So I took a short break from my current story for this challenge from The Clan of Clouds. This challenge was to write a story that was either based on or inspired from a given song. This story was inspired from the cover of "Paint it Black" by Ciara. I will be uploading more challenges here as I get them, but for now I hope you all enjoy this one.
Blood. Blood stained everywhere. Dotting the rocks and mixing with the dust on the ground. The stench of it all filling the air was strong enough to scare off even the hungriest fox. The air felt like that of which you would find on a stormy night when lightning was about to strike. A strange calm amidst all the chaos, a moment when tension fills the air and it takes all your effort not to break down in panic. A moment when the fur on the back of your neck stands on end, sensing the incoming danger.
The scene in which this sensation overwhelmed was one of pure darkness. The bloody, unmoving bodies lined the treeline with eyes that had glazed over not long before. Their faces remained in their last position, capturing the fear and pain of their last moments with breath. Claws still hung out loosely from the limp paws of the fallen, dirt and blood stuck underneath them, but not their intended target's blood. Bloody marks painted the corpses, leaving little left of what used to be magnificent pelts, ones that reflected the true glory of these cats.
Despite all the dark stillness that was contained in the small forest, one still moved among the bodies. Covered from ears to tail in blood and battered beyond it's limit, the effort to stagger to it's paws still remained in the determined cat's body. Determination filled the brim of those once bright blue eyes, ones that used to show kindness to even the most hated rogue. Ignoring the searing pain that erupted all throughout his muscles, his legs still managed to carry his limping form step by step across the devastated clearing. His eyes dared not to look beyond the path in front of him, afraid of the sights that would greet him there. All he could focus on was the eerie shape that loomed in front of him.
Standing tall, the ominous figure took in the sight with a dark kind of pleasure, ensuring the emptiness of it's long abandoned heart. Glancing in the direction in which the bedraggled warrior had stumbled his way, an evil smile began to form on his face, sharp teeth shining brightly in the moonlight that illuminated the scene.
The tom, who had lost everything, came face to face with the monster behind all of this destruction, all of this pain. His eyes locked with theirs, determination and hatred meeting each other in their gazes. No words were spoken between the two. Only a deadly silence rang out through the forest. Not even the scuttling of prey or the hoot hoot of an owl broke out at this moment.
After all the death, one still remained to meet the challenge, with one last attempt to avenge those who had fallen around him. His friends and mentor. His family and leader. All those whom he had grown up with, all those whom he looked up to, gone.
They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, tension flowing in the air between them. That eternity turned out to be only a few moments, with one cat launching at the other, shattering the short eternity. The two tussled together on the ground, rolling this way then that. Claws met claws and teeth met teeth. The fallen warrior matched blow for blow with the one who had started all of this.
Yet he was in worse condition than this killer. Blood was seeping from all over and his energy was fading quickly. He could feel his body giving out a moment before he collapsed to the ground in a pool of his own blood. His eyes darted quickly over the bodies around him, knowing he would soon share the same fate. He made out the faces of those he loved and awaited the moment he could be reunited with them. Movement behind him dragged his attention away and he let out a grunt as he was rolled over to his side. This monster of a cat had killed everyone he knew and brought an entire clan, an entire bloodline of cats to an untimely end. His eyes locked with those of these cats murderer, with those of his murderer.
