Content Warning: Depiction of rat torture. (What a way to start a chapter)
Mom's gone, dad's fled. Just like a coward.
We're surrounded by cowards, brother. Cowards who fear us for existing.
Everywhere he walked, they'd flee him. Just going to the fresh-kill pile to get something to eat would have some other Clan cat become unsettled and run off. Every other apprentice avoided him, as if he were a disease. Even his own mentor would act hesitant around him.
I am not neglected. I am feared.
And yet none of those cats feared that leader. The she-cat who'd commanded for his mother to be killed, right in front of him and his brother. Pigstar was her name, and it was a very fitting one. She was always up there, on top of the world, lazing away and letting all her subjects do everything for her.
"I think I know how I could get rid of her," Selenopaw said, one day.
"Hmph, how exactly?" Pebblestar meowed in reply, scraping his claws against a rock. His brother stared down at his own claws.
"I guess I could sneak up on her when she's sleeping, and then...I'll...slit her throat," he answered, suppressing a shiver. "It wouldn't be hard. She snores real loudly, guess that means she's hard to wake up."
Pebblepaw stared back blankly, finding himself surprisingly unbothered by his brother's threat. In fact, he was nearly excited, guessing it would be thrilling to see the Clan fall apart from stress after their leader's murder.
"Well, then," he laughed. "Good luck with that. Hope you succeed."
He'd been thinking about his brother's talk earlier, and it made excitement rise in his chest every couple minutes. The idea of living among the chaos of a panicking crowd, and the feeling of pride that his own brother had caused it, made joy flow through his veins.
Pebblepaw rested his head upon his paws. The sky had fallen dark, it was nearly nighttime. He closed his eyes with anticipation for the chaos he would awaken to.
Just then, he was awoken by the sound of another cat entering the den. His ears instantly perked up, and he turned to see his unexpected guest. Only to be greeted with a familiar pinkish gray pelt.
Pigstar. Pebblepaw suddenly stopped. His eyes were suddenly lead towards a bleeding wound on the side of her neck.
The she-cat stepped toward him. "Your brother has been very bold, you know," she meowed, before she abruptly grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.
"Agh!" Pebblepaw spat as she began dragging him out of the den, seeming disturbingly calm despite the bleeding wound on her neck. He lashed out, striking her face and causing him to drop him on the ground. "What the hell are you-"
Just then, something struck his head, sending him to the ground.
Once his eyes opened again, suddenly he was in a murky cave, surrounded by darkness. A pain throbbed in his head. Though his blurred vision, he suddenly caught sight of Selenopaw with Pigstar above him, pinning him down to the ground.
"H-Hey!" He hissed. Despite his pain and fatigue, he tried crawling forth. He stopped when he realized something, maybe a branch, was holding him down. She must've placed that on top of him when he was knocked out. He gritted his teeth in anger. "Let my brother go, you dirty old hag!"
Pigstar let out a laugh. "Oh don't worry, dear, he'll be fine. I won't kill him. But your death will teach this mischievous child a valuable lesson."
"My...what?" Pebblepaw felt a wave of heat fall over him. His heart skipped a beat when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and looked over to see something furry clinging to his shoulder. He hissed, slapping it off. A rat? Gross!
He screamed as the feeling of teeth and claws suddenly stabbed several other parts of his flesh, sending him to the ground. A plague of rats swarmed his body, biting and clawing at his skin. He lashed out at the air, desperate to run away, but the branch on top of him kept him from moving.
He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the world distort around him. He screeched from the pain again, feeling his throat begin to grow hoarse. Is this even real? His mind began to fall into a haze, as though it was simply a nightmare.
"No! Stop it, don't hurt my brother!" Selenopaw's wails caused the distress filling him to rise. Amidst a sea of panic, he found himself passing by one thought. Why aren't you doing something? Help me, damn you!
With a sudden anger flooding through him he dug his claws into the ground and desperately tried to pull himself forward, fighting against the weight on top of him and the pain on every inch of his body. Pebblepaw had to force himself to use whatever strength was left within him to move forward, and soon he felt himself beginning to move out from beneath the branch.
Pigstar's eyes widened with anger, and seemingly blinded by rage she let go of Selenopaw to approach Pebblepaw. "How dare you think you'd get away, little one?" She hissed.
Behind her, Selenopaw furiously leapt up to his paws, and sprinted forth toward his brother. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the branch and pulled it off.
Shaking with anger, and lashing her tail, Pigstar quickly unsheathed her claws. "Well, damn it then, you brats!" she hissed. "If I can't get this the way I wished, I'll just have to bring out a much nicer punishment and kill you both."
Selenostar suddenly slammed his paws down on her spine, and immediately knowing what he had to do, Pebblepaw didn't hesitate as he jumped forward and sank his teeth into her throat. She gasped as a massive shudder ran through her. With excitement coursing through his veins, he stayed drinking the blood from her body until she suddenly grew morbidly limp. He let go, overwhelmed by a thrill that filled his own blood when the molly fell to the ground, dead.
A sudden clarity filled his mind. It was like he'd gotten rid of a major problem in his life, by sinking his teeth into it. And yet, he felt as though this wasn't enough.
As if he wanted more.
He left NightClan, and his brother, not long after that. Seeking out destruction to avenge their mother.
And yet, when he tried to enter BlazeClan and carry out his plan, they turned him away. They didn't wish to accept the son of the she-cat who'd killed their medicine cat, let alone one seemingly said to conquer the Clans.
I won't give up. Nobody would ever be above him, he wouldn't submit to BlazeClan. Nor would NightClan ever live on peacefully after the things they'd done to him. How dare they hurt someone so strong, so powerful?
No. I will never allow myself to be so weak again. Then, I will never feel pain again.
One night, lost in the veil of a dream, he met an energy. An energy that had no form, no appearance, and yet despite that it had a voice.
"You say you do not wish to be weak, is that right?" it asked him, ethereally light and yet darkly devoid of emotion.
"Yes," he replied. "I want to be the most powerful cat in the Clans. That way, nobody can ever hurt me."
"And it is right. That is your fate," it replied. "To be a God."
"My fate? What do you mean?"
"You're destined to be a God who is higher in existence itself to everyone else, a God who rises beyond death and beyond morality," it told him. "But you must remember. A God doesn't do what is evil, nor what is good. A God does what is right."
And so, he finally took action on the rage trapped inside him. He slaughtered the BlazeClan leader, deputy, and medicine cat, taking hold of the Clan himself.
BlazeClan will suffer for rejecting me, and NightClan will never live again. This is what I dedicate my life to.
No cat will ever escape me, for I am death. I am a God.
After all, it is my fate. Those who wish to take my fate away will die by my claws.
//
A/N
Me posting on a Thursday on a school week? How rare! I decided I'm gonna try to post chapters on Thursdays when I'm writing during school weeks, because I write them after school so it's basically like homework (I'm actually still in my school uniform as I type this lol) and having homework on Friday sucks.
By the way, I like choosing theme songs for characters, so Pigstar's is Pigs (Three Different Ones) by Pink Floyd since she was literally named after that song.
And as one last note I started Jujitsu Kaisen and it is really good.