Writing challenge from WingClan... Enjoy! And please join! :D
Prompt:You were walking along in the forest, just a normal loner, minding your own business. Suddenly, you hear a rustle in the bushes. Out of curiosity, you decided to investigate. To your utmost horror, there was a dead cat lying there. What happens next?
Dun-dun-duuuun!
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Morning light filtered through the lush forest trees into a clearing below. Two sparrows bickered, and a squirrel scampered up an oak tree, chattering loudly. Mice scurried around in the undergrowth. A calico she-cat dozed lazily under a low redwood tree branch, relishing the shade. After a few heart-beats, the feline opened her amber eyes, sat up, and shook her pelt drowsily. A yawn escaped her mouth, and she gazed up at the cloudy sky. She gave her chest fur a few brisk licks, and stood up abruptly. A leaf-fall breeze stirred the branches above, creating a sweet, swishing melody. She closed her eyes for a moment, but her eyelids snapped open once her belly started growling.
"Come on, Heather," the loner chided herself. "Stop being lazy."
Heather decidedly broke into a trot, sniffing the air for prey, and purred a little when she inhaled the scent of shrew, her favorite. She followed the fresh scent trail focusing only on her next meal. Heather stopped for a second, and whipped her head around to untangle a burr that was clinging onto her back. Only then did she realize that the shrew had lead her to a denser part of the woods. I've never been here before... Heather's pelt bristled. the air was charged with tension, and the shrew's fragrance mingled with a metallic, pungent smell. She shook herself.
"T-there's nothing creepy here... it just got a little chilly and dark, that's all," Heather tried to convince herself. Her voice rose an octave.
Heather padded slowly, muscles tensed, head swishing from side to side as if a rabid badger was about to leap out from the undergrowth. She finally saw the shrew, sitting up on its hind legs, sniffing the air. As Heather was about to head its direction, the rodent scampered away and disappeared behind a mulberry bush. Heather licked her chops and crept around the bush, only to see it under the paw of a lean dark brown cat. He looked frantically at her for a steady heartbeat, green eyes flickering, before her took off.
"HEY!" Heather yowled in frustration, taking off after him. "That was my shrew you just killed, you clan cat scum! Get back here!" Heather whipped past the trees, but stopped moments later. The pungent smell was strong now. Heather let out a shaky breath when she realized that the birds had stopped singing. The leaf-fall breeze stirred the tree branches, making them seem as it they were reaching out to her. Heather's pelt stood on end, her fur fluffed up twice her size.
Heather started to follow the scent, curiosity taking over. I'm already lost. Why don't I make the best of it?
The loner later regretted her choice.
The metallic scent grew until it was unbearable, which lead her to an overgrowing fern patch. Belly rumbling, Heather yearned sinking her teeth inside a plump, juicy repast back at her nest instead of playing detective. Lost detective at that.
The spooked calico feline dove under the large fern leaves. Her muzzle met matted grey fur.
Taken aback, Heather cringed and crinkled her nose... which was dripping with velvet blood. She bit back a yelp of terror and gazed gingerly at the cat laying before her. His eyes were glazed and rolled back. His lips were parted, revealing froth that was gathering around his jaws. He lay in pool of blood that seeped into his flank.
Heather suddenly recalled an image of the mottled brown prey-stealer. She hadn't noticed that there was drying blood on his muzzle. Realization dawned on her; The clan cat had done this.
Heather placed a paw on the cat's chest, checking for a sign of life. Nothing. Only cold, damp silence responded to her silent pleas.
To think that it all happened because of one tiny shrew...