Forgive Me!

[Willowfern]

[not open for interaction]

Dogbark blinked open his eyes, where was he?
Around him, a faint mist covered the area, and dark, bent trees encircled the small clearing the ThunderClan Deputy had awoken in.
In a tangle of legs, the gray tom attempted to figure out where he was, but he had no luck identifying the foreign landscape.
The area faintly reminded him of ShadowClan territory by what he remembered from snatched glances at it on patrols, though he doubted ShadowClan would be in such a lifeless area as this, not even the stars shone through the thick, choking canopy above his head.
Untwisting his legs, Dogbark let out a groan as his back popped, he hated to admit it, but he was getting older, and whatever odd stretch he had just been in wasn’t helping the aches and pains.
Padding through the strange forest illuminated only by strange, dim, glowing mushrooms, Dogbark felt as if he was being watched, and turned at odd times to see if he could catch someone in the act, and upon his fifth time of turning swiftly around, he saw out of the corner of his eye a dark figure scrambling behind a tree, and he pursued it.
Paws pounded on leaf mold as Dogbark chased after the figure, and he soon overtook it despite his shorter legs, for it seemed that the figure was leaving a blood trail, and must have been injured.
Leaping on the cat, Dogbark growled,
“Who are you?? Where is this??” He snarled in the cat’s ear, “Why am I here??”
The head turned, and Dogbark’s breath hitched in his throat as he scrambled off of the oh-so-familiar cat, who’s face would be printed in his memory forever.
“You?” He choked, “You’re dead!”
Blackshiver’s forest green eyes flickered with pain as she stood up, blood dripping infinitely from the gash in her throat that had killed her,
“Silverbark- I-“ She coughed up blood, not used to talking after fourty moons of silence, “I’m sorry, I had to invade your dreams tonight- I just wanted to see you again-“ She reached out her paw, as if she wanted to touch him on the cheek, a gesture that would have been sweet if not for the unforgivable things that had passed between them.
Dogbark snarled again, and recoiled,
“It’s Dogbark now,” His emerald eyes fixed her with a glare so cold it could kill.
Funny thing was, she was already dead.
“Oh- o- of course… Dogbark- Ha, I like that, suits you- suits you more,” She retracted her paw, clearly seeing he was upset by the gesture, “As- As I said, I just want to talk- talk to you again- it’s been so long- forty moons and- and three days- I count the days- I count the days, brother. Forty moons- forty moons since- since the incident.”
Dogbark swiped at her, claws unsheathed,
“Do not call me ‘brother’, you traitor! You killed Swancloud, and you didn’t care!” He caught his claws on her nose, causing her to bleed.
“O- oh, Dogbark- I thought- I thought after forty moons and- forty moons and three days, you- you would come to forgive me. I- I was only being a stupid- only being a stupid little kitten- a stupid little kitten, surely you understand that? Stupid little- stupid little kittens make mistakes,” The black she-cat slid forward in the leaf-mold, disregarding the blood dripping now from her nose, “Come- come now, Dogbark- come be my brother again- be my brother again. It’ll be just- it’ll be just like old times,” She held out her paws for a hug, Dogbark thought he saw a small tear glimmering in her eyes, which were dull and empty-looking now that she was closer.
“No! Go away! I will never forgive you for what you did! Never!” He backed further and further away, but she kept coming.
“B- but, Dogbark- but, Dogbark, I’m- I’m your sister- I’m your sister!” Her gaze hardened, “Don’t you- don’t you miss me??”
“No!”
Blackshiver advanced closer and closer, the skin around her endlessly dripping wound gone, revealing bone underneath, her fur hung off of her body in ragged chunks, she was decomposing before his very eyes!
“Brother! Forgive me!”
Dogbark ran.
Faster than he ever had in his life, Dogbark ran, paws flying over the ground, blood roaring in his ears.
“Forgive me!”
He tripped and stumbled over a root, Blackshiver was gaining, her chest and paws stained with blood, there was a distant barking of dogs.
“Forgive me!”
Blackshiver was on him now, she was less than a tail length away!
“Forgive me!”
She leapt on top of him, claws digging into his sides, jaws around his throat, the barking got louder, and louder like the crashing of thunder-
“Forgive me!”
And then, the nightmare shattered, and everything went black.