Everybody Knows This Place Is Dying, As Am I [p]

[Mica]

Eaglepaw
RiverClan
she/her | 8 moons | 61/100
[Golden and white tuxedo tabby with green eyes]
Purrks: Dreamwalker, Herbal Knowledge T2
· · ────────────── · ·
[Dusklion - @taillow ]
· · ────────────── · ·
Eaglepaw walked with the lumbering gait of an angry predator, her dull eyes blazing with fury. Her tail lashed behind her, but it wasn't enough to keep the energy under her skin from exploding. Was it smart to go investigating when she was this angry? Probably not. But Fadingsun had agreed to let Dusklion take Eaglepaw around the territory and inspect the borders for any sign of Rushwater. Eaglepaw was mostly interested the outskirts border and ThunderClan border, so she gunned for the outskirts border first.

She could hear Dusklion struggling to keep up behind her, and forced herself to slow down. The deputy had royally screwed up, hurting the clan in a way that could not be fixed with apologies. Eaglepaw wanted to be angry with her, but was struggling to muster the energy to do so. But Dusklion... despite her faults, she was consistently there. There for the clan, there for Eaglepaw. Eaglepaw pushed all her doubts aside, knowing that right now, the thing she needed was a friend. Someone who took her seriously and didn't look at her with the disgusting sympathy her mentor did. She didn't want sympathy. Yes she did. She didn't deserve sympathy. Please, someone help her.

Eaglepaw was clearly beyond herself right now, the fury of living in a clan full of imbeciles mangling her desire to help into a desire to control. It hurt her both inside and out, bruises under her eyes indicating lack of sleep, her pelt hanging loosely off her thin frame. Losing Rushwater and finding out he had been taken had been her breaking point. It wouldn't be long until she was shattered, unless something intervened.

[I'm so so excited for DuskEagle bonding ]

[taillow]

DUSKLION
she/her | riverclan deputy | 28 moons

Surprise was an understatement when Eaglepaw still wanted Dusklion's help in searching for Rushwater. The deputy was certain that her revealed secret would be the end of the cats she cared about doing the same; mostly Cobs and Wings. But here the two of them were, with Wings taking off into the forest and Dusk sprinting to keep up. She wasn't a fast runner by any means, and the 'paw she was following had much more at stake during this excursion.

Lengthening her stride she forced herself to catch up to Wings, running close beside her. "We're nearin' the outskits border. Let's slow down 'ncase there's any sort of odd stuff happenin'." That was partly true, but moreso Dusk had taken notice of how... different Wings looked. Older than she was, fur starting to hang a bit lower. Was she taking care of herself? Or was this consuming her? Dusklion didn't say anything though and instead started to slow her own pace down so that Wings would have to do the same.

Once they had neared the area, Dusklion gave a sniff of the air. She wasn't entirely certain what she was looking for as she scanned the outskirts border. She also wasn't entirely sure why this had been their first stop. But she knew the mindset that came with the idea of someone close taking off, and how the fury of it all drove a cat to operate faster. This was Wings' mission; Dusk was simply here to make sure the young she-cat didn't run herself into the ground.

[ Eaglepaw - @Mica ]
[ me too!!! aaaa!! ]

[Mica]

Eaglepaw
RiverClan
she/her | 8 moons | 87/100
[Golden and white tuxedo tabby with green eyes]
Purrks: Dreamwalker, Herbal Knowledge T2
· · ────────────── · ·
[Dusklion - @taillow ]
· · ────────────── · ·
Irritation flickered along Eaglepaw's spine as Dusklion called for her to slow. The reasonable part of her brain--the part that hadn't been cannibalized by her paranoia and apathy--agreed with the deputy. It was the same part of her brain that had been banging on the walls of the self-imposed cage she trapped it in, begging to be let back in control as it watched her waste away. But she had no time for reason. No one in this clan saw reason, so in order for her to remain alive she had to think like them.

Eaglepaw had thought Fadingsun was reasonable, but then he turned into a tyrant that had cats fleeing for the hills. Personally, Eaglepaw thought he had every right to snap at the clan. The bit with Fogmuzzle was a bit much, but she was sure after a few more gruesome deaths the clan would fall in line.

She ignored the way her stomach lurched at the thought of watching more cats die.

She had gotten very good at ignoring certain parts of her.

The border came into view, and Eaglepaw slowed to a trot. The unfamiliar scents of non-clan territory beckoned her, but she merely turned her nose up at the promise of freedom and began to scan the border. "Rushwater said he spent time as an outsider and kittypet. Fadingsun was attacked by outsiders not long ago. Maybe those outsiders know something." If the RiverClan cats hadn't killed or driven off every single one, maybe she could find a lead... but once again that wretched reasonable part of her brain admitted that this was a severe leap in logic. But stars, it was all she had. The new cat--Wisteriawren. She was a former kittypet. But Eaglepaw hadn't gotten the chance to corner her yet, what with the forest literally crumbling around her. "Maybe catch a scent..." she muttered, Dusklion slipping from her mind. "... ambush..." Her formerly expressive eyes were dull and twitchy as she picked apart the border for the slightest sign of feline life. She walked like a haunted elder--shoulders up, ears swiveling towards the slightest sound.

The search was useless. All it did was turn the twitchyness in her paws to exhaustion, the irritation in her chest to hot, smoldering anger. The sun was rapidly setting, but Eaglepaw showed no indication of wanting to go back. No indication that she remembered Dusklion's presence at all. The fronds and reeds that were prevalent in RiverClan territory began to shift into bracken the farther they strayed from camp, the usual scent of cats from regular patrols had become nothing more than a whisper of familiarity. Until, suddenly, a singular scent rose above the rest.

Decay.

It was sweet and sick, the kind of smell that settles in your nose and surprises you as you breathe in for hours after. The faint sound of flies reached Eaglepaw's large, narrow ears and made the apprentice pause. Her head throbbed as the scent of death enveloped her, and for a moment she swayed on thinning paws. Eaglepaw frowned, turning her head in the direction the scent seemed to come from. A body, clearly. The question was: was it predator, cat, or prey?

[taillow]

DUSKLION
she/her | riverclan deputy | 28 moons

The connection between the outsiders that had attacked her brother and those who might know the fate of Rushwater was one that Dusklion herself hadn't put a paw in. There were so many outsiders, to the point that there being any chance of a connection was thin. But the deputy didn't dare speak that out loud. Mostly for Wings' benefit but also on the slim off chance that she was wrong.

Blue eyes flickered to the form of Wings as she moved through the territory, concern glowing in their depths. She wanted to let the young apprentice know that she was there and that they didn't need to rush - they could take their time in searching. But the words wouldn't come and instead Dusklion coughed awkwardly, veering her head off to distract from it as she peered into a bush. No Rushwater.

"Nothin' over here. We should double back 'n-" Dusklion had begun, but any words after it died in her throat as it hit her; decay. The scent of death that she had forced herself to become familiar with, if only to procure her survival in the outskirts with her brother. But smelling it now so close... the deputy whipped around and trotted faster towards it. She brushed past Wings, too focused on tracking the scent to offer any sort of comfort. Caution was tossed to the wind like petals from a flower after a strong breeze, and soon enough after rounding a fallen log -

The blood that ran in Dusklion's veins turned colder than ice as she froze, wide eyes falling to the form of Mossypaw. Dead - for awhile, by the looks of it. The stench of death was revolting but the dark tabby didn't even seem to notice it as she padded towards the fallen body of her former apprentice. Shock enveloped her entire being, memories of a gray-spotted pelt taking the place of Mossypaw. "No... not again..." Her croak was barely above a whisper as the deputy used a paw to fruitlessly try to rouse the young kid. Nothing.

Fresh tears sprang to her eyes but Dusklion let out a snarl and pushed them away. Because underneath the dizzying scent of death was another; ShadowClan. It morphed her grief into rage, her sadness into anger. The deputy let her claws come unsheathed and dug them into the marshy soil under paw. "We need to bury him," she growled, legs moving almost mechanically as she grabbed ahold of his scruff and laid him out more. She ducked underneath and maneuvered the lifeless body onto her back (she purposefully avoided watching as a limp paw fell into her peripherals). "Come on. Sleepy Thicket. You know the way, right?" Automatic, her tone was. She couldn't break. Not right now, not yet. Not when she had to get Mossypaw to his final resting place.

Not yet.

[ Eaglepaw - @Mica ]
[ WAYYYY overdue but i figure they'll bury him and then dusk will break down to eagle ]

[Mica]

Eaglepaw
RiverClan
she/her | 9 moons
[Golden and white tuxedo tabby with green eyes]
Purrks: Dreamwalker, Herbal Knowledge T2
· · ────────────── · ·
[Dusklion - @taillow ]
· · ────────────── · ·
Bad. Bad things. Very bad things. Eaglepaw knew that she was about to encounter something that would change the course of her life forever.

But nothing could have prepared her for the bloated, decrepit body of her best friend.

Dusklion faded away, the reeds faded away, and Eaglepaw was left with only herself and her friend. The flies buzzing around the festering gashes in his mutilated flesh caught Eaglepaw’s eyes, flitting to and fro like the cat she loved more than anything was just a landing pad.

Unconsciously her paws followed Dusklion as the deputy carried Mossypaw to the Sleepy Thicket. Eagle was silent the whole way, never once taking her eyes off Mossypaw. She was so… blissfully empty. Absent.

She didn’t remember starting to dig the grave. She hardly remembered the walk, either. The usual pain in her chest was gone too. As though her heart had finally shattered and was no longer straining against her rib cage.

It wasn’t until Mossypaw’s body was gently lowered into the shallow depression and the first pawfull of dirt was dropped did she snap out of her daze.

“Wait…” She whispered. “Stop…”

Eaglepaw shouldered Dusklion out of the way, though even with her size the force was negligible. “No, he can’t breathe if you do that.”

Breathe? He was dead. Why would he need to breathe?

“He’s got to breathe.” But he wasn’t going to, was he? “He—he’s got to—he has to—“ Eaglepaw’s breathing picked up, voice shaking as she stared at Mossypaw.

“This isn’t funny, Mossypaw.” She said after a few moments of silence. “You can’t leave me too. You promised.”

Silence. Because he was dead.

Her voice got louder.[b] “You promised—” a squeak as she tried to suck in air that refused to flow into her lungs. “You said you wouldn’t leave! YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T LEAVE!!!”

Her voice reached a crescendo, and yet Mossypaw remained silent.

Someone began screaming. A wailing, shrieking cry that startled crows from the treetops and had prey skittering for safer ground. Eaglepaw pinned her ears back against the onslaught but that didn’t prevent the sound from reverberating from her vocal cords through the rest of her body. Someone was screaming using her throat. Why would she be screaming? There was no need. Mossypaw was dead, and that was that.

But he needed to breathe.

But he was dead.

And someone was still screaming.

[taillow]

DUSKLION
she/her | riverclan deputy | 28 moons

Numb. That's all Dusklion felt as Wings shoved past her to get to the half-buried Mossypaw. Anger rose in her chest and hot words scorched her tongue, but they never got spoken. Her tail whipped back and forth, claws sliding in and out. It was overwhelming, the grief that crashed down on her. Kitefly, and now Mossypaw. Was this some sort of karmic retribution from the gray-furred tom? Was he upset with her? ...Did he blame her? (of course he did, it was her fault he was dead).

"W...Wings..." Her voice was soft and quiet, unheard underneath the wailing that came from the apprentice. She could feel her grief and sadness pushing against her like the waves of Lionsbeach and it was agonizing. It made the deputy want to slide her claws out and slack and wreck whatever had caused it - to protect Wings.

...But who was there to swing at when the enemy was Death itself?

The deputy stood frozen for a moment before finally letting her claws slide in. She took one shaky step, then another, untill the distance between herself and Wings closed. "...Wings." This time her voice was a bit stronger, more authoritative. She stood there for only a moment before her legs shook and she pressed herself tight against the grieving apprentice. Paws came to wrap around them as she hugged them tightly to her.

"'M sorry." Her voice was strained as she spoke. "I'm sorry I couldn't... protect Mossypaw. I'm sorry I didn't teach him the borders. I'm sorry I..." She was sorry for a lot of things. For what she had done to the Clan. For how she failed to protect Kitefly, and Mossypaw, and Talonpaw, and Wrenpaw, and her brother, and every other cat she or RiverClan had lost.

But Wings was still here. They weren't close, not by a long-shot - but Dusklion would be damned if she let anything happen to the kid. Not now, not ever.

[ Eaglepaw - @Mica ]
[ hello fiuture ann and kuina vibes ]