{$title} set like a day or two after the sky/thunder skirmish
BRIGHTNOSE ──
skyclan | warrior
It feels like Brightnose is laying sleepless in her nest for moons. The bite wound on her forearm aches, even with the medicine she's received from Swallowbreeze, and it serves as a constant reminder that she could have done better. Had Hawkstar not been notified of the battle at ThunderClan's border - had she not arrived with a screeching command to fall back - would Brightnose have lost her fight against that giant ThunderClan cat? He'd bitten her with his tusk-like fangs and dragged her to the ground, while she'd hardly managed to sink her claws into his skin. She could easily have been injured to a far greater extent, or worse… she had just wanted to protect her Clanmates, but in the end she couldn't even protect herself.
When sleep finally takes hold of Brightnose, she finds herself in the territory again, running in the direction of distant yowls of fury. All she wanted was to help, to save them from the same fate she's seen so many times before. In the same swift movements she had made the last time, she collides with the dark-furred ThunderClanner and the two of them scuffle with flashing teeth and extended claws. Brightnose tries to avoid the inevitable, to maneuver her paw in a way that would avoid the other cat's snapping jaws, but it's as if she's not in control of her movements - it happens again, exactly the same, the pain sending sparks through her foreleg as she's slammed into the ground. She expects to hear Hawkstar's voice any second, to whip her head around and see her perched upon the branch of a tree. But this time, she did not come.
Instead, she struggles against her opponents' grasp as he pins her to the ground, lurching forward with bloodstained teeth. Panicked, she rakes her claws over his belly in a desperate attempt to get him away; when he reels back, she squirms her way out from underneath him, staggering backward as blood drips from her injured paw. It's now when she notices that there's something different about the ThunderClan cat that isn't the same as before… it's as if his frame is morphing right before her eyes into something else - or rather, someone else. Beneath her, Brightnose can feel the familiar crunching sound of stepping in snow.
In mere moments, the scene before her changes. Her Clanmates disappear, and the ThunderClan cats with them. It's early leaf-bare and she's in a place that she knows like the back of her paw, despite only having been there once. Her ears pin back and her eyes widen as the cat before her changes into a rogue with matted fur and a crooked, lashing tail, his eyes glinting with bloodthirst as he steps closer. Somewhere far away, she hears an all-too familiar scream that calls her name.
Berrypaw, Brightnose thinks with a start. Her stomach does flips as she searches for her sister, but she's nowhere to be found.
"You're weak," the rogue spits, and it's as if he's saying it right in Brightnose's ear. Hissing with rage, she lunges forward to fight him, but her claws don't even pierce his skin, grabbing only pawfuls of fur as he easily overpowers her. "Admit it."
"I…" Brightnose shrinks back, and although she wants to scream, nothing comes out. The rogue's lip curls in a satisfied smirk, and in an instant, his claws are slashing across her face.
Gasping, Brightnose lurches into a sitting position within her nest. She's… in the warriors' den. Despite it feeling so real, it had all just been a dream…
She decides to get up for a while. She'll never fall back asleep with her heart pounding in her chest like this, and even if she could, she's not sure she wants to. Her sister's scream echoes in her ears, and she shakes her head in an attempt to get it out as she rises to her paws.
Her walk across camp is more of a hobble, since she has to avoid putting too much weight on her injured paw while it heals. Normally she'd go hunting to clear her mind, but now… Brightnose sits just outside of camp, staring up at the stars with a blank expression as the sting of tears fills her eyes. It's true, isn't it? She is weak. If that battle had continued at the border, she would have become a liability, not a helpful aid. Maybe... maybe it's time to stop pretending that she could ever be anything else.
now i will tell you what i've done for you
- ooc: @Quailstep
- "speaking" | thinking | action
