won't tell a soul || spiderfall

Aug 1, 2022
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A S H P A W.

He finds her in a rare moment alone, the medicine den empty of anyone to witness.

Pumpkinpaw is healing slowly, and she can leave sometimes, to stretch mending limbs-- Ashpaw remembers how the girl had stumbled desperately to meet her at the border, screaming. Beesong is out, too, left to hunt for herbs or have lunch or something-- and later Ashpaw will wonder if Spiderfall had waited. Had stalked the den like a predator, teeth bared and poised to strike; Beesong was attentive, was doting, but he couldn't guard her forever. (Maybe if he'd known there was anything to guard her from, but-- no one knew. Ashpaw hadn't said a word.)

The shadow of a warrior falls in the doorway, and with a bit of effort Ashpaw lifts her head. It's Spiderfall. Her little heart beats rabbit-quick, remembering how he'd coaxed her into the little silver den, how he'd left her--

Not on purpose, she stubbornly reminds herself. He didn't do it on purpose. It's okay. He's safe. He's a warrior.

She opens her mouth to greet him, say something friendly, but the look on his face stops her cold.

Ashpaw's stomach turns, her mouth going dry, and the hesitant hello dies in her throat. Cold, cold, cold. This isn't safe, screams something in the back of her mind, but she's frozen, blood coursing through icy veins. "Spiderfall...?" the kitten whispers, eyes wide as moons.



—— " i found gold in the wreckage "
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AND A HEART THAT ISN'T HERE

The brat had not supposed to live, no, but she had survived. He had purposely coaxed her into the twoleg's trap only for her to come back. Oh how lucky she had been fornthe others bustling about or staying near the den. But of course, like a hawk awaiting to swoop down to catch its prey, or a spider awaiting for something to get caught into their webs, Spiderfall awaited. Perhaps by now she already had figured out the tom's plan, or what he had intentionally done, and so he now had to silence her, make sure she would not tell a soul to what truly happened.

He slunked into the medicine den when no one else but Ashpaw was there and then his amber eyes landed onto the other. Perhaps now she has realized what had truly happened as the look of warmth fade into fear. His ears twitched to face the other as he let a dark low hum out before sitting in front of her. The scent of herbs stinging his nose and tightening his chest, oh how he despised the smell, and oh how he despised Beesong as well. If the medicine cat had not exist than maybe Spiderfall wouldn't have to resort to swearing an apprentice to secrecy.

"So, you already figured it out, Ashpaw" his voice cold and drawn out while poison oozed with every words that dropped from his carefully picked word. How had Frostpaw saw this guy as her protector, a guardian, or even someone that could be trusted? Starclan knows. "Or...you haven't..." he sighed, lifting a paw to stare boredly at it before returning hs attention towards Ashpaw, allowing the two to sit in silence for only a brief moment, slipping a leaf into his paws to gently mess with, kicking it into the air and allowing it to fall, doing this for a few times before stepping on it, crushing the leaf beneath him.

"You'd be wise to keep your mouth shut about me ever being there, or some of your friends will end up like that apprentice. You see? That adder incident? It was no accident my friend, no, I drew them out and had them pick out the rocks, killing that apprentice. I could do it again, Ashpaw, and this time it could be anyone you deemed close to you if you speak a word about me telling you to get into that silver box" he had clearly chosen his words wisely, his voice icy and poisonous, a clear threat towards an apprentice, one he would hope would believe. He wanted Riverclan gone, and by targetting the youth, the next generation he had no issues with...
"speak""Thoughts"
 
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A S H P A W.

He stalks, silent but for a low hum-- then sits, calm and certain, watching her. For the second time in her short life, Ashpaw feels like prey.

The next moments feel frozen, disjointed frames in time, skipping from one scene to the next. The leaf floating, then crushed in front of her-- he's so close now and Ashpaw flinches back, such a little thing next to the warrior's massive form. Twin bursts of confusion and terror in her mind, in her chest, heart dropping into her little stomach as Spiderfall begins to speak.

He had killed that apprentice. The adder hadn't been an accident-- she's panicking now, breaths coming too fast, hot tears pricking in glass-green eyes. Keep your mouth shut, he snarls, and then an unthinkable threat.

She's back in that silver box, the floor falling out from under her--

the world giving way.

Ash imagines Gillpaw crushed in the twoleg's grip-- Pumpkinpaw dead to an adder's fangs-- Steeppaw cut open and bleeding out. She stares up at the massive tom and knows that he could. That he will, if she doesn't--

If she doesn't keep his secret.

She stares, breath shuddering in her chest, the bruises on her body an agonizing reminder of how helpless she was. How helpless she is.

"It could be anyone you deemed close to you if you speak a word about me telling you to get in that silver box."

"I, I won't," she chokes out, tears spilling unbidden down her face. "I promise, I promise I won't tell, just don- don't hurt them, please, don't kill my fr-friends."


—— " i found gold in the wreckage "
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