Trapped and Terrified [Open]

[Crane]

P O L L E N W I N D !

And all my prayers fall on broken wings
And all my friends say I'm gonna sink
And all my brains went to my head
You left me dead upon the kitchen floor

Fox-dung. Traitors. Heartless monsters. Better known as ThunderClan and RiverClan. Chasing Pollenwind's Clan, ShadowClan, to the most extreme situation, and forcing them to take shelter with WindClan.
How many of my Clanmates are dead now? How many more will I never greet again? They slaughter warriors and apprentices alike... Pollenwind trembled.
"StarClan, why?!" Pollenwind yowled helplessly, channelling her fury into an unearthly wail. She collapsed into the soft, welcoming grass of the WindClan camp, immune to the stares she was surely receiving. This grass... It was nothing like the hard-packed earth of the ShadowClan camp. No scattered and broken ferns, no leaves drifting downwards from the above trees, none of the familiar, comforting birdcalls.
Dry grass and a wide expanse, filled with nothing but the buzz of cicadas. That was WindClan. How did they live like this?
Disheartened, Pollenwind picked herself up and meekly trotted over to the WindClan freshkill pile. She felt bad, taking food from another Clan, but hunger won out over pride and in moments the petite she-cat was wolfing down a rabbit. After all, her Clanmates - well, the ones who could walk - were assisting WindClan hunt so that they could support their Clan. Of course, catching rabbits was a lot harder that it looked.
Going back to ShadowClan wasn't an option. No doubt that the scoundrels from their Clans were guarding it to prevent such an occurence.
Are they going to starve us to death? wondered Pollenwind negatively, burying the remains of her meal.

[gray - - ★]

[/font][/size] - - ★[/font][/size]

[And I find it kinda funny]
[I find it kinda sad]
[The dreams in which I'm dying]
[Are the best I've ever had][/center]

How long had it been since the fight? It felt like it had been forever ago and it was time to return home. But with the look at all the ShadowClan cats, both injured and not, it wasn't time at all. Time seemed to fly by yet nothing was changing. Everyone was still injured and hungry. Even Tawnybird herself was injured a bit. She had patches of cobwebs all over her body. Nothing serious but the medicine cats seem to think that the cobwebs were necessary. It didn't matter to the torbie she-cat as she didn't really feel any pain at that moment. Actually they never really did hurt at any point. Sure a little sting here and there, but nothing she couldn't handle. She was resting away from all the chaos within WindClan camp and off by herself. She liked to watch them though, race around like there was going to be another battle in the next day or two and they needed to prepare. The thought of another battle fill her mind and her eyes widened at the thought. She was ready, maybe not at that moment, but she was ready.

"StarClan, why?!"

The yowl came from Pollenwind, a ShadowClanner like Tawnybird. Tawnybird knew Pollenwind as well as any cat in their Clan. The pessimistic she-cat seemed to not mind getting stared at and that was exactly what Tawnybird was doing, staring. She watched the she-cat collapse into the soft WindClan grass. It was definitely nothing like ShadowClan territory but Tawnybird liked it either way. Tawnybird continue to watch the she-cat get up and pad over to the fresh-kill pile where she devoured a rabbit. Tawnybird, without thinking about it, got to her paws too and followed Pollenwind to the fresh-kill pile. She wanted the rabbit get smaller and look like less of a rabbit for a moment before speaking. "Hello Pollenwind." Her voice was normal, filled with a bit of tiredness. "How's the rabbit?" She asked curiously. Tawnybird didn't forget about the she-cat's outburst a few moments ago but thought that she should ask a few "average" questions before jumping into a big one. They both had lost Clanmates but Tawnybird still had her parents and siblings. Her sister was severally injured while her brother was refusing treatment for his tiny scratches. She let out a purr at the thought of her brother. He enjoyed the battle as much as she did and she too refused treatment, but in the end she caved only to get the medicine cats to leave her alone. Her mind wondered around that thought and she continued to purr, forgetting about pollenwind for a moment.

[I find it hard to tell you]
[I find it hard to take]
[When people run in circles]
[It's a very, very mad world mad world]

words. 441
comments. a little long and rambly, XD

[/size][/ul]

[Crane]

P O L L E N W I N D !

And all my prayers fall on broken wings
And all my friends say I'm gonna sink
And all my brains went to my head
You left me dead upon the kitchen floor

Pollenwind's ear flickered at the sound of a voice beside her. She turned her head to see Tawnybird, a ShadowClan warrior like herself.
Silly, she scolded herself, you shouldn't be so jumpy! The battle is over now. She forced the thoughts away before greeting Tawnybird with a smile.
"Hello, Tawnybird," she mewed, trying to sound cheerful and upbeat. As if she hadn't just lost it in the centre of another Clan's camp. "The rabbit's fine, thankyou. They taste a bit different from our forest rabbits, though. Have you had anything lately? We all need to eat to keep our strength up."
Now she was feeling a little self-concious. Tawnybird had probably just seen her yowling and now here was was, making friendly conversation nonetheless. She should say something to smooth it over... How do you smooth a weird event over without bringing up the awkwardness of the whole thing at the same time?
Just don't worry about it, or you'll look crazy! Pollenwind almost chuckled at the next thought. Yeah, but not as crazy as that RiverClan psycho. The one you attacked mid-battle.
She subconciously licked the wound on her flank quickly before turning back to Tawnybird.
"If you're not too injured, would you like to go hunting or something? I can't catch a thing on my own out here," she invited. Then she wouldn't owe WindClan anything - if she actually managed to catch a rabbit. Those monstrous WindClan rabbits were huge, which made them way too fast for a little she-cat to catch.

[dawnfire07]

[glow=red,2,300]Half Moon[/glow]

Half Moon trudged through the grass, despairing in her thoughts. She sighed. "We were driven from our home... But at least we're safe!" Half Moon returned to her happy-go-lucky attitude. She happily trotted through the moorland and before long caught sight of the windclan camp. She heard a grunt behind her, followed by a small mew. Half Moon turned to see and injured Nightstorm and Mintpaw. "You guys okay? Come on, let's get to the Windclan camp to get you guys healed." Half Moon turned from the two Shadowclan cats and padded softly to the camp.


[glow=red,2,300]Nightstorm[/glow]

Nightstorm gritted his teeth. How could Half Moon just accept defeat as easy as that and just trot off with the happy-go-lucky attitude? They had been driven out for crying out loud! 'Just what you'd expect from Half Moon. She may have pure Shadowclan blood, but she is not a true Shadowclan cat.' He narrowed his eyes in distaste, but nonetheless followed her into camp. His eyes widened as he saw huge rabbits race past him. "How do Windclan cats catch those things?" He muttered.


[glow=red,2,300]Mintpaw[/glow]

Mintpaw sighed in relief. Half Moon was alive! Finding Nightstorm alive had been lucky enough for her. Sure he had a deep scratch in his side that would probably result in a permanent scar, but at least he had been alive and not dead. Suddenly feeling weary, she padded after Half Moon into the camp. She looked around, suddenly feeling nervous. She widened her eyes when she saw Tawnybird and Pollenwind. "Pollenwind, Tawnybird!" She dashed to them, tackling Tawnybird and licking her face. She laughed. "I'm so glad to see you guys alive!"

[Crane]

P O L L E N W I N D !

And all my prayers fall on broken wings
And all my friends say I'm gonna sink
And all my brains went to my head
You left me dead upon the kitchen floor

It seemed like suddenly, Tawnybird had either become thrice as scented, or that three other ShadowClan cats had appeared. Pollenwind jumped with surprise and turned around. Halfmoon! Nightstorm! Mintpaw! All live, thank StarClan!
Pollenwind suppressed a chuckle as Mintpaw tackled Tawnybird and started licking her face.
"You three! Are you okay? We all thought that you were dead! I'm so glad to see you!" Pollenwind skipped around her three Clanmates, checking them for scars and limps. She had helped Skyfire out once or twice and knew a little about basic injuries.
She was shocked when she saw Nightstorm's side. A large, red, blood-encrusted gash. How had this - oh, stupid question.
"Thank goodness you two found him," Pollenwind exclaimed. Otherwise, left like this a few more days, the wound would have become infected, and Nightstorm would be very dead. It might have even been infected already. "Skyfire's busy so I'll at least try and clean it up a little."
Now what was it that helped with infection? I'll need moss to wipe off this blood, and cobwebs to patch it up after, but I need to treat it for infection... If only they were back in ShadowClan territory, and Pollenwind could have found all these things in an instant.
"Nobody happens to know where I can get moss or cobwebs do they?" she asked sheepishly. She didn't want to force them to fetch things because they'd probably say no... Hinting at things often worked better.

[dawnfire07]

Nightstorm

Nightstorm turned away and snorted. "I can take care of myself, thank you." he snarled. He stalked off and headed to the plains. He spotted a rabbit and crouched, before pouncing. Of course he rabbit saw him and scampered off. Nightstorm chased after and pounced several times, trying to catch the brown thing. Unfortunately for him, he failed miserably.

Halfmoon

Half Moon laughed as she watched Nightstorm storm off. "Don't mind the mouse-brain, he's always go this thing about his pride. He never wants to accept someone trying to help him. But he'll come around." Half Moon rolled her eyes. "Toms. Can't live with them, can't live without them."

Mintpaw

Mintpaw climbed off Tawnybird and faced Pollenwind. "I think I saw some moss on my way here. Be right back." Mintpaw scampered off to where she saw the moss. Her eyes brightened. "Aha! Here it is." She gingerly put the moss in her mouth and hurried back to the warriors. She let out a muffled, "Hope this helps."

Robinfur

Robinfur was in camp picking some prey from the fresh-kill pile, when he saw four shadowclan cats. He narrowed his eyes, but kept a friendly look in his eyes. He honestly didn't know what to think of those cats. He always heard that they were vicous and unfriendly, but these cats didn't look bad. Robinfur decided to go over. "Hi, I'm Robinfur. Nice to meet you." He curled his tail in anticipation.

[FireFlyDragon]

Marshflight

Perhaps the tom’s pride should have been hurt; his clan, which he was deputy of, being driven from their own territory. But now, as he lay within the confines of the WindClan camp, cobwebs stretched thick upon his shoulder it wasn’t his pride that hurt, it was his heart. A pang for his home, a place he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to return to, and for the clan he couldn’t protect. What were they to do? The territory WindClan possessed could not shelter them all for long, and it was only a matter of time before ThunderClan and RiverClan returned to finish their takeover.

His tail drummed the grass wearily, green eyes narrowed and distant in thought. There was nothing a Clan, much less a single cat could do to right the atrocious wrongs Duskstar had committed, with the queen Riverstar and her own Clan bending to his whims. But there was an ache within the young deputy to do just as such, just to get everything back to normal. Laying here wounded and useless, even to WindClan who had been so hospitable to them, was torture.

The cat gave a heaving sigh. He had to stop thinking this way; he was ShadowClan’s deputy for StarClan’s sake, he needed to be a figure his Clan could count on.

His eyes drifted as a faint mewling caught his attention. A WindClan she-cat, quite young herself, was herding several kits from the camp’s nursery, whispering for them to be quiet. The small bundles didn’t need to be told however, as they all were staring, big eyed with wonder at the number of cats teeming through the camp. Marshflight was sure they knew that half of them were not WindClan’s own, due to their caution. They were nearly glued to their mother’s side as she stepped out to the fresh kill pile, selecting a small hare for them all to feed on.

Realizing he was staring, the ShadowClan deputy transferred his attentions to the group of ShadowClan cats, his clanmates, as they arrived in number. Three such cats he recognized as not having been here before.

Somewhat strained, the large tom took to his feet, limping forward towards the group of reunited clanmates, their evident joy soaking through to his own heavy heart.

“Halfmoon, Nightstorm, Mintpaw; it’s good to see you all, you look well.” His tail was up, waving gently in greeting to the three once missing cats. And although Nightstorm had moved off almost immediately after Marshflight had spoken, the Deputy’s uplifting mood wasn’t deterred from it’s track. Although if Marshflight had caught the warrior earlier he would have spoken to him about treating his wound; it would be of no help to anyone if the gash, though having stopped bleeding, became horribly infected. But as he greeted his Clanmates his mind suddenly shifted to the image of another.

He hadn’t seen Nightpaw since sunrise.

It wasn’t as if she -or him, for that matter- couldn’t take care of herself, Marshflight knew plenty well of her strong will and, at times, feisty personality. It was just that he had gotten used to her presence; she hadn’t left his side often since arriving in the WindClan camp. The camp, though still a stranger, felt different when she wasn’t there. And the WindClan cats, though kind and more then worthy of his debt, seemed so much more like strangers when he didn’t have her comforting figure beside him.

As the thoughts of Nightpaw ran their course, another rather similier looking cat had it's turn to walk the paths of Marshflight's mind. Sharpstar, both the ShadowClan leader and Nightpaw's father hadn't yet graced the young deputy's eyes. And, as such, the tom wondered what the huge cat was up to. Perhaps he was conversing with Spicestar in his den...

[Crane]

P O L L E N W I N D !

And all my prayers fall on broken wings
And all my friends say I'm gonna sink
And all my brains went to my head
You left me dead upon the kitchen floor

Pollenwind huffed indignantly as Nightstorm stalked off and proceeded to completely fail at catching a rabbit.
For goodness sakes, he's my Clanmate! Why is he refusing help? Does he want to be a burden on the medicine cats? Or maybe he's a spy! Wait, that's ridiculous.
Pollenwind turned as Halfmoon made a crack at Nightstorm's pride and chuckled in spite of herself. When Mintpaw ran up she was about to tell her not to worry but before she could speak the eager apprentice had returned, moss in tail. Well, in mouth, technically, but that didn't sound quite as good.
Pollenwind thanked Mintpaw graciously as a WindClan tom trotted over, his head held high.
That cat looks a little arrogant, thought Pollenwind, as he introduced himself as Robinfur. She saw his tail curl slightly. Anger? Annoyance? Well, old habits die hard, but she sure hoped he didn't decide that it would be appropriate to attack them.
"It's a pleasure, Robinfur," she replied cheerfully, tilting her head and blinking to show genuine feeling. His fur was very unusual. Cool, in a way. Wait, you don't just compliment cats on their fur. That would be weird. But she felt she had to say something else nonetheless.
However Marshflight breezed over, saving her from the imagined awkwardness.. Funny, she hadn't even seen him before. Her spirits were starting to lift slightly with the arrival of more and more cats.
I'm not one to be optimistic... But really that's five ShadowClan cats who aren't dead... Thinking about numbers isn't going to do me any good. No. Stop those thoughts now.
She greeted her deputy with a respectful nod. He looked a little distracted. No point commenting on it, some cats got touchy if you did that.

[wolfkitten]

~Nightpaw~

The young she-cat hadn't been seen all day. She had left a bit before sunup and only now was returning. In her mouth she clutched the ears of three ShadowClan rabbits, and a mouse that also looked as if it had run in the ShadowClan marshes. There was a fire that burned in her eyes, and yet a new scratch bled slightly over her right ear. But she looked thouraghly pleased with herself. This young, fiery she-cat could be a force to be reckoned with to be sure.

It seemed she had headed into ShadowClan for her hunting trip today. It was to be certain that she was not the small sneaking type, but she had managed to hunt and, for the most part, stay under the ThunderClan and RiverClan radar. She had wanted to check out if they were still haunting their homeland. To her dismay... They were. But her quest had not been completely useless. That long black tail whipped about behind her as she moved quietly into WindClan camp. She hated having to be here, but she was more than thankfull for the hospitality of the WindClan cats. She knew they had to band together and help eachother if they were to defeat the StarClan acursed other Clans.

A quick glance around the camp was given by the young she-cat, tense in frame, until she spotted what she had sought. Her Deputy... Her closest friend... Nay, more than that... The cat she so loved. She felt a purr rumble up in her throat and she quickly ran to the Fresh Kill pile to deposit her catch, and then headed straight for him, mostly ignoring the group of cats of her own Clan, except to give them a gentle nod in greeting.

Her steps took her quickly to Marshflight's side and she nuzzled his shoulder ever so gingerly in a greeting. "Hello Marshflight... How are you feeling?" She had left before he had awoken this morning, and yet worried greatly for him. He was still wounded afterall...

~Snowpelt~

Another cat of WindClan moved into the camp, a single WindClan rabbit swinging from her jaws. Hunting had been slim, yet she hadn't been out a whole long time. It was true Sharpstar had gone to speak with Spicestar. About what? She wasn't certain. There had been time since ShadowClan came to their camp, for her to talk to her beloved brother... But not a whole lot, for they didn't really wish to have anyone asking questions as to why they talked in excess...

Her heart pained for her brother and his Clan, and yet it swelled at the same time at the gentle graciousness of her beloved Clan. They had been wary indeed, but they welcomed Sharpstar's Clan into their home. She nodded gently to Nightpaw as she came in. Her brother's daughter... Her niece... She looked well. There was a fresh scratch upon her ear, but she was a strong girl. Snowpelt purred softly as she watched the she-cat make a beeline toward the ShadowClan Deputy. Her eyes gave a warm glance to them.

Snowpelt moved to deposit her catch on the pile before glancing over, seeing one of the ShadowClan warriors charge out of the camp. She sighed gently but followed, not wishing him to get hurt or any such. Sure WindClan camp wasn't, in itself dangerous, but it had it's dangers as any place did.

For the time being she watched from afar as he tried hard, and failed, to catch one of their rabbits. She tried herself to keep her purring under control. She didn't want to seem amused at his failure. But she moved forward, meowing softly to announce her presence. "These are faster than the rabbits you're used to my friend..." She glanced to the rabbit who had disappeared down it's hole. "There are no trees for you to hide behind here. We have to depend on our speed and grace alone to catch our food. You might find it difficult to catch them as you currently are. But there are tricks I can show you if you wish to learn them..."

As she spoke softly, the rabbit began to come out of it's hole. She suddenly darted away from the rabbit, circling around it rapidly, and began chasing it toward Nightstorm. She hoped he would react quickly as the frightered creature bounded in his general direction.

[dawnfire07]

Nightstorm

Nightstorm widened his eyes, then narrowed them. He pounced on the rabbit, killing it with a quick bite to the neck. He looked down on the now dead rabbit. He had barely managed to bite it. He gritted his teeth. 'Is Shadowclan really that weak? Not even fast enough to catch a useless rabbit. And then the she-cat has to come along to show of.... We did just fine in our own home.' Nightstorm scanned the plains, and suddenly felt a pang of homesickness. He felt as if he wanted to run, run far away, away from everything. 'But I can't. I'm a Shadowclan warrior, and I have to fight for my clan.' Nightstorm glanced at the she-cat. 'She actually looks a bit pretty.' Nightstorm caught himself to hear what he said. He mentally snorted. 'Yeah right.' But he forced himself to speak to her. "I'm Nightstorm." He looked at the rabbit again and lifted his head to face the she-cat, now smirking. "You're really that good?" He lifted a paw and pointed it at the rabbit nearby. "Show me."

Mintpaw

Mintpaw saw Marshflight and tackledd him playfully as she had done to Tawnybird. She giggled loudly. "Marshflight! I'm glad top see you alive." Mintpaw turned to see Nightpaw and flinched. She'd probably be seething mad about Mintpaw right now. Sure, Mintpaw used to have a small crush on Marshflight, and maybe she still had a little one. But she wasn't oblivious enough to not see that Nightpaw liked him. Way more than she did anyway. Mintpaw had long ago decided to let Nightpaw have him, her crush wasn't that deep anyway. She could live without him. Besides, Mintpaw had always looked up to him in a brotherly/sisterly way. Someone that's always there to support you., a shoulder to cry on. But mates? Mintpaw mentally shook her head, laughing as she imagined herself as an old queen in the nursery. She mentally grinned. 'Nah, I'm better off without a mate.'


Half Moon


Half Moon laughed at Nightstorms antics once again before turning to the red-furred Windclan cat. Half Moon curled her tail slightly and felt her face heat up. Oh Starclan. That cat was gorgeous! Then Half Moon blinked and shook her head. 'No, no, no! I've liked Nightstorm for too long, I'm not about to give him up for a cat that probably wouldn't even accept me. Plus, he's Windclan.' Half Moon decided to ignore the cat's good-looks and just be friends. Although it was hard to not notice his-NO! Half Moon shook her head once more and let out a mock yawn. "I'm bored. Anyone want to go hunting?"

Robinfur

Robinfur blinked when the calico she-cat looked him with an impossible to be unnoticed dreamy look. The cat snapped out of it though. Robinfur smirked as she announced she wanted to go hunting. "Well then I'll go along. You'll need me anyway. Someone has to teach you guys to hunt rabbits while you're here." Robinfur pretty much just intended to flirt with the calico while he was there though. Sure they couldn't be together. But that didn't mean Robinfur couldn't flirt with her right? He would just dump her later on. It's not like he hasn't done it before.

[Crane]

P O L L E N W I N D !

And all my prayers fall on broken wings
And all my friends say I'm gonna sink
And all my brains went to my head
You left me dead upon the kitchen floor

Pollenwind looked around the gathering of cats and could barely supress a giggle. Teehee! These cats are so obvious! Could it be any clearer? Of course there was Nightpaw and Marshflight, that was old news, but Nightstorm was making eyes at one of the WindClan warriors, Snowpelt, just like Halfmoon staring at Robinfur. This is kind of cute! But it's breaking the Warrior Code! Oh, but who am I to stand in the way of love?
Of course, Pollenwind herself didn't have a mate. Once upon a time she had almost liked Mudthroat... But she hadn't seen him once since the battle. Her eyes widened and the coughed to hide the sudden blockage in her throat. Shake your head. Get on with it.
Of course, she did think a few of the WindClan warriors were kind of attractive. Still, that wasn't to distract her from the task at hand. Hunting!
She glanced around the surrounding cats again. Well, apparently it just became mating season! Teehee! Good luck getting these cats to do anything but make goo-goo eyes! Maybe embarrasing them all was the best way to grab their attention.
"Well, if you're all done romantically staring into each other's eyes... We can go hunting, if anyone still feels like it. Of course, I don't mind leaving you all to it..."
Wow, that was pretty out of character for Pollenwind. Still, teasing them a bit was fun.