Worlds spinning past me, echoing with life {Writing Dump}

[Koráki]

Hello and good day! This is my writing storage/dump/what have you. I'd appreciate it if you didn't post, but you can pm me if you are so inclined.

[Koráki]

No stories yet, but this is where they'll be organized.

[Koráki]

The chilly air was so cold that Crescent’s lungs stung as she breathed in, and she let out a cough. A warm tongue lapped at her ear, and she purred, pressing against the fur of her mother. “Mama,” she mewed, “When will dad be home?”
“Soon, little one,” Moon murmured, her eyes glancing over to the entrance of the den.
“He’s out hunting, remember?” Crescent’s brother, Falcon, poked his head around from Moon’s other side. He looked up at Moon. “Do you think he’ll catch something this time? Maybe a mouse, or a big fat rabbit! If I went with him, I could probably catch something really good!” As he said the last line, Falcon jumped away from Moon and landed in a clumsy hunting crouch. He started stalking an imaginary animal, meowing, “I would catch a great huge rabbit that would feed us all for the rest of snowfall!”
Moon and Crescent laughed at Falcon’s antics. Just then, a shadow fell across the entrance. Crescent squeaked and ducked behind her mother, while Falcon straightened and hissed. Moon, too, stiffened, sniffing the air with apprehension. A heartbeat later, Crescent felt her mother relax. “You’re back,” There was relief in her voice. Crescent peeked out from her hiding spot and grinned.
“Daddy!” She yelled, at the same moment that Falcon shouted, “Dad!” The two kits scampered over the tom as he crossed the threshold.
Hawk laughed, his deep voice rumbling as he braced himself for the inevitable attack. “Hey, young‘uns!” he grunted as Falcon and Crescent slammed into him.
“Did you catch anything?” Falcon asked, jumping up and down. “Did you? Oh, man, I wish I could hunt too.”
Crescent didn’t say anything, only nuzzled against her father’s flank. In doing so, she missed the sorrowful glint in his eyes as he looked across the old twoleg barn they called home to Moon. “I’m afraid not, Fal,” he muttered. “There’s hardly anything stirring out there. And what’s stirring, the others snatch up quicker than a mouse’s heartbeat.”
Crescent frowned at the defeat in Hawk’s voice. She pulled away and looked up at him. “But that’s not your fault,” she mewed in a tiny voice. “You did the best you could, right?”
“Yes, he did,” Moon said firmly, getting up and padding over to them. She brushed her muzzle against Hawk’s. “We’ll try again next time.”
Hawk opened his mouth to respond, but a new voice cut him off. “Well, well, well,” it sneered. “Isn’t this touching.”
The whole family whipped around to see four huge toms looming in the doorway. The one who spoke, a solid gray with cold amber eyes and a nasty scar on his muzzle, was looking at them in contempt.
“Finch,” her father greeted him with a curt nod. “What can I do for you?”
As Hawk spoke, Moon leaned down to whisper, “Kits, get behind me. Now.” Falcon and Crescent obeyed immediately. They new who this newcomer was. Finch and his gang had claimed this part of the rundown twoleg town as their own. They let the families here stay, if they payed tribute in the form of prey and other valuables. If the family couldn’t pay, Finch punished them, kicking them out, or taking their kits, or even killing them.
“Tribute’s due, Hawk,” Finch meowed, his tail leisurely swinging behind him. He lifted a paw and flexed his claws, studying them closely.
“Finch, please,” Moon pleaded, moving to stand by her mate. “There’s been no prey to go around. We’ve hardly eaten ourselves. The kits—”
“Do I look like I care about your brats?” Finch snapped, slamming his paw on the ground and glaring at Moon. The cats behind him growled, moving forward.
Crescent whimpered. Beside her, Falcon gently touched her shoulder. “It’s all right, sis,” he whispered.
Hawk’s hackles started rising. “Finch, we cannot give you your payment. Not now. We’ve already lost one of our own to starvation.” Crescent felt the pain in her father’s voice. She remembered her sister, Harvest, who had grown thinner and thinner, until she could not survive.
“Let me make something very clear,” Finch spoke slowly, his voice dripping with malice. “If you don’t pay with food, then you’ll pay with something else. Your kits, for example,” he took a step forward and looked around Moon to see Crescent and Falcon. “We could always use fresh blood in our ranks.”
“You are not taking my children!” Hawk hissed, shifting to block his line of sight. Finch turned to glare at him
“You don’t get to say no to me,” he growled. He lashed out with his paw, knocking Moon over to the ground.
“Mom!” Falcon shouted, while Crescent screamed. Hawk let out a snarl and pounced onto Finch. The two toms rolled on the wooden floor, clawing and hissing at one another. Moon scrambled up and ran to the kits.
“Get to the hole,” she ordered. The kits rushed to obey. Crescent tripped over the floorboards, and her mother grabbed her gently with her teeth, not faltering in her speed. As the sounds of fighting continued, Crescent was shoved into a hole in the wall. Falcon crawled in after her. “Stay here. Don’t—” Whatever Moon was going to say, Crescent would never know. For at that moment, one of the toms from Finch’s gang dragged her away.
There was a terrible noise of cats fighting and snarling. Crescent started to cry. “Falcon, I’m scared,” she mewed.
“It’s all right,” Falcon reassured, but she could hear the tremble in his voice. “I’ll protect you.”
There was a single, horrid howl, and the fighting stopped. Did her parents run Finch and his gang off? While she hoped against hope that was true, deep down Crescent knew Hawk and Moon were too weakened by hunger to triumph over four other cats.
“Come out, come out, little kits,” Finch’s voice sounded just outside the whole. “If you surrender peacefully, we won’t hurt you.”
“Here’s the plan,” Falcon whispered in Crescent’s ear, “I’ll go for his legs, you run. Okay?”
“But, Fal, he’s too big!” Crescent protested. “He could kill you with one swipe!”
“Yeah, but I’m too fast. He won’t catch me!” Falcon grinned. He licked Crescent’s ear and said, “Ready?”
Even though she was terrified, she nodded. He returned the gesture. “Go!” He roared, and they shot out from the hole. Finch yowled in surprise as Falcon bit down in his front leg.
“Why you little—!”
“Go, Cres, go!” Falcon urged. Crescent ran as fast as her tiny legs could carry her, not looking back. Ahead of her, two of the cats towered, each diving down to snatch her up. She screamed and dodged, and they crashed into each other.
Meanwhile, Falcon was biting like his life depended on it—which it did. He leapt away as Finch tried to claw him. But he wasn’t fast enough, and Finch caught him square on his head. He yelped in pain as the claws sank into him, then yelped again as he slammed into the wall. He didn’t get back up.
“Serves you right, brat,” Finch spat at the small body. He took a moment to lick his wounds, then turned toward the commotion at the other side of the room. “What are you idiots doing?”
“Trying to get the other one, boss,” One of them said, jerking his head to where Crescent was scrambling up the wall to the loft. She barely made it, looking around wildly for something—anything—to use in her escape. Her mismatched eyes lit up as she saw the big wooden block teetering on the edge, right above her enemies. If she could just push that over… She dashed toward it and heaved with all her might, but it was no use.
“Come here, little kit.” She whipped around to see Finch stalking toward her, triumph in his eyes. “You’ve given me enough trouble. I’ve killed your brother, and now I’ll kill you!” He snarled and leapt toward her.
“No!” She shouted and dodged to the side at the last second. She turned just in time to see Finch crash into the block with a yowl. The force was enough to tip it over, and it fell to the ground, taking Finch with it. Crescent looked over the side and saw that it had crushed at least two of the others. The last one ran out of the door, clearly in no mood to be killed. Finch lay on the ground with his neck twisted strangely. He wasn’t moving.
For a second, joy surged in Crescent’s chest. Horror took its place, however, when she saw the bodies of Hawk and Moon near the door. Her brother was laying unmoving near the wall. “No…” She sobbed, curling up on the loft and shutting her eyes. She had defeated Finch and his gang, but it was too late…too late…
She was alone.