(Cover art not mine, credits to the artist)
Dawn was a lynx, an only kit with no family. She was excluded from her clan, LightClan, for she was labelled a 'murderer', and a 'mistake'.
However, Dawn was neither of these things. The title 'murderer' was bestowed upon her the moment she was born; her mother died giving birth to her and she was the only survivor of a litter of four.
Because of this, many believe her to be a curse, and either ignore her or try to ruin what precious little joy she has.
Dawn was not cheerful, but not sullen or depressed. She still had emotions, but expressing them didn't help her stay fed.
She perceived happiness to be a candle, to keep it burning you must shelter and protect it. If there was no flame, there was no hope, no joy, no fun.
Dawn had heard from the idle chat in the streets that the brightest night was approaching. She knew that on that very night, at midnight, she would make her move.
To escape.
The brightest night consisted of a gathering of every lynx in LightClan for an annual celebration. They would collect their magic together, however strong or weak, to create a flash so bright it temporarily blinded most.
Dawn wasn't entirely sure what the celebration was actually for, but it seemed important nonetheless.
She was going to use this burst to her advantage. She had been planning this for many months now, to escape from the grasp of LightClan.
When she was younger she often wondered why she would need to bother escaping when she's hated by practically the whole clan, and why she couldn't just walk out of the city.
She learnt the answer to that question pretty quickly. "No Lynx who is a member of LightClan and does not have special permission is not to exit the territory, for their own safety".
'Why would they even bother stopping me', Dawn thought, 'when it's "too dangerous." They want me dead. Oh well, I guess they have to do their job, no matter what the circumstance.'
'Shut up brain'. Dawn was being distracted. Back to the plan. She went over it in her head once more. 'Seems legit'.
The brightest night was in two days. Dawn decided to leave it at that and start hunting.
As Dawn has no family, she has no stable supply of food, and so she has to hunt down rats, mice, or the occasional bird to eat. Most of the other higher-class lynxes ate novelty meat, such as cow or deer meat.
She was jealous, but it was just another degrading factor of her depressing life.
~· Two Days Later ·~
Today's the day. The day of the escape. The day of pure joy and freedom.
Dawn was starting to question if her plan would actually work or not, as one does when they are about to excecute said plan.
She padded through the streets, wary. She received glares from a few, and uncertain glances from those who didn't know who she was, or what she'd "done".
It was stupid. It's not her fault that her mother and siblings died. She just got lucky. She was strong. They were not.
Dawn often questioned what exactly happened to her father. She assumed he left her mother before she was born. Or maybe he's dead.
One way or another, he's still gone, probably not knowing Dawn exists, or choosing to ignore that fact.
It was almost moonhigh, the middle of the night. An announcement from many guards, who protect the leader's family, came thundering down the streets, loud enough that even if you were deaf you could probably hear it.
"The brightest night celebration begins at moonhigh. Every lynx from Lightclan is required to participate. Make your way to the main plaza area. I repeat, all lynxes of Lightclan are to make your way to the main plaza area."
Here goes. Dawn made her way to the main plaza, following the mass of lynxes trailing towards it.
The main plaza is the biggest open area in Lightclan territory, and is located just on the outskirts of the city. It can hold thousands of lynxes, which is why it was chosen to hold the brightest night ceremony.
A few minutes until moonhigh. Dawn could start to feel a few lynxes gather their magic, readying for the huge glow of light.
One minute passed, then two, then three. One to go. By this point almost all the lynxes were ready, and were starting to form their magic into small orbs, containing the light.
Dawn didn't bother. She couldn't anyway, if she wanted to escape. It would waste precious time.
The orbs of light created by the population floated upwards and started to merge into an increasingly large sphere.
Soon. So soon. Dawn looked down, covering her eyes. She got a few odd glances from the lynxes near her, but they just assumed she might be sensitive to the light.
Moonhigh arrived. A bright flash of light, bright enough to blind anyone temporarily, exploded through the wave of lynxes.
Dawn didn't wait a millisecond. Her eyes alert. Her paws tingling. Now.
She raced out of the area, dodging and ducking around unsuspecting bodies, making her way to the gate.
There would be no guards there, so she could sneak through unnoticed. The gate came into view, becoming larger and larger.
The gate itself was closed, but Dawn knew a hole in the fence that was hidden under a tree.
She slid through the small gap, wood scratching her ever so slightly. Dawn admired the openness of the outside.
Outside. She was outside.
A/N:
Thank you for reading this story! This is the first story I have written, so please let me know if I need to fix anything!
This story is based off a roleplay game my friend and I used to play as kids, and we made up years worth of story. It's not going to be a romance or anything because of this, but we did put a lot of thought into it.
I might not update too often, because I don't really have much motivation. I'm just doing this book for fun.
