Death Of A Hero [Open To Anyone]

[`s қ y . x x]

He had run, he was sick and tired of everyone thinking he wasn't good at anything and life just wasn't worth living if he was just a shadow to his murderous grandfather. Mistkit had overheard Bluenight talking about a roaming badger and he wanted to go and see it, either rpove himself worthy or be killed as hero.

The older kit stopped at the small rocky patch he knew was Snakerocks and at once could tell why as he moved across, frightened by the adders that were everywhere before him but the most terrifying thing was the two badgers, sitting on the rocks who growled at him when he entered the clearing.

'Well, come and get me you pieces of fox dung!' he yowled as the smaller one came over as Mistkit swung his claws at the badger, scratching his nose firecely as the badger gave a growl and lifted up a huge paw to swing at the kit when suddenly a huge blue figure pelted into the clearing, battering the kit away and taking the blow to the head and falling down at once, unable to move as the badger claws at Bluenight's throat as he yowled his last words. 'Run Mistkit!'

In total horror of watching his only known father be killed because of him, Mistkit gave a squeaked wail as he noticed the larger badger was missing and before he could do anything, the huge badger's claws came down on him, and in horror, he gave in as he was claws through the heart and knew that starclan was waiting.

OOC// I'm gonna miss them, but, I don't know, I didn't want anyone else to roleplay my special characters. Anyone can come to find them and grieve if you want.

[*Simply Seasle*]

Emberpaw was walking softly around, enjoying the day. Her face, normally set into a calm mask, was open and peaceful. For a few seconds you could see that she was a beautiful cat, not a kit anymore. Then she caught the scent of blood. Her eyes turned an icy blue as she wondered whether or not to follow the scent.

It could be dangerous...but I'd never forgive myself if I could have helped someone and didn't. I'm going to be a medicine cat one day....

She moved into the clearing, every muscle tensed, and let out a sharp cry as her paw touched blood.

"What..what happened?" she asked, unconsciously taking a step backwards, her eyes wide with shock.

"Who, what did...did this?"

Emberpaw was used to blood; she had treated cats before after all. But she had never seen dead cats, never seen so much blood.

For a few seconds she stared in horrified fascination. She could see the great gashes in the side of the older cat, some of his fur was ripped off....

She forced herself to look away.

"I should...I should....Cinderheart...I'll go back to camp. Cinderheart, she'll know..she'll know what to do." Emberpaw meowed.

She took one last glance before turning around. At first she simply walked, but then she ran, too scared to admit she was scared.

OOC - Yes, it isn't great, but hey. You said anyone....

[//Cindy// l u n a]

Cinderheart, her legs moving in long and hurried strides, scented blood and moved faster than before, rushing towards the still felines. The bodies weren't terribly mangled, and Cinderheart recognized the two at once. Mistkit and Bluenight, she realized with a jolt. It was terrible when Clanmates died, and Cinderheart sat down on the ground beside the dead cat and took a deep breath in. As soon as the air reached her lungs, she jumped up again - Badger! There was no time to grieve just yet, warriors were needed. The medicine cat knew it was best to leave the poor kit and she-cat until the threat was taken care of. "They were probably killed by badgers. Do you smell that, Emberpaw?" Cinderheart's voice was calm and quiet, if only for the sake of her slightly panicked apprentice.

[*Simply Seasle*]

Emberpaw followed behind Cinderheart, keeping her eyes on her mentor's back, and ignoring the cats. The scent of blood had faded a bit, and the bodies didn't look as horrible with someone else there, but Emberpaw still shivered.

It wasn't really the blood or death or image of the cats that scared her. No, it was the fact that when she actually looked at them without turning her eyes away, her first emotion was fascination. Not disgust or fear or anything else, she could have dealed with that. It was simple curiosity. For a few seconds, she didn't care that these were her Clanmates. For a few seconds it was an interesting game to try and figure out what had killed them and how they had been killed.

Emberpaw had never known that about herself before, never known she could have been a cold blooded killer.

Emberpaw sniffed the air at her mentor's words.

"Yes. I can smell badger. Shouldn't we get back to camp?" she meowed. It was a testament as to how scared Emberpaw was that she suggested something Cinderheart hadn't.

OOC - Emberpaw has issues...oh, this is fun. Hey, are you planning on having Cinderheart get killed by the badger here? Just wondering.

[//Cindy// l u n a]

ooc: Cinderheart will have a plot-related death. You don't get anymore info than that!

"Yes. Come, let's get a warrior." She padded quickly away, keeping her breath steady so she wouldn't alarm Emberpaw. The poor cat seemed quite scared. Cinderheart was careful to wait, flicking her tail so her apprentice would know to go in front of the medicine cat. Cinderheart wanted to be able to keep an eye on Emberpaw because of the badgers and because of the other's stress level. She scented the breeze and was relieved to find that the smell of badger was fading. She let herself breath a tiny sigh of relief, letting out tenseness she hadn't realized she'd been containing.

ooc: after you reply, I'll make a thread in TC camp. Or you can, I don't care. Maybe called "Warrior Needed"

[*Simply Seasle*]

OOC: I see...about the warrior thing, you should, after you reply to this. Sorry, but I wanted to have Ember say something, and this came out....

Emberpaw slipped in front of Cinderheart quietly. Her blue eyes had a muted, almost cold look to them, but if that had not been seen, she would have looked as normal.

"I...." she began, her voice soft and distant sounding. "I didn't know this would affect me. I've been treating cats for a while now. Does this mean I might not be a good medicine cat?"

That other apprentice...was she sent to replace me?

[//Cindy// l u n a]

Cinderheart watched her apprentice curiously as the cat began to speak, and the medicine cat's expression quickly turned to concern. "Emberpaw, even medicine cats don't like seeing dead cats. I will never, never get used to running into already killed felines when my guard is down. At first, it's like a cat suddenly decided to attack me out of the blue. It means nothing about your ability to be a good medicine cat." She hoped these words would help the apprentice, but they only would if Emberpaw had told Cinderheart the true root of the problem. It was very likely that there was more to Emberpaw's inner struggle than met even her own eye.

OOC: Why don't we try to continue this for a while, until the ceremony at camp is done. We can just say the are walking and have moved away from where the badger is.

[*Simply Seasle*]

Emberpaw nodded, but she didn't get the 'everything-will-be-okay' feeling from Cinderheart's words. If anything, she felt more worried.

Cinderheart never gets used to it....but I can. I know I can. I know I don't have to be like Cinderheart to be a good medicine cat, but I know almost any cat would feel that way after finding dead cats. The problem is, I didn't. And when I think about it now, I don't...I don't really care. And I should.

Emberpaw shook her head to clear herself of her thoughts.

I should think about something lighter, like....what my name will be.

Emberpaw eyes seemed to change into a light blue. In a few second she went from being a weighted down cat to a cheerful apprentice.

"I was just thinking...you mentioned something about giving me a warrior name. Do you know what it might be?"

[//Cindy// l u n a]

"Ohh... but if I told you that, it would ruin the surprise." Cinderheart said, trying to sound as light-hearted as Emberpaw. The medicine cat was glad her apprentice wasn't so depressed, but wondered privately how anycat could switch from panicked to cheerful so quickly, especially after seeing two dead Clan-members. Cinderheart didn't tell Emberpaw, but the feline was soon to know what her adult name would be. Cinderheart felt that her first apprentice deserved and was ready for a role of greater responsibility. Emberpaw would help in the training of Willowpaw, the younger medicine-cat-to-be.

[*Simply Seasle*]

"But I don't like surprises." meowed Emberpaw playfully, fimrly pushing her feeling of fear farther out of her mind as she spoke. "Couldn't you give me a hint?"

OOC - No time to make a good post...

[//Cindy// l u n a]

OOC: What do you want the name to be?

[*Simply Seasle*]

OOC: Truthfully? I've got no clue. Maybe something like Embermoon, or Embersight, or something that doesn't mean her fur is red....

[//Cindy// l u n a]

OOC: I was thinking something like that, too. I like Embermoon. There's also Emberwing or Emberlake or Emberstream or something like that. Or Emberleaf.

[&&Ðяëāmÿ[ðòñò]]

[/b] The silver she-cat asked. She was worried for her friends of coarse.[/size][/ul]

[*Simply Seasle*]

OOC - Yeah, but those could mean her fur is red, so....personally, I like Embersight. It would suit her. But then, it is Middy's choice.

Emberpaw turned around quickly, her reaction fast, but her eyes muted. When she saw Willowpaw, she relaxed.

"Oh, it's just you. It's....well, I found Mistkit and Bluenight dead. It was probably a badger who killed them because we could smell its scent around. There was a lot of blood, which is why you smell it on us." Emberpaw meowed, trying to answer all of Willowpaw's questions. Her voice had turned much calmer than when she was speaking to Cinderheart, and less shaky.

Keep it together for Willowpaw. She's not much more than a kit. Keep her calm, act like everything's fine, like I can deal with it.... Emberpaw thought, not noticing how her reactions changed when Willowpaw came.