cowgirl4ever

by @littlerabbitarts

Ratblood prowled around her with careful steps, his attention hot on her pelt like the stare of the summer sun. Like the inky magpies circling overhead of the glass dome above.

“As a Battleforged you will ensure our cubs grow strong and proud… let the Dark Forest bless them with scars as striking as your own. Pass down your knowledge and your gained experience of this world to them, give our pack the education it needs to conquer our enemies and win our battles! You will bear witness to the assessment of our new generations. You will use your judgement to decide which mentor will guide each cub.” His rough, rising voice drowned out even the distant croaks of frogs and songs of birds and bellows of toads that framed the botanical house as a never-ending white noise.

The small leader arrived in front of Moonshadow. He crouched flat to the mosaic floor for a moment, low and poised. Like a coiled spring, he pounced. His teeth - crooked with the front fang chipped - latched onto her throat but he did not bite down violently. His teeth dug into her throat with careful, intentional pressure. For a moment he hung off the floor, his paws lifted from the ground. Only the strength of his jaws, carefully locked onto the meat of her neck, kept him lifted. He could feel the new Battleforged’s muscles beneath his teeth. Years spent consuming the cat anatomy had finally paid off. He did not strike a single vein.

His paws hit the mosaic flooring with a small thud. A dash of blood coated his chipped fang. Ratbloods tongue wiped over the canine, savouring the taste. It would tie him over for a few days. His lips twitched and, just between the two, Moonshadow would witness a grin crack on his maw, stained with her own blood.

“This wound is no shame… it is the seal of one who endured, of one who is forged in battle. You have been scarred tonight beneath the watch of Dark Forest and of Beast and Blood, as our first Battleforged! Moonshadow, Moonshadow, Moonshadow!” He chanted her name loud and proud with the taste of her neck still spiking his tongue.