It's All or Nothing Now [c]

Wisteriabloom sat patiently by the camp entrance, waiting for her patrol to join her. That's all she ever did lately; wait. For news on Snakekit, or whatever she called herself now. Wait to see Shrikefrost again. Wait for herself to move on. She still had Moonpaw and Streamtail, but that was it. It also didn't help that her son was growing up now, and needed his own space. But maybe that was just what she had told herself after retreating into her shell when Shrikefrost died. For a brief while after she lost her mate, she'd had the Mousehunt to focus on, and that had been enough to keep her grief at bay. Now, with Asylum gone, she had no motivation to fill that void. No distraction.

Except perhaps her warrior duties, which she tried to throw herself into, volunteering for patrols at every opportunity. She didn't know if her clanmates noticed, since on the surface she appeared to just have the same eagerness to impress and willingness to do her job that she had always had. However, it was out on the patrols themselves where she how truly different. Instead of leading the way like she used to enjoy, she would hang back, lost in her thoughts even when she tried not to be. 

But today that wouldn't happen. She wouldn't let it happen.

Dewlight mewed a greeting as she approached Wisteriabloom. "Hi! Sorry to keep you waiting, Wisteriabloom!" Settling next to the older warrior to wait for the rest of the patrol, Dewlight began to clean her ears quickly. "Who else is going to be joining us?" She inquired, looking around to see who, if anyone, was approaching the two of them.

Padding over to the camp entrance where Wisteriabloom and Dewlight were waiting, Ivystar gave a simple nod to them both. "I apologize for keeping you waiting," She mewed with a flick of her tail, signaling for both of them to rise and follow her out of camp. "I'm sure there's plenty of prey that needs catching, so we shouldn't wait up much longer. I believe it's just the three of us anyway." The tabby she-cat meowed softly, exchanging glances with both Wisteriabloom and Dewlight.

Shimmerdust approached Wisteriabloom and Dewlight, one eyebrow raised. She still remembered Wisteriabloom from her youth, when Wisteriakit had bullied another kit, Turtlekit. A kit named Viperkit-whom Shimmerdust was unsure of the status of-had stepped in to defend Turtlekit, while Shimmerkit had been the one to report this to one of the Warriors, Streamtail. Even to this day Shimmerdust still can't be sure if they were truly angry at one another or not.

It was good to see she knew everyone else on the patrol, at least. Shimmerdust gave them each a long glance before glancing back down at the ground, uncomfortable with keeping up a gaze. If Ivystar had not known she would be on this patrol, she couldn't blame her former Mentor. After all, she probably had a lot on her mind.

(ooc: sorry this took so long! I'm just gonna chuck the dog in already because of the delay)

"Ivystar and Shimmerdust, I think." Wisteriabloom answered to the Dewlight's question, her voice sounding much more curt than she had planned. In her best attempt not to come across as rude, she tried to give the younger warrior a small smile, but it only resulted in a twitch of the corners of her maw which nowhere near reached her eyes. Luckily, she was saved from her own attempts to better the situation when the named warriors approached the pair.

Nodding a greeting, she followed her leader out of camp, falling to the back of the group but desperately focussing on keeping up. They didn't get very far before Wisteriabloom heard the scuttling of a mouse nearby. She still preferred to hunt fish, but the warmer weather had meant land prey was everywhere, and last Greenleaf that was all they could hunt. Getting back into practice with hunting rodents wouldn't hurt. Slipping briefly away from the group, she padded towards the squeaking sound, her long belly fur brushing the ground. She could see and scent the little animal by now, but as she inhaled deeply to soak up the scent of the prey, she instead detected something else.

She couldn't exactly pinpoint the scent, only knew that it meant danger. Soon she didn't need to work out what it was.

The first thing her mind actually registered was snapping jaws and a sharp pain in her foreleg.

Then the memories came flooding in.

Or more, one memory in particular.

The image of Lilypaw's lifeless body burned through her mind. How it was all her fault. She should've trained her harder, better. So she could save herself. Even better, Wisteriabloom would've been there to save her. And then moons later, trying to extract information from Spiderquill, just so she could know exactly what happened. She knew it was wrong, but when the injured medicine cat had first returned home, she was mad at him fro not bringing Lilypaw home with him. She should've known better, since she helped burry the tiny apprentice's body herself. She didn't hold it against him anymore. Or at least she tried not to.

Another searing pain as the dog bit down harder dragged her back to the present. No matter how much she wriggled and squirmed, there was no hope to break free from its jaws. Instead, she used her free leg to slash anywhere on its face - eyes, ears, muzzle, anywhere she could reach. Her right leg felt as if it were being torn to shreds, and at one point she heard the distinct crack of a bone, but she kept on fighting.

A nearby sound diverted the dogs attention momentarily, giving Wisteriabloom the chance she needed to break free. However, she soon realised that the distraction was her own clanmates, who had not been alerted of the dog. "Dog!" She called out, but the word caught in her throat and came out barely audible. "DOG!" She tried again, and this time, by the thudding paw steps, she knew they had heard her. The dog itself was still glancing back and forth, hesitant on which warriors to go for.

Dog used Iron Bite on Wisteriabloom
Wisteriabloom used Rear-up to Slash on Dog

Wisteriabloom
70/100 Hp [-30]
265/280 Sp [-15]

Dog
133/150 Hp [-17]
330/350 Sp [-20]

Dewlight shrugged off the curt tone that Wisteriabloom used when she first spoke. The she-cat had been through a lot, and Dewlight wasn't going to hold it against the older she-cat. Ivystar approached next, and Dewlight greeted her with a respectful nod and a wave of her tail. As Ivystar moved to lead the way out of camp, Dewlight started to speak up softly before she saw that Shimmerdust was already almost to them. Greeting her with a wave of her tail, she took up the rear of the patrol as they made their way out of camp. Each of them split off after a while, attempting to hunt what they could. She was stalking up on a swallow that was attempting to pull a worm from the ground. Suddenly, a cry sounded from the direction Wisteriabloom had gone, and as the bird flew off Dewlight spun around and rushed towards the sound. As she emerged from the reeds, she was met with the sight of the dog clamping tightly on the other warrior's right foreleg. She only hesitated a moment as the dog released it's grip, allowing Wisteriabloom the chance to attack. As her eyes met the dark ones of the dog, she gasped and suddenly jumped forward into action. Sliding under it's belly, she slashed up at the exposed flesh before quickly getting back to her paws on the far side. This could be bad.

Dewlight used Half-Turn Belly Rake on Dog, dealing 13 damage and costing 20 SP.

Dewlight:
60/60 HP
180/200 SP (-20)

Wisteriabloom:
70/100 HP
265/280 SP

Dog:
120/150 HP (-13)
330/350 SP