- Aug 17, 2022
- 147
- 127
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The wind sings a threat, whistling high and winding around the branches above; shaking them and sending leaves whirling in a frenzy. The frame of trees surrounding the camp guard them from most of the ferocity, but he does not like the way they sway. Snowpaw is batting a mossball back to the kits who had sent it fumbling his way, it seemed like they had so many of them now and their outings from the nursery devolved into a swarm of mewling and biting little hellions. He hopes Orangeblossom is proud. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Butterflytuft, once again perched by the nursery and chatting with Plaguekit and Cherrykit while their mothers and caretakes roam off to take a break; he wonders if she’s thinking about Daisyflight again, debates going to check on her when a crack like thunder sounds and he’s instantly alert.
Snowpaw’s golden gaze darts around the camp like many of his clanmates, but a flash of light in the corner of his eye from the sun suddenly becoming visible has his head jerking upward in a panic. He isn’t sure if it was a sign of some kind or a stroke of luck, but it surely got his attention. A tree is falling and in a few seconds he realizes the path it's taking; the nursery.
Soundless, he flies across the ground as surely as he flew from the treetops, he’s newly apprenticed again bouncing on a limb with Figpaw. A kitten sliding an unbroken cicada shell to his brother. An apprentice again rushing to save his blind sister being battered by an enemy clan cat. He blinks and in a moment collides with calico fur, speckled white like the eyespots of a butterfly, fragile and in need of protection. His eyes close tight, he hears a body hit the ground, feels the snow under his paws once more, the screaming. A voice sings in his head both familiar and comforting-
“Look after your sister!”
And he does. She is thrown aside, toppled easily with his much taller form. A long time ago he once toddled after her, a mite of a kitten, now he towered over her-now he was strong enough to throw her.
The tree slams down over the nursery, the weight continues pushing it to the earth and he hears the shrill cries of alarmed kittens as they frantically rush away; nearly flattened under Butterflytuft’s rolling form.
He feels nothing from the impact, not immediately. It crashes down directly upon his back. The air rushes upward from his lungs and escapes him in a sound that is both a cry of alarm and a gasp of relief; as though he had been holding this particular breath for far too long and perhaps he had. The rustling of the branches continuing to topple around him hurt his ears more than the tree trunk across his spine and it is only when the coursing wind falls briefly silent does he finally register the pain; piercing and hot like a fire burning through him and he cries out feebly, almost kit-like to the intensity. Claws aimlessly dig into the ground before him, forearms shuffling for some strength, some second wind to allow him to pull himself out from beneath the great pine but there is no tension in his limbs, no effort. He feels almost weightless now, the motions automatic, his mind watching the upper part of his body unburied spasming in its last ditch effort to live and when he realizes the severity of the situation he finds himself letting go. Snowpaw let his head rest against the ground, breathing labored and heavy; unable to muster up a proper gulp of air from the lungs now crushed within his chest under heavy wood. Blood scent hits him, he isn’t sure where it's coming from until he opens his mouth to speak, unsure if he wants to call for help or scream but the only thing that escapes his maw is a dribbling cascade of red before he is able to conjure up even the most strained of, "...mom-!" Voice heavy with fear, pain, uncertainty.
[Ooc]
PAFP - @butterflytuft
Mentions - @Plaguekit & @Cherrykit
The nursery was empty and is now crushed by the toppled tree!