Post by mewmehh on Jul 26, 2018 21:44:43 GMT
The subtle clang of metal accompanied heavy breathing as the sound of the twolegs' train roared off in the distance, the rattling in the air aligning with the shaking body of Frogsong. Leaf litter eyes, wide and worried, peered out at the battlefield which had claimed the life of a clanmate, and had acted as the abduction grounds for another. And still an apprentice was missing from their ranks. The young warrior felt his thick pelt prickle with unease; it had been some time since all the happenings along the Thunder Trails, but Frogsong was still sure the the air tasted heavy, the smell of long grass seeming clouded completely by blood and fear-scent.
While Frogsong knew why he was there, it didn't seem to have any effect of his jittering nerves. Mothclan's territory was in need of defence; it had been targeted far too frequently by their enemies and it made everyone in the clan nervous. As the front line, the warriors were set out on double duty to patrol and mark the borders. There was likely no point throughout the day's length where there wasn't at least one patrol making its rounds. And, of course, it was finally time for the fluffy tom to head out.
Luckily for him, his mentor would be joining him on the patrol to the Trails. Frogsong always felt soothed in the blue she-cat's presence and with Bellfeather along for the ride, he was sure everything would be fine. He had not been anticipating the scene which they had happened across.
Along the edge of Mothclan's territory, on the wrong side of the border, were a pair of unfamiliar cats skulking near the Thunder Trails. A little one dressed in black and ashen tabby slunk through the high-reaching grasses as a large fawn queen lumbered behind him, sticking out like a thorn in a pad. Their scents rank of rogue and their faces shown only darkness.
When the head of the mighty she-cat swung around to face them, hazel eyes locked on his bushy orange form, Frogsong felt his legs turn to honey. He could barely hear Bellfeather's stern voice as she bellowed beside him, his ears feeling as if they had been filled with with cotton. For a moment, the ginger and white warrior felt his mind grow fuzzy and his vision white. No! This was no time for a panic attack. He had come so far- made it out of the life of a orphaned kit alive, lead a successful career into warriorhood, and even now stood upon the battlefield sporting the honor of a mentor of Mothclan, a full-fledged warrior. All his other clanmates were out there, fighting tooth and claw against their enemies.
The ones who stole their home. Stole their kits and warriors. Stole their lives.
And yet, Frogsong remained stiff. He had told himself it was simply in wait for a moment to strike, but even he could not fool himself. What would he do? He was sure his friends, few as they may be, would be at the rogues throats by now. Reclaiming their livelihoods. What about him? What about his enemies? Did he have any enemies?
He growled to himself, his brow furrowed.
Of course he did. Anyone who threatened his clan was his enemy. That was what it meant to be a member of Mothclan. It had been an ideal he hadn't carried with him in his youth, but after living and growing with the cats of the clan, it was a value he held close to his heart.
Claws buried themselves into the earth. He would fight them, if only to repay the Mothclan for the kindness they had shown him.
Watery green eyes lit up and his narrowed expression turned to shock.
Across his field of vision, the massive cinnamon form bowed up, rearing back on her haunches as a lean, silvery blue streak zigzagged itself way up to her at speed Frogsong could hardly follow. The rogue queen sidestepped quickly, her long tail bushy and streaming outward from her body like a dark, lashing flame as a spray of blood splashed against the grass with a wet splat! The young warrior felt his body tense up, and the blood running through his veins turned hot.
The large she-cat threw her maned head and jeered. Hazel eyes scanned the area and a glint of glee twinkled in her eyes. Look at us! Lounging in this territory without a care in the world!! This’ll show those cats not to take away what's ours!! She had been enraged to know that the warrior they had taken hostage hand been rescued, stolen from beneath their noses as if they were a bunch of fools. Mothclan shouldn't have done what they did; they disrespected Honeyheart in such a way! I'll make them pay. A booming chortle bellowed out and in her fit of laughter, the silky queen failed to notice the direction in which she had been waltzing.
"Yow!!"
She had slammed straight into the thin, dark tabby tom ahead of her. Stumbling backwards, the she-cat frown and raised a paw to her chest to rub it as if she had been hurt by the vastly smaller cat. A smudge of blood was left across the surface of cinnamon and white fur from her paw. "Sorry Shadder, love" she meowed, her brow knitted and lips curled into a taut frown in response to the scrawny tom's sour disposition.
"Watch where you're going, would you pleas-" His words had been cut short as a screech of horror rang out from his lungs, blood spraying out of his maw and splashing Plum's front. His eyes bore a glazed look of horror as the two rogues looked down to see a striking blue she-cat darting between the large grunt's legs, having left a drenched, gaping slash across the skinny tom's flank.
The look of surprise that Plumeria wore quickly hardened and as soon as her expression had shifted, the she-cat spun on her massive paws and was on Bellfeather's tail.
Frogsong had watched as his mentor had acted as a Warrior would, having waited long enough for both rogues to have let their attention settle on the blue she-warrior as she threatened them to leave Mothclan's territory before attacking. It was an honorable effort, not striking from the shadows like a sneaky rogue would've. Even so, the rogues hadn't heeded Bellfeather's words and the warrior had zero patience for the outsiders antics. However, the blue molly seemed to have made a terrible error in her target, Frogsong thoughr. Yes, she had managed to incapacitate the tom by using her lithe form to slip beneath him and tear open his side but she had left the large she-cat whom was likely the more dangerous of the two unharmed. And now, the cinnamon she-cat was super pissed.
The silvery she-cat whipped her way through the thick grass, tearing across the clearing in her unique zig-zagged fashion and Frogsong dashed after her in pursuit. Bellfeather was doing all she could to evade the large cat chasing her, Plumeria throwing the occasional chomp or swipe of a clawed forepaw. Frogsong had quicklt reached the gaint molly's side and grazed it in a clumsy sideways swipe before he reached a small cluster of trees. Thinking quickly on his feet, the fluffy tom thrust hinself into the undergrowth which covered the trees' roots and laid wait. He had seen Bellfeather haul herself up a nearby tree and knee the large she-cat wouldn't likely be able to follow her whole the older warrior plotted her next move. Instead, Frogsong worried because knew the grunt had seen him dive in and take cover, but surely the larger cat knew better than to follow him in. The ginger and white warrior grimaced as he felt brambles threaten to pierce his skin on all sides.
The ruddy fawn rogue hissed and spat as she skidded to a halt by the trees, cursing the tom cat's size and luck. "I'll get you, little pest. Even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming through those thorns!" Her angry voice sounded out like thunder as she paced around the underbrush. What a clever little cat this clanner had been, managing to pull the strong queen away from her injured ally. Was that his plan? To keep me from aiding Shadder? What if there are more in hiding? Damn them!! Even if that was the case, Plum couldn't allow these two to walk freely from their encounter. This little bitch had soiled her lavish pelt with what would likely leave an ugly scar! While Plum cared for the scrawny tabby tom, Shadder was a member of the family Honeyheart created. The family who was proud and strong. And such a member would be able to care for themselves, she was sure.
Ceasing her stalking in circles, she crouched low and peered through a gap in the brambles, her piercing gaze pinned directly on Frosong's cramped body. Her frown curled into a terrifying smirk, and from her twisted lips came a surprisingly soft, but murderous coo,"Found ya."
Frogsong shrieked at hearing the rogue's ominous words and the young warrior came sprinting out of the opening from which Plum gazed in through, catching the larger cat by surprise. Colliding with the cinnamon she-cat's face, Frogsong scrambled to get out of her reach by clawing at the ground with his forepaws and sending strikes at Plumeria's neck with his hind paws, his claws outstretched and snagging the rogue's silky mane. At that moment, Bellfeather's blue form dove from the trees and landed on Plum's back, allowing for her former apprentice to make his escape.
Pulling his hind legs hard, Frogsong went flying into the ground with a thud and cringed at his collision. Flipping around, he watched as Plum shook her head and body in frustration and disorientation. The rogue seemed to trying to regain her senses after having been landed on and having her fur yanked on. In her efforts, the mighty red queen sent Bellfeather's lean form sailing across the air where she hit the trunk of a nearby tree and crumpled to the grassy earth. She laid still.
"Bell...feather...." he croaked, his eyes glued to the she-cat on the ground. Without hesitation, he hopped to his paws and sprang at Bellfeather, landing just beside her as the smaller cat attempted to retrieve his precious friend. However, Plumeria was quicker.
Grabbing Frogsong's scruff, the large rogue snatched him up and swung him down against the ground with ease, quickly dizzying the young warrior and disarming him. Plumeria did it a time or two more before she releasing Frogsong, blood oozing from his ears and nose. Dropping the tom from her mouth and pinning his chest with one large paw, Plum cackled and roared at the squirming warrior,"Look around, Pipsqueak! You're dead!!"
Frogsong yelped and winced, closing her eyes and bracing for impact. However, as he seemed to recede into his thoughts within his last moments, a familiar voice greeted him.
"Frogsong! FROGSONG!!"
Poidzua couldn't ignore the voice, the sound of Bellfeather's shrill scream splitting the air. With a squeal, he wheezed,"I'm going to die!! I'M GOING TO-"
Bellfeather's eyes flew open, aquamarine pools glistening with tears as the sight of the young warrior whom she had trained went limp, his flailing and writhing limbs settling into the soft grass.
A blazing heat overtook the normally easy-natured warrior as she threw herself at Plumeria angrily, hot tears trailing down her face and splashing into the red lash marks she left along the Chausie's defending forelegs.
At this, Plum sprang back and struggled to fight off the onslaught that was Bellfeather's electric-quick movements as she darted left and right, back and forth to hit the rogue queen with hateful blows. Uncharacteristically, Plum looked like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. However, the tears in the Mothclan warrior's eyes were blurring and the trembling to her body allowed Plumeria ro find an opening and she sent the blue she-cat sprawling on the ground. Her massive body loomed over Bellfeather as she struggled to regain oxygen, fighting to stand up. Plum merely stared down with eyes darkened in disgust and almost pity. "How sad, she practically whispered, her expression cruel. "He was barely a kit, and he fought like one to the end. How proud you must be." She spat the last bit and grinned softly as she watched the features of the silky warrior twist into a miserable grimace.
It was then that a raspy groan sounded from a ways away, Shadder getting to his paws. This prompted Plumeria as the queen arched a brow and pursed her mouth in a silent Oh? before turning away to return to her ally. She snorted heartily as the scrawny tabby tried to hold himself up, but crumpled beneath his weight and was left to be carried by the scruff like a kit by the hefty fawn she-cat. The pair disappeared towards the screeching trails, back the way they came. And in their wake, the lean blue queen coughed and wheezed in the dust and blood and torn grass that was Frogsong's resting place.
Once her strength had returned to her, the setting sun a deep vermilion as it sunk into the inky hues of evening, Bellfeather trudged back to camp with Frosong's matted, fluffy body carried along her back. His resting face was cradled between her withers, his dry nose pressed to the back of her neck as she cradled him as carefully as a new kit. Large droplets plopped from her sullen doe eyes as her crying had become exhausted and silent, and after the longest day, the pair of friends had made it home. One to the dry rock cluster and the other to the starry expanse twinkling high above.
While Frogsong knew why he was there, it didn't seem to have any effect of his jittering nerves. Mothclan's territory was in need of defence; it had been targeted far too frequently by their enemies and it made everyone in the clan nervous. As the front line, the warriors were set out on double duty to patrol and mark the borders. There was likely no point throughout the day's length where there wasn't at least one patrol making its rounds. And, of course, it was finally time for the fluffy tom to head out.
Luckily for him, his mentor would be joining him on the patrol to the Trails. Frogsong always felt soothed in the blue she-cat's presence and with Bellfeather along for the ride, he was sure everything would be fine. He had not been anticipating the scene which they had happened across.
Along the edge of Mothclan's territory, on the wrong side of the border, were a pair of unfamiliar cats skulking near the Thunder Trails. A little one dressed in black and ashen tabby slunk through the high-reaching grasses as a large fawn queen lumbered behind him, sticking out like a thorn in a pad. Their scents rank of rogue and their faces shown only darkness.
When the head of the mighty she-cat swung around to face them, hazel eyes locked on his bushy orange form, Frogsong felt his legs turn to honey. He could barely hear Bellfeather's stern voice as she bellowed beside him, his ears feeling as if they had been filled with with cotton. For a moment, the ginger and white warrior felt his mind grow fuzzy and his vision white. No! This was no time for a panic attack. He had come so far- made it out of the life of a orphaned kit alive, lead a successful career into warriorhood, and even now stood upon the battlefield sporting the honor of a mentor of Mothclan, a full-fledged warrior. All his other clanmates were out there, fighting tooth and claw against their enemies.
The ones who stole their home. Stole their kits and warriors. Stole their lives.
And yet, Frogsong remained stiff. He had told himself it was simply in wait for a moment to strike, but even he could not fool himself. What would he do? He was sure his friends, few as they may be, would be at the rogues throats by now. Reclaiming their livelihoods. What about him? What about his enemies? Did he have any enemies?
He growled to himself, his brow furrowed.
Of course he did. Anyone who threatened his clan was his enemy. That was what it meant to be a member of Mothclan. It had been an ideal he hadn't carried with him in his youth, but after living and growing with the cats of the clan, it was a value he held close to his heart.
Claws buried themselves into the earth. He would fight them, if only to repay the Mothclan for the kindness they had shown him.
Watery green eyes lit up and his narrowed expression turned to shock.
Across his field of vision, the massive cinnamon form bowed up, rearing back on her haunches as a lean, silvery blue streak zigzagged itself way up to her at speed Frogsong could hardly follow. The rogue queen sidestepped quickly, her long tail bushy and streaming outward from her body like a dark, lashing flame as a spray of blood splashed against the grass with a wet splat! The young warrior felt his body tense up, and the blood running through his veins turned hot.
The large she-cat threw her maned head and jeered. Hazel eyes scanned the area and a glint of glee twinkled in her eyes. Look at us! Lounging in this territory without a care in the world!! This’ll show those cats not to take away what's ours!! She had been enraged to know that the warrior they had taken hostage hand been rescued, stolen from beneath their noses as if they were a bunch of fools. Mothclan shouldn't have done what they did; they disrespected Honeyheart in such a way! I'll make them pay. A booming chortle bellowed out and in her fit of laughter, the silky queen failed to notice the direction in which she had been waltzing.
"Yow!!"
She had slammed straight into the thin, dark tabby tom ahead of her. Stumbling backwards, the she-cat frown and raised a paw to her chest to rub it as if she had been hurt by the vastly smaller cat. A smudge of blood was left across the surface of cinnamon and white fur from her paw. "Sorry Shadder, love" she meowed, her brow knitted and lips curled into a taut frown in response to the scrawny tom's sour disposition.
"Watch where you're going, would you pleas-" His words had been cut short as a screech of horror rang out from his lungs, blood spraying out of his maw and splashing Plum's front. His eyes bore a glazed look of horror as the two rogues looked down to see a striking blue she-cat darting between the large grunt's legs, having left a drenched, gaping slash across the skinny tom's flank.
The look of surprise that Plumeria wore quickly hardened and as soon as her expression had shifted, the she-cat spun on her massive paws and was on Bellfeather's tail.
Frogsong had watched as his mentor had acted as a Warrior would, having waited long enough for both rogues to have let their attention settle on the blue she-warrior as she threatened them to leave Mothclan's territory before attacking. It was an honorable effort, not striking from the shadows like a sneaky rogue would've. Even so, the rogues hadn't heeded Bellfeather's words and the warrior had zero patience for the outsiders antics. However, the blue molly seemed to have made a terrible error in her target, Frogsong thoughr. Yes, she had managed to incapacitate the tom by using her lithe form to slip beneath him and tear open his side but she had left the large she-cat whom was likely the more dangerous of the two unharmed. And now, the cinnamon she-cat was super pissed.
The silvery she-cat whipped her way through the thick grass, tearing across the clearing in her unique zig-zagged fashion and Frogsong dashed after her in pursuit. Bellfeather was doing all she could to evade the large cat chasing her, Plumeria throwing the occasional chomp or swipe of a clawed forepaw. Frogsong had quicklt reached the gaint molly's side and grazed it in a clumsy sideways swipe before he reached a small cluster of trees. Thinking quickly on his feet, the fluffy tom thrust hinself into the undergrowth which covered the trees' roots and laid wait. He had seen Bellfeather haul herself up a nearby tree and knee the large she-cat wouldn't likely be able to follow her whole the older warrior plotted her next move. Instead, Frogsong worried because knew the grunt had seen him dive in and take cover, but surely the larger cat knew better than to follow him in. The ginger and white warrior grimaced as he felt brambles threaten to pierce his skin on all sides.
The ruddy fawn rogue hissed and spat as she skidded to a halt by the trees, cursing the tom cat's size and luck. "I'll get you, little pest. Even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming through those thorns!" Her angry voice sounded out like thunder as she paced around the underbrush. What a clever little cat this clanner had been, managing to pull the strong queen away from her injured ally. Was that his plan? To keep me from aiding Shadder? What if there are more in hiding? Damn them!! Even if that was the case, Plum couldn't allow these two to walk freely from their encounter. This little bitch had soiled her lavish pelt with what would likely leave an ugly scar! While Plum cared for the scrawny tabby tom, Shadder was a member of the family Honeyheart created. The family who was proud and strong. And such a member would be able to care for themselves, she was sure.
Ceasing her stalking in circles, she crouched low and peered through a gap in the brambles, her piercing gaze pinned directly on Frosong's cramped body. Her frown curled into a terrifying smirk, and from her twisted lips came a surprisingly soft, but murderous coo,"Found ya."
Frogsong shrieked at hearing the rogue's ominous words and the young warrior came sprinting out of the opening from which Plum gazed in through, catching the larger cat by surprise. Colliding with the cinnamon she-cat's face, Frogsong scrambled to get out of her reach by clawing at the ground with his forepaws and sending strikes at Plumeria's neck with his hind paws, his claws outstretched and snagging the rogue's silky mane. At that moment, Bellfeather's blue form dove from the trees and landed on Plum's back, allowing for her former apprentice to make his escape.
Pulling his hind legs hard, Frogsong went flying into the ground with a thud and cringed at his collision. Flipping around, he watched as Plum shook her head and body in frustration and disorientation. The rogue seemed to trying to regain her senses after having been landed on and having her fur yanked on. In her efforts, the mighty red queen sent Bellfeather's lean form sailing across the air where she hit the trunk of a nearby tree and crumpled to the grassy earth. She laid still.
"Bell...feather...." he croaked, his eyes glued to the she-cat on the ground. Without hesitation, he hopped to his paws and sprang at Bellfeather, landing just beside her as the smaller cat attempted to retrieve his precious friend. However, Plumeria was quicker.
Grabbing Frogsong's scruff, the large rogue snatched him up and swung him down against the ground with ease, quickly dizzying the young warrior and disarming him. Plumeria did it a time or two more before she releasing Frogsong, blood oozing from his ears and nose. Dropping the tom from her mouth and pinning his chest with one large paw, Plum cackled and roared at the squirming warrior,"Look around, Pipsqueak! You're dead!!"
Frogsong yelped and winced, closing her eyes and bracing for impact. However, as he seemed to recede into his thoughts within his last moments, a familiar voice greeted him.
"Frogsong! FROGSONG!!"
Poidzua couldn't ignore the voice, the sound of Bellfeather's shrill scream splitting the air. With a squeal, he wheezed,"I'm going to die!! I'M GOING TO-"
Bellfeather's eyes flew open, aquamarine pools glistening with tears as the sight of the young warrior whom she had trained went limp, his flailing and writhing limbs settling into the soft grass.
A blazing heat overtook the normally easy-natured warrior as she threw herself at Plumeria angrily, hot tears trailing down her face and splashing into the red lash marks she left along the Chausie's defending forelegs.
At this, Plum sprang back and struggled to fight off the onslaught that was Bellfeather's electric-quick movements as she darted left and right, back and forth to hit the rogue queen with hateful blows. Uncharacteristically, Plum looked like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. However, the tears in the Mothclan warrior's eyes were blurring and the trembling to her body allowed Plumeria ro find an opening and she sent the blue she-cat sprawling on the ground. Her massive body loomed over Bellfeather as she struggled to regain oxygen, fighting to stand up. Plum merely stared down with eyes darkened in disgust and almost pity. "How sad, she practically whispered, her expression cruel. "He was barely a kit, and he fought like one to the end. How proud you must be." She spat the last bit and grinned softly as she watched the features of the silky warrior twist into a miserable grimace.
It was then that a raspy groan sounded from a ways away, Shadder getting to his paws. This prompted Plumeria as the queen arched a brow and pursed her mouth in a silent Oh? before turning away to return to her ally. She snorted heartily as the scrawny tabby tried to hold himself up, but crumpled beneath his weight and was left to be carried by the scruff like a kit by the hefty fawn she-cat. The pair disappeared towards the screeching trails, back the way they came. And in their wake, the lean blue queen coughed and wheezed in the dust and blood and torn grass that was Frogsong's resting place.
Once her strength had returned to her, the setting sun a deep vermilion as it sunk into the inky hues of evening, Bellfeather trudged back to camp with Frosong's matted, fluffy body carried along her back. His resting face was cradled between her withers, his dry nose pressed to the back of her neck as she cradled him as carefully as a new kit. Large droplets plopped from her sullen doe eyes as her crying had become exhausted and silent, and after the longest day, the pair of friends had made it home. One to the dry rock cluster and the other to the starry expanse twinkling high above.