat. Because it's what a true warrior would do and what mother would do, he reminded himself. No matter what RiverClan and the other clans thought about him and WindClan, he wasn't a monster like the stories made him out to be and in reality, he actually did have a heart. Hm, what a weird notion. An apprentice maimer that had a heart. Weird.

First things first, how to get it off of his tail. Thinking for a few moments, the warrior found a spot where he could put his paw into the contraption and from the looks of it, he'd be able to open it by maybe putting his paw on it. His idea was pretty far fetched, considering he had no idea what he was doing but then again, there was only one way to find out.

Crouching down, he slowly inched a white paw through a space in the trap, praying to StarClan like he'd never prayed before that he wouldn't lose his paw. Slowly... just a bit farther... got it!

With his paw resting on a weird little metal platform under the closer jaws of the trap, Smokepelt stood up to get some leverage. "What I press down and say go, you lift your tail, got it?" With that, the deputy pressed down with all his might, watching as the lever slowly but surely started moving down and the jaws started opening.

His muscles screaming from his still healing wounds, he wanted to quit but wasn't going to give up now. Not when he'd come this far.

Pressing a little harder, the tom let out a yowl of pain. One last push... "Go!" he screamed as its evil jaws opened just enough for the RiverClan warrior to lift his tail out of it. Once the tail was out, Smokepelt quickly drew back his paw and the trap slammed shut once more. Well, his idea wasn't so far fetched after all!

Somewhat exhilarated from the adrenaline that rushed through his veins, Smokepelt stood in front of the warrior and looked from the trap to Fracturedhawk with a smile but that emotion quickly fell when he remembered who he was helping and he stood up a little straighter, not wanting to look like a playful kit.

"Well, I guess your good to go," the stoic tom started, flicking his tail back and forth. "Have fun getting that checked by your medicine cat." Although medicine cats were a true blessing to clans, their herbs were usually horrible tasting and with deep wounds like the one on this tom's tail, he assumed what ever the healer used on it would sting like crazy.

Fracturedhawk waited for Smokepelt's signal, feeling the weight of the cold metal lift off just slightly.

At the sound of the WindClan cat's yowl, he pulled his tail forward, freeing it from the jaws of the metal trap, and leaving a trail of blood in the snow. The young warrior paused before he ended up slipping in the snow, glancing back at the tom that had helped him. Fracturedhawk watched as he began to smile, then quickly let it falter and straighten his posture.

The RiverClan tom simply offered him a curt nod in reply, then turned to head back into the depths of  his own territory, trying his hardest to ignore the stinging pain in his tail.

Some thank you, he thought to himself, slightly bitter that he hadn't gotten more then a curt nod. Well, then again, he was a RiverClan, so Smokepelt didn't know why he hoped for anything better. Watching as the RiverClan cat made his was awkwardly back to camp, the deputy turned towards the gorge and in one graceful leap, he was back on his side of the territory. Better get back to hunting. Leaving where he'd spotted the other tom, Smokepelt continued towards the moor, hoping he would find some decent prey.