[pomegranate]

Originally Posted by Pouncepaw

Quinoa slowly got to her paws. Teetering on three legs, she lurched away from the voices. She couldn’t stay here. Not with Hades and his group, and the newcomer. The new cat smelled of the Dusk Syndicate. She hated Clan cats, by the Dusk Syndicate was alright. She broke out of the woods, far away from Hades and the intruder. The sunlight reached her pelt, and she hobbled away from the schoolhouse. She spotted a small shed, crumbling and rotted. She reached the entrance, and smelled only mice and weeds. She scooped up some dirt and plants on the floor, and curled up in the dank structure. She laid her head on her paws, cradling her wounded leg with care. Her yellow eyes drooped closed. For the fourth time, she drifted into unconsciousness.

Quinoa awoke suddenly, quaking from the nightmare of her previous sleep. It had been in a clearing of darkness and death. Hades had been looming over her. Cress and the other cat, Shadow, had been jeering from across the glen, cackling with malice. Hades had been slowly slashing out her eyes, and gourging her underbelly. Quinoa had awoke, sweat beading on her brow. She was positive she still felt blood around her, and wounds on her body. She growled. She had to leave. If anyone found her here... she shied away from that thought. If a cat was out hunting, or smelled her scent, they could be on her in a flash. She was too weak to defend herself. For goodness sake, if anyone was just out on a STROLL. Even if she attacked first, the odds were nine to one. Roadkill.
She pricked her ears. A mouse was nibbling on a weed. The rodent hadn’t seen her nest in the shadows, and she shot out one paw. The mouse darted away. I’m going to starve here! She thought. Stuck in an enemies territory, surrounded by killers. Wounded and unable to fight, and unable to feed herself. Death stared her right in the face, laughing.