Duskfire Glacier i'd jump in front of a train for you

aw :-)

When Charon had been in Emberwood and had seen the lights of the fading sun shine on the glacier, he knew for sure that he was heading towards the right glacier. It was a good thing (or a bad one, depending on your point of view) that Duskfire Glacier was such a unique place, and that Charon had met Scarlett and they'd talked about how it was to live on a glacier; it was unlikely that Charon would've found any other pack this easily.

Exhausted and unkempt from travelling for days and sleeping poorly out of his safe home, the five months old Ostrega finally arrived at the borders of the Glacier's lands. There was a river there, and it took the Stavanger Bay youth a little bit to find the right place to cross it, where it was shallow and easier to cross. He remembered being taught to swim by Spectra at a river much closer to home, and suddenly Charon felt alone and stupid, being all the way out here with a dumb quest to return home a brother that he hadn't seen for the majority of his life. He just wanted to be home and curl up with Levi, Thistle, Ragnar and Gunnar. Charon swallowed dryly as he paced back and forth along the borders, and then decided that this was no time to be a coward. Spectra had asked him if he wasn't afraid of anything, and he said there was nothing he was scared of. When all of this was over, he would return home with Kevlyn, and Levi would be happy again, and everything would be better. Thinking about how Scarlett had come to their borders to try and take Levi made Charon furious, and he wondered if he would see her again.

Thinking about how the Duskfire wolves might've hurt or killed Kev made Charon's blood boil. It was almost as if they had single-handedly torn his family apart and had not only taken Kevlyn, but also taken his parents and sister. There probably would've been a much better way to go about this, considering that he was alone, but in his inexperience in life and his anger, Charon threw his head back and howled, calling out for the bastards that had taken Kevlyn from him. It was a song filled with emotion and anger. When he finished the call, Charon stepped into the forest next to the river he had crossed. His body language was clear, tail and head carried high, the hairs in his neck and along his back bristled. He was in over his head and blinded by his emotions. Somehow, Charon thought that killing the wolves that had taken Kevlyn from him would make the tragedy his family had gone through better, would make the pain go away.

He couldn't be further from the truth.

Adorable

The red eyed female pounced down on an injured boar. Her lucky day! It seemed the fighting with another male made the hunk of grunting meat too wounded to run away from the pale she-wolf. Scarlett often had to do with hares for Adlartok and herself but now she could finally feast on a big sized meal. She would later drag it to Adlartok, or at least closer to her den. Her jaws let go once the animal was killed. Scarlett instantly started feasting on some of the organs. Some she would bring to Ad since it was the better meat. Her maw turned as red as her eyes at she ate. After a full tummy Scarlett would have loved to take a nap but she found that her caretaker duties were more important.

It took her a good hour to drag the carcass over Duskfire grounds. Her lithe body was not as strong as she thought it was. She placed the carcass by her den and let Adlartok come out on his own. That was when she heard a howl. She knew that tone somehow. Scarlett instantly trotter forward towards the border with her bloodied face. Once she drew in closer she saw the dotted naturalist. Charon. Oh no! She could smell the salt in his fur. Not good. If Tuwawi or any of the others would find out it would be his death. Her mother instinct made her jump forward and instantly trot up to the youngster. "Do you have a death wish!? You can't be here after what your pack as done!," she hissed instantly, far more bolder than she was last time she met Charon. She gave the pup a glance. He looked rugged and worn. "Oh look at you... All travel worn," Scarlett softened. She should feed him.. but would that be treachery. He was just an innocent pup!

b'Aww, Scarlett is so adorable <3 (p.s. anyone else is still welcome to pop in :-) )

The first one to arrive was the only wolf from Duskfire Glacier that Charon actually knew. Teeth bared (but, at the age of five months, probably looking a lot less impressive than he thought he did) and ready to fight, Charon stared her down, while keeping his dominant posture, tail curled over his back. Thinking about how she had tried to steal Levi back when they first met, and how she pretended to be all friendly and nice and gentle when she was really just a filthy pup-thief, well, it infuriated the Ostrega youth.

"You!" he shouted in anger. She asked if he had a death wish, but he ignored what she said. He was here now, and there was no turning back. He needed to do this. For Levi. "Where's Kevlyn? Did you kill him? You've got two seconds to give him back, or I'll..." Charon took a step forward, on edge and ready to strike. Scarlett seemed worried about the state that Charon was in, which threw him off his game for a moment, and he visibly hesitated in confusion. It was hard to see your enemy as a soulless monster when they were trying so hard to be nice to you.

However, he reminded himself that it was all just a mind game that she was trying to play, to try and get him to trust her again. "You're a horrible monster! I wish you were dead for what you did to Kev!" Charon shouted, his voice quivering with emotion. Squinting his eyes, Charon didn't wait to hear her reply, fearing it would only try to make him think Scarlett was to be trusted. Instead of waiting for Scarlett's reply Charon started to run towards her, the hairs in his neck raised and his tail curled up above his back, teeth bared in an angry snarl. If she would not drop to the ground and submit upon his approach, Charon had every intention of pouncing her and grabbing her scruff to try and drag her to the ground himself. While in height he was nearly the size of an adult at five months, he still lacked much of the strength and balance as well as experience in a fight another adult would, but since Charon hadn't faced much adversary in his life he didn't even stop to consider his odds in this fight. He just wanted to hurt and humiliate her, and once she was on the ground, they could talk.

Wow, he is so vicious. Poor Scarlett.

You could say that Scarlett was a bit in shock of the viciousness of the younger wolf. How come that happened? She had always shown nothing but kindness especially towards pups. The red eyed female frowned at the dotted youngster. "Calm down," she spoke with some authority. She sounded like a mother, maybe it would have some effect on Charon. She had no clue what he was raging about! "Kevlyn? We don't even have someone in our pack with that name," she returned. Scarlett had been threatened a lot of times in her life time but this pup was not scaring her.

The whole word stopped at his words. You horrible monster! You horrible monster! You. horrible. monster! The sentence feel like a knife was being stabbed into her heart. The insult was echoing through her head by everyone that ever called her that and to think 'Monster' was her old nickname in her pervious pack. She had heard it a lot of times. Scarlett dug her paws into the snow. He was just a pup. He didn't mean it in that way. He is just a pup. Violence doesn't solve anything. Violence doesn't solve anything. Scarlett needed all her self control not to turn into that raging monster. It was not 'his' time to come out yet. Yes, Scarlett identified that rage she hid so well as a 'him'. "Now, now, Charon. That is not very nice to tell someone," she returned. Her voice was so calm, she was even surprised by it.

She didn't move an inch when the young adult tried to attack her. Her mother instinct wanted to correct the youth's behavior. What wolves often did was a nudge or nip to get a wolf startled so they would snap back into their normal state. This pup was definitely enraged and Scarlett wondered if she would startle Charon, he would snap out of it. Scarlett's nose moved forward and used Charon's own teenage instability to try and unbalance him. "We don't have the Kevlyn you are talking about. I am the caretaker of this pack and we do not have any wolf named like that. You are mistaken. Duskfire wouldn't do something so horrible." Okay, maybe Tuwawi would.. but that was not going to be a discussion topic now. "Now. Once again, calm down. I will show you our grounds and get you something to eat. If you don't you might faint on the spot, Little Warrior," Scarlett sounded more warmly. "We fellow naturalist help each other out, remember?"

oh god I couldnt resist, I'm sorry if I hold this up :X

Tuwawi should totally come back her up ;)

It was not her intention to get involved in this pack war, not unless it would affect either Tezcacoatl or Coatl's Rise. Her open dislike for the wolves of Duskfire was no secret, nor was her flagrant disgust for any wolf not her own sister.

But of all the wolves she had met, Scarlett was perhaps the one she felt the least respect for. Her station as a woman did not save her in the Amazon's eyes, and her soft nature and weak-willed way of handling things made Manauia consider her a complete and utter waste of space. How she had survived this long was a mystery to the Huntress... She had little doubt that dumb luck was mostly to blame.

So despite her lack of caring for the pack she had pledged herself to, when she saw Scarlett speaking with a stranger, she approached. And when she caught the tail end, anger sparked within her.

"No." She growled, striding up to the boy with teeth bared. "You are not welcome here." She'd had about enough of this woman's "kindness"... If this were the Rise, she'd tear into her with fangs as well as words. Damn she missed home. Meeting Scarlett's eyes, she snarled. "Nor would you be, if I had my way. Show him around? Give him your food? How stupid are you?" She was completely and utterly at a loss.

No enemy would walk their grounds and gather information to bring to their master. Not while she was here, and definitely not while Tezcacoatl still regarded this place as home.

Poor Scarlett <3

Charon hadn’t any idea of the impact of his words or what they once meant to Scarlett. He already regarded her as a monster, regarded Duskfire that way for taking his family from him. In his distressed state of mind, losing Kevlyn was the first stone in the avalanche that had destroyed his family. Scarlett said that they didn’t have a ‘Kevlyn’ in their pack. Well, not anymore they didn’t, if what Blythe said was the truth. What if they really had killed Kevlyn? Oddly, Charon really needed him to be alive; even though he had since long accepted that it was likely Kevlyn was dead and had let go, this spark of hope that Blythe had given him had filled him with vigor to fight for finding Kevlyn, if not only for Levi’s completeness. Even to his blatant insults, to his death wish towards her (he hadn’t a clue that the monster part was more impactful than the I-wish-you-were-dead part), she just told him that it wasn’t a very nice thing to say. Charon wasn’t swayed by the words, so determined to find Kevlyn, or whatever was left of him, and to punish the Duskfire wolves for what they had done.

While she didn’t outright attack Charon, Scarlett did nip at him to make him lose his balance and his aim for her scruff. Charon fell to the ground. He flattened his ears tightly to his skull and bared his teeth at Scarlett while quickly trying to scramble back on his feet to prepare for another attack. He would have none of her words; all he wanted was her blood for what she had done to Kevlyn. It was confusing when, after all that had transpired, she offered to show him around the pack grounds and to give him food and shelter. He was awfully hungry… But he couldn’t just let himself be bribed into giving up his quest for revenge just for some food.

Just as Charon was about to mellow a little at Scarlett’s words, a look of sadness and loss breaking his vengeful teeth-and-claws expression, another wolf burst in, berating not only him, but Scarlett too. Not wanting to show weakness, Charon’s face scrunched back into a scowl easily, despite the sadness and his body’s weariness. The wolf told him to leave, but Charon had no intention on doing so. Once on his feet, he turned to look at the other female, who was much more threatening than Scarlett and truthfully, pretty frightening for the youth. He curled his tail over his back, the hairs along his back and neck rised, as he looked at her. ”I’m not leaving without my brother Kevlyn, or whatever’s left of him after what you monsters did to him!” Charon Sir Knight Starchaser Ostrega had defeated dragons and sniffed out bears, so while he probably should’ve been, he was not afraid in the face of adversary. While he did not attack this time, he kept his dominant, agressive pose and waited for what was to come.

Scarlett saw Manauia approach her. Once she disagreed Scarlett stepped forward between Charon and het packmate. A fire started to burn, the anger she just put away was starting to flare up again. The albino mentally had to stop that door from opening. But it happened. She bared her teeth and snarled viciously. "You won't hurt him," she snapped. Charon was still her friend. "He is just an innocent child! He has nothing to do with this! He was looking for his brother," She spoke. The albino's hackles were raised and she really looked a bit intimidating in that moment.

"We don't have his damn brother and frankly I am sick and tired of this," she snapped. "We are innocent so Charon can look all he want for this Kevlyn. He could even could be a messenger to his own pack that we were hospitable towards their young," she returned. Scarlett would always be caretaker that protects young. "And the last time I checked, Manauia, I am higher in rank than you. I won't listen to your disagreement like you won't listen to mine ever," she sneered. She turned to Charon, looking angry. The pup had caused even more drama than she needed. She wanted to say something to him but she was at loss for words. She then turned to Manauia. "You might think that I am weak, but I am not. I fight this way my own way. The Scarlett way."

manauia is such a fickle creature haha!

Her hackles rose when Charon argued, and she let loose a deeper snarl. To be spoken to as such by a slave was disrespect she could not have allowed back home, and the reaction to teach him the wrong of his ways was automatic. If Scarlett had not intervened, she'd have attacked in an instant.

When Scarlett puffed up, Manauia did not feel the least bit intimidated, but she was surprised. "So you are willing to attack one of your own for the sake of a stranger. Your loyalty is admirable." Manauia said, dripping with scorn. But she had given her word. Unless they presented a direct threat to herself or Tyrr, she would not lay a law on any of her packmates here, no matter how tempting it was right now to slam this girl into the dirt where she belonged. That she actually thought Manauia cared about ranks here was astounding; her, lower than this. Never.

"Fine. Destroy this pack you claim to love. Give outsiders free reign, your food and full access. But such weakness will not go unseen. And I would think that now would be a time that even a wolf as stupid as you would see that appearing weak isn't something you can afford." Without another word she whirled, leaving the way she'd come, furious. Her anger at the ivory female was turning quickly to an acidic loathing. Protecting Adlartok was one thing; but to defend a child not there own, one stupid enough to walk straight across their borders and into their lands. And not only that, but to inform this child that his behavior was correct and to escort him further in? The line had been crossed and left out of sight.

As if she cared what happened to these wolves anyway. If Duskfire destroyed itself, perhaps then she'd convince Tezcacoatl. Hell, maybe he could even bring this Tuwawi with him. But she would not fight a war for this piece of ground nor the trash that occupied it.

just in case anyone reads and wants to know: if anyone else wants to pop in at any time they are still welcome to. :)

Just as ready as the Duskfire wolf was to jump at his throat, so was Charon to jump at hers. If it wasn't for Scarlett, Charon would have jumped forth to attack just as much as the Duskfire wolf was. However, Scarlett broke any attack upon each other by jumping in their midst. He didn't like what Scarlett said about him, because he felt like she still saw him as a little boy (and he felt super old, strong and wise himself!). The other wolf then said things to Scarlett, turning away from Charon altogether. It was pretty confusing when the two Duskfire wolves went on to argue among each other. Charon had seen them as a big front of evil red-eyed villains all this time, so to see that they were not unified as one giant Ostrega-slaying front was weird.

Then, the Duskfire wolf that was angry at Scarlett turned and left, just like that. Charon watched as she left, Scarlett still in between him and the other wolf. "Yeah, run, you coward!" Charon shouted after the Duskfire wolf as she turned and took off. Ha, he sure showed her! She was too scared to even fight him.

It was kind of awkward being alone with Scarlett again, especially since she had just sort of defended him. He was still angry with her, still convinced that she had aided in taking Kevlyn and that when she had been at the Bay's borders, she'd genuinely been trying to take Levi if it wasn't for Charon showing up. There were so many conflicting thoughts and emotions and Charon didn't know quite what to believe. His young brain didn't have the capability to deal with everything at once.

"Why did you do it?" asked Charon. He didn't drop his dominant body language, despite the fact that Scarlett wasn't phased by it at all, because he was still angry and considered picking a fight with Scarlett if she said the wrong things. "What've you got against my family? You would've taken Levi too if I hadn't showed up that day!" He didn't pose his words as questions, but as facts, so sure was he that Scarlett hated him and his family and wanted to do bad things to them, had been the one to drive them apart.

Scarlett turned to Charon. "Don't call out after her, you sound like a brat," she retuned, for once not keeping her thought to herself. She was still busy to close that mental door she usually had locked into place so well. Not today though. She felt betrayed that Charon would think of her like that. She thought they were friends, fellow naturalists. Well guess not. Once again Scarlett was hurt, and she was hurt deeply by the youngster. "I believe that showing kindness is not being weak. It is harder to be kind to someone you dislike than to hate them. I thought you were my friend Charon. I would never do such a thing, you were blinded by rage and hurt me someone innocent. Yet, I was kind enough to defend you. You could have died today, I hope you realize that," she returned. She was definitely trying to make him feel horribly guilty.

The red eyed female looked down at him. "I have nothing but kind to you and this is how you replay me? Well thanks a lot. I never wanted to steal your brother. Get your facts straight. I love pups and I am a fucking Caretaker. I wouldn't lay a paw on a pup. I found Levi over the border and told him to return to his lands. Then you showed up. Then we met again and I even shared my knowledge with you about trees and being a naturalist. I even invited you to my home so I could learn you even more. Why would I do that if I would hate you or would have some hatred against your family?" Scarlett felt a bit down now the adrenaline had lowered and she was beginning to feel more normal. "Your pack left a mutilated head on your border. The whole of DFG thinks that your pack stole Tuwawi's son Larus and showed that message in return. They plan on taking revenge. I don't agree with it. But hey? Why listen to me. I am stupid and a fool and a Monster... Such a monster that protects a young from a rival pack!!!" Now Scarlett did feel like crying but she wouldn't not in front of him.

Charon could not understand why someone who had been kind to him and showed him stuff about trees could be the same horrible monster who had taken his brother. The thought of growing up with his parents, idealised into a utopic pair of wolves who never did anything wrong, and his brother and sister by his side, made Charon feel wronged and therefore justified in his actions.

He felt like he had every right to accuse Scarlett of taking Kevlyn, because in his mind, she'd actually done it. And the brain was easily convenienced into believing such things, even if they came from a suspicious source, because it would mean that he had someone to fight, instead of "someone, somewhere, someplace, from where he'll never return". Someone real. A culprit. Whether that culprit was real or not wasn't something that had occurred to Charon yet at all.

Charon half-listened to what Scarlett had to say. He clenched his jaws as she spoke to him and poured out all of her frustrations over being falsely accused of something she had nothing to do with. He didn't believe that he could have died today, because he had never gotten hurt and, through all of his fantasy make-believe stories, considered himself to be quite a bit of a superwolf.

He just listened as Scarlett kept talking on and on (something he, as the blabbermouth, was unaccustomed to; usually he was the one rambling).

"Because you wanted to kidnap me—" Charon intervened when Scarlett asked him why she'd invite him to her home if she wanted to harm him, but she then continued on about something Charon did not understand. A mutilated head? It sounded like something out of Charon's make-believe stories, but definitely not something that would happen for real. Not that he knew of, anyway.

His anger melting into confusion and tail falling against his hind legs, Charon scrunched his face into a confused frown. "Wait, what? That never happened!" Well, maybe that wasn't exactly the right choice of words. He shook his head as he went on, "We don't leave mutilated heads, and we certainly don't kidnap puppies! I think I'd know if a puppy was living in the Bay that didn't belong there. You're the puppy kidnappers, Duskfire took Kev! Blythe said so herse—" He halted midword, mouth open as the wires in his head tried to connect to make a lightbulb apear over his head...

Blythe.

Scarlet was done with the brat of a boy, something that she never expected to happen to her. The pale female loved pups and youngsters but Charon always pushed her right to her limit. "Annoying huh? To be falsely accused. We are not puppy kidnappers either. I've been trying to tell you," Scarlett returned with a sigh. Her tail gave an annoyed flicker because he hurt her badly and Scarlett wasn't inclined to help him now. Her mind kicked her. She had to keep with her standards. Being kind is harder than being angry. She kept repeating it into her mind.

"I think your source was lying to you," Scarlett spoke, sounding more calm. "And you owe me one for saving you," the female then stated. She looked at the dotted wolf. "Better go now, Charon. I don't want to defy more wolves but I am not a fighter and if others show up they will kill you because they think that you left that bloodied head on our border."

Well, how was he supposed to know she was right just because 'she tried to tell him'? The other wolf that showed up certainly didn't act one bit like she wanted to help Charon, confirming his thoughts, and everything Scarlett had done so far fell in line with the puppy kidnapping thing. It stung that Scarlett tried to tell him off further, and Charon felt anger bubbling to the forefront of his mind, especially now that he had no one to direct his anger at anymore.

No one but the white wolf with the black head, anyway. 'Blythe', or whatever the hell her name really was.

"Wait!" Charon snapped when Scarlett told him to go. He tried to calm himself, even though he still felt wronged and angry at Scarlett for telling him to go and treating him like a child when he felt like he was super mature and adult-like. Collecting his thoughts, Charon said, "You gotta tell your pack we didn't leave heads or take puppies. A wolf called Blythe said you had Kev. Do you know a Blythe? I dunno if it was really her name... She was uhm, white with a black head, pretty funny-looking. She smelled like the sea so I thought she was from the Bay, but if you guys really don't have Kev..." Charon peered past Scarlett, deeper into the territory. He still considered that Scarlett might be the liar (she or Blythe definitely was), but the accusation towards his pack had thrown him off, for now. The fact that both of their packs were accused of similar activities when neither knew what the other meant was peculiar, to say the least.

Looking up at Scarlett, Charon's ears folded back against his head and he looked at her with a sad expression. Charon's young mind couldn't quite tie the knots together and draw conclusions from everything said so far, and he fell back into confusion. "How do I know you're not lying too? Or that your pack mates din't really take Kev without you knowing? Are you really sure they didn't? I dunno what to believe..." Because he didn't want to look like a puppy — being very mature and all — Charon held back his emotions (the long journey, the hunger, his torn family, the stabs of betrayal which then turned out to possibly not be betrayal after all, the uncertainty of who was telling the truth and who was lying...), though they bubbled at the surface.

Scarlett did stop and turn around, but kept her distance from the dotted pup who was now starting to voice his own concerns. Slowly a frown came upon her face as the pup started talking, no she didn't know a Blythe? She didn't know anything of the sea wolves. She stayed away from them since she was in fact a land wolf. She was not a fan of the sea actually. "I don't know the wolf you are speaking off, not even the description. I have never seen her before nor do we ever have visits from someone living by the sea," the female returned with a soft sigh. She wondered why their packs were setup against each other.

"I am not a liar. I never could. I am a bad liar. If they took you brother I have no knowledge of it. Maybe you shouldn't trust the Duskfire wolves. I feel like I don't even know them. I might leave if I am not kicked out already." The red eyes female looked at the puppy face Charon pulled. She was at loss too. What would she need to believe? What was the truth. If the Bay wolves don't have Larus like Tyrr said, well who did take the pup. Normally Scarlett was all pro for saving pups but this case just wanted her to back off. She didn't want anything to do with all the drama.

Scarlett stopped and waited, luckily, though she was still hesitant. Charon had hoped that maybe she had seen Blythe, because if it was Blythe who had told them about the Bay wolves taking some Duskfire wolf (whatever, Kev's disappearance was wayyyy more important) then maybe she was the one who had set them up. But Scarlett said she knew no one with that name or description. "Who told Duskfire that the Bay took whateverhisnamewas?" he asked Scarlett. His ears stood awkwardly turned left and right, because Charon just did not know what to believe and was confused to the fullest.

Then Scarlett said that she was a bad liar and said that maybe Charon should not trust the Duskfire wolves. She said she might even leave, herself. "So you think Duskfire did take Kev?" asked Charon. She probably wouldn't confirm it, but from her words about Duskfire — maybe you shouldn't trust the Duskfire wolves — he gathered a 'yes', even though he did not fully trust Blythe either.

After an awkward pause, Charon added, "You're welcome at the Bay, if you'd wanna." It felt as though he owed Scarlett some sort of way to make up, and maybe this was it. He didn't even consider that Scarlett probably wanted out of all of this situation, and might not even want to live by the seaside.

Scarlett shrugged lightly in return. "I do not know. Some sea wolf told that she was from the bay, I believe, and told our alpha that she didn't approve of her pack, your pack's, actions by stealing Tuwawi's son. She was the former queen," the pale female tried to explain what she heard. Maybe it were lies too. The albino looked at Charon and then shook her head. "No I don't think they did," she returned. "I would have known. Maera was the only child when I came here. No one of her age was present"

The light colored female watched the youngster. "How kind of you to offer, but I don't think that decision is up to you," she returned. "Maybe one day we meet again, and you remember to show kindness to me instead of judging me for something I didn't do." Her red eyes drilled into those of Charon. Scarlett didn't know what to feel towards the pup. She liked pups and youngsters but as polite as Adlartok was, that was how rude Charon could be. Well, guess his missing brother had something to do with that. For now Scarlett just wanted the quietness back that they had before on the glacier.

so many feels <3 *hugs our wolfies*

A sea wolf from the Bay. It surely must have been Blythe. Maybe his next quest should be to look for this Blythe again. She smelled of the sea, said she was from the Bay; but when had she told them that the Bay had taken this whateverhisnamewas pup? Charon, still confused, stared blankly ahead while Scarlett said what she knew, trying to piece together the information. "I guess that was Blythe, too," he muttered, more to himself than to Scarlett or anyone else in particular.

Scarlett said it was kind of him to offer but that the decision was not up to him whether she could join the Bay. "Thistle is super nice, she'd let you in, and she would listen to me," he quickly intervened, convinced it wouldn't be a problem at all.

This probably would've been a good time to apologise for what he had said, the boy realised. Charon wasn't particularly sorry because it was Blythe's fault that he had come up here and not his own, but he opened his mouth to apologise anyway; "I uh —" but at that moment Scarlett said they might meet again some day, and berated him for not being kind enough.

All of the guilt Charon felt for unrightfully accusing Scarlett was washed away instantly with bitterness. He did not have the mature enough mind to take a lesson from this, still being youthful and brash and, on top of that, stubborn as a donkey. He stared back at her when she made eye contact, head low and ears pinned against his head because he was uncomfortable. "Well, fine, hate me all you like," he bitterly said, his watery eyes awash with held back emotion. Then he looked away, at the ground, not wanting her to see the weakness in his eyes. He didn't want Scarlett to hate him, but it looked like it was the only solid outcome of today's events. "I'll find Blythe and I'll rip her ears off for lying to everyone." Charon frowned angrily as he thought of Blythe, and then he started to walk away, towards the borders, tail and head low.

He glanced over his shoulder as he passed Scarlett, swallowed dryly and bitterly said, "Good luck." He'd wanted to say something else, wanted to say something witty that would make her feel bad, because he felt bad, and that meant he wanted everybody else to feel bad. He wanted to make her feel bad for making him feel so unwanted, but there wasn't a witty thing in the world Charon could come up with, being just a child.

So that was all he said, and he turned his head forward and broke into a trot, intending to leave Duskfire Glacier far behind and never return here.