[Milestone2] Rainfinch - Guided Steps

“Okay. I’ll help you.” 

A smile broke across Sorrelsky’s otherwise demure face. Truly, it was perhaps the first in moons that Rainpaw had seen. It was enough to solidify their resolve. Yes, this was the right choice. They smiled back.

“It means a lot,” ce breathed a sigh of relief. “I have been ready for so long… I hear Them in my dreams. It’s wonderful. I am so grateful for Them, and of what they have told me.” A pause. “They say good things about you, too.” 

Their mouth parted. Yet, words entirely eluded them. “Really…?” They whispered, leaning forward. What was serious morphed into something else entirely: reverent. Could Sorrelsky hear how loud their head was beating? Could ce tell how close they were to fainting? Partaking in this ritual wasn’t a privilege every young Acolyte had.

“Indeed. They love you. No– we love you. You’re selfless. They saw how you prayed and loved seeing your caretakers become Divine. You strengthen them. They can tell you are special.” Cir nose pressed against their head, leaving a smear of red dye behind. “Listen to them. They will guide you,” ce whispered.

They gently inhaled, eyes sliding close. 

Whispers cleared, morphing and shaping with Sorrelsky’s soft breathing, strengthening and comforting. The sensation of Them untangling the seams and barriers of their mind was odd at first, but welcome. ‘Guide me. Guide me, please.’ The anxiety left their body with each caring, soothing voice gently permeating and grasping their mind. They could hear them. Feel Their warm, all-encompassing embrace, warming their fur with a heavy, steady stream of liquid stars.

They purred, joining the thrum of heartbeats to combine as one. Had they felt love before? Nothing like this before– no, nothing came close. This was the purpose for living. They had to live to feel this forever, forever until their kin called to them. They felt warm and fuzzy, yet clear-headed and focused. They knew what they had to do. They knew how to do it.

An exhale. Finally, Their eyes opened. Visions of ancestral trails guided Their movement, leading Them gently forward as Their maw closed on Sorrelsky’s throat. 

At first, nothing happened, save for Sorrelsky’s gasp and grunt. Cir surprise was evident and, through the haze of presence and sentience, could understand emotionally, but it only fed into Their desire to assist cir. Another bite. Flesh began to peek under thinning fur. Another. Skin and flesh caught on Their teeth, offering the slightest give. Then, Their canines buried themselves deep as the Divine lent Their strength proper. Only a few tugs were needed until maroon fur loosened and caved. It bunched in their mouth– akin to eating rabbit, tickling and almost suffocating in its heat– with taste to match. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” a mantra breathily offered in reverence spilled from cir mouth in a steady stream. “We love you, We love you– you’re doing great, Rainpaw.” Cir eyes widened in a wild desperation. Ce was still too alive for the Divine.

Hot blood ran in thick rivulets down Their neck as more flesh was ripped, hanging on until the last of cir skin peeled and tore in chunks. Again, blood soaked teeth shredded through flesh and beating veins, gushing and throbbing through each gasp Sorrelsky mustered. It wasn’t enough. They bit down firmly, planting Their hind feet squarely among rock and tangled grass as leverage, and tugged roughly towards Their shoulder. The wet sound of tearing flesh was complemented by a yell— and cheer from around Them. A choked cry escaped cir, followed by cir legs giving out from under cir, as a pathetic, bloodied gurgle reverberated from the gash in cir throat. 

Cir body, held up only from Rainpaw’s bite of flesh, collapsed when the chunk of flesh fell away with a fresh gush of cruor. It was tough, dirty work… but so, so worth it. A grin, small and unfinished, plastered Sorrelsky’s mouth, limp and splayed open. Rainpaw felt nothing but pride to help one along to the Divine, the Divine whom ran through their body and mind. 

They breathed heavily as strength gradually left them, the Divine’s influence seeping away and hugging Their farewell. They could see Sorrelsky’s form, momentarily bright, as it left cir body. Ce was smiling. Already, flowers, beautiful tassels of heather, mountain avens, primrose, and carefully trimmed gorse buds, were tossed and placed over Sorrelsky’s vacant body, and draped over Rainpaw’s fur. Tongues licked at their chest and face, lapping up drying blood with all the care of a nestmate. 

They slumped over. Adrenaline was quickly being replaced with exhaustion. They had done it. They licked cooling blood off their lips, tongue catching on rigid whiskers. They felt no regrets, only a resounding, joyful knowledge of their place in the world.