"He says there are terrible creatures out there, but I really doubt it. Perhaps he meant those repulsive purple squirrels!" The fox was close on her tail, snapping ferociously at the terrified apprentice. "Just a fairytale to deter the kits from venturing out there and getting starved to death!" Oh no, this one was very, very much real. It was a fairytale come to life. No, a nightmare. "Could you be *possibly* suggesting a predator did that to you? Psh, don't kid me, Soulfaith Leader of the Dustrunners, I won't believe such a long tale so easily." Of course, but this wasn't a long tale now, was it, Leopardsnarl? It's completely real. "They don't exist, and if they did, no one has been in real from one before. At most a little fright that sent the cowardly fleeing with their tails tucked in, claiming they'd just survived a harsh battle between life and death!" But they do exist, and they can hurt you. It *is* life or death. "One unlucky snakebite, and you’re done. A sweeping illness? No more Leopardpaw. Even something as unfortunate as tripping and hitting your head, and your life is extinguished like a flame underwater.” You should have listened, but the prideful queen refused to listen to the "commoners." “Life is fragile, Leopardpaw. Please. Don’t be foolish enough to let it break.” ... "Too late." Of course. They'd just had this conversation today, hadn't they? How ironic that this happened right after she had denied the existence of all predators with such certainty. A nightly stroll, turned wrong. Turned into a nightmare. How had the fox found her? She had never seen a fox, nor any other animal before. Truth be told, she didn't know what it was. She could only assume. But those eyes- glowing, yellow- flashed in the dark. Eyes of a predator. She didn’t need to know- she saw it; the hunger, the malice, and the instinct to kill. She could have stood and fought; her size and strength could have overpowered it, but cowardice filled the heart of the foolish, and she turned on her heels and ran. Perhaps that was why the fox gave chase. The moment she turned and fled, the fox knew: prey. And even then, she could have faced it, but her legs wouldn't listen to her; it was as if they had a mind of their own, and they just kept running, faster and faster. Running until her lungs burned like needles, until her paws were scraped raw from the sand, until her muscles seized up from the strain. Until she crossed the Pyroclan border. Panic filled her. She didn't know the territory outside of Pyroclan, and she couldn't keep running. Her legs were starting to buckle. Her breath turned ragged. The endless sandy barrens seemed to go on forever. As if a beacon through the mist, a tree came into sight. Unlike the bare ones that grew in Pyroclan, this one had lush leaves that covered its branches. Climb. Climb up the tree. Climb. She scrambled up frantically, paws uncoordinated unlike usual. The fox was still beneath the tree, snapping at her tail. With the last of her remaining strength, she pulled herself onto a high branch, then collapsed into a huddle of trembling fur. The fox circled below for several more minutes, growling and clawing on the bark, intent on claiming this prey. Wind colder than she was accustomed to in Pyroclan robbed her of her warmth, and the terrified young warrior shook uncontrollably. That night, she didn't dare sleep. And if it did, she knew it would be filled with nightmares. After all, the naïve little leopard had never seen such terrors before. Finally, the fox seemed to give up, and after waiting cautiously, she mustered up the courage to cry for help. She pleaded and begged, but no knight in shining armour came to the princess's aid. And with that came the final question: was she really a queen, or just a helpless princess? A princess shielded in a castle, protected from the outer world, never to know about the dangers lurking out there. A life spent in comfort and ignorance. A life that was short-lived, as the ivy crept up the cold grey stone until it all crumbled, and reality came crashing down on her. She had only ever seen blue skies and tasted carefully prepared delights before. They all say ignorance is bliss, and who says it isn't? Only, it's bliss for as long as it lasts, and the longer it does, the more it rots into something worse.
Rushed this, not very good writing haha ^^" Below are Soulfaith + Leopardsnarl threads
