can we leave it behind? — // tw: gross killing murder stuff. all of its underlined | tdrl: sabletuft takes one of sootstars lives by a fatal throat wound, and threatens to take another if windclan doesnt leave
His movements don't feel like his own. Muscles push, stretch and twitch but nothing is of his own conscious choice. When Mintshade is launched away from him, his body rises more closely to an unanimated corpse than a breathing warrior. His claws sink into the peaty soil to reel himself back together, to push away what was getting closer and closer to breaking his resolve. The thin barrier between him and what he used to be. The line between skin and flesh. His sight is distant, away from the Thunderpath.
In his attempt to hold himself, Mintshade's words are wholly unheard. Had they been, he might have thrown back his own petty retort, but he could hardly hear anything aside from the sound of his own heartbeat. And the
screams. None that came from any maw on this skirmish. Echoes of the pleas he had ignored, remnants of the blood his claws had spilled.
A sharp sting across his face finally drew him away. Whatever efforts he made were fruitless as his mind regressed back once again. Sabletuft hissed at the pain that fired through his muzzle, a growl rumbling from his chest. The sounds of the present fighting cats mix with memories of his own, but one such yowl has his attention more than Mintshade's petty taunts.
Beyond Mintshade, over her shoulder he spotted Smogmaw facing off Sootstar. The moment brings him back again, the sight of Smogmaw facing off a different foe. In a blink the Thunderpath turned into the a clearing closed with towering oak trees. Sootstar's face was a blur. his body moved before he even realized it. He might have shoved past Mintshade to get through- he couldn't recall. White mitted paws now dirtied from running through the mud, Sabletuft would burst from the fog, eyes ablaze as they locked onto the she-cat.
He used Sootstar in the collision to protect him from the impact against the pavement.
He took no hesitation to latch his claws in to keep her from pulling away from him, using his weight to keep her back against the ground underneath him after they stopped skidding. His chest heaved for air, but the adrenaline made him feel lighter than air. It devoured him, every thought that pushed to the forefront urging him to finish this. To feel the flow of blood after withholding himself from this for so long.
A blink.
Teeth had already sank into her throat. Iron flames stained the white fur between his jaws and on instinct Sabletuft began to pull. There was tension, he felt resistance and struggle against his hold. Another growl burst from his muzzle as his claws sank deeper to hold her still, pulling and tugging at her skin and flesh until his neck swung back from the release of pressure.
It filled his nose and mouth, the scent of so much blood. His jaw went slack as he looked down when he noticed Sootstar had stopped struggling, now lifeless beneath him.
"She's dead."
But wouldn't be for long.
Sabletuft lifted his head to look at the cats around him, the embers behind his gaze dimming. He spat the blood in his mouth onto the pavement before stepping off of the leader. WindClan blood soaked the white of his muzzle, stained his chest and paws. He returned to Smogmaw's side, tail lashing as he dared the WindClanners to step any closer with a silent snarl.
"I'll give you all to ten before I take another."
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