[p] Wolf to The Slaughter

[GnawingOnIce]

Dogstar trod through the forest, the feel of newly sprouted grass beneath his paws. He wore a grim expression on his face, brows knitted together. He heard Murkdusk following behind him, could feel his eyes on his fur. The muscular tom stopped in his tracks when they were far enough way from camp and from the other Clan’s borders.

He turned to face Murkdusk, who was standing a few tail-lengths away from him, and then began to speak. ”Murkdusk, you know as well as I do that you are a danger to MistClan. I will not tolerate you living in my Clan any longer.” his tail-tip twitched back and forth, his pupils slits in his green irises.

Murkdusk scoffed and smiled, then began to circle around his leader, slowly. ”So, you’re going to kill me, is that it? Then I’ll tell you this: I killed Halfshade, and I can certainly kill you, too.” with that, the younger tom didn’t waste any time and launched himself at Dogstar.

Dogstar tried to swat him away with one huge paw but Murkdusk ducked under the swing and clamped his jaws around the tom’s neck, knocking him to the ground. He hooked his claws into his brown fur and dug them deep, slowly ripping them across old scars. Murkdusk felt blood on his tongue and on his paws.

Dogstar clawed at Murkdusk’s sides and tried to kick him off him but his abnormally long claws had the advantage over him. He saw his vision begin to blur and could barely get a breath out of his lungs. Murkdusk bit down as hard as his jaws would allow then ripped his teeth out of his flesh; blood splattering over the green grass and dripping down his jaw.

The brown tom felt himself die. He arose from his body and ascended to StarClan. He saw those that came before him- Miststar, Ivystar, Mothstar, and many others. He saw Pebblekit, Honeywing’s stillborn kit. As soon as he left, he was back in his body. The wound on his neck was no more and he quickly rose to his paws, clawing Murkdusk across the face with a grunt. The split-faced tom yowled and jumped away, holding a paw to his left eye. He retaliated furiously, snarling and hooking his claws back into Dogstar’s fur, trying to wrestle him to the ground.

Tags;; Broadwaykat
Notes;; n/a

[Broadwaykat]

Something was not right.

Nutberry knew he was supposed to be celebrating - and preparing for his vigil that night. But maybe it was just him, but there was a look in Murkdusk's eyes as he was called to follow after Dogstar. Something that didn't sit in the new warrior's belly as looking right.

Murkdusk frankly terrified him. He had no idea what problem he had with his family, but he had felt the burning eyes of the split-faced warrior watching him throughout his life. And the peaceful tom had no idea why he had caused their ire to follow them. He knew, vaguely, that there were other kits in Mothclan that were his half-kin - and that Murkdusk had been their father. But he had not seen the same hatred reflected on him from them. He had done his best throughout his life to remain far, far away from any situation that would leave him alone with the tom...and yet, here he was, following after them into the near gloom of the forest.

He did his best to creep along: at least the spots of his pelt helping to camouflage him against the ground. But as he rounded a corner, he sniffed - blood.

Something was very, very wrong.

"Dogthtar!" He yelped, running into the clearing and seeing the bleeding, prone figure of his leader; his lifeblood wetting the ground. When just moments before, he had given out a pleasant ceremony, game him his name that he could be proud of.


"Get off of him!" He yowled - not thinking, just acting: his claws out as he dove to tackle the older warrior and remove him from their leader.

[GnawingOnIce]

Murkdusk’s attention shifted to the opposite side of the clearing, where there, a long limbed tom stood with brown spotted fur. Murkdusk’s mind immediately flew to Halfshade- that he was here to take revenge for what Murkdusk had done to him when they were apprentices. But he had no scars and his fur wasn’t split down the middle so that either side was a different color. His panic gave way to satisfaction as he realized it was just Nutberry, a young impressionable tom, a symbol of Petaldawn’s betrayal toward Murkdusk.

”Get off of him!” The newly made warrior charged toward Murkdusk, claws glinting in the sunlight. Nutberry’s strength was unexpected, and the tom ran him into the dirt, claws digging into his side and chest. Murkdusk looked up at Nutberry with his good eye, the sunlight shining through the gray clouds outlining his silhouette. Despite the blood running from the claw marks across his left eye and face that was clouding his vision, Murkdusk grinned.

”Poor child. Born out of disloyalty, half-Clan filth.” The older tom spat the insults at Nutberry, not a tinge of regret flowing through his veins. He unsheathed his abnormal claws, the same he used to kill Halfshade, and shredded at Nutberry’s chest and throat with the rage that had been building inside of him ever since Petaldawn died giving birth Nutberry and his siblings. His left eye should have been on fire and the wounds in his sides should have stung but the adrenaline he felt from finally getting a chance to put an end to the one thing that reminded him of Petaldawn and Halfshade fogged all of his senses.

Tags;; Broadwaykat
Notes;; n/a

[Broadwaykat]

His hiss of anger broke into a yowl of pain as - while he succeeded in knocking the tom away from his leader, he had forgotten one of the key opponents to any fight - remember where your opponent is aiming their claws. Digging beneath his thin fur, into his flesh, the claws raked down the side of his throat and deep into his narrow chest- stopping short of hitting anything vital only because he jerked away from the claws: leaving Murkdusk with a divot of flesh and fur but nothing more vital, even as he felt his blood well up at his throat.

"I'm Not filth!" He spat, literal spit dripping from his mouth thanks to the inability to fully close around his massive incisors. He would not give up pinning Murk down: even as his muscles burned and blood pulsed down his side. He fixed Murkdusk's one-eyed gaze and for a second time remember the fear the older tom had struck into his young heart.

"How can you - Dogthtar! He ith our leader - How dare you!" He was ineliquent with rage; unable to compute why the tom was doing this - had done this. Dogstar was still impossibly still - but Nutberry had no doubt if he had let Murkdusk up he would finish whatever he had tried to start with the prone cat.

In desperation to keep Murkdusk down, he risked lowering his head to bury his fangs in the tom's shoulder - a move that would hopefully cripple him and make him think twice about lashing out at either of them again. A true warrior didn't need to kill, after all - unless absolutely necessary. But if he didn't stop Murkdusk somehow, neither of them would be making it out of there.

[GnawingOnIce]

Murkdusk tried to jump to his paws as soon as he got the chance, but he saw Nutberry staring at him with a rage he’d never seen from a young warrior. He barely comprehended Nutberry shouting, ”How dare you!” at him before he was shoved to the ground again. He concluded that the tom must be referring to the damage he had been trying to inflict on Dogstar.

Across the way, Dogstar shakily backed away from where Nutberry was attacking Murkdusk. His paws gingerly touched the area where the wound in his neck had once been, now just stained scarlet, eyes clouded with confusion and shock.

The tom wriggled, kicking at Nutberry’s belly but it didn’t seem to be doing much good. He hooked his claws into the larger tom’s shoulders and said to him, ”I would have killed Dogstar time and time over again until all nine of his lives were gone if it meant I got to end yours. Your siblings all decided to do me a favor and run away, even Halfshade, that coward, ran away. Now, all that’s left, is to make sure you never see the light of day again.”

Murkdusk unhooked one forepaw and aimed to slash his claws across the young tom’s throat with a snarl, but he was all too confident that he would win.

With all the thrashing he was doing, struggling to get Nutberry off of him, the hybrid’s oversized fangs missed his shoulder and instead dug into his exposed throat. Nutberry’s teeth easily punctured his trachea, which resulted in Murkdusk dropping his once raised paw and his movement ceasing. His claws returned to their sheaths and he let out a choked gasp for air. His lungs struggled and he coughed, gagging, all of his gasps cut short. After many moments of attempts to return air to his lungs, they silently gave in. His head fell to the side and his paws slid off of Nutberry’s shoulders, leaving streaks of blood on his fur in their wake. Murkdusk’s chest stopped moving and his eyes went blank, staring at nothing.

Tags;; Broadwaykat
Notes;; it’s the end of an era

[Broadwaykat]

"That'th -That'th - " Nutberry was at a loss for words: he was a loyal cat, almost to his own detriment. Everyone else in his family had fled, except for him. He had never known a mother or father: he was truly a cat of his clan, formed and molded carefully by them. He wanted them to be so proud of him: so the idea of Murkdusk being a cat who was willing to kill their leader - to admit to such hatred to a cat who had done nothing but his best to stay out of his way, was unfathomable.

Even then though - Nutberry did not want to be a killer: not on purpose. His large body however was almost made for deadly accuracy however. He howled with pain as Murkdusk's flailing claws scored a permanent mark across his muzzle. And he lashed out blindly. The taste of warm metallic liquid on his tongue choked him before he even realized what had happened.

"No!" He wailed. Even then - even Murkdusk, who would have eagerly killed him and Dogstar without a second thought, was deserving of life. Nutberry hadn't meant to go farther than incopacitating the warrior: but the gush of crimson from the other tom's throat, the sudden gargling, the stilling of his thrashing limbs, immediately told the young tom that he had gone much, much to far.

Vainly, He did his best to try and press his front paws against the wound, awashing his golden spotted paws in syrupy gore. "Dogthar! I didn't...I can't..." He sounded more kitlike than ever, panic and fear for what he did shining in his eyes.

He hadn't meant to kill him, but Murkdusk was much, much too still.

[GnawingOnIce]

Dogstar’s eyes went wide when he saw Murkdusk’s body go limp. Soon after, Nutberry began to panic, and turned to him. He flinched at the sheer amount of blood that stained the spotted tom’s fur, dripping down his chin and the bloody streaks that had come from Murkdusk’s stained paws.

”Nutberry! Stop- stop,” he got to his paws and stepped to the younger tom’s side, butting his side gently with his head. ”He’s gone. It’s okay.” while trying to comfort him, his eyes strayed to Murkdusk’s face. His own eyes watered when he looked at his left eye which was injured beyond repair, not that it mattered now anyway. His other eye gazed off into the distance, blank and ghostly. Dogstar touched a paw to his fur, it was already growing cold. As he drew his paw away, a cold breeze ruffled his fur, causing him to shiver. He had heard the stories of the place where unworthy cats were sent when they died; was Murkdusk there now? Or was his spirit still watching them?

After some moments, droplets of rain began to fall from the sky. As it wet his fur, he felt a sense of relief. It was soothing, cleansing his fur of some of the blood and relieving his wounds. His green eyes went back to Nutberry, waiting to see what he would say, if he did have anything to say.

Tags;; Broadwaykat
Notes;; n/a

[Broadwaykat]

His chest heaving as he took in great, gasping breaths, the truth of what had just happened, what he had done, seemed to finally be hitting the young warrior full-force. His eyes were wide with a heady mix of fear and adrenaline - what had he just done. He had just broken the code, the day of his own naming ceremony. He had killed a clanmate.

"I..I didn't mean to!" He cried, his voice high and shocked in his constricted throat. "I didn't think - I jutht...he wath attacking you and I had to do thomething to thtop him." Despite the rain that was beginning to fall, blood was drying in the fur around his chest and mouth, staining him. "I killed him...I didn't mean to kill him!"

Did this make him just as bad as Murkdusk? Had to. He had just been so desperate to make the tom stop! But he was horrified with the outcome.