What Lurks Beneath the Dark [Newleaf Tears Topic/OPEN]

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

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'Effect Dice' : 4

ooc: WINDCLAN, have your characters run to the mountains with Finchstar and Tinystar, if any of your cats decide to stay behind they will be crushed by boulders.

Many pelts of bleeding cats raced up the moor now, cresting hills with bloody paws, leaving trails of crimson in their wake. Finchstar slowed his pace, letting his clanmates take the lead. One look over his shoulder, and the massive forms of the dogs could be seen, not far behind their victims. Their paws sounded through the tough mountain grass, sending waves of vibrations over the stones. Panting heavily, the leader doubled back on weary legs, quickly darting between the wounded, running toward the beasts at full speed, and then falling back, hoping to out-maneuver them. His mind was weary, and his breath caught in his throat like a cold claw. Finchstar's wounds burned like a red hot fire, but even that had begun to dull. The wheatgrass cut at the orange and white tabby's legs like fangs, and crunched as his clanmates dragged themselves over the hills. A red haze encroached on the tom's vision, and the white pelt beside him now was just a blur. Tinystar?

SkyClan cats now mingled with WindClan, all scrambling for their lives on the very stones that had sheltered them. The smaller tom that ran beside Finchstar murmured some words in the haze, and it took the young leader a moment to decipher them. "The fallen..." He breathed, halting for as long as he dared, staring back wistfully to the caves of Mothermouth. The bodies of his clanmates were littered there, cast about like gorse during a windstorm. Crimson blood spattered the rocks and soaked into the pelts of the dogs. Some noble cats were still upright, still fighting with the very spirit of LionClan. Finchstar noticed Frozenpaw in the chaos, watched with horror as her neck was snapped, a chilling sound that rang through the clearing. No... But the tabby couldn't bring himself to speak. He didn't want to impede upon the silence that marked her death.

Yellow eyes wide with horror, Finchstar pulled his body away, not realizing the tears that dripped from his temples until he was running again at full speed. "The fallen..." Finchstar's voice cracked as he spoke again, determined to answer Tinystar's panicked question. "...are the most noble cats to ever walk this earth. Let's not waste their sacrifice..." It was clear that there was no saving the bodies that now bled out on the rocky floor. Denying that hope killed the leader's spirit. There was always a way, always hope. But today, blood would have to be spilled, to save those who had yet to lose it.

Now sure that all his living clanmates were safely running ahead of him, Finchstar fell back farther, watching as the figure of Tinystar grew father away. Part of the leader wondered if he could possibly loop back around, and save his fallen friends. But the land thundered an answer. Looking back in horror, Finchstar watched as rocks and boulders began to crumble from Mothermouth, crashing over the clearing, sending dusty smoke in all directions. The sound was deafening, and for a moment, Finchstar wondered if StarClan themselves were returning to the forest. Even the dogs were engulfed in the debris, their shadowy forms swept away by the dust.

But one could only hope. Paws hit the grass and the beasts emerged from the rubble, pounding over the moor, jaws wide and teeth flashing. "WindClan! Keep running! We are not safe yet!" As Finchstar pulled ahead, he squeezed his eyes shut with weariness. Will we ever be?

Aspenpaw was attacked too quickly and too violently to stop it. He tumbled over the rocks and nearly missed the sounds of howls and terrified shouts all mixing together. He had been knocked straight off his feet, scrambling on the rocks. As his head smacked the rocks, his vision and hearing suddenly felt like cotton. He lay there, trembling and motionless, his barest primal instincts in his head. He cradled his still wounded side and cowered in the darkness. Hide, hide, hide. Stay alive. Stay away.

Never had he felt more like a mouse. He pitied his prey, just for a moment. He wondered if rabbits felt like this, diving for their warrens. The sound of his mentor rose above the rest of the commotion and brought him reeling from his thoughts and he made a desperate bid to follow it. He stumbled where his feet fell, no matter how steady the stone. His head swam like a river tadpole. Nothing felt right, and he was scared, but also quite soothingly numb. He followed his clan, staring straight forward, not yet aware of the damage that had truly been done.

OOC: SKYCLAN, have your characters run to the mountains with Tinystar and Finchstar, if any of your cats decide to stay behind they will be crushed by boulders.

IC: Running behind Finchstar, Tinystar's stumpy legs heavily thumped against the ground as if they were filled with stone. Listening to the WindClanner, emotion began to rise up from the pit of fear that had been once clinging onto his stomach. They were just going to... leave them? Stumbling, he quickly regained his bearings and kept running. Tears began to well in his eyes and soon streamed down his face, stinging the cuts that stained his usually white pelt. Now, instead of just leaving the possible survivors behind, they were going to leave the fallen as well... Great StarClan, why were they doing such a wretched thing! He couldn't bare to leave the majority of his clan, but he didn't dare to look back and kept running.

Mistyrain, Mintwhisker, Amberdawn, and now most of his other dear family members and clanmates... they were gone. With the dogs at their heals, there was no turned back now, no matter how much his conscience screamed at him to turn around and stay with the fallen, whether they were dead or alive.

Opening his maw to reply, he didn't even get a chance to do that.

Before he could say anything, boulders and rocks of all shapes and sizes crumbled from atop Mothermouth and rolled over onto the clearing, which sent up a plume of thick dust. The sound was deafening and rattled Tinystar's bones. For a moment, it the dogs seemed to have been swept away with the debris, but such a blessing didn't last long. Barking and gnashing their teeth, the dogs leapt out of the rubble and kept pursuing the group of cats.

Snapping his head back around he kept pushing ahead, even though his lungs felt as though they were on fire. "SkyClan! Keep going!" the tear stained leader echoed Finchstar as he pushed onward. If only this was just a bad dream that he could've woken himself up from.

Gasping and weak, Swiftstep didn't budge after being struck down by the dog. There was a high pitched ringing in his ears and everything around him slowed down. Was this it for him? He was tired and in pain. A few moments passed and he could hear voices close to him. Was Foxspirit still there? The tom attempted to get up but failed. He was then aided by somebody. At first he believed them to be Foxspirit but once they began to speak up, the tom concluded that Finchstar was helping him up onto his paws. He listened intently at what he was saying and nodded. He then turned to see Foxspirit fighting the dog. His breath hitched as he began to move away from the battle. His legs nearly buckled under him as he began to make his way, as quickly as he could, to the mountains as he had been instructed to.

"Foxspirit! Let's hurry!" called out the brown tom as he stopped his movements to look behind and try to spot his clan-mate. Cats were still fighting. Cats were scattered on the ground. The young and the old were among the chaos. The tom felt himself shake with anxiousness for the cats that were still fighting to follow the ones fleeing. He began to move once more, following Finchstar, Tinystar, and the others all the while his mind was clouded with worry for the ones that were still alive that had been left behind.

Fawnpaw was falling behind. Her short legs could only carry her so far, and she was struggling to keep up with the older cats. As she ran, she could feel rocks grazing tail, and now and a than a flying pebblele would catch her back paws. She spotted her mentor, Swiftstep, and many other clanmates running ahead of her.

Foxspirit struggled in the dog's grip. It thrashed her side to side, it's teeth ripping through her flesh. It slamed her into the ground, using its massive paws to keep her down. She struggled vainly to escape. Finchstar found Swiftstep, and was guiding him away. Foxspirit! he called out, Let's hurry! She again tried to escape, to no avail. The dogs grip was too tight. "Go without me, Swiftstep! I'll catch up!"

Foxspirit is Stunned for 1 more turn

Dog #3:
77/150 HP
250/350 SP

Foxspirit:
40/60 HP
80/100 SP

At Tinystar's call, Mistyrain turned her attention from the chaos that was going on around her and began to scrabble across the rocky ground after him. She ducked as a boulder flew over her head. Rocks plummeted from above and made the ground shake unsteadily. She put on a burst of speed, steering clear of the rubble, as she heard the dogs emerging from their rocky prison to pursue SkyClan and WindClan once again.

She dared not glance back as she continued to run. She wanted anything but to see her Clanmates suffering, whether they were trapped in the rubble or fighting the dogs again. The hard ground tore at her paws as she continued up the mountain, and she focused on this pain rather than that of leaving cats she knew and love to the mercy of the dogs and rocks.