Dead Hearts (Cont.)

See Part 1...

"You're going to be okay," He kept repeating as he slowly began to walk out of the rocky territory and back into the long grass of the marsh. Thankfully he wouldn't have to deal with the stones digging into his pads, but with each step he couldn't help but worry about the she-cat on his back. He felt like he needed to run. He needed to run as fast as he could to get to camp in enough time, but at the same time, he knew that if he wasn't careful enough, he could very easily end up hurting her. It was awful though. Each step seemed heavier. He had never had to deal with carrying a clan mate back before and it was taking its toll. He grew slower and slower to the point that his feet were sinking in the marshy mud, the stamina he needed to walk being used up to pull his paws out. It was so difficult but soon he found the thickets that bordered the camp and guarded the entrance. Oh thank Starclan...

As soon as Thrushstripe entered the camp, he quickly began to move faster until he reached the middle of camp. He wanted to take Mapleface all the way to the medicine cat's den, but he really didn't know if there would be enough room in there to help her the way she needed to be helped. "Mallowroot! Hailstorm! Anyone, you've got to help Mapleface!" He cried desperately as he stared at the den's entrance hoping to see any kind of movement of help. At this point, the young tom was terrified. He didn't want to lose his sister-- his best friend. And the longer he waited, the more he could feel the blood from her body running down the sides of his own and onto the ground. It was the worst feeling he had ever experienced. Each drip sent chills down his spine as he became more frantic for help.

Nightcloud lifted her head weary from her nest, her mind foggy as she pushed herself to her paws. She had heard Thrushstripe yelling, but hadn't been able to make out what he had said. She stumbled from the den with a soft yawn, carrying her tired gaze across the camp. She finally saw the warrior, with his sister lying on his back and...Oh StarClan, was that blood? The warrior quickly woke up when the scent of blood washed over her, along with the bloody sight of Mapleface. She started to hurry over, but just the overwhelming scent of blood left a horrible taste in her mouth, adding with the sight of Mapleface's face; or at least what was left of it, she wanted to throw up. She drew back, unable to cope with such an overload to her senses, but after a few moments she took a deep breath (gagging a bit due to the scent that still rolled from Mapleface) and hurried forward. Her yellow gaze flickered with fear as she reached the two, glancing at the medicine cat den. Hopefully Mallowroot and Hailstorm where awake, or at least close to the camp if they were out getting herbs. "What happened?" she finally croaked out, glancing at Thrushstripe but refusing to look at Mapleface...It was just to much blood for her. Let Mapleface still be alive and make it... Nightcloud begged StarClan silently as she waited for either an answer or for Mallowroot and/or Hailstorm to show up.

Mallowroot lazily poked his head out of the medicine cat den, his fur bit ragged since he had just woken up from a nap. Since he was getting older, he's been taking lots of naps recently, and never expected that much to happen. But his bright eyes turned wide in horror at the sight of a trail of blood and a pretty much faceless cat.
Mapleface...?
He rushed over as quick as he could, the shock instantly eliminating his drowsiness. "Thrushstripe, what in StarClan happened?" he demanded quickly, flicking his tail towards the medicine cat den for him to bring the wounded cat in there. He ran in, grabbing mass amounts of herbs.

Thrushstripe looked up to see Nightcloud and slight relief washed over him once again. Thankfully someone had heard him. He gave the she-cat a weak smile before his head shot up at the sound of Mallowroot running over to them. But as soon as the medicine cat gave him the say-so to move to the den, he started walking before even trying to start the story. It was going to be a long one, but they obviously only needed the short version.

"T-There was a fox..." He stuttered for a second. "It was coming right for me. It caught us by surprise while we were in the territory, but Mapleface jumped in the way before it could make a meal out of me... A-And this happened. The nasty thing threw her into a rock and she cracked her head as well. I just..." He paused for a moment to control himself. Now that he was back at camp with someone else who could take charge of the situation, the young tom was starting to break down mainly from shock. "I couldn't help her. I couldn't do anything. She was just lying there motionless. I-I managed to chase it off. I think I left it blind, but..." Carefully lying his sister down on one of the beds of moss in the medicine cat den, he glanced between Mallowroot and Nightcloud before quickly looking away. "This is all my fault..."

Nightstar was suddenly awoken from her somewhat peaceful slumber by Thrushstripe's cry. Leaping to her paws, the leader raced out of her den and over to the group of cats. As she approached, her eyes could only widen in horror. 'Oh StarClan...' She tried to reach for the right words to say. But none came. All that seemed to want to come out was stutters and cries of grief. However, she couldn't show that at the moment. She had to help her warriors.

Regaining her posture, Nightwing padded next to where Mapleface's head was. Blue eyes narrowed in worry, she bent down and studied the wounds. She was no medicine cat, but she was sure that she could help. Nightstar's determination grew. She couldn't let one of her warriors die, she would help in some way.

Looking up to Thrushstripe, she mewed with confidence she actually didn't know she had. "It is not your fault. You have done, the best you could, Thrushstripe." But, she couldn't help but know that at least two of her warriors were going to go through some kind of emotional trauma. The leader couldn't do anything to stop it, because it had already happened. Or was in the processes of happening.

Hailstorm blinked, his eyes wide at the faceless cat. But why did it have to be Mapleface..? Such a pretty cat, and her face ripped away... She was brave to help her brother through... His paws started shaking, and his knees felt like they were bucking together. "How could this happen?! You guys should of known not to go after a fox on your own!" He scolded to the two cats, mostly out of anger and sadness for the poor she-cat, and the half-frightened to death tom. He sighed, looking over to Mallowroot, "Okay, Mallowroot, what do we do for her.. and Thrushstripe, are you hurt or wounded anywhere?" He asked, calming himself down, and he took in a deep breath and let it out a few heart beats later.

ooc: I don't approve of shipping you and sarrow, minkles ;A;

IC: Mallowroot sighed, taking a second to think. "Take Thrushstripe and treat him for shock," he ordered, turning to Mapleface and laying her on the ground next to a pile of herbs. "Nightstar, get lot's of wet moss."

OOC: Yeah. He wants you all to himself.

Mapleface moaned slightly, growing weaker. She could hear voices surrounding her and talking, but she dared not open her eyes. The pain hurt so much.

((I wasn't going to post till later but I didn't want people to think I wasn't reading this and waiting.))

It was just after shaking his head in reply to Nightstar did he hear Hailstorm. The sudden accusation of the two siblings trying to hunt for the fox suddenly enraged the already guilty Thrushstripe. He didn't even realize what he had said until it spilled from his mouth: "We weren't looking for it; it found us, mousebrain!" When he had noticed just what he had done, he froze in place, his eyes wide with regret and embarrassment. He had just insulted one of his own clan mates. And not just any clan mate, but one of the medicine cats. That was a huge no-no. He quickly felt like disappearing. Shrinking down closer to the ground, he dared not look back at Hailstorm when the medicine cat spoke again. All he could do at this point was just shake his head.

"Take Thrushstripe and treat him for shock." That was the last thing the young warrior heard before he began to think back on the event. It was all that stupid fox's fault. If it hadn't showed up, none of this would have happened... but then again, if Thrushstripe had seen it in the first place, it never would have snuck up on them like it did and they would still be out of this mess. So all in all, it was all his fault. He could have kept everything from going down, his sister would be okay, and the fox would be long gone. But no, he had to just freeze in his place while in the territory and let his sister take the punishment for it. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." he muttered again and again as the shock was taking its toll. Although he really meant it. He was sorry for getting Mapleface in this situation; he was sorry for yelling at Hailstorm; and he was sorry that this day just had to happen.

Hailstorm huffed a little, and nudged the tom. "Come back to the medicine den, I'll help you for your shock, and you're okay, I forgive you." his eyes were still clouded with worry for the she-cat, he never seen such a severe wound on a cat before, he started padding away, and looking behind his shoulder to make sure Thrushstripe was following after.

OCC: Little, soosh your face, YOU DUN NO NOFHIN ABOUT LURV.

I know, Sleepy, everyone wants me all to themselves ;D

ooc: Yeah, Mink. I ttly didn't screw up Little's WHOLE character and got him banished just to be with Sarrow...

IC: Mallowroot rushed, grabbing herb after herb to stop the bleeding. He used cobwebs to try to stop the bleeding, and it worked a little. Not too much though, so he grabbed some more herbs, making poultices. He sighed at the sight of his piles of herbs slightly going, but that didn't matter.
"C'mon, Mapleface, stay with us..." he whispered.
Mallowroot, after about an hour, stepped away. Looking at Mapleface, and noticing the large puddle of blood on the floor, and the warrior was just barely alive. She lost lots of blood, and had large amounts of cobwebs bandaging and soaking up the blood from her wounds. He walked up to the Mapleface slowly, his eyes wide.
"Hang in there, Mapleface. Just a bit more," he promised.
Turning, he grabbed some comfrey from his withering pile and quickly made a poultice out of that, putting some on her wounds. I hope she doesn't pass... I wish I could've been trained better, he thought to himself quietly, then walking a bit outside, calling for Thrushstripe and Hailstorm. "I think she may be okay..." he mewed.

ooc: Sorry for the time skip... and Mapleface isn't supposed to die, is she? I wasn't informed of what the outcome is supposed to be.

OOC: nope, she lives.

ooc: Okey :D Just waitin' for le other peeps to post.

As soon as he was called back over to his sister, Thrushstripe jumped at the opportunity. He had finally calmed down from what seemed to be his little panic attack all thanks to Hailstorm. Dat kitteh was amazin'. Look at Hailstorm go! But the young warrior couldn't decide if he wanted to run into the den or not go in at all. He was terrified of what he would see. Although, he absolutely refused to believe that Mapleface had died. He wasn't going to believe it one bit, but he didn't want to see her dying either. If anything, he wanted her to get better. Taking a deep breath, he looked back for the medicine cat that was with him before entering once again only to find half of her face covered in just about everything he had ever seen in a medicine cat's den before. Nothing had seemed to change, though. She was still unconscious with blood still oozing out of her wounds. The small puddle that stained the ground didn't help him feel any better either.

"Is.. Is she going to be okay?" he asked softly, almost in defeat with worry coating every word he spoke.


dun dun DUUUNNN. It was only after this long that Gingerheart had come back from her duties. She had been out on the opposite side of the territory this entire time trying to hunt for more food to have in the fresh-kill pile until she was suddenly blasted with the smell of blood as soon as she entered camp. The smell was so strong that it even managed to cover up the smell of the couple of frogs she was carrying in her mouth. Instantly, she darted through the camp, dropping the prey at the entrance where she once stood. As soon as she got to the middle of camp, she looked around. Good. No one was dead at least. That worried her the most. But that smell... she had never smelled it so strong before. Then, she saw it. The drips and trickles that led straight to the medicine cat's den where Nightstar, Nightcloud, Hailstorm and Thrushstripe (still covered in blood) were all poking their heads in. What was going on? Why was her son drenched like that? Running over to the crowd, she slightly pushed her way forward to try to get a more decent look. "Someone tell me what's going on," she demanded as she could only see the top of Mallowroot's head inside the den.

OOC: ginger's part is bad... I'm sorry..