Nightmare (solo)

Five.

Blazefang watched as her kits frolicked outside the nursery. The five kits in her first litter were healthy and strong. Blazefang wanted to stay here forever, where everything was all right. But the dream wouldn’t allow that. For the past several nights it had taunted her, tortured her. It would inevitably do it again.
Suddenly, Maplekit collapsed, shriveling up like a leaf before Blazefang’s eyes. Blazefang reached out a paw but was too late. Her daughter let out a cry as she was whisked away on the wind.

Four.

Blazefang found herself in the training hollow, watching her remaining daughters and son spar. The wind blew, but all four apprentices were robust enough to resist. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and Blazefang sprang into action. She rounded up her kits and brought them to safety, only for the ground to open up before her as she went for the last one. Salamanderpaw fell into the chasm, seeming so small and helpless as she plummeted.

Three.

Goldenfern and Sunfire stood before her, now two proud warriors. Blazefang nuzzled them each before turning to offer some love to Sparkpaw, who stood a fox-length away. Blazefang took a step towards her daughter, then another, only to find her paws caught in thick mud. Sparkpaw looked at Blazefang with an unreadable gaze, then began to literally float away on a cloud. Blazefang could do nothing but watch as her daughter became just a speck on the horizon.

Two.

The mud hardened, and Blazefang stood still as a stone. As time raced by, she could do nothing but watch. When the beast came for Sunfire, all she could do was stand there as her brave son was replaced by a small rock that marked his grave.

One.

Blazefang almost didn’t want to look. She knew what she would see. Mudfern and Goldenfern stood before her, matching disappointed scowls on their muzzles. “You failed, Blazefang,” Mudfern said. The golden she-cat remained silent, continuing to glare at her mother with disapproval. “You failed them, and you failed me. I might as well just take my daughter now with all the good you’ll do her.”
Suddenly the ground beneath Blazefang broke. She fell for what felt like an eternity, the cries of her lost children ringing in her ears.

Four.

Blazefang awoke in the elders’ den with a start and looked beside her at her sleeping mate before stepping outside and checking the other dens. Cloudypaw, Copperpaw, and Shrewpaw all slept safely in the apprentices’ den and Goldenfern was safely sleeping not far away. “I won’t fail you,” Blazefang whispered. She had lost three daughters and a son. Three daughters and a son remained. She couldn’t let anything happen to them.