Cries of the Lost [Sitewide Finale]

Mottlestar had hardly slept since the gathering. Between her own daughter causing Starclan's wrath to be brought upon the Clan and the prophecy brought to her by Fawnshine, there was more than enough on her mind to keep her up through the night. Her tail twitched with agitation as she led her small group to Fourtrees, and she felt the pressure weighing down on her shoulders. All she could think of was her clanmate's calls, hoping to be freed. Among them, Beetleshade and Specklewish came to mind. Both having been her apprentices, stuck under the clutch of twolegs.

It was a sharp scent of something wrong that hit her nostrils first. Then, her ears. They perked straight up, honing in on their target - Fourtrees itself. What in the name of the stars..? The molly thought. She had to swallow most of her panic down, given that she was leading in her Clanmates. Looking to Murkyripple first, the look on her daughter's face all but confirmed her worst fears- she smelled it too.

Her gaze followed to Starlingflare and Comfreyheart next, the two senior warriors she had brought with her. There was no use in waiting. "Whatever is out there, we need to stay safe. This reeks of two-legs." Just as she spoke, the clearing would come into view, and if she could have felt the pit in her stomach get any bigger... that would have been the moment. Fourtrees, overrun by two-legs and cats alike. Some of them scented of the forest, but only barely, but all of it was the sting of wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong wrong wrong. Screeches of alarm was crying out in her mind stronger than any other, and all Mottlestar could do was take a deep breath and come up with a quick plan.

"Check the cages, we'll be going in pairs of two. Comfreyheart, Murkyripple, you two go together and find if any of our Clanmates are there. Starlingflare, you'll go with me." She could trust Comfreyheart with her daughter. They had to find them... somehow.

Mottlestar is beginning the search for her Clanmates!

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The first thing that the young warrior noticed was the scent. It was like nothing she had smelled before, but at the same time, reminded her of the sting of the two-leg traps that had littered Thunderclan's territory. She'd been keen on telling her apprentices to mind themselves while she was away, as the last thing she wanted to hear was of their misbehavior. But all of that was gone from her mind the second it had hit her nose, and it was like she was a dog on a scent trail. Unfortunately for her, there were literal dogs at this event as well. She heard their barking, their distinctive sounds bringing the molly to a sharp alertness.

Orders came from her mother, which earned the smaller tortoiseshell nothing more than a stoic dip of her head. It looked as if she was more than angry, and in a way, she was. Her fur bristled with frustration at how the two-legs had desecrated the sacred land of Fourtrees. But it also was her symbol of focus. Looking towards Comfreyheart, the she-cat gave her a nod. "Let's go. The sooner we find our clanmates, the better. Let me know if we pass by any other clan-cats. We might as well free them too." There was anger bubbling lower in her throat, but she was about to waste no time. "Stars know I'd hate to be in this situation."

Murkyripple is following Comfreyheart's lead as they search!

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Minksplash is at Fourtrees... waiting for her clanmates to begin their search!

Sprucebark was locked in a cage his heart pounded as he looked around. He was back at fourtrees! He was so close to home if only he could get out he would be free! He tried to push against the gate but nothing would work. The scent of dogs made his fur stand on end. He was terrified. He tried to glance over to see his sister Sandyshell in the cage next to his own but could not the view too limited from the edges of his trap.

He fought back panic the best he could but there felt like dogs and twolegs everywhere he had no idea what he could do. He felt so helpless and like he couldnt protect Sandyshell like he was supposed to be able to do.

Shrikestar felt unease prickling along his pelt as he led a small contingent of warriors to Fourtrees. The sight of their clanmates crying for help, locked up in cages... It must have been horrid for the medicine cats to have witnessed. He could only imagine, though that imagination was about to become a reality. Whatever was waiting for them at Fourtrees likely couldn't be good. It was never easy.

As they got closer, his nostrils were inflamed with many terrible scents. There was the scent of the forest, of cats familiar and not, but they were buried under the scent of twolegs. As they reached the edge of Fourtrees, Shrikestar was alarmed to see what appeared to be dozens of twolegs patrolling their sacred site. Dogs moved along with them, their maws opening and shutting with a dangerous glint of teeth. In front of the Great Rock, where the deputies would usually be, there was cage after cage filled with terrified cats. Their fear-scent was rampant, though still obscured somewhat by all the other going-ons. This was a terrible situation to be in, but he could still hear the cries of his clanmates, cats from the other clans. He couldn't leave them there. It was time to act.

"Coyotegrin, you and Amberstone go check the cages. Free everyone you can, and be on the lookout for Smallbean." The deputy was still missing after all this time, and if he was there, they had to save him. "Weaselfoot and I will guard you. None of the twolegs or dogs will get to you on our watch." With that, the WindClan leader streamed into the buzzing clearing, eyeing the perimeter and looking over his shoulder to make sure his own clanmates were getting through okay.

It was a testament to just how miserable the twoleg's nest had been that Poppy almost- almost!- felt more content in a cage in this unfamiliar place. At least here she could sort of see the outside world. Though the more she thought about it, that was almost worse: the grass that she couldn't touch, the leaves of the nearby trees taunting her endlessly.

Meanwhile she curled up uncomfortably in her prison and closed her eyes, wondering if perhaps it would have been better if she had never left home at all. Whatever happened next, she hoped she'd at least get to feel the sun on her fur again after this.

The sounds were loud and overwhelming, though she could make out the scraping of nearby cats struggling in the spaces next to her. It was tempting to join them again, but she'd tired of that already.

To say that Perchstar was on edge would be an understatement. She had been hesitant about the omen, but apparently her moons of silently begging the stars to finally do something about their situation had--perhaps--been answered. Apparently their missing Clanmates would be in Fourtrees. She wanted every able paw to help her retrieve them... but with their greatly reduced number of warriors, leaving camp undefended was practically a death sentence. So it was with a heavy heart and a hesitant tinge of hope to her moons-long fear that she left Poppyshine and all the other warriors to guard RiverClan camp, and took only Stormdance with her to Fourtrees. He had proven himself to be reliable, strong, and trustworthy. Besides... if she knew him, she knew that his desperate desire to retrieve Rowanpaw was matched only by Poppyshine's deep need to recover all of her kits. Hopefully, whatever the stars had in store, they could face it together.

She had been attempting to mentally prepare herself as they traveled, as stealthily as possible, to the site of the Gathering's disaster only a few days prior. The cries of Twolegs grew steadily louder as they approached, making her fur bristle slightly. Obviously it would be similar to the time they had invaded Fourtrees, right?... However, she was not prepared for the sight that met her eyes when she and Stormdance finally stumbled into the clearing. Brightly colored contraptions all over the place, more Twolegs than she had ever seen together before, several dogs running rampant... and there. In front of the Great Rock. A tower of odd shapes that held cats captive. Were her Clanmates there? Immediately, beyond the loud unfamiliar sounds, her eye caught sight of a familiar pelt color through one of the traps. Sprucebark. If he was there, was Sandyshell? Rowanpaw, Minksplash, all the others? So... this is what Mallardstep meant.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Mottlestar and Shrikestar, who must have received the same messages from their own medicine cats. They had brought more warriors to assist them. Hopefully their numbers might be better at holding off the few ravenous-looking dogs she saw begin to prowl closer. "Stormdance," Perchstar hissed urgently. "Our Clanmates are up there. If you can go and try to free them--use your claws, teeth, anything--then I'll watch your back and keep the dogs away from you. Just make sure not to get caught yourself, all right?"

Perchstar has told Stormdance to search for their Clanmates while she helps hold off the dogs.

The patrol to Fourtrees had been quiet, but tense. None of them knew, exactly, what they were walking into... but at the end of the day, it didn't matter. If they could help the cats who had been captured, it was worth the risk... none of them deserved to stay at the mercy of the twolegs.

Arriving at the clearing itself, there was absolute mayhem. SkyClan wasn't alone, anymore, as she noticed several other clan cats arriving around the same time. Some of them split off to the row of cages that were sitting atop a platform near the center. Spottedfrog's gaze swept them, but she couldn't make out any of the cats behind the bars. Ah well, any free cat was an ally. Taking a running sprint, Spottedfrog leaped up on to the table that held the cages - and came face to face with her sister.

"Beechfang," she almost hissed, ears slicking back. How appropriate, that her elder sister need to be rescued like this... and fate that it was she that had the task of doing it... or not doing it.

Her nose crinkled, and she stared at the former SkyClanner with an accusatory bitterness in her gray-green eyes. They flicked down to the mechanism that held the cage closed. "If roles were reversed, I believe with everything in me that you'd leave me stranded," she snarled. Her gaze hardened on Beechfang's face. "But I'm not you." She slammed her paws against the lock, and it popped out, the cage door swinging open ever so slightly. Stepping back, Spottedfrog turned away to find the next cat in need of freedom.


Spottedfrog has succeeded in breaking Beechfang out.

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The twolegs had finally decided to move her from their wretched cutter's, and Beechfang had not made the journey pleasant, yowling and hissing at them. She was fully expecting to go to some other nest, but this time was different. More cats were moved along with her, and even dogs, which she could hear barking. She was able to see out of the slats of her cage, and fourtrees had been the last place she'd thought to see again. There was a commotion with several of the dogs, it seemed, and twoleg chatter filled her ears. Several of them were going from cage to cage, and why, Beechfang wasn't sure. She only knew that she disliked it.

So when a shadow was cast across her cage and it wasn't a twoleg, her fur bristled. Spottedfrog, of all the cats... Looking just as startled and dismayed as Beechfang was. "You need bodies against those dogs." She hissed back. Her head dropped at Spottedfrog's words. "In another time, maybe you'd be right." She admitted, "I'm not that cat anymore, Spottedfrog." She didn't think her half-sister would listen to her words, and now was not the time for arguments. Clan cats had showed up, and plenty more were captured. What the twolegs had been thinking by bringing the dogs here she didn't know, but someone would needed to deal with them. First though, they needed to free as many cats as they could. Beechfang paced along the rows of cages... And her eyes widened upon seeing a familiar gray and white face. "Plumleaf!" Without hesitation, the big tabby reared back, aiming to slam her paws into the mechanism that kept the cage shut just as Spottedfrog had done. "Foxdung! Let me try again." The lock on this one was stubborn, it seemed, but Beechfang would not give up. She would get her daughter out of here if she could.

Beechfang has been freed, and is attempting to free Plumleaf. Attempt failed!

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Stoneheart followed Birdstar, fluffy silvery pelt lifting as they neared fourtrees only to hear the distinct sounds of twoleg chatter and dogs barking. It made her stomach churn, but the Skyclanner's face remained carefully neutral. With a nod at her leader's words, she warily approached the cages, finding a cat whom she thought looked vaguely familiar. Skyclan, judging by the look of him, and that was enough. She'd seen the way they broke apart before when Stormwatcher had saved her sister, it seemed like these contraptions were similarly made... The warrior struck at it with a heavy paw. The mechanism fell away, the door of the cage swinging open. "I am so glad that worked... Come on!" She mewed.

Stoneheart is attempting to free Astershine. Attempt successful!