Moonspear Reforget

Mortified, Wildfire made no response when Charon spoke to her. She couldn't even bring herself to look at him or even open her eyes. She remained tightly curled, willing him—no, willing herself—to just disappear. As if her internal turmoil wasn't enough, everything else hurt too. From her head to her toes, her body ached and throbbed. She felt like she had taken a tumble from the top of the mountain and splattered.

Suddenly, she was weary beyond description. The last week had been a living nightmare, from Goober's assault to her various fights to the confrontation with Floki. She was exhausted. For a second, Wildfire felt like passing out again. But it turned out that she could not willingly lose consciousness. Instead, she just went boneless again, lying there like a pathetic lump of roadkill.

After what felt like forever, her eyes rolled upward, wondering if Charon was still there. As soon as she saw that he was, Wildfire's gaze dropped again. She flinched. He wasn't going to leave her here looking like a total mess, especially not after what she'd said. A quiet breath gusted out of her as she realized the cat was out of the bag now, for better or worse.

Sitting up painstakingly slowly and still avoiding looking anywhere but at her own paws, Wildfire struggled to find her voice. "I," she began shakily, "was..." The word stuck in her throat. She couldn't say it out loud again, not right now. Instead, Wildfire glanced pointedly into the trees, hoping Charon could put two and two together. A long beat of silence passed before she finished, "Goober. His name was Goober." Her eyes slowly closed.