And We Will Always Remember How We Lit Up The Sky [P]

[Abyssopelagic]

She lets out a deep, rumbling sigh as she stares out what she now knows is called a window.

Window....

Windoooooowww....

It was such a strange word, almost as strange as realizing she could discern certain sounds the two-legs made. It was rather concerning to know she'd spent enough time with them for the recognition to happen.
She'd started picking apart the sounds they made when they spoke to her. About her. She'd picked out a word, a name she thinks they've been using for her.

Sshhhaannddraa....

Chandra....?

Chandra, the thinks, sounds about like what they'd been saying. She tolerated it, the name, as she had no real way to communicate her real name to them.

It was fine....

It....

It was....

It wasn't fine....

Truthfully, she hated it.
It was just another thing that was being taken from her, another part of her identity she was losing.
It was one more thing these two-legs had taken from her. Her home, her family ..... Her name....
Even if she somehow escaped and could return to them all, there was no guaranteeing that the damage that was done would ever be fixed.
Emotional and physical.
Her shoulder ached, reminding her that even with the medicine they seemed to have, she may never regain full use of that leg. It was a terrifying thought.
She's always been healthy and fit. She didn't know how she's adjust to a disability so late in life. And would Dawnstar even allow her back home of she couldn't hunt or fight?
Would she be able to find enough ways to stay useful to justify the space she took?
Would anyone even be waiting for her if she did escape?
Was she better off staying here?

She couldn't think of many cats who might miss her. She was so used to not having friends.
She had Vulturefang and Hawkbite but .... She couldn't imagine they'd miss her much. They had other friends, friends they likely saw more often.
She doubted even Cloudpaw would care. It wasn't as if they'd gotten any chances to do any training.....
What about Sagechaser? Wildshore?
No, more so than the deputy and Enforcer, they surely had others they spoke to more often.
She wasn't even sure her own kittens would miss her, she'd been taken so early in their lives.

She pressed her face to the small, slitted opening at the bottom of the window, taking in the smells of outside. She'd long given up trying to open the damn thing.
It was too heavy despite how little effort it seemed to take the furless ones. Besides, she didn't want this one small joy to be taken from her in the event they saw her trying to pry it open.
No, this was one thing too precious to risk being taken from her. She had too few pleasures in life as it was.
She closed her eyes as she breathed in the biting, chilly air from outside.




@SuspiciousMindz

[SuspiciousMindz]

[Hawkbite]

The mission that day was to find his sister. . . or get more clues as to what happened. Dawnstar seemed convinced that the humans were to blame for it so Hawkbite took a small adventure away to go search for the she-cat. He was uncomfortably close to the dens they lived in. Actually, he was out of his comfort zone totally and there were already a few times where he turned tail to head back to his home.

It seemed like a useless thing to waste his time with. What was he expecting to find? It wasn't like his sister was going to just appear out of the shadows. Part of him believed she would. There wasn't a scent of her. No signs anywhere. It seemed hopeless now and he felt as though he should just give up and grieve like a normal cat. Those thoughts echoed constantly in his head, but part of him just couldn't give up yet.

A new tear fell from his muzzle hitting his paw mid-step.

Hawkbite paused in his steps, once more debating turning around and heading home. The last thing he needed was to be skinned for getting hurt out here. Kittypets weren't the problem, but the loners were. He gritted his teeth, fighting back any other tears and lifting his head. He'd let out a long sigh before parting his mouth a little and taking in a deep breath.

Just one last scent check. One last attempt at hope. He'd go home if nothing.

But. . . what was that? It couldn't be. . .

He inhaled again, his eyes widening with disbelief. It wasn't the scent he was looking for, but it was all too familiar to ignore. Hawkbite's body went stiff and his body turned in the direction the scent seemed to be coming from. He was downwind of her.

His paws took off in long strides, his nose working desperately to track her down. It'd been too long and he wasn't going home until he confirmed it.

"WOOLLYFEATHER?!"

His yowl echoed across the area, his claws scraping up the sides of a fence. Once on the top, he strained his ears, listening for any signs of her.

@Abyssopelagic

[Abyssopelagic]

The silence that she'd become accustomed to was broken by a distant, frantic rushing around. Blinking, the lilac point lifted her head to gaze outside, eyes searching for the source of the sound.
She figured, if she could hear it, whoever was in a hurry must be close by. Perhaps it was another cat, and she could convince them to stop by and talk to her.
Stars, she could use the company.
The two-legs weren't great conversationalists. They didn't understand her, and when they mimicked her speech, it was jarring, the words broken and sounds distorted, nothing comprehensible. And deeply unsettling, bone chilling almost to hear their warbling tones.
So she stopped trying to talk to them. And she was dying to be able to speak to anyone at this point.
She sat up, folded ears waggling as she noticed a distant figure hop onto a fence and wildly look around. Hah, this must be the mystery individual making so much noise.
Before she could call to them to coax them closer, the shriek of her name from such a familiar voice made her freeze. Her brain swam, mind reeling and trying to place the voice.

Hawkbite...?

"Hawkbite! I'm here!"

She ducked down and pressed her face to the slit, uninjured shoulder digging into the lip of the window trying to push it open wider.

Home!

Freedom!

Someone familiar!

It was all right there and no amount of struggling and pushing brought it any close to her reach. So tantalizingly close, but just out of her grasp.
She sobbed in frustration as she stretched her arm beneath the opening and flailed her paw, still uselessly reaching.
She tried to squeeze her head underneath, but a small ridge painfully caught her chin. Lashing her tail, she pulled her head back so that she was looking out again.
Her body trembled as she pressed her nose to the edge, and once again called to her friend.



[ @SuspiciousMindz ]

[SuspiciousMindz]

[Hawkbite]

It was her. His eyes wildly searched the area around him before they'd rest on a cats arm reaching desperately for the outside. He ran across the fence tops quickly, making his way to the yard that was attached to the den she was in. Leaping down with a thud, he didn't care that he'd landed ungracefully and nearly tripped over his paws.

"Woolly!" He gasped, racing up to the window and standing on his hind legs to look through the sliver of the window. He tried to squeeze his own way through the sliver, unable to move the window either. Instead, he let his muzzle rest on windowsill and his arm reached into the den. At that moment he didn't care if the humans noticed him. He could outrun them before they'd have a chance to get near him.

Tears streamed from his green eyes as he looked over the familiar she-cat through the glass. This might've been the first time she'd see him crying but he didn't care. It was like he was staring at a ghost. He didn't think he'd ever see his best friend again. The ache in his heart was all too real for him to hide right now.

"I knew you weren't dead," he nearly whispered. His voice was filled with a mixture of joy and sorrow. "I'll get you out of here, I swear it."

@Abyssopelagic

[Abyssopelagic]

It was him!
Oh stars, she'd worried she'd been hearing things, that maybe she was wrong and.... And... And....
As Hawkbite hopped down and ran over, reaching his own paws in, she grasped at whatever part of him she could get, paw pads curling around in an attempt to hold him closer. As if she was scared he'd slip away, or to tug him closer, to make sure he was real and stars.
It almost didn't feel real.
She was quivering in spite of herself and a whine slipped from her maw as he declared that he'd free her.
She unconsciously tried to tug him closer, as if he'd just announced he was leaving. She just got him back.... He just found her, she didn't want him to leave her for even a moment. But she knew he couldn't stay with her. She couldn't do to him what was done to her.
This was not a life she'd force on anyone, least of all her best friend.

"I've tried," she whispers.
"They caught me trying to escape and they've not given me an opening since. I'm...." she cute herself off, ear flicking and glancing over her shoulder.
If she was to escape, it wouldn't be today. Not without another plan. Another opening.
She'd need the time to watch more closely.
She turned back to Hawkbite. Now that her mind wasn't swimming, she was as confused as she was happy.
What reason would a warrior, much less an Enforcer, be out by the Twoleg-Place? Surely not to find one warrior.
As close as they may or may not have been, there was no reason.... To risk your life to look for someone who could very well be dead.
"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"


[ @SuspiciousMindz ]

[SuspiciousMindz]

[Hawkbite]

He lived in the moment, cherishing each moment he was able to touch Woollyfeather. What if he never got to again? It was nearly leaf-bare, surely the humans wouldn't leave an opening to their den much longer! The thought terrified him so he stayed in that moment, watching the she-cat, taking in her scent, and savoring the touch of her fur in his paws.

"I'll figure out a way, I'll get you out of there," Hawkbite promised softly, letting his gaze shift over her shoulder as well. They both knew they had to keep watch otherwise this moment would be ripped away from them. Hawkbite just had to be extra careful, he couldn't be trapped too, although the rescue mission might be of more success if he cause mayhem within the den. He rested on that thought a moment before she spoke up.

His heart sank a little, but he inhaled sharply despite his emotions. "I was looking for clues for clanmate disappearances," the Enforcer spoke with a small sigh. "Vixensnarl and Cougarivy had gone missing recently," he said missing, but Hawkbite spared Woollyfeather the image he witnessed regarding Vixensnarl.

"But I found you and you're all that matters right now, Woolly. I won't be losing you again," Hawkbite whispered, some new emotion shimmered in his glassy eyes. Tears weren't running down his muzzle anymore, but the residue remained. He leaned into the window a little more, his own paw pads curling into her fur.

@Abyssopelagic

[Abyssopelagic]

Woollyfeather was grateful when Hawkbite pressed closer, filling in the spaces she couldn't push close enough to occupy against her. She breathed in the familiar scent of home, of a friend.
Oh, how she'd missed the feeling of someone familiar at her side, and the scent of home and family and comfort.
She pressed her nose as close to the slit as she could without it clacking her face again and tried to stare back at her friend, tried to memorize his every feature and the way he smelled and the press of him against her.
He spoke of freedom, an impossible and silly thing to believe could ever be hers again. The nosy two-legs always made sure of that.

When her friends gaze flickered behind her, she stilled, ears swiveling as far back as she could make them move and listened intently. She didn't dare look away, scared that he'd disappear, and she'd be left alone again.
When no movement or sound caught her attention, the tension in her body faded once more and she eased out a shaky breath.
Her eyes darted across Hawkbite's face as he mentioned the events that brought him to her. The disappearances.
At least one of them hadn't been seen in awhile by the time she was snatched. The gears in her head turned for a few moments, before she made a terrible realization.
"No, you can't stay," she hissed.
"You need to go home and warn the Clan. It cannot be a coincidence that so many of us went missing at once."
She no proof of any of what she was about to say next, but she didn't believe much in coincidence anymore.
"We aren't safe anymore. The two-legs, they have something new. An animal, a tool, I don't know.... I didn't get to see it, but the moment it roared, before I could possibly react a searing pain ripped through my shoulder and sent me tumbling end over end, nearly a tree length before the pain took me. When I woke, I'd been captured by the two-legs, and a hole torn into my side."
She had to stop, her breathing now coming out in gasps as her side burned at the memory of seeing her own blood gush terribly, like a rapid flowing river of her own life waters.
It was.... Better, now. It hurt less, and whatever the white clad creatures in the equally blinding and white den had done had also returned mobility in her shoulder, after the initial aching that accompanied the original wounds.
"If there are others that went missing around the same time, it's a terrifying possibility that these disappearances are connected and ShadowClan must be warned."
It was a few moments before she was grounded back to reality, and what was before her. A chance, an opportunity.
She may never call ShadowClan home again, and her only tastes of freedom from a little window, but Hawkbite could return with more than one message.
"And more than anything, I need you to return to my kits. Please. They must know that I love them, still. That I love them, and I didn't abandon them. And that I'm sorry I cannot be there for them."
Surely, her dear friend would not deny her this?
He did not need to leave immediately, but.... Soon. The longer he stayed, the greater risk he was taking.


[ @SuspiciousMindz ]

[SuspiciousMindz]

[Hawkbite]

His green hues would study her closely as she made her requests. It almost broke his heart again, knowing that he would have to leave her here. He'd return home without his best friend, once more. Eventually she'd return though. . . eventually. He couldn't lose that hope and she was speaking rather logically. It was true, the longer he was here, the more at risk he put himself.

Hawkbite would allow a small sigh to escape him before he'd offer one of those cheeky smiles he had when he was being mischievous. He'd just recalled something when she mentioned her kits. "I do have something to share about your kits," he started, easing his grip on the she-cat for a moment, in case she decided to bite his paw over this. "Mothkit calls me Uncle Hawky now. I'm going to get the rest of them on it too," he promised before he'd become more somber again.

"I'll tell them for you," he spoke with a nod, "They deserve to know."

There was a small pause before he'd work up the words to tell her. "I'll inform Dawnstar and Vulturefang when I return too. Vulturefang would want to know too," The last part came out more as a mumble than he intended it to. He'd caught himself doing that and cleared his throat for a moment, his gaze averting her and to the background once more. He was acting as though he was keeping a lookout, but he was intentionally hiding the jealously he felt spring through his chest. This wasn't the time. There wouldn't be a time. He'd accept that eventually too.

@Abyssopelagic