Try (Songfic)



 "when one mistake changes everything."

TRY // TURN BACK TIME // OVER AGAIN

oa: colbie caillat

by firey

Put your make up on

Get your nails done

I wash the blood off my paws in a nearby stream. I'm shaking. I finally get it all off and it takes all my energy not to tumble into the stream itself and let it just sweep me away.

Away from everything that's happened. Everything I've done.

It wasn't supposed to happen like this, I think.

But it happened. I dig my paw into the mud next to the riverbed and begin plastering it on my golden pelt to hide the color. I couldn't walk around looking as gorgeous as I could. As much as the society demanded beauty, I couldn't stay here.

Not after what I've done.

Deminishing my beauty would give me a one-way exit to the outside. Where rumored dangers would lurk. But I would take the outside world than live here with my consequences, knowing they would catch me.

And I would pay dearly for it.

Curl your hair

Run the extra mile

When the mud is successfully plastered on my pelt, I begin the long trek to the edge of the borders. There are already guards roaming everywhere, obviously looking for a gorgeous young little she-cat who has blood on her paws.

They won't find me. I promised my little sister I would leave long before they caught me. Her tear-stained face is the last thing I remember before I had stumbled away, trying to find somewhere safe. Somewhere to erase the evidence and leave before the rest of the world comes tumbling done.

Only a hero would turn around and confess his crimes to the higher powers. He would tell them what he did and admit defeat.

He would get a fair sentence and sit it out in prison until his time is up.

But cowards...

I'm a coward. I can't face the look on my sister's face when she saw the blood on my paws, the body next to me. The shattered look is all I can take. Even if I sat out my sentence, who would want me? I would be an outcast, a criminal.

I can't live like that.

Just keep running, I remind myself, go far, far away where you can't hurt anybody.

Keep it slim

'''So they like you. Do they like you?'''

True to my plan. the guards don't hesitate to herd me outside, telling me only the best can stay in the society. "Pretty yourself up and maybe you can stay within the boundaries," one sneers, "if not, you better hope nothing finds you out there."

I was pretty once. Without the nasty scar running down my flank and the mud smeared over my golden pelt, I would be beautiful. I would be the same aristocratic she-cat who roamed the high streets as a highly respected she-cat. I would be the same she-cat who raised her little sister to be the best she could be, who loved and cared for her family.

All of that died just a few hours ago.

Last night.

Turned to ash by my foolish mistakes.

The guards shove me outside. They close the bramble gate and I stare at it for a moment longer, wondering if this was all worth it.

To run away so I could be free. To run away so the crime would never land on my little shoulders.

I'm a coward.

But I had to find someone who would love me and not care what happened back here. Who wouldn't mind if he knew what horrors happened to this eighteen moon old she-cat. There had to be someone out there. He doesn't have to know what happened. He'll like me the way I am right now.

Won't he?

Get your sexy on

Don't be shy, girl

I wash the mud off my pelt and treat my wound. After tightening the cobwebs around it, I set off. I can't stay around here after sunset, that's when the rumored horrors come out. Cats who were desperate to get in, cats who want a new chance at life.

The sun has just risen and I've made good progress by the time the day ends. I settle down on my own and fall asleep almost immediately.

I try not to think about all that has happened since I left the brambled barriers of a society meant for the best and the fittest.

That wasn't who Aleya was anymore.

Morning came and I kept going. After only two days of travelling, I stumble across something I would never imagine happening.

A tom stares back at me, his yellow eyes glowing in the sunrise. "What are you doing on FlameClan territory?" He asks me, looking puzzled but slightly hostile.

"I'm Aleya," I decide to say, "I need a home."

The tom seems at a loss for words. "A home?" He repeats, "Where did you come from?"

I flinch. The tom notices immediately. "Oh, do you need a home because something happened back at your old home?" He sounds so sympathetic that I jerk my head up and down to indicate a nod.

"I'll take you to Dawnstar. She'll decide what to do."

Take it off

This is what you want, to belong

'''So they like you. Do you like you?'''

You don't have to try so hard

You don't have to give it all away

You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up

You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i

You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i

You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i

You don't have to try

Yoooou don't have to try

Ooooo, oooooo, oooooo...

Get your shopping on,

At the mall,

Max your credit cards

You don't have to choose,

Buy it all

'''So they like you. Do they like you?'''

Wait a second,

Why should you care, what they think of you

When you're all alone, by yourself

'''Do you like you? Do you like you?'''

You don't have to try so hard

You don't have to give it all away

You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up

You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try so hard

You don't have to bend until you break

You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up

You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i

You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i

You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i

You don't have to try

You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i

You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i

You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i

You don't have to try

Yoooou don't have to try

Oooooo, oooooo

Oooooo, oooooo

You don't have to try so hard

You don't have to give it all away

You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up

You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i

You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i

You don't have to try

You don't have to try

Take your make up off

Let your hair down

Take a breath

Look into the mirror, at yourself

Don't you like you?

Cause I like you