[ti]Private[/ti]Rivers of Blood

[Meow]

Rivershine's chest screamed with burning pain as she sprinted through the forest, wide, unblinking eyes stinging as she went somewhere, anywhere, to escape the despair that was creeping up on her. Barkfur wasn't dead. Barkfur couldn't be dead. This was just a dream- she'd wake up soon.

The she-cat came to an abrupt halt as she smacked into the side of a familiar large, metal figure- the figure of one of the big, empty monsters the leaders sat upon during the gatherings. Rivershine gasped for breath as she took a few steps back, her side aching with the impact, before she collapsed on the earth, sobs ripping themselves from her lips. It was too much for her... it should have been someone else.

Anyone else. Anyone else at all... not Barkfur.

"Wh-why?" Was all Rivershine could whimper as tears quickly soaked her cheeks, her paws coming up to cover her eyes and muzzle, as if to hide her pain from the world. Rivershine just couldn't process it... a world without Barkfur. "H-h-he... he can't... b-b-be g... gone..."

[Mama]

Shadespirit decided to make the empty monsters a short-time den, and when something slammed into it the she-cat was quickly awoken from her nap. Bunching her muscles up, she sprung out one of the broken gaps in it to see the most beautiful she-cat crying. "Rivershine?" She softly whispered, landing neatly before curling her tail around her back comfortingly. "It's alright.."

[Meow]

Rivershine shivered at the feeling of Shadespirit's tail resting itself on her back, her paws moving to reveal one giant, teary yellow eye as she gazed up at her old friend. "Sh... Shade... Shadespirit..." Rivershine pushed out the she-cat's name through her sobs. The black-and-gold she-cat looked almost like a goddess to her right now- like the only good thing left in this world. The only cat left who cared about her. In this moment, Rivershine didn't care, even a little bit, that Shadespirit was a murderer. She was there for her, and that's all that mattered. "M-My... my brother... my brother's... dead," Rivershine whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut once more as another mournful wail left her lips. It hurt, even more, to say it out loud. "H-he just... he just left me here! Alone!"

[Mama]

Lowering her head, she gave a small sigh and listened. This cat, she loved her... but she felt connections needed to be cut off. Besides... it was better for her anyways to see her brother again. It was easier on both of them.

"I.. I can help with that." She muttered, before with a quick dart of her paw, she had the feline's throat trapped under her paw. "This will be quick, alright?" Shadespirit said, gazing down sadly before applying pressure. "It's for the best."

This cat... she was sick, wasn't she? Somewhere along the lines, something had clicked and sparked a fuel inside of her.

[Meow]

Rivershine continued her sobbing as Shadespirit made her decision, immersed in her misery. Barkfur had been so full of life- more than any else she'd ever known. To think he'd been snuffed out, just like that... it was too abrupt for her. She couldn't understand what had happened.

She wouldn't need to.

Rivershine grunted as she was pushed over, Shadespirit's paw coming down on her throat. The calico's wet eyes became saucers as she was suddenly gazing up at Shadespirit's face. Her expression was cast in shadow as her silhouett blocked out part of the moon. Rivershine didn't seem reassured by Shadespirit's words as she opened her mouth to gasp for air, suddenly struggling for air as her windpipe was crushed under Shadespirit's weight.

It wasn't long before she began flailing her limbs, hot fear shooting through her whole body as her struggle for oxygen became more intense. But her lungs would never get the air they were so hungry for, and, within moments, her eyes were rolling into the back of her head as her vision went completely black.

Her limbs fell to the ground, limp, as life completely left her body.

[silverfang218]

Barkfur does not approve, but there wasn’t much he could do. He had been all fluffed up as he watched from StarClan; he had anxiously followed Rivershine’s flight from IvyClan, before staring in horror as she came face to face with the cat who had been bold enough to murder a leader. He silently pleaded with her to run, but Rivershine of course didn’t listen.

His ears flattened against his skull as he watched his sister be murdered; he didn’t fully understand everything that StarClan was capable of and responsible for yet, having only been there for a few hours at most, but if the demise of both himself and his sister were plotted out by them, then StarClan was a sick bunch. He makes his way down to the Gathering location to greet his sister. He looks down on her body as he waits for her spirit to be freed by the angry she-cat holding poor Rivershine down.

Once River is dead, Bark whispers to her, “I leave you alone for only a few moments, and look what you get yourself into.” His rough voice cracks a bit over his words, his ears still pinned back. His eyes, however, are as soft and full of love as they always have been when looking at his beloved sister. “You might just be as big of a troublemaker as I am, Rivershine.” There is a bit of a twinkle in them, though; even after being separated for a few hours at most, Barkfur had been feeling a pain where his no-longer beating heart would be. The two siblings had been together from the start, and even being in separate worlds for less than a day had made Barkfur feel like he was tearing in two. Now they were reunited, even if the thought of Rivershine’s murder, much less actually witnessing it, was most heartbreaking and sickening thing Barkfur had ever experienced. Even so, he smiles sadly at his sister, the cold stars twinkling in his long, flowing coat.