ⵌ ➜ #GUTSPAW ˗ˏˋ ✮ it . teeth . bite . // sixteen moons ˎˊ˗
small spiky-furred black tabby with striking icy blue eyes. has a huge fluffy tail & a few scars in the shapes of bite-marks - notch in left ear.
❝HIGH ACHIEVER, DON'T YOU SEE? BABY, NOTHING COMES FOR FREE !!❞
Gutspaw knew it was pushing its luck. If anyone stumbled upon their escape teeth would be lucky if all it got was cleaning duties and a ceremony pushed back. Still, the apprentice was going on a short walk to gather materials. Darkwater Mire seemed to be promising. It was quiet in the dark, silent besides the distant symphony of an owl. Not nearby, but enough to keep it on high alert. The moon shone brightly through the conifer trees. It always enjoyed the territory at night. Perhaps that was the biggest shame. To be confined and bounded until it suffix just got changed. As far as it was concerned, it was a warrior simply waiting.
However, before the black tabby could truly adventure into the depths something pulled away its attention. It paused, blinking twice in bubbling confusion. Was it mistaken? The scent of mutt and metal hung in the air; distant, easy to miss but Guts had spent enough time around canine brutes to recognize their distinct stench. Besides, considering last time around they had left it with a few scars - yeah, bit hard to forget.
Gutspaw unsheathed claws, taking a sharp turn to the right. Paws slam against the ground, heart beginning to pound loudly against its chest. Could someone be injured? Wouldn't teeth hear them? At least the dogs — they could never shut up.
It does not have to wait long for answers before it finds itself tripping over an unseen branch, stumbling through dark shrubs and landing into something .. sticky.
it took a moment for the realization to click. the crimson blood looked black against the moonlight but the scent was unmistakable. there is no body, nothing that offers where it came from but the scent of dog weaves through the air like pollen. it is not recent.
Slowly, slowly Gutspaw steps out of the large splatter of blood, icy blue irises fixated on the scene. A shaking breath escapes from bite, alarms beginning to sound off. It had never seen that much blood before.
It does not help ripped, multi-colored fur litters the scene. At first, the ones it finds are too bloody but as the apprentice explores briefly it starts to find white furs. Black furs. Orange furs. A calico. The scents surrounding are too hard to detect any clanmates but oh, Guts knows. The only calicos in ShadowClan that could be out this far were far too red and too diluted. It had been wondering where Goopywhisker had gone off to.
"N, no - no, no, no, no, no, no, " it gasps, starting to reach out and scoop up the stray furs, trying to push them into a pile in a somewhat desperate attempt to be wrong. Guts' brother couldn't be dead, he couldn't. He was an idiot, and sloppy, but oh abyssdammit that was its baby brother.
Gutspaw finds itself having a hard time breathing, heart racing a mile a minute as it rocked itself back and forth. Back and forth, staring and staring. And staring, and staring, and staring, and staring. he couldn't be gone. they had only just reunited. how could he leave it alone? he was all guts had. the only damn reason it bothered to stay, really.
Tears burned down its cheeks, and it started to try to grab the bloodied fur. There was no body. why was there no body?
Oh bones.
it couldn't - it couldn't even tell anyone. if it did, it would expose itself. eyes trailed down to its own bloodied paws, would its scent be detected here? was it already revealing itself? did it - did it - have to - .. hide such a scene?
it - it couldn't. it couldn't hide its brother's death, hide the horrid fact he was gone but oh, guts was so scared. scared of the consequences, scared of dawnstar. scared of being alone. scared of -
Gutspaw collapses against the floor, unable to hold itself up anymore as sobs fully take its body. Its limbs tremble, and it felt like its heart had been ripped out. The aching feeling in its chest was set aflame, something it always tried to ignore but now it became impossible to repress. It could not remember the last it cried, teeth had learned swiftly it was a sign of weakness. It wants to collect itself, it needs to. No one else would help it. No one would hear its cries. (alonealonealonealonealonealonealone)
but the night is long and it cannot move.
Gutspaw curls itself around the pile of fur, ears flattened against its skull. its paws hold itself, claws digging into its forearms. Blood drips down, leaving deep gashes in its wake. "No,, no - no, you have to come back, you have to come back, you can't be gone, you can't - you can't, " Teeth whimpers softly to the abyss, repeating itself over, and over. Stuck in a cycle of disbelief, refusal to believe. There is no one around, and for once it does not attempt to quiet down its crying.
Re: everything eats and is eaten. time is fed [ p ]
tw for severe emotional distress, heavily implied panic attack, mentions of accidental self harm SQUIRRELRISE she/her. 15 moons. small, scarred russet molly with brown markings and yellow eyes.
[ chill of death, hulk SMASH ]
it's hard to sleep. squirrelrise lays in her nest, curled into a tight ball with her tail shielding the lower half of her face. she wants to sleep, desperately. though, even after pushing down the fears of nightmares and accepting that she shouldn't carry such unnecessary guilt — actually falling asleep is difficult. so, here she lays, gazing out of the warrior's den into the darkness of the clearing, only illuminated by the moonlight. her eyes threaten to close, until she's certain she sees a figure leaving camp. huh?
they say curiosity killed the cat. there's a bad feeling she can't shake off though, and the warrior finds herself slipping out of her nest and leaving the den silently. her ears swivel as she exits the camp, padding through the territory in what she can only hope is the right direction. she's always been hyper vigilant when it comes to being out of camp, and it's only worse when it's night. it's dead silent save for the sound of a far off owl, fur bristling as she continues to travel.
she slows to a stop, frowning. maybe I should go back to camp, she considers, only for her ears to twitch when they catch a sound. it's an odd sound that she doesn't recognize at first, but then it registers— crying. her eyes widen, stepping in the direction of the sound. her heart sinks at the scent of blood that wafts through the air, both old and fresh. her paws carry her as fast as her mind races towards the destination, careful to not trip over any tree roots. pushing through some shrubs, there was the sickening yet stale scent of dog— and oh. oh stars. the sight that awaits her has her stomach twisting and turning, legs threatening to give out underneath her.
gutspaw. curled around a mixture of old blood and clumps of familiar fur that fails to fully register in her mind, too focused on the crumbling gutspaw. bite dug it's claws into its own flesh and drawing blood. the sobs were like something she's never heard before, so full of pain that she wants to start bawling right then and there with it. she can't..she has to do something-
"gutspaw!" squirrelrise chokes out, trying to ignore the painful tightening of her chest. she can't give in to the panic that threatens to consume her, she has to focus on gutspaw. oh stars. bite must've been the one to leave camp. "th-this – you – wh-wha–" she sputters, inching closer to the tabby. she doesn't know what to do. a frantic glance towards the pile of blood and fur. calico fur. calico fur. blood. dog. she feels dizzy, desperately trying to draw in a much needed breath only to fail once she realizes. why else would gutspaw be crying? goopywhisker.dead.
goopywhisker is dead.
"...n-nno.." she croaks. it's the first thought that runs through her mind and she bites back a sob. no body, no bones even left. just clumps of fur and a pile of old blood. it's definitely not recent, and she can only wonder how long he must've suffered. the whole world threatens to collapse inwards on her. was there something she could've done? he must've went out of camp at night. she can't fathom the idea of this happening in broad daylight and none of her clanmates hearing it. unless..unless someone was evil – no, too much of a coward to help.
or maybe it's starclan's version of some cruel joke. they like to do that a lot. why does starclan allow such horrible things to happen? aren't they powerful? goopywhisker had done nothing but be a wonderful warrior, an amazing cat and this – this is what he gets?!
she hates them. she hates starclan so much right now. she's so angry and so upset she doesn't know what to do.
there's a high chance he's dead and she knows it. but gutspaw is goopywhisker's sibling and a friend and she's not sure what else to do other than try to convince it otherwise.
"g-gutspaw," she rasps, ignoring the hot tears pouring down her cheeks as she leans down to try to gently nose the apprentice. "we don't – it - it's not.." stars, she's not good at this, especially when she can barely breathe and choking out sobs. she wants her mama. she wants to be a kit again. anything but this. still, she feels like she has a job so she crouches down, attempting to nudge gutspaw gently. bushy tail flicking to rest over its curled body. just anything to get bite to stop digging it's claws.
"h-he..he could b-be,"sob, "al-alive, s-ssso many cats have,"sob, "have s-survived w-worse, he could've – goopywhisker c-could have..he –" her heart hearts so, so bad. "maybe - maybe he..hhhe escaped a-and wandered..to..to the b-borders. a twoleg..c-could have.. found - found him..s-ssomething." she wishes. oh, she wishes that's what happened, but she knows deep down that it's unlikely. even if she's heard of cats surviving worse, coming back from the dead, she struggles to find a sliver of hope all while she's trying to provide gutspaw some.
"I - I don't kn-know," she whispers, voice barely audible as it ends in a sound that's a mixture of a whimper and a sob. she's never felt so weak before.
Re: everything eats and is eaten. time is fed [ p ]
ⵌ ➜ #GUTSPAW ˗ˏˋ ✮ it . teeth . bite . // sixteen moons ˎˊ˗
small spiky-furred black tabby with striking icy blue eyes. has a huge fluffy tail & a few scars in the shapes of bite-marks - notch in left ear.
❝HIGH ACHIEVER, DON'T YOU SEE? BABY, NOTHING COMES FOR FREE !!❞
Gutspaw does not know how long it laid there as a shell of itself — only that its face had grown numb due to labored breaths. A tingling sensation that pooled in the bottom of bite's toe beans. As time ticked on, it felt as if it's head had been cut off — separated from the body that was supposed to be in teeth's control. It's eyes felt puffy, and it sniffled desperately. Eventually, repetition became a soft, hoarse whisper. Perhaps that is why the apprentice doesn't quite notice the sound of leaves being pushed back, a voice crying out in shock. It's there, but nothing seems there.
Nothing seems real at all. As if this had to be a nightmare Gutspaw would soon wake up from.
It's when a wet nose gently nudges against bite's trembling body that the tabby drags its icy gaze towards its clanmate, finally acknowledging her existence. Its vision is blurry, only a brown and white blur stands nearby. Still, her voice is familiar enough. It doesn't release its claws, resigned to staring at her with tear-filled eyes. Gutspaw wishes to pull away, attempt to regain what composure. Teeth didn't enjoy being vulnerable around kin, much less Squirrelrise of all cats.
However, she knew him — cared for her. If not Mistlewhisker, she may be the only one to understand the aching crater in bite's chest. Then something soft covers its shaky body, and warmth envelops the feline. Tentatively, claws sheathe from its forearms. (Briefly, it glances to look at the damage. Eyes blinking rapidly in shock, as if just noticing it.)
While the tears still flowed freely, its breathing was beginning to settle down. Gutspaw shuffles closer, moving to where it could duck its head under Squirrelrise's large, fluffy tail. It was softer than teeth's own in its defense. At least she couldn't see its face. It felt less ,,revealing that way.
Gutspaw's ears flattened as she begins to try and — bite isn't sure, really. Whether she's saying such things to convince it or herself — both, maybe, it only causes it to tense up. Claws flexing and flashing once more, digging into the soil instead. Something to hold onto to. "J - just, sh - shut up, please, " It begs, a sense of desperation evident in bite's tone instead of malice. Quieter, "h - he can't - ..he can't climb, " A sob breaks through halfway. A rebuttal.
It was a surrender to the idea that while its brother was quick that whenever it came to stamina dogs would always overwhelm. He was gone. Guts would never see him again. He resided in the stars now.
The apprentice lapses into a sniffling silence, attempting to quiet its tears — to grab ahold of itself. It couldn't lay there forever. Now Squirrelrise knew. Both of their scents riddled the scene. At least she wouldn't face consequences for being out of camp, but being out at such strange times would raise questions.
After a long while when the numbness in its limbs has ceased "I can't - they can't - know I was, out here alone, Squirrels. I've already been - pushin' it, but, this - this might be -- the last straw, " Gutspaw confesses woefully, nose poking out from underneath her tail. Bit hard to breathe. "But, if - If I leave, 'n,, someone else finds it, they'll p - pick up my s - scent.,, Can - " It cuts itself off, falling back into thought.
Truthfully, it doesn't know what to think of the molly. It doesn't know her that well, much less to be asking her to go against ShadowClan's rules. She could very well twist the situation to how she pleased if she felt particularly vindictive for a particular reason. Did it really have any other choice, though?
"Can you just - s, ,, stay ? Out here with m, me? 'N - and then, we can ,, tell,, Mistlewhisker.. when the sun rises,, say we just went ,, out huntin' early or somethin',, I dunno,, what .. excuse could fit for bein' out here so late,, without ,, r - raising any questions,, " It speaks hoarsely, voice cracking. Oh, it didn't like any of this. This shouldn't have happened. What had he been doing out here? Why were there a pack of dogs from the smell of it? Its thoughts swirled in a weave of everlasting questions.
Gutspaw knew the in-between did not have mercy when it came to who it claimed for eternal rest. Life was often unfair, unpredictable. Constant motion. Each event pushing itself forward. This did not ease the hurt.
Re: everything eats and is eaten. time is fed [ p ]
tw(s): emotional distress
SQUIRRELRISE she/her. 15 moons. small, scarred russet molly with brown markings and yellow eyes.
[ chill of death, hulk SMASH ]
finally. finally, after what feels like several moments, gutspaw sheathes it's claws. (stars, they need to get back to camp, teeth's wounds look deep). of course, this is a great thing— but it does little to quell the churning of her stomach and the weight on squirrelrise's chest. blood still fills her nostrils and her heart drums in her ears, breathing feels like a strenuous exercise. but, the apprentice seems ..calmer. that's good enough for her, and she stays as still as possible when gutspaw shifts to hide bites head under her tail.
her eyes screw shut, choking back a sob. goopywhisker can't climb. at this point, she can't tell if she wants to try and convince gutspaw or herself. maybe he ran and hid inside of a burrow. or the dogs had twolegs who called them away, maybe goopy had just enough energy to crawl away somewhere and ..and -- she doesn't know. she doesn't know. she wants to believe that, maybe, if starclan does exist, there was some sort of divine intervention and goopywhisker's alive. but they are cruel, and the stars don't appear as bright as they used to now.
she almost says something, yet the words stay caught in her throat, stopped by the lump thats formed. she's afraid if she speaks, nothing intelligible will come out - only wailing and gurgled whimpering. a heavy silence falls over, only broken by the combined sniffling of her and gutspaw. at some point, breathing becomes a little more manageable and it doesn't feel like she's suffocating so much. she just feels .. exhausted now, paws folding underneath her. this is all -- is this really happening?
squirrelrise's frown deepens as gutspaw breaks the silence. yes, gutspaw isn't supposed to be out in the territory alone. it's an apprentice and truthfully, she isn't sure why it was out here in the first place but ..there's much more important things to worry about -- like the puddle of blood and fur. but she knows bite is right and she feels angry at the rules for once. for the first time in her life. she's already wracking her brain to come up with solutions that won't end up with gutspaw getting in trouble but--
bite already has an idea. stay out here, just until the sun rises and then they can go tell mistlewhisker. and while she doesn't like the idea of lying at all, especially to her mother, there's nothing else she can do. she can't think of any idea. still, her pelt bristles at the idea of being in the territory so late. would they, too, end up like goopywhisker...?
"okay ..b-but,," she gulps, voice weak and wavering. "y-your injuries..they need t-to –...mo- m-mistlewhisker will..quest-- question..them..and, and-" she pauses abruptly, deciding to cut herself off before she starts verbally spiraling. mistlewhisker would definitely tell dawnstar once they told her what they found. dawnstar..would she question it? the russet molly has no idea and she forces the question away, shakily inhaling. okay. okay. back onto the task at paw,,just manage until sunrise.
"I'll s-sstay.." she nods. not that she would've left gutspaw out here alone to begin with. she lets out a shaky sigh, yellow gaze glancing up at the night sky that appeared much more dim now than before. this is going to be a long night. why,,world, why, she wonders with a small sniffle.
Re: everything eats and is eaten. time is fed [ p ]
ⵌ ➜ #GUTSPAW ˗ˏˋ ✮ it . teeth . bite . // sixteen moons ˎˊ˗
small spiky-furred black tabby with striking icy blue eyes. has a huge fluffy tail & a few scars in the shapes of bite-marks - notch in left ear.
❝HIGH ACHIEVER, DON'T YOU SEE? BABY, NOTHING COMES FOR FREE !!❞
The apprentice is relieved she does not speak again. It does not make it easier. The silence weighs like the pressure of water, safe for the expectation of quiet sniffles.
Gutspaw expects for Squirrelrise to reject such an idea. At the very least. Instead, the molly brings up a reasonable factor that hadn't quite kicked in yet. Icy blue irises trail down to its wounds with a look of apprehension. The blood would soon dry, and either it could hurt itself again to .. make them appear more recent or simply hide them. Dammit. "I - I'll wrap 'em up once the blood dries — all of my legs, p - play it off as some new thing I'm tryin', " Gutspaw finally answered after thinking. Maybe they'll heal on its own, or it'll have to scratch it up to some injury from prey when visiting Mossfreckle.
Her response is surprising. She could've left it out here alone. Came back in the morning. It wasn't something the apprentice had suggested itself — too ashamed of the simple fact teeth didn't want to be left alone. Not with his remains or its thoughts. Its shoulders slump forward, tension draining from Gutspaw weary body."thank you,,"bite murmurs quietly, taking a few moments of silence underneath Squirrelrise's fluffy tail before slowly dragging itself out.
While teeth's face felt less numb, it felt as if soul had moved slightly to the side. Every movement was stiff — robotic. Expect, the apprentice needed .. to make something temporary to rest on. For the both of them. Something easy to destroy afterwards. It moved slowly, going a bit away from the scene itself to collect a few materials. Really whatever it could find, leaves, moss, ferns. As the moon started to lower in the sky, Gutspaw dragged materials back and forth to the clearing.
Eventually, it built a decent enough pile that it started to spread out the leaves to form a big enough platform they could sleep on and have their own personal space. Afterwards, it would add another layer but with moss. Then, it would line the edges with sticks and ferns. Easy enough to scatter when they wanted, but hopefully able to maintain shape for a few hours before sunrise.
The apprentice would have to scatter the fur again, and soon it would likely be buried or something along the lines but for tonight — it would sleep with its brother again. Like they used to when they were kits, when all of them were together again. So, Gutspaw scooped up the pile of loose fur and brought with it to the left side of the nest. Careful not to disturb it, teeth slowly settled down next to it. Goodnight Goops.
It intakes a sharp breath before slowly exhaling. Its eyes burned, and it became so very aware of how utterly exhausted Gutspaw was once the shock was put aside. "G'night, " it whispered to Squirrelrise before its body slumped into the soft platform, eyes closing shut. However, the sweet release of sleep did not come. No matter how tired teeth was, it became aware of the brief scent attached to the fur. The blood. How it felt as if a part of itself was missing.
It curls up tighter, fluffy tail laying over the pile and its face but the sniffles soon start up again. The desperate attempts to keep quiet until it ran out of tears. Ran out of energy.
Re: everything eats and is eaten. time is fed [ p ]
tw/cw(s): emotional distress, spiraling, mild dissociation SQUIRRELRISE she/her. 15 moons. small, scarred russet molly with brown markings and yellow eyes.
[ chill of death, hulk SMASH ]
cobwebs. squirrelrise's brows furrow in some indiscernible emotion, gnawing at the inside of her cheek. would... would mistlewhisker believe that? in an ocean of doubt, there's an inkling of hope that, maybe, the deputy would not question gutspaw if bite followed through with such an idea. said inkling fades away as quick as it forms, multiple scenarios playing out in her head where her mother ultimately finds out the truth - the whole truth, that is. she feels more hopeless than before. what would goopywhisker do in a situation like this?
I'm not sure. well .. for starters, goopy would probably tell the whole truth, or immediately rush back to camp if he'd found the remains of a body. however, he is not here for her to ask for advice. he is not here. just remainders of his existence - yellow eyes zeroing in on the clumps of fur. who was she to ask now?
she tears her gaze away from the bloody fur when gutspaw's voice registers once more. it was..thanking her? she knows it's most likely because she decided to stay out here with bite, but it confuses her nonetheless. what warrior - no, what person wouldn't stay? maybe someone that lacks any empathy. "it's...you..you're w-welcome.." she mumbles back as it crawls out from beneath her tail, forcing down the rest of her panic. there's still an aching in her chest but she will ignore it for now. she immediately sits up as gutspaw begins leaving the..scene, and despite her ears perking and gaze following the apprentice as bite drags materials back and forth - she's not focused. her ears are ringing again, just like they had a few moons ago when she'd gotten back from the battle.
oh, she does not want to return to that state. she'd been getting better, happier. she's made more friends, and helped with apprentices training, and finally realized that she has a chance at becoming a good warrior and – at the time she'd been thinking goopywhisker would return, plenty of cats disappear only to come back ..why, if she's not mistaken, even one missing apprentice had come back. but there's evidence in front of her of the reason her best friend was gone so long. they would have - she wanted them to become enforcers together but now..her surroundings seem to blur as she wonders what misfortune would come next. (she figures, with the malice starclan seems to harbor, probably another death.) what is she to do now? she's cried, and she's sure she will cry more once the shock eventually fades, but then what? does she simply move on and continue with her warriorhood? she tries to think back to what mistlewhisker would do, but realizes that even when silverlark died, she does not think she saw her mother cry. she's not seen the older molly shed even the smallest tear before. perhaps she'd done it in the darkness of twilight, even so, she continued her job.
but..squirrelrise is not like that. she wishes she could be as resilient as mistlewhisker appears to be. maybe her mother is just desensitized to the woes of life and the younger molly isn't yet. she doesn't think she ever will get used to..this. every utterance of encouragement thats been thrown her way so far fades into nothing, leaving a deep, empty, and lonely feeling that makes her paws quiver. it suddenly feels as cold as leafbare and the darkness threatens to swallow her whole, it's cold claws gripping her tightly. her ear twitches at a whisper that she barely manages to catch, which forces her out of her mini spiral, gaze sliding over to the nest that gutspaw had made and was laying in.
"oh - oh," she rasps, shuffling over to the nest and laying down. sleep will not find her tonight, just like it hadn't for many nights before. she is used to exhaustion, it's become a part of her and she's learned to deal with it but.. this - this is a new exhaustion, one she's never felt until now. it is a horrible, dreadful thing that makes her stomach twist as she stares into the darkness. she feels like she wants to start crying again upon hearing the small sniffles coming from gutspaw, but she simply squeezes her eyes shut and curls her tail over her face, drawing in a deep breath.
even as the hours pass (it feels like days pass) and dawn breaks, the sun doesn't warm her any. she doesn't think even the blazing sun of mid greenleaf could melt away the chill that envelopes her or soften the deep frown carved into her features.
Re: everything eats and is eaten. time is fed [ p ]
ⵌ ➜ #GUTSPAW ˗ˏˋ ✮ it . teeth . bite . // sixteen moons ˎˊ˗
small spiky-furred black tabby with striking icy blue eyes. has a huge fluffy tail & a few scars in the shapes of bite-marks - notch in left ear.
❝HIGH ACHIEVER, DON'T YOU SEE? BABY, NOTHING COMES FOR FREE !!❞
At some point in the depth of the night, the black tabby had drifted off into a slumber. And for a moment, as the sun starts to peak over the horizon and icy blue irises groggily flutter open — Gutspaw's first thought is not that its brother is dead. That it would never see him again. No, it is in a bubble of time, where the sleepy haze allows it to forget, almost and all it can see is how beautiful the sunrise is. Of course, such a period of respite is only brief.
The memories start to flood in and as the haze lifts. The despair returns like a flood, and it frowns. Icy irises scanning across the blood-stained clearing before drifting to its makeshift nest. Gutspaw cannot tell if she is asleep or awake, but is suddenly aware how it seemed as if teeth had reached out for Squirrelrise within its slumber. At least, it guessed so considering it had a paw just barely touching her. As if to confirm it was not alone.
Gutspaw blinks once, twice before retracting its paw and slowly standing up. Its bones crack from stiffness, and every movement feels like walking through swamp water. Its cheeks are uncomfortably wet, and it quickly wipes them dry with its fluffy tail. First, it scoops up the pile of fur and starts to spread it out across the blood pile. Secondly, it would search for ferns and weave them around the clawmarks to hide them. It would do the same to its hindlegs.
Then,, something.. to eat. Right. Needed to come back with prey to not raise suspicions. Besides, while teeth didn't .. have any appetite it expected Squirrelrise would.
So, on autoplay, the apprentice set out for a hunt. It would prove to be difficult hunting when you weren't — there. For every prey it caught, it would miss one or two. However, Gutspaw would manage to catch two mice. One hiding in reeds, the other standing on top of a log. By some miracle, it would stumble upon an injured raven resting on a boulder. It croaked sadly, looking on the younger side. Its left wing was clearly broken, and death would be slow.
Once, teeth remembered hearing ravens often came with a loss. Watchers of the gone, they would lead lost souls to their afterlife. It doesn't try to hide its approach, only quietly stepping up to it. "Hello there, do - do you think - you - you could help Goops? I won't, I won't let - you suffer anymore, but I would appreciate the favor, " Gutspaw spoke softly, even knowing it was likely a simple tale. It didn't know, but with the creature staring up with beady eyes - taking cautious hops back - it felt like it knew more than teeth.
The tabby kills the bird swiftly, and it numbly stares at the body for a moment. "I - hope the abyss ,,,, welcomes you,, " it whispered weakly, but it doesn't quite feel true. The inbetween claimed its brother. Did it need anymore? Truly?
Gutspaw gathers up the prey, heading back to Squirrelrise. It had took a bit longer than it expected. The sun had risen fully now. ah, they would need to start moving. Morning patrols were likely about to get sent out - if not already. It dropped the creatures down. "Sorry to disappear, I uhm, caught some stuff for us so it isn't, suspicious. Figured you can eat one of the mice though if you're hungry, 's think its fine to roll with limited amount of prey if we play it off we stumbled upon - " a pause, it takes a sharp breath, "it in the middle of it. "
Re: everything eats and is eaten. time is fed [ p ]
cw: implied dissociation SQUIRRELRISE she/her. 15 moons. small, scarred russet molly with brown markings and yellow eyes.
[ chill of death, hulk SMASH ]
squirrelrise isn't sure when she'd fallen asleep or if she'd fallen asleep. it felt like she was somewhere between sleeping and being awake, like she's in some sort of limbo. she's vaguely aware of the nest shifting and the sound of fading pawsteps, and how her eyes are settled on the shrubbery in front of her which looks welcoming in the rays of the morning sun. then she abruptly blinks and sits up, heart thumping in her chest, gaze darting around wildly. it's morning.
where in the world had gutspaw gone off to? it's scent is still strong but it is not here. while she knows bite is more than capable of taking care of biteself, so was he and– calm down, calm down, she urges herself as she stands up, stepping off the nest. "gutspaw?" she croaks, voice a mere whisper, almost afraid sounding. she knows she's probably over worrying but ...
yellow eyes flicker towards the shrubs as she hears rustling, blinking once, then twice once she sees gutspaw. the apprentice is also carrying three pieces of prey and she silently curses herself for not waking up (she's not even sure if she was even asleep). it certainly would've been easier on gutspaw if she'd been helping considering teeths injuries (which, she notices it had cleverly covered with ferns). but, now that teeth mentions it..she is a bit hungry. despite that, it's a little hard to eat around a pile of blood and clumps of her friend's fur, so she shakes her head.
"err...I will..wait u-until..we g-get back to..to camp." squirrelrise says, ears flattening briefly. oh yes, camp. they need to hurry up and get there, as much as she's dreading it so severely. she feels sick all over again. "which..we sh-should..hurry..I think. morning patrols..have p-probably been..s-sent out..already." she remarks, glancing at the makeshift nest which needs to be destroyed now. shaking the fatigue from her limbs, she dismantles the nest and spreads the materials around, making it look like the nest had never existed in the first place. with that done and out of the way, she glances at gutspaw to see if bite is ready to leave.
Re: everything eats and is eaten. time is fed [ p ]
ⵌ ➜ #GUTSPAW ˗ˏˋ ✮ it . teeth . bite . // sixteen moons ˎˊ˗
small spiky-furred black tabby with striking icy blue eyes. has a huge fluffy tail & a few scars in the shapes of bite-marks - notch in left ear.
❝HIGH ACHIEVER, DON'T YOU SEE? BABY, NOTHING COMES FOR FREE !!❞
『 彡 ➜ @idia @Mica 』 || preeetty sure guts shouldnt trigger mind reader since it isnt Technically lying about anything but if i am wrong Bap me
Yeah. Gutspaw should've expected that, it wasn't as if this was particularly a pleasant place to eat. It gave a short nod, "'Kay, then let's roll with you catching the uhm, mice 'n I'll go with the raven, " it's gaze follows Squirrelrise's to the nest. "Yeah, " it only mewed softly in agreeance. Mind beginning to reel over how it would explain things to Mistlewhisker. It didn't - it didn't feel anything. It felt as if it had frozen over. Expect, the deputy would suspect it to be upset, right? Crying? Anything else would be strange, maybe.
Gutspaw didn't know how people reacted to grief. Didn't really think there was a standard, anyway. It drifts off into its thoughts while Squirrelrise makes quick work of scattering the supplies, removing any evidence of their existence. It takes a moment for the tabby to realize she had even finished and was now looking at bite expectantly. It blinks rapidly, abruptly rising to its paws. Its then where it catches onto the dried blood coating the bottom of its paws. Teeth hadn't even realized.
Sickness churns in bite's stomach, "One sec, " it murmured, disappearing back into the undergrowth. There was a stream nearby, thankfully. Gutspaw watches the water turn red from its paws blankly, and tries not to think about how its the last time it'll ever feel its brother against its fur. The apprentice appears swiftly once more, reckoning its paws would dry by the time they got there. "Okay, let's - let's head out. Hope you're up for a run, " Gutspaw mewed to Squirrelrise. It seemed futile to rush when it wouldn't change anything. Still, if they weren't rushin' in the first place - seemed strange. .... Wasn't really somethin' you walked on a regular pace to deliver news at. Besides, maybe if its heart started poundin' it wouldn't feel like it was swimming under water.
The tabby picked up the raven, and took off sprinting towards camp. Small paws slamming against the ground, it did not stop when teeth's lungs started to burn and its ribs felt as if they may collapse in on itself. It only pushed through, barreling into camp without checking to see if the brown-furred warrior was close behind. Eyes swiftly darted desperately across the camp until it landed on Mistlewhisker. In a blink of an eye, Gutspaw was standing in front of the deputy looking as if it had just escaped from a pack of dogs itself.
It dropped the raven, panting wildly. Oh abyss, every breath was like a flame licking at its chest. "Goops - he's - We -, " it sputters out, gasping for air. "There's just - so much, blood, Mistles, " its voice cracks, "No body, just - just his fur and, and the scent of - dog. I don't - know if he's - a, alive, "
Re: everything eats and is eaten. time is fed [ p ]
cw: emotional distress
SQUIRRELRISE she/her. 15 moons. small, scarred russet molly with brown markings and yellow eyes.
[ chill of death, hulk SMASH ]
the trip (or rather, run) back to camp makes her heart race - from fear. fear of announcing the remains of goopywhisker, therefore solidifying his death. fear of the chance of mistlewhisker prodding further, not buying their lie – story. it was not a lie..fully, just, they left out some details. fear that maybe, just maybe, that when she and gutspaw return to camp and finally tell, it is jinxing the small chance goopy is alive. some part of her is afraid that, because all that's left is blood and fur – nobody will want to search for the calico.
her paws shake and her lungs burn as squirrelrise darts into camp just seconds after the tabby in front of her, flinging the two mice to the side - she'll pick them up later. she spots mistlewhisker swiftly, hurrying over to the deputy and taking a stand beside gutspaw. her legs feel like a flimsy twig, ready to snap at any moment, as her tail lashes erratically. she opens her mouth to speak, then shuts it, then opens it again. she's never felt so afraid and sick and ready to break down in tears again, and she hasn't even said anything yet.
"mis - mi - mom,," is all that leaves squirrelrise, voice broken and tiny, like a small kits. she's sniffling and her chest feels tight all over again as gutspaw speaks up, sounding equally as broken as her, as it explains. she doesn't want to cry. she wants to appear at least somewhat stable and not look like a complete mess. she's unable to stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks, small hiccups and quiet sobs following. gutspaw says bite doesn't know if goopywhisker is alive and - she wants to believe it, so desperately, that he is. he's goopywhisker. he must've ran away and lived..somehow, just like she'd suggested last night. if starclan is real, they'd..they'd at least give some sort of definite sign of goopywhisker's status.
"we - we...c-can," she forces herself to take a deep breath, "we have t-to – can we – we h-have to..ss-ssearch, p-please - for..for.." she finally manages to get out, trailing off as she shakes her head. for what? solid evidence of his death? an endless search of a body ghat could be anywhere? or some sort of unlikely proof that he could have lived such a brutal attack? she's not sure. she just..wants something to cling onto, something that'll give her hope.
everything eats and is eaten. time is fed [ p ]
Re: everything eats and is eaten. time is fed [ p ]
