[ataraxic_gone]

Username;; dewly_noted
Cat Name;; RosePaw
Gender;; female
Age;; 7 moons
Clan;; BeachClan
Rank;; trainee

Prompt;;
She's running, running as fast as she can across silt. She knows it's silt because with each step she takes she sprays it behind her as she scrabbles for a footing. At first as she runs with her heavy beating heart it feels like she's running along flat ground, the faster and further she runs the steeper the path she runs gets. She can't see it getting steeper, she can just feel the exhaustion rising in her bones as scrabbles upwards. Climbing further and further, without any sign of stopping.

As the earth gets steeper and steeper, her footing becomes slippery, she doesn't fall, she slips through the silt- sinking. At first if she pushes herself to move faster she manages to stay above the shifting silt. She can't keep running forever and soon she slows down and she begins to sink lower and lower.

Despite loosing strength as the silt rises up to her chest she scrambles more and more for freedom but she can only sink faster and faster. The silt reaches her head and for a brief moment she scrambles and begins to break free once more. Something strange grabs her back leg and she is pulled down, the taste of river silt filling her mouth.

Silence. She didn't realise how noisy it had been until she found the silence below the silt. It settled peacefully in her mind until the strange thing that pulled her under returns dragging her further into the silt and the panic returns. She has places to be, she needs to finish climbing, she remembers now. She has to reach that place, she can't stop here in the silence of the silt.

She shakes herself free from the things grasp and tries to swim to the surface. 'Swim through the silt' she thinks to herself, 'return to the place.' She pushes through the silt and scrabbles until she is free. She knows when she's reached the surface because the sound returns, like crickets and crows screaming for attention. She's remembered now, that she had someplace to be, so as the silt pull and attacks her, desperate to drag her down she doesn't let it get hold.

She runs fast and she doesn't slow, up hill further and faster until the silt gives way to grass. She's made it there, this is the place. She walks closer and there is the cat she needed to see, she walks closer letting out a relieved sigh. She calls out to them, her voice echoing out the same awful noise as everything around her, crickets and crows. The cat in front of her turns and she sees them, unlike everything else in the dream this cat isn't a figment of knowing, she sees them.

It's a white cat, body flowing like fog off the ocean. They turn to her, eyes ocean water, leaking down onto the floor below. Just as she sees them she hears them, the awful noise around her dipping as the white cat speaks.

"Too late."

Panic rises in her soul and she pushes through the white cat, the body of water and fog becoming undone as she moves through it. She doesn't see anymore, she just knows that she's moved into a den. The white cat reforms at the back of the den, standing over a lump in the earth. Her heart aches as she looks at the earth, running to reach the dirt. She starts digging- she can't be too late, she just can't!

"Too late."

The white cat repeats reaching out to rest a paw on her head. As she digs her paws reach silt and she pauses, cautious only to be pushed into the silt by the white cat. She tries to pull back but the silt has already gotten a hold of her. She sinks into the silt, dragged into a grave which she now believes is her own.

She was too late, too late, too late, too late.

She wakes up. [664/1000]

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Now closed! <3

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U s e r n a m e ;; ienrir
C a t N a m e ;; toadskip
G e n d e r ;; she-cat
A g e ;; 34 moons
C l a n ;; cryptclan
R a n k ;; mender
P r o m p t ;;

The molly lifted her maw to taste the clear, forest air; its rich scents dancing on her tongue, just barely familiar. All at once her head reeled, a haze of dezaju seeping into her mind. She'd seen this field before, weaved through its trees with reckless abandon. But that couldn't be right. She was born of the bog, lived her life in murky waters. Here the trees grazed the sky; colours leaping from their branches. The word 'dreaming' settled in her mind, and she rolled it off her tongue tentatively. "Am I dreaming."

There came no reply, save for the light whistle of the breeze. She had never seen a forest untouched by the horrors of wildfire. She remembered that now. And as she trailed her gaze across the sea of green, her eyed grew sharp; a spark of realisation in their depths. Her vision rippled and shimered, as though she was watching the scenery from beneath a veil of water. As though her grasp on this world could slip away at any moment.

Pollux could only think to follow the loud gurgle of the river; trusting it would guide her towards some cusp of life. With each step a memory seemed to bathe her consciousness, washing over her in gentle waves. A kitten's laughter, a gentle voice, whispers just beyond her hearings reach. She moved forward through the undergrowth, barley concealing the rustle of leaves beneath her paws. The noise grew louder, now a constant din. A babbling brook, a familiar song, a whisper just near enough to tickle her ears. She let her eyes fall closed and a familiar face danced behind the shadows of her eyelids.

Toadflax. She recalled the name with ease; how could she ever have forgot it. Her sweet Toadflax. Even with eyes closed, her feet seemed to glide across the grass; tracking the path well-worn in his mind. Of course she knew this place, of course. The whispers in her ears flickered and crackled, warming her pelt. Warming her pawsteps until the air around her felt thick, and heavy. Her eyes snapped open to a billowing haze, rising through the tree-tops like smoke.

The next breath she took scorched her lungs, smacking her chest until she heaved and gagged. The haze darkened, black tendrils curling to the sky; shades of orange leaping at it's base. The whispers were clear now, a loud whirl in her head. Not whispers at all, the crackling of burning twigs. Her stomach flipped. "Toadflax?" She called, still choking on the air. Her pawsteps grew swift, frenzied. "Toadflax?!" A note of desperation slipped between her lips. The ground scorched her running paws. "Toadflax, where are you?"

She was answered by the roar of fire that leaped between the trees, lighting her path in reds and golds. She knew he was here, somewhere behind the blaze but the heat heat forced her back; unforgiving. It lapped at her fur hungrily, and she knew she had no choice but to turn away. It tore her heart in two, a pain the burned deeper than the flames. Toadflax was there, he was in there, just beyond her reach. If she took another step, the blaze may claim her too; shut her behind a wall of heat. You'd be together, you'd be resting side by side. Her mind urged, but her feet had already changed their course, driven by fear of the flame. They drummed the ground in a primitive frenze, and she swore she could hear the fire give chase. It was faster than any predator she'd faced, following her with an all consuming hunger. It lapped at her tail, her paws, her pelt. It would eat her alive if she didn't-

"I forgive you."

A waved of cool washed over her. A riverbed, had she dived into the river? The voice fluttered in her consciousness, its words a gentle breeze. She opened his eyes to an ocean of stars, shimmering and shifting. Though as she blinked against their light, they seemed to settle into a beautiful silhouette. A familiar pale pelt, golden eyes bright as she remembered. He opened his mouth, and she waited, as eager and hungry as the flames that took her. "I forgive you." His words caressed her ears, sending a pleasant shiver across her pelt. Her mouth flapped open, to say something... anything. But before she could find the words, the ground slipped from under her paws and she plummeted into the abyss.

--

The molly's dull, green eyes blinked against the familiar darkness of the bog. The cold lapped at her fur, crisp and sharp but it was a welcome feeling that calmed her ragged breaths. She could still hear the words of her lover in her dream. They rolled around her mind, until finding a place to sit heavy in her heart. But his words offered no solace to her grief. He shouldn't have died alone in that blaze, she should have fought to be beside him. Even in his dreams she abandoned him, left him to their mercy. "You shouldn't..." Came her reply. "You shouldn't."

gah this one was hard, but i absolutely loved this entry, it's so beautifully written and the descriptions really have you feel the environment. As well there's such emotional undertones I quite enjoyed it
I would like to award a HM to Dewly_Noted as well! I loved your entry as well <3

[ataraxic_gone]

Congrats ienrir!
And danke for the hm AJ!