Duskfire Glacier stone-age mind in a space-world age

Derp. I'm sorry for the long post, too. Sorry, Scarlett ;_; I feel like I have betrayed you. Stay gold, ponyboy. Stay gold.

Tuwawi seemed to make little of his confession to his knowledge of Larus, but on his agreement with Scarlett the fire queen scathed. He diverted his gaze from her own, but did not close his ears to her words. Rather he let them cut him to the quick, and his throat tightened at her accusation, his face burning with shame under the title she cursed upon his head. A fool. The wolves of the Vale had believed him to be the same. Though they hadn't dared speak such against him, the silent accusation in his family's eyes was enough to tell him so when they had uncovered his brother from beneath the landslide that had swallowed their home. Her words stung him, and brought to light the pain he had done well to bury in its shallow grave. He had wronged her, and he could not argue in his defence.

To talk Caiaphas into returning Larus was what Malachi wanted to do, but with every word Tuwawi spewed against them, he doubted his conviction more and more. He wanted to believe there was another way that would not end in bloodshed, but blood had already been spilled. On the night he had met the sea wolf, he had tried to bargain with her, but talk had been fruitless. The night had ended in her departure, and her answer, though two months overdue, was one that spoke nothing of peace. A dismembered head when they had done nothing wrong, ripe with the sea wolf's scent and embraced by her cutting voice. The sign was clear, and as much as he wished it away, he could not ignore what the others so clearly saw.

In Blackwood the packs had been as close as kin. They helped each other and knew one another on levels deeper than anything he had seen in these vast and foreign lands. This would have never have happened, but if it had, what would his father have done? Peace had only been possible because all sides agreed it was for the greater good, and to be greeted by this blatant disregard for the life of others would have defied that agreement and spat in its face. Malachi did not know what the Vale would have done, but he knew they would not turn their eyes away, and if he was of any worth, then neither could he.

The exchange between Tyrr and Tuwawi that followed passed him in a haze. The young man had drawn into himself, ruminating through the conflicting ideals that cut him through. Scarlett believed they could talk it out - but could they? Tyrr and Tuwawi thought otherwise, and the words of the earthen man, which had come to align with Tuwawi's own, held greater sway than the ember's. Since her attack on Adlartok, Malachi's doubts had grown against the stability of the queen, and he doubted her now. But Tyrr spoke with a level head and a knowledge of these lands that far exceeded his own. Further still he stood for those innocent, yet submitted himself to the prospect of war with those who were guilty of this terrible wrong. Though Tuwawi did not seem convinced by Tyrr's words, it changed nothing for what they had done to stir the thoughts of the young Kalderon. It wasn't vengeance he sought so much as justice, and if these wolves had already murdered another to drive Duskfire to war when the Glacier had done nothing wrong, then perhaps peace was beyond them.

An exasperated sigh escaped him, aimed at none but himself. His decision was clear, but when Scarlett voiced her rebuttal to Tuwawi's words, he wished everything could just be over. He had agreed with her, and he still did, for he did not wish the innocent to suffer. But he could not let the guilty go unpunished. Tuwawi was right, and his father was right. He was a fool. He was a fool to think he was able to lead these wolves in a foreign land, when all experience had proven that following him only ended in death. Danica had been wise when she'd turned away his press for her to take leadership here. She'd been wise to leave when she had, and he wished he had followed. But he had been selfish, thinking he could fix the mistakes he'd made by taking a whole pack under his protection, and what a fool he had proven himself in the end. The maiming of Adarltok was his fault, that Larus was still lost was his fault, that these wolves now suffered Caiaphas' threat was his fault. He knew what he had to do, but he could not lead Scarlett into this if she did not wish to come. He would not lead another to their death. "I understand," he said, and diverted his gaze from Tuwawi's face, not daring to look at Scarlett, for the shame that ran through him was already too deep. For Adlartok's sake, he hoped she remained strong, for he had already failed. "We will find who did this and bring them to justice." And if that end was their death, then so be it.