A Beast Am I [Plot/Closed]

He took note that she was less affected by the medicine cat comments than before, but it was Dawnhawk that enjoyed reminding her of it regardless. Her claws pricked at his belly again, and he growled. Stubborn... though that was something that ran in the... oh right. They weren't siblings anymore. Dawnhawk heard her pitiful words... the words of a loser. He pinned his claws to her skin, right under her throat. "Honor? I'll tell everyone that you did this." And with that, he brought his claws upward with all of his strength, no doubt delivering a knockout blow to her chin while slicing it open.

Dawnhawk used Upright Lock, dealing 17 damage and -25SP

Dawnhawk
75HP / 195SP (-25SP)

Beechface
K.O.
-3HP / 90SP (-17HP)



Beechface's body hit the floor and Dawnhawk's claws immediately went to the top of her head. He let out another chuckle and buried his claws deep.

"Should I skin her, Smokefeather?" He looked at the terrified mother still crouched protectively over her kit. "You could keep her skin if you'd like, or use it as lining for your den?" His claws began to drag slowly down the back of his unconscious sister. He wanted Smokefeather to watch. He wanted her to hear the sound of Beechface's flesh and fur giving way to his claws, like unzipping a fluffy dufflebag. "Or maybe I'll keep her skin... I'll wear it for ceremonious occasions and as a reminder for the rest of the clan what happens when you step out of line!" His claws raked all of the way down to the base of her tail and stopped. Dawnhawk opened his mouth to say something else.

"Dawnhawk enough!" The brown tabby rogue finally spoke up, snapping Dawnhawk out of his cruel game. The pale tom's blue eyes landed icily on him, but he said nothing. "If Eris hears about this you'll no longer have the high rank you have now. You won't be deputy of Skyclan anymore either! You've gone too far with this. You punished another asylum cat for disobeying orders did you not? Is that not what you are doing now? Please! Look at what you've done! Enough is enough!" The brown tabby gestured towards the dead kit against the nursery wall. Dawnhawk's eyes followed.

He stared at the lifeless silver body... the tiny tiny body of an innocent kit that had nothing to do with any of this. Finally tired out and having let loose some rage, Dawnhawk was able to think a little more clearly. The kit had been guiltless... Smokefeather was the cruel one incapable of raising a decent son....

Dawnhawk retracted his claws as the horror of what he had done finally began to creep in. His breathing quickened. His icy gaze turned to one of wide-eyed panic. The brown tabby approached and looked over the injured medicine cat. She was alive, but she'd be hurting for quite some time now.

"I can get a few of us to help patch her up. What do you want to do about that?" He nodded again towards the dead kit. Dawnhawk didn't move for several heartbeats. Then an idea hit him. He turned to the brown tabby, the guard that had been the most loyal and at his side this whole time. The brown tom would be his assistant for one final time.

"This is necessary for our goal. Thank you friend, for being there to help me." The brown tom's head cocked to one side, confused... right before Dawnhawk's claws lashed out and tore the flesh from his throat. The brown tabby gurgled and choked on his blood and stepped back in surprise. Dawnhawk was on him immediately, pinning him and slashing furiously into his flesh. He left deliberate claw marks all over him, teeth marks as well. The asylum rogue couldn't even cry out for help as he choked and gurgled from his lethal injury.

Eventually his body went still, battered and bloodied. Dawnhawk backed away from him, his sides heaving with the effort of fighting Beechface as well as destroying his guard. He looked at Smokefeather, warning gleaming in his vicious eyes.

"He attacked and killed Featherkit. He attacked Beechface when she tried to stop him. I came between them and finished him off. You were busy protecting your kit. Beechface will wake up and convey this same story... or I promise you I will finish what I started. Even if I am stripped of deputy status I still have the asylum, and they will always believe me over you. I swear to you I will command them to wipe out all of Skyclan and I will make you watch as the rest of your worthless children are skinned a live! Do you understand me, Smokefeather?" He hissed, merely inches from her face now.

Pain tore through Beechface's chin, and then she felt nothing, collapsing back to the ground in a bloody heap, unconscious.

---

Smokefeather cringed away from Dawnhawk as he approached, gray-green eyes that had been bright with anger were now dull, her expression blank. One paw was lifted, preventing Mountainkit from really moving, though her terrified hold on the kit might've been more effective if the queen hadn't been shaking so much.

Hollow gaze was drawn to the bloody forms of Featherkit and Beechface, the sight making her stomach churn. Sweet, innocent Featherkit, nothing more than a bloody scrap of fur. She'd stood no chance. Her ears were still ringing with the sickening crunch of bones, Dawnhawk's and Beechface's snarling and hissing as they'd fought.

And the guard... He'd finally spoken up, only after Dawnhawk had... had...

The guard didn't truly care, he was only focused on what his superiors would say. He hadn't spoken up because of any altruism or sympathy, or disgust at what had just happened. That she'd provoked Dawnhawk into this... Maybe she didn't deserve altriusm or sympathy. But had the life of an innocent meant nothing to the guard? And Beechface, beaten to a bloody pulp because she'd tried to defend, had done more than Smokefeather had?

Nausea welled in her, and Smokefeather ripped her gaze away, forcing it to the ground. She took a breath, and the scent of mingled blood and fear was even worse. Smokefeather clenched her jaw, trying not to gag as her eyes watered.

The guard lay dead, now, and once more Dawnhawk turned towards her. Began to speak. Dull, shell-shocked eyes regarded the blood-stained tom, but Smokefeather said nothing. His words took a minute to register, but still the queen said nothing, her expression remaining blank. She attempted to take another step backwards, pressing against the back wall of the nursery with clunky, almost uncoordinated movements. Keeping herself between him and the kit she'd done her best to shield from this madness. She doubted that had been enough.

Obey him or watch the rest of her children die. It wasn't a choice at all. He'd already killed one defenseless innocent because of her. He would not kill another for the same reason. Smokefeather felt hollow, the knowledge that she had no way of stopping him other than to keep silent would've eaten her alive, if it were any other time, if she hadn't just witnessed what she had witnessed. But staying silent would keep them safe, for now. Her older kits and the only she was hunched over were the only things that mattered. Smokefeather hung her head, shoulders drooping.

Defeated. There was no other option and there would be no justice for the fallen. She only hoped that Featherkit and Bloodstrike, wherever he was, could forgive her for her own sins, for what she'd caused.