Warrior Cat Clans 2 (WCC2 aka Classic) is a roleplay site inspired by the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. Whether you are a fan of the books or new to the Warrior cats world, WCC2 offers a diverse environment with over a decade’s worth of lore for you - and your characters - to explore. Join us today and become a part of our ongoing story!
News & Updates
11.06.2022 The site has been transformed into an archive. Thank you for all the memories here!
Here on Classic we understand that sometimes life can get difficult and we struggle. We may need to receive advice, vent, know that we are not alone in our difficult times, or even just have someone listen to what's going on in our lives. In light of these times, we have created the support threads below that are open to all of our members at any time.
(i have no idea when in relation to the dc plot this takes place. it is shrödinger’s thread. also up to you when it takes place re: nc and summerclan <3)
@ian
Eshek wasn’t feeling violent. Really, she had only been growing happier and happier as the moons passed. She was now just a little more than halfway through her pregnancy, her stomach swollen noticeably and her pelt sleek and healthy for the first time since her last ill-fated time carrying kits. What’s more, she was now back where she belonged in the League, at least part-time. Everything that had seemed out of reach her first time around, or that she had at least taken for granted, was now coming to life. She had two homes she cared deeply for and that she would never stop being grateful for, a best friend she was only growing closer to and another who would soon be a father to their kits, a position she valued more than she had when she’d first had a Proxyship - she was happy.
Really, she shouldn’t have been on NightClan land without at least the perfunctory protection of Pinesimmer. She was aware she wasn’t Aspenstar’s favourite person since their first meeting beside the SunClan border, and that there was some sort of list with her name on it. But she was nothing if not jovially defiant, nothing if not foolhardy, and so she couldn’t resist the fun thrill of openly prancing through their territory in direct defiance of the only she-cat she had ever actively disliked, stopping whenever she liked to melodramatically leap into a pile of leaves and roll back and forth in them, or scent mark a pine tree, or kill a blackbird she had no intention of eating. It wasn’t a declaration of war - it was just petty. She supposed she was used to more or less getting away with anything she did; karma almost certainly caught up to her, quickly laying waste to any scheme and scolding her thoroughly, but she always survived, except for the one time she hadn’t. A lifetime of surviving retribution like a cockroach had left her with more than a little belief in her own durability - stupidly fearless, most would call it - and a very lackadaisical contempt for the rules.
However, when Eshek caught a familiar scent floating on the cool night air, something dangerous sparked in her eyes. Her tattered ear twitched and she slowed her pace, slinking forward quiet as a shadow through the gloom of the pine forest. She could never resist poking at a bear, especially when it always looked like it was caging part of itself away; that would likely be her downfall in the end, her absolute irreverence for mortality. It seemed, at least in that moment, that she had learned nothing from that night with Bermondsey on the roof. Now, she was like the cat that had caught the mouse. A sharp, self-satisfied grin hooked across her face as she caught sight of Aspenstar’s familiar fawn pelt slipping through the trees. She trotted along, quick and quiet and low to the dark forest floor, a tree-length from her, parallel to the leader’s own path, eyes following her all the while. The pine needles were spongey under her paws, the pads still scarred viciously by shards of glass.
Finally, by a silver creek gurgling lowly in the peaceful night, Eshek slipped out of the tree cover behind Aspenstar, calling to her back with crap-eating glee in her voice, “being half-blind suits you! Wonder how that happened.”
Eshek was standing tall, her tail swishing through the air high behind her and her forelegs planted confidently. The almost triumphant expression on her face made it clear she wasn’t leaving any time soon. Now, she was feeling violent. Wonderfully so. Truth be told, she hated Aspenstar more for Pinesimmer than she did for herself. She was always the type to take others’ vendettas on as her own, especially when it seemed like they couldn’t or wouldn’t act on them themselves. And in Pinesimmer’s case in particular, her protectiveness and irritation at the injustice of the leader getting away with everything she did made her vindictive. It was the first time she’d ever sided with a tom over a she-cat, and would likely be the last.
The feline that Eshek had met that fateful SunClan night was not the same feline who now walked through NightClan. You see, if Aspenstar had to pinpoint the moment that she lost her humanity, the moment that she began her descent into the darkness, she perhaps would pinpoint the moment she went partially blind. Her brother's interference with the dog had snapped something in her, made the darkness enchanting. Of course, perhaps it was unfair to say that Pinesimmer had created a monster. In fact, it was probably giving the tom too much credit. The monster, it seemed, had always been in her, and inkling of darkness had always loomed beneath her skin. She had fought desperately against the monster for a long time, but it was hungry, ready to tear down the hero she had once considered herself to be. Pinesimmer's interaction with her had stirred the beast, certainly, but it hadn't created it. No, no. This snap, whatever it was, was always something she could assume was coming. Somehow, she was sure the beast would have come out eventually.
Since that stirring of the beast, Aspenstar had felt the call of the wild, sinister as it clawed its way through her belly. Perhaps this was Pinesimmer's contribution to her downfall: he had given it a chance to breathe, and once it took its first gasping breath, it demanded more and more. Her brother had suggested that she wasn't as good as she thought she was, and it had made her angry. She had found that she quite liked this anger, the way it consumed her. She liked the monster's fiery breath on her shoulder, encouraging her to go further, release it. And, if she wasn't a hero anyways, she almost felt that there was no need to keep the monster in check. No longer was she concerned with StarClan's favor, or the favor of her peers. None of that mattered, not compared to the feeling of raw strength, of pure power that indulging the darkness gave her.
The NightClan leader had been resigned to her fate: if she was going to be a monster, dammit, she was going to be a monster. She was going to enjoy the ride. And, she had. This new found darkness, the one that encouraged her to put aside any virtue she once had, was intoxicating, and she was an addict, craving everything that it promised. She no longer was interested in denying her addiction, not when it made her a god. And, really, she had evolved into just that, a god among men. Cats feared her, worshipped her, bowed to her every whim. It was delightful, watching the entire world bend the way she wanted it to.
Well, at least, most worshipped her. She was painfully reminded that this was not universally the case when she heard the other feline's voice. Irritation passed her gaze as she heard Eshek's arrival. She scented the wind, shaking her head slightly. Yes, now that she knew the Primal Instinct proxy was there, she knew she should have expected it. The world of pine around her was stained by the scent of an outsider. How had she been so oblivious?
She let out a soft hiss, before she turned. "Well, well, isn't it Pinesimmer's little .... girlfriend? Is that what you are these days?" She turned to face the League cat, the irritation gone from her gaze. "Oh! Please tell me you came here to let me know I'll be an aunt soon. Wouldn't that just be charming? Unless, of course, you aren't important enough to him that he wasted his time infecting you." She tilted her head, a surprising pleasantness in her voice. "If that's the case, consider yourself lucky. You're too pretty for him, and I imagine the kits made from a god and a mortal with Pinesimmer's particular... features would be quite horrifying."
Eshek pulled a rare disgusted sneer - not at the thought of sleeping with Pine but at the way Aspenstar worded it. It was hard to gross Esh out - she was the gross one - but here the NightClan leader succeeded. "Ew, oh my gosh, lady, go to therapy," she replied, her voice strangely serious despite the jokiness of the words. The way Aspenstar flip-flopped between... insulting her? And making Pinesimmer out to be... better than her? And then complimenting her at Pine's expense was making her head spin. Like, pick a side, y'know? If there was one thing that worked on Eshek it was psychological warfare, and even if this wasn't it and it was just Aspenstar making venomous jibes, it still threw her, because she was easy to throw off with strings of conflicting words.
"Who’s the god in this scenario?" she continued, back to her usual jokey, irreverent self, like she was already laughing at her own humour, throwing her paw about as she spoke. "Is it me or Pinesimmer? I'm gettin' kinda lost - I wasn't daddy's favourite little girl with private lessons so I might be a bit slow." On the last sentence, her head began to drop forward and she took a few slinking steps towards Aspenstar, her voice growing sticky with insolence and scorn. It lost the light-hearted teasing and slipped down to something darker, her eyes glinting in the moonlight and her grin showing sharp teeth. Now, it was her own deep-rooted jealousy creeping to the surface. She'd been derided by her own father; anyone who hadn't been, who'd been loved even if it was a little too brutal and a little too smothering, especially a she-cat, brought out something young and broken and hateful in her. She didn't correct Aspenstar about being Pine's girlfriend, or about Bermondsey's kits being his - she wasn't, and they weren't, but either she was comfortable enough with the idea that she didn't feel the need to deflect it, or she wanted to let the leader believe whatever she wanted. Who knew, maybe it would come in handy one day, for Pine or for her.
As she drew closer to Aspenstar, her huge, wide eyes locked on hers like a snake, she let herself get close enough to touch before suddenly veering and circling around her instead, her tail slipping under the leader's chin and giving her a hard flick on her injured eye. "D'you wanna know what I find really funny, Asp? It was... Sorry, I've only gotten this story secondhand, but it was Phantomfox's son he was defending when he broke Pinesimmer's legs, wasn't it? And now... that same son is ruined, isn't he? Because of you and him? I just find that hilarious. So, he did that because he was trying to protect his widdle boy's feewings - until that suddenly didn't matter. Right? Man, it seems like Pinesimmer always draws the short stick with karma, huh? And you really are just pathetic." She was back at Aspenstar's head by the last word; she flicked a look up and down her, her lip curled back in disgust. Worse than disgust, really - pity, like she was looking at a mouse that was going to run itself off the edge of its own burning candle sooner rather than later and all the world - or perhaps just Eshek - could see it but Aspenstar herself, or just... derision.
She watched Eshek try to parce out her words, an amused look in her eyes. She looked slightly unsettled by Aspen's approach, and that was exactly the point. She found great amusement in watching others balk in response to things she said. It was part of the game, and unfortunately for her, she didn't have very many options to play the game these days. NightClan was already tightly wound around her paw, there was no need to confuse them. They were simple enough creatures, mustn't make things too complicated. She let out a sigh.
"Oh, darling, please keep up!" she meowed with a faint disappointment. "Why would I call a tom like him a god when I'm looking at you?" She smiled, a smile that could have been dazzling, had danger not flashed behind it. "Perhaps I shouldn't have expected you to follow me. After all, it's rare that a cat is graced with both beauty and brains. We couldn't all be me, could we?" She let out a laugh, before Eshek continued.
Daddy's favourite little girl with private lessons. "At least you're honest," she meowed with a nod, although her words were much harder than they had been moments ago. "I do wish you wouldn't get familial history right from Pinesimmer, though. The boy has been struggling to be me his whole life, and it's made his perception of reality a bit... distorted." Now, wasn't that rich? Aspenstar saying someone elses perception was distorted? It wasn't like the leader was known herself for seeing things as they really were, although she'd gotten better since the day she stopped bothering to see the good in the world. "I'd love to spend some time teaching you what I learned in those lessons, darling, if you're interested," she then added, a flash in her gaze. That, at least, was honest. She was more than happy to show Eshek what daddy's lessons meant. She wouldn't be the first cat that she used her father's particular set of shaping tools on, and she surely wouldn't be the last. "All you have to do is ask, love, and I'd clear my schedule for you." She offered a wink, before settling into a seated position. She seemed unbothered by Eshek getting closer to her, but Aspenstar was unbothered by most things. It came with the territory of having extra lives; Aspen could be as reckless as she wanted with little to no consequence. But Eshek? The feline in front of her had an expiration date, one that Aspen was more than happy to move to today if she needed to. For now, though, she could simply relish in the fact that she appeared not to care at all about the other's aggression. Maybe that, took, would get under the League cat's skin?
When Eshek flicked her eye, Aspenstar let out an annoyed hiss. The action hadn't been strong enough to do more than unsettle her, a tail could not gouge out an eye, and Aspen refused to let Eshek have any reaction beyond the hiss. No, that would shatter the leader's ambivalence towards the situation, and it was in her very ambivalence that she found this entertaining. If she let Eshek guess that perhaps she wasn't as unbothered as she let on, the game would cease to be fun. No, Aspen's game was getting under other cats skin without letting them get under hers.
"I'm not sure that I would call the heartbreak of a child funny," - was Aspenstar trying to play the moral card? - "but perhaps it is ironic, I'll give you that," she meowed with a wave of her tail. "I don't remember my personal affairs being of any of your concern, though, darling. Now, don't get me wrong, I find the fact that you're so interested in me flattering. I really do. It isn't every day that I get a fan girl from a different clan. But, it does strike me as odd. Why do you care? Why is it any of your business what I do and do not do? Is your connection to rat-face so strong that you're willing to put your nose in a situation that would be best left alone? I guarantee that it's better for your personal wellbeing to mind your own business. Unless, of course, you're jealous of Phantomfox. You wouldn't be the first cat to fall in love with me from afar, and if that's the case, why are we talking about such boring things like the past, when we could be planning our first date?" She battered her eyelashes at her, leaning slightly into the feral looking feline as if she was going to plant a kiss right on her nose.
Eshek was just completely thrown off. Maybe once she could have deftly traded flirtations and violence like it was nothing but a twisted, intoxicating little game - in fact, she certainly could have; that was all her life had been before. Now, though, she was just struggling to keep up - she'd come in here to be the power player, and now Aspenstar had completely reversed their positions. If this had happened when she was younger, Aspenstar was exactly the kind of she-cat she would have fallen head over heels in love with, would have followed to the ends of the Earth, would have become obsessed with. As it was, though she still got that familiar tingle at being called darling in that low, purring voice of hers, more than anything she just felt caught off guard, almost enough to make her claws falter and sheathe. For a moment, as Eshek circled her, that indecision was clear on her face - she'd never been able to resist, let alone hurt, a pretty girl, especially not one this disarmingly charismatic, and Aspenstar's words were getting to her. A part of her did want to lay down like a dog and become yet another of Aspenstar's fanatical lovers, even if that meant sharing second-hand spit with Phantomfox.
When Aspenstar taunted her about being in love with her, batting her lashes, Eshek hesitated for a moment as the she-cat mocked her with the temptation of a kiss - before she forcibly shattered the spell and scrambled backwards, letting out a sharp, derisive bark of laughter that was a bit more flustered than it should have been. Eshek hurried to gather together her will and her pride, trying to remember why she'd picked this fight before the leader's snake-charming hypnotism had lulled her out of it. She kept moving, fitful and erratic, afraid that if she sat down again the she-cat would get her back under that spell. "How desperate are you? Like, no wonder you have so many toys - you just pick 'em up off the side of the road and then everyone's like 'oh my gosh, Aspenstar must be so charming' but no, you're just picking up the dregs that no one else wants." Realising she'd just insulted herself, Eshek opened her mouth wide and sucked in a breath to correct that she didn't mean her, but quickly gave up.
She kept pacing for a few more moments, getting tenser and tenser, inwardly debating everything in a whirlwind of thoughts and trying to decide between psyching herself up or walking away or - before she finally relented (screw it), like she was taking the easy way out and incredibly relieved by that choice, and with a deep exhalation and chaotic little bounce in the air to shake off the last of the indecision and get down to business, a sharp, hooked grin spreading across her face at the freedom of being set loose and a wild light appearing in her eyes— launched herself at Aspenstar. Eshek caught the fawn she-cat around the neck, clinging to her with her forepaws and dragging her down with her as she rolled. She stopped them when they got to her preferred spot to kill from - her on her back, the other cat belly-up on top of her. Her claws held Aspenstar tight on either side of her throat as she bared her teeth, eyes glinting with a white, feral spark in the moonlight, and, grinning, bit hard into the back of the leader's neck. Hot blood instantly flooded her mouth, staining both their pale pelts as it pulsed out between Eshek's jaws.
Her lips twitched in amusement at the she-cat's insult. "For your information, it isn't just the dreggs of society," she meowed with a chuckle, thinking for a moment of both Larkspur and Sunfreckle. Although her relationship with Larkspur was now over, something that should have given her pause but didn't, she didn't like the idea of her deputy being lumped in with the rest of them. No, Larkspur was inherrently different. She was good. "Although I do have to say, I am drawn to cats that aren't wanted. Maybe that's why I'm drawn to you, darling." She flashed a toothy smile, a glint in her eye.
It was then that Eshek leapt at her. To say that it was a surprise that the other cat attacked would have been a lie; she had anticipated that eventually, it would come down to a fight between them. It was unavoidable, really, although she would be lying if she said that she hadn't hoped it didn't resort to this. This wasn't to say that Aspenstar didn't want a chance to lay a paw on the other. No, that would be a lie too. She wanted nothing more than to take out Eshek's eye and give it to her brother on a silver platter. Aspenstar had craved a fair fight with the league member since the day she had first made herself Aspenstar's problem, all those moons ago in the SunClan territory. But this was not a fair fight. Eshek was pregnant, perhaps with her brother's children, which meant that Aspenstar wouldn't be able to defend herself, at least not in the way she would have liked.
When Eshek's body collided with hers, Aspen let out a snarl. As they tumbled, her claws flew in every direction possible. It wasn't the most effective maneuver, though, and the uncontrolled action did very limited damage. Still, her claws had collided at least once with the other she-cat. Pain echoed through her gaze as the feline's teeth came into contact with the back of her neck, although she made no sound. With her claws at her throat, the leader's options were limited.
"You're a coward, you know that, Eshek?"
As soon as the words exited her mouth, the leader rocked forward. With all of the momentum she could muster, she then jolted backwards with as much force as she could get. It was enough to surprise Eshek enough for the she-cat's claws to drop from her jugular, and with her claws now dislodged, Aspen regained some control. She rocked forward again, which forced the other off of her back. Eshek's body dropped to the ground, and the leader slammed her claws into the side of her head. They tore through her ear, but Aspenstar purposely avoided letting her claws touch the other's eye.
"You wait until you can hide behind your stomach before you touch me, hoping that I have some sort of moral compass that prevents me from executing you right here and now. You know you're no match on a good day, so you waited until you knew the fight wouldn't be fair." She let out a cold laugh, the look in her eyes murderous. One didn't simply attack the NightClan leader, not if they had any desire to live.
"Now, because you're pregnant, I'm going to give you the option. I have every right to slit your throat open right now. Obviously, that was your intention with me," she paused to glance down at the blood that leaked from both sides of her neck. "But, I'm feeling nice. If you leave now, run back to your little League, you'll walk away from today. If you don't, you won't. The choice is yours, darling."
You're a coward, you know what, Eshek? She had been about to reply when Aspenstar jolted herself backwards, smashing the back of her head against Eshek's muzzle and leaving her in the stunned, flustered pain that came of being punched in the face. Before she had time to recover from the daze - the blood trickling from her nose so early on in a fight when she was so used to winning with barely a scratch on her was enough to catch her off guard, her tongue slipping out to slowly taste her own blood like she had to do that to believe it was there at all, and even when it was in her mouth she still couldn't quite wrap her mind around it - Aspenstar's claws were hooked on her head. Usually fighting was a joyful sort of foreplay; she bantered and flirted and quipped, and that was she'd been expecting. But the cold disdain in the she-cat's eyes, the shock of being bested so early on - all the standard fun peeled off the fight and left her sober, raising her eyes to look at the leader with none of the usual mirth in her gaze and a murderous, off-balance sort of injustice in its place. She'd never been beaten. No one had even gotten close. And here Aspenstar was, on top after one move. Ordinarily she'd revel in a strong she-cat - but now, with her own existing antipathy to Aspenstar melding with the professional affront, it became deadly serious.
She hated her. She wanted her dead.
"Look at that," she breathed quietly. Icily. Her eyes didn't leave the leader's above her even as blood from her tattered ear dripped down into them, close enough for her to feel Aspenstar's breath across her face and for her to feel hers. With the she-cat's claws digging into her cheek she couldn't move her head; but that uncharacteristic stillness of Eshek's just made the tense moment more unsettling. "Aspenstar making excuses. It's a fair fight if you're not afraid." The defiant meaning was clear: Aspenstar couldn't have hurt her kits if she'd rained fury down upon her till dawn - Eshek was always going to come out on top. If Eshek's voice shook ever so slightly, if she wasn't entirely convinced of what she was saying, if she doubted herself, if all of her was screaming at her not to enter into a challenge with a she-cat she was only 70% sure she could beat, then her eyes didn't waver. She didn't even really mean or want to say it - she just couldn't stop herself. Even with everything at stake, she was too hubristic for her own good. With all the frustrating objections and fear swirling inside her, her determination, her hate, her self-destructive stubbornness only hardened. She might lose. She was going to lose.
Well, then she'd just have to make sure she didn't.
That uncertainty - that need to win now that she'd put her kits' lives on the line - just made her a more unscrupulous, relentless killer because now losing was not an option. Now, losing held a certainty that she'd have to kill to avoid. Conquer or die; there was nothing else left.
With no warning, Eshek suddenly hooked her own claws around Aspenstar's, shooting her paws up under the she-cat's against her own face and interlocking their claws, and jerked her forelegs forward to force the leader up. This wasn't fun-time now - there was no artistry; this was Eshek at her most efficient. With Aspenstar's forepaws incapacitated by Eshek's claws squeezing with her own, she bunched her hind legs beneath the leader's stomach and, letting go at the last moment, pushed up, sending her flying across the clearing. Not saying a word, no smile on her face, Eshek rolled onto her paws and padded over to where Aspenstar had landed. Her pace was slow, no longer entertained, and her expression was grim, eyes empty and dour for business. Padding over to her with her tail swishing low and slow behind her, regardless of whether the smaller she-cat had stood and righted herself or not, she suddenly reared ever so slightly off the ground and smashed Aspenstar's cheek against the ground with one paw, using her height for the first time that night. She stood over her, claws prickling into the side of leader's face. "I wonder what a leader's blood would do for a kit's baptism," she commented stonily, looking down at Aspenstar. She'd crushed a cat's skull beneath her paw once before and the rush of hot, thick gore had been as close to a religious experience as Eshek had ever had. But there was nothing holy about this. Increasing the pressure against Aspenstar's skull with unhurried, forceful precision, her paw spread out so wide that her claws covered almost her entire head, Eshek reached down with her other one and moved one extended claw down towards Aspenstar's good eye. The claw moved in closer— closer— closer.
Aspenstar's skill in battle had been an uphill battle when she was younger. At her size and speed, hunting had come naturally for her. But, just as her size increased her speed and hunting efficacy, for a long time it had decreased her ability to hold her own. The nights where she learned to fight were the longest nights of her life. She could still remember every blow, every wound that was just shallow enough to heal. The only way to avoid the injuries was to become better than her attacker. It was her father's entire purpose of the training: if Aspenpaw wanted to walk out of the training sessions unhurt, she would learn to fight. And learn she did. Although it was a slow process, she became better than her father. She was smarter than he was, strategic. Any weakness in strength was overcome by her stunningly quick body-mind and an endurance that only grew through getting your ass beat repeatedly. Now, it was no surprise that she was as good as she was, at least not to those who knew her intimately, those who knew not to underestimate her. That had been Eshek's mistake; by attacking the leader with the idea she was going to win, she had underestimated Aspenstar. A mistake like that was fatal.
Her lips curled at Eshek's defiance, an inky laugh burbling from the bottom of her throat. "You don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that," she purred, her claws unsheathing into the ground. The angel on her shoulder that had told her not to execute her right away had been silenced by the other's defiance. If Eshek didn't care about her children, why should Aspenstar? So what if they were Pinesimmer's? It no longer mattered, not after the monster within her heard the sweet words. The monster within her didn't need much to arise from within her these days. Mere inconvinience often times did it. But, the monster was never satisfied such trivial manners. No, it ached for something bigger. Since the night she had murdered the loner, it had thirsted for blood. And now, it seemed, it was finally going to get it.
As soon as Eshek spoke the first time, all humanity drained out of the leader's eyes. Instantly, the monster intrinsically knew that this was now a fight to the death, and as such, it took over. Fury consumed her, hate filled her gaze, and any part of her that was willing to let this cat go free that night was dead. No, if Eshek wanted a fight to the death, Eshek would get a fight to the death. She let out a gleeful laugh, shuddering at the pleasure of finally letting the part of her she had resisted for so long have full control.
She made no attempt to dodge the she-cat's attack. After all, the monster didn't care if Aspen died. The monster didn't care if Aspen died twice. It knew that no matter how hard Eshek fought, at the end of the day, Aspenstar would win. It was the charm of immortality; this could be the best fight of Eshek's life, and Aspenstar truly hoped it was, but at the end of the day, there was one simple reality: Aspenstar had eight lives. Eshek had one. Even if Eshek managed to kill her multiple times, the monster knew that there would come a point where Eshek's body would give out on her. Aspenstar would get the final laugh, so was there really a point in trying? The very least the monster could do was give the other a fighting chance.
She let out a hiss as her legs gave out under her, skidding on the ground with a hmph. She watched Eshek leer closer with that same smile, the smile of a cat who, in that moment, had truly lost herself to the thrill of the fight. While Eshek looked grim, Aspenstar looked like she was having the time of her life. Until this moment, the leader had never shown signs of masochism, but the way she looked at Eshek made it clear that she was hungry for whatever attack came next. "No matter what you do tonight," she meowed as Eshek stared above her, "you don't walk out of this forest. You better enjoy the ride. I know I will," she purred, right before Eshek slammed her head into the ground.
She let out a roar, the pain stunning. She had only felt pain like this once before, the day of the attack. It made her head spin slightly, the blood pooling in her mouth. She spat it at the other defiantly from where her head was still pinned to the ground. "I guess we'll find out, won't we, darling?"
If there was any urgency in the she-cat, it didn't come across in her voice. However, she was intrinsically aware that Eshek's claw was coming too close to comfort. Aspenstar was fully aware that Eshek was more than willing to fully blind her, which meant that if she wanted to save her sight, she had to act fast, fast enough that there was only one option...
She closed her right eye tight, but left her other eye open. The world was so blurry from that eye, which had been half carved out by the dog. Pinesimmer had told her that if she would have let him heal her, he would have been able to save more of it. Her own pride had left her almost completely unable to see the world from her left side.
The moment where she took in the world with just her left eye ended just as quickly as it begun. The only way to save her right eye was to make sure she'd never see anything out of her left again.
With a snarl, Aspenstar rammed her foreleg into Eshek's arm, which allowed her to roll out from under her just before Eshek's claw touched her right eye. However, the move caused significant damage to the she-cat. Eshek's claws tore through the left side of her face and right through her left eye as she pushed her away. She saved her right eye from Eshek's claw, but in doing so, she permanently lost her left.
There was no time for sentimentality, though. The leader skidded to her paws, the hot gore of her own blood enough to make her nauseous if she wasn't in the middle of fighting for her life. She spat more blood out on the ground as she fought to steady herself. With no vision at all now on one side of her, she felt slightly off balance. She shook her head once, no there was no time for that either. "I bet that'll leave a mark," she meowed with a wry laugh, blood gushing down the side of her fawn colored face.
"Remember, darling, you said this was a fair fight if I wasn't scared," she then purred, sending herself flying straight for the cat's side. It was a monstrous move, to go right for the cat's weakest point, but the NightClan she-cat did not care. Her claws collided with Eshek's side, tearing into the flesh as she bowled her over.
If she had been in her right mind, she might have been a little more careful about where she sent the two flying in a ball of claws and snarls. As it turned out, though, with each attack, the duo were inching closer and closer to the water. If they kept their trajectory, it would be only a few attacks before they both ended up in it...
reminder for me later: oakleaf visits aspen while she's dead and eshek and phantom fight, convinces her that she actually can't let eshek die while she's pregnant
Eshek flinched slightly when Aspenstar spat her mouthful of blood at her, but only to turn her head to the side and avoid most of it blinding her. But a great deal still covered her face; by the end of the night, both pale she-cats would be bathed in one another's blood. Aspenstar's jokey defiance broke through to Eshek; even with her paw crushing into the leader's head, the corner of her mouth quirked slightly in a smile - not a malicious one, just a little hint of a smile like they were both sharing a joke. Finally, she did let out a little scoff of laughter - she couldn't hold it back; Aspenstar was being genuinely funny, even if she was trying to kill her. And so any onlooker would have been treated to the strangest sight in the world: two she-cats sharing a brief laugh while locked in a battle to the death. There was nothing like shared insanity to create a moment of bonding amidst mutually assured destruction.
And then, the moment was over. When Aspenstar knocked her foreleg from under her and scored her own eye through with Eshek's claw, she stood there genuinely stunned for a second, looking wide-eyed between her own bloody paw and Aspenstar's ruined eye. "Jesus Christ!" she exclaimed, because she couldn't help it. She hadn't been expecting it - had never, in all her years of torture, seen someone willingly destroy themselves like that to get the upper hand. It was genuinely hot as hell. This chick was crazy crazy. I bet that'll leave a mark. Eshek let out another laugh, though her expression wasn't smiling - she was still just staring at Aspenstar like she was about to sprout devil's wings, equal parts wary and impressed. "Yeah!" she agreed, nodding fervently, that same expression on her face. It had caught her off guard so much that she'd almost forgotten they were in a fight. That was something to go to the pub and get a congratulatory drink over-
And then Aspenstar was crashing into her side. Oh, right. All the admiring amusement flooded back out of Eshek, replaced by that icy efficiency of a soldier trained since infancy. The attacks against her stomach were unpleasant, but they weren't enough to make Eshek worried just yet, not enough to divert her from offence to defence - she could still counter the leader. As Aspenstar railed against her with flashing teeth and claws, Eshek took the calmer approach, catching a paw here and there and holding it away just enough to sink her teeth into Aspenstar's neck, her shoulder, until Aspenstar inevitably dislodged her and landed a blow of her own- at this rate, they were were too evenly matched. For every one of Eshek's bites, Aspenstar inflicted one of her own. Blood was being spilled, flesh was being torn, claws were being wrenched and ripped out - but no one was winning. Their endurance was matched, as was their pain tolerance - and where Aspenstar excelled at pure brutality, Eshek met it with pure strength. There was no end in sight.
Until Eshek spotted the stream.
She caught it out of the corner of her eye in one of the brief moments where Aspenstar had her pinned, her head turning slightly and sharply to the side while the two she-cats panted against each other's fur. There was her knife. There was how she would break this stalemate. Just before Aspenstar could sink her teeth in again, Eshek, with renewed purpose and energy, suddenly shot from beneath her and caught the smaller she-cat's scruff between her teeth. Ignoring the leader's claws, she unceremoniously dragged her backwards - at it was one of those moments of pure horror, the one where you realise the other person's grabbed you in such a way you can't free yourself from. Aspenstar could have ripped the back of her neck if she'd had time, but Eshek wasn't going to give it to her. She walked backwards with a sick sort of unhurried calm, dragging the leader across the damp bank, the rocks, the twigs.
And then, when she reached the water, in one single movement she dropped Aspenstar's scruff and slammed her paw down on the back of her head. She held her under - and her expression was absolutely merciless, absolutely hateful, cold as anything and twice as vindictive. Eshek looked down at the leader as she drowned her, stepping over her body to hold her haunches down with one hind paw and squash her to the bank. A clock began to tick in her mind - tick, tock, tick, tock. She tilted her head, watching the bubbles form on the surface of the water, and then looked around, her eyes wandering around the night-time forest like she was bored. "Take your time, Aspen," she told the she-cat calmly, voice low and soothed like she was sinking into bed after a long, draining day. She had won. "I have all night. And after all - it's only eight lives to get through."
In another life, it might have been interesting to see just how long the two could hold out in a battle. Both cats were equally dedicated to the cause, and both cats were equally skilled. It would have boiled down to a test of endurance, both she-cat's going down in a blaze of glory until one, or both really, of their bodies would have lost so much blood they would have collapsed. Even then, on the gates of death, perhaps the she-cats would still swing, their motions getting less and less accurate as the flames of their mutual destruction burned hotter and brighter until at last, they were no more. It would have been quite a spectacle, had the two not been so damn close to the water.
Aspenstar should have known that her bad luck with the water was going to steal the most exciting battle from her. That didn't mean that she wouldn't go down kicking and screaming, though. As she was dragged, her claws and teeth still flew, managing to become re-bloodied by Eshek's flesh. However, Eshek's dedication to the bit was ultimately stronger than Aspen's dedication to not end up in the water...
Time passed slowly after her face hit the water. She fought to hold her breath for as long as possible, thrashing wildly under the weight of Eshek. The same clock that ticked in the other's mind ticked in her own; two minutes. She had two minutes to get out of this situation, to get her head above water again. That was doable, wasn't it?
It would have been, had it not been the undercurrent of the river. As Eshek pushed her further and further under, the icy water smashed into her face. In shock, she instincitively opened her mouth, letting the water rush into her throat and lungs. Her two minutes had just been shortened, and with every instinctive cough to get the water out, more came in.
Before long, her time had run out. She gave one last buck, using the last of her might, but it was not enough. The darkness crept over her gaze, and as soon as it did, Aspenstar drifted into the cool night of death...
Phantomfox was everything a Loyal Guard needed to be. In this job there was no moral code, no room for hesitation, no allowance for questioning the directive because it was clear: Your leader is your life. You will protect your life at all costs. It was their mantra, their creed - created and refined by himself, beaten into his lackeys until it was all they could slur. If you lose your leader, you lose your life.
There was no guard more efficient than him. He never fancied himself a killer, back when he had the clarity to fancy himself anything, but for a cat with exactly one thing to lose, there were no boundaries greater than his resolve. His leader was his life. He had given his life to her - had knelt before her and renounced his claim to it, given the last of himself to the only cat in the forest who could cut open Phantomfox's throat and be thanked for it - and now he would show what that really meant.
Eshek's hubris was her ultimate undoing. One of the most terrifying things about a bloodhound was their unyielding patience, as the hunter's blank eyes observed this battle of wills. Aspenstar's mate screamed into the abyss of his heart for him to move, lunge, crush her beneath him and rip her in half, deliberately remove each fetus and methodically tear them apart, drown their remnants in the stream Aspenstar's life was draining into; but Aspenstar's guard was stronger than her mate, and he could wait until Eshek's high faded, until her shoulders relaxed from those of a killer subduing a victim into a victor's slump.
Then, and only then, did a force equivalent to and no less earth-quaking than an avalanche ram into her, upending her from Aspenstar's limp body and throwing her clean across the clearing.
(jesus h christ phantom!!!!!! get help crackhead <3)
Eshek felt the life as it left Aspenstar’s body - and suddenly she was laughing. She was laughing and she couldn’t stop - it tore itself from her throat, her body was wracked with it, this gleeful, screaming, victorious laughter— because she’d won, she’d won, she’d—
All the air was crushed out of her lungs. So caught off guard, she didn't have time to react and just let out a startled shout, eyes wide and legs flailing uselessly to try and get a grip on the ground flying past her, before she smashed into a pine trunk with a gruesome thud. She slithered to the earth, dazed, and raised her head to look at her attacker for the first time. Her expression, rather than fear, was just indignant confusion at having been forcefully removed from her quarry; Aspenstar's body was still bobbing gently, face-down, in the stream. And then she worked out who she was looking at.
"Ohh!" she greeted, dragging herself to her paws and dipping down into a low, strange stretch to loosen up her spine; even Eshek stretching looking like she was creeping towards you, one forepaw stretching out in the air to stretch wide her little kitten claws. "Phantomfox! What a good little doggy you are. Bit late though, aren't you." She was prowling around in a wide circle, either trying to get back to Aspenstar or just teasing him with the idea of it. Blood and dust streaked her white pelt; her legs, belly fur and chin were soaked and dripping; her ear was torn clean through and dripping blood into her eyes. And still her smile was bright and dazzling. "I tell you, she looked prettier when she was dying than she does when she's alive, didn't she? 'Cuz you were watching, weren't you? You get off on that? Hm? Ugly freak!" Her fur suddenly spiked up like she'd been struck by lighting and she hopped slightly off the ground, all four legs stiff and straight, as she let out a gleeful cackle. She went back to normal a split second later, continuing to prowl along slightly lower to the ground than she had been before, her forepaws brushing against the pine needles before she put down each step. "Funny - if you were watching, why didn't you stop me before she died? You're a pretty sucky Captain, aren't you? All 'oh, Aspy, make me your sexy toy soldier' but then you can't keep her alive?" Her eyes widened, paw to her chest. A sharp grin hooked across her face, her eyes lidding. "What, you wanna watch me do it again? And again? And again?" She drew closer with each provocation, until finally, stupidly, her muzzle jerked in a breath from his. Her eyes were wild, joyful, violent.
Streaked in his leader's - his mate's - blood, who was more powerful between them?
She found herself watching her body lay lifeless on the floor. Everything was... cold. She couldn't think of anything else other than the coldness that enveloped her. She watched as Phantomfox arrived, a soft smile on her face. Of course he would come. Of course he would save her. That was simply who he was. She let out a silent sigh, before glancing down at herself. It was strange, perceiving oneself as a spirit, an opportunity few had that they could relate to. Many made the pilgrimege from life to death, but few returned. She would return soon, right? That had been how it happened the first time she thought she lost a life - blackness, immediately returned to light. There was no spiritual interim, no pause between the living and the dead. No, this was her first time experiencing this, this watching of the situation in the third person, an omnicient god.
"It's strange, isn't it," came the voice of another cat as he padded up to her. Unlike the last time that Aspenstar would have seen him, Oakleaf stood with pride and strength. Sorrow was gone from his eyes, replaced with a steely determination and effervescent glow. "Watching yourself like this?"
Aspen's head whipped in the direction of the voice, her eyes widened. The first time she had fallen in the river, she had not been interrupted in the passage between here and the next - perhaps because she never actually made the transition. She had come near to death the first time, but near to death was not the same as death. Had she really died that day with the fish? The memory was too blurry to tell.
"Oak?" she asked quietly, her voice confused at his presence. Then, the leader found herself rushing to his side, pressing her fawn furs into his deep brown. "Oak, is that you?"
The other tom chuckled, amusement in his gaze. "It's only been a few moons, certainly you haven't already forgotten me," he murmured. He was careful not to embrace her back, though. All it would take was one touch of his nose to her pelt and she would be sent again to the world of the living. Instead, he pulled away slightly, motioning her to sit next to him. He had much to say, and so little time to say it. After all, he was the only dead cat that could break through the barriers she had constructed in her mind to limit StarClan's influence. He was the stars' only chance to get through to her. He could not waste this opportunity.
Aspenstar looked at her brother with confusion, before she nodded slowly, sitting down next to him, just like when they were children, just like it was before the veil of life and death separated them.
"You're an awfully hard cat to get ahold of," Oakleaf meowed with an easy smile. "I almost thought i wasn't going to be able to get through to you."
Aspenstar flinched slightly, but made no response.
"But, since I am, we have much to discuss. But first, let us watch." And just like that, the two fell into silence, their gazes locked on the battle below.
(I've tried replying to this so many times and either got interrupted or didn't like it but here we go, ya get what ya get)
he looked prettier when she was dying than she does when she's alive. You're a pretty sucky Captain, aren't you? What, you wanna watch me do it again? And again? And agai- Phantomfox listened, stone faced, not even a twitch ruining the perfect solidness of his mass of swollen tissue. He listened without moving, without breathing, without reacting, until Eshek was a breath away from him.
And then, with little more effort than an adult nudging an irritating child off them, his paw came down on her. It struck against the brittle bones of her neck, hoping to shatter them, and he watched with lazy interest as Eshek tumbled some more, casually strolling after her in tireless yet unhurried pursuit. He was blind- a machine moving of its own volition, following the scent of blood he knew better than he knew the scent of the pine needles he was crushing underpaw, better still than the scent of his own son. He was deliriously mechanical.
Phantomfox stopped, looming over Eshek, and tilted his head. He leaned down until he could breathe against her ear, his breath poisonously hot and inching toward true excitement. There was a light to his silver gaze that wasn't there before- a thirst awakening for bloodshed, mutilation, death. What better way to mark his first kill than to christen it with his mate's murderer's blood- and the blood of her innocent, unsuspecting children? "I've gotta say, as pretty as Aspen looked, I think you'll be absolutely stunning with your entrails hanging out," he chuckled.
Then he lunged, his jaws clamping around her throat. [/i]
