She was on a supply run for Cure, leaving the intimate warmth and musty earthy scent of the den for the living aura of the jungle. She took deep breaths of fresh air, looking up at the light filtering through the trees, smiling and humming, in a sanguine mood. Cure was calm and in a deep peaceful sleep because of the gently burning leaves Arkrael had found, and after Cayenne had stoked a very small fire, it created a very sweet smelling smoke that sent Cure right into dreamland.
Of course, Cayenne didn't want to sleep along with her; she had more plants to look for, now that her stock was depleted from helping Ark and Cure. She followed the familiar path she knew to collect her normal plants - but she stopped, hearing screaming.
Her fur rose on edge and she ran towards the sound, running past this slim cat-sister with blood and cuts and clutching weapons in her paws with this sick looking grin, and the older gem ran past her in the other direction, leaving Cayenne completely confused. She moved along towards the sound she had heard, seeing two gems collapsed onto the ground, bloodied and unconscious.
She saw this big dog-cat thing with this huge puncture wound in his shoulder, and on top of them was- wait, was that Dove? She hissed and ran towards them both even faster, blind panic gripping her. "Dove? Dove! What's going on!"
She looked them both over, seeing their shallow breathing and the foam at the dog-thing's mouth, the sickening and green cuts and claw marks all over them - they were sick, really sick, and she didn't know what had caused it - was it that slim gem she saw running by? Did they do this to Dove?
She felt sick herself, gripping her tail, feeling her sharp finger start to cut into her skin in anger. That slinking monster did this and she didn't do anything - she could've caught her, she could've - no -no, what was important was her sister and this dog-thing that were both dying in front of her.
"Help!" She screamed, clutching at her sister. "Somebody, help!"
Everything seemed so calm, so peaceful, so perfect today. The plants were well and if they were well then she was well. Her eyes were closed as she examined the lights of the plants' lives behind her eyes. Her nose touched to the base of the All Mother as she focused and Saw as only the All Mother allowed her to See. Everything was at peace... except it wasn't. In her vision she saw that the plants' lights were starting to distort and they were... crying out? That was strange... Her non-speaking children did not, well, speak. Why were they crying out? What was wrong? The gray cat frowned, brows drawing together as she tried to make sense of this.
Then she heard the screech for help.
Her green eyes opened and her head shot up. That wasn't just from the All Mother... it was a warning a call for assistance. The normally calm cat's eyes flew open wide in panic as she raised to the sound. Her paws seemed to let her fly as she raced over the ground and burst through the undergrowth to spy a terrible scene. Her body gave a convulsive shudder as she saw the injured body of some sort of strange dog. His body was ripped and sickly green liquid oozed from his many cuts as his mouth frothed. Blackfeather felt herself shaking, such pain... Such misery. Oh... How could the All Mother allow this to happen? It made her sick, her vision swam as she took it in.
But just when she thought it couldn't get any worse... it did by tenfold. Lying right next to the dog was,
"DOVEFEATHER!" The gray she-cat screeched in anguish. What had happened? Her poor sister she looked even worse off than the dog or was that just her mind playing tricks on her? Blackfeather swayed on her paws as she retched on the earth, sickened thoroughly by the sight. Dovefeather... Her gentle sister... Who had done this? Why did this happen?
Blackfeather ran up to her sister, sobs wracking her body as she began to lick and clean her body. For now, the lemur went unnoticed as Black's only thoughts were on her nearly dead sister. "Dovefeather... who... who did this-- please --oh All Mother, please no, not her! Oh! I can't... Not you too! No!" Black's vision swam as she felt her body start shudder, shaking as she imagined the pain her sister and the dog were going through. It was too much. "My Sister... My sweet Sister. O All Mother please don't send her to the Void... Have mercy, I beg you..." Her voice cracked as she sobbed out her words, the pain palpable in the choking sound. For a moment she seemed to calm as she silently began to sob but then all at once she let out a caterwaul filled with pain to the sky. The sound caused a nearby flock of Carollers into the air, their song a mournful counterpart to Blackfeather's own cacophony of sadness.
505
@Dovefeather @Cayenne
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10/10
"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...
We'll light up the sky,
We'll open the clouds...
She clutched her ears, covering them when the cat that had appeared screamed and howled in sadness, and when they lowered their head to continue licking their- sister? Was this one of Dove's sisters she mentioned? - she pushed them back, shouting, "Don't lick that! They're sick, they're sick with something!"
Her voice was loud and frantic and broken, but she didn't care, her sister was dying. "I need your help! Someone did this to them - this evil gem that just ran by with blood and weapons and I think they took Dove's tooth - but I need your help! There's a den nearby where all my healing supplies are, and I need you to carry them there. Please!"
She looked over them both, the thought of not being able to take care of them in time making her sick. "I don't know how we're going to carry them both, we can try dragging them on some big leaves, but I can't do it by myself."
So much for that sanguine mood, she thought bitterly.