Bloody Love ( Scourge x Cinderpelt )

Fading Embers

Cinderpelt stare out of the open window. A slight breeze blew through her fur as dark grey clouds gathered overhead, obscuring the sun's final rays as the radiant orb began its steady descent across the horizon. Craning her neck, the she cat watched the sky, her brow forming a slight frown. It had been like this ever since she had awoken form her slumber. Did it mean something? And if so what? Were the souls of StarClan angry? Or saddened?

A strange numbness ran along her leg. Turning her eyes momentarily from the brooding skies above, Cinderpelt took a while to study the strange white stuff that the twoleg in the white pelt had wrapped around her crippled leg. Although she couldn't explain it, her leg felt strange somehow beneath the encasing. She leaned forward and nipped it slightly but found it firm to the touch and unwilling to yield. Not for the first time today did she feel the beginnings of an itch beginning to spread along the limb. Baring her teeth in annoyance, she leaned back again and tried to pull at the white stuff.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," A soft mew came beside her. Stopping in her endeavours to tear off the material casing her leg, Cinderpelt stopped and looked up. She saw an elderly grey she cat stood before her, her deep eyes watching her with a mixture of amusement and pity, "The vet won't like it if you do that."

"The vet?" Cinderpelt asked confused.

"Yes," The old she cat mewed softly in reply before pausing for a few seconds to think before continuing, "You act like you've never heard of a vet, much less seen one."

"Well that's because I haven't." Cinderpelt replied.

The old she cat gasped for a moment before padding closer. Stiffly, she sat herself beside Cinderpelt, her tail placing itself on her shoulder. It was not dissimilar to the way in which Cinderpelt had seen queen attempting to soothe a mewling kit that had strayed too far away from the nest and had become scared as a result. Her eyes met Cinderpelt's.

"Oh I see," She said quietly, "Were your owners that bad to you?"

Cinderpelt shook her head, smiling softly at the question. "No. I've never had an owner."

The she cat mused quietly before nodding. "Well regardless, at least you're safe. That's the important thing." She turned her back into the chamber they were sitting in. "You know, he waited outside for you the whole time you were asleep."

Cinderpelt turned, following the she cat's gaze. Lying atop one of the strange soft rocks that the twolegs kept in their nests, Scourge watched them quietly. The tom's icy eyes seemed fixed on a specific spot, although whether he was looking at Cinderpelt, the she cat or something else entirely was something that the medicine cat could not discern.

"Is that so?" She mewed.

The she cat nodded. "Yeah. He was pacing up and down every time I walked by. He wouldn't let another twoleg go in to check on you and even refused to eat when they brought him some food. Poor thing, tired himself out. He only passed out when I told him I would keep an eye on you and even then he had to fall asleep right at that same spot. I have to say, you're lucky to have such a loyal mate."

Cinderpelt felt her pelt flush, then shook her head slowly. "Oh no, he's not my mate. I'm not sure it could ever be like that way."

The she cat looked at her in a puzzled way. "Why not? Come on dear, life is short but I can tell you that it is long enough that you don't want to spend it full of regret." At that the she cat lowered her head slowly and for the briefest of moments, a look of sadness flickered across her face. Then almost as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared. "Ah don't mind me dear, I'm just an old she-cat who's been alone for a long time."

Before Cinderpelt could reply, the she cat slowly climbed down from the perch and padded away out of the chamber. Her eyes wandered to over back towards Scourge. The black tom returned her look silently. Then she was gone.

~~~~~
Cinderpelt turned uncomfortably in her sleep as a dull creeping pain began to nag at her leg. Hissing softly in pain, she opened her eyes and adjusted the way she lay. Whatever healing herbs the white pelted, medicine twoleg had given her was starting to slowly wear off causing the pain to return.

A slow dripping came from somewhere within the den. Squinting as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Cinderpelt ungainly got to her feet as a cold began to set in itself into her bones. From across the chamber, the small she cat could make out the faint, warm glow of the fire that the twolegs had lit to keep themselves warm.

Slowly, Cinderpelt began to hobble her way towards the glow. As she drew near, Cinderpelt rounded the corner and peered in to find that the warm den was not empty. Silhouetted against the flames, Scourge's diminutive frame stood crouched over that of the elderly she cat. Staying where she was, Cinderpelt angled her ears towards the two cats. The voices of the two were little more than low murmurs.

"I've waited so long for this," She coughed slightly, trying to raise her head. Even from this distance, Cinderpelt recognised the death rattle of a cat in the final moments of life. Scourge gently placed his paw on her.

"Don't talk save your strength," He told her in a tone far softer than Cinderpelt thought the grizzled rogue was capable of displaying, like that of a parent trying to calm down a worried kit.

"I don't need it," She cut him off gently, "I need you to promise me one thing. Don't let her go. If not for your sake then for hers. If you let her go, you...won't...forgive yourself..."

The she cat's words slowly drifted off as though falling into a dream. Her flanks raised one more time then fell still and silent. For a long solitary moment, Scourge looked down at her before slowly curling around her body. Between his paws, Cinderpelt could make out something small and shiny. The bell jingled softly as it came to a rest between the two cats.