[ORP] A prickly price to pay [CW: Death]

[Subducting]

Waking up in the morning was never easy, but forcing her eyes open when the entire world seemed to have shrunk to her hunger pangs made Dapplelight wish she could have slept just a little longer. She suppressed a tiny moan and opened her eyes. The startling sight of Swallowtail sitting up, her eyes wide open and her expression frozen in stony fury woke up the pale cat very fast. Something about Swallowtail’s expression set her fur on end, and she opened her mouth, heart hammering with worry. “Swallowtail, what’s-“

Dapplelight followed Swallowtail’s gaze to Thistlefur. The old she-cat was still asleep, completely motionless. Dapplelight frowned, glancing between her friends, but Swallowtail was refusing to meet her eye, her gaze entirely fixed on Thistlefur, claws digging into the dirt. Dapplelight swallowed nervously, turning back to the russet she-cat. She was lying so still. Almost as if…

“… Thistlefur?” Dapplelight mewed, stomach feeling as if it had plunged into the bowels of the earth as she pressed a paw to her friend’s chest nervously. The stubborn old cat had brought in so much prey lately, but had taken barely any for herself. There was absolutely no movement from Thistlefur, no steady rise and fall of breath. Dapplelight called her again, more urgently, panic and grief rising until it spilled out of her in a wordless yowl, barely registering Swallowtail turning away, the only movement in the den aside from Dapplelight’s own.

Thistlefur was gone.​

 

[PeterPan_da144]

((Reminder that Thistlefur has passed but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to roleplay her being angry at everyone xD))

"Oh shut it," Thistlefur huffed to her sister, Dapplelight, as the she-cat began a high pitched yowl of grief and pain. "We knew this would happen," she scoffed, batting at the ground with an illuminated forepaw.

Thistlefur had been greeted in the middle of the night by SunClan, and while she had been reluctant to hear the truth at first, she gradually agreed with it. Better her than one of the warriors who stubbornly stayed behind, or the kits who had freshly been born. After all, that's why she'd taken in so much prey, and eaten very little for herself. She had even told her sisters many times that she wouldn't let SunClan take anyone before her. She would be the first. She swore on it.

SunClan made good on her promise to the other cats. The kits were as healthy as ever, what with sharing so much of her prey. She had even felt as if more prey was coming to them than before, and without her to feed, that would certainly help. She'd cuffed many cats over the ear for trying to do the same as her already. Fernfire and Damsonflower the most, it seemed.

"I said shut it, Dapplelight!" she hissed, even though she knew the old she-cat would never hear her. Thistlefur's unusually prickly fur was just as unkempt in death, and she'd even kept her old form. It felt... Wrong for her to allow SunClan to bring her back to her youth. She much liked the body she had.

Swallowtail turned away and ducked out of the den, so Thistlefur followed, if only to get away from Dapplelight's yowling.

 

[Blinded By Silence]

Although tears fell freely from her golden eyes, there was something larger than grief enveloping Swallowtail. It was anger. Anger at these so-called warriors around her, at SunClan who supposedly had their best interests in mind. At herself, at her failure, her weak, frail body that simply could not keep up with the needs of those she cared for.

Dapplelight's painful yowl tore her from her mind. Silently, seething, she rose to her paws and left the elder's den with her tail lashing. She hissed at the sunlight as it spilled over the edge of the ravine and struck her eyes, but she moved forward. Anger steadied her limbs, lending her strength as she pulled herself up and over the stone ledges until at last, panting, she stood atop the High Stones.

She looked over the hollow shell that had once been her home and felt blood in her mouth from biting her cheek. At last, she let all that anger out in a yowl so livid that it drowned out the laments from the Elders Den.

Her voice cracked into a sob, her throat as raw as her heart.

"Everyone who is left in this sun-forsaken dust bowl, get out here NOW."

 

[belloblossom]

Silverstreak had been in the Nursery, her kits nestled at her side, when the yowls and then harsh call came out of the elders den. Songkit was up before anyone else and was pushing her way to the entrance of the Nursery, with Flickerkit looking doubtfully up at his mother, unfamiliar with the harsh demand of Swallowtail. Silverstreak felt her stomach filling - not with prey, but dread. She turned her gaze to Rainbowfish, who had moved into the Nursery with her while she was expecting and - much to her relief - had continued to stay even after the kits were born.

"Rainbow..." She mewed hesitatingly, with only one thought on her mind about what could have transpired. Her eyes filled with worry - something she could never hide from her kittens, try as she may. They lived in dark times these past moons, but she always hoped that it would be better, day after day. She shook her pelt as she got to her paws, moving forward as though to pull Songkit away from the entrance, but... If Swallowtail was calling all of them, surely it was important to go see what had happened?

"Songkit, wait for the rest of us please." She mewed and swept her tail over to her mate, brushing it across his pelt. Her nerves were pricking under her pelt like ants had crawled into her nest. "Let's stay together, everyone, and keep quiet until we find out what's going on." She mewed to her kits and though she would much rather stay in the pretend safety of the Nursery, she raised her head and stepped out into the morning.

Looking up to the high stones where the elder was calling for, she felt to uneasy to be the first to speak. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Songkit did not have the same reservations or awareness as her kit padded closer to the elder atop the stones and mewed shrilly.

"What's da matter?" @Nym @Blinded By Silence @Subducting

 

[Nym]

He had, of course, heard the yowls, but he hadn't dared to move until Silverstreak shifted up. His ears were pinned to his head as he exchanged glances with his partner and scanned his kits. Great- they'd have to see what they all had, too. He had hoped, perhaps foolishly, that they'd be spared the same horrific sight they had, but it seemed that MountainClan was due for another tragedy. ​

​

"It's okay," he whispered to Silverstreak and brushed his cheek against hers as he rose. A strangled purr squeaked from his throat in an attempt to comfort his mate, but it dissipated quickly as he nosed Whisperkit and Starkit to their feet. Both kits whined, flailing small arms as he insistently nudged them upright. ​

​

The family would find themselves before the elder den and Songkit innocently stumbled upon the one question Rainbowfish wasn't sure how to answer. Too many things, he wanted to sigh to the small child. Everything, that nagging voice huffed in the back of his head.​

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"Oh no," was all he managed with a shaken breath. ​

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@belloblossom ​