Time Waits For No One - An Ancient AU

Brindled Whisker crouched at the edge of the clearing, the wind harrying the long fronds of grass. She scanned the ground, the silvery patches of heather, all of it. An sharp intake of breath jabbed her lungs, as her soft underbelly brushed the grass. The trees that skirted the moorland was so far away, and Brindled Whisker knew with confidence that this was her home. Nothing could ever change that. Her paws made no noise as her pads pressed against the peat, a rabbit nibbling a strand of vegetation. Her muscles tensed, and she sprang. The rabbit readied itself to hare across the clearing to its home, but Brindled Whisker was too swift. Her pelt flashed in front of the rabbit's vision, and a look of fear crossed its earthy eyes. It was at the startling moment Brindled Whisker's fangs sank into its flesh that it knew its life was ebbing away from it. She carried its limp body to camp, along with a lapwing she had caught earlier. Both catches were plump. No look, not even of apathy, flared in Brindled Whisker's orbs. She was much too focused on another matter: Ash Wing's son, Smoke Pelt. Even after Brindled Whisker became deputy, and Smoke Pelt was demoted, the intense anger she felt towards him never dwindled. She was strong now.

Brindled Whisker's mind was quite occupied. She was thinking about so many things... Rock Thorn, Mottle Heart, Smoke Pelt and Ash Wing... it simply confused her. She brushed past the fresh-kill pile of butchered animals, her tail waving behind her.