There you are! (Closed)

Swooppaw paced nervously around camp, every so often checking to make sure one of his friends was nearby. Though by now he knew most of the clan, he could never be too sure that he wasn't alone. But that begged the question, where was Robinpaw? She had gone out on a solo patrol earlier, but she should have returned by then. He had planned to go hunting with her again, maybe with a warrior too, but that wasn't possible if she wasn't there. He wondered if he should go look for her, and immediately felt conflicted. That would mean running all the way to the RiverClan border by himself. But it also might mean that he would save his sister from some sort of danger. And she hadn't Brough anyone with her, so StarClan knows what had happened to her! Eventually fear of losing his sister outweighed fear of being by himself for a minute, so he took off sprinting, heart pounding in rapid succession, to Sunningrocks. He needed to get there as quick as he could, so he would bet alone for less time. That was when the scent filled his nostrils. Blood. Robinpaw. Her blood. He froze for a second, more terrified than ever before, then once again took off, this time towards the scent. His face turned both disgusted and horrified when he saw the she-cats body. For a moment he didn't know if she was alive, and almost didn't dare to check. But he placed a paw on her bloodstained chest, and felt a heartbeat. Relief flowed threw him for a second, before remembering he was still alone with his only companion being unconscious. She was bigger than him, so it would take to long to carry her back when she wasn't awake. And before she died.
"Robinpaw! Wake up! Please!" the gray tabby cried desperately. An idea formed in his mind, and he rushed over to a snowbank, taking a clump of snow in his jaws and rubbing it against the apprentice, praying that she would wake up. He had never before been this frightened. He was alone, and his sister was on the brink of death. He let out a yowl of fear and took her scruff, dragging her a little ways before realizing her blood was on his muzzle. He stood there petrified, just barely able to whisper. "Robinpaw..."

Robinpaw saw darkness. She heard silence. She couldn’t smell or feel anything.

That was, until something icy cold was pressed against her. The apprentice woke up with a jolt, pain searing through her body. Her eyes snapped open and she had to surpress a yowl of pain. Robinpaw blinked at the blurry figure, and inhaled deeply. It was her brother! Her fur felt wet and was matter together with blood, and her pelt still carried the faint scent of RiverClan. ”S-Swooppaw...” she whispered. Robinpaw lifted her muzzle. The world around her tilted sharply, so she lay her head back down in the snow.

"Robinpaw!" Swooppaw cried out in relief, nuzzling his sister and not minding that her blood that was now on even more of his muzzle and neck. Now that fear wasn't blocking his senses, he realized that there was RiverClan scent on her. His eyes narrowed. Those fish-brains had to go and ruin the life of yet another cat that he loved. First Specklefang and Birchheart, now Robinpaw. But he was determined to save her. Now that she was awake, he had more time, due to the fact that he couldn't be alone for too long before collapsing on the ground, petrified with fear. But now he wasn't by himself, so he could get her back to camp. "I'm going to get you back to camp, so relax. But please just stay awake." He gripped her scruff once again, doing his best to ignore the metallic tang of her blood. He started the slow process of dragging her back to camp, leaving a scarlet trail in the snow. It was horrible to see a cat he loved like this, but he had to press on for her sake. Just paw step after paw step, bringing her home to where she would be safe.

Robinpaw tried to nod, really she did, but she just felt so dizzy. She blinked her appreciation up at the grey tom, unable to speak. She hated for her brother to see her like this, worse him having to drag her back to camp. She wished she could at least stand, but given her current state, that seemed impossible. The brown apprentice tried to remember what had happened. The details came flooding back to her mind. How there was an apprentice-sized warrior too weak to fight as she protected her territory, how another warrior sprang towards her and tried to kill her. She could remember most of their words, but there would be time to tell the others when they arrived at camp.

OOC: Anything you want to have happen before they reach camp?

His paws felt like pure ice. His eyes were sore from keeping them open I the cold for so long. His fur felt like it was about to freeze and break, like the grass did. Swooppaw had been dragging Robinpaw for a little over two minutes when his aching jaw gave way. He collapsed from lack of energy, groaning as he realized that they were only half way. Now he was regretting what had seemed like a noble decision to give his prey to the kits instead. Soon his muscles had recovered at least a little bit of their strength, and he sat up and faced his injured sister. Guilt stabbed at his heart when he realized that every break he took meant more time that she was in pain.
"How did you get hurt?" he asked, before once again taking her scruff and hauling her towards camp.

Robinpaw felt so bad for Swooppaw as he dragged her. She could almost feel his muscles give way as he sank to the ground. ”Swooppaw, really, enough is enough. You need a break. Rest for a while.” she insisted. She gave his ear a little, comforting lick. Robinpaw hated seeing her brother like this, and it was even worse when he picked her up again. ”I’ll tell you what happened when you put me down and rest!” Okay, so her pain was getting worse, but Swooppaw shouldn’t keep on like this. ”Tiring yourself out like this isn’t going to help anything!” she spoke, now an edge of impatience in her voice. He needed to stop and take a break.

OOC: nothing in particular. Did you have anything in mind?

OOC: Just talking is fine with me.

IC: "Fine. I just want you to be alright," Swooppaw explained before once again letting himself fall into the snow. His muscles graciously welcomed another much needed rest, but his brain felt conflicted. They needed to get back to camp quickly. If Robinpaw hadn't stopped him, he would have dragged her all the way to camp in one go, and probably would have required as nearly as much medical attention as she did. And she seemed like she would be happier if they took a break, and that was what he wanted. Maybe the continuous moving was actually opening her wounds and causing her more pain. Whatever the reason, he let himself relax. He turned himself over to face his sister, before sitting up. He did want to here her story. "So how did you get hurt?"

Robinpaw sighed in relief as he finally took a rest. She flicked his shoulder with her tail before beggining her story.

"Well, I was just on a solo patrol, and I went along our border with RiverClan. There was a she-cat. She was a grey tabby, a little smaller than me, and she ran onto ThunderClan territory. Well, I had to defend my Clan, didn't I? So I attacked her. She turned out to be weak and pathetic. She barely tried to defend herself. At first, I was about to let her go with a few scars, but she shouted something. I think she said 'Batfang.' And another cat came running. This one was a tom, charcoal black, and far bigger than the she-cat. And he was so much stronger." Robinpaw paused as the memory of claws on her face sent shivers down her spine. "He attacked me as hard as he could. I swear, he wanted to kill me! And then, just hen I thought I might die, he said something. 'You will never harm Tinytip again.' So, the she-cat was a warrior and not an apprentice. And then, well... I don't remember. I must have been knocked out." Robinpaw finished her story, gazing into her brother's eyes.

Swooppaw listened to Robinpaw's story, clearly interested. He looked at her quizzically, wondering how an apprentice smaller than her could have caused so much damage. His confusion grew as she continued describing, until he heard her mention Batfang. He was probably an overprotective mentor or something like that. His head shrank into his shoulders when she started describing the fight, but still managed to let out a small growl of anger at the RiverClan warrior that hurt his sister like this. His eyes grew confused and his nervous stance changed to a casual one as she said the tiny she-cat was a warrior. That seemed impossible! Was RiverClan determined and ruthless enough to make young cats into warriors? It just felt wrong. He nuzzled her shoulder slightly in reassurance when she recalled being knocked out, as if to say that at least she didn't die. He then pulled away and got to his feet, legs aching slightly in a protest that he ignored.
"That's odd. Hopefully you never run into that tom again. But if you do and I'm with you, we'll rip their pelts off!" Swooppaw declared with relish. Inside, he didn't want to have to fight them, but still didn't forgive that tom. He had done this to his sister, and he doubted that he had any remorse for it. But now was no the time to focus on revenge. He needed to get Robinpaw back to camp. "Ready to get going again?"

Robinpaw nodded, her mouth twisted into a smile. She knew she could count on Swooppaw for making her feel better. ”Ready.” she almost whispered. Robinpaw’s injuries seemed to triple in pain since she had woken up, but she didn’t want to worry her brother. She was so tired, and wanted nothing more than to heal and sleep, but she couldn’t right now. Swooppaw wouldn’t thank her for leaving him alone. So, Robinpaw fought hard to keep her eyes open, no matter how exhausted she was. The little apprentice was scared she would fall unconscious again, but she knew she couldn’t let that happen. Robinpaw settled for half-closing her eyes. Her pain would have kept her awake anyways.

OOC: Should I make a topic in camp now?

Taking a deep breath, Swopppaw once again took Robinpaw's scruff and began to haul her towards camp, wincing at the taste of her blood. To distract himself from how tiring and painful it was, he tried to think about anything and everything else. Would the next patrol be worried about the bright red trail of blood in the white snow? He should probably inform the next patrollers about that. Every so often his heart rate sped up and he had to look to make sure Robinpaw was awake to quench his fear. For a moment all he could think about was how tired it was to continuously pull a cat heavier than him after not eating breakfast that morning. But he managed to switch his train of thought to Birchheart, and trudged along diligently. His eyes lit up with hope when he saw camp, though it was still a small distance away. He could make it just a few more strides.

OOC: sure, go for it
IC:
Robinpaw felt closer and closer to unconsciousness with every moment that passed. She knew Swoooppaw would be too scared to go on if she fell asleep or passed out. So, the apprentice grit her teeth through the pain and tried her very hardest to keep quiet. Robinpaw's eyes felt like stone, and her vision was all blurred. Robinpaw blinked a few times, and let out a huge sigh of relief when she could see the camp in the distance. She couldn't give up now, and neither could Swooppaw, else they'd never make it.