Copper and Crow | Short Story
Glowingshadow felt his eye twitch with irritation as he stared at Poppycharm from across the Cherryclan camp, lecturing Crowpaw for… Getting into a playfight with Vanillapaw over a piece of prey. They both still had kit fluff behind their ears, of course they would still want to play and mess around, and argue over small things like prey! He rolled his eyes as he focused onto the two sisters relaxing nearby, enjoying the shade. Most cats would sunbathe in this warm greenleaf, but Vanillapaw and Sweetpaw seemed to hate anything that was too warm.. And water. The two were hard to please, he thought with another, more playful roll of his eyes. Unfortunately, that caused him to look back at Crowpaw and Poppycharm. The poor apprentice was struggling not to tear up, simply nodding at their mother before sulking away when she glared and told them to go find their mentor.
He got up, stretching before hurrying after Crowpaw. The black and gray cat looked seconds away from crying, but managed to regain their composure as they noticed him approaching. “Crowpaw!” He smiled warmly at them, as they forced a small smile. “Hi, Glowingshadow- I’m uh, looking for Silverstrike. Have you seen her?” They questioned, to which Glowingshadow shook his head. “Nope, sorry buddy. But I was wondering if you were doing okay? Here, let’s walk and talk.” He turned, letting Crowpaw take the lead as he trailed after. “So… Is everything okay?” “Um.. Why do you ask?” Crowpaw glanced up at the tom, who made his best concerned expression. “I saw you and Poppycharm and you both looked pretty upset.. You don’t have to lie to me, I promise.” The apprentice seemed to shrink at the mention of their mother, looking away and trying to find Silverstrike among the clearing. “Uh, well.. She.. Um.. She- She kind of got mad at me for fighting with Vanillapaw over that dove we both really wanted.” Crowpaw shuffled their paws, glancing down at the soft grass as their eyes darted to-and-fro. Glowingshadow felt bad making the young cat so uncomfortable, but he needed this info. “Well, she didn’t have to yell at you for that…” “She yells at me a lot.” Crowpaw blurted out, flinching immediately at their own words. “Does she yell at Copperpaw too?” Glowingshadow pressed on, brushing his tail against Crowpaw’s spine.
“…Sometimes. I don’t hear it much but I think he gets it kind of worse than I do.” Crowpaw mumbled, causing Glowingshadow’s fur to bristle. “I see… I’m sorry your mother’s-” He bit back the cruel words he wanted to say, “so strict to you and your brother.” He looked away with a slight hiss to his words. Crowpaw nodded slightly, glancing around the camp once more then silently moving away once they saw Silverstrike. “I gotta go talk to Silverstrike now,” They mewed, their voice strained. “Oh- Have fun training, Crowpaw! Byebye!” Glowingshadow purred as the apprentice hurried off to the silver tabby, then quickly dropped the facade and gave a cold glare to Poppycharm. The she-cat was busy grooming her fur, basking in the sunlight that filtered through the white leaves. As if she wasn’t just yelling at her own child. His pelt bristled as he imagined digging his claws into her, ripping out fur and seeing the blood stain the forest floor- But he quickly shook the thoughts out of his head as he silently left the camp to go on a little innocent walk.
The territory was warm and buzzing with life, birds chirping and leaves rustling. It almost soothed the bubbling anger that felt ready to explode within Glowingshadow, as he repeated the scene over and over in his head. Why is it some cats just don’t know how to treat their kits right? Is it that hard to be decent and treat your kit like you would your friends and family? He looked up at the blossoms in the trees as he continued to walk, wondering how he’d deal with Poppycharm. Her kits seemed uncomfortable even talking to her, and asking her to change seemed like a brick wall. His thoughts came to a sudden stop as a scent hit his nose, slightly faint yet sour. He hurried towards the source, looking down into a dip of trees. A badger den! How long has this been here? It seemed recently abandoned too… While he knew he should’ve definitely brought this up to the newfound leader Palestar, he instead had a much better idea. With a sudden turn, leaves fluttering from his movement- He rushed back to camp to ask Poppycharm to come investigate with him.
“I don’t see the point in asking just me to come with you,” Poppycharm groaned as Glowingshadow forced himself to keep his claws sheathed, feeling his heart race as they approached the location. “Couldn’t you just have asked the deputy to send out a patrol?” “Well, you’re one of the best warriors I know!” He needed it to be convincing, he couldn’t just kill her and drag her there- Despite every word she spoke made him only want to tear her from limb to limb. Maybe he’d give himself more reason to do it, just to make when they finally got there more exciting. “So, how’s Copperpaw and Crowpaw?” He immediately regretted asking it the moment the words came out. “Ugh, you would not believe how irritating those two could be. Copperpaw’s nest is a mess every day despite how much I tell the mousebrain to clean it, and Crowpaw got into a fight over a dove with that new cat. Can you believe him?-” “They.” He hissed under his breath. “Hm?” Poppycharm looked up from her rant, her lavender eyes half-lidded with mild irritation. “Nothing, just mumbling!” Glowingshadow smiled, forcing himself to keep his happy demeanor. By the time they finally arrived, Glowingshadow was trembling with excitement, his tail twitching with each move. “You’re shaking like a leaf,” Poppycharm pointed out as Glowingshadow bit his tongue, not wanting to reveal any intentions. “Well, we don’t know if it’s really gone.” He hummed as Poppycharm approached the den. Finally.
Poppycharm sniffed the roots of the tree, cringing at the scent. “Ew, you were right about it being recently abandoned.” She grumbled as Glowingshadow slowly approached, unsheathing his claws. His heartbeat raced in his ears, barely able to hear Poppycharm’s talk of nonsense- “I don’t think there’s anything here. Can we go now, Glowingshadow? Glowingshadow?” She mewed, turning just in time to see Glowingshadow lunge.
She was dead before she could even yowl. He shoved his claws into the bleeding out body, ripping out clumps of fur, leaving large gashes, everything he could to make it convincing as he removed clumps of fur from her body. Sneaking inside the den, he quickly dragged anything he could out to make it look like a badger got her instead of him- And then, after rolling around in the den to add some finishing touches and, he darted back to camp with his best terrified expression.
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I wanted to write about one of Glowingshadow’s murders. So I wrote about Poppycharm! I considered writing about one of the cats I didn’t mention in his backstory, but Poppy was the first one that came to mind. i hope i submitted this right lmao
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This is what happens when you don’t respect your child or their pronouns, folks!