THE KILL wrote:The night was calm. Quiet. Perhaps too quiet. One cat sat awake in the moonlight, grooming their fur. It seemed innocent enough. A young she-cat padded out into the open air and spotted the killer, although she did not know this at the time. Rimepaw moved toward them and smiled, quietly mewing, "Hi [redacted]."
The killer turned their head and looked the apprentice up and down, returning the smile, "Evening, Rimepaw. What are you doing up so late?"
Rimepaw shuffled her paws and looked up at the other cat, "Oh, nothing really. I was just having trouble sleeping," she murmured shyly.
"Ah," they responded understandingly, getting to their paws with a calm air about them. "Perhaps we could go on a walk then? It tends to help me clear my mind."
Rimepaw seemed somewhat surprised the cat had invited her on a walk, looking down at the ground and smiling, "Yeah, sure!" she followed them out of camp, noticing for the first time just how quiet it was.
When she looked at them again they seemed perhaps too calm. She couldn't remember ever seeing them that calm. It was almost unnerving. It made her feel much better when they broke the silence, however.
"Have you noticed camp getting much busier?"
She thought for a moment before responding, "Well, yes. It will be the end of Leaf-Fall soon, though."
"Ah, you're right," they mewed after the she-cat responded, smiling at her and bumping into her a bit.
The mood quickly for the worse, however.
"Rimepaw?"
"Hm?"
The killer moved in front of Rimepaw, keeping their calm stance and a steady gaze. It seemed innocent enough, "Isn't it a shame we have so many mouths to feed with Leafbare coming?"
Rimepaw looked rather confused, "Well .. I suppose it makes it harder?" the apprentice didn't know how to respond to the question. How was she supposed to respond.
"Ah, I suppose it does. Then I guess it wouldn't hurt if we got rid of one more, would it?"
Rimepaw's eyes widened at this comment, a feeling of dread filling her body, "Wh-wha-?"
She was cut off when the killer, while granted with some effort, threw her onto the Thunderpath beside them. They sat and watched for a moment, no emotion coming over their face as a monster drew closer. And with that, they left.
Rimepaw let out a screech of terror, unable to move as the shock overtook her. Never in a million years would she have expected [redacted] to betray her like this. As the ground rumbled underneath her she slowly accepted with a sinking feeling that this was her end. Suddenly she was hit with a force and was tumbling into the grass on the other side of the Thunderpath, "MPH-!" she let out a sharp breath of air.
The guard stood in front of them with a "i-just-saved-your-very-life" smile on their face, "You almost died."
"Yeah.. yeah I got that," Rimepaw muttered in annoyance, batting the cat away from her. "... thanks."
"Come on Rimepaw, why were you in the Thunderpath like that?" they sounded somewhat disappointed in the apprentice.
"What?! Did you not see [redacted] push me?" Rimepaw became defensive, a frown showing prominently on her face.
The guard looked unconvinced, "No. Rimepaw, you're probably just imagining it. Come on, let's get you to Perchfeather."
Rimepaw let out a defeated sigh but leaned against the cat, "Yeah, probably. Thanks again."
"Any time," the guard grinned, taking Rimepaw home.
Looks like Rimepaw has a guardian angel ... but what now, ThunderClan?