Duck Lake ♡ oh i'm the same, i'm the same, i'm trying to change.

Goose looks at her and prompty bursts into further sobbing. There are words, there's something there but Oath's mind is reeling as she tries to make sense of the utter nonsense pouring from the doves mouth. Its all jibberish, broken up by the bubbling cries and stuttering. If only she would stop crying, maybe then Oath could understand - make sense of all the information being chucked at her. But Goose isn't making sense herself, that was the problem. 'Diaspora'? Was that some sort of place? It sounded like a goddamn gang name and when combined with the word 'kill'.. maybe thats exactly what it fucking was. Panic surges through Oath and she takes another steadying step back, her breathing erratic and eyes narrowed. What the hell was going on? What had happened? What. The. Fuck. Goose needed to calm the hell down and talk normally- but even as she thought it Oath knew it was unfair and she regretted it.

Goose's hysteria is giving her a pounding headache just behind her eyes and she can't process any of this fast enough for her to respond. She can't pull reassurance and confidence out of her ass when her world is suddenly turned topsy turvy and she's feeling neither. Instead, she's stuck with horror twisting her facial features - horror and the only other emotion she could currently conjure up which was white hot anger. Her protective urges surge and she doesn't bother hiding them this time, not when there was a legitmate danger that Goose herself had just confirmed. But what? What was it?

Gottamakesensegottamakesense- Wait. Wait wait wait. Was someone actually coming to kill them, then? That's what she'd just said. 'What if he tries to kill us'. Who? Who is he? Why would he try and kill them? Had the pale actually managed to outrun someone - or multiple someones? A gang of someones? Her firey gaze snaps up to the treeline once more, but the forest is still - dead silent. The birds had stopped calling and the waterfowl had long left the lake - startled away by this hiccup in their daily birdie lives. Goose's tears were all that remained. And they were heart wrenching, breaking Oath down bit by bit as she tried to channel the warring emotions within her. Anger, fear, concern and panic? Panic was a relatively new one. Panic didn't happen a lot. Panic means Oath was shaken and Oath didn't get shaken. Oath could face down two alphas without a lick of fear and shoot shit back at them like it was nothing, an everyday occurance. Like she was used to dangerous situations and coming out on top. Like that was normal.

Panicandconfusionpanicandconfusion- Why didn't this make sense? How could she make it make sense?

"I-" I need to calm the fuck down and think rationally.

Her mind is a broken record. Spinning and spinning and spinning.. Frustration claws at the russet and she looks away quickly, staring at the ground with clenched teeth as though she could truly replay everything the white had just said. Taking another heaving breath, Oath tried to sort the words Goose had actually said from her own wild assumptions. 'Diaspora'. That was a name and it sounded more 'packish' then 'placeish' but it could have been either. No assuming, not yet. 'Kill'. Who was killing? Was 'he' killing them? Someone else? Goose was obviously worried 'he' was going to kill them. He. Okayokayokay. Who was he? Was he part of 'Diaspora', if Diaspora was truly a 'pack'? That made the most sense. But wait, she'd said he thought they were part of Diaspora. Diaspora was a pack, then? Okay, that was something. So, what, some dude wants to kill them because they might belong to 'Diaspora'? This did sound like a fucking gang war. Ok. Onto the next. Help? Who was she helping? Why? Goose had gone to gather herbs not get caught up in some fucking wolfy gang war or whatever the hell this conflict was. Someone now, possibly, wanted to kill them all because Goose tried to help? Wonderful.

"I couldn't just l-leave her-"

"What if she had gotten h-hurt-"

"I-I had to— to at least try, to t-try and help—"

Her. Goose had spoken a name; one Oath's brain hadn't truly registered it until that very moment. Aure. Aure is a feminine kind of name. Confirmed with Goose's statement that Aure is a mother. Aure needed help. So what, this 'he' was beating up mothers and whelps? Members of this Diaspora? And Goose had walked in on this? So, now, this 'he' was coming after them because they were supposedly part of whatever the hell Diaspora was? What the everloving hell had she gotten into-

Goose. Sweet, sensitive, timid, not-an-ounce-of-fight-in-her Goose- Goose who cared too much, Goose who likely had the self-preservation sense of a slug when it came to whelps and their dams- It couldn't be helped. She'd helped the bitches her pack birth and she'd cared for their pups alongside them, despite the abuse they'd fucking put her through. Goose had always been too generous, too forgiving, too loving.. So, okay, whatever this was must have hit home and hit home hard. Especially if a mother and her pups had been put at risk and needed help-

Oh. Oh no.

Nonononono.

Goose had tried to help.

Goose. Had. Tried. To. Help.

NO!

And then Goose's face twists into something the russet knew all too well.

Oath's brain short circuits.

"What did you do, Goose?" Its an accusatory whisper, molten eyes searching her face. "You did not get involved."

ahahaha lets pretend this doesn't exist ok
i didn't proof read this
fuck it
yolo