Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-26046797-20161207051636/@comment-27669385-20170207192922

Fawnstar gently curled her tail around Fawnkit, trying to think of something to say to comfort the kit.

Reedpaw shrugged. "Maybe she'll take a hint."

Birdpaw exploded out of the undergrowth, chasing after the rabbit. Paws outstretched, claws unsheathed, she was a tail length away from the rabbit when it suddenly veered off course and changed direction.

Birdpaw skidded to a halt, cursing, and turned to resume her chase, when a bone-chilling hiss stopped her dead in her tracks.

Now she understood why the rabbit changed course.

An adder sat not a fox-length away, its shiny, scaled body hidden by fallen leaves. Its forked tongue flicked in and out of its mouth as it watched her, glittering black eyes pinned on her. It began to slither forward, uncoiling itself.

Birdpaw was frozen. All her instincts screamed to run, to hide. She could outrun it, surely? But her paws were stuck in place, glued to the earth.

It was a tail-length away now, staring at her as if wondering how she would taste. It slid closer, its slippery body snaking through the leaves. She could see its pearly white fangs now, dripping with poison.

She turned and ran.

Wrong move.

Quick as a flash, the adder had lunged, wrapping itself around her neck, its tail immobilizing her front legs. It let out another dry, sharp hiss that rattled in its throat, and jerked its head toward her neck, puncturing her skin with its fangs.

The adder's job done, it released its victim and weaved off through the trees.

Birdpaw screamed, a pitiful, rasping sound. Her throat was wet with blood. She could feel the poison beginning to make its way through her body. Her blood was on fire and her nerves were ice. Her vision was blurry and she stumbled, heart hammering in her chest.

If she could just make it back to the camp. . . Rushingriver had herbs. . . But she was so sleepy, and the moss underpaw was so comfortable. She just wanted a little nap, then she could catch a rabbit for Reedpaw. He'd understand, of course. Wouldn't he?

Her thin body fell to the ground, limp and weak. Her legs trembled and she jerked feebly, her muscles stiffening with every spasm. The poison was reaching her heart, she could feel her heart slowing down, freezing up like a lake in leafbare. It slowed to a sluggish pace, then stopped altogether.

It would be near sunhigh before the little apprentice's body was found. She would be stiff, her fur would have a light coat of frost. No breath would rise from her nose, clouding up in the cold air. Her heart would be a still and silent as a shadow, blackened with fatal poison. Nobody would know that Birdpaw's last thoughts were of Reedpaw, that she had only wanted to make him happy. That she had died hunting for him, chasing his favourite prey. ..