Deaf to the Warnings [solo]

Panic flooded the warrior's veins as she jerked awake in her nest. Her breaths were heavy and erratic; Dawngaze barely recognized where she was until she heard another warrior snort and shift in their sleep. The realization that she was awake in her nest and not locked in a never-ending nightmare did little to calm her. It was leaf-fall, but suddenly the warriors' den was too crowded and too hot for her tastes. Her thick fur was still standing on edge along her spine and her fluffy tail was sticking out in every direction. Fleeing the den in silent but hurried steps, Dawngaze emerged from the ferns to find that it was still night - close to dawn judging by the lurking light in the distance, but not quite there. Beartooth would be waking soon to assign a dawn patrol. She didn't want to be there when he did. Not bothering to settle her ruffled pelt, she slipped from camp with barely a nod to acknowledge the camp guard and fled into the trees, her sole sense of comfort.

The forest was foggy. She could barely see in front of her on account of the waning night, but the mist that bogged her senses hampered any attempt at seeing more than a tail-length beyond her. But she wasn't trying to see where she was going; Dawngaze's eyes stared, unseeing, into the blank space before her. Her mind replayed the night terror that gripped her more and more often. With each passing moon, the dream appeared more frequently, more vividly, more violently. It was frighteningly familiar. She was a kit, helpless and small. She knew what was coming but she couldn't stop it. She stood in the field of corpses at Fourtrees, but the bodies weren't Lichenmask's holy warriors. Instead, her siblings lay around her. Bare patches of skin and bone riddled their disfigured bodies and faces. Blood poured like a deluge from their sides. Their eyes weren't empty, but trained on her, like they thought she could help them, but she couldn't-she couldn't move and they would cry to her but Dawngaze couldn't say anything and she was so sorry that she was so weak--

And then he would appear. Oakstar in all of his leaderly glory, the ruler of ThunderClan with magnificence like a banner across his face. But he wasn't happy to see his daughter, but rather angry. Full of hatred. Disgust marred his kind features. He hated Dawngaze and she could feel it emanating from him in waves. She wanted to vomit but she never had the time. Oakstar leapt at her, the petrified kitten, and crushed her beneath a single great paw. He took her small head in his jaws and... and the dream ended with a shriek that rang in her ears but never left her maw. Dawngaze wasn't in the habit of screaming. Only whimpering in ashamed terror in the most isolated of places, like now in the blank emptiness of the fog that shielded her from the judgement of others. Her breaths quickened again, a telltale sign of her rare moments of complete loss of self-control.

The trees around the tortoiseshell tabby swayed unnaturally. She couldn't catch her breath, lungs filling only slightly before a shuddering exhalation would force it all out. Dizzyness overtook Dawngaze, and she stumbled sideways, roughly grazing her shoulder against the bark of a tree and using its trunk as an anchor for her balance. The fear that remained on the edge of her senses closed in now, choking her like smoke from a flame, and she found herself sliding from the trunk onto the ground. Tears pooled in Dawngaze's eyes and threatened to spill over. The distant breeze rattled trees around her, though no wind swept her pelt; the rattles turned into whispers, and the whispers morphed into mumbles, grotesque imitations of Burntstag's defiant meows. Duskpaw's melodic voice accompanied him - Duskpaw, her brother, the only Duskpaw, her failed mission of protection, her opposite in name and strength. The tears did spill now, and Dawngaze covered her ears with her paws and grit her teeth against the sobs that wracked her hunched body. The mumbles sounded even over her attempt to shield herself, and when she was nearly ready to cry out in anguish, all the voices ceased.

Snap!

The warning sound of bracken snapping was accompanied by quiet rumbles of purrs and meows that she recognized as her clanmates. Had she been gone long enough for the dawn patrol to reach her? The mist still cloaked her from sight, a protection from StarClan if they had ever cared a single drop for the cursed half-blood warrior. Sobs still silently catching in her chest, Dawngaze rose, unsteady, and scrambled silently off in a direction she hoped the patrol wouldn't follow. The air was still and wet and would hide her scent unless they stumbled upon where she had lingered, but judging by the path of their voices, they would narrowly miss her momentary altar. She would remain undetected.

Dawngaze had difficulty telling where she was going, relying fully on her whiskers to alert her to her surroundings, and pushed through bush after bush. She was disoriented beyond belief in the maze of trees that she once called familiar. The one thing she was able to identify was the cold, rough surace of the thunderpath as she laid a single paw on the black surface. It surprised her, but it was not unwelcome.

The panic that had risen from her chest to her throat ebbed and faded. Dawngaze had found the Thunderpath. That meant she knew where she was and roughly which direction camp was in, if she was even ready to go back to camp. She knew most warriors wouldn't question where she'd gone; it was in her nature to leave the camp alone. She might have some explaining to do to Dacepaw and possbily Duskpaw as well, however. It didn't matter. The frosty warrior could tell them it was personal and they'd probably leave her be. Dawngaze wondered why she hadn't smelled the rank stench of the path sooner, but realized that she'd been in a state of panic for most of the morning and found that she couldn't quite recall where'd she'd been since she woke up. All that remained in her mind was the dimming vision of Oakstar...

A distant, muffled yelp violently startled the she-cat from her memories. Senses as alert as they'd been all morning, Dawngaze whipped around with her mouth open and fur spiked. She'd registered the sound, but couldn't find the source. It was deep and savage, not like a fox's high-pitched yips and barks, but with all the power of a predator far too big for Dawngaze to handle on her own. She ran along the path, unsure which direction the danger was in, and tried to breathe quietly enough to sneak away or at least pinpoint what she was running from. Her unsheathed claws clicked against the path, and everything else was silent. The whiteness of the fog blinded her to anything more than a tail-length away, although the rising dawn sun traced silhouettes of trees through the emptiness. Should she dart back into the foliage to escape and risk leading it to camp?

Dawngaze didn't have time to reflect on the question. Another silhouette was forming from farther up the path, and with it came sounds of heavy, excited painting. The figure grew bigger and bigger, and although Dawngaze turned and sprinted the other direction, it was clear that her predator had caught sight of her as well. It whined in bloodthirsty anticipation, pursuing the she-cat along the lifeless path for a couple of foxlengths before outpacing her and lunging with its paws outstretched. The dog bowled her over, snarling and growling along the way, and she braced against the rough surface of the Thunderpath.

Dog used Heavy Blow on Dawngaze, dealing 25 damage and using 20 stamina.

Dog:
150/150 HP
330/350 SP

Dawngaze:
35/60 HP
200/200 SP

Pressed hard against the path and struggling to catch her breath, Dawngaze flailed her paws and legs everywhere she could manage, trying to block the dog's rapidly snapping jaws from closing on her head or throat. The image of its wicked fangs mere whiskers from her eyes was seared into her brain, and the mental fog that had clouded her for moons melted away under the urgency of her death at hand. She could hear nothing but the blood pumping in her eyes. She didn't even feel the burn left by the path scratching against her flank. Twisting under the dog's weight, Dawngaze slipped from its grasp and rolled beneath it, popping up behind it and gripping its long, whipping tail in her maw. She pulled with all of her might, great for a cat but weak for a dog, and hoped beyond hope that it would react the way a normal warrior would.

Dawngaze used Tail Yank on the Dog, dealing 6 damage and using 10 stamina. The Dog is stunned for one turn.

Dog:
146/150 HP
330/350 SP

Dawngaze:
35/60 HP
190/200 SP

It was almost to good to be true - the dog winced, a loud, high-pitched yelp of pain escaping its gaping jaws. It turned sharply to one side, stumbling as it tried to reach her, and was too bulky to twist enough to reach her rapidly retreating form. Taking deep, ragged, breaths, Dawngaze instinctinvely dashed to its other side and then charged back in. She would have no other chance, and she was not going to bring this monster back to camp. If it killed her, it would be only her. None of her clanmates deserved this fate like she did. The imminence of her death in this fight was almost electrifiying as she struck her future killer, an empowering energy like she'd never experienced before. Bringing her long claws down heavily on the side of the dog's head, Dawngaze ripped as much flesh and drew as much blood as she could manage in a single moment.

Dawngaze used Rear-up to Slash on the Dog, dealing 13 damage and using 15 stamina. The Dog is no longer stunned.

Dog:
133/150 HP
330/350 SP

Dawngaze:
35/60 HP
175/200 SP

Angered further by its prey's determination to fight back, the dog regainined its balance and threw itself at the cat. It would kill this pesky creature and tear the corpse limb from limb... perhaps not in that order. It was fast, though, and its smaller size lended to easier eascape. Its jaws met air strike after strike, and it couldn't get a firm pawhold on the slippery animal. It didn't matter, though; this stupid cat would get tired and the dog would taste its blood on its tongue sooner or later. And it was right: the cat stumbled, and it sailed forward to close its teeth around the cat's head. It moved unexpectedly, but the dog still drew blood; its teeth embedded in the cat's ear, and the dog jerked its muzzle back without a second thought.

Dog used Iron Bite on Dawngaze, dealing 30 damage and using 20 stamina.

Dog:
133/150 HP
310/350 SP

Dawngaze:
5/60 HP
175/200 SP

The force of the dog's backwards jerk was enough to pull Dawngaze along with it, her paws leaving the course ground for a few terrifying heartbeats. Helplessly, she felt herself flail in the air but find no solid ground. She didn't stay in the dog's grasp for long, though. She completed her unexpected arc in the air, and instead of being pulled right to the ground, a fiercely painful sting in her left ear grew stronger and strongeruntil a loud rip sounded through her skull. The fiery pain tore at her head and burned all the way to her tail tip, similar to the time a RiverClan warrior stripped her flank of fur but with even more ferocity. She shrieked, overwhelmed by the pain, and quickly met the Thunderpath with her shoulder. The pain radiated from her ear in waves, and she didn't realize that her ear was no longer upon her head as she glanced up at the dog in fear. It thrashed her loose ear in its jaws for a few moments before tossing it aside and lunging at her, stepping across the path once more, to meet her throat and end her life.

It was practically suspended in the air before her, time moving slower than she thought was possible, when a bright, unnatural light illuminated the fog around them. She cowered against the path, immobilized by pain, and awaited her fate - such as it had always been deemed by StarClan - but no tearing of flesh ever came. A monster barelled through the surrounding mist, striking the dog and sending its body further down the path as it narrowly avoided her. The monster came to a screeching halt. Dawngaze, still shuddering from the sudden loss of her ear, shakily struggled to her paws. Twolegs were climbing out of the monster's belly, Oh stars, she had to get away...

Finally finding her footing, the injured warrior scampered shakily from the path. Was she going the right way? The air was wet, but ThunderClan border scent was strong enough to be detected. Good; she knew where she was, and vaguely which direction to run... or stumble, as the shock of the attack and the crippling pain was still flooding her system with panicked strings of words, which mostly summed up into a single statement: 'Get out of here!'