The prey situation in Shadowclan had been... poor. It was not unheard of for the bare months to bring a mild pain of hunger to the pocosin, but this year seems worse. The moon hangs delicately overhead, the perfect time to scout out potential theft opportunities. She wasn't one to ask for help, not to mention she wasn't exactly asked to do this. It just seemed wise to get ahead of their prey issues before the other clans started to catch wind of it. She tasked the air, she wondered if Skyclan suffered in the same ways they did? She was largely unfamiliar with the odd clan, she had been a member of the colony for a while before their split, deciding her loyalty lay with Sablestar and the cats that nursed her back to health following her stumbling into their territory. Those that split into Thunderclan helped as well, of course, but what she considered a "family", as torn up as it may be, lay with Shadowclan.
She tried to not dwell on the past, but nights like this almost made her shudder. She was a wee kit when that dog grabbed her mother like a ragdoll and tore her to pieces, her younger siblings caught in the resulting massacre. Her father managed to escape with them that time... but he wasn't as lucky the second time. She was six moons, 'round there at least, the dog came howling, and her father rushed in to herd the dog away, perhaps foolishly. She and her siblings managed to escape, but she lost both her parents that day. She wandered the outer territories aimlessly for a while, in the chaos that erupted she had lost track of Ume and Shiori. She was utterly alone, and the only thing that kept her going was the hope that they were alive as well. The barks of dogs in the night made her tense, and she relied on the compassion of twolegs and loner clowders to share prey with her. An older molly finally took her under her wing when she was ten moons, her feet sore from wandering. Her name was Shimmer, and she was as brilliant as they came. The mother she needed when she needed her most.
Shimmer taught her how to survive without the kindness of others, how to steal, how to hunt. Of course, the thieving was what led to her downfall. Shimmer's paws got too greedy, too needy, she stole from a pack of rogues that made mincemeat out of her soon after. Belladonna was alone again after that, her hind leg a mash of scars from a close encounter with another dog, scars across her face from running from the rogues after Shimmer's screams to run turned into gurgles as her blood coated the Earth in a crimson haze that Belladonna still saw in her nightmares. All she could do was run, run until she collapsed on the border near the fourtrees colony. They took her in without question of course, she was almost 15 moons at that point, but she had seen more than most warriors see in a lifetime.
She was trained, despite her large size, her black pelt seemed made for stealth --- and it seemed natural to join Shadowclan once another familial unit crumbled. She shook the thoughts out of her head, crouching to the ground. She tried to hear something, a sign that she could dive in.
But what she heard made her blood run cold.
That voice.
No, it was impossible. There was no discernable way he had escaped, but it sounded like him, like her father... like Youkai. She stayed hidden, watching as the large smoke coloured tom appeared from the trees. She froze, it was like seeing a ghost. Was she seeing a ghost? Maybe the hunger was starting to get to her after all. There were other cats there, but, in a moment of weakness --- the scared little girl coming out of her once again, she stood from her spot, walking towards them like a child that was just scolded.
"P-pa?" She asked, "Is t-that really you, Youkai?" She was frozen like a deer in headlights, knowing full well she was too close to another clan's territory to have a good excuse --- knowing full well that this patrol could attack her. But she was brought back to being that scared six moon old watching her father's eyes look over her for the last time.
___________________ I'M BENDING BACK INTO THE VOID
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MY EYES STARING UP INTO BLACK ___________________
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"mew"
@DUSKPOOL
anyone else (skyclanner) is okay to post after Duskpool!
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BELLADONNADANCE she/it, shadowclanner, sixty-six moons.
𓇗 a lh black smoke molly with moderate white and amber eyes
𓇗 mentored by helleboremask / mentoring no one
𓇗 daughter ofsakuraand duskpool
𓇗 peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
𓇗 penned by asteiri ↛ please dm on discord or post in #asteiris-astronomy for plots.
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