- Jul 3, 2023
- 79
- 9
- 8
There's a hole in the bramble wall.
It's a small one, but one big enough for a kit like Screechkit to notice. To keep an eye on. The kit found it a while ago now, back when he was playing hide and seek, hiding behind the nursery as Frostbite called out a countdown. Waiting to be found led to a wandering gaze, which led to a discovery he'd been checking back on every so often ever since.
Sure, he could've made his escape that day in the midst of the game, and, in turn, would've won with the best hiding spot ever - but unfortunately Frostbite's rules had forbid that, and Wheatpaw had made a scene of his first escape attempt not too long before that. So, the dark-furred tom was left to wait for the perfect moment instead.
And he wonders as time passes, if the busyness of the camp as of late has led to his older clanmates failing to notice the damage to the wall - if everyone is too busy watching over others instead. With Halfshade sick, and Poppykit and Flintkit sick as well, it seems like most of his usual caretakers are all off dealing with sickness - whether healing themselves, healing others, or worrying about their children.
And his own mother? She's busy being a warrior - busy providing for the clan as a whole, rather than taking care of just her kits. Screechkit thinks this must be a good thing, an important thing, if Forestshade is allowed to leave him and his siblings with the other queens all the time.
Either way, there are far less watchful gazes held over him than usual. And with each day that passes, the hidden exit calls to him more. If he waits any longer, he might risk someone else finding the break in the bramble wall, might risk getting caught leaving the camp through it.
Screechkit stands in the shadows behind the nursery, a final glance around to make sure no one is watching him. He's found his perfect moment. It's now or never.
Carefully - he remembers to be careful, remembers the pain that erupted in his paw when he'd been so bold as to touch the wall upon his discovery of it - he ducks down, slipping beneath the brambles and through the pathway it gives way to.
Screechkit emerges on the other side with wide eyes as he takes in his first sight of the big world outside of the camp. A successful escape, he's done it. It's bigger than he thought - endless marshes under tree cover. Bigger than he thought, and yet other clans lie beyond that. He can hardly comprehend how vast the world he was born into is.
He takes it all in for a second longer before bounding forward into the marsh's depths, his first taste of freedom on his tongue.
It's a small one, but one big enough for a kit like Screechkit to notice. To keep an eye on. The kit found it a while ago now, back when he was playing hide and seek, hiding behind the nursery as Frostbite called out a countdown. Waiting to be found led to a wandering gaze, which led to a discovery he'd been checking back on every so often ever since.
Sure, he could've made his escape that day in the midst of the game, and, in turn, would've won with the best hiding spot ever - but unfortunately Frostbite's rules had forbid that, and Wheatpaw had made a scene of his first escape attempt not too long before that. So, the dark-furred tom was left to wait for the perfect moment instead.
And he wonders as time passes, if the busyness of the camp as of late has led to his older clanmates failing to notice the damage to the wall - if everyone is too busy watching over others instead. With Halfshade sick, and Poppykit and Flintkit sick as well, it seems like most of his usual caretakers are all off dealing with sickness - whether healing themselves, healing others, or worrying about their children.
And his own mother? She's busy being a warrior - busy providing for the clan as a whole, rather than taking care of just her kits. Screechkit thinks this must be a good thing, an important thing, if Forestshade is allowed to leave him and his siblings with the other queens all the time.
Either way, there are far less watchful gazes held over him than usual. And with each day that passes, the hidden exit calls to him more. If he waits any longer, he might risk someone else finding the break in the bramble wall, might risk getting caught leaving the camp through it.
Screechkit stands in the shadows behind the nursery, a final glance around to make sure no one is watching him. He's found his perfect moment. It's now or never.
Carefully - he remembers to be careful, remembers the pain that erupted in his paw when he'd been so bold as to touch the wall upon his discovery of it - he ducks down, slipping beneath the brambles and through the pathway it gives way to.
Screechkit emerges on the other side with wide eyes as he takes in his first sight of the big world outside of the camp. A successful escape, he's done it. It's bigger than he thought - endless marshes under tree cover. Bigger than he thought, and yet other clans lie beyond that. He can hardly comprehend how vast the world he was born into is.
He takes it all in for a second longer before bounding forward into the marsh's depths, his first taste of freedom on his tongue.
// @FORESTSHADE
