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Children of the Shadows

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Challenge - Slowly Taken Away

Words - 800 minimum

Words Used in Story - 1098

Description - Write about a cat of any choice having a dream that their family members are dying in front of their eyes, one by one. Make it as sad, as gruesome, and as AWESOME as you want.


Moonfeather padded through a small but luscious field. The soft green grass brushed against her dark silver legs. Her rather big belly swayed with each step she took. Deciding her walk was long enough, she headed back to camp.

The pregnant queen huffed and breathed heavily as she plopped onto her nest. She let her eyelids closed and muscles relax. A quiet swish of the bramble screen alerted Moonfeather. Stonecloud stumbled in with herbs stuffed in his jaws. He gently laid them down and pressed his ear against Moonfeather's belly and chest. "Healthy as ever," he murmured as he pawed the herbs towards Moonfeather. The dark silver she-cat stretched her neck to lick up the herbs. Stonecloud nodded contently and backed out of the nursery.

As he left, a big muscled tom stepped in. He bent down to lick his mate's head. "How are the kits?" he asked.

Moonfeather felt a flash of annoyance. All moon, he's been worried about the kits and not even his own mate. Moonfeather was forced to become Sparrowstar's mate and bear his kits. Rumors said that the kits was Sparrowstar's only concern.

"Healthy as ever," she quoted Stonecloud, sighing.

Sparrowstar gave a satisfied grunt and squeezed out the den. Moonfeather rolled her eyes and rested her head onto her paws, allowing sleep to take over.

Pain seared through her body suddenly. The queen's teeth sank into the branch as the first kit squirmed out. Stonecloud mewed words of encouragement as she convulsed. A smaller wet bundle slithered out onto the moss. Stonecloud quickly nipped the sac of both kits. Moonfeather let out a soft purr as they drew in their first breath.

"A she-cat and a tom!" the medicine cat reported. He hissed as Sparrowstar shoved Stonecloud aside.

The leader stared at the tom with wide eyes. "I see the leader potential in him. With a name like Hawkkit, he will soar above all," he purred. With a glance at his daughter, he shrugged carefully and began to walk out. "She's silver. Silverkit sounds nice," he muttered. Moonfeather growled under her breath, knowing better than to argue with Sparrowstar. She curled around her kits and let sleep take over.

Moonfeather could hear distant yowling, anger and grief blended in with it. She shoved her kits farther back into the nursery. The silver queen swiveled her ears towards the entrance of the camp. A bramble rustled and a tom tumbled out. His fur was coated with blood and his eyes were dull. His stomach was sliced open and blood poured out of it. The throat was damaged and brutally crushed. Moonfeather instantly recognized her father Birchclaw. She trotted across the clearing to the wounded warrior.

"Father, what happened?" she fretted. Her heart swelled with grief as Birchclaw's eyes started to glaze over.

"Tell your mother I love her and your brother that he's doing a good job. And I will forever be watching over you and your kits," he croaked. Birchclaw coughed and splattered on Moonfeather's chest. With a single twitch of his tail, he fell dead. Moonfeather yowled in grief. She sensed Stonecloud padding up to her. "He's gone now," he whispered. Rage boiled in her veins as she spun around to scratch Stonecloud's nose. The medicine took a step back, blood trickling from the cut.

"What was that for?!"

"Some medicine cat! Some son! Can't even help your own father. Just standing there watching a loyal warrior die and not even trying to save him! You are a disgrace to the family! You don't deserve the medicine cat title!"

"There was nothing to do to fix him. Not even the best herb could heal him."

"How would you know? You hadn't even tried! And not once in your life had a warrior been this badly wounded. You have no experience of such damage! I will never forgive you. I hate you!" Moonfeather was snarling at Stonecloud but was cut short when a she-cat flew past her, blood trailing from her head.

A giant badger appeared behind the thorn barrier and lunged at the she-cat. She shrieked as the badger tore her throat apart. The creature threw her across the clearing. Moonfeather winced as the she-cat hit a tree. Hard. A couple guards pounced on the badger. Moonfeather took the chance to run to the she-cat. The she-cat noticed Moonfeather's presence and flicked her eyes to her.

The she-cat reached out to touch her shoulder. "Moonfeather, my kit. Keep you and your family safe. It's my time to die, but it's not your fate to die yet." Blood bubbled from the she-cat's throat as she spoke.

Tears fell from Moonfeather's eyes. "Palewillow! Don't leave," she buried her nose into her mother's wet and ragged pelt. Palewillow smiled slightly but it faded as her life ebbed away from her. Her chest rose once and fell back back, never to be risen again.

"Help me!" Moonfeather gazed in horror at her brother. He was under the badger's paws. Moonfeather leapt onto the creature but it shook her off. Stonecloud let out a shrill shriek when he heard a crack coming from his body. The badger dug its claws deeper into the medicine cat. Blood welled out, staining his pale grey pelt red. Stonecloud's eyes were bulging as he looked at Moonfeather. He mouthed the words 'help me.' Moonfeather launched herself at the badger but it knocked her away. It picked the medicine cat up and flung him against a tree. Stonecloud laid unmoving. The badger turned on Moonfeather but just as it did, loud and high-pitched mewling sounded from the nursery. The badger grunted and stomped towards the nursery. Moonfeather darted into the den and shielded the kits. The badger's eyes glinted in the darkness. It threw Moonfeather aside and brought its jaws down onto the kits. Moonfeather watched in horror as the badger tore and bit the kits. When it's finally done, the creature padded out the nursery, ignoring Moonfeather.

The queen stared at the bloody heap. They no longer looked like kits. Instead, they resembled torn up pieces of prey.

"Moonfeather! Moonfeather!"

Moonfeather blinked open her eyes. Sparrowstar loomed over her, shaking her awake. Sadness glittered in the leader's eyes as they met hers.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "Stonecloud fell off a cliff and died. Your parents died in a battle that happened last night. And my kits," Sparrowstar gulped. "And my kits died in their sleep."

Moonfeather nosed her kits, panicking. She let out a mournful yowl. It felt as if my family are slowly taken away…..one by one.