It was a clear night, and the firey pelt of Flamestar stood out in the clearing where Skyclan apprentices normally trained during the day. He stared up at Silverpelt, silent. Life had become rough for him, even before the Deomilities. His loved former apprentice and adopted son betrayed him, killing his mate. He then had to kill him right outside the border, then lie to his daughters about such truth. They were driven from their own home out of weakness, and Flamestar found himself turning into a killing machine during that war out of fear of losing yet another member of his family. It got no better as time when on. But he had to stay strong for his remaining family, no matter what.
He suddenly smelled something in the air. Blood? He stood up, silently but quickly sliding through the undergrowth towards the scent. Now he could hear a hissing noise. But that was because it saw him before he saw it. A large, poisonous snake. It had recently killed a thrush, and seemingly was about to eat it when Flamestar appeared, so he snake hissed a warning. But Flamestar hadn't seen it in time, stepping on its tail tip. The snake hissed, launching forward at the shocked tom. The fangs of the slithering beast locked onto his foreleg, causing him to yowl and hiss in agony. His blood felt like it was on fire. He could feel his heart begin to beat faster, to where it felt like it would burst any second. His breath was becoming quicker and shallower. What to do?! This snake was obviously not from around here, luckily, so perhaps it was the only one. But he'd have to kill it before its mating season came and Skyclan territory was infested with large, venomous, kit-eating adders. He ignored the numbing feeling in his leg, forcing his teeth to bite hard on the snake's head, harder than he's ever bitten before. He'd probably have to try to tear the thing's head off to kill it completely.
Flamestar flipped back onto his stomach, the snake underneath him. His foreleg was splayed out, bleeding, in an awkward position nearby. It had no feeling, but the blood in the limbs and veins near it were burning like fire, slowly numbing as well in some places, going loose. There was no hope for him this time, but at least he had 7 other lives besides this one. Everything would be okay after the snake was dead...
He had a small splintering crack, and the snake jerked abruptly, its huge fangs sinking into Flamestar's stomach. He yelped. It was almost over. Once that venom reached either his heart or brain(whichever came first), he was dead. He made a great effort to yank on the snake, to snap its head quickly.
Suddenly, everything seemed to slow down. Was the venom there? Not exactly, but Flamestar had made a fatal move. The pull he had made on the snake's neck caused it to snap, however it did it so surprisingly the Skyclan leader let go, causing the snake's reflexes -- despite it being dead -- to shoot its head forward, creating a huge, deep gash in his stomach.
No..! Flamestar thought, realizing his mistake. It's not supposed to end like this! I'm supposed to lose only one life!.. His entrails, guts and other internal organs fell out in a bloody pile beneath him. The orange tom's eyes rolled back, his skin growing pale and crinkled, weak from blood loss. He collapsed on both the body of the snake and his own entrails, causing a large splash of blood and other feline insides. All went black.
A very faint, star-shaped glow flashed briefly on his forehead as he lost a life. But rather than waking up, it flashed again. Another life gone. And another. And another. Once he was down to simply one, weak life, his clouded eyes moved slightly. He wasn't healed though. Just barely hanging onto life by a thread thinner than the thinnest whisker, weaker than the weakest feather. He was only "alive" for not even a heartbeat before he died once more, never to be awoken again.
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