Rabbit Run [warriorcats longtail animatic]

the song is rabbit run by mother falcon

this is a really old project of mine, i don't know exactly when i started working on it, but i know it's at least a few years old (i believe i started working on this shortly after giving up on the wanting comes in waves, so sometime after my last upload of that project)
longtail is one of my favorite characters in warriors, i know it's a common sentiment, but i oh so wish he had stayed a warrior after he was blinded. give him scenes of him struggling to adapt, let him have mentored jayfeather. he was such an interesting character in the prophecy begins, his anger and bullying when he was young, his grief at losing swiftpaw and how that developed him towards really respecting fireheart, only for that to just end off screen. it's such missed potential
this animatic is really meant to show what longtail might have been thinking about when he was hunting that rabbit. i headcanon that he used to almost specialize in hunting rabbits and large prey specifically, but his mind was elsewhere. after losing so much, witnessing so much violence, it's started to sicken him to keep taking the lives of other creatures. he sees his apprentice's face in the rabbit, picturing himself as the dog. so when he goes to take the final bite, he hesitates.
he didn't actually retire because of his blindness, although that's what he told everyone, he just couldn't do it anymore. mousefur has always been with him, and seeing how much guilt and pain he was feeling, she decided to join him, just to let him know that she understood, and that it was okay.

obviously this is very unfinished, i had originally wanted to make it a whole amv, but i don't want to spend another few years on it. i don't even remember anymore what was supposed to be in that empty middle gap. i just came back to it recently to clear out old projects from my old phone and figured i'd finish what i can.