“Running through hurdles, running in circles Trying to escape from this thing that I fear” She was running. Running from some creature. She didn’t know when it started, when she started running. But she knew something bad would happen if she let it catch her. It was the goose. She knew it was. There was just a feeling. She paused as she nearly stumbled on a root that she hadn’t seen, before she continued to run. It was exhaustive, but she knew she had to. Keep running, keep running, keep running, KEEP. RUNNING. “Trying to escape from this thing that I fear Everything seems clear like the end is near” And then she stopped. And she turned to see the goose. It’s beady eyes were glowing a terrifying scarlet, and it’s beak was sharp, it’s talon sharper. It paused to stare at Angie, before it crept closer to her, one footstep at a time. Angie let out a screech, before she scrabbled backwards and then- then she was falling, rotating in a looping circle as she fell over some unseen edge. The goose stared down at her, its beady eyes trained on her as it became smaller and smaller. Suddenly, her necklace seemed to become loose, and it flew away from her. “No!” Angie called as she reached up for it, but it was too far. She kept spinning to her doom, turning over and over and over and over and over and over and over again- “ahhhh!” she shrieked as she suddenly saw the goose diving down towards her, at a speed simply unreal. Staring at its beak, Angie suddenly knew what the goose was about to do. It was about to be the end. She closed her eyes, and… “Everything seems clear like the end is near In the rear, I can see the beast getting close” And then everything stopped. Angie, confused, peeked one eye open, and then slowly, reluctantly, the other. She was no longer tumbling to her doom. The goose? Nowhere. “How pathetic,” she heard something murmur in the endless dark surrounding her. “Wha-“ Angie murmured, looking around to see who spoke. A misty figure resembling some sort of falconcat suddenly appeared, grinning down at her. “Who are you?” Elli asked, confused. “I’m SelfDoubt, but just call me Sel,” was the response of the other. Angie stared at the other, murmuring, “okay… who named you… SelfKit is a terrible name.” SelfDoubt gave AngeliteStar an angry, insulted expression. Angie ignored the other, as she looked around, “where am I?” “It appears you fell from one nightmare, into another,” SelfDoubt murmured in reply. “Seriously? I… I don’t know this isn’t very scary right now.” Suddenly the air got tense. “Surrounded by ghosts in a cloud of smoke The smoke reeks of failure, I don't want to fail” “Yeah, and neither was the last one… seriously, are you honestly scared of a silly little goose?” SelfDoubt snickered, “honestly, pathetic. That’s what it is, pathetic!” They turned, “and getting beat up by that goose- twice? Literally what are you, weak?” Angie tensed, “what, no, I-“ SelfDoubt interrupted, “and do you think you’re a good leader?” Angie opened her mouth to reply, but SelfDoubt put a paw over it, “Because you aren’t, and you’ll never live up to what came before you.” AngeliteStar slapped SelfDoubt’s misty paw away, “what in StarClan-“ she started, before SelfDoubt shoved their paw over her mouth again. “You’re weak, sad and pathetic, and you’ll never command real respect. As it is, you’re unfit to be leader.” SelfDoubt’s twisted grin widened as they tilted their head, “and? even outside of that dismal thing you call your leadership, you’re a wreck in general.” Angie’s eyes glowed in anger as she pushed herself away from SelfDoubt, “what are you talking about?” Sel simply stood there with their creepy grin, when suddenly, something materialized in their paw. It was Angelite’s necklace. “Wha-“ Angelite started, before she was interrupted, “you said you would improve yourself when you got this.” Sel chuckled, “you made it your anchor, and yet, you’ve neglected it. You’ve gotten worse after all.” Angelite paused, before she rushed forward to grab the necklace. Sel grinned, just staring at her- and when Angie was in distance to grab the necklace, Sel dropped it and savagely swiped their claw against Angie’s forehead, tearing the star sticker in half. Angie paused, before she rushed forward to swipe a claw at Sel- but her paw went through the misty falconcat. Sel chuckled forebodingly, before she suddenly grabbed Angie by her neck, “That wasn’t very peaceful of you, was it? That wasn’t very, what, communicative of you, was it?” Angelite narrowed her eyes, no reply. “Look, here, you sad little birdie. I always win. Once you realize everything I say is true, once everybody realizes, I win. I win, hahahaha!” Sel gave her one last grin, before she swiped a claw against Angie’s chest and- (+ in N+C)
(Cont.) Angie awoke, her chest heaving and the pain of her injuries settling in. She glanced down at the necklace, around her neck, before she murmured, “Maybe what I need isn’t what I wanted previously… after all, cats change.” She paused, before she sighed, “but I could be better, that much is true. Oh. and SelfDoubt is still a ridiculously stupid name. That too.” She checked herself, seeing that everything that happened in the… well, nightmare kinda, didn’t transfer to real life. Nice. With a deep breath, she decided that the angelite necklace could hold a new meaning. To be better, whatever that was, in general. End. … If it isn’t already obvious, SelfDoubt is not a real cat. She’s just a cat Angie made up in her nightmare. Art by @Cloud_Song Lyrics are from Labyrinth by Miracle Musicals