If Humfever had been the white rabbit, Peach Ring had been the queen of hearts. They would live in the same story, yet they were so painfully different, even if Peach Ring really, really wanted to be them. Wanted to live a day in their body, wanted to spend just… one… day… with them. They were… too different. They were destined to be. But there was another heir to the red throne. Caterpillardusk. Truth be told, when Peach Ring left her home, she did feel guilty. For leaving him behind, and for not saying goodbye. But they were now worlds apart, what was she to do about it now? It was surely too late to fix things. Well, what /was/ she to do? She would make one final journey back to her homeland. In truth, of course, it was not her homeland, but it was Humfever’s, so it was hers, too. Peach Ring would always belong to no-clans-land, swearing allegiance to no one but herself, but her parent surely would have wanted her to go back. Family was always valuable. So, she supposed that giving her brother closure would be, too. The journey wouldn’t have been a long one. The twolegplace was close to RiverClan’s territory, what with them both laying on the coast, nearest the water. Peach Ring’s library was close to the ocean, and she would often stare out the window, wanting. For what, she wasn’t sure. Maybe it was… wanting for something greater. A purpose. Valiance. So, she slipped from the library one day. Her twolegs never minded her doing so, in fact, they would leave the door slightly ajar so she could come and go as she pleased. Life in the library was pleasant, even if she had always seen kittypets as soft. Perhaps she herself was soft, now, without a clan to protect and provide for. Really, she had nothing to protect or to provide for. Life had become a lot more simple. Padding through the forest reminded her of her adolescence. Peach Ring, then Queenlypaw, although she was never officially named as such, would wander, slow. Slinking through not shadows, but the light shining through the thick canopy that dotted the ground. Even though it was winter, the day had given her grace. It was warm. Sunlit. She could only ever describe her memories as sunlit. They were touched by bright rays; and they felt warm, like basking in the light of golden hour. They were tinted yellow in her mind, a soft, sunset yellow. Not harsh, but light. That was how today felt. It felt like a distant memory of summer from her youth. It hadn’t been summer in a long time. It hadn’t even felt like it. Not until today. It was like the world was giving her a beautiful last day, bidding her adieu in all of the best ways without her even knowing. Peach Ring truly could have asked for nothing more than to relive her memories, and this was the closest she’d ever get. But true bliss, and wonderful things, they’re always interrupted, aren’t they? Usually by a minor inconvenience, but Peach Ring would come to know in a very short time that this would be worse. Dogs were normally docile. They were not mean, instead they would just… look at her, maybe utter a sharp, loud sound. But the dog that approached her today was not so benevolent. It was so painfully ironic to have a last stand like this. It was almost as though her cause of death would be inherited from her parent, such an unfortunate fate. Only, Peach Ring would not die protecting, instead she would die… differently. She recalled snapping jaws, and hiding behind her parent as a giant creature unlike any she had ever seen attacked. She remembered spilled blood, and Humfever being thrown to the ground, and she remembered sobbing. But she did not cower this time. Peach Ring stood tall, and she did put up a fight. But she really didn’t have enough fight left in her to keep going. Her fur tore when the thing lunged at her, and she… she couldn’t keep going. It threw her against a tree, and she had heard a sickening crack, and suddenly all there was was… agony. Was this how Humfever had felt? Had Peach Ring, for once in her life, truly experienced what it was like to be them? Her proudest achievement. She could be just like them. As the dog backed in, growling, she had time to utter only a few words. Whispered to the wind, for no one to hear but herself. No one was there to hear her anyways. This would be for her. This would be for… for Humfever, whom she knew had to be watching over her in this moment. Hopefully, they had been watching over her always. And only after these words was she gone, warm blood spilling from a cooling body. “I don’t care. Eat my dumb heart out, you ugly creature." ————— Thanks to Rue for choosing me to rp Peach Ring, and thanks to Aloue for having made her life what it was. <3
