Post by Phoenix on Jan 18, 2016 1:39:52 GMT -5
LET THE YEARS WE’RE HERE BE KIND
She tried not to think about it, to put it out of her mind, but she couldn’t help it. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the mangled body of Pinkcloud and heard her dying gasps as StarClan took her. There was nothing she could have done, they said. Under those circumstances, comforting her clan mate was the best thing she could have done. But they didn’t understand, and she had no way of telling them – she hadn’t held the other warrior’s paw as she lay struggling to breathe. She had wanted to, but she’d simply frozen, as useless as though she had been the one trapped under the snow-covered branch. Pinkcloud had died right in front of her, and all she had done was watch. She hadn’t said anything. She hadn’t tried to move the branch. She hadn’t run for help. She had simply stood there.
And she hated herself for it.
Had they not split up to hunt, had she taken the other path, it would have been her broken body they carried back to camp. Had they hunted in some other part of the forest, Pinkcloud would still be alive. Had they been there a moment sooner or a moment later, and the clan would not have lost one of its sweetest cats. The thoughts haunted her, but none more so than the fact that it was all so arbitrary. It was all so needless.
But she couldn’t think of that, especially not now that she was delivering a little of their precious food to the nursery. This haven for their newest generations was no place for such dark thoughts, and a small part of her wondered if she had taken on this task in hopes that the slightly lighter atmosphere would chase away the shadows lurking in the recesses her mind. Littlestep did not follow that train of thought. With a pathetic excuse for a mouse held delicately in her jaws, she ducked into the relatively warm nursery and looked around for its occupants. “I’ve brought you something to eat,” She offered, dutifully ignoring the jealous complaints of her own stomach. “It’s not much, but it’s something.”
And she hated herself for it.
Had they not split up to hunt, had she taken the other path, it would have been her broken body they carried back to camp. Had they hunted in some other part of the forest, Pinkcloud would still be alive. Had they been there a moment sooner or a moment later, and the clan would not have lost one of its sweetest cats. The thoughts haunted her, but none more so than the fact that it was all so arbitrary. It was all so needless.
But she couldn’t think of that, especially not now that she was delivering a little of their precious food to the nursery. This haven for their newest generations was no place for such dark thoughts, and a small part of her wondered if she had taken on this task in hopes that the slightly lighter atmosphere would chase away the shadows lurking in the recesses her mind. Littlestep did not follow that train of thought. With a pathetic excuse for a mouse held delicately in her jaws, she ducked into the relatively warm nursery and looked around for its occupants. “I’ve brought you something to eat,” She offered, dutifully ignoring the jealous complaints of her own stomach. “It’s not much, but it’s something.”
Littlestep | TreeClan | Warrior | North - Sleeping at Last
LET OUR HEARTS LIKE DOORS OPEN WIDE
Hellion