Intruder Alert [Shadowclan Sitewide Finale]

The combined assault of Leopardsun and Badgerpaw drove the last of the dogs to join the others, turning and tearing through ShadowClan's camp once more- leaving yet another mess for the warriors to deal with in the coming days.

Leopardsun stared as it left, ruining their already-damaged camp further, before turning to her clanmates and comrades.

"We did it," she sighed in relief. "You fought well, all of you."

Almost immediately she collapsed to the ground, knowing that sooner or later she'd be forced to drag herself to the medicine den. She could at least wait until Burdockroot had tended to the apprentices and the younger warriors, couldn't she? The sharp sting of each blow had faded into a dull ache by now, one that she would surely be feeling for a few days, but as far as she could tell there wasn't much blood; she hadn't fared nearly as badly as some of her clanmates.

For now she turned her attention to the camp's damaged walls- not to mention the spaces where they'd been fighting, and damage to the exterior of the dens.

"...We're going to need to fix that."

Even her days of recovery, it seemed, would be filled with work; because there was always something to be done.

Dog #2 has fled!

As the final dog fled, Badgerpaw kept her teeth bared until the energy that had been driving her paws to keep moving started to fade - and the full force of her torn side struck her. She collapsed onto her haunches - barely catching herself from collapsing fully. Her ears twitched at her mother's words, taking a moment to lean into her. Slowly, the apprentice also started to realize the gravity of what she had just done.

She...She had fought a dog - two dogs! All without hesitation, without fear...For the most part. She found herself staring at her bloodstained paws, which was already rapidly cooling on her claws. She... She had proven herself all without the fear of what her Clanmates would think of her. She had assumed she would be a burden but... She glanced around at the camp. She was the last apprentice standing who had fought the dogs - even her older sister had been forced to step out before the battle was done.

...Huh. Her whiskers twitched, unsure of what to make of this - conflicted with the emotions she had grown so used to. She was a good fighter, but what about hunting? What if she still proved terrible at that? Then again...Did it matter? She allowed herself to sink fully onto the ground, resting her head on her paws - thought she knew she ought to also be dragging herself towards Burdockroot. Maybe it didn't matter at all - what others thought. She had... She had crippled herself with the fears of what they would think.

She had just bravely fought two dogs despite the nasty blow she had taken. With a feat like that done...

Why would she ever care what others might think of her?

Nightstar padded up next to Leopardsun, taking in the state of the camp and his clanmates alongside her. She was not standing long and fell into a crumpled heap next to him, but his fears were assuaged a little bit when she immediately lamented about the state of the camp. He knew he did not need to tell Burdockroot to get on to tending to all the wounds, but he knew he'd need to tell her that she must consider taking on an apprentice. Disaster after disaster seemed to hit Shadowclan, and Burdockroot was just one cat who would need the help, it was now that he was unsure on if she had enough help to tend to all of these grievous wounds.

Eyes searched the camp, though he did so slowly as he felt unsteady and worried that if he turned his head too fast he'd fall to the ground like a lot of the cats around him. He was a leader, and he needed to act like it. "Rookfire!" Nightstar yowled upon not finding the cat immediately, once he spotted the black and white tom he barked, "Rookfire, help Burdockroot." He snapped, immediately dismissing his council member before his gaze looked for the next able-bodied warrior. "Thalia! I need you to see if any of the other clans will spare some herbs or help. Avoid Windclan, obviously." Nightstar didn't want to ask any cat outside of Shadowclan for help, but it was leafbare and he needed to be realistic, Shadowclan may have fought off the dogs, but who is to say they wouldn't fight off infection?

Sighing, Nightstar padded towards the jagged rock with a heavy limp, one of his back legs completely lifted off the ground as he struggled to make his way to where he usually did the meetings. After a heartbeat or two of contemplation, the black tom decided he could not get up there right now, and turned to address his clan. "Any able-bodied cats, I want at least one of you to help Rookfire and Burdockroot with the injured.-" He was panting, "I want a few cats to track the dogs, make sure they've left the territory. If any cat has any energy left over, bring some prey back." Nightstar huffed, feeling very unsteady on his paws.

The adrenaline was wearing off fast, any sort of ability to stay on his paws was quickly waning. With gritting teeth, Nightstar hauled himself into a stand and half-dragged himself into his den. If he was going to collapse, it would be out of sight, and hopefully out of mind as well.

Though the warriors of ShadowClan had seen better days, Thalia was relieved that the immediate threat was ended. Even more so when Nightstar addressed her directly, instructing her to seek aid from the other clans. She had already intended to avoid WindClan, and the order to do so was a welcome one.

"Of course, Nightstar," she nodded.

As he delivered the last of his orders, the leader vanished into his den. Thalia set out immediately, knowing that the injured cats couldn't wait too long for aid. She could only hope that the other clans had fared better than ShadowClan had; the misfortune that plagued the marsh seemingly inescapable.

Tawnypaw winced from the wound at her belly, though she still trudged up to Leopardsun. "I can go hunting," she told the deputy determinedly. Failure and guilt weighed in her belly like stones; she had failed to land more than a few blows on the dogs, and after she got hurt she had been unable to continue. Because she was too weak to defend her clan, her clanmates were hurt and weak. Would they still be in such a state if she had trained harder? She worried that the answer might be yes.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, the tabby looked around for other cats to join her. What mattered was the present, there was no use dwelling on the past.

Sagepaw limped up and licked Tawnypaw's ear. His whole body ached, but he was in a much better shape than most other cats. "I can go too," He mewed.