Recuperation [Sitewide]

Leopardsun had run, and run, and not looked back; the only time she'd faltered for even a moment was upon realizing she'd never actually been to Highstones and didn't know the way- she'd followed the lead of the older, more senior warriors, and the medicine cats for whom the path was familiar, and she had not stopped until reaching their destination. Adrenaline had carried her this far, but she could feel the exhaustion finally setting in as she came to a stop.

"ShadowClan!" she turned her head to face her Clanmates; searching in vain for the face she knew she wouldn't find- Nightstar was lost to them. Who else was missing? "Who made it this far? Is everyone alright?"

Her tail curled around her side as she searched for familiar faces. The what now, what next that plagued her mind could be addressed later. Here, now, surrounded by WindClan- their allies, yes, but not ShadowClan- was not the place or time to discuss the aftermath of Nightstar's capture.

Russetpaw panted as she followed behind her mentor, feeling out of breath and winded despite the adrenaline. It was a long climb, one she really hadn’t been prepared for… but Silverwing was safe, and Sleepypaw, and everyone else she cared about. When everyone else began to slow down and stop, the red-pelted apprentice followed suit, plopping down and panting for breath. Eergh. The other WindClanners were mostly fine! Why was she out of breath? Russetpaw wasn’t particularly worried- no one she knew had been kitnapped- she was mainly just tired, and slightly peeved at her seeming lack of running prowess.

A slightly-familiar voice caught her attention, and she lifted her head. Leopardcat. She seemed… panicky? Russetpaw waved her tail with a hopefully-encouraging grin. Leopardcat was their ally… but she was also just plain nice, and Russetpaw didn’t like to see her distraught. Maybe just even a simple smile could help? Sometimes it helped cheer up WindClanners! although usually they were just grumpy, not driven out of their home for the second time.

Batsong helped Bracken best she could... With Smallbean as well they managed as akward as it was.


Poor bracken... she was kinda a cat sandwich smooshed between the med cat and deputy for the entirety of the awkwardly Choreographed run as the pair of high ranks half carried half dragged and another half supported her the whole way...

(yeah 3 halfs but im too sleepy to fix it... deal with it lols. this is tired speedy brain hour!)


Batsong panted as they ran and ran... and ran for what felt like forever.  Up ahead in the poor lighting, it looked like Shadowclans deputy had finallys slowed down... it wasnt till then that Batsong dared look over her shoulder... ok good no twolegs were on their tails...

She slowed down as well breathing heavily... In the back of her mind was what an awful thing that run was for her sisters leg... but all of them were too tired to worry about that for now... she would have to check on it soon though.  

"I know w-we lost Whisperear to them" she said between deep gulps of breath to smallbean.

"did you see anyone else captured?" she asked.

Glancing about, she saw Russetpaw! Oh thank stars the appretnice got out. "Russet! she purred happy to see her new friend was not captured.

She shakily went over to her still tired from the run... "you okay? they didnt hurt you? she asked sniffing the young cat over for wounds and such. It appeared to be all good from what she could tell of a quick check

she cleared her voice
"ahem

"if anyone is hurt I can try and help you best I can. Im windclans m-med cat, B-batsong she introduced to the shadowclan cats gathering around



------

Swiftheart


Just behind the windclan med cat ran a white she cat warrior from shadowclan.  She was getting out of there and hoped that Cloud, Dusk and Cinder had stayed right behind her and going to the same place.  She went to Leopardsun's side.

"im here!  Im okay, not hurt..." she panted nodding to her deputy... with the capture of Swifthearts brother, that left Leopardsun as acting leader.  Swiftheart was ready to do whatever leopard needed of her.

"are you okay?" she asked the deputy quietly very aware that windclan was very close by... if leopard was hurt they didnt need windclan knowing... allies they were sure but after all the mix ups of lately it was probably best to play things close to the chest.  Windclan didnt need to know what all Shadowclan had or didnt have right now

Harechaser hadn't known where she was going, all she'd known was that she was following her clanmates. Leopardsun and Swiftheart, and she had Lousekit and Beetlekit with her. She'd carried each of them in turn as they fled fourtrees, and she ached all over like she'd ran a marathon. As the group finally came to a stop, Harechaser sat panting, fluffy ginger tail sweeping around the two kits. Their mother had to be here somewhere... Or perhaps she'd been taken. Either way, Harechaser had gotten them this far, they could sit with her a while longer.

Her head lifted at Leopardsun's voice, and her shoulders slumped. "Nightstar's gone, the twolegs grabbed him." She mewed dully. She hadn't been as close to her brother as she was with Swiftheart, but Nightstar had still been her brother. Her leader. To see him grabbed by those strange beasts... A shudder ran through the exhausted she-cat.

---

Brackenwing was half-dragged, half-carried between Smallbean and Batsong, their steps carefully choreographed and still altogether far too quick for her to truly keep up with. When they finally came to a stop she sank to the ground with a string of violent swearing, glaring at her surroundings in impotent fury. No, she had not been a fan of the dash across the addled moors, nor the same across a thunderpath and increasingly rocky and quickly-steepening landscape. Highstones, apparently. Where apprentices supposedly went for their moonstone journeys, and medicine cats on the half moon. Brackenwing had never been among those ranks, her own failed attempted to contact Starclan had taken place in Windclan's medicine den when dark shades had roamed the forest and the stars had been silent.

Needless to say, the idea that these strange mountains could be any more safe than fourtrees had been, was complete and utter foxdung to the marbled warrior, who could only sit, breathing hard.

Batsong's words caught up to her, sending her into another round of furious swearing. "Whisperear was taken?" Foxdung. Foxdung, foxdung... Hopefully he was going to be okay, or managed to escape, or something. The pale-furred warrior had always been a friend to her. "Lynxpaw, Owlshade, are they alright?" She scanned for her sibling and daughter, for the moment finding no trace of either of them.

It was strange having so many cats at Highstones. Normally there wouldn't be more than two or three, and now there were two entire clans there. Shrikestar had made sure everyone who hadn't been grabbed by the twolegs made it out okay before making a run for Highstones. When he got there, he took a moment to breathe. The air was heavy with confusion and fear. It was nearly suffocating.

"WindClan, to me!" he called out, standing in a spot some ways away from ShadowClan. They were allies, but they didn't need to co-mingle every chance they got. "Is everyone alright?" He studied the cats surrounding him, but he knew most of them would not be alright. They had been chased from their home, and now from the one place that was supposed to represent peace. What more would the twolegs attempt to take from them? "So they took Whisperear..." he lamented softly, shaking his head. Why did the twolegs take them? What would they gain from having a WindClan warrior in their possession? He didn't know, and had a feeling he would never know. Perhaps StarClan did, though... His gaze hovered around towards the gathered ShadowClan cats a distance away, but he saw no sign of Nightstar. That seemed troubling, but he held out hope for the best.

Lighttail was quick to report to Leopardsun. “I’m here, and I have Snowpaw,” she said. “And I nearly tripped over Sunkit on the way here. Don’t see him at the moment, but he made it out of Fourtrees.” Turning, she scanned the crowd, picking out one face after another. Her stomach flipped whe she noticed a particular absence. “Leopardsun,” she mewed. “You won’t like this, but… I don’t see Harrierpaw.”

The climb this time around had been so much easier, though still taxing to the warrior. Her limbs ached dully from the exertion, but a little bit of rest would surely fix that. Now that they were in the safety of Highstones, far from the twolegs that had invaded Fourtrees, Silverwing looked over her exhausted apprentice with worry in her eyes. She hadn't paid much attention to Russetpaw on their way up, aside from a few glances to make sure the she-cat was still following. "I'm sorry, Russetpaw, I should have given you a couple breaks on the way up here." Something about Whisperear caught the warrior's attention. So Whisperear had been taken. A strange feeling of loss drilled itself deep into Silverwing as she realized that she would never get to see Whisperear again. "Whisper..." Batsong's approach had Silverwing curling her tail around Russetpaw defensively, her eyes stuck on the harmless medicine cat before traveling to the Shadowclan cats that littered Highstones.

__

Sablestrike followed the rest of his clan into Highstones, his previous fervor for twoleg battle now replaced with a feeling of defeat as he dragged his paws on the ground. He had tried to save as many of his clanmates as possible, but it had all been in vain. From the sounds of the other Shadowclanners, they had lost Nightstar. The time for an apology had passed, but only for a short moment. Sablestrike knew that Nightstar would return. Nightstar wasn't the type of cat that would leave Shadowclan forever, they just had to wait for him to come back. The news that Lighttail carried was much more distressing. Harrierpaw had been taken. Sablestrike sat down, cold numbness washing over him. For all his talk about preventing tragedy, he was still useless to Shadowclan. His inability to protect the cats he loved weighed heavily on the tom as he began to stare at nothing, letting the sounds of the distressed cats around him blend into the background.

Snowpaw padded away from Lighttail and slumped in a crevice between the rocks. Her head spun with new memories that’d hit on the journey there. Murkystar saving her life from a dog, Snowpaw breaking her ankle in the fight. Playing with a kit, one who she hadn’t seen since the accident. And then the horrible reality. The Dark Forest. They had invaded. Suddenly, she thought of the many cats she hadn’t seen. Deerleap. Sootwhisker. Murkystar, Mistyfalcon, Batglow! Had they all been slaughtered by the Dark Forest cats like Loudnose and Ratrunner?

Leopardsun took note of every ShadowClan cat that made themselves known, verbally or otherwise. Swiftheart was the first to run up to her, checking on her after clarifying that she was okay, and-

"I'll be alright, Swiftheart," she said, though the words sounded somewhat forced even to her own ears. "Really."

Just... Not right now.

Shrikestar called WindClan to him, and that left her to concern herself only with her own Clan; which was just the way she liked it, though she would have preferred to be doing this particular head count in the heart of ShadowClan's marshes while Nightstar dealt with other things.

Next to approach was Harechaser, then Duskflight; each with more details of the leader's capture. The deputy nodded once to each of them, trying to think of what to say and how best to move forward. "It's unfortunate timing, certainly-"

Her statement was interrupted by Duskflight's realization, and she let out a hiss of her own. That they'd been assaulted as they recovered from the earthquake was bad enough, but to steal kits? Nightstar was strong, and an experienced warrior; Cinderkit was a kit. "We'll get her back, Duskflight."

Crowspirit joined the crowd as well, silent but present at Swiftheart's side; and Leopardsun let out a sigh of relief as Sablestrike also arrived safely. Lighttail, too, joined them shortly; accounting for herself and Snowfoot- Snowpaw- as well as saying that Sunkit had escaped the clearing, though he was absent now. Her last words, however, had an immediate impact.

"...I-"

No, no, no-

"No. Not her, not Harrierpaw..." Desperation seeped into her voice as she looked, pleading, at the younger warrior. "Please, please tell me this is just a bad joke. It's not funny, Lighttail."

She knew it wasn't, that Lighttail wouldn't joke about something like that, but...

Curse the stars! I'd planned on spending more time with her... I shouldn't have waited as long as I did. Does she know that she's missed? That she's wanted? That she's loved? I'll tell her- I'll tell her every day for the rest of the life, if I can only bring her back!

"...Oh... I-"

I should have- I would have-

"..."

Was her love a curse? Deerleap, Sootwhisker, Vixenpaw, Tawnykit...

And now Harrierpaw.

I promised that I would protect her, that I would keep her safe!

And she couldn't even take the time to grieve, to wallow in her sadness and her anger at what had happened. She wasn't the only one who had lost someone she loved, and she had a duty to fulfil beyond that of a devastated warrior: in Nightstar's absence, the deputy was acting leader, and only now did the weight of that position truly land on her shoulders. "...We've lost a great deal, and even more today," she spoke to the cats around her. "Our kits- our leader- those we call our own are lost to us now. But... They will not be lost forever. Whatever it takes, we'll find a way to bring them home."

They couldn't rush off on a rescue mission now. Not with traps laid everywhere like this- surely it was worse in the forest, where they'd been captured in the first place. That was another nightmare waiting to unfold, wasn't it?

"For now... I ask that we all take the time to recover. We won't be able to save anyone if we don't look after ourselves." For how often she failed at it, there was something to be said about her asking others to do the same, but she didn't dwell on it. "We need to support one another, and we need to stay together: I'd rather no one leaves this place on their own. Groups of two or more, a warrior with any apprentices- it seems safer than the forest so far, but we should still treat it as dangerous territory."

She looked at the cats around her, what still remained of ShadowClan, and took in every name and face; committing each to memory in a way she never had before.

Every one of them was precious, and every day could be their last; she'd had a number of experiences to remind her of that throughout her life, but this one felt...

Poignant, somehow.

"I love you," she said. "All of you."

In case I don't get to say it again.

It took him a little longer than he would have liked to catch up with his clan. Luckily the scnets helped determine just which way they would have gone. He had to take a little round about way to avoid two legs but he had finally made it safe and sound, and it seemed that he just missed a meeting. As the spotted tom stepped up he finally realized that Windclan was with them too.. much to his.. well.. He knew they had an alliance but he was hoping that he would have a space to himself and his clan.

With a sigh the tom moved forward, settling beside Leopardsun. Letting his fur brush against hers ever so slightly. Hopefully it would comfort them both.. There was too much going on and he didn't even know where to start with processing it all.

---

Tigerkit wasn't aware of what was happening, of what was going on. One moment they were in a place known as the fourtrees and the next he was being snatched up and dragged who know else where? Like really? He was just getting used to all of the other cats too! Finally proving he was the best kit there was, and now? Would have to start over again?

The lanky brown kit let out a huff as he was lowered to the ground, a small growl leaving his throat. Why was everyone so afraid? Why weren't any of them saying anything? "What just happened?" The tom asked to anyone who was willing to listen.

Things were happening altogether too fast, Russetpaw realized as more and more cats rushed into the makeshift camp. “S’alright,” she murmured, her breathing slowly returning to normal. “I’ve gotta practice… mayhaps I’m better cut out… for the tunnels, eh?” She closed her eyes for a moment despite the mayhem, taking a deep breath and letting her thoughts clear. A familiar voice broke through to the red-pelted apprentice, and she managed a slightly trembly smile upon seeing Batsong… the medicine cat being concerned about her kinda made her all warm and fuzzy-feeling inside. “I’m okay… just winded… thank you.”

Suddenly, her eyes finally stuck on who she’d been looking for- Sleeps! She looked- not hurt, Russetpaw had definitely seen her keeping pace on the way here- but just sad- and the enormity of the situation, though it hadn’t borne down on Russetpaw’s shoulders just yet (not while others were around, staving off the gloom) hovered over her like a dark cloud.

”I’m gonna check on Sleepypaw,” she mewed to Silverwing, pressing her shoulder against the other molly’s pelt. “I’ll be right back.” The red-pelted apprentice stood, still slightly irritated by the shake in her paws, and picked her way over to her friend. She- she realized she didn’t know what to say- but Sleepypaw had been there for her, so the least she could do was be there for her friend.

Russetpaw curled up next to the tortoiseshell molly, pressing her side lightly into her friend’s soft fur. “We made it…” She simply couldn’t think of anything else to say- so she just tried to be there, a comforting, unjudging presence- and Sleepypaw’s steady breathing was helping to calm Russetpaw’s racing heart. There was more there than just annoyance at her own shortcomings as far as running came- but the presence of her Clanmates around her kept the dark cloud of despair and terror away.