A/N: Woohoo! A New Story!!! Sorry I've been gone from Fanfiction so long, I've been preoccupied with Exams and going to New York. Anyway I know a lot of you are asking, "Where's Epoch? You said it would be posted on the 1st!". Well sorry the outline took longer than I thought to write, and I had inspiration for this story. It should be up soon!
Well if any of you have watched Nip/Tuck then you might know what this story is based off of. I know its a bit darker and I'm going to put elements from "One by One" into it, but this time I will finish It!!! I hope you all like it, and please review!
~Leo~
ONE:
CARVED
The moon hung low in the sky.
It was carved until only a sliver of the bright light among the inky blackness was visible, shaped like a murderous claw. Crows gathered on the outskirts of the forest, their beady--grizzly eyes searching for any food among the few living creatures who roamed these parts.
The tree branches were full with luscious golden and amber leaves, every once and awhile a few broke from their place on the branches and fell onto the cold, lonely ground.
A lone figure stood on a rocky cliff, it was quite obviously a cat. This cat had a pelt as beautiful as a cascading waterfall reflecting the silver moonlight. And her eyes, such an intense azure shade that they could pass for Sapphire's placed into her eye sockets.
Her pelt was spotted with various designs, all of which were as black as a ravens feather. The she-cats pelt was thin, yet fluffy as if came to her tail, which held one large spiraling black mark on the very tip.
As a rustle in the distance made her completely alert, Silversoul perked her black tipped ears. A cold breeze drifted across the silent forest, blowing the grass like a wave of air.
"Finally some prey" she muttered to herself, dropping her massive paws to the ground while creeping forward.
Her paws were swirled with a black pattern. The pattern wove until it reached her light gray pads, which were as tough as a slate of flint. These were the paws of a true, full blooded SkyClan Cat. Her muscles tensed slightly as yet another rustle sounded a few fox-lengths away from where it had previously been.
This confused Silversoul, was someone playing a joke on her?
"Flamingheart if that's you I'm going to have your tongue! I already told you I'm to pretty to be your mate!" the words rolled off her tongue like a slithering adder, she meant every word.
Silence....nothing answered the majestic she-cat. This only worried her even more, if it had been Flamingheart then he would have come out already. Most likely with a present for her, probably a mouse of maybe even a flower.
Silversoul was, how do you say it, a bit of a piece of pretty fur for the entire clan to fight over.
Scratch that....not the clan, the toms. It had become quite a nuisance to the young warrior, she had no interest whatsoever in any of the toms of SkyClan. And she most definitely didn't want to be moving to the nursery any time soon.
"I don't want to be dealing with any little brats" she growled while thinking of the little annoying balls of fur that were always mewling for more milk or more time to play.
Just then out of the corner of her eye, Silversoul spotted something on the leaf scattered ground. It was a bright white lotus flower, laying on the bare forest floor with every single petal perfectly in tact.
"I don't want a stupid present!" she growled while prancing angrily over to the flower.
It was most likely picked down by the stream below the canyon, and it was also most likely picked by Flamingheart....or maybe even Ebonyfur. The opal shaded lotus flower lay perfectly still as Silversoul bent down to look at it.
The end of the stem was cleanly sliced off, someone had used their sharpened claws for this. That was then the beautiful she-cat rose her head to look into the sky, clouds were beginning to cover the crescent moon, draining the landscape from what little light there once was.
"Fox-dung" she cursed as cold wind started to pick up, now there was little chance of her finding prey.
But just as she began to turn away, Silversoul noticed something...someone standing behind her.
"Flamingheart?" she asked while squinting through the darkness, if this was him then she was going to make him pay!
But Silversoul had little time to do anything, as a paw knocked her to the ground in a single swipe. The force of the blow sent blood splattering onto the golden leaves, leaving her dazed.
"Help!" she screeched, but Silversoul had almost been completely knocked out by the force of the strangers blow. That was when she felt the cats hot breath on her silver ears, as she saw his paw coming around to hang in front of her face.
"Beauty is a curse on the land" he spoke in a raspy tone as he un-sheathed one sharp, long claw. "It keeps us all from seeing the face of true evil..."
Silversoul listened in complete horror as the claw moved to her mouth. She tried to struggle, but the force of the massive cat was to much, she was pinned down.
"Noo....please...." she begged helplessly, beginning to whimper as the claw cut into her jaw.
The mysterious cat carved a long slit up to her ear, all in a quick but excruciatingly painful slice. The slice sent crimson droplets onto the pure white lotus flower, as he moved to the other side of her jaw. The burning agony was all to much for Silversoul, as the metal taste of blood seeped into her mouth.
"Now you'll finally see what beauty is."
His words left any everlasting impression on the now deformed she-cat. Her whole face had gone completely numb by the time the cat got off of her, and before Silversoul could even turn to see who it was, the cat had disappeared into the dark forest.
Silversoul's sapphire eyes wandered onto the blood covered lotus flower, her black iris's focused on the image. In many ways, Silversoul was now exactly like this flower.
Once a beautiful, perfect object, now damaged beyond repair. No one would ever want Silversoul, she would be alone the rest of her life.
"Beauty is a curse on the Land" she repeated the words as she choked on her own blood.
Perhaps what this cat said was true, if she hadn't been this beautiful, then she wouldn't be a victim in the first place.
"I'm still beautiful" Silversoul gargled as she padded dizzily to a puddle of water.
"Aren't I?" she asked the question out loud while stepping forward to gaze into the liquid mirror, only to see a severely deformed version of what she once was. The two grizzly slices carved her face into an eternal smile, and this image left Silversoul with only one thought.
"Beauty....is a curse on the Land."
