A fresh day.

A fresh day was meant to be a fresh start, too. Right? A new beginning, new opportunities, a new adventure, and all the things a queen told her kits about when they were feeling morose.

But how could a cat find herself invigorated by the 'fresh start' and 'new opportunities' when she knew that only hardships and a destiny fit for none but the worst awaited her?

Sparkface spent the whole night tossing and turning, trying to figure the mystery of her wretched existence, until Breezecloud hissed at her to be quiet and actually think for cats other than herself for once. Ah. There it was again. You don't think for anyone but yourself.

The remainder of the night had passed agonisingly slowly. Sparkface knew that when the sun rose and the Clan was presented with another day, she should be up early and working hard. Hard, to compensate for her various blunders and mistakes. Hard, to let them see that she could be a tireless, loyal warrior just like them.

But she was scared. Scared that she would only be a burden to her Clan. Scared that she'd just be an extra mouth to feed. Scared of herself. Nevertheless, she forced herself to stand and prepare for the day. And now, Shrewsong was beckoning her forwards, eyes narrowed. 

"You will be in a hunting patrol with Mudnose, Dawnsky and Smallpaw. They're leaving now."

Sparkface winced at the somewhat bitterness in the deputy's tone and nodded glumly, hurrying after the three cats after she'd spotted them.

"By the Outlook Rock? My patrol caught a lot there last time." It was Mudnose, the leader of the patrol. The two other cats flicked their tail toward Sparkface in a brief greeting. She squinted momentarily, trying to make out if they were angry with her too, but if they were, they hid it well.

Sparkface nodded back to them but otherwise kept silent on the small journey to the Outlook Rock. When they arrived, she was determined to at least make no more trouble for her patrol.

"You two head off that way," Mudnose nodded to Dawnsky and Smallpaw. "And you can come with me." Sparkface blinked and nodded again, following the brown tom to the base of the Outlook Rock. Sparkface craned her neck, trying to see the top of the rock. She shuddered as she thought of how deadly it could be if a cat jumped off of it.

She watched as the patrol leader quickly spotted a rabbit foraging for food, mouth open to taste the air. Her eyes lit up at the strong scent of pheasant that drifted in the air and she let out an excited yell. "Pheasant!" Her paws leading her heart, she dashed off toward the scent.

An angry call drew her back. "You frightened off my rabbit, Sparkface!"

"Sorry! There's a pheasant over there--" she pointed her tail toward the scent-- "so I thought—"

"Can't you smell the staleness? It's just an empty nest! It's been abandoned for days—don't you remember Lionfrost bringing back a pheasant and its eggs?"

Sparkface's shoulders sagged. She'd done it again. She'd let her Clan down again.

Mudnose snorted derisively. "Happy now?" He stalked off, motioning with his tail for her to follow him. "Come on. We'd be lucky to find a couple of rabbit droppings."

You rabbit-brain! Sparkface dragged her paws over to him, eyes downcast.

When he found a hare sniffing in clumps of long grass, Sparkface was occupied with a particularly strong-smelling, fresh pool of urine on the moor, wondering what animal it belonged to and where it might be then. She wrinkled her nose and bounded over to Mudnose, but slipped. The dull thud that followed was more than enough to startle the hare — Mudnose was poised to kill it—and send it running off. The amber-eyed tom spun around to face her, hissing.

"What do you think you're doing? Go and hunt by yourself if you can't let me hunt, feather-brain!"

The creamy she-cat's heart sank with the hardness of his words. I just wanted to help.

Sighing, she trudged away.

***

This is your chance to shine!

Sparkface was chasing after a rabbit, ears flattened against the wind. Her paws thumped on the ground rhythmically, and her eyes were narrowed. She was close — very close now. The somewhat calm feeling of wind rushing with her body, flowing smoothly, as if whispering encouragement to her, was nice.

Her eyes flew wide as she saw a rabbit hole in front of her. Please, I just need a few more moments!

The rabbit dived into the hole. Sparkface nearly tried to plunge into the small hole after the rabbit, but instead found herself panting outside, and feeling absolutely miserable. Her mind whirled dully as she plodded back to camp.

I'm not a blundering, careless kit. I wanted to be a good WindClan warrior. I wanted to help my Clan. I wanted to at least stop dragging them and weighing them down.

Apparently that's too much to ask for.

By Saph! 🍩✨