RiverClan Territory

[dino.]

Redmire had been hoping to get some agreement from the other two, or at least some reassurance... she hadn't been expecting an outside interruption. Dusklion's sudden appearance set her hackles rising, and she stopped in her tracks, claws sinking automatically into the dirt.

It wasn't until she registered no aggression or accusation in the deputy's voice, only a sort of resigned curiosity, that she allowed herself to relax. Dusklion wasn't someone who hid her emotions very well. If she didn't sound angry, then...

"You're smart." Redmire's tone was flat. "You want what's best for RiverClan like we do. I think you can figure it out."

[ @Rowan @BEAR. @taillow ]

[BEAR.]

Like him once...

Sedgeflake isn't proud of this. His parents and aunt had raised them to be obedient, listen to authority - stay in line. But when the line was pushed back over and over, at what point does one cross it?

"... it doesn't matter if others are angry, they're not the ones threatening us with death every other announcement." A grim reality, one that left many discouraged and wary. "Paired with all the blood already spilled at his word... to be a shark, to stop the madness, our fate would be kinder." Because even if the others retaliated, he didn't think their tongues would be removed or their throats torn out as a public display of power.

Dusklion's presence made him tense, but given the lack of... Aggression behind her questions he relaxed. Just a little. "We just want to do what must be done to preserve RiverClan’s future."

[ @dino. @taillow @Rowan ]

[taillow]

Dusklion - RiverClan Deputy

It hurt.

It really, really hurt, more than she ever could've imagined.

Time seemed to pass by unknowingly to Dusklion as she sunk further into the ground, next to the pool of blood and Fades' scent. Her head throbbed with the tears that fell from her, feral screams ripping her throat from the inside out. Ragged breathing caused her fur to become disheveled and mud wedged into her claws as they tore up the ground around her. A trio of crows resting in a nearby tree took flight as her jaws parted to release another heartbroken wail.

It was pitiful, really. Because she knew he hadn't cared about her all that much. His actions had proved that. But stars above, underneath all of this Dusklion had just wanted her brother to come back. She had just wanted him to return to the cat she knew, the cat who had found her all alone with no memories and took her under his wing. The cat who had taught her how to hunt her first mouse, who had shown her how to defend herself.

"It was suppose to be you 'n me, you fluff-headed, minnow-hearted, worthless piece of..." The words died in her throat as Dusklion shoved her face into the ground, loud sobs continuing to wrack her body.

This wasn't how it was suppose to end at all.

.

. .

. . .

When the tears finally stopped flowing, and her lungs stopped screaming for air... Dusklion lifted her head. She needed to get back to the Clan, tell them about her discovery. Tell them that... that Fades wouldn't be returning. It was dangerous here, now; too dangerous. Even though her heart was broken, she had a Clan to look after. RiverClan didn't deserve a leader who wallowed in her own self-pity and guilt.

So she swallowed. She shoved every bad and uncomfortable emotion back into her chest, locking it away and tossing the key away. She rose to her paws and, on numb paws, turned away from the scene. Eventually, she faintly registered coming across a stream where she washed herself off, clearing away all of the blood and the dirt and the grime.

From there, she headed back home.

[ closed, just for timeline purposes ]

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