[nindroidzane]

Username: nindroidzane
Cat Name: Hailstorm
Gender: Female
Rank: Swimmer
Clan: FrostClan
Age: 27 moons
Prompt:

The sun is setting
The bear's almost here
Their mother is fretting
Blood stains his ears

Why, oh why, did it have to be him?
He's too young
He can't even swim
The bear splashes forward, blood stains its tongue

She can't even watch, her brother's been bit
The small cat cries out
"Swim here, you can do it!"
Her cry's soaked in doubt

He's already gone when she calls out the words
Nothing is left but the song of the birds

[Archaeopteryx.]

Username: MutatedCry
Cat Name: Amaia
Gender: Female
Rank: cat of Elsewhere (deceased, ghost)
Clan: Clan of Eternal Sun
Age: 1 year
Prompt:

chaos— the writhing tides of squirming bodies—
cramped, confined, churning
— and the smell of rot and ash.
there was no escape
no lifeboat
no paw grasping hers as it reached from the waves

and then one day
it all
ebbed
away.

the darkness of the house replaced by the expansive sky
eternally gray, but still—
still— still any light is better than that oppressive darkness
pressing down on all sides.
the chaos— the confusion—

breathe in, breathe out.

she is not there anymore.

skies are new, and this one stretches on forever
no sun, but the sands dance
specks of light and color free in the wind
and. oh. isn't she free out here?
there are no other cats
no bodies to compete for
just sky, wind, sand.
she picks a direction and walks.

another cat from the house
this one a survivor — heart still beating —
with golden fur and obscured eyes.
skittish, clumsy, jumpy —
he can see her, she thinks
but he doesn't want to.

and

there are shapes in the distance
looming mountains of fur and sinew
of blood and fire and ash and soot
and things that should not exist
and she thinks she knows why
he doesn't want to see
because she doesn't want to either.

the waves of sand echo
shifting, swirling
returning ever Elsewhere
neither here nor there
eternally in-between this life and the next
a remnant of something that was and could have been.

she wants him to see
wants to be acknowledged
for once
but
the waters roar and
she's never been good at swimming.

[néktar]

Username: néktar
Cat Name: cloud that hovers over great mountain, cloud
Gender: female, molly
Rank: guardian
Clan: the groves
Age: 48 moons
Prompt:

soft are the steps that you take
gentle and innocent your eyes shine
unknowing of the worlds heart ache
but i know you will be just fine

older now, the seasons change
though this feeling in my chest is strange
i heard that you now have a role
i look at you with pride in my soul

pain, that's all i feel this cold night
my eyes filling with tears, my chest is tight
the snow beneath you is stained crimson red
that strange feeling, the day that i had dread

the quiet the den is ever growing
the loneliness in my heart is overflowing
i look for things to keep me occupied
but my tears will never be dried

[prettypinkstar]

Username:.pigeon.
Cat Name:(none)
Gender:(none)
Rank:(none)
Clan: Moonclan (clan members page)
Age: 1 year
Prompt:

Nobody is what I am
Alone in a sea of names
A sea of jealousy
And a sea of death and drowning

People pass me by without notice
Because I am nobody
Nothing at all
Drowning in my sea
My ocean
Of a past that belongs only to me

This cat is depressed ):

[Vivika]

judging this bby on behalf of ally! <3

thank you all for entering! all of these were so diverse and gorgeous ━ some thought-provoking, others suspenseful and yet others written with so much heart! it was honestly really hard to pick a winner and i pulled fae to provide some second opinions ━ thank you so much bby!

that said, congrats jazz for winning this kitty! the depth of character revealed (from both sides!) was simply breathtaking and beautifully executed! i'd honestly love to meet both kitties one day, ahh. <33

i'd also like to award an ru to néktar! it was remarkably hard to choose between the two of you! your poem was also gorgeous ━ the perfect blend of sweet and melancholy! i hope cloud finds peace someday! ^^

as well, i'd like to award hms to beebun, mutatedcry and mythz! all three of your concepts stood out and were remarkably moving, ahh! it definitely made this a tough competition to judge ━ thank you for entering!