CLOSED The Survivors of a Catastrophe

[Guest]

Dewdrop, deputy of DewClan, was stumbling through mud. She wanted to find where Daystar had lead them past the AbyssClan/DewClan border in the first place, but she was disoriented that she wasn't able to find where border even was. She shook her head, feeling that there was probably mud or something of the like in her ears, but that would have to wait.
The Moonfall, she though faintly. The Moonfall...I am...DewClan... She was in a deep fog.
Dewdrop had slid a ways down with the debris that had caught her. She remembered the shadow, and the cries of her Clanmates. In the moments that she could properly recall she could see the death of Daystar. Had he cried out? Had he said anything? Had he...She couldn't remember very much. She knew that she had gone from falling to walking at some point. She may have been following the sun or the moon, or whatever time it was. She was DewClan, she was DewClan, she had to become leader and appoint a deputy so DewClan could survive. All of DewClan waiting for me, she thought feverishly.
The land she was on was becoming flatland - was that strange? This gave her sudden pause, followed by a deep gasp. She craned her head and looked up at the sky.
It had been dawn when Daystar had lead them out of the DewClan camp, then it had been nearer to sunhigh when they had been climbing AbyssClan's hills - or at least, it had felt like it, seeing as the thick rainclouds still blanketed the sky.
But it seemed much, much darker now. Closer to sunset then it was before, she reasoned. Dewdrop stretched out her neck, spin, and tail, then her legs, wincing as she did so. She had at least sprained two things, and had maybe fractured something or other. But that didn't matter right now.
Many of us left - it's not just me. Where are the rest of us? She apprehensively and slowly turned to look at where she had come from. Where she was was much more flatland and much less hill. What happened to everyone? Her bewildered expression hardened into determination. I'll find them. As many as I can.
She looked at the curve the base of the hill made and began to shuffle towards it.


OOC: On the map she'd be where the red AbyssClan border line almost meets the big rock on the hill. Only, she's not on the hill, she's in the flats.

[Loki]

Blackness. It hurt. Where? he didn't know, it was so painful. Just sleep a little longer, so warm.

So cold because now he can feel his trembling body. The cries of several clanmates and still no one had bothered to rescue him. Did Daystar turn his back on Creekheart who had been so loyal? So very loyal.
Betrayal is something he can't explain, he's never felt it before but now all he feels is the wetness of the water.
He heaves himself up.
He's at the very bottom of the hill. Thank Starclan he thinks as a jutted out rock had stopped the debris from killing him. I don't know how, but I'm alive , he thought in relief, now all he had to do was... what? What now?

[Guest]

He's dead...Grayfall, warrior of Dewclan thought in his mind as he stared up into the dark rainy sky,HE'S DEAD!!! He was going die. Everyone was going to die. EVERYONE WAS GOING TO DIE!! He stared at his deputy. Dewdrop is dead. She died. Like Jade did. She's a figment of his imagination. The living,breathing she-cat was a figment of his imagination. He was crazy. No, you're not crazy.

He had to keep moving. Daystar would've wanted it. He took a brief glance to his deputy not too far from him, staggering to a hill not too far away. He had to help her. It was his job as a warrior to keep his clan alive. Dewdrop was his clan.

[Guest]

Dewdrop started when she realized that Grayfall had been with her. She was still disoriented, and she didn't like it. "Grayfall," she meowed, her voice seeming unfamiliar and far away to her ears. "Grayfall," she meowed again after her voice had trailed off into silence, like saying his name brought her closer to reality. "Grayfall, you're here?" She clearer her throat. "Have you-" she coughed, the force of it clearing some of the remaining fog. "We're looking for the others," she stated for herself and him.

[Guest]

Grayfall nodded," Yes, Dewdrop." As he gazed around the muddy terrain, the image of the sliding log clouded his mind. The yells and yowls of his fellow clanmates as they met their demise could be heard through his ears. Daystar's face haunted him when he closed his eyes. The familiar scent of death clouded his nose.

No, don't think.Act, he told himself,opening his eyes. You need to be strong. The tom straightened his posture," Where do we begin searching?"

[Guest]

Dewdrop squared her shoulders as she pointed her nose in the direction of the curve of the hill that they had only left - how long ago had it been? Dewdrop couldn't be certain. Nevertheless, they were going back. "Coalstripe and Firefoot; Tigerpaw and Shadowspot; Pinefeather and Creekheart. They're all there. We'll search for them. We'll be cautious," she meowed it solemnly as a vow, maybe to herself, or to anyone who could hear her voice. Dewdrop would lead them out of this threatening place. They'd go home - or the Moonfall, where she would receive her nine lives as a leader.
Strangely enough, right now she did not feel daunted at the thought. Sure, it was a frightening thing, to be named as leader of a Clan and to stand before StarClan, and she felt ever so unprepared, but then she didn't. This was simply the next step in an obvious course of events. Daystar dies; Dewdrop was deputy; Dewdrop became leader.
"Let's go." The deputy limped towards the curve of the hill.

[Guest]

Grayfall nodded, his expression stony. Is Dewdrop leader now? the young warrior wondered, following her, Is she fit to lead? He wondered why he was asking himself this. She'll make a good leader.She's not strong enough,the back of his mind told him,Look at her. She can barely stand, much less lead Dewclan. Grayfall shook his head, trying to clear himself of dark thoughts. His mind went to his clanmates back in Dewclan.I wonder where Maplejay and the others are.

[Guest]

Dewdrop opened her mouth and inhaled sharply as she limped - she winced because of it - and tried to catch a scent of her Clanmates past the rain and foreboding scent of AbyssClan territory. Were her Clanmates still on the hill? Had Creekheart fallen to the bottom? Had Firefoot been swept away to somewhere nearby? Dewdrop could only hope that they were in as good of condition as she and Grayfall were fortunate to in. Somehow, though, it felt unlikely.
Right now she just prayed for the strength to carry herself to the hill (which got closer at an agonizingly slow speed) and then to carry herself away again, hopefully with more than Grayfall at her side.

OOC: Is someone new going to show up or should we timeskip?

[Guest]

OOC: Not sure. Loki mentioned Creekheart, but I'm not sure if he has anything to do with the thread. I think we should timeskip.

[Guest]

OOC: Alright then. Close to an hour sounds good.

IC: Close to an entire sun-shift passed, Dewdrop leading Grayfall around tall shrubs and wide rocks, attempting to navigate a land that was so different from her own. The territory of AbyssClan was as she had perceived it when she was younger and far away in DewClan: dark and threatening. Dewdrop knew that it seemed even worse now that she had terrible event to tie in to the dark legends that surrounded the Clan - a Clan that wasn't a Clan like they knew.
She was sniffing and drawing scents into her open mouth and sniffing even more, wary at the thought of raising her voice to call for her missing Clanmates in an enemy's territory. She told Grayfall this.

The she-cat looked up towards the foggy top of the massive, steep hill then back to the bottom which they had reached. Our Clanmates can't be far, she thought hopefully. Alive or dead, she added grimly.
Creekheart had been the first to go - where could he be? And Firefoot and Shadowspot? Grimclaw and his apprentice, Tigerpaw? Was Coalstripe still alive? Would they find Daystar's body? These and many more questions were alive in Dewdrop's mind; and she took each and every one calmly and rationally, answered the ones she could and the ones she couldn't she set in a neat pile for later observation. Right now she was searching.
I have Grayfall. It's a good place to start.

The deputy kept looking, leading Grayfall a few steps up the slope (she didn't think it was the slope they'd come from, though.)

[Loki]

Creekheart dragged himself out. He looked around himself sluggishly. Brambles, sloppy mud and groaning logs as they slid dangerously among each other.
He exhaled and wondered whether it'd be easier if he could just go and join Starclan.

[Guest]

OOC: How far away is he from Dewdrop and Grayfall?

IC: Dewdrop's ears pricked up and froze in place, every muscle in her body tenseing. Had she heard something? A cat-voice? She couldn't have been sure. Dewdrop signaled for Grayfall to stay still and quiet, and to keep alert since someone may have been near (she gestured all of this with her ears and tail, in the warrior's way.)
She waited...

[Loki]

OOC: Yeah.
IC:
Creekheart groaned and flopped down for a moment before standing again and crawling from more debris before he could get footing on a track.
"Well that was lucky," he sighed to himself and with a little more relief in his tone mewed, "even Starclan knew this was a bad idea."

[Guest]

Grayfall quickly caught Dewdrop's gesture and froze. He pricked his ears, listening for any signs of a cat approaching. His eyes darted quickly, trying to catch any sign of movement. His nose was clouded with the scent of Abyssclan scent markers and the strong ( and maybe imaginary) scent of death. He let out a light sigh. Nothing.His sensory skills were useless in this weather, this terrain, this clan. He gave Dewdrop a sheepish look and gave a light shake of his head.

[Longstorm]

Somewhere off in the distance a great host of birds swarmed through the air. They'd been searching the closest border between Dewclan and AbyssClan relentlessly, never crossing, but searching, searching. Well, a few did cross - small animals were torn to bits in the process and aging shrubs had their top leaves shredded, as well as any other plants that provided ground cover.
Now, quite systematically, they were beginning to ebb back further into AbyssClan territory, and gradually drawing nearer, though they were still too far away to be heard, to the DewClan cats.

Amongst these birds was loyal robin Sarok, a long-time follower of Despairingcall and a solid supporter of the AbyssClan agenda. The robin felt without a doubt that with his unique perspective as a robin combined with the grand sight and instincts of the few prey-eaters, they would be able to find the Dewy-cats.
Though, Sarok was still wary of a hawk that seemed to enjoy snapping and hissing at the other birds; a newcomer who seemed to be almost dim-witted with the way he screamed and dove and soared, then wheeled about and shrieked and screamed some more as he dive-bombed, then suddenly pulled up not moments from the forest floor. And yet he seemed to be doing his job like everyone else, tearing up foliage and not saying no to any shredded bits of prey that "fell" from the beaks of more enthusiastic hunters.

OOC: I think that there isn't too many birds-of-prey in the group; hawks and the like are very territorial, so you'd have to assume that they live far and wide apart and OH MY GOD I just realized how complicated this is and if RPing birds gets to be a serious thing then we'll have to overlay the Clans' territory map with a BIRD territory and nesting map...but only if it gets serious.
I'm just making NPCs here. Red-tailed hawks are massive and dangerous; and Grackles (as RPed below) are just fun.

IC: Also noting the boisterous hawk was a bird with bronze-sheened body feathers and head feathers of various shades of purple, green, and blue, all gleaming iridescently. The grackle's liquid-yellow eyes darted from here to there; once in a while he let out his creaking call, though it was lost to the rest of the commotion.
The grackle had come visiting from the City with a feeding flock (since grackles were known to feed in protective groups even though they ate mice and small birds as well as seeds and insects) and had been delighted to join in the search. Rarely could he interact with such a diverse group of birds on such fascinating terms, and could only hope that the end of the search was a thousand times more interesting than the search itself.

And the flock continued to search, still too far off to be heard by our cats, but still drawing nearer.

[Guest]

Dewdrop listened closely and signaled for Grayfall to follow, but with extreme caution. She lead the way, her paws barely making a sound (but it all sounded too loud to her, with her pounding heart and her loud breathing - that's how she perceived it, anyways). Could this be one of her Clanmates? Or could it be one of the elusive AbyssClannians, the living, breathing cats she had seen before at Gatherings whose dealings had been spun into legend and horror stories, the living, breathing cats that would have made the landscape appear less emotionless, less indifferent to those who walked upon it; but would the land rise up with the emergence of the cats of AbyssClan?
Nursery tales, nursery tales, she assured herself, knowing that her breathing was calm and her paws were quiet even if she felt otherwise.
The tabby she-cat opened her mouth and breathed deeply, tasting the air: rain, wet branches, wet leaves, wet pine, more rain, and wet. But she knew someone was there when the faint voice carried to her ears again.
Please be one of ours she prayed.

OOC: I'm peppering so much additional information to get across a few thoughts: Dewdrop thinks that AbyssClan territory is cold and unforgiving not just for the terrain, but for the lack of signs of life.
Aaaaaaand I love AbyssClan as much as anyone else who Rps in it and want to make it scawy.

[Loki]

OOC: I know what you mean
IC:
Creekheart stumbled for a moment, still finding his paws before coming completely out of the wreckage. He looked around himself wearily and sat in the mud as if it were all too much,

[Guest]

Dewdrop stalked across the rocky, muddy ground, minding not to brush against bushes and other ground cover she passed, cautious of any who could be watching from somewhere on the hill, or even someone who could be not three fox-lengths away. She inhaled again and again, desperate to know who she would find.
Oh, yes, someone was most certainly there. Dewdrop gestured as much to Grayfall with a single, sharp movement, not daring to look back at him or utter a word. She slowed and got lower to the ground as she continued forward towards the cat-who-she-was-now-sure-was-a-cat. Dewdrop drew forward, passed a fern, and pausing before peeking through.

OOC: SUSPENSE!

[Guest]

Grayfall, clearly aware of the cat just beyond his reach, crouched behind Dewdrop. What if it were an Abyssclanner? Could he and Dewdrop fight the Abyssclanner off? Grayfall was a decent fighter, but he was told cats of the Abyss fight dirty and fight to the death. What chance would he have against such berserk cats? And what if there were more nearby? What if Dewdrop and Grayfall had stumbled into a whole patrol? Negative thoughts like this whirled around in the young warrior's head, creating a spinning funnel, a tornado, full of darkness and negativaty.

Grayfall mentally shook himself of dark thoughts. This place was getting to him . If he was going to find his other clanmates and get them to safety, he needed to stay positive. Pessimistic thinking wasn't going to get him anywhere.

OOC: Sorry for the really short posts. I've been posting from my phone for a while now. My laptop got smashed a few weeks ago.

[Guest]

OOC: You RP real well!

IC: Holding her breath, Dewdrop thrust her face through the bush and looked around. There, sitting in the muck and mud, was Creekheart. "Oh, good," she breathed. "Creekheart," Dewdrop meowed it loud enough for Grayfall to hear though not loud enough for anyone else. Dewdrop looked around again, noting the sort of cover the cats had, then slid out of the bush, murmuring "Come on" to Grayfall.
The deputy padded up to Creekheart, quietly meowing a greeting as she approached.

[Guest]

Grayfall let out a near-silent sigh of relief, his body relaxing. Creekheart! Grayfall studied the young warrior, his head cocked to the side, checking for any sign of serious injury. You're no medicine cat. You have no right to inspect anyone, he scolded himself. He forced his eyes toward to the ground below him and waited patiently for Dewdrop's next command.

[Loki]

OOC: Hello??? *slinks in awkwardly*
IC:
Creekheart almost jumped out of his skin, hackles raising before his brain muttered to him that it was Dewdrop. 
He didn't reply in greeting for a moment; he wasn't sure whether he should be angry with Dewdrop because she let him fall... then again... everyone did. Now look! He said it was a bad idea and now they're all hopelessly trapped. 
His eyes skimmed the edges of the tree line further up the hill grumbling a terse greeting as he watched for an Abbysclan cat that was laughing at them. He was so humiliated.

[Guest]

OOC: 


IC: Grayfall continued to stare at the ground and waited for Dewdrop's next command. He ignored the hunger gnawing at his stomach and his drooping eyelids.It can wait, he thought.

[Guest]

Dewdrop was glad to have another DewClan cat with her. "We're searching for the others," she meowed quietly as she padded forward to stand before Creekheart. "It's just us three right now - you, me, Grayfall," she flicked her tail back to Grayfall's position. "- and we'll search until we're spotted, or until nightfall. Whichever comes first. We shouldn't press our luck in this StarClan-forsaken territory." She looked at the two toms. "Thoughts?"

[Loki]

OOC: Sorry I'm so darn late. The injury in my back has got worse so I'm in and out of hospital like a... well whatever. If I don't answer quickly then I'm dozing off or dying in hospital  
Anyway RP my cats if I don't answer. Sorry guys.
IC:
Creekheart frowned a little, "I suppose we better look for who ever is alive... this was a stupid idea Dewdrop, I hope you better not make it in your reign... that's assuming Daystar is dead. I don't see how starclan can pity him after this."
He looked away, he had a few more words to say that his aching body was still bitter about but decided to hold it.
"I suggest we return, after the search, to our home. Which we shouldn't have left," He huffed the last sentence in disgust at them and at his-self "-then we apologize to the other half who were smarter than us and stayed. Also assuming that they were right in Staying. Damn Maplejay and he know-it-all thinking. I bet she's laughing right now Dewdrop, do you still think you could be leader now?"
(OOC: I'm playing Creekheart a bit bitter now, he's more angry at himself for going than he is at Daystar or Dewdrop, of course.
I still don't want Maplejay to be leader, I have no intention. BTW I like to spice it up and make it less catty sue ).

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