[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:74ffd2]Echobreeze[/smear:ffffff]

~~~~~~~~~

The small frame of a calico she-cat lay upon the branch of a tree. This particular tree was so frequented by the little warrior that it seemed as though a small indent the exact shape of her body should be permanently carved into it. These past few moons, she had spent most of her free time in this spot. She would, of course, still perform any warrior duties that were required of her, but like everything she did now, it was obvious that at only half her heart was put into what she was doing. Perhaps even less that that.

Dull green eyes stared out onto RainClan territory, visible from her perch. It had been here that she'd met him. As though StarClan were mocking her, memories stirred in her head, memories she had been fighting so hard to keep at bay.

The little calico's head tipped back slightly so that her soft green eyes could meet those of the massive tom standing before her. He easily loomed over her, his shadow consuming her completely. And yet... There was no fear in her heart. Echobreeze, who had seemingly been scared of her own shadow for so long, felt nothing but a burst of warmth towards the great tom before her. Stretching as far as she could, she could just barely brush the soft fur beneath his chin. If she had any hope of brushing her nose to his, he would have to bend to help her. And he did, every time. Words weren't something they ever seemed to require using. He understood her actions, all the little things she did. No one had ever seemed to understand her like he did. And there was nothing more exciting to her than when he spoke her name. There were those who felt sorry for his stammer. Not her. She didn't care. She loved him. Every part of him. His head bowed slightly, and their fur brushed ever so gently, his breath warm and soft against her ear...

A sharp sob caught the she-cat off guard, violently tearing her from her memories. Claws dug painfully into the tree bark, her body trembling. Her chest felt so unbearably tight that she found it hard to breathe. A choking sound left her as she fought desperately to regain what little sanity was left for her in the world. But the weight was too strong for her fragile form.

It had been two moons since she'd found out. They'd found him lying near the border, limp, bleeding, gone. They speculated that something had attacked him when he'd been heading off somewhere. But what it was that attacked him, or where it was that he was going was a mystery. But she knew. She knew why he'd been out there, why he'd lost his life that day. He'd been on his way to see her. With the spread of the infection, he'd been checking in on her. He had lost his life making sure that she was alright.

It was her fault. The sobs that claimed her left her feeling weak. When they finally ceased, after wracking her poor frame for StarClan knew how long, the sun had changed position. It was well on its way to its descent by now, and part of her knew she should be getting back to the Clan. But the other part of her had no desire to return to NightClan. Her too-thin frame shivered as she took a breath in, the air spiralling through her lungs, almost burning. She felt numb. Nothing but numbness. She couldn't find the energy to move her tail, which hung limply over the side of the branch.

It would take a miracle to get her out of that tree. Perhaps she'd end up spending another night here. Would anyone notice? The only one who'd ever noticed her was gone. He'd worry his fur off, knowing just how little she ate, or cared for herself in general really. She knew that he wouldn't want this... But it was so hard, so hard to find even the smallest fragment of energy. What was she to do when the biggest motivator for her to keep moving was just...


Gone?

Unbeknownst to the she-cat in the tree, she was not quite alone. Another NightClan warrior had stumbled upon her some time ago. Strawberryfrost shifted awkwardly from paw to paw, unsure of whether to approach or not. Echobreeze was older than she was, which made it weird for her to suggest they go back. If only someone else were here to help... Glancing over broad shoulders, Strawberryfrost contemplated whether she should stay or just... Leave her alone.

Note: Leaving this open! If you choose to join, you can go and join Echo, or you can join Strawberry. I'm leaving the option for this thread open. Two possible paths are better than one, right?

[Insidious]

Hollowcry

When the eyes of his former apprentice were directed over her shoulders, undoubtedly searching for somebody that’d be able to take over and get that crazed she-cat out of the damned tree, they were met with the familiarly sharp gold of Hollowcry’s. His dark brown fur was nearly undetectable amongst the blackness that the setting sun provided overhead; he moved like his limbs were made of the finest silk, approaching the warrior’s side with carefully chosen steps and settling for a moment, just a single moment, to examine the unusual situation before him. He wanted to laugh. Loudly. She looked as though her world was nothing short of a complete disaster. Like she wanted nothing more than to grit her claws into the bark and scream for the next millennia. He knew not what reason was behind her trauma, and although he had no particular interest in finding out - it was painful having to be someone else’s shoulder - he assumed if not him, not Strawberryfrost either. She didn’t seem willing to take matters into her own paws. Perhaps she, too, was unequipped when it came to dealing with a stressful she-cat? If so, then both of them were free to leave this mess as it was and pretend they never saw a thing. That was often easier. This possibility was expressed in the dark glisten of his eyes, flecked with the traces of humour he dared not voice aloud. The lithe warrior bent himself over, leaning closer to Strawberryfrost to whisper words of distaste into her ears. “Nightclan, I’m afraid, is home to some of the greatest freaks I have ever laid eyes on.” He may as well have thanked her, right then and there, for not being a disappointment all of those moons ago when she had been his apprentice. Having spent a lot of her time with Hollowcry when she had been younger, she likely knew enough about the dark brown tom to know that he often found it entertaining to make fun out of another’s suffering. He loved to exploit weakness, and to kick somebody when they were down. It was the ultimate way to be superior.

With a whispered scoff and an irritated flick of his tail, Hollowcry abandoned Strawberryfrost’s flank and approached the bottom of the tree that the calico warrior inhabited. He didn’t care if she hadn’t noticed him yet. If she didn’t, then she was about to. He fiddled his way up the base of the tree, working his way higher and higher until he reached the branch that she was seated upon. His cold eyes fixed on her body in a moment of complete stillness, analyzing the situation from up close and personal before thrusting his back legs and pulling himself onto the branch, taking a seat at the she-cat’s side. He knew her. Or at least, he knew of her. The two had never actually spoken to one another; she had been of no interest to the tom before now. Before she looked like she was on the brink of going insane. Insanity had a tendency of pricking his interest. He loved to get inside of somebody else’s head, and it was a lot easier when their heads were already pried apart and open for the picking. Now it was time to see how deep into her veins these wounds had traveled.

“As much as I love staring off into nothing - sitting up in a tree all day, and all night, and doing absolutely nothing, nothing at all - I do draw the line somewhere, don’t you?” Yes, he was being sarcastic. Which, yes, meant he was making fun of her. Nobody would ever know though, what with the look of pure, genuine concern that clouded his eyes. It seemed like he was actually curious about why she was up in this tree, when really he’d rather be anywhere else than at her side and asking. “I’m guessing that you’ve got an explanation, and I’m dieing to hear it before I assume the worst: meaning you need rescuing from this very spot.” Yes, he was prepared to grab her by the scruff of the neck and drag her down the tree like a helpless kitten. You know why? Because if he did that, then she’d never hear the end of it. Nobody would. It’d be just another day where something ridiculous happened to somebody else because of him, and just another day where he got to benefit from somebody else’s misery. He couldn’t help but be tempted to embarrass her. Embarrassment, after all, was a rather ugly thing to experience. If her experience was ugly, than all the more beautiful his could be.

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:74ffd2]Echobreeze[/smear:ffffff]

~~~~~~~~~

The little calico had been so lost and absorbed in her grief, her numbness, that she hadn't been aware, not even in the slightest, of the approach of the tom. Though Strawberryfrost had spoken, trying to stop him from doing anything stupid towards the timid she-cat, Echobreeze might as well have been deaf, for not one of the words spoken had registered in her mind. It wasn't until Hollowcry's claws dug into the tree branch and he hauled himself up onto the same branch, making it bow a little more under their combined weight, that the warrioress became aware of any company she might have.

Dull eyes widened in alarm, a startled light filling them. For the first time in moons, her heart was sent a flutter, but it was one of something akin to terror rather than the warmth a certain tom had once been able to instil within her. The chill of fear settled in her belly, clenching the muscles there. She involuntarily scrabbled to her feet, stepping back a little. Her claws scratched desperately at the bark as her body tipped precariously, nearly sending her falling to the ground far below her.

Her stomach expanded and contracted in rapid succession as she stared wide-eyed at the tom before her. All rational thought, all sanity relating to how she was supposed to react in any sort of social situation was immediately thrown from her mind, and very likely obliterated on the ground somewhere at the base of the tree. Seriously, it was some StarClan given miracle that she was still perched where she was. When it finally occurred to her that, if she wanted to look even the least bit normal to this particular tom, whom she identified as Hollowcry, it was about time that she did something. Anything.

"Y-Yes I d-do draw the l-line but I.. N-No I d-don't have.. I'm n-not sure what y-you... I m-mean I g-guess it's j-just a b-bad.. D-Day..." Her voice trailed off into nothingness as her ears pivoted, pinning slightly against her head. Ever the submissive, nervous she-cat, she looked just about ready to roll over onto her back. The only thing stopping her, of course, was the fact that doing so would quite possibly send her to her death. Eyes glancing away from him to stare down at her little paws as she fought so desperately to cling to the bark, she managed one more sentence.

"I d-don't n-need resc-cuing... I c-can get down by m-myself..."

[Insidious]

Hollowcry

It took an effort that the tom-cat wasn’t willing to give to properly decipher her words between the frequent stutters. He watched, amusement flickering through his golden eyes, as she scrambled to her paws in surprise and nearly tumbled down the length of the tree. She looked to him like he was the enemy; like she had a reason to be afraid of his next move. Hollowcry had no intention of harming her - physically, at least. Perhaps his reasoning for scaling the tree had something to do with verbal abuse, but now, staring at her wide eyes and nervous paws, he found himself wondering if perhaps her actual name was Echokit. After all, he had yet to come across another warrior that couldn’t at least pretend to be at ease when they were uncomfortable. She seemed so . . . scared; surely her life was not that sheltered.

He chuckled, rising from his seat and taking a step closer to her. “Are you sure?” Another step. It was wrong of him to try and push her to her limits. If she had a comfort zone, she had clearly established what it was, and Hollowcry was doing everything in his power to annihilate it. The she-cat didn’t have anywhere she could go to escape him: she could easily turn her back to him and start climbing, but he found it hard to believe that she had enough strength in her nervous legs to keep herself from falling if she tried. He took one last, smaller step, now close enough to the NightClan she-cat that, if he breathed, it’d likely ruffle through the fur along the side of her neck. He stood his ground for a moment too long before suddenly, sharply, angling his slender frame downwards and jumping off of the branch. He landed on one directly below it, balancing his weight before taking another leap and, this time, landing with his paws on the earth. He took a seat, tilting his head skywards and examining the branches until he once again located Echobreeze. He offered the she-cat a grin, though it wasn’t entirely pleasant, before beckoning for her to do the same. “Get on with it, then. I’m not going to stand by and watch you mope up there any longer. It’s depressing.” He dismissed the thought of it with the flick of an ear, watching intently to see what she’d do.

He had no idea what had her so upset. He’d barely gotten anything worthwhile out of her with his interrogation, and for whatever reason, he assumed he wouldn’t be getting much more than precisely that. Hollowcry wasn’t well known for his patience, but he was willing to put in a little more of his time than unusual with this one - maybe even walk her back to the camp. It wasn’t because he had any sympathy for her; in fact, he didn’t even want her company anymore. He’d much sooner turn his back and walk away, because it was clear as day that he wasn’t going to be gaining anything beneficial to him from this outing. But, regardless of what he wanted, he could at least try and get on her good side. Maybe, if he at least managed to do that, then he could discover something about this innocent looking she-cat that he’d be free to manipulate. Judging by what he saw right now, it didn’t seem likely. There was far better candidates that he could be wasting his time with: he hadn’t seen Blackwolf in a while, and it was always fun making jokes at Ratfur’s expense. But, he supposed, if he was going to be wasting his time anyway, it didn’t entirely matter who had the honour of sharing that waste of time with him. She would just have to due.

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:74ffd2]Echobreeze[/smear:ffffff]

~~~~~~~~~

He was so close. So close. It made her heart want to leap out of her chest and take flight. It was horrifying to her, and there wasn't even a logical sounding reason for it. All she knew was that this tom made her feel incredulously uncomfortable. It was like there was some darkness, some malice behind his eyes that she could see. Most cats didn't bother with her. They saw how scared, how pathetic she was all the time, and they left her alone, probably just hoping that she'd find her own end so that NightClan could be rid of such a weak cat.

But Hollowcry.. He wouldn't leave her alone. He just kept coming closer, pushing harder. It was terrifying to the socially awkward, extremely introverted cat who'd only ever gotten along with one tom. A tom who was from another Clan and dead. With every step closer he took, Echobreeze became more and more convinced that this was some cruel joke sent down from StarClan, a punishment for having ever thought of leaving NightClan to join RainClan, to be with Gorgelight. There was no other explanation for it. Suddenly, he was so close that the little she-cat found herself holding her breath, for fear of stirring his fur if she were to exhale.

And then he was gone. Alarm flashed over the calico's features, her claws digging into the bark more urgently than before. With a tiny, startled squeak she quickly looked down, almost expecting the worse. What she saw was Hollowcry making his way down through the branches until all four of his paws were once again safely on the ground. Her heart was beating violently in her chest, but she relaxed slightly, both because her Clanmate was safe, and because it seemed that he had decided to leave her alone after all.

Or so she thought. Turns out she couldn't have been more wrong. At the sound of his voice, she made a small sound to herself, one of distress. He wanted her to climb down. In front of him. Suddenly nervous to perform something she had done countless times before, she dared peak over the branch to blink down at her tormenter. Swallowing the bile that rose in her throat, Echobreeze carefully made her way to the trunk of the tree. Once there, she hooked her claws into the bark and began to clamber down the trunk.

At each branch, she would pause a moment to rest her claws. Before Hollowcry could hurry her along, however, she'd be sure to make sure she was already on her way to the next one. It seemed to take an eternity to the little she-cat, her heart hammering in her ears, temporarily deafening her. Finally, the ground was close enough to reach. With a slight hop, she dislodged herself from the tree, her little paws meeting the ground. They were still shaky, so her landing wasn't quite as graceful as it might have been, had she been alone. With a soft cough, she stared down at her paws, just barely able to choke out a few words.

"S-See... N-No help n-needed..."

[Insidious]

Hollowcry

Watching her squirm with the idea of descending the tree with an audience, either holding her breath or about to faint from the pressure, was more amusing than anything he had ever seen. He maintained an expressionless facade, refraining from averting his eyes for even a second, observing every shift of muscle beneath her thin fur like a mentor would for their apprentice. There was a few moments when he was convinced that she would fall. Her paws didn’t seem entirely sturdy; he couldn’t decide whether the blood wasn’t running into her legs properly, or she was just too nervous to perform the descent as perfectly as she otherwise could. In complete honesty, he hoped it was the latter of his thoughts that was true. Hollowcry didn’t need the boost to his ego; he already acted like there was a throne waiting for him back in NightClan camp, and that throne would only prove to be shinier and more regal by the second if he could persuade himself into believing that this she-cat was panicked by the possibility of messing up in front of him. There was one way to find out for sure, and he had every intention of acting upon the new plan already taking shape behind his suspicious eyes.

As soon as Echobreeze was safely on the ground, he flashed a devilishly handsome smile, taking a gracious step closer to her. “Come on,” he stood at her side for only a second, “I’ll walk you back to our camp.” He looked over his shoulders, monitoring the way that she refused to look anywhere other than at the dirt beneath their paws. There was a brief moment where he could’ve sworn that his heartbeat slowed, a moment where a small part of him might have actually felt sorry for her, and for whatever had caused her to look more depressed, more beaten down, than was normal by the occasional glimpse of her he’d seen around. That part of him caught on fire in the next instant, bursting into flames and disintegrating before he could even acknowledge its existence. There was nothing to feel sorry for, anyway. If anything was actually wrong with her, he knew better than to think she’d actually come to him to talk about it. Nobody came to him.

He was a jerk.

“You don’t have to be so nervous around me, I’m not that scary you know.” The tomcat’s golden eyes burned a little brighter, glancing to the side to once again rake his greedy eyes over the tortoiseshell. “I wouldn’t be mad if it was because you thought I was handsome, or something well along those lines. Is that what’s going on with you?” There probably wasn’t a worse thing that he could’ve said to her. She was a heartbroken she-cat with no intention of looking at another tomcat in such a light, but he had no way of knowing that. Even if he did know that, he would’ve said it anyway. That’s just the kind of feline that he was: manipulative, and sometimes even a little bit cruel. She had such a hard time speaking to him - looking at him, too, for the matter! - that he couldn’t help but want to jump to conclusions as he had.

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:74ffd2]Echobreeze[/smear:ffffff]

~~~~~~~~~

Basically resigned to her fate, figuring that the tom cat wouldn't be leaving her to her own miserable devices anytime soon, the little tortoiseshell was prepared to follow him back to camp. He was so insistent, and she was just so... Tired. Grief and misery were exhausting. She'd forgotten about that ever since she'd met Gorgelight. It was as though the big russet tom had been her source of energy. She didn't need the sun as long as she had had him. And now... Now he was gone, and she was left running solely off of the memories of him that remained.

Her ears flicked slightly as he began speaking again, managing to glance over at him. Or rather... At his legs. She didn't want to lift her head much further. Whether the cause of that was her embarrassment or her exhaustion, she could no longer tell. She just knew she didn't want to. She was about to murmur something that would get them moving so that she could escape Hollowcry's haunting presence as soon as possible, when the dark furred tom managed to beat her to the starting block. And the next words would cause everything in the little she-cat to come to a crashing halt.

Her head snapped up, green eyes stretched wide in horror. But within them was an unmistakable glint. It was no longer pain that haunted her over the loss of Gorgelight. It was as though Hollowcry had poured salt all over her fragile wounds, and had left her burning in agony. She could feel the tears pricking at her eyes as a squeezing, suffocating feeling of melancholy wrapped around her heart. Little legs felt weak, as though they might buckle beneath her at any moment, and it took everything she had left to keep herself standing.

When the sobs first hit her, she was caught completely off guard. A strangled, hiccuping sound escaped her moments before she dropped her head and took off running. She moved as quickly as her sleep-deprived body would take her, paws light, as though they weren't hers. She couldn't remember her last meal, and it was becoming apparent to the little tri-colored she-cat that she hadn't eaten in quite a while. Her world spun and her vision blurred, but she just kept on going. Her movements were clumsy, and it was probably a miracle that she hadn't collided with something yet and terribly injured herself.

She didn't care. She just had to keep running.

[Insidious]

H O L L O W C R Y

If there had been one thing - one thing! - that he hadn’t expected to happen after he said that small collection of words to the presumably shy and skittish she-cat, it was that she would run away. It took a moment for him to fully acknowledge the situation for what it was, blinking confused eyes in the direction where the she-cat had just sprinted off after releasing something between a whimper and a shriek that nearly had his ears bleeding. How he hated unnecessary noises. The last thing she probably wanted was for Hollowcry to register this whole situation as a little game of chase, which was precisely why that was the first thought that entered his mind. Taking off after her at a full-blown dash, it was only a matter of time before he managed to catch up to her. What Hollowcry lacked in size, he gained in agility. When he took that outstanding agility of his and combined it with his need to excel challenges - this being what he considered her running away: a challenge through which he could ultimately prove himself the faster of the two - you ended up with someone near unbeatable when it came down to a race.

Having just reached the tip of the she-cat’s tail, Hollowcry took a chance and jumped. If all went according to plan, he’d land on top of her, sending her tumbling to the ground with him not too far behind. And, of course, he always made sure things went according to plan. Landing in the exact position that he had sought to be in, he took a moment to recollect his breath, smirking down at the tortoiseshell beneath his paws. “Now, let’s take a moment to discuss whether or not that was a good idea.” His golden eyes were sparkling like mad, loving these short moments of victory and doing everything in his power to savour them. It was because of the great mood this resulted in that it took way longer than it should have to see how incredibly

awkward

this position was.

Slowly, his eyes began to dull, his paws losing the comfortableness with which he pinned her down. He raised his head to its highest elevation, growing increasingly aware of how close it was to hers when he had been talking. With a harsh flick of his tail, he stepped off of Echobreeze, his eyes - although wary - never leaving her. “For future reference, how about you understand that I’ll always catch you.” The truth of that statement, at this time, failed to click in his mind.

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:74ffd2]Echobreeze[/smear:ffffff]

~~~~~~~~~

There were instances where small size gave way to increased agility. Echobreeze, however... She was small in everything. Small body, short legs, and small stride. Why her first instinct was the run, why in the name of StarClan she thought she had even the smallest chance of outrunning Hollowcry should he choose to chase her... There was no logical answer. Perhaps she'd just been clinging to the tiniest hope that he wouldn't chase her, that he'd choose to ignore her. Wasn't that what most of her Clanmates chose to do anyway? Why couldn't he just do the same thing?

When the paws landed on her back, the added weight causing the rest of her body to collapse beneath her, the little tortoiseshell gave a startled sound. The next thing she saw was... Green. A lot of green. Spitting out some dirt as her body rolled, her eyes desperately tried to catch sight of something, anything at all. Finally, the stomach twisting rolls came to an end, but before she could even think of relaxing, she was instantly aware of paws pressing against her. And she was face to face with the dark-coated tom she'd run away from not all that long ago.

To say that she fully registered what he said would have been a lie. She was far too busy staring up at him with wide eyes, hyperaware of just how close he was. Why was he so close? Heavy discomfort clenched in her belly as breathing simply stopped. It wasn't until Hollowcry finally seemed to realize how close they were that she was able to relax slightly. When the paws finally stepped off of her, for a moment, she didn't move. Really, she must have looked stupid, lying there on her back, paws hanging lamely in the air.

Slowly rolling to her paws, her posture remained entirely submissive. Her ears were turned back, leaning away from him. Her tail was down, Echobreeze no longer finding the strength to keep it lifted. She couldn't look at him, but his next words completely dumbfounded her. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she found it difficult to breathe normally. What was she supposed to say to him? She still had no idea what had possessed him to chase her down the way he had. Maybe there was no rhyme or reason to Hollowcry at all. Taking a step away from him, she managed to quietly mutter something as she started off towards the camp.

"O-Okay... I... S-Sorry... Y-You are faster... B-Better... I just... I just want t-to go home..."