A Starlit Prison [OPEN]

Bloodstrike had been restless a lot lately. Being kept in a medicine den for long periods hadn't been good for him, and while he was sure Beechface was aware of how often he had been sneaking out, a part of her must have been sympathetic. She'd only scold him when he came back with fresh injuries, and rightfully so. Tonight he had no intention of getting into a scrap, but with it being Bloodstrike... well who knows. He stepped into the clearing of Fourtrees and his ears flattened against his head. His eyes went immediately to the roots of the tree he had been imprisoned in. He moved toward it and forced himself to enter, even though his heart hammered against his chest. He wasn't going to be afraid of roots! He wasn't going to be uncomfortable at Fourtrees! He walked willingly into his cell... and his eyes dropped immediately to where he had last seen Flowerthorn's body. He sighed as guilt washed over him, cooling down his fiery resolve to face his subconscious fears. As he stared inside the cell, the horrendous stench was gone, but the memories and the pain remained. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't force himself to go further in. His hind legs would not be forced to pass through the entrance ever again.

Bloodstrike backed out.

He'd overcome this one day, but has his ears rang and his heart pounded in his ribcage, he decided that today wasn't the day. Never in a million moons did he think anyone could have made him afraid of anything. Death was nothing. Death was final and painless once it fully occurred. Pain... and living in pain... wasn't something he'd ever considered. It wasn't just physical pain either, though there was plenty of that. Guilt, confusion, fear and anger was all present inside this cell too. It was as if a part of him had actually died here... and a piece of his soul was trapped. All that he knew was he wasn't the same tom that he was before the Asylum came and it was a painful realization.

She hated this. Why was she doing this. What had possessed her to come all the way out here? A low growl sounded in the tortoiseshell's throat as she stood on the outskirt of Fourtrees, staring into the clearing to the woven thorns that had been her prison for moons not too long ago. Her heart was racing, breath catching in her chest. Why was she doing this. She could just request to not attend the Gatherings.... No. She had Pyrik to think of now. He had friends, loved ones, cats he had bonded with in his time with Asylum, and if he needed her support in the massive crowd that came with the Gatherings, then he would have it. She wouldn't let Asylum keep a grip on her emotions to let it affect her ability to support and care for those who relied on her. Slowly, she padded out of the shadows and into the clearing, so focused on the thorns that had been her prison that she almost didn't notice the other cat in the clearing as they backed out of the roots of a tree... Almost.

"Who's there?"

Bloodstrike startled at the sound of a voice and retreated from the root prison as if he was on fire... and he had been on fire before. He spun and fixed a tortoiseshell she-cat in his gaze, but not one that he recognized at all. He inhaled deeply and picked up the scent of Shadowclan. At this realization, Bloodstrike relaxed a bit. He licked once at his exposed fang before he spoke.

"That's a really good way to get claws in your face, Shadowclanner." He began, not shy about letting his near heart attack that she had caused him to be known. "Bloodstrike, the Deputy of Skyclan. Who are you?" His tone had calmed down considerably. He stepped more into the clearing with her, but was respectful enough to give her several fox-lengths of space.

The tom that turned towards her was shrouded in the shadows of the night, but as she stood with her fur puffed up she watched him lick at his exposed fang. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but her pelt started to slowly relax as she realized she recognized the voice, and the tom introduced himself. ".... Murkystrike. Warrior of ShadowClan. Sorry, I... I didn't really expect anyone to be here." She peered a bit closer at the tom as he moved closer, but maintained a respectful distance. After a few heartbeats of silence, she asked the question that she had been considering since hearing the tom's voice. "Do I know you? I've heard your voice, somewhere. This place is messing with my head, I keep thinking... Never mind. You just remind me of something." Murkystrike turned her head slightly, looking to the shredded thorn cage and shuddering slightly. The tom brought more memories of her time trapped by Asylum... Why was that? Had he been one of Mousehunt? She didn't recall Mistyfalcon mentioning him. It was probably just being back there again.

At her apology, the giant tom shrugged his broad shoulders. "It happens." He thought she would be on her way or do something else shortly after... but then she spoke again. Know him? Outside of being Skyclan's deputy? Bloodstrike actually tilted his head in confusion. He took a longer look at the Shadowclanner... Murkystrike. Her name didn't ring any bells, though his noggin was full of so many other things that it was entirely possible that they'd spoken once before and he didn't remember. He watched her eyes go to the root cages, even at a distance.

"If we met before... I don't remember you... Are you familiar with these cells?" Perhaps she had been imprisoned at one point too and heard him speak. He had to nod in the direction of the roots with his head, as his tail was clearly only a quarter of the length it should have been now.

Silence settled in the space between the two cats before Murkystrike sighed softly, nodding. "Yes. I am. That one was my prison for a couple moons." Murkystrike responded, gesturing with her tail towards the one she gazed at. She didn't remember seeing this tom, and she felt as though his face would be a difficult one to forget. She blinked before looking to the roots he had been among. "What about you? Were you a part of Mousehunt?" Bloodstrike certainly had plenty of wounds, but she was not one to judge so quickly based on appearances.

Bloodstrike managed to piece it together. So that was it... she had been imprisoned here too. His ears flattened on either side of his head in sympathy. "Mousehunt? No. I resisted when the Asylum first came and took over Skyclan. They beat me to a pulp and imprisoned me from the start. I just remember being overwhelmed then I woke up in the dark. I thought they killed me and I went to the Dark Forest. So for an entire leaf-bare, I was here." He spoke with a stone face and an even tone, but if she looked into his eyes she might see the demons of the past that still haunted him. She was not alone in her feelings.

"So what brought you back here?" He certainly didn't want to admit that he was bothered to be here and was trying to get over it... but maybe that's what she was doing too.

"Oh." Murkystrike mewed quietly. Suddenly she could guess where the multitude of wounds originated from. She had barely managed to survive the moons she had spent here, how could any cat have managed to hold on for the entirety of Asylum's cruel grip on the clans? As she turned her gaze back to him, she saw the same haunted look in his eyes that she had in hers. So he hadn't come out entirely free, just like she hadn't. Perhaps there would always be a part of them, and all the other imprisoned clan cats, that would feel trapped or lost. "I'm sorry to hear that. I'm... I'm glad you made it out. No cat deserved to die here." Her ear flicked nervously as she thought of the ones that had. The tom spoke up again, asking what brought her here. For a heartbeat she considered lying, she didn't want to admit that she was terrified of being in this place, but that thought passed as quickly as it came. No, this tom had told her the truth, as far as she knew, and there was a very real chance that he had similar reasons to be here.

"I hate this place. It terrifies me to be here now, in a way that I never dreamed it would. At the Gathering, my heart was pounding even as we just walked here, and despite the rest of my clanmates being around me.... I felt lost and alone. When we entered the clearing, I could hardly breath. I could see the thorns that had been my prison, and it took me back to that time. Perhaps I could have lived my entire life feeling this way, just not acknowledging it... But I was given an apprentice. He was one of the kits stolen from our clan by Asylum. We weren't littermates, but we had spent our earliest moons in the nursery together.... He returned to us after everything. I can't, I won't hold him back because of my own feelings for this place. He has far larger worries than I do, and I want to support him as much as I can. Even if it means facing the darkness that lingers here." She finished, turning her head aside slightly in embarrassment. "Why are you here?"

No cat deserved to die here... Bloodstrike looked at his paws. He'd caused the death of at least one here... but he couldn't be sure if he killed any more. As Murkystrike continued to talk, Bloodstrike's heart actually ached with sympathy. He offered her a sympathetic look with his eyes, but made no other move to comfort her.

"My reason for being here are similar to yours... though I could never admit this to my clan, oddly enough." He let his eyes trail across the clearing as the visions of the battle that took place were still fairly fresh in his mind. Dawnhawk retreating from three attackers and the look he gave him as he fled was what stuck out the most to Bloodstrike. Had he really hated his family that much? Apparently so.

"It will take time to get over, but it is time I have and I am willing to give myself whatever amount of time that I need. It's all I can do. It's all anyone can do." He nodded once in her direction in a gentle attempt to encourage her to keep trying. He sounded stronger than he felt, but if it was something Murkystrike could use to help her pull through it, then he felt he had done his job.

"How is Flintstar? It's been a very long time since I've had a one on one talk with him. I was still an apprentice the last time we spoke..." Beecloud too... but he's gone now...

The sympathy in the other cat's eyes made her tail tip flick uncomfortably. Why was she telling this tom from another clan all of this? She was a frog-brain, surely. Yet, she couldn't help but feel some kind of twisted kinship with this cat, knowing that he had experienced what she had, if not far more than she had ever feared experiencing. She nodded along to his words, finding herself agreeing with them. She had similar thoughts. "There's only one cat I think I could tell, but... I wouldn't want to worry him more than he already is," she stated simply. "You're right, and that's all anyone can expect of us as well. We can't do more than we're capable of doing, after all, as long as we're doing what we can." She tried to encourage him in return, but she couldn't help but feel as though she were floundering. She blinked as he suddenly turned the conversation to Flintstar. So this cat had met Flintstar as an apprentice.... "He's doing well, I think. We don't talk often, Flintstar doesn't really do small talk. If you want, I could let him know you asked about him. Umm, you said your name was Bloodstrike, right?"

Well it looked like his attempt to comfort her had work. Yay for effort. He gave her a small smile with a soft closing of his eyes. At the mention of Flintstar not doing well with small talk, Bloodstrike nodded in understanding. He hadn't seemed like the type. "Yep, Bloodstrike." He confirmed. I suppose I should patrol borders more slowly in the future and start reacquainting myself with the other clans if I'm going to lead Skyclan one day. It was a goal he'd had as an apprentice, one that was put on the back burner once he started to focus on warrior duties and then the fire hit. He certainly wasn't as cute as he was back then, though.

"Please also inform him that there is a banished Skyclan cat running around the borders too. His name is Dawnhawk. He's white and cream colored with blue eyes. If he asks to join Shadowclan, it might be wise for Flintstar to deny him. He's dangerous and he worked with the Asylum when they took over Skyclan. I just thought I should give others as much of a heads up as I can." It was his own son... but he had a duty to protect his clan at the end of the day. Dawnhawk was a threat.

Murkystrike nodded in return, committing the tom's name to memory. There was a moment of silence, and she was just thinking of taking her leave when Bloodstrike spoke up again. A banished SkyClan cat? Her eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of this tom working with SkyClan, and she nodded, her eyes taking on the serious demeanor of a warrior. The vulnerable and open she-cat had disappeared at the sudden news of a potential threat to her clan. Even her tone shifted as she responded. "I understand. White and cream tom with blue eyes. Answers to Dawnhawk. Is there anything else we should know? If not, I'll take my leave. Flintstar should know about this as soon as possible."