A,N: So I normally don't do this, but I kinda just let my fingers keep typing and now we're here. This is an optional chapter that has
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More toward M rated content
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I try not to post any 'triggering' pieces of work, but unfortunately, the Clans are at war, and this chapter shows the darkest side of war that I believe there is.
If you don't want to read it, I've left an author note at the bottom to catch you up, and marked the M rated section in the story. It's also shorter than normal chapters so don't feel like you miss anything if you exempt yourself.
"We have reason for haste then," She said gravely, and started off into the forest with the two WindClan cats on her tail.
The pale tomcat glanced about wildly, the barred shadows on the forest floor turning all the familiar landmarks to foreign vestiges. A stagnant wind picked up and threw the scent of decay into his nose, mixed with the unique smell that was Dark Forest scum. His paws slid on a soft patch of moss beneath the leaves, though he caught his balance and stood stock still again, he was petrified that the tiny noise would alert everything around him. Only his ears twitched back and forth as he listened for pursuers following through the intertwined branches of the woods. It was absolutely and eerily silent, the chattering of squirrels and other rodents was absent, along with the birdcalls and even the rustling of the leaves.
And among them the urgent pit-pat of dead leaves cracking, a malignant force coming nearer and nearer.
The striped tom skidded as he kicked out- a frightened rabbit with futile attempts to outrun its hunter- and leapt away into the ferns and grasses to hide. A patrol of shade cats passed him by, tails streaming behind and noses low to the ground yet somehow missing the trail he left. They faded away into the underbrush, and the lucky cat crept out, the amber eyes wild with fear; he was alone, he was surrounded- his clanmates were nowhere in sight. Bumblestripe glanced around again and dashed off, farther into the shadows that were creeping, enveloping the east as they embraced the horizon.
The gray she-cat puffed up her fur in fright, blue eyes challenging as she growled deep in her chest. Despite the long wound that stretched from her shoulder to her spine delivered by a Dark Forest cat in the rescue, she was untouched. The cats around her though- two to be precise- were more than a match for her, as she was only a young warrior. The tabby spat once more, backing ever closer to a wall of thorns that reared up at her hindquarters, effectively trapping her and preventing escape with the little strength left in her forelimb.
Without a sound, a feline body hurled over the offending bushes, blue eyes gleaming with fury and fur matted with debris. Cinderheart breathed a sigh of short-lived relief as the tom hurled himself into the trap with her.
"Great thinking, Cloudtail," She hissed, drawing closer to the safety assured by the senior warrior. "Now we're both stuck."
The tom smiled cockily, a flash of adolescence-like energy and replied, "Yea, but now your odds are twice as good. And, I'm one of the best fighters in the Clan," The boasting caused the two offending cats to smirk maliciously.
"That's what the ginger cat said too," One commented offhandedly, a dark grin curling her features.
"The one with the ruined eye?" the other questioned mockingly, trying to get a rise from the white tomcat.
"She was saying that her mate was one of the best warriors in the forest, and he would come back to get us." At this, both felines laughed coldly. "And yet here he is, protecting a she-cat that he's not even involved with," The one on the right cackled.
"Unless he is," The sly tone from the Dark warrior made Cloudtail's fur spike with outrage. "Just like all of the toms got involved with her before Mapleshade finally let us rip her pretty little neck out."
A sound of which Cinderheart had never heard before erupted from beside her and following a deep instinct, she edged away from the white tom. He no longer looked like the cat that she had lived with for her entire life- his pelt was flat against his muscles somehow, highlighting that he was indeed one of the stronger cats in the Clan. His plumed tail barely moved, it trembled with the force of the greatest anticipation and animosity that she had ever seen while his claws were unsheathed, but too empowered to disturb the ground as most other cats would've done. Yet somehow, the tom managed to keep his anger within himself, boiling like a covered pot and vibrating with murderous energy and righteous fury.
"Cinderheart." He spoke carefully, tone so neutral and even that it sent an icy shiver straight up her spine, erecting every hair along its path. "You will not fight here, go find Lionblaze and Bumblestripe."
The she-cat stared disbelievingly between the tom and the two opposing cats, who grinned in obvious victory, wondering if it was smart to leave the battle to the enraged tom. But somehow, she realized that it would bring about some kind of justice for Brightheart's death, and instead she bowed her head quietly.
"Let's finish this; you're nothing but a kittypet anyways." The shadow cats slunk forward, splitting like a river to approach the tomcat from two sides. By his side, the tabby took the moment to bolt forward, muscles suddenly burning as she pushed herself into the longest gait she could achieve and hared away through the leaves. It took her a long time to stop running, and with the breath burning in her lungs, she froze and pointed her ears, wishing desperately for Dovewing's talent. But even without it, she could pick out the angry screams of cats, mostly high-pitched and feminine cries of pain. She had never paid particular attention to Cloudtail when he fought in battle, but she knew that the Dark Forest cats were at least evenly matched against the senior warrior. While waiting for the cries to finish- and they took a very long time- the words from the Dark cats sunk into Cinderheart, making her sick to her stomach and heart. She had never heard of toms abusing cats like that, though she understood the overall concept. Just the idea of an enemy assaulting her like that… it made her skin prickle with empathetic disgust and her claws curl in a primeval anger. In just a few more seconds, there was a long yowl of victory and challenge, one that she could easily imagine as the white tom's, though she couldn't be sure. Hesitantly she followed the noise back to its origin, feeling safer with the other cat; she wasn't expecting the amount of gore that awaited her in the clearing.
The warrior code always spoke of glory in letting your enemies go, without killing them-mercy-; but it seemed that the tomcat was falling back tp an impulse that was so old that it was triggered with the news of his mate's death. Each cat had been reduced to shreds of muscle attached to their skeletal frames, fur scattered everywhere around the small clearing and a surprisingly small amount was white. Blood- red and black- was smeared on the ground, although the largest puddle surrounded a she-cat that seemed to have died in the act of dragging herself away, with both her hind legs broken at unnatural angles. Somehow the ThunderClan tom had managed to kill the cats without taking off their heads or organs- he had simply cut and drained them until there was nothing left to feed their hungry black hearts; nothing to fuel their disgusting, rotting muscle. The sight was beginning to become familiar to her, and so Cinderheart did nothing but push over a slumped over body that she was not entirely convinced was dead just yet. Both still continued to ooze ebony liquid and the one she had touched twitched though her eyes were misty and glazed over in death.
M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!
"Little spitfire, aren't you?" A somewhat familiar voice hissed and thorn-sharp claws pierced her on each side, keeping her in place as she attempted to struggle away from the pain. "Killed them both yourself? But you're so small…" She turned her head as teeth bit down sharply into her scruff, not deep enough for a killing bite but enough to make her panic and writhe. Cinderheart could feel her stomach fluttering in terror- she could tell the assaulting cat was a male, and the deeper tones of her face brought back the instinctual feelings of when she thought of Brightheart.
She twisted farther, trying to find any way to break the tom's grip on her- but she was physically too small and had been caught by surprise. Mentally, her brain had enough sanity to chastise her ego for being too absorbed in the battle to be aware of danger, and now it seemed that the enemy had won this battle. 'StarClan, just let him kill me.' Cinderheart silently pleaded, hoping the starry cats may find a way to influence her situation in the slightest.
Weight from the tom's paws pushed her forward a step, and then forced her shoulders down. He made sure to drive her face into the dirt, forcing her whiskers far back against her face and to spit the slurry-like mixture as it poisoned her tongue. She could feel his belly fur disturbing her back, each hair hypersensitive in her fear as her struggles increased tenfold, body practically vibrating in panic.
"Relax," The cat commanded with an icy tone, and Cinderheart wrenched her head around to spit in his face when her eyes widened. She realized why the cat seemed somewhat familiar- the dark fur was by no fault the exposure of a decrepit forest, neither was there the aura of darkness that surrounded the other Dark Forest cats. Amber eyes stared back at her before Breezepelt's jaws encircled her throat and squeezed lightly, just enough to cut off her oxygen. The tabby could feel the WindClan tom laughing as her lungs struggled for breath, her mouth gaping as uselessly as a fishes. Her vision began dulling around the edges when she felt him move.
Cinderheart did not have the power to yelp aloud, but the liquid that flowed from her eyes came freely as the tomcat growled in pleasure above her. Shame flooded her being as she tried to shut out the disgusting feelings that her body craved and blackness hovered very close to her conscious now. She was just about to give into it when a golden streak, as brilliant as a falling star, clouded her vision and then she fell, alone.
Somewhere close by, two toms hissed and fought, fuzzy in the Cinderheart's vision as she tried to curl up and protect the parts of her that were still whole and altogether, hers. Feeling extremely violated, she shivered in fear, anger, pain, sadness, and a few other things she couldn't or wouldn't admit to. Eventually the sounds faded and she was alone again, floating in her own mind until a great golden head surfaced before her eyes.
"Cinderheart?" His voice cracked, eyes wide with panic, his pupils tiny and dark in an expansive field of honey. "Please be alright," The tom burrowed his head into her uninjured shoulder, trying to rouse the tabby from the apparent stupor she had fallen into.
With his touch, the she-cat leapt to her feet, jerking at least a tail-length away, reflecting the pain on Lionblaze's own face. He tried to step toward her and she reciprocated by taking one step away, scarred from her latest contact. With a sad look of acknowledgement, the golden tom nodded slowly and motioned toward the forest. Despite what had happened, Breezepelt had managed to rip himself free from Lionblaze and go dashing off. The hatred that the ThunderClan cats now felt toward him was immeasurable, a shared emotion as they moved off to attempt to find more cats like themselves.
M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M
A.N: All you need to know is that Breezepelt made certain... advances on Cinderheart that were not welcome. You can now continue, you missed nothing. No harm done, I hope 3