[VA] abyss

[c1nder]

claws scratching the surface of water, searching for something to hold. she was drowning. She couldnt escape.

she was stuck in a never-ending cycle of grief. a cycle of misery. had hawkpaw returning been a sign? why had she been left alone for all this time? she’d been cursed. of course she had. why wouldn’t she have been cursed? she’s blind, she has always been blind. cougarbite, aunt lostspark, the rest of her family…

sinking.

the pressure beginning to crush her. lungs gasping for air they couldnt reach. darkness swallowing her. duskpaw’s mind was stuck. light darted across the surface of the water, the surface she would never reach. the surface she kept sinking from.

a bone drifted down alongside her. bonepaw.
a branch soon followed. forestpaw.
a small, reflective, figure of what she could only assume to be a lion, sank. lionpaw.
a birds’ foot descended. talonpaw.
a foxes’ came into view and quickly disappeared into the depths. foxpaw
finally, a plume of feathers dropped onto the water, yet, they didnt sink, they floated. hawkpaw

her instincts kicked in. legs kicking to push herself upwards, the pressure easing everytime she fought. fight. swim. fight. in her mind, she screamed to herself. until her claws broke the water.

the tabico jolted awake from her dream.

a vile, twisted slumber.

her mind was hazy, filled with a fog that never dispersed. tears ran down her face like a stream, matting the fur as it travelled.