- Jun 8, 2022
- 183
- 108
- 43
"SUREFIRE, YEAH, THE SETTING SUN WANTS COMPANY"
TW: death, needles, euthanasia
Daisyflight had been asleep when hands hooked her from the cage that she shared with Butterflytuft.
The difficulty parsing the time had made her weary, and hours spent on edge only reinforced it. Seeing Momowhisker’s tabby face had brought some entertainment, some hope, but the same pewter walls and dry pellet-prey beat even the strongest of wills. The warrior was certain, however, that there would be an out for them soon. She clung to the idea. After all, the molly had already missed her kit’s warrior ceremonies. Imagining Greenpaw, Violetpaw and Figpaw in the centre of the clearing, without her or their siblings, made her head light and chest strained. Not there to embrace them as warriors, nor cry out their names- what would those names be?
But dreams of moss nests and pines were seized from her, strings of unconsciousness torn up from the stitches. World wrenched at an angle, Daisyflight had little time to register what was happening before the hood of the metal den swept past her. Fern eyes shot to her daughter. "Butterfly-" She kicked at her captor. "Be safe, I’ll -" An unfamiliar stride pinched air from her lungs, the slate walls falling away at terrifying speed.
The instant her kit’s monarch-wing pelt slipped from view she began to fight back more fiercely. Perhaps if she fought free, she could find a way back- find a way to free the rest of them. Limbs strong from a life climbing rallied against the twoleg’s hardy false-fur but try as she might Daisyflight could only worm one back leg free, the weight of it displacing her balance.
Chin jammed against a rough shoulder, she slowed at the sight of her clanmates. Some faces she hadn’t seen in moons. Twitchbolt’s outline brought a crushing relief- one she hadn’t known she’d needed. Just hearing her old apprentice’s voice had not been enough. And then, a silver spark within the uniform cells. Snowpaw. "Look after your sister!" The molly ached to say more, that she’d find her way back, but thick wood slid into place behind her with a ghastly click.
Quiet pervaded this section of the nest, the twoleg’s breath an uncomfortable companion. Still, Daisyflight tried to wrench herself free. In a dervish of desperation, tufts of fur fell in their wake. Her captor warbled in dismay and rearranged her frame in their arms before placing her onto a chill slate. Dimly, the calico was aware of another shadow around the corner that seemed to grunt in acknowledgement.
Free only for a heartbeat from their vices and then the molly was faced with an uncomfortable string of procedures. Plasticky appendages roamed her mouth, deep against the curve of her lip. Every twist of her spine granted a claw’s length. Patchwork fur bunched at her scruff, a pelt so carefully tended to ruffled in ruin. When the twoleg released her maw and went to grasp her forepaw, Daisyflight wrested from their steel grip. Talons raked the exposed skin in a parting gift in a practised motion.
They barked in pain, hobbling from the metal block the pair warred over. The blood coiled around their arm struck a vivid image. A pause. The twoleg expelled a great dose of air, the breath hot against her ears. Another sharp call was given to the silhouette through the door and, after a beat, a muffled response moaned back. Their beady eyes procured an odd shimmer, watery.
Daisyflight spat out another warning.
The creature busied itself before returning to her, mitts around a foreign object. It was metal, as thin as her whisker. An incredulous fury rose to meet it- that they’d try to keep her down with such a feeble instrument- but the instant its pin-edge faced her the rage fled. A terrible, all-encompassing horror pawed at her, corroding low into her bones. The calico bucked against the hands that held her, to no avail.
A prick met flushed skin.
The frost that bloomed across her pelt was instant, swallowing up every blade of fur. Brightness winked into view, blinding her. A gossamer shift, celestial, draped along her rigid spine with oppressive command. With her remaining strength, Daisyflight bore her teeth. Even at the end, they taunted her. Unlife, unnatural, whimless, dead- Another prick.
They were the watchers, the witnesses. For so long she had feared their eye and now she faced it in its rawest form. Ribbons of light tumbled into shapes, laced ambiguously to a twinkling ear, an ephemeral step. Deny them, she must, she has- she had to see to her family.
Watchers. Daisyflight’s lungs emptied in a sigh. Perhaps… The glimmers wafted closer, their glittering fringes caught in the crease of her eyes, her whiskers. Blaze trusted them- saw them. Would he see her?
As the sky descended upon her and the world grew dim, Daisyflight’s mind was smoked with memories of the nursery, of grooming one, then four. Pearl lids sunk low, demanded by static and stars, she knew she’d see them again.
✿ /gone ☀-*ೃ༄
Daisyflight had been asleep when hands hooked her from the cage that she shared with Butterflytuft.
The difficulty parsing the time had made her weary, and hours spent on edge only reinforced it. Seeing Momowhisker’s tabby face had brought some entertainment, some hope, but the same pewter walls and dry pellet-prey beat even the strongest of wills. The warrior was certain, however, that there would be an out for them soon. She clung to the idea. After all, the molly had already missed her kit’s warrior ceremonies. Imagining Greenpaw, Violetpaw and Figpaw in the centre of the clearing, without her or their siblings, made her head light and chest strained. Not there to embrace them as warriors, nor cry out their names- what would those names be?
But dreams of moss nests and pines were seized from her, strings of unconsciousness torn up from the stitches. World wrenched at an angle, Daisyflight had little time to register what was happening before the hood of the metal den swept past her. Fern eyes shot to her daughter. "Butterfly-" She kicked at her captor. "Be safe, I’ll -" An unfamiliar stride pinched air from her lungs, the slate walls falling away at terrifying speed.
The instant her kit’s monarch-wing pelt slipped from view she began to fight back more fiercely. Perhaps if she fought free, she could find a way back- find a way to free the rest of them. Limbs strong from a life climbing rallied against the twoleg’s hardy false-fur but try as she might Daisyflight could only worm one back leg free, the weight of it displacing her balance.
Chin jammed against a rough shoulder, she slowed at the sight of her clanmates. Some faces she hadn’t seen in moons. Twitchbolt’s outline brought a crushing relief- one she hadn’t known she’d needed. Just hearing her old apprentice’s voice had not been enough. And then, a silver spark within the uniform cells. Snowpaw. "Look after your sister!" The molly ached to say more, that she’d find her way back, but thick wood slid into place behind her with a ghastly click.
Quiet pervaded this section of the nest, the twoleg’s breath an uncomfortable companion. Still, Daisyflight tried to wrench herself free. In a dervish of desperation, tufts of fur fell in their wake. Her captor warbled in dismay and rearranged her frame in their arms before placing her onto a chill slate. Dimly, the calico was aware of another shadow around the corner that seemed to grunt in acknowledgement.
Free only for a heartbeat from their vices and then the molly was faced with an uncomfortable string of procedures. Plasticky appendages roamed her mouth, deep against the curve of her lip. Every twist of her spine granted a claw’s length. Patchwork fur bunched at her scruff, a pelt so carefully tended to ruffled in ruin. When the twoleg released her maw and went to grasp her forepaw, Daisyflight wrested from their steel grip. Talons raked the exposed skin in a parting gift in a practised motion.
They barked in pain, hobbling from the metal block the pair warred over. The blood coiled around their arm struck a vivid image. A pause. The twoleg expelled a great dose of air, the breath hot against her ears. Another sharp call was given to the silhouette through the door and, after a beat, a muffled response moaned back. Their beady eyes procured an odd shimmer, watery.
Daisyflight spat out another warning.
The creature busied itself before returning to her, mitts around a foreign object. It was metal, as thin as her whisker. An incredulous fury rose to meet it- that they’d try to keep her down with such a feeble instrument- but the instant its pin-edge faced her the rage fled. A terrible, all-encompassing horror pawed at her, corroding low into her bones. The calico bucked against the hands that held her, to no avail.
A prick met flushed skin.
The frost that bloomed across her pelt was instant, swallowing up every blade of fur. Brightness winked into view, blinding her. A gossamer shift, celestial, draped along her rigid spine with oppressive command. With her remaining strength, Daisyflight bore her teeth. Even at the end, they taunted her. Unlife, unnatural, whimless, dead- Another prick.
They were the watchers, the witnesses. For so long she had feared their eye and now she faced it in its rawest form. Ribbons of light tumbled into shapes, laced ambiguously to a twinkling ear, an ephemeral step. Deny them, she must, she has- she had to see to her family.
Watchers. Daisyflight’s lungs emptied in a sigh. Perhaps… The glimmers wafted closer, their glittering fringes caught in the crease of her eyes, her whiskers. Blaze trusted them- saw them. Would he see her?
As the sky descended upon her and the world grew dim, Daisyflight’s mind was smoked with memories of the nursery, of grooming one, then four. Pearl lids sunk low, demanded by static and stars, she knew she’d see them again.
✿ /gone ☀-*ೃ༄
✿ ✿ ✿
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