Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2019 17:50:19 GMT -5
WARRIOR | NIGHTCLAN | 39 MOONS
My son died today.
Rookshade wheezed, shifting in and out of consciousness. His front paws went from thrashing in panic to paralyzed with shock in a matter of seconds. Pinewhisker had sent Jaystep ahead to warn the clan while she and Snakeflower took turns dragging the warrior through the forest to the Pineneedle Clearing. The tortoiseshell tom couldn't move his hips, legs, or tail. It felt like the forest was eating him up, gnawing at his entrails and lower back. He felt the gentle grip of his mother shift between the dutiful and cautious Pinewhisker, though not even the soft prick of teeth dragging him by the scruff was enough to battle away the unbearable pain each time they pulled him away. It felt like something out of a nightmare.
So all he needed to do was wake up, right?
Stop right now, you fool, you disgrace!
Wake up.
This is all because you couldn't watch out for your own mother!
Wake up.
You had one job. One job!
"Wake up!" Rookshade wailed piteously, eyes pinched tightly. Pinewhisker and Snakeflower bounced away, fear rich in the air. A mother who was losing her son. A cripple reliving the soul-wrenching terror. A young warrior falling to grips with a cruel reality. Rookshade's breathing was ragged. Pinewhisker's heart pounded. It wasn't long after his outburst that the she-cat's lurched forward quickly and continued taking turns dragging the small tom through the forest with renewed intensity. It became less of an effort the more still he became.
In a few tugs, Rookshade's breathing softened into quick, shallow breaths and all cries stopped as his mind delved into inescapable blackness.
For a moment the tom thought he had been right, that it had all just been a bad dream. His eyes flickered open, drinking in the scene around him. The disgust in his father's gaze as Jaystep walked away sent Rookshade's heart loose in panic, and the crowding cats made him shrink away in fear. Snakeflower's eyes were large with worry. He tried to pull himself to his paws, but a sharp, pinching pain at the bottom of his back sent him collapsing to the ground with a soft hiss. He heard a voice tell him to stay calm and lie still, but his mind urged him to run. To flee from the thousands of pity-filled eyes surrounding him. In a few moments of wakefulness, the crowd began to dissipate and the pain set in again.
Rookshade's front paws struck out weakly in response, a soft huff of shock escaped his throat and his eyes glazed over with agony.
Wake up. Rookshade thought faintly, even though the vile, encompassing dread of revelation had already begun strangling his heart. Wake up.
LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED
Rookshade