Jackalpaw was a happy and fun loving apprentice. He pulled harmless pranks on others in the clans, he made funny faces during serious times, and always knew the exact thing to say to make others laugh. Jackalpaw was loved by everyone in the clan.
and then one day he slipped during a patrol and slid down a ravine, cracking his skull in half on the rocks below. He died. and he should have stayed that way.
but shortpaw loved him too much, and just like that, Jackalpaw rose from his shallow grave, and immediately he was... wrong. He walked back into camp quietly. His once amber eyes pale, messy fur, claws always unsheathed. Jackalpaw now never spoke unless spoken to, stared off into the walls, and didn’t breathe. everyone in the clan knew he was wrong, but shortpaw wouldn’t let anyone say a thing about it.
and Jackalpaw hated his existence. He could feel himself slowly rotting every day, even after shortpaw would start putting him back together every night. Jackalpaw felt nothing except a longing to no longer be the abomination he knew he was. and after all the chaos, during a bright thunderstorm, the nearby forest was struck by lightning and burst into flames, and Jackalpaw throws himself into the blaze against Shortpaws pleas. His last thoughts are of peace as his rotting body burns to the bone, burns to ash.
