It was hard to differentiate how much time had actually passed since the Smokekit incident. Could've been minutes, could've been moons. Ultimately, it didn't really matter because by the time Little Lark arrived, Wolverine had worn a path of pawprints into the muck from all his pacing.
He was furious! Angry that Smokekit had done this, and angry that it was SO in line with the family to do something so stupidly reckless. "He takes after you, you know! The second you get your mind set on something you throw all rationality out the den and do stupid things! There's a reason he didn't make it past kithood to begin with, 'n a reason you hardly made it to kitting! Holy hell!"
Lostspark hadn't been getting much sleep lately, what with her kin dropping left and right. Any sleep she did get was riddled with nightmares or constant waking up drenched in sweat. So of course, when she did find unconsciousness long enough to be swept into a dream, it just had to be something just as chaotic as the rest of the current waking world.
For a while, Lostspark was too stunned into silence to speak. She took in Wolverine, the scenery around them, and then the path worn into the ground because of his relentless pacing. Yeah, she supposed her grimace of unease was well-earned. That was until it sank in Wolverine was talking about a 'he' that was related to her, and there was only one cat who fit that description. Stars and the starsdamned be damned.
One cat who was very obviously missing from this scene. "Where the hell is Smokekit?!" She wasn't aggravated - more of panicked, already dreading her something-grandfather's reply, knowing she would not like it.
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❝ I know life and fate are scary, but I wanna be legendary. ❞
"I should be asking you that!" Wolverine snarled, but in truth his anger wasn't for her. "Playing with wishes only reaps pain, that has always been the cost!
"But no, none of you seek to understand the consequences of your actions before it is too late. Your freckles has seen him off, but has failed to understand the gravity." A growly rumble in his throat, a consideration of what he should offer.
"In dark depths he spies,
Awaiting passing paws to lie.
Seek the waters of the mire,
But doing so will cost you dire."
There. Maybe it wasn't as fancy as some of StarClan's, but it got the point across well enough. He wasn't no damn poet.
Usually when Treetiger awoke in these areas, it was more peaceful and less... icky. This seemed like the real deal, like she was truly in the Dark Forest, so perhaps she was? This was where Thrush dwelled, hm? She'd have to take a look around.
The Bengal started to stroll about, desensitized to the whole thing. However, this didn't stop the dark feeling dwelling within herself. She could feel her friend working its way up, wanting to come alive around her. It always did here, she couldn't stop it. She was vulnerable here, this entity escaping her was an escape from the dream world. An escape to the waking world where it could haunt her, she just didn't know it yet.
Slowly, it's claws would cling to her shoulders, a prickling feeling causing the fur on her shoulders to rise. She'd crouch down half-way, prowling now as her paws led her step by cautious step through the territory.
Bogtumble knew what dead cats looked like. This one was far from it. Alive. Solid. Warm. An eerie aura about her, sure, but still fresh.
"Youuuu are newwwww." The sing-song voice came from above Treetiger. Bogtumble lounged in one of the trees - though could it really be called lounging, when he still looked wild and tense. "Not dead, no, not at all. Who are you?"
No. No no nonononoNO! It wasn't FAIR! Denied?! HIM?! On THOSE grounds? Stars, they acted like he'd tortured his meals before he'd eaten!! They'd been dead, long dead, and now while he STARVED in this- this HORRENDOUS pit of death and despair, they lounged and judged and ruined. It wasn't fair!
Angry tears had long soaked half of his face since his denial. And he had screamed and shouted and wailed. And he had paced. Through the dim forests, amongst the shadows that grabbed at his thin coat, round and round until he had dizzied himself - until he'd found himself at the veil.
The veil.
Its shimmering corporealness lit up his good eye as he stared at it, pupil shrunk to a sliver of darkness. The veil. He wanted back at them. This kept deteriorating, and it wasn't getting better, and they clearly didn't see it as urgent if it hadn't been taken care of yet. Could he tear it down further? Make them realize he was something to consider, instead of just to give a passing glance?
His tail flipped. He trailed the border until he found a spot where it had been worn through considerably, the edges of the gaps ragged and wavering. With one forepaw, he reached out and tangled his claws in the edges, and yanked.
A pull. Nothing tore, but there was friction. Bogtumble's breaths were shaky and uneven as he tried again. Yellowed talons pierced the veil, curled, and wrenched backward.
Shreds of something white came off between his claws and floated to the ground before disintegrating into stardust.
His eye lit up.
"You'll see me," he breathed. "As more than just some- some heretic!"
And with a sneer, he reared up on his hind legs and went to town, shredding, ripping, hacking away, until he had made several large tears in the boundary meant to separate the dark and the light. "You'll see me! I'm not WORTHLESS!"
"S-sir... that's not... I don't t-think you're s-supposed to be..." Wide, mismatched eyes watched as some feral cat made a shredding of the border. She'd just been passing through, wondering what it was that she kept forgetting, but now the short, fluffy molly was just hesitantly tiptoeing after the angry brown cat, her voice so soft she wasn't even certain he was aware of her presence.
Ears flattening against her skull at the starved cat's screech, Berryfrost considered curling up into a tight ball and attempting to disappear, but... she couldn't exactly do that when she was pretty sure the border wasn't supposed to be... "Y-you're not s-supposed to be tearing that... that... I don't think... o-oh..." Blue and green eyes widened with shock as she watched the veil disintegrate starry fleck by starry fleck.
Was it... supposed to do that? Her gaze flitted to the Dark Forest of the border, dread dawning as the other side became... clearer. She could see it better now, through the gaps. It wasn't filmy, wasn't... Surely, no one could pass through it just like that..? Gulp.
Re: Dark Forest Territory
