[Phoenix]

IF YOU WANT TO GET OUT ALIVE

If I survive this, I am never going on a hunting patrol again, Littlestep promised herself hysterically, though the reasonable part of her – currently very small compared to the overwhelming panic that clouded her mind – knew that she would never be allowed to keep that oath. That thought, however, was soon tossed to the side and abandoned in the snow bank as she raced on, ears flat against her head and heart thudding behind her ribs. All she had wanted was to give herself an afternoon’s peace from the horrific memories of Pinkcloud’s death and perhaps add a few mice to the clan’s pathetic pile. Instead, the predator had become the prey, and she found herself with the stench of fox permeating every ragged breath and with the beast itself snapping at her tail. Green eyes stretched wide as she fought her way through the snow, her own trajectory intersecting pre-existing paths as much as it created its own.

She couldn’t think. Like a ghost, the fox had materialized out of nowhere, and she had turned at the flash of fiery fur only to find herself staring down the monster’s pointed snout. A brief pause – somehow both instantaneous and minutes long – and then she was off, propelling herself forward like a rabbit. Had she been a larger cat – perhaps the size of Lionstar – the she-cat might have decided to try her luck with unsheathed claws, but she knew very well her limitations. However reluctantly, she could fight another cat but not one of the clans’ most irritating competitors. Running was her best course of action. So she ran. But the snow posed an unexpected issue as she found herself ducking around ice-covered trees in numerous attempts to shake off her pursuer. Littlestep had always been on the fast side. During the warmer seasons, she could cover flat ground with little effort, but the depth of the snow hindered her. It caught on her belly fur and slowed her down, and she did not have the broad shoulders that eased the way when one needed to push her through the unexplored sections of the forest. The warrior did not notice when the oak trees gave way to evergreens.

With her throat burning from the large volumes of frigid air that passed through it, she glanced behind her and saw with a jolt of alarm that the fox was far closer than she had thought. Run! A rush of adrenaline had her speeding up, and a whine born from fear escaped her. And then – fire spread down her hindquarters, and her legs gave out. Stumbling, she struggled to drag herself forward, out of its grasp, unsheathed claws gouging large channels in the snow as she tried to gain traction, and she did not need to turn around to know that the fox was upon her. Claws tore. Blood stained the snow. Warmth dripped down her hind legs. A moment passed. Then the pain hit, and she yowled, her cry shattering the clear afternoon air. Spurred on by the struggles of its prey, the fox opened its jaws, and she felt the pinpricks of its teeth dig into her right leg. Instinctively, she tried to pull away, yanking on the limb as her mind blanked with panic entirely – let go let go let go let go LET GO!

Littlestep | TreeClan | Warrior | Get Out Alive – Three Days Grace

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE

BlooRey DVD Fawn @poptart

[Fawn]

[smear:663399]Hollypaw[/smear:e61985]
9 Moons. She-Cat. NightClan.

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire

---

They seem okay, she told herself after Dimstar had assigned her to a hunting party with Echobreeze, Sunpulse and Hazeheart. She had found it strange that Sunpulse was their designated leader, when Echobreeze was a senior warrior. Still, Hollypaw had given it little thought, and kept pace with the warriors as best as her shorter black legs could manage.

Within the hour, however, it became apparent to Hollypaw that her assignment to this hunting party had to be some kind of punishment. When questioned about good areas to hunt, Echobreeze stammered so much that Hollypaw had stared, and then checked the she-cat’s pelt just to make sure she wasn’t freezing to death. After opting to ask Sunpulse instead, he had given her an answer—but, well, she wasn’t sure how she felt about that answer.

Did he really have to rhyme everything? Great StarClan, what kind of hunting party is this? And then with Hazeheart, who was notorious for falling asleep at inopportune moments, she had finally gotten the answer she wanted, but she’d half expected him to keel over just because. Oh I get it. Hollypaw realized with no small bit of sarcasm as she plodded through the snow after Sunpulse. Dimstar got sick of them, put them all in a hunting patrol and told them to see what they can find. Hollypaw scowled.
I bet Bonepaw’s back at camp laughing his stupid face off.

Before she could bemoan her sorry lot in life, a sudden cry from the tortoiseshell tom alerted the others.

Hazeheart bounded over the snow quicker than Hollypaw had seen any cat move. ”Hey wait—!” The black she-cat surged after him, kicking up snow as he raced towards an orange figure in the distance. It had dark russet fur the likes of which Hollypaw had never seen before, but one look at that long, bloody snout, so uncatlike, and the hairs on the back of her neck prickled in horror.
”Fox!”

Hazeheart wasn’t slowing down.

From what Hollypaw could tell, the warrior didn’t seem to have a plan, he simply flung himself at the fox, headbutting it in the shoulder as if it were his sole purpose in life. Hollypaw winced at the impact. I don’t have to do that, right? Pale tabby fur caught Hollypaw’s attention. Is that a CAT? An apprentice lay in front of the fox, trying to scramble out of its reach. Hollypaw’s heart jumped.
It was. And judging by the smell—ew—it was a TreeClan cat.

She shot a hasty glance at Sunpulse.
”What do we do?”

---

'Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar

Word Count: 453 Words
Tags: Phoenix , BlooRey DVD

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:e61932]Sunpulse[/smear:f7ff2e]

The ginger tabby tom could still feel a sense of awkwardness lingering on his shoulders as he headed his patrol through the territory. Dimstar had named him as the patrol leader, despite the fact that Echobreeze, who was also on the patrol, was more than twenty moons older than he was. His ear twitched as he moved, one paw landing in front of the other while he trotted along. With a glance to his left, he just caught sight of the small tortoiseshell beside him. It was true that she was rather small for a warrior, and yes, she was incredibly shy, to the point of stammering at every sentence...

But wasn't such public humiliation of no help to the timid she-cat? He suppressed a shake of his head, amber eyes scanning the area around them. Conversation seemed to have died amongst the group after Hollypaw had asked a set of questions as to where the best place to hunt was. Hazeheart was taking up the rear of the patrol, meaning Sunpulse didn't even have his good friend to chat with on the trek towards the area he'd chosen to hunt on this snow covered, Leafbare afternoon.

An uneasy feeling washed over him suddenly and his pace slowed, jaws parting to drink in the scent around them. It was a split second before Hazeheart shot forward and Hollypaw cried out that Sunpulse's senses came to the same conclusion Hollypaw had. His tail shot up, muscles tensing as he hissed under his breath. Ears flattened on his head, his eyes never leaving the fox or the body at its snout. Hazeheart was already crashing into the fox, which meant they were one cat short. Thinking on his paws, he started moving as he called out to the rest of the patrol.

"Stay on your paws and clear of its jaws. Hollypaw, be sharp of the mind and attack from behind." He was running toward the fox's downed victim, hoping to give it something else to focus on. "Echobreeze, go for the flank. And whatever you do, do not break rank!" He just barely saw the small tortoiseshell she-cat dart forward, her ears glued to her skull and eyes wide as the moon. He could only hope that she knew how to fight. His plan was to position himself at the fox's opposite shoulder from Echobreeze. With Hollypaw attacking from behind, the fox would be more likely to grab for himself or Echobreeze first.

As he darted by the fox's muzzle, he let his claws flash out to catch it on the muzzle. The creature snorted in alarm, still reeling from Hazeheart's impact. It let out an enraged sound as Echobreeze's claws latched into it's side. And before the red demon could swing its head to snatch at the two other warriors, Sunpulse leapt forward. His claws caught in its shoulder as he heaved himself up slightly. It tried to shake him off, but he wouldn't let go. "Hazeheart, the fallen cat! Pull her away from combat!"

He just hoped Hazeheart was still awake. He sank his teeth into the fox's ear tugging hard to force the fox to lift it head high in the air with a shriek.



Phoenix Fawn

[Phoenix]

ON THE GROUND I LAY MOTIONLESS IN PAIN

Through the haze of panic and pain, she became vaguely aware of the other blurs of fur racing in her direction. Her mind offered up an explanation – a patrol? She did not have time to think about it before her leg suddenly jerked awkwardly, painfully to the side and, more importantly, the teeth disappeared. Not wasting an instant of her precious freedom, she forced her uncooperative limbs into action, scrambling forward as shakily as a newborn fawn. “Get away get away get away get away.” Littlestep barely registered that she was muttering the mantra under her breath in between rapid breaths as she struggled against the unforgiving force of the snow. When had it started to take so much more effort to move? The cold felt extra biting against her numb paws, and her hindquarters, drenched in blood, felt oddly warm.

She did not look back – she could not afford to be distracted by the gashes she knew must be there nor by the fox behind her that was still far too close to comfort – why had it suddenly let go of her? Had something happened? – Shouldn’t she be in pain? She felt numb. She wanted to curl up in a ball and hide under a bank of snow for the rest of leaf-bare. Maybe it would be warmer in there. She wanted to flee, but it took so much effort to move. The rapid tattoo of her heart pounded in her ears, and a combination of instinct and terror and adrenaline kept her going forward. Whatever had distracted the fox, it had evidently been enough to give her time to escape. She kept expecting to again feel the sharp fangs of death latch around her small frame – perhaps even on the back of her neck – but it had yet to happen.

A thought, disturbing to the core, suddenly pierced her mind-numbing panic. What if it was playing with her? She was not a toy. Ignoring the reasonable part of her mind shouting at her that she need to get away and that she was in no shape to be fighting back, Littlestep whipped around without warning, unsheathed claws flying through the air as she lashed out against the presence – the fox – that she was so sure was not even a tail-length away.

Littlestep | TreeClan | Warrior | Time of Dying – Three Day Grace

I WILL NOT DIE. I WILL SURVIVE.

Fawn BlooRey DVD

[Fawn]

[smear:663399]Hollypaw[/smear:e61985]
9 Moons. She-Cat. NightClan.

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire

---

"Stay on your paws and clear of its jaws. Hollypaw, be sharp of the mind and attack from behind."

The ferocity of the fox made her glad that she did not have to face the toothy end. The black she-cat slipped like a shadow over the snow, forced to move quicker and noisier then she'd like to compensate for her shorter legs as the snow got deeper.
Right. I'll attack from its blindside, there's no way it can hide! Great StarClan, am I rhyming now too?

Hazeheart, who hadn't rammed into the fox on purpose, it seems, but had simply tripped on a root and crashed into it, was trying to shake off the stupor. Hollypaw would have had plenty to say on that if she weren't so concerned with preserving her own fur. And from preventing this toad-brained TreeClanner from becoming mousemeat.

"Hurry up, Hazeheart! Go get her!" Duh, was he deaf? She flitted her bright green eyes over to the she-cat, doing this twice until she was certain the warrior had noticed her. He at once set off in a low posture to try to pull the TreeClanner away by the scruff. Hollypaw stopped watching, then. Concentrating instead on damaging this fox in any way she could.

With needle-sharp claws, Hollypaw swiped at the fox's back legs, aiming for where the muscles seemed thickest, her ears flattening in displeasure as the creature's tail swept right across the top of her head. It was taller of stature and much stronger than she'd anticipated; it seemed gigantic!
What if it eats us all?

While Hollypaw contemplated their potential to be foxfood, Hazeheart was trying his best to 1) stay conscious and 2) rescue Littlestep. Though he did not know her well, he had seen her once or twice at a gathering, but her name escaped him. Otherwise, the plush tortoiseshell tom might've called out to her, and thus avoided the fiasco that happened next.

Hazeheart yelped in surprise as the TreeClan cat's claws swiped him across the cheek, splitting the dark leathery skin of his nose. By StarClan, that hurt! His eyes watered in pain, and she quickly got his teeth around her scruff. As soon as Sunpulse and the others gave him the opening he needed, Hazeheart dragged her away. Oh, how hard his heart was pounding. It felt as if someone were banging a rock against the wall of the warrior's den, his ears filled with the noise.
"You're safe! You're safe!" He mewed frantically once he let Littlestep go, the snow around them bloodied by her injuries and his nose-cut. "You're safe! You're sa—"

Hazeheart's eyelids grew heavy, the excitement proving too much for him. He collapsed into the snow as the darkness swept over, blurring his vision until he drifted off into the realm of slumber.

Hollypaw gaped at him. Seriously?

---

'Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar

Word Count: 475 Words
Tags: Phoenix , BlooRey DVD

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:e61932]Sunpulse[/smear:f7ff2e]

From the corner of his eye, he saw Hazeheart's form go limp rapidly. The sudden lack of his friend's voice confirmed that notion, leaving the warrior to groan inwardly. He'd been afraid that the stress of the situation would be too much for the tortoiseshell tom. He just hoped Hazeheart had managed to get the injured she-cat far enough away from the fox to keep her safe. This would get messy otherwise. He could feel his teeth slipping, knowing he'd likely torn through the soft tissue of the ear. If the red-coated creature hadn't been brutally shaking a she-cat, he might have felt sorry for it.

His claws curled deeper into the thick coat as the ginger tabby climbed higher onto the fox's shoulder. It continued to screech at him as he refused to release its ear, not until the red vulpine yanked it free at the cost of an ear tip. It whined sharply at the damage, and Sunpulse spat the tip of the ear from his mouth. He knew he had to get a grip on that ear again, or the fox would try and grip one of them in its jaws.

It was right about here that he felt the fox shift suddenly. He felt it lurch to the side, as though its hind leg refused to support it any longer. Hollypaw! The name sprang into his mind excitedly, for the black apprentice gave him just the window he needed. Teeth snapping down on the injured ear as fast as he could manage, he proceeded to let his body weight drop; he became nothing more than dead weight. The last piece of the puzzle fell into place just then as Echobreeze sprang her small frame off the fox's flank, pushing it over the edge.

Sunpulse rolled away as quickly as he could, struggling to get a firm grip on the ground and rise again due to all the snow. His sides were heaving, the red demon thrashing about in the snow, spattering the white surface with red droplets from its ear. He spared a glance toward the two she-cat's who'd helped him, before calling out to them. "Clear its path, or risk its wrath!" He lashed out at its nose, keeping it focused on him rather than Hazeheart and the TreeClanner, who lay somewhere behind him. He just had to distract it long enough for Echobreeze and Hollypaw to get to safety.

StarClan bless the timid tortoiseshell. Despite her fear, traces of which he could just pick out among the overwhelming scent of fox, she nosed Hollypaw in the direction of some trees. Lashing his tail and fluffing out his coat, he did his best to look as large and threatening as he could. The fox managed to clamber to its paws, obviously deciding the situation was no longer in its favour. It tried one last time to snap at him, earning a swat on the muzzle, before it turned tail and ran. He took off after it, to be sure it cleared NightClan's territory.

He returned some time later, his gait slightly off from exhaustion as far as he could tell; he didn't recall any moment when he might have been seriously injured. Echobreeze was crouched beside the TreeClanner, her ears flattened against her skull as she stammered. "Wh-What's y-your name? C-Can you speak?" He approached slowly, his amber eyes flicking over the rag tag group, landing on Hollypaw. "Well fought, but we've no time for a break. See if you can't get Hazeheart to wake." Next, he moved to the fox's initial victim, crouching at her side with Echobreeze.

He kept his voice soft, but refrained from touching her lest she still be panicked. "There is no longer cause for alarm, the fox is gone and we mean no harm." He hesitated a moment, glancing toward her bleeding leg, and came to a decision. "Let us bring you to our Clan, where Smokefur will do everything she can." He waited for some sign of acknowledgment from her, before glancing at Echobreeze and rising to position himself closer to the TreeClan cat. With a slight nod, he stooped to help Echobreeze get the wounded she-cat on his back.

The entire time, he could hear Echobreeze stuttering out attempts to comfort. Whether those words were meant for their guest, or for Echobreeze herself... He might never know. "Y-You're ok-kay... W-We're going to g-get you b-back to our c-camp... E-Everything is f-fine...." With a deep breath, and a prayer to StarClan that the injured warrior wouldn't yowl too loudly, Sunpulse pushed up off the ground to stand. His muscles were sore, tired from the fight with the fox, but he knew he had to do what he could to help this she-cat. He only hoped the others agreed.

"Hollypaw, how is Hazeheart? Are we ready to depart?"

Fawn Phoenix

[Phoenix]

THIS LIFE IS FILLED WITH HURT

A sharp yelp snapped her out of her panicked haze. Oh StarClan, that wasn’t a fox! With claws slashing through the soft flesh of a warrior’s nose, she realized a moment too late that the threatening presence behind her had not been the canine but another feline. Horror, quickly followed by guilt, jolted through her as she froze like a startled deer and watched the NightClan tom recoil in shock. “I’m so sorry!” She squeaked, even as he recovered and, in a manner as frenzied as her own but a moment ago, he hurried to reassure her of her safety. “I’m sorry! I know now – thank you. Thank you so--” Their voices clashed, each cat trying to speak over the other as she tried to reassure him in turn that now she knew that she was safe and that she wouldn’t attack him anymore, while simultaneously craning her neck to try to see around him and make sure the fox was sufficiently distracted, and everything was crazy – and then, suddenly, it wasn’t. Her voice reached deaf ears, and her savior collapsed right beside her.

Shock had her freezing up again with a look of blank confusion on her face as she registered his still body. She hadn’t thought she’d hit him that hard. It had only been a scratch, right? Suddenly, it registered to the TreeClan warrior that her life had not been saved by her clan mates, but rather by a group of NightClan cats. And now there was an unresponsive NightClan warrior lying next to her with his face in a snowbank. Nervously, she looked around, briefly catching an exasperated expression on the smallest cat’s face – an apprentice, she would guess, but her own small size had taught her to never assume – before watching with relief as the ginger tabby follow in the fleeing fox’s footsteps. The immediate danger was gone, and she didn’t really think the NightClan cats would save her only to injure her themselves. It was no secret that Ravenstar and Lionstar did not get along, but surely their rivalry wouldn’t extend to this, right? Right?

“Wh-What’s y-your name? C-Can you speak?”

Littlestep turned to face the tortoiseshell she-cat who had approached her and, willing her heart to stop racing, answered, “Littlestep. Tha-thank you so much.” The ginger tabby tom approached them again and crouched down beside the NightClan she-cat. In an interesting speech pattern that had her flicking and ear and looking at him curiously, he urged them to keep moving and mentioned waking up the warrior lying in the snow next to them. Hazeheart. She mouthed the word silently, glancing at the apparently sleeping tom beside her. So much had happened, and it was truly hitting her just now that the fox was gone. Exhaustion washed over her. Distantly, a part of her noted that this was quite a curious group of cats – they had one who rhymed and another who fell asleep at inopportune times – but it was thanks to them that she was safe. The adrenaline that had kept her clawing forward had started to fade, leaving behind a cold emptiness. Her body was starting to give up, and she felt the strong desire to be home. She wanted to see TreeClan again and curl up in her warm nest and sleep.

“I should – I should go home.”

She felt confused and tired. They were still talking, but their words began to blur together into meaningless sounds. “I think – I think I want to go home. I think that would – would be good. Littletimber…” Was she fading? She was tired. She felt herself being moved; suddenly flame burned through what felt like her entire back end. A yowl escaped her, and instinctively she fought to get away from it. Wasn’t there a fox? She thought it had left – why was she still hurting? However, abandoned by any remnants of energy, she soon fell limp again, whimpering quietly as the pain in her leg refused to return to that numb state again. When the air huffed out of her lungs, Littlestep realized vaguely that she was on the ginger tom’s back. Were they going home?

Littlestep | TreeClan | Warrior | Pain – Three Days Grace

YOU KNOW THAT I’M HERE TO SAVE YOU

Fawn BlooRey DVD

[Fawn]

[smear:663399]Hollypaw[/smear:e61985]
9 Moons. She-Cat. NightClan.

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire

---

If forced to recount this epic battle with the fox, a few key moments would have stuck out more than the others. The first, much to the black she-kitten's surprise, was that she had unfairly underestimated her Clanmates. Except for Hazeheart, everyone else had been effective against a terrifying common enemy.

Especially Sunpulse. It had been impossible to escape her notice, as Echobreeze nudged her back to the safety of the trees, Sunpulse chasing the fox out of their territory after he'd nearly gnawed off the fox's ear. Now that was a warrior. If they ever saw that fox again, they'd recognize it from the missing tip. The apprentice watched him with wider, appreciative eyes when the older ginger tom came loping back to join them. Who taught him to fight like that? Hollypaw made a note to ask Sunpulse about it later. Maybe he could even teach her something—and Hollypaw would have bet her left paw that he'd be a much more energetic teacher than Starlingcry. Her own mentor was cold and efficient; there was no love lost between them.

"Are you okay?" Hollypaw mewed to him and him alone, almost forgetting about the bloodied TreeClan.

His exhaustion was clear, so she let slide some of her own haughtiness when he addressed her, asking about Hazeheart. Limbs still shaking from the adrenaline surge, Hollypaw shook out her pelt, nudging Hazeheart a little more firmly then was needed, trying to prod him into consciousness.
"Hey wake up! Fight's over, furball."

Hazeheart's greenish-blue eyes eventually opened, and he was left to stare into the incredibly unimpressed face of Hollypaw, who was regarding him with some kind of mixture of pity and incredulity.

"I-I missed it?" Guilt clutched at the tom as he hastily scrambled to his paws. "It's gone?" Hazeheart's tail twitched, and he let it hang low in apology. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Was the she-cat okay? Oh StarClan, for one precarious moment, he had been worried his unexpected nap had left her defenseless. But no, there she was, laying against Sunpulse's back as his best friend carried her to their camp. Hastily the warrior went to rejoin Sunpulse, helping him support the TreeClanner without being asked; this was something he could do that wouldn't provoke his strange condition. He could still feel Hollypaw's judgmental green gaze on the back of his head, but he tried his best to ignore it.

You'd think he'd be used to that by now.

As for Hollypaw, she had fallen in step behind Echobreeze, and studied her with fresh eyes. She still stutters like her paws are made of ice, but she was brave too. A sudden thought entered the young would-be-warrior's head.

Ha, even the most dysfunctional NightClan patrol was probably fox-lengths better than TreeClan's best. With a renewed sense of smugness, Hollypaw followed the others back to camp, surging ahead to stand beside Sunpulse and Hazeheart, to make sure her father saw her first when they returned to NightClan victorious. Not bad for a first real fight. Not bad at all.

---

'Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar

Word Count: 500 Words
Tags: Phoenix , BlooRey DVD
Notes: Crushes, crushes everywhere.