[ if the same pressure would have pulled you under.... would not let me finish the song lyrics! ]

( This is Midnightgarden! She is heavily inspired by Luisa from Encanto but obviously not a direct copy. Midnightgarden lived as a rogue in the city before joining Nightclan. She was the oldest of five other siblings. The only surviving kit of her own litter which caused her mother to become overly bearing and riddled with anxiety once she had her second litter of kits where she was blessed with five more children. Midnightgarden, even though she was only barely apprentice age herself, became the main caregiver. She was to watch over her siblings when her mother was unavailable, which was often, and was in-charge of doing the daily tasks (hunting, fighting off attackers, replacing the bedding, etc). As her mother became more absent and the routine caused Midnightgarden to develop her own anxiety, she eventually cracked under the pressure of it all and left her siblings alone for a few days while she took a break, believing they would be okay as they were older now. Once returning, she discovered another rogue family had attacked their make-shift camp to steal their food and had killed one of her siblings in process. This caused Midnightgarden true pain, and she ended up running away from her family believing they were better off without her. She eventually joins Nightclan after collapsing from sheer exhaustion and lack of food as she had not slept or ate often because of the grief she was experiencing. I will let the leader decide whether she becomes a prisoner or a warrior starting off! I would like to have her mother and remaining siblings show back up in her life at some point, but would like her to have a few weeks in Nightclan before that. )

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The moon hung high in the air as the she-cat's tired paws came to a pause in the middle of the forest. The white portions of her pelt turned brown from obvious signs of moons of traveling. The she-cat was tired. Emotionally. Physically. She felt the hunger gnawing at her stomach but yet the idea of food seemed unappetizing to her. How could she eat? Sleep? When her brother no longer had that luxury? The questions made her feel queasy but she decided to press on and at least find some shelter to rest her weary body. She took a few shaky breathes with her eyes closed. Just press on. You're almost there. The thought made no sense to her. Almost to where exactly? She had no destination in mind and had been traveling the wilderness for moons. Although she was exhausted, her mind urged her to continue to push herself for some goal that was unclear to her. Was the goal to just keep running? Running as far as possible so that her family couldn't find her? "This is so stupid." She mumbled. Her legs screamed in protest but she decided to take another step forward.

Suddenly she was falling. Her single step forward not meeting the forest floor that was expected but instead meeting air. The rest of her body quickly tumbled down into the abyss. The she-cat firmly closed her eyes and held her breathe while she waited for her body to splatter against whatever was at the bottom of this hole she had stepped into. At least my muscles will stop burning. The thought was fleeting as her figure splashed into a pool of water and she opened her eyes to look at the turquoise green pool that had engulfed her. Huh. Kind of pretty. Not a terrible way to die. She thought to herself as she watched her own air bubbles float towards the top of the water. Her body sinking deeper and deeper into the salty water that stung her eyes. The she-cat was mentally prepared to die in this mysterious water she had accidentally fell into, but physically her body flailed and kicked towards the surface that her air bubbles continued to float towards. Her back legs kicking and her front paws paddling towards the only source of light. As her head broke the surface to meet moonlight she greedily inhaled the oxygen she had deprived herself of only mere moments ago. Her eyes fixated on a rocky bank that the river lapped at and she paddled unconsciously towards it. She pulled herself onto the cavern floor and spit up a few mouthfuls of water before eventually collapsing onto her side. Her body too weak to continue moving. Well, this is one way to force me to rest. She thought bitterly to herself.