Blackfeather Woods Where'd you guys go?

Backdated to the morning after Burke and Malice escaped

It was a meager offering, but it was the best she had: a stringy squirrel; impressive for Potema, a non-athletic princess. With some distaste, Potema took the meal to where Burke and Malice were kept, but as the den entered her sight, she felt as if something was wrong. Her brow furrowed as she approached, her head cocking for any sound of breathing or puppy squeals. Nothing.

NOTHING?

Burke? Malice? She called out apprehensively, the squirrel dropping from her maw. She paused for a few moments, unwilling to believe it. The white witch poked her head into the den, found nothing, no squirming bodies, no blue-eyed glare, no scarred female, and proceeded to screech. Luckily for the rest of the Woods, the den muffled the ear-bleeding sound until she pulled her head out.

Qrimbrōzagon ao lanta! Qrimbrōzagon aōha beqes se aōha genes! The witch cursed rabidly, feeling her anger pooling into her words. Her eyes went (figuratively) red as she bit back any more vile hexes, turning her head towards the sky and howling passionately for @Damien and @Kendra. She thought about calling for Cicero for a brief moment, but knew he was still too weak. But knowing her brother, he would have known already that they were gone.

Damien had been expecting Potema to find out, and he knew that when she did it would not be a pretty surprise. Kendra was passionate, which meant that bad news made her seem like a spawn of Mehrunes Dagon himself. Her call did little to hide her disappointment and rage, echoing on the walls of the underground where Damien tried to get some rest after a day of tiring patrols. He feared what his sister wanted Kendra's presence for, but he could imagine that she wanted her to find out how much of a traitor the renegade that was his father had turned out to be.

Damien obliged to reach his sister's side, not wanting to miss an opportunity to gain Kendra's support against father, but knowing and fearing how much of a stab in the back it could feel to the younger princess. He came down to the glen in silence, eyes cold and face stern. He expressed his understanding and disappointment to Potema, but also his desire to make it less painful for Kendra to find out.

"Kove was supposed to keep them under his watch... He's gone," Damien informed Potema with a spicy tone of anger in his deep voice.

Kendra wondered where her father was. She hadn't seen him around or even smelled him, which was weird. His howls had gone quiet too. She figured he was busy with her new brothers. She was eager to meet them, but she was pretty sure she was not allowed close. She remember how protective her father was of her, always around. Now he was leaving her be, more like an adult. She technically was an adult it seemed.

The quirky girl howled for her father, requesting his presence because she missed him. She hoped also she could persuade him to have at least a peak at her little brothers. Though she was pretty sure he would relent. She sat down and waited for him to respond, but there was no response. She frowned. Kendra had missed the whole confrontation and the fact that her father was gone now. Maybe Burke was out on patrol and didn't hear her. That would probably be it!

Then she smelled her brother and sister and turned in their direction. She soon found them but they seemed in a discussion. The girl came closer and tripped her head curiously. "What happened?"

Like her mother, when angered, the white witch became a blazing ball of blue fire, her rage summoning her magic and cursing the two traitors and their spawn. She paced, curses spitting from her maw until Damien arrived, telling her that they were indeed gone. He probably went after them. Kove despised Malice as much as they did; why else would he support Damien against Burke? But this doesn't excuse anything they, The word slithered out of her mouth. did. Nyke jaelagon pōja riñar emagon daor havor se morghūljagon.

The curse died into a whisper as Kendra arrived, her expression confused and curious. Potema's eye quickly shifted from a sphere of fury to one of pity. Kendra. Her mother, then her brother, then her father gone. She was all alone in the world, except for her elder siblings, who, admittedly, weren't as close to her as she would like. Kendra... She murmured softly, looking towards Damien for guidance. He should be the one to tell her. He was closer to the little princess than she was.

@Cicero belongs in this thread too!

Damien, although his voice carried a sour tone, hadn't suggested he thought Kove had betrayed him. The Inuit was loyal to Meldresi, and that had translated in his loyalty turning to be the spiderlings' only. He wouldn't leave them and his son behind, that just wouldn't make sense. But he had failed to carry out a task specifically placed on him by Damien which didn't impress, nor surprise the new Dark Master. It disappointed him, and anger was quick on him.

The moment Potema started cursing in another language, Damien's eyes turned to her with a fueled temper. She reminded him of his mother, but she was so different from her, so much harsher in her actions. He could feel his sister's emotions pairing with him, the heat rising, and fading away into affliction the moment Kendra entered the scene.

"Kendra," repeated the young shadow after his sister fell quiet. His look was heavy with pain and fear of what Kendra's reaction could be, but sparkled with anger the moment he decided she needed support.

"He betrayed all of us," spoke Damien with his deep, bitter voice, and then looked at the empty den as if presenting the evidence, holding his breath for what was to come. Kendra had lost all she had now, her mother, brother and now father, but Damien was willing to stand beside her the way he'd already promised her. He was Kendra's guardian now, along with Potema and Cicero. They were famly and belonged together.

Kendra was confused why they were all so emotional that never really happened except for something big. It seemed something big had happened. She turned to the den that her father called her home, which she had called her home a long time. She stepped closer and sniffed it. The scent was stale and her father, Malice and the pups she never met or dared to meet weren't there either.

She blinked. Did her father leave? He left her? Without saying goodbye? He left with her and his other young? The girl's eyes roamed over the den entrance and then went inside. Her coat mixing with the darkness of the den. She sniffed the ground. She wanted to meet her little brothers. She thought she wasn't allowed closed yet, but maybe her father didn't want her close. What had she done wrong? The girl curled up in the den, her back towards the entrance. Why did everyone leave her? Why? What did she do wrong? Clearly she was not important enough compared to others. That hurt to think that. She wanted to be alone, maybe it was better to be alone.

Her pale eyes closed, trying to hold back the tears but they were flowing. There came no sound from her, her tears were just running. No sobbing or wailing. Why? Why? Why? That was only what went through her head.

It was no surprise that they had left. A smile might have crept across his face for the briefest of moments when he heard Damien's angered voice and he instantly knew that they had fled, if not for Kendra's appearance. He approached from her back, but his smile faded as he came to stand by her side and placed his nose to her cheek in a silent gesture of comraderie and empathy. He was sad that they had gone too, for he had enjoyed presence of both of them deeply. He understood it was their only choice, but it still hurt in a way. He understood it had to hurt in all different ways for Kendra, too, for she was younger and she did not have the ties of siblings still around, either. She had lost so many in her short life already.

His full attention was for Kendra, for he did not care for Potema and Damien's selfish wails about betrayal. This was no betrayal. It was a witch hunt they had started, and if they did not see that this was the only logical outcome to it then they were as blind as a bat.

She was caught between the anger of being betrayed not once but twice, and the sadness she felt upon seeing Kendra's broken face. Cicero arrived and swiftly went to Kendra's side, relieving her from the burden of having to show any physical or verbal affection. As much as she would like to be, she was no mental healer.

Instead, she became angrier and angrier at Burke; how could he just leave Kendra alone, of all people? Without a word? She lost her mother, her brother and now her father and little bastard brothers. She gritted her teeth as Kendra's tears flowed, and silently watched as Cicero comforted her, stealing a glance at Damien. Now what?

a furtive glance met with a single blue eye. It seemed Potema was just as clueless as Damien about what to do next, and although the intention was clear, to make Kendra comfortable -or perhaps try to pull her to their side- Damien did not know how to proceed.

The young shadow watched her settle down into a curl right in the center of the den, and his heart felt heavy. He'd started towards her, to give her closer support, but Cicero was already on it before Damien could get there. He stopped a few paces away and allowed his brother to comfort the younger wraith for a moment before deciding he couldn't do as much. He did not have the connection with Kendra that Cicero had even though their lives had both been filled with loss and abandonment. He walked back to Potema's side and settled down in silence, but did not leave hoping that Kendra would want to exchange words. He hoped Potema stayed as well, words were not his fort.

Kendra could almost feel how awkward two of her three older siblings felt. The young girl watched them how they approached or tried to and then backed off again when Cicero came in for comfort. She didn't need comfort. She didn't want a pity party. Her siblings never cared, they were always too busy with other things. Only Cicero had taken the time to teach her things. She pushed herself to her feet suddenly and dashed out of the den.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!," she yelled to them. She was certain that they would forget about her too, all too obsessed with their own ambitions. She knew how power hungry the oldest was, obsessed with himself. How he promised he would be around when she was a few months old and after that she hadn't seen him no more. Her sister who could not even talk to her and then the youngest that did keep his promise. Yet the girl was so broken she didn't want to believe his intentions were true. The girl ran off, she didn't want them to pity her. She had a feeling her father wouldn't leave without a reason... Right?

-Kendra exit-

It was not long before Kendra got up from underneath his caring touch and stormed off. Ears perked forward in her direction with saddened expression lingering on his face.

As silence settled back between them -- Cicero did not address Kendra running off not Burke's departure -- he waited silently by his siblings' side while allowing it to sink in.