I’ll Keep My Eyes Fixed on the Sun (closed)

He waited, watching with more intense focus than he’d experienced in his entire life. His existence hadn’t exactly been carefree, but few moments could compare to the gravity of the situation he was in now: hungry, thirsty, on the brink of passing out from sheer exhaustion... except the more he thought of it in the back of his mind, the past several moons had kept him on his toes. Any misstep, literal or figurative, could be his end, and then his Clan would never see him again. He’d be a wisp in the wind, a fading memory, as gone as his father. For once, Juniperlight didn’t want to be like Spottedstar. He wanted nothing to do with the leader that he’d tracked for moons until his... incident. His first incident. Then came a series of misfortunes and failures that left him mentally damaged as well as physically. His single yellow eye glinted in the shadows of his confinement den, following the twoleg that moved between other dens. His second eye had been left behind in the mountains. With his dad, or so he told himself with a familiar sense of bitterness that had taken root after Spottedstar’s desertion.

The furless creature was opening dens and replenishing bowls of dry kibble that was supposed to be food. He never touched it; even the smell made him want to gag. Juniperlight could hear the rattling of the dishes. It grew closer, and with fur rising along his spine, the black tomcat knew his chance was closer than ever before. A second twoleg had been walking in and out of the door. More could be seen in the hallway behind that, milling about with loud, excited calls that nearly overpowered the ceaseless barking of dogs. This place, the shelter as other captive cats called it, was busier than ever before. Now was the time. Now or never.

---

”Now or never, now or never, now or never...” It was all Juniperlight could gasp to keep going. He barely noticed when dark Thunderpaths and endless twoleg dens became rocky and dusty paths with only a few smatterings of twoleg structures. A kittypet had sent him this way. Towards “the strays that always fought each other,” they’d said after offering to share food. Juniperlight refused quickly and loped off at an awkward jog. His paw pads were classic SkyClan pads, thick and rough, but even they couldn’t handle the rough road of the past several months. They bled and dried and bled some more, leaving his black paws caked in a mixture of bright scarlet mud. He certainly would have appreciated the terrain giving way to springy green grass and brightly colored wildflowers; he might have stopped to admire the their fragrant scents if it weren’t for the tunnel vision and pounding headache that pulsed from his temples to his tail tip. The twoleg pelt wrapped tightly around his neck didn’t register against his chest. Only the sudden realization that the horizon was no longer brilliant blue with distant trees; now it was dim, and now it was gray, and now he saw nothing. His battered body laid limp with flowers brushing against his scarred face.

Softbreeze had been visiting the flower fields more frequently these days. The aroma of the blossoms and carefree, springy grass was soothing in a way nothing else save for Dennis could be. However, that's not why she here this time. This time, Muddypaw accompanied her in gathering herbs. Humming softly, her gentle melody was interrupted as the acrid smell of.. Injury. Immediately, Softbreeze sprinted to the source of the scent.

"Hey, are you alright?" She called, and when she got no answer, she immediately grabbed up by the scruff. "Muffypww! Gife we a pww*" She mewed, struggling to lift the tom.

OOC:
* "Muddypaw! Give me a paw!"

Muddypaw, in hindsight, was starting to wonder why he had agreed to come out with Softbreeze. It wasn't that he didn't like her - she was wonderful and he was determined to get to know his momma's best friend but... Well, he wasn't much of a use finding herbs when he couldn't smell them in the first place. He had a small bundle carefully held in his mouth, trying to take in the smells that had to be wafting from them but - as always...Nothing. His ears slicked back as he sighed, before blinking at the sound of pawsteps as Softbreeze's gentle hum came to a stop and she was suddenly darting in a random direction. "...Softbreeze?" he questioned, scrunching up his nose as he watched her run off before he slowly started to pad over towards her.

He could see that she came to a stop and was said something...Before she leaned down to grab something and called out to him. He hurried over, eyes widening in surprise as he realized that there was a tom sprawled out in the grass. "Is he dead?" he gasped, before he caught sight of the rising and falling of the strange tom's chest. "...Oh, no, he is alive." He stood there, wondering what could have happened to the tom to put him in this stage before he jolted, suddenly recalling why he had been called over. "Right! Sorry!" He leaned down to help grab the tom, lifting him so the two could carry him back, shifting a little to help support the tom's weight - he wasn't used to carrying something this big but...Well, he guessed if it was too heavy for him, he wouldn't really be able to tell.

Juniperlight could hear another cat’s voice but was unable to respond beyond a pained groan. A second cat joined the first and the pair hoisted him up between them. He wasn’t sure if he was being rescued or captured, although he didn’t have the presence of mind to be suspicious. All he could manage to groan out was ”W... Wolfcall...”