Golden Glade i will fight you

puppy consoling thread? :)

hawthorn felt betrayed, for some strange reason. his mother, his father, his brother, his sister - all gone. all that remained of his ragtag family was his sister rose, and though he loved her more than anything in the world and he vowed to protect her with his life, he couldn't help but feel utterly betrayed. for once, young as he was, the boy felt betrayed, broken and vulnerable. he had loved his mother, loved his father, loved his sister, loved his brother, loved his family and in return, they'd all left him. he understood rowan's departure was not his fault, but his father - he resented him, hawthorn knew it was the man's fault that he'd lost a brother and a father.

his mother, god, hawthorn had really loved her. she'd taken care of him, loved him, cared for him, and accepted him deespite his shortcomings but she too had left when rose needed her the most. and what about lily? how could she leave rose? her twin? hawthorn, cold and awkward as he was, simply did not understand how someone could do something so inhumane to his sister. the sister, who whilst technically older than him, he considered to be his younger sister.

and so, hawthorn vowed never to let anyone close to his heart anymore. his sister was there, but that was it. no one else was allowed entry. he wasn't going to let anyone make him broken and vulnerable anymore. no fucking way. he had power now, he was smart, that was enough - or so he thought. with a scowl decorating his face, hawthorn stared at his reflection on the river, body tensed. he needed to find rose, he needed to stay by her, protect her, don't let her go, but he found himself rooted to the ground.

hawthorn's heart constricted - the heart that he so wanted gone. even as young as he was, he was wise, wiser than many could be, and he hurt. he wanted the hurt gone.

Eden hadn't left the pups much, but they were getting older and she had other duties to fulfill. She was trotting through the tunnels with her tail swaying behind her and a soft hum echoing from her throat when she saw Hawthorn's small, devastated form. She gave a low bark and slowed her pace, eventually coming to a stop only a few paces away. Hawthorn? she called, her voice low and soothing, How are you buddy? He was experiencing the same thing Eden had when she was only a few months older than him — both parents gone, siblings lost in the process. The only difference was that she had no one and he had people all around; she wanted to make sure he knew it, too.

ears twitching, he heard someone approaching. quietly, he acknowledged her presence with a small nod and turned around briefly to greet her but otherwise, said nothing. "i'm fine, but i'm worried about rose," he stated monotonously, still staring at his reflection in th water. there was a small pause. "i'm glad alder's gone," haw spoke, addressing his father by his first name, and enunciating the word rudely, spitting into the water during the process. "we're better off without him. aspen's just as bad, taking lily with her..or did she go willingly?" he scowled, then laughed bitterly and shook his head, refusing to face eden.

"rose. promise me you'll take care of her no matter what," hawthorn turned around then and fixed eden with a calculating gaze, but it was clear from the way his dark expression and tight lips, that he was worried and scared, but he was trying not to show it. "promise me that if you...if you guys ever have to choose between saving her or me, that you'll choose her. promise me that you won't let her get hurt, and teach her..us to fight...." he looked away. "i'm going to kill them. one day."

Well damn, okay.

Eden listened to the child speak his woes with eery competence. Her head bobbed along to the words he shared, understanding them as though they were her own, only in the favor of Alyssum. Hawthorn, I'm not going to let either of you die. Her voice was soft and yet carried the strength of a survivor, one who'd been low enough times to know when she was up. Hawthorn, Rose, they had been orphaned without their own faults to blame. I won't let anyone hurt you either, and as she said this, she moved closer to him with an intense stare wiped across her face. Her next words would need not only to be heard, but to be felt. I will teach you everything I can, as though you were my own. And if your goal is revenge, then I can teach you better ways than death.

she asserted that she wasn't going to let either of them die to which he responded with a sardonic laugh filled with bitterness. "i appreciate the thought," haw uttered, his tone soft but emotionless. "but if i'm going to die, i'm going to die. so if you ever have to choose between protecting rose and helping her, and leaving me to die. leave me to die or be captured or whatever, but rose is first priority," he insisted firmly. "can you promise me that?" the shadow child asked, tilting his head to look at her with an eerie sense of maturity. 

"thanks," he muttered but turned away when she said she wouldn't let anyone hurt him. hawthorn no longer cared, he felt that he couldn't trust anyone except for his sister and himself anymore. they had all left him..his family had all left, all except his aunt and his sister. family, the people who were supposed to stay by him no matter what - they'd left him and his sister like this. fine, hawthorn understood and didn't care if they left because of him - he knew he was a bit defective and strange compared to others, but rose, rose who was so beautiful and pure and innocent and perfect. they'd left her behind, and hawthorn could and would never forgive them for that. 

"will you, really?" hawthorn turned around sharply when she spoke teaching him and a glint entered his shadowed blue eyes. "i want to make them all pay for what they did to rose. and when i grow up and learn everything, i want to make anyone who does that to their family without a valid reason, pay." his upper lip curled in disgust and he looked away. "thank you, eden," he mumbled then, and sat down, realising that for once the anger had simmered down and he was overcome with a sense of extreme tiredness. hawthorn sighed and collapsed onto the ground, suddenly trying to stop himself from bursting into tears.

Eden didn't want to have to make such an assertion, placing one child's life over another, but she knew that it would be the only thing to calm the seething youth. I promise. She listened to his words and the thanks he offered to her agreeance, then saw him plop down against the cold ground. Hawthorn, I understand how hard this is. Just, please don't let what your parents did destroy you. It's okay to feel things, but it's best that we feel them in moderation. When the time comes for reperations, you will be prepared, but there are other things we must worry about now. She sighed and nosed at the child's side as an act of comfort then nudged him upward. For instance, getting you somewhere you can rest couldn't hurt.

she promised, though he sensed that she did so reluctantly, and thus, her promise didn't mean anything. nevertheless, hawthorn didn't push. he narrowed his eyes and gave her a decidedly calculating look, but otherwise said nothing else on that matter. he might not like it, but thorn knew when he had to stop; he knew where the line was and he knew when not to cross it. he would not let his emotions control him, no. at her words, however, he forced the tears back and swallowed thickly.

"i'm not letting what they did destroy me," he asserted, glaring at the ground. "i honestly couldn't care less about them. they're no longer my parents. i don't have parents. i don't feel anything anymore," he sounded bitter, he knew, but it was the truth. already, hawthorn was unconsciously suppressing his emotions.