a pawstep between life and death

[occultation]

It was late, and Fadingsun was alone. He was out near the outskirts patrolling, mostly to make sure the scent markers were fresh. He wasn't expecting the calamity that was about to hit him, or the devastating impact it would have.

It happened before he could even fully process what was happening. Two outsiders, their scent cleverly disguised by mud and wild onion, came crashing down on him from the shadows.

Claws tore into his sides, causing a shooting pain to spiral through him the likes of which he hadn't experienced in a long time. He yowled out, in a mixture of pain and anger. The deputy struck out with both of his paws; one of them managed to tear into someone, but the other only struck empty air.

Claws sank into his shoulders and threw him to the side. As he skidded along the grass, he rolled onto his back and kicked out with his hind legs. His legs struck the chest of a cat sprinting towards him, knocking them back. They were replaced almost immediately by someone else, leaping forward and slashing at Fadingsun's belly with his claws.

He scrambled to his paws, but this other cat was fast. Blows were exchanged; the searing pain in his sides was making it hard to focus. This issue was only intensified as the other cat joined the fight once more, putting him in a true two versus one situation.

Fadingsun wasn't a bad fighter by any means, but these cats were a lot larger and stronger than he. He'd never fought two cats on his own before; even in the outskirts, he'd always had Dusk by his side.

For the first time in a while, he felt genuine fear crash down on him as the flurry of blows against him began to get overwhelming. Blood was everywhere, running down his sides, staining the grass, even dripping into his eye a bit from a small cut just above it.

Eventually, one of the outsiders slammed a heavy blow into Fadingsun's head. The impact made his legs immediately crumple, and he slumped to the ground. The world was spinning and fuzzy all around; there was nothing he could do to stop the next move that was coming.

Sharp claws hooked into his shoulders and flung him as hard as they could. He landed awkwardly on the ground, causing a sharp pain to shoot through his entire body. His neck snapped back, his head knocking against a stone. It was at this moment that he blacked out.

( @talle @Dolomedes @naiad You guys can go ahead and have your cats come in! Posting order will be Dusklion - Seabreeze - Dunepounce. I really need this RP to be wrapped up ASAP, so please feel free to skip over someone if more than a couple days go by without a reply. You guys have pp perms to kill these outsiders + take Fading back to the camp and treat his injuries.

His injuries are a lot of scratches, including a few deep ones, along his sides, a cut above his right eye, scratches on his belly, a mild concussion, lots of bruising, and deep puncture wounds in his shoulders. This is officially the start of my hiatus, so I will not be posting any further! )

[taillow]

Dusklion - RiverClan Head Lionheart
She/her | 27 moons | Go with the Flow, Beefed Up T3, Rapid Recovery, Shadow Fiend

With the aftermath of the meeting still weighing heavily on her heart - and the fear that no one in this Clan truly liked her reemerging tenfold - Dusklion was mostly silent as she led her patrol towards the outskirts. It consisted of Seabreeze and Dunepounce. While she didn't know the latter all that much, the former had been one of the cats who seemed to understand why she had spoken out at the meeting, and therefore the dark tabby figured she wouldn't have to worry about feeling his claws hook into her pelt. Dunepounce... well, she would just have to hope with him.

Something was off though, the closer they got towards the edge of the territory. Dusk could feel it creeping up on her like a long shadow, and as the faint smell of blood wafted towards her, she froze. Blood... with a mix of a scent she knew all too well.

Immediately the head Lionheart sprang forward, flying through the forest as she tried to ignore the fear in her heart. There was an explanation for those scents - Fades maybe found a couple of outsiders and tore them up, or drove them off with a fight. Or maybe he ran into a predator, but Dusk knew her brother could take those down. The scene she came across those was none of those, and a pained wail broke free from her jaws.

Fades was on the ground, bloody and not moving, and advancing towards him were some of the largest cats that Dusklion had ever seen. What happened next was almost automatic; giving no regard to her own life the small dark tabby flung herself towards one of the outsiders, claws hooking into their pelt and tugging hard. The outsider was caught off-guard it seemed, twisting and attempting to lock their teeth into Dusk's ear.

Ripping her head back the dark tabby snarled and lunged her own jaws forward, sinking them into the outsiders face. What had started as a growl turned into panicked whimpers as Dusk bit down and tore away, feeling the blood splatter across her face. Not wasting a single moment, she ignored the fierce pain that rocketed through her as a large paw slammed down onto her side and instead slipped underneath the large cat. She raked her hind claws across their belly, deep and fatal. Blood spilled from the wound and quickly coated Dusklion, staining her fur crimson.

Seeing the legs of the outsider start to buckle, Dusk shoved their body to the side so they wouldn't fall on her, scrambling up and lifting her claws once more, continuing to tear them through the already dead cat. Her fur was fluffed up, making her look twice the small size she normally was, and a fury unlike anything burned in her eyes.

[ @Dolomedes @naiad - there's one more outsider left to kill/drive off if either of you want! someone might need to pull dusk away because she only sees red and doesn't realize the cat is dead oop ]

[Dolomedes]

Seabreeze
He/him | Riverclan Warrior | Moons: 16 | Purrks: Go with the Flow | The Collector | Ultimate Predator |
“Ocean waters rising above your neck
You feel the glass start to crack.”

Seabreeze found himself falling in line with Dunepounce and Dusklion nervously as the trio were called out for a patrol. While he wasn't too worried about the borders, seeing as things have been relatively calm, he always had a baseline anxiety that always stuck to his pelt when checking borders. Thoughts of....thoughts bringing up old memories that don't need to be seen like it just couldn't not, as annoying as that was. There was another reason for his nervousness as well, Dusklion. He hasn't seen much, or more so, he hasn't really interacted with her much after the meeting but it was clear that it was still something that her mind was on. He almost wanted to say something. Congratulations, no, that wouldn't be what he would want to hear. Maybe next time, no, because he didn't want it next time so soon. Riverclan couldn't handle another switch in high ranks so soon.

So, in lieu of doing anything, Seabreeze said nothing. Rather, the warrior continued to focus on the world around him as he should as a warrior on a patrol. That was why the scent on the wind caught up with him quickly. Over the neutral scents of water and life was the harsh metallic scent of blood that has haunted Seabreeze since he was only 7 moons. Alongside it was...Riverclan. Before the sandy grey-blue tome could say or even properly react to the information, Dusklion was shooting forward, leaving behind Dunpounce and Seabreeze in seconds before the latter followed swiftly. Like his namesake implied, he was quick on his paws and he made it to...oh my stars..

The scene was horrific, blood was streaked across the land and a pained yowling was in the air as he watched, wide blue eyes unblinking, as Dusklion brutally attacked a cat he didn't recognize. Good, he thought in the next moment as his mind caught up with his paws and he was on the other outsider that Dusklion has yet to unleash blows on. The outsider met him easily, bracing themself to swing but Seabreeze shot to the right just before entering range of the hit. The warrior pivoted and shot towards the throat of his enemy. Thoughts of Cloverpaw and the rogue who killed her entered his mind and it made it all that much easier to attack the outsider without remorse.

They slammed a paw down onto Seabreeze's shoulders, causing the tom to tear away, making sure to take as much flesh as he could as he went. Then the warrior bounced back, away from the attacker, sparing a glance at Fadingsun all the while and wincing at the amount of blood that was escaping endless wounds along the other tom's body. He needed medical attention or blood loss would take him before they even made it back to camp. Before he could tear his eyes away, the outsider was on him, toppling both of them over in a flurry of claws, teeth, and snarls. It ended with the outsider pinning him, Seabreeze let out a low growl before kicking his powerful hind legs, claws dangerously sharp into his attacker's belly. Slicing the flesh into ribbons, Seabreeze rolled away when his opponent backed off from the pain.

"Dunepounce, Dusklion! Cover me!" Seabreeze called, too distracted by his goal of assessing Fadingsun's injuries to concern himself with more than a glance for his clan mates. Dusklion was still attacking the other cat, Seabreeze wasn't sure he could even see their lungs breathing anymore, but he couldn't tell before he was running towards the deputy. His shoulders burned, the new litter of deep claw marks burning with each step, in beat with his heart's ceaseless pounding that had blood roaring in his ears. He needed to get to Clover- Fadingsun! He nearly tripped over himself as he arrived at the deputy's body.

At first glance it was nearly impossible to understand what was happening through all of the overwhelming blood that seeped through his fur. A tentative paw was placed on the deputy's shoulder before Seabreeze found renewed confidence, if only because they had no other options. Fadingsun was going to bleed out before they make it back to camp like his sister did, Seabreeze started to learn medicine to make sure that this never happened again. They had no other options. He needed to figure this out. The panic that welled in his chest was pushed down harshly as Seabreeze bit his tongue and began to feel for injuries. There were deep scratches along his flank, shoulders, and belly. Bruises were already appearing in tones of dark red just about every where. For now it was time to focus on the stomach, that was the most dangerous. Or at least, Seabreeze thought it was.

Cobwebs, moss, they should focus on cleaning the wounds and stopping the blood, then he could be treated by a cat that knows what they are doing back at camp. Blue eyes widened. His eyes caught on the blood that was on the deputy's head, at first Seabreeze thought it was from his ears but he realized very suddenly, as he felt a bump start to form that Fadingsun had hit his head. That was never good, that was...Seabreeze couldn't do anything about that. So he needed to hurry. "You are going to be alright, Fadingsun, I'll make sure of it." It was an empty promise, Seabreeze was not in a position to know anything about Fadingsun's survival, let alone, making sure he does, but something about the promise made him calmer even just a barely noticeable fraction. Maybe it's because it was a promise that he wished to make with Cloverpaw.

[ @taillow - Dusklion | @naiad - Dunepounce ]

[ Dunepounce or Dusklion is welcome to kill off the outsider that Seabreeze initially attacked. If there is anything I need to fix up or change just let me know :3 ]

[beau]

Dunepounce fell in step with the rest of the patrol, tail flicking lazily behind him. He said nothing, but occasionally glanced between the two - he wasn't familiar with either of them on a personal level. Seabreeze he certainly knew very little about. Dusklion... was fine. He didn't think much of her 'outburst' or whatever nebulous label his mind had given the event at that meeting. Cats got their feelings hurt all the time, that was pretty par for the course, so he didn't see the point in making a fuss whenever someone reached their boiling point.

He caught the scent of blood the same time as the others and stiffened. Suddenly Dusklion was gone, running after the scent. Dunepounce ran too, a bit behind Seabreeze. Seeing the seen was like being drenched in an icy ocean. There was a ludicrous amount of blood, which culminated in a bloody heap that Dunepounce disjointedly realized was Fadingsun.

Dusklion had already launched herself at one of the attackers - a very large attackers - Dunepounce noted. Seabreeze shouted and Dunepounce twisted quickly, immediately launching himself at the opponent that Dusklion didn't have covered.

He landed on the cat's back, digging his claws in and ripping up. His opponent dropped to the ground, rolling, and Dunepounce hissed as his shoulder slammed into the ground. The other cat twisted and swiped at Dunepounce's side; Dunepounce, in retaliation, kicked hard, satisfied with the yowl of pain he elicited. He hauled himself on top of his opponent and tore his claws across the cats throat.

He staggered to his paws and away from the outsider as soon as they went limp, blinking as he took in the current state of the scene. Seabreeze was already taking care of Fadingsun, thank the stars. He relief was momentary, though, immediately jolting back into action at the sight of Dusklion still tearing into a long dead cat.

"Dusklion, you got 'em, they're not gonna get back up!" He attempted to shove her away from the bloodied outsider with his shoulder. "We gotta get Fadingsun back to camp, 'kay?'

[ apologies for the delay on this, i was very sleepy writing this so lmk if i need to adjust anything @taillow ; @Dolomedes ]

[taillow]

Dusklion - RiverClan Head Lionheart
She/her | 27 moons | Go with the Flow, Beefed Up T3, Rapid Recovery, Shadow Fiend

Red. That was all she saw as her claws continued to shred the already dead outsider below her. This Rage that had encapsulated her heart ever since the meeting had a new target now, and it was the vermin who thought it wise to try and kill her brother. "I swear by every star in the damn sky if he's dead, I'm huntin' every single one of you down!" came the roar from barred fangs as her claws slashed deep, gouging wounds across the larger cats flank. They would all die, and their death would be at her claws. She wanted to watch the life drain from their eyes, the light fade to nothing more than a glossy dullness. They would -

A shoulder made her stumble to the side, and in a rush of sights and sounds reality came back to her. Her jaws snapped together as she rounded on whoever had shoved her, instinctively ready to shred yet another outsider. Until she realized it was Dunepounce, and that the outsider was dead. The head Lionheart shook her head and glanced back, now seeing just how... dead they were. Nearby was another body - both outsiders were dead?

Good.

"Sweep the area, make sure none of those vermin are left," she barked to the warrior before whisking towards her brother. Upon reaching him she skidded to a halt, nose going immediately into her brother's bloodied fur. He was so still and so torn apart that Dusklion didn't dare breath or utter a single word. Frantically she searched his pelt, and only when she found the faint trace of his heart beating did she let her resolve falter.

"I swear to stars, Fades, you die on me 'n I'll to kill you." The threat came in a low hiss, breaking at the end as tears rolled from her eyes. She regretted all of it - not speaking with him, pushing him away, putting her own ambitions over him. It was stupid and made her want to rake her claws across stone until they were nothing but stumps. The dark tabby stayed crouched like that over her brother, trying to capture her resolve once more. She needed to steady it, to forge it with the iron strong belief that Fades would pull through. He had to.

Looking now to Seabreeze her gaze hardened. It was clear he was working to patch him up, and so the head Lionheart bit back her retorts. "Cobwebs. Moss. Get them now. We need to stabilize him before movin' back to camp." Turning from the warrior Dusklion started to make quick work of cleaning the blood from his wounds, falling into muscle memory from their time in the outskirts. Her heart continued to thud in her chest as she fought against the tidal wave of fear inside of her. He was going to be okay. He had to be okay.

[ @Dolomedes @naiad - feel free to have sea patch him up in your next post! i'm going to post in camp of them bringing fading back so he can start being tended to ]

[Dolomedes]

Seabreeze
He/him | Riverclan Warrior | Moons: 16 | Purrks: Go with the Flow | The Collector | Ultimate Predator |
“Ocean waters rising above your neck
You feel the glass start to crack.”

Seabreeze looked up from Fadingsun as Dusklion approached lonly to tell him to do what he was already doing, he understood that fear, it was paralyzing and it took rational thought, he understood from firstpaw experience so he said nothing about it. The tom rather just rushed to the nearby environment. With the speed that earned him his name, Seabreeze raced through the area, ripping a fair bit of moss from trees and soaking them in the first water source he came across before running to older trees and bushes for any cobweb. It was hastily wrapped around one of his paws and he returned to Fadingsun's side just as quickly as he had left and immediately set to work.

Taking care to clean only around the wounds, to understand everything that was happening, Seabreeze left and dried blood along the injuries. It wasn't clean, yes, but wiping away the drying blood would only result in even more escaping from the wounds which was the exact opposite of what he is needing currently. Some of the smaller wounds were cleaned all the way and dressed up swiftly with cobwebs. Seabreeze ran his paws along the deputy's shoulders, feeling out the extent of the injury hidden by dark fur and crimson blood. The feline cleaned up the area as much as he could. They were horribly deep and especially jagged to one side. It sent a suppressed shiver down the warrior's spine. They couldn't lose their deputy so soon, and he couldn't lose Fadingsun because it would be like losing Cloverpaw all over again.

He spread out cobwebs across the other tom's shoulders, layering the cobwebs thicker and thicker as blood seeped through the previous layer. Eventually, the red stopped and just a quickly Seabreeze was moving onto the deputy's stomach. Cleaning, discerning injury from bloody fur, then layering on the cobweb until the red stopped shining through. It was a mechanical process after a moment, and Seabreeze found his mind turning a bit numb as he focused on nothing else but the next wound and then the next one. One after another until finally, Seabreeze was confident enough to say that Fadingsun would remain stable enough to be carried back to camp for better care.

"Alright, he should stay stable until camp. Mindful of knocking any of the bandaging loose. He has a head injury that I can't do anything about right now so try not to jostle it too much on the way back." The warrior stood to his paws and began to gently left Fadingsun from the bloodied, crimson soil and onto his sister's back. He knew that she was going to race back, she needed to, but his anxieties spiked about the head injury. He shook his head silently, there was no place for anxiety here. It was do or die now. He backed away once Fadingsun was secure on Dusklion's back. The tom is prepared to try and keep up with Dusklion to keep an eye on Fadinsun.

[ @taillow - Dusklion | @naiad - Dunepounce ]