Open Event SkyClan WindClan between the wind and the sky // open

[Cricketkit Cricketkit]

{$title} kittens should not play close to a gorge

'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance
A foxtrot above my head, a sock hop beneath my bed
A disco ball is just hanging by a thread

.

Cricketkit had walked way farther than she was supposed to. Her little legs ached, her paws were scuffed from the uneven ground, and her good eye drooped with tiredness. But she had spotted something, a glint of light dancing just over the edge, catching the sunlight like stardust trapped in stone. Her hoard needed it. Honeyflower would love it. Sweetnose would smile. She could almost taste their joy as she crept closer. Just a little more, just...

The ground beneath her gave.

There wasn't even time to yowl before her front paws scrabbled desperately at the crumbling edge, back legs dangling in open air. The gorge loomed below, a vast chasm of wind and emptiness. Pebbles clattered down into the nothingness beneath her, and for a moment, her own breath seemed to disappear. " HELP!! " she screamed, claws digging into the dirt. " Help me, please!! " Her voice broke. The wind whipped her fur, and her tiny body trembled all over. " Mama!! MAMA!! " she sobbed, wailing as tears streamed down her face, her good eye wild with terror. " Honeyflower...!! Sweetnose!! S-Someone--!! I'm s-sorry I went, I just wanted to find you something pretty, please don't let me fall, please, please--! "

Her tiny claws slipped an inch. " I don't wanna die!! I don't wanna die!! " she shrieked, desperation choking her, voice cracking. " Meadowpaw, Goldenroar, anyone--!! Please, please, don't let me go!! " The shiny was gone now, forgotten. All she could feel was the earth slipping beneath her claws, her heartbeat screaming in her ears, and a bone-deep, childlike fear that no one would come fast enough.

Speech, thoughts/emphasis

5 MOONS

𖧧

WINDCLANNER

𖧧

SONG

𖧧

bio

 

[Stonepaw]

The wind at the gorge tugged sharply at her mane. It howled in her ears like something wounded—like baying hounds tearing through the canyon—but it wasn't the wind that caught Stonepaw's attention. A shrill scream rippled through the chasm.

Stonepaw froze for half a breath, eyes sweeping the cliff edges—until she spotted it. A scrap of fur clinging to the ledge, back legs kicking helplessly against the rock.

She didn't think as her paws moved. Pads barely skimming the ground as she bolted through the thinning trees, half-tail trailing behind her like a banner. Stonepaw thundered across the wooden bridge, the wind swallowing her footsteps. As she neared the edge, her pace slowed, becoming more cautious—one wrong step and she could tumble too.

There—just ahead—a kit, pale-furred and wide-eyed, claws scrabbling at the crumbling ledge, half her body already hanging in open air. The kit was sobbing, pleading for names Stonepaw didn't know. "Stop struggling. She ordered flatly, her face eerily calm for the situation, like an echo of water from the bottom of a dried-out well. "Or you will kill us both." She sank her claws into the dirt and began inching forward. Wind whipped against her face as she leaned over the ledge, jaws reaching for the kit's scruff.

Stonepaw stretched farther, claws anchoring her hind legs into the grass and stone. She clamped down on their scruff, unconcerned about being gentle. Sharp teeth snagged and yanked—hard. Crumbs and pebbles rained into the gorge. The bleak-faced apprentice didn't let go. Not even as her legs slid forward or her shoulders screamed from the effort. With another desperate heave she tries to drag the kit to safety.

____You are a stranger here, why have you come? ᨒ↟↟ᨒ↟ Lift me higher, let me look at the sun____

• "speech" - thoughts / emphasis
  

• 

• Stonepaw she/her & skyclan
  ☁︎ LH lilac point with a thick mane, blue eyes, and a half-tail.
  ☁︎ A hollow, vacant voice, stripped of emotion.
  ☁︎ Mentored by Stormcrow.
  ☁︎ Peaceful and healing powerplay permitted For other, DM.
  ☁︎ Smells of pine needles and petrichor.
  
  
  penned by Scarlet​

 

[Molewhisker Molewhisker]

——————— Does the wind feel a gladness at the work that it's done?

How Molewhisker had ended up keeping a near-constant eye on that little Cricketkit, they had no idea. Though in fairness, Sweetnose couldn't exactly keep an eye on her and Honeyflower was busy as a Gale guard. It had nothing but digging to do, and ever since their little stealing scheme, they had wanted to keep an eye on her to keep her out of harm's way. But it seemed as if the little thing had a penchant for trouble, wandering off the moment anyone looked away for too long.

Which is how Molewhisker found themself trotting in the middle of the day towards the gorge. They hadn't really been near it much; they had passed it on the way to the slumbering dozer, but never stopped to observe. And yet lo and behold, here they were. "Cricket? Where have you wandered off to now..." They called, not the loudest to admit, but then again, they didn't have that capacity to it seemed. Though their ears were strong enough to hear the distinct cries of the kitten towards... The gorge...

The chimaera's blood ran cold, though the kitten wasn't its kin nor one it was in charge of monitoring, it would never forgive itself if anything awful happened. They bounded ahead as fast as their paws would take it, only to see what seemed to be another kitten holding Cricketkit from falling within. Delicately not to knock either of them off balance, Mole curled his paws around the lilac kitten and pulled both her and Cricket from the edge of the gorge.

Molewhisker sighed in relief, delicately nudging both the kittens from the gorge edge. "Are you both okay?" Though the tears trailing down Cricketkit's cheeks were enough proof. They sighed, delicately grooming the top of her head in a reassuring manner. "What have we all told you about wandering off Cricketkit-" But they couldn't bear to reprimand the sobbing thing, their stomach turning a little, curling a gentle paw around the kitten. "You're safe now, thanks to..."

They paused, looking at the tiny lilac kitten; she wasn't Windclan, that was for sure. But her scent was familiar... It looked up, over the gorge, before something clicked in their mind. "Ah, Skyclan." Molewhisker nodded, knowingly. There had been some pressure and tension from previous patrols, but this brave little one had stopped to help a kitten from a different clan. "Thank you, little one, you were more than brave to put yourself on the line for a cat you don't even know, most warriors wouldn't even do such a thing." It hummed, gently, still cradling the sobbing kitten close, trying to assure she was okay; they were far from the best when it came to reassurances, but they hoped a familiar presence was better than nothing.

——— I won't go making mountains

out of molehills anymore. ———

• 
  Molewhisker
  ✦—Windclan tunneller
  ✦—They/It
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A soft-spoken, small, red and blue chimaera with overly long whiskers.
  #9D9D9D

 

[Cricketkit Cricketkit]

'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance
A foxtrot above my head, a sock hop beneath my bed
A disco ball is just hanging by a thread

.

She was going to fall. She was going to fall and she was going to die and no one would even know until it was too late. She'd never hear Sweetnose's voice again, never meet Honeyflower's kits, never be able to curl up with them when the nightmares came, never show Meadowpaw her newest symbols or watch Molewhisker vanish into one of his tunnels like magic. All because of a shiny. All because she had gone alone. Her claws scraped uselessly at the edge, her hind legs dangling over the yawning drop of the gorge between SkyClan and WindClan. Her breath came in shallow gasps, her eye wild with terror. Help me, please... someone... anyone....

And then there were teeth. Not the bad kind. Not the kind that hurt on purpose. Sharp, sure, but familiar, anchoring. Something real grabbed her scruff, lifting her just enough that she wasn't dangling anymore. And though it stung, it was salvation. Someone heard her. She didn't struggle. She barely breathed. The world was wind and fear and trembling paws, and she prayed to StarClan that the apprentice, whoever they were, was strong enough. And then came the appearance of another.. Someone she knew well. " Molewhisker! "

The name escaped her in a broken sob the second she saw them. Her trembling body was hauled to safety and she collapsed against them the moment her paws touched grass. She buried herself into their fur like she could vanish there, like maybe if she pressed hard enough, the gorge would disappear behind her. She was safe. She was safe. But all the bravery, all the grit she'd clung to like claws in stone, snapped. Her tiny shoulders shook, and the dam broke.

Loud, ugly, hiccuping sobs tore out of her. She wailed, inconsolable, not just from fear but from heartbreak. The shinies she'd collected, so lovingly tucked into her fur and tail, were gone now, swallowed whole by the gorge. It was a silly thing to cry about, but in this moment it felt like one more thing she'd lost. She couldn't say thank you. Not yet. Her voice was lost to the storm inside her. So she held on to Molewhisker and cried, like her heart was trying to pour out everything she didn't know how to say.

Speech, thoughts/emphasis

5 MOONS

𖧧

WINDCLANNER

𖧧

SONG

𖧧

bio

 

[SWALLOWPAW]

a wailing kit could stir an elder from a deep slumber. the warrior code has many rules, and one of them states that no stray kit is to be neglected. kittens are the future of any colony, they are to be protected at any cost. it's why they saved stonepaw, and gave her as many chances as she needed.

skyclanners are not usually fast on ground. by the time swallowpaw arrived, the kitten had already been saved, her head buried into the fur of a cat she didn't recognize. swallowpaw heaved out a sigh of relief, her shoulders relaxing. they're windclan, she assumed, since they were standing next to the gorge. "wh-what happened?" she asked stonepaw, beckoning the apprentice back on their side of the border with an awkward twitch of her tail, not used to giving orders like that. "i-i'm glad your kit is alright." she says to the doting molewhisker, hoping her voice carried over the loud cries.

ʚɞ

 

[Stonepaw]

For a breath, she had thought they'd both fall. A quick death it was sure to be. There would be no suffering like her brother endured, but all the same fear crept into her chest. At least she would die having tried to save another life and to have upheld Stormcrow's teachings...

Stonepaw didn't hear it at first—too much noise between the kit's wailing and the wind screaming through the gorge. When a paw tugged her back, it took every ounce of control not to whirl and snap. Only the scruff still clamped in her jaws kept the growl in her chest from tearing free.

The touch didn't linger, and soon enough, they were both clear of the edge. Her fur bristled with leftover tension, but her expression was numbed. Her jaw released, and the kit scrambled away into the chest of a cat they clearly knew.

Stonepaw's chest heaved, mouth open slightly as she caught her breath. The adrenaline bled out of her slowly, leaving her limbs heavy and muscles aching. Both strangers carried a scent she didn't recognize at first but she was on the WindClan side of the border. She supposes that the scent is the gorse—wheat—and wind her mentor spoke of. Like a breeze wafting the smell of freshly crushed grass.

I wasn't strong enough again.

But the kit was safe and in familiar company. There was solid ground beneath her paws. That was enough for now. Her round blue eyes flicked up to the warrior and then to the kit sobbing into the other's fur.

The apprentice didn't have the words to comfort them. She wasn't sure the kit would hear even if she tried. "Don't thank me." Gratitude is not needed. She was simply following the code as all honorable SkyClanners did, just as Stormcrow told her she should. The point dips her head. "I'm sorry I crossed your border."

Without waiting for a reply, Stonepaw turns to leave—only to spot Swallowpaw. She nods and pads to join her clanmate.

"Foolish kit got too close to the gorge and ground gave underneath." Stonepaw explains calmly. "I'm going back to camp to share what happened." The apprentice pads past, trotting back across the bridge and into the embrace of evergreens.

____You are a stranger here, why have you come? ᨒ↟↟ᨒ↟ Lift me higher, let me look at the sun____

• "speech" - thoughts / emphasis
  

• 

• Stonepaw she/her & skyclan
  ☁︎ LH lilac point with a thick mane, blue eyes, and a half-tail.
  ☁︎ A hollow, vacant voice, stripped of emotion.
  ☁︎ Mentored by Stormcrow.
  ☁︎ Peaceful and healing powerplay permitted For other, DM.
  ☁︎ Smells of pine needles and petrichor.
  
  
  penned by Scarlet​