Vinesmoke
11 Moons
He/Him
The earth was cool beneath Vinesmokes’ paws as he moved through the endless dark. His claws scraped the familiar texture of hard-packed soil, and he could feel the weight of the world pressing above him. Tunneling came naturally, didn’t it? It was what he was born for. What should have been as easy as breathing. But tonight, it was different. The walls of the tunnel seemed to close in tighter than they ever had before. He inhaled sharply, the scent of damp earth filling his lungs, but it felt wrong — stale, suffocating. His paws faltered as shadows deeper than the dark around him writhed at the edges of his vision. "You'll never be strong enough," a voice whispered, so quiet it could have been the wind through an unseen crack. "No one trusts you." "Owlpaw didn’t trust you."
Vinesmokes' chest tightened, the weight of those words far heavier than any tunnel could ever be. No, that’s not true, he told himself, but the doubt clung like mud. The tunnel stretched longer and darker. His heartbeat roared in his ears as he tried to push forward, but with every step, his paws sank deeper.
He looked over his shoulder. "Owlpaw?" His voice was hoarse, desperate. "Are you there?" A soft laugh echoed — familiar and hollow. And there she was. Owlpaw’s silhouette, just out of reach, her amber eyes gleaming like stars. She was smiling. Relief and dread warred in Vinesmokes' chest as he surged forward. "I’m sorry! I wasn’t fast enough. I should have —" "
You couldn’t save me." The ground beneath Vinesmokes collapsed. He plunged downward, his claws scraping for purchase, heart hammering with panic. All around him, the tunnel dissolved into empty air, a chasm that swallowed him whole. The darkness parted like mist. Before him stood a cat whose pelt shimmered with the glow of StarClan — sleek, ethereal, his eyes deep pools of calm. He moved with the grace of a gentle stream but carried the strength of stone beneath the earth. “Who are you?”
@
SuspiciousMindz
Smoke rises away from the vine
