Event Camp Get in the water or I'll raise the tide so high, all of Ithaca will die || Jaypaw, Merrystalk

  • Hello hello, the Custom Thread Title Color and Avatar Shadow items in the shop have been removed temporarily due to a bug with the code! Will fix them soon!
  • In honor of our anniversary month, FK for posting has been doubled! Now you will earn 20FK per post, threads are still the same and have not been adjusted! Thank you for being here with us!

    Don't forget to also grab your 1 Year Anniversary Badge !

This tag indicates this is an event specific thread.
This thread takes place inside the clan's camp.

Jaypaw ⏾

A beauty that could topple the whole kingdom
WindClan
7
2
Freshkill
135
Pronouns
he/him
Profile
TAGS
Played by
Howee

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ Jaypaw ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽⋆⁺₊⋆-





Jaypaw was fully awake, aware of the water flowing everywhere around him. He was at the back of the tunnel, rushing his clanmates out - he was older, almost warrior age, the younger apprentices needed to get out first, and he was doing everything in his power to help.

The water was up to his stomach, rising higher and higher, soon he would need to start swimming. His long legs were strong, but still his body had a limit and he wasn't sure how long he would manage to swim for - if at all, in this weather, cold, his body shivering. He could hear the hammering of the raindrops outside, above him, everywhere around, deafening most of the cries from outside the camp. How was the rest of the clan doing? Was everyone safe? The medicine cats, the elders...the kits? Jaypaw prayed to StarClan that all the kits were safe. There was nothing else he could do right now but help the apprentices get out.

At long last, the last of his denmates managed to get out. The water reached up to his chin now, he had to stand on his toes, head held high at an odd angle, to not breathe in the muddy water. He paddled towards the entrance, making sure to breathe through his nose, aware of the dangers of inhaling the liquid. He was almost out when... no!

Jaypaw's hind leg would not move - it must have gotten stuck in one of the roots protruding from the tunnel's walls. He trashed and trashed, trying to get free, but he was cold and tired, his muscles weak and numb. A familiar face appeared at the entrance of the den, a gale guard, looking for others to help. "Merrystalk!" Jaypaw cried out to the warrior, unsure of what he was hoping to accomplish. "I.. I can't move. I'm stuck."

Tears welled in his eyes, making it even harder to see. His trashing brought him nothing, just muddy water filling up his stomach and lungs, and more exhaustion. Was he going to drown here after all? The tunnel's ceiling was getting soaked, dangerously muddy, Jaypaw feared it would collapse on him any moment.

"Please..." he whispered faintly, inaudible through the rain and screams of other cats. "Please, help me..."


OOC: @Merrystalk

 
—————————————— Dreaming along in a pace you'll understand. ✦


Merrystalk worked tirelessly; the apprentices weren't small fellows, but that didn't mean he wouldn't stop until every last one was safe. One after another, apprentice after apprentice. The gale guard could feel his heart hammering in his chest, thundering like the storm overhead, driving an ache through his entire being as the water rose higher and higher. A suffocating pressure as the water writhed about him, freezing tendrils that sapped the warmth from beneath his pelt.

For a moment, as he guided another youngster out of the den, he thought they would all be okay. At this point, he was barely walking, stumbling into low points in the den. There was still one apprentice left, then they would be

Jaypaw's shrill panic made his stomach turn; he was... Stuck? His breath hitched, Merry was already dazed, the dizzying sensation of churning water all around them made it nearly impossible to focus. But Merry was no coward; the gale guard swallowed hard as he dove back into the flooding den.

The world seemed more and more muffled as he desperately tried to reach Jaypaw, chest heaving as he spoke over the roar of the water. "Hey, yer okay, I ain't leavin'- leavin' without'cha." He spluttered over every word, bitter cloudy water seeping into his nose and lips, the rainwater picking up loose earth from the camp. Even in the dark of the night, as the water rose higher, what remained of the night outside the den began to dim. Soon enough, the water would cover the maw of the den itself.

Merry grimaced at the thought, but he couldn't panic now, not. They were so close to being okay, it was just Jaypaw now. The gale guard had to frantically paddle towards the apprentice at the other end of the den, the deepest section made for the deadliest possibilities. "I gotcha, Jay, don't ya' worry now." He took a second to press a reassuring forehead to the apprentice, no matter how abrasive these kids could be, how angry or scared at the world, he would always reassure them to his very last breath if he needed to.

He hoped his first plan would go well, or else this would end up more dire than he thought. Merrystalk took hold of Jaypaw's scruff and tried with his might to pull him free, pressing his back paws to the wall of the den for some desperate leverage. For a moment, a sickening moment, his mind wandered to that night, the barn fire, freeing Cherrie from beneath the crumbling rubble. Merrystalk blinked hard. They would be okay, they had to be.

  • Merrystalk
    ✦—Windclan Gale Guard | 32 Moons
    ✦—He/Him
    ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
    ✦—A skinny, tortoiseshell cat with bright green eyes and pelt speckled with hay.
    #9D6E46
 

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ Jaypaw ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽⋆⁺₊⋆-




Oh, thank StarClan, Jaypaw blinked at Merrystalk who rushed to his rescue. The water was filling up the tunnel rapidly, Jaypaw wasn't sure how much of his breathing was just swallowed water anymore, and he wanted to be out, he wanted to be out of the tunnel so badly. The water pressed against his pelt, the cold threating to drag him downward. He could barely hear Merrystalk's voice, just faint traces through the roar of the flood.

Merrystalk grabbed him by the scruff and pulled. Jaypaw hissed softly with pain, his body jerked, his leg... No... his leg did not budge, still stuck in the root. It must have been lodged in there at a weird angle, in such a way Jaypaw wasn't able to free it by tugging. But what else could he do? He kicked uselessly - WindClan cats were supposed to be fast, and he was, but here, speed meant nothing.

"I'm sorry, Merrystalk..." he gasped through mouthfuls of water, his lungs burning with every breath. "I don't think I can do this." Jaypaw was tired, sore and freezing, slowly losing the last bits of hope he still held desperately. The cold pierced his limbs, making them all but numb. Not even Merrystalk could save him, could he? He was going to drown here, without a fight, without anyone to tell him goodbye.

At least I got them all out...right? They all made it, please, let them have made it. His mind clung to that thought as he slowly lost the will to swim. If he wasn't freed soon - and Jaypaw couldn't see a way for that to happen - he was going to sink to the bottom of the flooded tunnel, lungs filled with water, drowned long before he hit the floor. His chest burned, vision flickering in and out as the cold seeped to his bones. I'm sorry, he thought dimly. I tried.


 
—————————————— Dreaming along in a pace you'll understand. ✦


The tortie's chest heaved as panic started to wrap its claws around his throat. No matter how hard he pulled at the apprentice, he just wouldn't budge. The damned root wouldn't let the poor thing go. But as Jaypaw spoke, Merry's brow furrowed. "Don'tcha talk like that, yer gettin' outta here if it's the last thing I do." The gale guard didn't quite realise the irony in his words. He took another deep breath before looking squarely at the apprentice.

"I ain't so sure if it's gonna work, but 'm gonna try free yer paw myself. But you do not wait for me, okay?" Merry swallowed hard, the water rising further up in the den, soon the air pockets would be filled too... "Yer gonna get yerself outta here 'nd I'll follow ya'. Just don't turn back, okay, I'll be right behind ya'." He gave Jaypaw a watery smile; it was just as much a reassurance to himself as it was to the apprentice.

He steadied his breath, before bracing himself to dive fully beneath the cold, murky water.

Merry had never swum before, never needed to. The most water he had ever dealt with was the ponds around the farm yard, and even those Goldy always warned him to be wary of. And that was one of the few warnings he had heeded.

Beneath the muddy water, it was nearly impossible to see, but Jaypaw was nearby and, reaching out a paw, Merry found the wall of the den. It took some fumbling, and his paw hit the damned root that had caught the apprentice tight in its grasp.

In that moment, the moor runner wished he had spent more time with the tunnelers, listened to Molewhiskers' advice about digging. But even so, he wouldn't give in. Unsheathing claws as he bobbed beneath the surface, feeling the water ripple all around both of them as the apprentice writhed in panic. He clawed at the dirt walls, trying to keep his paws firm and steady. The walls were soft; that was one small grace in all of this. He was able to pry his claws into the sodden earth and lug away chunks to try and free Jay's paw.

With every clump of earth flung into the water, visibility only grew poorer and poorer. Merry's chest screamed in pain; he never quite realised how poor his breathing ended up after the barn fire until he found himself holding his breath for dear life. It was like a fire alight in his lungs as he dug fervently to free the apprentice.

Merry's senses began to cloud; his mind had already been a haze, but this made his every strike at the wall feel less and less like his own actions. Even as the last stubborn clump finally fell away, the scrambling paws of the apprentice kicking away, the gale guard found everything almost like a faint memory rather than what was unfolding all around him.

Even so, the tortoiseshell gave Jaypaw a shove away from the wall, trying to get him closer to what remained of the exit. But, as Merry put his paw to the den wall to try and surface, cease this incessant burning in his lungs, his blood ran cold.

Maybe he dug too far, maybe the rain had softened the den walls too much, but it just kept crumbling beneath his paws. Desperation turned to panic; the burning was too much. Even as the gale guard tried to swim upwards, his sense of direction was too disorganised; disorientation clouded his mind as dark tendrils tugged at the side of his vision.

'No, no I have to get out...' He tried to reason with himself, he had survived a lot, worse even, right? It wasn't too late. 'This isn't the end, I need to... I have to...' Finally, his lungs gave out, gasping desperately, and where there should have been air, his lungs began to fill with murky water. He tried to splutter, but it was no use.

Panic turned to terror. He couldn't die, not like this. What about Harefoot and Dimmingsun, Goldenroar and Sunnyspring, Meadow, Talon and Jay... But as the ripples overhead turned to something more thunderous, his vision growing darker as he scrambled desperately for the exit, Merrystalk just hoped Jaypaw wouldn't blame himself... This wasn't his fault...

  • Merrystalk
    ✦—Windclan Gale Guard | 32 Moons
    ✦—He/Him
    ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
    ✦—A skinny, tortoiseshell cat with bright green eyes and pelt speckled with hay.
    #9D6E46
 
  • Knife
Reactions: Plot_Twists

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ Jaypaw ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽⋆⁺₊⋆-




What was the Gale Guard up to? Jaypaw wondered wearily as the other cat's head dissapeared under water. Soon, his questions were answered as he felt claws and teeth around where his leg was, stuck in the root. Was Merrystalk attempting to free him, despite everything?

Jaypaw felt claws graze his leg and he winced in pain, inhaling water and coughing it right out. Soon, there would be no air left. He breathed deep, as much as he could, preparing for the inevitable - and just in time, for Jaypaw could no longer breathe, he was fully submerged. Just in time, Merrystalk's efforts proved successful and Jaypaw felt himself be pushed away, his limbs finally freed. He did it! Jaypaw swam, swam as fast as he could to the entrance, feeling Merrystalk's movements behind him.

Jaypaw could see light - not daylight, but anything was bright compared to the dark walls of the submerged tunnel. When he finally breached the surface, he half-inhaled, half-coughed out water, so, so much water. They were out! They did it! Merrystalk saved him! Merrysta...- Merrystalk?

Jaypaw didn't hear any coughing nor raspy breaths behind him. Next to him. Anywhere. Everything was suddenly so quiet, just the drum drum drumming of the rain all around him. WHERE WAS MERRYSTALK? Jaypaw turned around, thrashing his paws in the water for Merrystalk - maybe he was too weak to get up! Jaypaw had to get him up into the air!

But no matter how hard Jaypaw tried, Merrystalk's body was nowhere to be found. Okay, okay, breathe. Jaypaw retraced his steps. The water. The tunnel. The... The tunnel? Where was the tunnel? Where moments ago the two cats were trapped with only one way out, was nothing. There was nothing, just mud, that damn mud! But Jaypaw felt him, Merrystalk was right behind him! No... Jaypaw's fur was covered in mud, and he gasped out in horror as he realised that what he felt was merely the tunnel collapsing behind him, not the Gale Guard following.

"Merrystalk!" Jaypaw dug into the mud, desperate to get to his savior. But what was once dirt was too soaked for one small cat to dig through. The mud kept seeping back where he had clawed at it, only burrying his paws deeper. "Merrystalk!" Jaypaw breathed hard, his exhaustion all but gone, though his limbs were still numb. It didn't matter now, it didn't matter! "Merrystalk!" stones dug into his skin, scratching against him, clawing at him, tearing his skin, but Jaypaw didn't care. He needed to dig. "Merrystalk!" it was no use. he had dug no deeper than he had started. he couldn't do this by himself.

"Dustystar! Goldenroar!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping someone would hear him through the storm. but he barely heard himself, how could anyone hear him? "Dimmingsun! Meadowpaw! Anyone...." he sobbed, pelt soaked, legs bruised, eyes red. "merrystalk..."

it was his fault. his own damn fault! he shouldn't have called out to the gale guard. he shouldn't have cried. he shouldn't have allowed merrystalk to help him.

it was his fault. merrystalk was gone because of him. merrystalk was gone instead of him. it should have been him.

it should have been him...

it should have been him...

it should have been...

it should have...

it...

"Dimmingsun?"