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𝘾𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙤𝙧𝙮: 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘴
𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩: 901
𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙭𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚: 5 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴

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Claws scraped bark as Dawnstripe desperately hauled herself up an oak tree. Her white pelt stood out like snow in the night. She heaved herself up one more branch before perking her ears.

The thrumming of multiple pawsteps was slowly coming near. Dawnstripe unsheathed her claws and held onto the branch tightly, hoping her fear-scent wasn't too noticeable.

Through the leaves of the trees, a pattern of moonlight touched her pelt, but she wished it didn't. Her black striped markings glimmered slightly silver and she yearned for the warmth of the sun.

Dawnstripe stopped flicking her tail nervously as a few cats sped past the tree. One trailed more slowly behind. A scrawny black tom.

Yellow eyes glinted malevolently into the quiet forest. The tom quickly scurried away. Dawnstripe perked her ears as she listened for the pawsteps to dissipate.

They kept going quietly off in the distance before abruptly stopping. Apprehension pricked at her fluffed up pelt. Dark blue eyes wide, Dawnstripe quietly lowered herself to the forest floor, landing lightly on the soft grass.

Slinking through the trees silently toward what was left of camp, Dawnstripe felt a sense of foreboding tugging at her pelt.

She whipped her head around to check her surroundings, opening her mouth to taste the air. Nothing.

The forest grew slightly sparse as she snuck for her dismantled home. Bushes dotted the forest, replacing the trees. Dawnstripe dashed for every bush, feeling vulnerable without the trees.

She hurriedly raced for the forest as the trees began to take over the bushes once more. Dawnstripe stopped to take a breath, hiding near a bush.

Blood pounded in her ears as she thought she heard a noise. Like fur brushing a tree. Dawnstripe lowered herself to the forest floor, keeping her ears perked and scanning her surroundings.

Hiss!

Dawnstripe whipped around to face the sound, claws unsheathed and fur puffed out to twice her size. Her eyes narrowed to slits.

She calmly padded from her hiding spot, eyeing her surroundings carefully. Dawnstripe hissed in annoyance as a splatter of wet droplets coated her hindquarters.

Suddenly baffled, Dawnstripe realized it wasn't raining. Looking up, there weren't even clouds in the sky. No rain was caught in the leaves of the trees.

Dawnstripe dared to taste the air, a putrid scent reaching her nose. She unsheathed her claws as something sticky clogged them.

She looked down to see her white paws covered in a scarlet color. Trying to stay calm, she turned to see that her pelt was splattered with blood.

But she felt no pain. It wasn't her blood. Turning to look up from her blood-spattered back side, yellow eyes glinted maliciously back at her.

A black pelt was outlined by the moonlight, standing over a bloody body. A once pretty silver pelt was now drenched in blood.

Dawnstripe looked back up at the scrawny tom. His gnarled, overgrown claws glinted with blood.

Twistedclaw.

Dawnstripe whipped around, frozen to her spot. She glanced down once more at the battered she-cat that lay before her.

She recognized the she-cat. Dawnstripe whipped back around, letting out a shriek of terror when she realized the she-cat was her mother. She was surely next.

Claws scraping the grass, Dawnstripe raced away from the outrageous tom. The pattering of pawsteps close behind her made her run faster, fear coursing through her body.

She skidded unexpectedly to a halt as a young cat appeared before her. "Mother?" The cat whispered. Dawnstripe felt her heart melt.

Her thoughts were cut short as her tail was yanked from behind. Shrieking in surprise, Dawnstripe flipped to have her belly up, ready to face the attacker.

The black tom opened his jaws to hiss in her face, digging his back claws into her belly to pin her down.

Dawnstripe wailed in agony, wrenching free of the tom's grasp, her back to him now. Her back legs were too weak to move, blood pouring from the wound in her belly. She looked up to face her horrified daughter who was frozen to the ground.

"Run!" Dawnstripe rasped with everything she had. The silver tabby let out an anguished cry before whipping around toward camp.

Dawnstripe watched Twistedclaw as he slinked for her daughter. She let out an angry snarl, pushing herself up with her front legs as best she could.

Twistedclaw chuckled, stopping in his tracks. He slowly turned to face her. "This is so entertaining," he whispered.

Dawnstripe flattened her ears in fear, the tom launching at her. She tried to match his leap to knock him away, but her front legs buckled beneath her.

Claws met in her back as the tom gripped onto her. His back claws hooked in her neck fur as his front claws gripped her back tightly.

Dawnstripe tried to struggle, fear pulsing through her, blood roaring in her ears. Twistedclaw began to pummel her neck fur, his claws scraping her soft skin.

Crack!

Dawnstripe's vision blurred as she felt her spine crack, her claws digging into the ground to try and suppress the pain.

She felt the weight of the tom lift off of her, picking out his figure walking away in front of her. "Nice try," he taunted, disappearing into the trees.

Dawnstripe let out a gurgled yowl of mixed fear and agony, before she succumbed to the darkness that tugged at her vision.