Sweet child o' mine [OPEN]

Hawkpaw was on her way to camp when she stumbled over a rock in the dark, falling flat onto her side. The blood from the gash on her eye had blinded her, and was making it difficult to see. The way her father had looked at her flashed through her mind over and over, sending shivers through her frame. Did he hate her now? Would her mother hate her if she found out? These thoughts circled her head as she laid there, trying to catch her breath.

She only wanted to protect her father, to stop the Shadowclan tom from killing him. Was it that wrong of her?

It was crushing her to constantly go through this negative feedback loop of thoughts. The frustrating was rising, and the cream she-cat was being driven half insane from crushing guilt and anger. Bitterly, she yowled loudly, expressing her rage/pain in the pouring rain. Her claws dug into the soft earth as she tried to settle herself. Her yowl was loudly enough that if someone listened, they could just make it out in camp through the rain.

Coalpaw heard and came from camp followed closely by Softsong. Coalpaw followed to where she heard Hawkpaw and saw her padding to her quickly"Hawkpaw"she mewed eyes wide seeing the gash.

Softsong caught up and blinked watching but was worried.

Frozenpaw emerged from the apprentice den, hearing the sound of cats in distress. He squinted his eyes and peered through the pouring rain, seeing cats hovering over...Hawkpaw? Frozenpaw ran over, water dripping from his fur. "Hawkpaw, are you okay?" He asked, pushing past Coalpaw and Softsong. This was his best friend...no, this was his crush that he was dealing with. He laid down next to her and propped her head up on his paw. "Get the medicine cat, now," he yelled to nobody in particular. He licked Hawkpaw's forhead and tried to sooth her with words of encouragement.

"Fr- Frozenpaw? Coalpaw?" The apprentice asked, still unable to see clearly through the blood. She could smell the familiar and comforting scent of her dearest friend and his warm licks, but with how jumbled she felt, couldn't trust her senses. To say she was distressed would be an understatement as the she-cat was utterly heartbroken at her father's anger and the feeling of a cat dying beneath her. She clung to the tom pitifully, unable to stop her whimpers.

Coalpaw looked to her sister quietly."yes I'm here Hawkpaw Coalpaw mewed as she padded closer to her site she could see the gash on her sister and was a but worried.

Frozenpaw's eyes were filling with tears. "It's me, Hawkpaw. It's me, Frozenpaw. You'll be okay, I promise. We'll be safe together." He repeated the last sentence from when they were kits and snuck out of camp. He had many good memories with Hawkpaw. He licked her wounds gently so they wouldn't hurt.

"Coalpaw, Frozenpaw-" The cream she-cat mumbled their names whilst burying her face into Frozenpaw's fur. She pressed herself to him as if he was a necessary part to her survival, willing his comforting words to hold her together. She could smell that he was crying with her, but couldn't bring herself to comfort him. Her energy drained from her emotional turmoil. All she could do was whisper in despair. "I've made a mess of everything. It hurts. Will it ever be okay again?"

Littlepaw had been watching from the moment he scented her minutes ago. He came out as Frozenpaw walked over, a bit wary of him due to his over protectiveness of his sister. He sat next to her. "It will. Don't worry. What happened?"

"Yeah....What happened Hawkpaw?"Coalpaw asked her sister gently. She flicked her dark tail glancing to Littlepaw.