[Newleaf Tears Topic] A Thousand First Steps

Mosspaw clung tight to the broad shoulders of the dog, her surroundings blurring as the beast under her wildly squirmed to try to fling her off. Fear and adrenaline made her force her claws into the beast, holding on desperately, she knew that if she lost her grip and was sent tumbling it would all be over. Was that another cat she saw? Mouse dung, she was going to be sick if this kept up much longer.... Putting all of her strength into continuing her hold, she dug her claws deeper in.

Mosspaw continues her Leap-and-Hold on Dark Dog, using 0 stamina and dealing 6 damage.

Dark Dog:
20/150 HP
270/350 SP

Mosspaw:
20/20 HP
40/80 SP

Dark Dog is held for 1 more turn!

Salmonkit was terrified. The young kit, only a few moons old had lost both of his parents in the flood. A few cats had kept him alive, and he was grateful. But right now, he was scared. The silver tom pressed further into the darkness of the shadow up against a cold wall. The chaos around him invaded his head and he wanted to scream, but he forced himself to remain quiet.

Burntstag had awoken as soon as the chaos broke out in the little structure. Bone-chilling barks and snarls arose through the air as well as the screeches of many cats. He watched helplessly from a distance as Flintfang was taken down. With his sharp gaze he was still able to make out the rise and fall of his companions' frame. The tom was alive for now. Despite the itch of his claws to fight right away, Burntstag was more in a position to aid the weaker cats in their flight from the scene, which he attended to quickly before turning back to the enemy. These dogs, already bleeding in several places, and their hairless master would be taken down.

With his own yowl rising into the air, the striking calico raced towards the darker dog. Flintfang's offspring was wrestling with it. At such a young age she already displayed such bravery. Although he intended to acknowledge her, the middle of a fight was not the place to do so. Instead, Burntstag charged forward and slammed his body into the side of the beast, hoping to knock its legs from under it.

Burntstag used run and tackle dealing 9 +3 damage and using 10 stamina.

HP: 45/45
SP: 150/160

Dark Dog
HP: 8/150
SP: 270/350

Brookclover was not one to fraternize with other cats but the instinct of survival kicked in as soon as the battle started. The death of these creatures would mean the safety of her clanmates and kin. Ravenpaw and Grousepaw. She spat furiously at the dog after weaving through the madness of clan cats running in every direction. Ravenpaw, her apprentice and the tom she cared for was nearby. No slobbering dog would be allowed to sink its teeth into him. She snarled and slid under its belly, slashing up with thorn sharp claws.

Brookclover used belly rake on pale dog dealing 10 damage and using 10 stamina.

Brookclover
HP: 45/45
SP: 150/160

Pale Dog
HP: 5/150
SP: A LOT

Sparkfrost leaped shakily over to the pale dog after managing to wobble onto his feat. It was a less than threatening display but after seeing Ospreypaw's despair before, he knew this was more than just fun and games. Life depended on it. One weak paw shot out to strike the creature on the nose as Burntstag rammed into it's side. And with that pathetic move, the beast was taken down.

Sparkfrost used front paw strike dealing 9 damage and using 10 stamina.

Sparkfrost
HP: 45/45
SP: 150/160

Dark Dog
KO

Seeing his target defeated, Heronflight dashed towards the Twoleg, slashing it over and over.  He wasn’t used to fighting Twolegs, but he would slash at its strange - pelts and try to attack the Twoleg inside.  All we are trying to do is find our home, he thought.  You are just stopping us.

Heronflight used Rear-up-to Slash on Twoleg, dealing 17 damage and costing 15 stamina.

Heronflight:
HP: 100/100
SP: 240/280

Twoleg:
HP: 164/200
SP: 365/400

---

---

Lightstep wasn't quick enough to avoid the injured and raging canine's snapping jaws. He tried to scramble back but the dog's pale, bloody mouth caught him around his neck and chest in such a way that he knew she could crush him instantly if she wanted to do so. What she did felt worse, however; she began to shake and thrash him. Lightstep felt screams of pain and terror being thrown out of himself with each forceful movement. His head nearly felt like it was going to be ripped right off his body. The world lashed to-and-fro in one hazy blur that was slowly darkening as his breath was forced out and unable to reenter. Suddenly he was thrown. His ears rang as he hit the ground with a solid thud.

Lightstep is no longer stunned.

Lightstep:
45/45 HP
125/160 SP

Pale Dog:
5/150 HP
250/350

---

The dark dog was helpless. All the bucking and flailing in the world seemed to do nothing to dislodge the scrap of fur digging her knife-like nails into his flesh. Not only that, but every time he thought he had chased away all the other cats, more appeared. Another tom raced up, imposing in both size and coloration, letting loose a battle cry that chilled the dark dog to the bone. With the weight of the cat on his back and thoughts distracted by it, too, the canine stood no chance when the large cat slammed into his side. He toppled like a hapless pup. The pain did not end; another razor paw slammed into his nose and sent his eyes full of lights.

Finally the dark dog had had enough. All his anger turned to terrified screaming. This time when he flailed and batted his paws at the cats, it was to get them as far away from him as possible. He felt raw and sore and humiliated, but he also felt terrified. He was done battling cats. He shoved them away and scrambled to his paws, screeching all the while, and stumbled away towards his human.

Dark Dog can no longer fight. Dark Dog has fled the battle.

---

The man could hardly think through his debilitating pain from the attacking cats. Through the sound of his own yells he heard Francis continuing to scream after having her face attacked, but now he also heard that tortured screaming of his sweet boy. The human man grabbed the white-and-tabby cat [Fernpetal] who had been grasping his leg by her head and yanked her, ripping her claws and teeth out of his skin. He threw the cat like a wet rag towards the trees and immediately slapped at the other black cat again. He had dropped his weapon several moments ago; he only wanted to fight from a distance when they couldn't fight him back!

The human yelled, "Get off - get off!" One last heavy paw he slammed onto the cat and threw it to the forest floor. A third cat had come running up to attack him, but he was already trying to flee. Freed from the weight of his attackers, the man immediately turned and began to stagger away as fast as he could, yelling, "Duncan! Francis! Come! Run!" The lanky man stumbled into the trees from where he had come, the sound of sobbing interrupting his breathing as he slowly disppeared into the darkness. The dark dog found him and began to follow, but the pale...

Twoleg has fled the battle.

---

The pale dog would only have been satisfied once the white cat was shredded into a thousand scraps of fur. He had taken her eye - she was certain - and now she intended to take his life. His body went flying from her jaws several moments before she'd meant to release him; however, she still took great joy in the sight and sound of his body tumbling over the earth. A bright ginger cat came sprinting underneath her to rake at her belly, but she didn't even look at it. She was going to murder that tom for her eye. The pale dog lunged forward and grabbed the white cat by his neck once again. This time, she wasn't going to let go until he was in a million pieces. She clamped hard; she felt her teeth connect through his flesh, and she jerked her head and threw her body around, jerking and jolting the cat practically by his head. Within moments she could feel the cat's fight had disappeared, and it flopped limply in her teeth. Satisfied, the dog tossed the carcass before whirling to try to find her human. Where had he gone...?

Pale Dog used Killing Bite on Lightstep, using 10 stamina and dealing 45 damage. Lightstep can no longer fight ever again.

Pale Dog:
5/150 HP
250/350

Lightstep:
0/45 HP
125/160 SP

---

Lightstep didn't stand a chance; the world hadn't even gotten any lighter, none of his breath returned, by the time that the dog had returned to him. He wasn't able to yowl in pain as her jaws clamped on his neck. The pain was still there, but his ability to express it... That was gone. Everything else was going, too, and by the third vicious thrash everything had gone completely. The RiverClan warrior went limp in the pale dog's jaws, his spirit practically thrown from him. He had no chance to give last words... He didn't even have the chance to think of Sunpaw, who he was unwillingly leaving behind, as his life was cut off.

Mosspaw had been thrown off of the back of the dark furred dog and rolled across the ground, springing up to her feet to see... "Burntstag?.." She whispered, before becoming overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation for the striking ShadowClan tom once again. This would be the second time he played a part in saving her life, but the thanks would have to come later. Just as she prepared to strike the dark dog one last time, another warrior did so, and it turned to flee with it's twoleg as they both retreated into the trees once more. Before she could feel relief though, she realized that the pale dog had not joined them in their escape. Spinning around with her fur spiked, she prayed that Lightstep had managed to chase it away on his own, and was frozen in shock as she saw the white warrior get grasped at the neck, and watched in horror as the dog thrashed him around before tossing the now limp body of Lightstep aside. Her legs started to shake, and her eyes searched desperately for any sign of movement from the first cat she had seen on this shore. Surely he didn't.... She shook the thought from her head, no, he couldn't be. Turning her attention onto the pale dog, she hissed, raising a paw. Perhaps it would run after it's twoleg and the other dog with some... Encouragement. Her paw sliced through the air, landing soundly on the dogs muzzle with a hard thwack, and the shock of the hit rattled up her leg. StarClan, please, make this beast leave... Please...

Mosspaw used Front Paw Strike on Pale Dog, dealing 6 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Mosspaw:
20/20 HP
30/80 SP

Pale Dog: KO
0/150 HP
250/350 SP

Sunpaw was cowered high on a ledge, brought up by Graybarir and Barleytuft. She out a fight but then decided it was best if she stood by the sidelines and didn’t get hurt. She has accepted that fact that she was crippled and would be knocked out instantly. However she flopped down and crawled to the other cats silently. She couldn’t stay out of it, Especially as she watched her uncles head thud against the territory, all signs of life sucked out of him as the dog stood viscously above.

Not waiting for an instant she screamed and scrambled over to him, dragging her back half in the mud. She heart thudded in her chest and she hooked her claws into her uncles pelt and squirmed, trying to drag him away from the fighting. Some of his blood started to flow from her claw marks but that didn’t matter. She needed him out of there. She dragged him a little bit surprisingly and smacked him with a paw, pleading for him to wake up.

”Wake up!!” She screamed and her head drooped over his body. She started to sob and swatted at him more. ”Wake up Lightstep! I love you. Y-you can’t die!” She was screaming her head off at this point. But Starclan couldn’t take the one she loved. The only one who didn’t abandon her.

OOC: Oh... I'd totally forgotten about the 24 h time limit...

Coldgaze let out a loud cry of pain as the dog yanked on her tail and shook its head wildly. When the dog let go of her she fell to the ground, she hissed loudly, getting onto her feet again and trying to strike at the dog again but her head was spinning and she fell to the ground again, her body was aching and she knew that she wasn't as strong as usual, no cat was, there wasn't as much prey here as back in the forest. Realizing that she had been defeated she scrambled back, her tail lashing angrily behind her.

She looked around, noticing a twoleg with a weird contraption in its hands but she couldn't bother, she wanted to get away, she wanted to disappear, she'd let that beast defeat her but atleast Ivypaw had been able to get away. She looked around desperately, she wouldn't just stand there but she couldn't fight either. Watching as the dogs and twoleg was starting to flee the battle.

Suddenly she saw a small silver kit, it seemed to be terrified. She made her way over to the kit as quickly as she could, crouching down by its side, seeing that it was Salmonkit "It's okay, everything's going to be okay, the dogs and the twoleg are fleeing now, like the cowards they are," she purred, trying to calm the kit down.

The pale dog could hardly tell through her adrenaline how much blood she was losing through the gouges in her belly, neck, and - worst of all - her eye. As she swung around trying to locate her human she became aware of how faint she felt. The world seemed to spin for just a moment after she stopped moving, disorienting her. The wounded canine whirled to see a small calico, but her eye could not focus. The creature hissed, a sound that echoed in the pale dog's flopping ears, and suddenly it brought up a paw that slammed hard into the creature's nose. It hit with such force that her remaining vision went black.

A lightness that the pale dog was unfamiliar with washed over her, and suddenly she stumbled and fell to the ground. Her agonized yelp, which she hadn't even realized she'd been letting out, cut off suddenly. Stressed and injured, the canine fell still and then, after a short time, felt no more, her one eye staring sightlessly towards the forest.

---

The medicine cat struggled for a moment in the darkness beneath the abandoned twoleg den. Outside she heard the dogs continuing to snarl and warriors yowling with courage and crying with pain, but she knew she couldn't hesitate. Flintfang seemed to have received the worst of it upon first assessment. As Amberdawn had suspected, some of his wounds from his battle with the raccoon several days ago had been aggravated - a few of the worst had threatened to reopened. Many new bite marks and tears covered his back; those were still fresh and bleeding and needed to stop. Amberdawn glanced at the spiderwebs which many of the fleeing spiders had left behind. The golden medicine cat apprentice grimaced at the thought of accidentally shaking one of the bugs onto herself, but she reached up and gathered as many cobwebs as she dared.

After a moment she made her way back to Flintfang. She didn't have moss, and cobwebs were best used on light bleeding or as a bandage to hold moss on something bleeding heavily, but she would need to make to. The medicine cat worked on slowly stabilizing Flintfang. As for Falconwing and Leafpaw, both had a minor cut or two but Amberdawn feared that most of their injuries were internal. She had seen Leafpaw go down with the brunt force of the dog's massive paw, and after ensuring there were no broken bones or dislocated joints she hoped that the young apprentice could simply sleep it off. After examining Falconwing, the she-cat could only assume that the warrior had been hit by a similar blow.

The SkyClan medicine cat waited in the darkness, anxiously glancing at her companions and watching for signs of improvement - or worsening. It felt like ages, but truly battles rarely lasted more than a few minutes in reality. Amberdawn's heart pounded in her ears as she listened to the sound of the twoleg yowling, the dogs howling, and, eventually, their hasty retreat... except for one. Instead of fading into the distance, one of the canine's cries sharpened and then halted suddenly.

Silence held the clearing, save for the slowly disappearing sounds of retreating enemies. Amberdawn took a slow, soft breath before taking a few hestitant steps out. A pawful of bodies - unconscious and not dead, she prayed - caught her attention, as did the cautious return of other injured cats, but a scream immediately dragged her attention to the body of a pristine white RiverClan tom with whom Amberdawn had become familiar after arriving to the lake. Oh, Lightstep, no, she thought sorrowfully, and she recognized the crippled shape of Sunpaw crouched desperately over his body. Even from this distance she could see that the warrior's life had ended; his spirit was likely on its way to the stars at that moment. The medicine cat's heart ached to be able to provide some comfort for the young she-cat who had lost so much of her family, but there were other cats - living cats - who needed tending to.

All at once, it was over.

Despite his stubborn insistence that they would win, the sight of the battlefield, now quiet, induced in him a heady relief so strong he had to sit down before it could knock him over. As the adrenaline eased away, the dull pounding where the Twoleg’s stones had hit him intensified to take its place. There would be bruises. Ravenpaw could deal with bruises. Though it was a different kind of hurt from what the flood had given him, it paled in comparison to that—and, he thought as his gaze swept over the warriors and apprentices still in the clearing, to the injuries of his battered shore-mates. He really had been lucky. At least most of the blood in his pelt wasn’t his.

Ravenpaw blinked. The clearing had gone blurry in a way that, he realized with a jolt of horror, had little to do with exhaustion. What in StarClan’s name did he have to cry about? They were safe—they were fine for the most part—he wasn’t dealing with this. Ducking his head, the apprentice busied himself with smoothing down his disheveled fur.

It wasn’t long before he found himself breathing easily again. He promptly abandoned his efforts (if they were still going to leave today, what was the point in cleaning up?) and resumed looking around. An unmoving form caught his attention; the pale dog, struck down. Not much further along lay the tom who’d announced the dogs’ presence. He, too, had gone terribly still; there was an awful lot of blood… Maybe it just showed up better on white fur. Averting his eyes from Lightstep’s body before he could allow himself the possibility that it was just a body, Ravenpaw set off at a hurried limp toward his mentor. "Brookclover," he started; before he could begin to think of what he wanted to say, Sunpaw’s first cries echoed through the clearing. She had to be mistaken. Everyone was okay—against all odds—it was just blood, it had to be. Ears twitching, he took a deep breath. ”Were you watching? Did I do okay?” Considering the circumstances, it seemed sort of trivial, but it was the only question he could think of that didn't catch in his throat.

Horror filled the calico apprentice's gaze as the pale dog collapsed in front of her, and she stared at the body of it with unseeing eyes. Her shaking paw slowly lowered to the ground, and after a few more heartbeats she realized that the pelt of the beast wasn't moving.... Her eyes widened as she stared down at the creature who had killed Lightstep, and hurt many others including Leafpaw, but instead of pride in what had happened she felt... Terrified. Hollow. A feeling similar to that of when she had been desperately treading the water, struggling to keep her head afloat in the flood fell over her, and without even realizing it a thin, mournful wail escaped her throat. All of the fear for the situation, of her parents and friends safety and well-being, and now the fear of StarClan and what the others would think was echoed in that wail which tore from her throat without permission.

She hadn't meant to kill the dog, just finally force it away... Make it leave, chasing after it's twoleg like the dark one. Her legs, weary from the battle and now numb in her shock collapsed under her, and she sank in a heap to the ground, still staring wide-eyed at the dog. Her ears flattened against her head, she had no idea of what was going on around her, Mosspaw's world consisted only of the body of the dog and her own self, lost in a sea of darkness together. She had never wanted to fight again after the raccoon, but now... Bile rose up in her throat, threatening  to escape her as reality set in. She had killed a living thing, not for prey or to feed her clan mates or other cats, but just in battle. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her, it all felt so terribly wrong. How could she be a warrior if she hated the idea of fighting? What would Flintfang think, or Falconwing? What about Emberheart, or Lilypaw? Stars, what about Leopardstar and Marshstorm? Would they exile her? Would she be forced to leave ThunderClan, her home, her friends?

The tears that had filled the apprentices eyes began to overflow, trickling down into the fur at her cheeks as she finally tore her gaze from the body of the dog, closing her eyes as she looked away. The figure was branded into her eyelids though, and she could still see it bright as day against the dark contrast of her closed eyes. Quickly opening them upon that realization, she looked to the first cat she saw through tear-filled eyes. The imposing figure of the startling calico Burntstag was before her, and she let out a choked sob as she stuttered. "I... I didn't m-mean to k-k-k...." Mosspaw's words trailed off as the sobs overtook her voice, unable to bring herself to say what she had done. She felt so incredibly small, so incredibly lost, and now she had no idea what she was even there for, if it was not to become a warrior. But the thought of even unsheathing her claws again was one that only brought more tears and sobs, and she buried her head in her paws as the adrenaline of the battle wore off and the exhaustion left behind set in.