hey! this week’s short story prompts was making a short story using a new character’s last words/their death. i made aprilkit, a random warriors oc i just thought up! story starts here: V V (Start) April - short story , week one [ wc fanfic ] ^ ^ The ground rumbled beneath Aprilkit’s paws. She was laying on the crumbly dirt floor of the nursery, and she has just been sound asleep. Now she lifted her head an inch to see what was going on. Her father and mother were yowling at each other again. The rumbling must’ve come from her father thumping his paws angrily on the ground. She didn’t want them to know she was awake, so she didn’t dare to move a muscle as she watched through the corner of her eye, ears twitching despite her attempts to keep still. “I’ve got to take care of your kit?!” Her father was shouting, fur bristling. “/My/ kit?! She was your idea!” Her mother retorted, though Aprilkit has no idea what they were talking about. “I don’t care! I’m going hunting tomorrow, wether you like it or not!” “But I’ve got to help the medicine cat!” “Bring her, for all I care!” “No, /you/ bring her,” Aprilkit’s mother snapped. There was a moment’s hesitation before her father finally agreed, muttering something before trailing off. Her mother padded, ears pinned, back toward Aprilkit. Aprilkit closed her eyes quickly. “Did we wake you?” Aprilkit didn’t answer. “I’m sorry, darling.” Her mother settled down around her, licking her head affectionately. Aprilkit didn’t know what to say, so she just looking up at her mother’s eyes, and knew she could trust her. Trust was a hard thing for her. During one of their shouting-matches, her mother had mentioned not being able to trust her father anymore. Aprilkit didn’t know what that meant, but she knew it was bad. She hoped they trusted her. Lost in thought, she drifted off into a cozy sleep, snuggled up against her mother. Trust. The next morning, her mother was gone and one of the queens took her outside. “Come on,” her father meowed, he had been waiting for her. “I’ve been given permission to take you hunting.” Her eyes widened with awe. She was to go hunting? How jealous the other kits would be! She wasn’t even three moons yet! She trotted after her father, struggling to keep up with his long strides. They entered the forest, which was much bigger than she’d ever imagined. She watched a squirrel dart up a tree. The squirrel was even bigger than her! After walking along for a bit, her father dropped into some sort of hunting crouch and ambled toward a tuft of underbrush that was quivering. She looked closer, trying to spot the prey, but couldn’t see. A moment later she found her father quite far away, stalking the creature. She had just started moving closer when she heard a crunch in the leaves behind her. She turned around just in time to see a flash of orange and black fur, and then all was dark and numb. She was floating here, in this black emptiness, feeling at peace. There were no angry, shouting cats now. There was no reason to be afraid. She could trust this darkness. She wanted to stay here. It wrapped her gently like in a blanket, cradling her, whispering a familiar lullaby. She felt herself drift away, but something rough was sliding across her scruff, back and forwards, and it seemed to pull her back to reality. Oh, how she hated reality. She was feeling something so strong and uncomfortable that she’d never felt before, and she didn’t like it. She wanted to go back to the nothingness. “She’s awake,” someone mewed. The rough feeling stopped, and she realized someone had been licking her. She blinked until she could make out two cats, the medicine cat and her mother. She let out a pitiful cry to let the cats surrounding her know she didn’t like being awake. “I know it hurts,” the medicine cat meowed. Hurts. (Continued below)
(START ABOVE ^^^^) “So eat these, okay?” she slid a leaf with little seeds on it toward her. Aprilkit didn’t want them. She was hurts. She was slipping away again, and she welcomed it. But someone nudged her. Her mother. “Stay here, sweetie,” her mother meowed, and Aprilkit realized she was crying. Her eyes were wet, her whiskers frazzled, her ears drooped. “Don’t cry, mother.” Aprilkit mewed in a tiny voice. That only made her make a low moaning noise. “You’re going to be okay.” The medicine cat approached Aprilkit’s mother and whispered something to her ear. Her mother let out a loud mourning yowl. “No!” She caterwauled. “Please don’t yell,” Aprilkit told her, blinking up at her. She glanced down at herself, realizing her usually white and brown fur was red. Confused, she gave her mother a questioning look. “There was a fox,” her mother explained quietly, snuggling close to her. “He hurt you.” “I don’t like being hurts.” “I know.” “Is father alright?” Her mother narrowed her eyes softly. “Your father saved your life,” she said in a choked voice. “Why isn’t he here?” There was no reply. Aprilkit felt herself fading away again. She wasn’t sure if that was good anymore. “What’s going to happen now?” she asked her mother. “You’re going go to sleep for a little while now, Aprilkit,” her mother whispered. That sounded nice. Aprilkit liked sleeping. She closed her eyes, pressing herself closer to her mother. After a long moment of silence, she asked quietly, “Mother? Will you tell me a bedtime story?” The darkness returned. Floating. Warm. Inviting. Trust. She dove into it. THE END [ i hope you enjoyed! ]
