Warriors | One-shots

Scriptorial || Round Alpha «Entry»

❝ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ sᴇɴᴅ ᴍᴇ ғʟᴏᴡᴇʀs ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ'ᴍ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴍᴇ, sᴇɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ɪ'ᴍ ᴀʟɪᴠᴇ. ❞

✧ ༻⋆ ✿ ⋆༺ ✧

ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛ | ᴀ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ.

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ | 499

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Martenclaw... I'm sorry.

For many nights, the grey tom writhed in despair, clawing desperately at his remaining thread of sanity. The excruciating grief tormented him everyday; no longer did his amber eyes burn with fervour - all that had remained was a hollow vessel, his sense of self bled out.

He was nothing but a shell of a fallen warrior.

Deleterious effects of grief started emerging - his fur dulled into a melancholy grey, riddled with the fetidness of grief. His gaunt form caught the pity of his Clanmates, but he did not want it - he wanted Martenclaw.

Dholegaze was once a proud warrior, with a beautiful mate and two kits - blessings many envied. Until a monster claimed the life of his mate, Martenclaw. He remembered the cursed day when the mocking rumbles of the monster ambushed her; he had failed to warn her. The guilt that lingered was his albatross. It tainted his spirit like a cloak of dirty mud, a relentless reminder of her mangled body caked with blood.

Grief was his new smile.

Until he saw Martenclaw - or so he thought.

Dholegaze saw her spirit, trapped within their daughter, Cardinalwing. Cardinalwing grew to look even more like Martenclaw each day. An image of her lacerated body flashed across his mind. I must free her. She's calling for help.

Hope kindled in his belly - he had a plan to make everything right; to give Martenclaw the peace she had deserved.

It's time.

Dholegaze remembered it vividly - how he had asked Cardinalwing to follow him into the forest, and how he slashed at her pelt mercilessly after muttering the words, "I'll free you, Martenclaw."

Cardinalwing did not retaliate, for she did not want to fight her own father. Betrayal tugged at her heart - why did her father have murderous intentions? She saw the crazed look in his eyes, but she also saw something deeper than just insanity - she saw heartache and despair. By then, the reddish-brown she-cat had already given up thrashing about. Dholegaze raised an unsheathed claw, ready to deliver the killing blow.

Slash.

A yelp pierced through the air - but it did not belong to Cardinalwing. The she-cat widened her eyes and an anguished yowl escaped her jaws. A brown tabby pelt fell before her eyes - her brother, Lynxsprint.

Lynxsprint writhed about in agonising pain, blood oozing out of the large gash on his neck. Cardinalwing choked on her tears as she dragged her battered self towards her littermate.

The scorching pain that Lynxsprint felt started to numb into an icy coldness. Black edges dotted his vision. He could hear his failing heart beating with all its might, but he knew it was to no avail. Cardinalwing was devastated.

Why?

Lynxsprint gave his sister a weak smile before welcoming the darkness that hungered to consume him. Before giving in, he heard the contrite yowl of Dholegaze.