Chesire Grin {open}

The forest rustled with dying leaves. Their time had come as well. Duskpaw watched their brown broken frames crunch together. Leafbare was coming soon, the warriors would say. The apprentice didn't know of snow or the cold it brought, but she knew her fox wouldn't live that long. It had taken Hazelpaw's life before she had lived as Emberheart did. It had killed Pricklebush and made his blood fall out. Duskpaw's sense of justice was firm and built upon the life she had experienced. She wished to survive and live as her friend Emberheart had. And all who took that away from others would die. She would take all their blood out, and make many new scars. The fox was first, but perhaps the owl that killed her father would come next. Her duty was wide and vast, intertwining brilliantly with the adventure the forest held. She'd kill her squirrels and dig up her worms, becoming stronger for her mission.

Beartooth had been asleep when the apprentice left camp. She nudged his shoulder, asking if the tom would like to accompany her on her fox-killing mission. They were going to kill Pricklebush's fox together. But it was barely dawn, and the tom slept soundly in his moss nest. "It's okay Beartooth. I'll kill it for you." She had whispered, grinning strangely as she pondered the happiness her mentor would receive after his monster had died. Duskpaw left camp and thought of many many things. She watched as the sun rose gently from the trees. The sky was blue and pink, cold. Duskpaw thought of Dawngaze and the things she had taught her. She thought of Dacepaw and her soft fur. She thought of Hazelpaw and Pricklebush, and their bodies that were asleep under the earth. Duskpaw thought they were cold, like the sky. She'd bring blood to them, fox's blood.

No worms wriggled above the ground, and no mice scuttled in the undergrowth. Only a bird cawed above in the silent dawn, the air turning white and misty. Duskpaw giggled and kneaded the ground as she walked, imagining what a fox could look like. The warriors had told her many stories of their russet fur and long snouts. But Dawngaze had told her foxes had blood like cats did. And Duskpaw knew how to take the blood out. She imagined their scent would resemble that of the badger she had fought, which had dug up beetles before they chased it off. Perhaps it smelled stinky, or maybe it smelled like the forest, leaves and mulch. Maybe worms. But the she-cat did not know what a fox smelled like, so she would use her eyes.

A tall oak rested firmly in the undergrowth, and Duskpaw jumped onto the lower branches, claws digging into the bark. ThunderClan had talked of the fox that roamed around here. But ThunderClan also talked about ShadowClan and SkyClan, war. Duskpaw saw Oakstar and thought he looked worried, but she would giggle to herself at the concept of a battle. She wondered why they were battling. She wondered if ShadowClan had taken life too soon. Duskpaw wished to fight as well, but she wanted to kill her fox first, more than anything.

Reaching impossible heights, the apprentice set her claws firmly and surveyed the forest, feeling like a bird. The trees were bare and cold, and the ground was brown and dying. A red pelt would be easy to see. Blood was red too. The she-cat waited for moons and moons, although Duskpaw knew it wasn't that long. Her stomach rumbled, but she sat in her tree and simply watched. The sun was high in the sky now, and the forest began to warm. She wished for Dacepaw and her funny voice and fishy pelt. Dacepaw was warm. More time passed and the sun grew tired, it lowered into the sky and the clouds turned orange and purple, cold. Another frame of orange picked around the forest below, it had a long snout and russet fur. Duskpaw grinned widely and knew her time had come. She quietly climbed down from her perch, keeping her curious green eyes on the beast.

"Hello." Duskpaw mewed as she reached the ground, a shiver running down her spine as the long-snouted monster turned toward her. It was very large and very tall, it made Duskpaw giggle. She thought for a moment it resembled Houndheart. "I'm going to make your blood come out." She inched closer, body wary. The russet thing only snarled and bared its teeth. The stench that arose from it was musty and putrid. Now Duskpaw knew what a fox smelled like.

She ducked her head and charged, fearless in the heat of battle. Barreling into the beast, she sat under its belly and nipped at its fur, adrenaline coursing through her body. The beast roared and jumped out of the way, pawing at her frame with terrible force. Duskpaw dodged quickly and breathed in, green eyes wide as she tasted metallic crimson in her maw. Leaves scuffled as the apprentice charged once more, failing to avoid the fox's teeth as she went in for another attack. Her shoulder ripped open and the she-cat hissed, eyes watering. Falling to the ground, she watched with hazy eyes as the russet thing reared up above her. Rolling quickly out of the way, Duskpaw grasped its hindleg in her jaws and bit down hard, smiling at the yip that came from her beast. They roared and ripped throughout the forest, inching toward a cliff fall that the apprentice knew well. Beartooth had taken her here before. She remembered he was sad. Teeth meant her pelt once more and more crimson coated her body. She was dizzy and tired, but the fox needed to die. She leapt onto its back and tore ribbons of red into its fur, hanging on tightly as the beast bucked and roared. It rolled over as its hind paws slipped off of the ledge, snarling with fury. Duskpaw clambered above its head and landed on solid ground, jumping backwards as the fox snapped at her. It struggled to find its footing, and the apprentice slammed her frame into its head, hoping to topple the thing over the edge. The fox slipped, whimpering as its front paws struggled for a foot hold. It found Duskpaw instead. Wide jaws clamped around her face, fangs digging into her cheeks and forehead, sending hot blood gushing into her eyes. In a panic, she pushed off on the fox's shoulders, sending him tumbling down. A sickening crunch echoed in the clearing below, followed by silence. Pain and triumph swirled through the apprentice's head, until she stumbled backwards and realized what was missing. "I can't...I can't see. I can't see!!"

Ferretnose heard the sickening roar of a fox in the forest, feeding nausea in her stomach. The red-pelted creature was within sprinting distance, if she had all of her bearings. That sound was one usually accompanied by the splintering of a cat's bones and the ripping of a life out of a pelt. It was an assault of the senses Ferretnose knew too well. So many were gone, and none of their deaths were avenged or justified. Beasts had no sense of right and wrong, just the selfish need to slaughter clan cats who occupier "their" land. She didn't hate many things, but russet canines made her list. The warrior's head swung around, ears trained on the sound until it was crisp in her ears. Her good eye moved to other places, flickering around her vicinity for a brown pelt, one that was well-acquainted with the art of defense and battle... she found it not far from her.

"Oakstar!" Ferretnose whispered sharply. "I hear a fox... and..."

Duskpaw's shriek echoed through the gaps in the treeline like her StarClan-given soul had run for help. A premature whine of mourning left Ferretnose's mouth unprompted at the noise. She exchanged the slightest look with Oakstar before taking off in Duskpaw's direction. Too much death, she whispered to the stars, Please let me find her alive, or not at all.

Crashing through the bushes, Ferretnose expected to see a devilish grin coated with Duskpaw's blood. Instead, she saw nothing. There was a cliff, and Duskpaw of course, but she was still screaming. Ferretnose gripped the apprentice by the scruff and moved her away from the cliff's edge, into the undergrowth. "Where's the fox, Oakstar?" she called out to her companion as she tilted the younger cat's face up with her tail tip. She fought back the waterworks creeping into the back of her eyes, pressurizing her entire face. There should have been a corpse lying in the grass, not a whimpering little she-cat. "Breathe, dear, you're okay. You're alright. Let me see."

Oakstar padded through the forest on silent paws. His ears and nose worked to distinguish the various prey of the forest, while being vigilant. It wasn’t too long ago that a fox killed Pricklebush… his pelt itched with the knowledge that it might be the same who had killed Leopardclaw… and the hapless kits.

He shook his head to clear it of the distant memory until a yowl broke his thoughts. Hurriedly he followed Ferretnose to a sight that horrified him. Young Duskpaw, her face mangled and bleeding. The stench of fox reeked throughout the clearing and he growled lowly, looking around for the cursed beast. He followed it’s scent, peering down the long drop where it’s body lay motionless.

Thank StarClan. He turned to Ferretnose and Duskpaw.

"We have to get her to the medicine den… help her onto my back." He ordered, crouching down to make it easier for Ferretnose to push the apprentice onto him. He had to hope that Mossbloom would be able to help her… to fix her.

The world was a haze as Duskpaw felt herself brush up against something warm. Oakstar's shoulders were broad and supported her weight as the apprentice let her head lull to the side. The sun was setting but she could not see it. Her fox was dead but there was blood in her eyes. Duskpaw's face was on fire, searing hot as the scents of Ferretnose and Oakstar swirled around her. Their worried voices were only unfocused blurs in the chaos. Duskpaw dug her claws into Oakstar's shoulders and wondered how she'd fight her beasts if her eyes stopped working. A sense of dread clawed its way up her throat and she sucked in a gasp, going limp with pain. The rip on her shoulder burned, the teeth marks on her spine dripped with blood. But her eyes, her eyes. She wanted to see. She wanted to see the trees and the squirrels and the sun as it set. But even as she hissed and wriggled, no enlightenment came. It was terrifying, and the poor kit felt trapped. No more adventures, the panic would not allow her to think clearly. "I wanna see..." She spoke quietly into Oakstar's scruff, going limp once more. "I wanna see..."

Duskpaw had no bearings on location, and only knew sounds amidst the pain. She wondered if she would die. Duskpaw hissed once more and refused such a thing, there was so much to do. And she wasn't old and stinky like Emberheart. More crimson dripped into her nose, and the metallic taste of blood held fast on her tongue. Exhaustion from her battle threatened to take over, and the apprentice stopped her struggling, and fell into her leader's body. The panic drained from her frame as sleep overtook her. The black of exhaustion did not rival the black of blindness.