Pantherheart's Story - Fanfic of My OC

Prologue

''The last thing I remember, the last thing I ever experienced before I was thrown into the wild, is the gentle rasping of my mother’s tongue over my fur. Her kind whispers in my ears. But that is gone. Everything is gone. The only thing I know now is hunger.''

''  I didn’t choose this life, nor did I want it; it was thrust upon me one moonlit night, when into our den crept rogues. Horrible, menacing, filthy rogues, come for our fresh-kill. At least, that’s what I want to believe: that they’ve come for prey, and nothing more. I can’t – I won’t – think about that.''

''  Our den, a small dip in the ground sheltered by two bushes; our den, the world I grew up in; our den, the only place I remember my mother; our den, now overrun by rogues.''

''  In our nest at the back of our home, my mother snuck me out, up, up, up, out of the dip, and into the world; the cruel, prey-less world. I ran until I was so tired I could fall over. I ran until it felt my lungs had burst. I ran until I tripped and fell into sleep.''

''  I wander for days, fear the only thing keeping me alive. That and the hope that one day I’ll find my mother. Some days I miss her so much I feel like my spine has been crushed. ''

''  My dreams – no, nightmares, for they aren’t real – are filled with her, her gentle, kind voice, her soft fur. It hurts so much to wake up. I try to dream again, as if I can make her real by hoping. It never works.''

''  Prey is so hard to catch; my mother never taught me. Silly me. I assumed my life would always be simple: wait in the den while mother hunts, and eat together when she returns. I never cared to learn, never asked my mother.''

''  I’m so tired, so hungry. I’m so distraught, so hopeless. I am Pantherheart.''

Chapter 1:

''Pantherheart’s eyes snapped open; a rustling bush had awoken her. ''She stretched her sore limbs, swiveling her ears in the direction of the bush. Prey? Through the growing leaves, she could spot fluffy, white fur. ''Rabbit! ''Her stiffness quickly forgotten, she crept out of her makeshift nest – a crevice between two large rocks -, and began creeping silently, paw by paw, toward the rabbit. It was downwind of her, but suddenly she stepped on a twig. Hearing the snap, the rabbit took one look at her and took off, scattering dead leaves behind it.

Pantherheart growled in frustration. The birdsong she had heard suddenly vanished, and she knew there was no prey near; the rabbit had scared everything away. Her stomach growled against her showing ribs.

She looked around at the forest surrounding her, green sprouts showing here and there. Leaf-bare was over, and newleaf was upon the forest. She gazed wistfully into the bare branches, wishing the birds would come back.

Two days without food, she was starting to give up hope. She had traveled through what seemed like endless plains, though she had not the energy left to chase the rabbits who reside there. Her last food had been an old squirrel, though it had tasted like a feast to her hunger-stricken body.

The trees loomed around her, casting long shadows over the woods. Bushes and brambles grew here and there, but on them, Pantherheart spotted… Berries! She raced toward the bright red treat, mouth watering.

Suddenly, a great force hit her from the side, knocking her to the leaf-littered ground. She unsheathed her claws and swung her paws madly, trying to claw her attacker. The cat, who had backed up a step, stared at her.

Pantherheart continued to flail, but one of her paws got caught in some brambles. She hissed, ripping it away and standing up. She spun to face the strange cat, hackles raised.

“Hey, I just saved your life. That is not how you thank someone,” she meowed.

“Saved my- You didn’t save my life! You attacked me!” Pantherheart spat. “And just as I was about to get a decent meal!”

“Are you serious? Didn’t you know those are deathberries?” She hissed back.

She turned again to look at the bush, and Pantherheart did the same. Suddenly, recognition struck her like lightning: her mother had told her once about the bright red poison. Her pelt hot with embarrassment, she mewed, “Ooh… Sorry.” Her anger dissolved.

The she-cat let out an exasperated sigh. “Do you normally fight when some cat tries to help you?”

“When they help me by shoving me, yes!” Pantherheart said, her rage returning. Glaring at the she-cat, Pantherheart saw she was a brown tabby with broad shoulders, and yellow eyes.

“Well, you shouldn’t even be here! This is ThunderClan territory!” She puffed out her chest, as if proud to be allowed here.

“I’ll go wherever I want, thanks.” Pantherheart huffed, irritated by this arrogant stranger.

“Sure, if you want a torn ear.” She said, shrugging her shoulders carelessly.

“What? From you? Ha. You’re hardly a threat.” Pantherheart said, trying to remain calm, though anger still coursed through her.

“Not just me, obviously. From the rest of my patrol, who should be here any minute.” She purred, clearly enjoying this. At that, Pantherheart wondered if she ''should ''leave. She didn’t exactly have the strength to fight a whole patrol. Or even one cat, apparently.

Her black fur bristled in fear, and her ice-blue eyes widened as she heard approaching paw steps.

“Well. What’s this, Robintail? An intruder?” meowed a hostile voice as a group of cats appeared behind the brown she-cat. As they approached, Pantherheart could see the lead cat, the one who had spoken. He is a large, gray tom, splotches of darker gray seemingly splattered on his pelt. His green eyes glared inquisitively at Pantherheart.

“Just a rogue. And not too smart, by the looks of it. She tried to eat deathberries!” the she-cat, Robintail, said.

The other cats smirked, though a small white tom mewed, “Is she okay?”

“Of course, Snowpaw. Robintail wouldn’t let that happen to any cat, ThunderClan or not.” Soothed a tortoiseshell she-cat.

Pantherheart stared, mystified. She though that all cats were savage monsters, like the rogues who attacked her and her mother. These seemed like gentle, caring creatures, at least to their own.

While she was thinking this, the large gray tom had stalked toward her until he loomed over Pantherheart.

“Leave. Now.” He growled. “Before you can’t.”

Pantherheart nodded stiffly, backing away before running the opposite direction of the ThunderClan cats, until she smelled the scent markers, signifying their territory. As she slowed, she could smell another, ranker, scent, like crow-food. Strange. And, as she continued, the ground turned swampier, and pine trees replaced oaks.

Suddenly, she stepped in a puddle. ''EW. ''She shook her wet paws, though the scent of dirty water still clung to them.