Round 3

[Darkstar]

boom

And let there be four hungry dogs.

(You guys have the ability to play the dogs yourself. If you were not contacted to die, then you will not die. However, you can do whatever you want in reaction to the one who is dying this round. The 6 tributes and Moonfeather are the only ones who should be posting here. Any other posts made will be deleted and subtracted from you post count. Please give everyone a chance to post in this thread, and don't go crazy over making as many posts as you can.)


Crystalclaw Cloudbreeze Crimsonsky Falconwing Tuftfeather Willowbreeze Ibiswing Cherryleaf

[Cloudbreeze]

Bark, bark!

Cloudbreeze's ears pricked, the woofing noise sending a shiver through her. She turned her head, seeing dogs running toward the gathered cats, the cats that were still alive. She crouched down, lashing her tail before taking off.

Wait! Where's Ibiswing?

"Ibiswing! Ibiswing! Where are you? There are dogs coming!"

Taking off, the gray and white tabby ran as fast as her short legs would take her, a wild look in her blue eyes.

"Ibiswing! Run!"

[Ibiswing]

Ibiswing shuddered as she heard the harsh barks of four hungry dogs. Everything seemed to fall into slow motion as she turned her head and faced their drooping, drooling jaws and bloodlusting eyes. Moonfeather didn't even speak this time, but she didn't have to. Ibiswing's legs carried her swiftly through the forest as she whipped around and sprinted, her blue-gray and white pelt a blur. However fast she was, though, there was no way she would be able to outrun a pack of dogs.

"Cloudbreeze!" she shrieked, catching up with her friend and sprinting beside her. "A tree! We have to climb a tree!" Never mind that her kittypet life had rarely given her the chance to climb one, and it wasn't like they were a huge staple of living in RockClan. This was a matter of life and death, not some stupid kit game. She stopped at a tree and scrabbled at the trunk, attempting to latch her claws in. "Climb up this one!"

[Willowbreeze]

Willowbreeze already felt the minor trauma of being chased across the thunderpath by a snarling wolf and watching an apprentice have her lower body crushed by a monster, right before nearly escaping a forest fire and watching another apprentice suffer in the deadly flames. She still coughed violently from the smoke; if she ever lived through this, her lungs--and peace of mind--might be permanently damaged.

"And let there be four hungry dogs."

Her eyes dilated as she saw the huge beast in front of her. It was tall with broad shoulders; sleek black fur with brown on its muzzle, chest, and paws; and a stubby tail with tall pointed ears to match. With a snarl and drooling bared teeth, the beast snapped at her with famished brown eyes. Willowbreeze was no more than a juicy piece of fresh-kill to this dog.

The occasional dog you'd see romping around in FireClan territory was barely taller than a cat itself. But this dog was almost as tall as a wolf. Breathing a gasp of fright, the silver tabby dug her claws into the ground and fled away in a heartbeat. It barked loudly, the sound startling her ears. She dodged between trees and leaped over brambles, hoping the clumsy mutt would fall behind, but it was as if everything in its path got trampled.

Oh you know, she would climb a tree, except Willowbreeze basically forgot how. FireClan cats didn't climb trees, that was the thing. They just outran their predators. But with all the undergrowth making her trip over her own paws, Willowbreeze wouldn't last long just running in circles. Making a sharp turn, her paws skidding in the grass, she attempted the scrabble up the closest oak tree. The rough bark scraped her pads and her claws dug into the trunk, and for a heartbeat she thought she would escape-- until she realized she forgot about her tail.

The beast barked with gleaming white teeth and snapped at her dangling tail, ripping her back to the ground and tearing one of her claws. Squealing in surprise and panic, Willowbreeze smacked an unsheathed paw across the dog's maw with made it yelp, but it wasn't exactly effective. Pain searing through her, the beast bit at her shoulder and tore wounds and ripped out clumps of fur. Yowling and hissing, she used her hind paws to rake at its chest and felt a spark of sanctification when she felt her claws rip through skin. The dog released her, and Willowbreeze leaped to her paws and fled away, ignoring the agonizing pain in her left shoulder and torn claw.

[Falconwing]

Falconwing let out a yowl, calling out to Crimsonsky. He hissed and tried to get to his clanmate, but a dog crossed his path. The other dogs were upon the other tributes. The tabby crouched down, his heart thumping. He couldn't go under the dog, for, it could crush. All he could do was run. Run towards the mountains. It really sucked to be an Iceclanner, when your only talents are climbing rocks and swimming. But, maybe he could climb a tree. Falconwing hissed and turned, darting towards one of the trees. He lept up, trying to claw his way up the trunk. He felt his claws snag onto the bark. Think of it as a rock. One paw after the other. He heard barking and hurried his climbing. Teeth latched into his tail, causing the tom to yowl in pain. He pulled forward, his striped tail slipping out of the slobbering monster's mouth. Falconwing panted as he arrived at the first branch of the tree, glancing at his tail. Tufts of fur had been torn out, but otherwise-besides the small shocks of pain-it was fine. The feline looked around, finding the other tributes.

"Crimsonsky, go climb a tree! You can do it, think of it as a boulder with pawholds!" Falconwing shouted to his clanmate, which he couldn't see. There was too much chaos.

[Crystalclaw]

Crystalclaw stood watching Moonfeather. She began to dissapear as four dogs took her place. Crystalclaw tensed as she saw the dog's big gaping mouth with long sharp teeth that could rip her apart so easily. She was shaking with fear. Again. Why had she volunteered to do this! Her body and lungs still ached from the last two event's, The wolf and The fire. Her pelt was still soot blackened.

She then saw the dog's take a step forward. She then began to run ignoring the aching feeling in her shoulder blades. She couldn't climb, she knew nothing about it. She could swim a little because of the pond. But other then that Fireclan cat's only knew how to run hard and fight hard. But she couldn't take on a dog, without help, nor where there any source's of water to swim across. Plus the dog's could swim. there was only a flat expanse of ground until you reached the mountains in the distance along with a couple trees.

She ran faster willing herself to get to the far-away mountains. She could hear thudding behind her she ran more but something caught her leg. For a second she thought it was the dog but no it was a branch. It had scraped her leg making it sting but she could go on with it. A couple meters behind her was one of the dog's, she willed herself to get up and go.

[Crimsonsky]

Dogs again. But different this time. Not quite as threatening. So to make up for that, there would need to be several.

Of course.

He took off running after Falconwing. "Remember the alliance. He's going to protect me, we can fight them together." He thought, seeing Falconwing climb up a tree. "I'm coming!" He called out to Falconwing. His panic showed in his voice. He had only ever climbed in one tree before, and he had fallen out. His life depended on climbing this tree, and that wasn't good for his health.

He grabbed his claws on the trunk and began frantically clawing at it. "Falconwing, help!" He yelled up. His eyes were wide in fear. One of the dogs was approaching, and quickly.

[Ibiswing]

Ibiswing's panic was increasing as her claws scraped at the tree. She had no idea how to climb it. The dog's barking was growing louder, and it was only when she felt the dust kicked up by their paws that she turned and tore away. The first dog- black, with shaggy, curly hair- was right on her heels, it hot breath blasting on her pelt, and the she-cat could hear its jaws snapping as it tried to bite her. She let out a little scream and sprinted faster, her legs aching and lungs screaming, but a tooth grazed her pelt and sliced into her side. Ibiswing, realizing she couldn't outrun the dog, turned sharply and dove into a snarl of undergrowth. The dog skidded past, then turned around and ran back towards her.

Its jaws worked furiously as it attempted to reach her, but the dog could not squeeze into the tangle of brambles that Ibiswing had slipped into. Dejected, it galloped away, and the RockClan warrior hurried out of the undergrowth, taking those precious few seconds to climb a tree. Her side was bleeding slightly, but it was no big deal to her at that moment. The rest of the dogs were following the tributes, and they would catch up with her soon.

She latched her claws into a tree, successful this time, and slowly inched up. The whining, barking pack was coming closer and closer still, but she knew she had to keep going. Soon enough, the first limb was right above her, and, relieved, Ibiswing hoisted herself on.

"Cloudbreeze! Up here!" she called. She caught her breath and began wheezing, probably as a result of the previous day's smoke inhalation. But she forced it down and stared at the ground with watery eyes.

[Darkstar]

If you guys haven't gotten the memo, you may all continue posting.

[Falconwing]

Falconwing hissed in surprise as Crimsonsky began to scrabble at the bark of the tree. He could tell that Crimsonsky was afraid. Falconwing wouldn't blame him. The tom reached down with his paw, barely holding onto the branch.

"Crimsonsky, try and grab my paw!" Falconwing meowed frantically to his friend, his eyes wide. One of the dogs were getting closer. The tabby pulled up slightly to get a better grip on the wobbling branch and then reached down once more, only in a whisker's reach of Crimsonsky.

"You gotta jump and try and take a hold of my paw. If you need to use your claws, use them! Also, use your back feet to propel yourself up the trunk. Don't worry, I got you," Falconwing made a weak smile, trying to console his clanmate and calm him down. He hoped it would be enough, and he hoped that the reddish tom would be able to make it up the tree as well.

[Crimsonsky]

"I'm going!" He yelped frantically. He jumped up, grabbed the bark of the tree with his claws, then flung himself up onto the wobbly, low branch with Falconwing. "Made it," He said, shakily. Would this be enough? He wasn't so sure. Suddenly, another one of the dogs appeared out of the trees, joining the other dog that was already heading toward them.

The dogs were at the bottom of the tree now, frantically biting and swatting at the unstable branch he and Falconwing shared. His eyes grew wide, and everything went dark. The dogs frantic barking and scratching and biting seemed to vanish from his mind. He turned to Falconwing. "It wasn't enough, was it?" He said, a dark expression crossing his face. "I tried, but it wasn't enough. I was never redeemed of my wrongdoing. My life, when compared to yours, isn't worth saving. You have so much more left to do, so many chances, and I'll I can do is regret." He looked into his friend's eyes and smiled, before looking into the sky and screeching, "So here's your chance to live!" He looked back at him, one last time, and said, "Blaze of glory, Falconwing, blaze of glory!"

He jumped down from the tree, running several yards away from Falconwing. He looked back, mouthed, "Goodbye," then turned to the dogs. They had both focused on him and had chased him. "They want Crimson? They're going to get Crimson," He growled.

He turned to the dogs, his claws unsheathed. Two dogs? Was it possible to kill them? A small flicker of hope went off, before another dog joined them. "This really is the end," he realized. All of the anger and hatred and regret and sorrow he had felt was no being condensed. One of these dogs was going to get all of it. His face grew into a snarl. "I'll take you all on!" He screeched in rage.

He ran toward one of the dogs, the third on that had appeared. It's eyes widened in surprise, it not expecting the cat to attack it, which gave him the advantage he needed. He flipped over it, and as it's head turned around, grabbed onto it's head, pinning it with he front paws, all he had to do was hold it down, that's all he had to do, he told himself, frantically. He grabbed onto it's throat with his teeth and didn't let go. The death bite. He had to kill it. It was the only way to save the others. His eyes burned with tears and rage and the realization that he was, indeed, now going to die. The jumped off as the two other dogs attacked, and the dog he had ripped at crumpled to the ground.

He made a slash at one of the remaining dogs before the other one jumped in and pinned him to the ground. "No!" He screeched in rage. "You can't do this to m-" His words were cut off in another scream as the dog ripped into his throat. Blood began pouring out of his fatal wound, and his eyes locked onto Falconwing as he crumpled to the ground.

He remembered everything that had happened to him, starting from when he was a kit. The bullying of his brother, Darkwing, the murder attempts, becoming a rogue, scaring the kits, the threats that he had made, the attacks he had done on innocent cats.

All of his life he'd been doing nothing good. His life hadn't been worth saving compared to these other cats. He had wanted his last actions to be good and give Falconwing another chance at life, or at least extend his remaining time alive, and he had succeeded. Maybe it was enough to redeem him...

Maybe...

The light faded, and Crimson fell back into the void of death.

[Cloudbreeze]

Cloudbreeze scrambled after Ibiswing, claws scraping against the bark in vain. She could feel the breath of the dog on her tail. She felt its teeth latch onto her tail, and she let out a cry of pain, straining to pull herself up. The dog had let go of her tail, running off at another cat's screech. It was cut abruptly, and she knew another tribute was dead. Panting, the tabby and white she-cat sat beside Ibiswing, looking back at her tail.

"My tail. Ow, my tail."

Blood was splattered on the fur that ran along her tail. She knew the tiny bones in her tail were shattered. Shaking her head, she turned back to Ibiswing.

"Another painful way for a tribute to die. Ibiswing, I want to go home."

The tabby wanted to go home with Ibiswing, but she knew that wasn't going to happen. One of them had to die, or they both would die.

[Falconwing]

"NO!" Falconwing watched in horror as Crimsonsky jumped off of the branch. It wobbled dangerously, causing the tom to grip onto it with dear life. He bit his lower lip and turned, seeing Crimsonsky run. Maybe he would make it, run to the mountains and-

he turned and tried to fight the dogs. He killed one, but the others tore him apart. His screeches echoed in Falconwing's ears as the tabby stiffened. His eyes widened as he stared empty-eyed at the dogs who were still viciously slaughtering his clanmate. His friend. The scream of his death finally ended. The agonizing scream of pain. Falconwing began to shake, tears erupting from his blue eyes, still staring at Crimsonsky's limp body. The dogs looked around and went off, as if they were search of other prey. Falconwing didn't care anymore.

The tom slid down the trunk of the tree, his claws skidding the bark. He pushed off of it, landing awkwardly, his paw stinging. Falconwing hissed and grunted, mumbling under his breathe as he limped over to Crimsonsky, muttering no over and over. He finally reached his body and stumbled, nosing Crimsonsky.

"Wake up, come on, get up!" Falconwing refused to admit that his friend was dead, torn apart by dogs. Falconwing touched the tom's body, then lifted his paw, seeing the pads covered with thick blood. He coughed and began to vigorously wipe it on the grass, panting harder as he laid down, nudging the crimson colored tom.

"You did good, you hear? You deserve to be in Cloudclan. G-Goodbye," the tom whispered his final words before laying his head down on Crimsonsky's body.

[Willowbreeze]

Willowbreeze looked back to see if the dog was still behind her, but something had distracted it. Taking the moment to climb the closest tree, this time keeping her tail far above the ground, she clung onto a long outstretched branch in time to watch as one of the IceClan warriors had their throat ripped out.

Wincing as she saw the gruesome scene, her claws dug deeper into the bark and she tried to conceal tears. This was too much for her; that was only the third death of the seven more that would come. Watching Falconwing now grieve over his fallen clan-mate made her heart ache. She didn't want to imagine what would happen if any of her close friends were forced to their deaths this way.