{$title} crowpaw is used to nightmares, but this is one that will haunt her for a while...
CROWPAW | SHADOWCLAN
"WHEN ALL THE HATE BURNS OFF, I'M LEFT HERE WITH THE PAIN"
"WHEN ALL THE HATE BURNS OFF, I'M LEFT HERE WITH THE PAIN"
.
Crowpaw stalks through the pocosin, each step through the dark and fog-covered territory driven by the gnawing hunger in their belly. Their tail drags slowly through frosted mud, their legs bunched and ready to pounce. Claws dig into the earth as silvery eyes narrow in the direction of their prey… closer… closer… they can almost taste it in their jaws already.
He pounces. The squirrel, mere whisker-lengths away from his paws, makes a mad dash to weave itself from his grasp, its tiny footsteps a soft echo in Crowpaw's ears as he gives chase. I can make it. I can catch it. He crashes through the foliage, desperate to sink his fangs into its flesh, to hear the crunch of its bones beneath the weight of its captor. He leaps, and his pawpads brush against the squirrel's crimson fur -
She hisses when her skull slams hard against the earth, the weight of heavy paws pressing down on her hollow bones. Twisting her head upward, she sees the giant WindClan apprentice, his teeth bared in a snarl as blood drips from the tear in his lip.
"Scared?" He asks, claws digging into the smaller cat's skin. Crowpaw cries out with rage, a guttural shout that pierces the air as she slashes wildly at her opponent. Her claws stain red, the WindClanner reeling back just enough for Crowpaw to shove him away and get on her paws. There's only a heartbeat between when she leaps forward and when her teeth connect with the flesh of his neck, biting down to hear the familiar sound of the squirrel falling limp. The taste of crimson floods her mouth, blood pooling near her forepaws as she stares down in shock.
The WindClan apprentice is gone - disappeared without a single trace. In the place of the large apprentice is that of bicolored fur, little paws that twitch and grasp desperately at the air with unsheathed claws. Crowpaw's heart lurches, dropping down into their stomach like a heavy rock into water.
…Amethystpaw…!?
Their eyes widen in shock, stumbling backward from the scene of their own crime. No!! I - I didn't mean - how could I - !? Just as they begin to scream in terror, they jump upright in their nest with a frightened gasp.
He is in the apprentice's den, claws digging into his own bedding, and Amethystpaw is sleeping soundly in his own nest nearby. Crowpaw's heart beats wildly in his chest, and he quickly rises to his paws and scampers out of the den, pace hastening as he sneaks through the outskirts of camp to get away from any prying eyes.
Once out in the territory, she doesn't go far; she stops at the trunk of a tree, leaning against it as her chest heaves with every gasp for air. She stares down at her paws, no longer stained with blood, but somehow she can still feel the way it sticks to her fur. Tears blur her vision, spilling down her face as she curls in on herself and begs the stars to make this feeling stop. She can see Amethystpaw's form falling limp every time she closes her eyes… I wouldn't do that, she tries to tell herself. I won't hurt him. I won't hurt any of them… right…? A small whimper escapes her as she begins to doubt herself. She's always had nightmares about her 'ma, about the coyotes. Never about… this. She doesn't know how to handle this.
She doesn't understand what she's supposed to do when the monster in her nightmare is herself.
//had this idea and couldn't get it out of my head. merry angstmas /silly
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"BEHIND OUR VAIN DEVICES, ARE WE ALL THE SAME?"