Unpopular Friendship (final) (short story)
First: https://www.tumblr.com/residents-of-the-darkforest/737215289814630400/unpopular-friendship-part-1-short-story?source=share
Previous: https://www.tumblr.com/residents-of-the-darkforest/738115228165980160/unpopular-friendship-part-3-short-story?source=share
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Poppykit’s heart pounded, thrumming through her veins down to her paws, making them beat rhythmically as she hurried silently across the brittle ground. It was not the cold, gut-squeezing heart-pound that would have her wondering if she would get caught. No, it was the thrilled, little bursts of energy as she thought how she’s doing it! She’s sneaking out, and not getting caught!
She had stalked away, then walked, and now was picking up her pace to a run. She knew it was only smart to have their meeting spot so far away from either of their parents and any watchful eyes that could tattle, but before long her legs ached and she had to resist the urge to curl down and rest. When she finally came to the small clearing sheltered by a ring of blackened holly bushes, she collapsed onto her belly with a dramatic sigh.
“Hemlockkiiiiit! Please tell me you’re here…”
“I am!” Hemlockkit announced from the shadows. Poppykit had no time to look around before she was pounced on and rolled onto her back. Hemlockkit smiled down at her, her unusually long fangs glinting in the dim light of the mushrooms that clung to the nearby trees, the only light that was offered. “Hi.”
Poppykit giggled and pushed her off. “Did anyone see you leave?”
Hemlockkit puffed out her chest proudly. “Not one! Well, Spottedtooth, but he promised not to tell a soul if I made it back before my parents wake up!”
Poppykit nodded. “Shiverkit promised not to tell no matter how long I’m gone! But I’ll probably have to cover for him someday. Anyway, no one saw me! My moms didn’t even twitch!”
Hemlockkit batted playfully at Poppykit’s tail while Poppykit settled onto her side, allowing her legs their much-needed rest. “I wish I had done that,” she replied. “I wonder how long I have…It already took so long getting here.”
Poppykit let out a breath. “You’re telling me!”
“Aw!” Hemlockkit nudged her. “Don’t tell me you’re too tired to play!”
“Am not! Just sore’s all.”
“Aww, did the long walk hurt your little toes?” Hemlockkit teased. If it were from anyone else, Poppykit’s hair would have stood in anger, but from her best friend, she smiled a challenging grin, moving into the position of a crouch, ready to jump.
“I’ll show you hurt toes!”
“I have an idea.” Hemlockkit proposed before Poppykit could leap at her.
“What?”
Hemlockkit gestured toward the massive karri tree five tail-lengths behind the bushes. Poppykit’s jaw dropped as she saw the massive tree for the first time. She hadn’t even noticed it in the black shadows! “Bet I can climb higher than you,” she challenged.
“But it’s huge!” Poppykit’s eyes were wide, still on the huge tree.
“Are you backing down?”
Poppykit glared at her. “Never!”
“Then come on!” Hemlockkit bounced excitedly on her paws. “We’re bound to learn this when we start our training, right? Wouldn’t it be cool to have a head start and surprise our mentors?’
“Yeah!” Poppykit agreed. The bursts of energy were returning to her.
“Then it’s on!”
Poppykit was, if nothing else, a very confident kit. She pushed herself up the bark, digging her claws in deep as inch by inch, she scooted up the slim trunk. Her eyes were fixed on the branch high above her. She just needed to reach that, and then she could take a break…but it was so high!
Beside her, Hemlockkit took in long breaths, struggling too as she moved upward.
Poppykit was a very confident kit, a great strength and a great flaw. When she turned her head and looked back to the ground, seeing how high from the safety of the grass she came, she let out a squeak and pressed as close to the bark as she could. Her confidence was slipping like her claws might start to–!
“Hurry up, slow-poke!”
Poppykit looked back up, and saw that Hemlockkit had gained distance. While Poppykit debated following or just going back, Hemlockkit was nearing the branch. Don’t be such a kit, she told herself. Hemlockkit was right, they were bound to do this training anyway, right? So it can’t be that bad…and when Hawkjay saw how skilled she was, she surely wouldn’t worry so much anymore!
Gritting her teeth, Poppykit pushed on. Closer…closer…she was almost there!
Hemlockkit had already made it to the branch and now sat on it, claws unsheathed for grip, watching and waiting for Poppykit to join her.
Poppykit’s breath left her in a long sigh of relief as she finally, finally clambered onto the branch. It took everything in her not to just let her muscles melt away and sink into the wood. She still had to hold on.
“Who do you think your mentor will be?” Hemlockkit asked.
“Are we talking up here?”
“If you want a distraction.”
“Good. Yeah. Uhm…maybe Scorchbeetle?” They were cousins, and Poppykit highly doubted that either of her mothers would be comfortable with non-kin watching over their kits. “Oh! Maybe Crowsage! She’s so cool, she lets me get away with everything!”
“Yeah, Hawkjay will love that.”
“Uh, right…Well, who do you think your mentor will be?”
Silence.
“Hemlockkit? Helloo?”
Poppykit blinked at her friend, and saw that she was busy staring down at the ground. “Hemlockkit? Hey, you’re not scared, are you?” Poppykit tried to make her voice sound teasing, but anxiety was swirling uncomfortably in her chest. If Hemlockkit was scared, too, then….
“Do you think it’s too high? If the branch breaks, or we slip–”
“Don’t say that!”
“What will happen to us when we land?”
“I don’t know.” Poppykit shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, and not like her heart was pounding painfully.
“Me neither. I think I need to see.”
“See? See how?” Before Poppykit could realize what was happening, she felt a pressure on her side, and the solid branch beneath her was suddenly gone. The wind was cold as ice, pulling violently at her fur while reaching deep into her bones. She yowled in terror, her legs swinging blindly through the air as she plummeted lower and lower. “Mommy!”
—-
No one knew of Hemlockkit’s deed.
She would climb down to safety and return to the warm belly of her mother, and start the next day as she would any other.
Hawkjay and Lilacheart were never quite the same after that. They never found out where their daughter went or why she had left. With each passing day, the idea that she was dead became an obvious reality, but the questions would always haunt them. What had happened to her? Did she suffer? Did someone hurt her, and if so, who? Any cat they met could have been their daughter’s killer.
Shiverkit hated himself for not telling them sooner, for letting his sister leave the safety of their den and walk into the darkness alone. He never told them that he knew. He swore on his life that he wouldn’t, and the deep fear that he, too, would disappear into nothingness kept him silent. As he grew into a warrior, that fear shrank, but still he kept his silence. Telling them now would only cause them to hate him. Maybe he deserved it. Maybe he was selfish. They needed closure, but would they turn their backs on him?
He had asked Hemlockkit, but she seemed just as concerned and confused, claiming that Poppykit had never made it to their spot. He followed her to where they were supposed to meet, but there was no sign that either kit had ever been there.
You may be wondering: but why?
Why would Hemlockkit murder her best friend? Was she planning it all along? Was it an accident?
Maybe, and no.
Many cats kill those they hate, or those they don’t know at all. To kill a friend, someone one actually likes and cares for for no other reason than ‘why not?’, is ludicrous!
For Hemlockpine it isn’t. Hemlockpine kills equally, friends and foes, simply because she feels like it. Hemlockkit truly did like Poppykit. She saw the ginger-and-black kit as her best friend, and loved the time they had together. Maybe the thought to push her was a spur-of-the-moment thing, maybe she was planning it the moment she challenged Poppykit to climb, or before.
In either case, her reasoning is the same: because she could.
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SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE! YOU THOUGHT!
ME WRITING A NICE STORY? THINK AGAIN! IT WAS A VICTIMS TALE ALL ALONG FUCKERS!
--No one ever finds out about what Hemlock did.
--Hemlockpine kills anyone--but not kin. Kin is off limits, that's the family rule.
@starfalcon555
