below is an /attempt/ at a horror story. - - - [TW: semi-unsettling themes, rabies] - - - The tale you hear is one to heed, Benjaminfrank would always say. He would tell when it was darkest in the part of camp where the crystals' light did not reach. many moons ago, when cats where never free, two legs roamed, and sought to bring the feline kind to ruin. They had many tools to do so; dogs, foxes, even birds. - - - Caedes stalked across the prairie, his shining black pelt quiet along the moonlit night. High in the sky was an avian most exquisite, with a matching sable feathery coverage that shined against the stars and moon. It fluttered carefully above the tom, before it let out a loud caw. The sound of human footsteps erupted into Caedes' ears, and he sped across the night, listening to the blood-curdling barking of dogs, and the flames of torches held in the hands of the upwalkers. There it was; a hiding place upon the prairie. A hole in the ground. It was just barely big enough for the black cat to hurdle himself into. As the dirt pushed against his fur, Caedes carefully crawled deeper and deeper into the tunnel, until he began to hear the lively hustle and bustle of kits, a few cats who were a bit older too. "I-I'm back!" He meowed exhaustedly. the soft murmur of the children was a simple, nice sound. "father Caedes, father Caedes!" one cried. Caedes' favorite, a little calico with fawn-colored ears that flopped like a rabbit's. She was a sweet one. "Yes," he began with a fatherly voice, pausing as he heard one kit fiddling with rocks near the fire nest, as he liked to call it, "Pixie?" he finally finished, as the aforementioned kit lit a small flame in the fire nest, illuminatinating the many, many children's shadows in orange light. Like blood dripping on the walls, the many feline's shadows illuminated the dirt burrow, waving about in the dancing light. Pixie looked up to Caedes, "Daisy got out again!" she said, her voice a little bit shrill. Caedes sighed, "I'll go get her. Kits!" he called out, as the children began to turned to him, "I'm going to go get daisy, ok? Would you all hide for now?" they all nodded, and skittered away. Caedes headed towards a small wooden log, obviously dragged down here as some sort of gate. He pushed it away with ease; as it had rotted away over the years, revealing a tunnel. The black tom crawled inside, turning around to pull the log back to cover he slowly traversed the tunnel, paws stepping quietly as he listened, until a new cave-like space was found. Well, more like it led to a pit of sorts. An arena, maybe. On the other side of this thing, was a tunnel, with a broken stone that had been viciously pulled away. Caedes poked his head out of the hole and called out, "Daisy, come on! I've got a treat..." he lied through his teeth. There were no treats. None of them were ready. A sound came from the tunnel, a figure, moving unnaturally coming out. The creature was a kitten, actually, more like a juvenile. Its eyes were black and beady, obviously no thoughts behind them. Foam bubbled at its mouth, and a dirty, once-white pelt covered its body. Its legs looked exhausted as if they had never stopped using them. "Tr..." it seemed to say, but the gurgling bubbles made whatever it was trying to say vanish into the air. "Daisy, your treat is just over here..." he said, creeping backward into the tunnel. The juvenile, presumable Daisy, slowly moved forward, as if to follow him. Caedas backed all the way to the rotten log, to which he turned his body partially and whispered, "Pixie! Go to the other side and close the hole." All he heard was a squeak and sudden pawsteps, but hopefully, that was enough. - - - Caedas had made his way back to the front of the tunnel, and Daisy had gotten significantly closer, behind her, he could see Pixie trying desperately to pull the rock up, fear in her eyes. "Daisy- I've got your treat right here, she ready now! Ripe for the taking." Pixie, stopped fiddling with the rock. She was dead quiet. "right behind you, just turn around, she's right there." Pixie began to back away, and Daisy began to turn. Sudden gurgling and hissing were heard as the rabid, dirty Daisy rushed after the calico kitten with a deep, vicious hunger. Caedes felt bad but not as bad for the correct reasons. Daisy; his darling daughter's treat had not been ready, but it was enough. she had been fed. The other kits would find something to shut the tunnel that led to the arena, and Pixie would be locked in, sealing her little fate. - - - it's not so great; I wanted to do something different but decided against it. Also, how to scare people??
