Glass Half Empty [OPEN]

Having been on a patrol and somehow having managed to slip away from the Asylum cat that had accompanied him, Sunflower had soon found himself in a very unfortunate predicament. For the first time ever, he'd wished that he hadn't left the strange cat's side and though it had made his heart race at the thought of going back to camp like this, there was no way to get himself out of the pinch he was in without any help...

Hobbling into camp with his head hung low, it wasn't just because he was being cowardly, but because surrounding his head was a Twoleg contraption made of ice-rock (it's a glass jar). While out on his patrol, he'd wandered a bit too close to the Twolegplace and a delectable scent had caught his attention and there he'd found a bubble with a yummy scent that he just couldn't ignore. Initially, he'd thought that he'd be able to bring home whatever was in it and his clanmates would be proud of him for once, but upon inspecting the ice-rock bubble further, he'd been able to squeeze his head in and for the life of him couldn't get it out, no matter how much he'd flailed about.

So now, he stood in the center of camp, his nervous breath steaming up the inside of the Twoleg bubble-thing while his legs trembled beneath him. His ears were awkwardly shoved against his head and his nose was pressed against the ice-rock and every twitch of his whisker made him wanted to sneeze, and he knew he needed to get himself out of this thing, whatever it was. "H-help," the meek voiced warrior mewed softly, his voice muffled and almost inaudible as his tears began to form a little puddle at the bottom of it.

"What in Starclan's name did you get into, you flea-brained excuse for a warrior?" Beechface, to put it simply, was not pleased to have walked out of her den to see Sunflower standing in the middle of camp with... some sort of clear... thing... stuck on his head.

"I have so much to do and you come back to camp without prey, and like this?" She mewed in exasperation, stalking over to the cowardly tom. Gingerly, she sniffed at the object that was seemingly stuck to his face. She reached up a paw, tapping it curiously. Solid, somewhat cool. Still smelled faintly of twoleg, and Beechface's lip curled in disgust.

Maybe leaving Sunflower to suffer for his stupidity would teach him a lesson... Or maybe not. And she honestly wasn't sure if Sunflower could breathe in that thing.

"How did you get stuck in this, anyways? How am I supposed to even get it off of you?" She grumbled, more to herself than to Sunflower. The large, grumpy medicine cat lifted her paw again, poking at the edge of the weird object where it was stuck to his head. Then she reared up onto her hind legs, struggling to tug at the thing for a moment. It didn't move except to move with the motion of Sunflower's head, so Beechface dropped back to all fours, staring at the object.

The Asylum cats prowling the edges of camp were surely laughing at this entire, absurd situation.

"...Come on." She grumbled to Sunflower, turning and stalking towards her den. Maybe if she held it still he'd be able to wiggle free, but she'd need to use something as a support. She couldn't hold him still with just her paws, but maybe the stone part of the den would work.

The sight of Sunflower entering camp made Willowdance gasp. She darted forwards, pausing for a second as Beechface talked. Sadness stung her heart at how rude their Medicine Cat was, but that was outweighed immediately by her concern for Sunflower. He wore a weird transparent thing on his head, akin to a bubble. His head was visibly stuck in it. Sympathy and panic bubbled up in her throat.

Aa Beechface began to examine the object, Willowdance went up to Sunflower. ”Don’t worry. You’ll get out of there soon.” She sat down beside him-since Beechface seemed content to examine the front-and told Sunflower. Could he hear her? She had no idea.

Then, Beechface asked for Sunflower to follow her. Willowdance stepped back, not wanting to get in the way, and offered Sunflower a comforting nod. ”It’ll be fine.” She mouthed to him.

Watching as Beechface approached him, her expression anything but amused, Sunflower's heart sunk. Her annoyed voice was muffled but still audible through the bubble around his head and he wished that he could just run away. Except of course, if he did, he'd probably never get this thing off of his head.

Beginning to follow the medicine cat to her den, a familiar scent hit his nose and sure enough, Willowdance soon arrived at the scene. How she was able to still look at him with her soft smile and manage to have that amount of patience with him was beyond his understanding. Part of him wished she didn't show up to see his sorry rump like this, but on the other paw her presence was much appreciated.

Mustering up a faint smile to the she-cat, the lengthy tom made his way to the medicine cat den. Crouching down, he entered, trying his best not to bump into any of the neatly stacked piles around the dimly lit space.

Beechface briefly glanced at Willowdance, though made no attempt to greet the cat she'd been apprentices with before turning her gaze back in the transparent thing Sunflower had got his head stuck in.

"If you lean your head against the wall there-" Beechface indicated with a wave of her tail to a spot towards the entrance of the den, where there were no herb stores to get in the way and where the rock ceiling sloped downward, "-and we keep a hold on... whatever that thing is, you might be able to slip free."

She nudged the tom in the desired direction without waiting for a response, and once the side of the transparent object was against the wall, Beechface lifted her paws to brace on the oddly smooth surface of it.

"Try now." She told Sunflower gruffly, hoping that her paws alone would be enough to keep the... whatever it was... in place.

Willowdance stayed back, following as Beechface dragged Sunflower to the Medicine Cat den. She made sure to not get in the way and mess things up as Beechface tried figuring out what to do.

As Beechface placed down her paws, Willowdance moved forwards as well to contribute her own paws to keeping the jar in place.

Listening to Beechface, Sunflower tried to nod his head but the weight of the bubble was too heavy and so he stopped, trying to keep his head as still as possible. Leaning his head against the wall as instructed, he waited for her signal. Pulling his head against the force of them holding onto it, the warrior used all his might but didn't prevail. Stopping for a moment to catch his breath, he tried once more, this time twisting his head every which way and pushing his paws against the ground.

At first he wasn't so sure it was working, but then the pressure around his head got tighter and tighter as if about to be squished and the lengthy tom panicked. Pulling even harder than before, he didn't stop until a 'pop' sound filled the air and he went fumbling backwards.

Giving his pelt a shake and opening his eyes, the weight that once hung on his head and neck was gone and in front of him sat the glass bubble. He was free! Jumping up to his paws, he gave his short fur another shake before turning to the medicine cat. "Th-thank you," he mewed meekly with a nod of thanks.