I Used to See a Million Colours (closed)

The cool damp of earth under Minkstream's paws padded by as he and Bat left the ravine behind, the scent of rain that had been and gone leaving the air sweet and filled with the mingling of growing life and rotting leaves.

At the moment he felt more like the latter, head pounding with an ache that refused to leave despite the fresh coolness. He'd hoped that maybe a hunt with Bat would clear it, getting out of the ravine and the chill humidity that clustered there. Of course it wouldn't. This had gone on too long.... A nameless coil of dark fear stirred at the pit of his stomach, a hint that he quickly squashed, doing his best to focus on the environment around them - ear twitching at the soft drip of water hitting the earth, the flash of a bird's wings in the corner of his eye as it flitted through the trees.
He didn't mention the feeling of tight bands winding around his head to her, but he had a feeling she could see it in the way he tried to keep his footsteps softer than normal - the slight wince whenever he turned his head to glance at a flicker of movement. At this point practically the whole Clan knew something was up, and his family especially. Every time he trailed off in the middle of a conversation, or abruptly forgot what he was meant to be doing.... And still he refused to bother the medicine cats, to their concern. "I'm fine," he'd say with a casual smile. "It's just what's left over from being stuck in Fourtrees. Nothing big."

Do I even believe that anymore?

Sure, weakness still lingered in his limbs, and the wounds at his neck were taking their time to heal now that the infection was gone - the fur slowly growing to obscure them as his pelt regained its lustre - but this was... different. If he was honest, he was getting worse, not better. And the thought opened a pit of deep fear again - like a lake with endless, dark depths - in his stomach. Maybe that was why he avoided the medicine cats, and not just because there didn't happen to be a gaping hole in his head they could physically patch up.

The world was slipping out from under his paws, deep fears that he didn't dare confront slowly rising like sludge to the surface in quiet moments away from the pressing duties of looking after this Clan that had suddenly been thrown into his paws. Batbite's pelt by his side as he walked was a comfort, his fur occasionally brushing hers as they searched for a good spot to hunt - her calm analysis of the duties she watched over a weight off his back and somehow almost a delight to listen to as they waded through this abrupt new rise in position. Without her...

If he was honest, he probably would have run to the mountains by now.

He sighed, ducking under a branch laden with raindrops and wincing as the movement stretched at the deep ache in his head, ears flicking off cool drops of water. For a moment the splash of cold felt good, until it warmed in his fur. The scent of prey wound through here, sounds of faint scuffling coming from nearby, and he glanced at Bat, murmuring quietly, "This seems like a good spot."

With each few steps, Batbite couldn't help but turn her head to observe her mate; to try and keep at least a slight read on him. She tried her best to move as silently as he did, taking an educated guess as to the why, and that made her all the more reluctant to look away. All the same, she turned away each time, understanding the gift that even the illusion of privacy provided. If he'd been glancing at her quite so much, she knew she wouldn't be remotely pleased.

She nodded slightly when he glanced at her, not wanting to cause any more agitation than was necessary. Still as a stone and silently tracking her quarry, she kept her eyes, ears, and nose alike on high alert; and then, the softest whisper-

"I've got something."

It was a rabbit, not the most common sight. Her approach was as swift as it was careful and deliberate, with the characteristic silence she'd honed over her life. It seemed that her swift movements had alerted the prey to her presence, however, or else this particular rabbit had honed its skills for quite some time as well. Whatever the reason, it dashed out of reach and out of sight, leaving her with the distinct impression that she should probably spend more time practicing.

Batbite failed to catch a Rabbit, costing 3 SP.

Batbite
100/100 HP
277/280 SP

The member 'Holly' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

'Hunting Dice' : 6

He watched as she stood still for a moment, his ear twitching to the sound of faint rustles, his own form almost as unmoving as the quiet trunks of the trees around them. And then her whisper, and a moment later she'd darted away, like the barest breath of a breeze touching the leaves. For just a moment he blinked, admiration running through him at the way she knew so naturally how to move silently under the trees. He'd learned to make his passage silent, but he doubted he could manage it at a speed like that.

Her pelt flicked through the undergrowth, chasing a swift form that he managed to identify as a rabbit, dashing away through the undergrowth with a rustle, and he turned his attention outwards, focusing on the smaller rustles he'd caught before. The anticipation of the hunt was dampened slightly with her gone, a different feeling swirling in the pit of his gut again. Dread, always dread. Stars, couldn't he go through just this one thing without the prickling at the back of his mind? Yet with the pounding in his head to remind him, it was almost impossible. And the last time he'd gone on a hunt.... The lack of any prey of his own in his maw had spoken for itself. He'd forgotten halfway through stalking the mouse what he was doing.

That's not happening today.

A faint scratching sound caught his ear, and he parted his maw. The scent of squirrel faintly touched his tongue as he tasted the air, and he fell into a crouch, slipping forwards and wincing as the movement tugged at his head. Stars, it was bad today.... For a moment as the thought passed through his mind, the world seemed to waver, the task at paw slipping away - and he forcefully pulled himself back, gritting his teeth and almost welcoming the flash of pain it brought as he brushed under the branches of a squat, vaguely thorny bush, following the rustle and the scent.

Lightly holding his breath, he did his best to keep his attention focused as he continued to move forwards, the flicker of a brown-flecked grey pelt catching his eye in the mottling between leaves of a bush growing at the base of a tree. The time he would catch it - he had to catch it. For his own sanity. The pounding in his head beat to the beat of his heart as it sped up slightly, his pawsteps careful and silent-

He winced as the unconscious clenching of his jaw sent a spike of pain up through his skull, concentration breaking for just a heartbeat.

Snap

The form suddenly stiffened even as he froze.

And darted out of sight with a sudden chittering rustle.

Foxdung! He burst through the bush, lips drawing back slightly in a snarl, spikes of pain lancing through his head as his pawsteps pounded against the forest floor. The tail bobbed ahead, unbelievably fast - just a blur as it wheeled for the trunk of a tree. Oh no you don't! Fire surged through his paws, and he leapt after it, brown and green whirling, pain dancing in flashing white sparks. Not this time. His claws gripped the trunk, reckless, snapping after the form of the squirrel, muscles bunching and pushing him up. The scent of its fear sharp on his tongue. It danced out onto a branch - he launched after, catching himself as his head lurched at the movement. Somehow he kept after it, eyes tracking it as it jumped to another branch and hind legs tensing, pushing off. Claws reaching, he saw the catch in his mind's eye, the trajectory perfect-

A crack rang out from underneath, and he found his push losing momentum, suddenly thrown off. Claws scrabbled at bark, the sudden lurch of gravity pulling at his head - pain. A glimpse of the squirrel darting away, brown-flecked fur standing out for a moment. Dark eyes that reflected his wide ones. Blurs and slaps of leaves against his face, his body twisting automatically as his breath gasped in his ears, heart thundering, green shot through with bright light rushing in a sudden shattered puddle of half-seen images. And the ground.

And a low whip of a branch.

Ungh! His breath gasped out of his lungs as something slapped into his ribs. Scrabbling for a grip, he fought to grasp it, something catching his paws for just a second before he flipped away again, tail wildly spasming out, twisting, the world turning on its head in a moment to show flickers of sharded blue-

Impact.

With a crunch of snapping twigs, he crashed onto the forest floor, thudding onto his legs and then cracking his chin against it as they collapsed. Everything suddenly flashed a bright, agonizing white that lanced like lightning across his vision. His breath seized at the sheer agony like pure flame erupting from his head and burning in his whole body - his soul. For what felt like an eternity of a heartbeat his existence was pure agony, blackness constricting it to a single, flaming point like a star....

Slowly, gasping, he swam up against a pounding throb that washed through him like waves, cramping in the pit of his stomach and making him grit his teeth against the urge to throw up. A movement that sent a white-hot flash through his head, and he let out a sharp hiss, crackling around him making him wince as he shifted his paws slightly. Dizzyness swam through him in rushing waves, and he swallowed against the nausea rising again, the world doing flips as a moan slipped out of his maw, and he let himself fall limp, taking short, gasping breaths.

The member 'Chickenwing' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

'Hunting Dice' : 4

The sound of something hitting the ground caught her attention, alert enough in that moment to hear the slightest disturbance. She whipped around to see what it was, and-

"Strom!"

She wailed as she raced toward him; carefully maintained silence forgotten in her sudden desperation. It wasn't the first time something like this had happened, far from the first time one of them had been gravely injured or ill, but before it was in the haze of a star-sent plague or the rush of adrenaline that came with a decisive battle.

This, though...

This was painfully ordinary, and that only meant there was nothing else to occupy her thoughts. No distraction, no delay, just the overwhelming rush of worry she'd been pushing aside. She was reassured only slightly by the fact that he was still breathing.

"Mouse-brain," she murmured, unable to keep the hint of affection out of her voice even now. "Stars, what were you thinking? You can't just go around making me worry like this! You'd better hold on with everything you've got, you already know I can't do any of this without you! If you leave me alone right now, I swear on my own heart that you will never know peace again. Do you think dying would stop me? Not one moment of peace, I promise you!"

It was familiar, somehow; a sense of deja vu washing over her. Had she said something similar, once?

She wasn't a medicine cat, she wasn't qualified for this. What was she supposed to do?

It wasn't like she could just leave him here to go get one.

"You've been there for me before, through everything... From the very start. And I'm trying to be there for you, too. You're not making it easy, you know that? I'm not going anywhere. It's both of us, alright? Just like old times. So if you're stuck here, then so am I!"

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself in some small way. Right, there was a fairly simple question she ought to have asked already. "...Can you stand?"

Through the chaos of agony still pulsing in flickering red waves, he heard a cry - a sound he'd never heard connected with his name before. His name. Strom. Yes. Starlord? Who? Name?

Flickers. Flashes.

He blinked, even that movement sending a twitching wince down his spine - ears flattening to contain it and only making it worse. Rustling, rushing pawsteps and a scent of panic that crackled at the air. He winced again as it stopped beside him, cracking open eyes that strobed through waves of bright colour and glittering blackness. A glimpse of her black-furred pelt, and concerned green gaze that showed a flicker of relief as he dragged in a shuddering breath.

Her words were half-heard, a murmur that bounced around in his brain, yet somehow he found the ability to curve the corners of his maw up; a stray thought bouncing for a moment through his mind before it was gone. Haven't taken any lives to lose. Whatever that meant. The flash of clarity disappeared to the splinters of pain and whirling dancing through his head. "Couldn't. Can't." A flicker of a smile. "Wouldn't." He thought the words croaked out of his maw in reply to her words, but the crack of pain that seized him as he tried to shuffle into a more upright position blasted everything out of his thoughts for a brief moment.

At least... everything was a bit clearer now. Her words came through air again - a little distant, but not as though through water, anymore. He squeezed his eyes shut, her last question coming on the end of a deep breath, and he tried to take one of his own, letting it out as slowly as possible. Darkness threatened even at that action, a rush of pinpricking darkness squeezing the periphery of his vision. "I... don't know."