A butterfly, many of them consider her, fluttering delicately within a cage made of stained talons - Smokethroat's ivory claws clasp not so delicately around her throat, the threat for him to spill her ichor not hiding far behind - and
a butterfly is all she poses to be. Nature gifts the frail with usefulness in meager ways; granting the world a spot of beauty, a chance at curiosity and fascination. Cottonpaw is gifted instead with terror, a frenzied fear that her life may end so shortly after it began. A butterfly she may be, in its beautiful, otherwise untainted youth, however in the moment she finds herself uncaring to the grace she might've carried.
Voiceless does the young bird act, hissing whilst others arrive. Her sister, her father, many scents and faces that she can barely make out just beyond the bridge and gorge. Cloudedsky screeches as if her voice is enough for the both of them, Weaselclaw spits threats and Snailstride tries to lament -
"She's just a kid…" All the same, teasing and taunting arrives from behind Smokethroat. She cares not to make them out from the scenery - they're RiverClanners, clearly
evil cats simply by this threat alone. Her paws swipe at forelegs and ankles as bodies move to block the path to Smokethroat and herself, though she misses most of them given the nature of her situation. As she hisses, thrashes her arms, she fears that he could simply… clench his fist, and rip her throat out with too much ease. StarClan wouldn't allow her to die so easily, would they?
Perhaps she fears more than the mongrel RiverClanners in the moment.
They're all talking, though she wouldn't even dare call the chatter anything amicable or curious. It's taunting, some of them grateful that Smokethroat's caught a "moorland bunny," as if she's a prize and her pelt is something to adorn a nest with. Cottonpaw's tail lashes as a final body is added to RiverClan ranks - a tom she only saw once prior, standing atop tall rocks near her very mother. A
star in his own right, though Cottonpaw bitterly believes that given his actions and the actions of his Clanmates, he deserves not the moniker. He hardly deserves more than a snort in his direction! She nearly spits at his paws as he passes, however he pauses, his drawl edging more and more on that insanity that seems to drip feed into so many of the
other Clans. A new set of claws, one arced directly towards her face.
He slices skin, if only barely - her cheek feels too warm in the seconds following and though the pain is sharp it's faint. She hardly wants to call it a bluff, especially with the darker furred tom still threatening her life more readily. At most she shrinks from his momentary touch, hardly listening to the words he mutters, or any of those that follow in response. Again she squirms and swings out an arm in retaliation, unwilling to be known as the she-cat that went down without a fight.
But I won't die here, right…? She wonders if it matters. Cicadastar calls his ranks to charge against her family and friends, pride fueling all of their actions.
"I won't kill her," she hears, though cats are launching around her, colliding mid way on the bridge or otherwise. Cottonpaw grits her teeth, unwilling to trust Smokethroat amidst the chaos. He's still talking to her father, the conversation filtered through blood rushed ears. She's simply a prize to him, the apprentice thinks - and maybe if she moves just right, she can get away! He's talking, talking - scarification isn't something that scares Cottonpaw, not as intensely as one would think. Perhaps the continued threat of death, even with the casual promise of otherwise, is enough to dampen the idea to the equivalent of a shrug. But he continues. All she makes out is
"... an eye?" and everything feels cold, as if instead he tipped her into the river below. Shock coats her every being as a single, ember burning eye flits to focus on her instead. He wants to make a reminder of her - pluck her metaphorical wings in hopes someone else suffers - her very own
father, the man who stole the lead warrior's eye moons before she even existed.
She feels the ghosting of claws alongside her face, and with teeth gritting, she gives one final twist and thrash in an attempt to escape. More pain blooms in her efforts to twist away from Smokethroat, and though she is insanely unsure if any of her thrashing connects with the tom, she hopes
something does. Regardless, she's free, air rushing back into her lungs painfully (had she been holding her breath, or had the weight of the situation withheld much of her breathing?) The apprentice moves with adrenaline alone, ears pinned back as she moves to escape.
Cottonpaw makes it mere mouse-lengths away from him at first, scrambling to even right herself properly. Blue eyes fix themselves on the tom as she does, turning heel to rush off the bridge as quickly as she can. She pays no mind and truly doesn't notice as Smokethroat abandons her chase and moves to collide with her father, instead. A part of her is eager to get home - maybe she can tell Sootstar, Badgermoon, any of them, and they can get reinforcements before long! Unfortunately the hope is dashed with a sharp bite, hold, and tug of her tail. Cottonpaw lets out a surprised yet frustrated hiss, pain pulsing up her tail. She twists as best she can, spinning to face the other apprentice (where had she come from? Cottonpaw realizes in her fixation to simply escape, she made no motion to commit the RiverClanners to memory.) Whatever the case, she moves on instinct - her training is bare and restricted to tunnel movements, but hey, claws are claws!
She's quick to unsheath her own and slash towards Mosspaw's face, though unsteady (and partially blinded with her own blood, she recognizes,) she finds she may miss, either clumsily swiping the other femme's chest, or missing entirely. Cottonpaw lets out another hiss, arching her back almost comedically as she does,
"Back off, already!" she finally finds her voice, however it's pitiful and strained.
[ tldr; cot obvs slipped away from smokethroat. tried to run safely to windclan's side of the border, got stopped by
@Mosspaw , and now is defending against her! ]
