The Dying of the Fire [C]

ooc: currently just open to wolfblaze and scarletriver, once scarlet makes her escape, all on the fighting patrols of sunningrocks are allowed to react!

Wolfblaze had sunk into unconsciousness shortly after she fell in the undergrowth on the edge of the rocks. Her throat and lungs burned, her muscles ached, and blood came from cuts that she had acquired when she finally fell. When the light began to filter back into her vision, all those feelings came back to her in a flood. Minkstar was covered in blood, and looking around, her clanmates were either out of sight or further back in the forest from whence they had came. She watched as Thunderclan finally began retreating. They had lost, and that was devastating for her. She was too weak to do anything about it though, she never wanted to be around water again.

Hoarsely saying to the rest of the patrol, "I'll bring up the rear, I'm arguably the least injured...", Wolfblaze finally began getting to her paws, stumbling to them in jerking motions. Drowning was an experience she never wanted again. So she watched the patrol pad off and she stabilized herself. The Riverclan patrol had left, they had won, so it was safe to take a moment to truly catch her breath. At least she thought. It was embarrassing to have been taken out just by a bit of water. She had underestimated Riverclan, that wouldn't happen again.

Hitting the grassy ground.  Pain.  Darkness.

That was all she remembered before her eyes slowly opened on the blurry landscape in front of her.  Her scrapes hurt; the blood that poured out of them stopped for the most part.  Her already reddish fur brightened with the drops of blood that dripped down.  Blood was all around her.  It was not fatal, for that she was thankful for.  Her head ached from it slamming on the ground.  Her ears rung for a moment, before it stopped.

She blinked a few times.  Her vision started to focus.  The trees started looking like trees once more, instead of red, yellow, or brown blobs.  Her ears flattened to her head.  She turned to see the Riverclan patrol leaving after realizing she was awake.  Scarletriver sighed.  The stinging pain rushed back to each slashed bleeding mark on her.

The hurt she-cat put her paws on the ground and lifted herself up.  It hurt, but it was not that bad, she was happy that she could walk without feeling like falling every moment.  She breathed heavily for a second, her eyes closed.  After a few seconds she opened her eyes again and turned to see an injured Thunderclan cat.  Her gums lifted into a hiss, but no audible noise came out.

She put her head down but kept her eyes staring on the Thunderclan cat.  She already had chosen to think of Thunderclanners as wild with no sense of what the other clans went through.  In truth, she did not know much about Thunderclanners.  However, the only where she could feel like a war could be just is to think of those in Thunderclan more like annoying little bugs that needed to be eliminated.  That, plus the way that the one Thunderclan cat beat her in the fight, left her with an even bigger amount of distain for the clan.

So, looking upon this other creature in front of her, she no longer saw a cat in her rage, just something that needed to be eliminated for her to rise in power.  She walked towards Wolfblaze.  Her eyes only showing a strong emotion of rage and revenge.  She needed to get back at the Thunderclanner that hurt her, but there was no way to catch up to her now especially without being seen, so this would be the best she could get.

She quietly rushed up to Wolfblaze and dug her sharp fangs through the other cat's neck.  Her teeth dug in as deep as she could possibly make them.  Layers of muscle now were filled with punctures of sharp cat teeth.  Once she thought it was deep enough to kill a cat, she took her teeth out.  "You are dying alone as I hope all of your clan will," she whispered.  I will make a war if the leaders are too cowardly to.  I'll kill as many of you as I need to.  Thank you for helping me with this." She was not sure if the cat, who was laying on the ground, could hear a word she said or if she was already dead.  Oh, Scarletriver hoped that she had continued to live suffering a moment longer, so that Wolfblaze could hear what her death would help contribute to.

She picked up the now dead cat by the scruff and carried her towards the water.  She set the cat down, with Wolfblaze's head and neck in the water.  She was pretty sure that this would be enough to cover whatever small scent that brief interaction could have left on Wolfblaze.  The blood from the wounds in the cat's neck made the water of the river around Wolfblaze a deep red color.

With that, Scarletriver rushed off towards the rest of her patrol who were far enough away that none of them would have been able to see it.  Once she came nearer to them, she realized that she would have needed a reason besides just the cuts to be that late.  So, she unsheathed her claws and put them against the bottom of her front leg.  She closed her eyes as she sliced off a piece of flesh from her own leg.  Normally, she would have exclaimed in pain, but she was close enough so other cats could hear her, so she stayed silent.  More blood poured out the bottom of her leg, because of the loss of blood, she felt a bit lightheaded once more, but this time she did not pass out.

Her idea worked.  She could no longer put any weight on that leg, slowing her down.  She limped up to the rest of the patrol as fast as she could, but still behind them.  If they looked back, they could see that she was there and moving slower than the rest of them.

A moment later, her rage went down, and her thoughts of rationality came back.  She gasped once she thought about what she did.  Oh, stars, what have I done?

She was not thinking.  Right now, the visions of the red blood in that peaceful river began to haunt her, but maybe it would make the next kill easier.

Scarletriver used Killing Bite on Wolfblaze.

OOC: Scarletriver has killed Wolfblaze and ran towards the others in her patrol.  This topic is now open to those at the sunningrocks battle.

"Cut me open and I still bleed red,
Do your best to get inside my head,
'Cause I'm gonna make you remember my name
And I'll be the last one you ever betray,
Just wait...
You'll be seeing red"
-Red by Beth Crowley

Pain.

Whitehot, blinding pain. Wolfblaze wanted to yowl in pain, to turn on her attacker and end her life, but she was frozen in place, unable to move a muscle. The vicegrip on her neck, on her spine, was too much to bear. Too much to do anything against. So she had to stand as her legs slowly buckled beneath her weakening body, bringing her down to the ground as fangs sunk deeper into her flesh.

Then they were gone, and hot liquid spilled from her neck onto her back and down her sides. Wolfblaze gasped in pain, trying to catch her breath, but no breath came. She felt like she couldn't move, all she could do was hear what her attacker would do to her clan. To her friends, to her family. She wanted to yell out and warn them. Her mouth wouldn't move though. The large warrior could only lay as her blood escaped her, as she attempted to breath, as she attempted to live.

Then there was darkness, and her last thoughts were of home.

Wolfblaze has died, the topic is open to those on the Sunningrocks patrol.

ThunderClan was defeated.

They dragged exhausted paws into the undergrowth of the territory, leaning on each other or ploughing determinedly along through the foliage, and he nodded tiredly to Wolfblaze's suggestion, mumbling something affirmative that even he didn't understand. Everything... all he wanted to do was just go home and collapse next to Bat. Bury his nose in her fur - and cry himself to sleep, probably. She was the only one who understood how hard he tried... and how hard he failed. The only one who would tell him honestly to stop his self-destructive spirals and remind him just by being there that he had more to live for. That he had cats who cared about him.

Not that he deserved them.

Minkstar plodded along, the bitter and guilty thoughts swirling to the forefront of his mind again. Until the silence twinged somewhere at the corners, a quiet that weighed heavily with only the sound of quiet pawsteps to keep them company and that seemed just a bit... off.

"Wolfblaze, you're a bit quiet. Something on your mind?" He glanced back, hoping to dispel the sense of gloom that hung over them all, his own cloud ten times thicker with guilt and warring doubt. He couldn't summon the effort to pretend to smile, but Wolfblaze was a bright spot, a fiery soul - always with something to say, an opinion to offer.

She was also gone.

He froze, the rest of the patrol gradually stopping with him as he stared at the rearguard spot, probing the undergrowth and wondering if his eyes were deceiving him for a couple of pounding heartbeats. "Wolfblaze?"

"Anyone see where she went?" Shaking heads and blank looks. He stepped forward, an ominous throbbing in the back of his head, sinking deep into his paws. Something was wrong here. "Everyone, retrace your steps. She... she must have stopped to rest for a bit. Gotten...." What - lost? How could she lose them? They stank to high Silverpelt, drying smears of blood brushed onto passing leaves and from the bottom of their paws. There was no way she couldn't track them.

His throat tightened and he didn't finish the sentence, instead moving off mutely and searching back along their path, a frantic sort of dread curling in his stomach. Cats didn't just disappear like that, there had to be something.....

He slowed, pawsteps fading to a whisper and falling still.

That scent.

That was blood.

Overpowering, wending its insidiously through the forest, the red, metallic tang touched his tongue and curdled it with its sweetly bitter clamour. Eyes stuck open, horror quickly spreading through his limbs, he drifted forwards as though dream-walking, slow steps stealing the distance between him and the source. He knew before he saw, knew what he would find before the dark tabby pelt - still and unmoving - came into view.

His paws stopped at the edge of a deep red stain in the ground, the breath stolen from his lungs, the world fuzzing at the corners. Words grated in his throat, barely heard in his ears.

"Oh StarClan. Wolfblaze...."

They were overpowering, overwhelming. Although he had eventually drained the strength of his opponent, Wolfblaze being quickly knocked from the fight was a detriment. He couldn't blame her; he understood her. The lack of experience, testing themselves against ruthless cats in battle... there were something he had not understood it seemed. Stoarfur felt the pain flooding in as adrenaline had begun to fade away. Exhaustion overwhelmed him and a searing sensation seemed to prickle every inch of his pelt.

Following after Minkstar, the tom began to wonder how he would make it back to camp, while also some how supporting their sodden and battered patrol. Blood had begun to dry and become crusted over in the most uncomfortable manner. Stoatfur wanted to swipe at his own maw but it would have only made things worse. With Dovefrost in as terrible of shape, there was likely little help the white-pelted tom could offer. A medicine cat jumping into battle... it was foolish, it almost made him wish that he could understand but for the time being it frustrated him. As much as it could in his half-deadened state.

Any emotion felt worlds away. He wanted to sigh yet it choked in his throat as he stopped suddenly, nearly bumping into Minkstar whose pawsteps had halted. A strained whisper. Slowly, the deputy's head lifted. His eyes widened for a brief moment, soaking in what the leader had seen. Stoatfur took a couple steps forward, trying to better assess the situation, and coming to the same condemning conclusion. It seemed returning their patrol to camp would be a harder feat than he had originally thought. They'd need to send able-bodied cats. There were so many things that needed to be done.

As he looked at Wolfblaze, half-expecting her to move, Stoatfur wanted to cry but he couldn't bring himself to do it, simply staring at her with a deadened gaze.

So this was death, huh?

It seemed oddly peaceful.