Abandoned Twoleg Nest

Direstar grinned at honeyfrost and moved closer over to her. he gently rasped hsi tongue over her ear in an attempt to calm her down a little. he murmured "we dont have to stay here if you dont want to, Oakpup and Moonpup are ready for their apprentice ceremonies, and Fernpaw i hear is ready to become a warrior'. he smiled sideways at Honeyfrost. he was hoping that maybe she could be his new heart.

Honeyfrost tensed as something rasped over her ear and screwed her eyes shut fearfully. At was not until the soothing voice of Direstar met her ears that she managed to piece together what had just happened. Letting a light chuckle pass through her open maw she turned and smiled as she looked at her leader and nosed his shoulder, most surprisingly to her, in a rather affectionate way. "If you wish to return then you may but I would not want you to postpone the outing just for me. I'm confident that Thistlepaw and Swiftpaw inparticular will be eager to learn something new and I would not like to take that privilage away from them." Still baring the toothy smile the white warrior sat down, facing the male and musing about what they could possibly do to pass the time as they waited for their apprentices.

He nodded and said calmly "send them on a scouting mission within and tell them to bring something back". his blood red eyes watched honeyfrost warmly before he turned to go back to camp. he hoped that fernpaw would be there ,it was time for her to become a warrior. very much in thought the red leader paddded away.
-camp

Honeyfrost dipped her head and smiled warmly after her leader as he padded back to camp. Sitting down she waited for Thistlepaw and Swiftpaw to arrive so that she could send them on their mission. However thoughts began to crop up in her mind as she waited, and eventually she felt her fur beginning to bristle worriedly. What if they had gotten lost or misheard herself or Direstar and gone to the wrong place? Standing on apprehensively the young warrior decided to do a quick scout of the territory, just to check that the apprentices hadn't accidentally wondered off somewhere.
-The Stunted Forest-

Tinypaw padded into the area. His neck fur rose. The brute turned to see if the pups were coming, knowing that they were nearby. His tension relaxed as the male lowered his haunches and flattened down his fur.

Fawnpup followed behind Tinypaw, her fur sticking up in places from when she'd past some bushes and they'd gotten caught on her fur. She sat down and licked her forearm fur back down, ears flicking at the noises outside. It was different outside of camp at the Twoleg Nest. They only places she and Rowanpup had really ventured to were just outside of the camp. The fae looked up at the nest curiously, getting up and making her way closer to it.

Rowanpup trotted after Fawnpup and Tinypaw. He had to admit, his sense of indifference and confidence had been slowly dwindling with every step they took away from camp, and now it was nearly non existant. He no longer felt happy and carefree - he was so scared he had to force himself to stop his legs from trembling. Rowanpup knew they shouldn't be here and that if they were caught, all three of them would be in huge trouble. Rowanpup and Fawnpup had never been this far from camp, and this creepy old house was exuding an ominous aura. It wasn't exactly helping his anexity. "W-what do we do now?" Rowanpup asked unsteadily, sitting down beside Fawnpup. A stutter had entered his voice, just as it always did when he grew frightened or nervous.

Fawnpup looked back at Rowanpup with a huge smirk on her lips and idiocy rolling over her in waves. "Now?" she questioned, stepping in front of Rowanpup with daringness in her eyes, "Now we go in." With that, Fawnpup turned sharply, flicking her friend on the nose with her tail and padding in front of Tinypaw with the same look. "That is," she began as she made her way to the entrance to the nest, "if you two brutes are daring enough." Giving them both a flashing smile, the brown pup crossed the threshold.

"U-uh..."he stammered. Tinypaw held his head high. "Ok! I'll go in!"he said. The male stepped on the floorboards, they creaked in every step. He went in through the doggy door, a cold sweat dripping from his nose as he entered. "H-H-Hello?"he stammered as he called into the old building. He tensed as he heard the scurrying of feet below the floorboards. "Rats!, literally!"he murmured to himself.

Heck no Rowanpup wasn't daring enough - he felt like he was about to fall over in sheer terror. Rowanpup wasn't about to stay outside by himself, though, so he unhappily followed Tinypaw and Fawnpup inside. The floorboards creaked under their weight, and Rowanpup shifted uncomfortably. He figured it would be just his luck for a board to break and send him tumbling down a ten foot fall. Rowanpup jumped as rats scuttled across their path, and he sprinted several feet forward, coming to stand by Fawnpup. The presence of his friend comforted him slightly. "I-I don't like this..." Rowanpup said uneasily. Shafts of sunlight swirled through the dirty windows, illuminated the trio. Rowanpup couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

Fawnpup gave her friend a look, one saying that he needed to take more risk. "Come one," she said, making her way deeper into the nest. The floorboards creaked from underneath her wait but not so much as when the males walked. Not only was she smaller because she was female, but she was also the smallest pup in general at camp. There were large objects in the den she had walked into. They were covered with dust and torn up like something had attacked them. Must have been the rats. Shaking her head, Fawnpup made her way over to what looked like a hole in the wall. There was stone surrounding it and when she peered inside it and up, there was a tunnel leading upwards and opening to the sky. The fae stepped forward into the place a little more but dust fell on her, making her sneeze and squint her eyes as the stuff got in them. Fawnpup stepped back, accidentally knocking over a table and making a lamp fall to the ground with a loud crash.

The crash caused a chain reaction, sending glass all over the floor and scaring the rats from under the furniture. They scattered about, running all over the place. Some ran through the door the wolves had come through while others tried to get out through windows. The actions were too much for the old house and there were more loud banging as the upper floor began to fall, collapsing on the three small canines and trapping them inside the house. Dust filled the air and made Fawnpup have a coughing fit. The dust covered them all, making the three of them look like grey wolves and not brown and black. She shook herself and got up from where she had fallen. There was a cut running from her upper right leg to where her leg bent into her paw. She lifted it up off the ground and stood on her two good back legs and left one. A whimper escaped her mouth as she looked around at the mess. There was a gapping hole in the roof of the house, giving them daylight, but it was the only source that she could find. Fawnpup looked over at her friends. "You two okay?"

Rowanpup bit back a protest as Fawnpup gave him a familiar dismissive glance. He'd been on the receiving end of that look too many times to count; the female was basically telling him to grow a backbone and quit being a wimp. Shivering slightly, Rowanpup followed his friend further into the house. He now totally wished they hadn't come here. It was a stupid idea. Even with an apprentice by their side, Rowanpup felt totally vulnerable. If something bad happened, the three of them would be near defenseless weaklings, and they were way too far away from camp for anyone to come to their aid. Tail plastered to his belly, head drooping close to the ground, Rowanpup took small steps as he slunk after his friends.

Rowanpup jumped and whirled around as a loud crash split the dusty silence. Fawnpup had knocked over a lamp; Rowanpup watched in precise clarity as the ceramic item hit the ground and shattered into a million pieces. He knew instantly that the female had made a fatal mistake, and he froze to the ground in paralyzed fear. Dozens of rats came scattering out of the house, setting off a chain reaction. The house began to creak and groan under all the sudden activity; seconds later, dust was raining down from the wooden upper floor as it began to spread with fissures and cracks. Rowanpup yelped as the cieling totally collapsed and came crashing down on the trio. The pup was unhurt, but he found himself surrounded by piles of wood. It took him several seconds to scramble under a gap between two pieces of wood; he kept falling and getting snagged on the boards. "Fine." Rowanpup gasped, coming to rest by Fawnpup. He was forcing back a fear that threatened to totally envelope him.

Tinypaw was startled by the loud noise. He was hit in the face a few times by Rowan's tail as the house shook. A floorboard hit his nose, leaving a bruise. Tinypaw winced in pain as a shard of the lamp that was knocked off by Fawnpup got stuck in his pelt. The brute scrambled to get out. The floor boards were on his body, he couldn't get out until he pushed in on of the planks. He slipped out with ease but was probably COVERED in splinters.

Fawnpup nodded at Rowanpup and turned to Tinypaw. She pressed her foot to the ground and awkwardly walked over to the black apprentice, trying to hide her limp. Her cut was bleeding but it was dark in the collapsed house and her fur was dark enough that it wasn't totally noticeable in the lighting they were in. She carefully nosed at the shard of glass in his pelt off, cutting the tip of her nose, and tossed it away from them. She also noticed the splinters on him and winced. "You all right, Tinypaw?" she questioned as she shifted her wait on her paws, careful to hide her wincing and trying to stand like she normally did. The fae let out a small sigh and began to try and get the splinters out, wagging her tail to hit Rowanpup in reassurance.

Rowanpup seemed to be the least hurt out of all of them. He felt a few splinters lodged in his pelt, be they glass or wood, and one of his paw pads was streaming blood from a shallow cut, but nothing else seemed harmed. Rowanpup looked over his friends, trying to assess their wounds. Thankfully, Tinypup looked like he would be okay; his nose was streaming blood and several shards of glass and wood had pierced his fur, but Fawnpup was managing to dislodge most of them. Fawnpup looked okay, too; in fact, she seemed totally unharmed. Rowanpup narrowed his eyes in scrutiny. To any other eye, Fawnpup would have probably looked totally okay, but Rowanpup had grown up around the female. He knew how stubborn she was and how much she hated to admit weakness. Rowanpup stumbled through the piled up wreckage and nosed her leg; he immediately felt his snout coated in warm blood.

"You idiot." Rowanpup muttered, panic welling up inside of him. Fawnpup was probably their strongest asset in terms of getting out of her; her tiny figure would allow them to easily find and take advantage of an escape route. If she was hurt and so rapidly losing blood, she might pass out and leave the other two by themselves in this prison. Not to mention, Rowanpup couldn't bear the thought of his best friend being hurt. He didn't know if she had broken a bone or just severely cut herself, but if something happened to her, Rowanpup would never forgive himself. "We have to get out of here."

Tinypaw nodded and winced. "I-I'll be fine."he said. The apprentice let out a long sigh. The male stared up, trying to take his mind of the pain as Fawnpup helped him to pull out splinters. The male gave a nod. 'I think that's all."he said. He heard Rowanpup's words and nodded. "Yes."the male scrambled for the door, it was jammed in. "What now?"he said.

Fawnpup winced as Rowanpup nosed her cut. She knew that it would have been a miracle to get the wound past her, he knew her too well. With a sigh, she bowed her head to think. They had to get out of the nest somehow but it looked like all the exits had been blocked off. The fae narrowed her eyes as she looked around the wreckage. Keeping her eyes peeled helped Fawnpup notice a small opening between two floorboards. With a flick of her tail, Fawnpup motioned to the two brutes to stay where they were. The damage of the house was too much and if they moved the wrong way the opening could vanish. She crept forward carefully, slowly, until she got to the crack. "I'm going to try and get through," she breathed out. The small pup put her good paw on the bottom board and pushed down. Nothing happened. Thankful that the opening was sturdy and sending her thanks to StarClan, Fawnpup lifted herself trough the hole with some ease, falling only as she was halfway through. She gave a sigh of relief as she tumbled into another area, this one with a huge, safe sized hole that they could easily get through at the same time. There was grass at where the ground met wood, light shinning in the area. "All right, guys," she called back to them, "be careful coming through! The hole is sturdy enough." With a small smile, Fawnpup hobbled away from the hole so that the two males could get through without falling on her. Her leg was still bleeding professionally but she had learned to ignore it, instead walking around on it to try to numb herself.

Direstar trotted up and flicked his ears, was that pup voices he heard? with worry for the pups he bounded over and shoved his weight at the door. a little dazed he backed up and charged again this time his full weight crashed into the door. the door splintered and gave. direstar toppled down covered in splinteres. he lifted his head and barked "are you guys ok?" he hoped that they were. he panted a little then licked his nose.

Tinypaw blinked away tears. He kept to his father. "I'm sorry...because of me..your covered in splinters now."he said. The apprentice winced. The shard of porcelane from the case dug deeper into his flesh.

He chuckled and said "its fine son, i would drag myself through a bramble bush for you". he chuclked and nuzzled his nose into his sons fur then began slowly pulling the porcelian shards out of his sons skin. his movements gentle and slow. he smiled kindly as he did so. softly humming his theme song.

Blood leaked out of Tinypaw's wounds. He nuzzled his dad and took out the splinter from his pelt. "Thanks dad."he said. Smiling, he helped Rowanpup out. The brute looked to Fawnpup. "Your not hurt are you?"he asked in concern.

Fawnpup shuffled a little awkwardly as Direstar came crashing in. The action caused splinters of wood to fly everywhere but at least it would be easier for them to get out. At Tinypaw's question, Fawnpup shifted so that her left side was facing the apprentice and leader, "No," she said with a clear voice. "Just a few splinters and a cut nose, but nothing I can't handle." She gave the two of them a grin.

Rowanpup was beyond relieved when Fawnpup writhed her way out of the wreckage. He followed suite, only falling once or twice over his own legs before he managed to stand up beside his friend. He cast her a look of mingled admiration and concern - of course it would be like her to save them all, even with her leg wounded. Turning around, Rowanpup watched as Tinypaw scrambled out of the debris after them. Then he saw Direstar. Rowanpup cringed, afraid the leader would apprehend them, but the male seemed more interested in the wellbeing of his son and the other two pups to scold them. At least, for now.

Rowanpup frowned when Fawnpup said she was alright. He and her both knew that her injuries were much worse than a few scrapes and scratches. Rowanpup didn't say anything, though; if she wanted to keep her wound a secret, then so be it. He would confront her about it when they got back to camp, away from the sharp ears of Tinypaw and his father.

"We'll head back to camp now, Direstar," Fawnpup murmured. She swung her tail across Rowanpup's shoulders as she began to walk away from the wreckage. She knew that they had to be punished for what they'd done - sneaking out of camp and everything - but she really did not want to stay by the scene of the crime. Plus, her lower legs were starting to feel really heavy and she didn't know if she could wait any longer to walk back. With a small smile, the brown pup made her way through the forest back to camp.

Direstar smiled and said "do not fear pups, you will not be punished. infact i think its time for a few warrior and apprentice ceremonies". he stood and gently nudged tinypaw before shoving his way through the wreckage. with a careful flick of his ears he had decided to Mentor either Fawnpup or Rowanpup. he would warrior Clvoerpaw and give Shadowstorm Tigerpup. he leapt off tocamp.