- Oct 10, 2022
- 147
- 65
- 28
She had seen many a cat fall in her short time on this earth, from loners slain by rogues to infighting within groups, to two-leg intervention; none stung so sharply as one you trusted turning on you without warning. It was a pain she was familiar with, if she closed her eyes she could imagine the smell of stale smoke gushing forth like dark clouds high above the city skyline at her old hauntings in the stone heart of two-leg place, the kingdom she once loved shattered into pieces and the shard spilling blood so thick one might drown in it. ShadowClan, she thought, might be different because despite the oddity of some of its inhabitants there was a kinship to be had in this dark and loamy hollow of the forest; the wretched and the broken gathering to try and form a piece of something one might call whole. Halfshade was rather fond of her clanmates, from the gruff and prickly to the sheepish and timid, there was not a cat present she could say she hated in any way up until today.
Today was different.
In the bowing limbs of a tree she had been sleeping when a piercing cry rocked her from her slumber, eyes the color of the sun and moon honed down on the source to see a blur of motion and cats rolling on the ground. Her immediate impulse was to leap down from her perch and assist but just as quickly as it started it ended and only once the two were untangled did she realize who it was. Chilledgaze. The other....Hawktail? The words spat hateful from the other she-cat's mouth made her flatten her ears and she waited for the deputy to retaliate only to admit defeat and bow their head and her heart broke for the words she heard. To struggle so much under a weight like that without telling anyone, to suffer in silence for the good of their clan. It shocked her enough to hold her silence, keep herself hidden and when the two parted she made a deliberate glance to ensure she knew the direction Hawktail was going before leaping down to go and make sure Chilledgaze made it home alright.
Now? Well now she was hunting as she said she would, but her prey was much larger than what she considered the norm in ShadowClan. A frog or lizard would not sate her in this instance, she required something heavier. "Hawktail, dear! There you are!" The tortiseshell responded to her greeting as she expected, wary caution and unease, "Halfshade, what do you want?"
The bicolor queen smiled, ignoring the obvious aggression in the tone and dismissal of her presence, " "I found a dead deer! Can you imagine what luck that is? I need help dragging some of it back to camp!" The other she-cat's eyes lit up. Not a ShadowClanner alive would turn down such a feast, such a gift. A dead deer would feed the entire clan for several days and with leaf-bare approaching it meant they would have ample time to stock their stores better with this extra padding. Hawktail was a good, dutiful warrior. She would not hesitate to follow the torbie out to gather this prize. "A deer! Of course I'll help, lead the way!" Whatever caution, whatever hesitance clung to the she-cat after her bought with the deputy was long gone and Halfshade flicked her tail in delight before strolling onward. The path she took was one well familiar to her, she had roamed this area nearing the two-leg place many a time in her wandering even long before joining ShadowClan-when it was called the Marsh Colony, before she even knew it was here. "There's a shortcut this way, but we'll have to drag the deer back the long way!" She called cheerfully, moving to squeeze herself between the slats of a broken fence and her mismatched eyes honed in on the pile of junk slanted in the corner of the yard where a long silver chain rattled gently with faint motion. With a flick of her tail she beckoned the other ShadowClanner behind her, creeping toward the assorted two-leg trash before the silence was broken by the wind shifting and the scent of dog hitting them both. Hawktail was on alert immediately but Halfshade was quicker, moving forward with a spring she leapt upon the pile and then up onto the fence as Hawktail yowled in surprise; the dog burst from it's makeshift den with a sound like thunder.
By the time Halfshade regained her footing on the fencing behind the beast's lair it was already over. Her dual-toned gaze drifted lazily to the battered form and bloody pieces that used to be Hawktail, the other molly barely had time to cry for help when faced with such ferocity. The torbie knew the dog was here, it had chased her once, long ago but she also knew it seemed hard of hearing and only the aggressive rattle of the tin over its den being pounced upon would've awoken it from its slumber. With a disinterested final glance she turned to make her way back to camp, pausing to retrieve the frog Hawktail had set down when she was approached.
No need to waste good prey, she would give it to the first cat she found with a light laugh, "Hawktail left this laying in the marsh! It's fair game! She'll be quite cross I took it when she gets back!"
