MARY LOST HER LITTLE LAMB | the pecking order

MARY LOST HER LITTLE LAMB Nov 6, 2016 7:17:04 GMT

Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2016 7:17:04 GMT

H A Z E L S T A R

are you insane like me? been in pain like me?
do you call yourself a fucking hurricane like me?

she was anxious.

but... no, it was so much more than that. the skin beneath her thick russet pelt was itching. she was growing uneasy; restless. however, she had no clue as to why this was so. it was rather unusual for the she-cat to be out in the cool hours of twilight, for waking just as dawn hit was more of her thing. but as padded through camp on soft paws, with remnants of silverpelt shining down on her, she felt at peace... sort of.

as she neared a swath of reeds that indicated the entrance to camp, a faint silhouette of an achingly familiar warrior nearly knocked wind from the she-cat's chest. green eyes shone in disbelief as she grew ever closer to the figure, the scent of lilies washed over her and she hoped beyond hope that what she witnessed was true.

her breath caught in her throat as she neared the figure, tentatively reaching out with her tail to stroke the warrior on their backside. to her sorrow, the figure dissipated into thin air before her tail even made contact. her shoulders slumped in defeat and her tail drooped as she settled down in the spot the warrior had just been -- it had been a figment of her imagination.

her mind had played a cruel trick.

a moon had passed since her daughter's disappearance, yet the pain of her loss was still fresh in hazelstar's mind. her eyes reflected every bit of pain and anguish she felt in that very moment -- why had starclan taken her daughter when she needed her most? was it to show hazelstar that she was strong enough without her daughter's support? or was it some sort of punishment? with a shake of her head, the she-cat sank to the ground beneath her, resting her head on her paws.

as the light of dawn began to approach, the scent of herbs washed over her. she didn't give her intruder time to speak, for she spoke first. "do you think she's still out there?" much to her chagrin, her voice broke with the question that was asked. "we never... we never found her body. she could still be..." she trailed off, though the silent plea for comfort was clear in her voice.

hope for her daughter's return was all that was keeping her going at this point.

396 words
lost with NETTLEHEART
oi, she's still all broken up.

MARY LOST HER LITTLE LAMB Nov 7, 2016 6:42:57 GMT

Post by NETTLEHEART on Nov 7, 2016 6:42:57 GMT

the dying starlight was enough to inform the large tabby that it was hazelstar who slumped near the mouth of camp, partially shrouded in darkness. green eyes narrowed, and he was once again brought to an alarming conflict within himself.

he needn't say anything before she was addressing his presence, "do you think she's still out there?" nettleheart hesitated, he would never know the love a mother had for her kits, or even a father to his offspring. his duty was with starclan, after all. hazelstar grieved very deeply for the loss of astergrace, that he could not fault. but he wanted to tell her to be strong, to be brave for the clan. riverclan could not bear to have a leader that crumbled under grief, a leader filled with so much sorrow that she could not grief.

he was being heartless.

it was her daughter, he had to remind himself. vanished and gone as if starclan had snatched her up themselves. nothing remained but the pools of her blood, and the clumps of fur that were almost certainly a telltale sign that astergrace had not gone by choice. he should have comforted hazelstar, he knew that, but he could not feed her false lies, either. there had been a lot of blood, nettleheart was almost sure that without medical attention, the young warrior's fate seemed almost certain. yet there had been no body and that had kindled a small flicker of hope in the grieving hazelstar's heart.

nettleheart swallowed hesitantly and settled himself at her side. "astergrace has not come to me in dream, and starclan has remained silent about her whereabouts." the massive tabby's voice was low as he spoke with as much gentleness as his gruff nature could manage. he did not want to feed her false hope, yet he could not find it in himself to tear our what bit of her heart remained in tact. surely she knew - she must know that the circumstances did not appear to have been in astergrace's favour.

"have you been sleeping, hazelstar?" emerald eyes gave the crimson she-cat a once over. she could not let herself deteriorate over this loss, she had a duty to fulfill. "i can get you some herbs that might help, if you are having trouble." because that's exactly what riverclan needed, a drugged up, grief stricken leader to command them. nettleheart couldn't even begin to fathom what was going on in that head of hers, but he needed to have an open dialog with her if he was to truly know what was going on with her.

ooc: @queenie /hazelstar, poor, heartbroken hazel. nettle's just a critical jerk, don't mind him.

The Pecking Order is a sandbox style role-play that allows you to explore the delicate balance of life and death throught the eyes of Warriors. This is a dog-eat-dog world and only the fittest are able to survive. In the wild, there is no saving grace, no mercy, or saviors - only survival. Find your place among the hierarchy, or die trying. You must do whatever it takes to ensure the survival of a clan, and try not to get trampled along the way. You are either predator or prey, so find your place in the spectrum.

The Pecking Order is centered in the original forest setting, in an alternate universe based on the Warriors novels by Erin Hunter. Find your soul in the gentle queen, or the brave leader, or the fierce warrior. TPO has a word minimum of 200 per post, but welcomes roleplayers of all types.

GREENLEAF - As the forest approaches the end of greenleaf, the heat seems to only be increasing. Prey runs well across all clans, plentiful even in the increasing hot weather. While there have been thunderstorms, for the past moon the storms have been fewer in number, creating a relatively dry heat across all clans.

riverclan

	leader: oakstar (bio) ▶ large, long-haired tabby; hazel eyes.
	deputy: blizzardfang (bio) ▶ longhaired white tom; mismatched eyes.
	med. cat: nettleheart (bio) ▶ massive tabby tom; green eyes.
	med. app.: smallpaw (bio) ▶ black and white she-cat; hazel eyes.

shadowclan

	leader: darkstar (bio) ▶ longhaired tabby tom; amber eyes.
	deputy: onyxfeather (bio) ▶ tall black tom; honey eyes.
	med. cat: sparrowpelt (bio) ▶ small tabby she-cat; hazel eyes.
	med. app.: auditioning ▶ see announcements for audition details.

thunderclan

	leader: rowanstar (bio) ▶ ginger and white she-cat; amber eyes.
	deputy: firefalcon (bio) ▶ small blue she-cat; hazel eyes.
	med. cat: stormfrost (bio) ▶ grey tom; amber eyes.
	med. app.: auditioning ▶ see announcements for audition details.

windclan

	leader: aspenstar (bio) ▶ black and white she-cat; green eyes.
	deputy: asterfang (bio) ▶ pale ginger she-cat; green eyes.
	med. cat: mintnose (bio) ▶ large gray and white tom; green eyes.
	med. app.: brindlepaw (bio) ▶ tortoiseshell she-cat; green eyes.

The Pecking Order was created by Lost. The theme 'Snow-coated Forest' and related graphics created by Cawn. The site is based on 'Warriors' by Erin Hunter. Mini-profile hover code by Trinity Blair. Base images come from a range of flickr artists and can be found in our full credits here. If we forgot to mention you in credits, contact a staff member and we'll make sure to add you.