Moonspear Should've been us

Wildfire felt a strange disquiet in the back of her mind as she made her way back home, which grew in intensity as she moved closer to the mountain's shadow. When her toes crossed over the borders, she slowed and just stood there, staring off into the middle distance. She became lost in her thoughts and, in fact, stood there for a solid hour straight before recollecting herself. Somewhere in there, she had taken a seat, at least.

She tended to make decisions slowly, painstakingly slowly. Yet she was about to make a snap one. Without giving herself any time to hesitate or second-guess herself, Wildfire squeezed her eyes closed and called for @Charon, @Amekaze or both. She suspected @Floki would overhear the summoning howl but hoped he would keep his distance.

nooo, i forbid this ; _;

When the howl sounded, Charon was quick to react. He had been patrolling more, not so much because he expected more problems or because he thought Goober would show up or because he wanted to be ready to head Eshe's wolves' call when it sounded, but because he felt restless. He wanted nothing more than Goober's head on a stake, in part because of the belief in him that that would make everything okay and fix all that had been broken, in Dhole, in Flóki, in everything between them.

His urge was to ask if she was okay and ask what was wrong when he first saw her. She looked withdrawn and as though she was waiting, but it was hard to tell. Charon approached, his posture naturally dominant because this was his terrain, ears perked forward in Dhole's direction while he closed the distance between them until there was aproximately a wolf's length between them. "Is anything wrong?" he couldn't stop himself from asking, and he looked at her with prying eyes, as if he thought he could stare what was on her mind out of her if he tried hard enough.

Charon arrived promptly, immediately firing a concerned question her way. She felt a jolt when she realized what she was planning on doing, why she had called him here and how quickly it was all happening. Her heart galloped in her chest. She felt doubt, guilt and regret hovering over her, ready to pounce. Before they could, she just started talking.

"Floki broke things off with me," she replied, which wasn't entirely accurate or fair. Technically, she had ended their relationship. Actually, it was Goober's doing, but she didn't stop to think long on any of that. "He was the main reason I came here, along with you." Wildfire smiled sadly, then came right out with it: "I don't think I can stay here, Charon."

She ducked her head, then drew in a breath and braced herself. She knew he most likely wouldn't react favorably to this news. He might even get angry, berate her and chase her away. Wildfire prepared herself to make a hasty exit.

Everything happened really fast, and Charon stared at Dhole in utter disbelief at the words she shared with him. He couldn't believe she was betraying him and leaving him because of something that was going to be fixed in the future. He did not grow angry right away, although he felt frustrated inside, merely replying with a stern, "No." Because he wasn't intending to just let her walk away from here. The way he had found her in the hole had proven that Dhole wasn't exactly miss sane decisions lately, and he wasn't going to make her make another mistake.

"It feels like shit is fucked up forever now, but it's going to be okay, Dhole, even with you and Flóki. It just needs time and revenge. Someone is fetching Goober right this moment to bring him here. You can't just pack your shit and run away every time some asshole thinks he can take something from you. You have to fight back." Charon looked sternly at his friend, hoping she would take his words to heart, because if she would not, he wasn't sure what he would do. The only thing that he knew for sure was that he simply refused to let her go because she wasn't just Flóki's girlfriend; she was also his friend.

His stern response made her insides quaver, though Wildfire refused to let anyone tell her what to do when it came to something this significant. She stiffened her upper lip and squinted as Charon went into a speech that was surely intended to comfort and reassure. It did have that effect somewhat, though she also felt like Charon didn't at all understand the magnitude of what had happened to her and just how badly it had broken everything good in her life.

"You don't understand," Wildfire replied in a voice that was equally parts terse and sniffle-y. "I can't sit around and watch Floki get with someone else. And I appreciate you trying to avenge me, Charon, I really do. But you do realize it won't undo what he did to me, don't you? Nothing can ever erase that damage."

Charon felt his hackles bristle when Dhole told him he didn't understand. He was trying so hard to help her out, and this was his reward? She outright betrayed him, and even tried telling him he didn't understand? Of course he didn't fully understand, and he knew that, but to hear the words thrown in his face hurt more than he would ever care to admit.

The thought that Flóki would get with anyone else hadn't even occurred to Charon yet. He imagined that breaking things off would be so that they would have time apart, time to heal, or whatever. "Don't be ridiculous, why would he get with anyone else? Did he say he would?" Charon sternly said, his voice protective and exuding very much 'should I beat some sense into him?' if the answer would be positive. "He'd rescue you out of a fire if he had to. Of course killing Goober won't undo what he did to you, but running away is just as unhelpful, and probably worse." Charon took a step closer, looking at her with a look that betrayed how very much he didn't understand. He didn't want her to run away, not just because of how important she was to Flóki, or to his pack, but also because of how important she was to him. He realised this with a pang, and it showed in his eyes for just a split second as he did.

"It's the natural progression," Wildfire said, her voice thickening with emotion. "He said he wants to be friends. I understand why he can't be with me, I really do. But that doesn't make it easy to accept." The whole thing was very unfair to both of them too. After all, neither one of them had done anything wrong. Goober was the only culprit here. "If staying with me would be miserable for him, then of course he's going to break it off and find somebody else that makes him happy." And there it was: she broke and started crying, hard.

"Call it running away if you want, Charon," Wildfire said through sobs, "but I'm calling it self-preservation. And maybe that's selfish but I deserve to be happy too. I can't be happy here anymore." At least, she had difficulty imagining a happy future here any longer, much as she had loved her life here previous to Goober's attack. "Let me go and find my happiness again." She wasn't sure if it was a plea or a command. Wildfire was in full breakdown mode.

Charon still thought the whole idea of Flóki finding anyone else than Dhole totally ridiculous, even as she explained it and the words made so much sense. Then she started to cry, seeming to forget all about everything that kept her here, about him. She said that she deserved to be happy, yet Charon still did not understand. The young King thought himself the center of the world, so how could she not want to be right here, by his side, helping him further his greatness as she had so far?

"No, don't be a selfish brat! I deserve to be happy, too!" he selfishly snapped, feeling tears sting at his own eyes. He wasn't going to let yet another wolf walk out of his life as they pleased. She deserved to be happy, but damn it, so did he! "I need you, Dhole," he said eerily levelly and he started to close the distance between them to roughly press his nose against her neck.

The words hit her like a slap. Under normal circumstances—especially when already crying her heart out—Wildfire would have withered under such criticism. But the blatant hypocrisy of his words caused a fire to stir in the pit of her belly. She truly liked and respected Charon, moody and cocky as he could be sometimes, and she appreciated all he had done for her. But he needed to learn that it wasn't all about him.

She felt sharp words fill her mouth, yet before they could even skin past her teeth, he was touching her. It wasn't gentle, either; he thrust his muzzle roughly against her neck. This caused the flickering flame to roar into an inferno. "Don't touch me!" Wildfire screamed through her tears. And while she was riding that wave of fiery fury, she added, "And don't call me names. Don't you think I've been through enough, you asshole?"

Unlike the last time she had parried with him, there was no playful affection in the epithet. And Wildfire knew how Charon was going to react. A breath hissed between her teeth and she flinched away in expectation of a blow, once again preparing for rapid flight.

Rage bubbled inside of Charon's chest when she lashed out at him. He had always been enabled wherever he went and whenever he was not life had brought him a boon of some other sort. And so the only logical thing he could do, twisted through the mixture of nature and, especially, nurture, was to believe that he had a right to, well, whatever he wanted -- he was chosen child of the stars, after all, Charon Ostrega, King of the Teekon's tallest mountain.

The moment he heard the word spill from her mouth a growl rumbled in his throat, against her fur at first until she drew away. "How dare you, too, betray me!" he screeched, the hurt sounding through in his voice. Dhole was one of those presences he had thought would be about in his life forever, right there to support him. To scout for him, to help raise his and her own children; now even that crumbled from him.

Engulfed by his anger Charon lashed out, aiming to grab Dhole's scruff and put a paw over her back in hopes to topple her over. He remembered the rush of power he had felt when he had killed Nishu. It was mixed with hurt but it was there all the same; he would make her submit, one way or another, for she had made him into this beast with her betrayal and now she would pay for it.

Charon could have overpowered her, easily even, if Wildfire hadn't already been preparing to flee. When he lunged for her nape, his teeth clipped into the skin, yet not securely. With a shriek of fear and revulsion, she tore herself from his grip, paying no mind to her shredding flesh. The need to escape his unwanted hold was a far greater concern than some broken skin.

Having just barely wrenched herself loose, Wildfire flung herself forward toward the borders. She didn't dare look back as she fled Moonspear for the last time. Her neck stung and ached from where Charon had grabbed her. But that pain was nothing compared to the sense of deep disgust, agony and betrayal brought on by the realization that her (former) Alpha and (former) friend had just tried to force himself on her in almost exactly the same way as her rapist.

With a dark snarl on his face, Charon felt her skin tear as he didn't find proper purchase. He stood and watcher her, and tears started to flood his cheeks as he did. Charon was not sure who he was anymore — the one thing he had always known so securely for certain — and he was not sure if it was his own will or his lust for power that drove him. He wanted to be in control, and moreover, he wanted those he loved to be close to him. He had lost Osprey and now he had lost Dhole, too.

Yet all he could find was agony in his own mind, pushing whatever disgust he felt for his own actions away somewhere deep down. All he could feel was sorry for himself and for what he had lost, and he stood, his chest heaving from the exertion and tears pouring from his cheeks. He crumpled to the ground, the mighty king, while he whispered, "I'm sorry," more to himself than to anyone else in particular, yet another testament to his broken and twisted soul and morals, to the self-centered way that he lived his life. Yet he had been moulded into this and he knew no other way to live but this.

For some time the young Alpha stood and cried, licking the blood of his friend off his lips while he tried to process the loss that he simply could not place anywhere, and then he turned around, his gaze darkening and his heart twisting and hardening.

He could do it without her.

He would do it without her.

If she chose to ignore all the hard work he had done for her, the home he had provided her, then that was her own foolish choice. He yet had Amekaze and Flóki, and Ness and that new chick Aloe.

Yet another friend would dare twist a knife into Caesar's back?

Caesar would do it on his own.

I'm going to miss the crap out of you at Moonspear, Kat! I loved our fast and consistent threadin' and your great activity in the pack!

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