It's Been A While

The fox scrambled to free itself, viciously snarling as it jerked to one side then the other in an effort to dislodge the cat on it's back. When it finally did, it growled one last time at the pair before starting to back up towards the tunnel entrance. Goldengale aimed a few more blows to its face and chest, wincing with a sharp hiss of pain as her injured forepaw made contact. With one last, resounding yelp, the fox turned and disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel. With it gone, Goldengale turned to her apprentice, eyes shadowed with pain and worry. "Are you alright? We need to get back to camp, Finchstar, Raventail and the senior warriors need to know about this. We'll have to make sure they know that there's a fox in the tunnels." Her eyes flickered over to the tunnel entrance a final time before she hopped to turn herself in the right direction and started limping her way back to camp, whimpering occasionally when she put too much pressure on her paw. Her voice got a little darker, shadowed with concern and regret. "Where there's one there can always be more."

The Fox has fled the battle!

The two made their way as quickly as possible back to camp, luckily they hadn't been far to begin with. However, that made the fox in the tunnels that much more dangerous, the proximity to camp was something that could not be ignored. As they made their way into camp, she headed straight for Finchstar and Raventail, motioning with her tail for Ploverpaw to follow. Once she was close enough, she drew their attention with a voice hollowed with pain. "Finchstar, Raventail, we have a report to make. While out hunting, we were near a tunnel entrance that smelled of fox, the scent was stale though. However, while I was explaining more about the tunnels the fox appeared from within the tunnel and attacked us. We weren't far from camp, and I don't know the tunnel there well enough to know if it links to any others..." She sat down, pulling her injured leg up to inspect it. The wound was pretty bad, she was sure she would be in pain for a while yet... But nothing she couldn't handle. It was not even as bad as Cloverpaw's injuries had been. She'd manage well enough, she thought as she waited to see if they had any questions.

"Hang on, the cripple's coming!" Aspenheart hummed between a mouthful of herbs. He hobbled over and surveyed Goldengale's torn leg with a frown. As he pressed cobwebs to it as gently as he could, he listened to the warrior's story. He supposed that cats weren't the only ones making use of their secret passages. 

"Was it frothing at the mouth, Goldengale?" he asked with quiet worry, moving poppy seeds closer to her paws. "We can patch up the rest in a bit. Ploverpaw, you're up next."

Aspenheart used Heal on Goldengale, restoring 5 hit points and costing 15 stamina.

Aspenheart
40/40 HP
55/70 SP (-15)

Goldengale
20/45 HP (+5)
112/160 SP

ooc; mobile!

All things considered, life in WindClan had been peaceful. It was life outside it that had gotten chaotic. A better deputy may have taken advantage of this and dedicated their free time to filling the fresh-kill pile, sparring with their Clanmates, learning the ins and outs of tunneling; Raventail, however, had thrown these options aside in favor of a leisurely chat with Finchstar. Goldengale’s voice would have gotten his attention on its own. She sounded pained, and as Raventail looked up, ears twitching, he saw she was favoring her front leg. Soon, the reason became apparent. She was wounded—not fatally, but enough to make him wince in sympathy, especially when Aspenheart appeared with a bundle of herbs and cobwebs. Behind her, Ploverpaw looked ruffled, but uninjured. Had they run into something?

As Goldengale explained and Aspenheart asked his own question, Raventail’s frown deepened. He didn’t trust the tunnels enough for this to be surprising news; even when he disregarded his natural response to them, Grousefrost had reviewed their many, many dangers with him in typical Grousefrost fashion. Foxes had been among them. ”Can’t say I do, either,” the dark tom said with a slight shrug. His lessons had been progressing a bit too slowly for him to be truly familiar with anything beyond the Gorse Circle—the “training tunnel." "I'm glad you're both okay. Well, uh, for the most part." Forcing his gaze away from the tear on Goldengale's foreleg, he searched for a part of this situation that wasn't so far out of his realm of experience. ”Did the fox get away?”

Ploverpaw nodded in response to Goldengale's question. "I am alright. Just a little shaken is all." He was very aware that they needed to inform the leader and deputy as well as the other warriors. If the fox remained it wouldn't be smart to let the apprentices into the tunnels by themselves. The apprentice quickly moved to his mentor's side, pressing himself against her to help get the weight of her injured leg.

As soon as they reached camp, Ploverpaw only stepped away from giving his mentor support once the medicine cat had appeared. The old apprentice gave a nod towards Aspenheart. He chose to speak up about the fox in her place. "No it was not." He watched as the medicine cat worked on Goldengale's leg. "I am alright Aspenheart you do not have to worry about me." He informed the medicine cat. He was a bit shaken from the fight, but it wasn't the worse thing he had dealt with before.

Yellow eyes turned towards the Windclan deputy as he approached. He remained silent as the two discussed the obvious issues with the fox. He only popped into the conversation when he had too. "The fox disappeared back into the tunnels, which is why we need to know if it connects to anything." It would be best to ask the cat that knew the tunnels like the back of his paw. Ploverpaw couldn't remember his name but he was sure the others would know.

"Aspenheart may have better knowledge of the tunnels, I have no idea where you store that map of yours, friend." Finchstar padded swiftly behind Raventail as Goldengale emerged into camp with Ploverpaw. The smell of blood was fresh, and the leader quickly weaved his way around the crowd to get a better view of the victim. His conversation with Raventail had been nice, the laughter and hearty words they shared seemed to lift his heart. The tom could think back to when the deputy was only a small 'paw, up atop that rock, overlooking the moor. They talked about that, as well as many other topics. Dappleshine's kit, SkyClan's fate, as well as whimsical things such as the clouds and the sky. Finchstar found the days had become frostier, the warm sun often hiding behind a misty veil. It reminded him of his kithood, and soon their talk had spun into nostalgia. But Goldengale's call came as almost panic, jolting both the toms to their paws.

Aspenheart was as quick as always, sarcasm ringing through the air, causing the leader to stifle a laugh. He needed to remind himself that life allowed for tragedy as well. Optimism had taught him that Goldengale's wound would be minor, but his small stash of experience in fate spoke otherwise. Eyes did not lie however. Finchstar wove his way around the crowd to gaze upon the patrol, ears twitching. "A fox, you say? I am glad you are not more injured, Goldengale. And you, Ploverpaw, did it get you?" The older apprentice answered afterward, reassuring the toms that he was in fact fine. But the last statement confirmed Finchstar's fears. Raventail went on to muse over the tunnels, and Finchstar watched absent-mindedly as Aspenheart wrapped Goldengale's wound. "I am beginning to hate those tunnels." He spoke, eyes still focused on nothing. There was no anger there, just a neutral acceptance. The very thing that had taken Brookclover was now bringing havoc on the rest of the living. "Stars... Perhaps we should get you some prey, Goldengale, Ploverpaw. What lurks beneath the dark will not be the end of us yet."

Aspenheart came stumbling out of his den as quickly as his legs would carry him, and despite her best efforts she couldn't help the hiss of pain that escaped her as he pressed the cobweb to her leg. Her eyes narrow as she tried to focus on the leader and deputy, she was relieved when Ploverpaw spoke up to answer Aspenheart and Raventail's questions. She searched her old mentor's expression for disapproval at the news that the fox had gotten away, or for the reaction it gained at all. If only they had been able to finish it off.... She sighed to herself, regretting that they hadn't been able to see it through. One more hit like that though and she would have been far worse off than she already was. It would be several sunhighs before she'd be able to run again, of that she was sure.

"Perhaps we should investigate surrounding tunnels as well, and see if they are also in use.... No matter what, we must be prepared for anything, at this point. Grousefrost knows the tunnels as well, perhaps between him and Aspenheart we can determine if they could reach any other tunnels?" She mewed, still keeping pressure off of her injured leg. Prey sounded wonderful...