Warriors of the Plants

At the border between Forestclan and Castleclan 

Mousepaw padded along the border, trying her best to lead the patrol. This was her first time leading something like this. Was she doing an okay job? Then again, Pumpkinpurr was also leading, and she was sure that they had more experience with patrol leading than she had. She looked back at Sheepfish. "Any particular direction, Sheepfish?"

Sheepfish was having a horrible miserable time. Every single moment with the bugs made him want to run and hide for cover. It took an incredible amount of strength for him to stay with the group. The buzzing and humming started to make his ears ring and it didn't help that the huge bugs liked to pelt into his wounds. He would be heaving and shaking barely hearing Mousepaw's question. He squinted his eyes pricking his ears up from their pinned back state. It was all becoming a blur of noise and color but he would point in another direction

Pumpkinpurr rested their tail on Sheepfish's back, shielding some of his wounds from the bugs, "Mousepaw!" They choked out between the swarms of bugs, "That way!"

Clumsypaw stumbled behind the group. Oddly enough, the bucket was doing her some good, as most of the bugs would hit her bucket, rather than directly in her face. This didn't exactly change the fact that it was hard to see through the swarms but hey, at least she wasn't being smacked in the face constantly.

Mousepaw winced when she saw how much pain Sheepfish was in. Whether it was due to his leg or his fear of bugs, it was agonizing to watch. Mousepaw turned to where Pumpkinpurr pointed out. Immediately, she got smacked in the face with a stray insect. She recoiled at the splat, but she managed to shake it off. Deep breathes, she thought. You got this. Your family needs you. She took a deep breath, held it, and bolted into the thick of the swarm. The insects seemed to engulf her. Each one pelted her body, eventually knocking her down to the ground. Not again!

Sheepfish would press into Pumpkinpurr for the support slowly walking on his shaking paws and his stinging legs. He wasn't sure how much he could take of this

Pumpkinpurr grew alarmed as they watched Mousepaw fall over herself, "Come on Sheepfish!" They guided the other tom over to Mousepaw and helped her up, even with the swarms pelting at them, they managed to stay steady on their paws.

Sheepfish dug his claws into the ground. Every cell in his body screaming at him to not go in the thicker swarm of bugs but he pushed through staying beside Pumpkinpurr. He felt his legs buckle slightly but forced them to continue to hold his weight. To continue to walk.. they all still needed him

Clumsypaw stumbled forward, seeing her clanmate fall. Not that it would do much good, now that the larger warriors were there, but she did manage to work her way to the three, offering her own assistance. She thought about helping them stand up against the swarm, but that would require her not tripping  over bugs and twigs and grass and roots and... She didn't feel like thinking about it anymore, and focused on the task at hand. She looked for any dropped herbs, hoping that Mousepaw didn't drop any after her fall.

Mousepaw gagged and cough, making her drop her herbs. She struggled to get them back in her mouth, but when she did, she tried to move forward on her own, but she felt her legs giving in. Instead, she leaned on Pumpkinpurr for support. When she looked down, she saw that a few marigold fell out of her leaf bundle. She looked at Clumsypaw with a weak, worried expression and blinked, hoping the other apprentice got the message and would pick them up for her.

Pumpkinpurr grunted as Mousepaw's weight fell on them, they struggle to keep their footing and fell over, they yelped out in alarm but made sure to fall beneath Sheepfish and Mousepaw to cushion their fall.

As Clumsypaw was already on it, she hurried her search, finding the marigold. She picked them up, hoping she wouldn't crush them by falling on her face She didn't actually have a leaf bundle, so, in a moment of.. questionable judgment, she shook off her only head protection and flipped the bucket, to which she placed the herbs inside. She would turn as she lifted it from the handle to watch them fall over again. This was looking bad, they could barely get anywhere with the swarms.

Feeling Pumpkinpurr's weight shift his legs would tighten and lock into place keeping him standing upright. He quickly turned to Pumpkinpurr "A-are you alright?!" He meowed panicked

Pumpkinpurr blinked, "Uh yea! I'm fine." They breathed, they steady themself quickly and continue to shield Sheepfish.

Mousepaw gasped as she and Pumpkinpurr went down again. It was like each time one of them got up, two more were brought down. Still, it couldn't end like this. Mousepaw crouched down on the earthy ground and began to crawl. Hopefully, since these bugs loved to fly, there would be less towards the ground. Even still, bugs continued to fly into her face, blinding her. "Where now?" she called out to Sheepfish.

Sheepfish would heave closing his squinted eyes. He angled his ears again but the buzzing, humming, pelting. It was all becoming so much.. too much. Tears welled in his eyes as he tried to listen for the difference.

Pumpkinpurr noticed Sheepfish's uncomfortable state,  they moved closer to Sheepfish even though they were already pressing into each other, "Mousepaw, I think we should take a break!" They shouted out while slowly nudging the fluffy tom back where they came from.

Sheepfish would press his face into Pumpkinpurr's shoulder. They couldn't go back now.. they were so close to the nest.. He grit his teeth before moving his head pointing in a direction "T-there.." he mewed

Clumsypaw squinted. How? There were bugs everywhere and it was near impossible to take a break without just going back to the stone den. Was that an option?

Mousepaw looked back with panic in her eyes. She knew that Pumpkinpurr was right -- especially when Sheepfish wasn't holding up all too well. But they could be so close and not even know it. Even second could count now for all she knew. But she couldn't risk Sheepfish getting hurt. What about Redflight and the kits? She slowly nodded at Pumpkinpurr. "Take Sheepfish out of the swarm!" she hollered, trying to be heard over the raging swarm. "I'm going to keep going. Just keep Sheepfish safe!" With all of her strength, Mousepaw pushed forward, not knowing if any other cat was still with her or not. She took a running start and processed to bolt through the swarm. The faster she could do this, the faster the clans could be potentially saved.

Pumpkinpurr herded Sheepfish back, "Come on back here, away from the bugs..."

Sheepfish watched Mousepaw go with wide eyes. "W-we can't leave her.. and y-you guys can't hear the bugs.." He meowed to Pumpkinpurr but his mind was yowling at him to just go with Pumpkinpurr back to Castleclan. back behind the safety of those walls... but when he thought of that he thought of Redflight.. of their kits..

Clumsypaw nearly dropped her pail as she watched the medicine cat run off. What about the marigold she had dropped? Clumsypaw still had it? "UH" She would yell, her mind torn between following the tortie or staying with the rest of the group. Not that she knew where Mousepaw had gone after she lost sight of her through the bugs. Oh dear. 

Pumpkinpurr was still forcing Sheepfish back, "Mousepaw knows her limits, she'll come back to get help if she needs it." They reasoned.

Sheepfish bit back "NO!" he yowled surprised at himself but he heaved "I-I can help.."

Just as Mousepaw could see a break in the swarm for her to catch her breath, she tripped over a thick branch she couldn't see due to the bugs in her face. She let out a pained yowl which was only muffled but the herbs in her mouth. She bit back the pain, praying that she wasn't biting on the herbs too hard.

Mousepaw gulped. She was almost out there. Just one more push! Mousepaw, with the last of her strength, pushed through the bugs until she stumbled across a tree where the bugs seem to be circling. Wait, was that...? She looked above her. It was hard to tell exactly was above her, but she thought she could see a huge, tannish hive over her head. This was it! I found it! Now was time for her plan. She laid down her bundle and looked down at it. Was it somehow lighter packed than she remembered? She thought she had packed more marigold than that. She shook her head. Whatever. This'll have to do.

Clumsypaw, after standing there frozen, decided to push forward after Mousepaw, as she might need the marigold she picked up. She pushed her body forward, following the sound of what sounded like a yowl. Luckily for her, the smacks of the insects against her sides actually kept her mostly upright as she dove into the swarms. As she made her way blindly through the swarm, she ended up finding the general area of Mousepaw, though she could barely tell through squinted eyes and all the bugs, but she figured she had to be around somewhere. "Hello??" she would call out into the swarm, though a bit muffled due to the bucket in her mouth, hoping to find her clanmate.

Mousepaw grabbed the herbs in her mouth and began her ascension up the tree. She clawed at the bark of the sturdy tree, feeling the rough bark scrap against the pads of her paws as she slowly climbed up and up. She grunted as she felt more and more bugs swarm around her, biting her skin as she traveled closer to the hive. Eventually, Mousepaw made it up the tree and climbed up beside the hive. Quickly, she stuck the herb bundle against the hive and a nearby branch. That should do it! She thought. As she was catching her breath, more insects swarmed her, causing her to lose her balance. She lost her grip on the bark and dropped down to the ground with a loud thud.

Mousepaw's head was throbbing now. She could feel her heartbeat in her ears. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Her vision was blurring. It was all going by so fast. She looked back up at the hive. The herb bundle was still in place. She did it. I did it! I did it. I... did it. Her thoughts slowed down and the world went black.

Clumsypaw stumbled forward, before tripping over the exact same root that Mousepaw had tripped over earlier. She opened her mouth to yelp, which caused her to toss her bucket forward, where it would hit a tree, where it would make plenty of noise from clattering around the area. She didn't see where it went, so she crawled in its general direction, however, instead of stepping on the ground, she stepped on something fluffy. Looking down, she recognized the look and scent of Mousepaw. Upon coming to this conclusion, she let out a "AH!" in panic. She looked around, and, realizing nobody else was currently in her visible or hearing range, she grabbed the older apprentice by what she could only assume was the scruff, and began to drag her back the way she came, or rather make the attempt to. As Clumsypaw was smaller, even compared to the other apprentice, she was moving at an extremely slow pace, not to mention the insects were not helping at all, leaving her to sit there and scrabble on the ground. She was making next to no progress, but she didn't exactly know what else she could do right now. 

Pumpkinpurr hissed and looked back at the direction Mousepaw and Clumsypaw disappeared of to, why aren't they back yet? They shook their head and made up their mind, "Stay here." They said to Sheepfish and pushed forward, rushing through the bug swarms and almost tripping over themself in the process but stayed on their feet. Pumpkinpurr's eyes widen in horror when they saw Mousepaw's body and let an alarmed meow, "Mousepaw!" They stumbled over to help Clumsypaw.

Sheepfish would tense opening his mouth wanting to protest. Yet he wasn't fast enough as Pumpkinpurr pushed forward. Sheepfish blinked his squinted and as he did he lost sight of the other cat.

His breath caught in his throat, every breath he tried to gulp down seemed to get caught in his throat. He was alone. Sheepfish gritted his teeth as the bugs continued to pelt him the buzzing and humming becoming too much. It all was becoming too much. His legs finally deciding for him as they quickly carried him away. He wasn't sure which direction he was going, he just needed to get out of the bugs. He couldn't take in anymore. He could barely breath and his stomach was twisting and turning making him thankful he hadn't eaten anything before leaving.

Finally Sheepfish dove into some thick brambles ignoring how they clung to his fur and tore at his skin. There weren't any bugs pelting him. He heaved covering his ears but it seemed to make no difference what so ever the buzzing sounding like it was coming from his own brain. 

Then just like that the buzzing and humming was gone. No. It was replaced by a different chirping of a bug. and when he opened his eyes he felt so small.. too small to even walk or talk.. staring into the black eyes of a beetle. Eyes that looked like a starless sky. He opened his mouth to cry out for help but all that managed to come out was weak scratchy whimpers as if his throat was tired from mewling from sunrise to sunset.

Pumpkinpurr nudged Mousepaw to make sure she was unconscious, and unfortunately, she was, they gripped into the grass to steady themself and flip the apprentice on their back, but as the bugs made things ten times harder to do, they all just fell into a heap of fur.

Clumsypaw whimpered as Pumpkinpurr fell once again. Where was the sparkly one? How were they gonna get out? She suddenly picked herself up, and once more grabbed the medicine cat apprentice. While it was not easy, this time she had managed to find it in her to haul Mousepaw away from the nest. She wasn't even thinking about it, all she could really think about was getting out of the swarm. She couldn't carry two cats and hoped Pumpkinpurr would be fine on her own.

Pumpkinpurr was just a bit astonished that Clumsypaw could drag Mousepaw with no problem while they fell over so easily, but now isn't the time to gawk at apprentices and they scrambled up and followed them, they hoped Sheepfish was okay on his own.

Clumsypaw honestly wasn't even thinking, and as she approached the area she was pretty sure everyone had been at, she instead turned, simply heading home. It didn't really cross her mind that she was taking the medicine cat home to see the medicine cat, she just knew that home was safe, away from the bugs. She didn't pay too much mind to the sparkly one being missing.

The more sheepfish tried to cry the more his voice would let out and soon no sound came from his ragged throat. He was shaking so bad but he couldn't move he couldn't do anything...he was utterly alone

Pumpkinpurr trudged along, keeping their head low to at least lower the amount of bugs hitting them in the face, they paused in confusion when Clumsypaw just went past Sheepfish without even looking around or asking where he was, they shrugged, assuming that the apprentice was just making sure Mousepaw gets home safely first. Pumpkinpurr turned tracks to go find Sheepfish, "Sheepfish?" They called out, slightly worried when they realized that the Cactusclan warrior wasn't where they thought he was.

There would be no response to Pumpkinpurr's call

Pumpkinpurr looked around, still calling out the warrior's name though the loud buzzing probably made it hard to hear, they fiddled around the edges of the border, looking and calling out for Sheepfish, but for some reason Pumpkinpurr just couldn't find the fluffy tom.

As Sheepfish continued to stare into those starless skies he could feel something slowly crawl on him. It felt like it was almost as big as him. His body tensed and a shiver went up his spine as he opened his mouth to let out one last cry for help. Sheepfish would let out a loud blood curdling yowl

Pumpkinpurr flinched at the scream, alarm filling up all of their veins, "SHEEPFISH!" They rushed over to the source of the noise, "SHEEPFISH ARE YOU DYING?!" They screamed as they reached him.

Sheepfish would be deeply dangled into the brambles his whole body shaking like a leaf during windy storm. Tears streamed down his face but he didn't seem to notice Pumpkinpurr his eyes glazed over staring at something that wasn't really there

Pumpkinpurr shot forward, clawing at the brambles to help Sheepfish out of the thorny bush, the brambles pierce their paw pads and they bit back their yelps if pains, they cringed as they thought about the brambles digging into Sheepfish's wounds. Though despite Pumpkinpurr's best efforts, Sheepfish seemed to be firmly stuck in place.

Sheepfish would blink slowly turning his head looking at Pumpkinpurr "P-pumpkin?" He weakly mewed his foggy eyes starting to clear as if he was waking up from a dream

Pumpkinpurr blinked, stopped for a moment to smile at Sheepfish, "Yes! It's me, I'm here! Just hold on for a bit longer." They bit into the tendrils, ignoring the pain and finally freed Sheepfish from the bush, they pulled him out and embraced him into a hug.

Sheepfish pinned his ears back. Had the bugs gotten louder? What happened? Did he black out? He couldn't remember anything. He didn't even remember how he got so tangled in the brambles. His eyes widened slightly as Pumpkinpurr embraced him in a hug but he quickly hugged them back pressing his face into their shoulder. "Y-you left me.." He meowed

Pumpkinpurr's eyes widened, "Sheepfish no...I wouldn't abandon you like that..." They whispered, they realized that there was blood dripping out of their mouth as they cut the insides of their mouth when they bit into the bramble, they wiped it off with their paw to find their paws bleeding as well, "C'mon, let's go back inside." Pumpkinpurr said hastily, trying to hide the blood from Sheepfish.

Sheepfish would notice Pumpkinpurr was hurt "You're bleeding.." He meowed gently putting his paw to Pumpkinpurr's cheek

Pumpkinpurr forced a pained smile, "I'm fine really, it's not that bad." They said, shifting the weight off their bleeding paws, "Are you okay? We should head back, the others already left..."

Sheepfish frowned.. he had caused this. "Y-you should have gone with them," He meowed ignoring Pumpkinpurr's question as he slowly stood up letting Pumpkinpurr use him for support

"And leave you? No way! I could never!" Pumpkinpurr gasped as they let themself lean on Sheepfish, "Sheepfish I lov..." They forced themself to trail off.

"It's dangerous! You got hurt when you should have just gone back to Castleclan!" He argued not catching what Pumpkinpurr was trying to say starting to walk with them but his legs and wounds were burning and stinging all over again. He tried to ignore it because Pumpkinpurr was hurt.. they needed to get back so Mousepaw could help with the bleeding and they could rest

Pumpkinpurr forced Sheepfish to stop moving forward, "Oh for the resting ones' sake Sheepfish! Y'know why I came back for you?" They leveled themself with the Cactusclan warrior, looking at him in the eye even though it was covered by his fluffy white fur.

Sheepfish would stop, looking Pumpkinpurr back in the eyes confused

Pumpkinpurr took a deep breath, "I...I..." They shook their head, it's now or never. "Sheepfish, I love you! Okay? I know you and Redflight are mates or whatever, a-and I love Redflight too! I love you both but you two love each other so..." They looked away, the bugs suddenly becoming very quiet for some reason, "I'm happy for you two, I really am! I...I just can't keep my feelings bottled up anymore, and I just have to tell you before you..."

Sheepfish's eyes would widen staring at Pumpkinpurr. He shifted his head letting his eyes be shown from his fluffy fur. "R..really?" He meowed unsure what to say.. he did love Pumpkinpurr.. and he loved Redflight and Redflight was carrying his kits. He knew he couldn't have both.. but how wonderful that would be to love them both 

Pumpkinpurr nodded, suddenly finding their feet very interesting to look at, "...just wanted you to know." They muttered.

Sheepfish would look away before back at Pumpkinpurr "I.. love Redflight and.. I love you too," He meowed taking a deep breath "Let's.. head back first. You're still bleeding,"

Pumpkinpurr blinked, were they hearing things? Sheepfish loves them and Redflight? They let the fluffy cat lead them to the safety of the stone den while they ponder about what might happen in the future for them.