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Everyone is doing these. Why? I don't really know. But I do think Pappy should take part in it. So here is some backstory for Papercities, from her young point of view.
It was a dull thump. Something I barely heard in the night. Funny, how I thought I'd just forget it after I went back to sleep. I didn't. It was troubling the others, too. I could feel them squirming and hear their panicked whispers as another thump echoed through our pathetic little shelter, followed by a scream. I shot up from under the quilt on my head and looked around myself, meeting the eyes of my siblings glowing in the dark. Another thump, and something that sounded of glass shattering. A muffled scream. An angry voice. And immediately I knew what was happening. I rose from our small basket, and my youngest sibling pressed against me. "What are they doing, Eclipse..?" Her voice was small and afraid, and I set my tail comfortingly on her back. "Fighting," I replied coldly. "But it's not like before." Another thump, followed by another three consecutive crashes. My oldest sibling cradled the other in his tail, and I saw the fear in the usually stoic female's eyes.
"Please, listen to me..!" The voice was shaky and full of fear, and I stepped forward to hear a "That's unacceptable!" and a loud crash. And I smelled smoke. Through the darkness I saw Ryder dash toward the area they were in. Luna quickly followed. I was soon after, Holly still pressed up against my side. And I saw my mother. Just out of the corner of my eye, I saw her. Beaten and bloodied on the ground, and I knew who did it. My father always had a habit of staying out late with friends, and when he came back, he always reeked of catnip and he always fought with Mother. But it was much more serious this time, and I knew why. My mother had cheated on him, but only for a few days. He must have found out. Even though I knew as soon as she screamed what was happening I still felt a rock of sickness drop in my stomach, but there was no time to grieve. He was looking at us. With crazed, crazed yellow eyes. He knew I looked so much like my mother, whenever he fought with her he fought with me, and eventually all of us as they tried to protect me. Holly took it the worst. After a fight she was always tossed in here with cuts and bruises, and occasionally she was unconscious. I was pulled out of my thoughts by Ryder, who was tugging Holly and I along. That's when I saw it.
Flickers of flame, flashing in a corner of the room. Those crashes I'd heard; they must have been the lanterns breaking. Gasping, I dashed toward the door with Holly close behind, only to be blocked by my father. I shouldn't even say father, I should just say captor. He grinned widely at me, and spoke softly. "I've always hated you," I swallowed the lump in my throat, but I couldn't help shaking. "You were always the WORST OF THE BUNCH!" He finished in a shout, leaping toward me. A flash of silver and white, and I was unhurt. Holly hadn't been touched. When I looked, I saw that Mother had pushed him to the side, directly into the hungry and glowing flame. But he'd latched onto her, and the two of them both tumbled into the flames, screaming in desperate agony. I wanted to help, I wanted to be there for them. I reached forward, but Luna pulled me away. "It's too late," She whispered, and yanked us toward the exit, pushing us both ahead of her and Ryder. We rushed for it, but we were late. A huge part of the roof, flaming, fell from above and I latched onto Holly and leapt, feeling the heat hard on my tail. We tumbled out into the night, panting heavily, and I looked back, expecting to see Luna and Ryder behind us. Letting out a strangled gasp, it dawned on me. They'd been hit by the roof, and they'd instantly died. Holly buried her face in my fur, sobbing heavily. "They're gone.. they're gone.."
"It's okay," I said softly, but I knew it wasn't true. We were on our own, and nothing about that was okay.
[color=transparent] #penpappy [/fancypost]
[size=6pt]grab your own 8-bit cat here![/size]