Quailsong's Nightmare

Quailsong dashed through the forest, breathing heavily. She could practically feel her aggressor’s breath on the back of her neck. It felt like she had been running for hours, and yet it had only been about a minute. Quailsong sprinted into a valley which, unbeknownst to her, led to a dead end.

“Shit!” Quailsong cursed as she slid to a stop against the mountain wall before her. She whipped around, this sudden end in path forcing her to confront the large cat that had been chasing her. This wasn’t just any cat, but a mountain lion that had been right on her tail. The large cat chuckled at the runt in front of him, wiping a singular tear from his eye.

“Hah, you Clan cats always crack Juma up. Juma cannot remember how many times he has killed one of you Clan cats. But Juma knows that he will be adding one more to that number.” But before Juma could say another word, Quailsong sprang onto his face. Her claws latched onto his left eye, digging in deeper and deeper. Juma roared in pain, knocking the much smaller cat to the ground.

“You’re going to regret that.” Juma growled, sinking his large claws into Quailsong’s forearm. The she-cat yowled in agony as flesh was ripped from her. Juma grabbed onto her tail, shaking her like a dog toy. Quailsong began to lose consciousness. One minute she was getting flung around, and the next she was laying on the floor. Her eyes kept shutting, but then opening again minutes later as she fought to stay awake. She could hear a feminine voice screeching, and a loud roaring. She saw a spotted pelt on the back of that cougar, ripping into him.

“Honey..”Quailsong’s eyes closed again. When they opened, she saw Honeydew standing over her. Her mouth was moving, but she couldn’t hear what she was saying. Her eyes closed again, but this time she blacked out.

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“She has lost a lot of blood..”

Quailsong blinked her eyes open. She didn’t know where she was at first. She soon recognized the walls of the Medicine Den. There was a group of cats huddled together, unaware that Quailsong was now awake. The group consisted of Honeydew, Dovekick, Featherleaf, Bearstar, and Greymint.

“What I dont get is why she didn’t just go somewhere it couldn’t reach her. She obviously wasn’t thinking straight.” Dovekick remarked.

“Are you kidding me right now, Dovekick? She was being chased by a fucking cougar for StarClan’s sake!” Featherleaf hissed. Quailsong began to sit up.

“She’s awake.” Bearstar turned towards Quailsong.

“Quailsong, you need to lay down.” Greymint went to Quailsong’s side, giving her a check up. Honeydew rushed over, but didn’t touch her.

“I’m so glad you’re awake!” She purred. Her face was covered in dry tears, making her fur looked matted.

“W-what happened..” Quailsong reached up with her paw to rub her eyes. She had forgotten what happened. Her body felt like it had been struck by lightning as she moved her injured leg. She bit her tongue very hard to prevent herself from screeching in agony. Her body collapsed back into the bloody nest she lay on.

“Try not to move, Quailsong.” Greymint crouched in front of the she-cat. Quailsong coughed up blood from biting her tongue, groaning in pain. She could hear Honeydew whimpering in the background. Greymint fed Quailsong three poppy seeds. Quailsong looked up at Honeydew. She was just now noticing that the spotted she-cat chest and stomach were drenched in blood. She had had to carry Quailsong all the way back to Camp. As the poppy seeds started to put Quailsong back into a deep sleep, she began to reach out a paw towards Honeydew. Honeydew grabbed her healthy paw as the grey she-cat fell asleep.