themainframe | 1st Prophecy; Video;

[These memories aren't broadcast far and wide. Maybe that's a blessing. Rather, they appear on the D-Terminals of Jinx, Kovu, Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus, Sora, Yu, Mami, and Waver.

The scene is a cliff of a forest hollow, surrounded by fire. Hollyleaf -- very much a cat -- and her brothers, Jayfeather and Lionblaze, are crouched at one end of a large branch, which creates a bridge through the fire. At the other end, Ashfur, a gray cat, and Squirrelflight, an injured ginger cat, face off. Ashfur stands at the end of the branch, blocking Hollyleaf and her brothers' escape.

"This is the only way to make you feel the same pain that you caused me." Ashfur's voice rises above the fire. "You tore my heart out when you chose Brambleclaw over me. Anything I did to you would never hurt as much. But your kits..." He looks through the flames, toward the siblings. "If you watch them die, then you'll know the pain I felt."

A flicker, through the fire, in but a moment. Squirrelflight's steely response: "Kill them, then. You won't hurt me that way."

A flicker. "They are not my kits."

Hollyleaf's shocked and dismayed face fades, into a brief jumble of words.

Hollyleaf's horrified and shocked voice, first: "We might not even be Clan cats!"
And again, desperate: "We've got to stop him somehow. Otherwise he'll tell all four Clans about us."
A male voice now, one of her brothers: "...nd they might drive us away from the lake."

A brief, flickered image, through Hollyleaf's eyes. She's looking at Ashfur, who appears wary. "What do you want?"

"How do you know I want anything?"

"Aren't you going to try to make me change my mind, like Squirrelflight and your littermates."

"No." A shocked expression is her reward. "I know there's nothing I can do. It's your decision to betray your own Clan."

Another flicker, like the conversation jumps. Hollyleaf's voice echoes, "And it's not betrayal when you weaken ThunderClan in front of the other Clans, so soon after the Great Battle?"

Ashfur's face gets very close, his lips drawn back in a snarl. "If you're trying to scare me, it's not working."

"And you don't scare me either. Nothing scares me more than the thought that you're not afraid of what will happen after you've spoken out."

His narrowed eyes. "I'll purr over what will happen after I've revealed the truth."

The scene shakes into darkness. Hollyleaf's distressed voice again, shaking. "I couldn't let him do that! I couldn't let them find out the truth--that Firestar's Clan was even less pure than they thought."

The sun's going down. Ashfur faces off against Hollyleaf again, through her point of view, appearing almost disgruntled or annoyed with her. He starts to say something, something-- "I thought you said you didn't want t--"

Quite suddenly, Ashfur's getting closer-- Hollyleaf's leaped at him. He gasps and she pushes her paw against his neck, easily pinning him down. It's chaos, as he thrashes and they toss and turn, and in the midst of it, she hisses, "You left me no choice," and a gurgling noise rises from Ashfur's throat.

He's choking in the water of a stream, which is slowly dying red from the wound across his neck. Wide-eyed, he stares and he dies.

The water reflects Hollyleaf's face, green eyes cold and stone-y, mouth touched with blood...and paws covered in it. They dip in the water, which washes it away.

ICanSeeInTheDark @ Deviantart photo 32ICanSeelnTheDarkDeviantart.png

"Ashfur would've destroyed ThunderClan."

Blood. From her paws to the water, all in her gaze. Ashfur's body starts to slip away, floating in the water. Still, the blood in the water fills Hollyleaf's vision.

And a the memories flicker out.

For only a second, the human-Hollyleaf's eyes are wide and shocked at the memory; then the D-Terminal flicks off.]

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...Yeah.

[He shakes his head. That stupid D-terminal...why does everything always bring up his past like this?]

I told you before, I didn't have my own life. It was all what my mother wanted. I never got to play, or have fun, or anything.

...What was growing up like for you?

...Nice.

[She sounds almost guilty.]

A large Clan, kin... It was difficult, the training... It was rough. But I...loved the life of a Clan cat. Hunting, providing food for my Clanmates, daily patrols... Even listening to the elders spit out hot air with their stories.

I'd give everything to go back to it, and to take back what I did so I could.

[There was just...the prophecy...

...the most frightening thing of all...

Maybe she wishes it never existed.]

So you had all of that...and then you lost it. I'm not sure which is worse.

Can't we say they're equally awful?

...Yeah. Who cares which one's worse, they both sucked.

... It would've been nice, still, to share them on our own time...even though I'm not sure if this is something I would've wanted uncovered.

I never even told Kiara that. I...I was going to, when we woke up the next day.

But instead you got taken here.

I still don't even know what I'm going to say, if I ever see her again. "Sorry I was gonna kill your dad" doesn't really roll off the tongue.

[Up to now, he's sounded somewhat even toned, if a little depressed. This, though, sounds venomous, biting and harsh.]

Amerika @ Deviantart photo 12AmerikaDeviantart.png

You didn't do it yet. And it sounds like you...don't want to.

It's not too late to change it.

I...

[He sighs.]

I dunno. I don't want to do anything that would hurt Kiara, but Simba killed Scar! And if he hadn't, I'd be a prince right now. Instead of..."the Chosen one."

[If anyone could make it sound like their words were rending into flesh, the former lion does it when he says "Chosen." He hadn't really said exactly why the whole "Chosen" idea bothered him so much, but by now most people he'd talked to have guessed it anyway.]

Hollyleaf1998 @ Deviantart photo 19Hollyleaf1998Deviantart.png

[Oh, that word bothers Hollyleaf too. She's just pushed it down so much...she can't flinch every time someone says it.]

...Why did he kill him?

...I don't know. To become king, I guess. No one ever...told me.

Maybe that's where you should start. I... ...did a lot of things I regret, because I didn't understand why others did what they did, for my sake or theirs.

Lies... I think they just make things worse. Maybe you should ask...why.

I don't think...that'd go over too well. I'm Scar's heir, so no one in the Pride Lands would even talk to me...

XxUkarixX @ Deviantart photo 13XxUkarixXDeviantart.png

...My fa-- [Hollyleaf shuts her eyes and shakes her head.] The cat I...believed to be my father. Brambleclaw.

When he was just a kit, his father, Tigerclaw, did horrible things. As Brambleclaw grew, he watched his father take over other Clans, and kill half-Clan cats to purge their blood.

And yes...many didn't trust him. Many thought...he and his sister would end up just like Tigerclaw. But...our leader, Firestar. He mentored him. He gave him the support needed, and...Brambleclaw's our deputy now, the second in command.

If one cat believe in you, even one, I think maybe that's a place to start. ...Kiara's like that, right?

But...what if she's not enough? I spent my whole life training just for this, it's not like it's just going to...go away...right?

No. But one's a start, right? I'm not saying it won't take time. But you are more than your heritage as well...right?

[He wants to agree, to say that yeah, he is. That's what Leomon told him, and that's what Kiara would say, too. And he's knows that it's right. But after ruining what few friendships he's made here like that, and all so fast...]

I...I want to be...

Then maybe you already are.

[It's what Firestar would say. What Jayfeather would say...what Brambleclaw would say. Maybe it's what should be for her, as well.]

[He sighs, and his head falls.]

...Maybe...

...I don't mean to...lecture you. I know I have a bad habit of it.

[He shakes his head.]

At least you're trying to help.

...I hope it is doing something.

I...don't know. My past getting brought up like this is just...I don't know.

Edited 2013-09-17 17:45 (UTC)

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