Redhawk Caldera Kangaroo court

She held her breath as she waited for the inevitable growls or the unexpected reassurance. Neither of those things happened. The only thing he did was bare his teeth, which Wildfire knew better than to take personally. She blinked slowly, waiting for the ax to fall but daring to hope. When he stood, she let out a quiet breath, assuming he was just going to grumpily make his exit. That was fine, of course. He could take his time to digest the news.

But Nightjar didn't go anywhere. In fact, he moved toward her. Wildfire slowly leaned backward, then was forced to her feet when he crowded her. Although she was less instinctively driven than him, it slowly dawned on her what he was doing. She looked around frantically, as if hoping their mother or father might call him off, but of course there was no one there.

"NJ, wait," she begged. She mentally scrambled for what else to say to make her brother understand she wasn't ready yet, she hadn't made a formal decision, she hadn't said her goodbyes... but Wildfire just sputtered. Nightjar wouldn't understand any of that. He was just doing his job, even if it meant turning on her in a way.

Deep down, Wildfire knew she couldn't blame him. While everyone else tolerated her wavering loyalties, she knew he saw things as much more black and white. Perhaps the others would let her sit here and waffle, day after day, but Nightjar was forcing her to make a decision. Maybe this was even the push she needed, even though this was not the ideal departure she had envisioned.

And she couldn't let go of that vision too readily. "I haven't said a proper goodbye to anyone," she said in a pleading voice, aware that it was likely going to have no effect on Nightjar. "I'm not even sure I want to go. I don't want to miss out on mom and dad's new babies or our adult ranks next month. Please, NJ..." But even as she made her case, she began to walk, subconsciously letting her brother usher her out.