❝ story ❞

quiverskies was frantic.

night after night, practicing fatal assaults and heavy strikes under artificial battle grounds, her apprentice was honing a fine power. but even though quiverskies had worked hard not to be found out by the living clan members, sometimes she'd slip and scratch her apprentice by accident. the she-cat had had to hide her wounds, which was no easy feat when constantly surrounded by warriors- especially since her fur was so short and soft. but the young she-cat had slipped by.

she's lucky to have a friend she can trust. quiverskies frowned to herself as an unfamiliar cat showed up in her mind- a conjuration of her apprentice's descriptions of a fellow clanmate: a long-furred dusky brown tabby, tail and chest especially shaggy like a lynx's. but here...

quiverskies was very, very old. she had respect, reverance from all who acknowledged her presence- but those were not many. she was already half-invisible, older than a pawful of leaders before hornetstar. the sun could rise again, and quiverskies could be gone, and no one would notice.

but then, sunrises don't exist in this place. quiverskies pawed at a stray leaf in her path. how long ago had it been since quiverskies had thought about time? it was a mere concept dreamed up by cats desperately trying to find a meaning to life. we live, die, and we act, and leave ripples to be felt by those we leave behind.

the leaf crunched underfoot as quiverskies padded away, eyes round to the wavering shadows that towered in her way. yes, the dead have legacies, indeed... pushing herself through the dense, clammy air, quiverskies imagined her apprentice's face, and a long-forgotten sense of emotion stirred in her chest, but was quickly quelled by a wave of confusion. what were her intentions with her? she'd been training with the young she-cat for moons, but why? for a few seconds, quiverskies could not remember her purpose.

i visited her in that lie of a world... but the reason... ah, yes.

i saw myself in her, that's why. her motives are different, and yet i saw the spark of greatness in her.

quiverskies shivered. although she has no outsiders to use her skills on. deltaclan hardly faces any enemies nowadays. almost unconsciously, the tiny she-cat's lip curled in disgust. how is that fair to all those slain in the madness of constant battle?

they don't even remember our names.

quiverskies stopped in her tracks and flexed her claws. long, ivory talons, sharpened to a point. quiverskies knew full well exactly what they were capable of. she'd seen far too much blood than she needed to; bloody, yet petty battles- sometimes over mere pawsteps of land- had commanded the day-after-day terrors and fights, the screams and flashes that would never escape quiverskies's mind.

quiverskies's old apprentice's face appeared again in quiverskies's mind; this time it was blurred, indistinct, as if... as if...

no, i won't lose her! quiverskies snarled to herself, her muscles seizing in the fight against her paranoia. quiverskies stumbled and stood still, panting. she would not lose sight of her once-apprentice, the only cat who had seen her be overtaken by the ghosts of what she'd seen and promised to stay- to stay? quiverskies had heard that before... the indictinct teak-brown blur turned into a sharp, triangular face- unpleasantly familiar, quiverskies thought of the cat who had betrayed her for the first time in these foggy years. her long-forgotten false friend who had promised to be there when quiverskies had her fits.

the false friend who had lied.

the face in her mind broke into a grin. zanderstride. that was their identity. the identity of the traitor.

they probably let them into starclan too, the two-faced fox-heart. quiverskies's pelt bristled with pent-up rage. while i'm left to rot again, left to fester with the- the memories that i never wanted.

how did quiverskies know that it wouldn't happen again? she trusted her apprentice- but then, she had also trusted zanderstride.

please, quiverskies. that traitor deserves to be forgotten. maybe they've even faded by now.

just like me and my thoughts should've faded! quiverskies fell to the ground as indistinct screeching pierced her mind, and she flattened her ears, teeth gritted, barricading a screech of her own. and through all those mirages of cats bathed in blood, of cats who looked alive, but weren't, of cats dyed red whose crazed eyes met her own... zanderstride's voice added to them in meaningless commands.

just banish them from your head. as if i'm not already trying. as if i wouldn't have done so already if i could.

i don't understand. you should know how to deal with it by now. no one else is this affected, so why? wouldn't we like to know? but even cinderburn can't find a cure, so i'm left with this inexplicable burden...

you don't need to understand why. you just need to not make it worse!

so stop telling me to calm down! stop yelling at me that i should find a way to fight it, because i don't know how!

you're not helping! all you do is make everything worse! and to think you promised to help me... to think you used to be a friend!

a sharp pain seared quiverskies's right foreleg, and the familiar metallic tang of fresh blood rotted her nose.

quiverskies looked down. all her claws were still extended. her left paw crossed over right foreleg in an ancient instinct to escape her mind. quiverskies was hyperventilating. she hadn't even noticed.

i deserve better than this.

please, forget zanderstride. the worst fate is being forgotten.

quiverskies lifted her left paw. her right leg was bleeding, but not badly. not badly.

but my haunts, they never leave me. there's never been a way. and one by one, those so-called warriors turned their backs on me, all for the blood that stains my sight.

think of her. bury yourself in making her your successor. the world that destroyed me needs a taste of its own medicine. a tiny laugh escaped quiverskies, and she smiled to herself. if anyone saw her, huddled to herself, bleeding from a self-inflicted gash and laughing that alien laugh, they would have ran away.

hopefully, you'll do what i pray you'll do. i saw myself in you. the same fire. the same resentment to those who treated you wrong.

give the world of the clans a rebirth, coniferpaw. no, that's not what they call you now, is it?... no matter.

it's almost time for me to see you again. come on, quiverskies. wear an innocent face. hopefully, just by being with me, she's becoming more like me. she's already fond of me. she understands.

so you have to trust in coniferbite to do this world justice.

***

can you stop staring at me? coniferbite curled up tighter in her nest, fur bristling at a hopefully imagined hostility. quiverskies had accidentally left a scratch on coniferbite's chest, and coniferbite had actually woken up early in order to lick the wound clean- she'd figured out that wounds from her sleep carried over to the real world from a smaller, long-healed scratch on her foreleg. but this time, though quiverskies had apologized profusely (despite coniferbite's insistence to stop) and let her go early, eucalyptusbounce had returned from the night patrol to see coniferbite licking her chest clean of the sticky redness that could give her away.

she'd been sworn to secrecy by quiverskies, and she didn't intend to break her promise- yet she might have done so by accident. for the rest of the day, eucalyptusbounce had kept an annoyingly close eye on coniferbite. now, even as they were trying to sleep, she could feel eucalyptusbounce's eyes on her. the fact that the two of them had adjacent nests didn't help. coniferbite held back a snarl. i'm not doing anything wrong. i just can't tell you what it is, okay?

coniferbite's claws flexed against the moss of her nest. i've become so much better as a warrior thanks to quiverskies... and no thanks to galepelt. the white and ginger tom had kept up his criticisms all the way up to the end of coniferbite's apprenticeship, and mackerelfox still refused to lend her any sympathy. those two fox-hearts.

if i used what i know on them, surely they would be able to admit that they were wrong all along.

a brush of fur draped over coniferbite's body, and she tensed. she could barely make out anything in the darkness, but when she turned her head around- being careful not to move her body- she caught eucalyptusbounce's scent on the limp appendage. coniferbite knew that eucalyptusbounce fidgeted a lot in her sleep... so if she's already asleep, i've got nothing to worry about. at least, not for the time being...

it's time for me to go.

coniferbite closed her eyes, and sleep sank over her almost immediately, its familiar coldness pressing into the shallow depths of her soft fur. and a heartbeat later, she was there. in this pale, artificial world... where everything was just a tinge sharper, yet at the same time foggier than the waking world, where painstaking hours of grasping at betterness had been met and passed...

"what... is this place? why are you here?"

coniferbite's heart skipped a beat. why... only she and quiverskies had ever come here, always them alone together. but when she whipped her head around, she could undoubtedly see a familiar, long-furred, lynx-like, infuriatingly observant warrior standing behind her.

"are we dreaming? but..." eucalyptusbounce's murmurs only increased coniferbite's frustration. "why are you here?"

"are you blind? this is starclan territory- my dream. don't you recognise this territory?" coniferbite scowled. "you're not supposed to be here. don't you have your own dreams?"

but eucalyptusbounce wasn't paying attention. instead, their gaze seemed to be drawn to the trees at the clearing's edge.

"those trees-" eucalyptusbounce swept their tail towards the crop of trees at the north of the river, "-are coniferous, not deciduous like in the real territory."

"so what?" coniferbite's claws slid out of their sheaths.

"and..." eucalyptusbounce turned and padded over to the all-too familiar stony cliff wall. "this is far too close to the river. look, it's supposed to be seven and a half fox-lengths, but here it's only around three or four- and the air, it's so sharp and cold..."

"well, what do you expect? it's starclan; you can't expect everything to be the same."

"how do you know?"

"can you tell me differently? you've never been to starclan. you're not caracalprance." coniferbite curled her lip. "if you're suspicious, you can always just wake up."

"but coniferbite-"

"shut up!" coniferbite flattened her ears and snapped her eyes shut. "it's just a dream! why are you taking this so seriously? you're not even supposed to-"

"ah, coniferbite, sorry for making you wait for me."

coniferbite jumped at the sound of quiverskies's voice. what will she say? i didn't mean for anyone to find out, i swear-

"i-i didn't- how did someone follow me here?" coniferbite didn't meet quiverskies's gaze; agitatedly, she paced the grounds, almost stubbing her toe on a stray stone on the ground. "i promise that i didn't bring her here on purpose, you've got to believe me!"

quiverskies blinked and stared past coniferbite, for the first time noticing eucalyptusbounce, who silently stared back.

"i didn't know this was possible... well, it's nothing much, as long as this one joins our cause." quiverskies's poker face was impossible for coniferbite to read, but eucalyptusbounce dropped into a half-crouch, tail twitching uncomfortably.

"your... cause?"

"my sole purpose here is to train coniferbite, child." quiverskies looked back to coniferbite, who seemed to perk up at her mentor's approving nod. "she's been doing very well under my tutelage."

"but why her?" eucalyptusbounce frowned. "coniferbite's smart and able. if you were to choose a cat to mentor, why did she need it most? i-if this is even by the laws of starclan..." eucalyptusbounce trailed off, casting a glance at coniferbite.

quiverskies looked almost bewildered, swishing her tail and cocking her head as she fumbled for an answer. "well, the reason i favoured her..."

but coniferbite didn't hesitate. "no, eucalyptusbounce! i wanted a better mentor than galepelt. you know how bad he was- the only reason i started complaining less at the end was because i had this! i could finally learn without fearing criticism, and it helped a lot." coniferbite looked eucalyptusbounce in the eye. "i'm sure you can tell."

eucalyptusbounce watched as coniferbite strode to quiverskies's side, and both cats started chattering straight away, though both kept shooting looks at eucalyptusbounce- wariness from the dead one, and questioning from coniferbite- as if i asked to be here. now they felt an inward pressure to leave... not like she had asked to be here in the first place, anyway...

eucalyptusbounce closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them again, she would be in her nest. but she was still there, in that unnerving, illusory territory.

stupid lucid dreams.

"hey, calico, is there any-" but eucalyptusbounce stopped themselves. i did want to know why coniferbite kept getting injured in her sleep. maybe she's the reason why. eucalyptusbounce snapped her jaws shut, leering at the calico she-cat for whom she still had no name.

both she-cats looked back at eucalyptusbounce, their conversation ceasing.

"... well," eucalyptusbounce started again. "you mentioned that i could 'join your, uh, cause'? i'm assuming that just means training, right?" hesitantly, eucalyptusbounce took a step towards the pair. then another.

"i-i mean, i don't know how to leave this place, anyway," eucalyptusbounce meowed. "surely there's something i can do for you?"

quiverskies jerked, and eucalyptusbounce lurched back in response. they hadn't done anything wrong, had they? eucalyptusbounce stole a glance at coniferbite. she was glancing quickly between eucalyptusbounce and the calico, ears flattened and tail lashing wildly, looking just as shocked as eucalyptusbounce felt.

"... no, no, no, no, you've done enough..." a low hiss dragged out of the calico she-cat, and she prowled towards eucalyptusbounce. the brown tabby froze in their tracks. what's going on? they shot coniferbite a sharp look, but when coniferbite caught eucalyptusbounce's gaze, she only gave a rapid shake of her head.

"quiverskies, please, it's only eucalyptusbounce. they're a friend."

quiverskies took another step, and eucalyptusbounce could see that she was shaking ever so slightly.

"a friend...? i've heard that before. zanderstride was the same way. and then what happened." quiverskies laughed, but it didn't sound like one; the haggard, whisperous, yet piercing noise that erupted from the tiny molly was at best unnerving- at worst, it could probably make an enemy rogue surrender on the spot.

"this is eucalyptusbounce? i've heard golden rumours about you, yet you wear the colours of a traitor..."

coniferbite and eucalyptusbounce shot wide-eyed glances at each other, each unsure of what to do. coniferbite nudged quiverskies so hard that she was almost knocked off balance, but the spirit molly didn't even flinch. eucalyptusbounce shivered under quiverskies's intense gaze. her eyes were both slitted, gleaming frosty and unforgiving like a snake's...

"coniferbite...?"

"oh, i don't know what's going on, eucalyptusbounce; give me a break!" coniferbite smacked quiverskies with the back of her paw. "get a grip! if you want eucalyptusbounce to leave, well, so do they, and so do i."

"y-you- look, i still don't understand what's happening, but... coniferbite, this is your dream." eucalyptusbounce blinked at coniferbite, whose scowl only deepened. "m-maybe i need your permission or something. i don't know!" eucalyptusbounce glanced at quiverskies again; she had paused in her tracks solely thanks to coniferbite pressing her pelt to the starry she-cat's.

... starry? eucalyptusbounce frowned and looked closer at quiverskies's pelt. even her translucent figure was hard to make out, but... eucalyptusbounce gritted her teeth, fighting to keep herself from snarling. starclan cats were fabled to carry the shimmer of the night sky in their fur, but in quiverskies's pelt, there were none. she simply looked like a regular cat, except see-through.

eucalyptusbounce looked at coniferbite with wide eyes, but coniferbite only rolled her eyes back. "i hereby grant you your much-needed permission to wake up." the sarcasm in the ticked tabby's voice was stickier than honey.

eucalyptusbounce closed her eyes, trying not to let her fear show. but before long, she smelled coniferbite's scent envelop her, and felt the younger she-cat shove her away.

"for starclan's sake, it's not working. we'll figure this out later," coniferbite murmured. "quiverskies," coniferbite turned back to the she-cat, who still hadn't moved. "i'm here for you- just- just calm down, wh-"

"y-y-you!" quiverskies's shrill meow became so loud so quickly that coniferbite slapped her ears to her head, head ducked as she rapidly scrambled backwards. quiverskies's meow was high-pitched to begin with, but now it sounded like the crazed squawk of a bird- the sound it might make right before it is slain.

quiverskies was staring at eucalyptusbounce no more; instead, she now glared at coniferbite, her gaze suddenly all the more dangerous. all the more angry.

"you dare say such a thing to me?" quiverskies whispered. she stepped forward, and so did coniferbite, one ear hesitantly swivelling back up. "you, who i trained and trusted... who i saw myself mirrored in... coniferbite..."

what came next, coniferbite could've prepared for, had she been facing an adversary. but she trusted quiverskies, and would never have expected any kind of hostility from her- yet here they were. surely, she would never have expected a serious attack from quiverskies-

yet here they were.

"you're the same as them!" quiverskies's cry was less shrill, less piercing. now, its heartbreak poured vocal agony over coniferbite- but then, coniferbite could only stare, stare and brace her legs against the ground as she tried not to sway from the pain of the fresh cut across her chest. quiverskies's left paw was raised, its toes soaked in her blood. the fur on her right leg was matted with browning crimson. bloody. confusion marred the pain for only a moment. coniferbite didn't remember striking back.

"a-a-always telling me to do that, always wanting to supp-p-press my pain wi-without looking at the cause..." quiverskies's meow quavered heavily. "don't any of you care about the damage that i've already taken?!" quiverskies's body seemed to tremble with her shallow breaths. coniferbite could scarcely hear quiverskies's breathing... it sounded like the beginning of another laugh.

but coniferbite knew that it was not.

"ever since i was fr-fr-fresh out of ki-kithood, like any other app-apprentice, i was exposed to s-s-so much b-battle and b-b-b-blood- but it's not like no one else did, i was just the o-one who was affected! why wasn't anyone else? why couldn't anyone understand?! but of course, they all distanced themselves, one by one, and some of them even made it worse. the torment of poor quiverskies, magnified by the cats who were supposed to be her allies, her friends!" now, quiverskies's body was positively vibrating.

"who would have been able to tell clanmate from foe...? they are one and the same!"

coniferbite saw the massive figure raise behind quiverskies before the she-cat threw her strike. her claws were a whisker-length from coniferbite's face before eucalyptusbounce pinned her down with her weight.

a screech rose in the air, and quiverskies and eucalyptusbounce grappled in a fight of wild hysteria. the thoughtful battle moves that quiverskies had shown coniferbite were nowhere to be seen; quiverskies now looked like a rabid rogue fighting for her life, paying no heed to her own safety, coniferbite noticed, as she stayed intent on clawing away at eucalyptusbounce. the latter cat was a well-trained warrior, but many of quiverskies's blows still landed, despite her panicked delirium.

coniferbite didn't know for whom to fight: the mentor who had taken her under her wing when she'd been frustrated with everything in her world, or the one friend who had never invalidated coniferbite's flared-up emotions. but the battle showed no chance of stopping on its own, and to her surprise, coniferbite felt her heart pound in a plea for them to stop.

finally, eucalyptusbounce managed to kick quiverskies away in the direction of the rock wall when she was on top. eucalyptusbounce was panting hard, and clumps of fur were missing- some patches were already matted with blood- but they didn't look too ragged.

"oh, i see how it is..." quiverskies's growl had leveled out a little- or at least, she had stopped stuttering, but that only made her sound all the more dangerous. but she was still shaking badly, pupils dilated so much that each golden iris was barely visible, and her tail was curled by her side as she crouched with her legs tucked under her...

this wasn't a show of hostility. this was a show of fear.

"always poor and constantly paranoid heavenpaw to be swept away like she's nothing... always the one to be bullied and belittled, after her mind was permanently seared with dead blood and flesh..." quiverskies's cackle made coniferbite want to flee. "they're the monsters if they can so easily stomach that kind of thing!"

"you, fawn traitor," quiverskies hissed. "obviously, you don't understand me. you would never have said those words otherwise. you don't understand." quiverskies's snarl deepened. "that won't make me forgive you faster."

"and you, brown cat, you look just like the piece of filth that broke my will to trust for over five hundred moons! but the traitor's spirit," quiverskies added, lips curled in a hiss, "is instilled here. what a crime it was for me to let my guard down."

coniferbite should've felt hurt, even just a tinge. or possibly she should've been angry- angry at quiverskies for immediately hating eucalyptusbounce and for suddenly hating her even after she acknowledge her inability to really know what quiverskies was feeling. but contrary to what should've been the case, coniferbite felt numb. just numb as she stared at the frightened, pitiful she-cat in front of her, whose scars should've been healed upon her death, but weren't.

when eucalyptusbounce stepped forward, coniferbite barely took notice. "don't you dare insult coniferbite like that." the voice jarred coniferbite. she detected a tremor... and the scent of fury. why, eucalyptusbounce? you're never mad for anything...

quiverskies backed away from eucalyptusbounce and coniferbite. the base of her tail almost touched the rock face now. "hahaha... if only you realized that verbal jabs hardly matter." a tongue flashed across quiverskies's teeth, and her gaze began to quiver left to right- with a start, coniferbite realized that quiverskies was studying her and eucalyptusbounce. "you, i wished you that you'd never be pushed to use the killing bite." quiverskies's hackles rose as she spoke to her former apprentice. "poor heavenpaw's known how to use it since the first day of her apprenticeship. the technique that was engraved into her memory forever, the first bloodshed that started it all."

"did you know, did you know... my clanmates didn't care about one another like this. you would've been horrified, brown cat," quiverskies simpered, laughter edging her voice as she addressed eucalyptusbounce. "they didn't care at all- but if they did have those bonds, they never shared the love with me. poor, unfortunate heavenpaw, born with a sickness that her mother caught before kitting, but after the first seed sprouted, her clanmates started gossiping that the illness should've killed her."

"did you know, did you know, that i lived in constant anticipation of the next death, then the next battle, then even the next scent of blood?" quiverskies's pupils shrank slightly, then dilated once more. "before she even had time to become a warrior, heavenpaw would start shaking uncontrollably at even the thought of battle- and fickle things like thoughts come and go uninvited. and no one thought for a moment how heavenpaw must be feeling, no, they all acted scared of me, or even hateful, but if it were them, would they like it? no..." quiverskies took a shuddering breath.

"the name that shellstar gave me..." quiverskies pulled closer to herself. "quiverskies, always quivering from the demons of her memories and her trauma. always helpless. heavenpaw and the wishes that came with her were no more. '-skies' was a mere remnant of what she could have been. the cheering of my clanmates was pure mockery. quiverskies of deltaclan, the warrior who couldn't even lift a claw to defend her borders, lest she start a war within the confines of her own mind."

"hahaha..." quiverskies's claws shot in and out of their sheaths, and her breathing grew even shallower... quiverskies whipped her tail back and forth, gaze finally focusing on coniferbite. her golden eyes seemed to bulge out at coniferbite, the black now reduced to a normal size, yet were fixed in an intimidating leer. "once some of them started attacking me, i knew that they considered me an enemy rather than a clanmate. and i thought, why don't i return the favour?" a growl rumbled in the small she-cat's throat. "my enemy is anything that moves. i had six moons of normalcy, and then starclan chose to let everything be stripped from me. my happiness, my peace, the home that loved me... no, the terrors had to come for poor quiverskies!"

suddenly, quiverskies took a deep, proper breath, and the noise from her throat sounded more like thunder. "even in my last moons, i looked up at silverpelt and felt nothing but disgust. no one ever did anything for me unless i could pay them back. you..." quiverskies stood shakily and stumbled forward. the wound on her right foreleg spurted blood, but if quiverskies felt anything, she ignored it.

"you, fawn traitor, i thought you were like me- resentful with a passion, willing to wrest what they deserved if it meant  the end of the world. you were chosen, and yet- and yet!" quiverskies threw back her head in mock amusement. "yet now we stand as enemies because i made the foolish mistake to love again."

it's not my fault that i don't know how to deal with you. but coniferbite held her tongue. if what quiverskies had said was all true... by starclan, coniferbite would probably feel the same way. she'd never asked to be haunted by her battles, yet her clanmates had shunned her... deltaclan had...

 but coniferbite only blinked at quiverskies. a stone dropped in her stomach as she remembered this world... the place that looked like starclan, but apparently was not.

"you feel disgusted by looking at your ancestors? then what are you?"

coniferbite had barely finished her question before quiverskies swept a forepaw low to the ground- a move that she had personally taught coniferbite, a forceful swipe to the legs to catch the opponent off balance and take control of the battle. coniferbite raised her forepaws off the ground and, on her hind legs, leapt forward to land a blow on quiverskies's shoulder. however, quiverskies anticipated the attack and reeled- forgetting that she was cornered. her back slammed against the rock wall with so much force that coniferbite saw pebbles escape its face, scatter and tumble away. without wasting a second, eucalyptusbounce bounded forward and released a flurry of scratches onto the dazed quiverskies. coniferbite backed away to avoid being hit by eucalyptusbounce's lashing plume tail.

coniferbite had no real reason to look up when she did. maybe she didn't want to watch another fight, or it could've been by sheer chance that she saw the dislodged rocks come tumbling down the cliff wall. eucalyptusbounce was still attacking quiverskies, and coniferbite couldn't even see the latter over eucalyptusbounce's mass.

no!

without thinking, coniferbite threw herself back into the fray, nipping hard into eucalyptusbounce's scruff. the older cat froze in coniferbite's locked jaws, and coniferbite bolted. as far away from danger as possible, as far away- the cut on coniferbite's chest pulsed with pain, but it didn't matter. only eucalyptusbounce mattered.

a crash, and a drawn-out yowl of agony, and coniferbite looked back at the one she failed to save.

a tower of stone stood where a battle had taken place just a pawful of heartbeats ago. and there, taken victim by the rockfall, was the desperate, pitiful molly, clawing feebly at the ground with her forelegs. blood trickled out of the base of the mountain... how was she still moving?

"no... what am i? p-pathetic..."

and a heartbeat later, coniferbite had darted back to quiverskies's side.

"i agree with everything you did in your life."

"you're... not on my side." quiverskies's face was twisted as she looked up at coniferbite. twisted with pain, not fury.

"i promised i'd be. you never asked for this."

quiverskies wheezed, her next words coming as barely a breath. "... no stars... i was always meant to be the villain."

the she-cat's eyelids flickered shut.

"i don't care what other cats branded you as," coniferbite mewed. "i can use my own judgement. even if you only trained me for that reason, you made me a better warrior." coniferbite leaned down and brushed her muzzle to quiverskies's cheek. "thank you."

"thank... you?" coniferbite had to prick her ears to hear the faint breath, even with her ear so close to quiverskies's muzzle. "that's something i haven't heard in a long time."

quiverskies seemed to sink into the dust as her form disappeared.

coniferbite stared at the rocks. how real was any of this? it should all have been inside her head- but no. her injuries carrying over to the waking world was proof enough that her dreams were... real. so...

coniferbite gave no reaction when eucalyptusbounce's gentle, earthy scent wreathed her in its mist. but when the older cat sat beside her and wrapped their tail around coniferbite, she didn't hesitate to press closer.

and she didn't fight the gentle solace in the warmth that she found there.

❝ winners ❞

first place: shadedatlas with coniferbite

second place: Rena_Kalosia with conifershade

third place: Varulven15 with coniferbee

[ A/N ok since i don't think i explained quiverskies's story that well ]

[ basically her brain couldn't handle seeing all the death of clan life and got traumatized after seeing so much of it, this led to her getting panic attacks from her trauma at random, but everyone thought she was just insane and kept their distance from her, and her best friend { zanderstride } kept trying to diffuse the attacks, but to no avail. eventually, some cats started to physically handle quiverskies while her attacks were happening { which does not help }, leading her trust in her clanmates to disappear completely, instead seeing them as enemies. what i couldn't include but alluded to was that she saw any living creature that could threaten her in any way as an enemy, including her clanmates, and attacked them out of paranoia. and i think that's it ]

[ bear with me it's 12:48am and i was gonna finish this before going to sleep ]