Finding Dusk [Dusklion Search Party 2]

[occultation]

( @alec @finley !! )

This search party takes place after the one Fadingstar went on with Goldfish and Heroneye. It will fit into the timeline roughly one week after Dusklion's disappearance; we'll finish it up on Monday when Dusk is scheduled to be found.

To say that Fadingstar was feeling immensely defeated was an understatement.

It had now been roughly a quarter moon since Dusklion had disappeared, and nobody had found a single trace of her. With each passing day, the fear that she was indeed dead - or worse - only grew. He felt immense remorse over the way their last interaction had gone. A fight was not the last memory he wanted his sister to have of him.

Guilt and grief were powerful emotions, and they were almost strong enough to bring the RiverClan leader to his belly. He knew that he'd have to choose a new deputy if they didn't find her soon, but he wasn't ready to give up hope yet. He wanted to keep looking. He had to keep looking.

If there was even the slimmest chance that she was alive out there, he was going to find her.

It was early in the day, the air crisp and cold. The cold only served to give him an excuse other than fear and defeat to shiver.

"Jayfrost and Cobwebfern!" he called. His voice was weaker than normal, strained and cracked. He'd gone out many times on his own, but this time he wanted more paws with him. In case he was missing something.

Jayfrost and Cobwebfern were both close with Dusklion (he refused to even consider the verbiage "had been"), so he trusted that they'd put the right amount of effort into this. Not that he didn't think others would, but he wanted no doubt in his mind. Thunderchaser's threats, combined with Dusklion's disappearance, had him less trusting of most of his Clanmates than usual.

The black-and-orange leader waited, claws scraping against the stone and tail whipping back and forth, for the two warriors.

[alec]

->> jayfrost <<-
[ he/him | riverclan | 30moons | beefed up t3 ]
a tall, silver classic-tabby with well groomed short to medium length fur and icy blue eyes

jayfrosts ears perked at fadingsuns call, and had this been a different situation the warrior wouldve probably had some internal snarky remark for fadingsun, but he could understand why. why his voice was cracking and why he looked worse for wear. had he been a different cat he wouldnt be so pathetically affected by this either. jayfrost was convinced, after he had lost cardinal, mother and father moons ago he was dull and emptied out enough to take another loss without comment or complaint, but the warrior had let his composure slip, like too many times before, so now he stood by fadingsun, eyes burning from the lack of sleep (he'd blame it on the dry air if pointed out) and mildly dizzy from simply standing up. well. this wasnt the first time, and he could suppose his worst coping mechanisms had always come out when it was least convenient. but really, it wasnt his fault the nausea followed everywhere he went, and that he was equally too tired to sleep and too caught up in everything he had shoved down pretty much crashing down around him.
and he knew it was weak, and he should be holding up better, but hell, here he was, very much so holding up (even if he didnt really believe it himself), even if he had been thinking weak self pitying thoughts since he noticed dusklions disappearance.
"fadingsun" he had quietly greeted the leader with a sharp nod, before finding his place next to him. perhaps his distain for the leader was mostly shadowed by the understanding he could extend to him in this situation, and the way his words bled together, unique accent harsher than usual, perhaps fadingsun was well aware what jayfrost thought of his leadership. though, it wasnt of much importance to jayfrost either way.

he could imagine what "this" was, fadingsun looking upset and calling for jayfrost and cobwebfern specifically? it didnt leave much room for imagination. however, the black and orange tom was yet to speak it into truth, so jayfrost remained quiet in waiting, tabbied tail alternating between tapping the ground and flicking from side to side.

[occultation]

( @alec @finley !! @reiya )

[ Skipping over finley since it's been more than 24 hours since they were bumped and we need to keep this moving! Finley, feel free to have cob catch up if you want. Rei, feel free to have Dusk pop up whenever. ]

Fadingstar twitched an ear at Jayfrost calling him by the wrong name, but judging by the state of the tom he figured it was a mistake caused by a lack of sleep or something akin to that. If it continued he'd say something, but for now he'd let it go.

Cobwebfern never showed up; after several minutes of waiting, Fadingstar decided to just go. If she wanted to catch up she could, but they were wasting time here.

Rising to his paws, Fadingstar beckoned for Jayfrost to follow. The leader was entirely silent on his way to their border with the other group. He wanted to investigate the area where Dusklion had disappeared again, in case she may have found her way back to the same area. It definitely wasn't the second or even third time he'd been up here, but he didn't want to leave any stone unturned.

Some might call it an obsession, but in return he'd ask if they really expected anything different. Dusklion was not just his sister, she was a huge part of why RiverClan was steadily marching toward stability. RiverClan desperately needed their deputy. He needed his deputy, and his sister.

Once they arrived at their destination, Fadingstar parted his jaws and scented the air. There was a strong breeze blowing toward him, coming from the other side of the border. At first, he detected nothing of note.

Just as he was about to close his jaws, however, a very familiar scent hit him.

Adrenaline crackled through his pelt like lightning. That was Dusklion's scent! He didn't care that he had to cross the border to find it; if he got attacked, he'd fight with the fury of a hundred cats to get past it. His sister was out there, and judging by the freshness of the scent, she was at least somewhere nearby.

"Dusklion!" he proclaimed to Jayfrost. "This way. Come on!"

Without waiting to see if the other cat heard him, he charged after the scent.

[alec]

cobwebfern never showed, too bad, he wouldve liked to at least see how she was doing now as a warrior, but he could accept that this wasnt..well perhaps she didnt want to see him anymore either way. but jayfrost didnt get all that much time to linger on that thoguht because fadingsun seemed to grow restless rather quickly, and once again, he had to admit that maybe it wasnt all wrong with the tom. at least he still felt something for his sister, at least he didnt simply discard her for simplicities sake. the silence between them was pleasant on the track to the border, not because it felt light of comfortable, but simply because jayfrost had no interest in engaging in small talk with the other tom and tense silence was the better option.
upon arriving, jayfrost stepped away a bit to sniff around himself, jaws agape to taste the air and oh, it appeared fadingsun had picked up the scent a bit sooner than he did. between fadingsuns hurried chase after the scent however, jayfrost had barely a chance to think about this find. he did however, have time to worry about what they might find. the scent had been relatively fresh at least, but that didnt mean the heavy metallic scent of blood couldnt hit them soon enough. and while the adrenaline was still pulsing through his body and hope sparked in his chest, he couldnt help but be pessimistic for he had been in
a similar position before. and the last time he had found a mangled body.

( @occultation @finley !! @reiya )

[reiya]

Dusklion - RiverClan Deputy

[ tw: mentions of malnourishment ]

One... last... push...

Despite her scrawny figure and the way her fur now clung to her bones so much that they not jutted out, Dusklion hooked her claws and gritted her teeth. She was trying desperately to haul herself up and over the edge of this final lip. After all the work her and Saturn had done amassing this pile of... rock and rubble and debris, it just had to be enough to get them both out. "I... hate climbin'!" she gasped with one finally shove of her hind legs, finding that even though they shook they managed to push her the rest of the way out until...

She felt it.

Solid ground.

The golden rays of the setting sun.

Warming her fur. Warming her fur.

...They were out.

Panting from the effort it had taken her on what little food the two of them had managed to find, Dusklion turned to make sure that Saturn didn't need any help (and if she did, she'd reach down and tug the other she-cat out by her scruff. By the time they were bout out of there, the RiverClan deputy fell gracelessly to the groun in a pile of dark tabby fur. "What I wouldn't give..." she breathed, the exhale turning up small particles of the dusty ground on which her maw lay upon, "...for a nice... river of fish." At that her stomach rolled with hunger, the last thing she could remember eating being the prey her and Saturn had shared a couple days ago.

Looking now to her companion and taking in one last breath, she offered a lopsided smile. "No chance... you're any good... at fishin', hmm?" A tease, because of what she now knew of the she-cat - having lived in the mountains her whole life, ruiling the Atari. A breathless chuckle left her as Dusklion got to her paws, stumbling a bit before regaining her balance. "We ought to-"

She had started to suggest that they look for either the Atari or RiverClan when out of the corner of her eye something black and slithery caught her attention. Even in her disoriented state Dusklion knew the dangers those creatures could post and in a flash of muscle-memory the deputy lunged and sunk her claws into the snake, killing it before it could continue its journey towards Saturn. "...Why..." she muttered, another chuckle leaving her as she turned the creature over with one claw, examining it before looking up at her... friend? "I know I just said... I could eat a whole river... of fish with how... hungry I am, but eatin' this... would make me feel... even more sick-"

Before she could get an answer from Saturn though, familiar scents drifted on the wind. Scents that, at one point, Dusklion had convinced herself she'd never see again. Unprompted tears sprang to mist her eyes as the deputy turned, jaw dropping slightly, as the sights of Fades and Jays burst through the small patch of forest that surrounded this part of the territory. She was speechless, really, staring at them.

"...F...Fades? Jays?" Her voice was hoarse with disbelief. Had she actually died in the caverns and this was StarClan's way of greeting her? Or was she really out... and had cats actually searched for her?

...What a sight she must be to them right now. A once sleek and glossy pelt covering lean muscles now dirty, torn, ragged, and hanging loosely enough to showcase the detriment of her hunger.

[ @occultation @alec @Luminous ]