PrankFox

The Wayfarer's Guild

@Haha, @Dark Cloud, @Guilty Spark

The further they got from the city the more uneasy Hawks began to feel. He listened intently to the story that their dwarven ally was telling them. A cleric huh. He wondered if his abilities came from something similar to his or something else. "My abilities are somewhat the same, more spiritual in nature." His voice was still quiet, but at least loud enough his boisterous companion could hear. He'd have to talk more in depth with Koth when they got a free moment. At this point they were beginning to delve into the blight and his clawed hands tightened around his staff. They'd need to be cautious of they were to make it out in one piece.

He followed Logrim in silence after Koth finished his tale, carefully taking in each and every detail of the dangerous things in the forest as their handler pointed them out, filing them away for later use. Each time they paused he pulled his journal free and made quick sketches and notes of the things Logrim told them about. He had a fair amount of practice walking and drawing. It also proved to sooth his somewhat fraying nerves the deeper they delved into the blight.

As they drew to a complete stop, and Logrim left them, he could hear both dead silence and yet see an eerie sort of motion coming from the trees. It was unnerving to say the least and not something he'd ever experienced even living on the edges of The Cliff which was positioned closer to the forested outskirts of the city.

He nodded in agreement with Koth, whatever was coming made his stomach turn in an unpleasant way. Tati'yana scrambled into a tree nearby, but thankfully still close enough to them that when he waved a hand and muttered a quick request for protection to his angelic companion they were all covered in a faint shimmer of white-gold light.

He tossed his staff into one hand and, with another gesture, formed a small, burning mote of spiritual energy in the other. Gold eyes narrowed, and he waited.

Legends of Pyrrhia | Wings of Fire

Thank goodness, no one was going to fight. Skua still had his claws on Handsome and Dreamseeker moved closer to the other two as if she was still preparing for one. She was a healer, not a fighter, and all she wanted to do was rush over to Handsome and make sure he was alright. She could see his scales shifting stark white with fear. Her own were still a little pale, but not nearly as bad. Then again she wasn't pinned under the claws of a giant IceWing. She shuddered a bit, imagining the claws around her own throat.

She looked towards Jaguar as the other RainWing approached and gave a weak smile of relief. She didn't want to see her friend hurt any more than Handsome. She felt terrible for him, as panicked as he was there was no way they were going to get anything out of him.

The smile dropped at Dreamseeker's question. "Um." She glanced wildly between Handsome and Jaguar her scales prickling with nerves. She looked up into the trees and around the oasis. No one should be able to hear them over the sounds of the water splashing into the pool. "I think so," she muttered. "I don't know who or why though." She looked up at the NightWing, "Does that have something to do with why you're here?"

Warriors: Trial of Shadows

"Of course, Jaystar. We'll return quickly with their decision." He dipped his head to his leader before he glanced around at the assembled cats. Many of them were helping to prepare Russetfern and he didn't want to pull them away from that. They had the right to be with their clanmate as he journeyed to join StarClan. If they were still watching anyway.

His eyes landed on the trio of apprentices, "Finchwing and Ashenpaw, you're coming with me." Maybe allowing them to see the grief and beliefs of the other clans would make them understand why they had to do this. Might teach Ashenpaw a bit more respect as well, visiting the other clans. He looked around to see who else was mostly unoccupied. He didn't want to bring too many along lest Silverstar saw it as a threat, but he wanted enough for them to be safe in the event of an attack. "Greenpool and Squirrelpaw, you as well." The apprentices would be seen as less of a threat, but would be quick enough to run back to camp for help if need be.

He nodded to himself, that should do well enough. "Grab something to eat quickly and then we leave." He padded over to wait by the entrance to camp as they did as he asked. He sat down and curled his tail around large paws, watching the sun begin to fully crest over the horizon and rise above the trees. A sunrise that Russetfern, and many others, would never get to see again thanks to these murders. He could feel the grief beginning to creep into his mind once again and shoved it violently down. There wasn't time to mourn, not yet, so he let the grief fuel the burning fire of rage he could feel. At least one of the other clans had to see how wrong this all was.

The Wayfarer's Guild

@Dark Cloud @Haha
Same

The Rise of WillowClan

Mentions: @savannahssu

The snow was cold under Stormheart's paws and the faint but cold breeze didn't help matters. He followed along behind Fernstar and Blackpelt as they conversed about Starclan and some cats that he definitely did not recognize the names of. He hadn't been around long, so he supposed it made sense, but he still felt a bit anxious being so out of the loop. It would be easy enough to ask her and Blackpelt when they returned, and when they found Maplestream safe and sound. That was where his main focus was right now, on finding his clanmate and making sure that nothing back had happened that would've stopped her from coming back to camp.

He snapped out of his thoughts as Fernstar's tail flicked in his direction. He listened intently to what she had to say and gave a firm nod, one that looked more confident than he felt, as she finished explaining what they were to do. "We'll be careful. Make sure you and Blackpelt stay safe as well."

As Fernstar bounded off to catch up with Blackpelt he began the trudge through the snow in the direction that she had suggested. He kept his jaws slightly parted hoping to catch some scent of Maplestream that wasn't too old that they could follow. "What do you think could've happened to her?" he directed the question at Sunfur, "You've known her for much longer than I have."

Warriors: Trial of Shadows

A low growl pulled itself from Wolfheart's chest as the arguing continued amongst his clanmates. They would need everyone on their side if they were to win against DuskClan in a fight, and even more so if Silverstar declined to join them. They needed to be united in this or even more lives would be lost. There needed to be no hesitation if he was going to protect his clanmates and make sure that something like what happened to Russetfern didn't happen again.

Both Badgerthorn and Jaystar made their points, both of which were viable. His eyes flicked across his clanmates, looking for hesitance or reluctance to take the fight to Duskclan. His eyes landed on their medicine cat who looked mostly resigned to it all, but all she needed to do was make sure that they were in fighting shape. Like Tigershine said, they had no say in war. However, many of the others including Addertongue and Cinderfang had a fire burning in their eyes. That was what they needed.

His head turned with the others at Ashenpaw's outburst and his eyes narrowed. "Don't question your leader Ashenpaw. He's doing what will keep us all safe in the future."

Finchwing's ears flattened to her head as she pushed through the crowd of cats to where Ashenpaw stood with the other apprentices. "Keep quiet! This doesn't concern you." She snapped towards her apprentice. Her eyes flicked towards Jaystar as he looked away, and her voice quieted after, "I don't like this any more than you do, but if Jaystar decides we fight then we must fulfill our duty to our clan. There are others who don't see the need for senseless violence, but there is too much hate right now for many of them to see clearly."

"Should I prepare regular patrols for the morning or do you wish to send one to MistClan?" Wolfheart directed the question towards Jaystar as Pale-eye, along with a few other warriors, lifted and carried Russetfern's body from the camp for a proper burial.

Legends of Pyrrhia | Wings of Fire

Viper's head swiveled back and forth between Jaguar and Handsome, her own scales paling to a near white as fear began to set into her mind and lock up her legs. She hated it when anyone fought, it happened so rarely between members of the tribe that when it did, it felt all the worse. She appreciated Dreamseeker trying to tell them not to fight, Handsome's injury was really one of the worst things that had happened in her life, and she didn't want to see anything like it again. She'd been one of the healers responsible for trying to help him, and the time it took to find someone who could counteract Jaguar's venom was more painful than anything.

She snapped out of her thoughts at Skua's lunge towards Handsome, "No! Please don't hurt him!" She took a step forward, but what could she do. She didn't know anything about fighting.

Eclipse followed after Skua a moment later, placing himself partially in front of Dreamseeker so that he stood between her and Jaguar who was still bristling, "No need to do anything rash you two, and try not to hurt him too much Skua. We do want him to be able to talk."

"Good grief." Aardwolf sighed from where he stood next to her, "And I thought there was drama between the Outclaws." He followed after the other two to stand in front of Jaguar, black eyes unreadable as he stared the RainWing down.

She stayed where she was at the base of the pool, body trembling slightly and wings pressed close. "Jaguar, please don't." She stared pleadingly at each of them, "Please don't fight."

She got a reassuring nod from Eclipse that they had it under control, but Skua's harsh words made her nervous and Handsome's response more so. She saw a flash of anger, so brief she thought she imagined it, in Eclipse's eyes. "Then tell us why you can't."

Legends of Pyrrhia | Wings of Fire

Wow, she actually got him to talk! Viper brightened, even if it wasn't an agreement it wasn't an outright no or him telling them to leave so she'd count it as a success. The excitement turned to fear and her scales turned a pale green when Dreamseeker talked about murder. That couldn't be right there was no way that anyone here would willingly help to kill someone, not knowingly. She looked wildly between the other dragons that were still standing nearby and to where Handsome was sitting, looking just as terrified as her, but doing a much better job of hiding it.

Her head, along with the others, snapped to the sky and she stared wide-eyed at the familiar RainWing that flew down from above them. "Jaguar! Where have you been? It's been so long since I've seen you!" Her eyes flicked back to Handsome. Right, she left after that happened, but it wasn't really her fault. She hadn't meant to hurt him; at least Viper hoped she hadn't meant it. She liked Jaguar, she could be a little mean sometimes, but it was a nice change of pace sometimes.

"Well maybe if someone else had actually been helpful we wouldn't have needed to come and find him, but no one here seems to know anything." Eclipse huffed out at Jaguar. "The only lead that we got was him. Everyone else just ran away in a panic or seemed not to care at all.

She took a few steps back to stand closer to Skua and Aardwolf as Handsome's scales began to flare with rage. It was the most color she'd seen out of him since That had happened and it wasn't the one she wanted to see. She hoped that Dreamseeker or one of the others would be able to talk them down before they both did something rash. She liked to think that maybe Jaguar was her friend and she didn't want either of them getting hurt.

Warriors: Trial of Shadows

"What?" Squirrelpaw's voice was strained as she craned her head around the larger cats to see Russetfern's body resting inside the circle of her clanmates. "That's crazy," she shook her head, "They can't be serious, it's just the shock of it right now. Once the tensions die down they'll realize war is a bad idea, right?"

"It's been more than just Russetfern," Wolfheart growled, "Other cats have been murdered and the longer we wait the more innocents that die." He looked to Jaystar, "The other clans wouldn't stand for this either. I know for a fact that Emberstar wouldn't." If they got ThornClan on their side as well then there was a chance that they could catch DuskClan unawares. The main concern would be trying to fight them in those narrow tunnels. They'd have to find a way to lure them out into the open where there was a better chance of victory.

Finchwing pushed herself to her feet from where she was sitting next to Russetfern's body, "If we attack DuskClan without giving them a chance to defend themselves then we're no better than the fleabags who did this. We could at least wait until the next Gathering and speak of it then, or just ask them to turn over whoever is responsible rather than attacking blindly."

"If we wait that long there's a chance someone else will be killed!" Wolfheart shot back at the brown furred warrior who bristled in response. She couldn't be serious. How could she be so willing to let DuskClan get away with this? Russetfern was a warrior just like her, younger than her, and she was willing to let his murderer go unpunished. His tail lashed and his eyes narrowed at the she-cat.

Squirrelpaw brushed her pelt against Ashenpaw, "Me neither, but I don't want anyone else to be murdered in cold blood either." Her head swiveled around as Stoatpaw approached and bristled slightly at her sibling's words. "Russetfern was just murdered, maybe have some respect for once," she turned her back, "Besides we don't know if we're going to be fighting anyways."

Legends of Pyrrhia | Wings of Fire

Viper watched, intrigued, as the SandWing reached around in the leather pouch that hung around his neck and pulled out a shiny stone. Ooh, pretty! That would get the attention of most anyone in the tribe, so maybe it would cause Handsome to brighten up a bit. She watched curiously as Dreamseeker approached him and tried to get his attention. It seemed to maybe work a bit, but instead he turned to face them and she heard a muffled inhale of shock from Eclipse who was standing next to her.

She sighed, her wings drooping a bit at his response, her own scales turning a bit gray. "He hasn't been the same since it happened," she spoke quietly to the dragons that were still nearby her, "I keep trying to talk to him so that he knows we don't think any differently of him, get him to open up, but it hasn't worked so far."

She saw Eclipse's jaw clench and she could almost see the gears turning in his head, like he was trying to piece something together. Aardwolf just looked almost accustomed to seeing injuries like that. Judging by his own nicks and scars he must not be unfamiliar with fighting. Scary.

She really, really wanted to help these guys out. They said they were looking for Handsome so she showed them, but now it seemed like he wasn't going to be any help to them either. She couldn't let that happen. Most of the time she would listen when he told her to leave, but if he'd just answer their questions it'd be fine right? "Can you at least just answer their questions? They've been trying to get help and I think you're the only one who can tell them what they need."