Blackfeather Woods Black or White, no Gray

For @Potema

Damien was growing weak as the food got rarer, everyone was. He had managed to grab a couple rodents a couple nights ago, but they had not been near enough to sate his growing hunger. And still, he was not the one whose body was suffering the most from the food scarcity. Cicero was dangerously close to death, and it would remain that way if things didn't change soon.

Nemesis and Kove shared Damien's opinion about Burke's handling of the pack in the most recent days, the Beta had confirmed it to him personally; but Damien still needed his sister on his side if he was to succeed on making things right this time. Potema was the priestess of the pack, or at least she was the only one with enough training and knowledge to be, so her support would mean he had the will of the gods on his side. Damien feared that Potema would probably want to be a neutral part on such affairs, especially when Damien's plan was to take the leadership from a long-standing alpha, but his reasons to do so were the right ones, and the dark prince had an honest interest in the pack as he always had.

He looked for the young witch in the tunnels, deep into the main keep where he thought Potema spent most of her time. Damien needed to have a serious conversation with his sister, and he needed it to result in her support. He couldn't afford her to be on Burke's side, nor could his brother.

Food was a nigh present thought in her mind, as it was one everyone else's. Had it simply been a normal famine, she would have found herbs that could easily fill the stomach and relieve the pains of hunger, but this was more than that. The plant life was nonexistent; those plants that were starting to grow back too small and too young for use. It was worse than if the clock had dialed all the way back to the start of winter. Potema's frame had already sunken in, her thick half Arctic pelt all that was hiding her skeletal frame.

She lurked in the tunnels, constantly sifting through the herbstore, trying her hardest to preserve what remained of the herbs. They were rotting out of disuse rather than her tearing through the stores. It sickened her to see her stores diminish everyday with no good reason. Potema snorted as she removed another crinkled leaf. She barely heard her brother over her swarming thoughts.

She was where Damien thought she would be. Seeing her in the herbstore always brought nostalgic feelings to Damien, as it reminded him of his mother. She was visibly beaten by the hunger, the bones on her face were sharper, and her hips painfully thinner, just like himself.

"Potema," called Damien not to startle her, then looked over his shoulder and sniffed around to make sure they were completely alone. "We need to talk," he said turning back to Potema. She was a seer, she probably knew what Damien was meaning to imply, but you wouldn't need to be a genius to figure it out anyway.

Potema turned, slightly startled at the sound of her brother. She put down the herbs in her mouth and faced Damien directly. From the look on his face, she knew exactly what he wanted. The tension in the Woods had only grown from the day she had re-returned. Malice, Burke's whore. She had caused all of this; draining resources away from the Brotherhood, to create the Brotherhood's future. Damn, these contradictions. Then speak, brother. There was no dilly-dallying here. This was a conversation that would dictate the course of their Brotherhood.

Potema looked worse than Damien expected. Only her thick fur hid her thin frame from the view, but Damien knew her, and her gaunt face was not the one he was expecting. They were all getting worse, sick and hungry, and there was nothing anyone could do about it except waiting for the herds to come back.

And right the wrongs.

"I don't believe Burke is fit to lead us anymore..." commented the Dark prince with an air of confidence, although he truly feared what the priestess would say. She, in his eyes, was the embodiment of Meldresi's wisdom. Potema like no one else in the pack knew the Brotherhood and it's intentions, so her opinion on the matter was substantial.

Damien felt no need to mention Malice or her offspring, it was pretty obvious they were the reason for all of this.

Damien spoke volumes through only ten words. He implied so much without having to explain it. He wanted to depose Burke. He wanted to become Alpha. He wanted Malice and her pups gone. She knew all of those things; before she had an inkling of thought, now it became clear. Explain your reasoning, Damien. You need a solid reason for overthrowing him. She had to make sure what he was doing, or thinking of doing, was right. You couldn't just kick a leader out because you didn't like one thing about him! And after that, tell me this: do you want him demoted, gone, or dead? She doubted that it would come to Burke's death, but it would be dangerous to have an deposed leader still in their ranks. Kicking him out would most likely be their best option. But it was what Damien thought that would sway her choice on this matter. The blood of the Dark Brothers would not stain the floor of these Woods, not over a matter such as this. As for the bastards...they would be a different matter.

Potema had always been the smart one, even when all the spiderlings were decently educated by Meldresi. She pointed out that he needed a good reasoning to overthrow Burke, which Damien felt he had. But then she asked a question Damien hadn't been able to answer to himself.

"Death is out of question." he stated, not really answering what Potema had asked. "He is, in every way that matters, my father. But he's getting old, and I believe his mind has been clouded with selfishness. He brought a female here, a pregnant one, and he pretends to treat her like a noble while we starve because she bears his offspring when she hasn't even proved her worth to the pack or earned the right to bring Burke's pups to the world. She may have good genes, I don't know, but that does not mean she can replace our good females and bring pups of her own above our own kin." he explained. "They weren't planned, you know? He brought his mistakes to our home, and plans to legitimize them." he spoke as his voice turned into a growl of frustration. But he managed to stop before giving in to rage, and calmed down to make a decision.

"If he is to continue this madness, he must do it somewhere else."

So, your plan is to exile all of them? Damien spoke a myriad of words, but she preferred to get to the point. No fluff. She wanted to know his plan plainly; he could save his speeches for the confrontation. She knew why he wanted to do this, had seen it clearly with her own eye. She even played nice to the woman! But she had her own reasons behind it. Potema could very easily force Malice into miscarriage or hex her children, but she hadn't. Revolting as this whole situation was, those little bastards were useful. Even the pups? Damien, dear brother. When do you think Nemesis will go into heat again? I cannot until the fall. This is, regrettably, the only chance we will have to raise loyal Dark Siblings for moons. Please tell me you weren't thinking about harming the bastards.

In blunt words, yes. There was no other option the way Damien saw things. He would not be capable of murdering his own father, and although getting rid of Malice and their illegitimate offspring for good wouldn't be as hard an idea to swallow, he didn't want to do that to Burke either.

"That's the only option," he stated, but then his sister brought up an important point he had not considered. It was true that the conditions in which they found themselves were not convenient for Nemesis to conceive, but that would probably also mean that Malice's litter would struggle as well.

"What would yo have me do, then, Potema? Raise Burke's bastards?" he asked starting to get pissed off just by the idea. Damien saw what Potema wanted from it, and how she saw that doing that could be alright. They would be pups, a blank slate, nothing more than vessels that could be filled with whomever the Brotherhood wanted them to be no matter their ascendants, but the sole thought of them being of Malice's blood made him sick and think the plan twice.

As much as I loathe it, I suppose you will have to. In part. She honestly could not imagine Damien as a father. Cicero, perhaps, but he was more of a eccentric uncle in her eyes. No, Damien wouldn't have to raise the pups firsthand. I would like, at the very least, for you to mentor one or all of them at some point. All of them would learn how to fight, no matter what branch of the Brotherhood they would join. No one would be taken advantage of like she had when she was young, or like Pietro had...

Being elitist will not help the Brotherhood grow. Sure, Malice isn't our favorite person, but her pups have done nothing yet besides being conceived. They can be raised without their mother and be nothing like her whatsoever.

Although her choice of words had not been the wisest, Damien agreed with some of the statements Potema had just made. It was true that the brotherhood needed members, and it was correct to assume that they could be raised to be nothing like Malice, they could make sure of that themselves. But one thing was out of place in her speech, and Damien did not oversee it.

"The Dark Brotherhood is and elite, sister. That is why I cannot allow Burke to spoil it with bad decisions," he stated sternly, then turned around to clear his mind and try to make up his mind. There were too many things to take into account, and many more that could put the pack and the brotherhood in risk if Potema wasn't right about the bastards.

"Do you think Burke will go if I take his pups? Is that your plan? Because I do not want his blood on my teeth. Too many of us have died already..."

Sithis nor Mephala concern themselves with the bloodlines of their followers. She retorted, throwing unfalliable information into her argument. They needed these pups, no matter whoever birthed them. In fact, I've heard that Mephala actually likes having bastards as her servants. Something to do with being born of seduction, with was one of the Webspinner's spheres of influence. Nevertheless, she wanted these pups, but she could not just tear them away from Burke... Had she been a lone female, Potema might have done it without question. He can step down. With so many against him and only a pregnant woman and her bastards at his side, he won't retaliate.

Damien was starting to feel his head throbbing over his own conflictive thoughts running back and forth in his mind. He had not the patience to deal with stressful situations like this, which would probably be his downfall at some point if he managed to snatch the leadership of the pack in the end. Potema and Cicero could do that for him, though, and he would trust them to make the right choice.

"Fine," he snapped, mostly at himself, "They will live, and they will be raised like ourselves. You make sure of that," he instructed. This was in fact a decision that would contradict Damien's reasoning to claim the throne, or at least the argument that sparked the oncoming uprising, but Damien felt already confident enough to turn back down.

"Say you're with me," Damien required, feeling it was the one thing he needed to go on with the plan. With his sister beside him there was nothing stopping him. Cicero was unsure, but Damien had the feeling that his brother would not be able to turn his back on him. There was no stopping this.

Potema read the frustration and anger on his face as plainly as a book. She felt her mouth curve downward into a slight frown, knowing that his patience did not have the longest fuse. He would have to rely on she and Cicero for some kind of moral compass, lest their mother's pack be burned with Damien's rage. He was still young, just enough to mate, and with little experience compared to Burke. A part of her wanted Burke to stay, at least until the famine was over, but his crime was unforgivable. I am with you, Damien. She stepped forward and nudged his shoulder with her head, roughly but affectionately. I always will be.

Last post!

Those simple words, although he was expecting them, gave Damien the assurance he needed to proceed with the plan. With Potema, Kove and Nemesis behind him, there was nothing Burke could do to stop Damien. He would have liked to have his brother's word as well but the time wasn't right to involve him in an uprising in his current state.

"And I with you," he promised, returning his sister's rough nudge with affection. He didn't voice it often, but he loved his siblings above anything else. In his eyes, they were the only thing that really mattered, and why he did the things he was about to do. He did it because he felt that was what his mother would want him to do.